History and function of legal services of america Research Paper

History and function of legal services of america - Research Paper Example This paper is in the view that inequities in the delivery of U.S. legal assistance ought to be dealt with. It is therefore recommended that a young generation of advocates for legal assistance be promoted plus the establishment of a mission of incorporating legal assistance into the promotion of human rights campaign. History and Function of Legal Services of America Legal service refers to the help or free service in the law field. In its different decisions, the Supreme Court has declared flatly that legal aid is a responsibility of a welfare state and should not at any time be viewed as a charity. From as early as the late 1800s and all through the early 20th century years, the American legal profession conveyed its dedication to the idea of free legal aid for the poor. This would be in form of bar association, legal aid committees and legal aid societies. Since 1964, the government of the United States has backed its dedication to equal justice under the law through offering fede ral financing for civil legal assistance to individuals with low-income (Auerbach, 1977). ... This was the first agency that offered legal aid to people no matter their sex, race or nationality (Auerbach, 1977). Other municipalities also followed in this direction and most major cities had new legal aid offices in the first decades of the twentieth century. Legal Services Corporation (LSC) A corporation controlled by a nonpartisan, independent Board was created by the LSC Act. It was appointed by the President and affirmed by the Senate. Of the eleven members, there were no more than six members belonging to the same political party. Attorneys had to make a majority of the board and it was to be inclusive of persons who would actually be qualified for legal services. Additionally, the board was to in general represent the organized bar, lawyers offering legal aid to the poor and the public at large. The corporation was entitled to obtain federal financing and make grants to local legal services programs that were independent (Subrin & Woo, 2008). President Gerald Ford appoint ed the first LSC Board which was confirmed in mid-1975. The decisions made by the board on the major policy issues expressed a desire to make sure that the individuals who were poor had legal representation that was effective and an appreciation of the merits that the existing delivery system had. Most of the effort by the corporation initially went into acquiring more financing from Congress in order to expand the reach of the legal services program. In 1977, without substantial argument, the Corporation was reauthorized for three more years. There was clarification as well as lifting of some restrictions. LSC started focusing on making the local programs more effective through the improvement of the evaluation and monitoring systems. By 1981, the LSC was

Neo Neo Debate in International Relations

Neo Neo Debate in International Relations The study of international relations is best thought as a protracted competition between the realist, liberal, and radical traditions (Stephen,1998). In international relations theory, there are four Great Debates argued by the international relations scholars. In this paper, the neo-neo debate to the study of international relations is the topic used to talk about. The neo-neo debate in international relations is known as a debate between scholars of neo-realist international relations theory and neo-liberal institutionalism (Steve, 2001). The neo-neo debate is not a debate between two completely opposite viewpoint. This paper is finished under the hammer at revealing the key features and the main contributions of the neo-neo debate to the study of International Relations. This paper is divided into three sections to finish the work. In the first section, the key features of the neo-neo debate to the study of International Relations show in this part. Section two focuses on the main contributions of the neo-neo debate to the study of International Relations. The last section relates to the conclusion of the whole paper. 2.0 Discussion about the features and contributions Neorealism and neoliberalism are the two most contemporary approached to international relations theory and they create the neo-neo debate which has dominated much of international relations theory for the last decade (Powell, 1994). Arguments on the consequence of both anarchy and gains and the prospect for peace form the basis of the neo-neo debate (Taylor, 2006). Though neorealist and neoliberal international relations theorists pursue different arguments, the neo-neo debate is not a debate between two polar opposite worldviews. They share assumptions which focus on similar questions and they agree on very similar, through not identical, set of assumptions about international politics. In a word, there are both similarities and disparity between neorealism and neoliberalism. Taylor (2006) thinks the similarities between thee two schools are from the neorealism. First, both of them think states are rational egoists. Unlikely the classical liberal proposition that the idealistic sel f-abnegation and self-regarding motivations of states (Hobson 2000), neoliberal scholars agree with neorealists that states are rational egoists so that they are self -interested. This similarity formed those baseline assumptions that neoliberalists began to question and argue with neorealism. Despite there are similarities between neorealism and neoliberalism, neoliberals maintained many of the key assumptions from the classical liberals. In this paper, there are some points under the neo-neo debate of international relations to show the incomplete opposite between neorealist and neoliberal international relations theories. Exactly those assumptions borrowed from neorealism and core classical liberalism produce the debate between neorealism and neoliberalism. First, the notion of anarchy in international relations is the most significant part among these two schools. To the classical realist, anarchy means that there is no government of governments and no authority in the world greater than the sovereign state (Fraser, 2010). But to the neorealist, anarchy is the organizing principle that makes states to act the way they do. The world is constituted of nations which are governed by states in relative anarchy (Axelrod Keohane 1993). States are supposed to be rational and unitary actors. In the world of anarchy, states have to use self-help as a predominant tool (Setear, 2010). Waltz (1979) thinks that the effect of anarchy is to create the principle of self-help, because a state can only depend on itself for its survival. States are unable to control in an anarchic climate so that they should prepare to be challenged by opportunistic, stronger states (Hobson 2000). Neorealists stand on the belief that the state is the most important actor in international politics to peace, but they also feel powerless to influence the peaceful action of other states. Though neoliberalism is different from Neorealism, it does not vote down the anarchic nature of the international relations. Scholars of neoliberalism emphasis the neorealists have exaggerated the importance and effect of anarchy. They think anarchy can be mitigated by international regimes and institutions. That is to say they argue that the neorealists underestimate the effect of institutionalised co operation. Neoliberalism believes that interstate cooperation could create institutions and regimes for the peaceful settlement of conflicts (Sheldon, 1994). Another core disparity within the neo-neo debate is the problem of absolute and relative gains. The difference of this disparity is obvious. Neorealists think that all states must be concerned with the absolute and relative gains which produce by international agreements and cooperative efforts. While neoliberals are less concerned about relative gains and considers that both of them will benefit from absolute gains. For neorealists, winning at all costs can make their friends be their enemy in war in the pursuit of relative gains (Taylor, 2006). For neoliberals, if states only pursue absolute gains, they can cooperate with each other and avoid conflict by maintaining the international principle through a positive game (Viotti and Kauppi 1987). This disparity has significant implications on the problems of security concerns of states and the prospects of world peace (Taylor, 2006). Hence neorealists consider conflicts as inevitable outcomes of international relations. Besides, neorea lists focus more on the short-term gains of states in competition while neoliberals pay more attention on longer-term absolute gains (Taylor, 2006). Hence neorealists place a higher emphasis on power-maximizing and security dilemma than economic prosperity (Baldwin, 1993). Neoliberals support that international institution can play an important role in resolving conflicts and that it can make states cooperate and work toward long-term gains rather than relay on short-term gains. Though neoliberals agree with neorealists on that states act only out of self-interest, they can not share the suggestion of neorealists about the possibility of international cooperation. The neo-neo debate has been the dominant focus in international relations theory scholarship in the USA for the last dozen years (Baylis Smith, 2006). Neorealism and neoliberalism turn to be conceptual frameworks which show people the images of the world rather than just theories. Both neorealism and neoliberalism have its limits and deficiencies. Neoliberalism emerged as a new liberal response to realism during the last decade of the Cold War. Interestingly, the neoliberals borrow many neorealist assumptions but distance themselves from the classical liberalist theory so they can restore integrity to liberal ideals (Taylor, 2006). Neoliberalism is always named as neoliberal institutionalism in the academic world. The development of neoliberal institutionalism presents a serious challenge for neorealist analysis. But the debate between them is still an inter-paradigm one. The neo-neo debate refers to the problems of state power, relations among different states, and relations betwee n state and non-state actors. Baylis and Smith (2006) point out neorealism and neoliberalism share many assumptions about actors, values, issues and power arrangements in the international relations theories. During the 1960s and 1970s, the appearance of non-state actors induced the world structure to change. Keohane and Nyne (1972) argue that a definition of politics in terms of state behaviours alone may lead us to ignore important non-governmental actors that allocate view. Then the neoliberalism came out to explain the changes of world structure. Neoliberals think states should not be seen as the unique actor in international politics. Its assumptions clearly challenges and distinguishes itself from neorealism. Neorealists think that states are the primary and unitary actors in international politics. But the truth is globalization provides opportunities and resource for transnational social movements have challenged the state authority and control in some areas (Baylis and Smith, 2006). That is no exaggeration to say that the neo-neo debate comply with the development of international politics. During the development of international relations theory, the development of each school is rooted in argument between different schools. Through those arguments, scholars of international relations extend their thoughts and explore more possibilities, shine their studies, and finally accept the strong points of the others and the weak points belong to themselves. Then they can rethink profoundly on their own theories and make recreation on their works. That is how neorealists and neoliberals affect each other and the development of international relations theories. Powell (1994) points out that much of the neo-neo debate can be seen as a response to Waltzs Theory of international politics and a reaction to those response. Waltzs key contribution to the international relations theories is the creation of neorealism which is also called structural realism by him. Neorealism is a reaction to the classical realism and leads the response from neoliberals. Then the debate between neoreali sm and neoliberals came out to discuss problems which exit in the international politics. The debate between neorealism and neoliberalism is much more deepen and careful than the debate between realism and liberalism. The approach used within the debate has its new features in evidence. It also opens up a new from of debate which not exclude each other and not easy to assert the fault of the other. Some scholars also think the neo-neo debate between these two theories have failed to contribute as much as they could have to the international relations theory. Powell (1994) thinks neorealism and neoliberalism have serious internal weakness and limitations which lead to the neo-neo debate present confuse rather than clarification. Maybe this shortcoming can also be looked as a contribution to the international relations theories. Scholars need to find much more directions for the future theoretical work after they have realized there were weakness and limitations within the neo-neo debate. 3.0 Conclusion Today, many of foundations of the interstate system are challenged by change in international norms. These changes have led to a debate among scholars about whether those international relations theories will survive in its current form or evolve into another theory that does not come out. Neoliberals believe economics is a driving force which can encouragingly increase cooperation among nations in international relations. While neorealists think that military force will continue decide what happens in the world. Both of them are right to some extant. And none of them will replace another. May another new debate will replace them someday, the neo-neo debate is still a great evolution of the study of international relations.

Free College Essays - Shakespeares Sonnet 147 :: Sonnet essays

Sonnet 147 SONNET CXLVII My love is as a fever, longing still For that which longer nurseth the disease, Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill, The uncertain sickly appetite to please. My reason, the physician to my love, Angry that his prescriptions are not kept, Hath left me, and I desperate now approve Desire is death, which physic did except. Past cure I am, now reason is past care, And frantic-mad with evermore unrest; My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are, At random from the truth vainly express'd; For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee bright, Who art as black as hell, as dark as night. PARAPHRASE OF SONNET CXLVII My love is like a fever, still longing, For that which feeds the disease, Feeding on that which prolongs the illness, All to please the unhealthy desires of the body. My reason, love's doctor, Angry that I do not follow his directions, Has left me, and desperate I find that desire Leads to death, which physic (reason) will not allow. Now reason is past caring, now I am past cure, And I am frantic with continual unrest; My thoughts and my words are like a madman's, Lies foolishly uttered; For I thought you were moral and bright (shining as a star), But you really are black as hell and dark as night. Analysis Shakespeare's scathing attack upon the morality of his mistress exemplifies their tumultuous and perplexing relationship. The three quatrains outline the poet's inner struggle to cope with both his lover's infidelity and the embarrassing self-admission that he still desires her to gratify him sexually, even though she has been with other men. The poet yearns to understand why, in spite of the judgment of reason (5), he still is enslaved by her charms. Confused by his own inexplicable urges, the poet's whole being is at odds with his insatiable "sickly appetite" (4) for the dark lady. He deduces in the final quatrain that he surely must be insane, for he calls his mistress just and moral when she obviously is neither. Not until later sonnets (150-1) do we see a change of tone and a cool-headed acknowledgment of the recklessness of the whole affair. In Sonnet 151, the poet admits that he cannot continue the relationship because it betrays his "nobler part" (6) i.

Picking Cotton by David Graves Essay

Abstract This story is about two people, two victims of crime. Two people that suffered from circumstance and circumstantial evidence. Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson are these two people. This story is about the way circumstantial evidence convicts and the way DNA exonerates. Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson are living the ultimate human story. It is one of error, recognizing it and being redeemed. Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson were living in Piedmont North Carolina during the crime. Anyone who has lived there in the past twenty years knows their names, but probably not their entire story. In 1984, Jennifer Thompson was 22 when a man broke into her house and raped her. As the man assaulted her, she studied and memorized his face, as well as his voice, and everything she could about him. Jennifer’s intention was to survive, and when the assault was over, she wanted to put him in prison for the rest of his life for what he did to her. After Jennifer was treated for her injuries she helped the police draw a composite sketch of the man who raped her. The Police Department of Alamance County had never seen a victim so composed, so determined and so sure. Just a few hours after her horrifying ordeal, after the emotionless doctor swabbed her vagina for semen samples at the hospital, Jennifer sat down at the police station with Detective Mike Gauldin. â€Å"The first comment I remember her making was that, â€Å"I’m going to get this guy that did this to me.† She said, â€Å"I took the time to look at him. I will be able to identify him if I’m given an opportunity,† Gauldin remembered her saying (Hansen, 2001). She began combing through photos, trying to help come up with a composite of her rapist. The sketch went out, and tips started pouring in. One of those tips was about Ronald Cotton. Three days after the rape, Detective Gauldin called Jennifer in to the police station to do a photo lineup. Detective Gauldin lay six photos down on the table. The Detective said that Jennifer did not immediately identify a photo from the photo lineup. She took her time and studied each picture carefully. â€Å"I can remember almost feeling like I was at an SAT test. You know, where you start narrowing down your choices. You can discount A and B,† Jennifer said. She picked out Ronald Cotton’s photo. Cotton heard the news from his mother’s boyfriend. He told me, â€Å"Ron, the police are looking for you.† And I said, â€Å"For what?† And he told me, â€Å"For rape.† And I said, â€Å"I haven’t committed such a crime like that,† Cotton said (Finkelstein, 2009). Ronald Cotton gave Detective Gauldin a very detailed account of where he was, and who he was with that night. As it turned out the statement that Ronald Cotton had given to the Detective was false. He later realized that he had gotten his weekends mixed up. By this point it was t oo late. His honest mistake gave them more reason to think that he was lying, and if he was lying about his whereabouts on the night of the rape, what else was he lying about? The day he went back to the police station to clear his name, was August 1, 1984. He did not get the chance. He was arrested. Ronald Cotton was not going to get to leave. He was getting locked up, and days later he was put in a physical lineup. â€Å"I’m number five,† Cotton remembered. â€Å"I was very scared, nervous. I was so nervous, I was trembling. I felt my body just shaking† (Finkelstein, 2009). A week later, Jennifer sat across a table from six men that were holding numbered cards. She picked No. 5. And with the words, â€Å"That’s my rapist, Detective Gauldin,† she changed another’s existence as well as her own forever. On August 1, 1984, Ronald Cotton was arrested for the rape that had been committed against Jennifer Thompson. In a week-long trial, the jury heard about Cotton’s faulty alibi, his clothing that matched Thompson description, and a piece of foam found on her floor that seemed to come from one of his shoes. And most powerful, they had heard from Jennifer Thompson. In court, when she was asked if she recognized her rapist, she had named Ronald Cotton. â€Å"She called my name, pointed a finger. And that’s all, that’s all it takes, it seemed like,† Cotton said, â€Å"It felt like someone pushing a knife through me† (Hansen, 2001). Her testimony was extremely powerful. Even Ronald Cotton could feel the jury sympathize with her. He himself even sympathized for her. In silent terror, he watched as the system labeled him a rapist. He was only 22 years old, and the world that he had foreseen and dreamed about, all his plans were over now for a crime he did no t commit. The Prosecutor’s evidence at trial was all circumstantial evidence; however they had an eyewitness, Jennifer Thompson. The Defense Team had Ronald Cotton’s alibi, which was supported by family members. They tried to allow the jury to hear the evidence about the second rape victim that night, but the jury was not allowed to hear that evidence, or to hear that the second victim failed to pick Cotton out of photos that the police had showed to her, as well as the police lineup. The prosecution based its case on several points and used circumstantial evidence to obtain their conviction. These included; photo identification by one of the victims, police lineup identification made by one of the victims, a flashlight in Cotton’s home resembled the one used by the assailant and rubber from Cotton’s tennis shoe was consistent with rubber found at one of the crime scenes. â€Å"It took the jury just 40 minutes to reach a verdict: guilty on all counts. â€Å"He was sentenced to life and 50 years. That was when Jennifer Thompson realized the justice system worked. Ronald Cotton was handcuffed, shackled, and taken to North Carolina’s Central Prison. He was just 22 years old. â€Å"You know they say grown men don’t cry, but it’s a lie you know. I grabbed my pillow many times and hugged it, wishing I was hugging my mom, my dad, sister, brother. Wish it didn’t have to be this way,† said Ronald Cotton (Finkelstein, 2009). On Jan. 17, 1985, Ronald Cotton was sentenced to life in prison. Ronald Cotton was convicted by a jury of his peers of one count of rape and one count of burglary. As Ronald Cotton was lead off to prison he said, â€Å"I say the truth will come to light and the Lord knows I am an innocent man. Someday, somewhere, the truth is going to come out in my case.† While he was in prison, Cotton spent his days and nights writing letters to lawyers, newspapers, and to anyone who would li sten to him. He would do anything to get a new trial. Ronald Cotton tried to believe what his father kept telling him – which was, â€Å"that someday justice would prevail†. Then it happened. One day as he watched a new inmate being brought in, he had a strange feeling come over him. He wanted to know more about him, who he was, where he came from, so Cotton approached him. â€Å"I said, ‘Excuse me. You look familiar. Where are you from?† He told Cotton, â€Å"I’m from Burlington.† Cotton told him, â€Å"I am too.† I told him that, â€Å"You kind of resembling the drawing of a suspect in a crime in which I’m falsely imprisoned for. Did you commit this crime?† And he told me, â€Å"no, I did not,† remembers Cotton (Finkelstein, 2009). Cotton understood immediately why he felt the way he did upon seeing the man for the first time. He thought of the composite drawing when he saw the inmate. The inmate’s name was Bobby Poole, and he was serving consecutive life sentences for a series of brutal rapes. He also started working in the prison kitchen too. â€Å"The stewards were calling me Poole instead of Cotton,† Cotton said. People were constantly mistaking the two men for each other. During many of the years he spent in prison, Cotton actually knew who the real rapist was. The two bore a striking physical resemblance to one another, and to the police sketch of Thompson’s attacker. While in prison a fellow inmate heard Poole going around bragging to other inmates that Cotton was doing some of his time for a rape that he had committed. Eventually an inmate told Cotton that he’d heard Bobby Poole admit to raping Jennifer Thompson and the other woman that night. Ronald Cotton was in prison for this rape, a rape that he was convicted of, and the rape that sentenced him to life plus fifty ye ars, a rape that he did not commit. Ronald Cotton was full of rage. He was angry. Cotton hated Poole. He decided to make a blade out of a piece of metal. He was going to kill him. Cotton told his dad of his plans and Cotton’s father begged him not to. â€Å"Put your faith in God,† his father said. â€Å"If you kill Bobby Poole, then you really do belong behind these bars† (Finkelstein, 2009).So Cotton eventually threw his blade away and his plans to kill Bobby Poole. Cotton’s attorney filed an appeal. On appeal, the North Carolina Supreme Court overturned Cotton’s 1985 conviction because the second victim had picked another man out of the lineup. The trial court had not allowed this evidence to be heard by the jury. An appeals court had ruled in Cotton’s favor stating that evidence relating to the second victim should have been allowed in the first trial. Ronald Cotton had won himself a new trial, and his heart filled with hope. The new trial began in November 1987. Ronald Cotton was retried, this time for both rapes and burglaries, because the second victim had decided that now Cotton was her assailant. The witnesses would get a look at Bobby Poole, who was subpoenaed by Cotton’s lawyer. They would hear the evidence from prison informants, about him admitting to these two crimes. The informants would tell their compelling stories about the rapes that they had heard Poole so proudly boast about, the story that the public did not know. They would tell the story that the real rapist told them. Things the rapist would only have known. Cotton was excited, even confident, the trial began to look as though it was going his way. Finally, Cotton thought, he would be set free, he would be exonerated, and finally everyone was going to see the truth. He was not the rapist. However he had forgotten the power of Jennifer Thompson. Back on the stand, Jennifer Thompson was as confident as ever. She looked directly at Poole and then she looked directly a t Cotton. He was fifteen feet away from her and he could still feel the hatred in her heart that she had for him. Ronald Cotton is the man who raped me, she told the jury. It was not Bobby Poole. The Prosecution and defense asked her, Are you sure? And confidently she said, Yes, I’m sure. The second victim was less convincing, but she also pointed to him, too. Cotton’s lawyers called Bobby Poole to the stand with Thompson sitting right there. It was the moment Cotton had been hoping for. They tried to trigger her memory, by allowing her to see him up close, by allowing her to hear his voice. It was Cottons last hope, but nothing; she was too convinced that Cotton had raped her. So they tried to get him to break, but he did not. He denied the rapes and with that he sealed Ronald Cotton’s fate. An innocent man was living inside the shell of a convicted rapist. It was all over for Cotton. Cotton knew it; he knew that he would be convicted. The court fell silent as Ronald Cott on was sentenced again. He was convicted of both rapes and two counts of burglary. This time an Alamance County Superior Court sentenced Cotton to two life sentences plus fifty-four years. Ronald Cotton was convicted twice by eyewitness testimony. Seven more years went by, and then everyone in Central Prison was riveted by a big news story: the trial of O.J. Simpson. Cotton’s big break came in 1995 while he was watching the O.J. Simpson trial on television. â€Å"I would get my radio and put my earplugs in, and go outside, and sit in a corner,† Cotton said. There, he’d listen to the trial. He was intrigued by something he’d never heard of: DNA. The Attorneys and investigators kept talking about DNA evidence, something he had never heard of before. DNA was still in its infancy when he received his convictions and it was not used in his trial. He got an idea and he contacted his new attorneys. In 1994, the chief appellate defender had requested that two new lawyers take over Cotton ’s defense. Richard Rosen, a professor at the University Of North Carolina School Of Law, agreed to represent Cotton. He wrote to his new attorney, law professor Rich Rosen. Rosen warned him that there probably wasn’t any evidence left to test, and if there was, DNA could cut both ways. â€Å"Understand if the DNA comes back and shows that you did this crime, whatever legal issues we have don’t make any bit of difference. You’re going to spend the rest of your life in prison,† Rosen said. Cotton told him â€Å"to go with it† (Finkelstein, 2009). The lawyers filed a motion for appropriate relief on the grounds of inadequate appeal counsel. The lawyers also filed a motion for DNA testing that Cotton had been so adamant on getting. DNA testing was granted in October 1994. Packed away on the shelves of the Burlington Police Department was 11-year-old evidence from the two rapes that night. In the spring of 1995, the Burlington Police Department turned over all evidence that contained the assailant’s semen for DNA testing. Luckily, Burlington Police Detective Gauldin had preserved the biological material in the case, although there was no legal requirement for it to be maintained. Inside one of the rape kits was a fragment of a single sperm with viable DNA. The samples from one of the victim’s was too deteriorated to be conclusive, but the samples from the other victim’s vaginal swab and underwear were subjected to PCR based DNA testing. They were able to recover one tiny sample of sperm from the rape kit that had been used to treat Jennifer Thompson 11 years earlier. The DNA sample showed no match to Cotton (Celizic, 2009). At the defense’s request, the results were sent to the State Bureau of Investigation’s DNA database, containing the DNA patterns of convicted violent felons in the North Carolina prison system. The state’s database showed a match with the convict who had earlier confessed to the crime. There was enough DNA in the sample to prove Cotton was innocent and Poole was guilty. Then, under questioning by Detective Gauldin, Poole confessed to both rapes. In May 1995 when the official DNA results were reported, the prosecution joined Rosen in a motion to drop all charges. Judge McLelland granted the motion. Cotton was officially cleared of all charges on June 30, 1995 and he was released from prison in July 1995. And just like that, Cotton was a free man. Cotton received a gubernatorial pardon based on innocence the following month. In July 1995, the governor of North Carolina officially pardoned Cotton. Cotton had served 10.5 years of his sentence. Cotton began the difficult task of beginning a new life. When he was first released from prison 17 years ago, Cotton’s first job was with the DNA Company that conducted the tests that exonerated him. He now works for a company that makes insulation. He’s been married for 15 years and has a 14-year-old daughter. They live in a house paid for with restitution money from the state of North Carolina: $10,000 for each of the 11 years he spent in prison. Jennifer Thompson has also moved on. She is married and has three children. She and Cotton talk often. â€Å"He is an amazing human being. He has been a real good teacher for me.† He has helped me so much. Ron has taught me about forgiveness, and healing, and faith† (Hansen, 2001). Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson are now friends. In fact, they’ve written a book together: â€Å"Picking Cotton: A Memoir of Injustice and Redemption.† They sometimes travel together giving talks about the ways memory can deceive us, and they are working to change the way police conduct photo lineups (Connors, et al, 1998). They are also a testament to the power of the human spirit. When DNA evidence ultimately proved that another man committed the rape and Cotton was freed, Thompson was consumed by guilt and shame. However, Cotton talks about in the book that they wrote together, that he had long since forgiven her. â€Å"I couldn’t carry on serving my time in the prison system holding grudges and thinking about retaliating against a person that made an honest mistake. I had to proceed on in life regardless,† he told Vieira (Hansen, 2001). When I found out that I was going to be released from prison I was shocked. I almost did not believe it. â€Å"It was like a dream come true. I couldn’t belie ve it,† Cotton told Vieira. â€Å"The warden of the penitentiary called me in his office and told me I was going home tomorrow. I told him, â€Å"Please don’t pull my leg, it’s already long enough.† But it was true. I finally went home to be with my family and loved ones. The day I had prayed so hard for had finally come and it was not just in my dreams (Hansen, 2001). To jurors the point of the finger identifying a perpetrator is damaging evidence and mistakes can be made. However, now there is one type of evidence that’s even more persuasive: DNA. There have been 235 people exonerated by DNA in this country and now a stunning pattern has emerged: more than three quarters of them were sent to prison at least in part because an eyewitness pointed a finger – an eyewitness we now know was wrong (Torneo, 2009). Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and the man she mistakenly put in prison, Ronald Cotton is a tale about pain and redemption — and the tricks that memory can play on people with the best of intentions. â€Å"This can happen to anyone. And hopefully it does not happen to them,† Cotton told Vieira (Hansen, 2001). One of the most amazing things that have come out of this injustice is the most unlikely of friendships. He was sentenced to life in prison for a rape he did not commit by a woman who he now calls his friend. The two of them are truly inspiring, and the two of them were both victims. References Celizic, M. (2009, March 10). She sent him to jail for rape; now they’re friends. In NBCNEWS.com. Retrieved November 27, 2012, from http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29613178/ns/today-today_news/t/she-sent-him-jail-rape-now-theyre-friends/ Connors, E., Lundregan, T., Miller, N., & McEwen, T. (1998). Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science: Case Studies in the Use of DNA Evidence to Establish Innocence After Trial. Institute for Psychological Therapies. 10. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www.iptforensics.com/journal/volume10/j10_3_6_8.htm Finkelstein, S. (2009, July 12). Eyewitness: How Accurate Is Visual Memory? In CBSNEWS. Retrieved November 28, 2012, from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/06/60minutes/main4848039_page6.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody Hansen, M. (2001). Forensic Science: Scoping out eyewitness Ids (Master’s thesis). April Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://nersp.osg.ufl.edu/~malavet/evidence/notes/thompson_cotton.htm Thompson-Cannin o, J., Cotton, R., & Torneo, E. (2009). Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www.pickingcottonbook.com/splash.html

Koutons Retail India Limited Essay

The company went public in early 2006 and thereby became Koutons Retail India Limited (KRIL) with effect from June27, 2006. KRIL is primarily an integrated apparel manufacturing and retail company in India. They are in the business of designing, manufacturing and retailing under the brand names Koutons and Charlie Outlaw. Their main target customers are middle class consumers who are keen to trying out new fashions falling in the age group of 22 – 45 years. Find below a brief timeline of Koutons. 1991- Started as Charlie denim jeans showroom 1994 – Incorporated as Charlie Creations Pvt. Ltd 1997 – Diversified in non-denim apparel, awarded with Best Menswear Collection 1998 – Brand Koutons was launched 2002 – First exclusive brand outlet of Koutons opened 2006 – IPO. Name changed to Koutons Retail India ltd in June 27, 2006 2007 – Listed on BSE and NSE Koutons Financials Koutons has reported the fastest growth in its sales and profits among its listed and closest peers partly due to a smaller base. The Company’s restated total income and profit after tax were Rs 4036. 17 million and Rs 344. 87 million respectively as of and for the year ended March 31, 2007 compared to Rs 1583. 85 million and Rs 131. 8 million respectively as of and for the year ended March 31, 2006. (Exhibit 1). Koutons do not have any stock option scheme or stock purchase scheme for the employees of the company. Industry Overview The Indian retail sector, which is believed to be at an inflexion point, is valued at USD 270 billion (2006) with Food and Grocery being the dominant sector followed by clothing, textiles and fashion accessories which contributes nearly 9. 5%. The organized retail sector on the other hand has grown with a CAGR of 30% and stands at about USD 12. 4 billion (2006) which is only 4. 6% of the total retail market thus demonstrating its huge future otential. In the organized retail sector the major share is held by the clothing and accessories sector (39%) growing at a rate of 30. 3% during 2005-06, followed by food and grocery (11%). The Indian apparel retail industry(which mainly consists of sale of all menswear, womenswear and infantswear) grew by 12. 3% in 2006 to reach a value of $20 billion (INR 880. 9 billion); the CAGR growth for the period 2002-06 being 11%(Exhibit 2). The share of the organized apparel retail has grown steadily to reach 18. 9% in 2006. Considering an anticipated CAGR of 10%, the apparel retail industry in India is expected to reach USD 32. billion by end of 2011. Fuelled by strong economic growth, favorable demographics, easy availability of credits, availability of retail space, rising level of disposable income, rise in dual income families and shift of life style pattern, organized retail in India is expected to grow tremendously in the next few years. The emergence of the mall culture in India acts as catalyst in this growth story. By the end of 2007 approximately 68 million sqft of mall space is expected to come in India, majority being equally shared between North Zone (39%) and West Zone (33%). According to a 2005 KPMG retail survey report, the Specialty and Super Market format have the highest potential for growth (45%) followed by Hypermarkets(36%) and Discount Stores (27%). In terms of opening up of new retail outlets, the apparel retailers and brands attained a growth of 113% in 2006 compared to 84% in 2005. As on 2006, major share in the Indian apparel retail market is accounted for by Menswear (45%), followed by Womenswear (36. 1%), Infantswear (18. 8%). While the Menswear has witnessed a growth of 12% by value and 3. 9% by volume, Womenswear has grown 14. 9% by value and 5. 4% by volume. Almost comparable growth has also happened in the Infantswear sector (11. 5% by value and 3. 8% by volume). Competitive Landscape in Apparel Retail Porter’s Five Forces Model The competitive nature of the Indian apparel retail sector can be very well analyzed using the famous Five Forces Model as suggested by Michael Porter. Fig: Porter’s Five Force Model Bargaining Power of Buyers The bargaining power of buyers becomes weak because of three main reasons. First, majority of the buyers are individual consumers and hence has limited purchasing power. Second, the retailers can very easily differentiate their products. Third, only the retailers can provide the consumers with a wide variety of quality products. On the other hand, the fact that buyers have very low switching cost and retailers are obliged to act according to buyer needs provides the buyer with some bargaining power. Infact, it is believed that in Indian apparel retail, brand loyalty exists mostly for the brands and less for the retailers. Bargaining Power of Suppliers The sourcing happens mostly from the clothing manufacturers and the wholesalers. The manufacturing industry is highly fragmented in nature inducing a price war. Low product diversity on the part of the suppliers reduces the switching cost for the retailers. However, the only drawback of moving to a low cost supplier might be the threat of not being able to live up to the highly volatile trend of changing fashion. Entry Barrier Entry barrier is comparatively low, like any other retail sector. The industry itself is highly fragmented and requires low capital investment. The policy taken by the Government to open up the retail sector to foreign investments will definitely encourage entry of other foreign players. Threat of Substitutes We can identify three major threats to the apparel retail. First, with e-buying becoming popular with every passing day there may be an opportunity of buying directly from the manufacturers. Homemade apparels though can be a substitute has a very low threat mainly because of the ever changing fashion needs of the generation and the substantial increase in disposable income. The last and the biggest threat for substitute come from the sale of counterfeit apparels. Competitors The Indian apparel retail industry is highly fragmented in nature. Within the readymade segment there are both branded and unbranded players. There are many foreign brands that have established themselves successfully in the Indian apparel retail market using different channels. While brands like Allen Solly and Arrow have taken the licensing route, Benetton have entered the market through tie-up with domestic players. Again brands like Tommy Hilfliger, Mark’s and Spencers and Speedo have taken up the franchisee channel. On the other hand, Metro entered the market through cash and carry wholesale trading route. The private labels, by virtue of providing higher margins to the retailer and lower cost to the customers have also become extreme popular. Some of the well known private labels are John Miller, Bare and Stop. Although competition in the retail apparel segment is heating up, the inherent advantage of Koutons model – backward integration, positioning and first mover advantage – is not easy to replicate within a short period of time. On the back of the company? s aggressive rollout plan and diversification to high-margin segments, the company enjoys better valuations than its peers like Kewal Kiran and Zodiac Clothing, although not strictly comparable. There are approximately 23 major players in the branded apparel retail segment in India with Koutons coming next to Raymond Ltd. Exhibit 3 ; 4). Pentagon-Triangle Model Koutons mainly works on pentagon model. The key attributes of the pentagon model fit as follows: Place Size and Location: Out of 999 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs as Aug 20, 2007) 531 EBOs were present in northern region. West and east India has about 29 and 38 stores respectively. Koutons has o ver 1000 company managed stores and 18 manufacturing units. By August 2007 they owned 14 warehouse facilities spread around Gurgaon. They are present mainly in northern and north western region. By March 2006, there was no presence of Koutons in southern region. They have started slowly moving into southern region. Layout and Design: Koutons generally operate through a franchisee model. Traditionally, Koutons outlets used to store men? s apparel. But recently they have extended their product portfolio to include women? s and kid wear as well. Generally, the size of a Koutons outlet ranges from 1000 sq feet to 2000 sq feet; variations happening depending on the location, real estate rates and host of other factors as well. Their flagship stores have a size of 3000-5000 sqft. Koutons outlets may be single storied or multi storied. The outlets are generally spacious and display caters to need of middle class Indian customer segment. (Exhibit 5: Koutons EBO, Calicut). Product Style and Fashion: Go with latest fashion trends. Mainly target high fashion aspirants of the age group 22-45 years. If any type of fashion becomes obsolete, still Koutons tries to attract customers, but ultimately if situation does not improve they also stop keeping such fashioned garments and go with new trends and fashions. Assortment: Wide variety of men? s wear including shirts, trousers, jeans, jackets, T-shirts. Limited variety of kids and women? s wear. The assortment also depends on region. An EBO in north India might have little different assortment compared to one in south. Value Price: Low brand value. It sometimes offers 70% discounts which have diminished its brand value to a large extent causing a barrier in the way of moving up the value chain. Koutons follows a unique discounting policy wherein they claim to give a discount of x% + y% which is often criticized as a marketing gimmick and a way to mislead the customer. For example, a discount of 50%+40% often gives the customer the impression of availing a 90% discount – whereas effectively it means a 70% discount. Quality: Mixed conception among customers. Most people think its product quality goes down with increase in discounts. It has failed to maintain same quality of products throughout its EBOs across all regions. People Service: Koutons mainly deal with men? s apparels. But recently have started making garments for women also. Knowledge: For managerial position they mainly look for experienced people (at least 2-3 years of experience in apparel business). Climate: Koutons generally stocks apparel which are all-weather. Few varieties differ with region, e. g. sweaters are stocked in north EBOs but not in south. But most of the stock can be sold in all weathers. Communication Positional: Koutons have positioned themselves as „„value for money, but high on fashion†. They mainly target pro-fashion customers who are very much willing to try new fashion trends at nominal prices. They often offer attractive discount policies to attract middle class fashion minded customers. T heir target customers belong to age group 22 to 45 years. Promotional: Koutons mainly advertise through newspapers and they have a well designed website. They incur minimum advertising expense and rarely goes for any celebrity endorsement. Their presence in 450 cities of India is believed to have created an automatic brand visibility. Business Processes The two major business processes at Koutons are Manufacturing and Sales operations. The diagram below shows the processes involved in manufacturing. Some of the key differentiating factors involved in the business processes are : Procurement of raw materials: Procurement of raw material from India, China, Taiwan and Italy using third party suppliers. Third party manufacturers: To cater to the growing demand for outsourcing of manufacturing is also done. For this, the Company has executed 211 agreements with 211 fabricators. Manufacture of production sample: A product sample is produced in house according to the specifications provided for the range of products for a particular season. The first production report is prepared on the basis of this sample. All apparent and intricate corrections are made in the sample so as to make it error free. Accordingly, a detailed production plan is devised. Fabric cutting and stitching: A layout for cutting the respective products is done with the help of CAD plotter machines. Sales and distribution The company has a dedicated â€Å"Sales and Marketing† team which consists of 90 employees. Competitive Strengths The key strengths of Koutons are: ? Exclusive brand outlets ? Wide network of retail stores ? Low-cost sourcing capabilities (diminishing the cost of material as well as that of the final products hence resulting in low cost products) ? Proper brand positioning (identifying the proper target customer segment and meeting their requirements) ? Expertise in designing and merchandise (core competency) ? Efficient management ? Wide apparel range (customers can choose their required things from a well chosen stock) ? Efficient utilization of IT and making it a differentiating factor compared to other retailers. Koutons always follows proper strategic planning before taking any business decision. They are planning to increase their geographic penetration by increasing the number of brand outlets to distant areas, enhancing manufacturing capabilities, targeting new customer segments. Positioning the Koutons brand strongly (exporting apparels under the brand name), making potential mergers and acquisitions and most importantly constantly improving the cost structure. Some of the key differentiating strengths of Koutons are described in detail. Exclusive Brand Outlets: The majority of the apparel manufacturers cum retailers in India operate through a combination of retailing through exclusive outlets, national chain stores and multi brand outlets. This entails supplies being managed directly and through distribution agents. Koutons operate on a model of marketing apparel directly through a chain of exclusive brand outlets and thus are independent of external marketing pressures attributable to the national chain stores, multi brand outlets and other intermediaries. This enables them to focus quality maintenance and customer satisfaction without the interference of any external agency. This model also enhances the brand equity and recall as the shelf space on each of the exclusive brand outlets is controlled by company. In the process, Koutons has developed a greater brand visibility and an identity of its own and has thus reduced the chances of brand dilution. As of August, 2007, the â€Å"Koutons† brand was sold through 566 exclusive brand outlets and the â€Å"Charlie Outlaw† brand was sold through 433 exclusive brand outlets. The wide coverage of exclusive brand outlets from metros to tier II towns and through the various regions in India, allows them the flexibility to hedge against fashion changes given the general time lag in fashion trends between metro and tier II towns. The table below shows the growth in number of Koutons EBOs. The company? s brands are marketed through three outlet models ? Company owned / leased and company operated (COCO) ? Company owned / leased and franchisee operated (COFO) ? Franchisee owned / leased and franchisee operated (FOFO) The company had 17 outlets, 124 outlets and 858 outlets under COCO, COFO and FOFO models, respectively, on 20 August 2007. To accommodate all EBOs (Exclusive Brand Outlets) the company is also looking for spaces for extension. It has been allotted a manufacturing facility in Gurgaon at a total project cost of Rs 301. 85 million. Koutons has benefitted heavily by following a franchisee model as often large scale operation as theirs often becomes tough to be controlled by themselves alone. Also it helps Koutons in availing real estate easily. Besides, the franchisee owners bring in entreprenual energy to the business. This model has also helped Koutons in tackling to some extent the inherent attrition problem in the retail sector and cut down on loses happening due to staff related pilferage. Koutons, in the process, has also realized cost cutting by relieving themselves of the responsibility of bearing the social security liability of the employees. Koutons franchisee model is different from its peers as it offers its franchisee minimum guaranteed payments covering lease rentals, employee costs, and other establishment costs apart from incentivized sales. Products are consigned to the franchisees, who do not bear the inventory risk except for pilferage–the risk of unsold stock remains with Koutons. The company collects a security deposit (bearing nominal interest rate) from the franchisee towards the apparels that the latter stocks at the outlet. This model is highly attractive for franchisees who seek security and low investment, which is reflected in the rapid ramp up as well as the fact that franchisee churn rate has cumulatively been less than 1. 5 per cent since inception. Koutons has planned to expand their franchisee retail model to other products like home linen and furnishing and toys. Integrated player with low-cost sourcing capabilities: Koutons is an integrated apparel manufacturing and retail company with capabilities across the entire value chain of manufacturing and retailing. One of the major strengths includes in-house finishing facilities and rigid quality controls. Extensive logistics and supply chain management systems is put in place to maintain maximum flexibility, which enables them to meet needs in an efficient manner without relying on any one vendor, factory or country. The centralized purchasing system helps in achieving the standardization in quality control systems. Their involvement at every stage of the value chain has helped them successfully cut down on the intermediary costs. Unique brand positioning: Koutons positions itself as a „High Fashion Value for Money? brand. The â€Å"Koutons† brand is positioned in the middle to high fashion segment, offering a complete range of man? wardrobe (in the age group of 22 to 45 years). The â€Å"Charlie Outlaw† brand is a casual brand targeted at fashion conscious youngsters in the age group of 14 to 25 years. Foreign brands mostly target a niche market while Koutons cater to mass market. Koutons score over foreign brands in terms of fit and size they offer to Indian cons umers. Design and merchandising expertise, with a pulse on fashion: A team of designers and merchandisers who are supported by a staff of 40 professionals, including assistant designers and technical designers. Specialized design teams for each apparel categories are formed. Wide apparel range: A wide apparel portfolio which ranges from shirts, non denim trousers, denims, suits, blazers, T- shirts, cargos, capris, sweaters etc. It has also recently launched a range of apparel for women and children. IT Infrastructure: Until now Koutons has been using a specially developed computerized system (customized) to keep all records related to sales and inventories. To keep pace with the market competition and to make its operations more efficient, it has recently started using an enterprise resource planning system using advanced computer systems with the help of Ramco systems. This advanced system will help them to reduce inventory related problems (such as decreasing the inventory lead time, planning delivery schedules better), improving transparency and reducing redundancy. State of the art information flow system to maintain records relating to sales and inventory and integrate key work flows. In 2006 the company also installed a state of the art enterprise resource planning system. The company has been working on enhancing its IT capabilities for better management. This has helped it to bring down the average inventory days from 213 in FY07 to 202 in FY08. Huge sales per store due to hefty discounts offered by the stores. Weaknesses ? COFO model problems: Opening up manufacturing as well as retail outlets needs huge capital investments and hence limits the company? s ability to expand fast, as well as react to the changing market scenario. ? The company is not able to distribute from the multibrand shops and malls. This shuts it off from a major business opportunity and capitalizes on the retail revolution. ? Inventory problem: 340 days of inventory in an apparel industry where demand is seasonal. (Poor inventory turnover) ? Low Brand Value: Koutons stores only stock their own brands and perennial 70% discounts have completely eroded its brand value. This will prevent the company to move up the value chain. ? Concerns due to the nature of its business, Koutons finds large sum of money blocked up in the form of working capital. In FY08, working capital amounted to almost 68 per cent of annual sales which is on the higher side in retail sector. Acquisitions On January 2008, the Board of Directors decided to acquire 51% or more share in Touchwood International Pvt Ltd. , a Rs. 5 crore company and the owner of the brand „Upper Class?. The company has its presence in the ladies segments. „Upper Class? has its major presence in Delhi and has a strong foothold in the ladies garments segment. The brand specializes in casual bottom wear for women and has its presence in Multi brand outlets (MBOs) like Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons and Globus. Besides, it has its presence in the European market as well. Wh ile the acquisition will definitely give Koutons an exposure to the European market, it will help „Upper Class? gain a retail presence in the domestic retail market. Koutons has planned to open up 400 outlets of „Upper Class? by 2010. Expansion Koutons earlier was exporting Koutons and Charlie brand apparels to the Middle East. But it was halted in 2004 in 2004 as a part of the management strategy to focus more on the domestic market. But now that it has made its mark in the domestic market, it is actively trying to tap the exports market by 2008 with a view to target the Indian population in the Middle East region. It has initiated talks with large retail networks based in West Asia, whereby it plans to open 30 EBOs each of Koutons and Charlie brand by 2009. Koutons plans to enter the market through the route of Joint Venture wherein the majority stake will be retained by Koutons. While the designing, branding and production will be done by Koutons, their local partners will manage the supply chain and logistics. Koutons has already earmarked Rs 40 crores for rolling out the stores. Their first outlet is planned to come up in Dubai by 2008. The other cities under consideration are Abu Dhabi, Sarjah, Doha and Qatar. They also have plans to enter the Chinese market by 2008 and enter the European market very soon. All these would definitely provide the company with immense global visibility. Going Forward The company is aggressively rolling out its EBOs in southern India. Koutons would be enlarging its product portfolio in FY09 by adding categories like accessories and handbags for women along with belts for men and footwear collection for both men and kids by 2008. It is being done with a view to increase the footfalls in the outlets and thereby assist cross-selling and also to make it a one-stop-shop. The company has plans to introduce a new line of women? wear (Les Femme brand) and kids? wear. Koutons plans to open up 150 Koutons Junior and 200 Les Femme stores by 2009-10. To lessen the risk of stock obsolescence, the company has been deploying the strategy of shifting the unsold stock from metros to tier III towns to leverage the time lag in fashion trends between metros and tier III towns. For the year 2008-09, Koutons has planned to grow through the ladies wear and kids wear segments whi ch though being high margin segments are currently being dominated mostly by the regional players. Koutons plans to revolutionize these two segments by providing value for money products – which all throughout have been their core competency. The entry of foreign players in the Indian apparel market has one hand brought the threat the increased competition and on the other hand has increased the fashion awareness amongst the Indian population. However, which target mostly target the mass market can avoid direct confrontation with the foreign players who are more into niche segments. With the rising inflation and increasing cotton price, Koutons definitely has a challenge in their hands in the years to come.

Case 2 incident organizational behavior Essays

Case 2 incident organizational behavior Essays Case 2 incident organizational behavior Essay Case 2 incident organizational behavior Essay Giovanni Corrode Organizational Behavior September 30, 2013 Chapter 7 Assignment The Big Easy 1) In my personal, Im agree with what the data show because nowadays the students are taking more priority in socializing (party, girls, and other factors) than school. For example I heard some friends saying Im going to this school because the party time in that school is amazing. Those are some examples of how students are wasting their time. ) In this question I think students do have ethical responsibility to study because the education is the key of success in the majority of the cases. Also, nowadays this society divides the people thru their education status and their knowledge about a topic. 3) This fact concerned me because Im realizing that older people do have better education than us in this actual world, but at the same time I think the reason of this fact is that before they were not many entertainment and technology as today. I think that experts in economic are right about the competitiveness because is a fact that education and knowledge are key factors in a business. Case Incident 2 1) Organizational Justice refers to the ethical fairness in a workplace. With this being said, Work Bullying violates the fairness in a workplace because it violates the ethics and the fairness with the employers. 2) I think bullying doesnt help in a positive way to self-efficacy because a worker suffering bullying does not focus in the work and that reduce the chances of doing a good Job. I think that it will depend the situation, if the Job is worth it probably I would retaliate in a good way. 3) The first step that I would do will be talk to president or the manager of the place, and then I would try to how the managers the violation of the boss by reading the handbook of the rules or showing the manager how the boss is bullying me by a record or something similar. The least effective strategy will be to confront the boss that is bullying me and go into a fight or discussion with him. If one of my colleagues is suffering bullying I will go and talk to the manager the situation because if the boss does that to my colleagues, eventually he will do it to me. 4) In my personal opinion the factors that contribute bullying are lack of discipline, lack of training and lack of professionalism. I think Bullies are a product of a flawed personality, for example a bad experience in the past and passed thru bullying once in their life. I think one of the situations that contribute the presence of bullies, are those situations in which people have competition in a place and they think that being bullies will help them to win that competition in the workplace. Other factor that contributes to the presence of bullies is the lack of self-esteem, usually the bullies are people that are sad with themselves and being bully make them feel like a superior person. Case 2 incident organizational behavior By gasification

Build and Use a Tree Leaf and Plant Press

Build and Use a Tree Leaf and Plant Press Way back in the dark ages when I was taking tree identification in college, I pressed hundreds of leaves for further study. Even today, you cant beat using a real, preserved leaf to assist you in tree identification. A properly pressed leaf highlights its structure(s) and provides you with a three-dimensional leaf. Collecting the leaf aids you in the initial identification and gives you a self-made field guide for future help. Difficulty: Average Time Required: 2 to 4 hours (including purchasing materials) Heres How Cut a 24 X 24 plywood square in half to make the top and bottom sections of the 12 X 24 press. Place them on top of each other with edges even (c-clamps or bar clamps can be used to keep the wood in position).At each corner of the top and bottom pieces of plywood, measure in 1 1/2 from sides, 2 from top and mark with a pencil. Using drill bit the same size as your bolts, drill a hole through both pieces at each mark.Insert round-headed bolts up through each hole in every corner of both the top and bottom portions of the plywood press. Make sure the hole is small enough to accommodate the bolt but stops at the head. Add a washer and wingnut to each bolt. You now have a press with adjustable tension.Remove winged bolt nuts, washers and the  top portion of the plywood press leaving the bottom portion of the press and four bolts standing upright. It is from this open position that you load the press with any new leaves.Cut two cardboard pieces to fit between the press but not extend be yond the top, bottom or sides of the plywood press and to fit between the bolts. This cardboard is to go between the wood press top and bottom and the pressed material. Collect tabloid sized newspaper. To use: place leaves between double or triple sheets of newspaper, place newspaper between the pieces of cardboard. Close the press by repositioning the top plywood portion over bolts, attach washers, screw on wing nuts and tighten. Tips: Find a leaf on a tree you either know or would like to identify. Collect the leaf or several leaves that most represent an average looking leaf of the tree species. Use an old magazine as a temporary field press.Identify and label each specimen as soon as you collect it as identification is much easier when you can see the entire tree rather than just a few leaves. Remember to take your field guide along.You should not have to pay more than $10 for the material to build this leaf press. You can purchase presses for about $40. What You Need: 2 X 2 sheet of 1/2 plywoodFour 3 round-headed bolts with washers and wing nutsCircular saw, scissors and drillCardboard and newspaper

How to Write a Devotional The Ultimate Guide

How to Write a Devotional The Ultimate Guide How to Write a Devotional: The Definitive Guide Do you enjoy writing? Are you passionate about helping others grow in their spiritual lives? If you answered yes and yes, then you’ll enjoy learning the art of writing thought-provoking devotionals. There are many, many ways to write a devotional. But the principles that tie them together? Mostly the same. And in this guide, I’ll lay out some of the most popular and effective methods- as well as show you some strategies for coming up with great devotional ideas. Ready? Let’s start with the basics: Need help fine-tuning your devotional?Click here to download my free self-editing checklist. Devotional books are released thematically for: Teens Men Women Grandparents College students Veterans Teachers Athletes And just about any other people group you can think of Devotionals are used by a wide variety of media, including large-circulation daily devotional guides, such as The Quiet Hour, The Upper Room, The Secret Place, The Word in Season, Devozine,Pathways to God, and Wesleyan Church(These links will take youto their submission guidelines.) More than 25 devotional quarterlies each publish 365 new entries each year. Naturally, these need fresh material annually. Publishers of vacation Bible school and Sunday school materials often include devotionals for teachers and students. Many independent and denominational magazines (such as The War Cry and The Baptist Bulletin) run devotionals in each of their issues. Some publishing houses produce not only devotional books, but also devotional desk calendars and greeting cards. Again, this market must be replenished annually. Publications can’t just recycle devotionals they ran the previous year. They depend on freelance writers to provide hundreds upon hundreds of fresh, insightful new ones. What You Should Bring to the Table Writers of devotionals should have a pure heart (James 3:8-11). With humility, graciousness, and spiritual sensitivity, you can create somethingthat can alter a reader’s thinking and behavior. You also need a focused mind (Ps. 1:1-3; 73:28). A succinct and powerful message must be distilled to 150-175 words. This demands clarity. And you must have a burning desire (Jeremiah 20:9). Ask for God’s guidance to say the right words to someone who may be reading a devotional published a year after you write it. God is the Alpha, but He is also the Omega. He knows what hurts and needs people will have in the future, and He can use you to prepare materials today to help people during hard times tomorrow. You won’t get rich writing devotionals. In fact, you may have to write a half dozen to see more than $100. That’s why it’s important to write them in batches to make it worth your while- not that you’re doing it solely for the money. You can revise and resell your print devotionals as radio devotionals for about the same rate of pay. And you can collect your devotionals and publish them as a book, receiving an advance and royalties. But beyond payment, you may also enjoy the deep gratification of readers telling you your words changed a mind about an abortion, a suicide, or a divorce. Meeting Readers Where They Are People turn to devotionals to meet deep needs. Some have lost friendships, been divorced, suffered from criticism, betrayal, or the death of a loved one. They need the balm of God’s comfort. Others seek intimacy with God. Their prayer lives are lax, their testimonies weak, and their church attendance sporadic. They need to find their way back to Jesus. Some just want to grow spiritually or to discover a better way to share their faith. Your devotional may be their only connection to the Bible all day. A harried mom may read one just before bed. A busy teacher may read one during lunch. An executive may read oneduring breakfast. The Writing Method When you settle on a passage of Scripture as your anchor text, read it in different translations. Pray and meditate over it until you’re certain you thoroughly understand the verse in context. Stay current by offering an illustration today’s reader can relate to. Link modern challenges and questions to longstanding solutions from God’s Word- and make the connections obvious and logical. Need help fine-tuning your devotional?Click here to download my free self-editing checklist. The Makings of a Good Devotional Your reader is giving you a few minutes, and in exchange you must provide an engaging piece of writing that offers new insights. Be genuine and honest, not grandiose or admonishing. Good devotional writing says, â€Å"Walk with me a few minutes. Examine something with me.† Keep your style appropriate to your audience. Writing devotionals for teens is not the same as writing for seniors. Although your anecdotes and illustrations should be drawn from your life, the lesson should always be drawn from Scripture. Present God’s wisdom in a package your reader can relate to. Stick with tangible images, things readers can see, touch, smell, hear, and taste. Be specific, yet precise. Make each word count. Use visual nouns, punchy verbs, short sentences, and the active voice. Five Basic Patterns Learn these and you can begin using them immediately: 1. The Self-examination Draw on personal experiences and use anecdotes to teach valuable lessons. Often such devotionals begin with: â€Å"When I was in high school †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"When I was fishing alone one morning †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"During my first year at camp †¦ .† The recollection always has a moral or application that ties in with the selected Scripture. 2. An Outside Observer Reports Here you’re telling what happened to someone else. Real names may be used with permission, or changed, as long as the story is true. Often these devotionals begin with a phrase such as: â€Å"When my great-grandmother first came to America †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"My best friend had just gotten his driver’s license †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Most people are unaware that George Washington †¦ .† 3. You Interact with Other People Report on something you learned from a friend, coworker, or family member. Begin with a phrase such as: â€Å"My son taught me a lesson one day when I was walking him to school †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"My friend could always make me laugh †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"One day my college history professor was explaining †¦ .† 4. The Object Lesson Use a tangible object to parallel an event or circumstance. Jesus often used this format, employing such things as a mustard seed, a Roman coin, a lamp and a bushel, or a tower as metaphors. Object lesson devotionals quickly make readers see the parallel between the object and the lesson. â€Å"Trees killed by saltwater brought in by a tsunami will still stand upright and take up space, but they will bear no fruit. People who come to church each Sunday and occupy a pew but do nothing all week to share their faith are like these trees.† 5. The Double Meaning Phrase Take a well-known line from advertising, history, a song, or a poem and convert it to a Christian message, as in â€Å"A day without Sonshine is a gloomy day.† One devotional writer compared the rigid discipline of being a United States Marine to the discipline Christians should adhere to, calling the devotional, â€Å"Corps Values vs. Core Values.† Developing a Devotional Journal Because much of what we observe and say has potential to become material for a devotional, keep a journal for ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Begin today by answering: Did God use a specific verse of Scripture to change your life? Hows did it affect your outlook? Has God brought a person into your life to alter your direction? Like Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch, how did someone suddenly enter your life as a teacher, friend, mentor, or accountability partner? When did God make Himself known to you in a dramatic way? Did you receive an answer to prayer regarding a health issue, financial need, or spiritual awakening that proved He was working in your life? Record the details. Had God ever reprimanded and brought you back in line when you were spiritually wayward? Explain how you felt God’s chastening and corrective hand. Did God use a deep hurt in your life to make you sensitive to others or to show you new ways to be effective to those you serve? In answering these questions, you’ll discover your life is a source of great lessons you can pass along. Brainstorming More Devotional Topics As you make entries in your devotional journal each day, try to recall: A sad or funny experience you’ve had in the past year Things you’ve learned while traveling Challenging relationships with people at work, home, or school Something you are an expert on An item in a newspaper or magazine that fascinated you An editorial or column you strongly disagreed with An unusual experience or new challenge you’ve recently faced An opinion based on years of experience Something startling or insightful you recently learned from TV or a book A new perspective you gained from a sermon Societal trends that concern you An event that restored your faith in mankind Something related to science, nature, weather, or time that stunned you A trip to a museum that awakened a new appreciation for nature A new job assignment that has stretched you A family picnic or class reunion that gave you a special perspective Letters or diaries you recently discovered A poem or song that keeps coming to mind Volunteer work that helped you see the suffering of others A friend’s sickness or accident that alarmed you Avoiding Blind Spots Although certain publications use devotionals targeted to teens, working women, or seniors, most devotionals you will write will be read by a broad spectrum. So keep in mind: People live in many different financial and social conditions. The distinctive beliefs of many denominations and theological traditions are precious to people and must be respected. Some readers have limited education. So keep things simple but not condescending. People in other countries may not understand your slang and pop culture references. It is usually better not to write devotionals that stir controversy. So avoid topics such as infant baptism, female ordination, or speaking in tongues. The Basic Format Before submitting a devotional, obtain a publication’s writers guidelines and copies of the publication itself. Follow the guidelines exactly. Your name, address, and phone number should appear on each page. But some publications also ask for your email address. The basic format calls for a suggested passage of Scripture (usually 5 to 12 verses), a title, one printed-out specific verse from the suggested reading, and an anecdote or story that shows how that biblical lesson applies today. The writer’s byline usually appears at the end. Some publications ask that you begin or end with a prayer or thought for the day. Length varies, from as short as 75 words to as long as 225. The guidelines will state the preferred method of submission. Some editors like printouts mailed to the publication’s office. Some like email submissions. Some accept either. Most publications buy first rights, important because you can then re-use your devotionals in books. Summary Writing devotionals is a good way to enter nonfiction writing, earn money, and make a positive impact on thousands of readers. Your experiences and those of others are rich sources for ideas. How to Get Started 1) List 20 emotional hurts people are dealing with (loneliness, depression, guilt, shame, abandonment, grief, prejudice, etc.). Then list what aspects of spiritual growth could come out of each such experience (learning to pray more effectively, learning to bring the Good News to others, cultivating humility, etc.). 2) Start a devotional journal. 3) Try writing a one-page devotional and submit it to one of the devotional markets listed in The Christian Writer’s Market Guide. You’re on your way! In the comments section, answer this: What will your next devotional be about? Need help fine-tuning your devotional?Click here to download my free self-editing checklist.

The Development in Saudi Arabia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Development in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example It also experience major government controls over various economical activities. The growth rate of the country since 2000 has been varying with the highest being in 2004. The country is ranked as the largest exporter of petroleum in the world and has a very important role to play in Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Currently, the country is focusing on encouraging the private sector to invest in the country in order to create more employment opportunities for the local citizens in order to reduce the unemployment rate in the country that currently stands at 10.9%. Some of the effort by the government to attract more investors in the country is through improving service provision in telecommunication sector, natural gas exploration and other power generation measures. These measures are aimed at provision of a serene enviroment for transacting busineses. One of the challenging issues that affects Saudi economy is a high population of people who are illeterate. Th is has given way for the foreignors who retrieve countrys wealth and send back to their country. The government is therefore, aiming at improving education levels in the country through setting up various education institutions in the country.(Trading economics 2012) Population The population in Saudi Arabia stands at 26.1 million people as per July 2011 statistics. 20.5% of this population is Saudis while 5.6million of the total population are composed of foreign nationals. Annual growth rate in the country stands at 1.536% as per 2011. Major ethnic groups in the country comprise of Arabs 90% (of native population), afro- Asian (10% of native population). The main official language is Arabic while the literacy levels stands at approximately 78.8% with male comprising of 84.7 and female 70.8%. The workforce in the country comprise of 7.3 million with 80% of this number being foreigners. Industries hold 21.4 % of the population with services which include government holding 71.9% and agriculture on the other hand supporting 6.7% of the population (US department of state, 2012). Wealth indicators in Saudi Arabia Middle East countries are one of the driest countries in the world. As a result the country spends much of its revenues in importing food from other agricultural viable countries. In measuring the level of wealth, the main wealth indicator is food security. Food security in Saudi Arabia is measured using three key indicators. They include food aid as a proportion of overall domestic consumption, imports as a proportion of total consumption and lastly the income levels of the population in the country (Wilson & Bruins 2008, p.52). On the household levels, the mostly used indicators include: land ownership, vehicle ownership, type of the house, ability of the citizens to save their money and average earning per household. This gives the government a data that is used to gauge the public wealth status an aspect that is used in resource distribution (Wilson & Bruins 2008). Most significant industries in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is the world leading oil exporting countries. As a result the country’s main industries are oil related. These industries include crude oil production industries, petroleum refining industries and petrochemical industries. The three industries are the major contributors to Saudi Arabia economic growth. In addition, the country is one of the leading dates exporters making the sector play an

Candidate for the position of Chief of the Virtual Police Department Research Paper

Candidate for the position of Chief of the Virtual Police Department - Research Paper Example Community policing works towards ensuring that both the police and the citizens come together to prevent the occurrences and as well brings resolution to neighborhood conflicts. Community policing emphasizes on stoppage of the crimes or any other evil acts before they happen. It does not just deal with just making responses to calls after the occurrences of a crime. Its aim is to prevent the crimes and dealing with it in the process it is occurring. Furthermore, Community policing ensure that citizens get a lot of control of their lives’ quality control and regulation in their societies. The policing would mean that the corps becomes part and a fraction of the neighborhood. Community Policing also helps in ensuring that the police get a better understanding and knowledge of the demands of the citizens. Consequently, the citizens will gain trust in the police officers and their services to the community (Stevens, 1995). They will gain confidence in the police and respect and co rporate with them. In other words, the community works hand in hand with the department of the police in the community. If people believe that the community policy is in practice in their society, these people will be more possibly willing to give their good opinions, ideas and perceptions of these police. Moreover, in collaboration, both the community and police department will show togetherness in their work for them to accomplish their shared interests and objectives of creating a better and safer environment to dwell in. Together to attain shared objectives of a safer, better place to live. It is an indication of democracy and freedom in practice. Moreover, community policing is taken as an efficient and effective way to enhance the goodness of life within a community. Moreover, community policing also does a very significant role in giving meaning to the two aspects of policing. These are

Issues in Accounting Theory and Practice (Case Study National Case

Issues in Accounting Theory and Practice ( National Greenhouse Accounts Factor) - Case Study Example The greenhouse gases include methane, carbon dioxide, specified hydrofluorocarbons, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride and specified perfluorocarbons. There are four methods used to conclude scope 1 emissions. The first one is fuel combustion that focuses on fuel combustion and the emissions it releases. There is ‘emissions of industrial processes’ that deals with greenhouse gases resulted from carbonates consumption and using fuels as carbon reductants or feedstock. It also focuses on the release of synthetic gases in certain cases. Another method used in scope 1 fuels’ fugitive emissions, which focus on emissions from the removal, manufacturing and supply of fossil fuels. The fourth method is ‘waste emissions’ that deals with the release of GHG from the decay of organic material in facilities handling wastewater. The Contex Company has a lot invested in the use of transport fuel. It rents and leases motor vehicles, which means the company is respon sible for direct emissions through fuel combustion. They also provide equipment used in mining that results to the release of methane. The first method is fuel combustion, and it is appropriate for Contex because the company deals with motor vehicles that release GHG through use of fleet fuel. This is also because the most vital source is GHG emissions from the combustion of fuel that account for more than 60 per cent reported emissions. Activity 2 Scope 2 emissions are in most cases a type of indirect emission. The scope deals with activities that produce electricity, cooling, heating or steam that a facility consumes, but are not part of the facility. They take place mainly at electricity generators because of the consumption of electricity at a different facility. The emissions of scope 2 also come from electricity obtained from outside sources. The scope provides the factors of emissions through the electricity’s supplier or by using the NT’s emission factor. The g eneration of NT electricity largely represents a combination of the generation of diesel and natural gas, which is a logical equivalent for the fuel mix employed in outside electricity generation. The factors of emission for scope 2 show data depending on on-grid activity specifically, year average of annual financials, state-based activity, and physical traits of the demand and supply of electricity (Australian Government 2011). To formula, calculate the scope 2 emissions purchase of electricity from an NSW. Y represents the emissions of scope 2 calculated in CO2-e tones, while Q is the amount of purchased electricity in the year and used from the facility’s operation. EF is the factor of scope 2 emission measured in KGs of carbon dioxide emissions for every kilowatt-hour, for a territory or state. GHG Source Quantities used Calculation Emissions tonnes CO2-e Scope 2 – Indirect Energy Purchased electricity - NSW 2,000,000 (2,000,000 x 0.89)/1000 1,780 Purchased elec tricity - Victoria 1,000,000 (1,000,000 x 1.21/1000 1,210 Purchased electricity - Queensland 250,000 (250,000 x 0.88)/1000 220 Activity 3 To calculate the emissions of scope 3, there is need to use a number of emission factors. The main emission factors covered for scope 3 are for organizations that engage in burning fossil fuel and those consuming electricity purchased from other sources. Scope 3 estimates the indirect emissions related to extraction, manufacturing and transport of fossil fuels for those

Replay Sports Bar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Replay Sports Bar - Essay Example The researcher affirms that Replay Sports Bar will be offering private and public lounges where people can enjoy the game. Private lounges can be booked by people for a particular time so that they can enjoy any match with their friends and family. The idea of this business is to make sports more thrilling and exciting to watch with the help of advanced technology like LCD and Plasma Screens, Home theatre systems etc. In addition to this, Replay Sports Bar will be building relationships with the client so that they become long term customers of the company. Analysts predict that the industry would grow as the economy recovers from recession. The sales of the industry have been highly influenced because of recession and people have been highly conscious during recession about where they should spent money and this reduced the overall sales of the industry. Though, as the economy recovers, the sales of the industry would grow. Although there are competitors operating in the industry bu t they do not offer such exciting environment and atmosphere as the management of Replay Sports Bar will be offering and thus it will be the main point to attract customers. Also competitors do not focus on offering personalised services and building relationships with the client, therefore it will be another additional advantage to Replay Sports Bar. Replay Sports Bar will also focus on maintaining quality of food and offering foods at a quick time so that people do not have to wait a long to get their meal. According to projections, Replay Sports Bar expects to make profits from the first year. Financial statements show that Replay Sports Bar would make a profit of ?3,500 in the first year which is expected to increase with the passage of time. It has been estimated that the sales of Replay Sports Bar would increase in 2013 and also it will also expand in some other city as well. Profit margin of Replay Sports Bar is expected to be 7%, 13% and 18% in 2012, 2013 and 2014 respective ly. 2.0. mission, vision & culture 2.1. Mission Statement â€Å"To be the leading bar that offers exceptional environment for sport lovers to watch every single match at Replay Sports Bar† 2.2. Vision Statement â€Å"To become the leader in the Sports Bar Industry of UK† 2.3. Culture: Replay Sports Bar will be having a friendly culture and environment where employees will be trained to greet customers and ensure that customers are highly satisfied. The environment created at the Replay Sports Bar will make even non-sports lover enjoy the sports and enjoy the thrill and excitement of watching variety of sports. The company will also

Mining water management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mining water management - Essay Example It is also designed for safety after the mine is no longer in used and is rehabilitated back to nature, or to its previous condition (Mining Fact, 2014; Mining Facts, 2014a). Mine Water refers to the surface or groundwater that occurs in its natural state. Best practices in managing surface water resources are: Diverting natural water sources away from the mining site and its process lines; Using diversion channels above ground that provide a constant flow of natural water to inhabitants in the region; Isolating mining water discharges to controlled areas for monitoring, cleaning, and recycling again in some mining processes; Ensuring that mining process water lines will not leach into the soil and make its way back into natural water resources. The last consideration is one of the most important parts of closing down a mine, in that contaminants of any sort, will not absorb into soils and eventually integrate with naturally running underground aquifers (Watson & Furey, 2013). Watson, A., & Furey, R. (2013). Water Management: Life of Mine and Beyond. Mining Magazine Online. [December 2013]. Retrieved from

Growth Process of the Eastern and Western Religions Term Paper

Growth Process of the Eastern and Western Religions - Term Paper Example These groups would then migrate to other lands, thereby influencing the people living there. As recorded in history, many a times the religions also became the apple of discord between two or more different groups and the winner would eventually enforce the religion on the people living in the conquered territory. There is however one subtle difference between the growth processes of the Eastern and western religion, that is, influence of liberty and freedom on religious movements on the western religions. The Western religions are more influenced by different religious movements, which could take place because of a more liberal outlook as compared to the east. Movements like ‘Great Awakening’ and ‘Protestant Reformation’ created new sects of the same religion and helped gather more followers. Similarly different political event like the ‘Age of Enlightenment’, ‘American Revolution’ and ‘French Revolution’ played a greater role in the west because such events had far-reaching consequences regarding the moral and belief system of the existing

Mining water management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mining water management - Essay Example It is also designed for safety after the mine is no longer in used and is rehabilitated back to nature, or to its previous condition (Mining Fact, 2014; Mining Facts, 2014a). Mine Water refers to the surface or groundwater that occurs in its natural state. Best practices in managing surface water resources are: Diverting natural water sources away from the mining site and its process lines; Using diversion channels above ground that provide a constant flow of natural water to inhabitants in the region; Isolating mining water discharges to controlled areas for monitoring, cleaning, and recycling again in some mining processes; Ensuring that mining process water lines will not leach into the soil and make its way back into natural water resources. The last consideration is one of the most important parts of closing down a mine, in that contaminants of any sort, will not absorb into soils and eventually integrate with naturally running underground aquifers (Watson & Furey, 2013). Watson, A., & Furey, R. (2013). Water Management: Life of Mine and Beyond. Mining Magazine Online. [December 2013]. Retrieved from

Film Analysis on Last Tango in Paris Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Film Analysis on Last Tango in Paris - Essay Example Bernardo Berolucci directs it. The story revolves around a man who has just divorced his wife and is searching for peace in his life. The movie begins with a lady who is looking for a house on rent, and she finds this man in the same house. The lady has also gone through a lot of pain in her real life and that truly reflected in the movie. Paul, Marlon Brando plays the main lead, while Jeanne the female lead is played by Maria. While Paul is gong through an emotional turmoil since his wife committed suicide, Jeanne is also suffering emotionally since her fiance has not been giving attention to her and is busy trying to make a movie, and the fact that he is a very narcissistic personality. Paul and Jeanne meet in the house and Jeanne arrives there since she is looking for a house on rent, and Paul happens to be there for a similar reason. Right after they met each other, Paul tries to have sex with her and they make love instantly. This was the beginning of the story and then they con tinue to live with each other. One day Paul left her, only to find her at the street and they both resumed their sexual relationship. Paul is a disturbed personality and has been extremely well portrayed by Brando. He doesn’t like knowing names and refuses to tell his to Jeanne, and asks Jeanne not to tell hers to him. He doesn’t believe in this concept and tends to get very irritated. Later onwards, while they continue their relationship, one fine day Paul leaves. He meets her somewhere again, and they both come back to the rented house. There he tells her that her is in love with her, and asks her the name. She tells him the name, and then immediately shoots him to death. The movie ends there. Cinematography Vittorio Storaro did the cinematography of the movie. He used light in connection with the conscious side of the mise-en-scene and dark for the unconscious. He picturised the movie in an epic manner. He used low light techniques frequently to cast a dark shadow i n the room, especially in the sexually explicit scenes. He drew a conflict between light and shadow, which came naturally to him. The cinematography of the movie took different routes during the filming and the picturization of the movie. The cinematographer used low light and high frequency techniques to display grey shadows and dark colours often in the movie. Francis Bacon, the painter of many scenes, which were later, portrayed in the movie, played an influential role in the minds of the Vittorio Storaro, in the way that he used the paintings to carve out beautiful scenes. There were certain confusions with regard to the lighting effect in the movie, especially the warm artificial light fragmentation, since the wintertime in Paris used to have natural winter light. Therefore, it was a challenge for the cinematographer to put into perspective a different shade of grey into the picturization. Putting into place a different light effect did require some greater conviction, and that was justified once he saw Francis Bacon’s paintings. The look of the film is pure romance—lots of dusky, autumnal golds and blue-grays, long, graceful camera movements, scenes shot through frosted glass or against fractured mirrors. Camera Movement Bertolucci camera's movements throughout the film characterize the rights steps of the tango, which the two main characters execute at the climax of the film. The camera movements focus on the tango

Customer Switching Behaviour for Mobile Networks

Customer Switching Behaviour for Mobile Networks EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Consumers use services everyday, these ranges from taking the train or opening a bank account to talking on a mobile phone. Businesses also rely on a wide range of services on a daily basis, but on a much larger scale compared to consumers. However, customers are not always satisfied with a particular service that they maybe using and often resort to switching their service provider in order to resolve the issue or pursue better value from a less expensive service. The objective of this study is to investigate customer-switching behaviour in the mobile industry, why it takes place and what factors influence it. This topic area has been chosen, as customer switching and the mobile phone industry are contemporary and relevant to the present day and will continue to evolve overtime. Research has been undertaken using secondary and primary data collection methods. Secondary data provided a background to the mobile phone industry and an overview of customer switching behaviour in services. Primary data consisted of self administered questionnaires to a convenient sample of university students, this enabled data to be collected which would provide an idea of mobile phone users contemplation of switching and their understanding of why they believe they would switch from one service to another. Findings revealed that a majority of customer switching is due to high call and monthly charges and consumers trying to obtain more free minutes and texts. This contrasts with the literature and precious studies, which have found other reasons to cause customer switching, which illustrates how causes of switching differ in every industry according to the nature of the service. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project Aims The aim of this project is to determine the reasons as to why consumers switch from one mobile phone network to another? The research objectives that arise from the aim will therefore be: 1 To evaluate whether competitors offerings are causing consumers to switch from one network to another 2 To evaluate whether retail offerings are causing consumers to switch to gain a better deal 3 What actions of the service firms or their employees cause customers to switch from one service provider to another The research will be UK based geographically using a convenient sample of university students and will be done using both primary and secondary research methods. The research may help managers and researchers understand service switching from a customers perspective in the mobile phone industry and the switching drivers may provides answers as to what has influenced customer behaviour. The results of the research will be analysed to provide recommendations. The reason for choosing this topic area is that there appears to be a lack of research on customer switching behaviour in the mobile phone industry. This study aims to explore this topic are further. 1.2 Background on Mobile Phones Service Mobile phones service refers to a service whose customer base includes firms using mobile phones for business and customers using it for their personal use. Mobile phones have become substitutes for fixed telephone lines and have led to the decline in calls made from fixed telephone lines. The take up rate of mobile phones is constantly increasing and over the years the growth in the use of mobile phones has been dramatic. According to EMC mobile user numbers reached the 1.5 billion mark in June 2004 and is set to reach 2 billion by July 2006 and 2.45 billion by the end of 2009. (http://www.cellular.co.za, 2005) Mobile phones today are not solely used to make calls, additional value added services such as Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), radio, internet access and so on. This means that the benefits and use of mobile phones is also expanding, which is also contributing to industry growth. This has become a focus point for the various operators as intense competition has led to increasingly lower voice call prices. SMS was first used in 1992 and is currently the fastest growing communications technology in history. Worldwide, 135 billion text messages were sent person to person in the first quarter in 2004 (http://www.cellular.co.za, 2005). Retail revenues from voice and data services (including MMS, SMS) account for 79% of the total revenue of the four main UK mobile operators (Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile), which accounted for  £13.6 billion in revenues in 2003, (see appendix 1). CEPG Research Company conducted a study of the mobile telecommunications industry in 2002, in which findings showed that turnover had reached  £32 billion a year, with the sector contribution to GDP being  £19.4 billion (2.2%), (ofcom.org.uk/research/telecoms, 2005). The demand for mobile phones has never been so great as it has become a must have for people of all ages; consumers are constantly exchanging their outdated phones for the latest colour handsets. The popularity of mobile phones is immense and it is perceived that this interest in mobile phones will continue to grow over the next decade or so, as demand increases and new models and technology is introduced to mobile phones. 1.3 Mobile Phone Service Industry The mobile phone industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the British economy, with the UK making up the second largest mobile market in Europe, with a share of 18% (Datamonitor, Nov 2004). This growth is due to factors such as changes in government policies towards communication (deregulation), economic growth and developments in information technology. The more recent growth has come from existing mobile phone users upgrading their handsets, which have led to mobile phone companies and network operators targeting first time buyers (Datamonitor, Nov 2004). Mobile phones are not only seen as a vital element for success in business but also as a much wanted item for social use. This is evident in the increasing number of individuals both young and old who now have at least one mobile phone. As indicated by an Oftel report, in Britain over one million people own a mobile phone instead of a fixed telephone line. 2.3 million UK residents live without a fixed line telephone at home. The popularity of the fixed line phone drastically declined after the mass introduction of mobile phones to the UK. It is worth noting however, that fixed phone line companies have not taken this lightly and have retaliated by introducing mobile phones linked to fixed home lines and companies such as BT setting up their own mobile networks i.e. BT until recently owned O2 and also offering special discounted rates to encourage customers to use their fixed lines. There are four main network providers in the UK; they are T-mobile, O2, Vodafone and Orange. In 2004 there were 342.43 million mobile subscribers, which is an increase of 8.54 percent from the previous year and a penetration rate of 87.63 percent. T-mobile UK accounted for 15.06 million subscribers, Orange UK had 13.75 million, O2 UK had 13.06 million and Vodafone UK had 12.98 million (mobile communications). Recently there have been changes in terms of ownership of the major mobile phone networks. T-mobile is now one of the three strategic growth areas of Deutsche Telekom, a German network provider and O2 is now owned by Spanish firm Telefonica. Orange was sold to German mobile phone network Mannesman, which was then taken over by Vodafone, who sold Orange to France Telecom. Orange has a strong network in the UK and overseas but recent management decisions by France Telecom have reversed their user growth and subscriber numbers, which has been partly due to customers switching to other networks. Customers can become concerned that, if their chosen network provider is owned by a firm overseas, their needs will not be met as well as they could by a UK owned provider. Additionally events such as these can contribute to switching behaviour through customer confusion, as found by Oftel (2003), where many consumers switched due to confusion over re-branding of the network. 1.4 Customer Switching Behaviour in the Mobile Phone Industry According to research by TNS Telecom Trak, consumers tend to use their handsets for about twenty months before upgrading to a new one. Telecommunications regulator OFTEL found that this is also the average amount of time that a majority of mobile phone users will stay with the same mobile provider for. Oftels research ascertained that 90% of consumers thought about changing their network when changing handsets. Oftel published a report in April 2003, which provided an overview of the key findings of trends in consumer behaviour in the mobile market based on a residential consumer survey conducted in February 2003. Research was carried out by Recom (Research in Communications) amongst a representative sample of 2,289 UK adults, 75% of who claimed to have a mobile. Findings revealed that 26% of mobile customers have switched network/ supplier. There was a strong indication that the rise in switching in the last quarter was a reflection of confusion over re-branding and rise in mobile penetration. One in ten (9%) of mobile customers were found to have switched network at least twice since owning a mobile, including customers switching back to a previous operator. Men (37%) and younger mobile users, 15-34 (38%) were found to be most likely to switch multiple times, which included returning to a previously used network. Although the switching differed according to type of package, 36% of contract customers had switched multiple times compared to those on prepay (33%). 24% of customers had switched once in the last 6 months, compared to three in ten (28%) of those that had switched twice and 43% that had switched more than 3 times. The same survey also revealed that in November 2002, 34% of consumers stated that they had switched mobile network, which was believed to have a result of customer confusion caused by the re-branding of O2 (formally BTCellent) and T-mobile (One2One). Yet this rise was temporary and soon returned to the previous level of 27%. In February 2003, 7% of T-mobile customers said that they had switched network having previously being with One2One, this was the same for O2 customers who had switched from BTCellnet. This accounted for 3% of all switchers who were confused by the re-branding during February. The current percentage of mobile consumers that have switched mobile network remains at 26%. When looking at multiple switching, two in ten (18%) of mobile customers had changed their network once, and seven out of ten claimed to have never switched network. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter will review all existing literature related to the mobile phone industry with a focus on customer switching habits and their surrounding elements such as consumer lifestyles, services themselves, competitor offerings and loyalty to help understand the research problem. This chapter will also review the contributions other researchers have made to the concepts of switching behaviour, yet it should be noted that literature on mobile phone choice is sparse and issues relating to why customers actually switch services remains unexplored in marketing literature which will be explored through this study. 2.1 Classification of Services There is no one single definition of services that is universally accepted, although many authors have attempted to define it. Yet very few products are 100% service or 100% tangible, they usually consist of a combination of both. Gronroos (1990) defines services as: â€Å"A service is an activity or series of activities of more or less intangible nature that normally, but not necessarily, takes place in interactions between the customers and the service employee and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to customer problems†. This illustrates the fact that services can take place through physical form, for example this project is concerned with customers switching network provider service (which is intangible) but to have that service to begin with, customers need to purchase a mobile phone, which is a tangible product. Therefore switching behaviour in such a situation may differ from switching a service, which is not integrated with hardware; this may be due to the fact that when physical products are also involved, the costs and risk of switching is different to when there is just a service alone. Brassington (2003) acknowledged that most products tend to have a combination of both physical goods and service e.g. purchasing a gas appliance; this would require the professional fitting service as well as purchasing of the appliance itself. Kotler (1997) also recognised that some services are a combination of both a service and a product and has incorporated this in his definition of services: â€Å"Any act or performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product.† This emphasises two key elements: 1. Intangibility A Service cannot be experience before it is purchased, 2. Lack of ownership there is no ownership in a pure service as there is no physical product involved. This is further illustrated in the Figure 1 below which illustrates Kotlers (1997) four categories of products, which are: 1. A pure service 2. A major service with accompanying minor goods/services 3. A tangible good with accompanying service 4. A pure tangible product New services are being introduced on a daily basis to satisfy and meet all customer needs from individual consumers to business consumers. The service industry comprises the majority of todays economy. In 2001, it represented 80 percent of the GDP of the USA (U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis). Keiningham et al (2003) said â€Å"there is a growing recognition among managers of the importance of measuring the share of business a customer conducts with a particular service provider (share-of-wallet) as opposed to simply repurchasing a product or service at some point in the future or continuing to keep a business relationship with a service provider†. This indicates the importance of retaining and maintaining customers and the importance of the relationship with them. Research carried out by Bitner (1990); Boulding at al, (1993) looked at service quality in service organisations, Crosby Evans and Cowles (1990); Crosby and Stephens (1987) researched relationship quality and Cronin and Taylor (1992) looked at overall satisfaction with regards to the issue of customer retention in service organisations. These researchers all agreed that service organisations could improve the likelihood of customers intention to remain with a particular service organisation, as it is these features that contribute to customer satisfaction and the growth of the organisation. The above studies all illustrated strategies relating to customer retention in services. Yet issues relating to why customers actually switch services remain unexplored in marketing literature. 2.2 Characteristics of Services When describing the main characteristics of a service, it can be depicted as being intangible, as a service has no physical dimension but can take place through a tangible product as is the case with mobile phones and network providers, as discussed earlier. A service can also be described using a tangible noun as Shostack (1987) exemplified that an ‘airline means transportation and a ‘hotel means lodging rental. Berry (1980) described a good as ‘an object, a device, a thing in comparison to a service which is ‘a deed, a performance, an effort. This further illustrates the fact that consumers cannot see, touch, hear, taste or smell a service; all they can do is experience the performance of the service as said by Carman and Uhl, (1973) and Sasser et. al, (1978) but, the experience may not be possible in all cases without some form of hardware in addition. Because services are delivered by individuals, each service experience will differ from another; as a result each purchaser will receive a different service experience. Additionally, when a consumer purchases a good, they own it, yet with a service the consumer only has temporary access or use of it, as the service is not owned, only the benefit of it is. Wyckham et al (1975) and Kotler (1986) defined this concept as ownership. 2.3 The Services Marketing Mix As previously discussed above, many features separate services from tangible products, yet the marketing principles remain the same for both. One particular difference is that there is close contact between individual employees from the supplier organisation and the customer themselves. Because of this, the traditional marketing mix needs to be re-evaluated in terms of the 7ps. Product: This refers to the features of the product or surrounding it, which in this case would be a good service or supplementary services surrounding it. These features should be benefits, which the customer would desire, and the surrounding features would be competing products performance. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Place and Time: Delivering a service to customers involves place, time of delivery and distribution channels used. Delivery can be done both physically and through electronic distribution channels according to the nature of the service being provided. Services can be delivered directly to customers or through intermediary firms, e.g. rental outlets. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Promotion and Education: these are three fold, firstly information and advice needs to be provided to customers, target customers need to be persuaded towards a product, and they need to be encouraged to take action. Service promotional communication are usually educational, informing potential customers of the benefits of the service, where and when to obtain it and how. These communications are delivered through individuals (sales people) or media (TV, radio, newspapers etc.). (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Price and Other User Outlays: In services monetary values refer to rates, fees, admissions, charges, tuition, contributions, interest etc. (Gabbott and Hogg, 1997). Physical Environment: A firms service quality can be perceived through the appearance of buildings, landscaping, vehicles, interior furnishing, equipment, staff members, signs, printed materials and other visible cues. These are physical evidence and impact customer impressions. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Process: A service is delivered to a customer through a process, which is the method and actions in the service performance. Poor processes can result in slow and ineffective service and unsatisfied customers. Front line staff may also find it difficult to do their jobs well as a result of poor process, which can again lead to service failure. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). People: Services tend to involve direct interaction between customers and firms employees. The experience of the interaction, for example talking to call centre staff, can influence the customers perceptions of service quality. The implication is that firms need to train and motivate their employees to ensure good service quality. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). 2.4 Marketing in Services Image is often a key factor in differentiating a service from its competitors. Marketing is therefore important in service because it enables the customer to link an image with a brand. Examples of these can be seen on delivery vehicles, which are painted, hotel soap and shampoos etc. When consumers have no experience with a product, they tend to ‘trust a favoured or well-known brand name; therefore service marketers need to build a favourable brand image. Some consumer theorists have linked service quality with consumer behaviour intentions, in that the quality of the service will determine whether the consumer remains with that particular provider or defects to a competitor. When consumers perceive high service quality, the behavioural intentions will be positive, as they will remain with the service provider. In contrast, poor service quality will lead to the relationship with the customer weakening resulting in defection to a competitor. Financially the firm will benefit more by retaining customers through increasing service quality; this is demonstrated in the figure 2 below. The figure above shows that the more favourable a firms service quality is, the more likely the customer is to remain with the firm, benefiting the firm. But when the service quality is poor, the customer will show unfavourable behavioural intentions, which will result in defecting/ switching. This highlights that in order to prevent customers from switching and to enable the firm to continue making profits, the firm needs to retain customers through good service quality. Service firms and service marketers need to recognise the significance of these reasons as they can lead to negative effects on share and profitability as noted by Rust and Zahorik (1993). This can arise from negative word of mouth, which will in turn deter potential customers. These reasons can also help markets to plan their promotional campaigns according to the aspects that are causing customers to switch. As maintained by Reichheld and Sasser (1990) companies can boost profits by almost 100% by retaining just 5% more of their customers. 2.5 Marketing in the Mobile Phone Industry As the market becomes more competitive, firms will endeavour to maintain their market share by focusing on retaining their current customers. It can be said that recent competition amongst mobile phone networks has become aggressive, especially with all the competitive price plans and handsets on offer, which are being promoted by the networks. More recently a ‘camera wars are taking place between mobile brands as consumers are considering this an important feature when purchasing mobile phones, Marketing magazine (2004). When network 3 entered the market, they were able to encourage many consumers to switch mobile networks from their existing providers to 3. this was done using challenging and direct advertising comparing brand and product features with those of competing networks. Marketing magazine (2004). As a result of this, 3 were able to reach the one million-customer mark faster than any other network since launching. It is evident that mobile phone networks are being innovative in their marketing tactics in the aim of securing higher customer bases. Much of the marketing the mobile networks today to do this are directed towards consumer confusion tactics. Consumer confusion tactics are where consumers are provided with large amounts of decision-relevant information, in regards to mobiles, this is seen in the form of deals, discounts, leaflets, newspaper adds and television advertising line rentals from as little as 99p per month. Confusion marketing and overload aims to confuse consumers into a state of stress and frustration, resulting in information overload and sub-optimal decisions. Price confusion is the most common confusion marketing tactic used in the mobile telephone market today in order to assist companies to gain a competitive advantage. It has been found that this tactic of confusion marketing appears to work and confuses customers to such an extent that they end up being persuaded b y this marketing literature and the information overload that they are provided with that they purchase the plan that is sold to them without investigating it further as they feel that they have all the information that they need and have made an informed choice. Confusion usually arises from 3 main sources: i) Over choice of products and stores there are independent mobile phone shops opening up regularly, and new mobile phones are being introduced to the market every month. ii) Similarity of products all the price plans available are very similar in terms of price as well as network call charges. iii) Ambiguous, misleading or inadequate information conveyed through marketing communications For example, many retailers are offering line rental for 99p per month, what consumers are not aware of is that they have to pay the full line rental for the first six months and then they claim their cash back. But using confusion marketing can have adverse effects on consumers. The ‘information overload can cause consumers to shop around, which can reduce brand loyalty towards the firm. 2.6 Decision Making Process for Mobile Phones When customers purchase a product or service they go through a complex process of three stages: the pre purchase stage (decision to buy), the service encounter stage and the post purchase stage. This can be applied to the purchasing of mobile phones. The post purchase stage will determine the customers future intentions on whether or not to remain loyal to that service provider or to switch service. During the post purchase stage, customers evaluate service quality and their satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the service experience. This is done by comparing what was initially expected with what they perceived they received from a particular provider. If expectations are met, customers are likely to be satisfied and therefore more likely to make repeat purchases and remain loyal. If customer expectations are not met, customers may complain about poor service quality, suffer in silence or resort to switching service provider. It has become evident in recent years that customers no longer â€Å"suffer in silence† with bad service to the extent that they previously and if they experience service that they are not satisfied with then are more likely to switch in order to receive a better service/better value for their money. When considering the purchase process of mobile phones, again there are complex factors, which influence the decision the decision process which include both macro and microeconomic conditions, but it generally tends to follow the traditional buying process. When faced with the problem of whether or not to purchase a mobile phone, consumers will initially take part in an information search before choosing which one to buy. The consumers decision-making process is directed by preferences that the consumer has already formed regarding a particular brand. Beatty and Smith (1987) and Moorthy et al (1997) argue that this means the consumer is most likely to make a choice based on a limited information search and without evaluating fully all the alternative brands available. As indicated by Dhar and Wertenbroach (2000), limited information search and evaluation of alternatives can result in a situation where the consumers choice is driven by hedonic considerations. Utilitarian goods are co nsidered to be instrumental and functional whereas hedonic good are seen as being fun and exciting, but some goods can have both features, as stated by Barta and Ahtola (1990). With relation to mobile phones the choice has both utilitarian (e.g. communication, SMS, planning) and hedonic (e.g. games, music, camera) features. Wilska (2003) believes the younger the consumer gets, the more they value the hedonistic features in their mobile phones. The mobile phone market is a technology driven market, therefore products are created based on consumers possible future needs which tend to be hedonistic features. Riquelme (2001) explored the level of knowledge consumers have when choosing between different mobile phone brands. The study focused on main factors, which were: telephone features, connection fee, access cost, mobile-to-mobile phone rates, call rates and free calls), which respondents had to rate according to importance. Findings revealed that respondents with previous experience about products predicted their choices well, although they over-estimate the importance of features, cal rates and free calls and under-estimated the importance of the monthly access fee, mobile-to-mobile phone rates and the connection fee. 2.7 Customer Switching Behaviour There is no one clear definition of customer switching, due to the lack of research into this area, although very few authors have attempted to define it. According to Brassington (2003) customer switching refers to â€Å"consumers who are not loyal to any one brand of a particular product and switch between two or more brands within the category†. Switching behaviour has also been referred to as defection or customer exit (Hirschman, 1970; Stewart, 1994) and refers to a customers decision to stop purchasing a particular service or patronising the service firm completely as agued by Bolton and Bronkhurst (1995) and Boote, (1998). Yet it can be argued that this is not a valid definition of customer switching as this definition refers to the consumers behaviour as abandonment of the use of a product/service although, whereas switching is concerned with consumers using one product/service provider and then deciding to switch to another. Many models have attempted to portray customer switching behaviour in services yet they all imply that switching derives from a gradual dissolution of relationships as a result of multiple problems encountered over time as found by Bejou and Palmer (1998) and Hocutt (1998). 2.8 Causes for Dissatisfied Service and Switching Bitner et al (1994) has looked at the events that lead to satisfying and dissatisfying service encounters for customers from an employees point of view. Bitner et als (1994) study found that employees were inclined to describe the customers problems with external causes such as delivery system failures as the most prominent followed by problem customers. A small percentage of dissatisfactory incidents were classified as spontaneous negative employee behaviours such as rudeness or lack of attention. It was evident that the employees were biased in terms of not blaming themselves for failures. Past research associating customer and employee views on critical factors compelling customers to switch offers assorted assumptions. Schneider and Bowen (1985) and Schneider, Parkington, and Buxton (1980) found a strong relationship between employee and customer attitudes regarding service quality on the whole in the banking service. The results from their study contradicted those of a study carried out by Brown and Swartz (1989). Data was collected from patients based on experiences with their physicians and were compared to what physicians perceived of the experiences of their patients. Results showed large differences inversely associated to patient satisfaction in general. Thus researchers have different views regarding customer and employee attitudes on service quality. When considering switching in the financial service, Mintel International Group believes the critical factor causing consumers to switch providers is price. Price is a sensitive issue and one that is close to th e heart of customers so it is perceived that they may consider switching on the basis of this if they are not satisfied with the service they are receiving. But it can be concluded that the customers view holds greater value, as it is their opinion that brings in business for a firm. Bolton Brankhurst (1995) and McDougal (1996) have looked at customer switching behaviour in relation to complaints, which they believe leads up to the defection. They suggested, that this field should be further explored, as there is a lack of research that tries to investigate the correlations between the factors that influence service switching and those that influence complaints before switching. Complains are again another major area of concern. The first Customer Switching Behaviour for Mobile Networks Customer Switching Behaviour for Mobile Networks EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Consumers use services everyday, these ranges from taking the train or opening a bank account to talking on a mobile phone. Businesses also rely on a wide range of services on a daily basis, but on a much larger scale compared to consumers. However, customers are not always satisfied with a particular service that they maybe using and often resort to switching their service provider in order to resolve the issue or pursue better value from a less expensive service. The objective of this study is to investigate customer-switching behaviour in the mobile industry, why it takes place and what factors influence it. This topic area has been chosen, as customer switching and the mobile phone industry are contemporary and relevant to the present day and will continue to evolve overtime. Research has been undertaken using secondary and primary data collection methods. Secondary data provided a background to the mobile phone industry and an overview of customer switching behaviour in services. Primary data consisted of self administered questionnaires to a convenient sample of university students, this enabled data to be collected which would provide an idea of mobile phone users contemplation of switching and their understanding of why they believe they would switch from one service to another. Findings revealed that a majority of customer switching is due to high call and monthly charges and consumers trying to obtain more free minutes and texts. This contrasts with the literature and precious studies, which have found other reasons to cause customer switching, which illustrates how causes of switching differ in every industry according to the nature of the service. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project Aims The aim of this project is to determine the reasons as to why consumers switch from one mobile phone network to another? The research objectives that arise from the aim will therefore be: 1 To evaluate whether competitors offerings are causing consumers to switch from one network to another 2 To evaluate whether retail offerings are causing consumers to switch to gain a better deal 3 What actions of the service firms or their employees cause customers to switch from one service provider to another The research will be UK based geographically using a convenient sample of university students and will be done using both primary and secondary research methods. The research may help managers and researchers understand service switching from a customers perspective in the mobile phone industry and the switching drivers may provides answers as to what has influenced customer behaviour. The results of the research will be analysed to provide recommendations. The reason for choosing this topic area is that there appears to be a lack of research on customer switching behaviour in the mobile phone industry. This study aims to explore this topic are further. 1.2 Background on Mobile Phones Service Mobile phones service refers to a service whose customer base includes firms using mobile phones for business and customers using it for their personal use. Mobile phones have become substitutes for fixed telephone lines and have led to the decline in calls made from fixed telephone lines. The take up rate of mobile phones is constantly increasing and over the years the growth in the use of mobile phones has been dramatic. According to EMC mobile user numbers reached the 1.5 billion mark in June 2004 and is set to reach 2 billion by July 2006 and 2.45 billion by the end of 2009. (http://www.cellular.co.za, 2005) Mobile phones today are not solely used to make calls, additional value added services such as Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), radio, internet access and so on. This means that the benefits and use of mobile phones is also expanding, which is also contributing to industry growth. This has become a focus point for the various operators as intense competition has led to increasingly lower voice call prices. SMS was first used in 1992 and is currently the fastest growing communications technology in history. Worldwide, 135 billion text messages were sent person to person in the first quarter in 2004 (http://www.cellular.co.za, 2005). Retail revenues from voice and data services (including MMS, SMS) account for 79% of the total revenue of the four main UK mobile operators (Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile), which accounted for  £13.6 billion in revenues in 2003, (see appendix 1). CEPG Research Company conducted a study of the mobile telecommunications industry in 2002, in which findings showed that turnover had reached  £32 billion a year, with the sector contribution to GDP being  £19.4 billion (2.2%), (ofcom.org.uk/research/telecoms, 2005). The demand for mobile phones has never been so great as it has become a must have for people of all ages; consumers are constantly exchanging their outdated phones for the latest colour handsets. The popularity of mobile phones is immense and it is perceived that this interest in mobile phones will continue to grow over the next decade or so, as demand increases and new models and technology is introduced to mobile phones. 1.3 Mobile Phone Service Industry The mobile phone industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the British economy, with the UK making up the second largest mobile market in Europe, with a share of 18% (Datamonitor, Nov 2004). This growth is due to factors such as changes in government policies towards communication (deregulation), economic growth and developments in information technology. The more recent growth has come from existing mobile phone users upgrading their handsets, which have led to mobile phone companies and network operators targeting first time buyers (Datamonitor, Nov 2004). Mobile phones are not only seen as a vital element for success in business but also as a much wanted item for social use. This is evident in the increasing number of individuals both young and old who now have at least one mobile phone. As indicated by an Oftel report, in Britain over one million people own a mobile phone instead of a fixed telephone line. 2.3 million UK residents live without a fixed line telephone at home. The popularity of the fixed line phone drastically declined after the mass introduction of mobile phones to the UK. It is worth noting however, that fixed phone line companies have not taken this lightly and have retaliated by introducing mobile phones linked to fixed home lines and companies such as BT setting up their own mobile networks i.e. BT until recently owned O2 and also offering special discounted rates to encourage customers to use their fixed lines. There are four main network providers in the UK; they are T-mobile, O2, Vodafone and Orange. In 2004 there were 342.43 million mobile subscribers, which is an increase of 8.54 percent from the previous year and a penetration rate of 87.63 percent. T-mobile UK accounted for 15.06 million subscribers, Orange UK had 13.75 million, O2 UK had 13.06 million and Vodafone UK had 12.98 million (mobile communications). Recently there have been changes in terms of ownership of the major mobile phone networks. T-mobile is now one of the three strategic growth areas of Deutsche Telekom, a German network provider and O2 is now owned by Spanish firm Telefonica. Orange was sold to German mobile phone network Mannesman, which was then taken over by Vodafone, who sold Orange to France Telecom. Orange has a strong network in the UK and overseas but recent management decisions by France Telecom have reversed their user growth and subscriber numbers, which has been partly due to customers switching to other networks. Customers can become concerned that, if their chosen network provider is owned by a firm overseas, their needs will not be met as well as they could by a UK owned provider. Additionally events such as these can contribute to switching behaviour through customer confusion, as found by Oftel (2003), where many consumers switched due to confusion over re-branding of the network. 1.4 Customer Switching Behaviour in the Mobile Phone Industry According to research by TNS Telecom Trak, consumers tend to use their handsets for about twenty months before upgrading to a new one. Telecommunications regulator OFTEL found that this is also the average amount of time that a majority of mobile phone users will stay with the same mobile provider for. Oftels research ascertained that 90% of consumers thought about changing their network when changing handsets. Oftel published a report in April 2003, which provided an overview of the key findings of trends in consumer behaviour in the mobile market based on a residential consumer survey conducted in February 2003. Research was carried out by Recom (Research in Communications) amongst a representative sample of 2,289 UK adults, 75% of who claimed to have a mobile. Findings revealed that 26% of mobile customers have switched network/ supplier. There was a strong indication that the rise in switching in the last quarter was a reflection of confusion over re-branding and rise in mobile penetration. One in ten (9%) of mobile customers were found to have switched network at least twice since owning a mobile, including customers switching back to a previous operator. Men (37%) and younger mobile users, 15-34 (38%) were found to be most likely to switch multiple times, which included returning to a previously used network. Although the switching differed according to type of package, 36% of contract customers had switched multiple times compared to those on prepay (33%). 24% of customers had switched once in the last 6 months, compared to three in ten (28%) of those that had switched twice and 43% that had switched more than 3 times. The same survey also revealed that in November 2002, 34% of consumers stated that they had switched mobile network, which was believed to have a result of customer confusion caused by the re-branding of O2 (formally BTCellent) and T-mobile (One2One). Yet this rise was temporary and soon returned to the previous level of 27%. In February 2003, 7% of T-mobile customers said that they had switched network having previously being with One2One, this was the same for O2 customers who had switched from BTCellnet. This accounted for 3% of all switchers who were confused by the re-branding during February. The current percentage of mobile consumers that have switched mobile network remains at 26%. When looking at multiple switching, two in ten (18%) of mobile customers had changed their network once, and seven out of ten claimed to have never switched network. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter will review all existing literature related to the mobile phone industry with a focus on customer switching habits and their surrounding elements such as consumer lifestyles, services themselves, competitor offerings and loyalty to help understand the research problem. This chapter will also review the contributions other researchers have made to the concepts of switching behaviour, yet it should be noted that literature on mobile phone choice is sparse and issues relating to why customers actually switch services remains unexplored in marketing literature which will be explored through this study. 2.1 Classification of Services There is no one single definition of services that is universally accepted, although many authors have attempted to define it. Yet very few products are 100% service or 100% tangible, they usually consist of a combination of both. Gronroos (1990) defines services as: â€Å"A service is an activity or series of activities of more or less intangible nature that normally, but not necessarily, takes place in interactions between the customers and the service employee and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to customer problems†. This illustrates the fact that services can take place through physical form, for example this project is concerned with customers switching network provider service (which is intangible) but to have that service to begin with, customers need to purchase a mobile phone, which is a tangible product. Therefore switching behaviour in such a situation may differ from switching a service, which is not integrated with hardware; this may be due to the fact that when physical products are also involved, the costs and risk of switching is different to when there is just a service alone. Brassington (2003) acknowledged that most products tend to have a combination of both physical goods and service e.g. purchasing a gas appliance; this would require the professional fitting service as well as purchasing of the appliance itself. Kotler (1997) also recognised that some services are a combination of both a service and a product and has incorporated this in his definition of services: â€Å"Any act or performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product.† This emphasises two key elements: 1. Intangibility A Service cannot be experience before it is purchased, 2. Lack of ownership there is no ownership in a pure service as there is no physical product involved. This is further illustrated in the Figure 1 below which illustrates Kotlers (1997) four categories of products, which are: 1. A pure service 2. A major service with accompanying minor goods/services 3. A tangible good with accompanying service 4. A pure tangible product New services are being introduced on a daily basis to satisfy and meet all customer needs from individual consumers to business consumers. The service industry comprises the majority of todays economy. In 2001, it represented 80 percent of the GDP of the USA (U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis). Keiningham et al (2003) said â€Å"there is a growing recognition among managers of the importance of measuring the share of business a customer conducts with a particular service provider (share-of-wallet) as opposed to simply repurchasing a product or service at some point in the future or continuing to keep a business relationship with a service provider†. This indicates the importance of retaining and maintaining customers and the importance of the relationship with them. Research carried out by Bitner (1990); Boulding at al, (1993) looked at service quality in service organisations, Crosby Evans and Cowles (1990); Crosby and Stephens (1987) researched relationship quality and Cronin and Taylor (1992) looked at overall satisfaction with regards to the issue of customer retention in service organisations. These researchers all agreed that service organisations could improve the likelihood of customers intention to remain with a particular service organisation, as it is these features that contribute to customer satisfaction and the growth of the organisation. The above studies all illustrated strategies relating to customer retention in services. Yet issues relating to why customers actually switch services remain unexplored in marketing literature. 2.2 Characteristics of Services When describing the main characteristics of a service, it can be depicted as being intangible, as a service has no physical dimension but can take place through a tangible product as is the case with mobile phones and network providers, as discussed earlier. A service can also be described using a tangible noun as Shostack (1987) exemplified that an ‘airline means transportation and a ‘hotel means lodging rental. Berry (1980) described a good as ‘an object, a device, a thing in comparison to a service which is ‘a deed, a performance, an effort. This further illustrates the fact that consumers cannot see, touch, hear, taste or smell a service; all they can do is experience the performance of the service as said by Carman and Uhl, (1973) and Sasser et. al, (1978) but, the experience may not be possible in all cases without some form of hardware in addition. Because services are delivered by individuals, each service experience will differ from another; as a result each purchaser will receive a different service experience. Additionally, when a consumer purchases a good, they own it, yet with a service the consumer only has temporary access or use of it, as the service is not owned, only the benefit of it is. Wyckham et al (1975) and Kotler (1986) defined this concept as ownership. 2.3 The Services Marketing Mix As previously discussed above, many features separate services from tangible products, yet the marketing principles remain the same for both. One particular difference is that there is close contact between individual employees from the supplier organisation and the customer themselves. Because of this, the traditional marketing mix needs to be re-evaluated in terms of the 7ps. Product: This refers to the features of the product or surrounding it, which in this case would be a good service or supplementary services surrounding it. These features should be benefits, which the customer would desire, and the surrounding features would be competing products performance. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Place and Time: Delivering a service to customers involves place, time of delivery and distribution channels used. Delivery can be done both physically and through electronic distribution channels according to the nature of the service being provided. Services can be delivered directly to customers or through intermediary firms, e.g. rental outlets. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Promotion and Education: these are three fold, firstly information and advice needs to be provided to customers, target customers need to be persuaded towards a product, and they need to be encouraged to take action. Service promotional communication are usually educational, informing potential customers of the benefits of the service, where and when to obtain it and how. These communications are delivered through individuals (sales people) or media (TV, radio, newspapers etc.). (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Price and Other User Outlays: In services monetary values refer to rates, fees, admissions, charges, tuition, contributions, interest etc. (Gabbott and Hogg, 1997). Physical Environment: A firms service quality can be perceived through the appearance of buildings, landscaping, vehicles, interior furnishing, equipment, staff members, signs, printed materials and other visible cues. These are physical evidence and impact customer impressions. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). Process: A service is delivered to a customer through a process, which is the method and actions in the service performance. Poor processes can result in slow and ineffective service and unsatisfied customers. Front line staff may also find it difficult to do their jobs well as a result of poor process, which can again lead to service failure. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). People: Services tend to involve direct interaction between customers and firms employees. The experience of the interaction, for example talking to call centre staff, can influence the customers perceptions of service quality. The implication is that firms need to train and motivate their employees to ensure good service quality. (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). 2.4 Marketing in Services Image is often a key factor in differentiating a service from its competitors. Marketing is therefore important in service because it enables the customer to link an image with a brand. Examples of these can be seen on delivery vehicles, which are painted, hotel soap and shampoos etc. When consumers have no experience with a product, they tend to ‘trust a favoured or well-known brand name; therefore service marketers need to build a favourable brand image. Some consumer theorists have linked service quality with consumer behaviour intentions, in that the quality of the service will determine whether the consumer remains with that particular provider or defects to a competitor. When consumers perceive high service quality, the behavioural intentions will be positive, as they will remain with the service provider. In contrast, poor service quality will lead to the relationship with the customer weakening resulting in defection to a competitor. Financially the firm will benefit more by retaining customers through increasing service quality; this is demonstrated in the figure 2 below. The figure above shows that the more favourable a firms service quality is, the more likely the customer is to remain with the firm, benefiting the firm. But when the service quality is poor, the customer will show unfavourable behavioural intentions, which will result in defecting/ switching. This highlights that in order to prevent customers from switching and to enable the firm to continue making profits, the firm needs to retain customers through good service quality. Service firms and service marketers need to recognise the significance of these reasons as they can lead to negative effects on share and profitability as noted by Rust and Zahorik (1993). This can arise from negative word of mouth, which will in turn deter potential customers. These reasons can also help markets to plan their promotional campaigns according to the aspects that are causing customers to switch. As maintained by Reichheld and Sasser (1990) companies can boost profits by almost 100% by retaining just 5% more of their customers. 2.5 Marketing in the Mobile Phone Industry As the market becomes more competitive, firms will endeavour to maintain their market share by focusing on retaining their current customers. It can be said that recent competition amongst mobile phone networks has become aggressive, especially with all the competitive price plans and handsets on offer, which are being promoted by the networks. More recently a ‘camera wars are taking place between mobile brands as consumers are considering this an important feature when purchasing mobile phones, Marketing magazine (2004). When network 3 entered the market, they were able to encourage many consumers to switch mobile networks from their existing providers to 3. this was done using challenging and direct advertising comparing brand and product features with those of competing networks. Marketing magazine (2004). As a result of this, 3 were able to reach the one million-customer mark faster than any other network since launching. It is evident that mobile phone networks are being innovative in their marketing tactics in the aim of securing higher customer bases. Much of the marketing the mobile networks today to do this are directed towards consumer confusion tactics. Consumer confusion tactics are where consumers are provided with large amounts of decision-relevant information, in regards to mobiles, this is seen in the form of deals, discounts, leaflets, newspaper adds and television advertising line rentals from as little as 99p per month. Confusion marketing and overload aims to confuse consumers into a state of stress and frustration, resulting in information overload and sub-optimal decisions. Price confusion is the most common confusion marketing tactic used in the mobile telephone market today in order to assist companies to gain a competitive advantage. It has been found that this tactic of confusion marketing appears to work and confuses customers to such an extent that they end up being persuaded b y this marketing literature and the information overload that they are provided with that they purchase the plan that is sold to them without investigating it further as they feel that they have all the information that they need and have made an informed choice. Confusion usually arises from 3 main sources: i) Over choice of products and stores there are independent mobile phone shops opening up regularly, and new mobile phones are being introduced to the market every month. ii) Similarity of products all the price plans available are very similar in terms of price as well as network call charges. iii) Ambiguous, misleading or inadequate information conveyed through marketing communications For example, many retailers are offering line rental for 99p per month, what consumers are not aware of is that they have to pay the full line rental for the first six months and then they claim their cash back. But using confusion marketing can have adverse effects on consumers. The ‘information overload can cause consumers to shop around, which can reduce brand loyalty towards the firm. 2.6 Decision Making Process for Mobile Phones When customers purchase a product or service they go through a complex process of three stages: the pre purchase stage (decision to buy), the service encounter stage and the post purchase stage. This can be applied to the purchasing of mobile phones. The post purchase stage will determine the customers future intentions on whether or not to remain loyal to that service provider or to switch service. During the post purchase stage, customers evaluate service quality and their satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the service experience. This is done by comparing what was initially expected with what they perceived they received from a particular provider. If expectations are met, customers are likely to be satisfied and therefore more likely to make repeat purchases and remain loyal. If customer expectations are not met, customers may complain about poor service quality, suffer in silence or resort to switching service provider. It has become evident in recent years that customers no longer â€Å"suffer in silence† with bad service to the extent that they previously and if they experience service that they are not satisfied with then are more likely to switch in order to receive a better service/better value for their money. When considering the purchase process of mobile phones, again there are complex factors, which influence the decision the decision process which include both macro and microeconomic conditions, but it generally tends to follow the traditional buying process. When faced with the problem of whether or not to purchase a mobile phone, consumers will initially take part in an information search before choosing which one to buy. The consumers decision-making process is directed by preferences that the consumer has already formed regarding a particular brand. Beatty and Smith (1987) and Moorthy et al (1997) argue that this means the consumer is most likely to make a choice based on a limited information search and without evaluating fully all the alternative brands available. As indicated by Dhar and Wertenbroach (2000), limited information search and evaluation of alternatives can result in a situation where the consumers choice is driven by hedonic considerations. Utilitarian goods are co nsidered to be instrumental and functional whereas hedonic good are seen as being fun and exciting, but some goods can have both features, as stated by Barta and Ahtola (1990). With relation to mobile phones the choice has both utilitarian (e.g. communication, SMS, planning) and hedonic (e.g. games, music, camera) features. Wilska (2003) believes the younger the consumer gets, the more they value the hedonistic features in their mobile phones. The mobile phone market is a technology driven market, therefore products are created based on consumers possible future needs which tend to be hedonistic features. Riquelme (2001) explored the level of knowledge consumers have when choosing between different mobile phone brands. The study focused on main factors, which were: telephone features, connection fee, access cost, mobile-to-mobile phone rates, call rates and free calls), which respondents had to rate according to importance. Findings revealed that respondents with previous experience about products predicted their choices well, although they over-estimate the importance of features, cal rates and free calls and under-estimated the importance of the monthly access fee, mobile-to-mobile phone rates and the connection fee. 2.7 Customer Switching Behaviour There is no one clear definition of customer switching, due to the lack of research into this area, although very few authors have attempted to define it. According to Brassington (2003) customer switching refers to â€Å"consumers who are not loyal to any one brand of a particular product and switch between two or more brands within the category†. Switching behaviour has also been referred to as defection or customer exit (Hirschman, 1970; Stewart, 1994) and refers to a customers decision to stop purchasing a particular service or patronising the service firm completely as agued by Bolton and Bronkhurst (1995) and Boote, (1998). Yet it can be argued that this is not a valid definition of customer switching as this definition refers to the consumers behaviour as abandonment of the use of a product/service although, whereas switching is concerned with consumers using one product/service provider and then deciding to switch to another. Many models have attempted to portray customer switching behaviour in services yet they all imply that switching derives from a gradual dissolution of relationships as a result of multiple problems encountered over time as found by Bejou and Palmer (1998) and Hocutt (1998). 2.8 Causes for Dissatisfied Service and Switching Bitner et al (1994) has looked at the events that lead to satisfying and dissatisfying service encounters for customers from an employees point of view. Bitner et als (1994) study found that employees were inclined to describe the customers problems with external causes such as delivery system failures as the most prominent followed by problem customers. A small percentage of dissatisfactory incidents were classified as spontaneous negative employee behaviours such as rudeness or lack of attention. It was evident that the employees were biased in terms of not blaming themselves for failures. Past research associating customer and employee views on critical factors compelling customers to switch offers assorted assumptions. Schneider and Bowen (1985) and Schneider, Parkington, and Buxton (1980) found a strong relationship between employee and customer attitudes regarding service quality on the whole in the banking service. The results from their study contradicted those of a study carried out by Brown and Swartz (1989). Data was collected from patients based on experiences with their physicians and were compared to what physicians perceived of the experiences of their patients. Results showed large differences inversely associated to patient satisfaction in general. Thus researchers have different views regarding customer and employee attitudes on service quality. When considering switching in the financial service, Mintel International Group believes the critical factor causing consumers to switch providers is price. Price is a sensitive issue and one that is close to th e heart of customers so it is perceived that they may consider switching on the basis of this if they are not satisfied with the service they are receiving. But it can be concluded that the customers view holds greater value, as it is their opinion that brings in business for a firm. Bolton Brankhurst (1995) and McDougal (1996) have looked at customer switching behaviour in relation to complaints, which they believe leads up to the defection. They suggested, that this field should be further explored, as there is a lack of research that tries to investigate the correlations between the factors that influence service switching and those that influence complaints before switching. Complains are again another major area of concern. The first