Poetry Essay Essay

Brian Patten has produced a great poem called â€Å"The River Story†, which is about a river and how human pollution has affected it over years and years, plus he describes what it was like before and how the river was living. Brian Patten wrote this poem in a huge amount of detail and specifically to show how a river can be affected from human population and the aftermath from the devastation and destruction of the humans to the river. Brian Patten’s purpose for â€Å"The River Story† is mainly about describing the place that the river is situated and also to evoke emotions because Patten wants the reader to feel sorry and sympathy for harshly damaged river. The theme is developed throughout the poem by the way Patten has described the â€Å"river as wearing lily – pads like medals† and â€Å"kingfishes were his secret agents†, these quotes all come under how happy the river is and what a great life it is living. As the poem continues it starts to introduce humans and how they vomit their poisons into him and clogged with garbage and junk. These quotes represent the damage that the humans had caused and how the river is slowly dying and becoming close to nothing but dried up dirt. The structure of the poem has a huge influence on the reader. The poem is has only one stanza with 35 lines, no chorus and the lines varied in length. Patten has put in a few rhymes but there is no rhyme scheme, which indicates how the river has not got a boring life, or dose not have scheduled daily life.

Jaguar Land Rover Essay

Jaguar and Land Rover are two of the world’s most iconic luxury brands. Every day they’re reaching more customers, and their network of well over 2,000 dealerships continues to expand around the world. As their global marketplace extends further, they need to provide more customers than ever before with an unrivalled experience. Their fast paced environment is one where you can swim free in a pool full of sharks. You’ll be instrumental in protecting their heritage and unique brand values, but also making sure that their brands continue to grow, develop and seize attention worldwide. The Jaguar Cars and Land Rover businesses were first united under a single entity by Ford Motor Company in 2002. In 2006 Ford purchased the Rover brand name and logos from BMW for around  £6 million. This reunited the Rover and Land Rover brands for the first time since the Rover group was broken up by BMW in 2000 Their advertisement skills are very top notch. They show their vehicle in a tough environment to show the pure strength of the vehicle and show that it is capable of any task. They make the Jaguar Land Rover seem fast and dynamic with certain shots to persuade the viewer to buy such a beautiful vehicle. Jaguar Land rover is owned by Dr Ralf Speth. He is the chief director of the company. Sales – In the year ended 31 March 2011, Jaguar Land Rover sold a total of 240,905 units, of which 189,087 were Land Rovers and 51,818 were Jaguars. In that period 24.1% of sales were in the United Kingdom, 22% in Europe (excluding the United Kingdom and Russia), 20.9% in North America, 12% in China, 4.9% in Russia and 15.9% in the rest of the world. In the year ended 31 March 2012, Jaguar Land Rover sold a total of 305,859 units, of which 251,632 were Land Rovers and 54,227 were Jaguar In that period 22% of sales were in Europe (excluding the United Kingdom and Russia), 19.6% in the United Kingdom, 19.0% in North America, 16.7% in China, 4.2% in Asia Pacific (excluding China) and 19.0% in the rest of the  world

Understanding the Effective Primary Science Learning

In my experience the enthusiasm and appetency for acquisition of kids in their primary old ages is matchless which makes primary learning a truly fulfilling and honoring experience. However, high-quality instruction and good thought-out course of study development in these early old ages is important to kids ‘s success. With mentions to my ain experiences and through a critical analysis of the available literature, this paper will discourse how possible course of study development will heighten effectual primary learning with a specific focal point on the topic of scientific discipline. It will besides discourse some of the troubles in interpreting these constructs into pattern and see ways to get the better of these obstructions. Bettering a immature individuals ‘ apprehension of scientific discipline is cardinal to the authorities ‘s committedness to promote more kids to analyze scientific discipline. A good scientific discipline instruction is non merely of import for scientific literacy subsequently in life but by go oning to analyze scientific discipline throughout school, students open themselves up to a universe of possibilities ( Teachernet, 2009:1 ) . This committedness was ab initio exemplified through the debut of a National Curriculum in 1989 which asserted that compulsory scientific discipline instruction be brought into the primary sectors in England and Wales for the first clip. Science was placed alongside English and Mathematics in what became known as ‘the nucleus ‘ ( Sharp, J et Al. 2009:247 ) . However, from the beginning, it became clear that many schools had troubles in presenting the National Curriculum efficaciously. The course of study was viewed as excessively normative and overladen and hindered instructors ‘ ability to be originative and give adequate attending to the demands of kids with larning troubles. Assessment processs were besides debatable with a figure of instructors objecting to the National Curriculum trials ( DCSF, 2009:28 ) . To rectify the jobs associated with the National Curriculum there have been several alterations and reappraisals of it since its initial execution. For illustration, Sir Jim Rose ( Alexander and Flutter, 2009:3 ) was invited to set about an ‘Independent reappraisal of the primary course of study ‘ with a position to doing some recommendations which will inform the new primary course of study to be introduced from September 2011. Indeed, a figure of writers have proffered suggestions for course of study development, the comparative virtues of which will be discussed in the undermentioned paragraphs. Harmonizing to the Rose Review ( DCSF, 2009:9 ) the course of study that primary kids are taught must let them to bask childhood and develop the indispensable accomplishments and cognition which are the foundations for secondary instruction and ulterior life. To accomplish this, the new course of study must be informed by an apprehension of the meshing ways in which kids learn – physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and spiritually between the ages of 5 and 11. In add-on, a well-planned, dynamic course of study acknowledges that primary kids â€Å" love to be challenged and engaged in practical activities ; and they readily empathise with others through working together and through experiences in humanistic disciplines, literature, spiritual instruction and much else. Primary kids must non merely larn what to analyze, they must besides larn how to analyze, and therefore go confident, self-restraining persons † . Although the topic of scientific discipline ( and most other topics ) has antecedently been content-driven, in position of the above paragraph it is possibly non surprising that recent course of study developments seem to be embracing a more holistic attack equilibrating ‘content ‘ with ‘process ‘ and concentrating on accomplishments development every bit good as the acquisition of cognition. This recent development is likely to hold been influenced by instructors concern that because the bing course of study has so much prescribed content they do non hold clip to learn it in deepness, or for kids to consolidate their acquisition. Consequently, a cardinal demand of this reappraisal is to cut down overload by â€Å" reexamining the current programmes of survey so that schools have greater flexibleness to run into students ‘ single demands and construct on their anterior acquisition † ( DCSF, 2009:10 ) . A greater focal point on ‘process ‘ enables kids to go more involved in hands-on activity and practical work and encourages kids to research their ain and others ‘ thoughts. Concept function, group work, utilizing computing machine plans, function drama, field work and authorship are besides of import vehicles for assisting kids develop their ain thoughts ( Wynne, 1999:14 ) . Indeed, promoting echt collaborative group activity is of import to accomplishing the sort of interchange that encourages thoughts ( Barnes, 1976, cited in Wynne, 1999:58 ) . Harmonizing to Barnes ( 1976:31 ) â€Å" Talk and authorship provide agencies by which kids are able to reflect upon the bases upon which they are construing world and thereby change them † . Henderson ( 1994, cited in Wynne, 1999:58 ) has suggested several schemes for advancing group coaction and category treatment, including: groups researching a subject and showing their findings ; groups be aftering an probe and sharing their thoughts. Another recommendation made by the Rose Review ( DCSF, 2009:46 ) can enable greater flexibleness for instructors, increase enjoyment and better acquisition development for students. Harmonizing to Ofsted and the QCA study ( DCSF, 2009:12 ) some of the most effectual acquisition occurs when connexions are made between topics. This is supported by Millar and Osborne ( 1998, cited in Sharp and Grace, 2004:313 ) who assert that uranology for illustration, can supply the ‘explanatory narratives ‘ that integrated whole sets of science-related every bit good as modern-day and historical instance surveies, and these narratives provide a cross-curricular tool for doing those constructs more memorable. A little rural Shropshire primary school is a specific illustration of successful cross-curricular activity in schools. In this school the environment was often used for a broad scope of out-of-door chases, such as field surveies of home grounds, forestry direction, and the landscape which brought together elements of geographics, scientific discipline and history ( DCSF, 2009:42 ) . My school excessively uses the out-of-doorss creatively for turning and analyzing workss and this has proved to be a really gratifying and successful acquisition experience for students. Cassop Primary School ( DCSF, 2009:48 ) is besides an first-class illustration of a school which has been able to unite topics to the enjoyment and advancement of students and lend significantly to the environment. The school is the first wind-powered school in the UK and its environmental programme has helped to heighten acquisition in scientific discipline and engineering and environmental apprehension so that â€Å" students are able to explicate clearly the scientific discipline underpinning the engineering, while as a focal point for larning they develop accomplishments in question, concluding and creativeness † . This enables kids to set up good attitudes to larning ( DCSF, 2009:49 ) and facilitates the ability to larn non merely what to analyze, but besides how to analyze as portion of a rewarding procedure. Another recommendation is to utilize drama in a productive and meaningful manner to heighten kids ‘s cognition of scientific discipline. The Rose reappraisal received many petitions from parents to supply more chances for exploratory, well-structured drama. Based on strong grounds, the interim study highlighted the importance of larning through drama for immature kids and proffered that the intents of drama in advancing acquisition should be made expressed and chances made to carry through them in the primary course of study ( DCSF, 2009:93 ) . It is of import to observe that these schemes are improbable to be implemented efficaciously without the full engagement of parents themselves. The Rose Review ( DCSF, 2009:17 ) asserts that kids thrive best when parenting, the course of study and teaching method are all of high quality and has observed a figure of illustrations of instructors and parents partaking in informal treatment about kids. The Cambridge Review ( Alexander and Flutter, 2009:20 ) besides recommends that kids themselves should hold a say in course of study design and planning. Lambeth Children and Young People ‘s Services suggested that the course of study needs to promote a more meaningful and relevant course of study, including our apprehension of how kids learn, and inquiring for their position and input in design. Gilbert et Al. ( 1982, cited in Sharp and Grace, 2004:313 ) support this position and assert that serious consideration should be devoted to understanding kids ‘s involvement and motive in the different content countries of scientific discipline. So far, this assignment has explored some of the schemes recommended by authorities and their part to the acquisition and development of kids through scientific discipline. However, there are a figure of obstructions within the instruction system which can smother the passage from policy to pattern and these will be discussed in the undermentioned paragraphs. Harmonizing to Roden ( 2000:31 ) ten old ages on from the execution of the National Curriculum there does look to hold been some important betterments. Children are accomplishing expected criterions of scientific discipline, as measured by public presentations on SAT ‘s trials and teacher appraisal at the terminal of Key Stage 2. However, in 2009, England has a statutory National Curriculum for the primary stage with non-statutory elements, which combines three nucleus topics, two of which ( mathematics and English ) are capable to separate agreements in chase of the ‘standards ‘ docket and take up half of the available instruction clip in structured lessons. The other seven statutory foundation topics and three non-statutory foundation topics are expected to be accommodated for during the other half of available instruction clip ( Alexander and Flutter, 2009:5, 6 ) . In contrast to daily literacy and numeracy lessons speaking half of the available instruction clip, NAIGS estimated that clip devoted to scientific survey now equated to merely 1.5 hours a hebdomad at Key Stages 1 and merely 2 hours at KS2. This instruction tended to be limited to afternoon slots with small learning support ( Alexander and Flutter, 2009:30 ) . Therefore, although the increased focal point on cross-curricular activiti es may let instructors to pass more clip on scientific chases within a tight timeframe, it can be really hard to guarantee that kids are provided with a good balance of both ‘process ‘ and ‘content ‘ oriented work particularly given the increased focal point on SATs.. Indeed, Hollins and Whitby ( 1998, cited in Roden, 2000:34 ) point out that although ‘process ‘ and ‘content ‘ are supposed to be given equal weighting, recent statutory educational duties have encouraged the usage of didactic methods of learning to the hurt of question acquisition which reduces chances for kids to widen their apprehension. Appraisal at Key Stage 1 and KS2 relies to a great extent on instructor appraisal which holds equal position with pronounced Standards Attainment Tests ( SATs ) . The focal point within SATs requires callback of factual information which has led to ‘teaching to the trials ‘ ( Roden, 2000:34 ) and I know I have been guilty of holding done the same thing myself because kids merely would non make good in trials otherwise. Another concern is the deficiency of assurance that primary instructors frequently have in learning scientific subjects. In a national study of 514 primary instructors in Scotland primary instructors were less confident about learning scientific discipline than about all other course of study countries and felt that their ain apprehension was non sufficient plenty to promote conceptual development in students ( Holroyd, 1996:323 ) . Newton and Newton ( 2009:45 ) , in their survey of 16 concluding twelvemonth pupils on a degree class taking to measure up instructor position in the UK besides found that constructs of school scientific discipline lessons were narrow, focused on chiefly practical probes of affair of fact, and included misconceptions. The analysis so far, has shown that although there are a figure of possible course of study developments which could lend to the academic development of the kid and heighten their enjoyment of acquisition, the limited sum of clip allowed for learning scientific discipline, the force per unit area to accomplish high criterions in assessment trials, and the deficiency of assurance and cognition of scientific topics characterised by some instructors, can impede the passage from policy to pattern. However, there are some schemes that can be implemented in order to get down to get the better of the challenges encountered by primary scientific discipline instructors and these will be explored in the undermentioned paragraphs. Harmonizing to Wilson et Al. ( 2004:20 ) the impression that a more originative and ambitious attack will ensue in greater accomplishment in SATs was the footing of an Oxford Brookes University undertaking. It was felt that giving kids chances to build their ain apprehension would increase their enthusiasm for scientific discipline and assist them prosecute in the scientific procedure. This has clear resonance with ‘Excellence and Enjoyment ‘ ( DfES, 2003:1 ) a scheme for primary schools which opens with the words: â€Å" Children learn better when they are excited and engagedaˆÂ ¦.when there is joy in what they are making, they learn to love acquisition † . The undertaking involved 16 schools and two key instructors within each school. The cardinal countries that the undertaking focused on were: More focussed recording by the kids ; increased clip spent in treatment and argument of scientific thoughts ; more chances for practical probe ; and an increased accent on developing kids ‘s higher order thought ( Wilson et al. 2004:21 ) . The more focussed recording has released clip in lessons for making scientific discipline and treatment of the large thoughts which leads to further development of scientific cognition and accomplishments. In ‘Challenges in primary scientific discipline ‘ ( Coates and Wilson, 2003, cited in Wilson et Al. 2004:21 ) a short ‘bright thoughts ‘ slot into primary scientific discipline lessons is suggested. Promoting the kids to ‘think, brace and so portion ‘ for this slot encourages them to take clip to believe and improves deepnesss to their replies. As a consequence of the undertakings recommendations, 13 of the 16 schools showed a important addition in the per centum of kids accomplishing degree 5. Nationally, the per centum of kids achieving degree 5 in 2003 increased by 3 per cent, but 11 of the participating schools showed an addition much greater than this ( Wilson et al. 2004:21 ) . In decision, this assignment has critically assessed the available literature on possible course of study development for the sweetening of kids ‘s acquisition in primary scientific discipline. Recent reappraisals have recommended that primary scientific discipline learning be less content-led and more process-driven, advance the advantages of cross-curricular instruction and promote greater flexibleness in ‘what ‘ and ‘how ‘ scientific discipline is taught. There are a figure of illustrations to exemplify the effectivity of these attacks in primary schools. However, there are besides a figure of troubles associated with seeking to practically implement these schemes in an educational environment whereby many instructors lack the assurance and accomplishments to learn scientific discipline efficaciously, which still allocates limited clip for the instruction of scientific discipline and puts force per unit area on instructors to guarantee that students à ¢â‚¬Ëœ perform good in content-driven appraisal trials. The Oxford Brookes Project does propose some ways for scientific discipline instructors to believe creatively in this comparatively constricted environment and these have proved successful at developing the ‘whole ‘ kid and bettering academic attainment. However, such efforts are likely to stay bit-by-bit unless the position of scientific discipline is raised to be that of English and Mathematics ; clip is ring-fenced to supply adequate chance for practical work ; assessment trials place greater accent on appraisal accomplishments ; and more preparation is made available for instructors to better their scientific cognition and assurance.

Industrial tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Industrial tourism - Essay Example One of the things that Abbey hates most about modernity is the construction of highways and access roads through or into wildernesses and national parks, whether it is to connect distant places or to make them more accessible. According to him, the roads and highways reduce the â€Å"old magic† of real, genuine amusement that comes from using less-motorized means to explore the wild such as walking on foot or using bicycles. He strongly accuses the notion that the purpose of the roads is to enhance accessibility so that more people can experience nature in lesser time. To him, accessibility is just a curtain to blind the people of modernity’s real intention, which to him is making money. His argument is that no place is inaccessible if one is willing to, and that accessibility does not make sense since people have been too extreme regions of the world unaided by heavy motorized mechanisms. â€Å"What does accessibility mean? ...even Mount McKinley, even Everest, have b een summoned by men on foot †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Abbey 47). The second reason why Abbey is against modernity is that whatever it claims to be doing for the people is not true, claiming that the industrialization of tourism is merely for monetary gain. From his perspective, the motels, automotive industries, oil corporations, gas retailers, road constructors, and all other parties involved in the modernization of nature are all in the industry to make money, and that they care for neither the people nor nature itself. In addition, he reveals that in addition to being big business, it is a well-organized cartel inspired by the politics of the land. As he puts it, â€Å"Industrial Tourism is a big business. It means money †¦ and are represented in Congress with strength far greater than is justified†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (48). Abbey offers some corrective measures to change the attitudes of people from the ones already stained by modernization. For one, people should not take automobiles to n ational parks or in the wilderness. Just like they are not taking them to churches for their being â€Å"holy† so be it with parks as they are also holy. He suggests that people should be more natural: use their feet or enter the parks on animal backs. Second, he recommends that further construction of roads in the parks should stop, and the already existing roads to remain for use by those on bicycles. Lastly, he says that park rangers should do their work; to go out into the parks to guard and guide visitors, and not sit behind desks in booths selling tickets. Abbey adds that these measures will bring back the good old days of hiking, camping, and enjoying the wild in its natural form, not to mention that it is cheaper than using motorized assistance. He argues quite sensibly. If one forecasts the future, in the days when the population will have expanded, then it means the need for constructing more roads to connect more cities and towns that will have come up will grow. T his means more roads will appear in the wild. In addition, if we do not respect the natural parks and the wilderness, it means our population will lead to our encroaching on the natural geographies to create more dwelling places. Therefore, his argument for the monitoring of the growing population is very true. Abbey however chips in a little acknowledgement

Characteristics of Servant Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Characteristics of Servant Leadership - Essay Example This essay would describe the leaders’ attitudes and values and the leaders’ behaviors and actions that have been observed. Further, the areas Jack Welch focused on that demonstrated how he served employees, other stakeholders, community and society would be identified. Likewise, the impact that these behaviors and actions in these areas of service had on the organization, in terms of its performance and its contribution to the greater good, would also be proffered. Finally, the four values for the personal leadership model (honesty and integrity, open communication, accountability, and perseverance would be defined. One observable leadership behavior which this value is likely to enable would ultimately be identified. According to Byrne (1998, par. 12), â€Å"No one, not Microsofts (MSFT) William H. Gates III or Intels (INTC) Andrew S. Grove, not Walt Disneys (DIS) Michael D. Eisner or Berkshire Hathaways (BKR.A) Warren E. Buffett, not even the late Coca-Cola (KO) chieftain Roberto C. Goizueta or the late Wal-Mart (WMT) founder Sam Walton has created more shareholder value than Jack Welch.† He has a charismatic personality, â€Å"coupled with an unbridled passion for winning the game of business and a keen attention to details† (Byrne, 1998, par. 16). He demanded an informal structure where the traditional chain of command was violated; enforced an open communication at all times encompassing all levels; and regularly and frequently interrelated with all personnel regardless of ranks. He has great faith in people’s creativity and believes in the value of surprise. As emphasized, â€Å"there are no bounds to human creativity. The idea flow from the human spirit is absolutely unlimited, Welch declares. All you have to do is tap into that well. I dont like to use the word efficiency. Its creativity. Its a belief that every person counts.† (Byrne, 1998, par. 31) Concurrent with his philosophy of enforcing

Chapter 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chapter 9 - Essay Example The environment itself as the public sees it is what is around us. We see that we have a responsibility not to destroy it. It is where we live and what supports our life and all of the life around us. We also have a social responsibility but it is different in many ways. 2. Everywhere there is an abundance of the leftovers of business and our town is no exception. This includes wood, cans, paper, and plastic to name a few. There is smoke from smokestacks and pollution from vehicles getting there and transporting. There are many recycling efforts in play especially for cans, paper and plastic. Most of the companies that bring things in on pallets allow people to use the wood for projects and for burning if they wish so that helps. The air pollutions does not seem to be dealt with a lot though the water is being recycled as much as possible. 3. The issue of global warming is tremendously large. There are many things affecting it. Those countries that were not industrialized before are and the carbon products they are putting in the air are quite large. The rain forests that have filtered the air for generations are being removed for people to live there. There are more cars on the road in more countries than ever before. The ice sheets are melting, the permafrost is melting. It is a giant problem.

Effecte of hyperoxia in bovine bronchail epithelial tissue Dissertation

Effecte of hyperoxia in bovine bronchail epithelial tissue - Dissertation Example Important Use of Hyperoxia in Intensive Care Unit Hyperoxic inspired gas is essential for patients with hypoxic respiratory failure which can be caused by oxygen deficient conditions like acute infection, neuromuscular impairment, etc. (Altemeler and Sinclair, 2007) In the context of critical care medicine, hyperoxia can be beneficial in implementing certain critical care strategies like early goal directed therapy (Calzia et al, 2010). Moreover, oxygen pressure field theory suggests that hyperoxia just before deep hypoxic circulatory arrest takes advantage of increased oxygen solubility and reduced oxygen consumption to load tissues with excess oxygen, which can effectively manage acid-base states during acute hypothermia entailed in circulatory arrest (Pearl et al, 2000) However, studies also testify that hyperoxia adversely affects cilial abundance and cause ciliary disorientation which can lead to dangerous conditions like ciliary dyskinesia (MacNaughton et al, 2007; Kay et al, 2 002; Rutman et al, 1993). Also, hyperoxia may impede the pathways of cell signalling (Lee and Choi, 2003) Side Effects of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) on Epithelial Tissue Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are oxygen containing molecules which are highly reactive. The unpaired valance shell electrons in ROS are responsible for their high reactivity. ROS are often regarded as a key factor behind cardiovascular diseases, ischemic injury, programmed cell death, etc. They can also cause damage to DNA, lipid peroxidation and critical oxidative stress. (Thannickal, 2003; Fuhrman et al 1997) ROS would cause oxidative stress on the epithelial tissue by increasing the levels of total glutathione. Since glutathione is an anti-oxidant, increased levels of ROS will increase its concentration as well. In the case of glutathione depletion, increase of ROS levels is unbridled which would lead to early activation of apoptic signalling. In vivo studies involving human B lymphoma cell line testify such possibilities (Armstrong et al, 2002). Moreover, it has also been testified that pulmonary macrophages stimulate cell proliferation of bovine bronchial epithelial cells in vitro. The process involves mediation in airway epithelial repair, which can probably be explained by a proactive role of glutathione against ROS (Takizawa et al, 1990). Another side effect of ROS is lipid peroxidation which has been studied in details through epithelial cell behaviour in vivo in rats with chronic parenchymal iron overload (Bacon et al, 1983). Hepatic and brain epithelial lipid peroxidation by ROS obtained from certain pesticides have been widely testified by both in vivo and in vitro studies in rats and humans (Bagchi et al, 1995). Besides, Fuhrman and his associates conducted in vitro and ex vivo studies in humans to testify the high extent of low-density-lipoprotein oxidation by ROS through measurement of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and lipid peroxides in epithelial cells (F uhrman et al, 1997). Proteins modification is another major side effect of excess ROS generation that has been studied in vivo. The in vivo study conducted in this context further testified that oxidative protein damage could affect the activities of the DNA repair enzymes in the epithelial cells as well (Wiseman and Halliwell, 1996). Further, in vitro studies have established that generation of ROS target the function of redox-sensitive proteins that act as part of a large sub-membranous

INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW - Essay Example p570) . A letter of credit instrument is generally issued by a bank against two types of bills, they are demand bills and usance bills (Massood, A. 2008).To decrease the credit risk to sellers in both domestic as well as foreign trade practice is the most important purpose of letter of credit.. When a bank issues a letter of credit in favor of a customer, it surrogates its creditworthiness for that customer (Borcky. R. 1999). There are two types of letter of credit; they are standby letter of credit and documentary letter of credit. Documentary letter of credits can again be categorized into revocable and irrevocable. The revocable letter of credit is particularly rare in usage. Irrevocable letter of credit can be confirmed or unconfirmed letter of credit. Every type of letter of credits has its advantages as well as its disadvantages for the buyers and sellers. The charges of each type of letter of credit may vary according to its characteristics. The more the bank assures payment, higher will be the charges of it (Borcky. R. 1999). Without an agreement between the concerned parties, an irrevocable letter of credit cannot be cancelled before a particular date. A revocable letter of credit can be changed anytime without previous discussions by the bank which issues it. A confirmed letter of credit includes backing by the issuing bank and its correspondents promising payments of all drafts. At the same time an unconfirmed letter of credit will not have any guarantee that the bank will make payments on drafts in case of non payment from the buyer. A stand by letter of credit is a conditional obligation by the issuing bank that it will make payment to the chosen beneficiary if the banks client fails to execute as per the terms of the contract (Letter of credit. 2009). Letters of credit are more or less separate transactions. They are totally different from bank guarantees. The

The measurement of arterial and blood pressure Lab Report

The measurement of arterial and blood pressure - Lab Report Example Korotkoff sounds: A sound heard during the measurement of blood pressure by a sphygmomanometer. The pressure differences created in the cuff results in the turbulence of blood flow which leads to the audible sound known as first Korotkoff sound. Korotkoff sounds can be classified into five types. First heard when the pressure in the cuff is equal to the systolic pressure, second and third can be described as murmurs and tapping sounds respectively. Fourth sound is heard at 10mm above diastolic pressure while the last Korotkoff sound is heard at the precise diastolic pressure.Oscillometric principle: Another method of measuring blood pressure. It makes use of the same instrument but in addition, uses a transducer which gives the oscillation readings of the blood flow. As the pressure in the cuff varies with simultaneous expansion and contraction of brachial artery an oscillation is produced.Hypertension: A medical phenomenon indicating an increased systemic blood pressure. Normal bloo d pressure is described as ≠¤ 120 systolic and ≠¤ 80 diastolic. Generally, it is classified as primary and secondary hypertension with primary meaning with no apparent cause.  Ã‚  iv) S1 and S2 heart sounds are produced due to the closure of valves in the heart namely the atrioventricular valves and the semilunar valves. On the other hand, Korotkoff sounds are produced when the pressure in the cuff varies and creates turbulence for the blood flowing through the brachial artery. This the need to differentiate between the two.

Strategic Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Marketing Management - Essay Example Strategic marketing plan is appropriately observed as a continuous process as this assists the particular organization to recognize the objectives that it aims to attain. In this context, it is important to be noted that the objectives of any organization cannot remain the same throughout and needs to be changed according to the alterations in the business environment. In this period of ever changing business environment, only a proper strategic marketing plan can help an organization sustain. Strategic Marketing Planning in the Sports Sector The sport industry has started to acknowledge the worth and the need of a proper plan of strategic marketing. There have been little facts regarding the relationship that is said to exist among the performances and a proper marketing plan in relation to an organization. However, there has been conflict between numerous researchers of sports about the fact that unless enhancements are made in the actions of a strategic marketing plan, it would not be possible for the sports industry to persist to live on in an environment that is so competitive (Shoham & Kahle, 1996). The process for designing a proper strategic marketing plan with regard to the sports industry is proposed below.... In this context, it is important to be noted that the objectives of any organization cannot remain the same throughout and needs to be changed according to the alterations in the business environment. In this period of ever changing business environment, only a proper strategic marketing plan can help an organization sustain. Strategic Marketing Planning in the Sports Sector The sport industry has started to acknowledge the worth and the need of a proper plan of strategic marketing. There have been little facts regarding the relationship that is said to exist among the performances and a proper marketing plan in relation to an organization. However, there has been conflict between numerous researchers of sports about the fact that unless enhancements are made in the actions of a strategic marketing plan, it would not be possible for the sports industry to persist to live on in an environment that is so competitive (Shoham & Kahle, 1996). The process for designing a proper strategic m arketing plan with regard to the sports industry is proposed below. The steps that are included in the proposed structure are based on the studies of Shilbury & Et. Al. (1998), Kotler (1997), McDonald (1999) and Lancaster & Massingham (1996): 1. Ascertaining the mission statement of the organization 2. The corporate objectives associated with the particular organization should be laid down 3. Analyzing the environment of the market To evaluate the external market environment where the organization competes that is the outside forces and the competitive market among others To evaluate the inner environment of the organization that is the financial capabilities of the particular organization, marketing, and manufacturing among others 4. Performing a SWOT

Asepsis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Asepsis - Essay Example Asepsis is targeted at eliminating the possibility of infection while anti-sepsis is the use of chemicals to destroy germs already in the body or wound (Markovitch, 2005). UK’s National Health Service (2009) on Asepsis Surgery The United Kingdom National Health Service (2009, p. 3) defined asepsis as â€Å"the prevention of microbial contamination during invasive procedures or management of breaches in the skin’s integrity.† Literally, asepsis means â€Å"without microorganisms† (UK National Health Service, 2009, p. 3). Further, the NHS pointed out that an aseptic technique â€Å"ensures that only uncontaminated objects/fluids make contract with sterile/susceptible sites, minimizing the risks of exposure to potentially pathogenic organisms† (United Kingdom National Health Services, 2009, p. 9). In contrast, the â€Å"clean technique is a modified aseptic technique where the basic principle of an aseptic technique is used and clean gloves, clean fie ld and non sterile solutions are used† (United Kingdom National Health Services, 2009, p. 3). Based on the United Kingdom National Health Service (2009, p. 4-7), we can derive twelve principles followed in aseptic surgery. The first principle is the principle of non-touch or the principle that even if the hands are washed, the hands must not touch the sterile equipment or the patient. Non-touch can be achieved by using forceps or sterile gloves (United Kingdom Health Service, 2009). The second principle is the preparation of the equipment, environment, and patient for the aseptic procedure. This can involve cleaning and drying the patient body areas that will be affected by surgery. It also means ensuring that equipment and solutions are sterile and undamaged before use. According to the United Kingdom National Health Service (2009), any equipment including gloves that are contaminated must be discarded and replaced before use. The third principle is the use of â€Å"sterile of sterile equipment for the procedure, which has been stored appropriately until use† (United Kingdom National Health Service, 2009, p. 5). The fourth principle is the â€Å"avoidance of direct contact with the susceptible site† (United Kingdom National Health Service, 2009, p. 5). The fifth principle is â€Å"effective hand hygiene† that involves the decontamination of the doctors hands with an alcohol hand rub and most importantly with observation of a twelve-step procedure for hand decontamination adopted in 2008 (United Kingdom National Health Service, 2009, p. 5-6). The sixth principle is correct handling by doctors of sterile gloves: only the wrist end must be touched and the outer surface of the gloves must not be contaminated. The seventh principle is maintaining asepsis all throughout the medical procedure like surgery. The eighth principle is the use of appropriate clothing. The United Kingdom National Health Service prescribes, for example, that clini cal staff must have â€Å"sleeves that are short or rolled back, no wrist jewelry/watches, no false nails and no stoned rings† (United Kingdom National Health Service, 2009, p. 5). The ninth principle is the use of effectively cleaned equipment and appropriate personal protective equipment. The tenth principle is the separation of wastes between domestic and clinical wastes. The eleventh principle is

Group Counseling †Article Review Essay Example for Free

Group Counseling – Article Review Essay Unlike the first article, this second article talks about group counseling in elementary school focusing on eliminating aggressive behaviors. The purpose of group counseling in this situation is to lessen aggression by influencing the feelings, emotions, judgments, and behaviors of the students in the process. Group counseling is perceived to be significant for the purpose of lessening aggressive behavior because elementary student, in their respective ages, are highly dependent on groups or group structures. Children relate with each other making it much easier to break into the group structure and influence thoughts, feelings, or behavior that would consequently influence else within the group. Eight sessions were held to implement the concepts of group counseling and intervention. At the end of the sessions, the children were required to attend a follow-up meeting four weeks after. The result of the study revealed that learning took place and the children displayed desirable changes in their behavior. What I like most about the article is that it was based on an actual study conducted on elementary students, and that the purpose of the study is to change specific behaviors within the subjects. The objective of the researcher to approach the problem proactively yielded great results as the sessions have revealed that the aggressive behavior of the children were transformed during the group counseling sessions. The article would be a great source of valid and reliable information that could be applied to future situations that requires behavioral intervention. Moreover, the process is solution-based, such that the study focused on a particular problem which is common in the elementary school setting, and conducted research and data gathering which led to a specific resolution that schools would be able to adapt of implement within their school and guidance and counseling system. Another characteristic that is likeable in the article is that it opens opportunities for further studies and other related studies, such as the adaptation of the steps carried out in the study however, differing in the problem, etc. The success of the study would urge other schools and guidance and counseling professionals to conduct other studies that would resolve other issues as well. References Stewart, J. (1996). Group Counseling Elementary School Children Who Use Aggressive Behaviors. Guidance Counseling, 11, 12-15). Retrieved November 12, 2008 from Academic Search Complete via EBSCOHost.

Black Lives Matter Movement and Afrofuturism Comparison

Black Lives Matter Movement and Afrofuturism Comparison A comparison of the Black Lives Matter movement and Afrofuturism is the undertaking herein and follows. It is extremely relevant in terms of one of the constant ethno struggles persisting in society, nay, the world today.  Looking at it in those terms, the subject matter would be relevant any day, and, as Afrofuturism claims, it will remain relevant well into the future. Afrofuturism While the term Afrofuturism is credited to Mark Dery, a cyberculture theorist, attempting to explain the Black culture with internet culture (McNally 2).  Afrofuturism is the mechanism that creates and then portrays endless possibilities to the traditionally oppressed to rise above lifes challenges.  It is a mode through which imbalances are balances and unfairness turned fair, wrong transformed to right, etc.  Remember, the current mindset is that Blacks are not equal; schools are still segregated; whites are especially favored; and the future for Blacks is bleak.  Afrofuturism takes that situation and inserts into a futuristic setting the underlying theme is science fiction.  While the setting is similar to the strife and downtrodden status of Blacks, it reconstructs the expected ending from a continued life of suppression to superhero status and overcoming the odds (McNally 3).  Derys mindset is evident given the question proposed that Afrofuturism attempts to answer:   Can a community whose past has been deliberately rubbed out, and whose energies have subsequently been consumed by the search for legible traces of its history, imagine possible futures? (3). Dery further posits that in order to overcome the obliterated past, a hopeful future must be presented.  The challenge here is how to present a past that does not exist, for all practical purposes.  Thus, when history is depicted in Afrofuturistic conveyances, they are mythical in nature.  Afrofuturism is a dynamic rather than static definition which, at its bare bones, marries technology with storytelling with black.  Although, one definition includes a footnote to the effect that Afrofuturism is blind to color, race, gender, etc.  It is more a tool with which to reconcile the past with an anticipated future (Priforce). Another definition of Afrofuturism is proposed in the spirit of sociology.  That is, Afrofuturism is literary style which puts Black experiences in the central premise which is demonstrated through fantasy and science fiction (Huddleston 2). Still another definition suggests that, while the foundation of Afrofuturism is science fiction, it is science fiction written by Africans or Afrodiasporic which may be in the form of art, literature, music and scholarship (Yaszek 1).  Ã‚  The diasporic nature of the thing promises diversity within a diverse group.  The art is premised on a varied conglomeration of Blacks sprinkled around the world through no choice of theirs, but such that there is a spattering of absorbed cultures, but, unfortunately, providing the same results. Backpedaling for just a moment, another definition is in order that of diaspora.  Diaspora is Greek for to scatter.  Used in this context it means a similarly-region-specific population that has been disbursed across different areas but still have active ties based on the similar origins (What Is A Diaspora? | Idea).  So, African diaspora is that of people from Africa living in other parts of the world.  During the transatlantic slave trades, millions of Blacks were relocated throughout the U.S.  and the Caribbean (African Diaspora Cultures | Oldways) Yaszek considers Afrofuturism from the perspective of the author, artist or professor.  To that end, the main purpose of the telling of the story is, well, to tell a good story science fiction, or not.  The two next best reasons are somewhat political.  First, and as mentioned above, Afrofuturism is a vehicle with which lost history may be recovered, and, then, hopefully, understood.  Next, it also provides a forum within which hope is inspired for the future (2).  This, in a way, is an attempt to circumvent what may be described as foreshadowing or self-fulfilled prophecy in that the Black story is one of doom and gloom past and present.  And, since the future will be the present and the present will be the past, transforming the future (since there really is not anything that can be done in the present) in a positive light (or a powerful one) suggests that not only can history be changed but it challenges the norm. So, it is not surprising that the roots (no pun intended) of Afrofuturism commenced in the 1880s, alongside science fiction as a genre, with the writings of Charles Chestnutt, Susan Griggs and Edward Johnson.  All of whom authored books illustrating the Black plight, issues of slavery, creating a better world, and a society promulgated on Black knowledge and industry (Yaszek 4).  As the genre progressed to and through the 20th century, the separate-but-equal-paradigm wove its threads through the world of science fiction.  Black authors published in Black magazines and white in white.  It is worth mentioning because the distinction was not as the result of the actions of white people but due to the preferences of Black authors.  The reasoning should be unimportant, but for the sake of accuracy the claim is that the white magazines were almost too far-fetched and the Black stories were meant to be taken more seriously as story-telling rather than just science fiction entertai nment.  The afterthought is the perception that the white magazines included racially-motivated storylines. Returning to the underlying premise, that of a promising future and the potential of Blacks to use science to conquer battles and survive disasters, it is during the 1960s the white-washed science fiction intersected with Afrofuturism (Yaszek 7).  Obviously, the timing coincides with the crest of the civil rights movement.  In addition, it was a time when science fiction authors wanted to premise their work on societal relevant issues as well as scientifically modeled. The themes during this time period portrayed hope and a successful integration of two different societies which was reflected in films such as Bloodchild.  Other films were cautious and warned about history repeating itself with films such as The Spacetraders and Zulu Heart, both speculating that either Blacks will be deported from earth, chained together on a ship, or a role reversal such that while it is a replay historically it is the Blacks enslaving the whites.  Neither of which provides a positive takeaway. From 1980 to and through today, global Afrofuturism takes the definition a bit farther, technologically speaking.  This is a society of Afrofuturistics connected via internet from around the world.  The stories are still founded in the future based on the past lost; however, there is a worldwide collaboration such that the resulting stories mix histories, settings, and other region-specific attributes (Yaszek 9). This is probably the most appropriate place to introduce the Black Lives Matter campaign.  It is within this movement where the image of superhero takes on a less science fiction form and demonstrates how technology and black can make things happen, and, yes, possibly change the future. It has been only since 2013 that Alicia Garza posted the note to Facebook after the dismissal of charges against a white man for shooting a black 17 year old assuring others that our (black) lives matter.  It was the tipping point at which time Garza and others decided to change the world (not to sound too dramatic) (Day). This may sound like the atypical rally, protest or bandwagon.  Certainly, and unfortunately, the issue is the same as it has been repeated historically year after year after year.  However, the approach in this century is very different.  There is no single leader.  In movements past, male, black men such as Martin Luther King or Malcolm X played a major role in gaining interest and participation.  This time, they are all leaders.  Further, this movement is not racist it includes lesbians, women, gay, transgenders and bisexuals.  Rather than depending on media or word of mouth on the street to spread the word or organize rallies, Twitter offers a forum upon which news of black injustice may be circulated and Facebook supports the assimilation of rallies.  Photos, the ultimate purveyor of effective messaging, are shared via Tumblr and distributed on Instagram.  Events that had previously gone unnoticed or unknown were now on home pages and cell phones all over the w orld, potentially.  The audio associated with the gasping of the victim of a chokehold inflicted by law enforcement went viral (Day).  YouTube footage of a 14-year-old girl victimized by excessive force by police officers got over 500,000 views.  This is pretty strong, effective campaigning.  But, more importantly, it is real-time awareness.  It is what might change the future.  And, its technologically based.  Science fiction or This is where Black Lives Matter and Afrofuturism intersect.  The common thread is technology and the common goal is to change the future.  Black Lives Matter offers the here-and-now aspect of how Black Lives Matter which has always been missing from the story.  Instead, those stories unfold in history books or in movies long after the fact for obvious reasons.  Certainly, these types of things are not new.  What is new is realizing how broken society is and that the culture has to change. The next common thread is the skill with which these groups utilize technology, social networks and artistic media to work together towards a common goal.  The potential to complement each other is tremendous. If Black lives do not count or matter, it is very much like slavery.  People who were believed to be valueless and therefore mistreated in that vein.  The most important common thread between Black Lives Matter and Afrofuturism is the goal to dissuade racism and white supremacy.  And, to further, contradict those that, while not admitting it out loud, believe that Black people have no soul so it is okay to rape them, hang them, murder them, emasculate them, and torture them.  It was okay to do all of those things because they were thought of as being soulless and of no essential or true value beyond what monetary price they could bring. Another myth that in the past has been difficult to dispel and may have a better chance to dissipating is that of the belier that racism is no longer a factor, especially in the United States because a black President was elected.  People may think that this signals a quasi-release from any further responsibility for injustice in our society based on racism.  The fact is that while we have a black, there are many ways Obama and his family were disrespected further making the case for racism.  Even a perfunctory review of history demonstrates that no other President has been disrespected or disregarded like President Obama. The coalition of Black Lives Matter broadens the conversation around state violence to include all of the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state, society and other individuals. To an extent, Black lives are deprived of basic human rights and dignity. Black poverty should be considered as violence or an assault. So, too, are 2.8 million Black people that are incarcerated the victims of a violent, oppressive condition.  Black Lives Matter brings those circumstances to the forefront and makes them relevant. Forgetting for the moment contributions made by Black people that are sometimes overlooked.  Society would have been deprived of a president.  Daniel Louis Armstrongs jazz and scat would never have been heard.  George Washington Carver would have never improved agriculture or invented adhesives and dyes.  Charles R. Drew would never have come up with the idea of blood banks and a system for preserving plasma long term.  W.E.B. Dubois would not have written Charlottes Web. Chicago may not have been founded if not for Jean-Baptiste-Point Du Sable.  William Henry Johnsons art would be nonexistent.  Martin Luther King, Jr., would be silent.  Contributions to the law and Supreme Court cases by Thurgood Marshall would be mute.  Elijah McCoy could not have improved the rail system or coined the phrase, The real Mccoy, meaning the best of the best.  Traffic signals and gas masks would go uninvented without Garrett Morgan.  If Rosa Parks did not get on the bus, this conv ersation may not be heard.  Mind blowing! Society can only make an educated guess on the number of contributions it missed because racism held back a talented black person or the contributions that the Black person killed by law enforcement may have contributed in his life.  Based on the black people that managed to break the bonds of racism to exhibit their talents, assumedly, society has missed out on millions of inventions, novels, songs, professionals, politicals, etc.  It is something that will never be known as there is no way to know which one of the black men sitting in prison may have invented the cure for leukemia.  This, for all intents and purposes, is part of the movement of Black Lives Matter and Afrofuturism.  A posit to realize the potential from within and without of the Black community.  A reminder that Black Lives Matter does not exist solely on the Black but on other oppressed groups such that it is the true belief that the most profound worth of the black man is that of every man that walks the earth.  Every single human being has potential.  The potential to contribute to the community, whether that community is diasporic or not; the potential to contribute to their own wellbeing and promotion whether in the name of culture, gender, ethnicity or sexual preference; and, the potential to matter. Just think for a moment of the results of forces joined between Afrofuturistics and Black Lives Matter members!  One would have the opportunity to exposure to Black history outside the white wash.  The other could contribute to changing the future by interacting with the real-time, present.  Or, science fiction creations could promulgate the future stories with real facts assimilated without any white washing.  Afrofuturism recovers the histories of counter futures created by hostile societies disapproving the diaspora that is Black.  Regardless Afrofuturistic individuals strive to redefine, translate, rework, restructure and then relate the future without the white-washed lens and based on what should have happened historically such that it could be repeated in the future (Eshun 301). The possibilities are limitless and that returns to the current definition of global Afrofuturism which contends that in this reframing (Science Fiction) of history and policy, those who are systematically oppressed are capable of transcending their less-than-desirable situation.  Nothing not even the sky is limiting.  (McNally 2). Works Cited African Diaspora Cultures | Oldways. Oldways. N.p., 2017. Web. 24 Mar. 2017. Day, Elizabeth. #Blacklivesmatter: The Birth Of A New Civil Rights Movement. the Guardian. N.p., 2017. Web. 24 Mar. 2017. Eshun, Kodwo. Further Considerations Of Afrofuturism. CR: The New Centennial Review 3.2 (2003): 287-302. Web. Huddleston, Kayla. Afrofuturism As Applied To Self-Perception: An Experimental Vignette. University of Washington (2016): n. pag. Print. McNally, Cayla. Fighting For The Freedom Of A Future Age: Afrofuturism And The Posthuman Body. Lehigh Preserve (2017): n. pag. Print. Priforce, Kalimah. Is Technologyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  -à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  A #Blacklivesmatter Superpower? Recognizing #Afrofuturism. Medium. N.p., 2017. Web. 24 Mar. 2017. What Is A Diaspora? | Idea. Diasporaalliance.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 24 Mar. 2017. Yaszek, Lisa. Race In Science Fiction: The Case Of Afrofuturism. A virtual introduction to science fiction 1 (2013): 1-11. Print.

Cloud Point Extraction Experiment

Cloud Point Extraction Experiment Bromothymol blue (also known as bromothymol sulfone phthalein, BTB) (Figure 2.1.1) is a pH indicator (yellow at pH 6.0 and blue at pH 7.6). Its chemical name is: 4,40-(1,1-dioxido-3H-2,1-benzoxathiole-3,3-diyl)bis(2-bromo-6-isopropyl-3-methylphenol (The Merck Index, 13th edition, 2007)[1]. pKa of BTB is 7.1. This dye is the most appropriate pH indicator dye in physiological tissue and also used in the investigation of the interaction of lipid with protein (Puschett and Rao 1991; Gorbenko 1998; Sotomayor et al. 1998)[2,3,4]. It is widely applied in biomedical, biological, and chemical engineering applications (Schegg and Baldini 1986; Ibarra and Olivares-Perez 2002)[5,6]. BTB in protonated or deprotonated form is yellow or blue in color, respectively, while its solution is bluish green in neutral solution. It is sometimes used to define cell walls or nuclei under the microscope. BTB is mostly used for the evaluation and estimation of the pH of pools and fish tanks and the determinatio n of the presence of carbonic acid in liquid. There are several treatment procedures for dyes from waste materials, including adsorption (Nandi, Goswami, and Purkait 2009)[8], coagulation–flocculation, oxidation–ozonation, reverse osmosis, membrane filtration, biological degradation, and electrochemical processes (Shen et al. 2001; Kim et al. 2004; Chatterjee, Lee, and Woo 2010)[9,10,11]. 2.1.2 EXPERIMENTAL 2.1.2.1 Materials: All the solutions were prepared with double-distilled water. 2.1.2.1.1 Triton X – 100 (0.1M): Triton X-100 was purchased from Qualigens Analytical grade. The TX-100 was cleared of any low-boiling impurities by exposure to vaccum for 3h at 700C following the procedure given by Kumar and Balasubrahmanium[19]. 31.4 g of TX-100 liquid is dissolved 500 ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark to obtain 0.1 mol/dm3 solution. The critical micellar concentration and Cloud point of TX-100 are 2.8Ãâ€"10−4 [20] 65à ¢- ¦C [21] respectively. 2.1.2.1.2 Bromothymol Blue (BTB) : 1.0 g of BTB dye Merck India was dissolved in 5.0 ml of ethanol (99.8%) for dissolution then dilution are made with double distilled water into a 1000 ml volumetric flask up to the mark to obtain an concentration of 1000 mg/dm3(Babak Samiey, Kamal Alizadeh et.al 2004)[22]. In order to avoid fading stock solution was wrapped black color paper. The working solutions of BTB were prepared by appropriate dilutions of the stock solution immediately prior to their use. 2.1.2.1.3 Acetic acid (0.5M). 28.5 ml glacial acetic acid (A.R.grade) Qualigens was diluted with distilled water in a 1000 ml volumetric flask to give 0.5M Acetic acid solution. The solution obtained was diluted to required concentration and standardized as per the procedure (Vogel et. al. 1989)[23] with standard NaOH solution. 2.1.2.1.4 Sodium acetate (0.5M): 13.6 g sodiumacetate.trihydrate, (CH3COONa.3H2O) of Analytical grade Qualigens is dissolved in 100 ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark (Vogel et. al. 1978)[24]. 2.1.2.1.5 NaCl (0.1M): 2.922 g pure dry salt of sodiumchloride of analytical grade Qualigens is weighing out and dissolved in 500 ml volumetric flask to give 0.1M NaCl solution(Vogel et. al. 1989)[25]. 2.1.2.1.6 Na2SO4 (0.5M): 16.1 g of sodiumsulphate decahydrate,(Na2SO4.10H2O) A.R.grade from Merck (India), is dissolved in 100 ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark to give 0.5M Na2SO4 solution(Vogel et. al. 1989)[26]. 2.1.2.1.7 KH2PO4(1.0M): 34.02 g of KH2PO4 of Analytical grade Qualigens is dissolved in 250 ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark (Vogel et. al. 1978)[27]. 2.1.2.1.8 Na2HPO4 (1.0M): A.R. grade disodium hydrogen phosphate, Na2HPO4.2H2O, is taken in porcelain crucible and heated until no more water is liberated. Then 17.8 g of this cold residue is taken in 100 ml volumetric flask and made up to the make to give 1.0 M of Na2HPO4 solution (Vogel et. al. 1978)[28]. The reagent is prepared freshly each time. 2.1.2.1.9 Buffer solution of pH4.0( ±0.05): 5 ml of 4M sodium acetate (A.R. grade) Qualigens and 20 ml of 4M acetic acid (A.R. grade) Qualigens are mixed in an 100ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark which has resultant pH of 4.0( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[29] . 2.1.2.1.10 Buffer solution of pH5.0( ±0.05):: 17.5 ml of 4M sodium acetate (A.R. grade) Qualigens and 10 ml of 4M acetic acid (A.R. grade) Qualigens are mixed in an 100ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark which has resultant pH of 5.0( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[30] . 2.1.2.1.11 Buffer solution of pH6.0( ±0.05): 13.2 ml of1M KH2PO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens and 86.8 ml of 1M Na2HPO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens are mixed in 100ml volumetric flask which has resultant pH of 6.0( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[31]. 2.1.2.1.12 Buffer solution of pH7.0( ±0.05): 61.5 ml of 1M KH2PO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens and 38.5 ml of 1M Na2HPO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens are mixed in 100ml volumetric flask which has resultant pH of 7.0( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[31]. 2.1.2.1.13 Buffer solution of pH8.0( ±0.05): 94.0 ml of 1M KH2PO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens and 6.0 ml of 1M Na2HPO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens are mixed in 100ml volumetric flask which has resultant pH of 8.0( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[31]. 2.1.2.1.14 Buffer solution of pH9.2( ±0.05): 1.905g of Na2B4O7.10.H2O of (A.R.grade) Qualigens is dissolved in 100ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark to obtain 0.05 M of borax solution.The resultant pH of the solution is 9.2( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[32]. 2.1.2.2 Methodology for cloud point extraction: 2.1.2.2.1 Procedure: The cloud point temperature was determined by literature method reported by Carvalho et al. [33]. This is based on the ‘visual observation of the separation of phases’ in the micellar solution. The solution was heated gradually in the water bath until turbidity appeared. To verify the results, the opposite process was carried out by cooling gradually with constant stirring and the cloud point was considered as the temperature at which the solution became clear. The reported value was the average of these two determinations; in most cases, these two temperatures were identical, within + 0.5oC. Cloud point extraction experiment was conducted by using a 10 ml centrifuge tube with a screw cap containing different concentrations of Triton X-100 and BTB and sonicated for 2 minutes for proper mixing. The solution is heated up to 80ËÅ ¡C in a thermostatic temperature bath for 20 min. The turbid solution was then centrifuged at 3500 rpm for 5 min and cooled in an ice bath for 2 minutes in order to separate the phases. Both the phases are separated and the volumes of surfactant rich phase (coacervate phase) and dilute phases were measured. Average of three determinations is reported in all cases. The concentration of dye in both the phases has been measured by using PerkinElmer lamda-25 UV-Visible spectrophotometer. In order to determine the influence of the reagents added to the surfactant phase, cloud point determinations were performed with the additions of buffer, dye and inorganic salts. The procedure for the determination of critical temperature was the same as above, bu t using only a fixed surfactant concentration. The phase diagram for Triton X-100 was obtained by measuring the cloud point temperature of aqueous surfactant solutions at different concentrations. 2.1.2.2.2 Spectra and calibrated graph The concentration of the dye was determined by U.V-visible spectrophotometer (PerkinElmer lamda-25). Pure BTB was initially calibrated separately for different concentrations in terms of absorbance units, which were recorded at wavelength 430 nm, at which maximum absorption takes place (Figure 2.1.2, 2.1.3). No significant change in the absorbance has been observed even in the presence of TX-100. Therefore all the absorbance measurements were performed at this wave length. Figure 2.1.2 Spectra of BTB dye Figure 2.1.3 Calibration curve of BTB dye 2.1.2.2.3 Determination of Phase volume Ratio, Fractional coacervate phase volume and pre-concentration factor The volumes of the respective surfactant-rich and aqueous phases obtained after the separation of phases were determined using calibrated centrifuge tubes for calculating the pre concentration factor. Surfactant solutions containing typical amounts of the BTB were extracted using the CPE procedure, followed by the measurement of the respective phase volumes. The results reported are the average of three determinations. The phase volume ratio is defined as the ratio of the volume of the surfactant-rich phase to that of the aqueous phase. It is calculated using the following formula. (2.1.1) Where RV is the phase volume ratio, VS and VW are volumes of surfactant-rich phase and aqueous phase respectively. The pre-concentration factor, (fC) is defined as the ratio of the volume of bulk solution before phase separation (Vt) to that of the surfactant-rich phase after phase separation (Vs). (2.1.2) Where Vt and VS are the volumes of the bulk solution before phase separation and the surfactant-rich phase respectively. The fractional coacervate phase volume with the feed surfactant concentration is calculated by using the relationship: (2.1.3) Where FC is the fractional coacervate volume and Cs is the molar concentration of the feed surfactant solution, for fixed feed dye concentration, the parameters a and b vary linearly with temperature. The value of Fc lies in between 0.04-0.23 for various operating conditions. Surfactant partition coefficient (m) is defined as the ratio of concentration of surfactant in coacervate and dilute phase. - (2.1.4) The efficiency of extraction is defined as - (2.1.5) 2.1.4 Discussion: This section is divided into four parts. In first part, factors influencing the extraction efficiency (e.g., concentrations of non-ionic surfactants, dye and salt, temperature and pH of the solution), fractional coacervate phase volume have been discussed. The nature of solubilization isotherm at different temperature has been presented in the second part. In the third and fourth parts, thermodynamic parameters and a calculation procedure for the determination of surfactant requirement for the dye removal to a desired level is briefly discussed. 2.1.4.1 Factors influencing efficiency: For ionizable solutes, the charge of the solute can greatly influence its extent of binding to a micellar assembly [34]. The ionic form of a molecule normally does not interact with and bind the micellar aggregate as strongly as does its neutral form. Thus adjustment of the solution pH for maximum extractability is of special importance when controlling experimental variables in CPE. With increasing pH, the efficiency of extraction increases up to pH 8.0 and then decreases. This is in accordance with the decrease in cloud point till pH 8.0 and a sudden increase at pH 9.2. Further, the pK value of BTB is 7.1. In the absence of any buffer solution, pH of the dye solution is 7.0 and there is no change in pH event after the extraction process is completed. Hence, all the parameters were optimized at this fixed pH of the medium. No significant increase in efficiency is observed with increasing [Dye] since the cloud point is not altered much with increasing the concentration of dye. The extraction efficiency of dye increases with the increase of surfactant concentration. The concentration of the micelle increases with the surfactant concentration, resulting in more solubilisation of dye in micelles. The surfactant concentration in the dilute phase remains constant (and equal to around CMC); the surfactant concentration along with the solubilised dye in the coacervate phase (micellar phase) increases to maintain the material balance[42-46]. The extraction of dye with TX-100 solution is due to hydrophobic interaction between BTB and hydrophobic micelles in the solution. However, with the increase of TX-100 concentration, the analytical signal becomes weak due to the increase in the final volume of the surfactant rich phase that causes pre concentration factor (phase volume ratio) to decrease [35]. In view of these observations, a 0.04 mol/dm3 triton X- 100 is used throughout. It has been shown that the presence of electrolyte can change the CP in different ways[36]. Salting out electrolyte such as NaCl, decreases the cloud point temperature. They can promote the dehydration of ethoxy groups on the outer surface of the micelles, enhancing the miceller concentration leading to solubilisation of more dye and resulting in a more efficient extraction [37] and reduce the time required for phase separation. A lower salt concentration gives a smaller pre concentration factor, due to the larger volume in the surfactant-rich phase at lower salt concentrations [38]. As shown in the fig the ability of salts to enhance extraction efficiency of the dye was in the order of Na2SO4>NaCl. Temperature has pronounced effect on the extraction of solute. (i) At high temperature, CMC of non-ionic surfactant decreases. (ii) the non-ionic surfactant becomes more hydrophobic due to dehydration of ether oxygen [39] and increase in micellar concentration and solubilization. A general preconcentration factor of 20-60 was obtained with this CPE method and similar pre concentration has been reported for other analytes (40). Typical preconcentration factors reported in the literature[41] varà ¯ed fiom 10 to 100. The CPE method gives a better preconcentration factor compared to conventional solvent extraction methods. In general, high pre concentration factors in CPE can be achieved using small amounts of surfactants which have large capacity to accommodate dye molecules. The hydrated nature and relative polarity of micelles, on the other hand, limit the extraction of dye into the surfactant-rich phase. From the viewpoint of concentrating the analytes present in aqueous solutions, the larger pre concentration factor, e.g., the smaller phase volume in the surfactant-rich phase is desired. A lower surfactant concentration gives a higher pre concentration factor. However, it becomes very difficult for sampling and accurate analysis with a very small volume of the surfactant-rich phase. On the contrary, excessive amount of added salt of â€Å"salting-out† effect can give the higher pre concentration factor, but it is likely forming the very viscous liquid crystalline phase, instead of the fluidic Liquid phase, in the system, making it difficult to separate the surfactant-rich phase. Therefore, optimization of the pre concentration factor is very critical in a feasible CPE technique. Hence, surfactant concentration of 0.04 mol/dm3 was chosen to conduct CPE experiments in this research. 2.1.4.2 Solubilization isotherm: The adsorption isotherm relating moles of solute solubilized per mole of surfactant[50] are presented in Figure2.1.8. The isotherm can be expressed according to Langmuir type expression: (2.1.6) Where, both m and n are functions of temperature. Figure 2.1.8 Solubilisation curve of BTB dye Assuming a homogeneous monolayer adsorption, the linearized Langmuir sorption model of equation (2.1.6) can be written as: (2.1.7) Plot of 1/qe vs. 1/Ce over the entire dye concentrations was linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.983 as shown in Figure 2.1.9. Thus, the solubilization of dye obeys the Langmuir adsorption model. The calculated values of Langmuir parameters m and n from the slope and intercept of the linear plot of 1/qe vs. 1/Ce were found equal to 4.29X 10-3 (mol/mol) and 2.04X104 dm3 /mol, respectively. Figure 2.1.9 Langmuir isotherm of BTB dye 2.1.4.3 Thermodynamic parameters: The overall thermodynamic parameters ΔG0, ΔS0 and ΔH0 were calculated using equations (2.1.8, 2.1.9) [48,49]as follows. (2.1.8) - (2.1.9) Where T is the temperature in (K), qe/Ce is called the solubilization affinity. ΔS0 and ΔH0 are obtained from a linear plot of log (qe/Ce) versus (1/T), from Eq. (2.1.8) and. Once these two parameters are obtained, ΔG0 is determined from Eq. (2.1.9) and presented in Table 2.1.6. Plot of log (qe/Ce) versus (1/T) is shown in Figure 2.1.10. Table 2.1.6 : Thermodynamic parameters Temp = 80 ±0.1ËÅ ¡c; [BTB]initial =12.8010-5 mol/dm3 ; [TX-100] =4.010-2 mol/dm3 pH (  ±0.05) -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  G ( KJ/mole ) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  S ( KJ/mole/K ) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  H ( KJ/mole ) 353 343 333 6.0 19.57 16.93 14.28 0.27 73.92 7.0 22.11 18.75 15.38 0.34 96.76 8.0 21.10 18.63 16.16 0.25 66.06 Figure 2.1.10 log (qe/Ce) versus (1/T) 2.1.4.4 Design of experiment: The amount of surfactant required can be evaluated from the residual dye present in the dilute phase of the solution after conducting cloud point extraction can be determined [45]. qe is the mole of dye solubilized per mole of non-ionic surfactant. (2.1.10) Moles of dye solubilized can be obtained from mass balance equation, (2.1.11) (2.1.12) Where, A is the moles of dye solubilized in the micelles, V0 and Vd are the volume of the feed solution and that of the dilute phase after CPE, C0 and Ce are concentration of the BTB dye after CPE respectively; Cs is the concentration of surfactant in feed. From the equation 2.1.10, 2.1.11 and 2.1.12 we can write, (2.1.13) Moles of dye solubilized can be obtained from mass balance equation, Where, qe is the mole of dye solubilized per mole of non-ionic surfactant, x is moles TX-100 used, A is the moles of dye solubilized in the micelles, V0 and Vd are the volume of the feed solution and that of the dilute phase after CPE, C0 and respectively; Cs is the concentration of surfactant in feed. (2.1.14) Now, by involving the definition of fractional coavervate volume in the above equation we get, (2.1.15) - (2.1.16) Where a,b are the parameters a and b which are functions of temperature. Substituting the above equation in equation (8) we get, - (2.1.17) Substituting the above equation in equation (1) and rearranging we get, (2.1.18) From the above equation the desired surfactant required (Cs) can be obtained knowing the value of m and n the Langmuir constants, a and b the operating temperature constants, Ce the amount of dye in dilute phase after cloud point extraction. By using the above equation experiments which are conducted were compared for surfactant used and required are shown in Table 2.1.8. Table 2.1.8: Comparison data of required and used TX-100 at 80ËÅ ¡C 105 [BTB]initial mol/dm3 105[ BTB]dilute mol/dm3 102[ TX-100 ]used mol/dm3 102[ TX-100 ]Required mol/dm3 3.20 1.11 4.00 2.64 6.40 1.87 4.00 3.82 8.00 2.22 4.00 4.32 9.60 3.19 4.00 3.79 12.80 4.09 4.00 4.46 16.00 6.72 4.00 3.74 8.00 3.60 3.00 2.42 8.00 1.73 4.50 4.32 8.00 1.18 5.00 5.60

Peoples’ Bank: Linking Business Strategy and Human Resource Management :: Human Resources Essays

The role of human resource management is one of strategic partner, administrative expert, and consultant (managing all of the organization’s people related processes strategically). It is the job of hr management in to recognize that decreased turnover, higher employee morale, and involved employees in the decision making process are all optimal in providing key leverage in an organization’s strategic plan. Management integrate strategic hr management with the organization’s strategy formulation. This means that management has searched the organization and its environment for opportunities and initiated projects and decisions to bring about changes that are both advantageous and competitive for the organization. Through this integration, HR policies must â€Å"cohere and be accepted across all company policy areas and across all hierarchies in the company†. These same HR policies had to be turned into practices that were used by both managers and employees as part of their everyday work. The hr management role has changed tremendously from being a mostly personnel function, consisting primarily of a lot of paper pushing, hiring and firing, to being totally responsible for the maximization of â€Å"human capital effectiveness†. Which primarily creates a better-trained, more flexible workforce that will add more to the bottom line. Peoples’ Bank went through some organizational restructuring in order to stay competitive in the market. As a result of the changes that were made in the Bank’s System, HR Management had to do research and analysis in order to scan the banks new environment to see what types of employees would be needed with the â€Å"new strategy’s skill and organizational requirements. This was a use of HR’s information management skills, which was followed by HR’s integration and change skills to manage the organizational interfaces, assess the organizations skills (or the curren t values of the banks human resource investment), set priorities, anticipate the future, and facilitate the changes. This is an excellent example of HR Management’s role being at every level of the strategic planning process. At Peoples’ Bank, â€Å"massive changes began to take place in the business environment of banking with deregulation and the relaxation of ceilings on interest†. This affected what people actually did with their money and where they actually put their money; and these two factors affected the whole money market system of banking. This especially affected the competition between the different levels of banks (regional, district, and local) for various (but the same) sources of funds.

A Comparison of Migrant Workers in The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and

Migrant Workers in The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   John Steinbeck wrote about what surrounded him. At the time he was writing, the nineteen-thirties, a great depression was plaguing the United States. Many people were out of work. Many farmers were losing their farms and homes. An extreme drought had also wrecked the farms of the Midwest and made them into what is now referred to as the "dust bowl". It was a terrible time to be poor, and most were. People died of malnutrition every day. In California, where Steinbeck resided, migrant workers dominated the workforce. Thousands traveled from all around to pick fruit in the farms of the Salinas Valley for minuscule wages. Thousands more could not find suitable Many people theorize why the depression happened. Speculation in the stock market was one reason. The dust bowl also multiplied the depression's effects. The depression did happen to coincide with another event though. It happened soon after the last frontier vanished from the United States. There was no longer free land for the taking. The long held American dream was no longer simple and cheap to achieve. Many Americans simply wanted their own plot to take and set up their lives, but the depression made this an impossibility. Steinbeck wrote about this class of people. Throughout his writing he uses many minor themes and biblical references to get his point across, but the ubiquitous theme is the story of the poor, depression era migrant worker simply trying to retain dignity, achieve the ever important American dream of owning their own plot of land, and end the depravity that is the life of a migrant worker. Characters in Steinbeck's writing always have dreams. Many of the cha... ...h-Allusions." 2001: 3pp. Online. 22 March 2003. www.123helpme/2690.html Groene, Horst. "The Dispossessed Farmer." Bloom 23-24."Of Mice and Men-Lonely Characters." 2001: 3pp. Online. 22 March 2003. www.essay bank.co.uk/free_coursework/1148.html "Of Mice and Men and Migrant Workers." 2001: 3pp. Online. 22 March 2003. www.123helpme/1105.html Parini, Jay. "The Masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath." 2002: 3pp. Online. 6 March 2003. http://web4.infotrac.galegroup.com/81433&dyn=9tar_fmt?sw_aep=unio58461 Railton, Stephen. "The Joads and Their Oppressors." Bloom 31. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2002. -. Of Mice and Men. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2002. Visser, Nicholas. "Audience and Closure in The Grapes of Wrath." 1994: 13pp. Online. http://web4.infotrac.galegroup.com/0136&dyn=45tar_fmt?sw_aep=unio58461   

Essay --

Kayla McCarthy Period 2 History Mrs.Dowd 1/6/14 Disagreements Between the North and South Secession between the North and the South was very different. The secession led to the Confederate States of the United States. The Confederate States Constitution closely resembled the Constitution of the United States and it states that it, â€Å"protected and recognized slavery.† The southerners feared that if they did not succeed that an end to their entire way of life was at hand because they felt that they needed to preserve slavery. Succeeding seemed to be the only way of saving slavery. Many other southern states began to succeed when they learned that slavery was going to be removed in the South. For example,Compromise of 1850, Compromise of 1820, the Dred Scott Decision, Raid at Harpers Ferry, â…â€" Compromise, Kansas Nebraska Act, and Missouri Compromise were some of the compromises and decisions made at the time to deal with disagreements many of these people had over slavery(Batten). Slavery was relied on very much in the south because the slaves were their way of making money. The sl...

Skywest Cas

eSkyWest, Inc. case Analysis Written Case Analysis Table of Contents 1. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pg. 2 2. External Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pg. 3-10 3. Internal Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pg. 10-14 4. Key Decisions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. pg. 14- 15 5. Alternatives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pg. 15 6. Recommended Decisions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pg. 16 7. Appendices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. pg. 17-19 1-SkyWest Airline IntroductionSkyWest, Inc. was found in 1972 by Raplph Atkins in St. George, Utah. Initially this was only a charter type of flight and was mostly used by businessman travelling between Salt Lake City and St. George, Utah. But with business partnerships and merging with companies like Western Airlines and later with Delta airlines partnerships the network of SkyWest airlines were much broad. Later in near future with more partnerships with United Airlines and Midwest Airlines helped the company to grow rapidly and in 2005 SkyWest acquired Atlantic Southeast Airlines.Currently SkyWest is operating in overseas too for instance Canada meanwhile it runs its operations in 34 states and nearly in 158 cities. Sky West case analysis report will help the reader to understand especially about the SkyWest Inc. and the general economic conditions of the reg ional airline industry of US at a micro environmental level along with some introductions of market size and market growth of the airline industry. The report is organized under the following main topics as follows.External analysis, internal analysis, Key decisions, alternatives and recommended decisions along with some charts and tables that helps the arguments for better understanding. Moving on when we consider the industry as a whole it had a decline due to the economic recession in 2009 that affected the growth rate of the airline industry and in terms of market size the revenue from passenger per mile decreased in 2008 compared to 2007 and this is an early effect of the economic recession, we shall discuss the threats and alternatives as we go along.In five year period from 2004 to 2008 the industry’s combined revenue has increased almost with a double effect from $4. 7 billion to $8. 4 billion (Please refer the epilogue table # 1). As part of the introduction let†™s identify the vision statement and the company strategy. Company strategy is low-cist strategy and its competitive advantage is achieved by lower cost than its competitors. Vision statement is â€Å"Atlantic Southeast Airlines is committed to connecting more people, more often; to the places they love, by becoming the world's first super regional airline. Moving on we would concentrate on the external analysis of this company. 2-External Analysis Economic Factors The external analysis assess the company’s external environment by looking at its Marco-environmental factors including the size of the market in terms of unit sale and sales volume as well as the market growth. It also examines the number and size of buyers and sellers in the environment, the pace of technological change or innovation, the economies of scale, geographic boundaries, the market supply and demand conditions, learning curve effects of the market and the differential products available.We will now e valuate SkyWest’s external environment by first looking at its economic factors. Size and Market Growth rate: The first economic factor addressed is the size of the company and its growth rate. SkyWest is the largest independently owned regional airline that is partnered with two of the major airlines; United and Delta. Alone SkyWest has more than 11,000 people representing their company none of which are unionized. Through the partnership with United and Delta, SkyWest was imited to the size of the aircraft through scope clauses limiting seating of 76 with Delta and 70 with United. This would limit the amount of business they could capture from their partners. In order to take advantages of their efficiencies SkyWest could have purchased larger aircraft to expand its business had there been no limitations. Throughout the five years SkyWest contracted to Delta and United ending in December of 2008, their annual growth rate had increased to a compounded 29. 6% with the number of flights increasing from 1,500 to 2,300.The size of the market in terms of unit sale and sales volume will be discussed in the next paragraph defining its size of buyers and sellers. Number and Size of buyers and sellers: The number of buyers in the company can be defined by the number of customers the company serves per year. SkyWest has the ability to serve over 100,000 customers per year due to the contract with Delta and United. The number of sellers in the company can be defined as the partnering airlines using their regional services to operate their connecting flights for a fixed cost.SkyWest is a regional airline that operates the connecting flights of its major partners Delta and United. The regional flight as well as the connecting flights through Delta and United has them serving 158 cities in 42 states and five Canadian provinces and Mexico. Their Hubs are located in Chicago O’Hare, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Portland, Denver and Salt Lake City. In o rder to maintain these airlines they have maintenance based in Atlanta, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fresno, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Palm Springs, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Tucson.Through their contract with Delta they have increased their customer base by operating about 430 connecting flights per day between Salt Lake City and designated outlaying destination which is about 59. 9% of the company’s capacity. The other 40. 10% of capacity goes to their contract with United that has them operating about 900 scheduled departures per day. In January of 2008 SkyWest took over Midwest allowing them to service 70 and 90 seating customers per flight.When they partnered with these major airlines there were a lot of changes that took place including technical changes. We will now discuss the pace of these technical changes and innovation. Pace of technological change or innovation: Most of the technological changes happened after the 9/11 attack on the World Tr ade Center and the Pentagon. One of the changes SkyWest had implemented was the Stetson Quality Suite. The Stetson Quality Suite is a mobile data collection and reporting software SkyWest used to ensure they were meeting or exceeding their safety quality standards.SkyWest used this particular software to keep up with the Safety and maintenance standards for the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration. Now that we have discussed the pace of technological changes or innovation we will now go on to discuss the economies of scale. Economies of Scale: The economies of scale are the cost advantages company’s can obtain due to size, with cost per unit of output decreasing with increasing scale as fixed costs are spread out over more units of output.SkyWest was able to capitalize on the economies of scale when it partnered with Delta and United which helped reduce the cost of providing the service over what others could do. Through these partnerships SkyW est was able to gain access to an established customer base that would help increase their business in size and also lower the costs through the contracts where the major airlines were responsible for all their jet fuel, ground handling and aircraft maintenance and ownership. Given the gained access to customers through the partnership made SkyWest heavily dependent on Delta and United.With the current recession causing a dramatic downfall in the economic condition put all airlines including the major ones like Delta and United at risk to airlines losses, bankruptcies and consolidations due to the decrease in operating revenues by 87% with a 64% drop in income, 77% drop in revenues and a 60% drop in operating income. Now that we have discussed the economies of scale in the industry we will go on to discuss the geographic boundaries. Geographic Boundaries: The geographic boundaries of an industry refer to the geographic boundary lines that are drawn whether they are local, regional, national or global.SkyWest’s geographic boundaries are regional representing only small cities and also servicing major airlines through connecting flights. The partnerships with Delta and United had allowed expansion to current and new routes as well and additional departures. SkyWest was looking to expand more and through the acquisition with ASA they were allowed to expand geographically allowing them access to the East Coast markets and comprehensive national coverage that greatly expanded their scope of operations by adding regional jets to their fleets and a $1 billion to operations.We will now move on to discuss the market supply and demand conditions. Market Supply/Demand Conditions: The market supply and demand conditions changed greatly with the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The 9/11 attack prevented people from flying due to the fear of crashing which translated into huge losses in the major airlines. People feared the larger airlines more than the smaller regional jets due to the fact that they felt the larger planes to be more susceptible to terrorist attacks.They assumed that smaller regional airlines would not be a target for terrorism but still saw them to be less safe than the larger airplanes. The second condition affecting the market demand was the recession starting in late 2007 that continued throughout 2009. The beginning of the recession had negative effects on participant’s income statements and balance sheets resulting in airlines losses, bankruptcies and consolidations. The recession continued into 2008 and 2009 causing a dramatic downturn in the company’s financial performance.This economic downfall of 2008 and 2009 caused a decrease in the number of scheduled flights, and passenger traffics by 3%, with cargo revenues dropping as well. The airline industry is highly sensitive to fluctuations in the economy because of the significant portion of business and leisure travelers . The recession had lowered the overall demand for airline services not only to the regional but all airlines in the United States. The most recent recession in 2009 had a strong impact on the credit markets preventing airlines from getting the needed credit to acquire new aircraft.Other things affecting the market supply/demand conditions were the seasonal fluctuations that increased travel during summer months and decreased travel during the winter due to flight cancelations and delays due to inclement weather. The weather related flight cancellations represented a loss to 2,850 of its flights with a decrease in pretax income of about $5. 2 million. Next we will discuss the learning curve effects in the industry. Learning/experience curve effects:The learning curve effects of the industry were outlined in the training offered to help pilots and maintenance personnel keep up to date on the new safety and maintenance regulations as well as their skills. The vast majority of training was at training facilities for both the company pilots and maintenance personnel through a six-week program. The six-week training program proved to be very comprehensive and respected that it attracted tuition paying Federal Aviation Administration personnel. Next we will discuss their differential products. Differential Products:The differential products discussed in this case were the Bombardier Regional Jets and the Embraer and ATR Turboprops. The Bombardier region jets were the main regional gets used in the industry. These were larger commercial jets used to service longer-haul flights to the destinations up to 1,200 miles away, which allowed regional carriers to operate new longer routes and run shorter routes more efficiently. The other product discussed was the Embraer and ATR Turboprop which seats 30 passengers. This jet was used for short- to medium-haul flights and was able to land on shorter runways.Several travelers were unsure of riding on the turboprops due to the p erception of them being loud and uncomfortable. To accommodate travelers that wanted to ride a smaller jet with a more comfortable ride they created the Bombardier Q series turboprop that was equipped with noise and vibration reduction devices to help reduce the noise and vibration levels to those of a regional jet. In the next section we will define the driving forces for change in the industry. Driving Forces The driving forces are the factors that are driving the industry to make changes.These changes within the industry will have impacts on globalization, product and marketing innovation, technological change, changes in long-term growth rates and new government regulations. To start off we will discuss the impact on globalization. Globalization: SkyWest decided to go international with their business and started working with regional carriers in Europe, Latin America and China. The push to go global was due to the increased interest in airline business from people in Brazil and China. The people from these two geographic areas had pursued SkyWest to help them build their own airline within their geographic region.SkyWest agreed to help them train people, and organize from a 10- to 20 aircraft operation to a major regional carrier in countries that really needed a major regional carrier. Through globalizing their company SkyWest would be able to increase their purchasing power and help buys things at a lower rate. However, through the limitations the foreign governments would place on U. S. carriers, the opportunities by the international joint ventures would be limited. Now that we discussed the globalization driving factor we will go on to discuss the product and marketing innovation. Product and marketing innovation:The first product and marketing innovation is the Bombardier Regional Jets. The Bombardier regional jets originally serviced flights with destinations of up to 1,200 miles away. The new innovated Bombardier Jet has the quietest commercial je t available with a range of up to 1,600 miles. This larger regional jet offers many amenities including flight attendant service, stand-up cabin, overhead and under-seat storage, lavatories, and in-flight snack and beverage service. These jets were able to operate at lower costs then a 120-seat or larger jet aircraft due to its smaller size and efficient design.The other product and marketing innovation is the Embraer and ATR Turboprop, many travelers were not very interested in these smaller jets due to their noise level and uncomfortable seating. The new Embraer and ATR Turboprop has a 30 seat 120 turboprop and a 74 seat ATR 72 turboprops that are able to operate more economically over short-haul routes than the larger jet aircrafts. These smaller jets had comfort features such as stand-up headroom, a lavatory, overhead baggage compartments and flight attendant services.The smaller jets were more economically feasible making it possible to provide high frequency service in markets with relatively low volumes of passenger traffic. We will now go on to discuss the technological changes. Technological Changes: The technological changes taking place are the implementation of Stetson Quality Suite for Safety used to ensure their standards were meeting or exceeding their safety quality standards. The changes to the Bombardier and Embraer Jet to increase the overall quality and service of the jets in reference to their range of flight and the services offered to the staff and the customers boarding the flight.Other technological changes taking place are the new ways of communicating creating less need for travel. With the economy still being in a vulnerable position people are very sensitive to the price of a flight and try to find other means of commuting to their destination or communicating to that particular party. These technological changes have caused a decrease in the airline market due to price sensitivity that even business travelers are looking to save m oney. Next we will discuss the changes in the long-term growth rate. Changes in the long-term growth rate:The changes in the long-term growth rate started to increase when SkyWest partnered with Delta and United Express. The partnership had increased their annual growth rate to a compounded 29. 6%. This partnership had increased the number of flights from 1,500 to 2,300, and increased their departures to 2,400 to 208 cities per day by adding connection flight through their major airlines that serviced the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. With the increased flights there were new government regulations that were applied. In the next paragraph we will discuss those regulations. New Government regulations:New Government regulations were in effect immediately after the 9/11 attack to ensure safety to the passengers by increasing the security regulations. The increased security also increased operational costs to the airline carriers due to the increased safety regulation s. The last increase that took place was the increased jet fuel cost, due to the economic recession in mid-2008. All these changes lead to a decrease in ticket sales due to fear of flying post 9/11 attack, and the incurred costs of flying in response to the threat of rising fuel costs. The next section will talk about the industry’s key success factors.Key Success factors: The key success factors are the competitive factors that most affect industry members’ ability to prosper in the marketplace. Different types of key success factors can be technology related, manufacturing related, distribution related, marketing related and skills and capability related. Technology related: The technology related key success factors that the SkyWest Inc. was defined by how they were able to acquire new aircraft. Regional airlines were required to find the needed capital and financing to increase the size of their fleets to service the longer routes being outsourced by the major airl ines.This had to be done without compromising their scope contracts with labor. SkyWest was able to overcome that by joining with ASA to acquire new aircraft. The next factors to success being discussed are the Manufacturing and Distribution related key success factors. Manufacturing/Distribution related: SkyWest’s manufacturing and or distribution related key success factors are defined by the ability to get their passengers to their destination on time. SkyWest was able to maximize their on-time arrivals by successfully getting all of their flyers to their sites on-time and making sure they did not miss their connecting flights as well.This gave them a good reputation with their customers in increasing satisfaction, naming them one of the highest rated regional carriers for on-time arrivals. Marketing-related The regional airline industry related its marketing key success factors to how they were able to maintain a strong safety image. In order to keep up with images of fly ing SkyWest increased safety standards and regulations to develop a much more safer image for those that were skeptical about flying smaller flights especially after the 9/11 attack.Passengers were unsure of the safety of the smaller jets preventing them from flying with the regional airlines, but after more safety had been implemented and other procedures had taken place to ensure everything was up to code they were able to maintain this strong image to passengers to ensure their safety when flying. Skills and capability-related SkyWest’s skills and capabilities were expressed in how they were able to maintain high levels of customer service. Typically regional airlines were not known for their customer service due to a large number of mishandled uggage that happened when transferring luggage from one plane to the next and an increased number of cancelled flights due to inclement weather. Most of these issues were not directly related to the regional due to their partnership s that handed all of their scheduling and majors taking priority in runways. SkyWest was able to maintain an average number of mishandled baggage, the second lowest number of involuntary denied boarding’s and the fourth in number of complaints per 100,00o passengers.This put them at the top to be named the Regional Airline Company of the Year for on-time arrivals by the Department of Transportation multiple times. Five Forces Model of Competition The five forces model evaluates the industries competition based on their level of Rivalry, threat of new entry, substitutes, bargaining power of buyers and bargaining power of suppliers to be either strong, moderate or weak. We will first discuss the first and most powerful of the five forces of competition; rivalry. Rivalry: Competition in the U. S. irline industry is very strong with their being a large number of competitors in the regional airlines. The success of low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines and JetBlue has incre ased the pressure on airlines to compete on price to attract sufficient numbers of passengers to keep flights full. In some regards, major airlines use contracts with regional carriers to keep costs and airfares low. Therefore, contracts for regional service are awarded by major carriers are to those having the lowest prices and reliable service. The overall rivalry in the airline industry is strong.Threat of new entry: The Threat of entry into the regional airline is define by the barriers to entry that include costs of acquiring a fleet of aircraft, acquiring contracts with major airline partners, and low industry profitability. Although the capital required to start up a modestly-sized small regional airline is fairly small, entering at a scale large enough to create a competitive threat requires substantial resources. The major threat of entry comes from major carriers which have the resources to start up their own regional airline. This threat is only moderate because the trend is for ajors airlines to sell off their regional airline operations and contract out service to regional carriers. Substitutes: Since regional airlines service short routes, passengers have more alternatives such as bus, automobile, or train travel than they do for long distance travel. This is particularly true when passengers are traveling only a few hundred miles. However, for major carriers that utilize regional carriers to execute hub and spoke strategies, there are few alternatives that they can use other than operating their own regional carrier.Substitutes are a weak to moderate force in the industry. Bargaining Power of Buyers: In the airline industry there are two types of customers; Leisure and business travelers. The business travelers tend to make up most of the market because they used the regional airlines to commute to and from locations that were considered too far to drive. They were also the most profitable because the larger customers purchased flights that were bought at a premium due to their short-notice or unexpected plan for flight.The Second type of buyers in the market were the leisure travelers that was a much smaller group of buyers because they traveled less often and were more price sensitive to the ticket sales. With their being several airline businesses in the industry all offering the same service, switching costs for tickets from airline to another tend to be very high. Airline industries have a fixed price on airline tickets preventing from buyers being able to bargain a lower price. Since most if not all customers search airline tickets based on price this makes the bargaining powers of buyers in the industry to be weak to moderate.Bargaining Power of Suppliers: In the regional airline industry there are two main types of suppliers Brazil’s Empresa Brasilerira de Aeronautica SA and Bombardier. With their only being two different types of suppliers in the regional airline industry that have two differentiated produc ts, makes the demand for them to be very high. Since these are the only two for the regional airlines it makes the bargaining power of suppliers to be very strong allowing them to change higher prices without losing their service to another manufacturer. 3-Internal AnalysisSWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis is an incredibly useful tool that helps review and analyzes the company’s current strategy. The SWOT analysis also identifies a potentially new direction for the company’s strategy to go. SWOT stands for strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats. Strength and weaknesses generally relate to factors that are internal to the organization, while opportunities and weakness in contrast often relates to factors that are external to the organization. We will now analyze SkyWest, Inc. using the SWOT analysis. Strengths:A company’s strength is something that the company is good at doing, or an attribute that enhances its competitiveness in the marketplace. SkyWest le ads the industry in safety and maintenance by being a pillar in the industry for seeking safety prevention, and leading by example and getting involved to help the community overall be safer. SkyWest also has good statistics for safety and for on-time arrivals along with other factors that affect customer satisfaction. For years 2004 through 2009 SkyWest had the highest percentage for scheduled flights arriving on time.They also were second for the least amount of involuntary denied boarding’s. SkyWest also has a high level of employee satisfaction due to its workforce being nonunion. SkyWest owns jets like the Bombardier regional jet or the Embraer and ATR turboprops that are more economical and cost-efficient but also have speed that is comparable to those of larger jets; and they even have many of the same features that larger jets offer. A significant strength is that SkyWest has experienced a compounded annual growth rate of 29. 6 percent from 2003 to 2008.A key strength for SkyWest’s success is its ability to secure partnerships that expand its geographic and customer base. Now that we have completed analyzing SkyWest’s strengths we can take move on to analyzing their weaknesses. Weaknesses: A weakness is something a company lacks or does poorly; in comparison to competitors or a condition that puts the company at a competitive disadvantage. One weakness is SkyWest’s poor relationship with Delta Airlines which was caused by their disagreement over their contract and whether or not Delta owed SkyWest $25 million dollars.This inhibits SkyWest’s ability to fully function within that partnership, and of course being short changed $25 million dollars is also a significant loss. Another factor that contributes to SkyWest’s weaknesses was once considered a strength; SkyWest’s partnership with Midwest. After partnering together for two years Midwest filed for bankruptcy leaving a messy wind-down process for both c ompanies, which undoubtedly will take a toll on SkyWest’s competitive advantage. Unfortunately that’s not where the mess ends; in 2009, Midwest was purchased by Republic, a larger company that is considered a direct competitor of SkyWest.Another strategic issue for SkyWest is the fact that because they partner with larger airlines and even though their own statistics for safety and for on-time arrivals along with other factors that affect customer satisfaction are either average or above average, from the customer’s point of view they are connected with the major carriers. Therefore the larger airlines statistics are intertwined with their own; which, results in customers perceiving a poor reputation for customer service; mishandling baggage, canceling flights, delayed flights for both carriers.Another weakness caused by customer’s perceptions is that customers typically perceive that the planes regional carriers use are small, uncomfortable, noisy, and a lso unsafe. Now that we have finished evaluating SkyWest’s weakness, we can now move on to analyze opportunities. Finally the last weakness we will go over is the scope clauses with United ; Delta Airlines. In the labor contracts with their pilots union it is spelled out the maximum size of airplane that an outside partner can operate. This limits the size of aircrafts to 70-seat and 76-seat aircrafts.This translates into a limited amount of ticket sales which means its limiting profits and market share and the number of flights a company could support. Now that we have evaluated the different factors that put SkyWest at a disadvantage we will take a look at the external factors; starting with opportunities. Opportunities: Opportunities are found within the external environment and arise when a company can take advantage of current circumstances or changes in the environment to gain a competitive advantage and become more profitable. Generally the best opportunities are the o nes that match with your company’s strategic goals.One opportunity for SkyWest is with more and more major carriers that start outsourcing a portion of their routes to regional airlines this creates an opportunity for SkyWest to build those relationships and eventually become partners with those major airlines, giving SkyWest a chance to expand and grab more market share. Another opportunity for SkyWest to expand its market share is with United ; Delta Airlines filing for chapter 11 this creates a short window of opportunity for SkyWest to serve those customers and to do it with great service and low prices building an expanded loyal customer base.Another opportunity that SkyWest needs to watch the horizon for is if the scope cause liberation were to be approved it would create an opportunity for SkyWest to increase the number of routes flown in contract with other airlines and the seat capacity of those routes. It would be a wise decision to spend time making plans that coul d be quickly executed should the scope cause liberation get approved. It’s important to keep an eye on the horizon watching for changing technology, government policies, or social trends that way the company can respond quickly and seize the opportunity to gain the competitive advantage.A changing external environment doesn’t only mean possible opportunities it also means possible threats. We will now examine SkyWest’s possible threats. Threats: Threats are factors in a company’s external environment that pose a threat to the company’s profitability and competitive well-being. The 2007 economic recession is an example of a threat that many people did not see, because of this many industries including the airline industry suffered.Some people believe that we still have not fully felt the aftershocks of the recession and because the airline Industry is highly sensitive to the economy as a significant portion of travel; both leisure and business trave lers, are discretionary, it is still a potential threat. Another threat to the airline industry is the increasing costs for jet fuel and its general availability. This can have a crippling effect on a company’s profitability and threatens their overall business operations. Fuel expenses already account for 35-50 percent of an airlines operation cost in 2009.Another external threat is if either new or changes are made to the ASA Regulation for either weather related factors or safety inspections. Both would increase costs and could threaten the success and the competitive advantage of SkyWest, which in turn could lead to decreased customer satisfaction and fewer sales. Since SkyWest is a regional carrier they need to keep a careful watch not only on how they are performing but also how their major carriers whom they have partnerships with are performing.If a major carrier were to file for bankruptcy it would most certainly threaten SkyWest with loss of customers and profits an d could lead them to follow suit and file for bankruptcy as well. Another threat that could affect regional carriers in the industry is if two major carriers merge the result would most likely be consolidating of routes and possibly completely shutting down smaller hubs, which as we have explained would also affect their regional partners. Financial assessment Ratios: Financial data is important to analyze as it provides the concrete results as for how the company’s strategy is performing.Ratio analysis is often used to determine a company’s financial position. Ratio analysis breaks down into 5 key subgroups; profitability ratios, liquidity ratios, leverage ratios, activity ratios, and finally share-holder ratios. We will break down each one of these types of ratios starting with profit ratio. It should be noted that analyzing the individual companies financial performance alone, is not a complete analysis. To have a complete analysis, the ratios should be compared aga inst the industry’s average; however, we will not be covering that in our assessment with SkyWest. Profitability ratios:Profitability ratios generally tell us how well the company is using their resources efficiently. One of the several profitability ratios is the Operating profit margin. This ratio tells us how much profit is earned on each dollar of sales before paying interest charges and income taxes. | 2004| 2005| 2006| 2007| 2008| Operating Income| 144776| 220408| 339160| 344524| 255231| Total Operating Revenue| 1156044| 1964048| 3114656| 3374332| 3496249| Operating Profit Margin| 0. 1252| 0. 1122| 0. 1089| 0. 1021| 0. 0730| Here we see that the operating profit margin has been declining, while the total operating revenue is increasing.This can be interpreted as less money is being made on each dollar of sale. When looking at the operating profit margin ratio higher is better and you want to see an upward trend, since we don’t see that it is cause for concern and should be looked into. Liquidity ratios: Now let’s look into the liquidity ratios. Liquidity ratios measure a company’s ability to pay off short-term obligations by using their liquid assets, one of these ratios is the current ratio. The current ratio tells us how much of the company’s short-term obligation can be covered by using and converting their liquid assets. 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Current Assets| 125,892| 122,802| Current Liabilities| 129,783| 118,202| Current Ratio:| 0. 9700| 1. 0389| SkyWest’s current ratio had a small decrease from 2007 to 2008. For 2007 their ratio was 1. 04, and for 2008 it decreased to . 97. The ratio should be higher than 1, however what an acceptable ratio is depends on the type of industry as it varies. The fact that their ratio is decreasing could suggest impending insolvency. However to accurately analyze we would need to compare the current ratio to other companies in the airline industry. Leverage ratios:Next we wil l move on to analyze leverage ratios. Leverage ratios are concerned with the balance between debt and equity. One of the leverage ratios is the debt-to asset ratio. The debt-to asset ratio measure the extent to which borrowed funds have been used to finance the firm’s operations and investments. | 2007| 2008| Total Debt| 3990525| 4014291| Total Assests| 3990525| 4014291| Debt-to assets ratio| 1| 1| Here we see that for both 2007 and 2008 the debt-to asset ratio equals 1; however this is a cause for concern. It would be better if the debt-to assets ratio were a low fraction.A low fraction would indicate that the firm less debt then assets and therefor does not have a high risk of bankruptcy occurring. Activity Ratios: Another area to analyze is how effectively a company is managing its assets this group is called activity ratios. An example of an activity ratio is the inventory turnover ratio; which takes the cost of goods sold divided by the inventory to determine the number of times the inventory is turned over and whether they are carrying excess stock. One example of an activity ratio is the average collection ratio. | 2007| 2008| Accounts receivables| 81216| 55458|Total Sales (Total Revenue)| 3374332| 3496249| Average collection period| 8. 7851| 5. 7897| This measurement indicates the average length of time it takes SkyWest to receive a cash payment after making the sale. The shorter amount of time is optimal. From 2007 to 2008 SkyWest shortened the amount of time by almost 3 days, bringing it to roughly 6 days. Other important measures of financial performance: The last category is kind of a miscellaneous category; however this category is sometimes referred to as the shareholder-return ratio because many of the ratios measure the return earned by shareholders from holding stock in the company.There are other measures as well like the internal cash flow measurement. This measures how much cash a company’s business is generating after paying operating expenses, interest, and taxes (often referred to as NIAT). Years| 2004| 2005| 2006| 2007| 2008| Net income| $81,952 | $112,267 | $145,806 | $159,192 | $112,929 | Depreciation| $76,817 | $115,275 | $189,885 | $208,944 | $220,195 | NIAT| $158,769 | $227,542 | $335,691 | $368,136 | $333,124 | – Key Decisions 1. One of the main points the case covers is the state of the global and national economy. As previously discussed the airline industry and its success is highly correlated with the state of the economy. 2. Another main point that SkyWest should be concerned with is their ability to attract and retain partnerships. Its already been established that SkyWest’s relationship with Delta has been changed to â€Å"it’s complicated† over the disagreement of 25 million dollars unpaid and not going after Delta in a lawsuit for the unpaid money for fear of losing their partnership and connected business.As Delta Airlines contributed 59. 9% of SkyWest†™s customer capacity. Also their previous partnership with Midwest Airlines which then filed for bankrupt and later was purchased by a direct competitor, which could become larger and more capable; threatening SkyWest’s future. 3. Another issue plaguing SkyWest is the impact of high fuel prices. It is estimated that 30-50% of total costs are from the costs of fuel. This in conjunction with the scope clauses that limit the size of planes SkyWest can operate increases the costs and amount of fuel needed. . The Last problem the case covers is the issue of government legislation and regulations and the effect it has on the airline industry. Safety regulations and labor contracts that limit the number of passenger’s pilots can fly. Along with the issue of planes being grounded to perform safety inspections or the proposals of new legislation like the regulation that was going to require they provide oxygen for passengers that would have added a significant amount of addit ional costs. 5- Alternatives 1.Economy: Clearly one cannot control the state of the economy, but if SkyWest continues to take advantage of their strengths and repair weakness that are due to partner companies’ poor customer service, human resources and low profits they are likely to be successful when the economy is doing better. While the economic recession continues SkyWest should attempt to renegotiate their agreements with their major carrier partners and cancel flights, when capacity is low, in order to reduce their costs.They need to make sure they maintain competitive prices and not just meet customer’s expectations but also exceed them, this will lead to a stronger customer loyalty hopefully keeping SkyWest out of the red. 2. Partnerships: SkyWest needs to continue to develop their partnerships with major carriers to further diversify the amount of major partners, which would ultimately reduce the risk of being dependent on Delta and United. Also combining effo rts would reduce the companies overhead. . Fuel costs: The rising costs and fluctuations in fuel price pose a significant risk as they are the largest chunk of operation costs for the airline industry. SkyWest should plan their routes to maximize their fuel efficiency along with again trying to renegotiate their agreements with their major carrier partners to permit flying larger size planes with more seating capacity; which would therefor create larger economies of scale. 4.Regulations: SkyWest needs to continue to pay close attention to union activity within the ASA Corporation and also continue to avoid labor unions and instead focus on employees through effective benefit packages and employee engagement. 6- Recommended Decisions 1. SkyWest airlines considerably has cash in had it could make a risky move by starting to serve in new countries since they are already exposed to some of the foreign destinations it would not be a bad idea but they must be prepared to face new competit ors.This would help the company to offer more international connecting flights and strengthen the operations that already exists for instance in Canada. 2. As we discussed before as a whole the industry is enjoying an accumulated revenue, so at this point making new partnerships may increase the revenue share of SkyWest Airlines and this would help the company to face the unknown future challenges and lessen its affect to SkyWest airlines since the economy is not steady. . Even though SkyWest is well known for being the best at safety of the services rendered it should invest more on researches with the other industry competitors so they could split the cost and enjoy the benefits (joint research agreements). This would help the SkyWest to keep up to the new regulations that is set by FAA, TSA and DOT. 4. In the first quarter of 2009 they had a SkyWest had a revenue loss of $7. million which was merely by ASA because of poor maintains and inefficiency of the flights. Management shou ld take initiatives to reduce these types of inefficiency and integrate a successful system for sustainable growth of the company. 5. SkyWest Inc. should be concerned with the route maps and they should look for opportunities that could potentially help them to expand route coverage with the existing partnerships or to get into new business agreements with new partners. . Management should work closely with the finance department to cut down fuel and maintains cost to earn more revenues in the volatile economy. For instance management should be working together with finance department on hedging for fuel, and they could get into partnerships with smaller companies in the industry to share maintains cost rather than a large air carrier where SkyWest’s needs wouldn’t be considered upon a larger company.