The History of Zara

The History of Zara Zara is the most successful brand of Spanish company Grupo Inditex. Its owner, Amancio Ortega, opened first retail store in 1975 in La Coruna, a small port in Spain. Zara became the worlds largest fashion retailer by 2008 end. By this time it had stores in over 70 countries, out performing its rivals like Gap of USA and Sweden based HM (Hennes Maurits) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/12/retail.spain). Zaras Innovative Operations: Daniel Piette, director of fashion, LVMH has described Zara as possibly the most devastating and innovating retailer in the world http://tbmdb.blogspot.com/2009/12/business-model-example-zara-devastating.html, owing to the companys innovative and unique approach in fashion retail. Zara follows the concept of a vertically integrated supply chain, in which the company has a tight control over most of the design phase, production phase and distribution system to its chain of retail outlets. The rest of these processes is handled by its sister concerns with nearby locations. Unlike its competitors Zara does not outsource its production to Asian developing countries; the proximity of production units helps Zara by giving flexibility in production so that the company can meet the ever-changing demands of the consumers more efficiently than its competitors. Zara has integrated the system of POS (Point Of Sales) and has formed a unique method that helps in the production of new designs. POS helps in monitoring what designs are bringing in maximum sales at the retail shops. The store managers are allowed freedom to decide which designs to display and which ones to keep back in the store, depending on the sales of those designs. Zaras employees at the retail outlets gather feedbacks from the customers and convey the information to the headquarters with the help of hand-held PDAs that each employee is required to carry. At the headquarters, the design teams immediately respond to feedbacks sent via PDAs and begin designing new clothes accordingly. The clothes are manufactured and distributed to the retail stores within a short period of 2 to 4 weeks owing to the vertical integration of its supply chain. While its rivals are busy finding and identifying what the latest trends might be and finally take 4 to 9 months to distribute new designs to their respective stores, Zara manages to design, manufacture and distribute new designs in a matter of just of 30 days. Taking advantage of the fast turn around time, Zara eschews the concept of producing just one collection per season, like its rivals do. Instead the designs keep on changing frequently so that Zara manages to deliver new designs twice a week to its retail shops. Zara only produces small quantities of each style so that there is continuous demand of popular designs. It cuts down on manufacturing costs as well. Thus Zara manages to deliver around 12000 different styles in a year whereas its competitors can produce only 4000-5000 per year. Hence, the company-coined phrase, fast fashion http://www.3isite.com/articles/ImagesFashion_Zara_Part_I.pdf. Current Technology in Information Communication Zaras use of technology in information technology is unique from its competitors. Firstly Zara uses much less technology, in terms of expenditure and work-force, than its competitors just 0.5% of its work force compared to 2.5% of employees that its rivals utilise. Similarly Zara spends only 0.5% of its revenue on information technology compared to expenditure of 2% by its competitors. Secondly Zara employs a unique combination of human and IT intelligence. Managers at the stores and the market survey done by the employees, form the human intelligence while IT intelligence consists of the PDA devices used to send information collected by the managers and other employees carrying the PDAs. An order form is transmitted to each managers PDA asking for information such as availability of garments and patterns of garment sales. The managers of each retail outlets then divide this order form into sections and these sections are transmitted to the PDAs of each employee to fill up, based o n customers feedback and the kind of designs sold. Employees then transmit back their respective sections to the managers PDA, after entering the customers requirements. The managers of each store are given total authority to determine and identify which sections are to be retained in the order form. The edited order form is then sent back to headquarters where the designing teams start working on the basis of the order forms. This unique hybrid of humans technology helps in managing the inventories efficiently and quick and efficient link between demand and supply, thus successfully helping in their own doctrine of fast fashion. Summing up Zaras use of technology http://leoborjblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/zara-it-for-fast-fashion/: Gather customer requirements PDAs Logistics and transmission of order form POS terminals and modems. Quickly designing new style CAD (Computer Aided Design) Advantages of such an Innovative System Vertical integration of supply chain and short turn around time lead to High turnover of product. Quick and efficient distribution helps to eliminate warehouse requirement, saving on additional storage costs. Searching the market for latest fashion trends and responding quickly to the consumer requirements with the help of hand-held PDAs. Complete autonomy and flexibility to the employees and managers who are in direct contact with the customers. POS terminals run on DOS operating system, which is cheap and easy to maintain and operate. Perceived limitations of this System http://www.slideshare.net/koffman/zara-case-study-2780928 Zara and its sister concerns have been using DOS as their main operating system in all the processes. It is an outdated operating system. As the POS vendor supplies DOS OS to zara only, it can always stop its supply, while continue to supply other operating systems to its other customers. Store managers are the decision makers. Zara headquarter relies solely on the experience and intuition of the managers. Instead of looking after customers, managers and employees have the time-consuming task of manually entering the garment details in small PDAs. This could result in the employees failing to assist some customers in choosing and might miss out on few garment sales. Inventory is maintained manually as well. Information transmitted is one way only. Managers have no knowledge of the inventories at headquarters and the stores distribution centre. Consequently managers cannot promise a customer if a particular garment that has been sold out, can be replenished and in how many days. Promises made to customers not kept can damage Zaras reputation, so the managers need to know about the garments inventories at headquarters and the distribution centres. There is a great demand for Zaras garments even though new designs are available twice a week. Zara may consider increase in production to meet these ever growing demands. Gathering of information therefore may need to be upgraded in terms of frequency. Its competitors can change to a better OS or software package and increase their turn around time, neutralizing Zaras edge of fast fashion over them. New IT Technology for Sustainability http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=97642 Benefits: New technology may not help Zara in increasing the competitive edge over its competitors but will help in sustaining that edge. A new operating system will help in installing software packages that will help in efficient access of inventory at the stores as well as headquarters and distribution centers. Upgrading to new OS will remove the companys dependency on its current supplier of DOS. Using more than one IT supplier will increase Zaras bargaining power. A Network can be set up between HQ, production centers and retail stores. POS system can be automated so that each sale will automatically update the POS devices. If the POS system of all stores can be interlinked all the store managers can easily know the inventory online and can make and keep their promises to customers demanding a particular garment. POS automation will help reduce overall workload of the employees and managers, as they will not have to manually enter every detail required in the order form. There will not be any need of hand held PDAs. Dedicated POS software will ensure that orders will now be made on the basis of theoretical inventories and will be more accurate. Orders can now placed continually increasing the frequency from twice a week to daily. Ideal software to be used for integration would be ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). Linking all the process in the supply chain, from HQ, design centers to retail stores, will not only help the managers in accessing inventories but will also help HQ to regulate the supplies more accurately according to the orders placed. Production will become even leaner than before. ECQ (Economic Order Quantity) can help in determining quantities of different garments that buyer can order so that there is sufficient stock for the customers. This will reduce inventory cost as well. Knowing reorder levels will streamline managing of the inventory and help in maintaining the autonomy of the managers. Managers can determine from the reorder levels whether a particular garment needs to be ordered before it will go out of stock and can transmit the same to the production centers that are now linked to the retail outlets. Of course manual checks will still be needed occasionally to check a stores real time inventory is same as the theoretical inventory in case of exceptions like garments getting stolen or gone missing. Designers at HQ will now not depend entirely on the managers discretion and can observe themselves sales of new designs due to two-way system integration by ERP. Just in case a store does run out of stock on a particular garment, the manager can easily check the inventories of local nearby stores for availability and suggest the customer to go there. Inter-store connectivity will have added advantage of shipping garments to another store that has more demand of a particular garment. This will further increase the speed-to-market. Besides HQ even managers of different stores will benefit if they know through network what is selling at other stores and what is not. Cost Analysis: Zara will have to upgrade to better OS that will support ERP like Linux, Unix or Windows NT. Implementation cost of Linux is lowest of the three OS. But recurring costs like service-contract is much higher (McAfee et al). Annual cost of using Unix is the lowest and if functionality remains more or less same, Unix will be best suited. If other costs like plans for systems failure are not taken into consideration then implementation cost will relatively much lower than prospective ROI (Return On Investment). Risk Analysis: Changing software and operating system in all retail shops world over is not an easy task. Due to location of Zaras retail outlets all over the world, there will be many extra tangible costs. Cost of replacing current POS system with the new one. Cost of installation of new cables in each store and maybe new infrastructure to support the cables. Cost of external IT support, hiring professional consultants. Cost of internal IT management and technical training of personnel. Time taken to train the personnel till outside assistance is not required cannot be determined as level of training and learning will be different at different locations around the world. Risk Reduction: Both current and new systems should operate together till the personnel of each store can run the new system smoothly; this will not interrupt any service provided to customers. Zara has a huge pilot outlet that is around 1,500 square meters. Zara can use this as training facility from its personnel from all over the world. Zara can use it to test the new system as well. Zara can hire experienced software professionals and open an in-house department for software management and development. Zara can outsource the management and development to experienced software companies. However Zara will have to trade-off between highly efficient and expensive companies. Zara should develop a contingency plan and an exit plan as well in case the company cannot continue with the up gradation for some reason. Robust data backup is required in case the new system crashes due to mishandling by inexperienced staff.

Comparison of Anthem for Doomed Youth and An Irish Airman Foresees His

Comparison of Anthem for Doomed Youth and An Irish Airman Foresees His Death William Butler Yeats has written many pieces of literature, mainly about Ireland as that is his passion and cause of writing. However his poem â€Å"An Irish Airman Foresees His Death† is not solely about Ireland and even though it includes that theme it is rather a criticism of apathetic people who have no reason for going to war. The form of Yeats’ poem is very structured and regular. The rhyme scheme is ABAB the whole way through the poem and has an unstressed, stressed beat every time. The poem is made up of one sixteen-lined stanza and has a straight forward structure. Yeats has used this format for emphasis to get his point across. He has made the poem using paired lines which balance with one another neutralising any feeling that there may have been. Yeats has also made the layout of the poem very simple and uncomplicated to make Robert Gregory’s reason for going to war stand out which is also simple and uncomplicated-He just wants to fly a plane. Wilfred Owen’s poem was influenced by another war poet Siegfried Sassoon. Their conversations about the horrors of war together provided the framework to many of the poems that Owen wrote. As a soldier at war, Owen was affected by the traumatising horrors of the trenches that he saw while he was out there. He was so badly affected that he was diagnosed with shell shock and sent to hospital in Edinburgh. These horrific scenes caused Owen to write such gruesome yet realistic compositions. Like Yeats’ poem, â€Å"Anthem for doomed youth† is also a criticism only this time it is a criticism of how the young soldiers who die at war do not get the recognition or heroic funeral that they so... ... a more realistic tone. Like Yeats, Owen uses rhyme, rhythm and imagery only he makes his more varied, frequent and complexed. To do this, Owen has used an assortment of literary devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, onomatopoeia and alliteration. This helps Owen to elaborate his poem in more serious, gruesome detail which he often does, even in other literature and a good example of this would be another poem called â€Å"Dulce et docormest.† He has seen the horror and futility of war first hand and this is reflected through his use of emotive language. The two poems are diverse to one another as Owen uses numerous amounts of imagery and has a lack of structure which results in an abundance of emotion where as Yeats is the complete opposite and comprehends constant structure and image deficiency which consequently leads to a lack of emotion.

Shampoo Assignment

a. How would you criticize the study in terms of its usefulness to you? In the first impression the product is creates an image as described below All Over Hair & Body Shampoo is a versatile product that works beautifully as a shampoo and body wash, making it extremely convenient for everyday use. The rich, cushiony formula can be used on any hair type, cleans hair in one application, and rinses easily with no build-up or even a hint of dryness!All Over Hair & Body Shampoo's fragrance-free formula is gentle enough for color-treated hair, sensitive scalp, and can be used on babies and children. It doesn't get much better than that! The FAQ desirability of â€Å"body† in a shampoo Is All Over Hair & Body Shampoo safe for color- or chemically-treated hair? Yes. If your hair is color-treated, permed, straightened, or relaxed we highly recommend following with Paula's Choice Smooth Finish Conditioner. I have acne on my chest/back. Will the ingredients in All Over Hair & Body Shampo o clog pores or make acne worse? In all likelihood, no.Although we refrain from making non-comedogenic claims for our products (because there are no standards in place to regulate that claim), All Over Hair & Body Shampoo does not contain heavy, thick, or oily conditioning agents and doesn't leave a film on skin. The water-soluble formula is gentle and rinses cleanly, prepping breakout-prone skin for subsequent anti-acne treatments. May I use All Over Hair & Body Shampoo to wash my infant and/or child? Yes, although as a general rule we always recommend asking your pediatrician before using any new product on an infant or child's skin.Paula's Choice All Over Hair & Body Shampoo is very gentle, and the fact that it is fragrance-free makes it a safer bet than most baby shampoos. Does All Over Hair & Body Shampoo work better as a shampoo or body wash? Both! We designed this product to be equally effective for shampooing hair and cleansing skin from the neck down. Is it OK to use All Ov er Hair & Body Shampoo to wash my face? Most likely, yes—especially if you have normal to oily skin. Generally speaking, our facial cleansers are the better options because we offer specific formulas to address the needs of various skin types.However, if you're pressed for time or want to multi-task as much as possible, give it a try and see how your skin responds! May I use All Over Hair & Body Shampoo to wash my dog? Yes. Always be sure to rinse thoroughly with warm water to remove all traces of shampoo from your dog's coat Shampoo and body wash/shower gel are two major classes of personal care cleansing products. Shampoos are specifically formulated to clean and take care of hair, whereas body wash is a liquid soap that is appropriate for cleansing the body. Most commercial shampoos and body washes are made as creams or gels.They are emulsions or gels of water and detergent base with added functional ingredients. Because the form or texture of both shampoos and body washes are creams or gels, many people may mistakenly use one as the other. Although there are some similar components inside both formulations, there are many differences from the view of a personal care formulator. The first difference is their target. Hair is actually a modified type of skin. The main difference between hair and skin is that skin is basically a living organ that replaces its outermost layer on a frequent basis.In contrast, hair is basically dead material derived from a few live cells deep within the skin surface. b. If you had the opportunity to design the pilot project from your viewpoint, what questions would you like to include in the questionnaire? How often do you wash your hair on average (please choose one only) Every day Alternate day Once a week Twice a week None of above Where do you buy your shampoo? (Please choose all that apply) Grocery store Salon Convenience store Beauty supply store Discount super stores (Big Bazar. ) Think about the reasons why you use a particular brand of shampoo.Many potential reasons are in the following list. We are interested in knowing the relative importance of these reasons in your purchase decision. Assume you have 10 points. Divide the points among the following reasons to indicate the relative importance of each reason. The more points you give something, the more important it is. You can give as many or as few points as you wish to each reason. Please make certain that your total equals 10 points. Smell Bottle design Moisturizing capabilities Clarifying capabilities Shine factor Shampoo colorVolumizing capabilities 0 Do Pantene advertisements correctly represent the product? Yes No How many different shampoos have you used in the past 6 months? (Please choose one only) 0 1 2 3 4 5 or more What is your classification? Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior What is your ethnicity? Caucasian Asian African American Hispanic 5. What is the primary factor that will influence your decision to purchase a shampoo? What is the primary factor that will influence your decision to purchase a shampoo? Price Brand Health associated benefits Smell/Lather/Moisturizing

25 Thesis Statement Examples That Will Make Writing a Breeze

25 Thesis Statement Examples That Will Make Writing a Breeze Understanding what makes a good thesis statement is one of the major keys to writing a great research paper or argumentative essay. The thesis statement is where you make a claim that will guide you through your entire paper. If you find yourself struggling to make sense of your paper or your topic, then its likely due to a weak thesis statement.Lets take a minute to first understand what makes a solid thesis statement, and what key components you need to write one of your own.A thesis statement always goes at the beginning of the paper. It will typically be in the first couple of paragraphs of the paper so that it can introduce the body paragraphs, which are the supporting evidence for your thesis statement.Your thesis statement should clearly identify an argument. You need to have a statement that is not only easy to understand, but one that is debatable. What that means is that you cant just put any statement of fact and have it be your thesis. For example, everyone knows that pup pies are cute. An ineffective thesis statement would be, Puppies are adorable and everyone knows it. This isnt really something thats a debatable topic.Something that would be more debatable would be, A puppys cuteness is derived from its floppy ears, small body, and playfulness. These are three things that can be debated on. Some people might think that the cutest thing about puppies is the fact that they follow you around or that theyre really soft and fuzzy.All cuteness aside, you want to make sure that your thesis statement is not only debatable, but that it also actually thoroughly answers the research question that was posed. You always want to make sure that your evidence is supporting a claim that you made (and not the other way around). This is why its crucial to read and research about a topic first and come to a conclusion later. If you try to get your research to fit your thesis statement, then it may not work out as neatly as you think. As you learn more, you discover m ore (and the outcome may not be what you originally thought).Additionally, your thesis statement shouldnt be too big or too grand. Itll be hard to cover everything in a thesis statement like, The federal government should act now on climate change. The topic is just too large to actually say something new and meaningful. Instead, a more effective thesis statement might be, Local governments can combat climate change by providing citizens with larger recycling bins and offering local classes about composting and conservation. This is easier to work with because its a smaller idea, but you can also discuss the overall topic that you might be interested in, which is climate change.So, now that we know what makes a good, solid thesis statement, you can start to write your own. If you find that youre getting stuck or you are the type of person who needs to look at examples before you start something, then check out our list of thesis statement examples below.Thesis statement examplesA qu ick note that these thesis statements have not been fully researched. These are merely examples to show you what a thesis statement might look like and how you can implement your own ideas into one that you think of independently. As such, you should not use these thesis statements for your own research paper purposes. They are meant to be used as examples only. Vaccinations Because many children are unable to vaccinate due to illness, we must require that all healthy and able children be vaccinated in order to have herd immunity.Educational Resources for Low-Income Students Schools should provide educational resources for low-income students during the summers so that they dont forget what theyve learned throughout the school year.School Uniforms School uniforms may be an upfront cost for families, but they eradicate the visual differences in income between students and provide a more egalitarian atmosphere at school.Populism The rise in populism on the 2016 political stage was in reaction to increasing globalization, the decline of manufacturing jobs, and the Syrian refugee crisis.Public Libraries Libraries are essential resources for communities and should be funded more heavily by local municipalities.Cyber Bullying With more and more teens using smartphones and social media, cyber bullying is on the rise. Cyber bullying puts a lot of st ress on many teens, and can cause depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts. Parents should limit the usage of smart phones, monitor their childrens online activity, and report any cyber bullying to school officials in order to combat this problem.Medical Marijuana for Veterans Studies have shown that the use of medicinal marijuana has been helpful to veterans who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Medicinal marijuana prescriptions should be legal in all states and provided to these veterans. Additional medical or therapy services should also be researched and implemented in order to help them re-integrate back into civilian life.Work-Life Balance Corporations should provide more work from home opportunities and six-hour workdays so that office workers have a better work-life balance and are more likely to be productive when they are in the office.Teaching Youths about Consensual Sex Although sex education that includes a discussion of consensual sex would like ly lead to less sexual assault, parents need to teach their children the meaning of consent from a young age with age appropriate lessons.Whether or Not to Attend University A degree from a university provides invaluable lessons on life and a future career, but not every high school student should be encouraged to attend a university directly after graduation. Some students may benefit from a trade school or a gap year where they can think more intensely about what it is they want to do for a career and how they can accomplish this.Studying Abroad Studying abroad is one of the most culturally valuable experiences you can have in college. It is the only way to get completely immersed in another language and learn how other cultures and countries are different from your own.Womens Body Image Magazines have done a lot in the last five years to include a more diverse group of models, but there is still a long way to go to promote a healthy womans body image collectively as a culture.Cig arette Tax Heavily taxing and increasing the price of cigarettes is essentially a tax on the poorest Americans, and it doesnt deter them from purchasing. Instead, the state and federal governments should target those economically disenfranchised with early education about the dangers of smoking.Veganism A vegan diet, while a healthy and ethical way to consume food, indicates a position of privilege. It also limits you to other cultural food experiences if you travel around the world.University Athletes Should be Compensated University athletes should be compensated for their service to the university, as it is difficult for these students to procure and hold a job with busy academic and athletic schedules. Many student athletes on scholarship also come from low-income neighborhoods and it is a struggle to make ends meet when they are participating in athletics.Women in the Workforce Sheryl Sandberg makes a lot of interesting points in her best-selling book, Lean In, but she only add ressed the very privileged working woman and failed to speak to those in lower-skilled, lower-wage jobs.Assisted Suicide Assisted suicide should be legal and doctors should have the ability to make sure their patients have the end-of-life care that they want to receive.Celebrity and Political Activism Although Taylor Swifts lyrics are indicative of a feminist perspective, she should be more politically active and vocal to use her position of power for the betterment of society.The Civil War The insistence from many Southerners that the South seceded from the Union for states rights versus the fact that they seceded for the purposes of continuing slavery is a harmful myth that still affects race relations today.Blue Collar Workers Coal miners and other blue-collar workers whose jobs are slowly disappearing from the workforce should be re-trained in jobs in the technology sector or in renewable energy. A program to re-train these workers would not only improve local economies where jo bs have been displaced, but would also lead to lower unemployment nationally.Diversity in the Workforce Having a diverse group of people in an office setting leads to richer ideas, more cooperation, and more empathy between people with different skin colors or backgrounds.Re-Imagining the Nuclear Family The nuclear family was traditionally defined as one mother, one father, and 2.5 children. This outdated depiction of family life doesnt quite fit with modern society. The definition of normal family life shouldnt be limited to two-parent households.Digital Literacy Skills With more information readily available than ever before, its crucial that students are prepared to examine the material theyre reading and determine whether or not its a good source or if it has misleading information. Teaching students digital literacy and helping them to understand the difference between opinion or propaganda from legitimate, real information is integral.Beauty Pageants Beauty pageants are presen ted with the angle that they empower women. However, putting women in a swimsuit on a stage while simultaneously judging them on how well they answer an impossible question in a short period of time is cruel and purely for the amusement of men. Therefore, we should stop televising beauty pageants.Supporting More Women to Run for a Political Position In order to get more women into political positions, more women must run for office. There must be a grassroots effort to educate women on how to run for office, who among them should run, and support for a future candidate for getting started on a political career.Still stuck? Need some help with your thesis statement?If you are still uncertain about how to write a thesis statement or what a good thesis statement is, be sure to consult with your teacher or professor to make sure youre on the right track. Its always a good idea to check in and make sure that your thesis statement is making a solid argument and that it can be supported by your research.After youre done writing, its important to have someone take a second look at your paper so that you can ensure there are no mistakes or errors. Its difficult to spot your own mistakes, which is why its always recommended to have someone help you with the revision process, whether thats a teacher, the writing center at school, or a professional editor such as one from ServiceScape.

Liquid and Other Types of Lunch

Liquid and Other Types of Lunch Liquid and Other Types of Lunch Liquid and Other Types of Lunch By Maeve Maddox Until recently, I’d assumed that lunch was a clipping of luncheon. Come to find out, the words originated separately. According to the OED, luncheon is of uncertain origin, but lunch is thought to have come from Spanish lonja, â€Å"a slice.† Both luncheon and lunch first referred to a thick piece of something, such as â€Å"a hunk of bread.† In time, both words came to mean â€Å"a light repast between mealtimes.† On the Ngram Viewer, lunch and luncheon cruise along in tandem until about 1880, when lunch pulls ahead. Luncheon peaks in the 1920s and then declines. By then, some middle class speakers had come to believe that lunch was a slang word derived from luncheon and complained about its use by the younger generation. Both words still refer to a meal lighter than dinner, but now have markedly different connotations. A Google search shows 625,000,000 results for lunch compared to 43,200,000 for luncheon. The latter has acquired connotations of formality and a kind of prissiness that do not attach to lunch. One â€Å"has lunch† but â€Å"attends a luncheon.† A Web search suggests a certain gender bias: â€Å"ladies’ luncheon† brings 374,000 results compared to 34,900 for â€Å"men’s luncheon.† The word lunch has found its way into several idioms. out to lunch A person who is â€Å"out to lunch† is unaware of what is going on around him: One [presidential] candidate is simply out to lunch, unaware until recently that there was even such a thing as Common Core. to lose one’s lunch â€Å"To lose one’s lunch† is â€Å"to throw up or vomit†: Once  the sight  would have  made me lose my lunch, but it didnt anymore. Was it a bad sign that I didnt throw up on the corpses anymore? to eat your lunch To have someone â€Å"eat your lunch† is â€Å"to be soundly defeated in some competition†: If you don’t develop a marketing strategy, your competitors will eat your lunch. no such thing as a free lunch All services, gifts, and ostensibly generous gestures will have hidden costs that the recipient must pay in the end: On the Internet, as elsewhere in life, there is  no such thing as a free lunch. [Free or low-cost online services need to be paid for somehow.] liquid lunch A â€Å"liquid lunch† is a â€Å"midday meal that leads to drunkenness.† An alarming 76 per cent of employees are coming back to work drunk after taking a â€Å"liquid lunch,† according to a new survey. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Arrive To vs. Arrive AtFor Sale vs. On Sale40 Words Beginning with "Para-"

Labor relations assignment 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Labor relations assignment 6 - Essay Example The unions are used to represent the employees so as to achieve a lot of benefits both in the public and private sectors as a whole. The labor movements have made many countries to stabilize their economy and improve the living standards of their citizens. The labor movements concern is the general welfare and the interest of the public. The labor movements look at the employee wage, hours worked, working conditions regardless of whether the workers are working for the private or public sector within the same geographical area or in the same industry. This paper will discuss the similarities and differences between collective bargaining in the private and public sector. Differences between private and public sectors The major difference between public and private sectors in collective bargaining and decision making is that in public sectors decision making is decentralized and negotiations are conducted on a single employer. That is, in the public sector they have to involve a variet y of government officials in collective bargaining on the firm and the individuals must have authority in a particular issue while in the private sector they have to involve the government to intervene and asses the situation and from that point a collective bargaining can start. ... eir leaders to dialogue on behalf of other employees and sometimes they will not consort them making them to feel dissatisfied with the labor movements while in the private sector bargaining issues are brought to the bargaining table and both the labor and the management are given chance to work out the solution and agreements are made. The third difference between public and private sector in term of strike is that in the public sector, strikes are illegal. If the demands of workers were not met they have to look for other means, if strike is to be conducted, a firm must appeal to the court first so as to be declared legal while in the private sector whenever the employee is not dissatisfied with the working condition he or she may call for a strike since strike in private sector is legal. In many countries before one calls for a mass protest, the firm must pass the right channel by involving the court to declare whether to strike or not, but in many circumstances the court mostly p ostpones the strike. The legal frame work in public sector must be followed accordingly since government entities such as hospital and schools are guaranteed to everybody and the entities are supposed to be opened at normal working hours and closed within the stipulated time as per the constitutional framework. While in the private sector no legal framework is followed to stipulate their working condition and hours worked in the firm. The management of a firm is the one to decide the extra and normal working days. Finally, in private and public sectors the nature of services offered to individuals differ a lot, since a private sector is viewed as a profit making body it has to offer high quality services to individuals, while the public sector will only offer moderate services since it is

Ban Advertising that Preys upon Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ban Advertising that Preys upon Children - Essay Example An expert on marketing to children, Professor James U. McNeal, stated that, "Virtually every consumer-goods industry, from airlines to zinnia-seed sellers, targets kids." Parents and school administrators alike find it improbable to control such influences that bear upon the children. Ironically, some advertisers exploit the children's weaknesses to make them want and eventually buy products. For instance, the President of the Shalek Agency, Nancy Shalek told the Los Angeles Times that "Advertising at its best is making people feel that without their product, you're a loser. Kids are very sensitive to that. If you tell them to buy something, they are resistant. But if you tell them that they'll be a dork if they don't, you've got their attention. You open up emotional vulnerabilities and it's very easy to do with kids because they're the most emotionally vulnerable." (Harris) Oliver James a psychologist stated in The Economic Times that UK is filled with "Affluneza-afflicted consumers [ready] for marketers to play on their [ever-present] desire to constantly compare themselves negatively with others." The "Affluenza" virus is said to be a form of 'sickness' that is greatly caused by materialism. A result of this illness would be depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and personal disorder. Those who are afflicted by this virus watch more television, and are more likely to be dissatisfied with their lives than those who seldom watch. When asked to compare their lives with those they see on the television, they view themselves negatively and inferior compared to these characters. As an example, schoolchildren who compare their own performances in school to the best and brightest pupils they see on television. Without proper adult guidance, these children will develop inferiority that may affect their social skills. Another factor why corporations prey on our children is because of the fact the children can nag, and Cheryl Idell knows a lot about nagging. She has written reports for major companies as read in such articles, "The Art of Fine Nagging" and "Nag Factor". Idell said that nagging can cause frequent buying activities of children's products such as clothing, toys, and video games; or entirely affect the family's diet because of regular trips to fast-food restaurants. She explains further that there are two categories to where nagging falls into. "There is persistent nagging, the fall-on-the-floor kind, and there is important nagging, where a kid can talk about it." (Schoolman) Idell advises numerous corporations that getting kids to whine is better, even better when they can be given "a specific reason to ask for the product." To most ways, it appears as if her task is to make lives miserable since she rates the success of a product to how a child can nag and temptingly ask for it. Some of the most successful companies that belong to the top of this list are McDonald's, Burger King, OshKosh, Disney, and Pizza Hut. (Western Initiative Media World Wide Web) There has been a huge shift in the way