Coffee Bean Essay

ST. GREGORY’S UNIVERSITY Coffee Bean, Inc. Managerial Accounting, BU2123, Research Project, Spring 2007 Coffee Bean, Inc. (CBI) is a processor and distributor of a variety of blends of coffee. The company buys coffee beans from around the world and roasts, blends and packages them for resale. CBI currently has 40 different coffees that it offers to gourmet shops in one-pound bags. The major cost of the coffee is the raw coffee beans. However, there is a substantial amount of manufacturing overhead in the company’s predominantly automated roasting, blending and packing process. The company uses relatively little direct labor. Some of the coffees are very popular and sell in large volumes, while a few of the newer blends have very low volumes. CBI prices its coffee at manufacturing cost plus a markup of 30%. If CBI’s coffee prices are significantly higher than the market, adjustments are made to bring CBI’s prices more into alignment with the market. The company competes primarily on the quality of its products, but customers are price conscious as well. For the coming year, CBI’s budget includes estimated manufacturing overhead cost of $3,000,000. CBI assigns manufacturing overhead to products based on direct labor-hours. The expected direct labor cost totals $600,000, which represents 50,000 hours of direct labor time. Based on the sales budget and expected raw materials costs, the company will purchase and use $6,000,000 of raw materials (mostly coffee beans) during the year. The expected costs for direct materials and direct labor for one-pound bags of two of the company’s many coffee products appear below: Mona Loa $4. 20 0. 30 Malaysian $3. 20 0. 30 Direct Materials Direct Labor (0. 025 hours per bag). CBI’s president is very concerned about lowering profit margins. Several prices have had to be reduced to meet market pressures and other products are selling at good volumes without price adjustments. The president talked with CBI’s controller who believes that the company’s traditional costing system, which uses direct labor costs to allocate manufacturing overhead, may be providing misleading cost information. To determine whether or not this is correct, the controller has prepared an analysis of the year’s expected manufacturing overhead costs, as shown in the following table. Activity Center Cost Driver Purchasing Purchase Orders Materials handling Number of Setups Quality control Number of Batches Roasting Roasting Hours Blending Blending Hours Packaging Packaging Hours Total manufacturing overhead cost: Expected Activity 1,710 orders 1,800 setups 600 batches 96,100 hours 33,500 hours 26,000 hours Expected Cost $ 513,000 720,000 144,000 961,000 402,000 260,000 $3,000,000 Data regarding the expected production of two representative products, Mona Loa and Page 1 of 2 Coffee Bean Malaysian coffee, are presented below. There will be no raw materials inventory for either of these coffees at the beginning of the year. Mona Loa Malaysian 100,000 2,000 Pounds 10,000 500 Pounds 3 3 Per batch 20,000 500 Pounds 1. 0 / 100 1. 0 /100 Hours per pound 0. 5 / 100 0. 5 /100 Hours per pound 0. 1 / 100 0. 1 /100 Hours per pound Expected sales Batch size Setups Purchase order size Roasting time Blending time Packaging time Step into the shoes of the controller and prepare a complete report for the president explaining the results of your research. Compare the two product-costing methods: (1) the currently-used, volume-based method, and (2) an activity-based method. The supporting tables should determine full costs and prices of both products using the two different cost allocation methods. Continue your detailed report to the president by justifying why the company should remain using their present overhead allocation method or to go activity-based costing. Go beyond the accounting issues in your report, mentioning the impact on pricing, volume, and marketing decisions. Support your recommendation with current articles (Use the online resources of the SGU James J. Kelly Library to locate articles within the last year that deal with cost allocation issues). Three to five supporting articles should be sufficient to support your findings. Since this is a formal report, it will require a transmittal memo summarizing your findings. This memo/summary should be supported by a detailed report including tables and references to business/accounting literature. Include a bibliography in APA format. Also, since presidents rarely have time to read the entire article, but are interested in their content, provide an abstract of each citation. Remember: appearance, spelling, grammar count. Adapted from Managerial Accounting, Eight Edition, Garrison & Noreen, Irwin, 1997.

Africa †Genetically modified food Essay

Genetically modified food (GM food) is crop, plants or just food are created by using the latest molecular biology techniques in laboratories to have the desired traits such as resistance to pesticides and many more. For a period of 10 years, between 1995 and 2005, the amount of land cultivated with Genetically Modified Organisms had increased from 4. 2 million acres to 222 million acres. In 2003, the countries that grew 99% of the world’s genetically modified food were the following countries-In the United States of America. South Africa, the only country in Africa which accommodates the production of genetically modified food has the least in the world with only 1% of their food modified. These food may appear to be poisonous to the human health because there is no proof or what so ever that they are safe either to the environment or to human health. If genetically modified food is really dangerous to human health than the United States of America will have a big problem for the next coming years. GENERAL INFORMATION ON GENETICAL MODIFIED FOOD. My research on genetically modified food shows no signs that a thorough investigation has been done on the safety of humans to them. Hagelin, J. , (2000) a PhD physicist said that there has never been a single study on the safety of humans to genetically modified food and thus all implications on these products are just fabricated. Chances are some unknown illnesses are caused by genetically modified food but since there has never been some sort of research towards them, one cannot say whether they are safe or not. Dr.Lemaux, P. , (2000) said that she could not elaborate the safety of genetically modified food because there is no proof or study to secure the health of humans. But looking back in the history of science, many examples lead to the risk of human beings and the environment. Most chances are that genetically modified foods are not safe for humans. We have many diseases that the causes are unknown recently, but because no study has been made on these products I believe that some of the unknown diseases are caused by them. Good and evil are moral choices humans are free to make. As applied to technology, these moral choices present great opportunities and great dangers (Whitman, D. B). Whether you choose to consume genetically modified food or not there are still more advantages and disadvantages to it like people claim that there is at the present moment. Other philosophers like George, S. , (1987) a senior follower at Transnational Institute of Amsterdam believe that genetically modified food is the answer to ending hunger especially in African countries and other parts of Asia. She said that these products are the new strategies of food for the future since we have a high population and non-fertile soil in some parts of the world, genetically modified food can be given special traits and abilities to grow in harsh areas or to adapt to that particular environment and grow. She included that if more countries in Africa could accept genetically modified food, more people will not die of hunger, but it will increase the food production. But since there is only one country in Africa that has allowed genetically modified food which is South Africa, solutions of feeding the rest of Africa are very small, more and more people will still struggle to feed themselves on daily basis leading to death. One of the aspects that George Susan (1987) included about genetically modified food is that she believes without genetically modified food there would be a lot of shortage of food to cater for the whole world. Take for instance China. China has the largest population in the world that it is said if the all jump up at once the world could experience the most enormous earthquake ever experienced on Earth. The government could did not have enough natural resources to be able to feed the whole country so they passed on a new law that every woman should have a maximum of 2 children, then after that she would be sterilised. That was because the population was very high that there was not enough food for everyone and again that is why most of them eat almost anything that can be consumed without harming the body. In Africa the situation is worse that there aren’t enough animals available and most of the people are illiterate and cannot strategise, but the worse factor is political issues. GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD AS PANACEA Genetically modified food are resistant to pests so there is no need of a pesticides or poisonous chemicals to be sprayed on them. Since fewer chemicals will be used in the process of growing these plants it is very good for the environment because it won’t be exposed to soil erosion, land pollution and most important eutrophication. Since pests cannot feed on genetically modified foods, no crops will go to waste. Farmers will be able to reach their maximum sales because nothing will go to waste. It also solves hunger problems especially in disadvantaged countries. It has been agreed that there is no enough food for the whole world to feed everybody. With genetically modified food a high yield of crops can be reached and therefore more crops are produced by farmers. Genetically modified food can be grown anywhere in the world, at any time and condition and other genetically modified food can be engineered to contain important vitamins and minerals. (Want to know it 2012). Consecol (2000) included that genetically modified foods increase opportunities for reduced tillage systems, it kills fewer non target organisms. GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD AS POISON They kill non targeted caterpillars and butterflies such as monarchs. It is also said that genetically modified food causes new viruses and risky side effects to human health. (Consecol, 2000). Some of the endangered species are believed to be affected by these products and can cause enormous change in the eco-system. Whitman, D. B., (April 2000) believes that in the next 50 years, governments would have to feed over 12 billion people per day which can be pretty impossible if there is no new solution to the lack of food to feed the whole world. So far the only solution to feed the whole world is genetically modified foods. She also said that genetically modified food has greater dangers than advantages. Genetically modified technology will not eliminate hunger and malnutrition because dysfunctional governments and economies create problems with production, access and distribution of food. Flawed policies, greed and incompetence will always keep some people in ignorance and poverty. (Whitman, D. B. , April 2000) Want to know it (2012) site included that genetically modified food may have an everlasting effect on other organisms in the ecosystem; completely changing other plants and may cause it to be toxic to insects and animals that use plants as their source of food. The spread of insect resistant genes in crops may lead to insects being resistant to the genetic modified plants. This would cause a widespread loss of crops and plants that have the natural immunity leading to a loss of biodiversity. Cancer. Genetically modified foods share certain toxic effects on the liver, pancreas, kidneys and reproductive system that may cause cancer in these organs, according to a Greek study (February 2009) â€Å"Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. † The widespread use of recombinant growth hormone — a genetically modified substance — in the agricultural industry is associated with increases in IGF-1, a growth hormone that, in excess quantities, can lead to cancer. Allergies Allergic reactions to genetically modified foods may arise due to the presence of proteins derived from the plant or animal used to modify the food, according to a U. S.study for genetically modified food Toxicological Sciences (July 2009). Current safety standards involve evaluation of the foreign proteins for allergenic potential, and a database of known allergenic proteins has been compiled, along with computer programs for assessing potential allergenicity of proteins. Additionally, animal and non-animal testing methods are being developed to assist in the process of screening for allergenicity. PEOPLE’S OPINIONS More and more people around the world are starting to reject genetically modified food. At first most people did support them but as time goes by more and more of them decided to go organic. Below is a graph of the statistics on the percentage of how many people agreed that genetically modified food will bring benefits to them and those who didn’t in different years. (Choice. com) CONCLUSION Genetically modified food seems to be solving our current problems with food. With these crops governments are able to feed everyone. Only African countries excluding South Africa still has problems with genetically modified food which is why most of these countries are still struggling to feed their people. Health issues are still questionable towards genetically modified food thus one cannot be sure whether they are safe or not. Personally I think more investigation should be done on the safety of these crops and if there is some sort of effects to the environment and human health, they should be prevented before they cause a greater damage than what we are facing now. BIBLIOGRAPHY George, S. 1987. Food strategies for tomorrow. Ed 6. New York: Beverly Tangri the Hunger Project. Roizman, T. 2010. Disadvantages of genetically modified foods [online]. Available at: www. livingstrong. com/article/34554-d:ofgeneticallymodifiedfood. [Accessed on 19/05/2012]. Snyder, M. 1990. Women: the key to ending hunger. New York: Beverly Tangri the Hunger Project. Want to know it. 2012. Advantages of genetically modified foods [online]. Available at: www. wanttoknowit. com [Accessed on 19/05/2012]. Want to know it. 2012. Disadvantages of genetically modified foods [online]. Available at: www. wanttoknowit. com [Accessed on 19/05/2012]. Genetically modified food: poison or panacea. Choice. 2009. Benefits in future- doubts on biotech today [online]. Available at: www. choice. com . [accessed on 21/05/2012] Genetically modified food poison or panacea. 2011. [online DVD]. United States of America. Directed by Shore, J.

Religion and Theology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Religion and Theology - Research Paper Example The diametrically opposing views of death, especially the case of holy mother Mary, that she did not die, according to Mariologists have championed for the interpretation of one’s death in Catholic Church. In addition, the Catholic followers believe that there is life after death and that the followers of Christ have an everlasting life (Wildes, 2002). This is because the Catholic Church speaks of the existence of words of pardon. For example, if a Catholic believer dies, Christ’s words of pardon and absolution are said over the dying Christian. The assumption in this perspective is that the prayers and the gracious words help to seal the spirit of the believer with strengthening anointing. The philosophical belief of the Catholic Church on canonization and that every man on earth would receive his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of one’s death is the reason behind the affirming of this doctrine in the Catholic Church (Himes, 2001). Th e accreditation that St. Paul vision approves of heaven occupied by many, who are not Canonized, and the subsequent follow-up by the church to honor these men and women in the Solemnity of All Saints is a proof that there were differing social understanding of one’s death hence this religious belief came to be.In fact, the CatholicChurch prays for their dead and never in a single day do they assume that the dead are in heaven for this would deprive them of the Masses and prayers that would help them pass through purification easily.

Substance Abuse with the Elderly in Assisted Living Facilities Research Paper

Substance Abuse with the Elderly in Assisted Living Facilities - Research Paper Example This essay discusses that as a society, we tend to disregard, vindicate or reduce the effects of drug abuse on the elderly especially those who live in assisted facilities. Whenever we observe amnesia, sadness, an unstable gait and the like, we have a habit of blaming the aging progression rather than scrutinize the prospect of the drug problem. A parable found in the medical society is the erroneous view that the ‘window of risk’ of emerging drug issues is closed by age 50. Major health care providers won’t frequently converse the consumption of unlawful use of prescription drugs with their patients, hence creating a cover of secrecy to the society.Another success story is the Beatitudes nursing home in Phoenix, which dramatically transformed its way of treating patients with dementia. What happens here is not for the systems or for convenience, but for the people, we care for the director of education and research at the Beatitudes. People with dementia have tro ubles in their sleeping and waking patterns, therefore we let them be relaxed and choose when they want to sleep or eat. A typical fact is that a lot of nursing facilities abuse occurrences pass by unreported and unnoticed by any authority (Goodwin, 2015). Subsequently, it is imperative for relatives to watch out for the cautions signs that something is about to go wrong. Usually, side-effects and cautioning signs of overdosing patients comprises of rare fatigue and exhaustion, disorientation, unusual withdrawal symptoms, oversleeping and memory lapses.

Watergate scam. Usa Vs Nixon Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Watergate scam. Usa Vs Nixon - Term Paper Example The mentioned scandal came to surface during the year 1972 when the electioneering campaign between Mr. George McGovern and Mr. Richard Nixon was on the boom. Well before winning the Presidential election, five people inclusive of white house staff and political workers made their unauthorized entry into the Democratic Headquarters located at Watergate complex in Washington D.C (Kutler 510). In order to investigate the matter of doors broken opened of Democratic Headquarters by the staff and political workers of Nixon’s Party who run the electioneering campaign aims at to steal material information and important files that relates to election strategy. Upon disclosure of the committed crime, initially Mr. Nixon assigned the task to Mr. Cox to investigate the matter. Later on he dismissed him for non-co-operation. The forced departure of Mr. Cox, Mr. Richardson and Mr. Ruckelshaus considered in the American history as â€Å"Saturday Night Massacre† (Trachtman 131). With the dismissal of said gentleman, mounting public pressures compelled Mr. Nixon to appoint another investigator. Hence, Mr. Jaworski appointed to probe the matter. To accomplish the task he got subpoena order that enables him to have an access to relevant tapes and documents which were in the possession of Mr. Nixon. The conversations that contains in the tapes led to the involvement of indicted persons in the scam (Trachtman 131). On the disclosure of his involvement in the Watergate scam, Nixon’s counsel requested the competent court of law to quash president from accountability since he is as powerful as Louis XIV for a term of four years; therefore he is not answerable to any court of law except the impeachment court. The competent court of law turned down the plea and ordered the president to hand over the investigative material to the investigator (Kutler 510). On the order of the subordinate court, the attorney of Mr. Nixon referred the matter to the Supreme Court and t he court hardly taken three weeks time to decide the case. In that case the apex court focused on two issues a) indictment of president b) president prerogative of immunity. Firstly the court found involvement of Mr. President in conversation with the staff of white house concerning Watergate scam. Secondly the court rejected the plea of absolute power of the president. The president was of the view that being a president he has the absolute right and privilege of immunity. Further, the court held that only the attorney general void the prosecution commission which he refused to do so, therefore, the executive branch and other two branches are bound to implement it. The president had no choice but to enforce the decision in its true spirit (Kutler 511). The fear of impeachment and prosecution in the Senate which led to the removal of President forced him to resign from his office in August 1974. So far he was the only president in the history of United States of America who resigned from his office. This has further established the authority of Supreme Court as judicial branch to monitor the activities of executive branch if any of its action is ultra virus to the constitution and the law of the land in vogue (Trachtman 133). Chief Justice Warren Burger of the Supreme Court of America in his land mark decision held that "However, neither the doctrine of separation of powers nor the need for confidentiality of high level communication without more can sustain an absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances† (Lively and Weaver 3). The apex court while acknowledging the right of

German Autobahnen Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

German Autobahnen - Assignment Example The present research has identified that Atobahn are officially named as Bundesautobahn in Germany because of the reason these are build as well as maintained by federal authorities present within the country. When we talk about German Autobahn, we may see that there is no specification of speed limit for cars and other vehicles. However, the advisory speed limit is about 130 kilometers/ hr. it is also important to understand that a hard limit is also imposed on some transports. For example 60 km per hour for those buses those carry standing travelers as well as trailers that pull motorcycles. On the other hand, passengers or travelers cars and buses have hard limit of 80 km per hour. Moreover, trailers that are used to pull passenger cars have limit 100km per hour. Last but not the least, when we talk about road safety of these autobahns found in Germany, we may conclude that the situations are quite better here as compared to highways and motorways found in other European countries . The chances of any crash and accidents are fewer as compared to those present in USA.

Conversations with History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Conversations with History - Essay Example In large part Scheuer identifies these elements as a sort of religious awakening that occurred in Suni Islam after the Afghanistan war with Russia in the late 1970s. In believing that America was Bin Laden’s creator, Scheuer argues that the United States is doing itself a disservice, as Bin Laden transcends such easy categorization and has taken on a sort of mythic Robin Hood like status within the Arab world. Scheueur’s comments are interesting, but one wonders a number of questions related to them. For instance, what is the reason behind Bin Laden vengeance against the West? In some regards, one wonders if Scheuer is merely giving the listener the company line and shifting blame for Bin Laden’s creation to obscure political and Middle Eastern elements. 2. Remark Critique One remark Michel Scheuer makes concerns the nature of intelligence information. Scheuer had worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and because of his affiliation with this organization has a unique insight into a number of policy and information elements related to their operations. The remarks Scheueur made concerns the nature of gathering intelligence.

Software Reuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Software Reuse - Essay Example Software reuse has its roots it software and computer programming in the development of software libraries, which contains functions and subroutines, they are called reusable units of software. Now day’s software reuse contains the spectrum of system artifacts including these software libraries as software requirements and patterns. In software engineering, the last fifty years were a tremendous change. In 1990’s, there had been a shift from tools, processes, documentation and plans to individuals, working software, collaborations and responding to change. Organizations have been moved from typical waterfall models to spiral, evolutionary or iterative process models. Software reuse is categorized into two different types: opportunistic and systematic. Opportunistic means the unplanned and euphemistically reuse of software artifacts that are not originally designed for reuse of it in mind. But as well as concerned with systematic reuse of software, the software artifacts are designed in a sense that they are deliberately reused (Glisic and Lorenzo 2009). Benefits of Software Reuse: The concept behind software reuse is clear cut. Software reuse enables developers to create new software from existing ones using strategies, principles and techniques. A powerful concept proposed by Jones and Bonsignour (2012) has been focused on the software reusability. Software reuse results in a huge productivity, better quality and decrease in time for products. It is a mean to achieve the improvement in the overall software production. A high quality software reuse process improves productivity, quality and dependability as well as schedule, cost and performance of software. In short, software reuse development helps in reduction of risks in legacy and new system development. Estublier and Vege (2005) suggested that a really reusable component had a significant cost. Therefore, to be cost effective, a reusable component must be widely reused. Reuse backdrop encomp asses a range of reuse techniques (Sommerville 2004). Once software reuse is established, it enables the organization to accomplish more without using addition resources. Software reuse is important for business trying to gain and maintain a competitive advantage. It allows organizations to avoid duplicating past efforts. Software issues are also decreased by using these reusing techniques, and it represents a strategy to meet the challenges of rapidly changing complex environment (Pressman 2010). Lim (1998) identifies many benefits of software reuse, which are given as following: Improved software quality Short time to market Increase development productivity Consistent application functionality Reduce the risk of cost and schedule overruns Allow prototyping for validating user requirements Leveraging of technical skills and knowledge There are many benefits of software reuse, however, cannot be realized until effective implementation is not applied. Reuse of a software component, which cannot meet the requirements, cannot present the evident until verification and validation activities. Software reuse has broader benefits, but these benefits may be overlooked or go largely unrealizable without the organizational support for reuse and incentives for reuse (Larman 2012). Potential Problems with Software Reuse: Sobh (2010) stated the following facts, which affect the software reusing process:

William's Willson Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

William's Willson Argument - Essay Example Quality of life is not a simple identifier, nor is it necessarily easy to determine what the term actually means as some people identify the quality of their lives based on different metrics. For some, quality is about health and family. For others, it centers upon money or position. There is another group of people who define quality of life in terms of personal or professional fulfillment. To guide the analysis here, it will be useful to review Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to find a baseline for a life that has quality. In their review of what motivates humans, Stacey & DeMartino (1958) note the arrangement of human needs, as presented by Maslow, to be five levels, each building upon the other, i.e., physiological needs, then safety needs, love needs, followed by esteem needs, and concluded with the need for self-actualization (p. 2). The logic of this hierarchy is straightforward in that a person who is hungry or in danger is not going to be concentrating on whether they are being actualized or fulfilled. At that moment, quality of life means food or safety. This is where the question of what quality of life means to an individual comes into play. For example, there are many who equate higher quality of life with financial means or the higher social status money brings to an individual. Yet, a child born to the richest person in the world who has terminal cancer would likely not be identified as having a high quality of life. The ability of the disease, which no amount of money or social class can cure, obviates what most would describe as a high-quality life. The poor minority family with healthy children could arguable be sustaining a higher quality of life. For the purposes of this paper, however, the assumption will be that quality of life includes the premise that sufficient physiological health and safety are assured, and the qualities of love, self-esteem, and fulfillment are the variable

Management Information System Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Management Information System - Case Study Example It becomes more personalised and gives the customer more accurate information. Making the whole service contract process friendlier and quicker is one way to help gain more service customers because it should result in the sale of more of these contracts. The company wants to automate its entire application process to speed up everything for both APCO and its customers and to eliminate much of the reliance on paper documents. Extract the information as easily as possible, without a lot of IT over- head Use the Internet as a Channel to achieve the above goals Information systems and business strategy now align with each other to deliver Strategic information systems. Such systems deliver Computer system at any level of an organisation; changes goals, operations, products, services, or environmental relationships and helps organisation gain a competitive advantage The Internet is changing the role of information systems in organisations. The Internet is capable of dramatically reducing transaction and agency costs. Businesses are rapidly rebuilding some key business processes based on Internet technology. Internet technology becoming a key component of IT infrastructure. The need of the hour was to have a new Sales Management system and a Claims Processing System that would allow APCO to manage sales more efficiently and process claims with limited overheads and maximum efficiency and modify business processes to align to the new information processing systems. The systems need to use the Internet as a delivery channel to deliver maximum benefits to the new business processes structured around this channel. Both these above systems are Operational level systems. As a first step APCO wants to introduce a comprehensive electronic document- management (or... The Internet is changing the role of information systems in organisations. The Internet is capable of dramatically reducing transaction and agency costs. Businesses are rapidly rebuilding some key business processes based on Internet technology. Internet technology becoming a key component of IT infrastructure. The need of the hour was to have a new Sales Management system and a Claims Processing System that would allow APCO to manage sales more efficiently and process claims with limited overheads and maximum efficiency and modify business processes to align to the new information processing systems. The systems need to use the Internet as a delivery channel to deliver maximum benefits to the new business processes structured around this channel. Both these above systems are Operational level systems. As a first step APCO wants to introduce a comprehensive electronic document- management (or content-management) system.

The Endless Recovery Essay Example for Free

The Endless Recovery Essay 559 Testing Your Comprehension 1.Fossil fuels are abundant on our planet today and can be used to create many sources of energy which is why they are so prevalent. They are considered nonrenewable sources of energy because they take millions of years to form and because humans are rapidly depleting our fossil fuels faster then they can be created, which makes these fuels nonrenewable. 2.Fossil fuels were formed from the tissues of organisms that lived 100-500 million years ago. The energy these fuels contain came originally from the sun and was converted to chemical-bond energy as a result of photosynthesis. Environmental conditions determine what type of fossil fuel is formed because of the chemical composition of the starting material, the temperatures and pressures to which the material is subjects, the presence or absence of anaerobic decomposers, and the passage of time. Fossil fuels are often concentrated in localized deposits because some regions have substantial reserves of fossil fuels whereas others have very few. 3.Net energy expresses the difference between energy returned and energy invested. EROI is the ratio determined by dividing the quantity of energy returned from a process by the quantity pf energy invested in the process. These are important when evaluating energy sources because these ratios are always changing. 4.Coal is combusted and converted to water which turns to steam, this starts a turbine; this is how coal generates electricity. 5.Geologists have estimated the total amount of oil beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 1002 Area by drilling cores and conducting ground, air, and seismic surveys to map underground rock formations. This amount differs from the â€Å"technically recoverable† and â€Å"economically recoverable† because the â€Å"technically recoverable† ranges from 4.3-11.8 billion barrels, while the estimated amount ranges from 11.6-31.5 billion barrels. 6.We create petroleum products by refining hydrocarbon molecules that are separated into different size classes and are chemically transformed to create specialized f uels for heating, cooking and transportation, and to create lubricating oils, asphalts, and the production of plastics and other petroleum products. 7.Peak oil is when the rate of production of oil comes to its peak and begins to decline. Many experts believe we will soon pass the global production peak for oil because we are using it at a faster pace and are not finding new concentrations of oil. If we do not shift to  renewable energy sources, our society will meet its demise because we will run out of fossil fuels. 8.Fossil fuel production and consumption drive climate change, they pollute water as well as air, and they devastate natural systems. Drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would impact life in that area tremendously because that area would be quickly polluted and the wildlife would pay the price. Scientists are not even sure if this area has enough oil worth drilling for which is why it should not be touched. 9.An example of clean coal technology would be to use dry coal with high water contents. This approach would make is a cleaner-burning. Carbon capture technologies intend to remove carbon dioxide from power plants or other emissions, while carbon storage technologies try to sequester, or store, carbon dioxide from industrial emissions (underground under pressure in locations where it will not seep out). Both carbon capture and storage are in an effort to mitigate global climate change. 10.10. Two main approaches to energy conservation: as individuals, we can make conscious choices to reduce our own energy consumption by driving less, turning off lights when rooms are not being used, dialing down thermostats and cutting back on the use of energy-intensive machines and appliances. As a society we can conserve energy by making our energy consuming devices and processes more efficient. Consumers need to purchase energy efficiency appliances. Pg 587 Testing your comprehension 1. Of our global energy they contribute: Nuclear 20.9 %; Hydro 2.2%; Bio 9.8%. Of our global electricity they generate: Nuclear 13.8%; Hydro 15.6%; Bio 2.6%. 2. Nuclear fission occurs when the nuclei of large, heavy atoms, such as uranium or plutonium, are bombarded with neutrons. Neutrons tend to move too quickly for their nuclei to split when they collide, so the neutrons need to be slowed down. Each split nucleus emits energy in the form of heat, light and radiation. It also releases multiple neutrons. These neutrons, bombard other nearby uranium-235 atoms, which result in a self sustaining chain reaction. Engineers control fission in nuclear reactors by using control rods, which absorb neutrons. They are placed into the reactor among the water-bathed fuel rods. The engineers move these rods into and out of the water to maintain the fission reaction at the desired rate. 3. In  terms of greenhouse gas emission, nuclear, compared to coal, oil and natural gas, has less to none greenhouse emission. Hydropower and bioenergy compare 4. The incident at the Three Mile Island differed from that at Chernobyl because the Three Mile Island emergency was brought under control within days and the reactor was shut down quickly. This was due to a combination of mechanical failure and human error. The residents of the area were not as affected by the meltdown as those in Chernobyl. Chernobyl occurred because engineers had turned off safety systems to conduct tests, human error, and the unsafe reactor design caused an explosion. Many people were exposed to radiation; residents of the area were highly affected and till this day are still severely ill due to exposure. The accident killed 31 people. Radioactive fallout reached most of the Northern Hemisphere. 5. Some concerns about the disposal of radioactive waste are that if it’s dumped in the ocean it poses threat to fisheries, people and marine systems. If it’s kept in the power plants, the power plants are running out of space to hold the waste. If it is sent to Yucca Mountain, while being transported there can be an accident that exposes people to the radioactive waste. As of now the waste is being kept in storage areas within the nuclear power plant. The United States chose Yucca Mountain as a place to dump the nuclear waste but so far the project has not taken place. The waste will remain in their current locations. 6. Sources for bioenergy include the waste products of existing industries or processes, residue from agricultural crops, animal waste and organic waste. Bioenergy use differs between developed and developing nations because 7. The two primary biofules are ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol is the alcohol in beer, wine and liquor. It is produced by fermenting biomass. In fermentation, carbohydrates are converted to sugar and then to ethanol. Gasoline engines run with gasoline blended with 10% of ethanol. Biodiesel , a fuel produced from vegetable oil, used cooking grease or animal fat. It is also used in vehicles and can be mixed with conventional petrodiesel. In North America and in Europe, cars are being filled with biodiesel and some buses and recycling trucks as well. 8. Bioenergy is from carbon neutral which releases no net carbon into the atmosphereif bioenergy replaced the use of fossilfuels we could help mitigate the problems of climate change. Burning bioenergy is not carbon neutral for the fact that plants need to be cut down in order to plant  bioenergy plants. 9. Storage type of hydroelectricity this type is the most widely used. It holds water back behind concrete dams that block the flow of water and just letting it flow out in smaller amounts through pipes that feed into a turbine. B. The other type of hydroelectricity generating plant is by implementing run-of-river approach.it generates electricity without greatly disrupting the flow of the river. Although it is not as damaging as damming the river, it doesn’t guarantee the same amount of water flow as by damming does. 10. two advantages with hydroelectric power are that the energy source is renewable and no carbon is emitted in the production of energy from this source. B. T wo negative impacts of hydroelectricity is that the area behind dams are flooded destroying habitat and the areas below dams are usually starved of water. The other negative is the thermal pollution. Areas behind the dam gat colder that natural and the areas in front of the dam become warmer than natural. Pg 614 Testing your comprehension 1.About 13% of our world’s energy is renewable and new renewable counts for 1%. The most prevalent form of renewable energy we use is biomass which accounts for 50% and hydroelectric which accounts for 35%. The form of energy most used to generate electricity is hydro power. 2.The diminishing amounts of fossil fuels have people concerned about our energy future. This is causing people to look for new renewable resources of energy. Solar and wind power are the new renewables that are experiencing the most rapid growth. 3.Passive solar heating is in the design of a building. It involves the installation of low south facing windows to capture sun, over hangs to shade windows in the summer, and the use of construction materials that capture the suns heat and release it throughout the day. Active solar heating is the use of technologies to heat water and air in structures. It involves installing flat-plate solar collectors on rooftops. Water, air or antifreeze passes through the panel and gets heated by the sun which in-turns transfers its heat to the building or to water tanks. 4.The photoelectric effect is when light reaches the PV cell and strikes one of a pair which is made of the semiconductor silicone. The light causes one plate to release electrons which are attracted by electrostatic forces to the opposing plate. Photovoltaic cells work when you attach wires to the plates  and allow the electrons to pass from one plate to the other freely. This causes an electric current or DC current which then can be converted to AC currents used in home and businesses. 5.Environmental and economic advantages of solar power are that the PV cells use no fuel, are quiet and safe, contain no moving parts, require little maintenance, and do not require a

Does the Media Frame Social Reality?

Does the Media Frame Social Reality? Critically assess the proposition that the media ‘frames’ social reality. Introduction Roughly developing processes in modern society touch all aspects of life. In the end, it highlights the importance of the development of public consciousness of people, their communication, interaction and relationship at all levels of activities. In our time, such thing as mass media renders huge psychological influence on consciousness of the person all over the world. Unfortunately, today’s media presented by reality which is substantially mediated by someones opinion. Moreover, it is simplified and doesn’t offer any reflection or the analysis. Entman (2007: 164) suggests that in certain way this information can be dangerous, as the person accepts processed information without personal reflection. In such case, media can inspire and change a lot of things. Therefore, for us it is much easier to plunge into the flow of information, than critically try to perceive it. Today, media is a powerful factor of influence on a mental condition of people. For the last decade there was a set of researches on the matter of media in absolutely various spheres (press, television, advertising, radio, internet). After all, as Hodkinson (2011: 109) states, the distinctive features of any media in the world have always been such things as publicity and ambiguous inconsistent tool of media itself. This fact stimulates new growth of researches about possible ways and consequences of integration of media in social life of people. Media â€Å"framing† of public consciousness â€Å"Mass media became the main tool for distribution of the messages that influence public consciousness† (Hodkinson, 2011: 111). The modern person can’t evade mass media influence. In other words, impact of media on public opinion often described as mind manipulation. This phenomenon, as Hodkinson (2011: 113) insists, is very widespread in Great Britain, United States and the developed countries of Asia. For greater success, such thing as mind control should always remain imperceptible. The success of manipulation is guaranteed, when the viewer believes that all events are natural and inevitable. It is important, that people’s trust is neutral to all main social institutes. Audience should believe that the government, mass media and science are behind a framework of clashing social interests. So, at that point, institutes can settle different situations and protect interests of citizens. Entman (2007: 167) believes that the government takes the main place in the myth about neutrality. On the one hand, the myth assumes honesty and impartiality of the government and its components. On the other hand, such things as corruption, deception and fraud, which were showed from time to time, are accepted to move to human weaknesses. Institutes are higher than suspicions. Fundamental durability of all system is provided with careful thought about the work of its components. It is considered that media is also should be neutral for giving the publicity the realistic analysis of life. Any deviations are admitted, but mass media assures us that it is no more than the mistakes of cer tain people that can’t be considered as a whole reliable institute of distribution of information. One of the most important rules of mind manipulation is the success that depends on how fully you will isolate the addressee from extraneous influence. Ideal situation is the total absence of alternative sources of information and opinion. Mind control is incompatible with dialogue and public debate. Hodkinson (2011: 117) mentioned that the main role of mind manipulation is not only about the control of public opinion, but also about its integration into society. It is important to send public consciousness to the necessary point and to give installation on certain reactions to different events. The integrated opinion should be perceived as personal and it should be real, not imposed, created by the natural way that has arisen from the person’s mind according to the analysis of received information. It looks like deception. But it is not always necessary to perceive mind manipulation as a negative factor. Today, provision of integrity to state and need of reforms are the parts of any country’s policy. It follows that it is necessary to prepare society for any changes. Therefore media in this case are irreplaceable assistant and powerful control tool. The main thing is to be able to dispose it wisely. Mass media cover various actual public problems. As a result, they influence opinion and behavior of people both in society and in person. Media today is a powerful tool of impact on a social and psychological condition of people. Greatest degree of influence is the audience with the weak consciousness which has not have personal outlook. Nevertheless, the sides of influence can be both positive, and negative. Long and Wall (2013: 359) agree that it is possible to allocate direct aspects of main functions of media: information transfer, the entertainment, informative and educational tool. But there is also some deeper influence that can be imperceptible for the first time. For example, with the help of the media, the public opinion was created the condition of the mass consciousness comprising the hidden or obvious relation of various social problems. That is how reality events formed. It is important to note that right now there is accurately formulated public opinion about such global universal issues as prevention of ecological accident, nuclear and biological warfare and many more. As there is an accurate opinion in world consciousness about these problems, it is possible to say that media can observe some objective information which is not contradicting values of society, both allowing to create rather long-term and affirmed view. Internet is much extended now as well. Media system o f searching and sending information around the globe, generated by technologies, undoubtedly, got an absolute degree of freedom. This phenomenon opens huge possibilities for creativity, training and modeling. In addition, the virtual technologies created on the basis of understanding social reality, will bring doubtless advantage both for individual person, and the state system as a whole. Certainly these are the positive sides of media influence on public opinion and human activity. One of negative impacts of media is advertising, or, to be more precise, disinformation method. It is considered at the moment of making any serious decision. Sometimes media give news that considered as lie. As a matter of fact, disinformation goes from untrusted channels and stay in the mind of the person. Even though this method is useful because it is used at the moment of making any crucial decision, this method is clearly not fair, and when the person will understand the truth, the result of disinformation will be already achieved. Fortunately, disinformation method observed not so often in modern media. Unfortunately, the method of â€Å"framing† used much more obviously. The frame method includes strict and careful selection of information, causing a variety of emotions. This method allows media to monitor and influence the audience, by manipulating different associations which built on typical person’s thoughts. Stereotypes operate effectively all processes of perception of information. †Perceiving process is the manual regulation of the obscure fact under an unchangeable common law† (Entman, 2007: 170). Therefore media prune down all submitted information or put it in a framework or common idea. The person should perceive the message without any efforts, thinking that information from mass media source is the unique and only right possible way of perception of reality. Media makes the person think stereotypically. It reduces intellectual level of messages, turning itself to ideal stupidity tool. It is possible only with the â€Å"frame† method of fixing unnecessary stereotypes in the mind of people. Thus, by means of various methods, influence of media is extremely important. It is possible to make the idea, that skillful manipulation of public consciousness can cause not only direct changes in cultural development and behavior of society, but also in a certain role of each social class and person separately. Conclusion A variety of mass media (the press, the Internet, radio, television) should conduct to an individualization of social activity and consciousness of the person and to give him the chance of a choice: to watch or not watch TV, to read or not read the press, to listen or not listen to broadcasts. But, after long studying of a question of media framing, the sad conclusion has been drawn. In fact, it is only illusion, the person has no choice. The great number of people is watching the same channels on television, the programs which are confirmed by state regulations. They read the same articles in magazines and newspapers, listen to the same radio and information releases, looking for typical affairs, views, problems. Current situation generates ambiguity of media. As Hesmondhalgh (2013: 39) reported, the development of mass communication services positively affects awareness of individuals about the world, but in the same time there is a factor which is actually manipulating consciousness of masses behind all this development process. Media is standing still among the first provocateurs of individual degradation, standard views and behavior of people and developing uniformity of their reactions. Great British politician once said that the one, who owns information, owns the world. Today, it is possible to say with confidence that the one, who control media flow, is capable to influence the modern world. Reference list: Entman, R. (2007) â€Å"Framing Bias: Media in the Distribution of Power†, Journal of Communication, vol. 57, no. 1, March, pp. 163–173. Hesmondhalgh, D. (2013) The Cultural Industries, London: Sage. pp. 37-633. Hodkinson, P. (2011) Media, Culture Society, London: Sage. pp. 105-26. Long, P.and Wall, T. (2012) Media Studies, London: Sage. pp.344-69.  Bibliography: Curran, J. (1986) Bending Reality, London: Pluto. Marris, P. and Thornham, S. (1999) Media Studies: A Reader, 2nd edition, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Hall, S. (1997) Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Rojek, C. (2013) Event Power, London: Sage. pp. 112-121.

Amazons Business Model: A Case Study

Amazons Business Model: A Case Study Discussion of Amazon’s business model, and the impact of information technology for the internal organisation of work. What is their business model? Many academics believe that Amazon’s outstanding success as an Internet retailer compared with many of its rivals has been due largely to its ideal business model and swift response to the changing market since its inception. (Global Market Information Database, 2003) To begin with, Amazon chose the perfect product lines for e-commerce, with products that consumers did not need to handle in person before making a purchase: initially books, but then spreading to DVDs, music and other media. Furthermore, consumers in the book and music categories tend to desire information when they shop online, which Amazon was able to provide on its sites through reviews and recommendations. Amazon consumers appeared willing to pay a little extra for this convenience, although the recent competitiveness of the market has forced the company to cut prices or use other promotional techniques, and shift the focus of its business model from pure quality driven back towards price driven. Amazon then turned to diversification, and extending its product offer in order to widen its customer base and improve margins, with the result being that the company has focused strongly on building up its product portfolio to offer customers more choice. In 2001, Amazon increased its range of electronics and tripled its kitchen selection, as well as launching computer and magazine subscriptions stores, and set up strategic partnerships with retailers such as Target and Circuit City. In November 2002 Amazon.com announced the launch of a new online apparel store with items from retailers including The Gap, Old Navy, Lands End, Nordstroms, Cole Hahn, Osh Kosh, Spiegel, Eddie Bauer, and Foot Locker, amongst others. This diverse business model has enabled Amazon to grow both its market capitalisation and profitability, and become largely accepted as the world’s leading online retailer (Global Market Information Database, 2003) The company also concentrates on improving convenience with new features, such as the recently launched ‘Instant Order Update’, which warns customers if they are about to buy the same item twice. Marketing itself as offering Earth’s Biggest Selection, the company aims to be the world’s â€Å"most customer-centric company†, operating through its three basic businesses: Online Retail; Marketplace and Other; and Third-party Sellers. Amazon also recently began to target the institutional market as well as consumers expanding its business model in order to drive a new source of revenue: renting out its site-building services to other companies. It owes much of its relative financial well-being, compared with other pure Internet retailers to the site-building and hosting services it has sold to clients such as Borders and Toys â€Å"R† Us. (Global Market Information Database, 2003) Indeed, a recent article by Sutton (2005) focuses on Sears Canada Inc., which has recently stated that it will turn over the technology component of its online retail presence to Amazon to capitalize on Amazon’s years of expertise in customer-facing Web sites. â€Å"Sears.ca will remain very much a Sears brand,† according to spokesperson Vincent Power, (Sutton, 2005) with little to indicate Amazons involvement from a customers perspective, and Sears will continue to host the site, using the same internal fulfilment house that handles customer orders from the site and from the Sears catalogues. Amazon Services Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc., will handle the arrangement which is only the latest in a series that Amazon has struck with other retailers recently. The idea of retailers, both huge and small, outsourcing their Web sites has gathered momentum in recent years, said retail analyst Jim Okamura with Chicago-based J.C. Williams Group (Sutton, 2005), and Amazonà ¢â‚¬â„¢s business model is now aligning itself to take full advantage of this fact. Strategic alliances are another integral part of Amazon’s business model, and the company has entered into a number of agreements to expand its range of products and services by allowing selected strategic partners to sell products and services under co-branded sections on the Amazon.com website. These alliances have generally consisted of Amazon making, or having the future right to make, a minority investment in the companies, and the entry into commercial agreements, which vary in scope, from customer advertising activities and links, to recently announced deals involving the sale of products and services on co-branded sections of the Amazon.com website. These alliances have developed from the successful alliances the company forged in 2001, with such companies as America Online and Target in the US, and Virgin Wines in the UK. Amazon also expanded its product offering under its Toysrus.com strategic alliance to include Babiesrus.com and Imaginarium.com co-branded stores at www.amazon.com. In addition, the company entered into strategic alliances with Expedia, Hotwire and National Leisure Group to create its travel store, further fulfilling its diversification aims. Amazon’s marketing strategy is one of the most typical parts of its business model, being focused on strengthening and broadening the Amazon brand name, increasing customer traffic to its websites, building customer loyalty, encouraging repeat purchases and developing incremental product and service revenue opportunities. However, the unique part of this section of its business is that in order to accomplish this, the company employs tactics such as delivering personalised pages and services and using a variety of other media, business development activities and promotional methods. Amazon also relies on public relations activities, as well as online and traditional advertising, including radio, television and print media, and direct marketing, however one of the primary ways the company directs customers to its websites is through its â€Å"Associates Program†. This enables associated websites to make products available to their customers with fulfilment performed by A mazon, and is remarkably successful: by 2001, more than 700,000 websites had enrolled in the Associates Program. (Global Market Information Database, 2003) What many consider to be the defining characteristic of Amazon’s business model is that the firm has no physical retailing activities, operating only via the Internet. However, its virtual operation is very much underpinned by administrative and service facilities, and in 2001, these consisted of US fulfilment facilities in New Castle, Delaware; Coffeyville, Kansas; Campbellsville and Lexington, Kentucky; Fernley, Nevada; and Grand Forks, North Dakota; as well as a seasonal fulfilment centre, used as necessary, in Seattle, Washington. The company also leases and operates three European fulfilment centres located in the UK, France and Germany and, in Japan, the courier company Nippon Express provides fulfilment services for orders from www.amazon.co.jp. These fulfilment centres comprise in total around four million sq ft of warehouse space, and in addition, Amazon leases four off-site facilities that fluctuate from 340,000 to 710,000 sq ft of space, which support the storage an d fulfilment functions of the US centres. (Global Market Information Database, 2003) What are the technologies used by the organisation in pursuit of competitive advantage? In Hamid’s (2005) article, he focuses strongly on the fact that Amazon offers many interesting variations on the strategic applications of Internet technology, in order to enhance customer relationship and acquire customer loyalty. Obviously, Amazon’s offerings of personalised services, confirmation of orders in real time and other value added activities substantiated the ability of the Internet as a competitive tool. As the number of internet users is growing rapidly around the world, retailers are under great pressure to take advantage of this huge online market potential. However the challenge is whether online retailers can match up with other, â€Å"bricks and mortar† competitors worldwide in terms of services rendered on the Internet. Hamid investigated the level of Internet technology applied by web sites in view of global electronic marketplace competition, finding that many Internet retailers are still lagging behind in fully utilizing the strategic pote ntial of the Internet particularly in enhancing customer relations. However, Amazon is already way ahead of this, using some of the technologies described above, and plans to cement its lead further in the next five to ten years and, in doing so, revolutionise the book business yet again. Curtis (2005) analyse Amazon’s recent acquisitions of on-demand book printer ‘BookSurge’ and e-book company ‘MobiPocket’, claiming that they may signal a coming transformation of the publishing business, one that includes an end to the industrys biggest problem: that of returns. Since practical ‘print on demand’ (POD) technology became available in 1998, it offered retailers the vision of a book business driven by demand-and-supply, rather than the current consignment model, and Amazon is ideally placed to turn that vision into reality (Curtis, 2005) Given that the retailer owns or leases well over four million square feet of warehouse space, no small portion of which is devoted to books, and employs 9,000 people to process orders, it would benefit immensely if it could forward orders to a printer to drop-ship books directly to customers. Not only would this benefit Amazon itself, but also potentially the publishers, helping Amazon develop strong relationships with yet another stakeholder group. One strategy might be for Amazon to print pre-sold books in its own plant which, aside from shifting printing and shipping costs from publishers to the retailer, would also sharply reduce the guesswork for publishers setting print runs. Given current economies of scale for large print runs of big books, its likely publishers would, at least for the foreseeable future, continue to print books the traditional way for brick-and-mortar accounts. However, Curtis (2005) claims that even a mix of POD and traditional printing makes more sense than the current reasoning that you can make more money by printing a million copies and selling half of them than you can by printing half a million and selling all of them. Though POD manufacturing costs are currently far higher than those of traditional long print runs, longer POD print runs, and lower unit costs, will become more common if the number of pre orders on the site continues to rise, and as the technology continues to improve, especially given Amazon’s access to detailed customer data which it can use to predict future retail trends. Equally, Amazons acquisition of the e-book retailer, ‘MobiPocket’, enables the company to contemplate developing virtual publishing in its purest form: eliminating hard copies and delivering virtual books electronically to customers at a fraction of the current cost. As Amazon masters these technologies and delivery systems in the coming years, perhaps even becoming a publisher in its own right, it will be harder and harder for traditional publishers to support the outdated consignment model, and potentially giving Amazon its highest ever level of competitive advantage. Indeed, trade publish ers may find themselves shifting to a system in which most books are pre-sold, regardless of the channel, further increasing Amazon’s advantage over the traditional stores. Curtis, R. (2005) What are the implications of this technology on the internal organisation of work? One of the key implications of the importance of technology to Amazon is that the company has to maintain its edge in technology: an edge that is more critical than ever as Amazon increasingly squares off against sophisticated e-commerce survivors like eBay, whilst controlling the potentially massive costs of said technology. Just two and a half years ago, Amazon spent 11 cents on tech for every $1 in sales, but now the company spends only about 6 cents. All told, Amazons tech spending has fallen 25 percent from its September 2000 peak, even as the company added nine new categories to its retail lineup and signed on dozens of new corporate partners. However, despite the need to slash unnecessary costs, at other times, its much better to invest your way to efficiency and, as Amazon’s head of technological development claims: â€Å"You cant be cheap for the wrong reasons.† (Thomas, 2003) As such, Amazon’s internal staff have embraced open-source coding, replacing Sun servers with Linux boxes from Hewlett-Packard, and necessitating a whole new organisational structure for the technological development staff. For every $1 spent on the new hardware, the company saved $10 in license fees, maintenance, and expected hardware upgrades, but also has to learn and adapt to the new processes and systems. The company has also been willing to spend to save, maintaining its own warehouse-management software, which has to be built and maintained by internal staff, even though ready-made alternatives like Logility might cost as little as $375,000. However, with its own software, Amazon can tweak inventory algorithms whenever it wants so that, for example, a book isnt shipped to New York from a Nevada warehouse when it could be sent faster and cheaper from Delaware, and managers can have greater control over their own warehouse staff. (Thomas, 2003) Equally, although Amazon’s partners are primarily intended to generate revenue, they are also used to help control internal costs: the company has recently began to invest in Web services and tools that make it easy for partners to hook into applications Amazon had developed for its own use. Now retailers like Nordstrom and Gap can feed their inventory into Amazons new apparel store without a lot of custom coding, and freelance programmers can build their own online stores using Amazons payment, fulfilment, and customer services, meaning that Amazon’s internal staff only need track these stores and ensure they are using the services correctly, rather than have to handle all the marketing and coding themselves. For example, a Romanian coder created www.simplest-shop.com, which uses Amazons Web services tools to extract product data from Amazon and then fashions side by side comparison tables, which is a feature not available on Amazon.com, essentially doing Amazonâ€℠¢s marketing and retailing for it. (Thomas, 2003) Amazon’s recent shift towards cutting costs has also has an effect on its internal organisation of work: in 2001, Amazon embarked on a restructuring plan which would lead to a reduction in its personnel numbers by some 1,300, or 15% of its workforce. This also involved: the consolidation of Amazon’s corporate office locations in Seattle; the closure of its fulfilment centre in McDonough, Georgia; the operation of its Seattle fulfilment centre on a seasonal basis; the closure of its customer service centres in Seattle, Washington and the Netherlands; and the migration of a large portion of its technology infrastructure to a new hardware and software platform. The company estimated that the restructuring would result in costs during the first half of 2001 exceeding US$150 million relating primarily to severance, fixed asset impairments, continuing lease obligations and other exit costs related to the restructuring. The restructuring has also lead to fundamental changes in the roles of its staff, and the organisational structures within which they work, with many staff taking over greater responsibilities and a greater scope of work. (Global Market Information Database, 2003) References: Curtis, R. (2005) Gone Today, Gone Tomorrow? Publishers Weekly; Vol. 252, Issue 30, p. 74. Global Market Information Database (2003) Amazon.Com, Inc. Euromonitor International. Hamid, N. R. A. (2005) E-CRM: Are we there yet? Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge; Vol. 6, Issue 1, p. 51. Sutton, N. (2005) Sears Canada turns over Web management to Amazon. Computing Canada; Vol. 31, Issue 7, p. 11. Thomas, O. (2003) Amazon’s Tightwad of Tech. Business 2.0; Vol. 4, Issue 1, p. 104.

The Time Machine - Analysis :: essays research papers

There are numerous people in society who lack certain skills that they need for survival. These people may lack intelligence and depend on other human beings to help them get through life. However, most of the time, it is there fault that they lack these necessities. In â€Å"The Time Machine† by H.G Wells, the Eloi had this problem. They were victims of their own weaknesses because they didn’t understand that learning these important skills was necessary for them to survive. When he arrived in the future, The Time Traveller, after seeing and hearing the Eloi, concluded that they had an extremely low intelligence compared to the people that lived in his time. They were often described as and compared to little children. â€Å"Then one of them asked me a question that showed him to be on the intellectual level of one of our five year old children.†(39) He was very shocked about this weakness that the Eloi possessed. The fact that the Time Traveller lived 800,00 years in the past led him to believe that over time, the generations got less and less intelligent and more involved with having fun compared to the world where he lived. The Time Traveller also realized that the Eloi were very dependent on other people for many of there resources. He mentioned that the Eloi had houses and clothing but he didn’t see any machinery or anything that could possibly produce these items. â€Å"There were no shops, no workshops, no sign of importations among them.† (65) This led him the believe that there had to be someone or something that was making these items for them. Since the Time Traveller had already know about the low intelligence of the Eloi, this didn’t come as surprize to him. He was able to come to the conclusion that the Eloi cannot do very much for themselves. Another fact that the Time Traveler came across was that the Eloi spent all day playing games and doing nothing of importance. He didn't understand how they could get things done and survive in their world. "They spent all day of their time in playing gently, in bathing in the river, in making love in a half-playful fashion, in eating fruit and sleeping. I could not see how things were kept going." (65) He thought that the Eloi acted just like little children. The thing that puzzled him was how the society could function properly when no one took anything seriously. He never saw an Eloi doing work or anything of value. As a result, the Time Traveller didn't understand how the Eloi stayed alive.

In this experiment we are going to be studying the affects of Osmosis :: GCSE Biology Osmosis Coursework

In this experiment we are going to be studying the affects of Osmosis in Potatoes. Osmosis is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. A semi-permeable membrane is a very a very thin layer of material, cell membranes are semi-permeable. These will allow some things to pass through, but will prevent other things from passing through. For example, cell membranes will allow small molecules such as Oxygen, water, Carbon Dioxide, Ammonia, Glucose, amino acids, etc. to pass through. But they will not allow larger molecules such as Sucrose, Starch, and protein, etc. to pass through. A region of high concentration of water is either a very dilute solution of, for example, sucrose, or Pure Water. In each case there is a lot of water: there is a high concentration of water. A region of low concentration of water is a concentrated solution of something, for example, sucrose. In this case there is much less water. When one puts an animal or plant cell into a liquid which contains water three things can happen. If the medium which surrounds the cell has a higher water concentration than the cell, the cell will gain water by osmosis. Water molecules are free to pass across the cell membrane in both directions, but more water will enter the cell, than leave it. The Result of this is that water enters the cell and the cell is likely to swell up. If the medium has exactly the same water concentration as the cell, there is no overall movement. The cell will stay the same size. Water will cross the cell membrane in both directions, but the amount entering it will be the same amount leaving it, so there is no overall movement of water. The cell will stay the same size. If the medium has a lower concentration of water than the cell, the cell will lose water by osmosis. The water will cross the cell membrane in both directions, but now more water leaves the cell than entering it. The Result of this will mean the cell will shrink. Variables In this experiment I am going to cut 12 potato sections, I am going to try keeping these roughly the same size and weight. They will be around 4cm long, and all will have an average weight of 2.74g. The liquid that the potato sections will be put into will have different concentrations, but they will all have a volume of 30 cm. I am going to have 6 different test tubes which will have the same volumes but different concentrations. In this experiment we are going to be studying the affects of Osmosis :: GCSE Biology Osmosis Coursework In this experiment we are going to be studying the affects of Osmosis in Potatoes. Osmosis is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. A semi-permeable membrane is a very a very thin layer of material, cell membranes are semi-permeable. These will allow some things to pass through, but will prevent other things from passing through. For example, cell membranes will allow small molecules such as Oxygen, water, Carbon Dioxide, Ammonia, Glucose, amino acids, etc. to pass through. But they will not allow larger molecules such as Sucrose, Starch, and protein, etc. to pass through. A region of high concentration of water is either a very dilute solution of, for example, sucrose, or Pure Water. In each case there is a lot of water: there is a high concentration of water. A region of low concentration of water is a concentrated solution of something, for example, sucrose. In this case there is much less water. When one puts an animal or plant cell into a liquid which contains water three things can happen. If the medium which surrounds the cell has a higher water concentration than the cell, the cell will gain water by osmosis. Water molecules are free to pass across the cell membrane in both directions, but more water will enter the cell, than leave it. The Result of this is that water enters the cell and the cell is likely to swell up. If the medium has exactly the same water concentration as the cell, there is no overall movement. The cell will stay the same size. Water will cross the cell membrane in both directions, but the amount entering it will be the same amount leaving it, so there is no overall movement of water. The cell will stay the same size. If the medium has a lower concentration of water than the cell, the cell will lose water by osmosis. The water will cross the cell membrane in both directions, but now more water leaves the cell than entering it. The Result of this will mean the cell will shrink. Variables In this experiment I am going to cut 12 potato sections, I am going to try keeping these roughly the same size and weight. They will be around 4cm long, and all will have an average weight of 2.74g. The liquid that the potato sections will be put into will have different concentrations, but they will all have a volume of 30 cm. I am going to have 6 different test tubes which will have the same volumes but different concentrations.

The Aliens Next Door :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

The Aliens Next Door   Ã‚  Ã‚   Three of them are on the right side of my bed. I try to holler but I can't. I can't move. I'm scared, remembering the pain from the other times. They fly through the ceiling and out the roof, taking me with them. Next thing I'm in their craft, lying on a table, and I'm cold. I'm naked. They're putting something up into my vagina, and I'm scared they'll leave it there. They wear skintight black coveralls. They look like black grasshoppers. No hair, wide jaw. Black eyes, big, halfway between round and oval. Small openings for nostrils. No ears, just foot-long antennae. A thumb and three long pointy fingers. They're cold when they touch me. They talk to one another and I hear them in my mind. They have a damp, musty odor about them. They roll me over and put a burning hot needle along my spine. They aren't saying anything. I can't cry for help. Afterwards I'm floating out of a craft. There are beings with me surrounding me. I'm not scared. I'm back in bed, drif ting off to sleep. They're gone. (Gordon, 82).    Many of the world's inhabitants have reported experiences like those of Mary, a hospital administrator, who, at the age of forty-three, remembered her abduction by alien beings through hypnotic regression. (Gordon 82) Many people believe in alien beings from other planets. Many people also believe that aliens have visited Earth in UFOs. A UFO is an unidentified flying object. This usually ranges from an airplane to the much publicized alien aircrafts from outer space.    When people think of aliens they usually think of little green men from Mars, other little gray men, or giant monsters. The little gray men are described to be about four feet tall. There heads are large and oval. The beings' eyes are also shaped like ovals, but turned up at the ends like cat's eyes. The aliens have also been described as having long fingers that extend from the wrist. These wrists are attached to extremely long arms connected at narrow shoulder blades. These alien beings are also said to radiate a luminescent aura. The large monsters have been described as anything that can be imagined from the depths of one's soul.

Skywest Cas

eSkyWest, Inc. case Analysis Written Case Analysis Table of Contents 1. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pg. 2 2. External Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pg. 3-10 3. Internal Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pg. 10-14 4. Key Decisions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. pg. 14- 15 5. Alternatives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pg. 15 6. Recommended Decisions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ pg. 16 7. Appendices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. pg. 17-19 1-SkyWest Airline IntroductionSkyWest, Inc. was found in 1972 by Raplph Atkins in St. George, Utah. Initially this was only a charter type of flight and was mostly used by businessman travelling between Salt Lake City and St. George, Utah. But with business partnerships and merging with companies like Western Airlines and later with Delta airlines partnerships the network of SkyWest airlines were much broad. Later in near future with more partnerships with United Airlines and Midwest Airlines helped the company to grow rapidly and in 2005 SkyWest acquired Atlantic Southeast Airlines.Currently SkyWest is operating in overseas too for instance Canada meanwhile it runs its operations in 34 states and nearly in 158 cities. Sky West case analysis report will help the reader to understand especially about the SkyWest Inc. and the general economic conditions of the reg ional airline industry of US at a micro environmental level along with some introductions of market size and market growth of the airline industry. The report is organized under the following main topics as follows.External analysis, internal analysis, Key decisions, alternatives and recommended decisions along with some charts and tables that helps the arguments for better understanding. Moving on when we consider the industry as a whole it had a decline due to the economic recession in 2009 that affected the growth rate of the airline industry and in terms of market size the revenue from passenger per mile decreased in 2008 compared to 2007 and this is an early effect of the economic recession, we shall discuss the threats and alternatives as we go along.In five year period from 2004 to 2008 the industry’s combined revenue has increased almost with a double effect from $4. 7 billion to $8. 4 billion (Please refer the epilogue table # 1). As part of the introduction let†™s identify the vision statement and the company strategy. Company strategy is low-cist strategy and its competitive advantage is achieved by lower cost than its competitors. Vision statement is â€Å"Atlantic Southeast Airlines is committed to connecting more people, more often; to the places they love, by becoming the world's first super regional airline. Moving on we would concentrate on the external analysis of this company. 2-External Analysis Economic Factors The external analysis assess the company’s external environment by looking at its Marco-environmental factors including the size of the market in terms of unit sale and sales volume as well as the market growth. It also examines the number and size of buyers and sellers in the environment, the pace of technological change or innovation, the economies of scale, geographic boundaries, the market supply and demand conditions, learning curve effects of the market and the differential products available.We will now e valuate SkyWest’s external environment by first looking at its economic factors. Size and Market Growth rate: The first economic factor addressed is the size of the company and its growth rate. SkyWest is the largest independently owned regional airline that is partnered with two of the major airlines; United and Delta. Alone SkyWest has more than 11,000 people representing their company none of which are unionized. Through the partnership with United and Delta, SkyWest was imited to the size of the aircraft through scope clauses limiting seating of 76 with Delta and 70 with United. This would limit the amount of business they could capture from their partners. In order to take advantages of their efficiencies SkyWest could have purchased larger aircraft to expand its business had there been no limitations. Throughout the five years SkyWest contracted to Delta and United ending in December of 2008, their annual growth rate had increased to a compounded 29. 6% with the number of flights increasing from 1,500 to 2,300.The size of the market in terms of unit sale and sales volume will be discussed in the next paragraph defining its size of buyers and sellers. Number and Size of buyers and sellers: The number of buyers in the company can be defined by the number of customers the company serves per year. SkyWest has the ability to serve over 100,000 customers per year due to the contract with Delta and United. The number of sellers in the company can be defined as the partnering airlines using their regional services to operate their connecting flights for a fixed cost.SkyWest is a regional airline that operates the connecting flights of its major partners Delta and United. The regional flight as well as the connecting flights through Delta and United has them serving 158 cities in 42 states and five Canadian provinces and Mexico. Their Hubs are located in Chicago O’Hare, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Portland, Denver and Salt Lake City. In o rder to maintain these airlines they have maintenance based in Atlanta, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fresno, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Palm Springs, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Tucson.Through their contract with Delta they have increased their customer base by operating about 430 connecting flights per day between Salt Lake City and designated outlaying destination which is about 59. 9% of the company’s capacity. The other 40. 10% of capacity goes to their contract with United that has them operating about 900 scheduled departures per day. In January of 2008 SkyWest took over Midwest allowing them to service 70 and 90 seating customers per flight.When they partnered with these major airlines there were a lot of changes that took place including technical changes. We will now discuss the pace of these technical changes and innovation. Pace of technological change or innovation: Most of the technological changes happened after the 9/11 attack on the World Tr ade Center and the Pentagon. One of the changes SkyWest had implemented was the Stetson Quality Suite. The Stetson Quality Suite is a mobile data collection and reporting software SkyWest used to ensure they were meeting or exceeding their safety quality standards.SkyWest used this particular software to keep up with the Safety and maintenance standards for the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration. Now that we have discussed the pace of technological changes or innovation we will now go on to discuss the economies of scale. Economies of Scale: The economies of scale are the cost advantages company’s can obtain due to size, with cost per unit of output decreasing with increasing scale as fixed costs are spread out over more units of output.SkyWest was able to capitalize on the economies of scale when it partnered with Delta and United which helped reduce the cost of providing the service over what others could do. Through these partnerships SkyW est was able to gain access to an established customer base that would help increase their business in size and also lower the costs through the contracts where the major airlines were responsible for all their jet fuel, ground handling and aircraft maintenance and ownership. Given the gained access to customers through the partnership made SkyWest heavily dependent on Delta and United.With the current recession causing a dramatic downfall in the economic condition put all airlines including the major ones like Delta and United at risk to airlines losses, bankruptcies and consolidations due to the decrease in operating revenues by 87% with a 64% drop in income, 77% drop in revenues and a 60% drop in operating income. Now that we have discussed the economies of scale in the industry we will go on to discuss the geographic boundaries. Geographic Boundaries: The geographic boundaries of an industry refer to the geographic boundary lines that are drawn whether they are local, regional, national or global.SkyWest’s geographic boundaries are regional representing only small cities and also servicing major airlines through connecting flights. The partnerships with Delta and United had allowed expansion to current and new routes as well and additional departures. SkyWest was looking to expand more and through the acquisition with ASA they were allowed to expand geographically allowing them access to the East Coast markets and comprehensive national coverage that greatly expanded their scope of operations by adding regional jets to their fleets and a $1 billion to operations.We will now move on to discuss the market supply and demand conditions. Market Supply/Demand Conditions: The market supply and demand conditions changed greatly with the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The 9/11 attack prevented people from flying due to the fear of crashing which translated into huge losses in the major airlines. People feared the larger airlines more than the smaller regional jets due to the fact that they felt the larger planes to be more susceptible to terrorist attacks.They assumed that smaller regional airlines would not be a target for terrorism but still saw them to be less safe than the larger airplanes. The second condition affecting the market demand was the recession starting in late 2007 that continued throughout 2009. The beginning of the recession had negative effects on participant’s income statements and balance sheets resulting in airlines losses, bankruptcies and consolidations. The recession continued into 2008 and 2009 causing a dramatic downturn in the company’s financial performance.This economic downfall of 2008 and 2009 caused a decrease in the number of scheduled flights, and passenger traffics by 3%, with cargo revenues dropping as well. The airline industry is highly sensitive to fluctuations in the economy because of the significant portion of business and leisure travelers . The recession had lowered the overall demand for airline services not only to the regional but all airlines in the United States. The most recent recession in 2009 had a strong impact on the credit markets preventing airlines from getting the needed credit to acquire new aircraft.Other things affecting the market supply/demand conditions were the seasonal fluctuations that increased travel during summer months and decreased travel during the winter due to flight cancelations and delays due to inclement weather. The weather related flight cancellations represented a loss to 2,850 of its flights with a decrease in pretax income of about $5. 2 million. Next we will discuss the learning curve effects in the industry. Learning/experience curve effects:The learning curve effects of the industry were outlined in the training offered to help pilots and maintenance personnel keep up to date on the new safety and maintenance regulations as well as their skills. The vast majority of training was at training facilities for both the company pilots and maintenance personnel through a six-week program. The six-week training program proved to be very comprehensive and respected that it attracted tuition paying Federal Aviation Administration personnel. Next we will discuss their differential products. Differential Products:The differential products discussed in this case were the Bombardier Regional Jets and the Embraer and ATR Turboprops. The Bombardier region jets were the main regional gets used in the industry. These were larger commercial jets used to service longer-haul flights to the destinations up to 1,200 miles away, which allowed regional carriers to operate new longer routes and run shorter routes more efficiently. The other product discussed was the Embraer and ATR Turboprop which seats 30 passengers. This jet was used for short- to medium-haul flights and was able to land on shorter runways.Several travelers were unsure of riding on the turboprops due to the p erception of them being loud and uncomfortable. To accommodate travelers that wanted to ride a smaller jet with a more comfortable ride they created the Bombardier Q series turboprop that was equipped with noise and vibration reduction devices to help reduce the noise and vibration levels to those of a regional jet. In the next section we will define the driving forces for change in the industry. Driving Forces The driving forces are the factors that are driving the industry to make changes.These changes within the industry will have impacts on globalization, product and marketing innovation, technological change, changes in long-term growth rates and new government regulations. To start off we will discuss the impact on globalization. Globalization: SkyWest decided to go international with their business and started working with regional carriers in Europe, Latin America and China. The push to go global was due to the increased interest in airline business from people in Brazil and China. The people from these two geographic areas had pursued SkyWest to help them build their own airline within their geographic region.SkyWest agreed to help them train people, and organize from a 10- to 20 aircraft operation to a major regional carrier in countries that really needed a major regional carrier. Through globalizing their company SkyWest would be able to increase their purchasing power and help buys things at a lower rate. However, through the limitations the foreign governments would place on U. S. carriers, the opportunities by the international joint ventures would be limited. Now that we discussed the globalization driving factor we will go on to discuss the product and marketing innovation. Product and marketing innovation:The first product and marketing innovation is the Bombardier Regional Jets. The Bombardier regional jets originally serviced flights with destinations of up to 1,200 miles away. The new innovated Bombardier Jet has the quietest commercial je t available with a range of up to 1,600 miles. This larger regional jet offers many amenities including flight attendant service, stand-up cabin, overhead and under-seat storage, lavatories, and in-flight snack and beverage service. These jets were able to operate at lower costs then a 120-seat or larger jet aircraft due to its smaller size and efficient design.The other product and marketing innovation is the Embraer and ATR Turboprop, many travelers were not very interested in these smaller jets due to their noise level and uncomfortable seating. The new Embraer and ATR Turboprop has a 30 seat 120 turboprop and a 74 seat ATR 72 turboprops that are able to operate more economically over short-haul routes than the larger jet aircrafts. These smaller jets had comfort features such as stand-up headroom, a lavatory, overhead baggage compartments and flight attendant services.The smaller jets were more economically feasible making it possible to provide high frequency service in markets with relatively low volumes of passenger traffic. We will now go on to discuss the technological changes. Technological Changes: The technological changes taking place are the implementation of Stetson Quality Suite for Safety used to ensure their standards were meeting or exceeding their safety quality standards. The changes to the Bombardier and Embraer Jet to increase the overall quality and service of the jets in reference to their range of flight and the services offered to the staff and the customers boarding the flight.Other technological changes taking place are the new ways of communicating creating less need for travel. With the economy still being in a vulnerable position people are very sensitive to the price of a flight and try to find other means of commuting to their destination or communicating to that particular party. These technological changes have caused a decrease in the airline market due to price sensitivity that even business travelers are looking to save m oney. Next we will discuss the changes in the long-term growth rate. Changes in the long-term growth rate:The changes in the long-term growth rate started to increase when SkyWest partnered with Delta and United Express. The partnership had increased their annual growth rate to a compounded 29. 6%. This partnership had increased the number of flights from 1,500 to 2,300, and increased their departures to 2,400 to 208 cities per day by adding connection flight through their major airlines that serviced the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. With the increased flights there were new government regulations that were applied. In the next paragraph we will discuss those regulations. New Government regulations:New Government regulations were in effect immediately after the 9/11 attack to ensure safety to the passengers by increasing the security regulations. The increased security also increased operational costs to the airline carriers due to the increased safety regulation s. The last increase that took place was the increased jet fuel cost, due to the economic recession in mid-2008. All these changes lead to a decrease in ticket sales due to fear of flying post 9/11 attack, and the incurred costs of flying in response to the threat of rising fuel costs. The next section will talk about the industry’s key success factors.Key Success factors: The key success factors are the competitive factors that most affect industry members’ ability to prosper in the marketplace. Different types of key success factors can be technology related, manufacturing related, distribution related, marketing related and skills and capability related. Technology related: The technology related key success factors that the SkyWest Inc. was defined by how they were able to acquire new aircraft. Regional airlines were required to find the needed capital and financing to increase the size of their fleets to service the longer routes being outsourced by the major airl ines.This had to be done without compromising their scope contracts with labor. SkyWest was able to overcome that by joining with ASA to acquire new aircraft. The next factors to success being discussed are the Manufacturing and Distribution related key success factors. Manufacturing/Distribution related: SkyWest’s manufacturing and or distribution related key success factors are defined by the ability to get their passengers to their destination on time. SkyWest was able to maximize their on-time arrivals by successfully getting all of their flyers to their sites on-time and making sure they did not miss their connecting flights as well.This gave them a good reputation with their customers in increasing satisfaction, naming them one of the highest rated regional carriers for on-time arrivals. Marketing-related The regional airline industry related its marketing key success factors to how they were able to maintain a strong safety image. In order to keep up with images of fly ing SkyWest increased safety standards and regulations to develop a much more safer image for those that were skeptical about flying smaller flights especially after the 9/11 attack.Passengers were unsure of the safety of the smaller jets preventing them from flying with the regional airlines, but after more safety had been implemented and other procedures had taken place to ensure everything was up to code they were able to maintain this strong image to passengers to ensure their safety when flying. Skills and capability-related SkyWest’s skills and capabilities were expressed in how they were able to maintain high levels of customer service. Typically regional airlines were not known for their customer service due to a large number of mishandled uggage that happened when transferring luggage from one plane to the next and an increased number of cancelled flights due to inclement weather. Most of these issues were not directly related to the regional due to their partnership s that handed all of their scheduling and majors taking priority in runways. SkyWest was able to maintain an average number of mishandled baggage, the second lowest number of involuntary denied boarding’s and the fourth in number of complaints per 100,00o passengers.This put them at the top to be named the Regional Airline Company of the Year for on-time arrivals by the Department of Transportation multiple times. Five Forces Model of Competition The five forces model evaluates the industries competition based on their level of Rivalry, threat of new entry, substitutes, bargaining power of buyers and bargaining power of suppliers to be either strong, moderate or weak. We will first discuss the first and most powerful of the five forces of competition; rivalry. Rivalry: Competition in the U. S. irline industry is very strong with their being a large number of competitors in the regional airlines. The success of low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines and JetBlue has incre ased the pressure on airlines to compete on price to attract sufficient numbers of passengers to keep flights full. In some regards, major airlines use contracts with regional carriers to keep costs and airfares low. Therefore, contracts for regional service are awarded by major carriers are to those having the lowest prices and reliable service. The overall rivalry in the airline industry is strong.Threat of new entry: The Threat of entry into the regional airline is define by the barriers to entry that include costs of acquiring a fleet of aircraft, acquiring contracts with major airline partners, and low industry profitability. Although the capital required to start up a modestly-sized small regional airline is fairly small, entering at a scale large enough to create a competitive threat requires substantial resources. The major threat of entry comes from major carriers which have the resources to start up their own regional airline. This threat is only moderate because the trend is for ajors airlines to sell off their regional airline operations and contract out service to regional carriers. Substitutes: Since regional airlines service short routes, passengers have more alternatives such as bus, automobile, or train travel than they do for long distance travel. This is particularly true when passengers are traveling only a few hundred miles. However, for major carriers that utilize regional carriers to execute hub and spoke strategies, there are few alternatives that they can use other than operating their own regional carrier.Substitutes are a weak to moderate force in the industry. Bargaining Power of Buyers: In the airline industry there are two types of customers; Leisure and business travelers. The business travelers tend to make up most of the market because they used the regional airlines to commute to and from locations that were considered too far to drive. They were also the most profitable because the larger customers purchased flights that were bought at a premium due to their short-notice or unexpected plan for flight.The Second type of buyers in the market were the leisure travelers that was a much smaller group of buyers because they traveled less often and were more price sensitive to the ticket sales. With their being several airline businesses in the industry all offering the same service, switching costs for tickets from airline to another tend to be very high. Airline industries have a fixed price on airline tickets preventing from buyers being able to bargain a lower price. Since most if not all customers search airline tickets based on price this makes the bargaining powers of buyers in the industry to be weak to moderate.Bargaining Power of Suppliers: In the regional airline industry there are two main types of suppliers Brazil’s Empresa Brasilerira de Aeronautica SA and Bombardier. With their only being two different types of suppliers in the regional airline industry that have two differentiated produc ts, makes the demand for them to be very high. Since these are the only two for the regional airlines it makes the bargaining power of suppliers to be very strong allowing them to change higher prices without losing their service to another manufacturer. 3-Internal AnalysisSWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis is an incredibly useful tool that helps review and analyzes the company’s current strategy. The SWOT analysis also identifies a potentially new direction for the company’s strategy to go. SWOT stands for strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats. Strength and weaknesses generally relate to factors that are internal to the organization, while opportunities and weakness in contrast often relates to factors that are external to the organization. We will now analyze SkyWest, Inc. using the SWOT analysis. Strengths:A company’s strength is something that the company is good at doing, or an attribute that enhances its competitiveness in the marketplace. SkyWest le ads the industry in safety and maintenance by being a pillar in the industry for seeking safety prevention, and leading by example and getting involved to help the community overall be safer. SkyWest also has good statistics for safety and for on-time arrivals along with other factors that affect customer satisfaction. For years 2004 through 2009 SkyWest had the highest percentage for scheduled flights arriving on time.They also were second for the least amount of involuntary denied boarding’s. SkyWest also has a high level of employee satisfaction due to its workforce being nonunion. SkyWest owns jets like the Bombardier regional jet or the Embraer and ATR turboprops that are more economical and cost-efficient but also have speed that is comparable to those of larger jets; and they even have many of the same features that larger jets offer. A significant strength is that SkyWest has experienced a compounded annual growth rate of 29. 6 percent from 2003 to 2008.A key strength for SkyWest’s success is its ability to secure partnerships that expand its geographic and customer base. Now that we have completed analyzing SkyWest’s strengths we can take move on to analyzing their weaknesses. Weaknesses: A weakness is something a company lacks or does poorly; in comparison to competitors or a condition that puts the company at a competitive disadvantage. One weakness is SkyWest’s poor relationship with Delta Airlines which was caused by their disagreement over their contract and whether or not Delta owed SkyWest $25 million dollars.This inhibits SkyWest’s ability to fully function within that partnership, and of course being short changed $25 million dollars is also a significant loss. Another factor that contributes to SkyWest’s weaknesses was once considered a strength; SkyWest’s partnership with Midwest. After partnering together for two years Midwest filed for bankruptcy leaving a messy wind-down process for both c ompanies, which undoubtedly will take a toll on SkyWest’s competitive advantage. Unfortunately that’s not where the mess ends; in 2009, Midwest was purchased by Republic, a larger company that is considered a direct competitor of SkyWest.Another strategic issue for SkyWest is the fact that because they partner with larger airlines and even though their own statistics for safety and for on-time arrivals along with other factors that affect customer satisfaction are either average or above average, from the customer’s point of view they are connected with the major carriers. Therefore the larger airlines statistics are intertwined with their own; which, results in customers perceiving a poor reputation for customer service; mishandling baggage, canceling flights, delayed flights for both carriers.Another weakness caused by customer’s perceptions is that customers typically perceive that the planes regional carriers use are small, uncomfortable, noisy, and a lso unsafe. Now that we have finished evaluating SkyWest’s weakness, we can now move on to analyze opportunities. Finally the last weakness we will go over is the scope clauses with United ; Delta Airlines. In the labor contracts with their pilots union it is spelled out the maximum size of airplane that an outside partner can operate. This limits the size of aircrafts to 70-seat and 76-seat aircrafts.This translates into a limited amount of ticket sales which means its limiting profits and market share and the number of flights a company could support. Now that we have evaluated the different factors that put SkyWest at a disadvantage we will take a look at the external factors; starting with opportunities. Opportunities: Opportunities are found within the external environment and arise when a company can take advantage of current circumstances or changes in the environment to gain a competitive advantage and become more profitable. Generally the best opportunities are the o nes that match with your company’s strategic goals.One opportunity for SkyWest is with more and more major carriers that start outsourcing a portion of their routes to regional airlines this creates an opportunity for SkyWest to build those relationships and eventually become partners with those major airlines, giving SkyWest a chance to expand and grab more market share. Another opportunity for SkyWest to expand its market share is with United ; Delta Airlines filing for chapter 11 this creates a short window of opportunity for SkyWest to serve those customers and to do it with great service and low prices building an expanded loyal customer base.Another opportunity that SkyWest needs to watch the horizon for is if the scope cause liberation were to be approved it would create an opportunity for SkyWest to increase the number of routes flown in contract with other airlines and the seat capacity of those routes. It would be a wise decision to spend time making plans that coul d be quickly executed should the scope cause liberation get approved. It’s important to keep an eye on the horizon watching for changing technology, government policies, or social trends that way the company can respond quickly and seize the opportunity to gain the competitive advantage.A changing external environment doesn’t only mean possible opportunities it also means possible threats. We will now examine SkyWest’s possible threats. Threats: Threats are factors in a company’s external environment that pose a threat to the company’s profitability and competitive well-being. The 2007 economic recession is an example of a threat that many people did not see, because of this many industries including the airline industry suffered.Some people believe that we still have not fully felt the aftershocks of the recession and because the airline Industry is highly sensitive to the economy as a significant portion of travel; both leisure and business trave lers, are discretionary, it is still a potential threat. Another threat to the airline industry is the increasing costs for jet fuel and its general availability. This can have a crippling effect on a company’s profitability and threatens their overall business operations. Fuel expenses already account for 35-50 percent of an airlines operation cost in 2009.Another external threat is if either new or changes are made to the ASA Regulation for either weather related factors or safety inspections. Both would increase costs and could threaten the success and the competitive advantage of SkyWest, which in turn could lead to decreased customer satisfaction and fewer sales. Since SkyWest is a regional carrier they need to keep a careful watch not only on how they are performing but also how their major carriers whom they have partnerships with are performing.If a major carrier were to file for bankruptcy it would most certainly threaten SkyWest with loss of customers and profits an d could lead them to follow suit and file for bankruptcy as well. Another threat that could affect regional carriers in the industry is if two major carriers merge the result would most likely be consolidating of routes and possibly completely shutting down smaller hubs, which as we have explained would also affect their regional partners. Financial assessment Ratios: Financial data is important to analyze as it provides the concrete results as for how the company’s strategy is performing.Ratio analysis is often used to determine a company’s financial position. Ratio analysis breaks down into 5 key subgroups; profitability ratios, liquidity ratios, leverage ratios, activity ratios, and finally share-holder ratios. We will break down each one of these types of ratios starting with profit ratio. It should be noted that analyzing the individual companies financial performance alone, is not a complete analysis. To have a complete analysis, the ratios should be compared aga inst the industry’s average; however, we will not be covering that in our assessment with SkyWest. Profitability ratios:Profitability ratios generally tell us how well the company is using their resources efficiently. One of the several profitability ratios is the Operating profit margin. This ratio tells us how much profit is earned on each dollar of sales before paying interest charges and income taxes. | 2004| 2005| 2006| 2007| 2008| Operating Income| 144776| 220408| 339160| 344524| 255231| Total Operating Revenue| 1156044| 1964048| 3114656| 3374332| 3496249| Operating Profit Margin| 0. 1252| 0. 1122| 0. 1089| 0. 1021| 0. 0730| Here we see that the operating profit margin has been declining, while the total operating revenue is increasing.This can be interpreted as less money is being made on each dollar of sale. When looking at the operating profit margin ratio higher is better and you want to see an upward trend, since we don’t see that it is cause for concern and should be looked into. Liquidity ratios: Now let’s look into the liquidity ratios. Liquidity ratios measure a company’s ability to pay off short-term obligations by using their liquid assets, one of these ratios is the current ratio. The current ratio tells us how much of the company’s short-term obligation can be covered by using and converting their liquid assets. 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Current Assets| 125,892| 122,802| Current Liabilities| 129,783| 118,202| Current Ratio:| 0. 9700| 1. 0389| SkyWest’s current ratio had a small decrease from 2007 to 2008. For 2007 their ratio was 1. 04, and for 2008 it decreased to . 97. The ratio should be higher than 1, however what an acceptable ratio is depends on the type of industry as it varies. The fact that their ratio is decreasing could suggest impending insolvency. However to accurately analyze we would need to compare the current ratio to other companies in the airline industry. Leverage ratios:Next we wil l move on to analyze leverage ratios. Leverage ratios are concerned with the balance between debt and equity. One of the leverage ratios is the debt-to asset ratio. The debt-to asset ratio measure the extent to which borrowed funds have been used to finance the firm’s operations and investments. | 2007| 2008| Total Debt| 3990525| 4014291| Total Assests| 3990525| 4014291| Debt-to assets ratio| 1| 1| Here we see that for both 2007 and 2008 the debt-to asset ratio equals 1; however this is a cause for concern. It would be better if the debt-to assets ratio were a low fraction.A low fraction would indicate that the firm less debt then assets and therefor does not have a high risk of bankruptcy occurring. Activity Ratios: Another area to analyze is how effectively a company is managing its assets this group is called activity ratios. An example of an activity ratio is the inventory turnover ratio; which takes the cost of goods sold divided by the inventory to determine the number of times the inventory is turned over and whether they are carrying excess stock. One example of an activity ratio is the average collection ratio. | 2007| 2008| Accounts receivables| 81216| 55458|Total Sales (Total Revenue)| 3374332| 3496249| Average collection period| 8. 7851| 5. 7897| This measurement indicates the average length of time it takes SkyWest to receive a cash payment after making the sale. The shorter amount of time is optimal. From 2007 to 2008 SkyWest shortened the amount of time by almost 3 days, bringing it to roughly 6 days. Other important measures of financial performance: The last category is kind of a miscellaneous category; however this category is sometimes referred to as the shareholder-return ratio because many of the ratios measure the return earned by shareholders from holding stock in the company.There are other measures as well like the internal cash flow measurement. This measures how much cash a company’s business is generating after paying operating expenses, interest, and taxes (often referred to as NIAT). Years| 2004| 2005| 2006| 2007| 2008| Net income| $81,952 | $112,267 | $145,806 | $159,192 | $112,929 | Depreciation| $76,817 | $115,275 | $189,885 | $208,944 | $220,195 | NIAT| $158,769 | $227,542 | $335,691 | $368,136 | $333,124 | – Key Decisions 1. One of the main points the case covers is the state of the global and national economy. As previously discussed the airline industry and its success is highly correlated with the state of the economy. 2. Another main point that SkyWest should be concerned with is their ability to attract and retain partnerships. Its already been established that SkyWest’s relationship with Delta has been changed to â€Å"it’s complicated† over the disagreement of 25 million dollars unpaid and not going after Delta in a lawsuit for the unpaid money for fear of losing their partnership and connected business.As Delta Airlines contributed 59. 9% of SkyWest†™s customer capacity. Also their previous partnership with Midwest Airlines which then filed for bankrupt and later was purchased by a direct competitor, which could become larger and more capable; threatening SkyWest’s future. 3. Another issue plaguing SkyWest is the impact of high fuel prices. It is estimated that 30-50% of total costs are from the costs of fuel. This in conjunction with the scope clauses that limit the size of planes SkyWest can operate increases the costs and amount of fuel needed. . The Last problem the case covers is the issue of government legislation and regulations and the effect it has on the airline industry. Safety regulations and labor contracts that limit the number of passenger’s pilots can fly. Along with the issue of planes being grounded to perform safety inspections or the proposals of new legislation like the regulation that was going to require they provide oxygen for passengers that would have added a significant amount of addit ional costs. 5- Alternatives 1.Economy: Clearly one cannot control the state of the economy, but if SkyWest continues to take advantage of their strengths and repair weakness that are due to partner companies’ poor customer service, human resources and low profits they are likely to be successful when the economy is doing better. While the economic recession continues SkyWest should attempt to renegotiate their agreements with their major carrier partners and cancel flights, when capacity is low, in order to reduce their costs.They need to make sure they maintain competitive prices and not just meet customer’s expectations but also exceed them, this will lead to a stronger customer loyalty hopefully keeping SkyWest out of the red. 2. Partnerships: SkyWest needs to continue to develop their partnerships with major carriers to further diversify the amount of major partners, which would ultimately reduce the risk of being dependent on Delta and United. Also combining effo rts would reduce the companies overhead. . Fuel costs: The rising costs and fluctuations in fuel price pose a significant risk as they are the largest chunk of operation costs for the airline industry. SkyWest should plan their routes to maximize their fuel efficiency along with again trying to renegotiate their agreements with their major carrier partners to permit flying larger size planes with more seating capacity; which would therefor create larger economies of scale. 4.Regulations: SkyWest needs to continue to pay close attention to union activity within the ASA Corporation and also continue to avoid labor unions and instead focus on employees through effective benefit packages and employee engagement. 6- Recommended Decisions 1. SkyWest airlines considerably has cash in had it could make a risky move by starting to serve in new countries since they are already exposed to some of the foreign destinations it would not be a bad idea but they must be prepared to face new competit ors.This would help the company to offer more international connecting flights and strengthen the operations that already exists for instance in Canada. 2. As we discussed before as a whole the industry is enjoying an accumulated revenue, so at this point making new partnerships may increase the revenue share of SkyWest Airlines and this would help the company to face the unknown future challenges and lessen its affect to SkyWest airlines since the economy is not steady. . Even though SkyWest is well known for being the best at safety of the services rendered it should invest more on researches with the other industry competitors so they could split the cost and enjoy the benefits (joint research agreements). This would help the SkyWest to keep up to the new regulations that is set by FAA, TSA and DOT. 4. In the first quarter of 2009 they had a SkyWest had a revenue loss of $7. million which was merely by ASA because of poor maintains and inefficiency of the flights. Management shou ld take initiatives to reduce these types of inefficiency and integrate a successful system for sustainable growth of the company. 5. SkyWest Inc. should be concerned with the route maps and they should look for opportunities that could potentially help them to expand route coverage with the existing partnerships or to get into new business agreements with new partners. . Management should work closely with the finance department to cut down fuel and maintains cost to earn more revenues in the volatile economy. For instance management should be working together with finance department on hedging for fuel, and they could get into partnerships with smaller companies in the industry to share maintains cost rather than a large air carrier where SkyWest’s needs wouldn’t be considered upon a larger company.