Analysis of Ryanairs Strategy

Analysis of Ryanairs Strategy Business Environment:- Strategy is the Scope and Direction of an organization over the long term: Which achieves advantages for the organization through its configuration of resources â€Å"Challenging Business Environment†, to meet the needs of market and Stakeholders expectations. Definition: Business Strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal or set of goals or objectives www.rapid-intelligence-business-sucess.com Or A course of action including the specification of resources required, to achieve a specific objective http://dictionery.bent.com Strategic management or business strategy is a level of managerial activity under setting goals and over Tactics. It provides overall direction to the business enterprise and is related to the field of organizational studies. Strategic Strategic management or business strategy includes Formulation Evaluation Strategic Formulation:- Evaluation:- Evaluation is divided into 3 parts It is important to conduct a SWOT analysis to find out the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. SWOT analysis may require taking certain precautions needed. suitability Feasibility Acceptability www.en.wikipedia.org Strategies exist at different levels in any organization. Corporate Strategy Business unit strategy Operational strategy Corporate Strategy:- It is concerned with the overall purpose and scope of the business to meet stake holders expectations. This is the crucial level since it is heavily influenced by the investors in the business and acts to guide strategic decision making. Example of corporate strategy:- Lets take an example of GE. To make this clear, GEs corporate strategy is of inter relating business units. Consumer electrics, submarines, locomotives, light bulbs etc share some synergies and each part is a separate business unit. This is what corporate strategy about. Business Strategy:- This is concerned more with how a business competes successfully in a business market. It concerns strategic decisions about choice of products, meeting needs of customers, gaining advantage over competitors, exploiting or creating new opportunities etc. Example of Business strategy:- For example, here I am taking Tesco supermarkets business strategy. Tesco is a UKs largest retailer and one of the top supermarket operators in the world plans to open a thousand strong chains of discount stores in the US. This expansion plan and strategy places it directly against the competitor retail giant Wal Mart. The US retail market is most competitive in the world. This is a fact well known to British retailers Sainsburys and marks Spencer which failed to attract US customers. Tescos Business Strategy in the US Healthy food, no waiting:- Fresh Easy stores: Tesco Started operations in the US by opening its Fresh Easy stores in Las Vegas, Los angels, San Diego and Phoenix. By 2010 Tesco plans to open 200 more outlets to expand the retail network. Tescos basic US stores will be similar to Europeans Discounters ASDA and LIDL though Tesco stores will be 75% smaller than most American super markets. Fresh Easy stores are about 10000 square feet are one third the size of a typical super market, but four times that of a convenience store. Tesco is adopting a hard discount model in the US. Tescos convenience stores modeled on the Tesco Express blueprint target US Grocers 7-Eleven and locallyrun stores. This case study covers the following issues. Asses Tescos globalization strategies Examine and analyze the entry and expansion strategies of Tesco in US Study how Tesco localized its retail practices in US Understand Tescos efforts to integrate its global best practices with local Strategies in US. Operational strategy:- Operational strategy is concerned with how each part of the business is organized to the deliver the corporate and business level strategic direction. Operational strategy focuses on resources, processes, people etc. Example:- Here I am giving the example of Ryan air, which is a biggest low cost European air line. Ryanair was the first low budget airline in Europe, modeled after the successful U.S. low cost carrier, Southwest airlines. Ryanair is one of the oldest and most successful low cost airlines of Europe. This case study on Ryanair highlights its low fares business model, its business strategies and operations. The case further incorporates the history and business description of Ryanair, its operations and challenges as a budget airline. Features and benefits of the low cost business model are also discussed. Ryanair won, the ‘Southwest of European Airlines in 2007. A year earlier, Ryanair hedged fuel and a performance to envy. Ryan airs passenger Grown in Millions. History of Ryanair:- Ryan airs initial efforts as a low cost carrier 1990 Restructuring at Ryanair The growth of Ryanair Analyzing the low cost business model Ryanair low fares strategy and standardized Operational model Advantages of using secondary or airports located outside city Low wage bills Ryanair.com and online bookings of tickets The easy jet challenge Ryanair failed merger bid and other controversies Ryanair/Aerlingus merger failure Ryanair and EU Some low fare carriers around the world Exhibit 1: Features and benefits of low fares business model Exhibit 2: Oil prices comparison, 1994 2009 Exhibit 3: List of approved and prohibited merges by the EU in the airline industry Exhibit 4: Comparative performance data of some major European LFA Exhibit 5: Map of the European Union Introduction to Ryanair: The ‘southwest of European airlines in 2007 Ryanair, Europes biggest low fares airline (LFA) reported its third quarter results for 2007 with net profits dropping 27 percent compared to a net profit of 48 million a year earlier. Ryanair cited poor market conditions, fuel costs and concerns on recession in the UK and many other European economies for its current performance and not so strong future profit expectations. With average winter fares dropping almost 5 percent its underlying net profit in the three moths to end December fell to 35 million Euros. Ryanair net profit figure excluded a one off gain of 12.1 million Euros arising from the disposal of 5 Boeing 737- 800 aircraft. History of Ryanair Ryanair was set up in 1985 and is one of the oldest and most successful low cost airlines of Europe. In fact, Ryanair was one of the first independent airlines in Ireland. Ryanair transformed the Irish air services market where other airlines like Avair failed to compete with the more powerful national carrier Aerlingus. Ryan airs initial efforts as a low cost carrier Ryan air began by offering low cost no frills services between Ireland and London. Ryan brothers Catlan, Declan and Shane Ryan were the founding share holders of Ryanair. Ryanair was set up with a share capital of just  £1, and a staff of 25. Tony Ryan, their father and the chairmen of Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA), an aircraft leasing company lent Ryanair its first airplane, a fifteen seater turbo prop commuter plane. Ryan airs first cabin crew recruits had to be less than 5ft 2ins. tall so as to be able to operate in the tiny cabin of aircraft Strategic Analysis:- Strategic analysis is all about the analyzing strength of business position and understanding the important external factors that may influence that position. The process of strategic analysis can be assisted by a number of tools, including: Scenario Planning: This technique that builds various plausible views of possible futures for a business. Scenario Planning or scenario thinking is a strategic planning tool used to make flexible long term plans. It is a method for learning about the future by understanding the nature and impact of the most uncertain and important driving forces affecting our world. Many of the regular methods for strategy development assume that the world in three to ten years time will not significantly differ from that of today and that an organization will have a large impact on its environment. Although the method is most widely used as a strategic management tool, it can also be used for enabling other types of group discussion about a common future. The thought process involved in getting to the scenarios have the dual purpose of increasing knowledge of the environment in which you operate and widening the participants perception of appropriate action plans can be considered. www.jisinfonet.ac.uk www.en.wikipedia.org Pest analysis: This is a technique for understanding business environment. Pest analysis stands for â€Å"Political, Economic, social and Technological analysis† and describes as a frame work of macro environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management. Some analysts added Legal and rearranged the mnemonic to SLEPT. Inserting Environmental factors expanded it to PESTLE or PESTEL, which is popular in the UK. The growing importance of environmental or ecological factors in the first decade of the 21st century have given rise to green business and encouraged widespread use of an updated version of the PEST framework. Political factors are how and to what degree a government intervenes in the economy. Specially, political factors include areas such as tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restrictions, traffics, and political stability. Economic factors include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and inflation rate. Social factors include the crucial aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Technological factors include ecological and environmental aspects. Environmental factors include weather, climate and climate change, which may affect industries such as tourism, farming, and insurance. Legal factors include discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, employment law, and health and safety law. Market segmentation: A technique which seeks to identify similarities and differences between groups of customers or users. A market segment is a group of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product and/or service needs. The purpose for segmenting a market is to allow your marketing program to focus on the subset of prospects that are most likely to purchase your offering. When numerous variables are combined to give an in depth understanding of a segment, this is referred to as depth segmentation. When enough information is combined to create a clear picture of a typical member of a segment, this is referred to as a buyer profile. A statistical technique commonly used in determining a profile is cluster analysis. Once a market segment has been identified and targeted, the segment is then subject to positioning. Positioning involves ascertaining how a product is perceived in the minds of consumers. www.businessplans.org Five forces analysis: A technique for identifying the forces which affect the level of competition in an industry. This analysis helps the marketer to contrast a competitive environment. It has similarities with other tools for environmental audit, such as PEST analysis, but tends to focus on the single, stand alone, business or SBU (Strategic Business Unit) rather than a single product or range of products. Five force analyses looks at five key areas namely the threat of entry, the power of buyers, the power of suppliers, the threat of substitutes, and competitive rivalry. Threat of entry: Economies of scale. Ex: the benefits associated with bulk purchasing 2) The high or low cost of entry Cost advantages not related to the size of the company Government action The power of buyers:- This is high where there a few, large players in a market Cost of switching between suppliers is low The power of suppliers:- Where the switching costs are high Power is high where the brand is powerful Customers are fragmented The threat of substitutes:- Where there is generic substitution Where there is product for product substitution Competitive Rivalry:- This is most likely to be high where entry is likely www.mareketingteacher.com Competitor analysis: a wide range of techniques and analysis that seeks to summarize a businesses overall competitive position. Competitor analysis is an important part of the strategic planning process. Competitor analysis in marketing and strategic management is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors. This analysis has several important roles in strategic planning. To help management understand their competitive advantages or disadvantages relative to competitors. To generate understanding of competitors past, present and future strategies. To provide an informed basis to develop strategies to achieve competitive advantage in the future To help forecast the returns that may be made from future investments Competitor analysis is an essential component of corporate strategy; it is argued that most firms do not conduct this type of analysis systematically enough. Instead, many enterprises operate on what is called informal impressions. A common technique is to create detailed profiles on each of your major competitors. These profiles give an in depth description of the competitors background, finances, products, markets, facilities, personnel and strategies. Directional policy matrix: A technique which summarizes the competitive strength of a businesses operation in specific markets. This matrix measures the health of the market and your strength to pursue it. The result indicates the direction for future investment. The recommendation may be to invest, grow, harvest or divest. Most businesses have more than one product and operate in several markets. One effective approach to ensuring that objectivity has an input into such prioritization is the directional policy matrix (DPM). www.brs-inc.com Critical success factor analysis: A technique to identify those areas in which a business must outperform the competition in order to succeed. Critical success factors are the critical factors or activities required for ensuring the success your business. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis, and business analysis. Critical success Factor is the term of an element that is necessary for an organization or project to achieve its mission. It is a critical factor or activity required for ensuring the success of your business. A critical success factor is not a key performance indicator. CSFs are elements that are vital for a strategy to be successful. KPIs are measures that quantify management objectives and enable the measurement of strategic performance. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis, and business analysis. Critical success factors (CSFs) are tailored to a firms or managers particular situation as different situations to different critical success factors. Five key sources of CSFs The industry Competitive strategy and industry position Environmental factors Temporal factors Managerial position www.rapidbi.com SWOT analysis: This is a useful summary technique for summarizing the key issues arising from an assessment of a business â€Å"internal† position and external environmental influences. SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project identifying the internal and external factors that are the favorable and unfavorable to a convention at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s using data from fortune 500 companies. A SWOT analysis must first start with defining a desired end state or objective. A SWOT analysis may be incorporated into the strategic planning model. An example of a strategic planning technique that incorporates an objective driven SWOT analysis is ‘Strategic Creative Analysis (SCAN). Strategic planning, including SWOT and SCAN analysis, has been the subject of much research. Strengths: attributes of the person or company that are helpful to achieving the objective. Weakness: Attributes of the person or company that are harmful to achieving the objective Opportunities: External conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective. Threats: External conditions which could do damage to the objective. Identification of SWOTs is essential because subsequent steps in the process of planning for achievement of the selected objective may be derived from the SWOTs. The SWOT analysis is often used in academia to highlight and identify strengths, weaknesses. Opportunities and threats. It is particularly helpful in identifying areas for development. Another way of utilizing SWOT is ‘matching and ‘converting. Matching is used to find competitive advantages by matching the strengths to opportunities. Converting is to apply conversion strategies to convert threats or weaknesses into strengths or opportunities. An example of conversion strategy is to find new markets. If the threats or weaknesses cannot be converted a company should try to minimize or avoid them. Evidence on the use of SWOT SWOT analysis may limit the strategies considered in the evaluation. J.Scott Armstrong notes that â€Å"people who use SWOT might conclude that they have done an adequate job of planning and ignore such sensible things as defining the firms objectives or calculating ROI for alternative strategies. As an alternative to SWOT, Armstrong described a 5 step approach alternative that leads to better corporate performance. These criticisms are addressed to an old version of SWOT analysis that precedes the SWOT analysis described above under the heading â€Å"Strategic and Creative use of SWOT analysis†. This old version did not require that SWOTs be derived from an agreed upon objective. Example of SWOT analyses that do not state an objective are provided below under â€Å"Human Resource† and â€Å"Marketing.† Internal and external factors The aim of any SWOT analysis is to identify the key internal and external factors that are important to achieving the objective. These come from within the companys unique value chain. SWOT analysis groups key pieces of information into two main categories. Internal factors: The strengths and weaknesses internal to the organization. External factors: The opportunities and threats presented by the external environment to the organization. Use a PEST or PESTLE analysis to help identify factors. The internal facts may be viewed as strengths or weaknesses depending upon their impact on the organizations objectives. What may represent strengths with respect to one objective may be weakness for another objective. The factors may include all of the 4Ps; as well as personnel, finance, manufacturing capabilities, and so on. The external factors may include macroeconomic matters, technological change, legislation, and socio results are often presented in the form of a matrix. SWOT analysis is just one method of categorization and has its own weaknesses. For example, it may tend to persuade companies to compile lists rather than thinking about what is actually important in achieving objectives. It also presents the resulting lists uncritically and without clear prioritization so that, for example, weak opportunities may appear to balance strong threats. It is prudent not to eliminate too quickly any candidates SWOT entry. The importance of individual SWOTs will be revealed by the value of the strategies it generates. A SWOT item that produces valuable strategies is important. A SWOT item that generates no strategies is not important. Conclusion:- Here I am concluding that my assignment was completed. Strategy at different levels of management was explained including different methods like SWOT analysis, CSF, DPM, etc. I have tried my best to compete this assignment with the help of some online resources.

Flagstaff, Arizona :: Flagstaff Personal Narratives Essays

Flagstaff, Arizona Could a town really change me as much as I think? Flagstaff, Arizona is one of the coolest towns that I have ever been, but at the same time; one of the quirkiest. Is Flagstaff a small mountain town, a big city, a hip university town, or a large industrial center? The environment and culture of Flagstaff is extremely diverse, making it difficult for outsiders to find their place in Flagstaff. I often wonder how I ended up in this little town in the mountains. I came from a relatively large city in Indiana, but knew that I had to escape the Midwest’s conservative grasp. I never really intended to end up in Flagstaff. For as long as I can remember, I had wanted to go to the University of Arizona and live in Tucson. I obviously didn’t end up in Tucson. From the first time that I visited Flagstaff, I knew that this town was special. Perhaps it holds more draw for outsiders than locals, but its environment and culture has definitely drawn me in, changed me, and changed my life. When I decided to attend Northern Arizona University and be a Lumberjack, it was initially due to its reputation as the best teachers college in Arizona, but ironically, I have never been an education major, or taken any education courses. Education was an overcrowded field, so I entertained the idea of being a Computer Science major. Ha! That lasted less than a month before I knew that was going to fail. Early on the path towards graduation, I still held a primarily etic point of view of Flagstaff. For about the first two years in Flagstaff, I viewed Flagstaff as a cool town, but still considered Indiana to be my home. I either didn’t realize or wasn’t allowing myself to become a part of this town. Once I realized that I was part of this town, my notion of Flagstaff changed, and the town began to change me. As I began to understand how this town ticks I wanted to find a way to become a bigger part of this town. I understood that this town was heavily reliant on tourism for it economy. This is how I came to be a Parks and Recreation Management major. Flagstaff, Arizona :: Flagstaff Personal Narratives Essays Flagstaff, Arizona Could a town really change me as much as I think? Flagstaff, Arizona is one of the coolest towns that I have ever been, but at the same time; one of the quirkiest. Is Flagstaff a small mountain town, a big city, a hip university town, or a large industrial center? The environment and culture of Flagstaff is extremely diverse, making it difficult for outsiders to find their place in Flagstaff. I often wonder how I ended up in this little town in the mountains. I came from a relatively large city in Indiana, but knew that I had to escape the Midwest’s conservative grasp. I never really intended to end up in Flagstaff. For as long as I can remember, I had wanted to go to the University of Arizona and live in Tucson. I obviously didn’t end up in Tucson. From the first time that I visited Flagstaff, I knew that this town was special. Perhaps it holds more draw for outsiders than locals, but its environment and culture has definitely drawn me in, changed me, and changed my life. When I decided to attend Northern Arizona University and be a Lumberjack, it was initially due to its reputation as the best teachers college in Arizona, but ironically, I have never been an education major, or taken any education courses. Education was an overcrowded field, so I entertained the idea of being a Computer Science major. Ha! That lasted less than a month before I knew that was going to fail. Early on the path towards graduation, I still held a primarily etic point of view of Flagstaff. For about the first two years in Flagstaff, I viewed Flagstaff as a cool town, but still considered Indiana to be my home. I either didn’t realize or wasn’t allowing myself to become a part of this town. Once I realized that I was part of this town, my notion of Flagstaff changed, and the town began to change me. As I began to understand how this town ticks I wanted to find a way to become a bigger part of this town. I understood that this town was heavily reliant on tourism for it economy. This is how I came to be a Parks and Recreation Management major.

Animal Farm, Snowball Essay

He led a revolution, became a scapegoat, and was exiled from his home lane. This person was Leon Trotsky, a Russian Marxist revolutionary. In the novel Animal Farm, Trotsky came out through a pig named Snowball. Throughout the novel, Trotsky is brought up more and more through snowball. Leon Trotsky is represented through Snowball by the many life events they had in common. Snowball was chased away from the farm and became an exile by Napoleons trained dogs. In Trotsky’s life, he too became an exile from his home. He sent away and banned from returning. In addition, Napoleon claimed that all the ideas that had come from Snowball were actually all his own creations. â€Å"One of them all but closed his jaws on Snowballs tail, but Snowball whisked it free just in time. Then he put on an extra spurt†¦ slipped through a hole†¦ and was seen no more†(68). This is a quote from the scene where Snowball becomes banned from the farm. After Snowball takes charge over the farm for some time, his comrade, Napoleon comes to despise him. Snowball and Napoleon never agree on anything. Napoleon did not want the animals to side with Snowball, he always argued against Snowballs ideas and was never friendly towards him. What also went on was Napoleon, showing his hatred for Snowball, examined the layouts Snowball had made for the windmill and urinated over the plans. Napoleon showed his disgust by urinating on something that was important to Snowball. â€Å"†¦looked closely at every detail of the plans†¦ then suddenly he [Napoleon] lifted his leg, urinated over the plans, and walked away†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (65). Obviously the action that Napoleon just committed shows hatred for Snowball. After Snowball was gone from the farm, he became a scapegoat for Napoleon. It was suddenly Snowballs fault that the windmill had collapsed. Napoleon needed a reason for it to have fallen, and who better to blame than Snowball, that way the animals would want revenge by building a stronger one; exactly what Napoleon wanted. In addition, it was announced that Snowball had been sneaking onto the farm to steal corn, break eggs and what not. Whatever bad thing that occurred was automatically put on Snowball by Napoleon. â€Å"Whenever anything went wrong it became usual to attribute it to Snowball†(88). With hardly ever any proof, Snowball was always the scapegoat. In conclusion, it is obvious how Snowball went through the events of Leon Trotsky’s life. From having his ideas stolen to becoming a scapegoat, he led the life of a famous revolutionary leader, though it wasn’t a very good life, he made a big impact on all of his comrades and will never be forgotten.

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, Book and Movie

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, Book and Movie Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo is a novel we highly recommend for ages 8 to 12. Why? Its a combination of the excellent writing by the author, a story both poignant and humorous and a main character, 10-year-old Opal Buloni, who, along with her dog Winn-Dixie, will win readers hearts. The story centers on Opal and the summer she moves with her father to Naples, Florida. With the help of Winn-Dixie, Opal conquers loneliness, makes unusual friends and even convinces her father to tell her 10 things about her mother who abandoned the family seven years ago. The Story With the opening words of Because of Winn-Dixie, author Kate DiCamillo captures young readers attention. My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog. With these words, ten-year-old Opal Buloni begins her account of the summer her life changed because of Winn-Dixie, a goofy stray dog she adopted. Opal and her father, whom she usually refers to as the preacher, have just moved to Naomi, Florida. Her mother abandoned the family when Opal was three. Opals father is the preacher at the Open Arms Baptist Church of Naomi. Although they are living at the Friendly Corners Trailer Park, Opal does not have any friends yet. The move and her loneliness make Opal miss her fun loving mother more than ever. She wants to know more about her mother, but the preacher, who misses his wife very much, wont answer her questions. The author, Kate DiCamillo, does an excellent job of capturing the voice of Opal, who is a resilient child. With the help of Winn-Dixie, Opal begins to meet a number of people in her community, some quite eccentric. As the summer progresses, Opal builds a number of friendships with people of all ages and types. She also convinces her father to tell her ten things about her mother, one for every year of Opals life. Opals story is both humorous and poignant as she learns about friendships, families, and moving on. It is, as the author states, ...a hymn of praise to dogs, friendship, and the South. An Award Winner Kate DiCamillo earned one of the highest honors in childrens literature when Because of Winn-Dixie was named a Newbery Honor Book for excellence in young peoples literature. In addition to being named a 2001 Newbery Honor Book, Because of Winn-Dixie was awarded the Josette Frank Award from the Childrens Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education. This annual childrens fiction award honors outstanding works of realistic childrens fiction that portray children who successfully deal with problems. Both awards were well deserved. Author Kate DiCamillo Since the publication of Because of Winn-Dixie in 2000, Kate DiCamillo has gone on to write a number of award-winning childrens books, including The Tale of Despereaux, awarded the John Newbery Medal in 2004, and Flora and Ulysses, awarded the 2014 John Newbery Medal. In addition to all of her writing, Kate DiCamillo served a two-year term as the 2014-2015 National Ambassador for young Peoples Literature. My Recommendations: The Book and the Movie Versions Because of Winn-Dixie was first published in 2000. Since then, paperback, audiobook and e-book editions have been published. The paperback edition is about 192-pages long. The cover of the 2015 paperback edition is pictured above. I would recommend Because of Winn-Dixie for children 8 to 12, although the publisher recommends it for ages 9 to 12. It is also a good book to read aloud to kids 8 to 12. The childrens movie version of Because of Winn-Dixie opened on February 18, 2005. We  would also recommend the Because of Winn-Dixie movie for children between the ages of eight and twelve. Its on the list of the Top Kids Movies Based on Books for Kids Ages 8-12. We recommend your children read Because of Winn-Dixie before seeing the movie. Reading a book allows readers to fill in all of the gaps in a story from their own imaginations, whereas if they see the movie before reading the book, memories of the movie will interfere with their own interpretation of the story. (One caveat: If your kids dont like to read, you can use the movie to interest them in reading the book afterwards.) While we like the movie version of Because of Winn-Dixie very much, we  like the book even better because of DiCamillos writing style and because theres more time and attention spent on character and plot development than in the movie. However, one of the things we particularly like about the movie was the sense of place and time it creates. While a few critics found the movie cloying and trite, the bulk of the reviews matched my perception of the movie as very good and gave it three to four stars and cited it as touching and funny. We agree. If you have children 8 to 12, encourage them to read the book and watch the movie. You might also do the same. For more about the book, download the Candlewick Press Because of Winn-Dixie Discussion Guide. (Candlewick Press, 2000. latest edition 2015. ISBN: 9780763680862)

The eNotes Blog Top Ten Fictional Frights for a HalloweenNight

Top Ten Fictional Frights for a HalloweenNight Maybe you no longer go Trick-or-Treating on Halloween night, but no one ever outgrows the love of a good, scary story. Recently, I asked for favorite scares of a literary bent and you responded with the following suggestions. So grab a warm blanket, light a candle, and curl up with some blood-curdling good stories. 1.   Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury Ray Bradburys novel about two thirteen-year-old boys who visit an evil carnival may sound rather benign but it is a frightening read, and the top vote-getter in my poll. Heres an excerpt from the novel: For these beings, fall is ever the normal season, the only weather, there be no choice beyond. Where do they come from? The dust. Where do they go? The grave. Does blood stir their veins? No: the night wind. What ticks in their head? The worm. What speaks from their mouth? The toad. What sees from their eye? The snake. What hears with their ear? The abyss between the stars. They sift the human storm for souls, eat flesh of reason, fill tombs with sinners. They frenzy forth.Such are the autumn people. Umm. Yeah. Someone please turn on the lights. 2. Pet Semetary by Stephen King Multiple titles by the living Master of Horror, Stephen King, were suggested, including It and The Shining. But there is something particularly unsettling about Kings imagining of the reanimation of beloved pets. As one of the characters eventually realizes, â€Å"Sometimes dead is better. 3. H.P. Lovecrafts Necronomicon This little bit of terror is not a novel or short story per se, but it is a fictional grimoire used by another master of the horror genre, H.P. Lovecraft. In this book of magic, we learn more about the Old Ones and the terrifying Cthulhu. In The Call of Cthulu, Lovecraft writes: The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island in the midst of black seas of infinity and it was not meant that we should voyage far. Some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality that we shall either go mad from the relevation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age. You have been warned 4. Burn, Witch, Burn by Abraham Merritt Track a witch and burn her alive. Good times. Says the friend who recommended this: Total pulp. Depression-era junk. But was creepy as hell when I read it for a Marginal Lit. class. It also made it to Marginal Film-making in this 1962 flick starring Nobody-Youve-Ever Heard-Of and co-starring Nobody-Youve-Ever Heard-Of . 5. Porphryias Lover by Robert Browning Strangled with your own hair? See what happens when you live in repression? Im looking at YOU, Victorians. I found / a thing to do, and all her hair / In one yellow string I wound / Three times her little throat around / And strangled her. 6. The Birds by Daphne du Maurier Before Alfred Hitchcock   terrorized us with a (literal) murder of crows hell-bent on tenderizing Tippi Hedrons face, Daphne du Maurier creeped us out in print and made us keep a wary eye on the neighbors parakeet. 7. The Cat Who Went to Trinity by Robertson Davies Maybe you want a Halloween story, but one that isnt necessarily frightening. If so, this short story might be just the ticket. Says a friend, Who could resist a Franken-cat that speaks in the language of the Gothic novel and poops shredded paper? Who, indeed? 8.   The Monkeys Paw by W.W. Jacobs Beware three wishes, especially if the acquisition of those wishes involves swearing on a shriveled up paw of a dead monkey from India. Write that down. 9.   The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty The film of the same name came out when I was a very little girl. I was not allowed to see it and just what I heard about it scared me enough that I have not seen it to this day. It remains one of the most frightening tales ever, and its ability to chill is just as powerful in print. Click here for an interesting interview with the author and his decision to revise the novel for its fortieth anniversary. 10. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe No list of top frights would be complete without Poe. Perhaps what is most disturbing about this and other stories is the complete lack of motive behind the murders, other than the convoluted and rarely clearly articulated reasons in the narrators mind: It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees very gradually I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever. Buwhahaha. Good Hallows Eve to all!

Two reading report NGO-industrial complexand is globalization reducing Essay

Two reading report NGO-industrial complexand is globalization reducing poverty and inequality - Essay Example As a common globalization and free trade expansion practices, state government and international organizations are focused on addressing the corporate accountability of multinational companies. Other than requiring certain companies to issue forest and apparel certification, corporate environmental reports are normally broken down into four major categories known as the first-party, second-party, third party, and forth party certification (pp. 57 – 58). Even though there has been a continuous promotion of corporate governance in the global markets, there are no clear evidences that can prove that social and environmental protection could contribute to the improvements of employees’ working condition nor increase the overall business performance of Corporate governance is a system of authoritative direction or government which includes the specific role and responsibilities of the shareholders, the board of directors, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). I strongly agree that through a good corporate leadership among the members of the top management and establishing a strong organizational culture that gives priority to teamwork and fair business practices, it is possible for corporate governance to contribute to the increase in profit and business success of multinational companies even though the implementation of corporate governance could sometimes fail. Wade discussed and provided evidences that globalization could either increase or decrease poverty and inequality between and within nations. In line with this, India, China, and the rest of the East Asian countries are benefiting from globalization. Since the overall operational costs in developing countries are much lower and more attractive as compared to the operational costs in developed countries, a lot of large-scale multinational companies from developed countries continuously transfer their business

Problems and Opportunities created by having too much data, and what Research Paper

Problems and Opportunities created by having too much data, and what to do about them - Research Paper Example Nowadays the business corporations are more and more concerned with the business data collection and analysis. In this scenario, the businesses are paying attention on effective data management and corporate analysis for better resource management and decision support. Additionally, the business corporations gather huge amount of data and process it in order to get business advantages. Sometimes this huge amount of data collection can cause various business and operational management issues. However, this huge amount of business data is a vital corporate resource that offers the business power regarding business management and future resource administration. In this scenario, some organizations gather data for the business and customer relationship management. Most of the business corporations are aligned toward the collection of customer data. Additionally, the one of the major reasons could be the evolution of online business marketing. This customer contacts and personal information can be used for business marketing. In addition, online business marketing is a less costly way of business marketing and overall promotions. This overall situation leads to better business and corporate management. In this scenario, there is need for customer permission in order to use customer data for business marketing process (LOHR, 2009).... In this scenario the huge business data collections are used through some OLAP, data mining and data warehousing based tools. These all tools and capabilities lead to better business data management and issues handling. In this way, the business management is able to well predict the business needs and requirements for the enhanced business decision management and future issues support. These all aspects are well matched for the business issues and problem management. In addition, these decision support tools are used to aggregate the business data to buildup and more summarized and concise business reports for the better business decision support and issues management (Laudon & Laudon, 1999). However, one of the major issues in this huge collection of data could be regarding data storage and management. Nowadays, the data storage is affordable, so the cost of data storage is not a big issue but this issue becomes critical when we need to backup terabytes of data. In retailing busine sses life WalMart that produce millions of rows of data each day, there is much harder for the business to store such data. In this situation the huge business data collection can be a big issue for the business (Trembly, 2010) and (Sperling, 2009). Another main issue with too much data collection is the data security. In fact, the huge amount of data can lead to more data leakages that can create some huge business damage and issue. In this situation there is need for a way through which an organization can better manage the business issues and aspects. In addition, they need to implement tight security mechanism that could ensure better business data management and issues handling (Laudon & Laudon, 1999). In case of too much data one more main issue is the business data