The Blanket story Essay Example for Free

The Blanket story Essay The Blanket is a story about two lovers who enjoys wild sex, but is uncertain if they are willing to spend the rest of their lives together. The relationship they share is that which is built nothing more but lust. In the end, the couple figured out their feelings for each other, the blanket of Valerie serves as symbolism of their union. I have to say that this story surprised me; the title did not foreshadow the erotic nature of its plot, or rather the detailed descriptions of the author. The story has a lot of lines that are very poetic, usually with a theme of one lover comforting the other. Of all these poetic lines, one line stands out for me. He imagined scooping up sleeping Valerie and putting her in the middle of his thoughts. In choosing a line from a story, I always look for the line that pretty much sums up the whole story. If that is not possible, I choose the lines which have the most appeal to me. The other factors that I look for are: the line’s aesthetic value, if the line is nice to read, use of sound devices. Next is the line’s symbolic meaning, almost all creative forms of literature has some sort of symbolic meaning that means more than it actually appears. Another is the lines use of images, how the lines make my imagination work. How the line summarizes the story This line does not exactly sum up the entire story, in fact its just half of it. It does not show the rough sexual relations that happened to Valerie and Michael and the conflict that resulted from it. It just shows how Michael felt about Valerie despite their weird relationship. I also chose this line because, as corny as it sounds, it’s a romantic line usually found on stories with less sexual content. Aesthetic Value It may not mean much, but how the words used sounds to illustrate a scene in the story. Techniques like alliteration and rhyme are usually what I am looking for. The author may have not intended for that value to exist (they are usually attributed to poems) but it did anyway. ‘Scooping’ and ‘sleeping’ are not only alliterated words but also rhyming words, ‘putting’ in addition, rhymes as well. Symbolic Meaning This line might mean that Michael would save (scoop) the sleeping Valerie in keep her in a place (inside his thoughts) away from the things that can harm her. Valerie told stories of her horrible past, how she got raped and beat up. It is one of the reasons why she cried during one of their intimate moments. She cried because she was reminded of this dark past. She felt vulnerable, especially after the bad joke that Michael put on her. After that event, Michael realized what he has done, and felt it was time that their relationship turn serious. Imagery Lines that have clear images of action are always effective; they make the reader’s imagination work. The image of a Valerie being scooped up by Michael in her sleep makes me think of a fantasy inspired music video, a damsel in distress being saved by a hero. Or a man just dreaming of her girl in her sleep, and being contented by just that mere sight. Conclusion He imagined scooping up sleeping Valerie and putting her in the middle of his thoughts. – Seriously, you can’t find any other line in the story that can match this line’s aesthetic, visual, and symbolic meaning. The line is like taken straight out of a Nicholas Sparks novel.

STA Travel Business Strategy

STA Travel Business Strategy STA travels primary aim is attract young and active as well as adventurous consumers anywhere around the world. A sensible business strategy might be to offer what the customer want when they need it, By operating more than 400 retail agencies around the world STA continues to take more risky environment and would planning to expand into new markets to further its reach in to the student travel world. As many of organizations, STA travel managers give the impression that upgrading or changing components of information system will positively impact a business strategy. Therefore it takes advantage to expand it market by developing staff training mechanisms on networking system and modernizing its electronic communication with their customers. STA provided BLUEe which is a single booking system pointed to every purchase in STA travel by offering features on network, infrastructure, finance and operating system. Furthermore STA make available to their customers a highly interactive webs ite which attributing video reports STA customers about their travel destinations and freely downloading facilities the second life client or mainland as an advantage to becoming a playing member. It is important to balance the strategy triangle. By making any changes in the information strategy or organization strategy in first then the triangle getting out of balance and will be have an effect on other involving areas too. By considering on that view point when STA building their virtual world they do changes in business strategy like making staff are more productive and making widest possible work place opportunities. As well as STA travel is trying to attract more customers by holding expensive resources, using expertises knowledge and international programs in their group service division. By building these changes they trying to make connection between managers and their travelers. STA travel build a contract to develop their marketing attendance on second life through the computer simulated virtual world. As a well run organization the business strategy of the STA makes the rest of the organizational and informational strategy is not appear a big different. Organisation Strategy When considering the STA travel organisation design, STA had grown-up and spread out its global reach through a chain of mergers. To responsive to their globally distributed and various cultural consumers that the STA organised around responsiveness and would be including elements of autonomy, empowerment and authority as close to the action as possible. If organisation needs to have responsive, it would not work to have centralized decision making authority. Because it takes long time to get information up and decisions back to the field. The travelling process organised through the market analysis and service histories. Also they do series of organisational process (such as STA travel second life, by building a virtual world) and make sure customers the STA travel is able to actually ready to provide their booking service when customer need their service. STA designed web portal attract more travellers in to business and provide more information by downloading second life client software guide. From this second life web site STA travel offer their potential players to free download game and through the online the software connected to the grid computer servers and it is hosting one small area of many islands and the mainland. The new organisation structure in STA is centralized and provide more flexible infrastructure. Accordingly it has most advantageous of environment for monitor and implement new process. STA travel implements shared services measurement for certain processes and functions. And also STA provide level of structure when they making any decisions (CODA Group, p.3) In STA second life travel locations structure organisation would include; Dedicated portal and orientation island this will provide easy ways students to joint their second life and learn to find the way to the virtual world Virtual dorms helps to have private meetings and get together. Virtual travel destination provide experience in Mayan ruins, Asian temples and French cafes. STA travel main office provide the tour package information Produced Live weekly events and tours Sandbox provide practice to build own their virtual world. Information Strategy STA travels information strategy supports its business strategy through the innovation and openness. It has decentralized information strategy in each business unit and each unit responsible for their own IT operations. Currently STA has consistent and cost effective IT base that provide facilities to maintain of their world around operations. (Savvis ,2009,p.) Its web portal attract potential travellers by permitting their customers to downloads their client software and maintain online travel arrangements to suit the needs of the business. Their web sites provide mechanism to connect to their world wide travellers, to take their bookings, to provide services when the traveller needs more information regarding any destination and link to other branches. In STA most counties web pages consist look and feel and each country marketers feel free to design their marketing campaign using methods attach to internet. Fir instance, the US office run a virtual marketing campaign for spring break called body shots. To get more advantage they advised it on face book and Myspace too and also they offer facility to their customers to contact them through emails. STA taking the advantages of the through their new web technology such as they used to advertise, set up discussion groups and entertainment , use tools like second life to promote its services. Furthermore, STA travel information strategy support to their business strategy by helping to meet their business objectives of revenue generation as well as increasing referral income and improving online business sales conversion rates. Moreover, STA travel accept to work with IBM global Business Service and build up long term business plan with them to develop their business strategy. Also they help to STA travel to implement a global electronic commerce technology system to control STA across multiple web sites as the same time they offering the elasticity to adopt their local content. By having support from IBM and Open Text, STA travel keep up their latest online tends to get more benefit on their global business. The STA travel increasing their sites demand by offering new facilities, such as user generated travel log access and personal recommendation. Very speedily they rolled out new online services to thirteen countries. They can easily and quickly make the updates and changes in the web sites. Because the template or code of the web site updates are implement only once to the master project. (Open Text, 2009) It is good having virtual staff with proper information technology knowledge according to their whole system changes, because it will be more efficient and lead to increase their production and business operations. The STA travel flexible information structure supports the innovation and creativity to its business strategy. 2. According to porters value chain model STA travel also do some activities that create, deliver and support the organizations service. The real world From the beginning STA travel attract their customers through the retail travel agencies. Most of these agencies located in the near or on the campuses. When they started to run their application through internet they met new online competitors. For a instance, student universe and student city and less focused online travel agencies like Travelocity and Expedia. However porters value chain model suggests that competition can come from lowering the cost to perform activities and adding value to product or services. To be approachable to their global and culturally different customers STA travel gives more independent, responsibility and authority coverage. STA travel branches in each country have a power to maintain their own travel sales and marketing arms. north American STA division owned highly interactive web site which providing video reports about their travel destinations. As we can also think that there is tremendous relationship between STA travel business and information strategy. Because of the information system completely support what STA travel trying to accomplish in their business plan. Such as STA travel provide flexible and reliable information on a worldwide scale through their web site. They introducing different cultures, provide the experiencing with variety people and places around the world, make study groups, works and entertainment facilities. STA travel business model build up to meet the individual customer requirements through their on line booking and information system. STA travel expecting feed back about their quality vision from customers. Also they visible in the value chain on the product and service selling point, the place the where the travelers buying their tickets, in the airline operating point. STA always able to provide best value for their customers and had world class finance foundation in the financing system. (CODA Group, p.) The virtual world The work package as described in the contract with Electric Sheep Company (ESC) will develop virtual marketing on second life. This package given more attention to the island by designing high visibility site regarding on second life, producing the island and manage the events. Also by using electronic performers firm organized to marketing in virtual environment. From the second life web site players can download the client game software. Once in the online the client software connected to a grid of computer servers, each hosting area contain many islands and mainland which present in the second life. Machinima competition among current residents of second life is important point in the virtual world value chain because machinima is a style of movie making by using avatar as members of the cast and then using those entire make a film mix with virtual world context too. Selected videos provide within second life with their service information. STA travel provides opportunities to players to make up initial design of their online persona their avatar. From this mechanism players can see back of their avatar, nearby people, signs and buildings. And For new players system provide basic tool including instant massage and chat capabilities for communication with each other. In the contract mentioned that island include the STA mall and presenting free or with payment virtual goods which providing from second life trades, community lounge area, exhibition area for holding the events, STA information centre, various online initiatives and information about their travel partners. Further more plan to provide mix of tours of second life, live music from local musicians as well as tutorial sessions. 3. STA is a larger globally expanded student travel agency, presently attracting more than 6 million travelers world widely. It provide reasonably price as well as wide spread services to their customers. Such as financing air and train tickets, booking facilities for travelers accommodations, work and tours and study programmers. Furthermore they provide subsidiary services relating to their main services. Such as shopping discount cards, travel insurance, electronic visa processing system and discounted cell phone services too. Additionally, STA travel organization locates their retail agencies around the world and operates numerous call centers and stylish web site which make easier access to their world wide customers when their bookings and online travel research and customer support service. (Savvis ,2009,p.) STA travel is more competitive, well leading sales organization. By presence in second life, STA travel arranged more web base analysis and activities than earlier life. By providing free downloading client software to second life or occurring facilities to visit mainland. Because of more entertainment and new technology they use STA able to achieve more customer satisfaction and attraction. Second life strategy generates numerous destination islands to attract more customers and holding machinima competition among the second life clients. Machinima the movie making style make films by using avatar as cast members and with the context of virtual world. The main idea is to boast second life members who already make virtual world. STA travel used some of selected movies to provide information regarding existing visiting places and more details about those packages. The orientation island is another important element in the second life strategy. Most of the organization makes it to promote their island but it is main barrier to newcomers. For the eve ry newcomers orientation island provide lessons in communication, mobility and also avatar outfitting. However, it is difficult to maintain and attract return visitors in Destination Island. Newly, STA introduce new social community service to their customers such as share stories and questions with each other in the world. In the second life strategy STA travel try to maximize their online campaign by keep an eye on all activities on web applications. Additionally, make the improvement in visitors online visit by using analytics web tools and given that broader approaching to business performance. 4. As mentioned in case, still STA travels does not sign contact and its work package explain that commitments to develop virtual market in the second life. The Electronic Artists, a specializing company in marketing virtual environments will be going to create web blog. However keep the machinima completion with other second life residents. It is good idea making movie in the context of virtual world and planning to attract more clients and by using best selected movies to provide same real world services to second life. By taking advantage in virtual STA in second life customers can save time and money taking information from web portal before actually they make any tour. other interesting point in here is the earlier visit traveler can make an web account by placing their own tour experiment in second life and have a discussion group and also they can make feed back about STA travel campaign. STA virtual world applications help to predict customer behavior by providing Enjoyment attractions. 5. When considering the STAs virtual world, there are several threads we can face, such as use of new technology, IT support, business development, arising legal security issues, grown up content and discussion group and cost.For the large scale of virtual world need speedy computer processor and video cards with steady network. Therefore players want to familiar with the new technology parts and need to have knowledge in IT environment. STAs virtual world completely run by the grid computer server therefore it is essential for the IT support to maintaining and running the STAs virtual world. by considering current and future business development it is essential to take expertises support in their IT strategy and wants to handle the system carefully. Another challenge STAs virtual world has to face with the personal information safety and data protection. Players mostly concerns security issues given by the vendors before they enter to the second life. When bearing in mind the content o f the virtual world, concerns of the legal issues important point to vendors, for an instant gambling. When providing software guide about the virtual world it is vital to think about time they have to spend. Most of players expecting shot time leaning curves. STA needed carefully planned about their investment for lon term virtual world development.( Penfold, 2008,p.) The SWOT analysis used to concerns the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threads for STA virtual world in second life. Strengths Providing better travelling experience with enjoyment is main advantage I can see in the STA virtual world in second life. Pdf6 Considering the network services it is providing quicker, easier online facilities such as through the web portal they can access user travel logs and private advice. STA own independently running web sites all around the world. (Open Text, 2009) Weaknesses main disadvantage is the cultural differences they have to face with when they expanding globally. Technology difficulties are the next weakness that the STA has to familiar in their virtual world in second life. Because the there are able to occurring functionality difference from site to site. and also to provide learning-edge services to younger generation is more costly. (Open Text, 2009) Opportunities STA virtual world in second life adding variety of interactivity and enjoyment opportunities for their clients life. Social interaction and group communication is another opportunity can be able to access. ( Penfold, 2008,p.) During the team players communication virtual world helping them by providing instant feedback, can be set up trust through several communication paths and enable to remove boundaries in geographic and culture differences. Can offering a chance to improve their member attraction by providing playful environment. (Owens,Davis,Murphy,Khazanchi Zigurs, 2009) Threats when considering further more, the time limits, new technology support and available resources are main challenges in the second life. ( Penfold, 2008,p.) It is challenging to find new technology well-known and educated audience in each location. In addition, it is not easy task to control content of individual sites and always to keep STA travel organizations information current. (Open Text, 2009) 6. It is not true that attendance of STA virtual world cannibalizing its real world presence. STA virtual world just only taking more advantages in business strategy than real world by improving their earlier web based technology capabilities. For a instance the machinima style just has step further technology advantage only the content or the services by using it same as STA provided in their real world, providing existing visiting places information and information reflect to how to travelers get there. Because of virtual world capabilities providing more facilities to collaborate and interact its more attractive with second life members. Furthermore in the virtual world student can easily and quickly give feedback on their experience and to make upgrades and changes in the web sites is quicker than eailer. (Owens, Davis, Murphy, Khazanchi Zigurs, 2009) The virtual world development and vividness of environment have some similarities to the real world web. In the virtual business in second life have joint technology like stream media, 3D together with grid computing and all are apply in to the virtual world structure. Therefore in conclude can suggest development of the virtual business strategy is parallel to the earlier web base business development have in the real world. And these business relationships more effectively help to the virtual world developments. (Wei, 2007,p.) 7. To get better answer for this question I suggest it is important to go beyond with the benefits severing by STAs virtual world in second life. Second life is likely a virtual world society. Virtual world has brightness environment and new technology ability to make available occasion to build social interactions and partnership with other team members. Also virtual world and its technology ability support teams to take challenges in IT field. This technology facility is unique advantage in the virtual world. By using STAs virtual world technology capabilities quickly members can have face to face group discussion using their avatar in virtual space. Members can modify, design and build their avatars like to produce direct trust. Another advantage and possible chance that people can taken from current virtual world technology is can share virtual objects and documents in between virtual world and other software tools too. And new technology expertises expect that this opportunity will be explore within the virtual competitors. (Owens,Davis,Murphy,Khazanchi Zigurs, 2009) Furthermore, virtual world provide more cost effective platform to discover STAs travel destinations. For the newcomers they provide a flexible introductory programmers and chances to have an experience in virtual world and offering student support for innovation and research on traveling destination. Another point we need to bare in mind that most of second life competitors having the benefit from virtual world technology. Virtual world is not just a fun space it have potential improvement in educational programmes too. ( Penfold, 2008,p.) By considering above facts I suggest that STA management may taken this action by bare in mind that their main target audience is younger generation and usually students like to move to virtual world in second life fun to use, make more interest in learning and have an interactive experience. In addition, uses and technology capability provide in the virtual world in the second life be able to carry on wider grow globally. Because currently, most of the young people use virtual technology to learn, entertain and work as also build up more social interaction. More over, nowadays among the younger generation the time virtual world is becoming a more common place for communicating with each other including instant massage, chat facilities and email service in the virtual space. (Penfold, 2008)

Beowulf Essay -- Epic of Beowulf Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He killed three monsters and then he died. Not a very interesting fate, but it is none the less one that I find myself having to write about regardless of whether or not I want to. Thus it was, the mighty Beowulf of old England that went forth to slay the evils which plagued the lands of his own people as well as those of his neighboring tribes. The second battle was one that was brought about by Beowulf’s willingness to go and help an old friend, and thus he nearly lost his life once more. For those not acquainted with the story of Beowulf, he was said to be the strongest man ever to live, and given this he was fated according to their beliefs to accomplish certain things in his life. Some of these things being to be slaying of great monsters and winning of great wars. And thus that is what he did as he progressed through life. The epic is rather brief in terms of what an epic normally is, but, in this time he manages to travel to a distant land, and slay a monster that has taken over that land, and then after that feat he of course makes that monsters mother mad, you know you can do something to someone without making dear old mom mad. So, then Beowulf must kill the mother and then after they are both sent into hell, the land is free of tyranny and injustice Beowulf returns home a hero. After fifty winters of rule by Beowulf, a dragon attacks his people because of what was done by a thief, so Beowulf knowing in his old age that he would probably not survive this battle to slay the dragon, goes into battle anyway and slays the dragon and he himself is then slain, by injuries sustained by this fight. My focus is fate, and how no matter how Beowulf decided to do it he would eventually die for his people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Those of the age of Beowulf, were strong believers in fate and destiny. Everyone was born with a fate already assigned to them by the gods. And this was the case with Beowulf. â€Å"One of Hygelac’s thanes, Beowulf by name, renowned among the Geats for his great bravery, heard in his own country of Grendal’s crimes; he was the strongest man alive, princely and powerful. He gave orders that a good ship should be prepared, said he would sail over the sea to assist the famous leader, the warrior king (Hrothgar) since he needed hardy men.† (Crossley, Beowulf). Beowulf would set sail for Hrothgar’s kingdom an... ... their, â€Å"fate†. Beowulf takes with him the greatest of warriors when he goes to fight the dragon and they all falter, it is because there is uncommon valor and bravery within Beowulf, it was the same with Batman. â€Å"Gotham not only has a mayor, but a police commissioner, a police chief, and squads of officers, but it is Batman who defeats the city’s dragons†. (Beowulf to Batman, Rollin) Beowulf fulfilled two of the roles in Gotham, he was the mayor and Batman. It was this that made him great and it was his fate that led him to do it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I do hereby conclude, that the effects of the belief in fate has had great effect over society and history the like. However I do believe that in the delivery of an epic poem it is best to concentrate specifically on the material contained within the epic first and to then reevaluate the symbolic and hidden meaning after the initial meaning of the poem is understood. I have myself had to reread the poem in order do make enough sense of it to be able to write about it. Beowulf has many things, namely concepts and ideals contained within it that we should all take into consideration and perhaps even model into our own lives.

Smith, the amount of Smith it takes to become a Smith :: essays research papers

SOCIALSECURITY.COM The web site for social security and retirement information. The purpose of this site is to provide up to date social security and retirement information and how to get answers to your questions. This website is a private web site and is not associated, authorized, affiliated with, or sponsored by any goverment, nor do we claim to be. Official worldwide government links for social security can be found on our questions and answers category located on the socialsecurity.com home page. If you have any ideas for enhancing this site or if you have any information you would like posted, please email us at webmaster@socialsecurity.com Please choose ONE of the following links: 1 -To receive the Social Security Benefits Handbook click here. This comprehensive guide answers many of the questions individuals seek regarding social security benefits. Easy to read. Highly informative. If you are looking to maximize your benefits, get everything you deserve and minimize the red tape, then this book is a must. Ordering is handled through Amazon.com at a substantially discounted price. After ordering please use you browsers back button to return to this page and then click the Socialsecurity.com home page link. 2 - FREE HEALTH or LIFE INSURANCE QUOTES. It's Absolutely FREE for all SocialSecurity.com users. You can even get FREE QUOTES for AUTO INSURANCE. You may get quotes for all your insurance needs. No obligation whatsoever to purchase. 3 -Go to Socialsecurity.com home page. You can use your browsers back button to return here from any linked sites. REMEMBER TO BOOKMARK THIS PAGE e-stablished 3/16/98. Disclaimer DISCLAIMER This web site is designed to provide information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is provided with the understanding that the publisher of this information is not engaged in rendering legal, or other professional services. The publisher is not responsible for any misrepresentations or errors regarding information listed here or on any linked sites. All information provided is for informational purposes only. We are not responsible for the reliance on this information. If legal advice or other professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

Scrooge in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Essay -- Christmas Car

Scrooge in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens The novel, ‘A Christmas Carol’, is more than just a mere story instead it tries to expose the negative side of Victorian society and the reason behind this horror, the greed of the wealthy, through the development of the character Scrooge. All this while attempting to prompt readers with Scrooge’s similar wealth to make a change. As mentioned earlier, the development of Scrooge’s character is vital to this and I will explain how his character develops as the story proceeds and how it is used to accomplish the aim as mentioned above. In the first stave, Dickens tries to point out that Scrooge is a character that society considers negative. In the introduction, Dickens points out Scrooge’s wealth to immediately aim any point about society not only to average people but in particular to people of Scrooge’s similar wealth, he does this by describing Scrooge as ‘an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral’, this not only proves Scrooge’s wealth but also that Scrooge is a cold character, the first hint of the truly negative character of Scrooge to be revealed later in this stave, since he has the heart to do business on the day of the funeral of his long time business partner. What makes this worse is that Marley was Scrooge’s equal in terms of character as far as the story goes since Dickens chose to describe what Scrooge meant to Marley as ‘his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole friend and his sole mourner’, therefore since Scrooge showed little sympathy in the death of ‘his equal’ it gives the readers a sense of cannibalism since Scrooge is practically turning his back on Marley in his death. Even in the introduction, Dickens ... ...as changed as Scrooge is not usually earnest at all. Not only which, Scrooge seems to be a lot happier after this change as proven by the quote â€Å"Oh, glorious.† This is Scrooge describing the environment, in his description he describes it positively showing a sign that he is happier. This is important as it is a signal to readers in Scrooge’s financial situation that they will be happier after the change. My conclusion is that Scrooge’s character is used by Dickens to represent an exgaratted stereotypical version of the Victorian wealthy businessman who is greedy. The story is not only an attempt by Dickens to tell these businessmen what they are missing out on by being greedy(as proven by Scrooge’s happiness after the change) but also meant to expose the unfairness in Society where the rich who can do the most to improve lives do not even try to do so.

Internet Critique Essay

Internet is an incredible and enormous source of information and, thereby, information searched on Internet must be evaluated for credibility to effectively serve the variety of users. This paper provides a critique of the website â€Å"Healthline†, according to the criteria of Thede and Sewell (2010). Healthline is one of the popular website among Internet users, that offers users to search for health topic and medical advise online (http://www.healthline.com). The users can find different treatment options available for a diagnosis as well as information about the drugs. It also allows the users to search for a specialist depending on their residential area. The criteria illustrated by Thede and Sewell (2010) is important in guiding users to differentiate between reliable and unreliable information. By using this criteria users become knowledgeable about evaluating the credibility of a website. The questions posed in the checklist prompt critical thinking process, and leads us to find the underlying intent of the website. The criteria assist users to check the validity of information by finding if the information is peer-reviewed or verified by qualified editor. Only if the found health information were from a valid scholarly source then it would be trusted. If the user’s intent is to validate the information then this criteria should be applied to any other website regardless of the underlying intent. For instance, commercial website’s sole intent is to sale their products. The Internet users now can search on the web for other websites that offer peer reviews on that product. Source Healthline runs by a company Healthline Networks Inc. Originally founded in 1999 but re-launched in 2005 with current name. Detailed description is given about the company’s motto, board of directors and management team in company-info section. A search for a specific disease results in a choice to go to different websites or choose the articles that are listed. If the editorial team does the article then no author name is specified, but it’s reviewed by a qualified MD with or without their credentials specified. But if the article is from an encyclopedia or another publisher, there is only author name is given with their affiliation and article’s published date but no author’s credentials. The last review date of an article is shown at the bottom of the page. The publisher name is shown as well with the copyright information. If author name is displayed, there is no link to contact the author. The link is available if the article is licensed from another publisher. There is no link available to contact the article reviewer. Funding Healthline is found to be a commercial site, generating its revenue mainly from the advertisement. It’s a free website for users. The home page is attractive and shows the advertisement at top and bottom of the page. There is also video advertisement with no audio, resulting in less distraction. The advertisements are clearly labeled and don’t spoil the user experience, therefore making the navigation easier. Validity and Quality The home page of Healthline shows the accessed date on top of the page and copyright information at the bottom. The last reviewed date is displayed at the bottom of each individual article. New articles are shown at the home page with the name of the editorial team member on top. But if user is looking for something specific then some of the articles searched are almost two years old. User has to thoroughly search for up to date information. There are appeared to be no content and typing errors. Information appears to be non-bias. The language used is comprehensible to a general user and lacks the jargon terms. If user navigates to the company info, the purpose of the website is clearly stated. Some of the articles are written by the editorial team and reviewed by an MD with published date but no credentials, while other articles are sourced from a third party publisher with some links functioning. The website claims that articles that are done by Healthline editorial teams are reviewed by the board of certified physicians and medical editors. Detailed information about Healthline medical advisory board and their editorial team is also available on the website, including the name of each member with brief summary of their credentials. Healthline acknowledges licensing the medical and health content from third parties for publication, with clear depiction of their name and a valid link. Some of their third party publisher reference partner include A.D.A.M., GALE Cengage Learning, Gold Standard, NBC Universal, StayWell, Harvard Health Publications, Reed Elsevier and more. Privacy Healthline privacy policy is well outlined in the company-info section. They clearly state what information they are collecting from users and with whom they share this information with. They gave a detailed overview of what type of anonymous information they are collecting. Anonymous information includes the type of queries done on the website by a user, but doesn’t include any personal information such as, name email-address or phone number. User can choose not to pass-on this anonymous information by disabling the cookies. Healthline pledges not to share any personal information of registered users to the third parties. In comparison to the recognized privacy policy statement of HON (Health on The Net Foundation, 2011) website, the personal information collected is also not shared with any third party. However, HON also gathers â€Å"non-personal† information using their web-server. HON’s privacy statement is short and lacks the details about the non-personal information. On the other hand, Healthline company-info section not only clarifies in detail to the users what are the â€Å"Cookies† and â€Å"Web Beacons†, but also specifies the privacy policy for the children under thirteen. Summary To summarize, the criteria by Thede and Sewell helps user develop a sense to evaluate the sources and credibility of information, based on author’s qualifications and credentials, source of publication, website’s purpose, and website’s privacy policy. All of the criteria are found to be of most importance in helping user to evaluate a website for credibility, especially if user is searching information about their health. The healthline doesn’t meet some of those criteria. The criterion of source is not met because of the lack of consistency in providing author’s name and credentials. Healthline needs to develop a consistency in displaying author’s name, credentials, affiliation, link to contact the author, article’s last reviewed date, and link to contact the article reviewer. The validity and quality criterion is also partially met. The third party publisher’s validity is verifiable in some case where links are functioning. Healthline needs to specify credentials of the article reviewers as well as the name of their editorial team’s member who wrote the article. Also the health information needs to be up to date. Healthline meets the criteria of funding and privacy policy. It clearly expresses its purpose, and acknowledges generating revenues form advertisement. Its privacy policy gives user a detailed view about the anonymous and personal information and how it is used, gaining user’s trust.

Godiva Chocolatier Swot

Introduction Godiva has for a long time now being among the leading corporations in its area of expertise, chocolate. Currently, it records a sale of 500 million USD per year. It offers a very interactive, as well as customer service, where consumers are able to feel the staffs’ sincerity. Company history Godiva Chocolatier is a multinational Company that deals with manufacturing of premium chocolates and other products related to chocolates. Godiva was founded in 1926, in Belgium, but later purchased by the Turkish Yildiz Holdings, the owner of Ulker Group.It opened its first boutique shop in the Grand Place in Brussels. The company went global through opening its first shop outside Belgium in Paris, France in 1958. The company expanded further and by 1966, the company products had reached United States where most of the products were sold mostly in luxury strip malls. Godiva has more than 600 retail shops and boutiques that it owns and operates in various countries such as U nited States, Asia, Europe, as well as Canada.The corporation is also available through more than 10,000 specialty retailers. This company, in addition, to chocolates offers other products such as truffles, biscuit, and fruits, cocoa, among several other foods and beverages (Godiva History and FAQ (2004). The company by the year 2007 had reported annual sales of 500 million USD. It is in the same year that the company announced its interest in exploring various strategic alternatives among them being divestiture.However, in December, 2007, the company announced its interest in selling Godiva to one of the largest and prominent consumer goods manufacturer in the Turkish food industry, and by 2008, the process was completed, and Yildiz Holdings gained ownership of this company (Adelman, Andrews, & Lee, 2007). Currently, this company continues to own and carry its operations in with more than 400 shops globally. The company has embraced the new technology of online shopping and current ly it issue 6 seasonal mails order catalogs annually in United States, as well as accepting online and telephone orders for their goods (Godiva History and FAQ (2004).Godiva operations in Singapore Singapore can be an interesting market to penetrate through direct investment or franchising. Godiva has directly invested in Singapore through setting up shops and boutiques in several cities in Singapore. This country is strategically situated at the southern tip of the Malaysian Peninsula. It consists of Singapore islands, several islets within its territorial waters. The land is characterized by undulated land with low hills. Therefore, the country is well accessible due to its accessibility through land, water, and air.Singapore is currently regarded as one of the most dynamic cities globally where people can work, invest, and live in (Ghosh, 2010). It is globally connected with a multicultural and international city states and towns and offers one of the best conducive environments globally to do business and for success driven industries. For about four decades now, Singapore has undergone tremendous transformation from a place of national business to one of the world’s prominent financial centers, sea hubs and international airports.Additionally, it has become one of the most open economies for both trade and investment nationally and globally. Companies and organizations operating in this country are guaranteed access to competent and unbiased judicial system, transparency and consistence in government guidelines, implementation of strong and good corporate governance policy, as well as anticorruption policies. Godiva, after carefully market research in Singapore, developed strategies of entering into this market. Godiva Company has invested directly through setting up store and shops for selling its products.It has three stores in this country that are situated in main locations, for example, in large cities and islands where there is easy accessibi lity and convenient for customers shopping their products. There are vast Infrastructures in this country, and thus the company has taken this opportunity and introduced online shopping for its products. The products in this market are not only purchased through the retail shop, but through online services where the customers purchase chocolate products in the comfort of their homes.The company has a plan of diverting more attention to Singapore, since Singapore is one of the wealthiest and prosperous nations and thus the demand for premium goods and services is high. Additionally, it has a population of approximately 5 million with a growth rate of about 24%. Therefore, this gives the company a wider target market. Competitive analysis Godiva has many competitors situated in Singapore. It faces competition from both local and international industries. For example, Royce and the Chocolate Research Facility is a local company in Singapore and a rival of this company.Other competitors in this industry include Leonidas, and Teuscher, among others. However, despite the harsh competition in this industry, this company has always been talked about by the lovers of chocolate. They trust and remain loyal to the company since the company is well known in the provision of high class and premium products which satisfy the customers. Therefore, despite the advantage the other competitors could have in this industry, for example, the local company, it still have a competitive edge in terms of winning the customer loyalty through providing products of substance.Future of the company in Singapore According to the forecast made in Singapore, there will be a 17% growth rate for the chocolate industry. Majority of the customers of Godiva Company are age group of between 30 and 40 years who are in the working class and, therefore, can afford these premium products. However, according to research, the economy is expected to pick up, and thus younger people from the age of between 20-30 years will increasingly earn more income, and they will be more willing to spend more as their disposable income increases.This group of consumers mostly looks for premium and highly customized products. Therefore, the company will be better situated to compete in this industry. Godiva Gems products and brand Godiva offers its chocolate products in various brands and variety of flavors in order to capture a wider market, as well as meet all the customers’ demands and specifications. Some of the flavors include truffles, fresh creams, fruits, chocolate bars, caraques, among several others. The customer has created a variety of more than seventy products of those customers who demand customized goods.The company, in addition, offers other more than 100 varieties for various occasions such as for gifts personal indulgence, special occasions like cocktail meetings and home entertaining chocolate products. Traditionally, the company use to pack the products in Godivaâ€℠¢s classic gold ballotin, but currently the company has styled up and now uses stylish seasonal packaging for all its customers. In addition, the company sells other complementary products to these chocolates products which include Godiva ice cream, Godiva white chocolate liquor, among others.Godiva customize its chocolate products to meet and fit in the demand of local cultures. For example, the taste and flavors of Godiva products in US is different from that of Europe. A lot of milk and sugar products are added when preparing chocolate for American market. Godiva's Marketing Strategy for Godiva Gem in Singapore Market segmentation Marketing segmentation is significant for any business that wants to excel in any industry. It helps a company identify segments with similar characteristics such as buying behavior (Zonis, 2009). Godiva chocolates have created two segment; corporate segment and affluent retail market.The corporate segment has two main groups for a particular purpose. T he first key group is for business gifts giving. This is a round the clock market but does not have peak times during holiday gifts and presents giving season. The other group in the corporate segment is for corporate incentives programs. These programs are exploited by corporate rewards, sales incentives, as well as recognition. The affluent retail market entails retails clients and customers who have a preference for premium and expensive products. The largest group for these products is found in London.In Singapore, the market can be divided to include the haves and the have not. The market can be divided to reach those with low earnings, as well as those with high earnings ((Cohen, 2004). Product differentiation Godiva is an established company in many parts of the world and have won the trust and loyalty of many customers globally. In Singapore, though the products are expensive, many customers prefer buying from Godiva shops as opposed to other shops in the same industry. This is because the company positioned its products to offer high premium products and of a different variety.Therefore, many customers are aware of the quality of the Godiva products, and, therefore, remain loyal to the company despite the increase in price. This gives this company a competitive edge in this industry. Product positioning Product positioning is the unique way of offering the products in the market. Godiva company apart from offering exceptional products in terms of quality, it has a variety of packaging which attracts customers. For example, many customers require custom made products and package which the company is able to offer widely.In addition, there are varieties of products for different occasions such as for special gifts. The company has over 100 varieties of products for various occasions. This gives it a competitive edge over the other companies in this industry since it is able to tap a bigger market. Marketing target Godiva chocolate deals with Chocolates products and, therefore, the main target of its market is chocolate lovers. These are people mostly love indulging in rich and delicious products, for example, products in the world of chocolate.The company has a variety of products that its offers in the market depending on the customers demands. Some of the varieties of products include white chocolate, fruit , dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate shakes, among other varieties. The target market of Godiva consists mostly of the world class or the rich since the chocolate products are expensive and are only affordable to the rich. To capture this world class group, the company offers a variety of packaging designs, which are artfully designed to fit the targeted people. Product strategyGodiva chocolate shops and boutiques offer a wide variety of their super-premium selections chocolates products. The selection includes the company newly introduced chocolate products which include Nippon, Romaine, seventy two percent cocoa Demi tasse, and Creole. Godiva Company has placed its products where customers can easily access them. For example, it offers a variety of products in its website to enable customers view the existing products and the latest products. The products are also available for online shopping to enable the customers shop from their homes.Packing of products, on the other hand, differs from country to country to meet different needs of the customer. For example, in United States chocolates are pre-packed but in Singapore, chocolates collections are custom made. The company has a new packing strategy, which is to sell chocolates in assortments, which are hand made so as to enhance innovation, as well as differentiation from competitors. Price In Europe, Godiva does not have much say in terms of setting up prices for their products.This is because the prices were standardized by the European Union, and; therefore, the company must comply with the union and standardize its prices. The price has als o increased for most of the Godiva products, and the market has not yet accepted. The company wishes to borrow a leaf from the wine tasting that were held at local wine shop, and educate its consumers on why it is worth to buy chocolate products at the set price. In addition, the forecast shows that there will be an increase in the growth rate and; therefore, the economy is expected to pick up.The company, therefore, is deciding on working on the quality of the product to be reflected in the high prices set. Many people will also be able to afford these products at that price because the income will go up and so will their disposable income. The pricing strategy includes establishing further premium pricing on those products that are best selling for retail rich segments and come up with the best pricing and volume combination. For the affluent retail segment, which have achieved an average growth rate, the company plans on maintaining the current pricing for the rest of the product s.Introduction of discount pricing for all the corporate segment for the first time client, and also a for longer time clients, that is, those clients that have been in business for more than three years. This strategy is for helping in attracting more clients, as well as maintaining the existing ones. Channels of distribution The company first decides to increase its distribution channels in London without necessary increasing its investment in actual stores. This will be done through association with third party premium retail channels.The company desires to increase distribution channels outside London utilizing similar associate if the strategy works in London. The aim of this strategy is to decrease the investment in stores which in the past has been seen to negatively impact on returns of this company. The company has various options to consider, for example, to distribute the chocolate premium products aggressively across many channels. However, this would have a large drawba ck on the company since it would dilute the premium luxury brand name. The second option would be to identify premium retail channels of distributions and utilize them.One possible premium retail channel tie-up that can be considered is Starbucks Coffee. Promotion strategy The aim of Godiva promotion message into the global and common campaign is to unify its advertising message. However, this strategy is difficult because of the difference in the individual market around the world. The company has a new goal in promotion, which is to raise the rate of the purchase of chocolate products for gifts, special occasions, and for self consumption. In addition, the company in its advertising campaign wants to give the brand name a youthful appearance.Since women do most of the purchasing, advertising should, therefore, focus on women magazines and billboards. In entering new markets, the company will focus on the product and its promotions. Therefore, the company should develop and initial promotion strategy in order to gain some market share in Singapore. The company can start with giving free samples in order to create free publicity. Another form of advertising that Godiva can introduce is the Godiva Theater. Godiva Theater is a domestic strategy that can be used in promotion of products, in Singapore.Customers through this promotion strategy can watch their chocolate products produced through the glass viewing area, and they can, therefore, enjoy chocolate fresh made. The strategy of unifying Godiva image globally is a viable strategy. However, having conflicting brand images can cause confusion and misunderstanding between markets, as well as in the company. Since Singapore is a technologically advanced state, Godiva should design its advertising to be mostly on televisions and internet. The company should also try to get a celebrity to use in advertising.This is because; having a celebrity or a role model promote the chocolate products, as well as the companyâ €™s image will increase the interest of Godiva and its products. The company, once the brand is accepted in the market can go back to the word of mouth form of advertising. Godiva Company uses two types of production methods in manufacturing various sizes and shapes of the chocolates products. They include enrobing and shell-molding. Shell molding is mostly practiced in Europe and is used in manufacturing most of the Godiva chocolates. This method has enabled the company to design unique olds, giving them unique style, and sophisticated confections, which are easily recognized as Godiva. When these collections of the shell-molded chocolates are packed in one of the stylish package, they become appealing even to the most discerning customers in the market. Conclusion and recommendations Godiva is one of the most prominent companies in the chocolate industry. According to the above analysis, this company is highly preferred by many lovers of chocolate in all the place its has set stores. In Singapore particularly, the company is exceedingly doing well.This is because of its exceptional chocolate products in terms of quality, packaging and variety of chocolate products. The company, therefore, despite the increase in the prices of its products still attracts a substantial number of customers that can sustain it in the market. My recommendation would be since according to forecast, the Singapore economy is expected to rise in the future, which means the people earnings will go up including the youth of below 30 years, the products should be given a youthful appearance to attract the youth. This will consequently increase the target market for Godiva products.