The Impact Of Internet On East Asian Countries - 2004 Words

The Concept of Internet Technology: An Analysis of Efficiency, Benefits and Hindrances of Internet coverage across Sub-Saharan Africa and East Asian Countries. The internet provides a way for us to connect and communicate with each other across various political and economic boundaries. Since its inception couple of decades ago, we as humans have found doing certain things such as communication, transportation and business aspects of our lives pretty easy than we did in the past. The internet has improved various aspects in our community such as health, infrastructure, business and education. But in this paper, I am going to explore the impacts the internet in particular as a form of media technology has on East Asian Countries and its possible benefits for Sub-Saharan Africa region in the area of politics. I also tend to analyse the competence of the internet in enhancing the political processes of Thailand and its probable benefits for a country like Nigeria ridiculed with poverty brought about by immense corruption. As we all know the internet as a form of technology has its advantages as well as disadvantages in structuring our society this also is an aspect that would be examined in this paper. At the end of this paper I hope to establish a point that the introduction of highly effective internet services across Sub-Saharan countries in Africa would increase its rate of globalization in this present age, where technology is an integral factor for development. TheShow MoreRelatedEffects Of Imperialism On The Indian Economy1449 Words   |  6 PagesEffects of Imperialism to the Indian Economy In 2015 India was ranked among the highest countries globally in consumer confidence, this comes after the International Monetary Fund estimated an economic growth of up to 7% annually for the next decade in India. But this hasn t always been the case, in fact, it wasn t so long ago that India was simply another colonized nation around the world, not to mention it s usually rare to see this kind of economic growth in such a small periodRead MoreNetflix Is An International Provider Of Television Series1571 Words   |  7 Pagesthirty countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia. Subscribers sign up to enjoy the various television shows and movies for a monthly fee of eight dollars (Fakhruddin). The cultural barrier, coupled with the competition in the Middle East, poses a significant challenge to Netflix; however, through critically analyzed strategies, Netflix can overcome the challenges. NETFLIX’S LAUNCH IN THE MIDDLE EAST On January 9, 2016, Netflix launched its services in the Middle East. The companyRead MoreWhat Is Wrong With Technology?1573 Words   |  7 Pagesadults in major East Asian countries, including China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, are nearsighted† (Park par. 3). The main reason that causes this phenomenon is that the East Asian students are overusing technology such as smart phones, Ipads, and computers. These technologies devices are the friends that they spend most time with. Playing video games and watching TV for over two hours each day can really hurt the teenagers’ eyes. However, bad eyesight is not the only impact that technologyRead MoreThe Importance Of Globalization907 Words   |  4 Pages businesses more than ever must apply this rule. Now, boundaries are eliminated between countries and new opportunities are born. Company enters new countries, moreover, multinational emerges and ultimately evolves to a global posture. It’s becoming part of our life. Every day, we experience various products of globalization. We communicate with friends and family from all over the world, we surf the internet, furthermore, with one click we purchase product from stores miles away from us. HoweverRead MoreThe Role Of Agriculture During The Soviet Union Age And Now1967 Words   |  8 PagesRussia Introduction Russia is a country with sufficient natural resource and labour to support its agriculture development. Agriculture is not just important to Russia’s economic contribution but also impact the agriculture market changes surround it and international market. In addition, there are some significant changes between agriculture in former Soviet Union age and now. Now the agriculture in Russia faces the challenges the opportunity at the same time. Economic background As people knowRead MoreHow Does Science Affect The Economy1268 Words   |  6 PagesI will discuss several aspects of scientific and technological development which have had positive impact on the economic growth, especially in the recent years - renewable energy, the internet and the miniaturization of computer technology. Further, I will point out a significant side effect of scientific progress such as brain draining and its negative economic effect on the developing countries. Read MoreThe Global Problem Of Gender Imbalance1273 Words   |  6 Pages163 million women are missing in Asia, but no one is looking for them. These missing women were victims of sex-selective abortions, pushed onto the Asian population by a patriarchal society in a way to control population growth. Mara Hvistendahl’s â€Å"Missing: 163 Million Women† focuses on the causes, consequences, and global implications of the gender imbalance in congruence with sharing of local practices. Kwame Anthony Appiah offers cosmopolitan concepts of taking interest in practices that lendRead MoreCambodi The Khmer Empire1564 Words   |  7 PagesEmpire is a country located in the southern section of peninsula in the Southeast Asia. It is bordered by the neighboring countries like Thailand to northwest and Vietnam to the east, with a current population of 15 Million +, making the 69th on the m ost populous country in the world. The current most practiced religion is Buddhism conceiving 95 percent of the population. The capital and largest city of Cambodia is Phnom Penh, the political, economic, and cultural center of this country occur. MostRead MoreMultinational Corporations ( Mncs ) Essay1070 Words   |  5 PagesThe enterprises that operate in numerous countries to produce or provide services outside their original countries can be identified as Multinational Corporations (MNCs), or Transnational Corporations (TNCs). Usually, an MNC can produce at least 25 percent of its world output outside of its country of origin. Recently, a new breed of MNC emerges thanks to Internet based communication tools. They begin their operations in different countries very early on. Because they are small businesses, theseRead MoreThe Tiananmen Square Protests Of 19891556 Words   |  7 PagesWith that being said, a highly debated question remains as to whether the Tiananmen Square Prot est has led to more democracy in China, and how the event has influenced China’s political progress. On the contrary, the protest had a rather paradoxical impact on China’s regime. Rather than ending the rigid regime in place and bringing rise to democracy, Tiananmen led to the strengthening of the Communist party. The protests resulted in changes in power within the government as new leaders were appointed

The United States And The Civil Rights Crisis - 898 Words

The United States of America has the largest prison system in the world with over 2.2 million prisoners. 1,320,000 of those prisoners are blacks and hispanics. The justice system in the United States has unequal outcomes across racial groups. Although together they make up only 30% of the country’s population, black and hispanic men are 3 times more likely to end up behind bars for the same crime committed by white males, allowing them to make up 60% of the prison population. Private prisons, the War on Drugs and a civil rights crisis and are the main factors to why people of color are overrepresented in our prison systems. Private prisons continuously buy prisons in states all across the US. Once they buy these prisons and a contract is†¦show more content†¦This leads to a plethora of men and women being stopped constantly for no reason. Often a civilian is stopped solely on the basis of their skin color/stereotypes. To work properly, private prisons require full prisons as aforementioned, and the least expensive prisoner as possible. The 2012 ACLU report , relates that â€Å"it costs $68,270 to support a prisoner age 50 or older compared with $34,135 per year to house a non-geriatric prisoner† (ACLU,2012). In their contracts private prisons exempt themselves from having to accept older prisoners. This is why young men of color are filling up these private prisons in record numbers. Modern day prison systems guarantee monetary security for the corporations, rather than protect the public and rehabilitate the inmates. President Richard Nixon first used the term â€Å"The War on Drugs† in 1971. Since then little to nothing has been accomplished to stop drug use, trade and distribution. The Drug business is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that continues to thrive. A federal study conducted by â€Å"Monitoring the Future† reports that 85% of high school students found marijuana easy to obtain. (Williams,2011). Many believe it is nonsensical to spend billions of dollars on arrest of small time offenders who commit non-violent crimes, when in over 45 years nothing has improved. Initially, Federal law mandates five years in prison without possibility of parole for possession of 5 grams of crack or 3.5 ounces of heroin.

Contract Law Regatta Pty Ltd.

Question: Discuss bout the Contract Law for Regatta Pty Ltd. Answer: Issue: Regatta Pty Ltd is a large groceries share. The Board of company comprises of Tom Jones and other executive and non-executive directors who were hardly part of any meeting. Tom holds 10 percent of the share, while the remaining directors hold 15% of the shares. In one of the recent board meetings, Tom, Peta and Roman have not been agreeing as to whether the company should expand beyond the groceries business into the electronics business as well. Tom is confident that this would benefit the company. Tom held many meetings with the Board of Directors in which Peta and Roman were not part. Based on the facts, the issue that arises here is, what is the legal position of each of the parties to the case. Legislations: The Corporations Act, 2001, has provided many remedies for those minority shareholders who are oppressed. This case study invokes the provision related to securing the position of the minority shareholder (Cartwright 2014). The rights of minority shareholders can be violated if the directors have not complied with their duties under section 181 and 182 of the Corporation Act, 2001. This is enumerated in Section 232 of the Corporation Act, 2001. The directors are under a statutory duty to exercise their rights in good faith and in the best interests of the company. Shareholders often have different interests and there are times wherein there is a conflict between the shareholders and the directors. Oppression takes place with the minority shareholders where they are subjected to the unfair and prejudice use of the power of the majority shareholder (Cartwright 2014. According to section 233 of the Corporations Act, 2001 the Court has the discretion to grant a number of remedies to the minority shareholder. The Court may pass an order to the shareholder to purchase the shareholders at a price that is determined by the Court (Poole 2014). The Court may also ask the majority shareholder to comply with the decision of the minority shareholder if the Court thinks that the decision of the minority shareholder is for the welfare of the company (Schwenzer, Hachem and Kee 2012). Application: In the given case scenario, the rights of Tom can be protected by applying section 232 of the Corporations Act, 2001. Since he is a minority shareholder, the majority shareholders might over turn his decision. Toms decision is for the welfare of the company. Hence, his rights and powers may be protected by applying section 232 of the Act. By passing special resolution, the decision of the majority shareholder may get overturned and Toms decision may over rule the decision of the other directors. Conclusion: Conclusively, it may be held that the decision of Tom can prevail over the decision of the majority shareholders as it is for the welfare of the company. As such, the company shall have more prospects to enhance their business structure and this will ensure the organizational success of the company. References: Cartwright, J., 2014.Contract law: An introduction to the English law of contract for the civil lawyer. AC Black. McKendrick, E., 2014.Contract law: text, cases, and materials. Oxford University Press (UK). Poole, J., 2014.Textbook on contract law. Oxford University Press, USA. Schwenzer, I., Hachem, P. and Kee, C., 2012.Global sales and contract law. Oxford University Press.

Marketing Plan for Intelligent Ref

Introduction This is a marketing plan for the company’s new product – an intelligent refrigerator with a state-of-the-art digital application. We have baptized it ‘intelligent ref’.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Plan for ‘Intelligent Ref’ specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is a revolutionary product – a digitally functional refrigerator. It is the first of its kind in the entire world, a refrigerator which can function as a personal computer, cellular phone, and television. It has a built-in central processing unit in which the owner can communicate via the internet; it can act as a cell phone, and it is remote controlled. Moreover, it can also act as a ‘central command’ to all the other appliances in the household where the refrigerator is located. This is the scenario intelligent ref can create. It’s quiet in the house. No human b eings have roamed around in the past several hours, but there are the appliances, and the area is under control by a new kind of robot – intelligent ref. The telephone rings: the phone is not inside the refrigerator, it is outside the refrigerator, somewhere inside the house. But intelligent ref can communicate with it via remote, like an answering device. It hangs up. The door of the ref has an LCD monitor, which also performs the function of a cable television. When intelligent ref notices the seeming peace inside, it feels some music must be played. And so the mellow voice of Paul Anka can be heard inside the house, which is situated in the middle of a bustling American city. Now, here’s the catch. Thousands of miles away, a conference of executives is being held. The situation has become quite tense as the talk is about the conglomeration of several international organizations. A young and pretty executive is in the middle of the long conference table. She stands u p and withdraws himself from the conference, takes her cell phone and calls up. â€Å"Hello there sweety, is everything okay?†Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More â€Å"Everything’s fine, as fine as the way you left me, darling!† Intelligent ref’s voice reverberates through the living room, but it sounds like that of a teen. Intelligent is a multiple personality robot: it can act as confidante, security assistant, and many others as it is well equipped with sensors and CCTV’s inside and outside the residence remotely connected to it, no matter how far is the owner, even thousands of miles conducting a business conference. Intelligent ref is the ref of the digital world. It’s time for a revolution, a revolution in the high-tech world of humans. Never before has this been schemed since the invention of the first refrigerator. Now is the ti me to introduce to the world this appliance which has been the result of years of study and research. American households need low-cost refrigerators. Government data released states that a refrigerator appliance is the highest ranking necessity in an ordinary American household regardless of income level. The refrigerator is highest compared to other appliances, followed by cooking appliances, then by colored televisions. (Energy Information Administration and Residential Energy Consumption Survey, cited in eia.doe.gov, 2004) Timely and ingenuous are the terms we can describe to our planners and engineers in building intelligeng ref. What is more surprising is that it is affordable by the common American household. Intelligent ref comes in various colors – green, red, yellow, and black. There are also custombuilt ones, or those made according to specifications by the customer. We have an intelligent ref for the middle income household, and for the very rich. This latter clas sification has been the result of our planners’ study of what American housewives and consumers need and want. Indeed, the rich don’t care much of what they place inside their refs; it’s the not-so rich who are concerned of the contents of their refs. However, regardless of class, American households are concerned of quantity and quality inside their refs. This company is committed to provide every household the low-cost refrigerator that can boast of quality, durability and style. Marketing Strategy Jobber and Lancaster (2003) highlight the process of the marketing plan. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Plan for ‘Intelligent Ref’ specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More SOURCE: Adapted from Jobber and Lancaster (2003). Selling and Sales Management. Sixth Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2003. The plan involves setting up objectives, then determining or preparing the steps a nd activities for fulfill the objectives, organizing for action, implement the steps and actions, until it goes down to measuring the results, re-evaluating and controlling. The whole process is repeated and repeated. Marketing process Target market Small appliances such as television, air-conditioning units/systems, washing machines and spin driers, rice cooker, gas stoves/ranges, etc. are common items in ordinary American households. Refrigerators and air-conditioning units however are our appliance specialties. The target segment for the company’s products is the American household composed of housewives, bachelors and single moms, students, and other independent-minded Americans who are living on their own. The market target use refrigerators like they use any other ordinary appliance at home. The busy executive can make use of intelligent ref like a constant companion Marketing objectives Product – To provide low-cost small appliances to ordinary American househol ds across the country. Intelligent ref is the product of the century and a household name; Distribution – To provide a systematic but effective distribution system throughout the different branches across states. Price – To provide customers affordable and ‘intelligent’ appliances at low, low prices, but appliances that answer to the call of the digital world.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Promotion – To facilitate an effective promotional campaign that will highlight the company as a household name in terms of low cost but quality-oriented refrigerators with digital applications like intelligent ref. Weakness Electronics need new raw-material suppliers to support the small appliance line. There are some difficulties in finding suppliers along this line of products; finding suppliers could prove a hindrance to success. With the emergence of China as supplier/producer of low-cost electronic materials, the company may have to outsource the materials. This is one of the problems of the industry and even in other products – finding the appropriate and efficient suppliers that can give low-cost materials. Since our product, intelligent ref, is new to the market, we will find competitive forces improving their products to compete with intelligent ref. Current or potential opportunities Production of small appliances has always been a challenge to the company w ith our team of expert engineers and planners. We have experienced engineers and designers who have conducted research and intensive study in the production of state-of-the-art refrigerators. We can have the opportunity of leading the market of lowest-cost appliances. We have a small front-end investment but a low debt-to-equity ratio and a high-credit rating that can give us the opportunity to make it big by adding more capital. Environmental forces continue to loom in the horizon. Competitors will look for ways not to allow us to make the edge. The global recession will haunt our entry into the appliance industry market no matter what low-cost, quality product we can offer. Product Our goal is to satisfy the customer in the context of our product. We have described the unique features of our product intelligent ref, and we believe this is one of a kind that should revolutionize the appliance industry. Jobber and Lancaster (2003, p. 256) state that â€Å"Marketing must aim to sati sfy customers.† Therefore, close monitoring with the product and constant consultation with customers will be one of the strategies in introducing the product to the public. Distribution Our own staff to provide effective distribution system. Supply chain should be aided with the latest software, tracing our own products from the moment they leave the warehouse up to the time they reach the stores and the customers. Price Provide customer service warranty, delivery and credit. As the primary objective is to deliver appliances at affordable prices, the original price of the product shall be maintained. Since there is more supply in the market, there seems to be less demand. However this statement needs more proof or empirical study. What is focused here is the price. The price is negotiable because the suppliers of the product are competing to get customers’ attention. The price customers are prepared to pay determines the level of demand for a product or service which a ffects the prosperity of the marketing company and the company’s competitive position in the market place. Price levels have far reaching implications for the national economy. They influence wages, interest rates and government policy. (Lancaster and Reynolds, 2002, p. 28) Price is not the only factor that affects demand, although in some situations companies have achieved similar levels of service, product quality and promotional support and it has become the major element of product differentiation. However, such companies have usually made major marketing efforts to reach such a state of similarity. Price is a key element in the marketing mix and thus relates directly to the generation of total revenue. The following equation is an important one for the entire organization: Profits = Total Revenues – Total Costs Profits = (Price x Quantities Sold) – Total Costs We have the different types of selling, and capitalysing on this particular aspect of marketing, t here are inside order-takers, delivery salespeople, and outside order-takers, among others. The inside order-takers – the typical inside order-taker is the retail sales assistant wherein the customer has full freedom to choose products without the presence of a salesperson. The sales assistant’s task is purely transactional – receiving payment and passing over the goods. Another form of inside order-taker is the telermarketing, sales team who support field sales by taking customers’ orders over the telephone. (Jobber and Lancaster, 2003, p. 5) Promotion Promotion and adverts can be done through the internet. Other additional strategies involve infomercials and multi-media advertising. The internet is a fast-growing and effective communication that has been used by more and more businesses and organizations, not to mention the multitude of people, young and old, who patronize and log on everyday and every minute of the day. Action plan Intelligent ref will be featured in commercials and through the internet. This is the first step in the process – introducing the product to the general public. The population composed of the rich and famous will be the next target. We can apply discounts, employ dealers, and advertise on the national level. Personal selling can be implemented for a long term survival and the sales people can identify customer needs and wants. They are the company’s liaison officers, and they make contact with the outside world. These strategies can be achieved within the three-year period. Managers and supervisors who are in the field can do the monitoring procedures. Complaints and suggestions can be endorsed through the company’s website which will have the weblog portion for the customers and employees. A special team will monitor the effectiveness of the plan. This special team will be composed of managers and staff who have displayed zeal and enthusiasm for the advancement of the company. Act ion plan for the team will include a round-the-clock supervision, somebody to man the website and its complaints department, and a continuous monitoring of the output of the company’s products. The 4Ps is a marketing strategy which refers to product, price, place, promotion; a fifth can be added, which is people. All marketing mix variables could be categorized into just two groups: The Offering (product, packaging, service, brand and price), and The Methods/Tools (distribution channels, personal selling, advertising and sales promotion Marketing Strategy indicates the specific markets towards which activities are to be targeted and the types of competitive advantages that are to be developed and exploited. The strategy requires clear objectives and a focus in line with an organization’s corporate goals; the â€Å"right† customers must be targeted more effectively than they are by its competitors, and associated marketing mixes must be developed into marketing programmes that successfully implement the marketing strategy. A marketing strategy can be likened to a recipe. Lancaster and Reynolds (2002, p. 14) state that ‘The ingredients are the marketing functions. If a minor ingredient is miscalculated or forgotten, a recipe may not be successful. The same is true with marketing strategy where all functional ingredients depend on each other for success.’ A marketing opportunity arises when the right combination of circumstances occurs at the right time to allow an organization to take action towards reaching a target market. An opportunity provides favourable chance or opening for the firm to generate sales from identifiable markets (Jobber and Lancaster, 2003, p. 656). Marketers indirectly facilitate exchanges by focusing information about company activities and products on interest groups (such as environmental and consumer groups), current and potential investors, regulatory agencies and society in general. Some marketers u se cause related marketing, which links the purchase of their products to philanthropic efforts for a particular cause. Cause related marketing often helps a marketer boost sales and generate goodwill through contributions to causes that members of its target markets want to support. Conclusion The strategy will focus on intelligent ref, the refrigerator of the twenty-first century. The marketing mix variables, marketing strategies and tools will be emphasized on the introduction of intelligent ref to the American public. For a firm to be marketing orientated requires that a number of changes take place in organization, in practices and in attitudes. Implementing the marketing concept requires more than paying lip service to the ideas inherent in the concept. References Eia.doe.gov (2004). The Effect of Income on Appliances in U.S. Households. Available from: https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/ Jobber, D. and Lancaster, G. (2003). Selling and Sales Management, Sixth Edition , England: Pearson Education Limited. Jobber, D. and Lancaster, G. (2003). Selling and Sales Management, Sixth Edition. Web. Lancaster, G. and Reynolds, P. (2002). Marketing made simple. Great Britain: Butterworth-Heinemann Publications. p. 28. This essay on Marketing Plan for ‘Intelligent Ref’ was written and submitted by user Julianna Joyce to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Marketing Report BlackBerry

Marketing Report BlackBerry Executive Summary The BlackBerry series of phones are made by the Research in Motion (RIM). The BlackBerry phones target the business and professional people as their features made it possible for the owners to carry out a good number of office function through the devices. The BlackBerry phones have a strong presence in the market, and therefore, they are widely popularly.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Marketing Report: BlackBerry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Though RIM has been locked in court over infringing a number of patents, its technology is still away ahead of its rivals, and therefore, it still enjoys market popularity. RIM carried out aggressive marketing on behalf of the BlackBerry phones. The pricing of the BlackBerry phones are dependent on the level of technology of a particular BlackBerry phone. In order for RIM to continue enjoying its popularity in the market, it will have to continuously adj ust its phone prices in proportion to the value and technology level of the phones. RIM also needs to be at the top of the game in relation to the issues touching phone technology. Introduction There have been many innovative solutions for wireless communications that have been evolving in the recent years. Mobile phones have been considered one of the sectors that have witnessed numerous inventions where state of the art technologies are under constant implementations in the handsets that are manufactured by popular mobile phones manufactures. This paper provides an environmental scan for Research in Motion (RIM) which is the company under which the BlackBerry portfolio falls and its associated services. The paper will define the market structure of BlackBerry and a detailed analysis of the marketing mix or programs and macro-environment trends as well as their effect on the competitive analysis of the product and their demand and market segmentation. Project Scope This project is mainly theoretical and will seek to evaluate the marketing program of BlackBerry. The report examines BlackBerry’s macro and competitive environment, its marketing program elements which it employs and the recommendations which can enhance its popularity. An analysis of the marketing environment of Blackberry based on the five porter’s forces is also included together with the SWOT analysis. The life cycle of the product is also given. A critical response to the Introduction Analysis of Product Brand and Macro-environment Trends Product Brand BlackBerry is one of the mobile phones that have created a phenomenal brand in the mobile phone market. BlackBerry phones are well-known for their sleek look, design and style with other features. With BlackBerry, an individual can access email, data-transfer services and web serving.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In basic terms, BlackBerry handsets are just camera phones with the various functions that are required and are used by people of business class. Traditionally, it was launched and meant for the high class and the rich people but from its transformation and quality, some phones of BlackBerry brand are available for people of average class (Sweeny, 2009). This has provided tough competition to its business competitors and other established players in the market. Players like Nokia, Sony Erickson and Motorola have developed better quality devices, but they have not reached or matched the feat of BlackBerry. There are various types of BlackBerry phone models that have been introduced into the market. BlackBerry 7130G and BlackBerry pearl 8100 are the best and the most selling BlackBerry models in the international mobile phones market. The introduction of camera phones has been in high demand in the United Kingdom market. BlackBerry was considered as a business phone and its intro duction into the global market in 1999 confirmed this expectation because it built a strong presence in the mobile phone industry within the short period of time. The success of BlackBerry was attributed to three main features: Technology looks and innovativeness and a lot of attention have been placed to strengthen these factors which have led to the launch of revolutionary mobile phone devices that attract the rich and the high-class segment of the population (Dictionary, 2012, p. 1). Macro-environment Trends (Pestel Analysis) Economic Environment: there has been varied opinion as to whether the UK has emerged from the economic recession but the fact that the world stock markets have improved and that the earnings of many companies have improved are indications that the economy is growing. This will be reflected in the markets share and the sales of BlackBerry phones (Scribd, 2011, p. 6). Social Environment: this includes the greening of technology, security threats and education level of the workforce. The pressure to create eco-friendly products has been both a legal and social issue, and it is likely to heighten due to consumer awareness on environmental pressures.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Marketing Report: BlackBerry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Lobby groups have stressed the role of electronic companies to clean up their acts due to the toxic nature of their components. On security threats, viruses and others malicious files and spy ware have a lot of social impact. Cyber criminals have taken advantage of the lee way that has been created by technological developments of BlackBerry. Consequently, regarding the education of the workforce, UK has higher transition of students from elementary and secondary education into tertiary and higher education. This has the net effect of creating a more educated workforce and also because smart phone customers are the educated class, the market of the product is likely to increase (Sweeny, 2009, p. 4). Technological Environment: Among the technological factors to be analyzed are mobile convergence, mobile payment technologies, the internet on the go and the diminishing of non-smart phones. Mobile phones are slowly growing as gadgets of electronic needs, and they are replacing newspapers and television since people are able to access information anytime. Non-smart phones are slowly and naturally getting out of market; they will be phased out completely by the mass introduction of smart phones. The internet on the norm is becoming a norm in BlackBerry, and it is projected to increase in the near years. It is projected that the number of mobile phones that will be used to access the internet will exceed the PCs. There have been also a lot of debates regarding the destination and the trend taken by mobile phones money payment, others have projected that it will grow steadily while others are skeptical. The convenience of using mobile phones to purchasing goods, paying bills and purchasing of digital items represents the new age of mobile convenience (Bikowski, Bryant, Crossin, Dillon, Giles, Lawson, McConville, 2009, p. 9). Environmental Aspect: Environmental aspect has a lot of impact on the mobile phone industry because manufacturers have to comply with various environmental standards. RIM has in several cases ensured that their manufacturing is fair and eco friendly because any environmental mishap can destroy the image of the company in the global market. Legal Issues: The operations of the company are secure, and it is very difficult to monitor or regulate, and this has made various regulatory bodies to contemplate banning its operations, which will impact on its business operations. Rim is also experiencing legal battles with various companies like Visto, and Motorola and these have had implications on the operations of the company.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More RIM has also been locked in court battle with Minerva industries, which has accused it of infringing on its patent; MSTG has also filed a case of the same nature. All these have impacted on the performance of the company since settling legal issues is expensive. Political Climate: The political environment in the UK has made the Smartphone industry to flourish, and BlackBerry is a beneficiary of this favorable political environment, and it is estimated that smart phones will overtake the feature phones by 2015. The main challenge is the situation where some countries have raised concerns about the security features of BlackBerry, which emerges from the fact that it has become very hard for government authorities to monitor operations of BlackBerry phone users. There is also the political concern where UK with other EU countries has imposed strong regulations regarding the hygiene and the safety standards for various manufacturers who have negatively impacted on the operations of RIM (Scribd, 2012, p. 1). Perceptual Map Perceptual map is a demonstration of attributes that influence the consumer decision making which are later considered as focal points when designing the product or in the making of advertising decisions. Perceptual map indicates the strength of the firm’s brand and the features of the mobile phone that make it score and gain preference in the mind of consumers. The perceptual market map of BlackBerry phone (Mohr, Sengupta, Slater, 2009, p. 255) is as demonstrated below: Competitive Environment The established competitors in the Smartphone market include apple, Samsung, Motorola, Nokia and LG. The competitive environment of Blackberry is an intense one because of its launch of new products and new brands from the already established ones. What enhances the competitiveness of blackberry form its competitors is its development of black messenger that allows all the users with Blackberry to message each other all over the world without any charge. Rapid advertisements are also another strategy that allows Blackberry to survive in the very competitive environment hence giving it commercial advantage. A reflection on Loop 1 Marketing Programs or Elements: Marketing mix Elements Employed Marketing mix is a term that is used to describe all set of activities that make up the marketing programs of a firm. Among the various elements of a marketing mix are: place, product, people, process, physical evidence, promotion and price. Marketing mix is also considered to be the tools that are used to position the product into the target market. Product The RIM has brought a revolution into the mobile phone markets through the introduction of BlackBerry Smartphone. This was aimed at enhancing the depth of their products through the introduction of BlackBerry into their product line by creating a multimedia device that can satisfy the needs of their consumers. By enhancing the features of a Smartphone and the ultimate redesigning of BlackBerry, it is projected that it will attract a lot of customers and to dominate the mobile phone global market. Customer decisions are based on the understanding of the product in the market; product offering is not the only thing but is considered as a total package of benefits that are obtained by customers. The product is analyzed from the perspective of customer value, which is in turn analyzed based on the following aspect of BlackBerry mobile phones: their physical product and shape, the design style of the mobile phone, its brand name, the reputation of the company, convenience of the company’s operation and its financial plans. The analysis of the product under marketing mix deals with the design, features, packaging, variation and brand quality and quantity. For a product to occupy a distinct place in the market, it should differentiate itself from that of its competitors. This can only be achieved by positioning the product in such a manner that the customers c an be able to perceive the product differently. Any element of the marketing mix can be used to realize a differentiated positioning. The RIM entity sells their products to the entire customers, but their distribution options may vary based on the market segment (OECD, 1997, p.12). Price Price is understood to be the value of money that is attached to particular product. It is through price the consumers can get to understand about the value of the product, its quality and status. The degree of price is determined by either demand or cost. The reference point of the pricing of BlackBerry will be pegged on that of its competitors. For those consumers who desire satellite services; there will be a predetermined additional charge that will be added. Price factors in all the relevant costs of producing the product form the factory to the distributor and then the profit margin in included. Price is the sole determinant of demand of goods. Place Place is marketing program that touches on the channels of marketing, which are the mechanism with which the companies venture into the market and expose their physical presences in commercial activities regarding the mobile phone products. Distribution of the product into the market can be both direct and indirect. Middlemen or third parties are considered reliable for distribution of the products and the best way of having them is to contract them. Distribution is the main channel of actualizing product availability in the market. BlackBerry products can be distributed through their dealers, global service carriers, BlackBerry promotional websites and agents. Promotion RIM communicates the utilities and the benefits of BlackBerry to its consumers by the use of tailored advertisement campaigns, viral marketing, internet marketing, offering exclusive offers to current and prospective customers and using social media channels (Gowda, Szabo, Choi, Hauk Salt, 2009, p. 9). Process This is the primary element of marketing that i s instrumental in the allocation of resources, identification of opportunities and crafting of development strategies. RIM has proper mechanism that facilitates the handling of complaints and identifying the customer needs. The RIM Company has a well-planned process that defines how the customers receive their services and access the goods and for feedback mechanisms. Physical Evidence Research in Motion has opted to provide offers to elicit excitement form the customers about the BlackBerry product; RIM also guarantees warranty and has provisions for after-sale services as a show of support and care for their products and the customers. This will also make the customers to develop a better picture about the RIM products. People Research in Motion trains its employees on tactics of being customer centered to enable them to build good attitudes when dealing with the customers. They also employ people form the host country because they know the habits and the preferences of the native customers (Lamb Hair, 2009, p.47). SWOT Analysis Strengths Blackberry has managed to keep the UK consumers to be conscious about their products. Their strength is due to their market share that exclusively comes form the business world and other IT professionals. From an IT perspective, no competitor has managed to emulate the Blackberry Enterprise server that is only excusive to the Blackberry phone. Blackberry has attempted to garner an expansive market by upgrading the looks and the appeal of their products to attract more customers. Weaknesses RIM depends on business operators to launch its Blackberry services, this is time consuming and the costs can be high for smaller operators. Their Network operating centre can be considered to be a weakness today. Another weakness is also the high costs of ownership since it has been considered to be high end product and hence costs effective. Opportunities One of the greatest opportunities lies in the Blackberry partners that help creat e downloadable applications form independent company. Blackberry had been slow in venturing this market which had been dominated by Apples iPhone and by embracing this it will be able top embrace the widely growing market. Threats With the production of Smartphone by other electronic manufacturers like Nokia, LG and Samsung, Blackberry is facing a lot of threats particularly due to its weakness the web interface (Lion Green, 2006, p. 2). Porters Five Forces Threat of entry: among the threats of entry is huge capital demand like manufacturing costs and the constants for rapid innovations and high costs that may be aimed to driving profits high. Supplier power: there are various sources of mobile operating system providers and hence plenty of options. This has the effect of lowering the bargaining power of software providers. The same scenario applies to the hardware providers. Substitute: the influence of substitute is a reasonable level and proportionally varies with similar goods. Other formidable substitutes are PDA and table PCs are viable substitute. Buyer power: there is a high bargaining power of the buyers due to the choice of the products with limited differentiation. There is also an elastic demand which is sensitive to the economy where buyers can delay the buying of new models. Rivalry: there is a high rivalry in the smart phone market because there is minimal product differentiation which is only based on the services offered and the applications. The exit barriers are low for manufacturers particularly those on the value chain. Complements: complements are considered to be critical to the development of a product and have a low or rather moderate bargaining power. This can be subsidized by increasing the network capabilities. Its complements are Maps and GPS, applications and e-mail (Lion Green, 2006, p. 1). Product Life Cycle This consists of the five main aspects which included product development, introduction, growth, maturity and decline. T his is illustrated in the following chart. In the chart, the red graph is adopted to explain the life cycle of Blackberry. At present, the Blackberry is entered the maturity phase. The introduction phase was carried out in 1997 to 1998. At this time, Blackberry was the only smart phone and therefore it registered a rapid growth as it provided a ready solution to corporate clients. Private users have also joined the client base. Introduction phase can be said to have stretched from 1998 to 2004/2005. RIM registered huge success from 2005 to 2011. Due to the many entrants into the Smartphone arena, Blackberry has been forced to enter the mature stage. General and Justified Recommendations The desire to make sales and derive a lot of profits from it is the primary objective of several firms, and the amount of profits from the revenue base of the organization. Due to the fact that is the main component of marketing mix, companies may be tempted to utilize it in gaining competitive edge over their rivals. Blackberry has applied strategies such as increasing the quality of their products, creating good consumer relationships and performing consumer education regarding their products in order to meet the price demand of its competitors. In the modern competitive environment, the mobile phones market has grown to be one of the consumer oriented and one driven by products. With the changing trends in shopping patterns and customer behavior, mobile phone investors, services providers and manufacturers need to place a lot of focus on multi-marketing approach in order to increase their sales and profits. Customers have been fed up with the common and popular mobile phones brands hence there is a need for the players to enhance their technological tactics. In order to enhance their profitability, there is a need for a consumer-oriented marketing strategy that can preempt the marketing strategies of its competitors. In order to successfully increase their profits, RIM, sho uld adopt balance between marketing and pricing. Pricing Strategy Pricing of BlackBerry is one of the delicate matters. It has been established that business owners and executives are reluctant to pay more for a gadget that lacks clear impression of how it will enhance their business. The strategy of pricing is a critical element because it concerns the positioning of the product in the market the level of pricing is dictated by such elements as the phone features, advertisements and channels decisions. An efficient and effective strategy of pricing can emanate from the following processes namely the development of a marketing strategy, undertaking the calculation of costs and making relevant marketing mix decisions. Marketers make the prices of their products in a way that is likely to receive a fair value because price is considered a parameter under which the customers rate the product, and it can be also used to reflect on the practices of particular organizations. Care should b e taken, and mechanisms of cost should be applied in determining the price of BlackBerry. BlackBerry is a customized product and therefore, has a competitive edge over its rival products because no product can act as its perfect substitute. The better pricing of BlackBerry will create the impression that it is a sophisticated product and different from other mobile phone gadgets (Mobile Beacon, 2011, p. 1). Marketing Strategy Increasing their marketing development strategy encompasses the offering of BlackBerry phones and devices in the market segment where their competitors dominate. This can also be enhanced by co branding using popular and established software companies. There is also need for the introduction of an effective and efficient customer care centre for their green marketing initiative and software matters. There is also the adoption of market development strategy that will enable BlackBerry to reach to other new or potential markets. There is a massive untapped market for Smartphone particular the lower cadre social class which can be a ready and lucrative market for the RIM thus the introduction of BlackBerry at a cheaper or affordable price or in various price points is considered to be profitable. BlackBerry or RIM should adopt the principle that with the introduction of new models of the phone, the old ones can be sold at discounted prices. There is also need for BlackBerry to, manufacture blackberries that have similar sleek look but with few features so as to increase the depth of their products and to be able to capture the middle-class population and students or teenagers. BlackBerry should also employ market penetration strategy that will increase their revenue base and enable them to attract new customers. This can be realized through enhanced sales promotion and advertisements; they can, for instance, provide their existing customers and especially family members or their children with discount since they can form part of the potentia l market (Bikowski, Bryant, Crossin, Dillon, Giles, Lawson, McConville, 2009, p. 3). There is a need for BlackBerry to be marketing through the application of Robust marketing strategy that is aimed at increasing the market share of the company. One of the means of increasing the market share is through advertisements by used of newspapers, magazines, business journals and in business news and channels; these advertisements should deliver the nutshell of the exclusive features of BlackBerry while excluding the pricing to avoid the mental set among customers that it is expensive. For the company to increase its market size and profitability, good marketing strategies and marketing planning are essential. It is important for Research in Motion to write down a perfect marketing plan while examining the business environment. A good marketing plan should contain current and potential marketing focal points to exploit (Silk, 2006, 19). Good marketing strategies endear the products to the market and have the net effect of enhancing the volume of sales. The marketing manager should place a lot of focus on the resources of the organization like costs of production, the brand image, employee capability, available technology and financial resources. Analysis of marketing environment is necessary since they directly affect the organization or might hinder the implementation of the organizations’ marketing plan. This is referred as environmental scanning, and it serves to identify the market threats and the opportunities that are necessary in the designing of the market strategy. In the UK markets, the brand and product name is very important in terms of the brand image, and all that accompany it. In the case of BlackBerry for example, the brand image begins from the technological design of the phones, and the features that the phone has and also its maintenance costs and the safety standard as well as the way it is presented in advertisement and sales promotions (L amb Hair, 2009, p.34). Appendix Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2011/aug/01/smartphone-stats-2011) Figure 4 Figure 5 References Bikowski, A., Bryant, S., Crossin, S., Dillon, J., Giles, K., Lawson, T McConville, D 2009, Research In Motion: Case Study Report, Zen Portfolios, Available from: http://zenportfolios.com/theresa/files/2009/11/mktg-RIM-case.pdf. [22 January 2012]. Dictionary 2012, BlackBerry Phones: Doing Business in a Style, Street Directory, Available from: streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/131478/BlackBerry/BlackBerry_phones_doing_business_in_a_style.html. [22 January 2012]. Gowda, N., Szabo, C., Choi, Y., Hauk, C Salt, G 2009, BlackBerry’s Rise in Brand Power, Zen Portfolios, Available from: http://zenportfolios.com/natashagowda/files/2009/10/BlackBerry-vs.-Apple-MKTG-1102-Case-1.pdf. [22 January 2012]. Lamb, C Hair, J 2009, Essentials of marketing (6th ed.), South-Western, Mason, OH. Lion, E Green, J 2006, RIM in the mobile enterprise market, BlackBerry, Available from: blackberry.com/select/get_the_facts/pdfs/vendor/OVUM_RIM_in_the_mobile_enterprise_market.pdf. [22 January 2012]. Mobile Beacon 2011, Why doesn’t RIM pay a dividend to boost share price? Mobile Beacon, Available from: http://mobilebeacon.com/blog/. [22 January 2012]. Mohr, J., Sengupta, S Slater, S 2009, Marketing of High-Technology Products and Innovations, Jakki Mohr publishers, Missoula, MT. Scribd 2011, PESTEL analysis of BlackBerry: Research In Motion limited; BlackBerry, Scribd, Available from: scribd.com/doc/52280203/Pest-Analysis-For-Rim. [22 January 2012]. Scribd 2012, Environmental scan: Research in Motion, Scribd, Available from: scribd.com/doc/56244269/Term-Paper1-BlackBerry. [22 January 2012]. Silk, A 2006, What is marketing?, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Mass. Sweeny, A 2009, BlackBerry Planet: the story of Research in Motion and the little device that took the world by storm, John Willy and Sons, New York, NY.

Event Marketing Plan How To Make Sure Yours Is Perfect

Event Marketing Plan How To Make Sure Yours Is Perfect If an event happens and nobody hears about it, did it really happen? Maybe thats not the philosophical question of the decade, but its a good one for content marketers to ask. Id hazard a guess that if not very many people heard about the event, it didnt really happen. Everything You Need To Know For The Perfect #EventMarketing Plan via @JulieNeidlingerWhy Hold An Event? Planning and hosting an event is a lot of work, and it may not seem worth the effort. You have enough going on with your blog, your social media, and all of the various content marketing efforts that help build your audience. Events, though, are one of the few ways you actually get personal  with your audience. This does two things: Your audience sees you as a person.  Events are a good way for you to connect to your readers in a human way. Your audience gets to meet others like them.  Events  can almost be a reward for a great audience, providing an event or venue where they can meet others with the same interests as them. Why is it important that people see you as people? Conversation and engagement online is one thing, but as every politician knows, you have to get out and meet the people.  Meeting people face-to-face increases loyalty to you, your message, and your brand. It removes that invisible layer that somehow allows people to say and do things online that they'd never do in person. And, while I'm sure your audience isn't made of trolls, that still allows for them to dismiss you easier than if they knew you in real life. If the research is true, and 90% of how we communicate is through non-verbal communication  like gestures and vocal quality,  a face-to-face meeting is more powerful than any blog post you'll ever write. 90% of how we communicate is non-verbal. That's why face-to-face is so  powerful.So an event strengthens the bonds between members of your audience, and it strengthens their loyalty to you. 4 Elements Of A Simple  Event Marketing Plan We make a planning app, so of course, we're going to tell you that the first thing you need to do is some serious planning. But that's not just prejudice talking- you need to plan your marketing for your event as much as you plan for things like venue, speakers, and catering. Think of your event as if it is the core of an apple. All of that stuff that surrounds it is pretty important for the person consuming it. An apple with only a core is an event without a marketing plan. No one reaches for an apple core  just like  no one comes to an event without the marketing that brought them there. Marketing your event is the only way to get people to show up. #eventmarketing1. Start by asking broad questions. Let's start with a few questions that you and your team can ask to get the ideas flowing in your initial planning meeting. You should have the planning and marketing team present. Order the answers you collect based on the most important or the most likely: What's the story behind your event? What is the theme behind your event? Why are you holding the event? Who do you hope will come? Who do you think will really come? What is the value of this event for those that will come? Is this event more important to us than to our audience? What do you hope people will take with them when the event is over? Will this event make your attendees' lives better? How will you know if your event is a success? What is the measurement? What is the most wildly amazing success that could happen from this event? What kind of budget is there for each team to work with? There is a subtle thread running through these questions: Are you planning an event because you need it, or because your audience needs it? The latter is the best choice, but either might be a reality. Are you planning an event because you need it, or because your audience needs it?It's not enough to start your planning with the idea of "we're going to have a few speakers  and a good brunch" and call it good. You must start with a broad understanding of the goal of the event. It's hard to create fantastic event marketing around the choice of fruit at the buffet. 2. Confirm details and lay out a budget. The budget. Never a sexy thing for most of us. But, after you've gotten a better understanding of the event, you need to create a budget before doing anything else. The event planners have (hopefully) been hard at work lining up everything from venue to speakers to  giveaways. You should now have an idea of: Date and/or  time Location Speakers Event format Even if these kinds of details aren't fully locked down, the marketing team should have enough to  get started on their marketing plan. And a marketing plan starts with a budget. You must not  proceed without a budget. It's tempting to get wrapped up in the excitement of what content you'll create, but a budget needs to be in place first. Planning #eventmarketing without a budget is like planning an  event without speakers. It's not...You must  know how much your marketing team is able to spend before you can plan your marketing approach. Without a budget, you could end up dumping a lot of money on huge glossy banners  and leaving very little for  other kinds of content marketing that might work better with those who are attending. 3.  Create a dedicated website and social accounts for your event. Let's start with the one piece of content that your event should have no matter what: a dedicated website. Your event (especially one that is a recurring event) should have its own Web page. It's better to send people to a website solely for the event rather than a page buried elsewhere in your site. Content Marketing World, from Content Marketing Institute, has a website to market their event. You should have a simple website for your event, too. If you follow these tips, your site might even be better than Content Marketing World's. If you aren't able to do this, at least consider a landing page with a custom domain name pointing to it. According to Orbit Media's Andy Crestodina, this dedicated website should have: Copy. You'll need, of course, compelling copy describing the event. And that compelling copy, of course, needs to somehow  tell the vital details of when, where, and what. Curation. All of the pre-event content should be curated in one place. Collect the social feeds, or use an app like Twubs to pull together all of the Tweets with your event's hashtag(s). Make it easy for those who find your site to get involved promoting it on social media. Speakers. Images and bios of the speakers who will  be at the event. You could even post videos of brief interviews of the speakers if you really wanted your attendees to get a feel for what their message is. Registration. Prominent registration button, making it super easy to register. Social proof. You need a way to display social proof. In other words, if you are getting some social buzz surrounding your event, it should be displayed prominently on your site. In a way, it's a bit like testimonials for how awesome the event is going to be. Along with a dedicated website, you should also have dedicated social accounts. While it's fine if your brand tweets and publishes content about the event, you should have separate accounts, too. Why? Your audience can reach out to you with questions easier. You can follow people with the event social accounts and make that part of your publicity efforts. Your tweets and posts won't get lost in other brand messages in news feeds and on your profile pages. It is easier to curate pre-event social content because the content is all in one account. It's also easier to measure the success of your social media plan because there is only event-related content present. You get twice the exposure, once on your brand account, and another on your dedicated account. Create a dedicated website and social media accounts as part of your event marketing plan.Your event matters. Give it its own Web and social media properties. It deserves that much. 4.  Plan the 3  major points of attack with 2  types of event content. Your event content marketing plan has three major points of attack: pre-event, during the event, and post-event. The content you create for each of those points is slightly different. There are also two kinds of content marketing that surround an event: informative and buzz. Let's take a look. Informative event content marketing tells attendees what they need to know. This might include information on registration  and deadlines, or sharing informative blog posts. If you notice a common questions popping up from attendees, you can answer it. This isn't "sexy" content, but it is useful content, and it's the information people need to know. Buzz event content marketing is self-explanatory. It's all about building the buzz and excitement for the event. It helps increase word-of-mouth, and its goal is to get more people to register for the event. This might include hints and event surprises  or  giveaways of event schwag. If you've planned a hashtag or other community-generated content idea around your event, that content fits here. Both of these event content types can be used by the three major points of attack. Pre-event content marketing happens long before the event happens. You have to get this one right. Before the event happens, your content marketing must: Let your audience know about your event. Get them excited enough to register and tell others. Keep your audience updated on the event so they feel in the know. Help your audience remain excited about the event. It's tough to keep the energy level of people up, but your event content marketing really needs to do that. During the event, your content marketing takes on a kind of "live reporter" feel. You're keeping both the event attendees informed, as well as those who are following along back home. And, you are still keeping the buzz alive. Even though many of your followers might not have made it to the event, you're still building buzz for future events. It's important to post social content throughout the event featuring inspirational quotes from speakers, photos of the fun everyone is having, and so on. Post-event content marketing is the one most content marketers forget. We all need a bit of closure, especially if your event is going to happen repeatedly. This is your chance to get testimonials or collect social posts that are enthusiastic about  your event. Reach out to attendees on social media. Thank them for coming. Ask their opinions on the event. Post some buzz content from the event, and hint at the next event. Share downloads, videos, and helpful related content that both attendees and non-attendees find useful.

Quantitative and Analytical Techniques for Managers Coursework Essay

Quantitative and Analytical Techniques for Managers Coursework - Essay Example This indicates that some of the provinces may be very poor while others may be very rich although we still have to validate this when the data are transformed into gross regional product per capita. A standard deviation of 759,648.2 million yuan which is very close to the mean value of 892,031.93 million yuan. This indicates a very high variability. The high variability is also indicated by the high variance of 5,770,653,964 million yuan. From the perspective of the manager, the mean as measure of central tendency is very useful. However, the mean can mask a situation in which some of the provinces or cases have actually very high or very low variable values. The mode can be almost useless for ratio data but is very useful for nominal data or variables. The median is extremely useful to identify at what value the population is divided into 2 equal parts: half below the median while the other half is above the median. For instance, in the data above, the median is 609,110 million yuan versus the mean value of 892,031.93 million yuan or that the median is lower than the mean. This indicates that a few provinces with high values of the gross regional product are raising the mean to be above the median. Given a poverty figure, for example, we can determine through the median whether at least half of the population are below or above the poverty figure. Another option is to use a measure of living standard. A median above the living standard would indicate that at least half of the population are above the living standard. For ratio data, it is the belief of this writer that the using both the median and the mean simultaneously would be useful. However, for nominal variables, the identification of central tendency through the mode will the one useful. 1.2. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the gross regional product and gross capital is positive 0.97408077 versus the perfect correlation of positive 1.

Climate Change Cause and Effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Climate Change Cause and Effect - Essay Example â€Å"We have a false belief that we have to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment† (Schroeder, 2007). The earth’s natural abilities to filter out damaging elements such as CO2 and the less prevalent harmful gasses such as methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are being overwhelmed. The collective rainforests of the world act as a climatic sponge to store a great deal of the world’s rainwater. Trees in the rainforest recycle water drawn from the forest ground. This filtered water, combined with the moisture that evaporates from the leaves, is released back into the atmosphere to fall as rain elsewhere. If not for this enormous system, rivers, lakes and land masses would dry-up, thus loss of rainforest equals increasing droughts of increasing proportions. Disease, starvation and famine on a worldwide scale will be deforestation’s direct result. If immediate action is not taken to reverse the present trend of defore station, the immense Amazon rainforest will soon become a desert region not unlike the Sahara in Africa. Once this process is underway, the effects are irreversible. Studies have determined that the Amazon rainforest, even in its current state, could not withstand three years of drought conditions without beginning the irrevocable path to becoming the Amazon desert. This result, in and of itself, is tragic enough but the repercussions to the rest of the world would be as catastrophic. â€Å"Scientists say that this would spread drought into the northern hemisphere, including Britain, and could massively accelerate global warming with incalculable consequences, spinning out of control, a process that might end in the... This essay outlines the importance of coordinated global effort of the world countries towards solving the problem of climate change through adopting appropriate legislation. The economic consequence of doing nothing is far greater than solving the problem through legislation. New industries that supply solar, nuclear, wind and battery power will replace any jobs lost by the old pollution producing industries and likely produce more. The economy will be enhanced by pursuing alternate energy sources rather than destroyed. The earth’s natural abilities to filter out damaging elements such as CO2 and the less prevalent harmful gasses such as methane, chlorofluorocarbons and nitrous oxide are being overwhelmed. The collective rainforests of the world act as a climatic sponge to store a great deal of the world’s rainwater. Trees in the rainforest recycle water drawn from the forest ground. This filtered water, combined with the moisture that evaporates from the leaves, is released back into the atmosphere to fall as rain elsewhere. If not for this enormous system, rivers, lakes and land masses would dry-up, thus loss of rainforest equals increasing droughts of increasing proportions. Studies in the UK have found that warming could increase rainfall by more than 20 percent during winter by the 2080’s and decrease it by the same amount during summer months in the southern half of that country. This would cause severe droughts in some regions but areas such as East Anglia could very well be under water altogether.

Economic Impact Of The Development Of Airline Industry Essay Example for Free

Economic Impact Of The Development Of Airline Industry Essay Hardly many inventions can manage to change the way people live and also how they experience the world like the way inventing airplane has done. The airline industry offer air transport for passengers. The airlines companies own the airplanes or may lease them. Airlines Company differs in terms of capacity, some are smaller with one or two airplanes to transport mail and cargo, while other are big multinational companies with hundreds of aircrafts. Majority of airlines are privately owned, though some are government owned. Today, the air travel has grown to an extent that no one can imagine life without it. Air travelling as greatly reduced travelling time and opened up links all over the world. Economic Impact of the development of airline The air airline industry has played a major role in world economic growth; it has improved the mobility and facilitated world supply lines all over the world. The aviation industry not only serves as an economic tool for nations and cities, but also servers as a vital network for transport within the world. The industry creates jobs by providing them directly and also by creating opportunities in the travel and hotel industry. Aviation industry has continued to be critical in the world economy, in terms of creating these job opportunities, and the industry has employed thousands of employees in the whole world. And has the industry continue to grow more jobs are created. This leads to economic growth. Transport plays a major role in making sure that goods reach their destinations. The World Bank estimates that the airline industry contributes to a total of 5% economic growth in the world. Competition Competition in the industry can be traced back when most governments deregulated the industry I order allow competition among the industry to regulate fares. For many years now this resulted in low fares as the airline industry responded to customers needs. Most of the reduced fare also comes from new players on the market, and also from the big airlines themselves. With the growth of economy in many countries, more travellers are using the air, this id due to the fact that the fares have also been reducing gradually. In a report carried out in America by the senate, it was found out that competition has resulted into low fares, and from 1990 the traffic has gone up by over 33%, it was found out that the number of flights had also gone up to over 20%. This of course has a positive impact on economic growth. Competition in the industry has also lead to mergers as small companies fail to compete. This has improved the industry service delivery. It is important to note better service delivery has economic advantage. With the economic development being witnessed in many countries, the amount of travelling has gone up. Many people are travelling to transact their business. The high demand of air passengers has caused resource constraints, on airports and also on airways, especially during the peak travelling periods. Business community usually travels at these times and normally makes last minute bookings. However, main airlines have planned their networks to be able to meet the high rate flight requirement by the business passengers, though; these fares are expensive as the airlines need to cover cost of servicing high number flight. Nevertheless, airline competition and the way they price their tickets causes concerned. It has been noted that, with the emerging of low fare trends that have been occurring since 1996, when smaller airlines enter into this market with low fares, the major airlines drastically reduce their prices. And also avail a high number of low fare seats. This behaviour seems to be ill intended because it aims at repressing competition from the smaller airlines. Increase in fuel prices Oil and fuel prices have continuously increased for the past 10 years, for example, in 2001 the price per barrel was $20, yet in 2006 it had reached $75. The increase in price can be attributed to various such as, high demand of oil, collapse of Yukos Oil Company in Russia and political instability in the Middle East. This high increase in oil prices has affected the aviation industry. The increase in fuel prices has lead to reduction in the global trade. It is estimated that about 40% of goods traded on the world market are transported by the air, and cargo traffic is used to reflect economic growth. Fuel account for 20-30% of the total cost of operation expenses of the airline industry. Due to this high cost in oil the economy has suffered negatively. The microeconomic effect for those countries which import oil will be harsh, in the industry high prices is a big problem; the companies are forced to increase consumers’ fares to upset the fuel price increase, for example if fuel price reached 100$ per barrel, then a gallon of jet fuel will be more than 3$. This will imply that a passenger will have to pay 50$ more to travel than previous. This will result in reduction of passengers and for the case of cargo transporters it may lead to high reduction in demand of their services, which may spell down for the airline companies. The indirect impact on the airline industry caused by high fuel prices in the increase in airline products prices. The overall impact is reduction in international trade. As pointed out by the world trade organisation , increase in oil prices leads to low economic growth as it was observed in 2005. Terrorist threat Since the September 11 terrorist attack, the airline industry suffered so much, the industry experience a reduced number of passengers as many opted to use alternative means. The economic impact on the global level was immerse, has many countries experienced low foreign exchange due reduced business especially in tourism industry. The terrorist attack had a big effect on the aviation industry, and also on the economy. In America alone, more than 2 million passengers travel on air daily. Airline industry and tourism alone account for mote than 8% the world GDP. With the imminent threat of terrorism, the industry has undertaken different security measures. For example in America, the industry has to use over 11$ billion in security improvements. This costs at the end of the day have to be met by the passengers, thus, the fare in the industry have steadily gone up. This has reduced the volume of goods and passengers using the industry and negatively affected the economy. Any small distractions in the industry send shock waves in many other industries. Currently, the industry has experienced a trend by which they are weak economy, insecurity fear and other issues. This has led to reduced number of passengers flying. Even those passengers who are flying they are paying less because most of them are taking economy seats. This trend has resulted in decline of the growth of the industry. In decline in the industry usually result in reduction of economy growth of the world economy. After the September 11 many airline companies grounded their business due to security concerns this was so pronounced in America. The impact of the attack reverberated all over the world. It was estimated that the attack caused a reduction of 1% world economic growth. In this area of global economy the aviation industry all over the world suffered. The industry saw an increase in costs of airline insurance, increased expenses on security, and customer fear to travel using the air due to insecurity. This led to massive losses for the industry in the whole world. This was the worst disaster the industry had suffered in the past 50 years. In whole world more than 400,000 jobs were lost. Decline in the air travel has a direct consequence on number of business which includes tourism, travel agencies and entertainment spots, this is felt global. It is important to note that, in the continuous threat of terrorist, the world economy has been affected badly. The industry had to go through lean times and some companies had to shut down. Conclusion The airline industry is very important in economic development, the airline employees a lot of people directly and indirectly. The industry has developed steadily over the last 50 years, and has continuous grown. Competition, fuel increase and terrorist attack pose a serious challenge to the industry and the industry should come up with ways to controlling these effects to maintain profitable. However, the airline industry will continue to grow though, it will be faced with more challenges.

Essay --

Makeup Essay 2 The only reason that I missed my lab quiz was because I own a company named Loan Modification Relief Center. What we specialize in is saving clients from loosing their homes to foreclosure, sale dates and help put them in a better situation. On the day of the 2nd lab quiz, I had 3 clients that were about to loose their homes and I don’t pass that job on to anyone else simply because I have that old school mentality that if I don’t do it myself it wont get done right. Since my name is on the line with it being my company I am not willing to tarnish my name so I had to be there to make sure it happen correctly. I’m pleased to say that the time I missed away from school was not wasted on a lazy day or a personal day or just a day off. I was able to postpone the sale dates for all three clients homes. In all honesty I have straight For future reference I assure you that I will not be missing anymore classes, I have done my best to implement an alternative solutions to prevent this situation form occurring again in the future. A’s and I take my schooling very seri...

Reflecting on the Sarel Marais Homestead

REFLECTING ON THE SAREL MARAIS HOMESTEADWHO PUT IT UP? By the early 1800’s, there were 1000s of Boer husbandmans who had settled on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony. They became progressively dissatisfied with the British Colonial Government. The Boers were displeased, among other things, with the continual intervention in their personal businesss by the Colonial Government, the on-going foraies on their farms by the Xhosa and the long hold in being granted self-determination ( Britz, 2012 ) . This resulted an organized out-migration of 1000s of Afrikaner frontier husbandmans and their laborers from the Crown Colony of the Cape to the northern and north-eastern sectors of southern Africa order to get away the Imperial subjugation and the accordingly colony of the country North of the Vaal River, subsequently to go the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek ( ZAR ) ( Fraser, 1986 ) . Sarel Marais and his household were one the first households who settled in the Transvaal. Sarel bought the western part of the farm Rietvlei where he constructed the household homestead ( Britz, 2012 ) . WHAT WERE THEY CONCERNED ABOUT? When emigres relocate themselves they have three beginnings for their edifice civilization, viz. tradition, invention and adoption. The Voortrekkers, born on African dirt, trekked from the Eastern Cape, an country with a peculiar edifice civilization, into the backwoods occupied by autochthonal pastoralists with their ain traditions. Although the Trekkers maintained trade links with the South, the terrain was rugged and transport hard. They hence resorted in utilizing locally available stuffs wherever possible. This in bend influenced the techniques of building ( Fisher, et al. , 1998 ) . WHAT MATERIAL FACTORS INFLUENCED IT ( AVAILABILITY/PRESTIGE/ECONOMY ) ? The part of the Rietvlei farm where the Marais’ settled had ample graze, fertile dirt, plentifulness of H2O and an copiousness of game. Sarel constructed the farm house from bricks made from clay that was found locally, on the Bankss of the Bloubosspruit, which is one of basic edifice stuffs Transvaal ( Britz, 2012 ) . The clay was prepared by wetting, kneading, ( where droppings and husk might be added ) and adding limestone. The clay mixture was so moulded and dried to organize clay bricks ( Fisher, et al. , 1998 ) . The window gaps were constructed with wooden headers and were ab initio covered with a piece of cheesecloth dipped in lubricating oil to maintain out dust and to give a grade of privateness to the occupant. This was a consequence of the unobtainability of glass as it broke on the journey by waggon inland from the seashore. Shutters were subsequently added when the abode became more lasting. The floor made from clay mixed with cow blood with a thin bed of cow droppings to protect it. Such a floor was besides frequently adorned with Prunus persica cavities that were laid in the wet clay is pressed and polished with aloe juice or wax ( Fisher, et al. , 1998 ) . The roof was thatched which so as now was tied in packages with the grass seeds topmost. Once fixed by sewing with rawhide lashs to the laths beneath, the packages would be beaten parallel to the pitch of the roof with a â€Å"dekspaan† or thatching spade or jostle. This technique has later became prevailing and is known amongst some black people as â€Å" Boer † ( or sometimes â€Å"Afrikaner † ) thatching ( Fisher, et al. , 1998 ) . The thatch was supported by yellowwood beams and balks. This was an indicant that the Marais’ were comparatively affluent as the yellow had to be ordered and delivered from Cape Town by waggon. WHAT SORT OF DESIGN MERIT YOU THINK IT HAS ( INNOVATION/BEAUTY/UTILITY ) ? What are of import about these colonies is to retrieve that prior to populating in proper â€Å" homes † or â€Å" houses † , the Trekkers lived in ox waggons that truly merely protected their most intimate properties and offered privateness for kiping and none for life indoors. These edifices were stripped of all extravagancy reflecting the innovator settler’s existent demands for shelter and protection ( Meiring, 1985 ) . We should non try to construe the common edifice traditions of the seminomadic and first stage innovator colonist from a modem position. Besides that these persons had a vision of a big home or â€Å" house † and that they pursued this vision every bit shortly as they settled on a piece of land. In many cases it is clear that constructing a â€Å" house † with many suites functioning all or at least the majority of the demands of the household at one time was non a precedence. Needs were served as they arose, depending on the blessing of the male parent or patriarch of the house ( Fisher, et al. , 1998 ) . WHAT THE IMPORTANT FEATURES DOES THE Building HAVE? What can be farther deducted from the above observations is that to the innovator colonists, â€Å" unfastened infinite † was more of import than â€Å" closed infinite † . Distance between activities and closed infinites were more of import than constellating and the economic linking of infinites. These spacial constructs lie at the bosom of the early common architecture in rural Transvaal ( Fisher, et al. , 1998 ) . WHAT OTHER BUILDINGS AND SYSTEMS IT RELATES TO? In the Transvaal land term of office was to follow the same system of issue as in the Cape. Every original Trekker of 16 old ages of age and older could choose a vacant piece of land and petition that it be surveyed and registered in his name. A fixed quitrent was so paid on every farm ( Fraser, 1986 ) . Prior to 1852 fledglings to the part were entitled to two farms: one either residential or harvest farm and the other a bushveld farm for winter graze. Surveying of farming area besides followed the tested and trusted old Cape system. A horseback drive of halt-an-hour would be taken at a walk from a cardinal point ( normally a perennial H2O beginning where the farmstead would be located ) in each of the four central waies. Such a farm was non to transcend 3000 morgen* although larger farms could buy extra land ( Fisher, et al. , 1998 ) . * A South African unit of country ( now archaic in the Nederlands ) , equal to approximately two estates or 0.8 hectare. From the Dutch morgen ( forenoon ) therefore the land which could be ploughed by a span of cattle in a forenoon ( Fisher, et al. , 1998 ) WHAT SORT OF CONDITION IT IS IN TODAY? The homestead’s ruins can be found in the southern portion of Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve.BibliographyBritz, R. , 2012.Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve Assosiation.[ Online ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.klipriviersberg.org.za/index.php/history-overview/sarel-marais-story [ Accessed 14 March 2014 ] . Fisher, R. , lupus erythematosus Roux, S. & A ; Mare , E. , 1998.Architecture of the Transvaal.Capital of south africas: UNISA. Fraser, M. , 1986.Johannesburg Pioneer Journals 1888-1909.Cape Town: Van Riebeeck Society. Giliomee, H. , 2003.The Afrikaners: Biography of a People.Cape Town: Tafleburg Publishers Limited. Meiring, H. , 1985.Early Johannesburg ; Its Buildings and its Peoples.Cape Town: Human & A ; Rousseau. Montgomery, C. , 2013.Heritage Treasures of the South.[ Online ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.heritageportal.co.za/article/heritage-treasures-south [ Accessed 15 March 2014 ] .

How do the brain and eyes jointly process information?

Introduction The intricacies of the human eye enable us to interpret light and distinguish colour to produce vision. It is, however, the complexity of the processing in the visual pathway from eye to brain along which this information is interpreted and manifested that allows us to create a representation of the surrounding world, otherwise known as visual perception (Gibson, 1950). Whilst vision begins with the eye and ends with the brain, the way these organs work together and the relative influence each has on our perception is fundamental to producing what we see. Light is first refracted onto the cornea of the eye before passing to the pupil and lens. An image is then projected onto the retina, resulting in the production of ganglion cells specialised to describe depth, colour, shape, motion, and light intensity (Nelson, 2007). Nerve spikes from the ganglion cells containing this information transmit to the brain’s optic nerve, by which visual information is passed for interpretation in the visual cortex. The right and left visual cortices comprise part of the occipital lobe of the brain, both receiving information from the opposite hemisphere’s visual field. The estimated 140 million neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) (Lueba & Kraftsik, 1994) fire when visual stimuli appear within their receptive field, and these fields are tuned to receive stimuli of specific orientations and colours (Kandal et al., 2000). The receptive fields of neurons in more complex visual processing areas are able to detect more intricate stimuli such as faces (Kanwisher, McDermott & Chun, 1997) or direction (Allman et al. 1984). The five identified visual areas (V1-V5) are interconnected with varying strengths, allowing information to be projected forward from one to another and feedback to be given. As the visual information passes through this hierarchy, it is proposed that is processed by two pathways of neural representation. These pathways, named the dorsal and ventral streams, are hypothesi sed to deal with spatial attention and the recognition and perception of visual stimuli respectively, and involve the passing of visual information and representation further into the brain integrating it with awareness, attention, and memory functions (Ungerleider & Mishkin, 1982). The process of visual perception, as the eye’s sensory input is interpreted throughout the brain enables us to perceive and construct our own visual world. Gibson (1966) proposed a direct theory of perception, affording the richness of the sensory input with the construction of the perceived visual outcome. He claimed that a variety of environmental cues, or affordances, aid the interpretation of the visual scene. These include brightness, texture gradient, relative size, and superimposition (where one object blocks another). Gibson believed that when combined with invariants (constancies within the environment ie. parallel lines appearing to converge toward a horizon) and optic flow (the pattern of light movement within a visual scene) this was enough to enable the perceiver to orient themselves and the surrounding environment. There are, however, complexities to Gibson’s bottom-up theory of visual processing. It may be overly simplistic to underestimate the role of a top-down influence from the brain. Gibson’s theory does not account for times when the visual system is fooled, or becomes subject to an illusion. Rubin’s Vase (Rubin, 1915) is a classic example of how the human visual system is subject to ambiguity, where one single visual stimulus can be perceived as two distinct images. If the visual system directly processes light into an image, it would follow that a single visual input would lead to a universal and singular output. However, the existence of ambiguity in the perception of a visual stimulus suggests there may be times when the brain cannot decide as to what representation to assign to the visual input. Further questions are raised when looking at the influence of context, and how this can lead us to misinterpret visual stimuli. The Ebbinghaus Illusion, demonstrates perceptual distortion, highlighting the role of contextual cues, where a circle surrounded by large circles is judged as smaller than the same circle surrounded by small circles (Obonai, 1954). This is suggestive of a higher-level process in which the brain applies context relevant logic to the interpretation of a visual stimuli. Additionally, experience provides strong influence over the processing of visual information. ‘Impossible illusions‘ such as Escher’s Waterfall, and the Hollow Face Illusion (Gregory, 1997) exploit concepts of experiential perceptual learning, such as knowledge that adjacent edges must join, and human faces are always convex. These illusions demonstrate how the brain aims to perceive coherence in 3D objects to make sense out of its visual environment, creating a captivating paradox between what we know and what we are actually seeing. Visual perception can be ambiguous, distorted, paradoxical, and even fictitious (Gregory, 1980). It appears to be influenced by context, experience, and expectation, a concept asserted by Richard Gregory (1970) who theorised perception as a top-down process. Deduced from observations of when the human visual system makes errors, Gregory proposed that the brain constructs a visual hypothesis from information processed by the eye based on former experience and knowledge. If the top-down, constructivist theory holds true, there are implications for the constancy of percepts between individuals. We all have idiosynchratic knowledge and experience. Do differences in internal representation lead individuals to perceive visual stimuli differently from each otherAdditionally, what is to be said for the perception of those that have no knowledge or experienceDoherty et al. (2010) observed an absence of suceptibility to the Ebbinghaus illusion in a number of children under seven years of age, perhaps suggestive that experience and knowledge does have an influence on visual information processing. Without the knowledge base, the children were not affected by the contextual cues. MacLeod (2007) proposes that top-down theories are based on times when visual conditions are poor, and bottom-up theories are founded in ideal viewing conditions; neither of which is an all encompassing explanation of perception. Recent research highlights the interaction of both constructivist and direct processes (MacLeod, 2007), with the proposal that when bottom-up, sensory information is abundant there is less input from contextual hypotheses, and when there is an absence of stimulus information, the brain draws on its prior knowledge and experience to comprehend the input (Ramachandran, 1994). It becomes apparent that the study of human perception and how it is influenced by not only the anatomical structure of the visual pathway, but also psychological components such as experience and knowledge will enable us to further understand how the eyes and the brain interact to process visual information. References: Allman, J., Miezin, F., McGuinness, E. (1985) ‘Direction- and velocity-specific responses from beyond the classical receptive field in the middle temporal visual area (MT)† Perception, 14(2), pp. 105 – 126. Doherty, M., Campbell, N., Hiromi, T., and Phillips, W. (2010) ‘The Ebbinghaus illusion deceives adults but not young children’, Developmental Science, 13(5), pp. 714-721. Gibson, J. (1950). The perception of the visual world. Oxford: Houghton Mifflin. Gibson, J. (1966). The senses considered as perceptual systems. Oxford: Houghton Mifflin. Gregory, R. (1970). The Intelligent Eye. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Gregory RL. (1980) ‘Perceptions as hypotheses’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 290(B), pp. 181-197. Gregory, R. (1997) ‘Knowledge in perception and illusion’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, vol. 352, pp. 1121–1128. Kandal, E., Schwartz,J., and Jessell, T. (2000). Principles of Neural Science. 4th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Health Professions Division. Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J., and Chun, M. (1997) ‘The fusiform face area: a module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face perception’, Journal of Neuroscience, 17, pp. 4302-4311. Leuba, G., and Kraftsik, R. (1994) ‘Changes in volume, surface estimate, three-dimensional shape and total number of neurons of the human primary visual cortex from midgestation until old age’, Anatomy of Embryology, 190, pp.351-366. McLeod, S. (2007). Simply Psychology. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 February 2012]. Nelson, R. (2007) Visual responses of ganglion cells. In: H. Kolb, E. Fernandez, and R. Nelson (eds.), The Organisation of the Retina and Visual System. Salt Lake City (UT): University of Utah Health Sciences Centre. Obonai, T., (1954) ‘Induction effects in estimates of extent’, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 47, pp. 57-60. Ramachandran, V. (1994). In: R. Gregory, and J. Harris, (eds.) The Artful Eye. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 249–267. Rubin, E. (1915). Synsoplevede Figurer: Studier i psykologisk Analyse. Forste Del’ [Visually experienced figures: Studies in psychological analysis. Part one]. Copenhagen and Christiania: Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag. Ungerleider, L., and Mishkin, M. (1982). Two cortical visual systems. In: D. Ingle, M. Goodale, and R. Mansfield, (eds). Analysis of Visual Behavior. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp. 549–586.

11 Things You Should Put in a College Roommate Agreement

11 Things You Should Put in a College Roommate Agreement When you first move in with your college roommate (either in an apartment or in the residence halls), you may want- or have- to set up a roommate agreement or roommate contract. While not usually legally binding, roommate agreements are an excellent way to make sure that you and your college roommate are on the same page about the everyday details of living with someone else. And while they may seem like a pain to put together, roommate agreements are a smart idea. There are a variety of ways you can approach a roommate agreement. Many agreements come as a template and can provide you with general areas and suggested rules. In general, though, you should cover the following topics: 1. Sharing Is it okay to use each others stuff? If so, are some things off limits? What happens if something breaks? If both people are using the same printer, for example, who pays to replace the paper? The ink cartridges? The batteries? What happens if something gets broken or stolen on somebody elses watch? 2. Schedules What are your schedules like? Is one person a night owl? An early bird? And whats the process for someones schedule, especially in the morning and late at night? Do you want some quiet time when you get done with class after lunch? Or time to hang out with friends in the room? 3. Study Time When does each person study? How do they study? (Quietly? With music? With the TV on?) Alone? With headphones? With people in the room? What does each person need from the other to make sure they get adequate study time and can keep up in their classes? 4. Private Time Its college. You and/or your roommate might very well be dating someone - and want time alone with him or her. Whats the deal with getting time alone in the room? How much is OK? How much advance notice do you need to give a roommate? Are there times when its not OK (like finals week)? How will you let each other know when not to come in? 5. Borrowing, Taking or Replacing Something   Borrowing or taking something from your roommate is practically inevitable over the course of the year. So who pays for it? Are there rules about borrowing/taking? For example, its OK to eat some of my food as long as you leave some for me.   6. Space This may sound silly, but think - and talk - about space. Do you want your roommates friends hanging out on your bed while youre gone? At your desk? Do you like your space neat? Clean? Messy? How would you feel if your roommates clothes started sneaking over to your side of the room? 7. Visitors When is it OK to have people hanging out in the room? People staying over? How many people are OK? Think about when it would or wouldnt be all right to have others in your room. For example, is a quiet study group OK late at night, or should no one be allowed in the room after, say 1 a.m.? 8. Noise Do both of you like the default to be quiet in the room? Music? The TV on as background? What do you need to study? What do you need to sleep? Can someone use earplugs or headphones? How much noise is too much? 9. Food Can you eat each others food? Will you share? If so, who buys what? What happens if someone eats the last of an item? Who cleans it? What kinds of food are OK to keep in the room? 10. Alcohol   If youre under 21 and get caught with alcohol in the room, there can be problems. How do you feel about keeping alcohol in the room? If youre over 21, who buys the alcohol? When, if at all, is it OK to have people drinking in the room? 11. Clothes This ones a biggie for women. Can you borrow each others clothes? How much notice is needed? Who has to wash them? How often can you borrow things? What kinds of things cant be borrowed? If you and your roommate cant quite figure out where to get started or how to come to an agreement on many of these things, dont be afraid to talk to your RA or someone else to make sure things are clear from the beginning. Roommate relationships can be one of the highlights of college, so starting strongly from the beginning is a great way to eliminate problems in the future.