Thursday, October 31, 2019
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN BUSINESS Research Paper
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN BUSINESS - Research Paper Example In addition to this, the study will try to discuss about the identified issues that are affecting the growth of the country. Based on these facts and issues, finally the study will recommend in favor of a particular business plan that can be run successfully in Morocco. Present Morocco’s area has been occupied since the Paleolithic times. The Maghreb was fertile than comparing to today during the Upper Paleolithic times. However, the Aterian was highly succeeded by the popular Iberomaurusian culture. This specific cultured had the similarity with the Iberian cultures. In fact the Iberomaurusian culture was highly succeeded by the popular Beaker culture in the Kingdom of Morocco. Slowly and gradually, Morocco and North Africa were drawn into the emerging Mediterranean world. It happened due to the initiatives and activities of Phoenicians. He actually made settlements between the established trading colonies during the classical period. Since then, Morocco passed several eras, such as early Islamic era, era of Berber dynasties, era of Sharifian dynasties, era of Spanish and French protectorates during the First World War, King Hassan II’s reign and King Mohammed VI’s Reign. Despite the understanding and deep reforms made by King Mohammed VI which answered maximum concerns created by international community, the demonstrators continued to raise their voice for greater reforms (Murphy, 2010). Finally, the government failed to deliver all the reforms that were promised in the year 2012. Berber and Arabic are the official languages of Morocco. Moroccan Arabic Dialects’ distinctive group is generally referred as Darija. Near about 90 percent of total population in Morocco speaks in Moroccan Arabic. On the other hand, Berber language is generally spoken in three different dialects, such as Central Atlas Tamazight, Tashelhit and Traffit. French and English are other languages that have been practiced in Morocco (Njoku,
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Critical review of Environmental Statements Literature
Critical of Environmental Statements - Literature review Example A few of the key factors of the EMAS would include openness, periodic provision of the environmental information and transparency. These factors are also vital for the companies to build a confident relationship with the interested entities (EMAS, n.d.). Methodology In the entire evaluation process a primarily qualitative approach will be used. It would intend to evaluate the EMAS environmental statement of Park Communication based on certain benchmarks such as company performances in accordance with EMAS regulations, core indicators of company performances and the organisational goals which is expected to render an in-depth understanding of the environmental compliance practices by Park Communication. Furthermore, using statement checklist the report would present an accompanying statement of conformance that would justify the evaluation. The aspect related to the conformance of environmental statement with the prescribed guidelines will be evaluated from the EMAS environmental stat ement of Park Communications. Aims This report aims to conduct a critical evaluation of an environmental statement published in accordance with the EMAS regulation. The report would be presented to the Environmental Manager of an organisation i.e. Park Communications. Evaluating Environmental Statement Published In Accordance With the EMAS Regulation This report reviews an EMAS environmental statement of an organisation i.e. Park Communications. In this regard, the report considers the EMAS environmental statement of Park Communications, which sets the objectives for the year 2011. Park Communications is a United Kingdom based organisation which provides ‘one-point-of-contact’ services to translate, distribute and store literature of the people. The company also performs functions such as print reports and accounts, marketing literature, financial prospectuses and government publications among others (Park Communications, n.d.). It has been observed that the company has been quite committed towards the employees, customers, local environment and global environment along with taking every step by considering all these aspects. The company is aware of the fact that whatever it does would certainly have an effect upon the environment, directly as well as indirectly. In this regard, the company has taken a step further and introduced the system of EMAS in the organisation. Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is an initiative designed to enhance the environmental activities of companies. It further aims to identify and reward organisations to take a step further to improve its performance. According to this scheme, companies would have to present reports publicly on a regular basis that could show how they are improving their environmental activities (Park Communications, 2011). Park Communications aims at managing its business in a way that would have less effect on the environment. It has been obse
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Static Analysis of Uncertain Structures
Static Analysis of Uncertain Structures Static Analysis of Uncertain Structures Using Interval Eigenvalue Decomposition 1Mehdi Modares and 2Robert L. Mullen 1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Tufts University Medford, MA, 02155 2Department of Civil Engineering Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH, 44106 Abstract: Static analysis is an essential procedure to design a structure. Using static analysis, the structures response to the applied external forces is obtained. This response includes internal forces/moments and internal stresses that is used in the design process. However, the mechanical characteristics of the structure possess uncertainties which alter the structures response. One method to quantify the presence of these uncertainties is interval or unknown-but-bounded variables. In this work a new method is developed to obtain the bounds on structures static response using interval eigenvalue decomposition of the stiffness matrix. The bounds of eigenvalues are obtained using monotonic behavior of eigenvalues for a symmetric matrix subjected to non-negative definite perturbations. Moreover, the bounds of eigenvectors are obtained using perturbation of invariant subspaces for symmetric matrices. Comparisons with other interval finite element solution methods are presented. Using this method, it has shown that obtaining the bound on static response of an uncertain structure does not require a combinatorial or Monte-Carlo simulation procedure. Keywords: Statics, Analysis, Interval, Uncertainty  © 2008 by authors. Printed in USA. REC 2008 Modares and Mullen In design of structures, the performance of the structure must be guaranteed over its lifetime. Moreover, static analysis is a fundamental procedure for designing reliable structure that are subjected to static or quasi-static forces induced by various loading conditions and patterns. However, in current procedures for static analysis of structural systems, the existence of uncertainty in either mechanical properties of the system or the characteristics of forcing function is generally not considered. These uncertainties can be attributed to physical imperfections, modeling inaccuracies and system complexities. Although, in a design process, uncertainty is accounted for by a combination of load amplification and strength reduction factors that are based on probabilistic models of historic data, consideration of the effects of uncertainty has been removed from current static analysis of structural systems. In this work, a new method is developed to perform static analysis of a structural system in the presence of uncertainty in the systems mechanical properties as well as uncertainty in the magnitude of loads. The presence of these uncertainties is quantified using interval or unknownbut-bounded variables. This method obtains the bounds on structures static response using interval eigenvalue decomposition of the stiffness matrix. The bounds of eigenvalues are obtained using the concept of monotonic behavior of eigenvalues for a symmetric matrix subjected to non-negative definite perturbations. Furthermore, the bounds of eigenvectors are obtained using perturbation of invariant subspaces for symmetric matrices. Using this method, it has shown that obtaining the bound on static response of an uncertain structure does not require a combinatorial or MonteCarlo simulation procedure. The equation of equilibrium for a multiple degree of freedom structure is defined as a linear system of equations as:  [K]{U}={P}          (1) where, [K]is the stiffness matrix, {U}is the vector of unknown nodal displacements, and {P} is the vector of nodal forces. The solution to this system of equation is:  {U} = [K]−1{P}          (2) The concept of interval numbers has been originally applied in the error analysis associated with digital computing. Quantification of the uncertainties introduced by truncation of real numbers in numerical methods was the primary application of interval methods (Moore 1966). A real interval is a closed set defined by extreme values as (Figure 1): ~l ,zu ] ={z∈â„Å"| zl ≠¤ z ≠¤ zu} (3)  Z = [z ~ x = [a,b] Figure 1. An interval variable. In this work, the symbol (~) represents an interval quantity. One interpretation of an interval number is a random variable whose probability density function is unknown but non-zero only in the range of interval. Another interpretation of an interval number includes intervals of confidence for ÃŽ ±-cuts of fuzzy sets. The interval representation transforms the point values in the deterministic system to inclusive set values in the system with bounded uncertainty. Considering the presence of interval uncertainty in stiffness and force properties, the system of equilibrium equations, Eq.(1), is modified as an interval system of equilibrium equation as: ~~  [K]{U}={P}          (4) ~ where, [K]is the interval stiffness matrix, {U}is the vector of unknown nodal displacements, and {P} is the vector of interval nodal forces. In development of interval stiffness matrix, the physical and mathematical characteristics of the stiffness matrix must be preserves. This system of interval equations is mainly solved using computationally iterative procedures (Muhanna et al 2007) and (Neumaier and Pownuk 2007). The present method proposes a computationally efficient procedure with nearly sharp results using interval eigenvalue decomposition of stiffness matrix. While the external force can also have uncertainties, in this work only problems with interval stiffness properties are addressed. However, for functional independent variations for both stiffness matrix and external force vector, the extension of the proposed work is straightforward. 3.1. DETERMINISTIC EIGENVALUE DECOMPOSITION The deterministic symmetric stiffness matrix can be decomposed using matrix eigenvalue decomposition as:  [K] = [ÃŽ ¦][Λ][ÃŽ ¦]T          (5) where, [ÃŽ ¦] is the matrix of eigenvectors, and [Λ] is the diagonal matrix of eigenvalues. Equivalently, N  [K] =∑Î »i{à †¢i}{à †¢i}T          (6) i=1 where, the values of ÃŽ »i is the eigenvalues and the vectors{à †¢i}are their corresponding eigenvectors. Therefore, the eigenvalue decomposition of the inverse of the stiffness matrix is: equivalently, [K]−1 =[ÃŽ ¦][Λ]−1[ÃŽ ¦]T          (7) −N 1T [K] 1 =∑ {à †¢i}{à †¢i}         (8) i=1 ÃŽ »i Substituting Eq.(8) in the solution for the deterministic linear system of equation, Eq.(2), the solution for response is shown as:  {U}= ( N 1 {à †¢i}{à †¢i}T ){P}          (9) 3.2. INTERVAL EIGENVALUE DECOMPOSITION Similarly, the solution to interval system of equilibrium equations, Eq.(4), is:  {U~}= (∑N ~1 {à †¢~ }{à †¢~i}T ){P}          (10) i i=1 ÃŽ »i ~~ } are their where, the values of ÃŽ »i is the interval eigenvalues and, the vectors {à †¢i corresponding interval eigenvectors that are to be determined. 4.1. BACKGROUND The research in interval eigenvalue problem began to emerge as its applicability in science and engineering was realized. Hollot and Bartlett (1987) studied the spectra of eigenvalues of an interval matrix family which are found to depend on the spectrum of its extreme sets. Dief (1991) presented a method for computing interval eigenvalues of an interval matrix based on an assumption of invariance properties of eigenvectors. In structural dynamics, Modares and Mullen (2004) have introduced a method for the solution of the interval eigenvalue problem which determines the exact bounds of the natural frequencies of a system using Interval Finite Element formulation. 4.2. DEFINITION The eigenvalue problems for matrices containing interval values are known as the interval ~ ~ nn ) and [A] is a member of the eigenvalue problems. If [A] is an interval real matrix (A∈â„Å" ~ interval matrix ([A]∈[A]) , the interval eigenvalue problem is shown as: ~ 4.2.1. Solution for Eigenvalues The solution of interest to the real interval eigenvalue problem for bounds on each eigenvalue is ~ defined as an inclusive set of real values (ÃŽ ») such that for any member of the interval matrix, the eigenvalue solution to the problem is a member of the solution set. Therefore, the solution to the interval eigenvalue problem for each eigenvalue can be mathematically expressed as: ~l ,ÃŽ »u ]|∀[A]∈[A~]: ([A]−Î »[I]){x} = 0}              (12)  {ÃŽ »Ã¢Ë†Ë†ÃŽ »= [ÃŽ » 4.2.2. Solution for Eigenvectors: The solution of interest to the real interval eigenvalue problem for bounds on each eigenvector is defined as an inclusive set of real values of vector {~x} such that for any member of the interval matrix, the eigenvector solution to the problem is a member of the solution set. Thus, the solution to the interval eigenvalue problem for each eigenvector is: 4.3. INTERVAL STIFFNESS MATRIX The systems global stiffness can be viewed as a summation of the element contributions to the global stiffness matrix: n i=1 where [ Li ] is the element Boolean connectivity matrix and [Ki ] is the element stiffness matrix in the global coordinate system. Considering the presence of uncertainty in the stiffness properties, the non-deterministic element elastic stiffness matrix is expressed as: ~ in which, [li ,ui ] is an interval number that pre-multiplies the deterministic element stiffness matrix. This procedure preserves the physical and mathematical characteristics of the stiffness matrix. Therefore, the systems global stiffness matrix in the presence of any uncertainty is the linear summation of the contributions of non-deterministic interval element stiffness matrices: ,ui ])[Li ][Ki ][Li ] =∑ i=1i=1 in which, [Ki ] is the deterministic element elastic stiffness contribution to the global stiffness matrix. 4.4. INTERVAL EIGENVALUE PROBLEM FOR STATICS The interval eigenvalue problem for a structure with stiffness properties expressed as interval values is:  [K~]{à †¢~} = (ÃŽ »~){à †¢~} (17) Substituting Eq.(16) in Eq.(17): ]){à †¢} = (ÃŽ »){à †¢ i=1 This interval eigenvalue problem can be transformed to a pseudo-deterministic eigenvalue problem subjected to a matrix perturbation. Introducing the central and radial (perturbation) stiffness matrices as: i 1 [K~R ] =∑i=n1 (ÃŽ µi )(ui 2−li )[Ki ]  ,   Î µi =[−1,1]             (20) Using Eqs. (19,20), the non-deterministic interval eigenpair problem, Eq.(18), becomes: Hence, the determination of bounds on eigenvalues and bounds on eigenvectors of a stiffness matrix in the presence of uncertainty is mathematically interpreted as an eigenvalue problem on a ~ central stiffness matrix ([KC ]) that is subjected to a radial perturbation stiffness matrix ([KR ]). This perturbation is in fact, a linear summation of non-negative definite deterministic element stiffness contribution matrices that are scaled with bounded real numbers(ÃŽ µi ) . 5. Solution 5.1. BOUNDS ON EIGENVALUES The following concepts must be considered in order to bound the non-deterministic interval eigenvalue problem, Eq.(21). The classical linear eigenpair problem for a symmetric matrix is: with the solution of real eigenvalues (ÃŽ »1 ≠¤ÃŽ »2 ≠¤ ≠¤ÃŽ »n ) and corresponding eigenvectors ( x1, x2,, xn ). This equation can be transformed into a ratio of quadratics known as the Rayleigh quotient:  R(x) =                     (23) The Rayleigh quotient for a symmetric matrix is bounded between the smallest and the largest eigenvalues (Bellman 1960 and Strang 1976).  (24) Thus, the first eigenvalue (ÃŽ »1) can be obtained by performing an unconstrained minimization on the scalar-valued function of Rayleigh quotient: ( (25) x∈ For finding the next eigenvalues, the concept of maximin characterization can be used. This concept obtains the kth eigenvalue by imposing (k-1) constraints on the minimization of the Rayleigh quotient (Bellman 1960 and Strang 1976): ÃŽ »k = max[minR(x)]  (subject to constrains(xT zi = 0),i =1,k −1,k ≠¥ 2 ) (26) 5.1.1. Bounding the Eigenvalues for Statics Using the concepts of minimum and maximin characterizations of eigenvalues for symmetric matrices, the solution to the interval eigenvalue problem for the eigenvalues of a system with uncertainty in the stiffness characteristics (Eq.(21)) for the first eigenvalue can be shown as: n x∈Rn{x}T {x} for the next eigenvalues: ~{x}T [K~]{x}{x}T ([K ]+[K~ ]){x} 5.1.2. Deterministic Eigenvalue Problems for Bounding Eigenvalues in Statics Substituting and expanding the right-hand side terms of Eqs. (27,28): ~T [K ]{x}~ui (li +u{x} (29) Since the matrix [Ki ] is non-negative definite, the term () is non-negative. Therefore, using the monotonic behavior of eigenvalues for symmetric matrices, the upper bounds on the eigenvalues in Eqs.(19,20) are obtained by considering maximum values of interval coefficients of uncertainty (ÃŽ µ~i = [−1,1]), ((ÃŽ µi )max = 1), for all elements in the radial perturbation matrix. Similarly, the lower bounds on the eigenvalues are obtained by considering minimum values of those coefficients, ((ÃŽ µi )min =−1) , for all elements in the radial perturbation matrix. Also, it can be observed that any other element stiffness selected from the interval set will yield eigenvalues between the upper and lower bounds. This imonotonic behavior of eigenvalues can also be used for parameterization purposes. Using these concepts, the deterministic eigenvalue problems corresponding to the maximum and minimum eigenvalues are obtained (Modares and Mullen 2004) as: n n 5.2. BOUNDS ON EIGENVECTORS 5.2.1. Invariant Subspace The subspace Ç is defined to be an invariant subspace of matrix [A] if:  AÇ⊂Ç (32) Equivalently, if Ç is an invariant subspace of [A]nn and also, columns of [X1]nm form a basis forÇ, then there is a unique matrix [L1]mm such that: The matrix [L1 ] is the representation of [A] on Ç with respect to the basis [X1] and the eigenvalues of [L1] are a subset of eigenvalues of [A]. Therefore, for the invariant subspace, ({v},ÃŽ ») is an eigenpair of [L1] if and only if ({[X1]{v}},ÃŽ ») is an eigenpair of [A]. 5.2.2. Theorem of Invariant Subspaces For a real symmetric matrix [A], considering the subspace Ç with the linearly independent columns of [X1] forming a basis for Ç and the linearly independent columns of [X2] spanning the complementary subspace Ç⊥ , then, Ç is an invariant subspace of [A] iff: Therefore, invoking this condition and postulating the definition of invariant subspaces, the symmetric matrix [A] can be reduced to a diagonalized form using a unitary similarity transformation as:  [X1X2]T [A][X1X2] = à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡[X1]TT[[AA][][XX11]] à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ £[X2] where [Li ] =[Xi ]T [A][Xi ], i =1,2. 5.2.3. Simple Invariant Subspace [X1]T [A][X2]à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡[L1] [X2]T [A][X2]à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¥Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¦= à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ £[0] [0] à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¤ [L2]à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¥Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¦ (35) An invariant subspace is simple if the eigenvalues of its representation [L1] are distinct from other eigenvalues of [A]. Thus, using the reduced form of [A] with respect to the unitary matrix [[X1][X2]], Ç is a simple invariant subspace if the eigenvalues of [L1] and [L2] are distinct: 5.2.4. Perturbed Eigenvector Considering the column spaces of [X1] and [X2] to span two complementary simple invariant subspaces, the perturbed orthogonal subspaces are defined as:  [Xˆ1] =[X1]+[X 2 ][P] (37)  [Xˆ2 ] =[X 2]−[X1][P]T (38) in which [P] is a matrix to be determined. Thus, each perturbed subspace is defined as a summation of the exact subspace and the contribution of the complementary subspace. Considering a symmetric perturbation[E] , the perturbed matrix is defined as: Applying the theorem of invariant subspaces for perturbed matrix and perturbed subspaces, and linearizing due to a small perturbation compared to the unperturbed matrix, Eq.(34) is rewritten as: This perturbation problem is an equation for unknown [P] in the form of a Sylvesters equation in which, the uniqueness of the solution is guaranteed by the existence of simple perturbed invariant subspaces. Finally, specializing the result for one eigenvector and solving the above equation, the perturbed eigenvector is (Stewart and Sun 1990):  {xˆ1} = {x1}+[X 2 ](ÃŽ »1[I]−[L2 ])−1[X 2 ]T [E]{x1} 5.2.5 Bounding Eigenvectors for Statics For the perturbed eigenvalue problem for statics, Eq.(21), the error matrix is: (41) ~nu [E] = [KR ] = (∑(ÃŽ µi )( i − li )[Ki ]) (42) i=12 Using the error matrix in eigenvector perturbation equation for the first eigenvector, Eq.(33) the perturbed eigenvector is: in which, {à †¢1}is the first eigenvector, (ÃŽ »1) is the first eigenvalue, [ÃŽ ¦2 ] is the matrix of remaining eigenvectors and [Λ2 ] is the diagonal matrix of remaining eigenvalues obtained from the deterministic eigenvalue problem. Eq.(30,31 and 43) is used to calculate the bounds on interval eigenvalues and interval eigenvectors in the response equation, Eq.(9). In order to attain sharper results, the functional dependency of intervals in direct interval multiplications in Eq.(9) is considered. Also, input intervals are subdivided and the union of responses of subset results is obtained. 6. Numerical Example Problem The bounds on the static response for a 2-D statically indeterminate truss with interval uncertainty present in the modulus of elasticity of each element are determined (Figure 2). The crosssectional area A, the length for horizontal and vertical members L , the Youngs moduli E for all ~ elements are E = ([0.99,1.01])E . Figure 2. The structure of 2-D truss The problem is solved using the method presented in this work. The functional dependency of intervals in the response equation is considered. A hundred-segment subdivision of input intervals is performed and the union of responses is obtained. For comparison, an exact combinatorial analysis has performed which considers lower and upper values of uncertainty for each element i.e. solving (2n = 210 =1024 ) deterministic problems. The static analysis results obtained by the present method and the brute force combination solution for the vertical displacement of the top nodes in are summarized Table (1). Lower Bound Present Method Lower Bound Combination Method Upper Bound Combination Method Upper Bound Present Method Error % U à ¢Ã… ½Ã¢â‚¬ º PL à ¢Ã… ½Ã… ¾ à ¢Ã… ½Ã…“à ¢Ã… ½Ã… ¸ à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ AE à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ -1.6265 -1.6244 -1.5859 -1.5838 % 0.12 Table1. Bounds on Vertical Displacement of Top Nodes The results show that the proposed robust method yields nearly sharp results in a computationally efficient manner as well as preserving the systems physics. 4.Conclusions A finite-element based method for static analysis of structural systems with interval uncertainty in mechanical properties is presented. This method proposes an interval eigenvalue decomposition of stiffness matrix. By obtaining the exact bounds on the eigenvalues and nearly sharp bounds on the eigenvectors, the proposed method is capable to obtain the nearly sharp bounds on the structures static response. Some conservative overestimation in response occurs that can be attributed to the linearization in formation of bounds of eigenvectors and also, the functional dependency of intervals in the dynamic response formulation. This method is computationally feasible and it shows that the bounds on the static response can be obtained without combinatorial or Monte-Carlo simulation procedures. This computational efficiency of the proposed method makes it attractive to introduce uncertainty into structural static analysis and design. While this methodology is shown for structural systems, its extension to various mechanics problems is straightforward. References Bellman, R. Introduction to Matrix Analysis, McGraw-Hill, New York 1960. Dief, A., Advanced Matrix theory for Scientists and Engineers, pp.262-281. Abacus Press 1991. Hollot, C. and A. Bartlett. On the eigenvalues of interval matrices, Technical Report, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 1987. Modares, M. and R. L. Mullen. Free Vibration of Structures with Interval Uncertainty. 9th ASCE Specialty Conference on Probabilistic Mechanics and Structural Reliability 2004. Moore, R. E. Interval Analysis. Prentice Hall, Englewood, NJ 1966. Muhanna, R. L. and R. L. Mullen. Uncertainty in Mechanics Problems-Interval-Based Approach. Journal of Engineering Mechanics June-2001, pp.557-566 2001. Muhanna, R. L., Zhang H. and R. L. Mullen. Interval Finite Element as a Basis for Generalized Models of Uncertainty in Engineering Mechanics, Reliable Computing, Vol. 13, pp. 173-194, 2007. Neumaier, A. Interval Methods for Systems of Equations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. Neumaier, A. and A. Pownuk. Linear Systems with Large Uncertainties, with Applications to Truss Structures, Reliable Computing, Vol. 13, pp. 149-172, 2007. Strang, G. Linear Algebra and its Applications, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1976. Stewart, G.W. and J. Sun. Matrix perturbation theory, Chapter 5. Academic Press, Boston, MA 1990.
Friday, October 25, 2019
The Power of Carvers Little Things Essay examples -- Carver Little Th
The Power of Carver's Little Things    To a reader unfamiliar with his work, Raymond Carver's short story, "Little Things" may seem devoid of all literary devices owning to good writing. Fortunately, these people are mistaken. With his minimalistic style, it is what Carver doesn't write that makes his work so effective. Most of Carver's short stories describe situations that many people could find themselves in and that is why his work is so appealing to readers. They are not restricted to harsh explicative details or over-dramatized language, but are allowed to create their own rationale for the actions of the characters and the consequent results.     "Little Things" begins with an explanation of the setting when Carver writes, "Cars slushed by on the streets outside, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too." This is the most descriptive passage in the entire story, which is only one-and-a-half pages in length, and it serves to set a mood of bleakness and animosity between the characters as well as the remainder of the piece. A scene follows in which a man is packing a suitcase and a woman is telling him she is glad he is leaving. Carver goes so far as to omit the characters' names, allowing the reader to more clearly identify with their struggle. One of the major turning points is a dozen lines into the story when the woman notices a picture of their baby and remembers it, forsaken, in the living room. The reader is compelled to ask if she had not remembered the baby at that moment would the rest of the scene have progressed in the same way? The man then follows the woman into the living room and tells her he wants the baby. This she can not allow as she turns away f... ...his own struggle with alcohol and personal strife. Regardless of the origin of the words, they force the reader to take a compelling look into his own life. Carson said that, in many ways, Carver's life was a model for all of his characters. But Carver forces readers to use their own lives as the foundation of the interpretation of the story, allowing them to relate to the characters and events themselves.  Works Cited Carson, Phillip. "Carver's Vision". (200). Online. Internet. 12 Feb. 2003. Available: world.std.com/~ptc/carver-paper.html Carver, Raymond. Where I'm calling From. "Little things." (1988, Atlantic Monthly Press). 114. Hashimoto, Hiromi. "Trying to Understand Raymond carver's Revisions." Tokai English Review. (Dec. 1995). Online. Internet. 12 Feb. 2003. Available:      people.whitman.edu/~lucetb/carver/precision.html The Power of Carver's Little Things Essay examples -- Carver Little Th The Power of Carver's Little Things    To a reader unfamiliar with his work, Raymond Carver's short story, "Little Things" may seem devoid of all literary devices owning to good writing. Fortunately, these people are mistaken. With his minimalistic style, it is what Carver doesn't write that makes his work so effective. Most of Carver's short stories describe situations that many people could find themselves in and that is why his work is so appealing to readers. They are not restricted to harsh explicative details or over-dramatized language, but are allowed to create their own rationale for the actions of the characters and the consequent results.     "Little Things" begins with an explanation of the setting when Carver writes, "Cars slushed by on the streets outside, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too." This is the most descriptive passage in the entire story, which is only one-and-a-half pages in length, and it serves to set a mood of bleakness and animosity between the characters as well as the remainder of the piece. A scene follows in which a man is packing a suitcase and a woman is telling him she is glad he is leaving. Carver goes so far as to omit the characters' names, allowing the reader to more clearly identify with their struggle. One of the major turning points is a dozen lines into the story when the woman notices a picture of their baby and remembers it, forsaken, in the living room. The reader is compelled to ask if she had not remembered the baby at that moment would the rest of the scene have progressed in the same way? The man then follows the woman into the living room and tells her he wants the baby. This she can not allow as she turns away f... ...his own struggle with alcohol and personal strife. Regardless of the origin of the words, they force the reader to take a compelling look into his own life. Carson said that, in many ways, Carver's life was a model for all of his characters. But Carver forces readers to use their own lives as the foundation of the interpretation of the story, allowing them to relate to the characters and events themselves.  Works Cited Carson, Phillip. "Carver's Vision". (200). Online. Internet. 12 Feb. 2003. Available: world.std.com/~ptc/carver-paper.html Carver, Raymond. Where I'm calling From. "Little things." (1988, Atlantic Monthly Press). 114. Hashimoto, Hiromi. "Trying to Understand Raymond carver's Revisions." Tokai English Review. (Dec. 1995). Online. Internet. 12 Feb. 2003. Available:      people.whitman.edu/~lucetb/carver/precision.html
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Investigacion Suavizantes
INVESTIGACION COMERCIAL SUAVIZANTES INDICE: Suavizantes: ?Por que este producto? El hecho de escoger este producto para realizar una investigacion comercial acerca del mismo se debe a varias circunstancias: hace anos quizas nosotros no teniamos en cuenta la manera ni los medios de como realizar las tareas domesticas. Pero si teniamos claro que el frescor y el olor de la ropa que nos lavaban en casa nos reconfortaba, nos daba sensacion de limpieza y sensacion de estar cerca de nuestro hogar. Despues de haber vivido algunos anos en residencia y haber sentido que nuestras prendas no nos aportaban las sensaciones que nos aportaban cuando estabamos en casa y una vez viviendo en piso nos preocupamos por la eleccion de los productos de limpieza. Ademas ahora somos nosotros quien nos realizamos estas labores. El suavizante es un producto que ademas de ser imprescindible para conservar la ropa nos podemos decantar por el por el olor que nos ofrecen, la sensacion de frescor y limpieza y la facilidad que este producto nos aporta a la hora de encargarnos del planchado. Puesto que el suavizante ayuda a que las arrugas de la ropa sean menores que las que tendriamos en las prendas de ropa si no utilizaramos este producto. A continuacion vamos a realizar un analisis del suavizante. Investigando las marcas que podemos encontrar en este mercado, los establecimientos que lo ofrecen y como se comportan los consumidores al adquirir este producto. El producto: Un suavizante textil es un producto que se utiliza comunmente en el proceso de lavado de ropa. El suavizante se comercializa disuelto en agua y se anade en forma liquida a la lavadora. Los ingredientes mas importantes de los suavizantes son los tensioactivos cationicos, habitualmente del tipo amonio cuaternario. Estos tensioactivos se adhieren a las fibras del tejido, proporcionando suavidad. Proporcionan tambien volumen, esponjosidad y otorgan propiedades antiestaticas. Hacen que las prendas sean mas faciles de planchar y ayudan a reducir la aparicion de arrugas. Por ultimo, pero no menos importante, los suavizantes aportan a la ropa una agradable fragancia. Un reciente estudio ha puesto de manifiesto que los suavizantes previenen la aparicion de arrugas y facilitan el planchado, pero no todos aumentan el volumen respecto a un lavado sin suavizante. La industria de los suavizantes esta concentrando sus productos cada vez mas. Los suavizantes concentrados tienen un mayor porcentaje de tensioactivos cationicos. En la actualidad los suavizantes textiles se comercializan con una concentracion de tensioactivos cationicos que oscila entre el 8 y el 15%, en contraposicion con los suavizantes diluidos comercializados durante los anos 90, que tenian una cantidad de materia activa proxima al 5%. Los suavizantes concentrados requieren dosis mas pequenas, ocupan menos espacio, es necesario menos plastico para su envasado y al caber mas unidades por camion, emiten menos dioxido de carbono a la atmosfera. Cualidades basicas: -Frescura -Suavidad -Reduce y facilita al planchado Estas son las cualidades basicas que caracteriza a los suavizantes. Son las cualidades que el consumidor pone como requisito para adquirir el suavizantes adecuado. ?Por que se debe utilizar suavizante? En la lavadora, lavado tras lavado, las fibras de los tejidos pierden algunas de sus propiedades mecanicas e integridad como consecuencia del intenso estres mecanico al que se ven sometidas y de los efectos quimicos de la dureza del agua. Con el paso del tiempo, las fibras de los tejidos se vuelven asperas y se enredan. Al no usar suavizantes, las fibras permanecen enredadas mientras se secan y las prendas se vuelven mas rigidas. El uso de secadoras de aire inducido ayuda a suavizar la ropa, pero con frecuencia las fibras sinteticas se cargan de electricidad estatica lo que provoca atraccion electroestatica. Resultados: Si se usa un suavizante en el ciclo de aclarado, sus agentes ayudan a mantener la suavidad de las fibras de los tejidos. Esto reduce la friccion de las fibras entre si y de las fibras con la piel del usuario. Cuando las fibras se mueven con mayor libertad, las prendas tienen una mayor suavidad y sufriran un desgaste menor con el paso del tiempo, especialmente las partes con un grado de estres mas alto, como cuellos, codos y punos. La ropa se arruga menos al secarse y resulta mas facil de planchar. Si se usan secadoras, las prendas sinteticas tendran una menor atraccion electroestatica al extraerlas de la secadora. La reduccion de la friccion en la piel y la suavidad de las prendas proporcionan una sensacion general de comodidad al usuario. Una caracteristica adicional de los suavizantes para la ropa es que dejan un olor agradable en las prendas lavadas. Los estudios sobre el consumo indican que el olor es con frecuencia el motivo por el que los consumidores eligen una variante o marca determinada frente a otras. Establecimientos: TipoSociedad Anonima Fundacion1963 SedeAvenida Raymond Poincare 6 Paris, Francia AdministracionLars Olofsson Ceo IndustriaMinorista Ingresos97,6 billones â‚ ¬ (2009) Empleados430. 000 FilialesChampion, Ed Shopi, GB, 8 a Huit, Dia Sitio webwww. carrefour. com Datos Relevantes: Carrefour S. A. es una cadena francesa internacional de hipermercados. En el 2009, el grupo poseia 15. 5000 almacenes en 35 paises, tenia mas de 495. 000 empleados Sus ventas consolidadas alcanzaron 108. 629 millones de euros. Su actividad se centra en tres mercados: Europa, Asia y America Latina. Siendo de origen frances, el 56% de su negocio se produce fuera de Francia. El grupo se centra en mercados de gran expansion: China, Brasil, Indonesia, Polonia y Turquia. Historia: Fue en un seminario de Bernardo Trujillo en los Estados Unidos, donde a Marcel Fournier y Denis Defforey les vino la inspiracion. La sociedad Carrefour fue creada en la Alta Saboya en 1959 por las familias Fournier y Defforey. En 1963, Carrefour invento el concepto de hipermercado, abriendo el primero en la Isla de Francia en Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois. La sociedad se establecio en Belgica en 1969, en Espana en 1973 y en Brasil en 1975. La sociedad Promodis (futura Promodes) se creo en 1961 tras la fusion de las empresas de dos familias normandas de mayoristas dirigidos por Paul-Auguste Halley y Leonor Duval-Lemonnier. El nombre de Carrefour significa â€Å"cruce de caminos†, ya que el primer hipermercado estaba precisamente ubicado en un cruce de caminos. Carrefour y Promodes se fusionaron en 1999 para dar lugar al primer grupo europeo y al segundo grupo mundial de distribucion, despues de Wal-Mart. Dirigida por Jose Luis Duran entre 2005 y finales de 2008. Desde el 1 de enero de 2009 Lars Olofsson, pocedente del grupo Nestle, es el director general. Es posible que el gigante de la distribucion se desprenda de su filial E. D. y Dia (Espana y Portugal), por un importe cercano a los 5 millardos de euros (5. 00. 000. 000 â‚ ¬). En 1976, lanza una gama de productos la marca de su distribuidor, con un empaquetado muy sobrio y una promocion orientada hacia la composicion con precios permanentes. En 2006 Carrefour cambio la imagen de su marca, la cual tomo un diseno mas atractivo, con envases disenados con colores suaves como el azul, y faciles de identificar. Los nuevos envases cuentan con el logotipo de la empresa, mas grande que antes cuando solo aparecia el nombre Carrefour en una fina banda en la esquina inferior derecha. Bajo el mando del nuevo presidente ejecutivo, Lars Olofsson, la empresa se esta concentrando en cambiar la reputacion del minorista enfocandose en los precios bajos, ya que la cadena es percibida por los consumidores como demasiado cara. Actualmente el grupo Carrefour ocupa el numero 1 en distribucion europea y el 2? del mundo. Cifras : En enero de 2004, las principales insignias del grupo son: †¢Hipermercados (5. 000 a 20. 000 m? ): Carrefour †¢Supermercados (1. 000 a 2. 000 m? ): Champion, Carrefour Express, barrio , Supermercados GS, Norte, Supermercados GB †¢Maxidescuento (200 a 800 m? : Supermercados Dia, Ed †¢Comercio de proximidad: Shopi, Marche Plus, 8 a Huit, Di per Di, Proxi El grupo en el mundo : El grupo Carrefour cuenta con establecimientos en 35 paises de Europa, Asia y America Latina. Espana : El grupo Carrefour se establecio en Espana en 1973 con los supermercados Pryca. En el 2000 los establecimientos de Continente y Pryca pasaron a formar parte d el grupo Carrefour, fusionandose. Los hipermercados de estas empresas pasaron a llamarse Carrefour, los supermercados se pasaron a llamar Champion y en 2005, Maxi Dia y Carrefour Express pasando a desaparecer la denominacion Champion. El Grupo Carrefour tambien posee tiendas pequenas en barrios llamados Dia. Algunos Dia ahora son Maxi Dia (los grandes) y Dia Market (los pequenos). Se encuentran repartidos por toda la geografia espanola: Andalucia (Malaga,Cadiz,Granada,Los Barrios,Estepona,Marbella)Madrid,Valencia,etc. Estan presentes en la mayoria de las ciudades espanolas de las 17 Comunidades Autonomas y forman parte del paisaje comercial de vanguardia. Son el banco de pruebas del desarrollo industrial y cuentan con el apoyo de los consumidores espanoles de varias generaciones. Cumplen mas de 36 anos en Espana, y son referentes del formato en la distribucion moderna. 008 cierra el ejercicio con 168 centros bajo la ensena Carrefour. La dimension del area de ventas de los centros abarca desde los 2. 500 m2 de los mini-hiper hasta los mas de 10. 000 m2 del concepto clasico de hipermercado. Motor de los entornos socioeconomicos: Dinamizan sus zonas de influencia y agrupan en su rededor polos de atraccion junto con e l comercio, la restauracion y los servicios mas vanguardistas de la region, configurando pujantes areas comerciales. Conveniente en precios y surtido: El modelo de Carrefour es aceptado por ofrecer el mayor surtido de calidad a los mejores precios. La libertad de eleccion de productos, marcas y precios convence a los consumidores. Mas de 100. 000 referencias de articulos regionales, nacionales e internacionales, configuran una rica opcion, innovadora y conveniente. Los servicios complementarios de las filiales optimizan el acto de compra. Una atractiva vida comercial en el ano: Su amplio desarrollo de alimentacion, bazar, textil y una marcada estacionalidad, convierten el acto de compra en un acontecimiento familiar ludico. Mas de treinta actividades diferentes conviven entre si de manera natural, animadas. SedeCalle Hermosilla n? 112 AdministracionIsidoro Alvarez, Presidente IndustriaGrandes Almacenes, Turismo, Servicios ProductosTextil, alimentacion, drogueria, perfumeria, complementos. Agencia de Viajes. Correduria de seguros. Servicios y productos informaticos. MarcasEl Corte Ingles (Alimentacion y Bazar, Cesta estandar), Hipercor (Alimentacion y Bazar, Cesta estandar), Aliada (Cesta basica). Ingresos17. 362,53 millones â‚ ¬ (2008) Beneficio Neto382 millones â‚ ¬ (2008) Empleados97. 389 (2008) FilialesHipercor, Bricor, Supercor, Opencor, Viajes El Corte Ingles, Informatica El Corte Ingles. Sitio webelcorteingles. es hipercor. es El Corte Ingles es el primer grupo espanol de distribucion y uno de los lideres mundiales de grandes almacenes. Con mas de 70 anos de experiencia, el Grupo ha mantenido desde sus origenes una politica de servicio al cliente y un constante interes por adecuarse a los gustos y las necesidades que demanda la sociedad. Esto le ha llevado a una politica de diversificacion y a la creacion de nuevos formatos comerciales. Ademas de los grandes almacenes El Corte Ingles, el Grupo cuenta con otras cadenas como Hipercor, Opencor, Supercor, Sfera, Telecor, Viajes El Corte Ingles, Bricor, Optica 2000 e Informatica El Corte Ingles, entre otras. El Corte Ingles es hoy uno de los lideres mundiales de grandes almacenes con una fuerte implantacion en el mercado espanol y con presencia en Portugal. Desde que en 1935 el fundador de la compania, Ramon Areces, adquiriera una sastreria denominada El Corte Ingles, la empresa ha mantenido un continuo crecimiento. La politica comercial de la cadena esta basada en cinco grandes pilares que se han hecho extensivos al resto de las empresas del grupo: calidad maxima, servicio, surtido, especializacion y garantia. La oferta de los grandes almacenes incluye un amplio abanico de productos y servicios que van desde articulos de ocio y cultura a mobiliario, moda y complementos, electronica de consumo, jugueteria, decoracion, alimentacion, joyeria. Los centros comerciales estan pensados para satisfacer al cliente con una amplia gama de surtido y especialidades, y con la mayor concentracion de oferta de moda femenina, masculina e infantil del mercado. Mas de un millar de firmas presentan cada temporada en los establecimientos sus nuevas tendencias y propuestas. Las mas conocidas marcas nacionales e internacionales, en algunos casos en exclusiva para El Corte Ingles, asi como las firmas de numerosos disenadores y modistos que cuentan con sus propios corners, convierten a El Corte Ingles en una enorme avenida que destaca por la variedad de oferta, la dimension del espacio y la calidad del producto. Clientes: El modelo de venta expresado anteriormente sigue siendo valido hoy. Asi en su documento de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial se senala que los cinco pilares de compromiso con el cliente son: †¢Calidad †¢Servicio Surtido †¢Especializacion †¢Garantia Estos cinco pilares han producido una fidelizacion importante de sus clientes y en 2008 sus centros recibieron mas de 600 millones de visitas. Esta fidelizacion se ha producido a pesar de ofrecer precios superiores al resto de competidores, aunque suple este inconveniente mediante la realizacion de ofertas, la induccion a la demanda mediante el esfuerzo publicitario mas gra nde que realiza cualquier empresa espanola, la carencia en el pago de compras y un amplio programa de financiacion automatica para la compra de sus articulos. Entre lo anterior cabe destacar que la Tarjeta de Compras de El Corte Ingles sea una de las mas populares en el bolsillo de los espanoles, con mas de 10,8 millones de tarjetas activas en 2008 y con un crecimiento constante desde su introduccion en 1968. Los titulares de la tarjeta de compras se benefician de una carencia automatica de un mes en el pago de la liquidacion mensual y la posibilidad de aplazar sin intereses los pagos a tres meses, o con bajos intereses hasta 36 meses. Ademas se benefician de al menos dos horas gratis en aquellos aparcamientos de pago de los centros y con la tarjeta se permite comprar cualquier producto que se venda en los centros pertenecientes al grupo El Corte Ingles inclusive productos estancados como Tabacos. Desde 2006 la tarjeta tambien permite el pago de compras en las estaciones de servicio del grupo Repsol. No obstante lo anterior el factor precio comienza a resultar importante para el cliente, sobre todo en lo referente a la compra de alimentacion con una fuerte competencia. Para evitar que esto suponga un problema y cambiar la percepcion de los clientes El Corte Ingles ha lanzado una marca blanca de cesta basica, Aliada, y ha iniciado una campana de publicidad para intentar cambiar esta percepcion sobre sus marcas. Grupo Eroski es una empresa cooperativa espanola de distribucion con sede en Elorrio, (Vizcaya). Fundada en el Pais Vasco en 1969, hoy cuenta con unos 20. 000 trabajadores repartidos por toda Espana. La empresa cuenta con alrededor de 2. 00 establecimientos de diferentes marcas, entre las que se incluyen los hipermercados â€Å"Eroski†, supermercados â€Å"Eroski City†y â€Å"Eroski Center†, supermercados â€Å"Aliprox†, supermercados â€Å"Cash Record†, supermercados â€Å"Caprabo†, supermercados â€Å"Familia†, â€Å"Viajes Eroski†, â€Å"Opticas Eroski†, â€Å"Perfumerias IF†, â€Å"Tiendas de Deporte FORUM†y â€Å"Tiendas de ocio y cultura ABAC†. El Grup o Eroski, es un conglomerado de sociedades de diferente realidad juridica y distinta composicion accionarial, pudiendo encontrar desde Sociedades Cooperativas (la matriz Eroski S. Coop. ) hasta SAs con porcentajes de participacion accionarial diferentes (ej Caprabo 70% o Vegalsa 50%). Es parte de la Corporacion Mondragon en la division de distribucion. El nombre Eroski es una contraccion de las palabras en euskera â€Å"erosi†(comprar) y â€Å"toki†(lugar), traducible como â€Å"lugar donde comprar†. Dos aspectos son relevantes: 1. La primera es la propiedad, de la que son depositarios en igualdad de condiciones unos 9. 000 trabajadores, con una persona un voto en la Asamblea General. . Actua desde su origen con la reinversion permanente de sus beneficios y destina el 10% de los resultados para el desempeno de Fundacion Eroski, que vertebra su accion social en favor del consumidor y la informacion, el desarrollo sostenible y la solidaridad. Consumidores socios : Son unos 450. 000 ciudadanos asociados como consumidores a este grupo cuyos representantes participan en el gobierno de la empresa. A la par, unos 100. 000 ciudadanos son Amigos de Fundacion Eroski. Todos ellos participan de modo voluntario en las acciones formativas que Idea Sana Eroski desarrolla con asiduidad sobre materias de interes del ciudadano, desde aspectos relativos a la salud como iniciativas de solidaridad en colaboracion con diferentes ONG. Iniciativas sociales: La Fundacion Eroski promueve igualmente iniciativas de cooperacion internacional para proyectos de desarrollo sostenible en paises necesitados. La Fundacion COPADE, la Fundacion AKWABA y la Federacion Espanola Religiosos Sanitarios F. E. R. S. ueron los utimos protagonistas al ser elegidos sus proyectos. En sus cuatro ediciones anteriores, la Fundacion EROSKI ha financiado los proyectos de las entidades que se mencionan por un importe que asciende a 536. 400,70 euros. En anteriores ediciones fueron beneficiarios los proyectos de Fundacion C. E. A. R. , Fundacion Intermon-Oxfam y COCEMFE, en 2003. Fundacion Ayuda en Accion, Fundacion Save The Children y Cruz Roja en el 2002. En 2001 fueron elegidos los proye ctos de Fundacion Vicente Ferrer, Fundacion Inter Red y Setem Cataluna. Su labor se ha visto reconocida durante el ejercicio 2004 con el Premio Europeo de Medio Ambiente a la empresa. El premio, otorgado por la Fundacion Entorno y respaldado por la Comision Europea, el Ministerio espanol de Ciencia y Tecnologia y la Sociedad Espanola de Participaciones Industriales, reconoce los esfuerzos de Grupo Eroski para el logro de un desarrollo compatible con la preservacion del entorno y el aumento del bienestar social. Asimismo, Grupo Eroski ha editado su Memoria de Sostenibilidad siguiendo las normas dictadas por Global Reporting Iniciative y AENOR. La Memoria es la primera publicada por una empresa de distribucion en Espana y ha sido elaborada conforme a la metodologia GRI2002, que ofrece una vision economica, social y medioambiental de la actividad de la empresa. Red comercial : La red comercial de Eroski en Espana, en noviembre de 2007 la formaban: †¢115 hipermercados â€Å"Eroski†. †¢1. 042 supermercados â€Å"Eroski Center†, â€Å"Caprabo†y â€Å"Eroski City†. †¢El Supermercado â€Å"Eroski Online†, su servicio de compra online de alimentacion. †¢280 oficinas â€Å"Eroski Viajes†. †¢52 gasolineras. †¢44 tiendas de deporte â€Å"Forum Sport†. 310 perfumerias â€Å"If†. †¢5 tiendas de ocio y cultura â€Å"ABAC†. †¢28 plataformas de distribucion. †¢Operador de Telefonia Movil (â€Å"Eroski Movil†). A esta red se le suman 584 autoservicios franquiciados. En Francia, Eroski cuenta ademas con 4 hipermercados, 16 sup ermercados y 17 gasolineras. En mayo de 2007 adquirio el 75% del Grupo Caprabo, ensena que se ha mantenido en mas de 300 tiendas en Cataluna y Madrid. Desde esa fecha los supermercados Caprabo comenzaron a sustituir sus productos de marca Caprabo por productos de la marca Eroski. Asi mismo, tambien se asocio con el grupo frances Intermarche, tambien conocidos como â€Å"Los Mosqueteros†, y EDEKA (Alemania) creando una Alianza Internacional para la negociacion y compra conjunta. Desde finales de 2007, Eroski participa en el negocio de la telefonia movil, actuando como operador movil virtual (OMV) con la marca Eroski Movil. Marcas : †¢Eroski: general †¢Eroski selectia: productos de alimentacion selectos †¢Eroski natur: productos de alimentacion naturales (carne, pescado, fruta) †¢Ecron: electrodomesticos †¢Berthen: electrodomesticos †¢VistoBueno: textil †¢Romester: productos deportivos Los productos de las marcas Eroski tienen como una de sus caracteristicas el incluir su nombre y diversa informacion aparte de en castellano, en euskera, catalan y gallego. Es una compania de distribucion, integrada dentro del segmento de supermercados, de capital 100% espanol. Su presidente ejecutivo es Juan Roig. A nivel nacional, esta presente en 46 provincias de 15 comunidades autonomas con una red de 1. 266 supermercados (25/02/10). Durante el 2007, alcanzo una facturacion de 13. 986 millones de euros, un 15% mas que en 2006. Sus instalaciones y clientes son atendidos por mas de 62. 00 personas en toda la cadena, de las que el 100% estan en situacion de fijos. Los supermercados, con una sala de ventas de unos 1. 300 metros cuadrados de media, responden a un modelo de comercio urbano de proximidad, con un amplio surtido en alimentacion (fresca y seca), drogueria, perfumeria y comida para animales domesticos. Desde1993, Mercadona se inicio en la filosofia de Calidad total. Esta de cision ha llevado a la compania a realinear sus objetivos instaurando el siguiente orden: Cliente, que internamente es conocido con el apelativo de â€Å"El Jefe†, Trabajador, Proveedor, Sociedad y Capital. Recreacion de secciones de Tienda â€Å"por ambientes†En grandes lineas esta filosofia tiene los siguientes efectos: Comercial: La estrategia comercial desarrollada por la empresa desde 1993 se denomina S. P. B. (Siempre Precios Bajos). Ademas, se esta trabajando sobre el aseguramiento de la calidad intrinseca de los productos impulsando la estrategia del Principio de Vida Recursos humanos: El modelo de Calidad total nos ha llevado a considerar al trabajador como segundo objetivo de la empresa. Ejemplo de ello es que el 100% de las mas de 62. 000 personas que componen la organizacion son fijos. Tambien es de destacar el pago del 100% del sueldo en caso de incapacidad laboral, disfrutar de unos sueldos minimos que superan la media del sector, asi como la formacion en Calidad total a las mas de 62. 000 personas en cursos especificos de 70 horas/ano por trabajador, entre otras. Mercadona es una compania espanola de distribucion con sede y origen en la ciudad de Valencia. Su nombre proviene de la fusion de las palabras en valenciano â€Å"Mercat†(Mercado) y â€Å"Dona†(Mujer). Los Supermercados Mercadona, con una sala de ventas de una superficie media de 1. 00 m? , responden a un modelo de comercio urbano de proximidad, y mantienen un surtido en alimentacion, drogueria, perfumeria y complementos que se caracteriza por potenciar la presencia de sus propias marcas blancas y reducir la oferta de aquellas marcas externas que no mantengan un minimo de rotacion. Origen e historia: Mercadona S. A. nace en 1977, dentro del grupo Carnicas Roig, propiedad de Francisco Roi g Ballester y su esposa Trinidad Alfonso Mocholi, con el objetivo de ampliar la comercializacion de carnes y expandirse al negocio de ultramarinos. En 1981 Juan Roig, uno de los hijos del anterior, compra a sus padres la empresa, que en ese momento cuenta con 8 tiendas de ultramarinos en Valencia, con el apoyo de su esposa y de sus hermanos Francisco, Amparo y Trinidad. Siendo nombrado su presidente ejecutivo, cargo en el que permanece hasta hoy, transforma los primitivos ultramarinos en una pequena cadena de supermercados que pronto se extenderian dentro de la Comunidad Valenciana. Aprovechando los parametros de crecimiento del sector de la distribucion durante los anos ochenta: modernizacion del sector e incorporacion masiva de la mujer al mundo laboral, Mercadona comienza una expansion que se va a ver limitada por la introduccion en el sector del capital frances lo que va a producir una concentracion importante del sector de distribucion alimentaria y, debido a su potencia, una presion sobre los proveedores para abaratar el producto que dificilmente podia llevar a cabo Mercadona en ese momento. La estrategia de expansion se realiza en un primer momento mediante la adquisicion de otras empresas de su sector que comienzan a acusar la presion del capital frances y asi se hace en 1988 con la adquisicion de los 22 supermercados de Superette, en 1989 con la adquisicion de las empresas Cesta Distribucion y Desarrollo de Centros Comerciales, en 1991 con la adquisicion de Dinos y Super Aguilar y en 1998 con la adquisicion de las cadenas catalanas de Almacens Paquer y Supermercats Vilaro. Tambien se firman alianzas como la alcanzada en 1997 con Almacenes Gomez Serrano para introducirse en el mercado andaluz. La concentracion mencionada coloca tambien a Mercadona en una situacion dificil en aquella epoca pero, a pesar de jugosas ofertas de compra de la empresa, Juan Roig decide mantenerla y explorar modelos de gestion que le permitan su crecimiento. En 1990 Juan Roig junto a su esposa Hortensia, se hacen con la mayoria del accionariado de la empresa. Como primera reaccion a esa concentracion Mercadona realiza una politica de ajuste de precios con los proveedores e invierte fuertemente en publicidad y en la realizacion de ofertas gancho, en las que se publicitan productos con un precio extremadamente atractivo compensandose el margen perdido con otros productos, pero pronto se ve que los resultados no son los esperados y se decide replantear la situacion mediante una estrategia nueva que vera la luz en 1993. Esta estrategia se realiza aplicando el modelo de Gestion de Calidad Total (GCT) que se constituye desde una perspectiva multidisciplinar e integradora que conjuga aspectos logisticos, fisicos, humanos y de liderazgo y cuyo fin es la creacion de valor para todos los grupos intervinientes en el negocio: clientes, proveedores, recursos humanos y capital. Conforme su memoria durante el ano 2009, los Supermercados Mercadona alcanzaron una facturacion de 15. 05 millones de euros, y un beneficio neto de 270 millones de euros con un EBITDA de 725 millones de euros. Su cuota de mercado en la distribucion alimentaria es del 12,8% con presencia en 46 provincias y 15 de las 17 Comunidades Autonomas de Espana, no presente unicamente en el Pais Vasco y en Navarra, a traves de sus 1. 264 establecimientos. Su plantilla esta compuesta de 62. 000 empleados de los que el 67% son mujeres y la totalidad de la contratacion es indefinida. El capital de Mercadona es mayoritariamente familiar y en 2008 su Consejo de administracion se componia de las siguientes personas: Modelo de gestion: El crecimiento y expansion de Mercadona es considerado como un exito que ha llamado la atencion a estudiosos del sector. Durante el periodo 1998-2003 el crecimiento de su volumen de ventas supero el 25% anual cuando el ratio normal del sector no suele superar el 9% siendo superada en crecimiento unicamente por Wal-Mart y consolidandola como la decimocuarta empresa de distribucion a nivel mundial. Segun Family Business Magazine esta entre las empresas familiares mas grandes del mundo, en el puesto 85 entre 250, siendo la numero 2 de Espana despues de El Corte Ingles. Segun su presidente Juan Roig, su estrategia central se ha resumido en la union de buenos salarios junto con una alta productividad, aplicando un modelo de gestion enfocado en el cliente denominado Gestion de Calidad Total (GCT). El modelo GCT en Mercadona fue adoptado en 1993 con el objetivo de defenderse ante la turbulencia que vivia el sector y establecer un modelo que ofreciera estabilidad en precios, proveedores y trabajadores que permitiera conseguir una clientela fija. Aunque los dos primeros anos tras la adopcion de la estrategia no se consiguieron resultados visibles a partir de 1995 se empiezan a cosechar los frutos de esta estabilidad y es a partir de este momento cuando comienza su crecimiento imparable. El modelo de Gestion de Calidad Total de Mercadona se enfoca en cinco aspectos de satisfaccion que por este orden son: †¢Satisfaccion del cliente (El Jefe en la terminologia de la empresa) mediante la estabilidad en los precios, los cuales siempre son atractivos, Siempre Precios Bajos, desechando la realizacion de ofertas gancho. †¢Compromiso de los empleados ofreciendoles estabilidad en el puesto de trabajo, homogeinizacion de niveles y responsabilidades, formacion continuada, incentivos sobre objetivos y unos salarios ligeramente por encima de la media del sector. Vinculacion con los proveedores basada en la confianza, relaciones a largo plazo, estabilidad y colaboracion. La compensacion en el ajuste del precio se le compensa mediante una relacion a largo plazo, plazos de pago mas cortos que la competencia, la transformacion de la marca propia a marca blanca y ayudas en mejoras productivas. En 1998 se crea la figura del Interproveedor productor que fabrica en exclusiva pa ra Mercadona y comercializa a traves de las marcas de esta. En 2008 el numero de Interproveedores alcanza los 100 de los mas de 2. 00 proveedores existentes. †¢Compromiso etico con el desarrollo y proteccion de la sociedad. †¢Vinculacion con el Capital, al cual, mediante la satisfaccion de los elementos anteriores, se le satisface mediante un aumento de la productividad y una constancia en los beneficios. Este Modelo ha recibido no obstante criticas de la mayoria de los actores implicados. Asi la desaparicion de marcas externas y la preeminencia de las marcas blancas de la propia distribuidora ha provocado quejas de consumidores y de proveedores. La politica social, que segun la empresa es parte integrante de su Modelo de Gestion mediante contrataciones indefinidas de la totalidad de la plantilla, acciones tendentes a la conciliacion de la vida laboral con la no apertura en festivos, apoyo a la natalidad con un mes mas de licencia por embarazo y el reparto de un porcentaje del beneficio entre los empleados que alcancen los objetivos propuestos ha sido tambien cuestionada en especial por el sindicato CNT que desde 2004 mantiene un conflicto laboral que fue dado a conocer por los propios empleados de la compania. Actualmente, el conflicto entre CNT y Mercadona sigue abierto, y se han presentado nuevas denuncias por acoso laboral y malos tratos hacia los trabajadores. En cuanto a los proveedores, ademas de las quejas de aquellos que fabrican marca propia por la retirada de sus productos, se han anunciado presiones excesivas de Mercadona a aquellos que fabrican sus marcas blancas, los conocidos por la empresa como Interproveedores, que limitan su libertad de accion, pretenden aduenarse de toda la cadena productiva o trasladar los costes de distribucion por expectativas no alcanzadas. Respecto a la acusacion de concentracion vertical cabe destacar la creacion por la familia Roig de Sociedades de Capital Riesgo como Angels Capital y Atitlan Alpha Capital que intervienen de forma prioritaria en las relaciones con los interproveedores. Marcas: †¢Hacendado – alimentacion †¢Deliplus – perfumeria en general †¢Compy – comida para animales †¢Bosque Verde – drogueria †¢Como tu – perfumeria mujer †¢9,60 – perfumeria hombre †¢El cafetal – cafe †¢Entrepinares – lacteos solidos Presencia geografica : Mercadona posee 8 bloques logisticos con mas de 600. 000 m? en Valencia, Malaga, Barcelona, Alicante, Sevilla, Tenerife, Madrid y Gran Canaria. Tiene previsto abrir 3 nuevos bloques logisticos en Leon, Granada y Zaragoza y dispone de 2 almacenes satelites en Leon y Baleares. En cuanto a superficies de venta Mercadona dispone de 1. 264 supermercados en Espana. OpenCor es una cadena de Tiendas de Conveniencia, lo que supone abrir los 365 dias del ano durante 18 horas. Pensadas para dar servicio al cliente y satisfacer sus necesidades de cada dia, la compra de ultima hora o cualquier olvido, los establecimientos OpenCor ofrecen una nueva forma de comprar, rapida, proxima, comoda y con la mejor garantia de calidad. Cuenta, ademas, con la ventaja de pagar con la tarjeta de compra de El Corte Ingles. OpenCor vio la luz el 18 de mayo de 2000, con la inauguracion del primer establecimiento en Majadahonda (Madrid). Desde entonces ha experimentado un rapido crecimiento con la apertura de tiendas distribuidas por toda Espana. Gracias a que su superficie de venta es inferior a 500 metros cuadrados, el formato permite gran flexibilidad para ubicarse en las principales capitales de provincia; A Coruna, Alicante, Almeria, Barcelona, Castellon, Cordoba, Gerona, Granada, Las Palmas, Lerida, Madrid, Malaga, Murcia, Pontevedra, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Sevilla, Tarragona, Valencia y Zaragoza. Desde noviembre de 2008, es tambien la marca de referencia en las Estaciones de Servicio fruto del acuerdo entre El Corte Ingles y Repsol (hasta ahora como conocidas como Repsol-Supercor. La Superestacion). De esta forma, bajo la marca comercial OpenCor, encontraremos dos formatos de establecimientos: – Mas de 183 tiendas de conveniencia repartidas por todo el territorio nacional – Mas de 34 tiendas ubicadas en las Estaciones de Servicio Respsol- OpenCor. La Superestacion, adaptadas a las necesidades actuales, donde el cliente, ademas de repostar carburante, puede realizar su compra comodamente en una superficie de mas de 150 metros cuadrados . Se trata de una de las ensenas del grupo con mayor potencial de crecimiento. Los centros OpenCor ofrecen mas de 8. 00 articulos, que comprenden una amplia gama de articulos de alimentacion, drogueria, perfumeria asi como pan recien hecho, prensa y revistas, musica, peliculas, libros, juguetes, videojuegos y regalos. Ademas, en estas tiendas el cliente puede recargar su movil, revelar sus fotografias y realizar fotocopias. Las tiendas de OpenCor ofrecen una amplia y equilibrada gama de productos de alimentacion, perfumeria, regalos, ocio y prensa, ademas de otros servicios . Dentro de los planes de diversificacion de la compania, la ensena OpenCor represento un reto. El termino â€Å"OpenCor†se selecciono entre muchos, pues representaba perfectamente la vocacion con la que se creaba la nueva linea de negocio del grupo. El conjunto del termino, que unia la palabra del ingles â€Å"open†y â€Å"cor†resaltaba, por un lado, la importancia de que fuera una tienda siempre abierta y, por otro, la ventaja de contar con el respaldo y la garantia del lider. Datos de la Empresa: OpenCor es una cadena espanola de tiendas de conveniencia perteneciente al grupo de empresas El Corte Ingles, cuyo presidente es Isidoro Alvarez Alvarez y su director general Victor del Pozo Gil. Constituye un nuevo concepto de cadena de tiendas abiertas los 365 dias del ano durante 18 horas, pensadas para satisfacer las necesidades de cada dia, la compra de ultima hora, o cualquier olvido. Las tiendas Opencor presentan secciones de productos de primera necesidad (alimentacion, drogueria, y similares) asi como articulos de ocio (discos, peliculas, videojuegos, etc. ), regalos y otros productos. Opencor se inauguro el 18 de mayo del ano 2000 a traves de su centro de Majadahonda en Madrid. Las tiendas Opencor existentes en las estaciones de servicio de Repsol se denominan Repsol-Opencor y se gestionan por la sociedad Gespevesa,1 cuyo accionariado se reparte a partes iguales entre El Corte Ingles y Repsol. Previamente a esta denominacion se denominaron Repsol-Supercor desde 1998. Distribucion geografica: Opencor (Tiendas de Conveniencia S. A. ) y Repsol-Opencor (Gespevesa S. A. ) disponen de 187 tiendas en Espana: †¢58 en Madrid †¢40 en Andalucia †¢39 en Cataluna †¢32 en la Comunidad Valenciana †¢9 en Galicia †¢4 en Aragon †¢3 en Canarias †¢2 en Murcia Tienda tradicional: La tienda tradicional es un negocio en el que la gente puede adquirir bienes o servicios a cambio de una contraprestacion economica. Se trata de establecimientos pequenos con atencion directa por parte de un vendedor o dependiente, en el caso de algunas tiendas podemos encontrar mas de uno. Tambien le caracteriza la existencia de un mostrador que separa la sala de venta de los articulos de venta. En este tipo de establecimientos el cliente es asiduo y cercano al comerciante lo que hace que el trato y la atencion sea mas directo que en otro tipo de establecimientos como las grandes superficies. El dependiente suele conocer al consumidor y sus gustos, lo que le ayuda a saber como venderle y que venderle. El surtido suele ser limitado. Suelen tener poca variedad de cada producto, dos o tres marcas aproximadamente. Aunque son establecimientos son pequenos vende por su proximidad y cercania. Su tamano varia entre 15 y 50 metros de superficie. Este tipo de tiendas estan desapareciendo cada dia mas debido al asentamiento de las grandes superficies en las ciudades o nucleos urbanos y a la cercania de los supermercados. Lo que ha provocado el cierre de muchos de estos comercios en los ultimos anos. Tienda Tradicional 54 dosis cielo,azul, delicado 2,69â‚ ¬ Sensual 2,86â‚ ¬ La Toja (2,69)72 dosis cielo azul, delicado y frescor 3,90â‚ ¬ crystals azul, floral 3,99â‚ ¬ 480 gr36 dosis cielo azul y delicado 2,59â‚ ¬ 60 dosis 4,15â‚ ¬ Vernel Crystals 4,02â‚ ¬ 54 dosis azul 3,20â‚ ¬ Crystals 3,52â‚ ¬ 45 dosis azul, oceanico 2,69â‚ ¬ Marsella 2,86â‚ ¬ Relax 40 dosis 2,86â‚ ¬ 72 dosis Oceanico 3â‚ ¬ Colonia, Marsella, Rosa Hidratante 3,2â‚ ¬ Relax 64 dosis 3,2â‚ ¬72 dosis 3,30 144 dosis 5,70 essentis relajante de 64 dosis 3â‚ ¬45 dosis azul, oceanico, Marsella y rosa hidratante, 2,8572 dosis Azul 3 â‚ ¬ 750ml 3,67â‚ ¬ Azul y caricias. azul y caricias 4 â‚ ¬ 45 dosis Marsella y Aloe vera. 2,86â‚ ¬ 45 dosis 2,82â‚ ¬ azul, caricias, aloe vera 72 dosis 3,90â‚ ¬ azul, caricias y aloe vera4 litros 4,95 oferta, antes a 6,42 45 dosis Caricias 2,59â‚ ¬ Aloe vera 2,85â‚ ¬ 72 dosis 3,41â‚ ¬ Azul y flores72 dosis el 2,40â‚ ¬ flores blancas y brisa suave. 72 dosis es de 1,7â‚ ¬ colonia, aire rocio, aire prima, aire Marsella, aire pasion, aire verano, aire colonia. 2 litros 1,15â‚ ¬ 4litros 3â‚ ¬ 2 litros azul 2,15â‚ ¬72 dosis azul, spa, colonia, talco 1,60 â‚ ¬ 1,5 litros azul 2,15â‚ ¬ Conclusion: Empresas de suavizantes: UNILEVER Desde mediados del siglo XX, Unilever opera en Espana a traves de marcas presentes en la vida diaria de los espanoles. La presencia de Unilever en Espana se remonta a 1948. Desde entonces, ha experimentado un proceso de crecimiento similar al de la compania a nivel mundial. Actualmente, aproximadamente 1. 200 personas trabajan en nuestro pais, donde Unilever dispone de sus oficinas centrales en Barcelona y dos plantas industriales en Leioa (Vizcaya) y Aranjuez (Madrid). Ademas de una red comercial distribuida por todo el pais. En 2005, el grupo lanzo el programa One Unilever, con el que quiso reforzar su imagen corporativa. Mimosin es una marca emblematica en la categoria de suavizantes. De gran tradicion, siempre ha sido sinonimo de suavidad y caricia, ahora tambien incorpra fragancias para dejar en la ropa un agradable y fresco aroma. Mimosin esta presente en nuestros hogares desde hace varies generaciones y con una enorme notoriedad gracias a la presencia entranable de su icono: el osito de Mimosin. AC MARCA Notit pertenece al GRUPO AC MARCA, es un grupo internacional que tiene filiales en Portugal, Francia, Republica Checa, Mexico, Hungria, Rumania, Chile, Republica Eslovaca. Exporta a mas de 50 paises en todo el mundo. AC MARCA es la empresa que engloba las marcas enfocadas al cuidado del hogar: detergentes, limpiahogares, insecticidas†¦Sus marcas consolidadas y lideres en su segmento de negocio como NORIT, ALEX, YAK, ORION, GIOR e IBERIA estan en constante evolucion para ofrecer mejores soluciones adaptadas a las necesidades del consumidor del S. XXI. NORIT: NADA LAVA CON MAS CUIDADO. La marca lider en el cuidado de las prendas delicadas, ha evolucionado igual que sus consumidoras y hoy ofrece una amplia gama de productos para el cuidado de la ropa. Norit bebe (hipoalergenico), Cuidado delicado (a mano y a maquina), Pieles sensibles, Prendas modernas, Suavizante†¦ En 1944 nace la marca Norit, el primer detergente para lavar lana y seda, con su emblematico borreguito. En 1974 Norit crece con las versiones en liquido para lavado a mano. En 1995 se inicia la expansion internacional del grupo. HENKEL Henkel – A Brand Like a Friend – Este lema sintentiza la vision de hacer la vida de las personas mas facil, mejor y mas agradable con nuestras marcas y tecnologias. Con sede central en Dusseldorf (Alemania), Henkel cuenta con 52. 000 empleados en todo el mundo y es una de las empresas alemanas con mas presencia internacional en el mercado global. Consumidores de 125 paises en todo el mundo confian en las marcas y tecnologias de Henkel. El grupo aleman se instalo en Espana en 1960 tras comprar la empresa espanola Gota de Ambar, S. A. Actualmente Henkel Iberica cuenta con una plantilla de unos 1. 550 empleados. En 2008 la filial alcanzo unas ventas a terceros de 639 millones de euros. Henkel cuenta con 4 centros de produccion y distribucion en la Peninsula Iberica: Montornes del Valles, Sant Adria de Besos, Abrera y Sevilla, ademas de 3 centros de distribucion adicionales en Azuqueca de Henares, Castellbisbal y Sant Andreu de la Barca. Henkel opera en tres areas de negoci Vernel es la marca de suavizantes para la ropa que no solo suaviza tus prendas, sino que las deja con una agradable fragancia que permanece por mas tiempo. ?Caracteriscas del producto: Un frescor de ensueno Pieles sensibles Aromaterapia
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Cultural Sensitivity Essay
Cultural sensitivity is vital to remember when any firm does any business in a foreign market. Certain strategies and procedures used in the United States may not translate the same way in other countries or have the same impact. Other areas in the world operate their businesses with different priorities and in different cultures so it is crucial to consider how these differences may affect how business is done. Ethical situations will inevitably arise when a firm begins operations in a new international market so it is best to be prepared to face such situations with character. Company A now feels ready to enter the Eastern Asia market to continue its plans to grow the company and its profits. Taiwan is the country chosen for the next international expansion and there are many things to consider before entering this market. After researching several Eastern Asia markets to globalize in Taiwan, a republic of China was chosen as the country to expand in because there is the potential to manufacture a large volume of their engine parts there while paying very little in labor costs. The absence of any organized trade union is also a factor because there will be little resistance offered from any form of union. With expansion to any new country or region there are always cross-cultural ethical differences to take into consideration since all countries or areas hold their own world-views, religions, politics, traditions etc. Expanding to Taiwan with obviously has an impact on both Company A and Taiwan itself. While labor costs in Taiwan are much cheaper than the United States Company A must act ethically with concern to culture of Taiwan and the people who the employ there. Some people in Taiwan are grateful for American expansion to their country because there are more jobs available but there are also currently many in Taiwan who look at the American expansion in their country as a negative. There is a major concern in both Taiwan and the US that many of the multinational corporations doing business in Taiwan are doing far more that just operating a company there. Most believe that these multinational corporations have a significant influence on the political agenda’s of Taiwan w ho have the interest of their company in mind before that of the people of Taiwan. There is also major concern for the worsening of government regulation in Taiwan, as there appears that they are not protecting workers from any physical, mental or social risk in the workplace. Company A should also consider creating some form or insurance benefits package for its Taiwanese workers as this would go a long way in showing them that they are ethical, that they care about their workers, and that they respect the Taiwanese people. This all has an affect on company A because they must make a conscious effort protect their image and brand so that they can continue to grow their business within the US and worldwide. Company A must make ethical decisions towards their operations across the company and within Taiwan so that they are not branded as a company who is simply taking advantage of cheap labor in a foreign country. With the majority of Taiwan believing that workers are not protected and that multinational corporations are attempting to influence political issues, I t hink it would be wise for Company A to make massive effort towards showing the people in Taiwan that they will protect their workers and use any influence they hold to help improve government regulation and attempt to mutually benefit both the company and the people of Taiwan. Company A must also consider the traditions and general way of life for the Taiwanese people. For instance learning their foods, drinks, religious practices, and recreational activities and somehow blending them into the company culture may help workers feel more comfortable and trusting towards Company A. Taiwanese people drink a lot of tea and juice drinks with boba in them so maybe offering or selling those within the company property would be a good idea. Also Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religion are the common practices in Taiwan so perhaps offering a place of worship on company grounds would be a great gesture. As far as work hours are concerned, Taiwanese people are working similar business ours that Western countries typically will work so they are hard working people and are accustom to similar schedule to what the factory in the US would for Company A. The will also be critical adjustments needed to be made regarding Company A’s marketing strategies in Taiwan versus how they would typically market their products in the US. There are different consumers in Taiwan because of their dense population and their culture. Most Taiwanese people would not tend to purchase large trucks or vehicles that would necessitate the heavy duty parts that Company A manufactures so they must concentrate almost all of their marketing efforts around a specific group of Taiwanese consumer or business that utilizes larger vehicles on a consistent basis. Company must market their product mainly to businesses that use heavy-duty equipment in their operations and in industrial areas since the average Taiwanese consumer would not buy a large truck, as they are not sold in such large volumes as they are in the US. As far as marketing to consumers Company A’s focus should be on the wealthy people of Taiwan who can afford to operate and maintain larger vehicles. Company A should also reduce the price of their product to ac commodate for a smaller volume of sales on trucks in Taiwan and also to begin attracting new clients since they will be new to the area. This price reduction should be offset somewhat by the less expensive labor costs experienced in Taiwan. Cross-cultural communication is also important for Company A to build a strong relationship with its Taiwanese workers. The first barrier to communication is language. The primary language in Taiwan is Mandarin Chinese and while most Taiwanese businessmen do speak English, it would be a good idea for some representatives from Company to a learn some Mandarin Chinese to help with communication efforts. Company should also consider having some translators available to maintain clear communication as well. Taiwanese business is based mainly off of respect so it is important to meet fact-to-face whenever possible, include senior executives meetings whenever possible, direct presentations to the senior ranking person and also make sure to give and receive any gifts with both hands as a sign of respect, and always look people in the eyes. It is also very important to refrain from being too frank or outspoken because this will be viewed as disrespectful. Is it vital to keep these practices as well as learning other important cultural traditions when conducting business in Taiwan or with any Taiwanese people. As far as marketing is concerned, while in the US marketing can be based around creativity and branding, it is important in Taiwan to focus their marketing around integrity and respect. Taiwanese people and their businesses are less concerned with gimmicks and flash and maintain an emphasis on ethics and as always respect is absolutely vital. There will without a doubt be many cultural differences to overcome when opening a new plant in Taiwan. Marketing strategies and how businesses are viewed will not be the same in Taiwan as they are in the US so while A Company may be accustomed to operating their plants at home in a certain way, they must make adjustments to accommodate for the cultural variances of the environment their new plant is operating in. The impact that the cultural differences will have could be minor or they could be significant depending on how well Company A does their research and how they handle adapting their new plant to conform to the Taiwanese market while maintaining efficiency and their core company beliefs. Taiwan is densely populated country and their consumers purchase mainly small fuel efficient vehicles and since Company A specializes in engine components for heavy duty trucks they must focus their marketing strategies on smaller sized trucks with an emphasis on the advantages of their engi ne components, along with businesses that utilize heavy duty trucks in their operations.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
How to Combine Arrays in Ruby
How to Combine Arrays in Ruby What is the best way to combine arrays? This question is quite vague and can mean a few different things. Concatenation Concatenation is to append one thing to another. For example, concatenating the arrays [1,2,3] and [4,5,6] will give you [1,2,3,4,5,6]. This can be done in a few ways in Ruby. The first is the plus operator. This will append one array to the end of another, creating a third array with the elements of both. Alternatively, use the concat method (the operator and concat method are functionally equivalent). If youre doing a lot of these operations you may wish to avoid this. Object creation is not free, and every one of these operations creates a third array. If you want to modify an array in place, making it longer with new elements you can use the operator. However, if you try something like this, youll get an unexpected result. Instead of the expected [1,2,3,4,5,6] array we get [1,2,3,[4,5,6]]. This makes sense, the append operator takes the object you give it and appends it to the end of the array. It didnt know or care that you tried to append another array to the array. So we can loop over it ourselves. Set Operations The world combine can also be used to describe the set operations. The basic set operations of intersection, union, and difference are available in Ruby. Remember that sets describe a set of objects (or in mathematics, numbers) that are unique in that set. For example, if you were to do a set operation on the array [1,1,2,3] Ruby will filter out that second 1, even though 1 may be in the resulting set. So be aware that these set operations are different than list operations. Sets and lists are fundamentally different things. You can take the union of two sets using the | operator. This is the or operator, if an element is in one set or the other, its in the resulting set. So the result of [1,2,3] | [3,4,5] is [1,2,3,4,5] (remember that even though there are two threes, this is a set operation, not a list operation). The intersection of two sets is another way to combine two sets. Instead of an or operation, the intersection of two sets is an and operation. The elements of the resultant set are those in both sets. And, being an and operation, we use the operator. So the result of [1,2,3] [3,4,5] is simply [3]. Finally, another way to combine two sets is to take their difference. The difference of two sets is the set of all objects in the first set that is not in the second set. So [1,2,3] - [3,4,5] is [1,2]. Zipping Finally, there is zipping. Two arrays can be zipped together combining them in a rather unique way. Its best to just show it first, and explain after. The result of [1,2,3].zip([3,4,5]) is [ [1,3], [2,4], [3,5] ]. So what happened here? The two arrays were combined, the first element being a list of all elements in the first position of both arrays. Zipping is a bit of a strange operation and you may not find much use for it. Its purpose is to combine two arrays whose elements closely correlate.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Coordinate Geometry and Points on SAT Math Complete Guide
Coordinate Geometry and Points on SAT Math Complete Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Coordinate geometry is one of the heavy-hitter topics on the SAT, and you'll need to be able to maneuver your way through its many facets in order to take on the variety of questions you'll see on the test. Luckily, though, coordinate geometry is not difficult to visualize or wrap your head around once you know the basics. And we are here to show you how. There will usually be two questions on any given SAT that involve points alone, and another 2-3 questions that will involve lines and slopes and/or rotations, reflections, or translations. This makes up a significant portion of your SAT math section, so it is a good idea to understand the ins and outs of coordinate geometry before you tackle the test. This will be your complete guide to points and the building blocks for coordinate geometry- how to find and manipulate points, distances, and midpoints, as well as strategies for solving these types of questions on test day. What is Coordinate Geometry? Geometry always takes place on a plane, which is a flat surface that goes on infinitely in all directions. The coordinate plane refers to a plane that has scales of measurement along the $x$- and $y$-axes. Coordinate geometry is the geometry that takes place in the coordinate plane. Coordinate Scales The $\bi x$-axis is the scale that measures horizontal distance along the coordinate plane. The $\bi y$-axis is the scale that measures vertical distance along the coordinate plane. The intersection of the two planes is called the origin. We can find any point along the infinite span of the plane by using its position with regard to the $x$- and $y$-axes and to the origin. We mark this location with coordinates, written as $(x, y)$. The $x$ value tells us how far along (and in which direction) our point is along the $x$-axis. The $y$ value tells us how far along (and in which direction) our point is along the $y$-axis. For instance, This point is 7 units to the right of the origin and 4 units above the origin. This means that our point is located at coordinates $(7, 4)$. Anywhere to the right of the origin will have a positive $\bi x$ value. Anywhere left of the origin will have a negative $\bi x$ value. Anywhere vertically above the origin will have a positive $\bi y$ value. Anywhere vertically below the origin will have a negative $\bi y$ value. By breaking the coordinate plane up into four quadrants, we can see that any point will have certain properties in terms of its positivity or negativity, depending on where it is located. Distances and Midpoints When given two coordinate points, you can find both the distance between them as well as the midpoint between the two original points. We can find these values by using formulas or by using other geometry techniques. Let's look at each option. No distance is too much for a genius with a plan. Or a genius who is hungry. Either way. Image: Gwendal Uguen/Flickr Distance Formula $√{(x_2−x_1)^2+(y_2−y_1)^2}$ There are two options for finding the distance between two points- using the distance formula, or using the Pythagorean Theorem. Let's look at both. Solving Method 1: Distance Formula If you prefer to use formulas when you take standardized tests, then go ahead and memorize the distance formula above. You will NOT be provided the distance formula on the test, so, if you choose this route, make sure you can memorize the formula accurately and call upon it as needed. (Remember- a formula you remember incorrectly is worse than not knowing a formula at all!) Let us say we have two points, $(7, -2)$ and $(-5, 3)$, and we must find the distance between the two. If we simply plug our values into our distance formula, we get: $√{(x_2−x_1)^2+(y_2−y_1)^2}$ $√{(−5−7)^2+(3−(−2))^2}$ $√{(−12)^2+(5)^2}$ $√{144+25}$ $√{169}$ $13$ The distance between our two points is 13. Solving Method 2: Pythagorean Theorem $a^2+b^2=c^2$ Alternatively, we can always find the distance between two points by using the Pythagorean Theorem. This way takes slightly longer, but doesn't require us to expend energy memorizing extra formulas and carries less risk of us remembering the formula wrong. Remember that you are given the Pythagorean Theorem on every SAT math section, so you never have to fear mis-remembering it. It is also a formula that you've likely had to use much more often than most other formulas, so odds are that it's familiar to you. Simply turn the coordinate points and the distance between them into a right triangle, with the distance acting as a hypotenuse. From the coordinates, we can find the lengths of the legs of the triangle and use the Pythagorean Theorem to find our distance. For example, let us use the same coordinates from earlier to find the distance between them using this method instead. Find the distance between the points $(7, -2)$ and $(-5, 3)$ First, start by mapping out your coordinates. Next, make the legs of your right triangles. If we count the points along our plane, we can see that we have leg lengths of 12 and 5. Now we can plug these numbers in and use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the final piece of our triangle, the distance between our two points. $a^2+b^2=c^2$ $12^2+5^2=c^2$ $144+25=c^2$ $169=c^2$ $c=13$ The distance between our two points is, once again, 13. [Special Note: If you are familiar with your triangle shortcuts, you may have noticed that this triangle was what we call a 5-12-13 triangle. Because it is one of the regular right triangles, you technically don't even need the Pythagorean Theorem to know that the hypotenuse will be 13 if the two legs are 5 and 12. This is a shortcut that can be useful to know, but is NOT necessary to know, as you can see.] Midpoint Formula $$({x_1+x_2}/2, {y_1+y_2}/2)$$ In addition to finding the distance between two points, we can also find the midpoint between two coordinate points. Because this will be another point on the plane, it will have its own set of coordinates. If you look at the formula, you can see that the midpoint is the average of each of the values of a particular axis. So the midpoint will always be the average of the $x$ values and the average of the $y$ values, written as a coordinate point. For example, let us take the same points we used for our distance formula, $(7, -2)$ and $(-5, 3)$. If we take the average of our $x$ values, we get: $${7+(-5)}/2$$ $$2/2$$ $$1$$ And if we take the average of our $y$ values, we get: $${−2+3}/2$$ $$1/2$$ $$1/2$$ The midpoint of the line will be at coordinates $(1, 1/2)$. If we look at our picture from earlier, we can see that this is true. It is difficult to find the midpoint of a line without use of the formula, but by thinking of it as finding the average of each axis value may make it easier to visualize and remember, rather than thinking of it in terms of a "formula." Now, just measure the midpoint of an endless stretch of road- no problem. Typical Point Questions Point questions on the SAT will generally fall into one of three categories- questions about how the coordinate plane works, counting questions, and midpoint or distance questions. Let's look at each type. Coordinate Questions Questions about the coordinate plane test how well you understand exactly how the coordinate plane works, as well as how to manipulate points and lines within it. In the $xy$-coordinate plane, how many points are a distance of 4 units from the origin? A. OneB. TwoC. FourD. More than four For a question like this, it may be tempting to answer C, four. After all, there will be four distinct points 4 units from the origin, two on the $x$-axis (one right and one left), and two on the $y$-axis (one up and one down). But answering this way would disregard the realities of circles. Imagine that we have circle with a midpoint at the origin whose circumference touches each of the points 4 units from the origin. Now, if we remember our circle definitions, we know that all straight lines drawn from the center of the circle to the circumference will all be equal. We also know that there are infinite such lines. This means that there will be infinitely many point that are 4 units from the origin. These points may have "weird" coordinates (as in non-integer values), but they will be points 4 units from the origin all the same. Our final answer is D, More than 4. Counting Questions Counting questions are exactly what they sound like- you will be given a diagram of the coordinate plane (or, rarely, you must create your own) and then you will be asked to count distances from specific point to specific point. On occasion, you may also be asked to count seemingly "odd" measurements, like the values of your $x$ and $y$ coordinates. For instance, For this question, you must first understand what absolute values mean. From there, it is a simple matter of counting the x and y values from their coordinate points. For a question like this, the most efficient path is to work from our answer choices. Since our answer choices are NOT in order of "greatest to least," it will not help us to start with the middle answer choice and work our way from there, as we would normally do when plugging in answers. Knowing that, let us simply work in order from first to last, until we find our right answer. Point A is at coordinates $(-3, -3)$. So let us find the sum of their absolute values. $|x|+|y|$ $|−3|+|−3|$ $3+3$ 6 Since we are looking for the value 5, this answer is too large. We can eliminate answer choice A. Point B is at coordinates $(-4, 1)$ $|x|+|y|$ $|−4|+|1|$ $4+1$ 5 Success! We have found the answer choice that gives us coordinates whose absolute values add up to 5. Because there will only ever be one correct answer on any SAT question, we can stop here. Our final answer is B. Midpoint and Distance Questions Midpoint and distance questions will be fairly straightforward and ask you for exactly that- the distance or the midpoint between two points. You may have to find distances or midpoints from a scenario question (a hypothetical situation or a story) or simply from a straightforward math question (e.g., "What is the distance from points $(4, 5)$ and $(8, -2)$?"). Let's look at an example of a scenario question, Rosa and Marco met up for dinner and then drove home separately from the restaurant. To get home from the restaurant, Rosa drove north 6 miles and Marco drove west 8 miles. How far apart do Rosa and Marco live? A. 8 milesB. 10 milesC. 12 milesD. 14 miles First, let us make a quick sketch of our scenario. Now, because this is a distance question, we have the option of using either our distance formula or using the Pythagorean theorem. Since we have already begun by drawing out our diagram, let us continue on this path and use the Pythagorean theorem. Now, we can see that we have made a right triangle from the legs of distance we have already. Rosa drove 6 miles north and Marco drove 8 miles west, which means that the legs of our triangle will be 6 and 8. Now we can find the hypotenuse by using the Pythagorean theorem. $6^2+8^2=c^2$ $36+64=c^2$ $100=c^2$ c=√{100}$ $c=10$ [Note: if you remember your shortcuts for right triangles, you could have saved yourself some time and simply known that our distance/hypotenuse was 10. Why? Because a right triangle with legs of 6 and 8 is a 3-4-5 triangle multiplied by 2. So the hypotenuse would be $5*2=10$.] The distance between Marco's house and Rosa's house is 10 miles. Our final answer is B, 10 miles. "The worst distance between two people is misunderstanding"- Unknown. Or, you know, 10 miles. Strategies for Solving Point Questions Though point questions can come in a variety of forms, there are a few strategies you can follow to help master them. #1: Always Write Down Given Information Though it may be tempting to work through questions in your head, it is easy to make mistakes with your point questions if you do not write down your givens. This is especially the case when working with negatives or with absolute values. In addition, most of the time you are given a diagram with marked points on the coordinate plane, you will not be given coordinates. This is because the test makers feel it would be too simple a problem to solve had you been given coordinates (take, for example, the question involving absolute values from earlier). So take a moment to write down your coordinates and any other given information in order to keep it straight in your head. #2: Draw It Out In addition to writing down your given information, draw pictures of your scenarios. Make your own pictures if you are given none, draw on top of them if you are given diagrams. Never underestimate the value of marked information or a sketch- even a rough approximation can help you keep track of more information than you can (or should try to) in your head. Time and energy are two precious resourses at your disposal when taking the SAT and it takes little of each to make a rough sketch, but can cost you both to keep all your information in your head. #3: Decide Now Whether or Not to Use Formulas If you feel more comfortable using formulas than using the slightly more drawn-out techniques, then decide now to memorize your formulas. Remember that memorizing a formula wrong is worse than not remembering it at all, so make sure that you memorize and practice your formula knowledge between now and test day to lock it in your head. If, however, you are someone who prefers to dedicate your study efforts elsewhere (or you simply feel that you won't remember the formula correctly on the day of the test), then go ahead and forget them. Use the Pythagorean theorem instead of memorizing the distance formula and wash your hands of memorization altogether. There are multiple ways to solve most SAT math problems, so your choices should best match your own personal strengths and weaknesses Image: ljphillips34/Flickr Test Your Knowledge Now, let's test your point knowledge on some more real SAT math questions. 1. What is the midpoint of the line that begins at coordinates $(-3, 2)$ and ends at $(5, -10)$? A. (6, -4)B. (4, -1)C. (1, 4)D. (-1, -6)E. (1, -4) 2. 3. (Refer to information in question 2) 4. (Refer to information in question 2) Answers: E, D, A, B Answer Explanations: 1. To find the midpoint of the line connecting two points, we must take the average of each of the values along a particular axis. First, as always, it is a good idea to take a moment to map out the coordinates of our given points. This will help us keep track of our information, especially considering there are negatives involved. First, let us take the average of our two $x$-values. ${-3+5}/2$ $2/2$ 1 Now, let us take the average of our two $y$-values. ${2+(-10)}/2$ $-8/2$ $−4$ The midpoint of our line will be at coordinates $(1, -4)$ We can see that this is likely the correct answer, as it neatly fits into our diagram. Our final answer is E, $(1, -4)$. 2. Here, we have a counting question. We are not being asked to find the linear distance between two points, F and W, but to find them along a grid. So let us draw the various pathways from F to W. As you can see, the shortest paths from F to W are all 3 3$1/2$ units long, which makes 3$1/2$ the m-distance. Our final answer is D, 3$1/2$ 3. Again, we have what amounts to another counting question. This is also a definite case of when it is a good idea to draw pictures so that we do not repeat potential $m$-distance routes from F to Z. So let us find our routes. First, start by finding one of the most direct paths, which in this case is a distance of 4 units. Next, trace all the paths that follow the lines from F to Z. If any of our new paths span less than 4 units, it will of course become our new m-distance, but for now we are working under the assumption that the $m$-distance is 4. All of our paths travel a distance of 4 units, making this our m-distance. If you were careful to keep track of all your paths and not count any of them more than once, then you will see that there are 6 routes from F to Z that will measure the minimum distance. Our final answer is A, six. 4. Now, this question may seem tricky because it looks, at first glance, almost exactly like one of our questions from earlier in the guide, which asked us, "How many points are 4 units from the origin?" In that case, the answer was "infinitely many," because all the points 4 units from the origin formed a circle, and there are always infinite points on a circle. In this case, we are being asked to find all the points ${m-3}$-distance from a particular point. This is NOT the same as asking for the number of points 3 units from a point (in this case, point F). Why not? Because the problem defined $m$-distance as the minimum distance traveled along a grid, not the distance in all directions. So if we start tracing all the distances ${m-3}$-units from F, we can start to see the pattern. Once we've mapped out all the possible lines ${m-3}$-units from F in one quadrant of our map, we can expand it outwards to see the shape that emerges. We can see that all the points ${m-3}$-distance from F form a square. Our final answer is B, a square. Think you deserve a treat for all that hard work. The Take Aways Understanding the coordinate plane and how points fit in it are the basic building blocks for coordinate geometry. With these understandings, you will be able to perform more complex coordinate geometry tasks, such as finding slopes and rotating shapes. Coordinate geometry is not an insignificant part of the SAT math section, but luckily success is mostly a matter of organization and diligence. Be careful to keep track of your negatives and all your moving pieces and you'll be able to dominate those point questions and all the coordinate geometry the SAT can throw at you. What's Next? Ready to tackle more SAT math topics? You're in luck! We've got guides for every math topic on the SAT, so come check them out. From probabilities to polygons, fractions to functions- we've got you covered. Running out of time on the SAT math section? Check out our guide on how to beat the clock and maximize your SAT math score. Bitten by the procrastination bug? Our guide will help you overcome all those procrastinating woes and get you back on track in no time. Looking to get a perfect score? We've got your back with our guide to getting an 800 on the SAT math section, written by a perfect-scorer. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Math strategy guide, you'll love our program. Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:
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