Global Business Plan, Hallmark Greeting Cards in Spain Assignment

Global Business Plan, Hallmark Greeting Cards in Spain - Assignment Example Spain’s two main cities, Madrid and Barcelona have a good number of shopping malls in the towns and their outskirts. These shopping malls are popular among the majority of tourists visiting Spain. This potential new market presents Hallmark with risks like currency fluctuations, infrastructure, and another market risk. The company has analyzed Spain’s political-legal environment and come up with a global company structure to accommodate it. An international promotion strategy can give the company advantage over its potential competitors (Grover, 2007). The competition mainly consists of two companies, Stockwell Greetings, and International Greetings. Hallmark looks to utilize its brand’s strong presence in other European countries and its experience in global markets to have an advantage over the competitors. Industrial technology and chemical products are Spain’s top exports (Quora.com, 2014). The company has assessed the economic environment and forecasted the potential start-up costs involved. Start-up costs include takeovers and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Financing is to be done internally through grants (Quora.com, 2014). The market size for greeting cards in Spain is relatively large. It is that over 7 billion greeting cards are purchased every year. Total revenue generated from greeting card sales are said to be over 7.5 billion. 90% of Spanish households buy greeting cards every year. An average household purchases 30 greeting cards annually. Women account for a significant percentage of greeting card purchases. Women purchase over 80% percent of the total sales while Spanish men only buy greeting cards on special events (Grover, 2007). Greeting cards appeal mainly depends on a proper understanding of the customers’ culture. Translation errors brought up by direct translation have a significant

Neoclassical and Romantic styles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Neoclassical and Romantic styles - Essay Example During this time, numerous artists came up whose works portrayed a theme of social and political issues being experienced during that time. The industrial revolution was essential as it gave numerous artists a platform where they could voice their cries. Art exhibitions, such as the Great London Exhibition, were seriously influential in spreading Neoclassical and Romantic styles. These exhibitions portrayed numerous Neoclassical and Romantic styles, which a lot of upcoming artists copied or adapted from other artists. The exhibitions also portrayed some of the talented artists who were not known in the past. Nationalism also influenced the spread of Neoclassical and Romantic styles. Critics consider that liberalism along with radicalism, which was brought about by nationalism, were significant influences of both Neoclassical and Romantic styles. Nationalism influenced the spread of music, visual arts and natural sciences. Finally, Christianity, which is a cultural factor, was the main factor that led to the spread of romanticism and its styles. This is because romanticist artists were extremely spiritual. The spread of Christianity was intense in the mid 1800’s, and what these artists, in reality, revolted against was the narrow mindedness of other

The growth of inequality in many countries and it's impact on U.S Research Paper

The growth of inequality in many countries and it's impact on U.S multinational companies and future strategies to deal with its impact - Research Paper Example (Buckley & Ghauri, 2004 p.86) United Nations Human Development Report (1999) said â€Å"Poverty is everywhere. Gaps between the poorest and the richest people and countries have continued to widen. In 1960, the 20% of the world’s people in the richest countries had 30 times the income of the poorest 20% . In 1977, 74 times as much. This continues the trend of nearly two centuries. Some have predicted convergence, but the past decade has shown increasing concentration of income among people, corporations and countries.† (Sala-i-Martin, 2002 p.1; Sala-i-Martin, 2002) Recent research by Soysa and Oneal (1999); UNCTAD (1999); Ram and Zhang (2002); Dollar and Kraay (2002); Bhalla (2002) show us that globalization raises the growth of average incomes in developing countries. However, the standard of living of the poor in these societies could decline if consolidation into the global economy negatively affects the distribution of income. Quite a few researchers conclude that the fears over globalization and letting foreign companies operate in domestic markets: multinational corporations further increase income inequality in developing countries, and thus, marginalize the poorest of the poor. (Brussman et al, 2005 p. 286). Peter Woicke, former executive vice president of the International Finance Corporation, says that 20% of the population in the world controls approximately 80% of the assets and that roughly 1.2 billion people live below the poverty line. Moreover, he says that most of the population growth over the next two to three decades shall take place in poor countries, which means another two billion people will be born poor. (Wilson & Lodge, 2006 p. 9) (Wilson & Lodge, 2006) He believes that this huge challenge of reducing poverty and inequality cannot be handled by the Governments alone. The private sector, particularly the MNC’s must come forward and share this burden and help countries develop socially as well as

Starting a small business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Starting a small business - Essay Example Small businesses are of advantage because they can be started on a very low cost and investment and also on a part time basis. These businesses are mostly popular in all the countries but they exceed in number in developing countries. There are many organizations which offer help while developing and starting a new business in the market. Internet businesses can very well be termed as small businesses and can be established easily because of their nature. When starting a small business, one of the major important decisions one has to take is the selection of the location. This is one of the riskiest decisions an individual takes while starting the business. Usually the trend has been observed that people prefer to install their businesses in the area of their hometown. This place is closer to their family and friends. There are many reasons for this choice. The first or the foremost is the personal reason according to which people usually don't want to leave their hometown and develop a business away from their families when they can happily to do in their own vicinity closer to people they love and care about. While taking such a crucial step in life, one needs their family the most (Perri, 2006).

Nutrition - Flavor Essay Example for Free

Nutrition Flavor Essay Science tells you what nutrients do in your body and how nutrients work together Explain why people who enjoy their food may absorb more nutrients from it. The brain reacts from the senses (sight and smell). It instructs your mouth and stomach to make chemicals that help digest food. What 5 factors contribute to different cultures having such different cuisines and food customs? Geography, Economics, Foreign Contacts, Religious Belief, Technology. List the 4 main components of the food chain and explain the function of each. Sun: The sun supplies the original energy for the planer in the form of light. This energy is needed to make food. Producers: Some organisms make or produce food. Green plants are important producers. Plants use the sun’s energy to produce food for themselves. Consumers: Organisms that must eat other organisms. Decomposers: Organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down dead matter and return the nutrients to the environment. List the 5 reasons for using food additives. 1. Additive flavoring 2. Improving nutrition 3. Increase shelf life 4. Maintaining texture 5. Helping foods age Define the following: Nutrient – a chemical substance that your body needs to function, grow, repair itself, and create energy Wellness – good health and positive well-being. Includes physical, mental, and emotional health Comfort foods – are familiar foods that make people fell good Culture – the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively Cuisines – may be particular to a country or region, or it may be a blend from different areas. Staple food – the most widely produced and eaten food in an area Ecosystem – an environment and its community of organisms, which all depends on each other for survival Food chain – is the flow of food energy from simpler to more complex organisms Shelf stable – able to be stored at room temperature for weeks or months in the original, unopened containers Shelf life – the length of time food holds its flavor and quality Food additives – A substance added to food for a specific reason during processing. Food is essential for survival and affects the quality of your life. Healthy food choices promote wellness. Food offers more than nutrition. It also offers enjoyment. Comfort foods may slow the release of stress hormones, making people feel better. Preparing and serving food lets you express your creativity. Different cultures have more than individuals ingredients and dishes, they have entire cuisines. Income had/has an influence on what people have/had to cook certain meals. Cultures absorb new foods through immigration, travel, and trade with other people. The food we eat depends on the health of the world’s ecosystem. The U. S. is fortunate to have abundant resources for raising food. What is one of the most important roles of food processing? To keep perishable foods from spoiling Food additives include natural and artificial flavors. When vitamins and minerals are added to foods like milk, this is labeled as improving nutrition. Increasing shelf life and delaying spoilage is known as shelf-stable.

Distributed Information System Medical Lab Service Information Technology Essay

Distributed Information System Medical Lab Service Information Technology Essay Online booking system has become a common trend now days in business organisations. With the coming of the internet everything is just a click away. As the Private medical care service provider began its quest for the development of a laboratory test, diagnoses and treatment services that would be used to serve over 100 outlets across the UK, it becomes every web developer responsibility to deal with the challenges and this challenge still goes on. As developer took on the task, it created a platform for other and its from those existing system that new development are based. The distributed health care system should be designed in a way that guarantees the security of the users data and it should be designed in the most user friendly way possible, putting in consideration all the accessibility requirements. 1. Introduction Information Technology has created a new domain for business to excel. It has opened many horizons for companies which are looking for better ways to impress their customers. Not only that it has given many options to the firms and helps them in their daily routine tasks. No wonder it is playing a vital role in development of the firm. Research and Development for any firm is very important for future. Let it be long term planning or short term I.T has helped in many ways for example minimising risks, calculating costs, estimating future trends and so on. 1.2-Tier Architecture Technology is dynamic as it changes day by day making business world easier to survive with excellent management. 3-Tier Architecture is one of the modern technology three way interactions in client /server environment. This architecture was generated to overcome the problems of 2-tier architecture. This consists of three essential components as shown in the figure. Fig: 3-tier Architecture (Source: www.cardisoft.eu//3_tier_architecture.jpg, Accessed on 04/06/2011) Client Tier: This is the layer where the users interact with the system. So this is the user interface which is stored in client server. This layer sends the data to application server and gets the result back from there. An Application Tier This server consist of two layers i.e. Business layer and data access layer. This is the main layer which process the data received from client server and also interacts with database server. Data Tier All the data are stored in database server which can be retrieve at any time. This layer takes the command from application server and gives the required data back. 2. Overview The vast development and empowering of todays knowledge in all sectors of our modern life is improving satisfaction, comfort and reliability. There are remarkable effects entering in our medical service sector that make the patients and doctors relationship more satisfactory and exciting. However, patients and Medical care Service often struggle with disagreeing views about the Laboratory testing system and adoption of proper communication and appointment procedures. Patients look for technological advances to improve the quality and outcomes of medical care system. In new developed system, with the help of emerging web techniques and technologies the Medical Care Service turn into a great improvement by reducing early days delay and difficulty. In the online system, Administrative staff can track patients, staff and can book appointment for patient. Doctors will be able to access patient information, their medical history and would be able to arrange for lab testing laboratory staff member will be able to track only sample which is belonged with a patient. 2.1 Scope of project. The main aim of the project is to create a patients test booking system and manage doctors and staff member detail that is more efficient and easy to use for all. The project also aims at ensuring reliability in the medical booking systems so that in the near future the members of the public as well as the health workers find communication between the two parties easy and secure and time saving. By secure we mean a reasonable level of data protection. 2.2 Aims and objective. In order to hit the set target for this project aims and objectives were set and this included: Develop a login facility to access details and information easily. Create an online interactive system between patients and Health Care Provider for quicker response (such as fixing online appointment). To design UML Deployment diagram of the system architecture To design Use Case Diagram of the system To design ERD of the backend database To design Class Diagram of the system To implement the 3-tier Architecture and design the prototypes 2.3 Purpose of the Project After this project, Medical Care Service will have a efficient appointment system for their patients. Following are the advantages in implementing 3-tier Architecture. Development Issues: Complex application rules are easy to implement in application server. Business logic off-loaded from database server and client, which makes performance excellent. Changes to business logic automatically requested by server changes require only new application server software to be installed. Application server logic is suitable to other database server platforms by virtue of the application software. Performance: 3-Tier Architecture gives superior performance for medium to high volume environments 2. Business Key Requirement Analysis The main requirement for Medical care Service provider is to overcome with the problem of Traditional database system. So the aim of the project is to develop Web Base applications and implement 3-tier architecture system. There are three separate interfaces with different functions for different users. Administrator Administrator can: Login to the system using login form. Track Patients Enter Staff Information Book Appointment for Patients Doctors Doctors can: Login the system. Access Patients Information Access Patients Medical history Arrange for Lab testing Laboratory Staff Login the system Track Sample (Associated with Patients) 3. Model Used for System Development There are different types of methodology for the development of system such as Waterfall Model, Spiral Model, Prototyping Model, and Rapid Application Development. Among them Prototyping Model was selected for the purposed system. 3.1 Prototyping Model In this model, the problems of the existing system are defined. The requirements are break down into different parts. For each requirement different prototypes are designed and tested separately. If the systems do not give the expected output, then again different actions are taken to construct the system. 4. Feasibility Study The study involves a complete research for the project; it looks at some of the features that could be translated into reality. This stage helps project developers to know accurately they can deal with the process. It is therefore a critical phase which requires a detailed study be carried out. Feasibility study is the initial study undertaken before the actual project begins to highlight the possibility of the project success. It is an analysis of possible options and solutions to problems and provides suggestions on the best alternative. 4.1 Technical Feasibility The project Medical Care Service runs on any windows system as well as in World Wide Web. Many organizations use the web server because it is a common and very user-friendly interface to develop ASP.net enabled programs in the Internet. The necessary technologies needed to run this project are available without any new software to be installed. The software ASP.net and Microsoft Access which is commonly available and widely popular software existing in the market. It comes with features to access the Internet in an efficient approach. Thus, by using this all the modules are able to perform the tasks required. The task is to produce a product that reflects the user mind. 4.2 Operational Feasibility Operational feasibility is the measure of how well the explanation of problems will work in the organisation and also determine how people feel about the system project. In this area particularly, problems within the login areas and security validations that were sighted, A project is therefore said to be operationally feasible if it achieves the needs and expectations of end users. User acceptance is a key determinant of operational feasibility. This project does not require any special memory or enhanced features in the system in order to run. Instead it will consume less memory and will operate efficiently even under normal speed. 4.3 Economic Feasibility Economic feasibility is the measure of the cost-effectiveness of an information system solution. Regarding economic feasibility, the project is a less expensive one. As a whole, the project does not demand any special feature. It makes use of the available resources and provides a better performance in convinced areas. 5. Languages Used for System Development In this phase, the required hardware, software and people required for the project are selected. The following software is used for designing. 5.1 Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 (ASP.net) Microsoft visual studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft which can be used to develop console and graphical user interface applications along with Windows Forms applications, web sites, web applications, and web services. Visual Studio 2008 was upgraded to support all the new features introduced in .NET Framework 2.0, including generics and ASP.NET 2.0. The IntelliSense feature in Visual Studio was upgraded for generics and new project types were added to support ASP.NET web services. Visual Studio 2005 also includes a local web server, separate from IIS that can be used to host ASP.NET applications during development and testing. It also supports all SQL Server 2005 databases. Other new features of Visual Studio 2005 include the Deployment Designer which allows application designs to be validated before deployments, an improved environment for web publishing when combined with ASP.NET 2.0 and load testing to see application performance under various sorts of user loads. This is used in this project for the presentation tier to design the interfaces for window applications. 5.2 VB.NET Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET) is an object-oriented computer programming language that can be viewed as an evolution of Microsofts Visual Basic (VB) which is generally implemented on the Microsoft .NET Framework. Microsoft currently supplies Visual Basic Express Edition free of charge. This language is used for coding of the main functions and process in this project. This is used for the presentation tier. 5.3 UML Diagrams UML stands for Unified Modelling Language which is used in the business logic layer in middle tier of 3-tier Architecture. This is specially designed for developers to see the system in different perspective view. There are different types of UML Diagrams such as use case diagram, class diagram, sequence diagram, deployment diagram. Among them following UML Diagrams are used for this project. Use Case diagram to show how the users interact with system Class Diagram forms class structure and contents using design elements such as classes, packages and objects. It also displays relationships such as containment, inheritance, associations, generalization, etc. Deployment Diagram to show the interaction between the components that is relation between hardware and software. This diagram shows the physical architecture of the system. 5.4 MS Access 2007 MS Access is the database application for Windows, included in Microsoft Office suite which is used to store the data in tables form. MS Access offers many templates which makes easy to use. Many big and small organizations use this software for database server in order to store the data in standard tabulation form and retrieve as required. In this project, this program is used to store the data in the database server. 6. Designing the System The purpose of design phase is to transform the business requirements statement from the requirements analysis phase into design specifications for construction. For this purpose, design phase encompasses following tasks: Design the Application Architecture Design the System Database Design System Interface 6.1 Design the Application Architecture For the design of system architecture the UML diagrams such as Use Case Diagram, UML Deployment Diagram and Class Diagrams are used. 6.2 System Architecture Design Clients IIS 5 . 0 Server Business Logic Components VB .net Library Data Access via ADO . NET Middle Tier CLR MCS Database Ms Access 2007 Server ASP . NET 7. Use Case Diagram for Medical Lab Service 8. Design the System Database To design the database of the system, the E-R diagram is prepared at first. Then, the database structure is prepared in the MS Access. 8.1 Entity Relationship Diagram ERD stands for Entity Relationship Diagram.  Ã‚  It is one of the most important analysis diagrams for designing a database which summarise the whole structure of database.  Ã‚   In relational databases, the data is split up into tables instead of writing it all out in a single line or record.  Ã‚  This removes some of the problems often encountered in building a database.  Ã‚  The tables are linked together by  the primary key of one table being present as what is called a foreign key in another table. For National Car Parts Retail, the database system main content following AdminLogin Branch DoctorsDetails PatientDetails PatientVisitDetail ReportStatus StaffDetails ERD Diagram StaffDesignation StaffGender Login userName Id Password Type createDate Patients PatientName PatientId MaritalStatus PatientDOB PatientHistory PatientAddress PatientPhone TestType PatientGender PatientBookingDate StaffDOB BranchFax BranchPhonedress BranchName Has BranchId Branch Has VisitDetail PatientvisitID DoctorsId TestDate PatientId Arrange Test DoctorDetails DoctorsName DoctorsId DoctorsGender DoctorsAddress DoctorsSpecial DoctorsPhone Booking Has StaffPhone Id StaffAddress StaffId StaffName Staff Details Postcode BranchAddress The above diagram is entity relationship diagram for Medical Lab Service explaining the relationship between the entities and their attributes. The attributes shown in the diagram are their primary keys. 9. Database Structure The database was designed using MS Access with the name Medical.mdb List of the various tables and their descriptions are as follows: S. No. Table Name Description 1 AdminLogin Store Login information 2 Branch Store Medical Lab Branches details 3 DoctorsDetails Store Doctors information 4 PatientDetails Store Patients booking details 5 PatientVisitDetail Store Patients Visit Detail For Medical Test 6 ReportStatus Store Patients Report Status 7 StaffDetails Store Lab Staff details Below is the more detail of database structure. Branch Table Name Data Type Size Nulls? Default Value Extra BranchId Number Long Int No BranchName Text 30 No BranchAddress Text 50 No PostCode Text 20 No BranchPhone Text 20 No BranchFax Text 20 For more detail refer to appendix Medical 9.1 Design the System Interface This is the Index page of the Web Based system for Medical Lab Service where the user logins and does other processing. This is the Medical Lab Service index page from where user can process further. For more prototypes refer to appendix prototypes 10. Coding Coding should be done according to design specifications in order to meet business requirements. VB.NET was used as the server-side script. Including entire code of the system would make the system unnecessarily lengthy. Hence I have included code of some important functionality and presented a brief explanation. 11. Implementation and Testing of System As I mentioned before this is the web based application so the other Medical Lab Branch can be accessed this System through internet. When the system gave expected result then it was implemented to the entire branch and old traditional system was completely removed. The list below is the test plan for the system. Login Add/Update/Delete Branch Detail (Admin) Add/Update Delete Patients Booking (Admin) Add/Update Delete Doctors Details (Admin) Add/Update Delete Staff Details (Admin) Add/Update Delete Test Arrangement (Doctors) Add/Update Delete Report Details (Lab Staff) Searching from Admin(Branch, Doctors, Patients, Lab Staff) Searching from Doctor (Patients History, Test Details) Searching from Lab Staff (Search Report Status) 12. User Documentation After the completion of the whole project the final user document was prepared which content all the information of the system. The user guide was prepared and different training was given to employees of the Medical Lab Service so that they can be familiar with the new system. 13. Conclusion This report is prepared as the System documentation for Web Based Application Designing for a Medical Lab Service. This project provided me with good professional practice in applying our knowledge of Information Systems to address business problems. During this endeavour, I learned to write a suite of programs that encompass the main facets of business computing. I was able to obtain an in-depth knowledge of a formal coding language. I have been able to produce relevant documentation in support of the developed system. With the preparation of the projects, I have learned the efforts time required to prepare a professional system. I gained knowledge about different phases methodology of a project, which supports both the system development operation and support stages of the system life cycle. Hence with the development of this system, I understood the real need and value of having 3-tier Architecture System. I learnt that coding is only small part of system development and that greater effort should be placed in understanding the business requirements. Understanding business need is a challenge and getting application built to suit it is a whole lot another field by it self 14. References Reference Books Jeffrey L. Whitten, Lonnie D. Bentley, Kevin C. Dittman, Systems Analysis and Design Methods, Fifth Edition Roger S. Pressman, Ph.D., Software Engineering A Practitioners Approach, Fifth Edition Visual Studio 2008 Professional (ASP.Net)

Boo Radley and Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird :: Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

Boo Radley and Tom Robinson come from very different backgrounds. Both face similar stories of prejudice and unfair judgments. These men faced some of the same hardships throughout their lives. Boo and Tom are both good men who were put down because they are considered â€Å"different† than others in the town. Scout learns important lessons from the way the people in town treat Boo and Tom. The title of the book To Kill A Mockingbird takes on different meanings as the author tells the story of these two men from the south. Boo Radley was a man who was never seen out of his house. Since the people of the town saw that he was different than them they thought he was bad. Boo had no chance to stand up for himself because he always stayed inside. Like Boo Radley, Tom Robinson is characterized by what the people of Maycomb county say about him. After being accused of rape, most of the people see him as an evil man. During the trial when Bob Ewell testifies, he points to Tom Robinson and says, "I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella." (pg. 173) The evidence Atticus brought to court proved Tom innocent. But because this story takes place in the south where many people are racist he was accused of the crime. Tom had no chance because of the color of his skin. Both of these characters were seen for things on the outside and not for who they were. Tom and Boo taught Scout several lessons that she will remember forever. Boo shows her that just because you act different and live a different life that you are not always scary and bad. After Scout meets Boo at the end of the book she realizes that he could not really be the person that the makes him out to be. Tom’s trial shows her that racism is completely wrong but was happening all around her all of the time. She sees how Tom is not guilty but since he is black he is considered bad. She knows that this is wrong and she won’t do it herself. Before the trial she did not even know what racism was. In the book, Atticus tells Scout and Jem, "I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds.