Thursday, October 31, 2019

Call it what ever you like Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Call it what ever you like - Essay Example Antonio is liked by people and has a good heart. He is able to bring out his emotions very in the court while pleading for mercy from Shylock (Shakespeare, Coleman & Barnes, 23). Shylock is the unsuccessfully character and is resented by everyone. Shylock is a rich man who lends out money to Antonio. However, when he needs his money repaid, Antonio is not in a position to repay and this becomes a major source of conflict between the two friends. In the court scene, Shylock is able to bring out very well mixed emotions and anger. He however, later becomes sympathetic when the case turns again as they had not agreed on how to measure the pound of flesh and blood (Shakespeare, Coleman & Barnes, 23). He is well armed with his knife in court and could not wait to be finally allowed to get his pound of flesh. Shylock can be analyzed as a very inhumane and unfair character as he does not even give Antonio a chance to explain himself, he harbors secret hated for Antonio and would be delighted to destroy him the best way he would (Shakespeare, Coleman & Barnes, 23). The other characters hate shylock as he finds fun and satisfaction oppressing them. Other aspects of the play such as costumes, lighting, props as well as sound were well incorporated and the performance was extemporary good (Shakespeare, Coleman & Barnes, 23). All through the play, the characters were able to capture my attention and create enthusiasm to keep watching. The production was top notch. I have learnt vital lessons from the play and will aim at becoming a better and peace-loving

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Leadership from the Organisational Behaviour area of study Essay

Leadership from the Organisational Behaviour area of study - Essay Example Over the decades, numerous theories on the subject of organizational leadership have been suggested and deliberated over. These include, but are not limited to, Transactional Leadership, Trait Theory, Behavioural Theories, which constitute The Managerial Grid and Theory X and Theory Y, Situational Leadership, Participative Leadership, which comprises the infamous Lewin’s leadership styles, Contingency Theory, and Transformational Leadership (Time-Life Books 1994, p.453). Trait or Great Man theory places a leader at a different level in terms of thinking, dreams, ambitions and general intelligence as compared to the normal person. The major assumptions made in this theory include; some habits are specifically suited for leadership, individuals who make the best leaders have the perfect blend of leadership traits and the individuals inherently acquire those traits. Extensive research into successful leaders has been carried out in an attempt to discover some of these traits and if when applied to other individuals, they may also make good leaders. Some of these behaviours include intelligence, assertiveness, decisiveness, innovativeness, flexibility, conceptually skilled, team player, diplomacy, sensitivity to the social environment, dreamer, reliable, good orator, charismatic, dominance, persuasiveness and persistence (Burns 1978, p.654). Behavioural theories assume that leaders are not born, but made and that the best leadership is based on principles that can be practiced over time. These theories approach is not to focus on the inherent characteristics of an individual, but rather those habits that they have picked up over the years that have shaped and nurtured their leadership skills. There are two types of behaviour under this theory that each leader possess as a result of training. These include general concern

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Evaluation of Indias Online Travel Industry

Evaluation of Indias Online Travel Industry MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS PROJECT: ONLINE TRAVEL INDUSTRY GROUP MEMBERS: Nikita Goenka (PGP30324) Padmaja Agnihotri (PGP30316) Sandeep Kumar (ABM11034) Ravali Malka (PGP30317) Vishwas Nandan (PGP 30353) Saurav Kumar (PGP30340) Rohan Kokane (PGP30336) BACKGROUND India is a country with vast demography and a wide spectrum of opportunities. Better job avenues have gifted the youth with greater discretionary power. Rising use of internet plastic money has made the field of e-commerce an exponentially growing field in recent times. Why E-Travel as a subject of research? E-travel in India has a lion’s share in the Indian E-commerce contributing to a whopping 82% to the entire market share in the year 2013 (Graph 1). Also, E-travel exhibited a marvelous annual growth of 53% in 2013 over 2012. This is further complemented by the fact that the Indian tourism industry is the 2nd fastest growing in the world. The present paper aims at unravelling various facets of this booming industry and studying its position in the private sector, especially e-commerce industry. Other merits: Online travel demands least capital infrastructure costs Quick delivery of services enhances consumer satisfaction EVOLUTION Based on the single idea of easing travelling in India, online travel services started around a decade ago. Booming of IT sector in India was one of the major factors stimulating online travel. Online travelling segment constitutes around 70% 80% ($25 billion) of all e-commerce activities and has been a major driver of the industry. Key schemes and policies implemented by e-commerce industry can be considered as major factor for success of the segment. Exhaustive assistance, user friendly websites, customer grievance redress are the major attractions prevailing in the segment. Makemytrip, Yatra.com, Redbus are some websites which have seen rocketed growth as presented in Graph 2 and Graph 3. PRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND Price Elasticity is defined as percentage change in demand due to one percent change in price. Online travel industry faces more level of price sensitivity than traditional channels, majorly because of ease of access to- PRODUCT INFORMATION PRICE INFORMATION CHANNEL SELECTION FORWARD LINKAGES: Nowadays Travel industry is not restricted to its conventional travel business only. It has extended to forward linkages like bus tickets, travel insurance firm hotels. Share of each linkage has been presented in Graph 4 Regulations Introduced by the government and its impact: The regulatory norms laid down by the government of India are aimed at promoting growth of the market which have effect on the online travel industry. With the customers slowly moving from traditional ways of booking to online, these norms have greatly influenced the growth of online travel industry. A few regulatory norms laid are as follows: COST STRUCTURE: The cost structure of online travel can be analysed in two ways: Traditional costing analysis through study of the PL statement ABC (activity based costing ) by analyzing the cost driver for each specific segment The following sections explains both the above stated viewpoints: Traditional costing analysis: The income statements of various big players of the online travel industry are available for study. One such player is Makemytrip.com, a leading firm in online travel. Graph 5 summarizes the various expenses of Makemytrip for 4 consecutive years in descending order. Activities of online travel: The various activities of online travel have been are categorized as: Core Activities and Support Activities The activities are studied considering their respective drivers in terms of the resources allotted and other factors such as time and space devoted etc. PRODUCTION STRUCTURE Online travel industry offers services to its customers as a product. There are various types of services which online travel industry offers:- Core services Air, Rail and hotel advance bookings and ticketing Discount fares program Event management service Value added services Tracking of journey 24 hours emergency service Ticket approval using email system Insurance Graph 6: Traffic generated from mobile devices. Graph 7: Reach of travel portals (India and Global) Graph 8: Profit Margin by segments PRODUCTION FUNCTION A production function gives relationship between inputs (capital, labour and other factors) and outputs (goods and services). Online travel agency have high initial and fixed cost which it makes as less labour intensive sector. U= U (P, Y) Y= F (K, L) Where U = utility function of cost (P) and trips (Y) F = Production function of capital (K) (travel agencies) In short run, if labour is increased, the performance and maintenance of the online portal will be improvised. So this in-turn might increase number of trips for some time period then falls as online travel agency is more technology based and improving labour doesn’t increase much of output. In long run, an improvement in the state of technology shifts the production function up, leading to an increase in output per worker for a given level of capital per worker. The higher the technology, higher Y for a given K and L. An improvement in the state of technology shifts the production function up, leading to an increase in output per worker for a given level of capital per worker COST FUNCTION Cost function is effect of level of production on the cost which the firm is incurring. Since in online travel industry we don’t have any such physical product, we can relate the level of production with the sales generated by company. Cost analysis for Thomas Cook has been done in Table 1 and Graph 9. TABLE – 1: Thomas Cook- Average and Marginal cost of the service delivered Year Sales (INR in mn) Total Cost (INR in mn) AC MC 2010 3455 3086 0.8932 2011 4017 3094 0.7703 0.01 2012 4386 3300 0.7524 0.557 2013 13031 10269 0.7881 0.80 Source: www.securities.com/emis/ Industry- Online travel Graph 9: Cost analysis for Thomas Cook (All money figures are in INR million) Inferences: The data given in Table 1 shows the average and marginal cost of the service delivered. From graph 9 we can see that the average cost reaches a minimum value of 0.45 at a sales value of INR 8700mn approximately. As the scale of operations of Thomas Cook went up beyond this point the average cost also increased. Clearly it is evident that the company isn’t operating at its minimum cost point. Due to sudden increase in scale of operations, the company might not have optimized its value chain. REGRESSION ANALYSIS IRCTC E-ticket booking: IRCTC started its e-ticket booking facility from 2005 August. By that time there was already i-ticket booking in IRCTC where tickets will be delivered through courier to the house after booking through internet. Once IRCTC launched E-ticket booking, the sales through I-ticketing started declining and this new facility increasing sales of IRCTC. Number of people using internet in 2012 is 11.4% of total population as compared to 4.5% of total population in 2005. This rapid growth in internet users resulted in increment of number of tickets booked through IRCTC. Graph 10: Regression Analysis for IRCTC E-ticket booking Inferences: In 2005, internet Company Sify had announced its tie up with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to make online railway ticketing service available at over 3,400 iWay cybercafà ©s across 154 cities, on cash payments. In 2008, With 8 lacs tickets sold every day on its website, IRCTC had announced its expansion policy to give services and sell airline tickets. With overall increase in train travel quality and increase in train travelling, e-tickets are in demand. PROFIT OR LOSS ANALYSIS: MAKE MY TRIP www.moneycontrol.com Year Revenue Total Cost Profit 2011 $124,721.00 $119,891.00 $4,830.00 2012 $196,599.00 $189,951.00 $7,048.00 2013 $228,822.00 $256,411.00 ($27,589.00) 2014 $255,375.00 $276,281.00 ($20,906.00) Graph 11 Inferences: Based on the above analysis MakeMyTrip has achieved its break-even point somewhere in between 2012 and 2013. After that point it has been experiencing losses. PROFIT OR LOSS ANALYSIS THOMAS COOK www.moneycontrol.com Year Revenue(In Cr.) Total Cost(In Cr.) Profit(In Cr.) 2009 242.00 184.00 58.00 2010 282.00 193.00 89.00 2011 340.00 232.00 108.00 2012 386.00 270.00 116.00 2013 383.00 267.00 116.00 Graph 12 Inferences: From above graph, Thomas cook has passed its break-even point and has been experiencing profits for last 5 years. APPENDIX Graph 1: E commerce Market share Graph 2: Growth trend in the online travel market Graph 3: Percentage of online users Graph 4: E commerce market share (including the forward linkages) Graph 5: Summary of expenses of Makemytrip for 4 consecutive years in descending order: Source : http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/mmyt/financials?query=income-statement Graph 6: Traffic generated from mobile devices Graph 7: Reach of travel portals Segment % age Air Travel 7 Train Travel 5 Bus Travel 12 Car Rentals 15 Hotels tours and Packages 20 Graph 8: Profit Margin by segments 2013 Source: E Y

Friday, October 25, 2019

Essay --

The History of Water Pipes The earliest known evidence of a pipe being used for plumbing was found in Mesopotamia it is estimated to have been made around 3000 BC. The pipes were made from clay mixed with short lengths of straw. This was the first type of pipe to be used to transport water from different places. Both brass and copper pipes have been found in Egypt believed to have been constructed close to 2500 BC. The Romans used lead pipes, extensive use of lead pipe by joining sheets of lead into piping to carry their water supply and waste. Two millennia ago the ancient Romans made use of large aqueducts to transport water from higher elevations by building the aqueducts in graduated segments that allowed gravity to push the water along until it reached its destination later using them same idea in lead pipes building them under ground . Cast iron and ductile iron pipe was long and a lower costing alternative to copper before the advent of durable plastic materials but special non conductive fittings must be used where transitions are to be made to other metallic pipes, except for terminal and universal fittings, in order to avoid corrosion owing to electrochemical reactions (reactions from exposure to air) between dissimilar metals see galvanic cell Hundreds of these were built throughout Europe and overseas and along with flour mills were considered the lifeline of the Roman Empire. The Chinese also made use of aqueducts and pipe systems for public works. The famous Han Dynasty court ordered in 145 AD that the engineer to construct a series of pipe networks and square pallet chain pumps outside the capital city of Luoyang. These chain pumps delivered water and waste around the city quiet and easy at a cheap cost, serviced t... ...cting the lead itself. What often causes confusion is the large amount of evidence of widespread lead poisoning, particularly amongst those who would have had easy access to piped water. This was an unfortunate result of lead being used in cookware and as an additive to processed food and drink, such as a preservative in wine. Roman lead pipe inscriptions provided information on the owner to prevent water theft. Cast iron and ductile iron pipe was long a lower-cost alternative to copper, before the advent of durable plastic materials but special non-conductive fittings must be used where transitions are to be made to other metallic pipes, except for terminal fittings, in order to avoid corrosion owing to electrochemical reactions between dissimilar metals see cell. Bronze fittings and short pipe segments are commonly used in combination with various materials.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Mary Shelley & ‘Frankenstein’ Essay

â€Å"How do the themes explored by Mary Shelley in ‘Frankenstein’ relate to a modern audience? † The beginning of civilisation brought the evidential classification of people as insiders and outsiders in any close society, due to the narrow stereotypical minds of the masses and often the simplistic facts of life. People are separated from the rest of the community as a result of perhaps their physical appearance or a difference in their personality. Stereotypical idols in today’s society are greatly influential; we are quick to identify faults in others and use this excuse to ostracise them from the world and ourselves. Mary Shelley embodies this ‘outsider’ through the monster that Frankenstein creates. He is isolated and rejected by everyone, so we are made to empathise with him; human beings have a natural instinct to do this, so the text is universalised. Ironically, at times the monster is more humane than those who consider themselves human, those who consider themselves ‘insiders’, opposed to the monster- an outsider. This novel opens on a personal note, Shelley uses the device of letters as a hook to draw in the reader; an invasion of privacy universalises the thoughts on paper, like reading someone else’s diary. This makes it easier for us to empathise to Captain Walton and subsequently Victor Frankenstein, who is very similar in many aspects to him. These two strong male characters are romanticised by Shelley make them easier to relate to in a modern audience, because they far more believable with multi- faceted personalities. They are romantic anti- heroes; their ambition intrigues us and we are able to identify with them and their achievements. The letters are deliberately left without an exact date, so as to not only create a sense of mystery but to also ensure that the story isn’t concreted to a specific era, as it relates more to society as a whole rather than a period of time. Shelley uses a high diction style of writing, which is littered with emotive adjectives to prevent it becoming stagnated and boring for the audience. The information is given to us little at a time to arouse our curiosity and make us read further into the book, where crescendos are commonly used after a more mundane part of the story, so the excitement peaks and falls throughout. An example of this is when the monster is first sighted in letter 4 where there is a dramatic climax before he disappears from view, leaving the audience in doubt of what will happen next. A prominent theme in Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ is one of an idealistic world. Victor idealises his family, like a fairytale, too good to be true in reality, which it seems he wants to escape as he knows his family are far from perfect, and a good example of this is portrayed in the quote; â€Å"There was a considerable difference between ages of my parents, but this circumstance seemed to unite them closer in the bonds of devoted affection. † (Ch1, pg33, line7)

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

A & P is highly symbolic story

A & P is highly symbolic story with various thematic expressions. It takes into account the individual and adolescent longings to rebel against the common conventions, class conflict, and the rise of superstore mentality in United States during 1950s. It is also an epitome of American social milieu during 1950s and represents its different shades in colloquial and ironic language. Furthermore, it narrates the psychological and emotional transitions from childhood to adolescence in a lucid manner. The most important feature of the story is its highly symbolic settings. Updike set up the story in 1950s that was â€Å"an age when supermarket has replaced the church as the community’s central institutions†.(Wells 132) Gilbert Porter (1972) writes in this regard that, â€Å"right in the middle of town, surrounded by ‘two banks and the Congregational church and the newspaper store and three real estate offices’ stands Updike’s symbolic A& P† (p. 115 5). So it gives an atlas of the whole American socio-economics set-up in fifties.Every institute remained a hallmark of American society and its values. The utilization of words ‘right in the middle’ manifests the importance and centrality of these institutional expressions in the American life. A & P symbolizes the â€Å"mass ethic of a consumer-conditioned society†. (Porter, p. 1155)Another important aspect of the story is social structures that Updike’s has constructed and displayed in order to augment the thematic expressions. Sammy, the protagonist can be viewed rebelling against this social structure.As Larence Jat Dessner puts it, â€Å"He is entranced and made enviously defensive by his notion that the under-clad younger shoppers inhabit a higher social station than him† (16) The juxtaposition of visualization to attend a party in Queenie’s living rooms to the factual account of parties at his own home is important illustration of thi s psychological phenomenon.Sammy says, ‘When my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it's a real racy affair Schlitz in tall glasses with â€Å"They'll Do It Every Time† cartoons stencilled on. (Updike) Furthermore, Updike has lighted the differences between one social order and the other in a subtle way. For example, in Queenie’s social realm, people eat â€Å"Kingfish Fancy herring snacks in Pure Sour Cream† which symbolizes a privileged social class whereas Sammy eats HiHo Crackers that embodies a lower-class status. Lengel, another character, represents the Puritan work ethic.Strength of the story is utilization of a mixture of themes in a way that produced a unifocal impact on the reader. In addition to above mentioned conflict of social classes, it encircles the rebellious nature of its time. Sammy is caught in social compulsions at the start of the story and symbolizes a convention-ridden individual.Queenie and her company is an illus tration of the rebellious temperament and any other non-conformist attitude and values. She and her party enter and wander around the store barefooted unlike other housewives and people who only comes with shopping lists and remain totally engrossed in them. Updike again uses a subtle image to symbolize their non-conformist behaviour.They stroll up an aisle against the normal route of traffic. This metaphorically explains their behaviour that is against the social conventions of the time. This makes realize Sammy of his own conditionality. This generates a desire in him to be different from the society. So he rebels against the society. Lengel is juxtaposed with Sammy as he sticks to conventionalities and embodies the strict professional ethics. Mr. recognize him as â€Å"the Voice of the Establishment† (1157).   These images illustrate the second theme in a perfect way.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

new 12

The definition of an architect according to Random House is: Architect ( ar-chi-tects) a person who engages in the profession of architecture (Random House). Requirements for education as stated in The Chronicle Guidance Publications are In most states architects must have either a bachelors or a masters degree earned for completion of studies in an accredited degree program for architecture. In 1999 the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) accredited 108 programs culminating in either a five-year bachelors degree in architecture or a masters degree in architecture. There are several ways to earn a professional degree in architecture. More than half of all architecture degrees are for completion of a five-year program for students entering college directly from high school. Masters degree programs generally require either two years for students with an undergraduate degree in architecture or a related study, or three to four years for students who have a degree in another discipline. Computer literacy is essential. Most firms are now using computers for word processing, design development, specifications wri! ting, two-dimensional and three-dimensional design drafting, financial management, and research. US News ranked Claremont McKenna College in California as the best Liberal Arts School in the nation for architecture. California Institute of Technology was the top ranked university for architecture followed by Stanford also in California (US News). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics All States and the District of Columbia require individuals to be licensed (registered) before they may call themselves architects or contract to provide architectural services. Many architecture school graduates work in the field even though they are not licensed. However, a licensed architect is required to take legal responsibility for all work. Three req...