APA Style Essay Example for Free

APA Style Essay American Psychology Association (APA) formatting and style guide provides a complete dictionary for all the associated guidelines to format a document with citations and references. It is complete in form and offers descriptive illustrations to make citations, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes and the organization of the reference page (Owl, 2007). The links provide full package information with examples to the citations and the layout of the reference pages. APA style is widely used in research papers, dissertations and essays and pictures used in the paper in citing others work which was included to illustrate the concepts and ideas in the paper. It is a standard used by universities all over. APA style is used to cite sources from authors, non-authors, sources from articles, electronic form of documents, emails, printed sources and other non-print sources. It provides basic rules at first to provide a background that references must be listed separately at the end with a page title called references. The following are the points in short: In case of listing using author’s name and title of the, it is done as follows: last name, initials, first name (year). Title, pub, edition, page number(s). For articles the names are listed as follows: Author, A. A. , Author, B. B. , Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. For books and other printed sources it is done as under: Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher. Other sources are cited in almost similar format with little differences. The APA style guide is an excellent source to obtain all information about APA style basics and for citing and referencing all the sources. References Owl (2007). The Owl at Purdue. Retrieved 10, November 2007 from http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/560/01/.

Effects of Different Disinfectants

Effects of Different Disinfectants Abstract Introduction: Dentists, dental equipments and dental laboratories are exposed to different types of pathogenic microorganisms. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of spraying three different types of disinfectant agents: sodium hypochlorite 0.525 %, Epimax and Deconex, on condensational silicon after 5 and 10 minutes. Method and materials: In this in vitro experimental study, 66 circular samples of condensational silicon impression materials of 1cm diameter and 2mm thickness (1.5 mm thickness of puty and 0.5 mm thickness of wash) were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus ,(ATCC29213) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC27853) and Candida albicans fungus (PTCC5027). Except for control samples all of them were disinfected with sodium hypochlorite 0.525%, Deconex and Epimax by way of spraying. Afterwards, they were kept in plastic bags filled with humid cotton rolled for 5 and 10 minutes. In order to isolate bacteria the samples were immersed in 2% trypsin for one hour and then the solution was diluted with normal salin in portion of 1,1/2 and 1/4. The trypsin suspensions were transferred to culture plates and the number of colonies was counted after 24 and 48 hours for bacteria and after 72 hours for fungus. All data was analyzed by Mann Whitney test in SPSS software program (=0.05). Results: There was a significant difference between disinfection capability of Epimax and Deconex for all mentioned microorganisms after 5 minutes (P value=0.034). Also the difference was significant between disinfection ability of hypochlorite sodium 0.525% and Epimax for Staphylococcus aureus (P value=0.043) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P value=0.046) after 5 minutes. There was a significant difference between disinfection effects of Epimax and Deconex(P value=0.034) and hypochlorite sodium0.525% and Epimax(P value=0.034) for Pseudomonas aeruginosa after 10 minutes. By changing time from 5 minutes to 10 minutes, disinfection efficacy of Epimax and Hypochlorite sodium 0.525% changed dramatically. Deconex was completely efficient in eliminating 100 % of microorganisms in both 5 and 10 minutes. Conclusion: This study revealed that condensational silicon can be effectively disinfected by three types of disinfectant agents by spraying method, although Deconex showed the best results compared to the other agents which indicate that this agent can be selected as a first choice to disinfect condensational silicon impression materials. Key words: Condensational silicone, Disinfection, Impression materials, Introduction: Dentists and dental laboratories are exposed to different types of pathogen microorganisms. The main sources of transition of oral infections from patients to laboratory are impression materials, impression trays and poured stone casts. (1) New studies have shown that, 67% of materials which are sent to dentallaboratories are infected by various microorganisms (2). The most frequently identified microorganisms are Streptococcus species, Staphylococcus species, Escherichia coli species, Actinomyces species, Antitratus species, Pseudomonas species, Enterobacter species, Klebsiella pneumonia and Candida species.(3). therefore, an effort should be made to eliminate most of these microorganisms and reduce the rate of infection transmission to dentistry laboratories. The International Dental Federation consequently have insisted on disinfecting all impressions from patients before sending them to laboratories (4). Also the American Dental Association has advised all dental workers to disinfect all patients’ impression trays (5). In some studies, it has been declared that washing the impression materials with tap water; only removes 40% of bacteria but other studies have reported that it has the capacity to reduce micro organisms up to 90 %( 6). The most common chemical disinfectants used by dentists are Alcohols, Aldehydes, Chlorine combinations, phenols, Biguanides, Iodide combinations and Ammonium (7). Based on the type of chemical disinfectant, there are two common methods to disinfect dental materials: 1) immersion 2) spraying (6). Disinfection by immersing in the chemical materials has been proved to cover all surfaces in one time (8) while spraying is not capable of disinfecting all surfaces effectively and also cannot cover all undercuts, it significantly reduces the amount of distortion that take place in immersing method (6). Silicon impression materials are the first group of polymeric impression materials (9). These materials have the best dimensional stability. Polyvinyl impression materials are the only impression materials which can be disinfected without any dimensional changes (10). Also, different methods such as soaking in glutaraldehyde for 30 minutes have been suggested to disinfect these materials. Use of hypochlorite sodium and phenol combinations with the soaking time less than pouring time have been suggested by Some studies (11). J.Bustos investigated the effect of 0.05 % hypochlorite sodium and glutaraldehyde after 5 and 10 minutes on silicon impression materials. He declared that both of these disinfectants can efficiently prevent the bacterial growth on these impressions materials (12). Ghahremanloo A et al also conducted a research in 2009 and investigated the antimicrobial effect of sodium hypochlorite 0.525 %, Deconex and Sanosil. They concluded that the use of 0.525 % sodium hypochlorite spray on the surface of alginate; effectively disinfects 96.6 % of the samples (13). Since none of the mentioned disinfectant methods and agents have been accepted as a gold standard for disinfecting dental materials, finding an appropriate way seems rational. The aim of this study was to investigate the disinfectant ability of spraying Deconex, Sodium hypochlorite 0.525 % and Epimax on condensational silicon impression material in 5 minutes and 10 minutes. Methods and Materials This randomized experimental and microbiological study was carried out with the cooperation of dental school and microbiology department of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, aiming to evaluate the disinfection effect of: Sodium Hypochlorite0.525%, Deconex and Epimax on the condensational silicon impression material. Sampling Methods: In order to prepare samples, the heavy body impression material (putty) was mixed with the catalyst according to manufacturer instructions. The mixture was placed in a syringe with one centimeter diameter so that samples with 1.5 millimeter thickness were gained. Then the light body impression material (Wash) was mixed with the catalyst on a paper pad with a sterile spatula and was placed in the upper 0.5 millimeter of the syringe. Eventually 66 samples, with 2mm thickness and 1 cm diameter, were prepared. In order to ensure that samples were kept sterile during preparation, three samples were selected as negative controls (blank) and were incubated on TSB culture for 24 to 48 hours; after which the bacterial growth was examined. For each bacterial type, 21 samples were used. Sodium hypochlorite0.525% was used to disinfect three of them for five minutes and three others for 10 minutes. Three samples were disinfected with Deconex for five minutes and three others for 10 minutes. And three samples were disinfected with Epimax for five minutes and three others for 10 minutes. At Last, three more samples were used as positive controls to check for any microbial pollution. Preparation of Microbial Solution and Yeast For many types of susceptibility testing, a standard inoculum of bacteria must be used. The standard inoculums were prepared according to 0.5 McFarland (1.5Ãâ€"108cfu/ml) by transferring 1-2 colonies of 18-24 hours cultures to TSB medium and incubated at 35 °c until 0.5 McFarland turbidity of media was gained. For Candida albicans fungus, the sample was taken from 48 hour Saborose and Dextrose Agar cultures. Contamination of Samples To evaluate the disinfection effect of three mentioned substances, samples were separately polluted with microbial suspensions of Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC29213), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC27853) and Candida albicans fungus (PTCC5027). The impressions were put in sterile test tubes separately with 2 milliliter of microbial suspension in each tube and then all samples incubated at 35 º C for one hour. Disinfection of Samples and microbiological Surveys: After contamination, all samples were rinsed with sterile distilled water for 30 seconds. In order to disinfect all samples, except controls, Sodium Hypochlorite 0.525%, Deconex and Epimax were separately sprayed 10 times on each sample for 15 seconds. Then the samples were put into sterile plastic bags containing sterile cotton, humidified with sterile distilled water to form a moisturized environment for 5 and 10 minutes. Protease Trypsin, which is able to isolate the microbes from contaminated environments, was used. The ideal time and dilution for effective use of Trypsin is 60 minutes and 2% respectively. This time and dilution are based on the maximum microorganisms than can be isolated from the samples. After washing the samples with sterile distilled water for 30 seconds, they were put in Trypsin 2% solution for 60 minutes. Trypsin Suspensions with 1, and dilution were then prepared. Using 100 micro liter samplers, these samples were transferred to Muller Hinton Agar for Pseudomonas aeroginosa and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria and Saborow Dextrose Agar culture was selected for Candida albicans fungus. Using a Pasteur pipet bent with heat at 90 degrees, the samples were spread on cultures. After 24 and 48 hours incubation, the grown bacterial colonies on culture were counted. The grown fungus colonies of Candida albicans on Saborow culture were counted after 72 hours. All results, were analyze d by Mann Witney test in SPSS software program.(ÃŽ ±=0.05) Results: According to the table 1, there is a significant difference between disinfection ability of Deconex and Epimax in 5 minutes (P Value=0.034). This difference is also significant for hypochlorite sodium and Epimax just for pseudomonas aeruginosa (p value=0.046) and staphylococcus Aureus (p value=0.043). In other cases, there is no significant difference in disinfection ability of materials in 5 minutes. (P value>0.05) According to the table 2, significant difference between disinfection capability of hypochlorite sodium – epimax and deconex- epimax was just seen after 10 minutes for pseudomonas aeruginosa. According to the table 3, Deconex completely eradicated all three kinds of microorganisms after 5 and 10 minutes. This is not true for hypochlorite sodium, as this material just eradicated staphylococcus Aureus and pseudomonas aeruginosa after 10 minutes 98.68 % eradication of pseudomonas aeruginosa was seen after 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, epimax could eradicate 95.78 % of pseudomonas aeruginosa. This agent can completely eradicate candida Albicans and Staphylococcus Aureus after 10 minutes. By increasing time from 5 to 10 minutes, disinfection ability of all agents increased, except for Deconex which is 100 % for all microorganisms in both 5 minutes and 10 minutes. When there are large numbers of bacterial colonies, which are not countable, we can count the number of colonies using inverse dilution coefficient. Since real number of colonies was countable in dilution#1, and all results from other dilutions were similar to mentioned results, the results regarding to the number of colonies in other two dilutions were not reported. Discussion: Dentists practicing dentistry, encounter potentially harmful microorganisms. Patients are the most common source of microorganisms (14). Studies indicate that the surface of impressions taken out of the mouth is polluted with bacteria (15-18). As impressions and occlusal records cannot be sterilized by heat, chemical disinfection is still the common practicable method to eradicate microorganisms (19-21). So far there is no global way to disinfect impression materials (22). The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends soaking impression materials in disinfectant solutions for less than 30 minutes (23). Muller Bolla et al found that in European schools of dentistry, the soaking method is applied for 63% and 73% of Alginate impressions and silicon impressions respectively. The approximate time of disinfection was 10.3 ±6.3 minutes (20). But Hiroshi Egusa and colleagues in 2008 showed that impressions from patients mouths contain hazardous microorganisms like Streptocci, Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin resistant Staphyloccocus, , Candida, Pseudomonas aeruginosa with rate of 100%, 55.6% 25,9%,5.6 % and 5.6 % respectively(22). These are opportunist pathogens that spread and transfer through the oral cavity (22). Candida causes common opportunist infections known as oral candidiasis, found in patients with immune deficiency (23). Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a deadly infectious agent that exists epidemically in hospital appliances and instruments (22) However, studies show that among population the spreading rate of S. pyogenes, S. pneumonia and S. aureus to pharynx is 10%, 20 to 32% and 30% respectively (14). This is the reason that in this survey, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were selected to investigate the disinfection capability of disinfectant agents. By the year 1991, washing the impression materials with running water was the common way to remove microorganisms (22). This method can reduce about 90% of bacteria. (24) Running water can wash up saliva, blood and debris. But recent studies indicate that such methods cannot eliminate microorganisms from impression materials completely. Therefore washing the impression materials with running water, without disinfectants is not rational (22). In this survey three common disinfectant agents were used. One of them is Hypochlorite sodium 0.525 %. which is used in housework too. This disinfectant can efficiently prevent microorganisms growth and disinfect the impression materials. In a study by J.Bustos (12), it was shown that immersing silicon impressions in 0.5% hypochlorite sodium after 5 and 10 minutes dramatically prevent the bacterial growth in compare to the control group. Although in the recent study spraying method was used, results of the recent study are consistent with the mentioned study. On the other hand Westerholm, Reuggeberg and colleagues also showed that spraying Sodium hypochlorite can effectively disinfect the impression materials (25-26). The Westerholm and et al study showed that Sodium hypochlorite can almost completely (99.99%) prevent the growth of S. aureus and this rate is about 99.60 % after 5 minutes and 100 % after 10 minutes for s.aureus in the present study. In another study by Ghahramanloo et al, spraying Sodium Hypochlorite 0.525 % could disinfect samples effectively (96.6%) after 10 minutes which is a good indicator of high capability of this agent (13). In studies by Westerholm, Rueggeberg and Ghahramanloo disinfection effect of these agents were assessed on irreversible hydrochloride (Alginate), but in this survey this effect has been assessed on condensational silicon. The results showed that there is no difference in disinfection capability of hypochlorite sodium regardless of impression material and this is a good proof for high penetration of this agent into impression materials porosities. Decnex is an alcoholic based disinfectant agent, which in this study could effectively disinfect impression materials after 5 and 10 minutes (100 %). But in Ghahremanloo A et al study, this agent could eradicate 70.4 % of microorganisms (13). Maybe the main reason for this difference is that Ghahramanloo A used irreversible hydrochloride, which has more porosities and cause deep penetration of microorganism into this impression material and can define the lesser capability of disinfectant agent in eradicating microorganisms. The specific feature about this agent is that there is no difference in disinfection ability of Deconex after 5 minutes and 10 minutes. In the present study, for the first time the antimicrobial effect of Epimax on impression materials was investigated. This agent could not effectively eradicate microorganism after 5 minutes in compare to two other agents, but after 10 minutes it completely (100 %) eradicated candida albicans and staphylococos aureos but this rate was 97.89 for Pseudomonas aeroginosa which shows the importance of using this agent for longer duration. However, it should be mentioned that the results of the present study are not completely consistent with the results of other studies, due to different impression materials brands and usage time. One of the shortcomings of the present study is that it is an in-vitro experimental study which is different from clinical and in-vivo situations. Usually impression materials remain 3 to 5 minutes in patients mouth, while in our study it took 60 minutes to attach all the bacterial types to the samples as 60 minutes is an effective time for bacterial adherence. Also pressure while taking an impression and saliva can alter bacterial adherence capacity. This study investigated the effect of three common disinfectant agents on two types of bacteria and one fungus. As so many dentists are concerned about viruses such as HIV and HBV, further studies should be conducted to find an effective way to eradicate these kinds of pathogens. Conclusion: It can be concluded that sodium hypochlorite, Deconex and Epimax can effectively disinfect condensational silicon. This capability is higher for Deconex and it is recommended that Deconex can be the first choice to disinfect condensational silicon impression materials. Acknowledgement: We would like to express our sincere acknowledgement in the support and help of microbiology department of Isfahan medical university and research department of dentistry faculty of Isfahan University of medical science.

Business Model Of Zara In The Fashion Industry Commerce Essay

Business Model Of Zara In The Fashion Industry Commerce Essay Established in 1975, Zara is one of the most successful retailers of todays world. Their clear focus and vision has made them to tap the power of the fashion. Operating in 62 different countries it has nearly around 2500 stores all over the world. Zara under the flagship of Inditex, (a holding company located in Northwest Spain) is a fashion imitator, it comprehends what its customers desire and then designs and manufactures according to their expectations. Zaras business working model is quite diverse from the other retailers; this makes them set out in the market. It has promoted the message of high fashion at a lesser cost across all countries through its unique and different selling techniques. The Sustainability of Zara Understanding and comparing the Business strategy and the financial differences of Inditex and its major competitor will help in understanding the sustainability of Zara in the international apparel market. Gap which is one of Zaras major competitors sells the same range of merchandise with a less trendy style. HM (Hennes and Mauritz) a threatening competitor too has been quick to internationalize, which allows them to gain sales in countries outside their native Sweden. HM also is more attentive when entering new markets and tends to enter one country at a time, as opposed to Zara who multitasks globally. Furthermore its been known that HM has 85% current assets in its business where as Zara has only 50% of current assets. This shows that Zara has more of fixed assets and its current assets are quite fast moving as seen in its business model. Spains well-liked brand Zara, aims to offer the latest catwalk style at the most affordable price. Zaras women and mens collection is divided into three categories. With a unique product strategy Zara comes up with 14,000 designs per year, with new designs appearing in the stores globally, twice a week.  It generally focuses on performing key activities differently in its supply chain which is 2-2.5 months that makes it sustainable and sets challenges for its competitors. The key factor that makes Zaras design sustainable is the wide assortments of whisking budget interpretations of catwalk products as customers these days prefer spending on education, healthcare, electronics and travel, then on clothing due to recession. Another factor that makes Zara prolonged is its store location and layout. Although products are at inexpensive rates, their aristocratic stores layout makes it feel exclusive as they are large, swish and centrally located. The company doesnt spend much on advertising as it believes to give the added value to their customers rather than spending on brand promotion. While its rivals start planning their lines on average nine months before they hit the shelves, Zara has a reputation for instant reaction to fashion trends and rapid restocking of stores. Zara can make on new line, from the initial concept to when it arrives in the shop, in just three weeks. In addition the  Zara technology makes the designers in daily contact with store managers, discussing which items are most in demand and which are not. (Bmelie, 2006). Zara recruits talented young designers and trains them to take swift decision. This way it has re-thought the fashion business and developed into a concept of its own and its efforts are therefore focused on reducing the time between design and sale which means that its production cycle is entirely different from fashion sector norms. The focus on market changes means that 85 percent of products are manufactured in the season they are sold. The Retail Environment In the retail environment, the cycles of products, sales volume and analysis and direction of locations are conveyed to the designers by store manager and sals associates so that Zara designers in Spain can quickly respond to customers preferences during seasons. Moreover, no stock holding concept has seen to be the most outstanding idea of Zaras retailing strategy while rest of fashion retailer keep conducting traditional function of buying and holding stock. This strategy indicates that Zara requires a speedy interaction with current fashion trend. All new items are introduced twice a week and presented in store shelves in only two weeks. Reducing the cost by controlling stock improved Zaras earnings and retailing efficiency. In terms of manufacturing, Zara sources grey fabric to get the most flexible in-season updating, and to turn it into various kinds of garments very easily. In addition, the best benefit is that grey fabric suits for its basic black collection. Additionally, Zara buys fabric: un-coloured and semi-processed one based on the immediate their designers need which colours up close to the selling season, couple with making the clothes itself. These help Zaras manufacturing fast, no more than few days, while other competitors companies take up to months (Dutta, 2002). Thus, Zara is competent to develop a new product line within three weeks. (Michael A. Hitt, 2008)(Ghemawat, 2003). Zara has excellent international strategies both in manufacturing and retailing which been organized and conducted well leads Zara become one of most successful case in fashion industry.   Customer orientation and the paramount suppleness form the bases of Zaras business model. Its 480,000 square meter centralized distribution system is capable of handling 60,000 garments per hour. The market clothing is always in development and movement. The distribution channel is the network which links producers with users yet international distribution strategies are difficult to manage since distribution structures differ from one country to the next (Keegan Green, 2003). Below is the model depicting the factors on which one can determine the sustainability of Zara. The Win- Win Strategy Discussed below are the ways in which Zara has shown its influence on the retails brands and the fashion market. These impacts can be seen as affirmative as well as negative. In the high-speed racing with fashion industry, there is no one that is better than ZARA. So what makes Zara a true winner amongst others? The answer is: Zara has highly affected the fashion industry in a short span of time. It has fashioned a position for itself in the middle of the crammed full retail market. There are a number of key positive influences of Zaras model in fashion industry. Firstly, Zaras highly effective supply chain can get product to store in a week, whereas traditional clothing retails spend more time, usually one or three months. This provides customers with latest collections each time they visit the store and also more options to pick from. Secondly, Well-developed IT syste has certain benefits: it increases productivity, which accelerates to improve quality, increases the work intensity and the complete IT system provides the software support for the successful operation in the fashion industry. Zaras successful business model not only maximizes the profit and saves time but also they provide an excellent business example for the whole fashion industry. Finally; Zaras successful business strategy provides as a study example for the other fashion companies around the world. For example, Chinas famous fashion brand -Metersbonwe, follows Zaras model. In 2009, Metersbonwe costumes opened Terminal Direct-oriented work, which was a huge adjustment to their retail network and for which they spent nearly one billion Yuan in a nationwide purchase. As the proverb goesevery coin has its two sides, there are some unconstructive impacts of Zara in fashion industry. First of all, confronted with such a thorny issue, Zara has been accused of flagrant pricy, which it denies. And theres perhaps a certain amount of snobby in the implication that a company from an obscure corner of northern Spain has no right to ape catwalk styles (Mark Tungate, 2005). In addition, Zaras design, they directly collect and copy the new fashion information all over the world through the network. Zara might require paying a large compensation due to Plagiarism problem. This has seriously affected the integrity of the fashion industry. US market poses as a big unique challenge for Zara, as its not able to have the same impact over America as it has on the rest of the world. In the present highly fragmented nature of fashion retailing it has become necessary for Zara to differentiate itself from its competitors in the North American market. All these difficul ties oppose Zara to establish themselves in the culturally diverse background and to have an impact on the US market. Conclusion Giving a tuff competition to the luxury brands such as Dior, Channel, Armani and many others Zara is entering into the luxury brand market through its branding and marketing strategy. It dresses women, men and kids in a sexy retail environment which might appear to look quite expensive and exclusive than what it actually is. A well-known U.S publishing institution; in one of their releases referred to a very remarkable concept: fast fashion, and predicted that Zara will be the consumer trend for the next decade. Nevertheless, under the economic crunch, Zara is facing unprecedented competition and challenges in global fashion market. It truly is a global fashion brand and the day is no far when it will be considered as a fashion icon in the fashion industry. Journal Articles from electronic source Expansià ³n-Empresas. 2003. Spains Best Brands. Available at http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=197 [Accessed on 9th January 2010] Baiidu. 2010. Available at: http://baike.baidu.com/view/ [Access on 7 January 2010] Virki, T., 2009. World teens cutting spending on clothes, games. Available at http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE58E6CQ20090915 [Accessed on 10th January 2010] Books Jackson, T. and Shaw, D. (2001) FASHION BUYING AND MERCHANDISING MANAGEMENT. PLGRAVE Publish. Pp: 114-115 120 -127 134 174-176 Hines, T. and Bruce, M. (2007) Fashion Marketing Contemporary issues. Elsevier Ltd. pp 28-33 40-50 55-61 Keegan, W.J. Green M.C. (2003) Global Marketing 3rd edition, New Jersey, Prentice Hall. Journal Articles Ying,F., Carmen, L. 2009. Internationalization of Spanish brand Zara. Emerald Journal article, Vol.13 No. 2 Mazaira, A., E. Gonzalez, Avendano. R. The role of marketing communication on company performance. Emerald Journal Article, Vol 10 No.3 Online Newspaper Articles James.H. 2008, Zara is now bigger than Gap, Telegraph [Internet] 17th August. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/2794912/Zara-is-now-bigger-than-Gap.html [Accessed on 10th January] [emailprotected] 2002 The Speed of Fashion [online]. Available from: http://www.3isite.com/articles/ImagesFashion_Zara_Part_I.pdf [Accessed 13 January 2010] CNN. 2001 a Spanish success story [online]. Available from: http://edition.cnn.com/BUSINESS/programs/yourbusiness/stories2001/zara/ [Accessed 14 January 2010] ICMrinda organization. 2006. Available at http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Operations/OPER055.htm. [Accessed on 8th January 2010] Images http://alwaysnewmistakes.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/zara.jpg http://lh5.ggpht.com/vincent.vanwylick/SBb7__KLLnI/AAAAAAAAAlo/40-BFhhw2U8/Zara%20versus%20HM.jpg publications Inditex. 2008. Annual report 2008 Zara. Available at http://www.inditex.com/en/shareholders_and_investors/investor_relations/annual_reports [Accessed on 11th January 2010] Marketing good businesss even better. 2008. The story of Zara. Published by Sister Pblications. Available at http://www.uniquebusinessstrategies.co.uk/pdfs/case%20studies/zarathespeedingbullet.pdf [accessed on 5th January 2010] http://www.shoppingnsales.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20090624-zara-sale.jpg http://vuesociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/zara.jpg http://www.techo.com/media/gallery/original/Zara_CZ_04_001.jpg

Theme Elements in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart :: Things Fall Apart essays

Theme Elements in Things Fall Apart Achbe, in the novel Things Fall Apart, conveys a flavor of traditional African culture in the 1800`s. But despite this, it seems the tragedy of okonkwo that embodies the theme of the novel. Many of Achebe`s themes are not limited to the events in his novel, but relate to SITUATIONS, in which traditional values are questioned and people from different cultures meet, the most profound impact being related to the themes of religion and justice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Like any good religion, the Igbo religion comes with many superstitions. Personal chi is one of the superstitions in the Igbo tribe. Chi can be a personal fragment of the Supreme Being, unique for each individual. It determines much of a person's success and character. "When a man says yes his chi says yes also" (19). But at the same time a man does not challenge his chi. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall all perish" (22). Ezeani said this to okonkwo in response to his challenge against his chi, by beating his wife during the week of peace. Okonkwo BECAME THE EXAMPLE OF A person challenging his own chi. His desperate desire to succeed his chi, does not let him go any further than failure, destruction and death. Chi is simultaneously a destiny and an internal commitment, WHICH cannot be denied.   Ã‚  Ã‚     The Igbo religion has a tendency to symbolize numerous amounts of divine gods. They HAD a god for every different natural phenomenon that occurred. These things of worship were things such as trees, pieces of wood, hills, caves etc.    For every symbolic god there was a being in the clan that represented it. Ezeani the priestess, of the goddess of the earth, represented the goddess of earth (Ani). The clan seeks knowledge from the god through the oracle of the hills and caves. Other symbols in the Igbo religion are the sacred silk cotton tree and the evil forest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     The festivals, in the novel contribute to the development of this theme as well.   The two festivals "Week of peace" and "The Feast of the New Yam" ARE SYMBOLS OF IMPORTANCE TO the clan and OF THE power WHICH gods have. The week of peace was one of the means of unification FOR the clan and appeasement for the gods in control over the crops.

Beauty And The Beast :: essays research papers

Have you ever heard something go thump in the night? Do you believe in monsters? In the movies "Beauty and the Beast" and "E.T.", the monster like characters the captured the hearts of viewers of all ages. They both involve two characters that are thrusted into lifestyles that they are not used to. The beast and E.T were both unique creatures, had close relationships with humans, and were great works of fiction. In both stories, "Beauty and the Beast" and "E.T.", the main characters are unique creatures are forced into a human society, which does not always accept them for who they are. Society, in general, is against both creatures; school children tease and mock Elliot about his new extra-terrestrial friend, and the townsfolk in "Beauty and the Beast" attempt to kill the Beast for not being human. Nobody relates to either character, seeing as they are both â€Å"freaks† in their respective time periods and locations. Nobody accepts them as being different; both characters are thrown out of society like a couple of lepers for not being like everybody else. Also, they are both in unique situations, the Beast because he used to be a human, and was turned into an evil beast by a magic spell, and E.T. was from another planet, and had no intention of ever coming to earth or meeting Elliot. Both characters are very unique in the society in which they were thrust, and neither one has anyone like him to go to or latch onto for understanding and support. Both the Beast and E.T. found one person on earth who accepts them for who they are. Although the Beast captures Belle, she learns to love him and understand his situation; she becomes his one true friend in a society which hates him for who what they think he is. Elliot discovered E.T. in his closet, and due to the fact he had no other real friends, naturally accepted the alien. From their initial meeting, E.T. and Elliot became the closest of friends in the film; in fact Elliot was E.T.’s only human friend. Other than those two humans, nobody else attempts to understand where either creature comes from, and as a result, no one befriends them. In addition, both E.T. and the Beast come from great works of fiction, having no fact behind their stories but both being created for no purpose other than pure entertainment.

Presumed Innocent

Entertainment has always consisted of law related movies. Legal movies are successful because of public interest in different types of legal cases and scenarios. An example of a successful legal movie is Presumed Innocent. The movie Presumed Innocent was produced in 1990. The movie stars Harrison Ford who plays Rusty Sabich, a prosecutor and right hand man of the district attorney Raymond Horgan. Rusty’s colleague Carolyn Polhemus is found dead in her apartment. She was said to be raped and murdered. Raymond puts Rusty in charge of her investigation.It is later exposed that Rusty has a previous affair with Carolyn Polhemus but made up with his wife. Polhemus dumped Rusty. At this time of the investigation, Horgan is undergoing a political campaign in order to keep his job. It turns out that Horgan loses the election to Nico Della Guardia. Along with Della Guardia comes his deputy, Tommy Molto. Della Guardia and Molto prosecute Rusty for Carolyn’s murder because of his f ormer affair with her. Sandy Stern becomes Rusty’s defense lawyer in the murder trial. The investigation by the defense team leads to the idea that Rusty was framed for Carolyn’s murder.The person of interest for the framing is Molto who wanted Rusty’s job (O’Cain). Della Guardia and Molto immediately gather evidence against Rusty. They find a beer glass with Rusty’s fingerprints on it in Polhemus’ apartment. This piece of evidence causes a lot of controversy throughout the trial. It is revealed that the beer glass is missing from the evidence room. Rusty discovers that Polhemus acquired a bribery file (B file) from Horgan. There was a case involving a man named Leon who paid $1,500 to get his case thrown out of court. It turns out that Polhemus was the one who set up the bribe.Rusty and Stern’s defense is that Della Guardia and Molto set up Rusty as part of a cover-up of a bribery case involving Molto. Stern never allows Rusty to tes tify throughout the trial because it might lead the jury to think he is guilty. The trial ends with Judge Lyttle dismissing the case because of a lack of physical evidence. Rusty is not guilty for the rape and murder of Polhemus. At the end of the movie, Rusty finds a hammer in the basement with blood on it. His wife confesses to killing Polhemus. The legal issues in Presumed Innocent include conflict of interests.Rusty faces a conflict of interest because he had an affair with Polhemus. They were once lovers and very intimate with each other. Then he becomes part of the case that is investigating her death. It was suspenseful while watching the trial knowing that Rusty and Polhemus had a secret affair that only Rusty and his wife knew about. If the news of this affair was brought out into the open the trial might not have been dismissed so easily. Because of the intimacy that Rusty and Polhemus shared at one point, there would be more suspicion towards him being charged for the rap e and death.When a defendant has this type of relationship with a victim usually there is more questioning of the ex-lover due to shared intimacy and possible attachment. Although it turns out that Rusty is not guilty of her death, it seems like he dodged some bullets as the previous affair was never taken into account. There could have been a lot more accusations if the affair was made public. Dismissing the case because of lack of physical evidence seems to be very realistic. It is understandable that without physical proof, Judge Lyttle is not able to make accurate rulings.A part of the movie that was very impressive was basically the last hour when the trial began. The trial felt very serious and real. It was easy to follow the cross examinations and the lawyers were acted out very well. Another aspect of the movie that was impressive was the flashbacks to Rusty and Polhemus’ relationship. It was very interesting to see how their relationship was and how they acted in fro nt of each other. At some points I had emotional connections to Polhemus and I genuinely felt bad about her death.She seemed to be a hard worker and the way she treated the young boy testifying against his mother in the beginning of the movie was touching. She seemed to be very caring and she wanted what was best for the young boy. Watching her interact with him was the first time that I felt very sorry for her vicious death. Another impressive part about the movie is that there was constant suspense as to whether Rusty would be found guilty or not guilty. The trial keeps you curious and anxious to find out the results.The relationships between all of the characters were also impressive especially Polhemus, Judge Lyttle, and Leon. It was shocking to find out that Polhemus set up the bribe for Leon and that Judge who took the money was actually the same Judge in Polhemus’ murder trial. The least impressive part of the movie was the way that it ended. It was clever to end the m ovie with Rusty’s wife confessing to the murder but personally, it seems that justice is not served for Polhemus. Polhemus’ murder went down as an unsolved case but now the viewer knows how it could be solved.It is understandable that the movie ends with a twist but there is no justice for Polhemus. Rusty’s wife gets to be a free woman and bears no legal consequences for murdering Polhemus. His wife would always nag Rusty about his ongoing obsession with Polhemus even though she was dead. Although it is terrible to cheat on a partner, it is not acceptable for Rusty’s wife to kill Polhemus in response to the affair. Any sympathy that I had for Rusty’s wife was dismissed at the end of the movie. There are many positive and negative aspects of the legal system in this movie.An example of a positive aspect acted out by the legal system illustrated in the movie is Judge Lyttle dismissing the case due to lack of clear evidence. It is common knowledge tha t there needs to be evident information to make a judgment but in the movie, Judge Lyttle may have dismissed the case very easily due to other factors. He was influenced by his participation in the missing B-file case. The B-file illustrated that he accepted bribes from Leon and he was probably nervous that the B-file might turn up somewhere. If the file was to show up, his career would be negatively impacted especially because he is a Judge.This example illustrates the corruption that could exist in the legal system that no one would find out about. It seems that Judge Lyttle used his powers to his own advantage to protect himself from being caught. Also, Stern and Horgan knew that Judge Lyttle was accepting bribes from Leon but Horgan was the one who gave the Judge a second chance. Average people may never be aware of this type of corruption that may occur in the legal system. In the beginning of the movie there is also political corruption within the legal system.Horgan puts Rust y in charge of the Polhemus case but then turns against him. Horgan claims that Rusty insisted on handling the case which makes it seem like Rusty might be covering up something. Watching law related movies can teach the public a lot about the legal system. Presumed Innocent illustrates the controversy of conflict of interests and some of the corruption that may take place within an investigation. Work Cited 1. O'Cain, Derek. â€Å"Presumed Innocent (1990) – Plot Summary. †Ã‚  The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 18 Feb. 2012. ;http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0100404/plotsummary;

Hypermarket Impact on Small Retailer

ABSTRACT Kedai runcit or sundry shops have been a standard feature of our housing estate landscape ever since there were housing estates. These mom-and-pop operations have been selling to their surrounding residents everyday essentials such as groceries, fresh produce, poultry, toiletries, etc. Their reasonable price and close distance have made them popular among residents of the housing estates in which they are located. Lately, though, their popularity has been on the decline due to competition from wholesale markets or hypermarkets which can offer the same items cheaper and conveniently under one roof.Local and foreign-bred hypermarkets such as Giants, Tesco and Carrefour have been invading our towns, big and small, leaving the traditional sundry shops fighting for their business. Many of these small-scale individually-owned shops have since closed their operations permanently or moved them a little further outskirt of town, away from the hypermarket catchment. Just how serious i s the impact of these hypermarkets on the operation of the sundry shops has so far not been fully investigated in Malaysia although many studies have been carried out elsewhere.Thus, this paper presents a study that has been carried out by the authors to investigate how serious the impact is in Johor Bahru. A sample of three hypermarkets was chosen for this study. Using GIS, we spatially showed the annual changes in the density of sundry shop licenses issued by the local authority within the catchment of each hypermarket, three years before as well as three years after the inaugural date of the hypermarket. Also using GIS, we corroborated the decline in the number of sundry shops within the surrounding housing estates with the residing addresses of the surveyed customers of the hypermarkets.The results obtained confirmed that the operation of hypermarkets does contribute to the decline in the number of sundry shops and the degree of the decline decreases radially outward from the lo cation of the hypermarkets. The findings from this study suggest that some rethinking needs to be done about the manner in which hypermarket licenses, or sundry shop licenses for that matter, are issued. Even our current policy of allowing a certain percentage of new housing development to be set aside for shoplots may also need to be reviewed.Keywords: Hypermarkets, sundry shops, GIS spatial analysis 1. INTRODUCTION Kedai runcit or a sundry shop is any shop that sells groceries and other daily items directly to its customers in small quantity (Osman, 1988). Normally, sundry shops are owned by individuals or shared by several individuals and offer limited number of items and quantity. In Malaysia one can find sundry shops in almost every housing estates and villages and they normally have a limited cathment area.A hypermarket, in contrast, is a big-scale retail store that offers a variety of goods and services all conveniently under one roof (Duncan, Hollander and Savitt, 1983). A h ypermarket commands a wide catchment area and it is normally owned by big companies who have numerous branches of the hypermarkets in many places. Among the more-popular chains of hypermarket operating in Malaysia are the locally-owned Giant Hypermarkets, and foreign-owned Tesco Hypermarkets and Carrefour Hypermarkets.Like in any modern country, hypermarkets in Malaysia have been expanding their operation to meet the demand of current generation for quality, convenience, product variety and long operation hours (Malaysian Ninth Plan, 2006). However, there are ever growing concern on the negative impacts of hypermarkets on the business of nearby neighborhood sundry shops (Johor Structure Plan 2002-2020, 2005). This is supported by Bennison & Davies (1980) and Seiders & Tigert (2000) whose study concluded that a hypermarket did have a negative impact on the growth of small sundry shops in the area.In spite of the same concern in Malaysia, there have been no study to investigate the sp atial extent of the impact. Thus, a study was set up by the authors to investigate the spatial extent of the impact and also to find out the factors that attract customers to hypermakets, leaving their neighborhood sundry shops struggling for business. 2. OBJECTIVES The objective of the study was to spatially investigate the impact of a hypermarket on the operation of the surrounding sundry shops.In order to achieve the objectives the following tasks needed to be carried out: 1) identifying the suitable samples of hypermarkets; 2) identifying the market catchment of the hypermarkets; 3) collection of data pertaining to the number of business licenses issued to sundry shop operators within the catchment areas three years before as well as three years after the operation of the hypermarkets; 4) identifying factors that influence the decisions by the customers to shop at these hypermarkets.The method used to conduct the study is discussed in details in the following section. 3. METHOD The first step of the study was to choose a number of hypermarkets as units of analysis. Among the criteria taken into consideration in choosing the hypermarkets were: 1) the year they were opened for business to ensure that the chosen hypermarkets have been operating for at least three years; 2) the distances between each other to avoid overlapping of the market catchments; and 3) the types of goods sold at the hypermarkets so that they match those sold at the neighborhood sundry shops.Of the total of about ten hypermarkets in the City of Johor Bahru, three hypermarkets met these criteria and were chosen for the study. The three hypermarkets were from a locallygrown hypermarket chain known as Giant Hypermarket that are located in Southern City (in Johor Bahru City Centre), in Plentong and in Skudai (10km outskirt of Johor Bahru) (Refer Figure 1. 0). These three hypermarkets served a number of residential areas, known in Malaysia as taman perumahan or housing estates, located betwee n 0 – 20km surrounding them.The next step was the distribution of questionaire sets to 200 customers per hypermarket (100 during weekday and 100 during weekend) containing questions concerning their home addresses and the reasons for choosing to shop at the hypermarkets. Their home addresses were then inputted into the city plan in GIS format to dertermine the extent of each hypermarket’s cathment area. One way to measure the impact of a hypermarket on the neighborhood sundry shops is to actually count the number of sundry shops that are in business several years before and after the hypermarket is in operation.This is difficult to conduct since the monitoring would take as long as the number of years that we are interested in investigating. One way to expedite the process is to actually study the records of the number of annual business licenses issued to sundry shops and assume that each sundry shop that holds such license is actually operating a sundry shop. On this basis, the number of business licenses issued to sundry shops within three years before and after a hypermarket was in operation were obtained from the local authority (Johor Bahru Tengah Municipal Council).The locations of the business premises of these licenses were then plotted on the city map and then rasterised into a 50m grid format to give a density of sundry shop licenses per fifty square meters for each of the three years before and after the operation of the hypermarkets. The changes in the sundry shop density were then used to explain the impact of the hypermatkets on the business of the sundry shops. 2. Impact on Neighbourhood Sundry ShopsIf most of the customers that patronize these hypermarkets come from the surrounding housing estates as described previously, what is the impact on the sundry shops within those housing estates? The least impact would be slowing down of business for these neighborhood sundry shops while the worst impact would be closing down of busines s. While business slowdown can be investigated, this study only looked at the closing down of business by tracking the number of sundry shop licenses issued annualy by the local authority.Since the impact normally materializes a few years after the opening of a hypermarket, records of licenses three years before and after the opening of the hypermarket were inventoried. Changes in the number of sundry shops were investigated by studying the changes in the density of sundry shop licenses for every 50m2 area surrounding each hypermarket. This is done spatially in GIS by rasterising the 50m2 area into grids and varying the color of the grids according to the number of licenses within the grids for each particular year. Figures 5. 0 – 7. show the annual changes in the density of licenses within the grids for all the three hypermarkets studied. In general, the figures show the decreasing trend in the densities of sundry shops even before the opening of these hypermarkets except fo r the Plentong Giant Hypermarket. The decreasing number of sundry shops surrounding the Southern City Hypermarket (Figure 5. 0) could be attributed to competition among themselves and the operation of another hypermarket chain at the very building occupied by the Giant Hypermarket before it took over the operation.Meanwhile the decreasing number of sundry shops surrounding the Skudai Hypermarket (Figure 7. 0) could be attributed to the opening of another Giant Hypermarket just 4km away the year before the Skudai Hypermarket opened, apart from competition among themselves. The number of sundry shops surrounding the Plentong Hypermarket (Figure 6. 0) on the other hand was on the increase prior to the opening of the hypermarket. Investigation revealed that this was due to the opening of several new housing estates in the area which normally, as the case is in Malaysia, come with a number of shoplots.