Biological Change In The Elder Essay Research free essay sample

Biological Change In The Elder Essay, Research Paper The organic structure goes through a complicated series of physiological alterations as it ages. In his book The American Geriatric Society s Complete Guide to Aging A ; Health, Mark E. Williams, M.D. , defines aging as a progressive, predictable procedure that involves the development and ripening of life beings. Aging affects all parts of the organic structure from the obvious such as tegument, hair and overall visual aspect to organ map. The most seeable mark of the aging procedure takes topographic point within the tegument. The tegument consists of three beds: cuticle, corium and hypodermis. The outer degree is called the cuticle. As this skin degree ages the rates of cell loss addition and cell production lessening ensuing in a cutting of the tegument. This cutting makes the tegument more susceptible to wrinkling and pursing. Another seeable facet is the visual aspect of age musca volitanss. We will write a custom essay sample on Biological Change In The Elder Essay Research or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page These age musca volitanss result from the grouping of pigment bring forthing cells. Besides the blood vass near the surface weaken, as they age and this will let the tegument to contuse easy. The in-between degree is called the corium. It is at this degree where collagen is produced. Collagen helps to beef up the tegument. As an single ages less collagen is produced ensuing in the tegument going stiffer and less elastic. When the tegument becomes less elastic it will so get down to droop. The interior most degree of tegument is the hypodermis. It is at this degree where the fat cells are located. As the organic structure ages fat Begins to diminish at a dissimilar rate. This consequences in a rough visual aspect. It is besides at this degree that the greasy secretory organs are found. These peculiar secretory organs provide oil lubrication for the tegument. As these secretory organs age they produce less oil that consequences in the tegument going dry, brickle and more vulnerable to scratchy forces. Another extremely seeable mark of the aging procedure takes topographic point in the hair. Hair is lost daily but as the person ages the rate of replacing slows. This shows up as a cutting in the growing. Males and females besides react to the aging procedure otherwise when it comes to hair. Women will develop facial hair with most overriding growing happening on their mentums. Men will go on to develop hair growing on the interior surfaces of their outer ears. Both sexes besides develop a graying of the hair. This is due to the deceleration of the production of melanocytes, which produce the pigment colour. Another portion of the organic structure where the rate of devastation exceeds replacing as it ages is the skeletal system. Due to the loss of Ca the castanetss become brickle. An increasing job among the aged is broken castanetss. Joints besides lose mobility and deteriorate from changeless wear and tear. The gristle between vertebrae begins to vanish which consequences in the single appearance to shrivel. Muscles besides undergo loss in the aging procedure. Muscle cells begin to shrivel and some besides dice. Due to this shrinking the musculuss loss majority and strength. The rate of energy production besides slows which helps to lend to muscle neglect. With the loss of nervus cells in the aging single the organic structure s senses become less acute. The corneas within the eyes suffer from displacements in form, which alter the ocular Fieldss doing the person to go nearsighte d. The cornea besides goes from transparent excessively blurry. The flag which consist of musculus fibres begin to atrophy which allows less light to come in the oculus doing the person to necessitate more visible radiation in which to read, work etc. The outer ears begin to physically sag and acquire wider. The perspiration secretory organs within the ear canal Begin to decease off leting cerumen to dry and construct up. The tympanum begins to thin and the environing musculuss shrink doing the membranophone non to be easy vibrated. This becomes evident as the person shows a lessening in ability to hear high tones. As the organic structure ages the encephalon begins to shrivel in size and becomes filled with fluid. Neurons dice which consequence in less synaptic connexions. This will go apparent in memory loss and a deceleration of response to stimuli. Lungs will go less effectual due to a lessening in snap. The liver becomes less capable of filtrating toxins from the blood. The bosom pumps less aptly as the arterias harden doing hapless circulation and high blood force per unit area. Women will travel through climacteric. This is when females lose the capacity to bear kids due to the surcease of egg production within the ovaries that in bend causes menses to stop. Even though these biological alterations happen during the aging procedure certain lifestyle factors may rush up or decelerate down the procedure. Factors that may speed up the procedure are smoking, the abuse of drugs and intoxicant, inordinate Sun exposure, deficient exercising, hapless eating wonts and fleshiness. By making the antonym of these, like exerting on a regular basis and eating a good diet, the aging procedure possibly slowed down and an single s life span extended. In the 1990 s a longitudinal survey on the aging procedure was conducted with the topics dwelling of 678 nuns from the School Sisters of Notre Dame. The end of this survey was to analyze the relationship between cognitive ability and neuropathological grounds of AD. ( AD stands for Alzheimer s Disease. ) One of the surprising consequences of this survey was the inability to foretell a future diagnosing of AD based upon certain factors. By utilizing the Mini-Mental Status Exam, age and old ages of formal instruction research workers attempted by utilizing a mathematical equation to foretell those who will be disposed to AD. This system was proven non to be an exact signifier of spoting future AD patients. By utilizing good life style picks it was documented that certain cognitive maps may be retained even when certain physical facets ( i.e. Neurofibrillary tangles and doddering plaques ) are present. In today s society persons will take immense stairss to stay-off the seeable aging procedure from deceasing hair, raising tegument and sucking up fat. By making so persons hope to stay immature in the eyes of society. Due to the fact that life anticipation has been raised and increased medical intercession is possible the population of aged persons has easy increased. With this addition of single society is get downing to provide to senior citizens. Good life style picks are promoted in every facet of an single # 8217 ; s life. Peoples are urged to stay-off the biological alterations of aging but are accepted when those alterations happen. Society is get downing to supply for all facets of the aging procedure with medical, physical and societal intercessions

Loss and Isolation Themes of Frankenstein

Loss and Isolation Themes of Frankenstein Isolation is a common human tendency that society uses to deal with a stressful situation. In the timeless novel "Frankenstein", by Mary Shelly, there is a constant theme of isolation, leading to loss and tragedy. Consequently, this theme becomes exponential as the loss and tragedy lead to more isolation. The cycle continues throughout the story, up to the point where both Victor Frankenstein and his creature die near the North Pole. The creature and Doctor Frankenstein are constantly repulsed by each other keeping their cycle of loss and isolation in motion.The first presentation of isolation in the novel is that of Victor Frankenstein. In the isolation of the town Ingolstadt he searches for knowledge on the secrets of life. However, Victor only uses the secrets he has uncovered to reanimate a dead body and create a monster. Victor describes his situation, "I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.Manuscript page from Frank enstein by Mary ShelleyI had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart" (Shelly 48-49). Frankenstein has shown the first example of how isolation leads to his tragedy. He stays in his apartment alone, obsessing over creating life, not thinking of consequences of his actions. This traumatic event causes Frankenstein to flee his apartment, leaving his creation alone.This action however leaves Victor's creature in isolation and confusion. Now the cycle continues and the creature must try to survive on his own, in seclusion. The creature comes across humans, but they only see him as a monster and attack him without any reason besides his appearance. The creature is extremely lonely and confused as he tries to make sense...

The Flat World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Flat World - Essay Example The large video conferencing equipment as an indication of technological advances has in fact made the world move in the same direction as if under one time zone indicating further that the world is flat. However, the context of the levelled playing field in the context of business could have meant that the most progressive countries do not have the monopoly of all knowledge based business. Intelligence or knowledge is not exclusively spawned in progressive countries they are also present at some level in other countries. Even in the most adverse condition brilliance tends to shine and even outshines the brilliance emanating from progressive countries (Darling-Hammond, 2010). A company with little or limited capital is on the same playing field as those with tens of millions in their advertising and promotional marketing budgets and more in their pockets. A company with several hundred engineers in their talent pool can easily be eased out from a government contract by a company with only one brilliant engineer with the right invention (Ferrell, Hirt, & Ferrell, 2010). The internet has made all of these possible. Competition is not all about money now or who has the right connection or even the number of employees or buildings or even offices all over the world (Done, 2011). Talent and knowledge have become universal and within easy reach. Communicating directly with the talent with the knowledge has lessened the cost of its acquisition. All of these things considered the world have been made flat (Eve, 2011). Telecommunication The article mentioned the enormous investment poured into creating the infrastructure to support the colossal telecommunication system that is the foundation of the internet. Over the past several decades strides have been made to make everybody connected not just locally but internationally as well. This is evidenced not in audio transmissions alone but also in video transmissions as well. The number of companies or the syndication of t he capital needed to create the infrastructure did not simply come from one company in one particular country. Each country wanting to be part or connected to the internet highway have contributed their resources or that of the proponent companies in that country. These efforts have made the telecommunication industry borderless another indication of a flat world. It should be mentioned that being connected into the internet highway could open opportunities for the country no matter how small or how poor the country is (Crombie, 1976). Telecommunication is the great equalizer, the greater the bandwidth and the wider the reach of telecommunication infrastructure in every country all over the world the cheaper it gets. The fastest way to get in touch with clients is through the telephone. Clients who do not have the time and only function on the basis of trust and goods delivered to establish credibility will more and more dominate the international business climate. Since not all com panies or business owners have the budget or even the resources to conduct face to face business transactions thus the changing business landscape also reacts and adapts to the technological advances being made commercially available (Qiang & Pitt, 2003). Technology have made it possible for regular analogue phone, cable television or video frequency, radio or audio frequency, data transmission and even power or

Scientific Discovery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Scientific Discovery - Essay Example trick B Sharp discusses how Wells had established the connection of atomic bomb in his book Savage Perils where Wells extrapolated the work of British chemist named Frederick Soddy, who worked on radioactivity. It was remarkable that Wells has mentioned that term on the pages of his book ‘The World Set Free’ in 1914, which made it obvious that the forecast of the writers may prove to be very accurate. Dr. Patrick B. Sharp quoted that the term â€Å"atomic bomb† was coined by H. G. Wells and he was the one who popularized the same. The fiction of Wells led to a scientific breakthrough. The application of principles in atomic energy and radioactivity combined to create the â€Å"Atomic Bomb† that was used during World War II. The moral question was whether or not this astounding discovery is used for the betterment of the society or for destruction. It was analyzed by many groups that the contributions of the atomic bomb in military technology and misuse for war purposes, was real and could lead to death of millions of people. Despite the fact that it can be used as nuclear power to harness enormous energy, the moral responsibility of individual scientists in wartime was the bigger issue. The whole world is aware of what had happened when President Truman ordered to drop the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. Japan feels the radioactive effect of destruction even today after more than 60 years. Today there are many nations in the world who has nuclear power and there is no guarantee that they would not use this technology to over-power their enemy, which will surely jeopardize the pursuit of life, liberty, or happiness of the common people. The atomic bomb dropping of America on Japan after World War II is the best instance that can be cited to prove the evil of this astounding scientific discovery. During that time, only few nations had nuclear power but today most of the nations have nuclear power, which they can use for acts of terrorism.

Public Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public - Essay Example According to Taylor scientific management as a set of techniques means that employers had to enforce scientific techniques on the workers when it came to their performance, selecting and training them in their tasks and even when planning the work each employee will perform. The philosophy part of scientific management is the belief held by managers that by enforcing the scientific methods to the employees, they will produce more, they will follow the instructions and tasks they have been given and in the end will be motivated enough to perform the tasks smoothly. The above matters because having the set techniques on how to perform the tasks in the workplace alone without having a belief that it will be possible to enforce these methods and tasks will not lead to production of results. The belief system acts as an assertion technique for the managers to ensure that they push their employees to work in order to produce results and benefit both the employees and the employer. Not all managers can enforce the tasks to their employees without having a set system and methodology plan that they should follow. This is therefore the reason why Taylor insists in his scientific management theory about having a set of techniques which act as a guideline for enforcement of tasks. Taylor argued that employees wanted the job in order to earn wages to sustain themselves and they therefore provided the required labor as they earned according to the amount of labor provided. The employers whose interest was to increase profits were able to do so by increasing the labor provided by the employees. The employees therefore provided cheap labor due to their desperation for work and the employers benefitted from this by having more production at less labor costs hence having a harmonized system. This should not be the case as the employees’ labor was being exploited to enrich the greedy and selfish employers. The employers took advantage of the fact that these employers who were

Objectives Of File Management Systems Information Technology Essay

Objectives Of File Management Systems Information Technology Essay In linux everything is treated as a file. A user frequently interacts with files directly or indirectly. They need perform various operations such as create, edit, delete etc on the files. To perform these activities, operating systems provide file management systems. The services required by file management system are provided by operating system. File management system is a collection of software that provides services to application and users. It facilitates the communication between user application and files. This relieves user from developing the software for each application. Objectives of File Management systems: Guarantees data in the file is valid Optimizes performance in terms of throughput response time Provide I/O support for storage device type Provide I/O support for multiple users Meet user requirements for data operations [1] FILE System architecture: Figure 1: File System Architecture. [1] As depicted in the figure the device drivers interacts with the peripherals. The function of device driver is to start the I/O operation complete the request. These device drivers are considered as a part of operating system. Above the device drivers there which is also called as physical I/O. Main function of file system is to deal with the is basic file system data from disk systems place them on secondary storage. Also it manages buffering of these blocks on to the main memory. It doesnt care about data inside the file. The next level is Basic I/O supervisor. The function of this layer is I/O initiation termination. At this level control structures deals with file status, scheduling, I/O. The device on which file I/O is to be performed selected by I/O supervisor based on particular file selected. Logical I/O enables users application to accept records. The logical I/O module deals with file Records. Logical I/O maintains basic data about the files. Access system is the file system closest to the user. The main function is to provide interface between file system applications. File Management Functions: Figure 2: File Management Functions [1] Application programs Users interact with the file system to create and delete files and for performing operations on files. File system first identify and locate the selected file before performing any operation. Directories are used to describe location of all files their attributes. Most shared systems implements access control policies. Only authorized users can have access to particular files. The basic operations that a user or application may perform on a file are performed at the record level. The file is viewed by user as structure of records. Access methods are used to map user commands into specific file manipulation commands. I/O operation is done on block basis. The records are organized as a blocks of output. In order to perform the operation files must be allocated to free blocks on the secondary storage. Also free storage must be managed so as to know what blocks are available for new files and growth in existing files. File Organization: Several criteria affect the selection of file organization. Some of these factors can be listed as follows. The suitability depends on the application which will be using the file. Economy of Storage Short Access time Reliability Simple maintenance [1] Original file system: Physical disk in Linux is divided into logical disks. It is called as partitions. Each partition is treated as a standalone file system. Each device is assigned with major device number and the partitions are assigned with minor device number. The device driver refers to these numbers to access raw file system. Major number acts like a index to switch table minor number will recognize specific instance of device. [3] Physical location of file data block: Placing the data blocks in a contiguous manner will improve the performance but will lead to inefficiencies in allocating space. User may need to specify the file of size at the time of creation. Linux file system allocates block one at a time from pool of free blocks[3]. File blocks are scattered randomly on physical disk. Inodes: inode contains key information related to files required by the OS. A single inode may point to several file names but the active inode is associated only with one file. Inode stores attributes, permissions other control information related to the file. The information contained in the inode is  ¬Ã‚ le ownership indication à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ File type à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ File access permissions. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Time of last access, and modi ¬Ã‚ cation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Number of links (aliases) to the  ¬Ã‚ le à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Pointers to the data blocks for the  ¬Ã‚ le à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Size of the  ¬Ã‚ le in bytes (for regular  ¬Ã‚ les), major and minor device numbers for special Device [3] Figure 3: Inode structure [4] Inodes has pointers to data block. Each inodes contain 15 pointers. First 12 pointers will point directly to data blocks. 13th pointer will point to indirect data block.14th pointer points to doubly indirect data block. Similarly, 15th pointer will point to triply indirect block. Advantages: 1] Very little space wasted. A disk can be filled completely. 2] Indirect block points many data blocks so larger files can be efficiently accessed. 3] Simultaneous operations can be performed. One read operation fetches the inode another will fetch first data block. Disadvantages: 1] may lead to poor performance Directories: Directory provides information about file location, file ownership its attributes. A directory is itself a file which is accessible to file management routines. The Directory structure can be shown as below Figure 4: Linux Directory Structure [5] As shown in the figure linux organizes directories in hierarchical fashion. The root lies at the top of the tree and it is denoted by /.Every directory in the linux system is under root directory. The various directories under root directory are Boot : The information required for booting is stored in this directory. This may consist of files used by LILO, Bootstrap loader. This is the place for kernel image. etc: configuration files of machine installed software are stored here dev: device files for devices such as disk drives, serial ports are stored here. Usr : it consists of all man pages, games, commands, static files for normal operations. Sbin :It consists of system admin commands. Home: This is the place where user will keep his own files. It contains users home directory for each user on the system. Root: This is the home directory for root user. File sharing: To share files a special group is created for the set of users who intend to use that files. Directory is created with ownership of that group. The permissions are set such that all users within the group can create files. We can also set group ID so that all the files created in it will automatically have group ownership its parent directory has. Access control in linux: Terms related to ACL A] User class: There are mainly three user classes owner, owning group other users. To allow permission three bits read(r), write (w) and execute (x) can be set. B] Access ACL: It determines group user access permissions for file objects. C] Default ACL: These can be only applied to directories. It decides permissions for file object when it is created. D] ACL entry: ACL is a set of ACL entries. An ACL entry contains a type (see Table B.1 on the following page), a qualifier for the user or group to which the entry refers, and a set of permissions There are 3 basic sets associated with linux file object. These sets are used to grant permissions read(r), write(w), execute(x) for 3 user groups, file owner others. We can also set group id, user set id for special cases. Access control list (ACL) allow the assignment of permissions to individual users or groups even if these do not correspond to the owner or the owning group [6] There are mainly two categories of ACL namely minimum ACL extended ACL. Minimum ACL only consists of entries for owning group, owner other which are associated with conventional permission bits for files directories. Extended ACL has mask entry entries for named group named user types. ADD NFS, VFS. Linux virtual file system: Figure 5: Virtual file system Figure 6: Linux virtual file system concept [1] In linux file management is done with the help of Virtual file system (VFS).T o user process it appears as a single, uniform file system interface.VFS treats files as a objects stored in mass storage area. Files can be identified by their symbolic names. A file has a attribute such as access protection, ownership etc. A mapping is required by file system to map real file system characteristics into Virtual file system characteristics. User process issues a file system call using VFS.VFS converts this call into kernel file system call which is then passed to mapping function for particular file system. Sometimes mapping function may result into complex operations. In many cases directories are not files, VFS may need to convert file corresponding to some directories. The original user file system call is translated into native call to the target file system. The requested function on a file or directory is performed by invoked file system software. The results of the operation are routed back to the user in a similar manner. As VFS is object oriented they are imlemented as a data structures using C,C++.Object consists of pointers which points to the file system functions.These funtions will operate on data. The four objects are Superblock object: Represents a specific mounted file system Inode object: Represents a specific file Dentry object: Represents a specific directory entry File object: Represents an open file associated with a process Third Extended (EXT3) File System: Journaling: EXT3 is third extended file system. It is journaling extension to EXT2.It is 100% compatible with all utilities designed for ext2 file system.Ext3 shares ext2s well-known robustness, but also adds extra features such as extended attributes, H tree.[7] The journaling approach used in EXT3 will greatly reduce the time spent for recovering file system after system crash. This will help to minimize system restart time file system inconsistencies after unclean shutdown. After rebooting a system mount program first checks the Journal. If it finds ay unchecked changes, it applies the changes to the file system. Thus we can say mount program provides consistency to the system. The mount program takes care of all the consistency the system doesnt need to check the consistency hence the computers using journaling are available within short duration after reboot.[8]. Ext3 allocated area called as journal in which it records the changes made to files directories ahead of time. If the system is crashed the recovery simply involves reading the journal from file system replaying the changes. [9] Journaling modes in EXT3 : The classification is made based on the fact that whether journaling makes log changes only to metadata or to all file system. There are three journaling modes Journal: It will record both metadata file system data changes. In this mode there is lowest chance of risk. This journaling mode minimizes the chance of losing the changes that have been made to any file in an ext3 file system. [10]It is the slowest mode. The risk associated with it is lowest. Ordered: It will record the metadata but not the file contents. It is the default ext3 journaling mode. In this mode there is possibility that one may end up with the file in the intermediate stage. The risk associated with this mode is at medium level. Writeback: In this mode only metadata is journaled file contents are not[11]. It allows showing up old data into the file after a crash. It ensures that on reboot all garbage due to unwritten data be zeroed out. Major Advantages of ext3: Data Integrity: If there is any unclean, improper system shutdown ext3 guarantees data integrity. We can set the level of protection. It prevents the writing of garbage data to the disk after a crash. Generally we keep the data consistent with state of file system.[10] Availability: The amount of time system will take to check the consistency after unclean shutdown depends on the size of file system. Larger the file system larger the time. Ext3 will not require such consistency check .recovery time in ext3 does not depend on the file system size or the number of files. It depends on size of journal. So there is faster availability. It only takes few seconds to recover Easy Transition: we can easily make transformation from ext2 to ext3 without reformatting. We can add journal to ext2 with the help of tune2fs program. Speed: though ext3 writes data more than once its faster than ext2. This is because journaling increases speed of head motion of hard drive. Because of its broad cross-platform compatibility it can be used on both 32 bit 64 bit architecture. As there is no need of any core kernel changes ext3 requires no new system calls.

College Life Essay

College life is stress free; whoever said anything about it being difficult is ludacris. Being in college is so nice. There is work but there isn’t as much work as in high school. The assignments aren’t due for credit or points in our final grade. We do assignments for fun. It’s no big deal if we don’t do our homework, cramming the material the night before always works, that’s how high school was. The rest of the time we don’t have class we hang out with friends and talk until the day ends. There are so many things to do on campus such as joining clubs, going downtown, going shopping, or walking around campus with friends; there is no time for homework. There is only time for exploring and having fun in college. That’s what the college life is all about having fun and socializing to our hearts content at parties, during class, after classes and on the weekends. All of the socializing outside of school leads you to do well in college. Testing your boundaries and finding out what you truly love to do. Classes are there to keep you on track and help you appreciate what you’re doing outside of school. School is there to help you realize what you want to do in the future, whether it is your new hobby or your career. College is all about finding yourself. You can always make up the schoolwork anytime, but the main focus that schools want you to do is to have fun while being able to balance assignments and school. They are preparing you for your exciting future in the real world. The real world and the world of college are different but pretty much the same, there are the same workloads and most definitely the same enjoyment in the things you do at work and in college. College work is harder since you have to worry about making connections in college and keeping them strong because those relationships are those that you’re going to treasure most. No one talks about high school memories, everyone talks about college memories. That’s why having the most fun those college years and caring less about school is the way to go for the best college memories and experiences you may ever have, in your entire life. Life is going to be boring without those college years of fun, going in to the working world with more experiences  from college gives you a head up in the game, called the real world. Although you think its bad for you now, but wait until you get to tell everyone about your experiences in college during those job interviews. They will be excited to hire you right off the bat knowing that you are ready for the real world. Ready to work now that you have experience in experiencing the world to its fullest, and being able to share those experiences and relating them to people and their situations. My modest proposal is to enjoy yourself in college, don’t worry too much about the grades. Be in college for the education but don’t forget to go wild when having fun during those college years. You never know when you’re going to be able to experience them again in the real world.

Book and Popular Essay

1. Introduction Popular Holdings is a Singapore-based company that is listed on the Singapore Exchange. Popular is best known for its chain of Popular Bookstores under the Retail and Distribution unit. The Group currently carries out its publishing activities through subsidiaries operating in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Canada. Its bookstore operations have a network of over 90 Popular Bookstores and 360 Popular managed bookstores with its core businesses in retail, distribution, publishing and e-learning. 2. History of the Company |1924 |Popular started in Singapore under the trade name of Cheng Hing Company, established by the late Mr Chou Sing Chu. It distributed | | |Chinese storybooks. | |1930 |Established World Book Company in Singapore to distribute Chinese books and later moved into the publishing business. | |1936 |Established Popular Book Company in Singapore to sell Chinese books. | |1949 |Incorporated World Publishing Company in Hong Kong to publish magazines and Chinese books for both local and Asian markets. | |1952 |Set up United Publishing House Pte Ltd in Singapore and Malaysia to publish textbooks. | |1975 |Started offering English titles in Singapore and was positioned as â€Å"The Bilingual Bookshop†. Business grew dramatically. | |1984 |Opened the first bilingual bookshop in Malaysia. | |1990 |Introduced the POPULAR Card to cultivate customer loyalty. | |1993 |Expanded the business scope by retailing music products and audio accessories under the brand name of â€Å"CD-RAMA†. | |1997 |Listed Popular Holdings Limited (â€Å"POPULAR†) on the Singapore Exchange. | |2000 |Set up joint venture, EdnoLand (HK) Limited, to provide interactive learning programmes to preschool children. This signified the start | | |of the Group’s e-learning initiatives. | |2002 |Entered the e-learning market of Mainland China | |2003 |Incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Popular Digital Products (Shenzhen) Ltd in January, leaving the first footprint in Mainland | | |China’s publishing market. | |2003 |Ventured into Taiwan publishing market. | |2006 |Successfully organized the inaugural BookFest@Singapore and BookFest@Malaysia, drawing over 400,000 visitors. | |2008 |Successfully organized the inaugural BookFest@Hong Kong 2008. | |2009 |Launched â€Å"UrbanWrite†Ã¢â‚¬â€a lifestyle stationery concept store that goes beyond the basics. | |2009 |Opened a new concept bilingual bookstore { prologue } at ION Orchard. | |2010 |Celebrated the 5th anniversary of BookFest@Singapore and BookFest@Malaysia. Both BookFests managed to achieve record turnouts of over | | |half a million visitors each. | 3. Management Structure Popular Holdings has a centralized organizational structure. Mr Chou Cheng Ngok is the Executive Chairman of the Board. In view of the Group’s single leadership structure, Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah was appointed as the Independent Director to lead and coordinate the activities of non-executive directors in circumstances where it would be inappropriate for the Chairman to serve in such capacity. The Independent Directors, Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah and Mrs Lim Soon Tze ensure that there is a good balance of power and authority to enable independent exercise of objective judgement of corporate affairs. All major decisions made by the Chairman are reviewed by the Audit Committee (chaired by Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah). The Nominating Committee (chaired by Mrs Lim Soon Tze) reviews his performance periodically and the Remuneration Committee (chaired by Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah) reviews his remuneration package. Hence, the Board believes that there are adequate safeguards against an uneven concentration of power and authority in a single individual. For management purposes, the Group is organised on a worldwide basis into business units based on their products and services, and has four operating segments as follows: Retail and Distribution, Publishing and E-Learning, Property Development and Corporate. Ms Lim Lee Ngoh and Mr Poon Chi Wai Ponch are the Executive Directors who are in charge of the performance of the businesses. [pic] 4. Markets Served 4. 1 Countries Served As of 30 April 2012, Popular had 148 bookstores – 63 in Singapore, 70 in Malaysia and 15 in Hong Kong. Popular is the biggest book retailer in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong (Chairman’s Statement, Annual Report 2012). Popular is making fast and extensive inroads into the Greater China market, especially in China and Taiwan. There have been marketing offices and subsidiaries set up in Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Taipei. 4. 2 Customer Groups Served Due to the various branches in its core business and the variety of products offered at retail stores, Popular serves different customers of all ages, including students who constitute a large portion of their customer base. Popular’s customers range from individual consumers to corporate groups. 5. Products Offered Popular has its core businesses in retail, distribution, publishing and E-learning. As stated in the 2012 Annual Report, â€Å"though the book business is often labelled a sunset industry, retail and distribution [of books] are one of Popular’s strong core businesses†. Popular’s bookstores have products such as books (textbooks, assessment books, storybooks, reference books), CDs, DVDs, educational software, computer accessories, art materials, stationery, electronics, toys, games and gifts. 6. Recent Performance of the Company Popular Bookstore has been achieving increasing turnovers for 3 consecutive years. As seen in Fig 1. 1, Popular achieved a turnover of S$439 million in 2011 in its Retailing and Distribution sector, improving from the past results of 2010 and 2011. The increase in turnover in the Retail and Distribution segment is mainly due to 9 new outlets opening in various locations in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong and the book voucher programme held in Malaysia, where Malaysian students were each given a book voucher worth RM$200 each as part of Malaysia’s government budget in the education sector. Also, the increased turnover is due to reduced costs – In 2010, Popular reduced costs by reducing its retail store space from15200m2 in 2009 to 13700m2 in 2010. Its Publishing and E-Learning sector is doing well as well, with its turnover increasing from S$69 million in 2011 to S$72 million in 2012. Go-Easel is one of Popular’s initiatives which led to this increase in turnover. Go-Easel features digitalised assessment books which provides instant marking and step by step solutions. It gained popularity among students and parents due to its convenient and effective way in helping students academically. [pic] Profits before tax (PBT) in the Retail & Distribution of Popular Bookstore experienced a positive growth as shown in Figure 1. 2, with PBT of S$29 million in 2012, improving from S$19. 1 and S$10. 9 million in 2011 and 2010 respectively. However, there was a drop in PBT in the Publishing & E-Learning sector, decreasing about 24. 7%, from S$9. 7 million in 2011 to S$7. 3 million in 2012. This was due to the closing of one of its magazine distribution business due to restructuring. However, because this closure is only a one-off cost, the prospects of the Publishing & E-Learning sector in Popular Bookstore still remains hopeful for future growth and greater profits. [pic] 7. Macro-Environment Analysis 7. 1 Political Forces Education policies implemented by the government can improve Popular’s sales. For example, in Malaysia, as part of the budget allocated by the government in 2012, every student in Malaysia received a one-time book voucher worth RM$200. This policy led to greater spending in bookstores by the Malaysian community. Popular was the biggest bookstore company with 70 bookstores in Malaysia, and so Popular experienced an increased turnover in 2012. However, governmental regulations may limit demand and reduce profit for Popular Bookstore. The Media Development Authority in Singapore prohibits any import of books, publication, audio materials that contains content that may be â€Å"objectionable on moral, racial or religious grounds, or deemed detrimental to Singapore’s national interest. † (MDA, 2011) Thus, Popular Bookstore is restricted in their range of books and media as it has to comply with these regulations, causing it to lose some of its competitive edge to online E-books retailers. Book readers in Singapore may be able to purchase the restricted materials from these retailers, as these retailers are based overseas and are not restricted by the Singapore law. 7. 2 Economic Forces The relatively high inflation rate in Singapore (4. 1%) and Hong Kong (4. 0%) in 2012 and the bleak global economic outlook is fortunately, not much of a stumbling block for Popular Bookstore, with it achieving positive growth in its Retail and Distribution sector. This could also be attributed to the items that Popular sells, which are mostly books (Eg. Assessment books, textbooks)and stationery. The demand for these items has a small, positive value of income-elasticity because they are necessities and normal goods for students. Hence, a decrease in incomes due to poor economic conditions results in a less than proportionate decrease in demand for Popular’s books , thus Popular has not been badly affected. 7. 3 Social Forces In today’s world, many deem education as an important tool towards a better paying job and a better life. Thus, the spending on education, which includes spending on textbooks, stationery and assessment books, is increasing. For example, in Singapore, the consumer spending on education has been increasing at a steady rate, from US$ 84. 1 million in 2008 to US$155. 4 million in 2011. (GMID,2012). This shows that Singaporeans are increasing willing to spend on education-related items, such as textbooks and assessment books, to supplement the learning. As a bookstore with a niche product market of assessment books and textbooks, Popular Bookstore is able to benefit from this trend of increased spending in education. With the relatively high inflation rates, especially in Singapore and Hong Kong, consumers are becoming more value conscious. Popular Bookstore has done well to cater to the demands of the consumers and projecting a ‘value for money’ image, by offering membership cards and promotions on their items on a regular basis. One of such promotions is the back-to-school promotion, allowing students and their parents to purchase stationery and books at discounted prices. 7. 4 Technological Forces The increasing connectivity of the Internet island wide (e. g. 4G mobile network and OpenNet in Singapore) has led to more online consumers. The size of the online shopping market is large, reaching S$1. 1 billion in 2010, and is expected to reach S$4. 4 billion in 2015. (Techinasia, 2011). This could possibly mean that customers who usually purchase from brick-and-mortar shops like Popular would now shop at online bookstores such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble. While Popular does have an online bookstore, it is not well-known or often-used. Thus, the presence of well-established international online bookstores become a substitute to Popular Bookstores. Also, the affordability of e-books can pose a threat to Popular’s sales of hardcopy books. The price of Kindle Fire, an e-book reader manufactured by Amazon, dropped to US$159, making it more affordable for consumers. Amazon uses the pricing strategy of loss leader, which involves setting the price of Kindle Fire at cost price, and making significant profit from the sale of e-books. Therefore, e-books have now become a substitute of hard-copy books, such as those sold by Popular. 7. 5 Legal Forces The introduction of the Lemon Law in Singapore in September 2012 could affect Popular Bookstores. With the lemon law, consumers can ask for an exchange or even a full refund if goods â€Å"do not meet standards of quality and performance. † (CASE, 2012). This could mean decreased earnings for Popular Bookstore if consumers keep returning to the bookstores to exchange their purchased goods. Without proper enforcement or monitoring, the Lemon Law could even be abused by consumers who repeatedly demand for an exchange or refund, leading to a loss of efficiency and profits. However, Popular is unlikely to be threatened by the Lemon Law, as it already has an exchange policy in place, where it allows its customers to exchange faulty products within 7 days of purchase. 7. 6 Impact of Macro-Environment Forces on Popular Bookstores Popular Bookstore still remains a strong name in the book industry. The fact that it has the majority of the market share in Singapore and that the company’s PBT has been steadily increasing proves that the company has been staying competitive despite the huge number of macroenvironment factors it faces. 8. Market, Industry and Competitive Analysis for Book Buyers in Singapore Our selected market is the market of book buyers in Singapore. These include customers who buy books from both physical bookstores and online bookstores. 8. 1 Market Size The market for book-buyers is that of an oligopoly, with few incumbent firms. Hardcopy book format is still a multi-million dollar industry in Singapore going strong in the face of stiff competition from online book stores. The total market size of brick-and-mortar stores is worth around $165million. In 2011, Popular Bookstores hold about 62. 5% of the total market share, with Kinokuniya (25%) and Times Bookstores (12. 5%) as Popular’s main competitors. 8. 2 Market Trends. Popular Bookstores is still experiencing a growing trend as its value sales grew from $4,106 million in 2006 to $5,107 million in 2011. This may be due to the growing affluence of the Singaporean population, resulting in higher demand for books for both leisure reading and education. However, this trend might not continue in the future. This is in light of stiff competition faced from e-books and online stores such as Amazon, Book Depository. Fortunately, Bookstores like Borders and Page One have all exited the Singapore market and thus there is less competition from these large, well-established firms with Popular Bookstores. 8. 3 Industry SWOT Analysis for Book Buyers in Singapore | |Positive Effect |Negative Effect | |Interna|Strengths |Weaknesses | |l |Popular has a widespread chain of stores throughout Singapore, |Low variety of books as compared to other bookstores such as | |Factors|especially in the heartlands. This makes it very accessible and |Kinokuniya | | |convenient for the customers. |Lack of awareness of its online bookstore | | |Wide range of textbooks and stationery with very strong monopoly power |â€Å"Limited choice† of books on its online bookstore (e.g. Twilight, | | |over assessment books and textbooks |Lord of the Rings, Animal Farm) | | | Existence of { prologue } and Epilogue ( a book cafe located in { |â€Å"Poor interface† (Survey, 2012) of online bookstore | | |prologue } ) to provide an alternative book-buying experience: ‘a novel|Absence of a proper feedback system on its online bookstore | | |brand of book retail therapy, distinctively designed to give a bespoke |Under-utilization of Facebook page resulting in inactivity and | | |multifaceted lifestyle experience’. |unresponsiveness | | |{ prologue } was awarded the Premium Service GEM Award for the Books | | | |and Stationery Category by the Singapore Retailers Association in | | | |recognition of POPULAR’s effort in delivering excellent customer | | | |service. (Chairman’s Statement, Annual Report 2012) | | |Externa|Opportunities |Threats | |l | Growing incomes of book-buyers lead to greater demand for books for  |Local brick-and-mortar competitors such as Kinokuniya are trying | |Factors|leisure and education |to improve their presence by setting up a fourth store in Jurong | | |Many of the target audience are tech-savvy but have yet to purchase |East MRT (JEM) to reach out to more customers. | | |e-book readers such as Kindle or Nook |Due to technological advancement, the Popularity and accessibility| | |Well-established firms like Borders and Page One have previously left |of online bookstores (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository) and| | |the Singapore market, reducing the amount of competition |e-books is decreasing the demand for hardcopy books at physical | | | |stores | | 8.  4 Detailed Industry Analysis of Bookstores | | |Physical Stores |Online Stores | | |Kinokuniya |Second-hand Bookstores |Amazon/Barnes & Noble |Book Depository | |Description |Kinokuniya bookstores are located in central city |Various second-hand bookstores in Singapore |Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are American online retail |Book Depository is a UK-based | | |locations, with its flagship store located at Ngee Ann |sell many classic and contemporary titles at |giants specialized in selling books in both hardcopy and |independent online bookstore | | |City. Kinokuniya offers a wide range of titles and also a |extremely cheap prices. |e-book formats. They are grouped discussed together in this |which sells mainly hardcopy | | |cafe within its store. |There are many second-hand bookstores in Bras|table due to their similar characteristics. |formats. | | | |Basah Complex. (Eg. Evernew Bookstore, Pro | | | | | |Saint Bookstore, Book Point, Knowledge Book | | | | | |Centre) | | | |Strengths |Offers a wide selection of titles in various languages | Extremely cheap prices will attract |They own an ecosystem of their own through their Kindle and |Provides free shipping services, | | |including English, Chinese, Japanese, French, and German |consumers looking for a good read. |Nook tablet products that allow readers to buy e-books and |which allows prices of books to | | |Successfully marketed itself as a premium bookstore in |Good for casual reading, if the reader is not|download it to their tablet reader immediately. |remain cheap | | |Singapore with majority of its stores in the city area. |looking for a particular title |Online stores result in decreased operational fixed costs such|Occasional discounts of up to 90%| | |Niche market focus on casual book readers | |as rental charges and staffing costs compared to |makes books very cheap | | | Premium membership strategy i.e. More expensive membership| |brick-and-mortar stores. Therefore, they are able to sell | | | |card ($21) offering limited discounts to entice consumers | |both e-books and hardcopy formats at a discounted rate. | | | |to purchase more titles to get back their money’s worth. | |Extremely wide collection of titles. | | | | | |It is easy to search for titles because the search process is | | | | | |automated. | | |Weaknesses |Books are priced higher than its competitors due to its |Limited range of titles, especially newer |Penetration of their respective ecosystems are not widespread |It is relatively unknown to the | | |premium branding and higher rental costs in the city |titles, consumers looking for specific books |in Asia |crowd in Singapore. | | |Limited market penetration due to its limited number of |may not be able to find what they want. |Shipping costs and waiting time negates the benefits of online| | | |stores. | |shopping as price of shipping from America is usually high. | | | | | |Asian titles are not as diverse / rich as they are | | | | | |America-based. | | 8. 5 Competitive Analysis –Using Porter’s Five Forces 8. 5. 1 Threat of New Entrants The threat of new entrants in the physical bookstore industry is relatively low because there are low barriers to entry. This is due to strong customer loyalty to established players like Popular and Kinokuniya dominating the market, high sunk costs and economies of scale setting in late. Also, the book industry is also deemed as a â€Å"sunset industry†, which is less attractive to firms as this is associated with low profitability, so firms are less likely to enter the market. However, these low barriers to entry only apply to the industry of physical bookstores. Popular still faces a different kind of competition from online bookstores, which are close competitors with physical bookstores. 8. 5. 2 Degree of Substitutes There is a high degree of substitutability. In terms of physical bookstores, book buyers in Singapore have many alternatives to turn to – such as big industry players like Kinokuniya and Times and second-hand stores at Bras Basah Complex. Kinokuniya and Times are strong competitors because they offer a greater variety of books from different countries, and have marketed themselves as premium bookstores due to their location in the city area. Second-hand bookstores at Bras Basah Complex (Eg. Evernew Bookstore, Pro Saint Bookstore, Book Point, Knowledge Book Centre) are also a threat because they offer very cheap books. Besides physical stores, online bookstores like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Book Depository are dominating the book-buying market in Singapore. These online bookstores offer a quick and easy way to purchase books without being physically at the store, and the benefit of having purchases delivered to customers’ doorsteps. E-businesses can also offer more competitively-priced books than Popular because there is no need to pay for rental, which takes up a huge proportion of fixed cost. For example, Amazon sells a book titled â€Å"Act of Valour† at $9. 99, whereas Popular sells the same book at $17. 00. Furthermore, with an increased access to fast and free internet services such as those offered by Wireless@SG, and the availability of safe and convenient electronic payment, e-businesses are becoming closer substitutes to physical bookstores than ever before. 8. 5. 3 Bargaining Power of Buyers The bargaining powers of buyers are relatively low in terms of physical book stores. They have little access to information such as the prices of books, because physical bookstores do not openly publish their prices online, except when there are promotions. Also, most bookstores located in a certain region would sell books at similar prices, so customers who are unwilling to travel would have a low tendency to switch to other physical bookstores if the switching cost exceeds the savings gained from only slightly cheaper books. However, the increased popularity of online bookstores is likely to increase the bargaining power of buyers. Buyers become less dependent on existing channels (ie. Physical bookstores) and can now switch to purchasing books online instead. 8. 5. 4 Bargaining Power of Suppliers There is low bargaining power of suppliers. In terms of the book-buying market, Popular Bookstores’ suppliers are mainly publishing firms. Because there are many suppliers in the market that engage in publishing work, there is a low supplier to firm ratio. This means that Popular Bookstore can switch suppliers easily. Furthermore, there is low switching costs for Popular because they can easily turn to their own subsidiaries such as Novum Organum Publishing House Pte Ltd and Educational Publishing House Pte Ltd. Also, there is low supplier competition because it is hard for suppliers to vertically integrate and sell the products to buyers directly. Therefore, suppliers have a low bargaining power, which strengthens Popular’s position and authority. 8. 5. 5 Degree of Market Rivalry Amongst Existing Competitors There is a strong intensity of market rivalry amongst existing competitors like Times, Kinokuniya, and second-hand bookstores. This is because there is a lot of room for differentiation in terms of the four elements in the marketing mix. Product differentiation can come in the form of the variety of books, in terms of the subject matter and country of origin. Price differentiation can also be present as some bookstores have higher priced books due to their well-known brand name or location. Place differentiation can be in terms of the store environment and store location, while promotion differentiation can be in terms of level of advertising, frequency of discounts, customer access to publicity materials and staff service standards. Therefore, bookstores face much competition amongst themselves because there are so many ways that they can differentiate themselves in providing the optimal book-buying experience for book-buyers in Singapore. 9. Customer Analysis and Segmentation for Book Buyers in Singapore 9. 1 Customer Profile: Book Buyers in Singapore The selected market of focus for Popular is book buyers in Singapore. Potential book buyers are any literate customers in the country, from 6 years-old onwards (Stuart, 2010). This customer base is continuously growing, albeit at a slow rate due to the low fertility rate in Singapore (Wong, 2012). Majority of Singaporeans are literate (Department of Statistics Singapore, 2012) as they have basic primary education which is mandatory for all citizens (Ministry of Education Singapore, 2011). In addition, an influx of foreign talents from other countries to support Singapore’s infrastructure and economy (Yeoh & Lin, 2012) also increases the number of book buyers in Singapore. The incomes of book buyers can be inferred from the Singapore Department of Statistics. The average monthly household from work including employer CPF contributions among resident employed households in 2011 was S$9,618, while the average monthly household income from work per household member including employer’s CPF contributions among resident employed households was S$2,925. These incomes have a generally increasing trend from past years, and were the highest in 2011, reflecting the increasing affluence of book buyers. Because books are normal goods, an increasing income of customers would increase the demand for books. However, since the selected market of focus is solely referring to individuals, businesses or organizations are not included and revenues are not considered. To develop an effective marketing strategy, it is essential to understand the targeted customer base and its segments. Comprehensive profiles of a company’s target customers are often required, and this is done by expending resources to segment these target customers. Book buyers can be segmented according to demographic and psychographic factors. 9. 2 Demographic Segmentation Popular segments its market by key variables such as gender, age, education, race, nationality and the family life cycle. For the identification variable of gender, books relating to beauty and the domestic sphere such as recipe books cater more to women, while the genre of sports and cars appeal more to men. In terms of age, segmentation is characterized by one’s life cycle, as exemplified by pre-school books, children books, teenage fiction and magazines, adult fiction and self-help books, etc. The company’s philosophy of knowledge and education (Chua, 2010) has been manifested in the common sentiment that Popular’s niche is in assessment books and textbooks (Survey, 2012) and is a large portion of the customer base of book buyers. This demonstrates how the market is segmented by education, as books are tailored to the needs of students in each stage of education – primary, secondary and tertiary, and also for students in different disciplines – business, finance, management, etc. The market is also segmented by race, as there are books in different languages such as English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. The variety of books in the Singapore & South East Asia and Asian Collections also show that the market is simultaneously segmented by nationality as well. Finally, the family life cycle is also an important variable as Popular’s books cater to the needs of different families at different parts of the cycle, providing books on sports and leisure for families without children, and books on parenting and health for families with children, etc. 9. 3 Psychographic Segmentation The identification variables of personality, lifestyle and social class also come into play for the selected market of book buyers. Based on the variety of genres provided by Popular such as fiction, classics and literature, comics and humour, astrology and new age and self-improvement, it can be seen that Popular designs its catalogue to appeal to different people with distinct personalities. Likewise, in the culturally diverse Singapore with an inherent cosmopolitan lifestyle, Popular recognizes the importance of suiting the needs of various individuals by offering a selection of books for every lifestyle, such as books on cooking or food and wine, outdoors and nature, photography, travel, etc. The different social classes have also led  to Popular’s expansion in the market, as illustrated by the novel brand of book retail therapy seen in { prologue } (Popular Holdings Limited, 2009) to cater to the higher-income class, which has an â€Å"upscale identity† that is â€Å"quite different from the family-oriented, fluorescent-lit heartlander look and feel that Popular bookstores have come to embody† (Lui, 2009). 10. Marketing Objectives Popular’s main objective is to establish a strong regional presence by becoming a Central Clearing House for both English and Chinese books in the Asia Pacific Region (Popular’s Strategic Vision 2012). As such, their marketing objective is to offer a wide variety of books with relevant, unique, and good quality content at value-for-money prices. (Popular’s Strategic Vision, 2012). Next, Popular aims to differentiate itself from both brick-and-mortar bookstores and online bookstores which both serve the same book-buying market. This is especially important because Popular is in an oligopolistic market and faces strong competition. These brick-and-mortar bookstores include the well-established Kinokuniya, Times and Big Bookshop, and second-handbook stores, while online bookstores include Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Thus, Popular’s marketing objective is to capture a larger market share through differentiation. Lastly, in terms of the variety of books, Popular aims to be the largest and most innovative publisher of bilingual books (Popular’s Strategic Vision, 2012). It attracts publishers like Seashore Publishing (M) Sdn. Bhd. to Singapore, which dominates the market for bilingual cookbook and general-interest Mandarin books. Through its books, Popular also intends to promote the Chinese language, heritage and culture. For instance, Popular organised the National Chinese Creative Reading Competition during the BookFest@Singapore 2011 to ‘make students more aware [of] and stimulate their interest in Chinese culture and heritage through creative reading’ (Chairman’s Statement, Annual Report 2012) 11. Marketing Strategy / Mix 11. 1 Branding and positioning Popular portrays an image that it is a one-stop station where consumers are able to find whatever they need. This image is especially relevant since Popular’s main target group is the masses who usually read best-selling books written by well-known authors. To capture a larger consumer market and establish a strong regional presence, Popular has also ventured into overseas markets such as Malaysia, Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. 11. 2 Price Popular has adopted different pricing strategies for Popular and Prologue. Prologue has adopted a premium price position for their products. This strategy of prestige pricing is appropriate as Prologue is targeted at the higher end consumers who would be willing to pay higher prices. On the other hand, Popular has adopted mainstream price position for their products. The products offered by Popular is at a rather affordable price since it is mainly targeting the majority of the population. Furthermore, Popular offers products at competitive prices compared to other bookstores. With its membership card, Popular offers further discounts on the prices of its products and this further enhances its competitiveness in the industry. In addition, Popular’s membership card can be acquired at a low cost (e. g. $20 for 3-year membership for students), as compared to other bookstores, such as Kinokuniya ($55. 60 for 3-year membership). 11. 3 Product  Popular believes that in order to stay relevant with changing consumers’ taste and preferences, they should continue to innovate by selling new products. Hence, in 2009, Popular opened ‘UrbanWrite’ and ‘{ prologue }’. UrbanWrite, â€Å"a lifestyle stationery concept store that goes beyond the basics†, offer slightly different products such as scrap book materials, stationaries that are not available at Popular Bookstore. With new concept stores under Popular, such as { prologue } and UrbanWrite, it is pertinent to ensure that Popular does not lose its identity as a one-stop station to avoid confusion amongst its consumers.      

African Civ Nigeria essays

African Civ Nigeria essays The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a large country in western Africa, bordering the Golf of Guinea, and between Benin and Cameroon. It is the most populous country in Africa, although they will soon be outnumbered by Kenya. Nigeria is a tropical country rich in oil and other natural resources. Ever since gaining its independence from the United Kingdom on October First, 1960, there have been constant struggles for power. In 1966, a revolution led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, took over the government killing the Northern Premier Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, Western Premier S. L. Akintola and the Federal Prime minister Alhaju Abubkar Tafawa Balewa. After much struggle, Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon became dictator. However, in 1967, Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu withdrew the eastern region of Nigeria from Nigeria, and declared it the independent republic of Biafra, and war breaks out again. From 1968 to 1970, the Federal government of Nigeria reclaimed the Biafran territory, and Col. Odemengwu Ojukwu fled the country. For about five years, peace settled on Nigeria. Then in 1975, leader Yakubu Gowon was overthrown in a bloodless coup. A coup is a sudden appropriation of leadership or power. Brig. Murtala Ramat Muhammed takes his place of supreme leadership. Shortly afterwards, the countrys capitol is relocated to Abuja, and the country is divided into 19 states. That same year, Muhammed was assassinated in another coup, which involved former dictator Yakubu Gowon. However, a new leader Lt. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo is put into position. In 1978, a new constitution is adopted by the then military government. A new House of Representatives, and Senate are elected, as is president Shehu Shagari, Nigerias first elected civilian president in about thirteen years. In the year 1982, the government expelled over two million non-Nigerians from the country. After President Shagari is reelected to the presidency in ...

Free Essays on Latour

The Three Sides Of Latour Death Comes For The Archbishop by Willa Cather is a book about the life and adventures of Jean Marie Latour. As the book progresses, Latour takes on many titles such as Father, Bishop and ultimately Archbishop. Along his travels Latour comes upon characters, many of which are quite similar. There are those characters that Cather deliberately writes more about to catch the readers attention. These characters are Father Martinez, Father Vaillant and Jacinto. In each of these characters Cather creates foils of Latour. There is something in his three foils that Latour wishes were a part of him. â€Å"He had an altogether compelling personality, a disturbing, mysterious, magnetic power† (pg.150). This quote shows exactly what Latour admired in Martinez. This admiration is odd because Martinez is a man whose actions contrast with those that a man of the church is supposed to perform. Another side to this is that Latour sees some of Martinez’s qualities within himself and he hates that. In my life I have felt like Latour does in this situation. I find a person who is seen as having bad qualities and I see myself being that person. This makes me angry and I become more hostile to that person than I should be. This is the same with Latour and Martinez. Martinez’s selfish and un-priestly ways make his better qualities stand out even more. The quality that Latour admires most in Martinez is his fire and passion conveyed in his sermons. Martinez may not be a man who follows all the rules but he is a man of deep faith in what he preaches. This is that quality th at Latour wishes that he had. He wishes he had the ability to show his faith as well as Martinez. The next foil of Latour is his lifetime friend Father Joseph Vaillant. Father Joseph is the closest person in the book to Latour. He is faithful, intelligent and strong willed. The quality in Father Joseph that is most admired by Latour is that of determination. C... Free Essays on Latour Free Essays on Latour The Three Sides Of Latour Death Comes For The Archbishop by Willa Cather is a book about the life and adventures of Jean Marie Latour. As the book progresses, Latour takes on many titles such as Father, Bishop and ultimately Archbishop. Along his travels Latour comes upon characters, many of which are quite similar. There are those characters that Cather deliberately writes more about to catch the readers attention. These characters are Father Martinez, Father Vaillant and Jacinto. In each of these characters Cather creates foils of Latour. There is something in his three foils that Latour wishes were a part of him. â€Å"He had an altogether compelling personality, a disturbing, mysterious, magnetic power† (pg.150). This quote shows exactly what Latour admired in Martinez. This admiration is odd because Martinez is a man whose actions contrast with those that a man of the church is supposed to perform. Another side to this is that Latour sees some of Martinez’s qualities within himself and he hates that. In my life I have felt like Latour does in this situation. I find a person who is seen as having bad qualities and I see myself being that person. This makes me angry and I become more hostile to that person than I should be. This is the same with Latour and Martinez. Martinez’s selfish and un-priestly ways make his better qualities stand out even more. The quality that Latour admires most in Martinez is his fire and passion conveyed in his sermons. Martinez may not be a man who follows all the rules but he is a man of deep faith in what he preaches. This is that quality th at Latour wishes that he had. He wishes he had the ability to show his faith as well as Martinez. The next foil of Latour is his lifetime friend Father Joseph Vaillant. Father Joseph is the closest person in the book to Latour. He is faithful, intelligent and strong willed. The quality in Father Joseph that is most admired by Latour is that of determination. C...

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Week 5 Individual Assignment - Essay Example is one-tailed (Left tailed) and we want to determine whether there has been a reduction in the weight of individuals who joined Weight Reducers International. Since the z-test statistic is less than -1.645 therefore at the 5% significance level, we have sufficient evidence to conclude that those who will join Weight Reducers International on average will lose less than 10 pounds. Dole Pineapple, Inc., is concerned that the 16-ounce can of sliced pineapple is being overfilled. Assume the standard deviation of the process is .03 ounces. The quality control department took a random sample of 50 cans and found that the arithmetic mean weight was 16.05 ounces. At the 5 percent level of significance, can we conclude that the mean weight is greater than 16 ounces? Determine the p-value. We will reject the null hypothesis if the z-test statistic is greater than 1.645 (z > 1.645) since the test is one-tailed (Right tailed) and we want to determine whether 16-ounce can of sliced pineapple is being overfilled. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal reported that the 30-year mortgage rate is now less than 6 percent. A sample of eight small banks in the Midwest revealed the following 30-year rates (in percent): We will reject the null hypothesis if t-test statistic is less than -2.998 since the test is one-tailed (left tailed) and we want to determine whether the 30-year mortgage rate is now less than 6 percent Since the t-test statistic is greater than -2.998 therefore we will not reject the null hypothesis. At 1% significance level we have sufficient evidence to conclude that the 30-year mortgage rate is not less than 6 percent. The minimum significance level (p-value) at which the null hypothesis can be rejected is between 5% and 10% since the value -1.61 lies in between -1.415 and -1.895 for a t-distribution with degrees of freedom = 7 The null hypothesis is that there is no difference in the population mean number of times men and women buy take-out dinner in

The humpty dumpty falls scale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The humpty dumpty falls scale - Essay Example This paper critically analyses the paper ‘The Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale: A Case–Control Study’ which reports the findings of the aforementioned research study and a critique of the various components of this paper is presented in the discussion that follows. Research Problem/Purpose or Question Hypothesis   The authors have clearly stated the purpose of the study as being an assessment of the efficacy of the newly developed Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale (HDFS) in predicting the risk of falls in pediatric hospitalized patients, in a separate section entitled ‘purpose’ (Hill-Rodriguez, et al., 2009). Moreover, in the same section, the choice of the study design, i.e. case control study has been justified and the authors have explicitly mentioned that the research question was to elucidate whether the risk of falls predicted by the screening tool in question was in conjunction with the actual risk of falls. This gives the readers a clear picture of the aim s and objectives of this study and the rationale behind the conduction of this study. Review of Literature   An adequate review of the existing literature has been provided. The authors have quoted statistics to emphasize the magnitude of the burden that the problem in question poses. As pointed out by the authors, there is ample literature on the issue of falls occurring in the elderly population, but there is a paucity of existing data on the pediatric population in this regard (Hill-Rodriguez, et al., 2009). The importance of the development and implementation of screening and preventive strategies in the pediatric population is underscored by authors in this section. Moreover, the authors have also identified the gaps in the existing literature and have thus provided the rationale of conducting this study in order to build upon the existing research findings and fill in the gaps which were identified. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework   No theoretical or conceptual framework for this study has been provided by the authors. However, the study design is such that it does not warrant the need for a theoretical/conceptual framework. Research Design   The study design employed in this study was a matched case control design (Hill-Rodriguez, et al., 2009). The cases and controls were matched in various regards such as This design is best suited for the research question identified by the authors, as case-control studies have been found to be a suitable study design to evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of screening tools (Rothman, Greenland, & Lash, 2008). Sampling Method/Data Collection   The data was collected from five different in-patient and two ICU pediatric units from a single center. (Hill-Rodriguez, et al., 2009) The sampling method is not mentioned clearly but it can be extrapolated from the given information that purposive convenient sampling methodology was employed. Although no specific inclusion criteria or cut-offs for age are mentio ned, the exclusion criteria are defined and presented in the paper by the authors. The data collection tool used was the Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale (HDFS), which consisted of seven different assessment items. This tool was designed after input from various skilled and expert nurses and other medical personnel (Hill-Rodriguez,