Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay

Every piece of literature created is influenced by the time in which it was written. A particular text is a reflection of the era or period in which it was born. An author is contained within a specific time in history, and his writing becomes the result of the social, economic or political milieu of that time. This is the reason why it is extremely important for a reader to determine the context of the story in order to fully understand a piece of literature. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a great example of how a text reflects a particular era. It is a novel written in the 1930s and revealed what was happening during that time in California. Hence, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a reflection of California during the 1930s. Of Mice and Men is a story about the friendship between George Milton and Lennie Small. The two men are remarkably different from each other. Steinbeck (1994) described George as â€Å"small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features† (p. 4). He depicted Lennie as the opposite of his companion; he was â€Å"a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 4). However, their differences were not limited to physical appearances. George is intelligent, but his friend Lennie is mentally challenged (Steinbeck, 1994). The mental condition of the latter forced him to depend solely on the former. While George often expressed displeasure about the burden of being Lennie’s companion, he proved to be a dedicated friend. He served as Lennie’s guardian. Unfortunately, Lennie’s disability caused him to be involved in great trouble. He was unable to discern his own strength, accidentally harming and killing others in the process. In the end, George continues to fulfill his role as Lennie’s protector; he killed Lennie himself to spare him from death in the hands of Curley (Steinbeck, 1994). While the friendship between George and Lenny is the main focus of the story, the history of California plays a bigger and more significant role in the novel. Of Mice and Men is also a story about California and the problems which plagued it during the 1930s. John Steinbeck wrote three books which delved into the situation in California in 1930s; Of Mice and Men is the second book in the trilogy. The other two novels were In Dubious Battle and The Grapes of Wrath. In On Mice and Men, the relationship between George and Lennie is set against the backdrop of 1930s California. Both men are migrant workers with a single dream: they wanted to own a piece of land and farm it themselves. George said, â€Å"Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs† (Steinbeck, 1994). This dream was influenced, if not completely defined, by the problems of the state at that particular time. In the Introduction of the On Mice and Men, Shillinglaw (1994) described California in the 1930s. During the 1930s, the main problem in California was agricultural labor. Since the 1900s, most of the agriculturally abundant valleys were located in California. Produce such as broccoli, lettuce, sugar beets and strawberries were only some of those harvested in plenitude. The vast farms in California required many laborers for its harvest. Meanwhile, the Southwest region of America suffered from drought. Due to the drought, the once bountiful lands became similar to deserts. As a result, laborers left what was known as the Dust Bowl to try their luck in California. Since 1935, an estimated 350,000 people from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas stormed the Golden State in hopes of finding jobs in the farms. While it was true that California had enormous agricultural fields which supplied most of the country’s produce, the employment of workers were still a problem. There were too many people to accommodate for jobs in these farms. Workers from the Dust Bowl wandered throughout the state in search of crops to farm, as they were desperate for work. By 1936, California was faced with a major problem: the constant flow of poor and hungry migrants from the Southwest. The situation of wandering farm workers was illustrated in Of Mice and Men. The novel began with the arrival of George and Lennie in the Salinas River. George was upset that the bus driver did not drop them off at the proper location. He said, â€Å"Didn’t wanta stop at the ranch gate, that’s what† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 6). The two men exemplified the situation of all the other migrant workers in California during the 1930s. Agricultural laborers such as George and Lennie were directed from one ranch to another, in search for work. George asked Lennie, â€Å"You remember about us goin’ into Murray and Ready’s, and they give us work cards and bus tickets? † (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 7). Murray and Ready had provided both men with the cards and tickets, then sent them to the next ranch. According to the novel, the last ranch they worked for was called Weed. The plight of the itinerant laborers was best expressed by George’s words: â€Å"They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 15). The novel also portrayed the difficult life of male migrant workers and their need for human company. It was said that majority of the migrant agricultural workers in California were single men. Since the 1870s until 1930, the fruit and wheat crops of the Golden State were harvested by single men. These men were modern day nomads, for they constantly moved from one place to another. They carried bindles whenever they went. George confirmed the situation of male farm workers in California: â€Å"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 15). The solitude of the farm workers resulted in the constant need for companionship. In the absence of wives and families, the male itinerant laborers develop friendships instead. The friendship between George and Lennie was the kind of relationship created due to the circumstances of the migrant workers. Despite his complaints about having Lennie around, it was apparent that George was just as dependent on Lennie as Lennie was dependent on him. Whenever Lennie threatened to leave, George told him that he wanted his friend to stay. Their bond was so strong that they did not consider themselves as similar to the aforementioned lonely guys. George said: â€Å"With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 15). The novel revealed how agricultural laborers were marginalized in California society. All of them were misplaced and lived on dire conditions. Despite the unfortunate circumstances which befell them, there are those who remained optimistic and ambitious. However, even the ambitious laborers also fail. They would simply leave the ranch and proceed to another place. In the novel, George and Lennie went to the bunk house of the next ranch they were supposed to work for. When George asked Candy why the former occupant of his new bed quit, this was the response: â€Å"He†¦just quit, the way a guy will. Says it was the food. Just wanted to move† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 20). George and Lennie were also ambitious. They have grown weary of working from one ranch to another, and working for people like Curley. They dreamt of having a piece of land they can personally attend to. The dream was revealed early on in the novel, and was continuously mentioned throughout the story. Candy overheard the two taking about their desire for their own (Steinbeck, 1994). He responded positively, and even offered his savings to both men so that he could also live on their land. Crooks also learned about the plan to buy land. During one night, Lennie spoke to Crooks about his plan to own land with George. Unlike Candy, Crooks had a different response to the plan. He discouraged Lennie by insinuating that his dream will never come true. Crooks said: â€Å"I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads†¦every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 75). The character of Crooks was right; in 1930s California, many workers did not achieve the success they originally hoped to find there. By the end of the novel, George and Lennie proved to be unsuccessful as well. The dream of George and Lennie to obtain their own land did not come true. Lennie has a fondness for petting things which are soft; it was this fondness which guaranteed his demise (Steinbeck, 1994). Lennie and George were forced to leave the ranch in Weed because Lennie’s petting had gotten them in trouble. In the ranch in Soledad, Lennie accidentally killed a puppy because he was too strong. By accident, he pulled the hair of Curley’s wife and also broke her neck, causing her to die. When Curley and the rest of the men in the ranch found out that Lennie killed the wife, they form a mob and went to search for Lennie. Before they arrived at the ranch, George told Lennie to return to the Salinas River in case he got in trouble. George told his friend, â€Å"Lennie—if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 17). After he killed Curley’s wife, Lennie proceed to the brush and George met him there. George began to speak of the land they would own together and the rabbits that Lennie would take care of. Afterwards, he shot Lennie on the back of his head (Steinbeck, 1994). The farm was a representation of every migrant worker’s dream: to own a piece of land and be in control of their own lives. The farm served as a symbol of freedom and independence. For George, the death of his friend was also the end of their dream. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was truly a representation of California during the 1930s. Through the story of George, Lennie and the other characters, Steinbeck was able to illustrate the agricultural labor problem that existed in the Golden State during that decade. The novel revealed the displacement of workers, the harsh realities of living as a nomad in California, their isolation and need for companionship and the broken dreams that come with the journey. By reading this novel, one is given a glimpse of California in the 1930s. Reference Steinbeck, J. (1994). Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Classics.

Animal Nutrition: Distinguish Macronutrients and Micronutrients Essay

There are seven major classes of nutrients: carbohydrates, fats, fiber, minerals, protein, vitamin, and water. These nutrient classes can be categorized as either macronutrients (needed in relatively large amounts) or micronutrients (needed in smaller quantities). The macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats, fiber, proteins, and water. The micronutrients are minerals and vitamins. The macronutrients (excluding fiber and water) provide structural material (amino acids from which proteins are built, and lipids from which cell membranes and some signaling molecules are built) and energy. Some of the structural material can be used to generate energy internally, and in either case it is measured in joules or calories (sometimes called â€Å"kilocalories† and on other rare occasions written with a capital C to distinguish them from little ‘c’ calories). Carbohydrates and proteins provide 17 kJ approximately (4 kcal) of energy per gram, while fats provide 37 kJ (9 kcal) per gram.,[1] though the net energy from either depends on such factors as absorption and digestive effort, which vary substantially from instance to instance. Vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water do not provide energy, but are required for other reasons. A third class dietary material, fiber (i.e., non-digestible material such as cellulose), seems also to be required, for both mechanical and biochemical reasons, though the exact reasons remain unclear. Molecules of carbohydrates and fats consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. Carbohydrates range from simple monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, galactose) to complex polysaccharides (starch). Fats are triglycerides, made of assorted fatty acid monomers bound to glycerolbackbone. Some fatty acids, but not all, are essential in the diet: they cannot be synthesized in the body. Protein molecules contain nitrogen atoms in addition to carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. The fundamental components of protein are nitrogen-containing amino acids, some of which areessential in the sense that humans cannot make them internally. Some of the amino acids are convertible (with the expenditure of energy) to glucose and can be used for energy production just as ordinary glucose. By breaking down existing protein, some glucose can be produced internally; the remaining amino acids are discarded, primarily as urea in urine. This occurs normally only during prolonged starvation. Family| Sources| Possible Benefits| flavonoids| berries, herbs, vegetables, wine, grapes, tea| general antioxidant, oxidation of LDLs, prevention of arteriosclerosis and heart disease| isoflavones (phytoestrogens)| soy, red clover, kudzu root| general antioxidant, prevention of arteriosclerosis and heart disease, easing symptoms of menopause, cancer prevention[18]| isothiocyanates| cruciferous vegetables| cancer prevention| monoterpenes| citrus peels, essential oils, herbs, spices, green plants, atmosphere[19]| cancer prevention, treating gallstones| organosulfur compounds| chives, garlic, onions| cancer prevention, lowered LDLs, assistance to the immune system| saponins| beans, cereals, herbs| Hypercholesterolemia, Hyperglycemia, Antioxidant, cancer prevention,Anti-inflammatory| capsaicinoids| all capiscum (chile) peppers| topical pain relief, cancer prevention, cancer cell apoptosis| ————————————————- Carbohydrates Carbohydrates may be classified as monosaccharides, disaccharides, or polysaccharides depending on the number of monomer (sugar) units they contain. They constitute a large part of foods such as rice, noodles, bread, and other grain-based products. Monosaccharides contain one sugar unit, disaccharides two, and polysaccharides three or more. Polysaccharides are often referred to as complex carbohydrates because they are typically long multiple branched chains of sugar units. The difference is that complex carbohydrates take longer to digest and absorb since their sugar units must be separated from the chain before absorption. The spike in blood glucose levels after ingestion of simple sugars is thought to be related to some of the heart and vascular diseases which have become more frequent in recent times. Simple sugars form a greater part of modern diets than formerly, perhaps leading to more cardiovascular disease. The degree of causation is still not clear, however. Fat A molecule of dietary fat typically consists of several fatty acids (containing long chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms), bonded to a glycerol. They are typically found as triglycerides (three fatty acids attached to one glycerol backbone). Fats may be classified as saturated or unsaturateddepending on the detailed structure of the fatty acids involved. Saturated fats have all of the carbon atoms in their fatty acid chains bonded to hydrogen atoms, whereas unsaturated fats have some of these carbon atoms double-bonded, so their molecules have relatively fewer hydrogen atoms than a saturated fatty acid of the same length. Unsaturated fats may be further classified as monounsaturated (one double-bond) or polyunsaturated (many double-bonds). Furthermore, depending on the location of the double-bond in the fatty acid chain, unsaturated fatty acids are classified as omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids. Trans fats are a type of unsaturated fat with trans-isomer bonds; these are rare in nature and in foods from natural sources; they are typically created in an industrial process called (partial) hydrogenation. Many studies have shown that unsaturated fats, particularly monounsaturated fats, are best in the human diet. Saturated fats, typically from animal sources, are next, while trans fats are to be avoided. Saturated and some trans fats are typically solid at room temperature (such as butter orlard), while unsaturated fats are typically liquids (such as olive oil or flaxseed oil). Trans fats are very rare in nature, but have properties useful in the food processing industry, such as rancid resistance.[citation needed] Essential fatty acids Most fatty acids are non-essential, meaning the body can produce them as needed, generally from other fatty acids and always by expending energy to do so. However, in humans at least two fatty acids are essential and must be included in the diet. An appropriate balance of essential fatty acids -— omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids -— seems also important for health, though definitive experimental demonstration has been elusive. Both of these â€Å"omega† long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are substrates for a class of eicosanoids known as prostaglandins, which have roles throughout the human body. They are hormones, in some respects. The omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which can be made in the human body from the omega-3 essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (LNA), or taken in through marine food sources, serves as a building block for series 3 prostaglandins (e.g. weakly inflammatory PGE3). The omega-6 dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA) serves as a building block for series 1 prostaglandins (e.g. anti-inflammatory PGE1), whereas arachidonic acid (AA) serves as a building block for series 2 prostaglandins (e.g. pro-inflammatory PGE 2). Both DGLA and AA can be made from the omega-6 linoleic acid (LA) in the human body, or can be taken in directly through food. An appropriately balanced intake of omega-3 and omega-6 partly determines the relative production of different prostaglandins: one reason a balance between omega-3 and omega-6 is believed important for cardiovascular health. In industrialized societies, people typically consume large amounts of processed vegetable oils, which have reduced amounts of the essential fatty acids along with too much of omega-6 fatty acids relative to omega-3 fatty acids. The conversion rate of omega-6 DGLA to AA largely determines the production of the prostaglandins PGE1 and PGE2. Omega-3 EPA prevents AA from being released from membran es, thereby skewing prostaglandin balance away from pro-inflammatory PGE2 (made from AA) toward anti-inflammatory PGE1 (made from DGLA). Moreover, the conversion (desaturation) of DGLA to AA is controlled by the enzyme delta-5-desaturase, which in turn is controlled by hormones such as insulin (up-regulation) and glucagon (down-regulation). The amount and type of carbohydrates consumed, along with some types of amino acid, can influence processes involving insulin, glucagon, and other hormones; therefore the ratio of omega-3 versus omega-6 has wide effects on general health, and specific effects on immune function and inflammation, and mitosis (i.e. cell division). Good sources of essential fatty acids include most vegetables, nuts, seeds, and marine oils,[2] Some of the best sources are fish, flax seed oils, soy beans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and walnuts. Fiber Dietary fiber is a carbohydrate (or a polysaccharide) that is incompletely absorbed in humans and in some animals. Like all carbohydrates, when it is metabolized it can produce four calories (kilocalories) of energy per gram. But in most circumstances it accounts for less than that because of its limited absorption and digestibility. Dietary fiber consists mainly of cellulose, a large carbohydrate polymer that is indigestible because humans do not have the required enzymes to disassemble it. There are two subcategories: soluble and insoluble fiber. Whole grains, fruits (especiallyplums, prunes, and figs), and vegetables are good sources of dietary fiber. Fiber is important to digestive health and is thought to reduce the risk of colon cancer.[citation needed] For mechanical reasons it can help in alleviating both constipation and diarrhea. Fiber provides bulk to the intestinal contents, and insoluble fiber especially stimulates peristalsis — the rhythmic muscular contractions of the intestines which move digesta along the digestive tract. Some soluble fibers produce a solution of high viscosity; this is essentially a gel, which slows the movement of food through the intestines. Additionally, fiber, perhaps especially that from whole grains, may help lessen insulin spikes and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Protein Proteins are the basis of many animal body structures (e.g. muscles, skin, and hair). They also form the enyzmes which control chemical reactions throughout the body. Each molecule is composed of amino acids which are characterized by inclusion of nitrogen and sometimes sulphur (these components are responsible for the distinctive smell of burning protein, such as the keratin in hair). The body requires amino acids to produce new proteins (protein retention) and to replace damaged proteins (maintenance). As there is no protein or amino acid storage provision, amino acids must be present in the diet. Excess amino acids are discarded, typically in the urine. For all animals, some amino acids are essential (an animal cannot produce them internally) and some are non-essential (the animal can produce them from other nitrogen-containing compounds). About twenty amino acids are found in the human body, and about ten of these are essential, and therefore must be included in the diet. A diet that contains adequate amounts of amino acids (especially those that are essential) is particularly important in some situations: during early development and maturation, pregnancy, lactation, or injury (a burn, for instance). A complete protein source contains all the essential amino acids; an incomplete protein source lacks one or more of the essential amino acids. It is possible to combine two incomplete protein sources (e.g. rice and beans) to make a complete protein source, and characteristic combinations are the basis of distinct cultural cooking traditions. Sources of dietary protein include meats, tofu and other soy-products, eggs, grains, legumes, and dairy products such as milk and cheese. A few amino acids from protein can be converted into glucose and used for fuel through a process called gluconeogenesis; this is done in quantity only during starvation. The amino acids remaining after such conversion are discarded. Vitamins As with the minerals discussed above, some vitamins are recognized as essential nutrients, necessary in the diet for good health. (Vitamin D is the exception: it can alternatively be synthesized in the skin, in the presence of UVB radiation.) Certain vitamin-like compounds that are recommended in the diet, such as carnitine, are thought useful for survival and health, but these are not â€Å"essential† dietary nutrients because the human body has some capacity to produce them from other compounds. Moreover, thousands of different phytochemicals have recently been discovered in food (particularly in fresh vegetables), which may have desirable properties including antioxidant activity (see below); experimental demonstration has been suggestive but inconclusive. Other essential nutrients not classed as vitamins include essential amino acids (see above),choline, essential fatty acids (see above), and the minerals discussed in the preceding section. Vitamin deficiencies may result in disease conditions: goitre, scurvy, osteoporosis, impaired immune system, disorders of cell metabolism, certain forms of cancer, symptoms of premature aging, and poor psychological health (including eating disorders), among many others.[6] Excess of some vitamins is also dangerous to health (notably vitamin A), and for at least one vitamin, B6, toxicity begins at levels not far above the required amount. Deficiency or excess of minerals can also have serious health consequences. Water About 70% of the non-fat mass of the human body is made of water[7] . Analysis of Adipose Tissue in Relation to Body Weight Loss in Man. Retrieved from Journal of Applied To function properly, the body requires between one and seven liters of water per day to avoid dehydration; the precise amount depends on the level of activity, temperature, humidity, and other factors.[citation needed] With physical exertion and heat exposure, water loss increases and daily fluid needs will eventually increase as well. It is not fully clear how much water intake is needed by healthy people, although some experts assert that 8–10 glasses of water (approximately 2 liters) daily is the minimum to maintain proper hydration.[8] The notion that a person should consume eight glasses of water per day cannot be traced to a credible scientific source.[9] The effect of, greater or lesser, water intake on weight loss and on constipation is also still unclear.[10] The original water intake recommendation in 1945 by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council read: â€Å"An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 milliliter for each calorie of food. Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.†[11] The latest dietary reference intake report by theUnited States National Research Council recommended, generally, (including food sources): 2.7 liters of water total for women and 3.7 liters for men.[12] Specifically, pregnant and breastfeeding women need additional fluids to stay hydrated. According to the Institute of Medicine—who recommend that, on average, women consume 2.2 litres and men 3.0 litres—this is recommended to be 2.4 litres (approx. 9 cups) for pregnant women and 3 litres (approx. 12.5 cups) for breastfeeding women since an especially large amount of fluid is lost during nursing.[13] For those who have healthy kidneys, it is somewhat difficult to drink too much water,[citation needed] but (especially in warm humid weather and while exercising) it is dangerous to drink too little. People can drink far more water than necessary while exercising, however, putting them at risk of water intoxication, which can be fatal. In particular large amounts of de-ionized water are dangerous. Normally, about 20 percent of water intake comes in food, while the rest comes from drinking water and assorted beverages (caffeinated included). Water is excreted from the body in multiple forms; including urine and feces, sweating, and by water vapor in the exhaled breath.

Evaluating People Skills Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evaluating People Skills - Research Paper Example A competent manager with a team of unskilled individuals will not be able to score big on performance charts. On the other hand, a competent manager with a competent team always delivers satisfactory results. â€Å"One project management shoe no longer fits all feet† (DeCarlo, 2003). Trends in project management are constantly changing. Different project management techniques work for different projects. Moreover, certain project managers prefer particular project management technique and tools. In other words, project management gets customized frequently. New methodologies and templates are emerging to satisfy the needs of various projects. Trends in people skills have been shifting towards hiring people with tangible ‘People Skills’. Budget, schedule and technical specifications are the three features that determine the success and quality of a project. That is why project management trends are shifting towards putting together a team that can deliver according to the changing requirements of the projects. Accordingly, the trends in processes are also changing. More focus is now on the processes that deliver the most in relatively less amount of time as dramatic changes can be observed in technology leadership and practices. Usually, projects have technical difficulties and the needs for achieving more with less only puts pressure on team members of a project. Teams with significant human dimensions are successful in completing better projects. Virtual teams are the best examples of such human dimensions (Flannes, n.d.). These teams are better at handling cross-cultural variables. There is no doubt that project teams are facing more complexity and strain than ever. The world is recovering from a global economic downturn and this recovery process involves more innovation and more complexity in business projects. Moreover, there is more strain put on project teams due to global business competition. Now the projects generally involve people from

WEstern Civilization prior to 1660 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

WEstern Civilization prior to 1660 - Essay Example By the end of the Greek period, many significant achievements had been made in science and philosophy. Greek thinkers had gained a view of a universe in which the world was round and participated in an intricate dance through the heavens with other bodies named after the gods they revered. Sophistication in mathematics led to the development of geometry which enabled the ancient Greeks to discover even more, including how to determine direction while at sea and scientists were beginning to investigate the elements of earth, air, fire and water (Williams, 1999). Engineers were beginning to understand the physics of the earth’s natural processes and put them to effective use while others were learning more about anatomy and medicine to better heal their sick or, more probably, wounded. However, much of this came to an end when the Greeks were finally defeated by the Romans, who did what they could to remove Greek influence from their provinces. The Greek dependence upon the elephant might have been a simple fluke in history. While they proved to be effective for some time against the Romans, who were unfamiliar with the animal, once the elephants’ weaknesses were exposed, the Romans stopped losing the battles. In one of the first battles in which the Romans immediately drew up into their well-ordered formations so perfect for other forms of warfare, Born (1928) reports how â€Å"the maniples in front were thrown into utter confusion by the crushing weight of the animals: knocked down and trampled upon by them, they perished in heaps upon the field †¦ Most of the Romans were trampled to death by the elephants; the rest were shot down in their ranks by the numerous cavalry† (566). The elephants were used for more than just fighting. For instance, Glover (1948) illustrates how Pyrrhus used elephants extensively in campaigns through his life, introducing the animal to Italy in 280 BC. That they could be quit e effective

Business enviornment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Business enviornment - Assignment Example Among the others factors that may impact the way business runs its activities is the external environment, which elements can manipulate company’s marketing and thus require the organization to make adjustments and revisions of its strategy and vision. It is known that customers are among those external elements that are able to influence the business the most and thus the company should know that good relationship with clients is based on finding ways to influence them to purchase one’s products. Besides, such political or legal forces that the government regulations develop play an important role in the cost of business doing and its ability to enlarge its activities in new markets. New regulations can increase one’s unit costs and thus affect company’s profit margins. Besides, for the organizations that act internationally, the laws of the other countries create certain obstacles for the companies in their ability to bring product into foreign markets. Among the other factors of external environment that influence the company’s performance are the economic factors that determine how market products and how much money one can spend on certain business growth. The public perception is also an important factor that can help the company to prosper or ruin its image at once. However, it is also up to company to commit such an influence on public opinion by using public relations professionals and strategic information, monitoring of public opinion in order to try and smooth potential issues. One of the best known tools that enable the company to analyze the factors that influence its activities the most, is the  PESTLE analysis. It is used to identify and analyze the key drivers in the business environment. The factors that may put an impact of one’s business activity go for political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors and they should researched and brainstormed by each organization in order to

Critically evaluate the new developments on Destination Management Essay

Critically evaluate the new developments on Destination Management Systems - Essay Example The various stakeholders of Destination Management System includes the Destination Management Organizations containing its employees, the marketing and sales group, the product management group, the supplier of services through destination management system and, the visitors of the destination. The destination management system provides ways of increasing the service level of the DMOs to their visitors and enables them to provide a high quality experience to the tourists who visit the destinations of their choice (Kotler and Keller 45). The destination management system ensures that duplication of efforts are not done and that the management staffs of the DMOs are properly educated and trained to increase the attractions of destination tourism. Thus DMS helps to provide the sought after facilities and services at affordable price to the visitors by which the DMOs are able to attain strategic advantages in tourism. ... The online destination marketing adopted by the DMOs in the latest stage of tourism marketing have allowed the DMOs to offer an integrated portfolio of services to be catered to the customers by the use of online websites and portals of tourism (Buhalis 47). The destination management organization is able to acquaint their customers about the various characteristic features of the destination and the areas of attraction in real time mode. The online destination marketing is a form of real time destination management system that provides unbiased information on the attractive features of the destination, the public services, amenities and the modes of transport available that connects the destination. The quality of the infrastructure, human resources, hospitality and services available at the regional prices in the destination are also informed to the visitors in quick time through online destination management system. The image of the tourist place and the destinations are easily in formed to the large customer base in quick time and, therefore, plays important role to influence the customer’s decision for selecting destinations for the purpose of visit. The online destination marketing by the Destination Management Organizations could be explained as application of the marketing concepts in the digital marketing of the products and services related to destination tourism. The marketing concepts related to the new developments in the online marketing of destinations are that of customer-centricity, targeting, positioning and segmentation in order to offer benefits and facilities to the customers who plan to visit destination for a

Rights given to prison inmates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Rights given to prison inmates - Essay Example Also, prisoners cannot be discriminated against on the basis of their religion, national origin or sex . In addition, they have the right to pursue legal action if they feel prison administrators’ causes them harm and also to fair treatment whilst awaiting trial (Cornell University Law School). Also, prisoners have a right to be prosecuted for their crimes in a timely manner. Prisoners also have the right to free religion and speech but with some limitations in prison (Cornell University Law School). It must be noted that the courts generally tend to side with prison officials or administrators when going over issues prisoners’ rights in prison. There is no strict scrutiny on whether the prisoner’s living standards are as should be, rather a broader look at whether any constitutional rights are not being met (Cornell University Law School). To conclude, prisoners are afforded some basic rights while incarcerated. The rights given have gotten substantially better over the years. One right that should possibly be given to prisoners is some privacy as this is non-existent in prisons. Prison administrators do not face a much regulation in dealing with prisoners which needs regulated to promote protection of rights. References Cornell University Law School.

Project Management -- Network Planning Techniques Essay

Project Management -- Network Planning Techniques - Essay Example The critical path enables the manager to decide in what sequence a set of activities will be performed and when they should start and be completed. By knowing which tasks are non-critical the manager is better able to reconcile his project with his resource constraints. Another major advantage of using the critical path method is that the manager is able to perform â€Å"what if† exercises. If the start date of the project (a, 0) has been fixed as Tuesday January 4th, 2011 and assuming that work is done only on Monday through Friday with no holidays, the earliest projected calendar finish date of the project is June 24th, 2011. By default, all critical tasks have zero slack. The task with the largest free slack occurs at node L, which is GFE delivery. The manager could use the slack to manage scope creep, to monitor and update his schedule and to revise his risk assessment. From our critical path diagram it is evident that dates for delivery of the engine and for the GFE payload are non-critical, therefore we shall set the date of delivery for both to be March 30th, 2011 because any date before vehicle integration begins on April 1st, 2011 will suffice. The critical path remains the same but completion date is pushed forward to June 28th, 2011 because total number of days needed to complete the project increases from 124 to 128. We also notice that the slack days also go up. The impact of this change will have to be reflected with a revision of project

Writing Assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Writing Assignment 2 - Essay Example The airline industry, post-deregulation in the late 70s, is free to set prices, which are now determined by the market forces. Airline tickets have never been cheaper, thanks to increased price transparency through the internet. Air travel is easily available to the general public as its demand for affordable prices has been met by carriers, who have unique cost structures in place for scale economies. For price setting, airlines are able to predict (through trend analysis) which time of year most people would prefer to fly. With demand high, the price is also set high. When a particular airline observes that ticket sales are slower, it will cut down on the ticket price. These changing prices obviously frustrate consumers and have prompted the government to establish some sort of consumer protection. According to the author, the government is requiring airlines to include all ‘potential’ fees, along with the actual ticket price, on every advert. The customer has to be ap prised accurately of the baggage fees. Air carriers must now also include all government taxes in the advertised price. The government has also imposed huge penalties on carriers for extended tarmac delays.

Language education Essay Example for Free

Language education Essay It is not a secret that teaching has a great role in our life. In our constantly changing world we have to get knowledge from everything: from people and things surrounding us, from different technologies, from our experience. But nothing of these can take the place of a teacher, who plays a great role in life of every person. During rather long period of time a teacher was an integral part of children’s life. He does not only impart the knowledge of the world, prepares children for everyday life but also influences their souls, teaches them to be honest, to be patient, to help each other, to  respect each other. But who is a teacher? We usually think that a teacher especially if we speak of a female is a nervous persistent creature. And if we speak of a male, we are sure he is odd, absent- minded and very often not strongly built and healthy. But in the broadest sense, a teacher can be defined as someone who not only teaches or imparts knowledge, but also someone responsible for shaping the minds and hearts of all those whom they teach. Foreign language teachers have a lot of common qualities with the teachers of other subjects. Moreover such â€Å"ideal† teacher would posses personal qualities, technical abilities and professional understanding. One must admit that the future of any student depends on the qualities and dedication of a teacher of foreign language or any other subject. That is why it is necessary to be a good teacher who will create an interest in students to achieve the aims they set for themselves. But what qualities, features do make a teacher a good teacher? Speaking about it first of all we should touch teacher’s personal and professional qualities. The most important feature for both foreign language teacher and teacher of other subjects is to enjoy his profession and love children. If a teacher loves his profession and his students he is ready to devote themselves to such a hard work as being a teacher. A teacher who is full of love for his work is motivated, energized, and creative; he comes to place of work in high spirits, he is open and can share his positive emotions with the students. The next most important concern is teacher’s eternal patience. A foreign language teacher must be patient. He must never be annoyed with students because they dont understand something. Not all children learn at the same pace and inevitably some will require special attention. However, giving up on these children is a mistake as they can usually succeed with encouragement and hard work. It is a well-known fact that a good teacher must possess leadership qualities. He must have great confidence and strong will power to obtain the best results from his students. A good sense of humour is another great tool that helps a teacher to simplify his task. I  think that a good sense of humor can create a pleasant atmosphere where everyone knows they can ask questions, make mistakes or try out new ideas. One more qualities of a good teacher which is necessary to mention is respect. It is very important to respect the students, their opinions, ideas, style of living, and attitude towards something. Having that respect for others gets you the respect back from others. Endurance, tolerance, optimism, enthusiasm, objectiveness, amiable disposition are also in the first ranks of qualities of a good teacher. I think that all these characteristics are some kind of challenge for a person because it is not so easy to combine all of them. But as the future teachers we must make every effort in order to develop them because we are the future examples for younger generation. Besides, a good foreign language teacher should possess certain professional knowledge. First of all he must know psychology of his children. It will help a teacher to have a certain way with the students, to involve them, to make the lessons more interesting and effective. Without any doubt a good foreign language teacher must be knowledgeable in his subject, because he is an example for the pupils. He must know all the peculiarities of the language, its grammar, lexical structure perfectly well. The pronunciation of a good foreign language teacher must also be on a high level. In other words he must be a professional, a master of his skills. Besides, a good teacher also must have the ability to analyze his work in order to see his mistakes, to find more effective and productive way of teaching. But on the other hand, their social position of officially respected but badly paid specialists doesn’t allow them to occupy the desirable step on the social ladder. Unfortunately very often teachers don’t have an easy access to necessary scientific literature to improve their professional skills. One more negative aspect of this profession is that they almost have no weekends, as their Monday is more likely to begin on Sunday, because some important preparations should be done. And young teachers are often not ready for the emotional impact and the amount of work  coming down on the teacher. To draw the conclusion, one can say that future teachers must remember that being a teacher is a great responsibility, because teachers are charged with children’s young souls. They must improve themselves in order to become good teachers, to acquire the qualities which will help to open children’s hearts, to become friends for them, to become examples for them to follow, to stay in their minds and hearts forever. One cannot deny that the experience the teachers get at school make a great influence on their attitudes to life and people.

E-commerce Amazon Innovation

E-commerce Amazon Innovation Does it pay to be the first mover in e-commerce? The case of Amazon.com This case study outlines the advantages and disadvantages of the early adoption of e-commerce using Amazon.com as an example. According to a study, being first in the market does not guarantee large market share. According to Shankar et al leaders in the market for personal computers, video games were covered by late entrants. Hence, order of entry does not necessarily make sure a leadership in the market or continuing rewards. According to the author, imitation over rides innovation in the e-commerce bazaar due to quick technological innovation, fast movement of information and weak patenting laws. Innovation is some times seen as a risk due to the high cost, less chances of survival and imitation. First movers may be able to switch costs as step towards gaining an edge in the e-commerce market. However, that is not long term. It is most advantageous for companies to prevent transfer of knowledge gained through experience since this will create obstruction to new entrants and there will be few competitors. But this is not practical. On the other hand this may create barrier to company as it may continue to invest in obsolete technology. There may be advantages of not being first mover in the e-commerce market. It is very risky for a firm to enter the market when there is uncertainty. Followers learn from mistakes that first movers make and attract customers to towards their product by projecting incumbents product as inferior. First movers may have failures because of the same routines or patterns of conducting business as was before moving to e-commerce. Companies may need to change depending on the type of business, geographical area and cost. Amazon was one of the first companies to have an online book store and is very popular in the US. They do not have a physical store (Just a website), which would take order from customers. Amazon was the only online store that provided after sales service to customers when it allowed customers to search for books that were hard to find. It also offered comparative shopping where the site would give suggestions where else the book could be found. They also introduced member programs where a customer could earn commission by introducing customers to them after every purchase they make. Amazon believes that customers online look for brand names. They also maintained records of customers buying habits and purchase history. They have invested 40% of the revenue in brand building and customer loyalty. Since Amazon is first mover in the market it has set standards so that other can follow the same pattern. The strategies used by Amazon are such that they have a lot of repeat customers and the shoppers become used to buying from them. Innovating and patenting are very important to companies development. Many customers tend to buy from websites that are tried and tested rather than new websites. Hence, it is very important for new companies to follow strict rules and guidelines in order to show that they offer something unique and different from what others do. Reference: Kamel Mellahi, Michael Johnson Does it pay to be a first mover in eCommerce? The case of Amazon.com Coventry Business School, Coventry University, Coventry UK Management Decision 38/7 (2000) 445-452 MCB University Press ISSN 0025-1747

Lord Of The Flies-symbolism :: essays research papers

Symbolism is defined as the representation; treatment or interpretation of things as symbolic. In society and in particular, literature, symbolism is a prominent component that helps to illustrate a deeper meaning then perceived by the reader. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies symbolism of the main characters Ralph, Jack and Simon plays a very important role in helping to show how our society functions and the different types of personalities that exist. An examination of Simon as a symbol of good, Ralph as a symbol of the common man, and Jack as a symbol of evil, clearly illustrates that William Golding uses characters as a symbol of what is really happening in the outside world throughout the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First off, the common man is someone who has a balance between good and evil, a good perception of reality and strong morals. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is the character who is perceived as this type of individual. The first example of this is Ralph’s appearance. Ralph keeps and continues to wear his school sweater while other boys run around naked. This illustrates his desire to keep the island somewhat civilized. Secondly, he does everything in his power to keep the boys working together and getting along with each other. Lastly, Ralph attempts to keep the boys under a type of domesticated. He tries to do this by making such laws as the freedom of speech. This law gave any member of the group a right to express his opinion. Unfortunately, Ralph’s attempts failed and the boys became savages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, the evil side of a person is an unavoidable thing. It can be supressed but also can take over a person. Although everyone has an evil side, some have a harder time controlling it then others. The character of Jack was the representation of evil in the novel. First, Jack’s appearance is stereotypical of a possessed or evil person. He is tall and slender, with red hair and sports a of the slaughtered pig suggests is evil nature. This is a strange and barbaric thing to do in a civil society. Lastly, the fact that Jack black clock. Secondly, when he baptizes himself with the blood showed no remorse about the death of Simon clearly illustrates that he is the representations of evil in the novel. Lord Of The Flies-symbolism :: essays research papers Symbolism is defined as the representation; treatment or interpretation of things as symbolic. In society and in particular, literature, symbolism is a prominent component that helps to illustrate a deeper meaning then perceived by the reader. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies symbolism of the main characters Ralph, Jack and Simon plays a very important role in helping to show how our society functions and the different types of personalities that exist. An examination of Simon as a symbol of good, Ralph as a symbol of the common man, and Jack as a symbol of evil, clearly illustrates that William Golding uses characters as a symbol of what is really happening in the outside world throughout the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First off, the common man is someone who has a balance between good and evil, a good perception of reality and strong morals. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is the character who is perceived as this type of individual. The first example of this is Ralph’s appearance. Ralph keeps and continues to wear his school sweater while other boys run around naked. This illustrates his desire to keep the island somewhat civilized. Secondly, he does everything in his power to keep the boys working together and getting along with each other. Lastly, Ralph attempts to keep the boys under a type of domesticated. He tries to do this by making such laws as the freedom of speech. This law gave any member of the group a right to express his opinion. Unfortunately, Ralph’s attempts failed and the boys became savages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, the evil side of a person is an unavoidable thing. It can be supressed but also can take over a person. Although everyone has an evil side, some have a harder time controlling it then others. The character of Jack was the representation of evil in the novel. First, Jack’s appearance is stereotypical of a possessed or evil person. He is tall and slender, with red hair and sports a of the slaughtered pig suggests is evil nature. This is a strange and barbaric thing to do in a civil society. Lastly, the fact that Jack black clock. Secondly, when he baptizes himself with the blood showed no remorse about the death of Simon clearly illustrates that he is the representations of evil in the novel.

Differences in the Education Quality That Students Receive Due to Techn

Differences in the Education Quality That Students Receive Due to Technology: Wealthy Private Schools vs. Inner City Schools Technology in schools is becoming increasingly more important. Computers in the classroom have become not only a learning aid, but also a necessity for the educational process. However, computers, Internet access, televisions, and other such technological advancements cost money, a lot of money. President's Panel on Educational Technology recommends that the government spend anywhere from six to twenty-eight billion dollars each year on an ambitious program of computer infrastructure development (both hardware and software), teacher training, and research (Johnson, 2000). In spite of the necessity of technology in schools, many children are being deprived of this basic need. Most of the children that aren’t getting these advances are children who live in inner city areas. The budget for inner city schools is drastically lower than the budget than a suburban school or private institution. This affects the way students learn and eventually the way the enter today’s work force. Technology in schools has advanced tremendous amounts in an incredibly short time span. Just a little over a decade ago, schools were just jumping on new â€Å"computer in the classroom† bandwagon. So-called ‘good’ schools would have anywhere from one to twenty computers, only some with Internet access. Now, as we enter the turn of the twenty-first century, it would be difficult to find a school without a computer with Internet access in every classroom. Between September 1984 and September 1997 alone, the number of computers in America's K-12 schools increased eleven fold to more than 8 million units The use of computers h... ...learning; opportunties for change. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum. Golba, A. (n.d.). How does education in urban schools compare to suburban schools?. Retrieved Apr. 11, 2005, from http://www.iusb.edu/~journal/1998/Paper5.html. Johnson, Kirk A. Do Computers in the Classroom Boost Academic Achievement? 14 June 2000. Heritage Foundation. 5 May 2004 . Wulf, S. (1997). What makes a good school teach our children well?. , , 62-93. Hartland, F. (n.d.). Retrieved Apr. 11, 2005, from http://www.isoc.org/inet96/proceedings/c2/c2_1.html. Stevenson, H. J. (2004). Teachers informal collabortaion regarding technology. Journal of Research or Technology in Education, 37(2), 129. Peterson, C. L. (2004). Online compared to face to face teacher preparation for learning standards based planning skills. , 36(4), 345.

Fight Club :: essays research papers

The movie Fight Club made a great achievement in the film industry, and significantly depicted the social system of the late 20th century. According to most of the reviewers, the success of the film lies behind the fact that almost every American man over 25-years of age is going to inevitably see some of himself in the movie: the frustration, the confusion, the anger at living in a culture where the old rules have broken down and one makes his way with so many fewer cultural cues and guideposts. At heart Fight Club is really a dark parody about consumerist discontent. First of all Fight Club was one of the most direct depictions of modern society. We can visualize the clear criticisms of the movie from the words of Jamey Hughton, â€Å" ‘Fight Club’ is the kind of breathless experience that chews you up, spits you out, and leaves your senses jaded and disorientated with exhilaration.† Secondly, Fight Club was a real evolution of the modern ideals, the emergence of modern atomized individuals and consequently urban alienation. Finally, the movie points out male-female roles and the place of violence in the male identity. Critic, Gary Crowdus, says it best by writing, â€Å"Fight Club members have become so physically impassive, so emotionally anesthetized, and so spiritually numb, that it takes a broken nose, a split lip, or a few cracked ribs to reawaken their deadened nervous systems and to provide them with a meaningful sense of male identity† (4 6). The biggest aspect of the movie was on modern society, which has recently turned out to be consumerism. During the movie this new trend is symbolized by the replica of Tyler Durden, â€Å"You are not your job.† This dialogue was completely dedicated to the shaping power of the consumer culture. The movie is about what happens when a world defines you by nothing but one’s job, when advertising turns you into a slave bowing at a mountain of things that make you uneasy about your lack of physical perfection determined by consumerism, as displayed in the scene where Tyler asks, after seeing a Calvin Kline advertisement, â€Å"is this what a man is supposed to look like?† with simultaneous irony and sincerity, of the self-perceived emasculation of working-class white men, and how much money you do not have and how famous you aren't. It is about what happens when we are hit by the fact that our lives lack uniqueness; a uniqueness that we are constantly told we gained t hrough the enculturation process.

Evolution of Nursing Care

Nursing as a profession has changed over the years. Being a nurse in the 1900s as compared to nursing as it is today is enlightening to say the least. Education was next to nothing and acquired in a hospital operating room. The working environment and the duties of the nurse were much different; they performed duties that nurses today have never attempted. Nursing began to change during WWII for the better and now has advanced into a profession. The role of nursing in the early 1900s was performed in hospitals as superintendents’, and as private duty nurses and consisted of â€Å"sterilizing equipment and administering leeches. Morgan, 1998)† They also boiled water to sterilize needles, sutures and kept equipment sanitary. In the mid 1900s, nurses sharpened needles on an average of two days a week. They earned approximately 50 cents an hour, while working 10-12 hour shifts on an average of seven days a week. The work that was performed was also their training as a nursi ng student, which was a training course that lasted 4-6 weeks and was learned in a hospital surgery room. WWII was the beginning of advancement in the role of the nurse and how the public viewed her. Nurses were out of the hospital and were at the patient bedside, â€Å"making their own choices bases on their own judgments and dealing with the consequences. (Morgan, 2008)† They were receiving the true experience of nursing. The Cadet Nursing Corps was established by congress in 1943. Nurses that entered agreed to work in underserved areas for the duration of the war. â€Å"Over 150,000 nurses gained training through the program over the next three years. Morgan, 2008)† During the 1960s, the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was developed, which led to top level doctors and nurses caring for critically ill patients. The beginning of technology; required a higher level of learning to obtain a specialization in nursing and advanced degrees. Nurses that were staffed in ICU’s were taking blood pressures and reading heart monitors, essentially doing the duties of a physician. This gave the nursing role a shift, which led to the nurse practitioner role and becoming a separate entity in the 1970’s. Today’s nurses are more responsible for the care and safety of their patients, and are held accountable for their actions. They work with patients to teach preventative measures of illness, they are disease managers, and home health providers. Nurses work in hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, in the home health sector, and are case managers. Some even work as attorneys. It doesn’t matter where a nurse works today, he or she work with other disciplines in the health care field to provide cost effective, accessible, quality, evidence based care.

Comparison Of Napoleon And Hitler Essay

The world as we know it has seen the likes of the most feared and infamous dictators and military geniuses. Some of these people have even shaped the way the world is today and their influences are still felt. Among such dictators are Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler, leaders of France and Germany respectively at two different periods. Adolf Hitler’s reign of power begins in 1933 when he is appointed Chancellor of Germany and his reign ends with his suicidal death on April 30 1945. Napoleon Bonaparte’s reign of military power begins in 1783 until he resigns in 1814, yet he has a slight military rebirth after that but it only lasts for a very short time. Both leaders’ careers are filled with massive successes yet they are also littered with massive defeats that truly change the way the world is today. Although these leaders can be considered geniuses, it does not mean they are perfect and not susceptible to the pull of human nature. Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte are two of the foremost military strategists and totalitarian leaders yet both had lapses in their judgment, both exhibit episodes of cowardice and both fail in their battles with Russia, ultimately ending their reigns. Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte both have several lapses in judgment on the battlefield, and in the planning rooms, during their reigns. While these lapses in judgment immediately may not result in the defeat of an army, when they are added together the results can and often were disastrous. Though Hitler had a strong army that could fight well, the mismanagement of that army and the people around it eventually lead to his personal demise as well as his army’s demise. Napoleon too is responsible for making several irresponsible and debilitating decisions during his reign. The Rhineland, a buffer zone between France and Germany that was formed at the end of World War I in the treaty of Versailles, is a very sensitive area that cannot be occupied by any German military forces. When Adolf Hitler announces to his political party and advisors that he wants to occupy this area, they are incredibly shocked and disappointed at their leader, as this would bring massive retaliations from the French and its allies. Amazingly enough, Hitler gambles on this decision and wins, as the French are initially shocked and eventually just let it go, giving Germany a front in which to attack France from. This action is discussed by all of the leagues and officials at this time and it still is accepted and Germany receives no penalty for occupying the Rhineland. If there had been opposition stemming from this incident though, the Germans would surely have been destroyed, as their army is not even close to being prepared for a major battle. The second decision that Hitler puts into effect is the occupation of Czechoslovakia, an occupation that sends to the rest of Europe the message that Hitler is hungry for land. Most states do not voice their opinion at this stage of Hitler’s reign though, and the one of the only areas that at least thinks about stopping Hitler is France. Hitler’s decisions continue to upset France and throw the balance of European power into a chaotic state. First the Rhineland is occupied by Germany, and now Czechoslovakia is taken by force; these tactics taken by Germany make France decide that the next detrimental decision made by Hitler should have a detrimental effect on his own forces, an effect that will be delivered personally by the French forces. The third decision that Hitler executes improperly is the invasion of Poland at the precursor of World War Two. With Germany simply ignoring the previous alliance with Poland it makes it very hard for Hitler to convince other nations and people to trust him. He also makes it seem that he is only running military maneuvers in the area, which is another example of how other political leaders can distrust him. Because of these decisions, Italy will not fight on Germany’s side and Germany’s unwillingness to back from Poland prompts France and Britain to prematurely enter into direct conflict with Germany, a conflict that Hitler does not believe will take place. Although the Germans easily win the Polish War, it sets an ominous tone for the events to come. Perhaps one of the biggest lapses in judgment that Hitler makes during World War II is the Battle of Britain. Operation Sea Lion definitely is not a success for Germany as they lose their battle as well as fully bring Britain into the war. The people of the beleaguered Great Britain, which is under constant attack at all times, are drawn together to fully strengthen the war cause. If there was ever any doubt about why Hitler and Germany should be  stopped it is pushed away and full on hatred for Germany forms. Germany’s Luftwaffe loses quite heavily as its planes and equipment simply is not up to the English advances in technology, such as radar. The Battle of Britain is an unnecessary and disastrous venture for the Germans and they are faced with heavy losses and morale issues, as Berlin is counter attacked by British warplanes with relative success. Another small defeats adding up to a huge failure in the long wrong include losing the campaign in North Africa, and leaving forces in the area for quite some time while the rest of the war continues. These supplies could have been used for other campaigns occurring at the time and the tanks that are being utilized in North Africa can also be used in the defence of Germany when Allied forces invade it. Napoleon Bonaparte too is susceptible to making bad decisions. While his early military career is littered with amazing and wild successes, his first campaign in the East is a miserable failure. While the initial invasion is a success, the British forces catch most of France’s navy anchored and destroy it, thus leaving much of France’s army stranded in Egypt, Napoleon included. With plague and the constant destruction of French forces, Napoleon knows that the campaign is doomed to failure and leaves his men to die in Egypt while he makes his way towards France once again. The way Napoleon and his soldiers conduct themselves in their occupied Spain is also quite disturbing. After taking over Spain there are continual attempts by the people to overtake their new French government. Napoleon does not take kindly to such actions and begins the slaughtering and torture of his enemies. Napoleon and his men before simply did not practice this type of warfare and now getting into this type of war is definitely the wrong thing to do. There is no definite winner or loser in Spain as Napoleon simply keeps it occupied with soldiers for five years. The most incredible lapse of judgment of both Hitler and Napoleon occurs when they both decide that they want to conquer Russia. Hitler and Bonaparte both failed in Russia thus ending their full-fledged military advancement. The  Russian campaign is considered a huge failure asked for by Hitler and Napoleon. Each leader’s decision for invading Russia is very different with Hitler invading for lebensraum (space for living) and Napoleon invading to somewhat defend France with Russian forces on France’s borders. While both reasons can be seen as rational to a totalitarian leader, neither leader could decide just what to do while inside of the Red country. Although both campaigns lasted much longer than expected, with Hitler and his advisors expecting Operation Barbarossa (the German codename for the invasion) to be a success in eight to ten weeks and Napoleon prophesized his battles would be complete within twenty days. While both can be reasonable estimates while simply looking at the equipment, training, and manpower involved, the leaders of both campaigns do not factor in human resistance, weather, and simply sheer luck. Both campaigns immediately take the same face from the get go, with both forces finding very slim lines of defence to stop them. While Hitler simply engages and destroys the forthcoming Russian defence, Napoleon is faced with a much more daunting situation as the Russian forces employ a strong scorched earth policy, leaving nothing behind for Napoleon’s forces to use for the remainder of the campaign. Because of this policy Napoleon and his forces dwindle on a massive scale, as soldiers fall out from exhaustion, sickness, and desertion at a staggering rate of five thousand per day. After two months, and before Napoleon’s forces could fight a single major battle, one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers are out of action. One of the most disabling situations that occur in Germany’s quest for Russian supremacy is the continual confusion and debate occurring between Hitler and his cabinet, something that many believe cannot happen in a totalitarian regime. Hitler continually intervened on his advisor’s decisions and made all final decisions on his own, something that is very dangerous when you consider Hitler’s mental stability. In Russia he changes his mind several times before settling for Leningrad as the primary objective and Moscow as the secondary objective in Barbarossa, much to the chagrin of his advisors. In what could be one of the unlikely and unusual decisions of the campaign, Hitler decides to merely surround Leningrad  instead of taking it by force, something that could be accomplished within weeks. Instead of actually taking Leningrad, Hitler then decides that Moscow is the primary objective after all and sends a bulk of his forces towards it. The first of Germanyâ €™s weather problems occurs in the taking of Moscow as heavy rainfall hinders the German offensive. An additional major mistake that can be attributed to Napoleon’s downfall in Russia is the fact that great portions of his fighting forces are not even French. Due to this situation most of these soldiers simply left because they did not have a personal attachment to the cause. The fight was being fought simply for the fulfillment of their leaders’ alliance with Napoleon. Hitler could not crush the Russian cities while he had the chance and Napoleon waited too long to retreat. This fact coupled with Russia’s troops fighting in a religious manner results in a downshift in Russian morale. Although Napoleon successfully takes Moscow he accomplishes it in a ridiculous manner. He does not fight the strategic battle style that he is greatly known for and simply throws throngs of his soldiers at the inspired Russians and although his forces do win the battle it does not come with massive personnel and morale losses. The scorched earth policy being employed by the Russian forces definitely takes a dramatic increase when the French forces take Moscow. When Napoleon and his forces enter Moscow they find it mainly abandoned and by the end of the night it begins to burn with fire, fire lit by the Russians themselves. French forces cannot stay in Moscow and use its shelter, food, and water resulting in a losing situation for France. The scorched earth policy also takes a very crucial part in Russia’s victory in Operation Barbarossa as Stalin implores his soldiers and citizens to employ such a tactic that would deprive the oncoming Germans of important supplies. This can lead one to believe that the Russian campaign is won on the basis of nationalism and the idea of helping your fellow citizen the same that you help yourself, a very basic and fundamental communist belief. While all of the other factors involved in taking Russia are very important and crucial, by far the most important of them is the Russian winters that decimated both offensive forces. The winter to Napoleon means the end of his campaign in Russia, and the end of his military supremacy. The Tsar of Russia uses the winter as a great defensive tool as he knows that the French forces cannot take a winter battle and he is definitely correct. The French forces disembark from Moscow in the fall and three weeks later the harsh Russian winter arrives. The temperatures quickly fell and so too did the number of soldiers. The French simply cannot survive with starvation, fatigue, and the extreme cold constantly hounding them. With few French soldiers behind him, Napoleon finally returns to the French capital faced with the daunting task of rationalizing his disgusting defeat. The few Russian winters that Germany has to deal with are among the worst the world has ever seen. In the December 1941 to March 1942 portion of the campaign Germany suffers heavy losses and cannot take Moscow, Hitler’s prime directive and the German forces now have to halt their offensive. In the winter the German forces take a huge blow as the Russians accomplish counter offensive attacks. These attacks are highly successful due to the failing equipment of the Germans coupled with the lack of personal equipment such as jackets and proper footwear coupled with Hitler forcing the soldiers to not retreat and make the soldiers fight as long as they can. The German military commander resigns during this time due to Hitler being overbearing and Hitler takes full command of the forces. Finally realizing his forces are being decimated on a massive scale, Hitler calls for full withdrawal in January, a task that is much easier said than done. Oddly enough, Hitler actually gains more support from his soldiers and the citizens at home because of his actions. Again, though, Hitler begins the spring and summer offensive with relative success and then begins to lose it again. The Russian front is much too large for Germany and its now dwindling supply of soldiers and forces are being spread much too thin. The country is simply much too large to be taken for Germany and Hitler soon begins realizing this. Russia forces Germany  into a war of attrition that is simply cannot compete with and Hitler must withdraw all offensive troops except ones stationed at Stalingrad and other very important points. Eventually, during the following winter the Germans are once again decimated by Russian forces and are forced to evacuate from Stalingrad after many requests to Hitler. Although Hitler makes many plans and tries to implement them with relative success, the German withdrawal takes place between 1943-1944. The German forces are finally removed from the Russian territory with a resounding sense of success emanating from the allies. The defeat of Germany in Russia very greatly depletes the Germans of supplies and forces the Germans to now fight on many fronts while throwing the German military strategists into a state of confusion. Further bombing runs by England begin to eliminate most of the raw materials processing plants employed by the Germans. The invasion of Normandy is carried out by the Allied forces with success and the liberation of Germany begins, and all simply because the taking of Russia is not accomplished. While both Hitler and Napoleon are widely considered military geniuses their lack of effective judgment, courage, and success in Russia equaled a long and tiring end to their military careers.

Addressing Industry Dependency Essay

Regal Entertainment Groups is the parent company of Regal Cinemas, which is made up of Regal Cinemas, the United Artists Theaters, and the Edwards Theater. It runs the largest theater circuit in the U.S., and uses the multiplex cinema model in metropolitan and metropolitan growth areas. The movie theater industry is highly competitive, both within the film entertainment industry (as with Netflix and pirated films) and with substitute goods, such as live performances, restaurants, and sporting events. In addition, industry competitors have an extremely low level differentiation from one another, which is partially due to the reactive nature of the industry. It is also due to the considerable dependency on major film production companies. Regal’s dependency on the film production companies for profitable films and film advertising contributes to its lack of differentiation from its major competitors, which hinders its profitability potential in a market of ambivalent consumers. See more:  The Story of an Hour Literary Analysis Essay This report recommends that Regal pursue both an active advertisement campaign team to deliver the message of Regal’s value directly to the consumer (a practice not traditionally observed in the movie theater industry) to create brand recognition, and forge partnerships and agreements with live performance venues, utilizing Regal’s existing digital technology. By doing so, Regal could increase its profit margins, decrease its  dependency on quantity and quality of mainstream film companies, create greater value to consumers and stakeholders, and provide new entertainment possibilities and community experiences that have not been available on this scale before. Position Company Overview Regal Entertainment Group was created out of a consolidation of the Regal Cinemas, the United Artists Theaters, and the Edwards Theaters in 2002 (â€Å"Regal Entertainment Group Company History†). Regal Cinemas are primarily a line of multiplex, first-run theaters in urban, metropolitan, and suburban growth areas. It currently operates the largest theater circuit in the United States, with 520 theaters, averaging 12.6 screens per location, with a total of 6,558 screens. (Form 10-K 4) It is currently one of the ‘big three’ competitors in this industry. Mission, Vision, and Values Regal Entertainment does not currently have a mission or vision statement. It would be advisable to create such statements in order to improve investor and employee understanding of what Regal hopes to be, and better focus its efforts and attempts to solve current and future problems (Yuthas 9-10). However, their business strategies listed on the Regal Investor Relations webpage provide some insight into the company’s values. The four strategies listed are maximizing stockholder value, pursuing selective growth opportunities, pursuing premium experiences opportunities, and pursuing strategic acquisitions and partnerships. Combining these strategies with their metropolitan multiplex approach, their business landscape shows a drive to expand, using economies of scale to create value for the viewer, as well as their partners and suppliers. Their activities will better reflect their values, and will be discussed in greater length in this report, under the Current Activities sectio n. Key Stakeholders Regal’s key stakeholders include the usual categories: stockholders, suppliers, employees, and business partners. Regal’s main suppliers are their food and beverage suppliers and the major movie production companies that Regal depends on for their first-run films. The food and beverage  suppliers include beverage companies like the Coca-Cola Company, and confectionary companies like Tootsie Roll Industries, Cadbury Schweppes, and the American Licorice Company. Regal’s sheer size makes it a desirable client, and the economies of scale benefit both parties. Partners of note include AMC, one of its major competitors, with whom Regal jointly owns Open Road Films, a film distribution company. This will be discussed in more detail under the Current Activities section. AMC could conceivably take over if Regal were to go under, but splitting the cost and the risk of a new venture is a benefit to AMC. Regal also maintains an investment in National CineMedia (NCM), as does AMC and Cinemark (Form 10-K 74). NCM is an advertising service that acts through cinemas to reach the consumer. While this allows for more advertising within Regal Cinemas, Regal currently does not advertise itself outside of its theaters and website. NCM and Regal have a mutually beneficial relationship, in which Regal’s geographic expanse and numbers of theaters give NCM greater exposure, while Regal benefits from the money from the advertisers. However, Regal does little outside advertising for its cinemas. Regal Entertainment Group created the Regal Foundation, which is a non-profit charitable organization â€Å"committed to [improving] the quality of life in the communities in which [Regal operates] by providing funds and other resources to aid the initiatives of national and local charitable entities (â€Å"Community Affairs†)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Some of it beneficiaries include the Will Rogers Institute, and their partners include the Boys & Girls Club of America, the American Red Cross, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation (â€Å"Community Affairs†). All of these stakeholders rely on Regal’s profitability to continue successfully, in order to maintain their charitable support. Current Financial State Regal reports a total of 211 million cinema viewers in at the end of the fiscal year December 2011, and recently reported dividends of $0.21,declared for Class A and B common share. These dividends have been distributed for the past four quarters (Form 10-K 97). Regal anticipates continued dividends in the foreseeable future, but note that dividends are considered quarterly and are only paid when their Board of Directions approves them. From May of 2002 to the end of December of 2011, Regal has returned $3.3 billion in cash dividends to their stockholders (Form 10-K 5). The movie theater industry  as a whole has a fairly low profit margin to dip into, and Regal has the same approximate costs and revenues as its competitors (Mintel – Leading Companies). Regal’s 2011 10-K states a net income of $40 million dollars, and cash and cash equivalents of $253 million, with $174 million in accounts payable (54); Regal appears confident in its ability to met its obligations. Current Activities In 2003, a year after its consolidation, Regal removed video games showing â€Å"graphic depictions of sexual behavior or nudity,† â€Å"graphically violent character deaths† or â€Å"human-like characters suffering bloodshed and/or dismemberment.† It also removed games depicting â€Å"violence toward law enforcement officers or other figures of authority or the ‘glorification of illegal activity (Earnest).’† A potential reason for this decision may be Regal’s major shareholder, Philip Anschutz, who is heavily involved in Conservative and fundamentalist Christian politics, and actively supports Christian and family-friendly cinema (Haber). The aim appears to be to gear the public areas of the theaters towards a more family-friendly approach, although this has had no effect on the MPAA film ratings that the theaters would normally show. This may be relevant to any changes they wish to make to the business in the future. Regal appears to be fairly reactive to market changes rather than being proactive. They, as have their competitors, turned a great deal of attention to digital, 3-D, and IMAX technologies (â€Å"Market Size and Trends†). Regal has been investing a considerable amount of time and effort into IMAX technology, as well as their own version of IMAX, called RPX (Regal Premium Experience), which emphasizes improved uncompressed surround sound. Another trend that Regal has followed is creating a dining experience in-theatre with its subsidiary, Cinebarre. There are 28 locations that are experimenting with various menu items, pricing strategies, and serving styles, such as the traditional restaurant versus being able to order directly from the audience seating. A few locations have beer and wine availability, and a total of 5 are testing the direct-to-seating Cinebarre method (Form 10-K 14). One of the major audience draws to the multiplex structure is the all-encompassing experience that involves â€Å"the consumption of the space as well as the visual consumption of the movie† (Hubbard). Open Road Films is jointly owned by Regal and AMC.  According to Regal’s 2011 Annual Report, they believe that â€Å"Open Road Films has a unique opportunity to fill a gap in the marketplace created by the major studios’ big-budget franchise film strategy by marketing smaller budget films in a cost-effective manner which [Regal] believe[s] will drive additional patrons to [sic] theaters and generate a return on [sic] capital investment† (12). They are approximating that they will eventually be distributing eight to ten films per year, effectively filling any dead space left by the major film production companies. Industry Overview Key Players and Market Share The major competitors that Regal currently contends with are Cinemark and AMC. Both of these companies have overseas markets, which Regal does not. Both also prefer geographical locations similar to those preferred by Regal. This is to be expected, as the multiplex structure is most profitable in such metropolitan and growing suburban areas that these first-run, multiplex theatres prefer to locate themselves in. Regal currently holds 21% of the market share, with AMC and Cinemark holding 20% and 18% respectively (â€Å" Leading Companies†). Current Practices Currently Cinemark and AMC are pursuing trial runs in improved and expanded concession ventures, which appear to be successful, judging by their continued implementation (â€Å"Leading Companies†). AMC and Cinemark currently have a potential advantage over Regal in their foreign markets. Not only have they expanded the number of people who will see first-run Hollywood films, but they have good relationships with foreign movie production companies and currently show their films in other countries. As previously mentioned, the industry and major competitors have made the move to digital, 3-D and IMAX technologies. Sense Industry Challenges and Causes Piracy and Alternative Goods The industry’s battle with pirated films is well known, costing the entertainment business as a whole roughly $20.6 billion (Plumer). It also  competes with such legitimate entertainment businesses as DVD rental services, Pay-per-View, cable television, and similar entertainments. Not only this, but since most of the movie theaters are in areas of high population, there are multitudes of other activities to compete with, such as live theater, restaurants, sports bars, pubs, concerts, and sporting events, to name a few. Fewer Total Annual Viewers It is no surprise that the current recession has had a significant impact on consumer’s spending habits. A night at the movies is an affordable luxury, but a third of the total respondents reported going to movies less in 2009, and again in 2011, than the previous year. Although there was a small increase in total revenue in 2010, it declined by 1.2% in 2011, with the lowest number of tickets sold since 1995 (â€Å"Segment Performance: Box Office Admissions†). The most profitable age group (18-34) are attending live performances more often than in the past, and as unemployment continues, their numbers are decreasing at the box office, although they still are going more frequently than any other age group (â€Å"Family Entertainment on a Budget†). Ambivalent Audiences Not only is the number of attendees declining, but consumers do not have a strong brand loyalty to their cinemas. A Mintel report showed that the major criterion for selecting a movie theater was the proximity to home (66% of respondents of all ages cited this as an important factor in their decision), the availability of the desired time (53%), and how comfortable the seats were (56%) (â€Å"Consumer Trends†). The brand of the cinema appears completely irrelevant for the average consumer. Branding has considerable value for any industry, yet movie theaters do not appear to have made a lasting connection with the average consumer. Reliance on Film Production Companies The industry depends heavily on the film production companies. Movie theaters depend on good relationships with the firms to get a contract, and must pay a premium for the use of big-name productions. The pricing has improved since the transition to digital, but to equip thousands of screens with the most profitable movies is still expensive. There are been accounts from the  film companies that because releasing to DVD is more profitable for the studio, there may be fewer films released and theater running times may decrease farther (Szalai). The movie theater industry historically has a low profit margin, and having empty theaters will only decrease it further. Regal Challenges and Causes Market Saturation There are a limited number of profitable places to create the multiplex experience that Regal specializes in. In light of the prevalence of competing first-run theaters that also occupy the same profitable locations, it seems that Regal is running out of places to go within the U.S. Its films are primarily first-run big-name productions, which are the biggest draw to the box office, but since the other major competitors specialize in showing these films as well, this is only a minor point in Regal’s favor. Regal could conceivably open theaters in more remote locations, but while big-name films are popular everywhere, they are also the most costly to rent (Morgan). Opening in less densely populated areas could mean higher costs than revenues, if the attending numbers aren’t high enough. Another option could be expanding Regal Cinemas overseas, but expanding overseas is a highly risky and costly venture. It should also be noted that AMC and Cinemark have already established themselves in the most convenient overseas locations (namely Central and Latin America), and have been closing theaters in recent years (â€Å"Leading Companies†), indicating Regal may have a difficult time finding a marketing foothold. Fewer Total Annual Viewers Despite the optimistic announcement of Regal’s 2011 attending numbers, movie theater attendance for the industry has been declining (â€Å"Family Entertainment†), and Regal’s viewership went down by 5.5% (â€Å"Segment Performance: Box Office Admission†). The economy has had a significant impact on the buying power of Regal’s main audience: middle to upper-middle class families and young adults (18-25). These are currently becoming more price-sensitive groups, and movie prices are nearly the highest they’ve ever been (Morgan). While Regal cannot turn the economy into a bull market, it could create some consumer incentives to attend Regal Cinemas. They have a customer rewards program; restructuring the rewards program to create a  better value may help incentivize an increasingly price-sensitive market. Some have suggested a return to staggered pricing, which fluctuates depending on the movie title and show time, typically having higher prices for popular movies at peak viewing hours (Zeitchik). However, pricing rarely regresses, and if Regal is the only movie theater to attempt it, consumers may resist and direct their attentions to movie theaters with more familiar pricing. Viewers are turning towards other methods of movie entertainment, such as Netflix and On Demand (Form 10-K 7), as they are more affordable and convenient. As mentioned in the industry challenges, the key age group18-34 are attending more live performances than before, indicating some experience value that Regal is not providing them. Regal must find a way to remain competitive and to market greater value to these consumers to coax them out of their homes and away from live venues. Dependency on Film Production Companies As noted in the Industry Challenges, Regal is dependent on the major film production companies. Because of the film production companies’ release times, theater business is seasonal, peaking during the summer months and during the holidays. This is occasionally broken up by a fluke film release, but this is again the choice of the film production company. Not only is Regal dependent on the timing of the releases, but also on the quality and draw of the films. Regal notes in its 2011 Annual Report that the decline in viewers during 2010 may have been due to the poor product offerings those years (Form 10-K 37). If the film production companies do decide to reduce the number of films produced and reduce the run times of these films in favor of earlier DVD production, Regal stands to lose profitability in the future. The production companies take a significant portion of ticket sales, anywhere from 35% to 100% for a specified amount of time, on a film-by-film basis (Morgan). More popular movies will have a larger percentage taken from their ticket sales for a longer period of time. This effectively decimates Regal’s earnings. Most theater-viewers see the film within the first six weeks of its opening, and the highest volume is within the first two to three weeks, when the production companies are taking their cut. Also, the younger, profitable age groups tend to go during the first few weeks, and older viewers, who are notoriously more price-sensitive, tend to wait until  the crowds die out. Having a shorter timespan to show the films, knowing that the best part of those profits will be going to the production companies, and having fewer films to pack the multiplex seats: it is clear these issues will create profit gaps for Regal if left unaddressed. Regal’s Open Road Films venture is perhaps an attempt to alleviate the stress from that dependency, but it is not a full solution to the problem. ORF is a distribution company. While Regal must enjoy some income and savings from its involvement, they are not (and are not legally able to) actively creating their own films to guarantee quantity and quality of films. However, its first films distributed met with success, with Killer Elite starring Clive Owen and Robert De Niro, and The Grey starring Liam Neeson. It is a good addition to the company, but it is not enough to fully address Regal’s dependence. Lack of Differentiation From Competitors First-run movie multiplex theaters are the most profitable in the motion picture theater industry. However, there is very little differentiation between major movie theaters. They all show the same big-name films, they provide the same concessions, they have very similar prices, and their layouts and locations are similar. The industry shift to digital and IMAX technology is also widespread, so it despite Regal’s investment in it, it does not create a sustainable advantage. As discussed earlier in this report, consumers are fairly ambivalent about which cinema they attend to see a particular movie, which is understandable, considering the striking similarities of major movie facilities. Again, the two highest deciding factors in a consumer’s cinema selection are the cinema’s proximity and the availability of the desired viewing time. Movie theaters depend on movie production companies to advertise their films, and do not create significant advertising outside of their facilities and website, with the exception of local newspapers (Segment Performance: Advertising). The production companies do not advertise specific theaters, and so Regal must depend on its location and available viewing time to entice audience members. Since there is little to make Regal stand out from the crowd this way, creating an active marketing campaign designed to show advertisements outside of the newspapers and company website could be a divisive next step to better differentiate itself from other theaters. Problem Statement Upon the given information of the industry and business environment and challenges: Regal’s lack of differentiation from its competitors and its dependency on film production companies is negatively impacting its profitability. Uncover Problem Focus and Potential Solutions In creating the fishbone diagram (Appendix A), I present the problem as a two-pronged issue that stems from dependency and lack of differentiation. I chose to present it this way because both problems are intertwined, and can be solved by similar means. Dependency on Film Production Companies Again, film companies claim a large percentage of the ticket sales for the first few weeks. After that period, Regal gets the majority of the ticket sales. However, the profitable market groups (tweens, families, and the 18-25 age range) tend to see movies in the first few weeks, which means Regal is left with fewer tickets, and thus lower total profits. Regal could attempt to renegotiate with film production companies regarding the percentage of ticket sales, in an effort to buffer against the lessened and shortened theater runs that the production companies are currently discussing. Regal could increase production with Open Road Films, or extend negotiation to other film distributors to include indie films. Using Open Roads Films not only fills a void and generates some cash flow that is significantly less garnered than Regal typical ticket sales, it also creates the potential to gain revenue from the showings of Regal’s film creation at other cinemas. In creating fresh relationships with outside artists, Regal could create a more beneficial set of terms than it currently has with the mainstream film production companies, and would be creating greater exposure for fledgling or small-time artists. Another option may be to create a whole new cinematic experience with Cinecasting. Cinecasting is digital, sometimes live, streaming of a remote event. In Santa Rosa, California, a small local theater was able to use a local movie theater’s digital projection system to show a live Broadway run of The Importance of Being Earnest, performed by the Roundabout Theater Company, which had been  nominated for three Tony Awards. They charged a premium for tickets, which were not available until one hour before curtains. They sold out every show and created a huge demand that led to an on-going, mutually beneficial relationship between the theater and the local movie theater company (Fuller). Cinecasting is slowly catching on, but no major cinema chain has done much with it. Cinecasting could be applied to theater performances around the world, concerts, major sporting events, and potentially minor sporting events such as Friday Night Fights. It would make the special events seem larger than life, and make the smaller events seem special. Lack of Differentiation The ORF and Cinecasting solution mentioned previously would also attack the problem of lack of differentiation directly. If Regal could get exclusive agreements with various entertainment providers before its competitors follow in its footsteps, they could potentially create a sustainable advantage for some time. Regal is in the process of creating a premium adult dining experience, as shown by their investment in Cinebarre and menu expansion, and ventures into wine and beer provision. Because Regal will be charging higher ticker prices for these experiences, there is more of a call to add something extra-special to the experience. Regal locations in metropolitan and urban areas could invite local artists and business to entertain in the theater during times when the theater is in low use, usually late at night. Other theaters are making the same push with their menu expansion as they did with digital, 3-D, and IMAX technologies. Not only would Regal be creating additional value for the customer, but gaining community bonds and goodwill. These connections are extremely valuable to a company (Grewal and Levy 190). However, simply taking the small step of actively advertising the Regal experience to the public would be a beginning to making Regal stand out from its competitors, and increase profits (Pitelos 39). Movie theaters, as previously mentioned, rely on the film production companies to advertise the movies to drum up interest, but this does not specifically help audiences select a particular theater. The advertising campaign would have several parts to it. There could be one for the traditional movie-going experience, but with an emphasis on the superior Regal experience. In the event that Regal does begin to differentiate its  offerings beyond blockbuster films, the advertisements might show what entertainments are available on a regular basis, or simply to show the variety of experiences it is capable of bringing to the consumer, thus getting the attention and creating consumer interest. Another advertising effort might be to create advertisements that are more specific to the region s they are in. This would help to integrate Regal into the community further, as a way of showing that they are a part of the community and are paying attention. For example, T-Mobile ran an ad on a Manhattan billboard, proclaiming that their service connection moved faster than new families moving to Park Slope. It was almost immediately reposted and written about on a dozen New York City blogs, written by New Yorkers, who love making fun of other New Yorkers (Arak). The humor is highly selective, but it was successfully implemented, creating the feeling of an in-joke with their consumers and their region. Making the significant changes necessary to alleviate the problems of dependency and differentiation could additionally address some of the other problems discussed previously, such as creating interest in ambivalent consumers and offset market saturation. By expanding potential cash inflow ventures outside the major production companies and forming those alternative options, Regal would be addressing saturation and ambivalence through the differentiation projects, and so those will not be the main problems addressed in the remainder of the paper. Potential Stakeholder Effects The majority of Regal’s stakeholders would most likely benefit from these changes. If the changes are successfully implemented and Regal’s profit margin rises, the majority of its stakeholders stand to benefit, including stockholders, charitable organizations, and employees. Regal would be following its normal business strategies that rest on its current strengths, so it wouldn’t depart from the company’s culture and â€Å"mission†. In creating strategic alliances and partnerships with additional entertainment groups, Regal would be fulfilling its goal to create greater worth to its stockholders and following its current business strategy. Breaking from the dependency on the film production companies should not cause a great gap in Regal’s usual operations. Regal’s bread and butter is first-run films, so those will continue to take precedence in the theaters, so the changes  should not damage Regal’s relationships with the major production companies. The changes would be intended to supplement those films once the hype dies away and audiences are looking for new entertainment between peak film release times, rather than replacing blockbusters.