Porters Five Forces. External Environment Analysis of Southwest Term Paper

Porters Five Forces. External Environment Analysis of Southwest Airlines - Term Paper Example Threat of Entry Since the phase of deregulation, many new entrants have entered into the airlines industry in USA. 22 new airlines had been formed and another 43 of them has entered till 1982. Experts suggested that the industry had inefficient scale economies which supported the entry of numerous new entrants in the industry. However, since 1993 and during the recent years many of these start-ups have been consolidated, established and incorporated as large and major airlines. The high threat of new entry in the airlines industry in US also gets reflected through the fact that 8 major airlines existing in the market have become bankrupt merged with other companies or has simply vanished from the radar screen (Desai, Patel & Quach, 2002, p.4). Substitutes Trains, buses and cars account for major substitutes for air travel. However, the importance of trains and buses as substitute products has declined over the years. The Switching costs associated between air travel and its substitute services remain quite low; however, experts suggests that the importance of the substitutes are likely to change as per the customer type, route and reason for travel. For example, travelling through seas across US for long journeys would reduce ground transportation to a certain extent. Business travel could generate more flying demand while vocational travel could demand more driving. Due to the fact that leisure travellers are considered to be more price sensitive as compared to business travellers, they are more likely to use substitute services considering the opportunity costs incurred (Desai, Patel & Quach, 2002, p.4). Bargaining Power of Suppliers Employee bargaining powers are expected to vary according to unionization of employees or the charac teristics of employees. Wage rates have accounted for major operating expense of airlines leading to many union strikes during the post liberalization era. The bargaining powers of pilots have remained low since there are numerous pilots available in the market. Moreover, airplane manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing, enjoy high powers of bargaining since they huge switching costs are associated with changing the airplanes (Desai, Patel & Quach, 2002, p.4). Bargaining Power of Buyers The individual powers of buyers remain low because of the inability of the airline customers to coordinate and organize among themselves. The extent of price discrimination employed by airlines would also depend largely on routes and type of the customers. Routes which remain heavily flooded by different flights more likely to charge competitive prices because of the existence of substitute airlines. On the contrary the long distance flights which have less hubs and schedules are likely to be dominat ed by too many airlines and which consequently would charge exorbitant price from customers. Corporate discounting, i.e.,

Analysis Of The Musical Grease Film Studies Essay

Analysis Of The Musical Grease Film Studies Essay In this musical written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, it is 1959 and Rydell high is crowded with defiant, fun-loving students. In the middle of this landscape, Sandy Dumbrowski arrives as the new girl in school. It turns out that over the summer she and Danny Zuko, leader of the Burger Palace Boys gang, have had a brief love affair. While Sandy tells her new classmates about the emotional involvement she had with Danny, he makes of tales about the sexual side of their relationship. As the show progresses the kids at Rydell High have to deal with issues surprising to people who have a romanticized view of the 1950s; love, gang violence, teen pregnancy, and friendship. In the end, Sandy and Danny work out their differences with each other and their friends and end up together and happy. I saw this production at the JSU/McClellan Theatre in Anniston, Alabama. The stage in this theatre is of the proscenium type. I think that overall, this is the perfect type of stage for this play but the arrangement of the theatre was a little lacking for this production mainly because of the seating challenges. There were three sections of seating. The middle section was fairly large and centered with the stage. There were two sections on either side that hugged the wall. The section on the far right was behind the orchestra. The orchestra pit was not really a pit and was actually on level with the seating. Therefore, those people in the rows behind the orchestra had a very difficult time seeing over the musicians and instruments; especially the harp that was used in this production. I know this because I was one of those unlucky enough to be sitting behind the aforementioned musicians. I spent the play with my head tilted at an odd angle trying to see around them. What I did have a good view of was the wing, stage left and unfortunately I could see the actors getting ready to make entrances and exits which ruined a little of the ambience. Had I been sitting in the center section and further back I believe it would have been much more enjoyable. This play had elements of the realistic and the non-realistic. It dealt with very real themes such as teen pregnancy, bullying, peer pressure, drinking, and gang violence. The non-realistic bits were obviously the musical numbers. In real life, we do not just burst into song because we broke up with a boyfriend or girlfriend or had a teenage romance. The sets of this play were not what I would call realistic. They attempted realism but it seemed as if the budget of the play and the way it had to be staged left them with no choice but leave it slightly abstract. The sets were very basic and the car set used for the Greased Lightning and Alone at a Drive-In Movie numbers was very cartoonish. The costumes in this play attempted realism but fell short. In the dance scenes, the dresses looked like leftovers from a 1980s prom sale that had been re-cut in an attempt to make them look like they were from the fifties. The clothing in the earlier scenes was a little bit better and closer to th e true fifties flavor. The use of props was done well. The actors used actual props for the most part, there was very little miming of actions. This play was a musical with elements of comedy. The comedy was mostly verbal with subtle inflections of tone. There were a few physical comedic elements mostly used by the characters of Eugene Florczyk and Cha-Cha DiGregorio, who did an excellent job making the audience laugh. The character of Jan played by Michelle Bain combined a few elements of physical with verbal comedy. Betty Rizzo, played by Judy Shealy was amazingly funny with her dry quips and very sarcastic delivery of Rizzos best lines. This play was structured episodically. This play was very entertaining. There were a few elements of it that could be taken as social messages such as the drinking and rebelliousness that resulted in a pregnancy scare for one of the characters. The playwright and director seemed to work in beautiful harmony for this production. You could see that there was a lot of effort put into the acting and the direction. The letter from the artistic director that was printed in the front of the program gave a small amount of background. For someone who was not familiar with the work it would have helped them to perhaps understand a little bit more of the motivation behind the play. There were several stand out performers in this play and also a few disappointments. Hands down Judy Shealys portrayal of Betty Rizzo was the show stealer. She gave the character real life. From the wisecracking to the sad and scared she made you care about what happened to her. Her performance of There Are Worse Things I Could Do was one of the standouts of the play. As I mentioned earlier the characters of Eugene and Cha-Cha played by Daniel King Jr. and Georgia Cook were wonderful. Both of these characters were very funny and entertaining. Jacob Cummings Teen Angel was excellent. The Teen Angel scene is one that I rank among my least favorites and it usually bores me, but I found myself loving this portrayal. Cummings sang excellently and lent a degree of humor to the role that was refreshing. Michelle Bain as Jan was another standout. She is a very good comic actress and her affected accent was very funny. I was not however thrilled with Heather Garlick or Joshua Cody Hunt who pl ayed the roles of Danny and Sandy. These are the two main characters and should carry the show. I found myself bored I am sad to say when they were on. Heathers performance as Sandy was wooden, one- dimensional and not at all believable. I found myself bored whenever she was on. Joshua Hunt as Danny was almost as bad although when he was interacting with the Burger Palace Boys he seemed to shine a little more. The scenery was low budget and it was obvious. It did detract a little from the overall performance. It was almost as if a high school had thrown the production together at the last minute as far as the scenery is concerned. The lighting was acceptable, but the band was excellent. They and the actors worked together well and there seemed to be no missed cues and everything flowed seamlessly. Overall, this was a very acceptable performance. The actors were as a whole very good, with the exceptions noted above. The band and actors worked flawlessly together and were very enjoyable. There was obviously a great deal of effort put into the choreography of the dance scene and it came off very well. It was a fun evening and certainly put a smile on my face. I came away nostalgic for a time I was not even alive to witness. Production Details Your name Cassie Patterson Name of production Grease Author Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey Producing organization or theatre where you attended Community Actors Studio Theatre Date of performance October 3, 2010 Style of performance (realistic, non-realistic, Combination combination) Structure of the play (climactic, episodic, ritualistic, Episodic Etc.) Form of the play (tragedy, drama, comedy, etc.) Musical Stage space (proscenium, arena, etc.) Proscenium Acting styles (realistic, melodramatic, exaggerated, Realistic, comedic etc.) Style of scenic designs (realistic, abstract, etc.) Abstract Style of costume designs (fantasy, abstract, etc.) Realistic Style of lighting designs (realistic, abstract, etc.) Realistic Production Personnel: Director Kimberly Dobbs Scenic Designer Eric Key Costume Designer Hayley Long, Lolly Payne, Sara Semmes Lighting Designer Terri Sherrill Stage Manager Pat Tiller, Chrissy Patterson, Cierra Parker, Tristan Waid, Janet Harbor, Tim Doyle, Alexandre de Lavalette

Substance Abuse :: Drug Addiction Essays

substance Abuse Substance abuse is just one of the problems facing the United States today. Even though it seems like a big problem, it actually first started in the 1800’s when the first drugs were smuggled. This only began the never ending path of illegal drugs flowing through the U.S. In the 1950’s, a therapeutic drug was introduced called Phencyclidine (PCP), later nicknamed angle dust. Doctors soon found that the drug caused hallucinogenic side effects. It was then pulled. The drug soon reappeared in the sixties and seventies. They were made by amateur chemists for an illegal drug trade. People began to smoke, inhale it, or inject it. Effects included confusion, lack of coordination, slurred speech, and blurred vision. Physical effects include: increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, drooling, fever, and muscle rigidity. An overdose can result in a coma, brain hemorrhage, and heart failure. It has been steadily declining in the U.S. Another type of drug is crack, which is a form of smokeable cocaine. This has become a serious health problem. The problem is that it’s low cost makes it more accessible to people. I is also more damaging both physically and psychologically than cocaine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the result, people were trying to get as many drugs as they could. Many soon progressed to smuggling the drugs in. The number of drugs to be smuggled into the U.S has been increasing. The first known drug smugglers were the Chinese in 1870. They began smuggling opium in merchant ship cargo and baggage. By the 1970’s drug smuggling became more of a problem for the coast guards and seizures were made while engaged in other operations. The coast guards, between 1997 to the present, had seized 540,476 pounds of cocaine, 270,060 pound of marijuana. The major high intensity drug trafficking areas are Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, New York City, and the US/Mexico border. Not only did people smuggle drugs over sea, but they would smuggle it over borders. Many thought of outrageous ways to hide the drugs. Women would sew them in their bras; drugs would be stashed under hats, in shoes, in socks, etc. Anywhere you could possibly think, people thought of it. They wer e addicted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine, and marijuana all cross into the U.C hidden among eighty-four million cars, two hundred and thirty two million people, and 2.8 million trucks estimated cross the 38 ports of entry spanning 200 miles.

Evacuation, Second World War Coursework Essay

Source B shows the negative sides and is more personal that the first source. Extracted from an interview with a teacher in 1988, the teacher remembers being evacuated with the school children. The interview was made in 1988 many years after the war so the lady would be of old age. Her memories may be woolly and not of great accuracy, and as it will have been written up by the interviewer it is secondary information. She may be influenced on her views of evacuation after the war; and so be biased against it, even though it saved so many lives at the time. She describes the children as being ‘too afraid to talk’, which I feel may have been true. Children were being taken away from their families and boarding a train where neither themselves or the teachers knew where they were going, as the teacher quotes ‘we hadn’t the slightest idea where we were going and we put the children on the train and the gates closed behind us’. The worry and anxiety affected the parents above all, and from this source it suggests that the mothers ‘pressed against the iron gates calling ‘good-bye darling’. Even though they were told not to come they trailed behind desperate to spend the last moments with their children. Mothers were persuaded into letting their children go by the government and the propaganda around at the time and were even considered selfish if they did not allow their children We do not know who the source is written by, just that it is from an interview. There does not seem to be a real purpose to this interview, but just to perhaps contribute the information gathered to a history book or other merely informative purposes, as the interview took place so long after the war was over. There would be no need therefore for the lady to lie or twist the truth purposefully. And no purpose of the interviewer to convert her information into propaganda or such, so I thin the interview is fairly trustworthy to that extent Source C was written in 1973 and was published a long time after the end of the war. This makes it a secondary source, as it has not come directly from the mouths of the children or the foster parent. Written by a lady presumably for the purpose of educating children on evacuation, language and content is dulled slightly to be more appropriate for children. If it had been a book for adults it would have been described differently. The children would not have ‘giggled’ but would have been offended by the automatic presumption of poverty. They may have even explained that their slippers would not fit in the case. Written for children, no bad points would have been inserted and simple language will have been used. The source may lose reliability due to being edited for children as children are not to be exposed to the negative side of evacuation. This is not a source, which shows the failure or success or evacuation, but if it was to highlight one over the other I would say it shows the successes mostly. I know from other information that one of the main products of evacuation was the sudden realisation from the middle class of the poverty and poor education of children and adults living in the slums. Shown here in the source the woman does presume they are too poor to have slippers, and is embarrassed that she presumed they would own some. Even though the children giggle about it, it is very serious that some children evacuated were too poor to have slippers and some too poor to form the necessary kit of items required. The kindness of the foster parent towards the children and the understanding of her taking them both acknowledging they were siblings show other successes of evacuation. However this was not always the case. Another foster parent may have been negative towards the child or children, and some foster -parents only had room for one.

Psychology, IT and Individualism Essay

As information technology continues to develop with more people getting exposed to it, numerous changes are also taking place the field of psychology. Previously, many IT analysts frequently argued that psychology was taking longer than enough to implement and adopt technological advancements. However, recent researches indicate that the practices and methods applied in psychology have greatly transformed as a result of changes in information technology. First, the internet has been one of the major latest trends in psychology; it is highly associated with psychopathology (Wilson 2004). For instance, depression and loneliness have often been connected to the excess use of the internet since it results to addiction. Secondly, there is the use of information technology in counseling and psychotherapy. This is currently being done via the internet; this has resulted to some lack of privacy and confidentiality as well as loss of effectiveness in the practice since some important features such as facial expression and verbal expression has been lost (Wilson 2004). IT is also applied in research and development in psychology to enhance further growth and generation of useful knowledge. For instance, the authors of the current DSM IV-TR applied computerized criteria in revising the classification of disorders in the manual to come with a less flawless criterion of categorizing disorders and disabilities. Using IT, today’s psychotherapists have been able to make numerous improvements in the way through which they can reach, counsel and correspond with their clients (discussed in the next section) (Azucena, Hunter, 2001). The growth of Psychotherapy Psychotherapy refers to private individual counseling by professional psychotherapists. As a highly growing trend in psychology, psychotherapy is used by psychotherapists to assist them in developing deliberate interpersonal relationships with their clients as a strategy for helping the patient to improve their well being. The trend applies many modern techniques of building closer relationships with the patients such as face to face dialogues, home phone calls and regular visits of the therapist to the client (Azucena, Hunter, 2001). This trend is basically aimed at improving the mental health of the patient through interpersonal relationships. This represents a great shift in the nature of counseling psychology, psychiatry, occupational therapy, clinical psychology and other related fields in psychology. In essence, psychotherapy is not a new trend in the field of psychology since over the years, people have received private reassurance and counsel from others; what is new and becoming increasingly famous in psychology is the application of modern and deliberate professional techniques in psychotherapy. Such psychotherapeutic techniques include online counseling whereby a therapist handles client personally through creating client accounts where he can easily relate with the client on one-on-one(but not face-to-face) bases (Tredinnick, Fowers, 1999). Most of the new psychotherapeutic techniques are possible because of the advancements in the use of information technology in the field of psychology as discussed above. For instance, therapists encourage clients to use social networks to be able to communicate easily with them and their families. In addition, they also approve the use of phone calls whereby clients are free to call their physicians at any time of the day so that they can discuss their issues at convenience. However, modern psychotherapy is not without a number of flaws. Recently, concerns have greatly risen concerning the advancement of individualism in psychotherapy (Tredinnick, Fowers, 1999). Psychotherapy encourages individualism on both the therapist and the client. Individualism is a term used in psychology to refer to ways through which people recognize themselves only and concentrate on individual goals as opposed to collectivism. In this sense, psychotherapist no longer view psychotherapy as a collective discipline that require combined efforts with other experts in the field since they are in a position to carry out counseling and psychiatry without involving anybody else—they can visit their clients at home, chat with them online and make home phone class with them. This has resulted to a great decline in the success of psychology as a collective discipline (Tredinnick, Fowers, 1999; Azucena, Hunter, 2001). Conclusion The use IT in psychology and the advancement in psychotherapy are important developments in psychology and should be highly encouraged. However, it is upon therapists and other psychological professionals to ensure that this new trends are used effectively to prevent the decline evident in cooperation among professional bodies in the field of psychology due to individualism. References Azucena, P. G. , Hunter, H. G. (2001) Redefining Therapeutic Success with Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, Cyber-psychology & Behavior, 4(3), pp. 484-489. Fowers, B. J. , Tredinnick, M. G. (1999). Individualism and psychotherapy; are psychologists leading or following individualistic trends? Counseling, Psychology Quarterly, 12(3): pp. 303-313 Wilson, J. T. et al (2004). Current trends in psychology and the behavioral sciences. University of Pittsburgh press: Pittsburgh, PA.

Before the sun by Charles Mungoshi

Before the sun by Charles Mungoshi This is a simple poem written by the African poetCharles Mungoshi, in which a boy talks about his every day life activity. The boy like all others desperately wants to convince others or even himself that hes a grown up, and so seek to copy the activities that old people do. He wakes up every day before the rising of the sun. The boy explains the nature around him, and how his life is simple or even sometimes tiring (he wakes up very early to work hard, like grownups do).In the first stanza the poet gives us concept of time, which shows us that its dun, a beginning of a new day. ‘Promising early heat and later in the afternoon heavy rain, this phrase shows how heat changes into rain. This explains how things change, nothing stays the same, it also explains how one thing leads to another.Poets KalymnosThe early heat leads to evaporation of water, which condenses to form rain. The warm ‘blue morning, will eventually change to heat and later to heavy rain. The poet uses the word ‘promises before early heating, its like you cant avoid the heat, it will eventually come.The second stanza shows the concept of color, ‘bright chips he says. He explains the strength of the ‘sharp axe, which drives the chips to fly ‘ for some distance through the air. The poet draws our attention by writing a one word line ‘arc. This line on my opinion is to assure the strength of the axe. We can tell that the child loves his every day activity by the way he nicely explains the nature around him. Like the chips that disintegrate when he cuts the wood, it ‘settles down in showers on the dewy grass. The poet amazingly draws...

Why Did Eva Smith Die Essay Example

Why Did Eva Smith Die Essay Example Why Did Eva Smith Die Paper Why Did Eva Smith Die Paper Gerald, celebrating Sheila and Geralds engagement. The maid comes in to announce the unexpected arrival of an Inspector Goole. Inspector Goole begins by questioning Arthur, the head of the family. Inspector: I think you remember Eva Smith Birling: Yes I do, she was one of my employees, and I discharged her This demonstrates Birlings dismissive attitude towards employees; he is not at all embarrassed or ashamed at having sacked Eva. She had been one of his workers. He had discharged her from his employ because she and several others had organized a strike for better wages. Mr. Birling, regarding himself as a hard headed man of business, refused and fired Eva. I think he fired her, not only because she helped in the strike, but also because she was a woman. The evidence above shows the attitude towards women at the time. Eva was also very hard headed and determined to get what she wanted, this probably would have made Mr. Birling resent her enough to fire her. I think this shows the general attitude towards women in the beginning of the 20th century: that they should just be tools for mans work; they did not even have the right to vote. This contributed to Evas death because it sparked a chain of events, through each member of the family until they each shared the blame. Mr. Birlings attitude towards social responsibility only seems to be one thing: Look after yourself and your family, forget everyone else. This is supported when he says: But the way some or these cranks talk and write now, youd think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed together like bees in a hive This attitude contributed to Evas death because, had Mr. Birling cared at all about Eva, he might not have fired her and therefore the chain of events would never had happened. This quote also shows how he is in denial about the social changes taking place around him. Later in the play, the Inspector began to question Sheila. It is revealed that Sheila had something to do with Evas death and that she feels guilty about it when she gives a half-stifled sob and runs out. When Sheila returns, we find out that she had, earlier that year, complained to Evas boss in a jealous rage when she thought she caught Eva laughing at her trying on a dress. She threatened to withdraw her familys account with Milwards the shop Eva was working in at the time. We learn that this has contributed to Evas death because the Inspector explains that this was the last real steady job she had, all because of Sheilas jealousy of this prettier, younger girl. Thus continuing the chain of events. We next discover the involvement of Gerald Croft in Evas demise. After Sheila had confessed, the Inspector mentioned that Eva had changed her name to Daisy Renton; at hearing this Gerald immediately gave himself away by reacting in a startled way. It is revealed that Gerald had an affair with Eva the previous summer. He met her in a bar of ill repute, being harassed by another respectable man. When he found out that Eva had no money and was living in a miserable back room, he felt compelled to be the hero and let her stay in one of his friends houses. They had fallen in love, but, inevitably, it had not lasted. Not only were there the differences in social class and power but Gerald was involved with Sheila as well. To end his affair with Eva, Gerald had given her some money and she went away to some seaside place. This contributed to Evas death because it pushed her slightly further towards the edge emotionally. She was already emotionally fragile and now it was getting even worse for her. When Gerald says: I became at once the most important person in her life it shows Evas dependence on others and her weakness without them. Gerald left a small amount of money for Eva to get on with, when these funds ran out, it probably contributed to the feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness that contributed to Evas death. As the play progresses we learn of Sybils role in Evas death. Sybil Birling, in my opinion, is a perfect example of the arrogance, toffery and indifference of upper middle class women to people like Eva. Sybil cares of nothing but her social status which she clearly shows when she denies Eva aid from her charity; this action shows that Sybil only does charity work for the social status it creates for her. When Sybil says: She was claiming elaborate feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl of her position it shows that Sybil Birling thinks that women of a lesser social status have less of a right to feelings and emotions than she does. This contributed to Evas death because if Sybil did not think so hypocritically and arrogantly then Eva would have been accepted by the charity organization and she may never have committed suicide. I think that Eric Birlings actions played a major role in Evas death, but one may argue that his actions are not as driven by socially pervasive attitudes as the other characters in the play. For example, Sybil Birlings clear belief that she is better than anyone of a lower class is a pervasive attitude, but Eric abandoning Eva is the type of thing that often happens in relationships. Eric, along with Sheila, is part of a new generation of people that care less about social status and more about others, so maybe J. B Priestley wanted to show that social conventions themselves were changing to fit the new generation. On the other hand, you could argue that Eric would have been far less likely to abandon a girl of his own social class, and that in this regard his treatment of Eva was typical. Eric contributed to Evas death because her pregnancy could have affected her mental health, causing depression which continues the chain of events. The prospect of becoming a single mother may have been overwhelming because of the way unmarried mothers were stigmatized at that time. Although we learn that Eva has in fact killed herself; through Priestleys exploration of each characters role, we discover the large part that social and political factors have played in her demise, and how, to some degree, each of them carries some responsibility for the tragedy, even if they refuse to accept it. In conclusion, I believe that above all, the massive gap between working class and rich people was responsible for the tragic stories of people like Eva Smith. The rich people of the time gave no hint that they cared for the classes below, Mr. Birling and Mrs. Birling did not care that what they had done to Eva caused her suicide, they were much more concerned with retaining their wealth and social status. Sheila and Eric, on the other hand felt guilty about what they had done demonstrating that perhaps their generation had a better attitude. J. B Priestley cleverly used the whodunnit genre to explore social attitudes, class differences and their consequences for people like Eva Smith and The Birlings. The most telling statement in the whole play is when Inspector Goole says One Eva Smith has gone but there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still out there. This quote sums up J. B. Priestleys opinion that things like this happen everyday, but individuals cannot abrogate their responsibilities. The play addresses multiple issues of importance such as morality, social responsibility, highlighting the political and social changes in the 20th century. Everything we said had happened, really had happened. If it didnt end tragically, then thats lucky for us. But it might have done.