Travel method cost Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Travel method cost - Case Study Example A small section of the analysis dwells on certain suggestions that are likely to bring improvements, especially in the above-identified areas. There are certain variables that significantly determine the achievement of the project’s desired results. Such factors include the entrance fee, entrance fee income, the potential trips to be registered annually, trips to be lost annually. Such variables are analyzed and their respective contributions to the success of the TCM (Parsons 300). In general, the analysis evaluates the Travel Cost Method as technique of providing recreational value of Yeulu Mountain Park. The goal is to provide important data for stating a better entrance fee. The population under target in the analysis is Yeulu Mountain Park visitors. The visitors are very many to incorporate in the study. A representative sample is therefore considered. As discussed above, there are two groups of visitors in the park, the foreign (non-local) visitors and the native (local) visitors. In the questionnaire used being considered for the analysis, 200 respondents were chosen to make the represent the views of the entire population if visitors. Each in the sample represented unit for analysis in the structured questionnaire. The sampling technique used in the analysis is stratified random sampling. It involves sampling every subpopulation separately to increase the estimation accuracy. The data used in the analysis was collected from Yeulu Mountain, Changsha city of China, in July 2007. Direct interviews were the collection method used. It assisted in improving accuracy as no data was left out of the questionnaire. It helped to ensure that the data used in th e case analysis was complete. From experience, it has been confirmed that the entrance fee income obtained is dependent on the set entrance fee. The entrance fee income can be maximized by the amount of the fee placed on, by the National Park’s management. The demand function of the Park’s travel

Literary Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Literary Analysis - Term Paper Example They were called Gothic because most of them took place in gloomy, medieval castles built in the same Gothic style of architecture prevalent during that time. Such buildings had many secret passageways, dungeons and towers that provided ideal settings for strange happenings. People were looking for an escape from their dreary lives and this stories which combined romance and horror provided this. Edgar Allen Poe became an American master of this form. His story a Cask of Amontillado is one of the finest stories in the genre. The theme is plainly revenge. The plot of the story is a simple. Montresor, an Italian noble, has a grudge against his friend, Fortunato. He lures him down to the catacombs and wine cellar with the promise of a tipple of a rare wine. Fortunato is drunk. Mentresor chains him to a wall in a small enclave and then begins to brick up the enclave. Fortunato begs for his life, but to no avail. The story is told from the point of view of the murderer, Montresor, some time later. He is revealing his dark secret, but is not especially remorseful. He feels that Fortunato got what he deserved in the end. He feels that his revenge has been satiated. Indeed, what is perhaps most impressive is the romantic style found in Poe’s work. This immediately evokes a time and place and puts the reader or viewer on the edge of his or her seat. These days it has come to mean, dark and steam-filled cities with ornate gargoyles carved into cornices of buildings. Poe is able to create a sense of terrible foreshadowing throughout the story even though we expect what is going to happen. We feel sorry for the luckless Fortunato, but also repulsed by him. These feelings are carefully elicited by the masterful writing. The idea of single-minded revenge is clearly communicated. One of the great things about this story is that it shows there are universal themes found in all cultures. Stories and poems bring us together and lead us to embrace our common

Jane Eyre Childhood

Jane Eyre Childhood Jane Eyres childhood is a reflection of the Victorian era, children were to come across as innocent, virtuous and ignorant of intellectual opinion. However Janes early years lacked normal experiences primarily love necessary when growing up, resulting in a solitary and suffering child. Charlotte Brontё focuses on the feelings of hurt during Janes childhood in the first 10 chapters as she ventures from Gateshead and into the unknown fighting for a better future. Chap 1: From the beginning the audience has an insight to the emotions of the protagonist in the weather the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds sombre and a rain so penetrating that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question. This use of pathetic fallacy reflects her thoughts creating a sense of relief from the outcome of escaping the burden of her cousins. Her gratitude of the bad weather illustrates revulsion towards her cousins and the relationship they have. Nature imitates Janes life as a soulless black hole empty and miserable, ceaseless rain, similar to the cold and unwelcoming Reed family she must live with. In conjunction Ms Reed and Jane quarrel, pathetic fallacy impacts on the situation wind howling in the grove shows her fear of the Red Room and the prospects to come. This effect is a subtle hint for the future providing the reader with a vague forecast of the emotions unknown to Jane and the rest of the characters in the novel. During her time at Gateshead her position as a prisoner becomes more pronounced silver-white foliage veiling the panes as left room to look out enclosed and trapped in her suffering instead of being a respected and loved member of the family. From an early age Jane has acknowledged her physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed encouraged by Mrs Reed who resents her presence. The different classes are apparent by the different qualities they hold such as power, authority and wealth classing Jane at the bottom of the system. Along with this the Reed family exclude her from their daily lives, clustered round their mama illustrates their close and loving relationship as a family. In addition they are gathered around the fireside symbolising warmth and love among them although looks can be deceptive, looked perfectly happy is how the Reeds want to be perceived from afar. But in reality Mrs. Reed is a rich, pretentious and condescending woman, and her children are spoiled, cruel and rude. Bronte emphasizes Janes loneliness and lack of familial affection as a child helping the reader to understand how Jane progresses through her early years bounding on from strength to strength. Jane seeks happiness in books that are beyond her understanding yet the pictures capture her in a fairytale far from reality. This is a form of escapism for Jane protecting, but not separating me from the misery that is her life. Although she is engaged in another world it doesnt make her oblivious to what is going on in reality proving she has an inquisitive and curious nature later supported by other situations. The only form of happiness she has encountered is with books, and she feared nothing but interruption showing the simplicity of her happiness. She is dependent on the heartless Reed family but never on an equal level with her relatives. Jane detests being in the company of her cousins, I trembled at the idea of being dragged forth but John soon reminds her that you have no business to take our books, you are a dependent and a second class citizen again reinforcing the status superiority he has. John takes advantage of his position in the hierarchy system to mentally reinfor ce to Jane, that she is indebted to them and so has no right to intervene with their property. Throughout Charlotte Bronte emphasizes Janes sensitive nature and inner strength but she also displays courage and a sense of justice in her defense against John, Wicked and cruel boy!, You are like a murderer- you are like a slave- driver- you are like the Roman emperors!. She rebels against him for the first time and attacks him, giving the reader more insight to her thinking and her knowledge of the Roman emperors excels what a typical 10 year old would know. Her defiant nature and apparent strong-willed determination expresses her true opinions and emotions but by the end there is no one to support her and so John blames Jane for the fight, reflecting the isolation and loneliness of Janes life. Mrs Reed becomes oblivious to Johns violent nature, to the contrary she encourages her children to treat Jane as an outsider and takes every opportunity to neglect and punish her Jane moves to Lowood she hopes her previous problems with equality and justice are alleviated although Chapter 9: Irony is a prominent feature during the start of spring at Lowood, whilst greenness grew and sweeter flowers opening Jane was beginning to see hope for her future, although reference to death skeletons give the reader a clue of the near future. This subtle change of direction is an unexpected turning for the worst as Jane is beginning to feel freedom for the first time, snows were melted relate to her escape of imprisonment from being stiffened in frost to the less regimental life she now leads. As a result Jane has begun to realise there is life outside Lowood that consists of pleasure and enjoyment. The strong emotional language she uses show her happiness with such simplicity and enliven her of prospects to come. The start of spring means new life and a glimmer of hope for Jane conveyed through the use of pathetic fallacy golden-eyed pansies as greenness grew presenting a positive and fresh outcome for her, a clear contrast with her previous years at Lowood where she was shrouded with snow imprisoned by the strict rules and regulations enforced upon her. This effect can also account for her future, nature is at its epitome and Jane will soon escape from a terminating illness transmitted around Lowood. This devastation will end many of the students lives but the long-term benefits will provide Jane with what she has always wanted as a result of overcoming this diversion.

Cryogenics: Is It Worth Waiting For? :: essays research papers fc

Cryogenics: Is It Worth Waiting For Imagine being frozen in time to escape a deadly illness, then getting warmed when a cure is found. There is question on whether cryogenic methods should be used. To fully understand cryogenics a knowledge of cold, background information on some branches of cryogenics, some problems with cryopresevation, and different peoples views towards cryogenics is needed. "Cold is usually considered hostile to mankind. Most people hate cold and with reasons." If not careful, cold can be deadly to animal and human life, but it can also help cure, because cold bodies perform functions slower (Kavaler 16- 17). Measurement of temperature is extremely important in cryogenics and the temperatures must be exact. The standard for scientific temperature measurement is the Kelvin scale. On the Kelvin scale absolute zero has a value of zero degrees on the thermometer. In theory no substance can be lowered to or below zero degrees Kelvin or absolute zero. Temperatures in cryobiology range from zero degrees Celsius--water freezes--to just above negative two hundred and seventy three point sixteen degrees Celsius--absolute zero. The word "Cryogenics" comes from the Greek word â€Å"kryos† meaning cold (â€Å"Cryogenics† Raintree 127, Kavaler 16). The science of cryobiology was first recognized in the early nineteen sixties. Cryobiology is the study of the effects of extremely low temperatures on living animals and plants. The chief concern in cryobiology is to preserve living matter for future use. This method can also be called cryopreservation. Cryotherapy is the use of extreme cold in treatment. The first trials of cryotherapy proved with great results (â€Å"Cryobiology† Comptons 1, McGrady 97). Frozen cells can be kept alive for very long periods of time in a state of â€Å"suspended animation.† Almost immediately after rapid thawing, the frozen cells regain normal activity. Cooling of the body causes a loss of feeling, therefore it can be used as anesthesia in surgery. Since certain drugs don’t affect healthy cells at low temperatures, the drugs can be safely used against cancerous tumors in the body. Cryogenics also helps in the preservation and storage of human tissues. Tissues such as eye corneas, skin, and blood that were rapidly frozen can be stored in â€Å"banks† for later use. Then skin can be grafted to burn victims and eye corneas can replace damaged ones. Thanks to Cryobiology blood can be frozen and stored for indefinitely for many years as opposed to only three weeks as it was before cryogenic technology was used. Surgeons can use a cryoscapel, freezing tips, to deaden or destroy tissue with great accuracy and little bloodshed (â€Å"Cryogenics† Academic 350, â€Å"Cryobiology† World Book 929).

The California-Illini Manufacturing Company’s (Ci)

The California-Illini Manufacturing Company's (CI) Q1. What is the firm's competitive strategy? Does the strategy seem appropriate? In the strictest sense, competitive strategy refers to how a company can gain a competitive advantage through a market while finding a distinctive way of competing. California-Illini Manufacturing Company is able to compete in the Global industry because they are handmade tillage and cultivating tools and they are American made; they use expensive metal pieces and are hand metal forged, along with using manual electric arc welders.There is in most every market the opportunity for handmade products, for example Lamborghini cars are hand made vehicles, which are more expensive, but because of the extensive labor they are considered to be better built. The industry however, is very competitive in American and the global market, and there are cheaper options available. With that said I think there is still a substantial market for the rugged, handmade, Ameri can tools and they should stick to their design strategy and use their family built, third- Generation Company known for the quality of tools as their trademark. Q2.What motivated the cost reduction strategy? Did the cost reduction strategy work? Why? The cost reduction strategy occurred because during the early to mid 1980’s during President Reagan’s first term an economic downturn struck companies, this depressed market caused many businesses like CI to struggle. Their inventory was down and the cash flow was poor, the company began to look into cutting cost, increasing prices, technology and productivity. In the short run (1989) the cost cutting strategy failed, operating expenses were up 20%, along with increased inventories by 24% and net profits continued to slip!Q3. How did CI's standard cost system affect the cost reduction strategy? CI’s cost system was developed to measure performance and profit potential, each materials and labor input is given and pr oduction managers are demanded to meet or improve the standards. In the end the new PCIC manager suggested increasing the job lots from 100 to 150 rather than the 6,000. The company decided to remain loyal to their old performance cost system instead of taking an alternative approach which may have helped CI. The process seems to be broken and they are just blindly following the approach to measuring performance.The cost reduction strategy seemed to be well meaning, and had the opportunity for success BUT, CI was chained to old ideas and old ways of thinking, past successes don’t always ensure future success. Q4. What is the role of work-in-process in the cost reduction strategy? The work-in process was important in the implementation of the cost reduction strategy. In General, there are three stages of cost of goods: Raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods. The cost of each stage includes materials cost, labor cost, and overhead. The cost reduction strat egy needs to cut the cost from every stage.Work-in-process is very important. There are always many steps during work-in-process, such as setup and Assembly. We can cut cost by using economic sizes, shorting routine time, and decreasing variances. In this case, the company planned to increase batch sizes to improve productivity. The short-time result was impressive because plant efficiency measures rose about 15%. But it also caused some negative effects. In order to improve efficiency measures, departments kept processing large lots regardless of current demand. It brought much storage expense, overtime expense and it made scheduling difficult.All these costs play a negative effect in the cost reduction strategy. Q5. Is the new (PCIC) manager on the right track with the smaller lot sizes? Yes, the PCIC manager is on the right track. Now the company has a big problem:Inventories increased by 24% and net profits continued to deteriorate. The current level of processing job lots 6. 00 0 is a main reason to cause this problem. It produced large batches when the demand is not that high. So it is an effective way to solve the problem by reducing the processing job lots. But the big change from 6000 to 100 or 150 cannot make sure the stability of the company.It needs to be reconsidered. By managing the constraints, they are not over producing and building inventory levels for products that won't sell. Q6. What steps is the PCIC likely to take now? The final goal is to increase the profits. The most important things are to improve operations and increase sales volume. Firstly, reduce the processing job lots and control lead times. The company should not produce and build inventory levels for products that won't sell. They should provide the high quality productions to customers as soon as possible. Secondly, restore domestic sales. As reported that domestic volume decreased by 11. %.The company should find the reasons and get back the domestic share. Thirdly, open up new international markets. Q7. What type of cost system should be used at CI? CI should implement a cost system that would be flexible and adhere to the changing market situations and that would be the ABC cost system. Importance should not be based so much on the amount that a company would produce at a given time. CI may have saved so much in input costs while producing a lot within a shorter time but if these products are not what the market needs or wants, everything would just be a waste.

Logitech Case analysis Essay

Logitech is an innovative global provider for several technological accessories and peripherals. Logitech become incorporated in the early 1980’s and nearly three decades later it had roughly 40% of the market share in arenas such as Mice, Webcam, and Remotes. In order to fully understand Logitech’s success it is important to understand their strategy for growing but also their strategy for the issues they have faced. And ultimately deciding what will be their competitive advantage in the future. In order to understand the strategy of Logitech is it imperative to conduct a brief external analysis, beginning with the general environment. The general environment focuses on demographic, economic, political/ legal, socio- cultural, technological, geographic, and physical environmental trends. These trends help analyze what the next strategic moves should be. In Logitech’s case it is crucial for them to analyze all seven trends but focus on the technological trends. N ext, an industry analysis needs to be done in order to gain an idea of what kinds of competitive forces the industry will face. These forces are based off of five criteria: threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of new substitutes, and rivalry among existing competitors. The third step in conducting an external analysis is understanding the competitor’s objectives, strategies, and their capabilities. Logitech realized early on whom its competitors were, Creative Technology Ltd., Microsoft Corporation, and Royal Philips Electronics, and was able to differentiate its products from them. Strategy is a set of commitments and actions designed to exploit core competencies and gain a competitive advantage. Based on Logitech’s objectives of growth and earnings, they enacted a few key strategies in order to achieve their goals. One strategy was acquisition; Logitech realized that to enhance the company’s development it was crucial to expand their portfolio into other markets and not just the computer mouse. This strategy was seen through the acquisition of QuickCam PC in 1998, Labtec, Inc. in 2001, Intrigue Technologies, Inc. in 2004, etc. After Logitech’s initial product, they realized that they would have to be proactive in findi ng innovative ways to grow and in 2000 they introduced their first gaming console controller. Followed quickly by the production of Logitech’s  io Personal Digital Pen. Logitech’s competitive advantage has been the first- mover advantage, allowing them to build a rapport with buyers enabling them to have larger market segments. This is seen with their pioneering of the computer mouse and keyboard, as well as having been on the forefront in video conferencing. The case also states, â€Å"Instead of following market trends, Logitech has often created them.†- an indicator of their first- mover competitive advantage. Although Logitech had much success with its strategies of innovation and acquisition, they have also had their fare share of implications, some of which they have overcome and others that remain. One critical issue that Logitech faced was the recent financial crisis of 2007/2008. Because technological products are a luxury good, consumers tend to cut back when there is less disposable income. This can be seen in the 9% decrease, 29% decrease, and 39% decrease for sales, operating income, and net income respectively from 2009 t o 2010. One method that Logitech maneuvered the crisis was by reducing its workforce by 15%. Additionally, they cut dividends causing their earnings retention ratio to increase, which give them excess cash for R&D as well as excess cash for acquisitions. Another issue that Logitech faced was having numerous manufacturing plants dispersed globally. After Logitech realized that these dispersed plants were hindering their growth, they consolidated. This allowed them to increase their competitiveness and maintain lower priced products. The examples above relate to issues that Logitech faced but were able to overcome. However, there are still issues that Logitech faces but have unable to resolve. The dominant challenge that Logitech faces currently is in regards to evolving buyer needs. In 2010, Apple enhanced their touch screen technology by incorporating built- in accelerometers, which eliminated the need for mice or Trackpads. Additionally, Apple and Windows products now come equipped with higher quality speakers and camera, diminishing the need for Logitech peripherals. With the decreasing market demand for Logitech’s peripherals, they must decide the strategic direction for their future. From the inauguration of Logitech, they have always exceled in overcoming their competitors by their innovative strategy. In order to overcome the issues they currently face they need to bring innovation back to the table. They need to truly differentiate by focusing directly on attributes, consumer relationships, or links within or between  firms. In addition to achieving differentiation as a competitive advantage, Logitech needs to redirect their strategic goals by examining the five major elements of strategy. They need to reevaluate their arena and narrow their market segments. They need to focus their vehicle on acquisitions, as they have done in the past. Redirecting their strategic direction and putting the focus back on innovative, cutting- edge product will help them re-differentiate from their competitors, which will allow Logitech to continue in the future as a premier technology company.