Importance of Measuring Returns in Marketing

Importance of Measuring Returns in Marketing Marketing Metrics Background Organizations have rapidly moved into an era of focused marketing spending. Cost cutting is no longer considered the best possible revenue generation vehicle because of its limitations. Tougher economy has put screws to marketing and sales department budgets. It has made marketing to prove it’s spend or at least justify the value of its investment. Ahuja et al., (2001) highlight that cost cutting alone is not enough in increasing a firm’s revenue, nor does it dramatically improve the bottom line over the long term. However, finding the â€Å"lost† money that isn’t being wisely invested and reallocating it to more strategic marketing programs helps to increase a firm’s revenue and profits year after year after year (Kokkinaki Stefano, 2004). This has given rise to the marketing metrics, marketing mathematics, measurement marketing. Marketing spending is continually been questioned as marketing budgets get slimmer. There is an increasing accountability of marketing spending in the current market climate (Barwise Farley, 2003). The marketing industry has reached an era where the firms are increasingly been forced to spend on profitable activities. The allowance to spend on things that don’t directly support the firm’s strategic plan, vision, and mission is reducing by each passing day. Leaders and higher managers are trying to continuously trying to motivate their firms to identify spending that isn’t tied to investment in the firm’s future (Clark, 1999). This is done to free up the money to reallocate it more strategically to more profitable propositions. The time of overspending with little or no control is drawing to a close. The rise of internet marketing has also increased the relevance and importance of measuring as results can easily be measured online. Online marketers measure things such as ‘Click-through rate’ (measures the relevancy of e-mail offerings by tracking the  number of unique click-through). One of the other online measures used by organizations like Amazon is the ‘Goal conversion rate’ (integrates web analytics with e-mail marketing tool to track the metric that matters) . The rise of performance measurement Performance measurement has been touted as an improvement for organizations for decades. Marketing managers and policymakers now have measurement tools to help carry out their responsibilities to deliver and improve services. Performance measurement can provide the link between whats (objectives, targets and performance standards) and hows (behaviors, competencies and processes) of personnel performance (Deery et al., 2002; pg 471). The measurement process involves setting of corporate, department, team and individual objectives. Researchers have recommended that a performance measurement framework should start with an organizational analysis. A decision to implement the performance measurement system should be made according to the organizational principles and model of the organization following the identification of the existing structure and functioning of the organization and the evaluation of the structural problems (Ambler, 2001). The most innovative companies and organization s, do not simply execute one good program, rather, they integrate advanced management techniques into a comprehensive approach to productivity improvement. They use performance measurement and evaluation to help establish goals and measure results, estimate and justify resource requirements, reallocate resources, develop organization improvement strategies and motivate personnel to improve performance (Schaufeli Buunk, 2003; pg 383). While some organizations do not believe in assembling data for measuring, others find marketing metrics hard to assemble. Lack of IT systems can be partly blamed as many organizations find different metrics scattered across the organization for different time periods, different customer and stakeholder segments, and a multitude of purposes. Aims Objectives Aim To identify and demonstrate the importance of measuring returns in marketing The Purpose of this research is to gain fresh insights into the concept of marketing measurement, analyze the significance and relevance of measurement in the current marketing climate. All relevant measurement variables used by organizations to measure marketing effectiveness will be demonstrated. Their affect on strategic decision making will also be looked into. Objectives To analyze the importance of measuring marketing activities The research demonstrates the importance of measuring and the problems that might arise when marketing activities are not measured. Increased competition and lack of capital is making the marketing budget shrink which has meant more intelligent use of marketing money. This has greatly increased the importance of measurement within the marketing community as they want to know areas of higher return and focus their spend on these areas. To assess the benefits of measurement activities The study not only highlights the benefits of measurement but also demonstrates the loss by not measuring marketing activities. In the process, it also considers the extra cost which the organization may incur while measuring these activities (cost in the form of technology, people and other fixed and variables cost) To illustrate and depict the relationship between marketing measurements and strategic decision making. The research does not study the marketing measurement activities in isolation. It relates the impact of these measurements on strategic decision making. It takes the case of various medium and large organizations to justify the importance of measuring. It discusses the use of marketing measures by other organizations and the impact they have on strategic and tactical decisions. To examine the difficulties faced by organizations looking to measure marketing activities. Marketing activities are not easy to measure and organizations can face technical and process difficulties in trying to measure its marketing returns. Smaller and medium sized organizations may have to make investments in technology and human expertise in order to measure their activities. It can also change the way data is stored in the data bases and other technical issues. The research will analyze these factors and make conclusions after doing a cost benefit analysis of marketing measurements. To make appropriate recommendations regarding marketing measurements. The research will recommend specific metrics and the way they should be measured to give accurate and timely information to the organizations. It will discuss the use of these metrics under different marketing situations and budget constraints. Scope The scope of the research is limited to secondary research. There is limited field research done for the purpose of this research. Also, there are a huge number of different metrics used by organizations across the globe, the study looks at the most common and appropriate measures. There might be other marketing measures which are equally suitable. Also, the research is generic in nature which means that a particular measure discussed might not be suitable for a particular organization at a particular time. The measures and metrics suggested does not relate to the nature, structure and culture of the organization. The study does mention the relevance of discussed measures under varying circumstances. Rationale The interesting perceptions with contradictory thinking with regards to marketing measurements is what aroused sufficient interest in the author to go in for a research into the concept which has become a part of the marketing decision making and corporate strategy. Although, conventional wisdom dictates that measuring marketing activities will give an organization a good indication of their effectiveness, in reality, marketing measurement is still not practiced by most organizations. It has also been inefficient for others because of the use of irrelevant measures. This makes the topic even more interesting because it is not just the use of measures that leads to effectiveness but its the use of relevant and appropriate measure. This tricky concept of marketing measurements was what made the author go in for a research as no existing literature gave a clear-cut judgment on the subject. Get help with your essay from our expert essay writers Layout and structure of the dissertation The dissertation is laid out in five chapters, sub-divided logically on the basis of their relative importance to the study. Each chapter looks at the research problem in a different perspective though there is noticeable degree of inter-relationship amongst them. The actual study begins from chapter two with Review of Literature analyzing different marketing measures used across the industry and assessing its relevance to organizational decision making. The contents in the research report can be elaborated briefly as shown under the following headings. Chapter One Introduction As the name suggests, this chapter introduces the study of the primary focus of the area of research. It clearly marks out the purpose, aim and objectives of the research giving a reader a guideline as to what to expect. It also gives out the scope of the research and spells out the rationale behind the study. Chapter Two Literature Review This chapter primarily prepares the study for empirical work by looking at evaluations and conclusions drawn on certain theories and concepts to check for similarities and difference made by past writers on similar or related studies. It’s on this basis, that later stages in the research are developed. It is therefore, purely a representation of secondary data with various notions. In particular, academic journals, websites and textbooks that articulate models and related theories are used as a reference. Chapter Three Analysis of Research Findings This chapter is devoted to the presentation and analysis of the information collected and the theories studied as a part of this dissertation. Marketing measures are examined in detail. Illustrations are also given to highlight the relevance of these measures under different marketing climate and organizational structure. The learning from the review of literature are linked to metrics used by different organizations. The chapter also discusses various cases and illustrates the importance of using the ‘right’ metrics and measures. Chapter Four Conclusions After careful examination, evaluation, assessment and analysis of data, in this chapter, the study points out how the aims and objectives of the research are met. It points out how the respective objectives are realized and tries to give an answer to the research question. It also discusses the problems faced by organizations in implementing marketing measures and the associated systems. Chapter Five – Recommendations The last and final chapter of the study gives generic recommendations based on the study undertaken. From the various cases studied, it was felt that some metrics are absolutely vital to the business and gives a good indication of marketing performance. These measures along with other suitable metrics are recommended. The chapter also discusses the limitations of the study and areas where further research may be carried out. Summary This chapter provided us with a basic guideline of the things to come. It gave a detailed description of the aim, purpose and objectives of the study and what the study seeks to achieve. It clearly mentioned the scope of the research and areas where the study will not throw much light on. The study now moves forward to discuss the existing theories and concepts, to explore the concepts of marketing metrics and how metric s are measured. It will also examine the different metrics used by organizations and the relevance of those metrics and measurements to the organization.

Dramatic Devices in An Inspector Calls :: J.B. Priestly

An inspector calls Dramatic Devices An Inspector Calls is a play written by J.B Priestly in 1945 however it is set in 1912. An Inspector calls is a thriller set in England. This was a very difficult time for several reasons. In 1912 it was a time where people were just greedy and selfish. Priestly wrote this play because he was concerned that the world that he and others was living in was a place of disgust and that people could do better. To tender all these wounds in the world Priestly wrote this to show that there is enough time to repair these problems and be as bright as possible for the future. The play makes us question ourselves and what sort of a character we would prefer to be. In 1912 it was a time of inequality. In fact there was a really big gap between the rich and poor, in the time if you were really rich, you were stated as really lucky, but for the poor it was a really different story. They had low wages and had difficulty on surviving on the money they were given. One of the most important themes in An Inspector Calls responsibility for other people’s welfare, and that wealthy people have obligations to look after those less fortunate than themselves. J. B. Priestley uses the inspector to express his views to people. One more of Priestley’s reasons for writing this play was to show how people were behaving at the time. He wrote this play to reflect what people were really like and what they thought. The Birling family are rich and they look down on the lower-class as less than human make no difference to society. Mr. Birling believes he just needs to look after for himself, but Priestley doesn’t agree with this. All of the characters that are sitting down to dinner are responsible for the death of one girl Eva Smith, but not all of them think about their responsibilities, Birling feels that everyone has to look after themselves. Priestley partly shows what he is trying to say by showing Mr. Birling a proud man to be in so much error about so many things, such as the unsinkable Titanic ship and the two world wars not going to happen the audience would know that he is wrong. This is a device which Priestley uses called dramatic irony which is essential to the play because it’s based on the world wars and the titanic sinking.

Oystercard – Electronic Ticketing System

[pic] Oyster Card – Electronic Ticketing [pic] â€Å"Time is money, we are told, and increasing mobility is a way of saving time, but how successful are modern transport systems at saving time? â€Å" (John Whitelegg, â€Å"Time Pollution†, Ecologist 23, no. 4 – 1993) Service choice reasons [pic] If you live in London, you will probably know the Oyster Card fairly well. More or less everybody has one. You use it to pay for bus or tube travel – top up some money on the card and instead of buying a paper ticket each time, just place your card on a yellow reader, and it will work out how much the journey cost and automatically deduct it from your card. It does save a ton of time, and quite a bit of money too (tickets are cheaper on Oyster). When I first came to London, I found extremely benefcial using the Oyster Card to move around the city and realized how crucial is this service in order to make people travel fast and saving time during their journey. I come from a place where the concept of â€Å"Public Transport† is missed at all. We do not have underground systems, buses are few and always late. In my hometown, Palermo, there are neither tram nor boat services and if you want to cycling you have not to be fussy: bicycle paths are just in the historical centre, which is the â€Å"car† kingdom. Last but not least, people are not used to walk even if distances are very short. I have chosen to analyse the Oyster Card as I honestly think it is a light, useful and well-designed service supporting another service, in other worlds: an electronic ticketing serving the public transport system. Travelling around London, I have been using my Student Oyster Card and I rarely had problems. When it has happened, I have always found punctual and kind help from the London Underground Staff. In a Metropolis as London is, where our journey is not an easy one, we need to go fast, simplifying all the touch points that allow us to buy a ticket, to board on a bus or to finally come back home. My experience with this service has been pleasant and easy so far, and I guess most of the people who live in London will agree with me. [pic] Piccadilly Circus – picture taken by myself. Value proposition [pic] Project: Oyster Card Designer: Transys Year: 2002 [pic] The Oyster Card, developed as part of the ? 1. 2 billion Private Finance Initiative, was introduced for three reasons: first, to reduce queuing at ticket offices during peak periods; second, to make better use of staff; and third, to reduce fraud. Transport for London placed the contract with Transys, a consortium of specialist firms, for the provision of an advanced ticketing system. It was hoped that the Oyster Card would eventually replace most paper tickets. The smartcard system went live in November 2002 when the Oyster brand was launched and the first cards were made available to 80,000 staff. [1] Fraud, estimated to be running at ? 43million per year, was the main driver of the project. The main loss of revenue stemmed from customers either travelling without tickets or using tickets not valid for the whole journey. Other countries have similar smart cards and some of them are used for other types of micro-payments as well as transport – for example Hong Kong's Octopus card and Japan's Suica card. At the moment about over 70 similar systems are runned across 5 continents. Since the Oyster card has been introduced in London, the advantages for the customer have been the speed and ease with which they can get through barriers and on to the station, and also in the savings that they make through using the Oyster Card. It can currently be used on the London Underground, London buses and trams, Docklands Light Railway and National Rail Services in London, providing â€Å"seamless journeys across London†. In future, the Oyster Card will be linked to the provision of other services including shopping. This is a great example of advances in technology being applied to improve customer experience. [2] Core service [pic] What it is for? The  Oyster Card  is a form of electronic ticketing used on public transport services within the  Greater London  area of the United Kingdom. Where can use it? Oyster Card is promoted by Transport for London and is valid on a number of different travel systems across London, including: o London Underground; o buses; o the  Docklands Light Railway  (DLR); o London Overground,  trams; o some  river boat services; o most  National Rail  services within the London Fare Zones. How it looks like? A standard Oyster Card is a blue  credit-card-sized  stored value card  which can hold a variety of single tickets, period tickets and travel permits which must be added to the card prior to travel. It is also a  contactless smartcard  which passengers must touch onto electronic reader when entering and leaving the transport system in order to validate it or deduct funds. [pic] [pic] Front and back of an early Oyster card. How it works? The way Oyster works is pretty simple: you purchase the card, buy tickets or concessions either at terminals or online, then swipe the card at a reader when you take a train or bus trip. The Oyster card makes ticketing much more efficient for the consumer: no paper tickets, no handover of cash, little to no interaction with ticketing staff, speedier processing when entering the train station or bus. For the transport authorities, there are cost savings and instances of ticket payment avoidance / counterfeit are greatly reduced [pic] Oyster Card aims to replace the paper Travelcard by storing period tickets electronically. [pic] [pic] Examples of card readers at London Tube Stations. The cards may be â€Å"recharged† in person from numerous sales points, by  recurring payment authority  or by  online purchase. Usage is encouraged by offering substantially cheaper fares on Oyster than payment with cash. [3] The card was first issued to the public in July 2003 with a limited range of features and there continues to be a phased introduction of further functions. By March 2007 over 10 million Oyster cards had been issued[4], and more than 80% of all journeys on services run by Transport for London used the Oyster card. [5] Technology [pic] The Oyster card is a  contactless smartcard, with a claimed proximity range of about 8  cm (3  inches). The scheme is operated by  TranSys, and is based on  NXP/Philips'  MIFARE  standard 1k chips provided by Giesecke & Devrient  and  SchlumbergerSema. [6] [pic] A damaged card, revealing the microchip in the lower right corner, and the aerial running around the edge of the card. MIFARE DESFire  is now being rolled out on newly issued Oyster cards starting January 5th 2010. It is the same contactless smartcard as  Touch ‘n Go  card in  Malaysia  which is mainly used for tollway fares. [pic] The  malasian Touch ‘n Go  or  TnG  smart card. The technology used for the Oyster card is known as  radio-frequency identification  (RFID), which is the same technology used in other electronic pass cards like Japan's  Suica  fare cards and other cards used all over the world. [7] [pic] The japanese Suica  ( Suika )  smart card. Suica Smart Card additional services: – Operating lockers; – Airport check-in; – Coupon; – Bank account access. Advertising, Brand Identity and Analogies [pic] The London Tube Oyster card resides inside a plastic thingie that opens up, just like a clam (oyster) does. According to Nicole Carrol, then of EDS, the name reflects the way â€Å"the oyster protects a pearl in much the same way that the card protects the cardholder's money. â€Å"[8] [pic] [pic][pic] Oyster Current more popular Oyster card wallet By Ikea Yellow background, blue writing, unmistakably IKEA. But it is not justt the colours of the most popular Oyster Card which remarks the sponsor, it is also the sentence(s) on the leaflet: â€Å"Travel is a means to an end. Home. † Fact behind the story: It’s the IKEA latest campaign about putting the concept of HOME in the Londoners minds. Two years ago, in fact, Swedish home store Ikea is launching a ? 2 million outdoor campaign which included sponsorship of the Ideal Homes Show 2008. Since the Oyster Card has been introduced, several different type of wallets have been launched and produced such as: Designer Oyster Card Wallets, Oxfam, Pimp My Oystercard (by Ben Jarvis and Tim Crook -badoyster, a Company that makes satirical oyster card wallets. [9]), Virgin, and so on. Every one aimed to advertising or sponsoring a Brand or a Company just because a Oyster Card wallet is a good launch window. [pic][pic][pic] [pic][pic][pic] Exaples of Oyster card wallet. Adverstising Campaigns examples: Agency: M & C Saatchi Client: Transport for London a. One poster was headlined â€Å"Blue is the new pink†. It showed a photograph of a one day Travelcard and an Oyster card. Text below stated â€Å"Faster Smarter Easier Oyster†. b. A second poster was headlined â€Å"The correct change†. It showed a photograph of an Oyster card. Text below stated â€Å"Faster Smarter Easier Oyster†. c. A third poster stated â€Å"Did you know? Using Oyster is cheaper than buying daily single tickets. Ask our staff about Oyster Pre Pay. † d. A fourth poster stated â€Å"Still paying cash for single and daily tickets? Using Oyster Pre Pay is: cheaper quicker – avoid queues more convenient – no need to plan your journey in advance †¦ â€Å". [10] Features Registration and protection Oyster Cards can be registered or protected for loss or theft. Full registration can be done at a  London Underground  station, an Oyster Ticket Stop (shop) or a Travel Information Centre: an Oyster registration form must be filled in (either at time of purchase or subsequently). Registration enables the customer to buy any product for the card and to have an after-sales service, and it protects against theft or loss. All adult Oyster Cards purchased online or by phone are fully registered. (This does not include Visitor Oyster Cards. ) Oyster Cards obtained at stations or shops cannot be fully registered online. However customers can  protect their Oyster Card online by setting up an Oyster online account and recording their card to that account. Sales Oyster Cards can be purchased from a number of different outlets in the London area: London Underground or London Overground ticket windows; o cash-only vending machines at some stations, they charge ? 5 for the card (? 3 refundable deposit and ? 2 worth of credit); o about 2,300 Oyster Ticket Stop agents (usually newsagent shops); o selected National Rail stations which are also served by London Underground; o Travel Information Centres; o online via the Oystercard website; o by telephone sales from TfL. [1 1] [pic] Oyster Card Machine installed at London Bridge station in December 2006. A refundable deposit of ? 3 is paid for all new Oyster Cards. 12] A registration form is provided at the time of purchase. If the form is not completed the Oyster Card is restricted to Pay as you go and weekly tickets. Most National Rail stations and termini do not sell or top up Oyster card products; TfL publish a list of the participating stations. At several main line termini, TfL run Travel Information Centres which do sell Oyster. Reporting Touch screen ticket machines report the last eight journeys and last top-up amount. The same information is available as a print-out from ticket offices, and also on-board London Buses by request. The balance is displayed on some Underground barriers at the end of journeys that have caused a debit from the balance and can also be requested at newsagents and National Rail stations that provide a top-up facility. A complete 8 week ‘touch' history can be requested from Transport for London: For registered and protected Oyster Cards, Transport for London can provide the history for the previous 8 weeks, but no further back. The Oyster website gives details of the most recent journeys charged to pay as you go if and only if credit has been purchased online, but not for other journeys, or those paid for by Travelcard. Renewals When the Oyster Card Travelcard is due to expire, it can be renewed at the normal sales points and ticket machines at London Underground or London Overground stations, Oyster Ticket Stop agents, or some National Rail stations. Travelcards can also be renewed online via the Oystercard website, or by telephone sales from TfL; users must then nominate a Tube station where they will swipe their card in order to charge up the card with the funds purchased. This can only be done the day after ordering. [13]Travelcard renewals cannot be added from a reader on a bus. Recharging When the PAYG balance runs low, the balance can be topped up at the normal sales points or ticket machines at London Underground or London Overground stations, Oyster Ticket Stops or some National Rail stations. All ticket offices at stations run by London Underground will sell or recharge Oyster cards, or handle Oyster card refunds. However, some Tube stations are actually operated by National Rail train operating companies, and their ticket offices will not deal with Oyster refunds. DLR ticket offices do not sell any Oyster Card top-ups or handle refunds. PAYG funds and Travelcard season tickets (but not Bus & Tram Passes) can also be purchased online via the Oyster online website or by calling the Oyster helpline; users must then select one station or tram stop where they will validate their card in order to load the funds or Travelcard purchased. This should be done as part of a normal journey to avoid the risk of paying an Oyster maximum fare. If the customer is purchasing PAYG, the top up will be at the gates of their nominated station, or Tramlink stop the  next  day (ready for first train, provided they made the purchase before 11 PM the previous night). It will remain at the gates for 7 further days before dropping off the system. If the customer purchases a Travelcard season ticket, it will ‘arrive' at the gates, up to 5 days before the start date of the ticket and will remain there until 2 days after the ticket has started. If the customer does not make their pick up in time, it will take a further 14 days to refund automatically to the bank card they made the purchase with. [14]Top-ups of this type cannot be added from a reader on a bus. Auto top-up Customers can set up and manage Auto top-up online for their existing Oyster Card. They register a  debit  or  credit card, make a payg top-up purchase (minimum ? 5) and select either ? 20 or ? 40 as the Auto top-up amount. Alternatively, a new Oyster card with Auto top-up and a mimimum of ? 5 pay as you go can be ordered via Oyster online. Whenever the pay as you go balance falls below ? 5, ? 20 or ? 40 is added to the balance automatically when the Oyster Card is touched on an entry validator. A light on the Oyster reader flashes to indicate the Auto top-up has taken place and an email is sent to confirm the transaction. Payment is then taken from the registered debit or credit card. To ensure successful transactions, customers must record any changes to their billing address and update their debit or credit card details as necessary. [pic] Top up machine Touching in and out system [pic][pic][pic] London Underground ticket barriers with yellow Oyster readers Travellers touch the card on a distinctive yellow circular reader (a  Cubic  Tri-Reader) on the automated barriers at  London Underground  stations to ‘touch in' and ‘touch out' at the start and end of a journey (contact is not necessary, but the range of the reader is only a few inches). Tram stops and  buses  also have readers, on the driver/conductor's ticket machine and, in articulated buses, near the other entrances also. Oyster Cards can be used to store both period  travelcards  and bus passes (of one week or more), and a  Pay as you go  balance. The system is  asynchronous, the current balance and ticket data being held electronically on the card rather than in the central database. The main database is updated periodically with information received from the card by barriers and validators. Tickets bought online or over the telephone are â€Å"loaded† at a barrier or validator at a preselected location. [pic][pic][pic] Oyster validators are placed at most entrances on London buses. Pay as you go system Oyster Route Validators [pic] The yellow symbol for Oyster validators. In addition to holding  Travelcards  and bus passes, Oyster Cards can also be used as  stored-value cards, holding electronic funds of money. Amounts are deducted from the card each time it is used, and the funds can be â€Å"recharged† when required. The maximum value that an Oyster card may hold is ? 90. This system is known as â€Å"pay as you go† (abbreviated PAYG), because instead of holding a season ticket, the user only pays at the point of use. The use of PAYG differs across the various modes of transport in London, and passengers are sometimes required to follow different procedures to pay for their journey correctly. [pic] The pink symbol for Oyster Route validators In 2009, TfL introduced a new form of Oyster Card validator. These validators, distinguished from the standard yellow validators with a pink-coloured reader, do not deduct funds but are used at peripheral interchange points to confirm journey details. Oyster Pay as you go users travelling between two points without passing through Zone 1 are eligible for a lower fare, and from the 6 September 2009 they can confirm their route by touching their Oyster Cards on the pink validators when they change trains. By doing this, they can be charged the appropriate fare without paying for Zone 1 travel. [pic] A Thames Clipper river bus service As with Underground, Buses, River Buses and DLR journeys, Oyster PAYG users on National Rail must swipe their card at the start and end of the journey to pay the correct fare. PAYG funds may also be used to cover any additional fares due from season ticket holders who have travelled outside the valid zones of their season ticket. Many large National Rail stations in London have Oyster Card-compatible barriers. [pic] National Rail ticket barriers with yellow Oyster readers [pic] Standalone Oyster readers provided at interchange stations between National Rail and the Tube. Pricing The pricing system is fairly complex, and changes from time to time. The most up to date fares can be found on Transport for London's FareFinder website. To encourage passengers to switch to Oyster, payg fares (including Bus and Tram fares) are generally much cheaper than cash fares: A cash bus or tram fare is ? 2, while the single Oyster fare is ? 1. 20, but capped at ? 3. 90 for any number of trips in a day. Using pay as you go, a single trip on the Tube within Zone 1 costs ? 1. 80 (compared to ? 4 cash), or from ? 1. 30 (? 3. 50 cash) within any other single zone. Penalty fares and maximum Oyster fare In order to prevent â€Å"misuse† by a stated 2% of passengers, from 19 November 2006 pay as you go users who do not both ‘touch in' at the start and ‘touch out' at the end of their  rail network  journeys are charged a ‘maximum Oyster fare' – currently ? 6 (Mon – Fri 06:30 – 09:30 & 16:00 – 19:00) / ? 4. 30 (at all other times) for most journeys, or more if the journey begins or ends at certain National Rail stations. Depending on the journey made, the difference between this maximum fare and the actual fare due is automatically refunded to the user's Oyster Card upon touching out. Users must touch in and out even if the ticket barriers are open. At stations where Oyster is accepted but that do not have ticket barriers, an Oyster pass validator will be provided for the purposes of touching in and out. The maximum cash fare applies even if the daily price cap has been reached and does not count towards the cap. Maximum cash fares may be contested by telephone to the Oyster helpline on 0845 330 9876. [15] This involves providing the Oyster Card number and the relevant journey details; further journeys appearing on the card are helpful to validate the user's claim. If the claim is accepted then the maximum Oyster fare minus the cost of the journey will be refunded. The customer should make the pick up as part of his or her regular travel pattern. This is because when they touch the reader with their Oyster Card, not only will the refund go on to the card, but a new journey will start. Oyster users who do not touch in or out when making a journey (in only for bus and tram journeys) may be liable to pay a penalty fare (currently ? 50) and/or reported for prosecution if caught by a revenue protection inspector. Issues Technological and security issues The system has not been without technical setbacks and criticisms. Passenger groups have expressed concern that buying single travel tickets with cash is far more expensive than using Oyster Cards, and it is suggested that this is putting many tourists off coming to London. Oyster has been promoted by Visit Britain and TfL, who sell them on their website and in their offices around the world. Despite this, visitors to London have often never heard of Oyster and its benefits, and are paying higher cash fares unnecessarily. 3 deposit is also seen as a deterrent to tourists. Another complication is the confusing terms of validity on National Rail services which serve many popular tourist sites on the outskirts of London. The system has been criticised as a threat to the privacy of its users. Each Oyster card is uniquely numbered, and registration is required for monthly or longer tickets, which are no longer available on paper. Usage data are stored bot h on the card and centrally by Transport for London; recent usage can be checked by anyone in possession of the ticket at some ticket machines. Privacy groups consider it a form of mass surveillance and are concerned with how these data will be used, especially given the introduction of the London congestion charge by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone in February 2003. The police have used Oyster card data as an investigative tool, and this use is increasing. Between August 2004 and March 2006 TfL's Information Access and Compliance Team received 436 requests from the police for Oyster card information. Of these, 409 requests were granted and the data was released to the police. [16] The system has been criticised for usability issues in general system, website and top-up machine design. The most significant usability issue is that pay as you go customers who for whatever reason do not â€Å"touch out† at the end of their journeys will not be charged correctly. Users who have run up a pay as you go debt of as little as ? 1 are prohibited from using any period travelcards on the card until the debt is repaid. Another criticism is that problem diagnosis by London Underground staff is generally poor[citation needed] as the system is new and complex, and the staff unfamiliar with all its workings and insufficiently trained; this causes passenger frustration. On 10 March 2005 a software fault meant that the Oyster system was inoperable during the morning rush hour. Ticket barriers had to be left open and pay-as-you-go fares could not be collected. [17] On the day that the pay-as-you-go went live on all Oyster cards, some season ticket passengers were prevented from making a second journey on their travelcard. Upon investigation each had a negative prepay balance. This was widely reported as a major bug in the system. [18] However, the reason for the â€Å"bug† was that some season ticket holders, either knowingly or otherwise, were passing through zones not included on their tickets. The existing paper system could not prevent this kind of misuse as the barriers only checked if a paper ticket was valid in the zone the barrier was in. Touching Points and Journey Mapping [pic] Mapping the user journey from buying an Oyster Card, touching in at the barrier, catching the tube, touching out, going to work and coming back home following the backwards corse. Highlighting all the touching points: †¢ ticket machineoffice to purchase or top up the Oyster Card; †¢ barriersvalidators in and out; †¢ Tfl website; †¢ Tfl green-line; †¢ travel information center; †¢ member of the staff for questions or problems; †¢ crime department in case loststolen cards; †¢ mailletter for student or photo cards [pic] Touching points [pic] [pic] Mapping the journey Surveys and Service Implementation [pic] Source: http://www. transys. com/whatwedo/oystercardproject/results. php [pic] Source: http://www. transys. com/whatwedo/oystercardproject/implementation. hp Conclusions In Principles of Marketing, Philip Kotler defines a service as â€Å"any activity or benefit that one party can give to another, that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything†. [19] I, like millions of other people travel to and around London every week day for work and so have found the Oyster Card an invaluable tool to help me in my journey. I think the main advantage of this card is that it means I can load a certain amount onto it for the month and then not have to worry about having actual cash on me to buy a new ticket each day. The Oyster Card can be carried in your wallet just like a credit card and so is small, handy and easy to use. The other great thing about the Oyster Card is that it's cheaper to use per journey than if you buy a ticket with cash. Another thing I like is that if you swipe in and then there is a long delay on you line and you have to swipe right out again without going anywhere you can go back up to the ticket office and have them refund your money back onto the card. This however, must be done within 15 minutes of swiping out again otherwise they will not refund it for you. I also like the fact that if you journey is delayed for fifteen minutes or more (this happens quite a bit to me, sitting in tunnels for ? hour at a time) you can log onto the website given above and ask for a refund. You can enter your Oyster Card details so they can see you are telling the truth and then you will be sent a credit voucher in the post that you can then put back onto your Oyster Card to compensate you for your inconvenience. One of my criticisms though with the Oyster Card is that it does not always swipe first time and you are given a red light meaning you have to swipe your card again. This often causes backup at the gate, especially at rush hour in the mornings or evening. Generally I find it is because you are standing too close to the gate and so if you back away a bit you should be ok to swipe after that. One thing I would urge is that you need to make sure that you swipe in and then remember to swipe out to complete a full journey and to avoid being charged a full amount. On one hand we can safely assume that such services are an optimized solution for our current need of travelling fast. On the other hand, we do not know the unpredictable consequences of our design actions. As John Thackara worn us, increases in mobility cause negative impact on the environment [20] and we use time gained by speed in order to travel further [21]. ———————– [1] http://www. transys. com/whatwedo/oystercardproject. php [2] Bill Hollins – http://www. designcouncil. org. uk/About-Design/Design-Disciplines/Service-design-by-Bill-Hollins/13-lessons-in-service-design/. [3] â€Å"What is Oyster? â€Å". Transport for London. Retrieved 10 August 2008. 4]  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Mayor to give away 100,000 free Oyster cards†. Media Centre  (Greater London Authority). 17 April 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2007. [5] â€Å"New deal with Visit London and Superbreak makes Oyster even more convenient†. Press Centre  (Visit London). 28 August 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2007. [6] MIFARE. net  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  Easing travel in London’s co ngested public transport network [7] â€Å"Smart-card ticketing goes Underground†. ZDNet. 20 October 2002. Retrieved 8 October 2007. [8] http://www. rfidnews. org/2002/12/01/a-tube-full-of-oysters-london-goes-contactless -A tube full of Oysters? London goes contactless . [9] http://londonist. com/2007/03/pimp_my_oysterc. php [10]http://www. asa. org. uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2005/11/Transport-For London/CS_40497. aspx [11] Transport for London  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Oyster online shop [12] Changes to Oyster card deposit from 17 May 2009  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Transport for London. Retrieved 27 September 2009 [13] Transport for London. â€Å"Oyster online help†. Retrieved 17 November 2007. [14] Transport for London. â€Å"Oyster online help†. Retrieved 17 November 2007. [15] â€Å"What should I do if I can't touch out at the end of my journey? . Transport For London helpsite. Retrieved 19 June 2008. [16] OysterCardRFI – Letter from TfL in response to a freedom of information request [17] BBC News – ‘? 50,000 lost' in Oyster failure. [18] BBC News – Inquiry into Tube's Oyster card [19] Philip  Kotler, Gary Armstrong – 2005 – Business & Economics- Chapter 9-pp 276. [20] John Thackara. In the Bubble – Designing in a Complex World. The MIT Press, Massachussetts – 2006. [21] John Thackara. In the Bubble – Designing in a Complex World. The MIT Press, chussetts – 2006.

An Overview of Music Censorship essays

An Overview of Music Censorship essays Because the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, some opponents of music censorship believe that the courts can force a store to sell albums its management deems objectionable or forbid groups from burning records. The Supreme Court, however, can only step in if someone appeals a government decision, rather than a community one, to censor music; such appeals rarely reach the highest court in the land, since individual state governments can devise their own obscenity laws and penalties for violating them. Fighting censorship thus poses a catch-22, as musicians and concerned citizens can't deny a school's right to ban a concert on its premises and would face an uphill battle overturning a state's mandates on decency. Music censorship first reared its head in the 1950s, when rock and roll's growing influence threatened white, middle-class values. The 1960s saw the FBI's involvement in musician's personal and political lives, as officials began keeping tabs on Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and John Lennon. Song references to sex and drugs tormented censors throughout the '60s and '70s, eventually giving way to hysteria over lyrics promoting suicide and devil worship in the 1980s. In 1985, the Parents Music Resource Center, led by a cadre of politicians' wives, called for the recording industry to place Parental Advisory stickers on potentially offensive albums. Instead of quelling concerns, the stickers unleashed a barrage of state laws that required retailers to regulate distribution or pay the price (a hefty fee or even jail time). In the meantime, the banned albums benefited from the notoriety. Ultimately, community and federal censors have threatened civil liberties while entangling their organizations in a costly fight to maintain an ambiguous definition of decency. Albums with explicit lyrics or content started having black and white parental advisories on them in 1994 (riaa.org/Parents-Advisory-4.cfm). Are t...

How to Write Essays of Any Kind

How to Write Essays of Any Kind Writing good essays is a tough task. You have to be focused. You need discipline, strategy, and flexible research abilities. If you do everything right, you’ll be happy with a result. Generally, any paper, such as a college essay, research paper, or even some kind of an office paper will be easy for you if you follow the proper strategy. Many students discovered that due to their own experience. Those who use a proper approach can easily write any paper really fast. Some methods become some popular that even teachers include them in an English curriculum to let students know the right way of writing different papers. In 2007, the Spartan System of writing was published on the internet. Since then, thousands of students have an opportunity to appreciate all the advantages of this method. The author of the Spartan System managed to write more than 70,000-word long book. The whole writing process took just two months. What Is the Secret? The author of this method was interested in Greek history, and in military tactics of the ancient Greeks, in particular. He thought that the approach that allowed generals rule a 10,000 army, moving it across the country, may help students who need to write a lot of words in a short time. This is what their strategy looked like: they brought troops together, keeping supplies in a center of a square-shaped unit. The strongest soldiers were placed at the front and back. Every time they faced any danger, these troops left their positions to just repel an attack, and then moved back immediately. This structure was impenetrable. They easily demoralized their opponents and could travel long distances even under the most difficult circumstances. Xenophon wrote that their idea was that, when the attack happens, they don’t plan defense on the go but immediately use soldiers who were specifically trained for this situation. The Spartan method of essay writing works exactly the same way: you create an introduction that determines the shape of your â€Å"army†, and then write paragraphs, creating the strong sides. Your paragraphs may act independently sometimes, but they should always follow the purpose of the entire formation. You have to maintain the square because it’s the key to success. When writing an essay, you write a text that consists of many sentences. It includes an introduction, a topic, a thesis, a mini-thesis at the beginning of each paragraph, and a conclusion that sums up everything written before and explains the general meaning of your paper. These four sentences are basic models that determine everything else. All sentences correspond to these universal models and create an undefeatable square. If you take a look at Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, you will notice that every time the plot moves in a new direction, it immediately returns back to remind the main point. Now, forget boring prompts that you’ve been given. Forget all these â€Å"Commentary/Details† stuff, and let’s think about real work. Here is the example of the outline for a five-paragraph paper: Introduction Start with a catchy and broad hook. Consider it as a meta-topic of your paper. Write your thesis. Here you have to specify and develop the idea of your hook, taking into account your prompt and the subject of your paper. Write the sentence that forms the basis for the first body paragraph. Do the same thing for the second body paragraph. and repeat this step for the third body paragraph. Take a look at your hook and thesis and write a cohesive transitional sentence that will lead your readers to the first body paragraph. Some people say that the thesis must be written at the end of the introduction, but this point is quite controversial. The point of an essay is to come up with an idea and then support it. You can’t support a thought that hasn’t been written yet. The First Body Paragraph Rewrite the thesis of the first body paragraph. Support this mini-thesis with facts and analysis. Restate the mini-thesis in a context of the general thesis of the paper. When supporting a thesis with evidence, always begin with the strongest piece of evidence. Start with broad ideas, then move to more specific ones. After this, draw a conclusion. Make sure that your quotes are properly integrated into the sentence. Don’t make your quotes longer than 5-7 words. The Second Body Paragraph Rewrite the thesis of the second body paragraph. Support this mini-thesis with facts and analysis. Restate the mini-thesis in a context of the general thesis of the paper. The Third Body Paragraph Rewrite the thesis of the third body paragraph. Support this mini-thesis with facts and analysis. Restate the mini-thesis in a context of the general thesis of the paper. The Conclusion Restate the meta-theme (the hook of the introduction). Restate the general thesis statement once more. Write one sentence for the first body paragraph. Write one sentence for the second body paragraph. Write one sentence for the third body paragraph. Write a conclusion sentence based on your hook and your thesis. The last sentence of your essay must address a broad issue that is worth further consideration. It also must reflect the value of your point. That’s it. No, really. Now you can understand why such a method simplifies your task. You only need six original sentences, and then you play with them and write all the rest. You can apply this method when writing 500-word papers, as well as when working on 500-pages texts. This method allows you to write an essay that is self-supporting, self-generating and self-concluding. Follow this method and you’ll feel like a Greek general who built the square and trained troopers in advance so that they can do what they are supposed to do, while you don’t need to improvise. You follow the pre-determined boundaries, so you control the whole situation. Every sentence of your essay has its particular purpose. Now you shouldn’t worry about professors checking your essay with a prompt because you made the structure first and filled it with the content later. The middle of the square is the place where your readers are. You arrange everything around them and they can understand you clearly, being protected from doubts and misreadings. The introduction and the conclusion are where you write your strongest points. These thoughts lead your readers through the essay and push them forward. In the hook, you look in the future. In the conclusion, you look back. Everything between these two parts is just details. Your thesis statement is the backbone of the essay and it represents the whole paper, just like it’s supposed to do. Once you’ve written the thesis statement, the whole paper is almost done. After this, you won’t have any problems with filling the body part with evidence and other details. The meta-theme is directly related to the central theme, just like all the mini-themes. The interesting thing about this method is that you follow the pre-defined rigid structure that gives you the real freedom. Once you’ve created the structure, all you need is to fill it with ideas, placing each point in its specific place. This is your opportunity to take the topic and the thesis statement to a completely new level, making your papers understandable like never before. Obviously, it’s your simplest and fastest way to get high grades. The Spartan System allows you to reduce stress and write papers easily, regardless of the topic or length. Just try this system now and see how it works. Set a certain goal and a time limit. For example, 10 pages in 4 hours. You’ll see how a big A+ will appear on the front of that paper!

Timid President-Futile War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Timid President-Futile War - Essay Example The wars are considered futile because of the many expectations the Bush administration intended to achieve that did not come to pass, the reason why President Obama decided to withdraw the U.S troops from Iraq after almost a decade of occupation. President George Bush’s decision to attack Iraq was based on unfounded beliefs in the presence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The Saddam Hussein administration granted the UN and the Americans permission to inspect their weapons artillery to ascertain if they were indeed developing weapons of WMD and even though nothing was found, Bush and his administration believed Iraq did not reveal everything and that formed the basis of American’s invasion of Iraq and the subsequent execution of Saddam Hussein. George Bush’s decision to convince congress to allow America attack Iraq was based on fear that terrorists were likely to attack America again and not necessarily because of WMD that were never found after they subdu ed Iraq. Another factor that led to American invasion of Iraq was interest in the Middle East oil resulting from the fear of uncertainty in the future of American energy security. For this, he saw Saddam Hussein as a major impediment to the benefit they would receive from Middle East oil. They had prevailed upon the United Nations to put economic sanctions on Iraq with the food-for-oil arrangement but this did not deter Iraq, so he believed the best way to achieve their objective was by deposing Saddam Hussein from power. It was therefore an embarrassment to the bush administration when the WMD were never found and nothing could justify the military expenditure on the war (McClellan & McClellan, 2008). President Bush’s fear just before and after the invasion of Iraq began showed up immediately. The United Nations, led by Kofi Annan, opposed the war and proposed a peaceful way of resolving the American suspicion but the administration disobeyed because their fears. It is this very fear that led to interference in the war by civilian commanders based in Washington, which left soldiers on the ground very indisposed. There was also the misconception by the administration that Iraqi soldiers could provide reinforcement and military support. Some Iraqi soldiers did not support the war and posed a great risk to Americans as they ganged up with insurgents to cause trouble to the American troops. In fact, many American soldiers died and had injuries more than the administration had anticipated. As a result of fear, the Bush administration overlooked the process of reconstruction; they did not foresee the magnitude of destruction that resulted from this war. The destruction was so vast that it needed the participation of European bloc, the UN and other international bodies to help in the reconstruction exercise. Although the three segments were interested in participating in the reconstruction, American stubbornness in its interest to lead the reconstruction exer cise after causing destruction made them develop cold feet and some eventually withdrawn. President Bush then made it appear like no country or organization was willing to participate in the restoration exercise. Toward the end of the Bush administration, there was panic both in Washington and Baghdad when it became apparent that there was a political and military vacuum in Iraq. The Iraqi government apparatus collapsed and the institutions that provided basic services like water and electricity could no longer coordinate because staff could not come to work. The Bush administration in its panic started doing things in haste to fill in the vacuum.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PLAN Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PLAN - Assignment Example In evaluating the implementation of a new project or delivery method in an organization, what would be the critical data sources you would use to measure the financial outcomes? In evaluating the implementation of a new project or delivery method in an organization, the best critical data sources one would use to measure the financial outcomes are the balance sheet and income statement, especially in the health care organization. Steven Berger (2007) theorizes the financial analyst can compare the variance between the financial statements indicated as prior to the implementation of the new project or delivery in an organization and the financial statemetns indicated as after the implementation of the new project or delivery in an organization. For example, the financial analyst will determine if the health care organisaton’s sales had increased after the implementation of a new project or delivery method by comparing such sales with the sales generated before the implementatio n of the new project or delivery method. An increase in the sales will indicate the change was beneficial to the health care organization.