Six Ways to Use Twitter Polls to Boost Audience Engagement

To help brands reach out to their audience in a new way, Twitter added a polling option in October 2015. Now, any Twitter handle can ask for direct audience feedback by creating and tweeting a simple interactive poll. Running for as little as five minutes or as long as seven days, there are endless ways you can use this feature to generate more engagement and learn about your audience. So, if you’ve been contemplating social media polls but you’re not sure where to start, here are six ideas on how to get value out of this tool. 1. Ask for Input on Your Content Strategy Showing your customers that you value their opinions is a great way to build loyalty while also providing you with useful information. For example, Twitter Support posted a poll asking what type of content users wanted to see – tips and tricks or news about features. What kinds of Tweets do you like the most from @Support? Your feedback is appreciated! — Twitter Support (@Support) August 17, 2015 This kind of genuine feedback from your audience can provide incredibly useful input to make your content strategy more effective going forward. This is in addition to the stronger connection you can create between your business and potential customers. 2. Make Your Audience a Part of Brand Decisions This is one of the most powerful ways to use Twitter polls. Asking your audience for their opinions on actual brand and product decisions can make them feel like they have a stake in your brand. Because you’ve involved them in the decision process, they’ll also be more likely to pay attention to the final product. Who do you want to win the #DoughnutBowl? Original Glazed vs Glazed Kreme Filled? Vote now in the #Poll — krispykreme (@krispykreme) January 28, 2016 Krispy Kreme launched a poll during the Super Bowl to find out which sweet pastry flavor its customers preferred. After almost 2,000 votes, they had their answer. 4. Use Live Events to Engage Your Audience A live event is the perfect opportunity to take your brand into the arena of social conversation. Ask for reactions to live sports events, television shows, political debates or breaking news. People like to have their say in the latest news and also what others are thinking. .SandboxRoot { display: none; } We’re at #CES2016 letting you choose what we cover. Vote now and watch our Periscope tomorrow! — Amazon (@amazon) January 7, 2016 At the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, Amazon used a poll to ask users if they wanted the company’s live video stream to cover robotics, virtual reality, 3D printing or gaming. 5. Promote Products and Services If you’re trying to promote your products on Twitter, polls can be a great way to do it. Polls tend to be seen less as a hard sell and more effective at getting attention. To promote their 2017 Armada vehicle, Nissan asked its followers how they would use the vehicle. Nissan Fan Poll: Which would you haul with the all-new 2017 Armada? — Nissan (@NissanUSA) March 2, 2016 Similarly, if you have two products you’re willing to discount, you could tweet a poll asking customers which product they would like a discount on. You can then use the results to promote the new discount. Think of questions that are based around existing content on your website or blog. You can then post the question as a Twitter poll with a link back to the relevant content. Use this technique to promote new content or to drive more traffic to any piece of archived content. Taking It Further Many brands have adopted Twitter polls into their weekly content strategy, including Marvel Entertainment. One of their polls received more than 17,000 votes when they asked followers to choose their favorite comic book weapon, illustrating how to have fun with your questions. #MarvelQuestionoftheWeek: Which mighty Asgardian weapon from the comics would you choose to wield? — Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) January 15, 2016 Twitter Polls for Your Brand Twitter polls are a huge opportunity to gain customer insights and take your audience engagement to another level. The key to success is to keep them relevant to your target audience and to post them regularly. Whether you tweet a daily or weekly poll, they will help build your Twitter following, keep your brand top-of-mind and provide you with powerful insights into your users.

Fall of roman empire essays

Fall of roman empire essays In the third century A.D. Rome faced many problems. Before the fall of the empire Rome had a great empire, with a lot of power and wealth. Their strong military kept them powerful for a long time. The empire stretched across the long Mediterranean sea. The invasion by Germanic tribes seemed to help greatly pull down the Western Roman Empire. It is thought that the inside of the empires conditions also weakened the empire. The external force of the barbarian invasions have presented a variety of explanations for the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Such as the social, political, economic and military problems. In the inside of the empire the social and political conditions weakened the empire. Loyalty to the government was one of the most serious problem of all. Conditions in the later empire caused citizens to lose their patriotism. Few people chose to serve the government, under the horrible conditions it turned into. The government officials had to pay for public entertainment out of their own pockets. As shown in document four, the governments money was all given to the army. This gave no money left for enterprises or machine running. Which dropped the economic flight greatly. Only the armies remained actively interested in politics. Rebellions started all around the empire. No one was loyal to the government and they wouldnt fight for the empire. Invasions started since many people wouldnt fight. As shown in document one, the overwhelming population wasnt allowed to participate in the government. This forced the empire not to have enough political figures. Which starte d rebellions and invaders. Diocletian split the social part of the empire in 284 A.D. to try to control the rebellions. Which made the social problems even worse. When he retired due to illness civil war broke out immediately. Constantine took over and continued Diocletians social plan. He moved the capital ...

CHAPTER 1 Essays , Research Papers

CHAPTER 1 Mini-Exercises |1-1|(1) B, (2) D, (3) A, (4) C*, | | |(5) B, (6) D, (7) A, (8) D. | | |* Dividends paid in cash are | | |also subtracted in the | | |Financing section of the | | |Statement of Cash Flows..| |1-2|(1) SE, (2) A, (3) R, | | |(4) A,| | |(5) E, (6) A, (7) E, | | |(8) L, (9) A.. | |1-3|(1) CPA: Certified Public| | |Accountant | | |(2) GAAP: Generally Accepted | | |Accounting Principles | | |(3) AICPA: American Institute | | |of Certified Public| | |Accountants. | | |(4) SEC: Securities and | | |Exchange Commission| | |(5) FASB: Financial Accounting | | |Standards Board | Exercises |1-1 |(1) K, (3) I, (5) A, (7) | | |J, (9) C, (11) H, (13) N | |1-2 |(1) A, (3) R, (5) L, (7) | | |E, | | |(9) E, (11) A, (13) L, (15) | | |E| |1-3 |(1) L, (3) L, (5) SE, | | |(7) A, (9) E, | | |(11) R, (13) E, (15) A,| | |(17) E.| |1-4 |Total Assets = 11,819 (in| | |billions of Yen). | |1-5 |Req. 1: Total Assets = | | |$179,350 | |1-6 |Net Income is $25,100. | |1-7 |Net Income is $522 (in | | |millions). | |1-8 |Net Income is $50,180. | |1-9 |(A) Stockholders' Equity = | | |$74,200. | |1-10|(B) Total Liabilities =| | |$241,600. | |1-11|Net Income = $75,500. Total | | |Assets = $196,250.| |1-12|Ending Retained Earnings = | | |$40,100. | |1-13|(1) I, (3) F, (5) O, (7) I| |1-14|Cash flow from operating| | |activities = $95,000. | Problems |1-1|Req. 1: Net Income = $32,060.| | | | | |Req. 3: Total Assets = | | |$157,000. | |1-2|Req. 1: Net Income = $4,925. | |1-3|Req. 1: (d) Income = -$2,900, | | |Cash = -$10,500. | |1-4|Req. 4: Stockholders Equity = | | |$29,000| Alternate Problems |1-1|Req. 1: Net Income = $20,050.| | | | | |Req 3: Total Assets = | | |$117,050. | |1-2|Req. 1: Net Income = $9,120. | |1-3|(d) Income -$36,000, Cash | | |-$30,000| Cases |1-1|(7) Total Liabilities = | | |$554,645,000.| |1-2|(2) Net Sales = | | |$1,834,618,000. | |1-3|(1) At the end of the most | | |recent year, American Eagle | | |Outfitters had total assets of | | |$1,963,676,000. Urban | | |Outfitters' had total assets = | | |$1,329,009,000. Clearly | | |American Eagle Outfitters is | | |the larger of the tow companies| | |in terms of total assets at the| | |end of the most recent year. | |1-4|Req. 2: Total Assets = | | |$142,000. | |1-5|Req. 1: Assert the need for an| | |independent audit of the | | |financial statements each year,| | |because this is the best way to| | |assure credibility -| | |conformance with GAAP, | | |completeness, and absence of | | |bias. | |1-6|(4) There is an ethics | | |violation in this case because | | |she would audit statements that| | |covered a period of time where | | |she was responsible for the | | |accounting operations of the | | |company. This is a problem both| | |in appearance and in fact.| |1-7|The solution to this case will | | |depend on the company and/or | | |accounting period selected for | | |analysis. | CHAPTER 2 Mini-Exercises |2-1 |(1) C, (2) H, (3) G, | ||(4) A, (5) I.| |2-2 |(1) D, (2) C, (3) A, | ||(4) I, (5) B.| |2-3 |(1) Y, (2) N, (3) Y, | ||(4) N, (5) Y, (6) N. | |2-4 |(1) CL, (3) NCA, (5) SE, | ||(7) CA, (9) NCA, (11) CA, | ||(13) SE, (15) CL. | |2-5 |(b) Cash -$7,000. Notes | ||Receivable +$7,000. | |2-6.1|Assets: Debit: increases; | ||Credit: decreases.| |2-7.2|Liabilities: an Increase is | ||recorded as a Credit; a| ||Decrease is recorded as a | ||Debit.| |2-8 |(d) Equipment (+A) | ||15,000| ||Cash (-A) | ||6,000| ||Notes Payable (+L)| ||9,000| |2-9 |Cash has a $6,800 debit| ||balance. | |2-10 |Total Assets = $44,700.| |2-11 |2007: Current Ratio = 1.50 | ||2008: Current Ratio = 1.18 | |2-12 |(a) F, (b) I, (c) F, | ||(d) I, (e) F..| Exercises |2-1 | (1) E, (3) B,(5) | | |K,(7) S,(9) I, | | || | |(11) O, (13) C, (15) D, | | |(17) N, (19) T.| |2-2 |Req. 1: (k) Received: | | |Investments (A); Given: Cash | | |(A) | |2-3 |(3) Taxes Payable: CL,| | |credit balance. | |2-4 |(c) Cash +9,000. Notes| | |Payable +9,000. | |2-5 |Req. 1: (c) Liabilities: | | |Dividends Payable +121.4. | | |Stockholders' Equity: | | |Retained Earnings -121.4| |2-6 |(e) Land (+A) | |

Answer History question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Answer History question - Essay Example alled Indian Empire and was under the direct governance of United Kingdom and the princely states were ruled by individual rulers under the direct dictatorship of the British crown. It is from these princely states, the imperial England tried and received greatest support and reliability. But ultimately the consequent and considerable resistance and uprising from the natives compelled British imperialism, a setback. Myriad reasons are responsible for the complete agitation or deviation of the native support from the British rule. A thorough survey of many socio-economic factors will consequently open the avenues of hidden queries. The first great uprising or the first step of the Indians for the nationalistic movement was the ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ in the year of 1857. It was literally the first resistance which British Raj in India received. The Sepoy Mutiny can be considered as â€Å"the last upsurge of Indian Feudalism†. There are various causes which led to the detachment of native Indians from the British persons. The British rulers made many strategical mistakes. To establish a quick and powerful imperial aggression they interfered in many cultural and social domains of the natives, which largely hurt their sentiments and they slowly deviated from their foreign rulers. In fact, a sense of alienation acted as a catalyst for the relentless fights and set backs. The fatal decision and implementation of the â€Å"Doctrine of Lapse† by the British greatly contributed for the uprising of the mutiny of 1857. Though this uprising was crushed by the British but it didn’t stop the native Indians to leave their quest for the independence. The fight for the freedom is a long history and the term ‘Indian Independence Movement’ is a wide- umbrella term that encompasses a huge spectrum. It involves myriad political agitation and organization, philosophies and campaigns, both violent as well as non-violent. But all these efforts found their end into one common aim which

Public Safety Services Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Safety Services - Research Paper Example This paper will illustrate how the department will improve quality and quantity of public safety services. The Department launched the Fire Safety Trailer Program to educate the residents on fire safety and how to respond in various real-life situations. The trailer used by the Fire Department contained a mobile home which was used as a simulation in educating the residents on life-saving techniques. These include how to contact the emergency department as well the use of smoke detectors at home. Although this program was successful in educating the citizens on fire safety, there are various measures that the department can undertake to improve their delivery services on safety programs (Brunacini, 1996). The Department should provide public safety services that meet the changing expectation and needs of the society. The needs and expectations of the society are not static rather they evolve with time. In order to address the community’s evolving needs, the Department should identify the gap between the citizens' needs on public safety and the Department’s ability to address these needs (Brunacini, 1996). The Department should carry out surveys in the community targeted at identifying the emerging trends and changes in the population that influence the public’s expectation of public safety. In addition, the Department should use the surveys to identify current and future disparities in public service delivery so as to address the evolving expectations of the population. The survey should be carried out by the department on a regular basis so as to identify relevant issues in society. The Department should prioritize the delivery of services to meet the identified gaps between the department and the society (Bradley, 2011). This involves changing the approaches used by the Department so as to address the dynamic needs of the society. Secondly, the Department should provide sufficient response capabilities throughout the town so as to respond to emergencies and crisis calls made to the department.     

George Washingtons Advice to the American People Essay Example for Free

George Washingtons Advice to the American People Essay George Washington’s farewell letter, it is almost impossible for me to choose his most important piece of advice. His points seem almost haunting while reading them with our country in its present condition. Washington had such foresight and wisdom. The sad reality is that we as a country have so strayed from his advice. He made multiple points that I think are vastly important. Washington warned against political parties. He pointed out that they only cause disagreements and disunity among the people. Instead of Americans being one unified people, we have become defined by our political party. Republicans and democrats are in constant struggle over views and agendas. Washington warned us to flee from these and hold fast to unity. Washington also emphasized the importance of religion and morality. He held tightly to the belief that a person’s spiritual life had effects on one’s decisions in everyday life. With morality as the heart of an issue, people are more likely to treat each other fairly and be unified in spirit. One of the most outstanding pieces of advice from our first president sends chills down my spine. Washington encouraged sparing use of credit. He did not believe we as a nation should be in debt to anyone, which is also Biblical. He warned us to take heed of falling into debt. This is great advice that has so obviously been forgotten it is maddening. Our country is currently 16 trillion dollars in debt. We spend more than we take in, and we are putting our future in the hands of government of foreign lands. This reality speaks wholeheartedly to Washington’s next piece of advice. The last two pieces of advice I believe go hand in hand. Washington spelled out plainly that we did not want to be overly involved with other nations; in fact, he discouraged permanent alliances with any foreign nation. By doing so, we put our national security at possible risk. In regards to national security, Washington believed that we should have a strong military force. Being in the military, Washington understood to need for men purposed to fight for our freedom. This is yet another issue we face today with our current president wishing to downsize our military. I truly believe if we will begin to follow Washington’s advice, at least in part, we can improve the future of our country. Lastly, I believe Washington encouraged unity in almost every point he made. He was passionate for our country, for our freedom, for our future. In his farewell address he stated that at the mere thought of the honor and privilege of being an American, the spirit of patriotism should unite us all to action. The pride of being an American should link us like no other nation before or since.

Forestry Management Essay -- essays research papers

Forestry Management in Nova Scotia The Canadian forest sector has been a strong and vital element of national and regional well being. Through the management, harvesting, processing and marketing of timber resources, Canada has developed a reputation of being one of the largest timber resources in the forest industry. However, to maintain this reputation and economic well being there are several issues to address in order to protect and sustain this renewable resource. This paper will focus on the management of the forestry sector, particularly Nova Scotia. It will discuss the initiatives and techniques used of both private wood-lot owners and large industries in developing and implementing a forest management strategy. Nova Scotia is comprised of many forested ecosystems; hardwoods, others with softwoods and some with a mixture of both species. In order to maintain and develop these various ecosystems it is important to know how forest management impacts not only the forest itself but also other ecosystems within. For example, a clear-cut harvest can be compared to the same impact of a forest fire. However, forest fires do not remove everything which clear-cutting does. Recently clear-cutting techniques have changed to benefit Nova Scotia ecosystems by leaving clumps of trees, snags, and strips of forest to provide travel ways for wildlife. Forestry is also investigating other related issues of ecosystem management. To create and maintain the diversity of trees with a region (i.e. Hardwood and softwood), landowners leave several stands of both young and old growth within natural forest stands to enhance the biodiversity and health of the forest site. Normally clearcutting results in the re-pla nting of tree seedlings, however some species (spruce, pine) overpower the growth of the hardwood trees. This minimizes the level of specie diversity among a timber stand. By allowing these older sections of stands to remain aids to the natural growth and development of hardwood species. Also, the wood debris, a remnant of old forest growth is essential to the survival of many forest species and also acts as a recycler of nutrients back into the soil. During forest harvesting it is not always necessary to remove all the wood from the lot. Rotten or older growth can be left to contribute to the nourishment of natural forests. &nb... ... Systems. Government of Canada. 3) Kaufert, Frank H. Forestry and Related Research in North America. 1995. Society of American Foresters. 4) MacAskill, Ken. 1997. Nova Scotia Forest Production Survey. Nova Scotia Natural Resources. Government document. 5) Natural Resources Canada. 1997. Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable forest management in Canada. Canadian Council of forest Ministers. 6) Nova Scotia Cooperation Agreement for Forestry Development. 1994. Nova Scotia's Forest Management Strategy. July 1994. Forestry Canada. 7) Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forests. 1990. Canada / Nova Scotia Forest Resource Development Agreement 1982-1989 "An Overview." December 13, 1990. Forestry Canada. 8) Nova Scotia Natural Resources. 1997. Toward Sustainable Forestry. Government document. 9) Provincial Forest Practices Improvement Board. 1976. Our Forests. Nova Scotia Forestry Association.

ZARA’s IT for Fast Fashion

Ezra, a trendy Spanish clothing retailer founded in 1975 by Manioc Ortega in La Curran. It is a flagship retail store of Inedited Group, a holding company that owns other fashion brands such as Misaims Audit, Berserk, Pull and Bear, Strabismus, Kiddy's Class, and Shoo. The company still lives by the simple idea of Amoco Ortega to link customer demand to manufacturing and link manufacturing to distribution, which ultimately able to respond very quickly to the demands of targeted customers, who are young and fashion-conscious city dwellers.Inedited operates 1,558 stores in 44 countries, of which 531 stores are part of Ezra chains. Ezra generates a majority of Indies's sales accounting for 73. 3%. Of the three departments inside Ezra, Women accounted for 60% of sales, with the rest evenly split between Men and Children division. In 2002, Inedited posted a net income of ? ¬ 438 million on revenues of ? ¬3,974 million, which is a net margin of 1 1. 02%. Overall, the company shows net margin continuously growing indicating profitable growth. As a result, the company's earnings have tripled since 1996. To reach consumer's demands quickly and accurately, Ezra established a recurring process of ordering, fulfillment, and design and management. Each section (Women, Men, and Children) of a Ezra store places an order to headquarters twice a week on the store's PDP devices. The orders include both replenishment of an existing item and requests for a new items. Store managers determined replenishment quantities by walking around the store and determining what has been selling by counting garments and talking to salespeople.Fulfilling each store's demands of clothes involves group of commercials from headquarters, who are responsible to match up the supply of finished clothes coming from factories to distribution centers then finally to the stores. The commercials works with two types of information – aggregated orders from all stores and the total supply of invent ory in the distribution centers at the same point in time. Finally, Ezra introduces new design collections at the start of fall/winter and spring/summer buying periods. In addition to that, they continuously introduce new items throughout the year, allowing them to be ahead within the industry.Note: Detail information for design and management is in â€Å"Competition† Section). SUPPLIERS: Ezra owns a group of factories in and around La Corona to do the initial production of dyeing and cutting cloth. However, they sent out the cut fabrics that needs to be sewn into garments, to network of small local workshops (not owned by Inedited) in Galatia and northern Portugal, which guarantees quick turnaround time. Finally, the sewn garments are sent to a Ezra facilities, where they are ironed, inspected, tagged, and sent to a distribution centers.COMPETITION: Ezra faces competition from multinational clothing retailers such as Gap, H&M, and Benton, Combined, these companies has over 2 00,000 employees, operating in 140 countries with net income of ? ¬1,067 million or a net margin of 15. 3%. What separate's Ezra from its competitors is it's unique approach to its marketing and business operation. Unlike its competitors, Ezra virtually does no marketing. The company place ads twice a year promoting sales and to announce the opening of new stores. As a result, their marketing expenditures average 0. % of revenue, instead of 3%-4%, which is typical for competitors. They also always make sure their stores are located in a city prime retail district and the prices for their items are established for the Spanish market. Prices for other countries is set at a fixed percentage of this baseline, taking into account distribution costs and market condition. Ezra also priorities time-to-market through vertical integration enabling them to constantly introduce new items throughout the year in a short period of time.In a typical year, Ezra introduces approximately 11,000 new items, were as its competitors average 2,000 – 4,000 items. Consequently, Ezra does not try to produce classics† clothes that would always be in style. They intend their clothes to have a fairly short life span. About 75% of the merchandise in the average store is changes over three to four weeks, resulting in their experience shoppers to visit the stores often to purchase the new items. Furthermore, Sara's senior managers takes advantage of their employee's intelligence and trust their Judgment in decision making.Store Managers are given responsibilities to deal with customers, contractors, landlords, and decisions in garments should be on sale at their individual stores. They place orders for the teems they think would sell, rather than simply accepting and displaying what headquarters decide to send them. Ezra has minimum invested in IT budget and has no formal process to set decisions for specific technology investments or projects. Usually senior management decides what new systems, if any, is required.Overall, there is very little Justification for IT efforts, which results in having no cost/benefit analysis for current and future projects. Also, Sara's business model uses POS terminal that runs on an outdated DOS operating system, which is not supported by Microsoft. This makes the operations such as ordering, fulfillment, design and manufacturing, and in-store operations inefficient. They also use handheld Pad's for ordering and for tasks such as handling garment returns to distribution centers and conveying information from headquarters to all stores. This causes redundancy.The POS terminals also makes it difficult to check in-store inventories, check inventories in other stores, and share information. The store managers would have to call to check for available SSW, which is a time consuming process. Finally, Ezra makes no use of the internet to make sales. The website is only there to maintain a presence. The issue for lack of internet sales is because the company's distribution center is not configured for picking up small orders and shipping to consumers. And, it is complicated to handle returns of merchandise bought online.The challenges above shows where Ezra can make the use of proper IT/IS infrastructure. Currently, Ezra has continued to use their systems without any changes to it. However, they have the opportunity to improve its infrastructure by investing in new IT systems. This proper implementation can also provide great opportunity for Ezra to improve its value ham operations. Before Ezra makes any decision regarding the upgrade of their old information system, they need to analyze the costs and benefits of the new system.A new operating system such as Linux, Windows, or UNIX, it will allow Ezra to develop capabilities on the outdated DOS software for POS terminals. As they install the new operating system on all the computers, they need to consider the costs of each operating system. For example, Linu x does not have one-time license cost, while Windows has a one-time license cost of ? ¬140 and UNIX of ? ¬160 per CUP]. Linux may offer the cheapest implementation costs for Ezra, but they have a higher ongoing costs, such as service contract cost that ranges from ? ¬10-? ¬150 per CUP].To upgrade the system Ezra will also have to install new hardware and replace the old POS terminals. The cost of POS terminals is ? ¬5000 per store, which will also require installation of new cables, routers etc. The wireless routers and Ethernet cost, staff training cost, software installation and maintenance cost, and the connectivity cost per store, will also add to the upgrade costs. Overall, if Ezra decides to use Linux operating system, the total cost for the initial year will be ? ¬ 56 million.This includes ? ¬ 379 thousand of operating cost and ? ¬ 2,777 million for non-operating (fixed), which is purchase of new POS terminals, wireless router and wireless Ethernet. If they us e Windows or UNIX, total initial cost will be ? ¬ 3,167 million or ? ¬ 3,175 million, respectively. This may be a very costly for the company, but it is a direct expense, which meaner the cost will depreciate over the years. For example, the total operating cost for Linux, Windows, and UNIX will decrease to ? ¬ 371 K, ? ¬ KICK, and ? ¬ ASK in the second year, respectively.The benefit of a new system will improve Sara's efficiency, which will directly influence their revenue. With the smooth communication among the stores and the headquarters, Ezra can better predict the future needs of material, and save cost by hedging them at a low cost. The system will also allow them to make clothes prototypes at a quicker rate and get a faster response from the customers. Therefore, there will be more sales, less cost, more revenue, and ultimately more profit. RECOMMENDATIONS I would recommend Ezra to upgrade their current system gradually. In the short term, there is no immediate nee d to upgrade the system.However, they need to make the changes over a long period of time. First, senior management should develop a formal IT department by hiring a COT to set decisions. Second, the new IT team should develop a strategy for the change. Third, they should develop a budget for implementing the whole upgrade. Once they have the strategy and budget in place, they should stop any more investments in the current systems and conduct a pilot test at one of their flagship store to collect data of its outcomes. Ezra should make the investments in stages. For example, the current Pads used for ordering are inconvenient.They should be replaced with convenient equipment such as the PC's. In addition, the Pads and POS are not connected. In order to improve the networking capabilities at each store, Ezra should switch from modem-based network to a broadband-based network. This will allow them to stay connected with the other stores as well as with the headquarters. POS terminals that operates on the outdated DOS system needs to be updated with a more modern and compatible operating system. As a result POS should have the customer based functionalities that will scored sales, returns, exchanges, etc.POS system should also handle functions such as inventory control, purchasing, and receiving and transferring of products to and from other locations. After the final stages, I strongly recommend to run the old and the new systems side by side, until the new system is operating smoothly. Finally, Ezra should use the internet to make online sales, and take advantage of the social media to promote itself. This can enhance their operations and ultimately increase revenue. Also, it will give them more competitive edge with the new competitors and the existing competitors. ZARA’s IT for Fast Fashion Ezra, a trendy Spanish clothing retailer founded in 1975 by Manioc Ortega in La Curran. It is a flagship retail store of Inedited Group, a holding company that owns other fashion brands such as Misaims Audit, Berserk, Pull and Bear, Strabismus, Kiddy's Class, and Shoo. The company still lives by the simple idea of Amoco Ortega to link customer demand to manufacturing and link manufacturing to distribution, which ultimately able to respond very quickly to the demands of targeted customers, who are young and fashion-conscious city dwellers.Inedited operates 1,558 stores in 44 countries, of which 531 stores are part of Ezra chains. Ezra generates a majority of Indies's sales accounting for 73. 3%. Of the three departments inside Ezra, Women accounted for 60% of sales, with the rest evenly split between Men and Children division. In 2002, Inedited posted a net income of ? ¬ 438 million on revenues of ? ¬3,974 million, which is a net margin of 1 1. 02%. Overall, the company shows net margin continuously growing indicating profitable growth. As a result, the company's earnings have tripled since 1996. To reach consumer's demands quickly and accurately, Ezra established a recurring process of ordering, fulfillment, and design and management. Each section (Women, Men, and Children) of a Ezra store places an order to headquarters twice a week on the store's PDP devices. The orders include both replenishment of an existing item and requests for a new items. Store managers determined replenishment quantities by walking around the store and determining what has been selling by counting garments and talking to salespeople.Fulfilling each store's demands of clothes involves group of commercials from headquarters, who are responsible to match up the supply of finished clothes coming from factories to distribution centers then finally to the stores. The commercials works with two types of information – aggregated orders from all stores and the total supply of invent ory in the distribution centers at the same point in time. Finally, Ezra introduces new design collections at the start of fall/winter and spring/summer buying periods. In addition to that, they continuously introduce new items throughout the year, allowing them to be ahead within the industry.Note: Detail information for design and management is in â€Å"Competition† Section). SUPPLIERS: Ezra owns a group of factories in and around La Corona to do the initial production of dyeing and cutting cloth. However, they sent out the cut fabrics that needs to be sewn into garments, to network of small local workshops (not owned by Inedited) in Galatia and northern Portugal, which guarantees quick turnaround time. Finally, the sewn garments are sent to a Ezra facilities, where they are ironed, inspected, tagged, and sent to a distribution centers.COMPETITION: Ezra faces competition from multinational clothing retailers such as Gap, H&M, and Benton, Combined, these companies has over 2 00,000 employees, operating in 140 countries with net income of ? ¬1,067 million or a net margin of 15. 3%. What separate's Ezra from its competitors is it's unique approach to its marketing and business operation. Unlike its competitors, Ezra virtually does no marketing. The company place ads twice a year promoting sales and to announce the opening of new stores. As a result, their marketing expenditures average 0. % of revenue, instead of 3%-4%, which is typical for competitors. They also always make sure their stores are located in a city prime retail district and the prices for their items are established for the Spanish market. Prices for other countries is set at a fixed percentage of this baseline, taking into account distribution costs and market condition. Ezra also priorities time-to-market through vertical integration enabling them to constantly introduce new items throughout the year in a short period of time.In a typical year, Ezra introduces approximately 11,000 new items, were as its competitors average 2,000 – 4,000 items. Consequently, Ezra does not try to produce classics† clothes that would always be in style. They intend their clothes to have a fairly short life span. About 75% of the merchandise in the average store is changes over three to four weeks, resulting in their experience shoppers to visit the stores often to purchase the new items. Furthermore, Sara's senior managers takes advantage of their employee's intelligence and trust their Judgment in decision making.Store Managers are given responsibilities to deal with customers, contractors, landlords, and decisions in garments should be on sale at their individual stores. They place orders for the teems they think would sell, rather than simply accepting and displaying what headquarters decide to send them. Ezra has minimum invested in IT budget and has no formal process to set decisions for specific technology investments or projects. Usually senior management decides what new systems, if any, is required.Overall, there is very little Justification for IT efforts, which results in having no cost/benefit analysis for current and future projects. Also, Sara's business model uses POS terminal that runs on an outdated DOS operating system, which is not supported by Microsoft. This makes the operations such as ordering, fulfillment, design and manufacturing, and in-store operations inefficient. They also use handheld Pad's for ordering and for tasks such as handling garment returns to distribution centers and conveying information from headquarters to all stores. This causes redundancy.The POS terminals also makes it difficult to check in-store inventories, check inventories in other stores, and share information. The store managers would have to call to check for available SSW, which is a time consuming process. Finally, Ezra makes no use of the internet to make sales. The website is only there to maintain a presence. The issue for lack of internet sales is because the company's distribution center is not configured for picking up small orders and shipping to consumers. And, it is complicated to handle returns of merchandise bought online.The challenges above shows where Ezra can make the use of proper IT/IS infrastructure. Currently, Ezra has continued to use their systems without any changes to it. However, they have the opportunity to improve its infrastructure by investing in new IT systems. This proper implementation can also provide great opportunity for Ezra to improve its value ham operations. Before Ezra makes any decision regarding the upgrade of their old information system, they need to analyze the costs and benefits of the new system.A new operating system such as Linux, Windows, or UNIX, it will allow Ezra to develop capabilities on the outdated DOS software for POS terminals. As they install the new operating system on all the computers, they need to consider the costs of each operating system. For example, Linu x does not have one-time license cost, while Windows has a one-time license cost of ? ¬140 and UNIX of ? ¬160 per CUP]. Linux may offer the cheapest implementation costs for Ezra, but they have a higher ongoing costs, such as service contract cost that ranges from ? ¬10-? ¬150 per CUP].To upgrade the system Ezra will also have to install new hardware and replace the old POS terminals. The cost of POS terminals is ? ¬5000 per store, which will also require installation of new cables, routers etc. The wireless routers and Ethernet cost, staff training cost, software installation and maintenance cost, and the connectivity cost per store, will also add to the upgrade costs. Overall, if Ezra decides to use Linux operating system, the total cost for the initial year will be ? ¬ 56 million.This includes ? ¬ 379 thousand of operating cost and ? ¬ 2,777 million for non-operating (fixed), which is purchase of new POS terminals, wireless router and wireless Ethernet. If they us e Windows or UNIX, total initial cost will be ? ¬ 3,167 million or ? ¬ 3,175 million, respectively. This may be a very costly for the company, but it is a direct expense, which meaner the cost will depreciate over the years. For example, the total operating cost for Linux, Windows, and UNIX will decrease to ? ¬ 371 K, ? ¬ KICK, and ? ¬ ASK in the second year, respectively.The benefit of a new system will improve Sara's efficiency, which will directly influence their revenue. With the smooth communication among the stores and the headquarters, Ezra can better predict the future needs of material, and save cost by hedging them at a low cost. The system will also allow them to make clothes prototypes at a quicker rate and get a faster response from the customers. Therefore, there will be more sales, less cost, more revenue, and ultimately more profit. RECOMMENDATIONS I would recommend Ezra to upgrade their current system gradually. In the short term, there is no immediate nee d to upgrade the system.However, they need to make the changes over a long period of time. First, senior management should develop a formal IT department by hiring a COT to set decisions. Second, the new IT team should develop a strategy for the change. Third, they should develop a budget for implementing the whole upgrade. Once they have the strategy and budget in place, they should stop any more investments in the current systems and conduct a pilot test at one of their flagship store to collect data of its outcomes. Ezra should make the investments in stages. For example, the current Pads used for ordering are inconvenient.They should be replaced with convenient equipment such as the PC's. In addition, the Pads and POS are not connected. In order to improve the networking capabilities at each store, Ezra should switch from modem-based network to a broadband-based network. This will allow them to stay connected with the other stores as well as with the headquarters. POS terminals that operates on the outdated DOS system needs to be updated with a more modern and compatible operating system. As a result POS should have the customer based functionalities that will scored sales, returns, exchanges, etc.POS system should also handle functions such as inventory control, purchasing, and receiving and transferring of products to and from other locations. After the final stages, I strongly recommend to run the old and the new systems side by side, until the new system is operating smoothly. Finally, Ezra should use the internet to make online sales, and take advantage of the social media to promote itself. This can enhance their operations and ultimately increase revenue. Also, it will give them more competitive edge with the new competitors and the existing competitors.

A moral understanding of Utilitarianism and torture Essay

KSM is a mastermind terrorist who has been captured by the CIA. He refuses to reveal any information about his organization or the members thereof that could be fundamental to the welfare of hundreds of lives. Even under the presence of coercive methods such as sleep deprivation and water boarding, he has refused to talk. His nine and eleven year old children have been brought into custody and a suggestion has been made to torture the children. Is the option ethical or moral in any sense? Utilitarianism provides two answers for the question; one asserting the general rule of utility, the other expanding on justice implicating that the notion that no harm should be inflicted on the children. Each case will be dissected and assessed to reveal the most feasible answer to whether or not the children should be tortured. This conclusion will also be questioned on whether or not the provided answer is approaching the situation in the best possible manner. Utilitarianism in its simplest form distinguishes the difference between right and wrong by asserting that what is right is any action of good that will positively affect the common welfare of all. In short, the principle of utility implies that what is good is whatever promotes the greatest amount of happiness. This implies that the happiness of one individual is not as relevant or important as the happiness of a multitude of persons, or that the value of life can be measured in numbers and not by specific individuals. The general idea is that if five people are saved as compared to saving one life, then there is more happiness being created and as a result more good is being created. In KSM’s case, if the general rule of utilitarianism is to be applied, then the option of torturing KSM’s children is a plausible means of coercion. This rule fundamentally subtracts the happiness lost by torturing the children in exchange for the gain of hundreds and thousands of lives that could potentially be saved resulting in a greater amount of happiness overall. Therefore utilitarianism does advocate for the torture of KSM’s children. The tactic will provide the necessary information that the CIA needs to save lives. The proponents of utilitarianism may come off as rash, insensitive, and unsympathetic beings for allowing a method such as this one to occur in order to save many lives. Injuring two lives for the benefit of thousands more is sound, but may not be ethical or moral. It is a difficult feat to assess what is ethical and moral especially when encountered with a situation like this. An assumption that it is immoral to not torture these children could be proposed because not acting on the children could deter the CIA from attaining valuable information for the welfare and safety of the nation. Of course, it must not be assumed that torturing a child is acceptable in today’s standards, and utilitarianism will attempt to answer why it is not right to torture the children to obtain information through the utilitarian’s understanding of justice. Justice to utilitarianism carries with it great weight and resonance to the ideology. According to Mill, it is one of the sole features in which utilitarianism embodies. It is stated that justice contains in it the following rules: all beings must be treated with equality, and that each is given their just deserts; good for good, and evil for evil, that no one should be wrongly punished; that no life shall be valued over another, and that the punishment should be proportionate to the offense. Another feature is that all commitments and obligations whether they be declared orally or written, should be respected and upheld and the failure to do so is performing injustice and is a moral fallacy. Therefore, when considering the KSM case with the application of justice under utilitarianism, it seems as though it is not logical to torture the children to obtain information from their father. The torturing of children violates the laws applicable to the definition of justice under utilitarianism. If these children are tortured, the principle that all individuals are equal and to all their justice deserts, would be invalid. These children have done nothing wrong and do not deserve to be tortured, thus the punishment that would befall them is not parallel to the ideals presented in the definition of justice. Also, the lives of these children were not properly accounted for, for if justice states that all lives are equal and that none is more valuable than the rest, then it is rational and coextensive with justice to not torture the children. By not performing the horrendous notion, these children’s lives are not placed lower than the rest, but the opposing view could also be taken stating that by not torturing these children they are placed above thousands of other lives, giving their lives more value than the multitude, and this is does not correspond with the definition of justice. Therefore, torturing these children is not a favorable option when considering the application of utilitarianism. But there is one exception that utilitarianism allows, which is when certain cases arise that requires expediency, thus suspending applications of moral justice. Although both alternative methods of assessing the dilemma have been presented with each have a distinct approach. The first taking into consideration the principle of utilitarianism the latter using the principle of justice, both acting as derivatives of utilitarianism and paradoxically both approved of using torture to gain information. The principle of utility declared torture a necessary means to obtain a valuable resource that consequentially benefits the whole, and in turn increasing happiness and goodness – increasing utility. The principles of justice deemed the usage of torture an incompatible method of attaining the means in the presented situation. The equality of the children was not taken into account and disregarded, while the action of torturing them does not correlate with reason because the children did nothing to bring this suggested harm upon themselves. But, even justice allows for the possibility of torture to resume when extenuating circumstances do not allow for a well thought out procedure, and expediency is recognized as the only reasonable means of achieving a goal. So does utilitarianism allow for the torturing of children to occur? According to the principle of utility and somewhat present in the exceptions of justice – yes. This does not mean that this action is moral or ethical by any means. The intentional injury of children is wrong in many, if not all, philosophical and religious ideologies. It is not easy to accept this as the only method prescribed to remedy the situation. In this case, the means do not justify the ends. Although utilitarianism states that these children should not be placed higher than any individual and there sacrifice would benefit the greater good, the implementation of torture on children is not an attractive option. Utilitarianism states that this viable option is right, but just because it may promote the general welfare and happiness of a multitude of individuals, does not necessarily indicate that it will, or that any information will be extracted from KSM, thus giving the impression that it may seem right to a utilitarian, but most would consider this an act of inhumanity and a relentless, unsympathetic, irrational attempt to validate assertions created on the basis of assumption and plausibility.

Endosymbiotic Theory

Endosymbiotic Theory The endosymbiotic theory is the accepted mechanism for how eukaryotic cells evolved from prokaryotic cells. First published by Lynn Margulis in the late 1960s, the Endosymbiont Theory proposed that the main organelles of the eukaryotic cell were actually primitive prokaryotic cells that had been engulfed by a different, bigger prokaryotic cell. The term endosymbiosis means to cooperate inside. Whether the larger cell provided protection for the smaller cells, or the smaller cells provided energy to the larger cell, this arrangement seemed to be mutually beneficial to all of the prokaryotes. While this sounded like a far-fetched idea at first, the data to back it up is undeniable. The organelles that seemed to have been their own cells include the mitochondria and, in photosynthetic cells, the chloroplast. Both of these organelles have their own DNA and their own ribosomes that do not match the rest of the cell. This indicates that they could survive and reproduce on their own. In fact, the DNA in the chloroplast is very similar to photosynthetic bacteria called cyanobacteria. The DNA in the mitochondria is most like that of the bacteria that causes typhus. Before these prokaryotes were able to undergo endosymbiosis, they first most likely had to become colonial organisms. Colonial organisms are groups of prokaryotic, single-celled organisms that live in close proximity to other single-celled prokaryotes. Even though the individual single-celled organisms remained separate and could survive independently, there was some sort of advantage to living close to other prokaryotes. Whether this was a function of protection or a way to get more energy, colonialism has to be beneficial in some manner for all of the prokaryotes involved in the colony. Once these single-celled living things were within close enough proximity to one another, they took their symbiotic relationship one step further. The larger unicellular organism engulfed other, smaller, single-celled organisms. At that point, they were no longer independent colonial organisms but instead were one large cell. When the larger cell that had engulfed the smaller cells went to divide, copies of the smaller prokaryotes inside were made and passed down to the daughter cells. Eventually, the smaller prokaryotes that had been engulfed adapted and evolved into some of the organelles we know of today in eukaryotic cells like the mitochondria and chloroplasts. Other organelles eventually arose from these first organelles, including the nucleus where the DNA in a eukaryote is housed, the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi Apparatus. In the modern eukaryotic cell, these parts are known as membrane-bound organelles. They still do not appear in prokaryotic cells like bacteria and archaea but are present in all organisms classified under the Eukarya domain.

Drug Safety Evaluation and Pharmacovigilance Assignment

Drug Safety Evaluation and Pharmacovigilance - Assignment Example The systems that are used to assess post-marketing events include medical record databases or computerized claims, reports and pre marketing studies. Drug toxicity is frequently a major safety issue for an investigational new drug. This may occur as an unexpected reaction to a nontoxic drug or it may be an expected consequence of the intrinsic toxicity of a drug, taken in a sufficiently large dose (Berlin, 2008). It is the function of pharmaceutical research companies to take the path from understanding a disease to bringing a safe and effective treatment to patients. To ensure that collection of data is complete and to protect the safety of study participants, various processes are put in place during clinical trials (Meadows, 2006). The completeness of data is important in developing an understanding of the advantages and side effects of a new medicine (Meadows, 2006). With one or more solutions at hand, researchers turn their attention to testing them extensively to determine if they should move on to testing in humans. Efficacy and safety of investigational new drugs have an inherent deficiency in the inability to detect major, rare and adverse effects (Talbot, 2011). The limitations of these safety data for predicting post authorization safety profiles must be a consideration. These pre-marketing clinical trial limitations include lack of globally accepted gold standards for determining whether a signal on drug safety represents true risk. While the regulatory bodies have well established regulatory statutes, standards of ascertaining safety are heterogeneous (Edwards & Tilson, 2005). There is limited statistical power in determining the specific harm due to lack of statistical significance in the selected population. The selected patient group is small and excludes patients who are at a greater risk. There is limited generalizability since the study participants are carefully selected. There is a strict criterion of selecting whom to include

Analyse some of the consequences that mobile phones have for everyday Essay

Analyse some of the consequences that mobile phones have for everyday life - Essay Example The social consequences of such an amazing technology have yet to be felt, and it is likely that we will be coping for decades. One of the most obvious impacts that mobile phones have on everyday life is the extreme temptation to talk on the phone while driving. Even when this doesn't reduce the hands someone has available for driving, it tends to distract. Many jurisdictions in America and the UK have created or are debating the drafting of laws that ban the usage of mobile phones in cars except for the usage of hands-free headsets. The fact that this would even be a problem was impossible to anticipate until recently: Mobile phones were once known as car phones, and in the UK they still often are. But mobile phones also have had more subtle effects. The ability to be contacted at any time has increased time pressures on people. In one Calvin and Hobbes comic, a comic from two decades go, Calvin's father complains that fax machines and other electronic devices don't increase leisure time by making work more efficient but decrease it by making people have expectations for faster service: Something that used to take a week and be considered a rush job would be considered unbelievably tardy. Mobile phones amplify this pressure. If they have GPS features, they can be used by the government or by parents to monitor someone's location, which can have wide-reaching privacy implications, as well as implications for criminals and police. But it might be possible, if an employee doesn't monitor auto-updating features that tell a server where someone is, to be caught lying to a boss about being sick, raising further privacy implications. Employers can call employees or text them constantly. This can cause employees to have even less time that they can perceive as their own. A mobile phone becomes an imposition sometimes, and people seeking out vacation or time off often try to turn off the phone so as not to worry about harassment. Another problem can be cyber-stalking o r, less intrusively, bothering by friends, family, spouses or loved ones. Being constantly available allows people to monitor people, or to exert relationship control, or to nag. Mobile phones have also transformed the ways we've communicated with each other. This is a step in a longer process of world-shrinking. When the only way to communicate with someone even a few hundred miles is a letter, one carefully considers what one has to say, knowing that the nearest response might be days, weeks or months away. But now that people can communicate not only through the mail but also on the phone, mobile phone, texts, e-mails, and instant messaging, communication can become trite or irrelevant. People can use Twitter to update each other on where they're going, what they're doing or how a sandwich at a local pub tastes. It often seems deplorable how communication is degraded and people speak to each other about trite, trivial, unimportant things. It has also degraded grammar and spelling : People use text speak in e-mails, instant messaging and texting, with acronyms and misspellings being ubiquitous. Ironically, however, the complaint that this is