LEGAL ASPECTS OF INTL BUSINESS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LEGAL ASPECTS OF INTL BUSINESS - Essay Example Malaysia Airlines flies from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing twice daily without stops. Passengers arrive at least two hours in advance. On March 7, a group of 34 Chinese artists’ relatives, organizers businesspersons and families traveling with infants board the plane. An Information technology student in Lumpur and migrants being smuggled into Europe also board the plane. The plane is a Boeing 777, one of the world’s most popular passenger jets enabled with electronic controls and a computer to keep the plane steady(Philip, para. 11). Malaysia Airlines is an international company therefore; its operations are in accordance to international laws in the form of treaties conventions regulating its mother county’s relationship with other counties such as China. International law also provides litigation in cases of such breach of contracts by parties dealing internationally. International law also provides guidelines that facilitate transfer of risk from one party to another dealing internationally. Negligence by a party that has led to losses on the other party can be a basis for suing for damages. China has not held back in halting the pace of the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. It has deployed 21 satellites and a flotilla of naval ships. China has also dispatched investigators to Malaysia, run background checks on Chinese passengers and scourer radar images. Working with Malaysian government in searching for the plane and investigating the happenings has revealed limits of China’s power, influence, technological and military might in the region, despite the rapid rise as a rival to the United States and American strategic dominance of the western pacific. Malaysia has been keeping other nations, including China at a distance, taking a leading role in solving the problem. Malaysia has the right to take control in the search operation. However, China as nation of

Successor in family Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9250 words

Successor in family - Article Example This could be answered using an empirical research designed to involve business owner-managers and successors from some Chinese family businesses. These respondents could then be asked to help return usable questionnaires. The perceived success of the succession process is measured by two underlying dimensions: The empirical results will indicate whether the successor-related factors that influence satisfaction with the process are, on the one hand, the willingness of the successor to take over, and the relationship between the owner-manager and successor, on the other hand. The study should also be able to elucidate whether the continued profitability of the business is influenced by the willingness of the successor to take over the business, the preparation level of the successor, and the relationship between the successor and owner-manager. The relationship between the owner-manager and successor is influenced by the extent to which interpersonal relationships in the family can be described as harmonious. Based on these findings recommendations for successful succession are offered. When man began to venture into trade and commerce, little did it strike him that business was a means of being together and a factor that contributed to happiness and growth. Gradually members of a family would get together and share responsibilities to ease the workload on a single person. The most influential person of the family would normally be the business head. Family businesses are among the most important contributors to wealth and employment in virtually every country in the world, and this was no exception with the Chinese (IFERA, 2003; Sharma, 1997; Tan & Fock, 2001; Ward, 2004). So influential is family business, that many countries now have more and more family businesses contributing to the national economy through tax payments. What does one mean by the term family business' Following Chua, Sharma, and Chrisman (1996), family business is the business governed and/or managed on a sustainable, and potentially cross-generational, basis that shapes and perhaps pursues the formal or implicit vision of the business held by members of the same family or a small number of

Causes of PSE and DFD Meats and Treatments

Causes of PSE and DFD Meats and Treatments What is PSE DFD meat? The terms pale, soft and exudative PSE and dark, firm and dry DFD describe two undesired quality characteristics that can be exhibited in the meat from most species of meat producing animals. However the PSE condition is predominantly found in pigs whilst the DFD condition occurs across all species. Within this essay the incidence rates of both PSE /DFD, the causative factors, consequences and commercial factors as well as prevention shall be considered. Pictures of the two conditions can be seen in fig 1. These undesirable conditions are very important when considering both functional and specified meat quality. They are significant factors that contribute to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the entire sector and encompass wide ranging issues affecting meat production, profits, yields, animal welfare considerations, processing, customer perception, consumption, food safety, spoilage, waste and levels of carbon dioxide production. Both conditions affect the colour of meat, as it can be considered abnormally pale or dark relative to what is considered normal. Colour is one of the major discriminatory factors in a buyers selection, excessively pale or dark meat is unlikely to be purchased. The texture of the meat with PSE and DFD is also affected detrimentally leading to unacceptable levels of softness or firmness. Undesired changes in water holding capacity of the meat occur, leading to problems in processing and the commercial yields of products, as well as detrimental effects on the sensory attributes of meat such as juiciness or succulence. There is thought to be a link between DFD and a lack of flavour in a cooked product. The development of both PSE and DFD meat can be associated with earlier development of rigormortis  [1]  . Products may subjectively exhibit one or more of the descriptive characteristics e.g. too pale or too dark, too soft or too firm, too exudative or too dry relative to the characteristics of normal meat. Normal acidification of muscles after an animal is slaughtered occurs through glycolysis. Glycogen and creatine phosphate are depleted. Glycogen conversion to lactic acid is described here. C6H10O5 +H2Oà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  2C3H6O3 There is no oxygen for aerobic metabolic processes to occur. The circulatory system can no longer remove lactic acid and it accumulates within the muscle. The abnormal conditions of PSE and DFD are linked to abnormally high or low acidity, thus the pH value of the meat can be used to more objectively describe the conditions at different times after slaughter (table 1). However these values can be different in different muscles within a carcass and different packaging methods may affect pH values. Accurate pH recordings are also particularly difficult with various methods having various problems such as lack of homogeneity of sample, fat smearing, dilution of sample etc. Using objective indices of PSE and DFD tends to produce higher estimates of the prevalence of the conditions in a population than using subjective assessment.  [2]  Subjective methods of gauging DFD / PSE using people may be less sensitive. People may only be able to judge the extremes of the conditions. There appears to be an increase in the levels of incidence of PSE and DFD. Within the United Kingdom one quarter of pigs may show evidence of PSE and one tenth DFD. The cost of PSE to the American pork industry was estimated at 30 million dollars in 1992, that of DFD pork 0.2 million dollars  [3]  estimated at 16% and 10% of total United States production respectively. This gives an indication of the economic significance of the problems. The levels of glycogen available in the muscle prior to slaughter will determine the ultimate pH. These levels can be changed through stress, theses stresses prior to slaughter are the main factors involved in causing the PSE and DFD conditions. Although there are genetic, muscle composition and processing factors that can be instrumental, these shall be discussed later and these ultimately link to abnormalities in post mortem acidification of the muscles anyway, the effects of long term and short term stress shall be considered now. It is well known that the handling of meat animals prior to slaughter is not only important from a welfare point of view but also affects the quality of the resulting meat  [4]  . It has also been known for many years that hunted animals keep less well than those kept in relative calm conditions. With PSE the cause appears to be acute (or short term) stress to the animal prior to slaughter. This acute stress leads to rapid acidification as glycogen breaks down quickly after slaughter to give lactic acid, resulting in a low ultimate pH. If carcass temperatures are high e.g. within deep muscle regions of the carcass, or rates of cooling are not rapid enough, conditions can develop that allow denaturing of the proteins within these muscles. The muscles are characterised by having lower water holding capacity due to the myofibrillar components of the muscles shrinking. This expels fluids into the space between the muscle fibres. When cut the meat will exude or lose this fluid, this is called drip. Excessive drip represents a loss in total yield but is also unsightly in shelf ready packaging and less likely to be purchased by a potential consumer. The paler appearance of PSE meat is likely due to the different refractive index of the myofibrils and the sarcoplasm. The reduction in the size of the myofilament lattice increases the light reflected from the meat, less light is absorbed by the meat, more is reflected and crucially blood pigments like myoglobin absorb less green light making the meat look more yellow as opposed to red. Also the low ultimate pH promotes oxidation of myoglobin and oxyglobin to metmyoglobin which makes the meat appear browner rather than red or purple. Again this discoloration makes the product less likely to be purchased at point of sale DFD is caused by chronic (or long term) stress to the animal. Glycogen levels are depleted prior to death, meaning that less glycogen is converted to lactic acid after slaughter and the ultimate pH of the meat remains high. Being closer to pH neutral there are significant issues with potential spoilage organisms and food borne pathogens as well as the quality issues discussed here. With a high ultimate pH there is less denaturing of the proteins leading to increased binding of the fluids and less exudates or drip giving a firm dry appearance. The lattice of myofilaments which shrank in the case of PSE does not in the case of DFD. This means that the affects of the refractive index differences of the myofibrils and sarcoplasm are reduced. More light is absorbed with less reflected leading to a darker colour. The tightly packed structure with less extracellular space between the fibres means that less oxidation of the myoglobin can occur, surface oxidation only may occur as oxygen cannot permeate the structure, this leads to a thin translucent / red outside layer with the reduced purple myoglobin pigment predominantly showing through from underneath this thin layer. The stress factors to consider are many fold but are worth at this stage categorising as acute and chronic in terms fear, pain and physical stress and their potential affect on the PSE DFD conditions. These might include noise, temperature variations, fasting or starvation, overcrowding or being put with animals of different social groups. Practical causes of short term stress might include reaction to goading, striking, restraining systems or conveyors, long term stressors associated with DFD might include long transport journeys and being exposed to other social groups of animals for periods of time. Young Bulls and veal calves have been linked to higher incident rates of DFD perhaps due to storage conditions and their fractious nature when exposed to other social groups, respectively. Different species are known to show different sensitivities to different stress factors, for example sheep are known to be less sensitive to noise than pigs. With pigs in particular there appears to be a genetic link to them being susceptible to stress, this is sometimes known as porcine stress syndrome. It exists as a double recessive gene that when apparent as an abnormal homozygote can be exposed and witnessed as a reaction to Halothane. Typically pigs with this double recessive gene react by becoming rigid and tense as opposed to the usual symptoms of anaesthesia through halothane In pigs with this mutation, Ca2+ is released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum at a rate that is equivalent to twice that of normal  [5]  Glycogen conversion to lactic acid happens much more readily and there are higher incidence of PSE amongst this genetic grouping. Measures to breed this characteristic out of pigs have been tried, it is thought that selective breeding for confirmation and fat level may have brought about this genetic mutation. The Halothane test does not work on the heterozygote parent and DNA tests are required to identify parents with the mutation to try and breed this sensitivity out. Another gene has been identified in certain strains of the Hampshire breed of pigs, known as the RN- gene. It is thought that this mutation increases the glycogen content of the white muscles that contain a higher number of glycolytic fibres, again resulting in post mortem rapid acidification leading to a lower pHu upon death leading to the PSE condition. There are other breed effects which can be demonstrated by a comparative study undertaken (Table 2) where traditional breeds were compared against modern commercially important breeds and an extreme of muscularity, this also seems to demonstrate a correlation between lighter more exudative muscles in those bred for confirmation or muscularity. In the search for modern breeds of the desired confirmation, stress susceptibility may have also been bred in. Even within the defined subjective and objective norms there are variations of colour, texture, pH and water holding capacity within different muscles of the carcasses of all species. The muscles affected by a particular stressor may be specific to a region of the anatomy rather than throughout the entire carcass. A particularly undesirable effect can be seen in the two tone appearance of meat, where the PSE, DFD and normal conditions can be exhibited in the extreme within a single carcass. An animal that is susceptible to PSE may exhibit DFD characteristics in those muscles that have been subject to long term stressors and thus have glycogen depletion prior to death. However some of the other muscles e.g. m. longissimus dorsi, within the same pig that are less likely to have glycogen depletion may exhibit the PSE condition. Processing methods can also have an effect, carcass cooling regimes that dont achieve deep muscle temperatures that are cold enough or at the wrong cooling rates can contribute to the conditions required to denature the proteins and exhibit the PSE condition. Howard and Lawrie (1956) found that the rate of pH fall post mortem was inversely proportional to the tenderness of the meat on subsequent cooking  [6]  Animal handling systems, shearing washing, crushing etc will have a direct effect on the levels of glycogen within the muscle systems and so ultimately the levels of PSE DFD occurring. Being able to measure stress indicators and indices of PSE DFD is critical if there is to be an understanding of the prevention of stress and therefore a reduction in the incidence of PSE and DFD in meat. Measurements of the level blood lactic acid, levels of creatine kinase and the electrical characteristics of pork through electrical impedance can give good objective indicators. Levels of cortisol, creatine kinase, pH and colour characteristics measured through online light reflectance spectrophotometrey can give objective PSE DFD measurements. Signs of stress in the animals can give ante mortem indications. These might be obvious in the case of fallen or injured stock but may also include levels of vocalisation, mounting, biting etc as less obvious indicators. Identifying an reducing these conditions is the key in improving functional and specified meat quality, most of the work undertaken to reduce the levels of PSE and DFD is involved in improving welfare conditions of animals in the short and longer term leading up to slaughter. It is a difficult process to reduce stressors, even with very careful handling the animals are subject to a degree of stress. Keeping handling to a minimum is the ideal situation, carefully controlling transport, design of transport to prevent loading and unloading stress, training and certification schemes to improve the skills and knowledge of animal handlers. With pigs it would be better to avoid breeding the susceptible genotypes although as seen there appears to be a direct correlation between improved confirmation and musculature and the stress susceptibility mutation. Keeping animals, especially young bulls in their own social groups would seem to be a logical preventative measure but can be very difficul t to achieve. Physical measures like cooling pigs with water sprays and covering the pens of young bulls may help stop such stress behaviour as fighting and mounting, adding supplements to feed and watering systems prior to slaughter in order to try and replenish glycogen levels may be one way in order to reduce the number of incidence of PSE , DFD as may using tranquilisers and muscle relaxants, however there are issues of potential residues in meat as well as negatively effecting the quality expectations of the consumer by treating an animal in this way. In conclusion to reduce the levels of PSE DFD in meat of all species a combined approach of improving welfare conditions, reducing fear, physical stress and pain, training and education staff, as well as online monitoring and feedback to key stakeholders is required. Carcass cooling rates should be closely controlled. There is a need to develop new methods of objective measurement, both as soon as possible after slaughter and at point of sale, emerging technologies such as near infra red spectrophotometrey, nuclear magnetic resonance, developments in immunoassay techniques and genetic markers may help us identify and prevent the causes of PSE and DFD. Linking the relationship of animal welfare and profit is very important, Traditionally it has been thought that increasing welfare means increasing costs, for example in stocking densities of transport. In seeing that increasing welfare conditions could actually be a profitable activity, aiding reduced quality complaints, increased yiel ds, better sales and less waste there is an opportunity to have large positive impact on the well being of the whole meat sector. there are few, if any, figures comparing the overall economics of these alternatives. However it seems the net effect of greater care could often be greater profitability  [7]  .

To Save or Not To Save - That Is the Question Essay -- Animal Research

When you look at a bald eagle, you see how powerful and majestic this bird is, which is how many people feel about the United States; that’s why the bald eagle is our national emblem on our Great Seal. It would be a dishonor to our Nation to have such a worldwide-recognized symbol of The United States extinct, but in fact that’s exactly what almost happened. To help the bald eagle regain it’s numbers, on December 28, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon signed The Endangered Species Act. â€Å"The law established procedures for conserving plants and animals in danger of extinction and those that are threatened, or likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future (Cooper, â€Å"Endangered Species Act† 855). Since its establishment, the Endangered Species Act has been a topic of debate on whether the way the act is set up now has been worth the securing of land, including land that is privately owned, the time to research and the money that has been spen t. Once species are listed as either threatened or endangered of becoming extinct the first move is to figure out what can be done to help them. What kind of habitat does it need to thrive? Is it isolated to only a few regions of the country or widely located? Could it be introduced into new regions, whether rural or urban, and still have a chance of survival? The lands that are being protected range from mountains to national parks to any neighborhood across the country, so that the smallest plant to the largest wild animal has an environment where they can continue to thrive. Some species have been reintroduced and their populations have recovered enough to bring them out of the endangered status and off of the Endangered Species Act listing. Wolfs and grizzly bears are two out of the... ...have their valid points. The two sides need to work together discuss which animals are vital to the balance of the eco-system and which plants could help create medicine that fight illnesses like cancer. The laws also need to reflect not only the time and money involved in saving the world’s species of plants and animals but also protecting the livelihood of the populations of people who are involved in such areas. The balance between the two is possible as long as both sides work with each other not against each other. Works Cited Arrandale, Tom. "Disappearing Species." CQ Researcher 17.42 (2007): 985-1008. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. Cooper, Mary H. "Endangered Species Act." CQ Researcher 9.37 (1999): 849-64. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. ---. "Endangered Species Act." CQ Researcher 15.21 (2005): 493-516. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012.

The marshall islands

The Marshall Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, merely North of the equator. They help organize an country referred to as Micronesia. The Marshalls are composed of twenty- nine atolls and five islands ( Niedenthal, 2008 ) . The two chief atolls are Bikini and Enewetak. The most historical atoll is Bikini. The Marshalls were foremost discovered by the Spanish in the 1600 ‘s and subsequently by the Germans. The islands were chiefly used for bring forthing copra oil from coconuts. In the early 1900 ‘s the Nipponese administered to the islands ; this later became a military station in expectancy for WWII. The Japanese set up central offices on the Kwajalein atoll. In February 1944, the U.S. captured Kwajalein atoll and ended the Nipponese clasp on the Marshall Islands. Merely five Nipponese work forces remained on Bikini, and they committed self-destruction to avoid being captured. In December 1945, President Truman issued a directing to prove atomic bombs. Bikini atoll was chosen due to its distant location from regular air and sea paths ( Niedenthal, 2008 ) . In February 1946, Commodore Ben H. Wyatt went to Bikini to inquire the Bikinians if they would be willing to relocate temporarily. Commodore Wyatt explained that the testing would be done, â€Å" for the good of all world and to stop all universe wars. † ( Niedenthal, 2008 ) King Juda spoke for the Bikinians stating, â€Å" We will travel believing that everything is in the custodies of God. † ( Niedenthal, 2008 ) . As the 167 Bikinians prepared to relocate ; every bit many as 42,000 U.S. military and civilian forces moved in. The bequest of Bikini began in March of 1946 ; this is when they were foremost removed from the island in readying for Operation Crossroads. In this readying the Bikinians were moved 125 stat mis eastward to Rongerik atoll. Rongerik was uninhabited due to the belief that evil liquors dwelled at that place. The U.S. left the Bikinians with merely several hebdomads worth of nutrient, and after two months they were enduring from famishment. In July King Juda traveled back to Bikini with a U.S. authorities delegate. At this point, the 2nd atomic bomb, codification name Baker, had been detonated and Bikini looked the same. The first bomb was called Able. Both bombs were approximately the size of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. The nutrient deficit on Rongerik worsened from December 1946 through January 1947. Then in May 1947, the Binikians saw more desolation. A immense fire damaged a big bulk of the coconut trees. In July a U.S. medical officer visited the island, and by autumn the U.S. research workers decided to travel the Bikinians. This clip the Bikinians would be moved to Ujelang atoll. Before the move to Ujelang, the Bikinians began constructing places and communities. Then by the terminal of 1947 the U.S. selected Enewetak atoll as a 2nd trial site. The people on Enewaetak were moved to Ujelang, and began populating in the places and communities that the Bikinians had built for themselves. In March 1948, the Bikinians were moved to Kwajalein atoll. However, they did non remain on Kwajalein long ; by November 1948 the Bikinians were traveling to Kili Islands. Once once more, their nutrient supply became short and people faced famishment ( Niedenthal, 2008 ) . In January 1954, the U.S. military went to Rongerik to put up a conditions station to supervise conditions in readying for Operation Castle. The conditions conditions were monitored multiple times a twenty-four hours as the trial day of the month for the Bravo shooting got closer. The midnight briefing indicated that the air currents were headed for Rongelap and to the E of at that place. It was recognized that both Bikini and Eneman islands would likely be contaminated ( Niedenthal, 2008 ) . March 1, 1954, Bravo was detonated off the northwesterly corner of Bikini. The work forces on U.S. military ships stationed 40 stat mis south and east of Bikini were ordered to travel below deck and seal all Windowss and doors due to the degrees of radiation. Bravo was a 1000 times more powerful than Fat Man and Little Boy used on Japan. The white ash, autumn out, fell every bit far as 125 stat mis to the E of Bikini atoll, which is Rongelap Atoll. The â€Å" success † of the blast was far greater than expected. Many people had been exposed to this big sum of radiation, and none of them had received any account from the U.S. authorities. In late March the off- bound zones were expanded to include Rongeik, Utirik, Ujelang, and Likiep. No 1 had been evacuated from these islands prior to the blast. In the spring of 1954, Bikar, Ailinginae, Rongelap, and Rogerik were all contaminated by the Yankee and Union bombs ( Niedenthal, 2008 ) . In January 1955, on the island of Kili, it was going more and more hard to acquire the nutrient to the Bikinians. The U.S. so gave the Bikinians a orbiter community on Jaluit Atoll. During this clip the Bikinians signed over full usage rights to Bikini Atoll. In late 1957 Typhoon Lola hit Kili, droping the Bikinians supply ship. Then in 1958, Typhoon Ophelia hit Jaluit. The Bikinians were forced to travel back to Kili, and conflict unequal nutrient supply throughout 1960 ( Niedenthal, 2008 ) . The followers is a list of important day of the months and events for the Marshall Islanders:June 1968: President Lyndon B. Johnson promised the 540 Bikinians they could return to Bikini.August 1969: An eight twelvemonth program was prepared for relocation of Bikini Atoll.Late 1969: The first clean up stage was complete1971: The relocation program came to a arrest.1972: Coconut trees were planted and people moved back to Bikini.June 1975: Bikini is said to be hotter and excessively contaminated .May 1977: Degree of radioactive Sr 90 exceeded U.S. upper limit allowed bounds. The Bikinians were limited to eating one coconut a twenty-four hours ; due to a buildup of caesium from eating multiple coconuts ( Kristof, 1997 ) .September 1978: Bikini Atoll is evacuated once more.1980- 1987: The Bikinians filed a case, the case was dismissed, and eventually the Bikinians received two trust financess for compensation.1990 ‘s: Bikini starts a touristry plan ( Niedenthal, 2008 ) .1996: Bikini was able to supply a dive plan. Bikini got a new power works and a fresh H2O production unit.2001: Bikini took over direction of the dive plan.2003-2004: All honkytonk installations on Bikini were upgraded.2007: Ascents across the atoll continue.The people of Bikini still remain scattered waiting for the clean up to get down once more. It has non begun once more due to the deficiency of support by the U.S. ( Resettlement Program to Date ) . The dirt on Bikini Atoll is contaminated and there have been several proposals for how to clean the dirt. One suggested method is to evacuate the island and take the dirt to a deepness of 15 inches ; which would more than probably leave the island like a barren of sand. A 2nd suggested method is to non evacuate but to grate the dirt in a hodgepodge manner one country at a clip. A 3rd method is to besides grate the dirt but to travel the contaminated dirt to the Bravo crater. A 4th method is to distribute K fertiliser on the dirt. The braid will prefer the K over the caesium ( The Radiological Cleanup and Future Plans for Bikini Atoll ) . It is unsure if the people of Bikini Atoll will of all time be able to populate at that place once more. If they had the proper support, they would be able to properly clean the dirt and finally travel back to Bikini Atoll. Bikini Atoll is presently unfastened to tourers. The atoll ‘s H2O is clean and unfastened to frogmans. While plunging, tourers can see a assortment of ships, the universe ‘s lone aircraft bearer, and pigboats ( Bikini radiological ) . Hopefully sometime in the new hereafter the Bikinians will have the support they need in order to complete the relocation of Bikini Atoll ; and will be able to travel back to their island and restart their diet of coconuts!Plants CitedKristof, N. D. ( 1997, March 5 ) . An Atomic Age Eden ( but Do n't Eat the Coconuts ) . Retrieved March 3, 2010, from The New York Times: www.nytimes.com/1997/03/05/world/an-atomic-age-eden-but-don-t-eat-the-coconutsNiedenthal, J. ( 2008, March ) . Short History of the People of Bikini Atoll . Retrieved March 3, 2010, from Bikini Atoll: www.bikiniatoll.com/history.htmlResettlement Program to Date. ( n.d. ) . Retrieved March 3, 2010, from Bikini Atoll: www.bikiniatoll.com/resettle.htmlThe Radiological Cleanup and Future Plans for Bikini Atoll. ( n.d. ) . Retrieved March 3, 2010, from Bikini Atoll: www.bikiniatoll.com/radclean.html

Changes- Tupac Shakur Influences on Society Essay

â€Å"We talk a lot about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. , but it’s time to be like them, as strong as them. They were mortal men like us and every one of us can be like them. I don’t want to be a role model. I just want to be someone who says, this is who I am, this is what I do. I say what’s on my mind. † –Tupac Amaru Shakur (T. I. P). This quote was spoken by one of hip-hop’s most legendary idols, Tupac Shakur. Tupac has become an integral icon of the hip-hop culture and will live on eternally through his dynamic lyrics and poems. Most of Tupac’s raps concerned growing up around violence and hardships in ghettos, and racial inequality in the United States. He experienced many of these factors growing up, especially race related issues. For instance, on October 1991, Tupac was stopped by two officers for allegedly jaywalking. When he responded with a profanity, he was choked and beaten severely (All eyez on me). Tupac’s lyrics always went deep into the meaning of many political and social subjects including violence, and that is what sparked the initial response of his song, â€Å"Changes†. The purpose of this song was to state how everyone knows that racial violence and issues on the streets would never change. It shows how people have to succumb to the fact that there will always be poverty, racism, police brutality and violence in the world. This is reiterated by the lyric, â€Å"Some things will never change†. This song went straight to number one on the charts in many countries in Europe and around the world. This resulted in Tupac gaining a broader and more receptive audience to his controversial lyrics. So imagine if Tupac had used a different method to get his message across, for example, just writing the lyrics without music or creating a photo collage. Not only would the audience change but the message would also be effected by the difference in mediums. Transmediation refers to the process of â€Å"responding to cultural texts in a range of sign systems—art, movement, sculpture, dance, music, multimedia communication, and so on (Reading Online). Leonard Schlain highlights the importance of engaging in transmediation when writing: â€Å"Digital information comes in multiple forms, and students must learn to tell stories not just with words and numbers but also through images, graphics, color, sound, music, and dance. There is a grammar and literacy to each of these forms of communication. Bombarded with a wide variety of images regularly, students need sharp visual-interpretation skills to interact with the media analytically. Each form of communication has its own rules and grammar and should be taught in ways that lead students to be more specific and concise in communicating† (Edutopia). So remediating a text through a different tool ultimately will change the way it is communicated to its audience. For example, imagine the oratory medium that Tupac used to convey his hit song, â€Å"Changes† was instead only a written form of the lyrics. This traditional technology would not only affect the message behind the song but the audience’s acceptance of it. The second way I have communicated this song is visually. I have constructed a collage of what I thought the song was trying to convey. This leaves area for the original message to be interpreted differently among each individual and losing sight of the originality of it. Although these mediums are proper for some texts, I think that Tupac choose the correct form, auditory to communicate his message. I began my remediation process by handwriting the first verse of the song, â€Å"Changes†. By doing this, the audience must then adapt to the new medium. Reading the lyrics of the song instead of hearing it changes the way that it is received. More people are likely to not be introduced to the writing simply because it has been transferred from auditory to written. As a song it has exposure to the wide, variety of people that enjoy listening to music. Written on a piece of paper would affect who has access to read it causing the audience to shift from music lovers to people that just so happen to come in to contact with the text. Since it was originally presented as a song, reading the piece of work takes away the strength of the song, which is portrayed through the powerful voice of Tupac Shakur. When he raps this song, it demands the listener’s attention because of the controversial lines and the way that it is spoken. Most rappers choose to rap about their money and cars while, Tupac used his words to try and make a difference. He bought much needed attention to important issues, such as racism. On the other hand, there is one key benefit to the transmediation of this song. If it originally were only meant to be read, people would be able to focus more on the underlying theme of the song. The audience would not be blurred by the music in the background and could listen to its true meaning. When people think of music, they often associate entertainment with it, causing the artist’s lyrics to be downplayed. Presenting the song so that it is only read can ensure that the reader is affected by the lyrics. Having the lyrics distributed on paper will also help it reach a variety of people. People that may not enjoy listening to rap music, would have the opportunity to judge the lyrics by its context not its genre. Although, remediating the song and presenting the lyrics of it changes the audience, I believe it aids in expressing its meaning. My experience of transforming the song into a collage was harder than I expected. I chose an overall background that pictured Tupac Shakur surrounded by newspaper clippings with headlines such as, â€Å"When Guns Replace Words†. I chose to incorporate this picture because it depicts the gun violence described in the song. Also shown is a picture of police officers fighting off a crowd. This shows their brutality towards the people. Another picture I put into the collage was of people protesting for change. They want to be heard and they demand change. Their way of achieving this is by protesting while Tupac’s way is through this song. While I looked for pictures that matched the song, I also tried to ensure that they expressed the deeper meaning that Tupac was trying to get across. I did not just want to select a picture simply because the word was used in the song. I saw this as a problem because if â€Å"Changes† was an image that is exactly what would happen to the song. People would view the collage differently and the meaning would change. Tupacs’s originality would be gone and the effectiveness of the song would deplete. Of course, the main factors expressed in the song would be understood but the underlying issues discussed may be overlooked. I do believe that there is a risk for leaving a piece open for the public to discuss versus having someone directly state it. Although having the song presented as a collage gives the audience an unlimited amount of ways to interpret it, this is also one of its beneficial factors. When people are able to give their own opinions and thoughts about something, they are able to open their minds to new ideas and theories. Expressed as a collage, the audience is able to give feedback and think about a subject more in depth. A picture is worth a thousand words and therefore, more problems explained in the song are more likely to be unmasked because of an image. While experimenting with these two remediations, I learned some very important things; the way something is communicated changes its audience and affects the overall message. The medium someone chooses to get a message across is a key factor when developing that message. Like I have previously discussed, each medium produces its own strengths and weaknesses. I believe that Tupac Shakur chose the best method to communicate with his audience.

Patrick Dwyer Essays

Patrick Dwyer Essays Patrick Dwyer Essay Patrick Dwyer Essay Where The Wild Things Are As humans we instinctively feel the need and desire to belong. When we truly belong to something we achieve a sense of acceptance, love and togetherness. ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak is a children’s book that explores the concepts of belonging and in contrast, not belonging. It is a very simple story accompanied by large, rich pictures. The text and pictures complement each other, each enriching the sense of alienation for the responder. Max is a mischievous young boy who displays aspects of childhood irritation and loneliness. He lives in a world with limited freedom as he is a child. It becomes clear to the responder through the positioning of the character on the page, the vector of the boy’s angry gaze as well as the neutral, bland colours used that Max feels like he doesn’t belong in the world he calls home. The pictures at the beginning of the story are quite unengaging compared to the bright, richly textured pages that follow. This sense of not belonging leads to Max fantasising and creating a whole new world within his imagination. In this world Max is king, there is no one to tell him what to do and how he must act. In this place Max is completely accepted and the most important part of the wild things world. Max wears a wolf suit during the story, it shows the responder that Max is disguising who he really is and that the suit enables him to escape from reality. Whilst Max is wearing this suit he becomes a wild thing and he thinks that his behaviour is acceptable. Max is pushing his family away, but he is also wishing to obtain a sense of belonging, love and acceptance. He finds this sense of belonging with his new wild friends. Throughout the text, the composer portrays a range of emotions felt by Max. He finally gets what he wants, a place of unlimited freedom and acceptance, but still is not happy. He needs to be â€Å"where someone loves him best of all†. So he returns to the comfort and familiarity of his bedroom, where his mum had left his supper, still warm. Framing is an important visual element of ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ as Max’s imagination grows, the illustrations get larger until they fill the whole page. Early in the book, before Max’s imagination takes him to the land of the wild things, we see a hand drawn picture of a wild thing hanging on his wall. He has thought about the wild things before and has been forming a plan in his mind. Max has often felt like he doesn’t belong and has imagined belonging somewhere else, in an imaginary world where he makes all the rules and is king. The text regularly refers to Max as ‘king’, but he doesn’t appear to be enjoying his job much. He looks sad, bored and lonely and begins to long for his home, which is a place where he does belong. ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ links quite closely to the set text ‘Romulus, My Father’. Both texts contain an informative tone and both contain the central theme of belonging. Both texts use imagery to represent the sense of not belonging, which then leads to belonging. In ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ the lack of belonging is shown through Max’s escape from reality, but then the sense of belonging is shown through Max’s desire to return home, to which he realises is where he belongs. This links to the set text ‘Romulus, My Father’ where the lack of belonging is shown through Romulus’s inability to reduce the cultural barrier between him and the rest of the community, but then the sense of belonging is shown when the community look at how hard Romulus works and therefore appreciate him, in which he belongs. By Pat Dwyer

Edaphosaurus Facts and Figures

Edaphosaurus Facts and Figures At first glance, Edaphosaurus looks a lot like a scaled-down version of its close relative, Dimetrodon: both of these ancient pelycosaurs (a family of reptiles that preceded the dinosaurs) had large sails running down their backs, which helped to maintain their body temperatures (by radiating away excess heat during the night and absorbing sunlight during the day) and were probably also used to signal the opposite sex for mating purposes. Oddly enough, though, the evidence points to the late Carboniferous Edaphosaurus having been a herbivore and Dimetrodon a carnivorewhich has led some experts (and TV producers) to speculate that Dimetrodon regularly had big, heaping portions of Edaphosaurus for lunch! Except for its sporty sail (which was much smaller than the comparable structure on Dimetrodon), Edaphosaurus had a distinctly ungainly appearance, with an unusually small head compared to its long, thick, bloated torso. Like its fellow plant-eating pelycosaurs of the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods, Edaphosaurus had a very primitive dental apparatus, meaning that it needed a whole lot of intestines to process and digest the tough vegetation it ate. (For an example of what this whole lot of guts body plan can result in, without the distraction of a sail, check out the awkward build of the contemporaneous pelycosaur Casea.) Given its similarity to Dimetrodon, its not surprising that Edaphosaurus has generated a fair amount of confusion. This pelycosaur was first described in 1882 by the famous American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, after its discovery in Texas; then, a few years later, he erected the closely related genus Naosaurus, based on additional remains excavated elsewhere in the country. Over the next few decades, however, subsequent experts synonymized Naosaurus with Edaphosaurus by naming additional Edaphosaurus species, and even one putative species of Dimetrodon was later moved under the Edaphosaurus umbrella. Edaphosaurus Essentials Edaphosaurus (Greek for ground lizard); pronounced eh-DAFF-oh-SORE-us Habitat:Â  Swamps of North America and Western Europe Historical Period:Â  Late Carboniferous-Early Permian (310-280 million years ago) Size and Weight:Â  Up to 12 feet long and 600 pounds Diet:Â  Plants Distinguishing Characteristics:Â  Long, narrow body; large sail on back; small head with bloated torso

Salute Veterans Day with These 25 Patriotic Quotes

Salute Veterans Day with These 25 Patriotic Quotes Look back in history to read the names of our famous veterans. Their selfless sacrifice paved the way for our continued freedom. Our children can gain inspiration by reading about the sacrifices of our honorable veterans. Let us sow the seeds of equality and unity in the minds of our children and teach them to cherish their freedom. Let us also teach them the merits of voluntary service and sacrifice. No sacrifice is too small for acknowledgment, and nobody is greater than a patriot. In these famous Veterans Day quotes, noble men and women of the world have saluted to the spirit of patriotism. Mark TwainAnyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.Otto Von BismarkThe most persistent sound which reverberates through mens history is the beating of war drums.Arthur KoestlerBut the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for, Is their monument to-day, and for aye.General DouglasWe are not retreating we are advancing in another direction.Napoleon BonaparteValor is a gift. Those having it never know for sure whether they have it till the test comes. And those having it in one test never know for sure if they will have it when the next test comes.Ronald ReaganSome people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but the Marines dont have that problem.Benjamin FranklinNever has there been a good war or a bad peace.G. K. ChestertonCourage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness t o die. Commodore Oliver Hazard PerryWe have met the enemy and they are ours!Adapted from Henry G. BohnA soldier is he whose blood makes the glory of the general.Ernest Miller HemmingwayOnce we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.Charles Edward MontagueThe number of medals on an officers breast varies in inverse proportion to the square of the distance of his duties from the front line.George OrwellPeople sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.Ferdinand FochHard pressed on my right. My center is yielding. Impossible to maneuver. Situation excellent. I am attacking.Allen WestAs a 22-year Army Veteran who served in Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, and as a Civilian Advisor to the Afghan Army in Operation Enduring Freedom, I understand both the gravity of giving the order, and the challenge of carrying it out.Elmer DavisThis will r emain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. Dick CheneyIt is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.Alexander the GreatI do not fear an army of lions, if they are led by a lamb.I do fear an army of sheep, if they are led by a lion.Tao-te ChingHe who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened. He who conquers others has physical strength. He who conquers himself is strong.Rudyard KiplingWhen youre wounded out on Afghanistans plainsAnd the women come out to cut up what remains,Then just roll to your rifle and blow out your brainsAnd die like a good British soldier!Giulio DouhetYoull be scared! Sure youll be scared. Who wouldnt fear having their head completely blown off.Sir Philip SydneyA brave captain is as a root, out of which, as branches, the courage of his soldiers doth spring.Richard Gabriel, No More HeroesNations customary measure the cost of war in dollars, lost production, or the number of soldiers killed or wounded. Rarely do military establishments attempt to measure the cost of war in terms of individual human suffering. Psychiatric breakdown remains one of the costly items of war. Karl von ClausewitzWar should never be thought of as something autonomous, but always as an instrument of policy.ThemistoclesHe who has command of the sea has command of everything.

New studies now show that social background determines pupils' Essay

New studies now show that social background determines pupils' success. If as it is suggested, 'Class Does Matter', does it - Essay Example Each class may be further sub divided into smaller of these classes (e.g. educational).The most basic of all still lies between powerful and powerlessness. (Robert 1975, Turner 1990) According to Encyclopedia Britannica social class is also known as the class, a group of such people within any society that possess similar socioeconomic status. Besides being vital in social theory, the concept of social class as a collection of individuals who share similar economic circumstances it is been widely use in social mobility. According to Judith Martin There are three social classes: upper middle class, middle class, and lower middle class. Today social Class determines pupil’s success It is true that social class determines people success. Children belonging to disadvantage areas suffer the most say the report by Liberal Democrats. It further sheds light on the low probability of poorest children becoming doctors, senior civil servants lawyers and financiers. The social mobility co mmission highlights the importance of this mobility agenda and share its investment in this sector, however still the working class children’ suffer the most. ... (Walton, 2010) Last year (in 2008) educational sector report showed only 35% of students eligible for free school meals got five or more C above GCSE grades, against 63% of students from wealthier backgrounds. From early 80’s to late 90s, the proportion of poor children graduating from Universities has risen only by 3%, against 26% from wealthier backgrounds, the Liberal Democrat report says. The chair commissioner Mr. Martin Narey, CEO of children's charity Barnardo's, says: "Inconsiderate of progress in decreasing child poor background and heavy investment in education, a student’s chances of success in UK today are still greatly dependent on the earnings and background of its parents." (Political News, 2009) Education has been tried in older days to remove the class differences arising due to the financial differences. However, by 2000 education subject to the market principles had become rather a commodity and a competitive business rather than polishing up for the democratic society. (Tomlinson, S, 2005 under Education in a Post Welfare Society, p.1) The Social mobility commission advises ministers to donate more sums to schools with the poorest students and to teachers who working in such "a society of consistent inequality". Moreover, it suggests allowing child tax credits only to families with low-income background and these loans should non-bearing interest such as interest-free loans. This would help widening poor student's access to higher qualification such as medicine, civil service, media, law, and the armed forces. And an institution of higher education justifies the title when it promotes educational processes of proper kind (Barnett, R 1990 under The Idea of Higher Education, p.202). The committee

Civilizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Civilizations - Essay Example The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, which is largely known as modern-day Iraq, Egypt, India, and China were the first to qualify as classical civilizations of the axial age. According to the majority of famous historians, a civilization is basically a process in which people belonging to a specific area shape their cultural and religious beliefs. By the same definition, the ancient Greeks qualified themselves as a unique civilization with one remarkable difference, which was the dominating priesthood that claimed a control on the sole lines of communication with the powers of mystery. In this paper, we will discuss the environmental, economic, and socio-political attributes of Greece, Roman Civilization, India, and China and compare them in order to highlight similarities and differences, which influenced the development in human history. Along with the discussion on similarities and differences, we will also discuss the decline of these famous civilizations in order to get a b etter understanding of the causes of their decline. The Axial Age The period from 800 B.C. to 200 B.C.E. is generally known as the Axial Age. It was the period when a large number of today’s most famous religions were introduced to the people of that time. Modern day Iraq, Greece, and Persia are some of the most prominent civilizations of the Axial Age. At this time, the politics of the whole world mostly revolved around the area of the Middle East, which was the most stable area of that time. In that age, the civilization of Greece was reaching its peak in all aspects of life whether it was philosophy, politics, culture, or any other aspect of a good civilization. Muesse found that the rise of Zoroastrianism in Persia, emergence of Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism on the Indian subcontinent, and the introduction of Daoism and Confucianism in China are some of main religious development s related to the Axial Age.1 Major Ancient River-Valley Civilizations Let us now discuss th e environmental, economic, and socio-political attributes of the ancient civilizations of Greece, Roman Empire, India, and China in detail. There are remarkable coincidences which allowed these ancient societies to attain a high degree of development which qualified them to be called as civilizations. It was a coincidence that all of these ancient civilizations were located in highly fertile geographical regions of the world. This was a strategic similarity because without the fertility of the soil, these ancient civilizations would not be able to develop further from their previous precarious existence. The locations of Greece, China, India, and Rome allowed the people to develop quickly from a hunting or gathering way of life to a more peaceful and respectable way of life. Mesopotamia itself lied between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates that encompassed parts of northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran. Gunnell states, â€Å"They developed in the valley betwee n the Tigris and Euphrates, along the Nile, the Indus and Ganges, and Yellow Rivers respectively†.2 Both rivers had origins in the Armenian region of modern-day Turkey fed by tributaries from the Zagros mountains. The early people of Mesopotamia used to harness the fertility of soil only if they had

Encouraging University Freshmen to Perceive Writing Positively Essay

Encouraging University Freshmen to Perceive Writing Positively - Essay Example Though this is expected, hard working students find the subject interesting after attending a few classes. They use the available materials from such sources as Think Tank, WSIP, the library, as well as UITS to develop their skills, thus finding it easy to do the subject. On the other hand, those who do not put in enough effort find the subject tasking, thus developing a negative attitude towards the subject. This hinders the ability of such students to excel in the subject. Consequently, the overall performance of the student gets affected, as other subjects also require them to write assignments as part of their course work. Therefore, I urge you to maintain a positive attitude towards this particular subject as it defines part of your success story at the university. I joined the writing class without much knowledge on how to do good writing. I had problems with constructing logical sentence, and maintaining flow in my work. More to these, I had problems with clarity as most of my points were disorganized, which made it difficult to comprehend my writing. In addition to these, the tenses gave me a load of problems, which gives you enough reasons that I was once a pathetic writer. However, I believe a determined mind conquers any difficulty. Consequent to this belief, I purposed to improve in all these areas. I attended my lectures punctually, and paid attention to the lessons. More to these, I set time to practice my writing skills on a daily basis, leading to an improvement in four weeks.

Enterprise Architecture Q&A Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Enterprise Architecture Q&A - Assignment Example The business principle aims at ensuring that disruptions to the enterprise operations resulting from system interruptions are decreased. Therefore, technical architecture must provide users of the enterprise the capability to continue their business functions (Minoli, 2008). Hence, because the business principle is business continuity then the technical architecture is likely to adapt to ensure continuity of business function through capabilities established by the enterprise. When the business principle changes to maximize benefits of the enterprise, this ensures little fragmentation of the technical architecture while maximizing investment that serves enterprise-wide purpose as opposed to solutions that serve individual business units (Minoli, 2008). Because the business principle changed to maximize benefits, the technical architecture would now need to focus on priorities set by the entire enterprise to avoid duplication that can be expensive. In the above CRUD matrix, three processes are identified that include student registration, tutor support and coaching. Online registration provides information regarding the student that can be edited and accessed as needed. Tutor support and coaching enable a student to access the necessary course document while relating with the tutor

The World The Way the Migrant Worker Is Aligned With the Theme Park Essay

The World The Way the Migrant Worker Is Aligned With the Theme Park Employee - Essay Example In the movie, one limitation of Chinese modernization is shown in the problem of language barrier. In one scene, Tao could not speak Russian in the same way that Anna could not speak Chinese, and no matter how much they seemed to understand each other’s emotions, it was not enough. The only thing that they could afford to say was each other’s names and apart from that, they could not say any other word in the other person’s language. When they met in the bathroom, when Anna asked Tao, â€Å"How are you? Why are you looking at me like that?† somehow both knew that it was because Anna became a prostitute. Moreover, Tao and Anna simply cried with Tao not even realizing that what Anna meant that time was that she has resigned herself to becoming a prostitute. On the other hand, Tao seemed clueless why such a thing happened. Perhaps too, she was crying out of confusion, because she could not clearly understand why Anna had to become a prostitute. The language b arrier between Anna and Tao is somehow reflective of the rather limited context of Chinese modernization. China is modernized but not in terms of language, perhaps in order to prevent communication of important issues between people like Tao and Anna, while at the same time perhaps because China discriminates against foreigners like Anna. However, Anna sees the positive side of this when she told Tao, â€Å"We do not speak the same language but we are friends. You are the only friend I have here.† Nevertheless, although friendship abounds between two people of different languages, it is still obviously extremely difficult for each one of them to express their true sentiments to each other, considering that both may think the other may not totally understand her. In the same scene where Anna had to become a prostitute, it also illustrates the exploitation of both the migrant worker and the theme park employee.  In a scene, before both women met in the bathroom, a Chinese man in coat and tie approached Tao just along the hallway at the bar.     

Should Philosophers care about the history of philosophy Essay

Should Philosophers care about the history of philosophy - Essay Example Philosophers should have a considerable link to the history of philosophy as cited by many theorists and thinkers. Many philosophical concepts used today have their origin in philosophical history and they are just an evolved form of the ideas generated in the past. As a matter of fact, to give a an extensive interpretation of predecessors is quite common in the philosophical world where Hegel, Heidegger and Nietzsche are often quoted as to give a contemporary philosophical thought by reviewing the history (Sorell & Rogers, pp. 1). However, philosophers in the English-Speaking part of the world do not care about its history since; their type of philosophy is more of an analytical nature, which is required to be concise and relevant to the era in which people are living. The history of philosophy plays a significant role in giving an introduction and a deep knowledge of the subject to the aspiring students of today’s world. It is important for initial philosophers to have a tho rough understanding of the basis of the subject upon which they would base their further assumptions and concepts for the field to grow. Moreover, it is only through the knowledge of the history of philosophy that the philosophers would come to realize, which concepts and ideas were flawed and rejected like that of Descartes (Sorell & Rogers, pp. 2) so that they may look out for their new dimensions and correct them to widen the scope. History of any kind pertaining to any subject is an important aspect to retain if growth is one of the objectives. Considering philosophy, we know well that there have been quite well known philosophers in the history of humankind who have made tremendous efforts in analyzing different philosophical problems and searching for their solutions in a logical manner. It would be merely a waste of time, money and resources if contemporary philosophers involve themselves in the same process in case they do not give any heed to the subject’s history. N evertheless, philosophy is one of the subjects whose concepts and ideas always have a hook. They are grown with related links and this way, subsequently, the field advances (Sorell & Rogers, pp. 4-5). Every other point always has a relevance to something of the pas that helps in giving an advanced cognition for the contemporary philosophers and a chance to learn from their predecessors who might be dead but whose extensive researches are always present for them to learn and make progress. It is often said that the philosophers who fail to understand the past accounts and happenings in the related field, subsequently, fail to hold a firm grasp over following assumptions and thus end up with bas results (Sorell & Rogers, pp. 38). A philosopher can, certainly, not do philosophy without a perspective or without a standpoint. This standpoint or direction is given merely by having a thorough review of the past philosophers and their immense work done in this regards. The subject divided a multiple dimensional approach by the doer and a well-done background analysis to proceed (Makumba, pp-11). In many cases, there has to be an inspiration which drives a philosopher to make further detailed analysis and take the object forward. This inspiration is the result of the philosophers’ research and review of the historical literature and the earlier philosophers. Additionally, in philosophy there are reservation of thoughts and ideas held by the people against or in favour of any theory or assumption put forward. These reservations are further carried by generations and generations in the same manner without actually referring to the actually happening. While, in philosophy, the contemporary philosophers should have a proper understanding of the past ideas and concepts and should hold their own judgement without any biases carried for generations. Only on the basis of first-hand knowledge of the historical accounts of ideas and concepts can the philosopher base a str ong and authentic argument to

The World The Way the Migrant Worker Is Aligned With the Theme Park Essay

The World The Way the Migrant Worker Is Aligned With the Theme Park Employee - Essay Example In the movie, one limitation of Chinese modernization is shown in the problem of language barrier. In one scene, Tao could not speak Russian in the same way that Anna could not speak Chinese, and no matter how much they seemed to understand each other’s emotions, it was not enough. The only thing that they could afford to say was each other’s names and apart from that, they could not say any other word in the other person’s language. When they met in the bathroom, when Anna asked Tao, â€Å"How are you? Why are you looking at me like that?† somehow both knew that it was because Anna became a prostitute. Moreover, Tao and Anna simply cried with Tao not even realizing that what Anna meant that time was that she has resigned herself to becoming a prostitute. On the other hand, Tao seemed clueless why such a thing happened. Perhaps too, she was crying out of confusion, because she could not clearly understand why Anna had to become a prostitute. The language b arrier between Anna and Tao is somehow reflective of the rather limited context of Chinese modernization. China is modernized but not in terms of language, perhaps in order to prevent communication of important issues between people like Tao and Anna, while at the same time perhaps because China discriminates against foreigners like Anna. However, Anna sees the positive side of this when she told Tao, â€Å"We do not speak the same language but we are friends. You are the only friend I have here.† Nevertheless, although friendship abounds between two people of different languages, it is still obviously extremely difficult for each one of them to express their true sentiments to each other, considering that both may think the other may not totally understand her. In the same scene where Anna had to become a prostitute, it also illustrates the exploitation of both the migrant worker and the theme park employee.  In a scene, before both women met in the bathroom, a Chinese man in coat and tie approached Tao just along the hallway at the bar.     

Assessment for learning Essay Example for Free

Assessment for learning Essay Learning is an innate capability of a person. People perceive things and learn through their experiences while they grow up and develop accordingly with their ages. Aside from the normal people who learn in the normal way, there are off course other people who are above normal, after which learn through special trainings and conditioning. People learn accordingly with their capacity to gain information and store it in their minds. It is not only by sending children to school that they are learning but also through their real life experiences that require not only for their intelligence but also for their emotional skills. In determining the learning rate of a certain group, it is very important that the surveyor is able to gather the information about the specific group such as age range, family background, nutrition of the students and other factors that actually affect the learning activity of a person, be it a cognitive or conditional learning. There are also specific tests that can be given to the students or the target learners to have written and documented results. Suppose I chose the pool of elementary students that includes children ranging from 10-11 years old. These children are already exposed to a large scope of media that portray the different roles and scenarios in the society. If I am to analyze their emotional intelligence, I would give them examinations that can determine how well they interact with other students such that they will be told to work on groups. Through the activity, students with good family background can actually have the bigger possibilities of leading the group thus causing peace whenever other children tend to fight for what they believe. Off course there will be passive kind of children and the best tool to give or offer them are group dynamics that can actually unleash their inner talents. That is also possible if the conductor of the test is encouraging and enthusiastic. In terms of academic assessments, children on this age range can be fed with lectures and practice activities such as solving math problems or subject and verb agreement. In my past experiences as a child, it is very effective for me that children will be given the chance to construct their own sentences and math problems. After that, children will be asked to solve and analyze what they do and have it in group discussions. Group discussions can help the children to gain other ways of solving such problems and understanding different sentences. It is also helpful that the teacher follows up the development of the understanding of a student. Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson is necessary thus providing them devices and strategies that can help them understand more the difficult points. Specific tools that can be used in assessing the ability of a person in Mathematics and English can be flash cards and reading literary pieces (stories, anecdotes) respectively. Both can add up to the expertise of a student to the subject matter. Every child deserves the right for education. For those who can’t afford it, there are still many ways to supply your children with it; either tutoring them every day or enrolling them a school that caters scholarships. It is vital to feed the children with knowledge while they are young and still can acquire and save them to their memories. The value of education is much more priceless than any treasure in this world: not fading but still growing through ages. Reference QCA WEBSITE. Assessment for learning. Retrieved 1 May 2008 from http://www. qca. org. uk/qca_5067. aspx

Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty

Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty Background of the topic: The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze and investigate the effect of the loyalty cards on customer loyalty and how does it helps large organizations to achieve its goals. When shopping in supermarkets there is one experience that everyone has, when customers finish with their shopping and get to a checkout, the assistant will ask the customers, whether they have a clubcard. This will continue every time whenever those customers without a clubcard shops in the future, the assistant will keep on asking them for a clubcard unless they get one for themselves. Now there is a question that will come across every customers mind, what is a clubcard and why does every company insist them and every customer to be a part of the clubcard family? Now people become curious and they want to get a clubcard too. The assistant says to fill up a form with the customers general details like name, address and contact details and the day customer fills the form, next day they will receive a clubca rd. Impressive, now why companies offer clubcards to their customers, how do companies benefit from these schemes they provide for their customers? Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Loyalty cards can significantly boost business profits whilst simultaneously building customer loyalty. Studies show that loyalty cards are one of the most cost effective ways to build brand loyalty and improve customer retention. Loy alty cards are used by all the major retail and supermarket chains as a vital tool to improve profitability, but one does not need to be a national high street store in order to run a profitable reward card scheme. One of the reasons the supermarkets are taking business away from independent retailers are the incentives offered in their loyalty card schemes. The loyalty cards market in the UK is one of the most significant in the world and forms the backbone of marketing and customer retention planning. With over 85% of UK Households possessing loyalty cards it is really a case where companies can afford not to offer a loyalty card service to their customers. There are different companies who offer loyalty schemes for their customer and give customers shopping vouchers after they spend certain amount of money through those loyalty cards. Main objective behind loyalty cards is to keep customer loyal with the company by offering them discounts and gifts on their shopping so they spend more money in their shops and markets. Most common example of loyalty card is Tesco club card, Sainsbury nectar card and other such cards offered by different companies in the country. But most of the people wont understand the idea behind those loyalty cards that how they work. The success of the Tesco Clubcard has been well documented, in 2002 a Market and Opinion Research Poll found that Tescos Clubcard had been more successful than the programmers offered by rival supermarkets (Smith, 2004). Rationale: Why is this study being done Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Companies offer such countless schemes for their customers to retain and maintain customer loyalty for their store. There are many other factors behind these loyalty schemes where companies benefit. Loyalty card schemes are not only beneficial for the customers, but are equally beneficial for the companies as well. Significance: How does the study contribute The aim of the research is to identify the impact of the Tesco Clubcard on customer loyalty. This will contribute to contrast customer perceptions of the Clubcard, staff and â€Å"feeling valued† to identify which factor has the greater impact on customer loyalty to store. The paper is useful to both practitioners and academics in the fields of relationship marketing and loyalty. The research provides some initial insight into consumer perspectives in the value of loyalty cards. Tesco has succeeded with the strategy of loyalty cards, but its competitors did not. Retailers like Sainsburys and ASDAs who are the competitors of Tesco, did not manage to promote their business using their loyalty cards as Tesco did. Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. Tesco has been known for their best customer service where as its competitor, Asda have been known for their best value and low competitive prices. Now why has Tesco chosen such a marketi ng strategy to attract customers and increase revenue? The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Tesco has chosen a marketing strategy where they need to gain customers faith and trust to maintain a good relationship with them. Hence they need to know everything about their customers individually. How will they keep a track of each and every customer they have? There are many strategies to know your customers and Tesco uses such strategies to have a good track of their customers. The best way to do this is by the method of loyalty cards. Companies can know much more about their customers through loyalty cards. This study will show how Tesco collects data of t heir customers and use that data to improve their customer service in order to gain customer satisfaction. Aims Objectives: The aim of the research is to investigate the influence of the Tesco Clubcard on customer store loyalty. In 1995, Tesco introduced the loyalty Clubcard that was to offer, â€Å"Benefits to regular shoppers whilst helping the company discover more about its Customer needs†. The main aim of this research will be to compare the Loyalty schemes of Tesco Clubcards with its competitors like Sainsburys and ASDA, and find out why Tescos Clubcards were a huge success unlike Sainsburys Nectar and Asda loyalty cards did not succeed in promoting their business. The study also focuses on the need of customer loyalty and what steps were taken by Tesco to retain and maintain its customer loyalty. (www.tescocorporate.com) Sign Posting: A glance at the major and successful organizations around the globe shows that their success is partly due to their ability to apply the theory of relationship marketing. In the contemporary business arena, all organizations, large or small improve their effectiveness and efficiency by applying this theory, thus improving their customer service and customer relations which play a very important role for any business organization. This study shows the brief idea of the Relationship Marketing and how it has been used by the retail giant, Tesco to gain their customers loyalty and retain it for a long time. Tesco is the company on which this whole study has been based on. At the first there is some information and idea has been explained about Relationship Marketing and how is plays a vital role in companys marketing strategies. It also discusses about the benefits of the relationship marketing and how it is used by the company to achieve its aims and objectives. This will later on conti nue with the main topic, that is, the success of Tescos loyalty cards other than its competitors. It will discuss the concept of the loyalty cards and the different strategies used by Tesco and even its competitors to get a competitive edge in the surviving market. The later part of the study also shows how Clubcards are beneficial for the customers as well as the company. Then research methodology is identified that how the research will be conducted, it includes that how the research will designed means the ways through effective data can be find out. Literature Review In this discussion outcomes from the previous research will be demonstrate to provide the clear understanding to the topic. In this chapter views of different authors and researches will be quoted to support the research. It will include the work of researchers who have worked on this matter and have reached to some conclusion. As a literature review chapter it will consist of basic definitions of customer loyalty, customer relationship, loyalty cards and the most important one relationship marketing. This chapter will also explain these theories and how are they applicable for the strategies used by the companies to achieve their goals and success. Customer Relationship: What does it mean for an organisation and its customer to have a relationship with each other? What kind of a relationship would they have with each other? Do customers have relationships with enterprises that do not know them? Is it necessary that the companies know their customers or the other way around? What kind of a relationship would that be if both the parties are unaware of the relationship they have? Can the enterprise be said to have a relationship with a customer it does not know? Is it possible for a customer to have a relationship with a brand? It can be said that customers would know the products but not the company. Experts have studied the nature of relationships in business for many years, and there are many different perspectives on the fundamental purpose of relationships in business strategies. It can be said that the only aim of the company is not only to gain maximum profits out of their customers or having the greatest market share or the rank the company is. Instead, to be successful in the era of interactivity, when it is possible to deal individually with separate customers, the business objective must include establishing meaningful and profitable relationships at least with the most valuable customers, and making the overall customer base more valuable. Technology plays a very crucial role in maintaining this relationship between companies and customers. In short, the company strives to get a customer, keep that customer for a lifetime, and grow the value of the customer to the organisation. Relationships are the crux of the customer-strategy enterprise. Relationships between customers and enterprises provide the framework for everything else connected to the customer-value business model. This is the same model used by Tesco in order to gain a competitive advantage in the most competitive markets in the world. The exchange between a customer and the enterprise becomes mutually beneficial, as customers give information in return for personalized service that meets their individual needs. Because we are talking about relationships between businesses and their customers, it is important that we agree on a few of the elements that make up a genuine relationship. And while dictionary definitions are not bad as starting points, the most important issue for us to consider is how well our own definition of relationship helps companies succeed in the â€Å"customer dimension† of competition. Lets list some of the distinct qualities that should characterize a relationship between an enterprise and a customer. First, a relationship implies mutuality. In order for anyone to consider a relationship, both the company and its customer have to participate in and be aware of the existence of the relationship. This is the most common factor which is needed to be realized by both the parties. This means that relationships must inherently be two-way in nature. Second, relationships are driven by interaction. When the company and the customer interact, they exchange information, and this information exchange is a best tool for building the relationship. This, of course, also implies mutuality. But interactions dont have to take place by phone or in person or on the Web. An interaction takes place when a customer buys a product from the company that sells it. This is where the customer and the company are in face to face for a reason which builds up this relationship. Every interaction adds to the total information content possible in the relationship. This leads to the third characteristic of a relationship: It is iterative in nature. That is, since both the customer and the company are interacting mutually, the interactions themselves build up a history, over time—a context. This context gives a relationships future interactions greater and greater efficiency, because every successive interaction represents that the company and the customer is growing into a healthy relationship than before by communication and a benefit for both the parties. The mo re that company communicates with its customer, the less they need to say the next time around to get their point across. Another characteristic of a customer relationship is that it will be driven by an ongoing benefit to the customer and the company. The customers convenience is one type of benefit, for the customer, but not the only one. Participating in a relationship will involve a cost in money, time, or effort, and no customer will engage for long in any relationship the company wont be more beneficial for that customer, of it that customer is not getting more benefits that before. However, precisely because of the context of the relationship and its continuing benefit for the customer and the company, each party in a relationship has an incentive to recover from mistakes. Relationships also require a change in behavior on the part of both, the customer as well as the company, in order to continue. After all, what drives the ongoing benefit of a relationship is not only its c ontext, its history of interactions, developed over time, but also the fact that the customers and the companys current and future actions reflect that previous context. This is an important characteristic, because companies sometimes mistakenly believe that interactions with a customer need is always the same, the communication from the companys side, cannot deliver same behavior pattern to every customer. In other words companies need to have relationships with their customer individually because the behavior of every customer is not always the same, which can result in different kind of relationship pattern with the company. But unless the companys actions toward a particular customer are somehow different, there is a possibility of miscommunication and can ruin the relation between that customer and the company, which will be no ongoing benefit for the customer, and as a result the customer might not continue the relationship. Every relationship is different. Relationships are c onstituted with individuals, not with populations. This means relationships are with the individual customer and not the whole segment of the customer population of the company. As a result, a company who wants to engage its customers in relationships must be prepared to participate in different interactions, remember different customers and their behavior or spending habits, and engage in different behaviors toward different customers.(Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) During the last few years there has been a growing interest in studying the economics and markets of long-lasting customer relationships where customer relationships play a vital role for every company. This kind of relationship can help to increase revenue for the company which can be a long term process and a continuous growth of the relationship between the organization and the customer. Heskett introduced the concept of market economies, which means achieving results by understanding the customers behavior instead of by concentrating on developing scale economies. (Heskett, J.L., 1987) A mutually satisfactory relationship between the company and its customers makes it possible for customers to avoid significant transaction costs involved in shifting from one company or a service provider which can be beneficial for both, the customer and the company. However, customer retention is not enough. Some long-lasting customer relationships, where the customers are obviously satisfied with what they get, are not profitable even in the long run, as Storbacka says. There is clear evidence that from a profitability point of view intelligent relationship building where company can be beneficial to the customer as well as themselves in the long run, then only such a management make sense. (Storbacka, K., 1993) Customer Loyalty: The whole point of a relationship is to keep your customers, and simultaneously grow new customers. So what is customer loyalty? Those whove tried to answer that question have approached it from two different directions: attitudinal (what Barnes calls â€Å"emotional†) and behavioral (what Barnes calls â€Å"functional†). Although each of these two definitions of loyalty is valid, they have different implications and lead to very different prescriptions for businesses. The attitudinal definition of loyalty implies that loyalty is a state of mind. Customers are loyal to a brand or a company if they have a positive, preferential attitude toward it. They like the company, its products, or its brands, and they therefore prefer to buy from it, rather than from the companys competitors. In purely commercial terms, the attitudinal definition of customer loyalty would mean that someone who is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even when the products they represe nt are virtually equivalent, is loyal to Brand A. But the emphasis is on willingness, rather than on actual behavior, per se. In terms of attitudes, then, increasing a customers loyalty is virtually equivalent to increasing the customers preference for the brand. It is closely tied to product quality and customer satisfaction. Any company wanting to increase loyalty, in attitudinal terms, will concentrate on improving its product, its image, or other elements of the customer experience, relative to its competitors. The behavioral definition of loyalty would mean that someone is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even without respect to the attitudes or preferences that underlie that conduct. By this definition, customers are loyal to a company if they buy from it and then continue to buy from it. Loyalty is concerned with repurchase activity, regardless of any internally held attitudes or preferences. In the behavioral definition, loyalty is not the cause, but the re sult of brand preference. A company wanting to increase customer loyalty will focus on whatever tactics will in fact increase the amount of repurchase behavior— tactics that can easily include, without being limited to, raising consumers general preference for the brand or their level of satisfaction with it. (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Customer loyalty could be termed a â€Å"customers commitment to do business with a particular organization, purchasing their goods and services repeatedly, and recommending the services and products to friends and associates†. It is a term which is neither easy to gain nor maintain, rather it is vulnerable, where â€Å"even if its customers are satisfied with the service they will continue to defect if they believe they can get better value, convenience or quality elsewhere†. (McIlroy, A. and Barnett, S. (2000) In order to investigate the concept of loyalty, we see the framework of Sopanen (1996) to reveal six different types of loyalty: (1) Monopoly loyalty, where there are no available choices. (2) Inertia loyalty, where customers do not actively seek substitutes. (3) Convenience loyalty, where loyalty is solely defined by location. (4) Price loyalty: where customers are influenced by the lowest price. (5) Incentivized loyalty, where loyalty relates to the benefits gained from reward cards and programmers. (6) Emotional loyalty, where customers are influenced by factors such as brand. From this we can observe that loyalty programs such as Tesco Clubcard can be considered an incentivized type of loyalty, which can be exhibited by customers, but the strength of this loyalty is often questioned. â€Å"As organizations become increasingly customer focused and driven by customer demands, the need to meet the customers expectations and retain their loyalty becomes more critical† (Disney, 1999, p. 491). Customer loyalty is one of the fundamental goals of marketing (Selnes, 1993). Not only does it guarantee repeat customers, but it also decreases the need for companies to spend large portions of their budgets on advertising and promotion in order to attract new customers. Mittal and Lassar (1998) identified that customer loyalty is very often thought of as an outcome of customer satisfaction. This explains why customer satisfaction has become an essential concept in marketing and its quest is one of the most important goals for businesses (Webster, 1994) Relationship Marketing: Relationship marketing is very much interlinked with the notion and practice of customer care. There is no doubt that the development of relationship marketing has had and will continue to have major implications for the marketing managers. Comprehensive accounts of the development, meaning and implications of relationship marketing for the contemporary marketer are given by Lancaster and Massingham. As so often, there are many different views as to the precise nature and hence definition of relationship marketing. So, for example, Groonroos stressed the element of mutual exchange ad trust in relationship marketing as follows. â€Å"Relationship marketing is a process including several parties or actors, the objective of which has to be met. This is done by mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises, a fact that makes trust an important aspect of marketing†. Stone and Woodcock on the other hand put more emphasis on the traditional tool of sales, communication and customer care techniques. Again we see overlap between these two areas. â€Å"Relationship marketing involves the use of a wide range of marketing, sales, communications and customer care techniques and processes to: identify named individual customers, create a relationship between the company and these customers, and manage that relationship to the benefit of both the customer and the company†. Perhaps one of the simplest and yet the most powerful summaries of what relationship marketing is however, is that provided by Buttle. â€Å"At its best, RM (relationship management) is characterized by a genuine concern to meet or exceed the expectations of the customers and to provide excellent service in an environment of trust and commitment to the relationship†. Buttle goes on to indicate what is involved in successful relationship marketing and the commitment of the company required to generate this success. â€Å"To be successful relationship marketers, companies must develop a supportive organizational culture, market the RM idea internally, intimately understand customers expectations, create and maintain a detailed customer database, and organize and reward employees in such a way that the objective of RM, customer retention, is achieved†. This illustrates that relationship marketing has major implications for both how we think about marketing and our approach to the practice of marketing. It affects and includes the provision of marketing information, organizational systems and procedures, and the elements of marketing strategy. Relationship Marketing refers to Promotional and needs and maintain the relationship. This proposal is concerned with Relationship management and marketing at how it is been used by companies to maintain existing customers, retain lost customers and attract new customers. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/relationship-marketing.html) Relationship marketing is systems-oriented, yet it includes managerial aspects. A systems approach is well suited as a basis for a general theory of marketing, because it makes it possible to include all relevant actors, environmental influence, and even the process nature of marketing. (Kuhn, T.S. (1957) The concept of relationship marketing has emerged within the fields of service marketing and industrial marketing. The phenomenon described by this concept is strongly supported by ongoing trends in modern business. Grà ¶nroos defines relationship marketing in the following way: Marketing is to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other partners, at a profit, so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is achieved by a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises. Such relationships are usually but not necessarily always long-term. Establishing a relationship, for example with a customer, can be divided into two parts: to attract the customer and to build the relationship with that customer so that the economic goals of that relationship are achieved. (Grà ¶nroos, C. (1990) More businesses are moving toward relationship marketing in dealing with their customers as more customers expect a personalized experience. Considering relationship marketing vs. transactional marketing for http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid11_gci1253633_mem1,00.html) Relationship marketing is a marketing strategy that emphasizes customer loyalty, customer retention and long-term customer engagement. Using the relationship marketing approach, an organization aims to develop strong, long-term connections with customers by providing them with information directly suited to their needs and interests. This approach often results in increased word-of-mouth activity, long-term purchasing behavior and a willingness to provide information. The goal of every enterprise, once you strip away all the activities that keep everybody busy every day, is simply to get, keep, and grow customers. Whether a business focuses its efforts on product innovation, operational efficiency and low price, or customer intimacy, for that firm must have customers or the enterprise isnt a business—its a hobby. This is true for nonprofits (where the â€Å"customers† may be donors or volunteers) as well as for-profits, for firms large and small, for public as well as private enterprise. What does it mean for an enterprise to focus on its customers as the key to competitive advantage? Obviously, it does not mean giving up the product edge, or the operational efficiencies, that have been successful in the past. It does mean using new strategies, nearly always requiring new technologies, to focus on growing the value of the company by deliberately and strategically growing the value of the customer base. Companies needed to build compr ehensive customer databases. Companies had been maintaining product databases, sales force databases, and dealer databases. Now they needed to build, maintain, mine, and manage a customer database that could be used by company personnel in sales, marketing, credit, accounting, and other company functions. As customer database marketing grew, several different names came to describe it, including individualized marketing, customer intimacy, technology enabled marketing, dialogue marketing, interactive marketing, permission marketing, and one-to-one marketing. Modern technology makes it possible for enterprises to learn more about individual customers, remember those needs, and shape the companys offerings, services, messages and interactions to each valued customer. The new technologies make mass-customization (otherwise an oxymoron) possible. At the same time, technology is only a partial factor in helping companies do genuine one-to-one marketing. The following quotes about custome r relationship management (CRM) make this point vividly: â€Å"CRM is not a software package. Its not a database. Its not a call center or a Web site. Its not a loyalty program, a customer service program, a customer acquisition program or a win-back program. CRM is an entire philosophy.† (Steve Silver) â€Å"A CRM program is typically 45 percent dependent on the right executive leadership, 40 percent on project management implementation and 15 percent on technology.† (Edmund Thompson, Gartner Group) (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Loyalty Card: Any retailer running a loyalty card scheme could call up customer details and purchase history from incoming phone numbers. In many firms, loyalty cards are used for direct marketing and not much else. Using them to dramatically improve customer service seems a fitting reward for loyalty. Marketing program designed to enhance brand loyalty by cultivating an ongoing relationship between a marketer and his customer. Successful loyalty programs encourage the consumer to buy frequently, to increase the amount spent each time, and to concentrate all or most of their related purchases on that brand. Most loyalty programs offer perks for membership in a club or program and reward purchases. Rewards may be based on the dollar value of purchases made or on the frequency of purchases. The most well-known loyalty programs are airline frequent-flyer programs that offer discounts against future travel called award miles. Most large supermarket chains now have frequent-buyer clubs that offer no-coupon discounts as well as newsletters and http://www.answers.com/topic/loyalty-program) A loyalty card program is an incentive plan that allows a retail business to gather data about its customers. Customers are offered product discounts, coupons, points toward merchandise or some other reward in exchange for their voluntary participation in the program. A secondary goal of a loyalty card program is to build repeat business by offering participating customers something that isnt available to non-participating customers. Loyalty cards often resemble plastic credit cards but they can also be keychain fobs or stickers. Typically a loyalty card has a barcode or magnetic stripe thats scanned at the point of sale (POS). The card identifies the customer and sends information about what the customer bought to a database. The information in the database is used to help the retailer understand and influence his customers buying habits. According to research carried out by Boston Universitys College of Communication, eighty-six percent of American shoppers are listed in a loyalty database; a majority of survey respondents said receiving the card was worth giving up some measure of privacy. Loyalty schemes are necessary for the retailers because it helps them in attracting the customers and when they came to them they try to retain them by offering their services on discounted rates and by offering them further discounts and services. Smith states the importance of loyalty cards and schemes in the following sta tement â€Å"if Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty Background of the topic: The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze and investigate the effect of the loyalty cards on customer loyalty and how does it helps large organizations to achieve its goals. When shopping in supermarkets there is one experience that everyone has, when customers finish with their shopping and get to a checkout, the assistant will ask the customers, whether they have a clubcard. This will continue every time whenever those customers without a clubcard shops in the future, the assistant will keep on asking them for a clubcard unless they get one for themselves. Now there is a question that will come across every customers mind, what is a clubcard and why does every company insist them and every customer to be a part of the clubcard family? Now people become curious and they want to get a clubcard too. The assistant says to fill up a form with the customers general details like name, address and contact details and the day customer fills the form, next day they will receive a clubca rd. Impressive, now why companies offer clubcards to their customers, how do companies benefit from these schemes they provide for their customers? Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Loyalty cards can significantly boost business profits whilst simultaneously building customer loyalty. Studies show that loyalty cards are one of the most cost effective ways to build brand loyalty and improve customer retention. Loy alty cards are used by all the major retail and supermarket chains as a vital tool to improve profitability, but one does not need to be a national high street store in order to run a profitable reward card scheme. One of the reasons the supermarkets are taking business away from independent retailers are the incentives offered in their loyalty card schemes. The loyalty cards market in the UK is one of the most significant in the world and forms the backbone of marketing and customer retention planning. With over 85% of UK Households possessing loyalty cards it is really a case where companies can afford not to offer a loyalty card service to their customers. There are different companies who offer loyalty schemes for their customer and give customers shopping vouchers after they spend certain amount of money through those loyalty cards. Main objective behind loyalty cards is to keep customer loyal with the company by offering them discounts and gifts on their shopping so they spend more money in their shops and markets. Most common example of loyalty card is Tesco club card, Sainsbury nectar card and other such cards offered by different companies in the country. But most of the people wont understand the idea behind those loyalty cards that how they work. The success of the Tesco Clubcard has been well documented, in 2002 a Market and Opinion Research Poll found that Tescos Clubcard had been more successful than the programmers offered by rival supermarkets (Smith, 2004). Rationale: Why is this study being done Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Companies offer such countless schemes for their customers to retain and maintain customer loyalty for their store. There are many other factors behind these loyalty schemes where companies benefit. Loyalty card schemes are not only beneficial for the customers, but are equally beneficial for the companies as well. Significance: How does the study contribute The aim of the research is to identify the impact of the Tesco Clubcard on customer loyalty. This will contribute to contrast customer perceptions of the Clubcard, staff and â€Å"feeling valued† to identify which factor has the greater impact on customer loyalty to store. The paper is useful to both practitioners and academics in the fields of relationship marketing and loyalty. The research provides some initial insight into consumer perspectives in the value of loyalty cards. Tesco has succeeded with the strategy of loyalty cards, but its competitors did not. Retailers like Sainsburys and ASDAs who are the competitors of Tesco, did not manage to promote their business using their loyalty cards as Tesco did. Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. Tesco has been known for their best customer service where as its competitor, Asda have been known for their best value and low competitive prices. Now why has Tesco chosen such a marketi ng strategy to attract customers and increase revenue? The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Tesco has chosen a marketing strategy where they need to gain customers faith and trust to maintain a good relationship with them. Hence they need to know everything about their customers individually. How will they keep a track of each and every customer they have? There are many strategies to know your customers and Tesco uses such strategies to have a good track of their customers. The best way to do this is by the method of loyalty cards. Companies can know much more about their customers through loyalty cards. This study will show how Tesco collects data of t heir customers and use that data to improve their customer service in order to gain customer satisfaction. Aims Objectives: The aim of the research is to investigate the influence of the Tesco Clubcard on customer store loyalty. In 1995, Tesco introduced the loyalty Clubcard that was to offer, â€Å"Benefits to regular shoppers whilst helping the company discover more about its Customer needs†. The main aim of this research will be to compare the Loyalty schemes of Tesco Clubcards with its competitors like Sainsburys and ASDA, and find out why Tescos Clubcards were a huge success unlike Sainsburys Nectar and Asda loyalty cards did not succeed in promoting their business. The study also focuses on the need of customer loyalty and what steps were taken by Tesco to retain and maintain its customer loyalty. (www.tescocorporate.com) Sign Posting: A glance at the major and successful organizations around the globe shows that their success is partly due to their ability to apply the theory of relationship marketing. In the contemporary business arena, all organizations, large or small improve their effectiveness and efficiency by applying this theory, thus improving their customer service and customer relations which play a very important role for any business organization. This study shows the brief idea of the Relationship Marketing and how it has been used by the retail giant, Tesco to gain their customers loyalty and retain it for a long time. Tesco is the company on which this whole study has been based on. At the first there is some information and idea has been explained about Relationship Marketing and how is plays a vital role in companys marketing strategies. It also discusses about the benefits of the relationship marketing and how it is used by the company to achieve its aims and objectives. This will later on conti nue with the main topic, that is, the success of Tescos loyalty cards other than its competitors. It will discuss the concept of the loyalty cards and the different strategies used by Tesco and even its competitors to get a competitive edge in the surviving market. The later part of the study also shows how Clubcards are beneficial for the customers as well as the company. Then research methodology is identified that how the research will be conducted, it includes that how the research will designed means the ways through effective data can be find out. Literature Review In this discussion outcomes from the previous research will be demonstrate to provide the clear understanding to the topic. In this chapter views of different authors and researches will be quoted to support the research. It will include the work of researchers who have worked on this matter and have reached to some conclusion. As a literature review chapter it will consist of basic definitions of customer loyalty, customer relationship, loyalty cards and the most important one relationship marketing. This chapter will also explain these theories and how are they applicable for the strategies used by the companies to achieve their goals and success. Customer Relationship: What does it mean for an organisation and its customer to have a relationship with each other? What kind of a relationship would they have with each other? Do customers have relationships with enterprises that do not know them? Is it necessary that the companies know their customers or the other way around? What kind of a relationship would that be if both the parties are unaware of the relationship they have? Can the enterprise be said to have a relationship with a customer it does not know? Is it possible for a customer to have a relationship with a brand? It can be said that customers would know the products but not the company. Experts have studied the nature of relationships in business for many years, and there are many different perspectives on the fundamental purpose of relationships in business strategies. It can be said that the only aim of the company is not only to gain maximum profits out of their customers or having the greatest market share or the rank the company is. Instead, to be successful in the era of interactivity, when it is possible to deal individually with separate customers, the business objective must include establishing meaningful and profitable relationships at least with the most valuable customers, and making the overall customer base more valuable. Technology plays a very crucial role in maintaining this relationship between companies and customers. In short, the company strives to get a customer, keep that customer for a lifetime, and grow the value of the customer to the organisation. Relationships are the crux of the customer-strategy enterprise. Relationships between customers and enterprises provide the framework for everything else connected to the customer-value business model. This is the same model used by Tesco in order to gain a competitive advantage in the most competitive markets in the world. The exchange between a customer and the enterprise becomes mutually beneficial, as customers give information in return for personalized service that meets their individual needs. Because we are talking about relationships between businesses and their customers, it is important that we agree on a few of the elements that make up a genuine relationship. And while dictionary definitions are not bad as starting points, the most important issue for us to consider is how well our own definition of relationship helps companies succeed in the â€Å"customer dimension† of competition. Lets list some of the distinct qualities that should characterize a relationship between an enterprise and a customer. First, a relationship implies mutuality. In order for anyone to consider a relationship, both the company and its customer have to participate in and be aware of the existence of the relationship. This is the most common factor which is needed to be realized by both the parties. This means that relationships must inherently be two-way in nature. Second, relationships are driven by interaction. When the company and the customer interact, they exchange information, and this information exchange is a best tool for building the relationship. This, of course, also implies mutuality. But interactions dont have to take place by phone or in person or on the Web. An interaction takes place when a customer buys a product from the company that sells it. This is where the customer and the company are in face to face for a reason which builds up this relationship. Every interaction adds to the total information content possible in the relationship. This leads to the third characteristic of a relationship: It is iterative in nature. That is, since both the customer and the company are interacting mutually, the interactions themselves build up a history, over time—a context. This context gives a relationships future interactions greater and greater efficiency, because every successive interaction represents that the company and the customer is growing into a healthy relationship than before by communication and a benefit for both the parties. The mo re that company communicates with its customer, the less they need to say the next time around to get their point across. Another characteristic of a customer relationship is that it will be driven by an ongoing benefit to the customer and the company. The customers convenience is one type of benefit, for the customer, but not the only one. Participating in a relationship will involve a cost in money, time, or effort, and no customer will engage for long in any relationship the company wont be more beneficial for that customer, of it that customer is not getting more benefits that before. However, precisely because of the context of the relationship and its continuing benefit for the customer and the company, each party in a relationship has an incentive to recover from mistakes. Relationships also require a change in behavior on the part of both, the customer as well as the company, in order to continue. After all, what drives the ongoing benefit of a relationship is not only its c ontext, its history of interactions, developed over time, but also the fact that the customers and the companys current and future actions reflect that previous context. This is an important characteristic, because companies sometimes mistakenly believe that interactions with a customer need is always the same, the communication from the companys side, cannot deliver same behavior pattern to every customer. In other words companies need to have relationships with their customer individually because the behavior of every customer is not always the same, which can result in different kind of relationship pattern with the company. But unless the companys actions toward a particular customer are somehow different, there is a possibility of miscommunication and can ruin the relation between that customer and the company, which will be no ongoing benefit for the customer, and as a result the customer might not continue the relationship. Every relationship is different. Relationships are c onstituted with individuals, not with populations. This means relationships are with the individual customer and not the whole segment of the customer population of the company. As a result, a company who wants to engage its customers in relationships must be prepared to participate in different interactions, remember different customers and their behavior or spending habits, and engage in different behaviors toward different customers.(Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) During the last few years there has been a growing interest in studying the economics and markets of long-lasting customer relationships where customer relationships play a vital role for every company. This kind of relationship can help to increase revenue for the company which can be a long term process and a continuous growth of the relationship between the organization and the customer. Heskett introduced the concept of market economies, which means achieving results by understanding the customers behavior instead of by concentrating on developing scale economies. (Heskett, J.L., 1987) A mutually satisfactory relationship between the company and its customers makes it possible for customers to avoid significant transaction costs involved in shifting from one company or a service provider which can be beneficial for both, the customer and the company. However, customer retention is not enough. Some long-lasting customer relationships, where the customers are obviously satisfied with what they get, are not profitable even in the long run, as Storbacka says. There is clear evidence that from a profitability point of view intelligent relationship building where company can be beneficial to the customer as well as themselves in the long run, then only such a management make sense. (Storbacka, K., 1993) Customer Loyalty: The whole point of a relationship is to keep your customers, and simultaneously grow new customers. So what is customer loyalty? Those whove tried to answer that question have approached it from two different directions: attitudinal (what Barnes calls â€Å"emotional†) and behavioral (what Barnes calls â€Å"functional†). Although each of these two definitions of loyalty is valid, they have different implications and lead to very different prescriptions for businesses. The attitudinal definition of loyalty implies that loyalty is a state of mind. Customers are loyal to a brand or a company if they have a positive, preferential attitude toward it. They like the company, its products, or its brands, and they therefore prefer to buy from it, rather than from the companys competitors. In purely commercial terms, the attitudinal definition of customer loyalty would mean that someone who is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even when the products they represe nt are virtually equivalent, is loyal to Brand A. But the emphasis is on willingness, rather than on actual behavior, per se. In terms of attitudes, then, increasing a customers loyalty is virtually equivalent to increasing the customers preference for the brand. It is closely tied to product quality and customer satisfaction. Any company wanting to increase loyalty, in attitudinal terms, will concentrate on improving its product, its image, or other elements of the customer experience, relative to its competitors. The behavioral definition of loyalty would mean that someone is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even without respect to the attitudes or preferences that underlie that conduct. By this definition, customers are loyal to a company if they buy from it and then continue to buy from it. Loyalty is concerned with repurchase activity, regardless of any internally held attitudes or preferences. In the behavioral definition, loyalty is not the cause, but the re sult of brand preference. A company wanting to increase customer loyalty will focus on whatever tactics will in fact increase the amount of repurchase behavior— tactics that can easily include, without being limited to, raising consumers general preference for the brand or their level of satisfaction with it. (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Customer loyalty could be termed a â€Å"customers commitment to do business with a particular organization, purchasing their goods and services repeatedly, and recommending the services and products to friends and associates†. It is a term which is neither easy to gain nor maintain, rather it is vulnerable, where â€Å"even if its customers are satisfied with the service they will continue to defect if they believe they can get better value, convenience or quality elsewhere†. (McIlroy, A. and Barnett, S. (2000) In order to investigate the concept of loyalty, we see the framework of Sopanen (1996) to reveal six different types of loyalty: (1) Monopoly loyalty, where there are no available choices. (2) Inertia loyalty, where customers do not actively seek substitutes. (3) Convenience loyalty, where loyalty is solely defined by location. (4) Price loyalty: where customers are influenced by the lowest price. (5) Incentivized loyalty, where loyalty relates to the benefits gained from reward cards and programmers. (6) Emotional loyalty, where customers are influenced by factors such as brand. From this we can observe that loyalty programs such as Tesco Clubcard can be considered an incentivized type of loyalty, which can be exhibited by customers, but the strength of this loyalty is often questioned. â€Å"As organizations become increasingly customer focused and driven by customer demands, the need to meet the customers expectations and retain their loyalty becomes more critical† (Disney, 1999, p. 491). Customer loyalty is one of the fundamental goals of marketing (Selnes, 1993). Not only does it guarantee repeat customers, but it also decreases the need for companies to spend large portions of their budgets on advertising and promotion in order to attract new customers. Mittal and Lassar (1998) identified that customer loyalty is very often thought of as an outcome of customer satisfaction. This explains why customer satisfaction has become an essential concept in marketing and its quest is one of the most important goals for businesses (Webster, 1994) Relationship Marketing: Relationship marketing is very much interlinked with the notion and practice of customer care. There is no doubt that the development of relationship marketing has had and will continue to have major implications for the marketing managers. Comprehensive accounts of the development, meaning and implications of relationship marketing for the contemporary marketer are given by Lancaster and Massingham. As so often, there are many different views as to the precise nature and hence definition of relationship marketing. So, for example, Groonroos stressed the element of mutual exchange ad trust in relationship marketing as follows. â€Å"Relationship marketing is a process including several parties or actors, the objective of which has to be met. This is done by mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises, a fact that makes trust an important aspect of marketing†. Stone and Woodcock on the other hand put more emphasis on the traditional tool of sales, communication and customer care techniques. Again we see overlap between these two areas. â€Å"Relationship marketing involves the use of a wide range of marketing, sales, communications and customer care techniques and processes to: identify named individual customers, create a relationship between the company and these customers, and manage that relationship to the benefit of both the customer and the company†. Perhaps one of the simplest and yet the most powerful summaries of what relationship marketing is however, is that provided by Buttle. â€Å"At its best, RM (relationship management) is characterized by a genuine concern to meet or exceed the expectations of the customers and to provide excellent service in an environment of trust and commitment to the relationship†. Buttle goes on to indicate what is involved in successful relationship marketing and the commitment of the company required to generate this success. â€Å"To be successful relationship marketers, companies must develop a supportive organizational culture, market the RM idea internally, intimately understand customers expectations, create and maintain a detailed customer database, and organize and reward employees in such a way that the objective of RM, customer retention, is achieved†. This illustrates that relationship marketing has major implications for both how we think about marketing and our approach to the practice of marketing. It affects and includes the provision of marketing information, organizational systems and procedures, and the elements of marketing strategy. Relationship Marketing refers to Promotional and needs and maintain the relationship. This proposal is concerned with Relationship management and marketing at how it is been used by companies to maintain existing customers, retain lost customers and attract new customers. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/relationship-marketing.html) Relationship marketing is systems-oriented, yet it includes managerial aspects. A systems approach is well suited as a basis for a general theory of marketing, because it makes it possible to include all relevant actors, environmental influence, and even the process nature of marketing. (Kuhn, T.S. (1957) The concept of relationship marketing has emerged within the fields of service marketing and industrial marketing. The phenomenon described by this concept is strongly supported by ongoing trends in modern business. Grà ¶nroos defines relationship marketing in the following way: Marketing is to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other partners, at a profit, so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is achieved by a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises. Such relationships are usually but not necessarily always long-term. Establishing a relationship, for example with a customer, can be divided into two parts: to attract the customer and to build the relationship with that customer so that the economic goals of that relationship are achieved. (Grà ¶nroos, C. (1990) More businesses are moving toward relationship marketing in dealing with their customers as more customers expect a personalized experience. Considering relationship marketing vs. transactional marketing for http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid11_gci1253633_mem1,00.html) Relationship marketing is a marketing strategy that emphasizes customer loyalty, customer retention and long-term customer engagement. Using the relationship marketing approach, an organization aims to develop strong, long-term connections with customers by providing them with information directly suited to their needs and interests. This approach often results in increased word-of-mouth activity, long-term purchasing behavior and a willingness to provide information. The goal of every enterprise, once you strip away all the activities that keep everybody busy every day, is simply to get, keep, and grow customers. Whether a business focuses its efforts on product innovation, operational efficiency and low price, or customer intimacy, for that firm must have customers or the enterprise isnt a business—its a hobby. This is true for nonprofits (where the â€Å"customers† may be donors or volunteers) as well as for-profits, for firms large and small, for public as well as private enterprise. What does it mean for an enterprise to focus on its customers as the key to competitive advantage? Obviously, it does not mean giving up the product edge, or the operational efficiencies, that have been successful in the past. It does mean using new strategies, nearly always requiring new technologies, to focus on growing the value of the company by deliberately and strategically growing the value of the customer base. Companies needed to build compr ehensive customer databases. Companies had been maintaining product databases, sales force databases, and dealer databases. Now they needed to build, maintain, mine, and manage a customer database that could be used by company personnel in sales, marketing, credit, accounting, and other company functions. As customer database marketing grew, several different names came to describe it, including individualized marketing, customer intimacy, technology enabled marketing, dialogue marketing, interactive marketing, permission marketing, and one-to-one marketing. Modern technology makes it possible for enterprises to learn more about individual customers, remember those needs, and shape the companys offerings, services, messages and interactions to each valued customer. The new technologies make mass-customization (otherwise an oxymoron) possible. At the same time, technology is only a partial factor in helping companies do genuine one-to-one marketing. The following quotes about custome r relationship management (CRM) make this point vividly: â€Å"CRM is not a software package. Its not a database. Its not a call center or a Web site. Its not a loyalty program, a customer service program, a customer acquisition program or a win-back program. CRM is an entire philosophy.† (Steve Silver) â€Å"A CRM program is typically 45 percent dependent on the right executive leadership, 40 percent on project management implementation and 15 percent on technology.† (Edmund Thompson, Gartner Group) (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Loyalty Card: Any retailer running a loyalty card scheme could call up customer details and purchase history from incoming phone numbers. In many firms, loyalty cards are used for direct marketing and not much else. Using them to dramatically improve customer service seems a fitting reward for loyalty. Marketing program designed to enhance brand loyalty by cultivating an ongoing relationship between a marketer and his customer. Successful loyalty programs encourage the consumer to buy frequently, to increase the amount spent each time, and to concentrate all or most of their related purchases on that brand. Most loyalty programs offer perks for membership in a club or program and reward purchases. Rewards may be based on the dollar value of purchases made or on the frequency of purchases. The most well-known loyalty programs are airline frequent-flyer programs that offer discounts against future travel called award miles. Most large supermarket chains now have frequent-buyer clubs that offer no-coupon discounts as well as newsletters and http://www.answers.com/topic/loyalty-program) A loyalty card program is an incentive plan that allows a retail business to gather data about its customers. Customers are offered product discounts, coupons, points toward merchandise or some other reward in exchange for their voluntary participation in the program. A secondary goal of a loyalty card program is to build repeat business by offering participating customers something that isnt available to non-participating customers. Loyalty cards often resemble plastic credit cards but they can also be keychain fobs or stickers. Typically a loyalty card has a barcode or magnetic stripe thats scanned at the point of sale (POS). The card identifies the customer and sends information about what the customer bought to a database. The information in the database is used to help the retailer understand and influence his customers buying habits. According to research carried out by Boston Universitys College of Communication, eighty-six percent of American shoppers are listed in a loyalty database; a majority of survey respondents said receiving the card was worth giving up some measure of privacy. Loyalty schemes are necessary for the retailers because it helps them in attracting the customers and when they came to them they try to retain them by offering their services on discounted rates and by offering them further discounts and services. Smith states the importance of loyalty cards and schemes in the following sta tement â€Å"if