Economics Essay Example for Free

Economics Essay Part I Introduction The Doha Development Rounds of the World Trade Organization were negotiations aimed at lowering trade barriers and facilitating healthier economic ties around the world. The rounds began with a ministerial-level meeting in 2001 which was held in Doha, Qatar. This was followed by several other rounds held in locations such as Mexico and Hong Kong with related negotiations held in other locations including Paris, Switzerland, and Geneva. In 2006, the progress of the talks were put at a standstill created by a divide which placed the developed nations such as the United States, the European Union, and Japan on one side and the major developing nations such as India, China, Brazil, and South Africa on the other. The divide was mainly over conflicting interests with regard to several pending issues. Four of those issues namely agriculture, textile and clothing, drugs, and market access for developing and least developed countries are discussed in this paper. Since the first round of the WTO talks, agriculture has taken the center stage. In fact, many critics claim that the standstill of the talks were mainly due to developed and developing nations inability to find acceptable common ground in the issue of agriculture’s three â€Å"pillars†. These were identified as market access, export subsidies, and domestic support. A prevailing argument in the matter is the issue of the necessary level of cuts in tariffs and domestic support on agriculture to allow developing nations to enter the global market. Currently, high regulatory tariffs in the first world hedge out 3rd world agricultural products such as grain and corn from successfully penetrating the market. What makes it worse is that the United States and the European Union both provide very high subsidies for their farmers. Five years since Qatar, the talks in Hong Kong led to a deal that set the deadline for eliminating all agricultural subsidies for exports by 2013. The Hong Kong talks also required developed countries to accept goods from the world’s poorest nations into their respective markets. This marked a milestone for the United Nations, which had been striving for such an achievement for several years. However, the following talks at Geneva failed to achieve a consensus for genuine policies on reducing farming subsidies and lowering agriculture tariffs (Effland et. al. , 2006). Textile and Clothing Discussions regarding the treatment of textiles and apparel in the Doha talks were a particular point of contention during the 2006 round. Originally, discussions on this area were included within the overall Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations. However, developments in the talks led many analysts to suspect that the developing countries were asking far more than they were willing to give. There were also the unconfirmed reports of a hidden Chinese agenda to monopolize the world textile and clothing market with their outrageously cheap products. These led countries like Turkey to call for the sectoral separation of textile and clothing from the NAMA. However, none of the bigger players like the U. S. and the E. U. seemed to be supportive of such a move. The E. U. was against sectoring out textile and clothing from talks on NAMA while the U. S. erely acknowledged the need for â€Å"special treatment† without actually supporting Turkey’s call. The proponents of the sectoring of talks on textiles and clothing claimed that the developing countries were asking for unregulated access to 1st world markets without agreeing to the same. Some organizations such as the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC) accused countries such as India and Brazil of supporting ill-balanced tariff reductions that could severely hurt the manufacturing sector of the United States. Another issue that was raised was the prevalence of counterfeit 1st world brands manufactured in the 3rd world. Some private lobbyists contested that before countries like the U. S. would agree to such grave reductions in tariffs in the textile and clothing area, the developed nations’ governments should first demand for a 3rd World crackdown on counterfeit brand manufacturing. The 2006 talks were stalled before any relevant progress could be noted in this area (Barrie, 2006). Drug patents and distribution International debates on healthcare have always disputed the manufacturing and distribution of drugs for treating the world’s most serious diseases like malaria, HIV and AIDS. Although these medicines are easily available in the developed world, they are extremely expensive compared to the meager earnings of those in the developing world. Patent holding companies of these medicines usually charge high prices for their products primarily to cover development costs. Thus although the 1st world has the means to manage vast epidemics of say HIV in countries like Africa, the legal system on patents prevent them from doing so. A previous solution thought about for this issue was the issuance of compulsory license grants to the 3rd world. This would effectively allow them to manufacture the drugs on their own. However, since such countries usually lack the technology and resources to manufacture specialized drugs, the solution did not seem to be effective. The first Doha round had already recognized this problem and had begun on working for a solution. It released a declaration which asked for allowing compulsory licenses for the manufacture of patented drugs to be issued in developed countries provided the drugs manufactured were only to be sold to certain countries, primarily the UN’s list of least developed nations. The Hong Kong talks and the subsequent Geneva talks saw some of the participating entities heeding the declaration with concrete action. Canada had implemented the declaration by year end of 2005 while the European Commissions official journal published Regulation 816/2006 in 2006 which enforced the Doha declaration in the European Union (Gruenberg, 2007). Market access for developing and least developed countries Allowing the developing and least developed nations of the world to have better market access to 1st world economies had always been the overall thrust of the Doha talks. Trade barriers such as tariffs were contended fiercely throughout the talks. Many scheduled cuts on tariffs have been made since 2001. However by the end of 2005, the Hong Kong ministerial declaration acknowledged there should be discrimination of cuts with regards to sensitive products. Hence, countries were allowed a percentage of their original tariff lines on sensitive products. However, the Hong Kong declaration also made concessions to developing countries. Since the tariff cuts were differentially treated, the poorer countries would be subject to lower cuts and longer transition periods for implementation. The provisions on special products were also applied to the 3rd world, thereby protecting their own special products that played major roles in food and livelihood security. While the 2006 round was fruitful in providing some measure of protection for the 3rd world, it has stumbled over the means and modalities by which the tariffs were supposed to be cut especially in the context of the 1st world.  Although there were some commitments made by the end of April in 2006, these failed to materialize. A deadline set by July of that same year was also not met (Effland et. al. , 2006). Part II China a. ) The Peoples Republic of China currently has a per capita GDP of $ 7,593 (80th in the world). Since the 1980s, Chinas economic policies have undergone various reforms to make it more open to trade. The reforms have resulted to Chinas new found openness to global trade. Its main trading partners are the U. S. 21. 4%, Hong Kong 16. %, Japan 11%, South Korea 4. 6%, and Germany 4. 3%. Its main exports are plastics, optical and medical equipment, iron and steel. It imports mainly oil and mineral fuels and machinery. b. ) Two main economic issues involving China are 1. ) its stand on textile manufacturing in the world economy and 2. ) its treatment of Research In Motion (RIM) regarding the release of BlackBerry in Beijing. In the first issue, many critics have accused China of maneuvering the Doha talks on NAMA to allow itself unfettered access to the worlds textile and clothing industry. Since labor in China is so cheap and clothing raw materials so abundant, China could veritably launch a full scale monopoly of clothing and textile if given the chance (Barrie, 2006). In the second issue, China had signed a contract with RIM for the company to release its state-of-the-art PDA, BLackBerry in Beijing. However just a few months before the scheduled release, the Chinese government took advantage of the advertising efforts that RIM had previously exerted and released their own version of the PDA, RedBerry. RIM is currently assessing whether they should press charges but China seems to powerful to actually be affected (Jones, 2006). c. ) Both issues seem to point out the potential and actual abuses that China could and has made because of the great power that its vast economic strength bestows upon it. I believe that there is no other solution to such a situation other than fervent watchfulness of the international community. While Chinas entry into global trade should be celebrated, its belligerent attitude and immense resources should not be taken lightly.

Project procurement and risk management

Project procurement and risk management PROJECT PROCUREMENT AND RÄ °SK INTRODUCTION The management of the processes of purchasing or acquiring the services ,products or results needed from outside the project team to perform the work is defined as project procurement management or the processes to purchase/acquire products, services and results from outside the project. The main actors are†The Buyer† and the†The Seller† and central is the contractual obligations and regulations.Central is also how the purchasing process within the project is structured, with formal approvals and routines[16].In procurement process we have to consider the Business aspect,financial aspect,routines,instructions,investment aspect,subcontracting and every step in procurement will need its own tools Risk analysis,Investment calculus,vendor evaluation,quality assurance,specification determination,contract forms. 1. SPECIFICATION OF PLACE AND SIZE OF THE PROJECT. 1.1 NEW PROJECT OF GW For the first and second assignment, our company hasnt had any specific project. We only made the scope analysis, management plan, policy, stakeholder analysis, organizational chart within the subjects of Project Management, Quality, Human Resources, and Communication Management.(1,2) For the third assignment, The Company GW has a current project, which is now on going. We have been ordered to make a solar thermal power plant to the area of desert of Arizona, United States. The ordered is made by the United State Government. There should be installed a solar thermal power plant to be built in 5 years. The target of this plant is to generate 275MW energy per year. The energy gained from the solar power, will be used in order to meet the electricity need of the towns that are the closest ones to the solar power. According to the assumption, if 1 average roof is capable to be built 20 solar panels on it, it is expected that this amount of solar energy will meet the electricity needs of approximately 40000 building such as home, school, businesses, and public buildings. The usage of renewable energy will definitely provide the United State Government to make a reasonable profit. Since it doesnt cause any pollution, there will be generated a new perspective for environ mental aspects, and it will repay its installation cost in a short period of time. 2. MAKE A STAKEHOLDER ANALYSÄ °S FOR YOUR PROJECT 2.1 STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS When we were making the scope analysis of GW, in Assignment I, we already mentioned that, stakeholders are any group, party, organization or people, that somehow plays a role within the whole project. They affect or are affected by the actions that the organization performs. Stakeholder analysis identifies the stakeholders and their interests, defines their roles and related responsibilities and specifies whether, and to what extent, their expectations are treated as requirement in the project [3,4,5]. 3. AN INVESTIGATION OF THE AREA OF DESERT OF ARIZONA IN MIND DUE TO RESOURCES (MAPS AND GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION) As we have discussed in our scope analysis, as The Company of GW, our main objective is to set up high quality and efficient solar power plants with a reasonable cost. Since we are also aware of keeping the harmonious balance of energy, one of our aims is also to compensate the energy need by providing the environmental protection to keep the earth green. In order to have a high efficient plant with a high quality, it is quite crucial to pay attention at which the installation will be done. Because the available resources play the most important role, after setting up a plant, in terms of efficiency. Efficiency for a plant can be found by the formula; desired output / required input. This formula can also be explained verbally; the highest efficiency we can get from a plan is 100% that is equal to 1 for this formula, which is impossible to obtain for the real life since we cannot have the ideal conditions. But in order to increase the efficiency to approach to zero, by a simple mathematics, we can say that, we need to keep the output higher as much as we can, while decreasing the input value. How we can decrease the required input value to nearly zero is by utilizing the natural resources as well as we can, which is the solar energy for our case. Therefore, it is very important to build up new plants to the regions, where there can be found high temperature and more sunny days available. Therefore, deserts take the first place in the ranking, when it needs to make a prioritizing. There is also one advantage that deserts can be used as a land for solar power systems, because there is no need any environmental impact such as lake (as it is needed for hydroelectric dams), or coal plants. There are also many advantages to install the plants in the United States as the land; * United States is the leader for the power research and development. * It is one of only two countries in the world that has the largest scale of solar power. * Since Arizona is located in the southwest of US, the feature of warm and sunny climate makes the desert of Arizona more favorable location for solar power. * This solar power plant not only reserved by the people live around it, but also affects some other people by rebates and tax credits. As it is also explained in the website of Department of Energy of United States ; â€Å"Specific federal and state tax laws permit private companies and homeowners to credit the purchase price of their solar power systems against their annual income tax payment.†[6,7] 4. LIST OF ITEMS NEEDED GW needs to identify the needed goods and services. This should be identified according to GWs organization chart and procurement plan. After identifying the needed goods and services, the suppliers which will successfully fulfill the contracts and supply good and services, should be found. The suppliers should be chosen according to their technical capability, experience and human resource capability. Here is a list of needed items and services for GW: Materials Services  § Office Equipment  § Rental Cars  § Meeting Rooms  § Restaurant/Cafeteria  § Security Stuff  § Computer Services  § Cleaning Supplies  § Tax Services  § Insurance Services  § Electric Services  § Heating Services  § Air Condition Services  § Building Repair Services  § Telecommunication Services  § Transport Services  § Treatment of Office Materials Service  § Education Services (for personnel trainings)  § Scientific and Technological Services (for industrial analysis, researches)  § Food and Drink Provider Service  § Security Service Table 2: List of item needed As we see in the table, most of the services and materials are the basic needs of company. These are not changeable according to the projects. According to the project, the use of these items may change. Also the needed items list has to be renewable all the time. The departments may need new items during the projects. Then these items should be added to the list. It means that this list can change in every phase of the project but as it is mentioned before, most of these items will be kept as basic needs. If new items would be identified in later phases of projects, the list can be detailed.[8,9] 5. MAKE OR BUY DECISION The act of making choice between producing an item (in -house ) Internallay or buying it from external source (Supplier) is make-or-buy decision. Make-or-buy decisions arises usually when a company has developed a product or modified a product or having trouble with current supplier or changing demand of the product. Make-or-buy decisions also occur at the operational level. Analysis suggest the following considerations that are in favor of making a part in-house (1) * The considerations of cost * To integrate the plant operations * The Productive utalisation of excess the plant capacity * The Need of direct control over production and/or quality * The Better quality control system * To protect Proprietary technology design. * Unreliable suppliers,No competent suppliers * Desire to maintain a stable workforce (in periods of declining sales) * The too small Quality to interest a supplier * lead time Controle , warehousing and transportation, costs * Greater assurance of continious supply. * Provision of a secondary source * The Political, environmental or social reasons. Some of the factors which influence may be on the firms to buy a part externally include: * Lacklessness of expertise,Suppliers research and specialized know-how exceeds that of the buyer * Consideration of cost. * Low-volume requirements. * Facilities of limited production or insufficient capacity * Strong desire of maintaining a multiple-source policy * The Indirect managerial control considerations. * Considerations of Procurement and inventory. * Preference Brand * Those Item which are not essential to the firms strategy There are two most important points to consider in a make-or-buy decision are and the availability of production capacity the cost . Obviously, the firm who buy will compare production and purchase costs.It provide the major elements included in this comparison. Elements of the â€Å"make† analysis include: * Carrying costs. * The direct labor costs. * Factory overhead costs * Purchased material costs which is delivered * Managerial costs. * Any other costs stemming from the quality and related problems. * Increasing purchasing costs, Increasing capital costs. Cost considerations for the â€Å"buy† analysis include: * Purchasing price,and transportation costs of the items. * Ä °nspection and reception costs. * The Incremental purchasing costs. * Any of the costs which is related to quality or service. 6. RISK ANALYSÄ °S (RA) FOR SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANT TO THE AREA OF DESERT OF ARIZONA 6.1 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC RISK OF SOLAR THERMAL The Desert of Arizona solar boom will impact social and economic dimensions of the region. Nearby residents and visitors will face the burden of increased traffic, pollution, noise, and infrastructure that will diminish the aesthetic qualities of the desert. A fringe impact of solar parks is increased land prices caused by growing demand from private industry. Economically, solar thermal parks will produce manufacturing and construction jobs. These jobs could provide more revenue for the surrounding community, increased investment in the local economy, and a larger tax base.[11,12] 6.2 RISK OF SOLAR THERMAL ON VEGETATION, WILDLIFE, AND WATER The Desert of Arizona is home diverse species and ecosystems, and large solar parks could be physical stressors on these desert systems. Considering the fragility, diversity, and complexity of the Desert of Arizona, large solar thermal parks could disrupt healthy ecosystems and augment pressures on already stressed species .Limited water supplies also complicate the benefits of solar thermal. 6.3 RISK OF SOLAR THERMAL ON DESERT SOIL ECOSYSTEMS: ASSESSMENT ENDPOINT The Desert of Arizona has recently caught the attention of scientists because of its ancient origins and carbon sequestration capabilities. Made up of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. The recent scientific literature regarding carbon sequestration in deserts is both new and solar power is perceived as a ‘clean energy source, reducing carbon production while providing much-needed energy. The production capabilities in Desert of Arizona could supply with most of its energy needs. Therefore, the goal of this project is to determine whether the installation and operation of solar thermal plants will impact carbon sequestration capabilities of the Desert of Arizona ecosystem and ecosystem services to the extent that more carbon is released or inhibited from being stored than saved while utilizing solar technology.[13] 6.4 QUALITATIVE RISK ANALYSIS: POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF SOLAR THERMAL PLANTS ON THE DESERT OF ARIZONA It is clear that the desert ecosystem will be disturbed and destroyed during the installation of the Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants in the Desert of Arizona. However, it is unclear, and therefore our primary question for this analysis, whether the sum gain of carbon saved by building and operating new solar thermal plants rather than operating fossil fuel power plants is greater than the sum loss of carbon that occurs when the desert habitat is disturbed and destroyed, thus altering the carbon sequestration abilities of the ecosystem. We approached this analysis in both a qualitative and quantitative manner. We will first describe the descriptive analysis of the risks associated with installation and operation of the CSP plants, followed by the quantitative approach of applying a cost-benefit analysis to compare net carbon gains by using CSP plants rather than an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (ICGG) plant, which uses â€Å"clean coal† technology.[14] 7. RA WHAT TO DO IF THE RISK OCCURS ? 7.1 CARBON LOSS DUE TO INSTALLATÄ °ON OF SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS Carbon sequestration is thought to occur on a variety of levels within desert and semi-arid ecosystems. The primary stressor in this analysis is the physical destruction of the habitat that will occur with the installation of the solar collecting facilities, roads, and transmission lines or towers. While CSP plants are large, some estimate they use less land area than hydroelectric dams or coal plants. Nonetheless, existing vegetation, including the aboveground biomass and belowground plant tissue and roots will be cleared prior to installation of CSP plants. Additionally, it is assumed that biological soil crusts will be destroyed and alkaline soils will be removed during the CSP installation process, especially if land leveling, contouring, and construction of stabilizing features for high desert winds are needed. While the soil may only be displaced and later deposited in other desert areas, we assumed the stored carbon was released into the atmosphere. This may be an overstatemen t of the potential effect; however, we decided to assume the scenario causing the greatest impact given the limited available information. 7.2 LOSS OF FUTURE CARBON SEQUESTRATION WITH THE OPERATION OF SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS In addition to the loss of stored carbon, the CSP facility and supporting infrastructure will likely inhibit the future sequestration of carbon across the inhabited area. Some researchers such as Schlesinger are skeptical of the high flux rates especially given the lack of information to support where the carbon is stored and whether carbon sequestration within desert biomes has increased since the Industrial Revolution. However, if these desert ecosystems do sequester large carbon pools, then large alterations of the ecosystem will likely result in the loss of future sequestration capabilities for the global carbon budget. 7.3 OTHER POTENTIAL IMPACTS AS A RESULT OF INSTALLATÄ °ON AND OPERATÄ °ON OF SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS Although the majority of this analysis has characterized solar thermal as a physical stressor, CSP plants also pose chemical risks. CSP plants may use molten salts to store the thermal energy and these oxidizing salts may pose both health and ecological risks. Furthermore, impacts will occur on water supplies and resources, as water is piped from limited aquatic systems; Desert of Arizona, some of which may have declining populations; and nearby human communities. These impacts were not evaluated in this risk analysis but should be considered in a more comprehensive evaluation. 7.4 QUANTITATIVE RA/ COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS The objective of this cost benefit analysis is to weigh the possible costs of building a solar thermal plant in the Desert of Arizona. The scope of this cost benefit analysis will be limited to solar thermal plants located in Desert of Arizona, and the currency used will be carbon. It is important to note that these values are estimates and the quantitative analysis is limited to carbon. In a comprehensive risk assessment, a full ecological cost benefit analysis would be conducted in order to measure the true costs of a solar thermal plant. Other parameters that would be considered include impacts on the Desert of Arizona of the region, water resources, social and economic implications and land costs. Carbon costs of construction and operation of the solar thermal plant were calculated based on a review of the primary literature. Carbon released from disruption of Desert of Arizona soil, construction of the solar thermal plant, and disruption of carbon sequestration capabilities were considered in the evaluation. [15] 8. RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS FLOWCHART CONCLUSION In this paper we define and implement the project procurement and risk management for our green show project,we specify the place and size of our project and also analysis of stackholders were made .We also investigate the area due to resources and geographical information .A list of items like systems ,services and materials etc was made and finally we also perform make or buy decisions for the items.Both types of qualatative and quantitative risk analysis was also made.We present a risk management plane in the form of flow chart with roles and resposibilities.We come to a point that project procrutment and risk management is the most important area of project management. REFERENCES [1] http://www.jasolar.com/ [2] http://michaelbluejay.com/sri/solar.html [3] http://maps.google.com/ [4] http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0209-solar.html [5] http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0113-energy.html [6] http://news.discovery.com/tech/ten-places-harness-solar.html [7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_plants_in_the_Mojave_Desert [8] http://xeno.ipaustralia.gov.au/tmgoods.htm [9] http://www.treasury.gov.lk/FPPFM/pfd/circulars/NPACircular11.pdf 10) http://www.enotes.com/management-encyclopedia/make-buy-decision [11] SOLAR THERMAL IN THE MOJAVE DESERT, 13 March 2009. [12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_plants_in_the_Mojave_Desert [13] http://www.aps.com/ [14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Energy_Generating_Systems [15] Financing Solar Thermal Power Plants, Rainer Kistner and Henry W. Price, April 1999. [16] Erika Lecture notes

Organisational Structure And Product Analysis Of Theme Park

Organisational Structure And Product Analysis Of Theme Park The philosophy of marketing needs to be owned by everyone from within the organization. Marketing focuses on the satisfaction of customer needs, Marketing is not only much broader than selling, it is not a specialized activity at all It encompasses the entire business wants and requirements. Future needs have to be identified and anticipated. The marketing concept is a philosophy. It makes the customer, and the satisfaction of his or her needs, the focal point of all business activities. It is driven by senior managers, passionate about delighting their customers.Marketing is not only much broader than selling, it is not a specialized activity at all It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of the final result, that is, from the customers point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise.This customer focused philosophy is known as the marketing concept. The marketing concept is a philosophy, not a system of marketing or an organizational structure. It is founded on the belief that profitable sales and satisfactory returns on investment can only be achieved by identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer needs and desires. INTRODUCTION OF Q1; Lost World of TambunTheme Parks in Malaysia The latest attraction from Sunway City Ipoh in Tambun, the Lost World is a new water theme park in Perak set to provide you a fun-filled adventure for friends and family! Nestled among lush greenery and limestone hills, the Lost World has a host of exciting activities to keep you coming back for more. Question 1: Your role: You are required to select a theme park of your choice. You are required to determine their organizational structure, products, markets, and competitors. Introduction As part of your research, you will need to define the structure of the franchise and the product that is being offered to the consumer. Content You are required to analyze: Their market strength Their zone of natural expansion Brand positioning and marketability of their brand Suggest steps to improve their sales and profits Suggest how they can take their business to a global scale Summary Conclude your research by summarizing all the above and provide a final solution on how the theme park may thrive in a completion market place. All cost for the event and portfolio must be self funding. Olympia College will not be responsible for any cost or any unforeseen circumstances occurred during this event. Answer Q1 As part of our assignment, I have chose the Lost World of Tambun theme park as my choice for doing my assignment. From my own research, there is five main elements which make up this world of adventures which is as stated in the structure belowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Jungle Wave Bay CLIFF RACER Tiger Valley Water park Hot Springs Spa FIVE ELEMENTS Water Park An exquisitely beautiful Waterfall Beach Garden exhilarating water rides in the theme park for everyone at the water park and where the water beach garden were the biggest wave pool in Malaysia where the waves could swell up to 3 feet high. At there, you could find a absolutely perfect landscaped beach which surrounded by 20 feet twin waterfalls with two rivers flowing into the pool. There is also a musical body wash as a refreshment before to the caption of Sandy Bay. Explorabay, a kids only zone which is specially designed for kids while Cliff Racer are intend for a adult and youth. And of course, the longest inflatable tube ride in Malaysia, Tube Raiders which is the family favourite giant slides while Adventure River is more on relaxing water ride. Cliff Racer Sail through the jungle canopy in an old mine cart after a drop from dizzying heights; just like in the old Wild Wild West movies! The park is perfect for those family escapades. Be sure to bring spare clothes for a change after a whole days fun on the numerous water slides and water games. The park also plays host to a few tigers and albino tiger cubs and visitors can witness the tiger feeding times between 11.30am to 5pm every day. The park is open everyday except Tuesdays (school/public holidays excluded) from 11am 6pm. One can have a cocktail at the Rum Jungle Bar between 6pm 9pm every night. Entrance tickets start at about RM25 per adult and RM 19 per child (children under 90cm gets free entrance). The park also offers special food, entrance and rides packages. Lost World Hot Springs Spa As the latest supplement for the visitors to enjoy the inimitable feel of the hot spring, the water in the hot spring come from a natural source, and this is a sanctuary for the visitors to relax and enjoy and to experience hygienic and rejuvenating hot water. Besides, there are many other elements which are catered for the visitors presenting the ultimate relaxation experience Tiger Valley There are feeding tigers show and their handles at play in the tiger valley. You can learn abit about how the tigers are cared through the valleys educational program where you will be able to get close and personal with one of these exquisite tigers. Lost World Petting Zoo Visitors can take a walk on the wild side and The Petting Zoo allows the public to touch, feel, feed and play with the animals; giving those looking for a more personal encounter, a closer perspective. Body Market Strength So many words packed into one, the Lost World of Tambun, where providing an action packed with exciting adventures with the most sensational rides and glamour in Ipoh, Malaysia. A 60 million Ringgit theme park which located in this historical town of Ipoh, in the middle of the North South corridor in Perak; and is set in the inborn landscapes of Ipoh, surrounded by exquisitely breath taking limestone features. The Lost World of Tambun has its own market strength just like the other theme park as well. As my research all over these theme parks, The Lost World of Tambun is the best theme parks if compared to all the competitors around within the northern region in Ipoh example like Bukit Merah. They has providing a variety services which provides leisure, relaxation, enjoyment as well as entertainment. Moreover, the price are quite reasonable for the services they are providing. As another market strength, Lost world of Tambun is the only theme park with natural hot spring and the water come from natural source and the thermal water in the pool are not recycled. Furthermore, they got a formation of the stand alone rock formation 10 storey building within the theme park. Based on the 4Ps, place, people, promotion and products, Lost World of Tambun had provides all these 4Ps if compared to other competitors as their market strength. Place 800 parking spaces provided Good transportation Natural pleasant landscape People Good services Caring from staffs Friendliness from staffs Promotion Invite international performance during parties; beach party Promote online through hot websites; facebook, etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Promote through travel and tour agencies for packages Product Water Park Amusement Park Lost World Hot Springs Spa Tiger Valley Lost World Petting Zoo Zone of Expansion For your information, Lost World are exposed to the nature. Therefore, it has ample of natural resources around and within the park. As for the future expansion, they should take this advantage to make more for its zone of natural expansion usage from the natural sources. Currently, they are building a hotel of themselves which are rated as 4 5 star grades; visitors like foreign visitors do not need to look for other accommodations and can just stay inside the Lost World of Tambuns Hotel which are surrounded by natural source. Besides, they are also upgrading the hot spring spa section. As their future expansion, it could build up a monorail system for the overall accessibility within the theme park itself; visitors are able to travel from the theme park back to the hotel after explorer. Moreover, wide natural resources in their theme park which enable them to have their own cave which creates jungle tracking and cave exploring experience for customers. They should expand more on dry rides in did of only focus in wet rides as there is already a lot of wet rides. This will enable the visitors to have more choices during their explorer and will not feel boring. Brand positioning and marketability of their brand A great theme park which have its own nature and gave us a refreshing feeling when you are living in a hectic lifestyle; a way to expose yourself to the nature. Besides, it is a time for every member in a family to spend their time together and have fun in Lost World of Tambun. This is a way for family bonding to happen. Moreover, we can spend our time with our friends during holiday at there for entertainment and leisure. And of course, it is a good place for a couple to have a great day. What are they famous for? Their natural resources and it located in a historical place in Ipoh with natural thermal water sources. They are also considered as under the umbrella of Sunway Groups which lead them to success because Sunway group had prove themselves in Sunway Lagoon. Steps to improve their sales and profit In order to improve their sales and profit, they should depend on the economy scale which is reduce their cost in order to get more people. Besides, its also depends on how they generate their profit through the existing products. They can also provide more new family packages and teenage packages. Another step to improve their sales and profit is to extend business hour for dry parks and more events should be organize example like beach party. International performances should be invite example like super junior, wonder girls and big bang in order to attract more visitors. And of course, special rates for senior citizen should be apply and toys should be given to kids to show that the management is caring enough even to every single matter. How they can take their business to a global scale Extend their business to global scale, they can deal with the travel and tour regencies for packages and brings the tourism to Lost World of Tambun and let them recognize it and bring back this information back to the country. Moreover, they can have a deal with a country ambassador to promote their theme park in their own country and to attract foreign investment example like an big organization and this will lead them to develop another branch in their country by the help in modal from the organization; targeting hot weather country like india. Besides, it should have a deal with large organization to have a big retreat ( international conference ). And of course, the lost world management should also advertise their theme park through hot websites example like facebook.com, youtube.com, twitter.com and etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Conclusion In any business success, marketing always plays a key part. You have to make a good relationship with your customers. You need to work out how you will reach and win new customers and make sure that they will be happy and remain satisfied of the services you are providing them. You need to always review and keep on improving everything you do to stay ahead of the competition.Although marketing plays an important role, it will not guarantee sales unless by doing it with a laid out plan. A well-researched and logical plan is important to have a better chance of building a long-term profitable relationships. A marketing plan will serve as a reference or your basis to execute a marketing strategy. By laying out plans, it will set out a clear objectives and explains how you will achieve them. You can define your business well if you have a written document that details the necessary actions to achieve your marketing goals. A marketing plan is considered a part of an over all business plan .

Good Eats :: essays research papers fc

Good Eats A pig isn’t dumb. In the old Chicago slaughterhouses, pigs lifted by their hindquarters knew something bad was about to happen. With their throats slit they could unleash a hellish scream. Their lifeless bodies then passed along the rest of the disassembly line. America has moved on from that point in history. In America it could be said that the 20th century was spent recognizing those America had forgotten. America has changed its perceptions about race, sex, and homosexuality however Americans have not been as progressive when it comes to animals. As a result the health of many Americans is questionable. With the number of baby boomers growing older, America could be facing a health care crisis. With our current values of equality, and a respect for all life, it is not ethical moral or even logical to consume the flesh of other animals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For some the barrier between animals and people will always be obvious. We rule, they serve. Considering the socio-political events of the past century that view of animals should be considered primitive. If surveyed some people would respond that animals are here for our use citing biblical reasons, or stating animals are obviously inferior to human beings using a sort of natural law argument.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  True enough in nature other animals eat other animals. That is an undeniable fact that some say justifies meat eating. To a certain extent we are no different from other animals in that we have dietary needs. The only problem is with this natural law argument is individuals often mention how much smarter we are than other animals. Is intelligence what justifies our dominance of animals for our own benefit? I guess if inferiority or superiority is based on the ability to comprehend and practice math, science, and art, then yes animals are inferior. Infants don’t develop the cognitive ability to perform such tasks until later in life when they learn from their parents and then eventually school. As persuasive as Jonathan Swift’s proposal is, people aren’t eating infants and babies. The logic of the inferior argument is essentially a cow is dumb so it is ok to eat a steak. Next time you sit down to a large steak dinner ask yourself, â€Å"was th is dumb piece of meat someone’s dad?† Intelligence is not a good enough reason to ethically justify eating meat. There are sections of the human population who we should then also consider eating. Good Eats :: essays research papers fc Good Eats A pig isn’t dumb. In the old Chicago slaughterhouses, pigs lifted by their hindquarters knew something bad was about to happen. With their throats slit they could unleash a hellish scream. Their lifeless bodies then passed along the rest of the disassembly line. America has moved on from that point in history. In America it could be said that the 20th century was spent recognizing those America had forgotten. America has changed its perceptions about race, sex, and homosexuality however Americans have not been as progressive when it comes to animals. As a result the health of many Americans is questionable. With the number of baby boomers growing older, America could be facing a health care crisis. With our current values of equality, and a respect for all life, it is not ethical moral or even logical to consume the flesh of other animals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For some the barrier between animals and people will always be obvious. We rule, they serve. Considering the socio-political events of the past century that view of animals should be considered primitive. If surveyed some people would respond that animals are here for our use citing biblical reasons, or stating animals are obviously inferior to human beings using a sort of natural law argument.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  True enough in nature other animals eat other animals. That is an undeniable fact that some say justifies meat eating. To a certain extent we are no different from other animals in that we have dietary needs. The only problem is with this natural law argument is individuals often mention how much smarter we are than other animals. Is intelligence what justifies our dominance of animals for our own benefit? I guess if inferiority or superiority is based on the ability to comprehend and practice math, science, and art, then yes animals are inferior. Infants don’t develop the cognitive ability to perform such tasks until later in life when they learn from their parents and then eventually school. As persuasive as Jonathan Swift’s proposal is, people aren’t eating infants and babies. The logic of the inferior argument is essentially a cow is dumb so it is ok to eat a steak. Next time you sit down to a large steak dinner ask yourself, â€Å"was th is dumb piece of meat someone’s dad?† Intelligence is not a good enough reason to ethically justify eating meat. There are sections of the human population who we should then also consider eating.

Survival in solitude Essay -- Essays Papers

Survival in solitude After being stranded on an uninhabited island, Robinson Crusoe manages to discover his natural abilities that serve as indicators of his true character. At first glance the common adage, â€Å"Necessity is the mother of all inventions,† appears to account for the character of Robinson Crusoe; however, further analysis suggests that the intelligence, industriousness, and optimism are inherent to Crusoe’s personality. Sir Francis Bacon so aptly stated, â€Å"Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity doth best discover virtue.† From the moment that Crusoe was stranded on the island until the day he was rescued he exhibits these qualities. Crusoe’s innate intelligence serves him well throughout his solitary life on the island. After agonizing over his plight, he consoles himself, and collects himself in order to move on. His shrewdness and practicality help him to overcome the obstacles that the island presents. He has enough forethought to recognize that the ship might be swept away by the tides, and he works continuously in order to salvage everything he can from the ship. He loses no time to make a trip to the ship in order to unload the cargo, and when he is in need of a method to transport the cargo to the beach, he constructs a raft that will do the job. He protects the provisions from weather and potential wild beasts. Crusoe is intelligent and understands that by being alone he might go crazy, and to combat this he keeps himself busy for...

The Study Of Akali Metal Contamination In Road Side Soil :: essays research papers

The Study of Akali Metal Contamination in Road Side Soil Abstract Six soil samples were taken from a roadside that was expected to exhibit characteristic of road salt contamination. This contamination is characterized by the presence of magnesium, calcium and sodium. The relationship between akali metal concentration and distance from the pavement was examined and determined to be nonexistent. Additionally, atomic absorbtion and atomic emission spectroscopy were compared and and atomic absorbtion was found to be 1.89 times as sensitive as atomic emission. Introduction A common technique in snow and ice removal on roadways is the application of magnesium, calcium, and sodium chloride salts to the surface of the road. When the ice melts it dissolves these salts and causes them to migrate into soil that is adjacent to the pavement. Over time, the accumulation akali metal salts can change the chemical profile of the soil which can lead to detrimental biological effects. Flame atomic spectroscopy provides a technique that can quantify metal concentrations in the extracts of the soil samples and consequently examine the relationship between distance from the point of road salt application and akali metal concentrations. Experimental Soil preparation: Six surface soil samples were collected at the intersection of Cold Spring Lane and the exit ramp of Interstate 83, in northwest Baltimore city. These samples were collected at distances from the roadway of 0m, 2m, 4m, 6m, 10m, and 20m. These samples were dried in a convection oven at 110Â °C for over 24 hours then crushed. Aliquots of approximately one gram were weighed and then extracted with 10.0 mL of 1M ammonium acetate. The extract was filtered with an inline filter disc with a pore size of 5mm and then diluted to 100.0 mL. Instrumental: The extracts were analyzed for Ca, Na, and Mg using a Varian model AA-3 flame atomization spectrophotometer with a diffraction grating monochromator. Data was collected with a Houston Instrument chart recorder. An acetylene/air reducing flame was used for all determinations (10 psi acetylene/7 psi air). Two replicates of each sample were made and averaged for both AA and AE. The analysis was seperated into two methods; atomic absorbtion (AA) and atomic emission (AE). The emission intensities and absorbances were determined from the measured peak height obtained from the chart recordings. Atomic Emission: Na and Ca concentrations in the soil were determined using AE. The spectrophotometer was calibrated using the standard series method for both elements. Regression analysis was performed on the calibration data to provide a functional relationship between emision intensity and concentration. Results and Conclusions: Sodium: The atomic line used in the analysis for sodium was at 589.0 nm. The relationship between emision intensity and concentration was found to be

Customer benefit package (CBP) diagram for Gold’s Gym Essay

Gold’s Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as â€Å"gyms†). Each gym features with a wide array of exercise equipment, group exercise classes and personal trainers to assist clients. So the primary services of the Gyms is to provide a wonderful and professional environement for people who want to do bodybuilding and physical education. It is considered a landmark in the bodybuilding subculture. Gold’s Gym locations are equipped with cardiovascular and strength training equipment and offer group exercise classes such as group cycling, pilates, Latin dance, yoga and stretching through the company GGX (Gold’s Group Exercise) program. Many gyms also offer basketball, swimming pools and boxing studios so these are Gold’gyms’s peripheral service. 2. The mission of the Gold’gyms is to help people find their inner strengths to achieve goals. No matter what your fitness level is. Anything is possible when coming to Gold’gyms. 3. The strategy of the Gold’Gyms is to provide the best facilities for trainers and also bring benefits to membership. They focus on 4 â€Å"P†. Product : Equipment and training programs for health and fitness vary among facilities Certified staff and employees. Price: Membership fees and plans range depending on gym  $34.99 for a two-year commitment to $569 for a one-year membership that includes group sessions. Promotion: Gold’s Gym have their own website so we can easily find infortmation, searching for training progames and applying the a training course, also they have Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter Gold’s Gym Spotter App and Commercials. Everything is public so it gets closer to customers. Place : with 600+ gyms in 37 states and 30 different countries. Gold’gyms are gaining more and more customers every single year. 4. The competitive priorities of Gold’gym are: Currently have the 3rd largest market share. Has 600+ gyms in 30 countries. Have a history of being a body-building gym Recognizable logo. Large line of products in store. The favorite place for many celebrities. 5. The core competencies of Gold’gym is :  They encourage people to define their own strength no matter what their fitness level is. 6. The strategy that they used to win customers is : Providing the best environment for people who want to do bodybuilding. With their reputation, the Gyms always provide most professional space for trainer. With well-trained staffs and employees. Gold’s gyms have built their own images without any kind of lobby or PR. 7. Two key perfomances matrix which could be useful are : Full body analysis : This will help the Gyms to what will be the best method to people to train in the whole body. The body will be trained in fully and healthiest way. Focus on the 18-34 year olds : When people reach to 18, and from 18 to 25 years old: bonds and body structure are built quite good so it is the best time for them to do a professional bodybuilding, in additional, they also have many free time than others. From 25 to 34: They already have jobs so the pressure of job may effect their body so they really need to practice to relax and become healthier in order to work better. If the Gyms can focus on these two things, I believe that they can even gain more profits and become the best fitness centers in the world