Saturday, November 30, 2019

Make Your Own Kind Of Music

MAKE YOUR OWN KIND OF MUSIC This week we have some advice passed on to me from best-selling author Karleen Koen. Your assignment: Write something, anything, every morning. No need for prompts like those we gave you in a recent post. No, this exercise is completely freestyle. Keep Your Mind and Fingers Nimble Every Day As a writer, even if you aren’t working on a particular project, you will benefit greatly from daily practice, like Hemingway’s write-500-words-every-single-day devotion we mentioned in a recent post. And as we’ve also said before, even the world’s greatest musicians practice on their instrument every day. They hone their skills, keep their artistic inspirations fresh, and even discover new things about their talent. Writing can actually be a lot like playing an instrument. Imagine sitting down at a piano and just playing around with the keys, plinking out a light, brief little ditty off the top of your head. Now compare that to sitting down in front of your computer and tapping out a few words, whatever comes to mind. You’re just goofing around, right? No pressure. But you may stumble across a good setting, a useful piece of imagery, or some clever dialogue. You may even get to meet a character screaming out that she has a story to tell you, speaking to you from your brain to your fingertips as you â€Å"jam† on your instrument of choice, be it your computer or one of those yellow legal notepads or a beautiful Moleskine. (Have you ever heard of a Moleskine? They are legendary little pocket journals used for scribbling inspirations and ideas, cherished by artistic geniuses like Van Gogh, Picasso, and our pal Hemingway.) Open Your Mind As Soon As You Open Your Eyes (and Maybe Yawn and Stretch, Too) Koen believes in writing first thing in the morning. To Koen, it’s an exercise to get her brain going, not an attempt to generate useable copy. She suggests taking just about fifteen minutes, or maybe just three pages, whatever comes first, and simply writing whatever comes to mind. Best of all, she does this even before the coffee is ready. You can do it while you’re still in bed, even. At that time of the morning, your mind is still half-asleep, with one foot still in the wonderful, bizarre world of your dreams, where some of the best ideas come from. Wash Your Face, Comb Your Hair . . . and Brush Up Your Writing Skills Add to your morning ablutions a rinsing of your thoughts. Let them wash away from your mind and onto the page. It may just be a few hundred words of randomness, a jumbled mix of what you dreamt the night before and what’s on your mind about what you have to do that day. But there’s more than one reason this little exercise is so valuable. Yes, it is a wonderful way to sow and eventually reap some great ideas, and practice is always beneficial, no matter what you are practicing. But you’ll have also put your thoughts in a writer’s mindset, right from the minute you wake up. You’ll be able to spend the rest of the day seeing the world through your writer’s eyes, even more sharply and acutely than you usually do. You will find a symphony of inspiration everywhere you look. I guess it’s like waking up and putting on your glasses right away so you can see more clearly. Oh, I could compare this exercise to a million different beneficial behaviors, but the bottom line is: it’s great. So tomorrow morning, give it a try!

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Hatshepsut and Thutmose III essays

Hatshepsut and Thutmose III essays 5. Assess the relationship between Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. There have been many theories regarding the relationship between Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, yet none have evidence strong enough to support the idea that there was any conflict between the two. Although she officially ruled jointly with Thutmose III, there is no doubt that Hatshepsut was the dominant partner. Most co-regencies last for little longer than a few years of the younger partners reign, but Hatshepsut and Thutmose IIIs lasted for thirteen years. Hatshepsut was thirty-seven when Thutmose came to the throne. She was his tutor, aunt and step-mother and was arranging for her daughter, Neferure, to marry Thutmose III, Thutmose IIs son to Isis. It wasnt until about two to seven years into Thutmose IIIs reign that Hatshepsut proclaimed herself as pharaoh. There was no doubt that by the twentieth year of their reign, Hatshepsut was the senior pharaoh. On the stela of Nakht from Sinai, dated year twenty, both Hatshepsut and Thutmose III are represented as on equal footings offering gifts to the gods. Surviving inscriptions indicate that she accorded Thutmose III with the respect to which he as entitled, although throughout most of her reign, her image and name were always in front of his. Thutmose appears in the Punt reliefs on the walls of Hatshepsuts temple at Deir el Bahari. He is shown standing behind the queen dedicating the best off fresh myrrh before the sacred barque of Amun. (Breasted, Ancient Egypt Records.) Later in Hatshepsuts reign, Thutmose appears to have taken a more prominent role in the relationship. The evidence is quite clear about Thutmoses leadership of the army and his campaigns into Nubia, and possibly even Gaza, before Hatshepsuts death. Had Thutmose posed a serious threat to Hatshepsuts position, it is unlikely he would have been given leadership of ...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Simple Élire (to Elect) French Verb Conjugations

Simple Élire (to Elect) French Verb Conjugations In French, the verb  Ãƒ ©lire  means to elect. Whenever you want to use it in the past tense elected or the future tense will elect, you will need to conjugate the verb. French students know that this can be a challenge and  Ãƒ ©lire  is one of those tricky irregular verbs. Conjugating the French Verb  Ãƒâ€°lire French verb conjugations are more complex than they are in English. Thats because the verb endings change not only with the tense of the sentence  but also with the subject pronoun. Élire  is an  irregular verb  and its similar to other words like  lire (to read), rà ©Ãƒ ©lire  (to re-elect), and relire (to re-read, replay). While this is not the most common conjugation pattern, these few words do make learning the entire group a little easier. To conjugate  Ãƒ ©lire, pair the subject pronoun with the tense. For instance, I elect is jà ©lis while we will elect is nous à ©lirons. Practice each of these in context to learn how to use them in your French conversations. Subject Present Future Imperfect j lis lirai lisais tu lis liras lisais il lit lira lisait nous lisons lirons lisions vous lisez lirez lisiez ils lisent liront lisaient The Present Participle of  Ãƒâ€°lire The  present participle  is another verb form that you should know. To form it, add -ant  to the verb stem to produce  Ãƒ ©lisant. Beyond using it as a verb, you will also find it helpful as an adjective, gerund, or noun in some circumstances. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © For the past tense of  Ãƒ ©lire, you can choose either the imperfect or the  passà © composà ©. To construct the latter, begin with the subject pronoun and conjugate the  auxiliary verb  avoir  to match it. Then, attach the  past participle  Ãƒ ©lu. The passà © composà © comes together quickly: I have elected is jai à ©lu and we elected is nous avons à ©lu. More Simple Élire  Conjugations Among other simple conjugations of  Ãƒ ©lire  that French students should know are the following. You may not use them often, but they can be quite handy to know. In rare instances, and primarily when reading or writing, you may see  the passà © simple or the imperfect subjunctive. More frequently, the subjunctive and conditional verb moods are used. Each implies no guarantee to the verbs action in some form or fashion. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive j lise lirais lus lusse tu lises lirais lus lusses il lise lirait lut lt nous lisions lirions lmes lussions vous lisiez liriez ltes lussiez ils lisent liraient lurent lussent To use  Ãƒ ©lire  in exclamations, demands, and short requests, use the imperative form. When doing so, skip the subject pronoun and use à ©lis rather than tu à ©lis. Imperative (tu) lis (nous) lisons (vous) lisez

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Human Cloning and Its Consequences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Cloning and Its Consequences - Essay Example Human cloning is also wrong for other reasons, one of them being that human clones might have their bodies harvested for body parts and/or human organs. Then they would be left for dead. We must remember that every person has a soul and a spirit. People should not be grown like oranges on a tree. There has been talk about, indeed, cloning people in order to harvest their organs for one’s clone. This is not only morally reprehensible, but also ethically wrong. How one could even consider raising a human, only to use the human’s body parts for another human—is almost inconceivable. It is possible, but why would any forward-thinking individual want to do something like that? Not only is it a moral lapse, but it would also be a societal lapse as well. The value of human life would be reduced to what a human could provide in terms of body parts and/or organs for another human being. That is absolutely disgusting, not to mention wrong. Human cloning has no place in our society. Perhaps someday, people might have more of a vested interest in seeing their clone produce body parts or even organs which they might be able to harvest for themselves. This is not only ethically dangerous but morally backwards. Cloning has no place in our society because we do not want people who look just like us, talk just like us, and, in short—make a mockery of the human race. Everyone is an individual, and even clones would have their own personalities, even if their bodies were to be identical to the people being cloned. It has come to the attention of a one Dr. Gregory Pence that such research is necessary in order to foment the research field in ethical medical bioengineering. As a medical doctor, he can see many reasons for why people should indeed embrace cloning in all its forms. However, when Dr. Ruth Macklin presents her ideas as to why she feels that cloning would not be a good idea, her rationale seems to make much more logical sense as to why we sho uldn’t clone humans. In his book Medical Ethics, Dr. Pence—a seemingly ethical biomedical doctor— argues in favor of cloning, noting that it is not something of which one should be afraid.2 Of course, the idea of cloning people is not an entirely new one, but we must take into account the risks and the problematization of human existence. We already know that stem cell experiments are taking place, so the question remains, â€Å"What next?† How far will we have to fall as a society for us to realize that cloning is immoral and wrong? It may not be easy to convince those who are persuaded by scientific research that cloning is the way to go—the wave of the future, if one will. It will not be easy to convince those who are insistent upon the fact that there is nothing wrong with cloning—when the ethical scruples are staring us in the face. How is it going to be possible to clone people ethically? It just doesn’

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Introduction to Law and Contracts Research Paper - 1

Introduction to Law and Contracts - Research Paper Example It concludes with a signature page, allowing for the signature of the executive, David G. DeWalt; the Executive Vice President and CFO of McAfee Inc.; Jonathan Chadwick, and Renee J. James, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Software and Services Group, Intel Corporation; and the necessary witnesses. This written contract fulfills the definition of an express contract as â€Å"a contract in which all elements of a contract are specifically stated (offer, acceptance, consideration), and the terms are stated, as compared to an "implied" contract in which the existence of the contract is assumed by the circumstances.† (â€Å"Express Contract†, 2005) The Law of Contracts, Treitels classic text defines a contract offer as â€Å""an expression of willingness to contract on certain terms, made with the intention that it shall become binding as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed". (Treitel, 2007) In this case the person to whom it is addressed, also known as the offeree, is the party known as the executive, David G. DeWalt. Therefore, the contract offer is made when the contract document is presented to David G. DeWalt and his attorneys or representatives in these contract negotiations. This offer document also contains conditions on which the offer is contingent. The offer is occurring coincident with merger negotiations and is contingent on â€Å"the execution of the Merger Agreement.† Acceptance is therefore a matter of more than the three parties signing the contract in the presence of the required witnesses. This contract can only be considered to have been accepted if the Merger Agreement is also duly signed and witnessed and â€Å"shall become effective immediately preceding the Closing Date, as defined in the Merger Agrement.† Normally an offer of employment is accepted when it is signed before witnesses. However, this employment contract can only be considered accepted if

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Mortgage Essay Example for Free

Mortgage Essay 1. In 1932, the federal government’s intervention in the market for home ownership was desirable. Not only was it desirable, but it was needed. It has been the federal government’s desire to have every American become a part of the American dream and be a homeowner. In 1932 President Hoover signed the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to establish a series of discount banks for home mortgages. This would assist in increasing the likelihood of Americans owning a home and not feeling that they were restricted because of financial pressures. Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac were created to help bail out banks that had a growing number of defaults in mortgages. These three enterprises made it possible for banks to offer mortgages to riskier clients who normally would not qualify. This greatly expanded homeownership. It also shaped lending practices at banks and other mortgage lending firms by creating new forms of financing and creating the market of secondary mortgages. 2. Why did the U.S. Congress enact:Â  * Community Reinvestment Act – passed in 1977 requiring banks to lend in the low income neighborhoods * Mortgage Disclosure Act – passed in 1975 to provide the public with loan data that can be used to determine whether or not financial institutions are serving the needs of their community, identify possible discriminatory lending patterns and make this data publicly available * Depository Institution Deregulation and Monetary Control Act – passed in 1980 to provide gradual elimination of limitations on the rates of interest payable on deposits and accounts; authorize interest bearing accounts * Housing and Community Development Act – amended to create section 8 housing These methods were effective in expanding homeownership by making it easier and providing greater methods to become a homeowner. The government’s promotion of subprime mortgages created more problems that assistance. It was the initial cause of the 2008 financial crisis due to the rise in delinquencies and foreclosures. Basically many people were approved for houses that were not financially stable or capable of the long term obligation of buying a home. As subprime lending expanded, so did the crisis due to the over-regulation, deregulation and failed regulation that the government brought on. 3. Subprime mortgages made a contribution to the housing bubble. Since there were several more individuals approved to purchase homes, the demand for houses increased. This demand created many financial institutions and creditors to attempt to make a profit by approving loans, selling or enforcing short term buying. Once people got caught up in homeownership, but were beyond what they could afford and interest rates as well as lending practices went bad, the demand decreased, which resulted in a surplus, reduction of prices, rise in interest rate and the bubble burst. Borrowers will struggle with financing the purchase of a house, loan originators suffer from debt , MBS will suffer since the cash flow is not know in advance, the MBS investors may not receive payment and CDO holders because of the use of reserve funds due to the lack of incoming cash flow.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Law and its system :: essays research papers

1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The importance of a contract law to the private market system is vital for our private enterprise economy. It helps make buyers and sellers willing to do business together. Contract laws allows private agreements to be legally enforceable. Contract laws provides enormous flexibility and precision in business dealings. It provides flexibility in that you can agree to literally anything that is not illegal or against public policy. It gives precision in that with careful thinking you can make another agree to exactly the requirements that accomplish even a very complex business purpose. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Common law of contracts is understood to have many types of contracts. Another source is legislation. Various states have enacted the common law as a part of the state statues. b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The UCC is the Uniform Commercial Code which is a state-based legislation. This covers the sale of goods. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The following phrases are important to the understanding of contract law because a bilateral contract is an agreement containing mutual promises. A bilateral agreement is whenever there is doubt about the form. The party making the promise can control the application of many concepts of contract law by understanding the distinction between bilateral and unilateral contracts. Unilateral contract is an agreement with only one promise. The maker of such a promise seeks an action rather than a promise in return. b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When many contracts arise from discussions in which parties actually discuss the promised terms of their agreement are called express contracts. Implied-in-facts arise from the conduct of the parties rather than from words.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implied-in-law contracts is when one party unjustly enriched at the expense of another, the law may imply a duty on the first party to pay the second even though there is no contract between the two parties.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Scientific Management in Action

Several philosophers have come up with theories to describe the ideal organizational structure for businesses to adopt (Hugh, 1985). Max Weber’s classical organization theory of bureaucracy was developed to deal with management issues in an organization.He maintained that power is epitomized by the course of control in the organization. He defined authority and power between managers and the subordinates in the context of ‘master- servant’ relationship. In his view, he asserted that managers should formulate strict code of rules for the employees to follow without question.His primary objectives were to eliminate corruption, and nepotism which had characterized most of the 19th century business organizations (Wren, 2005).This theory was heavily criticized by the present- day philosophers for making employees too be subordinate, passive and dependent on the managers. It also makes them have minimal control over their lives besides being treated as infants rather th an competent human beings. As a matter of fact, such organizations were willing to pay high wages if mature people behave in a less than mature comportment. This resulted to resentment of the employees and poor motivation of the employees (Hugh, 1985).Due to these criticisms, modern day philosophers came up with human relations theories to correct the deviations created by classical theorists. One of such philosophers is Elton maiyo. He Came up with human relations theory   in 1880- 1948.His ideas focused on the managers taking more interest on the workers by treating them as mature   people who have   worthwhile beliefs or opinions (Wren, 2005).This was based on his experiment known as Hawthorne plant. This theory has been used by many managers today since it has enhanced efficient communication among managers and workers. This is as a result of elimination of the strict rules, which are often too rigid and do not allow the workers to air their views.This philosophy has also lead to greater organizational involvement by the employees. In a nutshell, this modern philosophy has made it possible for the managers to re-organize and also introduce different departments. As a matter of fact, this theory has led to the establishment of Human resource departments which deal with the issues relating to employees. This has led to greater motivation of the workforce and increased productivity (Hugh, 1985).ReferencesHugh G. J. (1985). Scientific Management in Action: Taylorism.Watertown: Princeton University Press.Wren, D, A. (2005). The history of management thought and leadership. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Air and Sea Travel Case Study

Air & Sea Travel Inc. Case study Air & Sea Travel Inc. a travel agency began operations on April 1, 20X6. During April, the business provided travel services for clients. It is now April 30, and investors wonder how well Air & Sea Travel performed during its first month. They also want to know the company’s financial position at the end of April and its cash flows during the month. The following data is listed in alphabetical order. Prepare the Air & Sea Travel financial statements at end of April 20X6. Accounts payable |$100 |Land |$18,000 | |Accounts receivable |2,000 |Office supplies |500 | |Adjustments to reconcile net | |Payments of cash: | | | income to net cash provided | | Acquisition of land |40,000 | | by operating activities |(2,400) | Dividends |2,100 | |Cash balance at the beginning of April |0 |Rent expense |1,100 | |Cash balance at the end of April |33,300 |Retained earnings at the beginning of April | | | | | |0 | |Cash receipts: | |Retained earnings at the e nd of April |? | | Issuance stock |50,000 |Salary expense | 1200 | | Sale of land |22,000 |Service revenue |8,500 | |Common stock |50,000 |Utilities xpense |400 | |Dividends |2,100 | | | 1. Prepare the income statement, the statement of retained earnings, the statement of cash flows for the month ended April 30, 20X6, and the balance sheet at April 30, 20X6. 2. Answer the following questions: a. How well did Air & Sea Travel perform during its first month of operations? b. Where does Air & Sea Travel stand financially at the end of April? ASSETSLIABILITIES Cash33,300Account payable100 Account receivable2,000Land 18,000 Insurance stock50,000Office supplies500 Sale of land 22,000Payment of cashCommon stock50,000 Acquisition of land40,000 Dividends2,100 Dividends2,100 Service revenue8,500Rent expense1,100 Salary expense1,200 Utilities expense400 Adjustment to reconcile 2,400 net income to net cash provided by operating activities 1. |Air & Sea Travel Inc. | |Income Statement | |Apr il 30, 20X6 | |Revenues |8,500 | |Expenses |2,700 | |Rent expense 1,100 | |Salary expense |1200 | |Utilities expense |400 | |Net income |5,800 | |Air & Sea Travel Inc. | |Statement of Retained Earnings | |April 30, 20X6 | | | | |Beginning of Retained Earnings |0 | |Net income |5,800 | |Cash dividends |(2,100) | |Ending Retained Earnings |3,700 | |Air & Sea Travel Inc. |Balance Sheet | |April 30, 20X6 | | | | |Assets | | |Cash |33,300 | |All other assets |20,500 | |Land |18,000 | |Office supplies |500 | |Account receivable |2,000 | |Total assets |53,800 | |Liabilities | | |Acount Payable |100 | |Total liabilities |100 | |Stockholder's equity | | |Common stock |50,000 | |Retained earnings |3,700 | |All other equity |0 | |Total liabilities and stockholder's equity |53,800 | |Air & Sea Travel Inc. |Statement of Cash Flows | |April 30, 20X6 | |Net cash provided by operating activities | |3,400 | |Net income |5,800 | | |Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by op erating activities |(2,400) | | |Net cash used for investing activities | |(18,000) | | Sale of land |22,000 | | |Acquisition of land |(40,000) | | |Net cash provided by financing activities | |47,900 | |Issuance stock |50,000 | | |Dividends |(2,100) | | |Net change in cash | | 33,300 | |Beginning cash balance | |0 | |Ending cash balance | | 33,300 | 2. a) They performed very well, since they got profit in the end of the month. They do not pay too much salary and they don’t have too many depts. To be a financially well-managed company, it must generate profit, meaning there is more money coming in than going out. This looks to be well managed company since there is a lot of profit in the end of the month. Income Statement, Statement of Retained Earnings, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows are all on the plus side. Nothing seems to be out of order. b) They have 33,300 retained earnings at the end of April, which means a good profit.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Peasents in Northern Renaissan essays

Peasents in Northern Renaissan essays Peasants in the Northern Renaissance In the North peasants are often ridiculed and a source of humor for that wealthy nobles. But after awhile there started to emerge another class, merchants and such. So families that were once peasants have been elevated. But often to the nobles they are still no better. Artists during this time were obviously fascinated with their social status. A few including: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Lucas Cranach, and Diego Velazquez. In Cranachs The Fountain of Youth you have the old and sick flocking to the fountain. It does not matter if youre noble or a peasant. Cranach was obviously aware of the tensions present at this time and you have to wonder if the family he pained this for realized that he had put nobles and peasants swimming in the same pool. You also see the old and sick going into the pool and emerging young and healthy, which can also be take as going from poor to rich. Bruegels Peasant Wedding shows the reception of a wedding. He often painted peasant scenes, perhaps because at some point his family was very poor and he wanted to bring show these people in their real forms. Yet still with this sympathetic eye you can tell he is making fun of these people. The bride has a paper crown hanging above her head on the wall and she has a stupid yet content look on her face. Everyone around her only seems to be concerned with the food in front of them. They are carrying the food around on makeshift platters, a wooden door. The one upper class thing noticeable in the painting is a peacock feather but its lying on the floor, forgotten. Velazquezs Water Carrier of Seville shows a common man doing what was considered a noble deed. The water carrier looks very intelligent and if given court clothing could easily fit in at court. The young boy is obviously reverent of his position and perhaps hopes to become a water carr...

Monday, November 4, 2019

American Airlines Strategy Paper Essay Example for Free

American Airlines Strategy Paper Essay Currently the airline industry as a whole seems to be on the road of recovery. We, American Airlines, the fourth largest carrier recently avoided bankruptcy, but had a summer full of pressure due to ongoing union struggles and questionable executive compensation packages. After having incurred such big losses, this recovery has come about because of the government bailout and many of our large competitors’ abilities to survive the turbulence in the industry. So far, the prospects look promising. Revenue has improved across all regions of the business. Domestic unit revenue was up almost 10 percent and Latin American revenue has increased by close to 11 percent in the last quarter of 2012 compared to the same period the prior year. We are performing better than other airlines that have filed for protection and have done so without slashing capacity. In short, American is doing the right things to return to business efficiency and customer effectiveness. In order to establish a sustainable position for the future, American Airlines must adopt a three-pronged strategy moving forward. First, we should focus on low priced operations and increased marketing strategies to improve customer demand. We have to enhance customer experience and our volume of loyal customers to build a stronger presence in Airline Industry. Second, we must focus on increasing and improving the routes to cater to large customer base. Lastly, we must address the difficulties our company might face in integrating with the culture of US Airlines. Our future success is highly dependent on these two entities efficiently operating as a single organization. US Airline industry today is dominated by five major domestic carriers. United, Delta and Southwest each has more than 15 percent market share. American is fourth, with around 12 percent and US Airways is fifth with around 10 percent. Four of these five are profitable — all but American. We lost $2 billion in 2011 and $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Our emphasis in 2013 is on operational flexibility, international growth through alliance and selective network expansion, and domestic partnerships to reduce operational and balance sheet risks. American’s market differentiation is based on emphasizing and meeting the needs and expectations of high value customers (particularly large global corporates) and better alignment with the one world airline network and value proposition. Also, being the lead carrier between not only the United States and Latin America but, increasingly, the world and Latin America—connecting through Dallas, Los Angeles, or Miami. This strategy makes sense; if they can get all labor work groups on board, they should be able to make it happen. That is still the main challenge, as is competitor contestation, particularly from larger traditional rivals like Delta and United. Improve Customer Demand Lower Operational Costs American passenger division which already has 57 fewer planes in service than an year ago, should further shrink by another 57 planes this summer. This would improve operational efficiency. Current service levels include 275 cities with a fleet of over 1000 aircraft. American carries about 80 million passengers daily and receives more than 329,000 reservation calls, handles more than 293,000 pieces of luggage and flies more than 4300 flights in one typical day. In order to reduce costs further over 27000 jobs will have to be eliminated. Because of high competition in the industry, substantial price fluctuations occur related to fares. Increase value added services offered through our interactive website, AA.com. Any differentiation that convenience added capabilities offer is the center of focus. Busy hiub systems and schedule patterns need to be looked at to improve efficiency and routing effectiveness, thereby enhancing customer experience. We need to do rigorous marketing to attract more customers. Our marketing is currently focused on seasonal and business travelers and much analysis is taken in order to optimize peak travel seasons as well as frequent flier miles programs and pints systems. The Making More Room in coach program is the original marketing ploy of American to project a perception of higher passenger comfort levels. As increased advertising and intense market share is gained, we will continue to remain a key player assuming passenger demand goes up as projected. We will focus on upgraded in-flight entertainment systems, football game special fares, and buy-on board meal options to further enhance customer experience. American Airlines’ new network strategy is designed to improve profitability by offering the routes and schedules that attract and retain not only their own high value customers but also those of alliance partners, an important source of revenue through codeshare agreements and closely aligned loyalty programs. The network is the core product that works in concert with lie-flat seats, onboard amenities, and customer service. Latin America is a prominent focus, due in part to our strong presence in key hubs to Latin America such as Dallas and Miami. This is where the profits are. Passenger growth forecasts for Latin America for 2013-17 are 6 percent for Latin America North (Central America and the northern rim of South America) and 8 percent for Latin America South (southern cone countries such as Brazil and Argentina). This compares with 3.6 percent for Europe and 4.4 percent for Asia. To follow the growth markets, we must change our portfolio mix to focus more on international rather than domestic routes. This is a gradual process, moving from 38 percent international and 62 percent domestic capacity in 2013 towards a 44/56 percent balance by 2017. As we refocus more of our flying towards international opportunities, it is likely to look towards increased code-sharing with domestic carriers like Alaska Airlines, jetBlue, and others to further enhance our network in places like Los Angeles and New York City. This is likely to have initial teething problems, due to terminal colocation and product disparity issues. For instance, the business passengers that we are pursuing may be disgruntled by jetBlue’s more restrictive carry-on baggage policies or by extra time and added security checks if they are required to change terminals. Our plan is also to diversify our domestic feed by increasing the number of regional carriers with which we do business to reduce operational and balance sheet risk. Today, we primarily get a feed from our wholly-owned subsidiary, American Eagle, which has higher costs than some other regional carriers. American Eagle is going through its own restructuring to lower its costs, and it may ultimately be spun off. Merger with US Airways will result in the largest carrier in US. It would create roughly $1.2 billion in financial benefits. American Airlines Strategy Paper. (2017, Jan 20).

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Comparison of Perfect Competition and Monopoly Essay

Comparison of Perfect Competition and Monopoly - Essay Example This essay describes two of the market structures, such as perfect competition and monopoly by comparing and contrasting the various defining characteristics of both structures. Economics classify markets, according to the industry within which the firms work and how they affect the overall economy of the country. However, on the other hand, industry is the combination of various economic variables, which determine the overall nature, characteristics as well as extent of the competition within that particular industry. There are different market structures which define the various and unique characteristics of the different market structures present in the economy. Monopoly and perfect competition are two of the most important market structures which are present in the economy offering different advantages and disadvantages to the consumers. Perfect competition is a market structure in which there are large numbers of fully informed buyers and sellers of a homogenous product with no obstacles to entry or exit of firm in the long run. Monopoly is often characterized by the market power where monopoly as the ability to influence the market specially in terms of the total quantity produced and sold in the market. It is believed that perfect competition is something where resources are efficiently utilized and efficiency is achieved as perfect market tends to maximize the total utility of the consumers. Monopoly firm has the ability to charge higher prices which ultimately reduce the consumer surplus for the firm.