Anthony Case 1-2 & Anthony Case 2-3 Essay

Anthony Case 1-2: Kim Fuller 1. In order for Kim Fuller’s plastic bottle grinding business to get off the ground she will need to manage the business with non-accounting and accounting information. The following information to run the business is non-accounting information, as it is not owned by the company did not occur through a monetary transaction: 2 grind machine workers, 1 truck drive, 1 accountant, and the 2 contracts with bottling companies. The remaining information is categorized as accounting information, as it is owned by the company, may provide future economic resource, and occurred through a transaction: 1 used truck, 2 trailers, 1 used grinding machine, 1 new grinding machine, 1 new computer, 1 warehouse, 3 investors’ deposits, 1 mortgage loan, and the owner’s initial investment into the company. 2. Below is the beginning balance sheet for Kim Fuller’s Business. a.) [pic]b.) To address the question of how Fuller should go about putting a value on the company’s assets, she must utilize the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) regarding the worth of her assets. Specifically through these principles, Fuller will be able to determine the fair value or cost of each asset – as a transaction occurred for each purchased item of equipment. Additionally, she will be able to add the value of the Warehouse based on the value at the time of her purchase. Through associating a cost with each, Fuller can easily determine the company’s assets. c.) Based on the balance sheet at the onset of the business, the Owners’ Equity is valued at $165,000. 3. Once Fuller begins to make her sales she will need to determine her revenues and expenses, as she will acquire inventory and the sell the goods for monetary value, which generates revenue. In order for Fuller to stay on top of her accounting for these revenues and expenses, which are also known as â€Å"profits and loss†, the business should utilize an income statement. This will allow the business to determine the net income of the business, which filters in to the balance sheet through the retained earnings – underneath owners’ equity. It is advisable for Fuller to begin with an income statement weekly  until she grasps the concept of accounting. Later on she can move it out to bi-weekly updates, and eventually even out to monthly – if the revenue stream is slower. Anthony Case 2-3: Lone Pine Cafà © 1. Balance sheet for Loan Pine Cafà © as of November 2, 2005. [pic]2. Balance sheet for Loan Pine Cafà © as of March 30, 2006. [pic]3. I believe that the partners would not have been able to receive their proportional share of the Owners’ Equity, as they would forfeit their rights to the business with the theft of assets (cash register and contents). Therefore, the entire Owners’ Equity to be earned would fall upon Mrs. Antoine, the lone remaining partner of the business.

Market Potential for Packaged Water Industry in India

Market Demand and Market Potential in Packaged Water Industry in India Packaged water or Bottled water industry, colloquially called, the mineral water industry, is a symbol of new life style emerging in India. Use of mineral water has gradually increased in India due so widespread shortage of pure hygienic potable water. While a large segment of the population is struggling to get access to potable water supply, a new generation – especially in the urban areas – is getting accustomed to bottled water. Drinking water supplies in many parts of India are intermittent. Transmission and distribution networks for water are generally old and badly maintained, and as a result, are deteriorating. India is one of the biggest and most attractive water markets in the world. It is considered the 10th largest packaged water consumer country in the world. The boom time for Indian bottled water industry is to continue- more so because the economics are sound, the bottom line is fat and the Indian government hardly cares for what happens to the nation's water resources. Corporate control over water and water distribution in India is growing rapidly from being confined to the uppermost echelons of society, packaged water has now become a commonplace commodity and almost a necessity in metros. After witnessing historic growth in recent years, it has become a Rs 3,000-Crore industry, one that is slated to only post healthy growth rates to become a Rs 10,000-crore business in a short span of time. The market in India has grown tremendously over past decade and is said to have a humongous growth rate of 38% per annum as against an international growth rate of 7. %. Market experts observe that there are more than 1800 water brands in India, of which are most are local or regional brands which are often classified as unorganized sector. The key brands in the organised sector include Bisleri (Parle), Kinley (Coca-Cola), Oxyrich (Manikchand), Aquafina (Pepsi Foods), etc. In this industry it is popularly said DEMAND OF WATER WOULD NEVER GO DOWN†¦ & WATER WOULD NEVER BE OUT OF BUSINESS While the single largest share in the mineral water market might still belong to an Indian brand — Parle's $52 million (Rs. . 5 billion) Bisleri brand has a 40 percent share — multi-national corporations are not far behind. It has been a pioneer in launching the concept of packaged drinking water in India. It has been so popular with the masses that even today most of the people refer to mineral or packaged water as ‘Bisleri'. Nestle and Danone are vying to purchase Bisleri, and Pepsi's Aquafina and Coke's Kinley brands have been extremely successful in edging out many of the small and medium players to buy-outs and exclusive licensing deals. In less than two years since its launch, Aquafina has cornered 11 percent of the market and Kinley has almost a third of the market. News reports indicate that other MNCs like Unilever are also eying the market. Today packaged water is the fastest growing industry in the beverage sector. Western region of India – the largest market The western region, that is Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa, accounts for a large chunk of around 35-40% of the overall domestic market. Key players in the western region such as the Manikchand Group, Coca-Cola India, Amul India, are keenly contemplating organic and inorganic growth strategies, launch of new brands, venturing into newer segments and so on. Companies in the region are using a combination of various strategies to tap business opportunities such as tie-ups with cinema halls, retail outlets, hotels, hospitals, super markets, institutions and other distribution channels, which abound in the western region of the country. Managing logistics is at the core for the success of bottled water manufacturers. Indeed, groups like Amul India are deliberating using its existing retail network to market and distribute its bottled water. This region is also poised to make a notable contribution to the great Indian bottled water growth story in terms of taking lead in launching water variants and newer sub-segments like mineral water, spring water, flavored water and so on. Here also Biseri has emerged as a market leader. Further Scope of Growth in the Industry As the purchasing power and health and hygiene consciousness of Indian consumers improves, the consumption per person is likely to grow exponentially. Not surprisingly, the market is estimated to reach the Rs 5,000 crore mark by 2010. Going a step further, more optimistic market experts anticipate a 20 fold leap from the current market size within the next 10-12 years. Apart from increasing affluence among domestic consumers, exports would provide a further trigger to the industry. Exports of natural water, particularly to US and Europe, would drive growth for domestic players. As per industry forecasts, the demand for potable water is expected to exceed supply by 2020. Not surprisingly, given the lucrative western market and robust growth prospects, many large Indian corporate houses and multinational companies are interested in acquiring strong Indian brands. The acquisition of Mount Everest Mineral Water by the Tata group is testimony to this trend under which Tata Tea plans to leverage its existing overseas network to distribute natural water, the world over. Also with the increasing international tourism demand for hygienically packaged water is expected to grow manifolds especially with the Commonwealth Games in October 2010. Thus despite recording exceptional growth rate in past, packaged water industry has a huge growth potential in terms of market size. There are still rural and semi rural areas to capture. With 19% share of the unorganized sector low priced segments are still left un captured.

Transport Demand Management in National Parks Dissertation

Transport Demand Management in National Parks - Dissertation Example Lyndhurst is a civil parish and village located at England’s new Forest in Hampshire. The village forms the administrative center of the New Forest, which bears the district council. It is a popular tourist attraction center and has numerous independent shops, cafes, hotels, restaurants, pubs, art galleries and an 18-hole golf course. These facilities cater for the demands of local population and the tourists. According to the Census data of 2001, Lyndhurst had a population of 2,973 of which, 37% were economically active, 20% are the retired and only 2% are not employed. The average age is 47 years. 77% of the property is owner occupied while 23% is rented (COUNCIL FOR THE PROTECTION OF RURAL ENGLAND, 1988). Lyndhurst is 14 kilometers away from Southampton city to the North-east. Geographically, Lyndhurst village forms the meeting point on the route A35 which runs from the Southampton City to the northeast to Lymington town, situated on the south coast. This link creates a very large volume of traffic, which prompts the usage of one way. Most of the motorists miss parking spaces while seeking for refreshments, meals or even when making stopovers. During season of summer, the traffic swells because of the tourist inflow in to the region. As a result, there is limited space for parking. Transport Demand Management is a strategy that applies programs, policies, products and services to trim down the travel order especially among the private vehicle users or restructure the travel demand in to time and space. Actually, the Transport Demand management deals with Transit improvements, Transit incentives, Pay-as-drive insurance, Parking management/pricing and Road pricing. Several studies points out to the growth of economy as the primary reason behind establishing a good parking management, organization, supervision and parking pricing without incorporating other factors like the repercussions on health, time spending and emotional frustrations that come up with limited parking space. According to Fischer (2009),  the Transport Demand Management strategy controls the parking prices and the amount of parking available in all the public places across the UK. Transport Demand Management benefits the local communities by lowering their healthcare costs, reducing traffic congestion, increasing their return from investments on transit, carpooling, cycling and public transport systems (Black & Schreffler, 2010). The employers may get low parking rates and better employee retention where as the individuals gain by saving time and costs of delay, convenience and good health (Black, 1997). This collateral research paper explores the proposition of Transport Demand Management is to push for best option available towards solving problems related to the limited parking space in Lyndhurst. Policies on Parking Management The developers should provide the localities with the minimum space for every type of development depending on the magnitude of the development. The costs of developments determines the pricing for parking spaces, as such, parking seem to be offered

Bibliography and Presentation PowerPoint Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bibliography and - PowerPoint Presentation Example From the case study, it is evident that the use of drugs played a role in worsening the patient’s conditions. The Psychologist should have tried other ways such as counseling to treat the disorder rather than use drugs. The use of drugs prevents the healing process as they cause addiction. The source evaluates the impacts of poor self-reflection and self-regulation in personal disorders make the condition worse. The paper evaluates the need for self-management as the initial way of dealing with personal disorders. The parents in the case study should also be involved in monitoring the child. Monitoring Jeremy’s behaviour could have helped prevent deterioration of his mental state. The source also provides alternative therapies to deal with personal disorders. Source 2 Fine, M., Overholser, J., & Berkoff, K. (1992). Diagnostic validity of the passive-aggressive personality disorder: suggestions for reform. American Journal Of Psychotherapy, 46(3), 470-484. The article ci ted above talks about passive aggressive disorder, which is similar to the ailment suffered by Jeremy. The article evaluates the problems faced by medical practitioners in the accurate diagnosis of the disorder. Accurate diagnosis of the disorder is important to ensure that the right measures are taken to control the ailment. The paper evaluates the functional use of diagnostic category that puts the ailment as an inadequate psychiatric disorder. Passive aggressive disorder in the paper is viewed from a dimensional point of view and not a categorical perspective. The model presented in the paper evaluates five psychological factors that describe the ailment. The factors include resentment, resistance, reactance, reserved reinforcement and rigidity. The paper uses the model to define passive aggressive disorder better than the model used today. The paper has been used to evaluate Jeremy’s behaviour having being diagnosed with the ailment. The paper helps understand the concept of passive aggressive behaviour. Source 3 Matise, M. (2007). The enneagram: An innovative approach. Journal Of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory & Research, 35(1), 38-58. The article cited above deals with professional counseling practices used to deal with passive aggressive disorder. The paper deals with providing alternative treatment for patients that do not lead to addiction. Jeremy dependency on prescription drugs made him unstable and worsened his condition. The paper evaluates enneagram as tool used to depict personality styles. The tool is used in theoretical counseling practices to enhance the relationship between the patient and the psychologist. The tool provides the councilor with nine personality styles that can be used then dealing with a patient. The nine styles are evaluated and corresponding theories presented to understand each style. The use of activities that Jeremy responds to can be used in providing healthcare to the patient. Understanding the patien t’s personality will be productive in determining a long lasting health care plan rather than the use of drugs. The article covers ways in which a psychologist can improve his relationship with a passive patient. Source 4 Vallis, T., Howes, J. L., & Standage, K. (2000). Is Cognitive Therapy Suitable for Treating Individuals with Personality Dysfunction?. Cognitive Therapy & Research, 24(5), 595. The article cited is a case study that deals with personality disorders and the effectiveness of cognitive therapy to treat the disorder. The article

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 25

No topic - Essay Example Malcolm X was just advocating self-defense, calling for them to band together to protect themselves. He also advocated for equality, and his assertion that Negroes should have the right to vote manifests his belief in the legal system that does not endorse violence. His last paragraph is a good strategy to gain freedom. In fact, it is the only way to have freedom. You have to get or seize it when it is not given to you. The oppressor can call names but if you insist, even the timid will join you once you have enough critical mass for the oppressor either to give freedom or for you to take it. Yusef Iman’s point was basic, love others but you have to love yourself first. Love is good but one has to love himself or herself also. When somebody burns your house, water-hoses you down and does many other despicable things, your love for yourself must prevail and you have to protect yourself. So, in protest to such despicable acts, resorting to violence becomes an act of love. One has to love but he or she has to love himself or herself

Issues in Contemporary Real Estate Development Research Paper

Issues in Contemporary Real Estate Development - Research Paper Example As a developer, initially, after the agreement of not taking up any old projects on the site, it is important for one to go through the general issues with regard to the project and the real estate developer. In the given project, one has to go through an initial windmill and attempt to understand and propose the various measures that one can take in the development of the stated land. One of the most interested parties in the development of this project is a school located in Chicago, Illinois. .However, the school itself has the idea of turning green and this is completely different from the strategies that the windmill had in the initial stages. There are different statutory implications of purchasing the land, such as the local government of the area may not have wanted the land to get altered in a manner through which it would turn green. The effect on the site, later on, is that water resources may lack to be maintained in the land In order to operate on the land, the school has to fill out various applications. One of the applications that the school has to take seriously is in form of a title deed. The deed shows the various signatories to the land and that they are the rightful owners of the property. Collateral is another important agreement that one has to take up. This is from the fact that the previous owners of the land may have done some damage on the land that may have various health implications especially keeping in mind that the new tenants of the land are schoolchildren. Seeing as the school intends to utilize the land as a green project, there are various measures that they ought to take in order to make it habitable to their specifications.  

Risk Prediction of Automobiles Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Risk Prediction of Automobiles - Article Example In this case, the research will take into account the two different estimate values namely the insurance risk rating and the normalized losses. While the former determines the degree to which an automobile is risky than its price indicates, the latter provides the estimate of the relative average loss of payment per insured vehicle year. One of the most prominent risk analysis methods that are in use today in various insurance companies is the insurance risk factor profiling technique. ... usually achieved by analyzing data that has been collected over a period of time for insured entities. The information collected is segregated according to a number of variables. In the case of automobiles, the variables usually consist of both numerical and categorical data entries and most often; such data may also have noise characteristics. However, the incidence of noise in the analysis and values is minimized by using software profiling tools that help in finding out specific patterns within variables, correlations among different sets of variables and the relationships between a set of variables as the need be (William Mendenhall, 2001). Most often, these tools utilize the help of artificial intelligence logic such as neural networks and incremental learning that in addition to determining useful results, helps use existing data to determine trends for the future. However, the varied efficiency in reducing noise for different sets of data is one deficiency of these risk profil ing tools. The use of software tools facilitates the extraction and processing of large volumes of data and requires minimum cost, time and effort (Douglas L. Reilly, 1996). An example of such profiling is as shown below: Fig: risk factor profiling technique (Found at: www.roselladb.com) However, the above method demonstrates the fact that there would be a large difference in the case where the insurance claim would be dependent on a number of factors/reasons. As such, the construction

Do the UK opt-out from the Euro and EU enlargement make Britain less Essay

Do the UK opt-out from the Euro and EU enlargement make Britain less attractive for foreign investors - Essay Example Most importantly, the single currency i.e. the Euro is managed by the European Central Bank and is so far adopted by 12 of the 25 member states (Wikipedia, 2006). Initially, the primary purpose of liaison between the European countries was to avoid catastrophes such as the world wars which started in Europe and engulfed the world with time. However, the economic benefits also have to be considered because the European Economic Council and then the European Union have emerged as the world’s single largest developed market with a total population that is over 450 million. It also has the highest GDP i.e. more than six trillion British pounds (Wikipedia, 2006). The EU is certainly not resting on its laurels and is in the process of expanding its member base (27 countries by 2007). This expansion process makes the group more attractive to foreign investors since membership of the group signifies common laws, the advantages of uniform policies in a single market, the relatively free movement of goods and services, unhindered movement of skilled labour with similar employment and social policy between countries. For the financial and industrial sectors, the EU brings free movement of capital, uniform industrial and intellectual property rights, a liberalized energy market and uniform consumer protection policies. As a final step towards the union, European countries are adopting the single currency, Euro. There are numerous benefits of joining the Eurozone as discussed by Huhne (2004), adopting the single currency provides a better deal for consumers owing to competition and would also help in pension income, especially when the risk would be spread around the wider euro maket. UK will be able to focus on real monetary and economic environment instead of using interest rates to maintain over valuation of Pound Sterling. Alignment of interest rates will also lead to

Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Portfolio - Essay Example However, 40 percent of the people suggested that businesses perform better when the government is n control. Apparently, 52 percent of the population believes that a company that makes profits in all financial years satisfies the shareholders, customers and employees. However, 32 percent believe that a company making profits is a sign that it is exploiting its customers. Consequentially, issues have been looming over control of public utilities like energy and water. According to polls, 61 percent believed that the public sector was suited to control these public utilities as compared to 26 percent that supported private sector controlling these public utilities. Though the people have diverse opinions on a number of issues, when they were asked what the government should do, 49 percent stated that the government should help protect jobs, ensure there is full employment and increase spending power in the economy. However, 41 percent preferred the government to lower prices, lower inf lation and lower government borrowing. 2. Public Trust in Government MPs stated that the UK statistics authority has jeopardised the government statistics. A recent report stated that the UK statistics authority needed to work with utmost clarity and gain strict control measures while handling the data in departments. Andrew Dilnot was commended for highlighting the misinterpretation of official statistics and mentioned that the organisation should take an initiative of having greater control over the integrity and quality of the data. In addition to this, Dilnot stated that the concerned departments should limit pre-release of the data to ministers as it jeopardised the integrity and quality of the data. Apparently, it was explicitly expressed that the departments were â€Å"finding ways around† with the data, which was on the contrary according to the code of practice for government statistics. One of the recommendations from the report was that, the data should be presente d in a clearer and accessible manner. Secondly, the authority should improve its website as it had several concerns. In wrapping up the point, a respondent stated that there should be fine tuning of the current governance arrangement, which would be an appropriate manoeuvre. 3. Body Language Body language is a form of communications where nonverbal signs are used. Experts state that body language makes a larger part of communication, which includes facial expression and body movements. Apparently, most of the things that people do not say can be conveyed to the audience and pass volumes of information. Researchers have stated that body language accounts for a better part of communication which is between 50 to 70 percent. Therefore, the audience should understand body language to get the full information that is relayed. However, it is also important to remember focusing on other cues in the context. Similarly, there is a need to look at the signals as a group rather than focusing o n a single signal. This could lead to misinterpretation of the information that is relayed. 4. Current News In recent times, the Syria issue has been a news item in most of the media bulletins all over the globe. According to recent statistics, over 6,400 refugees have been recorded to have flocked to Jordan in fear of the unending violence. In recent time, Britain has provided a whooping ? 89.5

The Miracle Worker by William Gibson Essay Example for Free

The Miracle Worker by William Gibson Essay William Gibsons play, The Miracle Worker, illustrates how people who triumph over hardships can succeed in achieving their goals. The play follows Annie Sullivan, a half-blind northern young woman, as she travels to Post-Civil War Tuscumbia, Alabama in order to teach Helen Keller, a blind and deaf little girl. When she arrives in Alabama, Annie meets Helens family members; her father, Captain Keller, is a stubborn, commanding former Civil War captain and her mother, Kate Keller, is a young, overly protective woman, both of them have kept Helen almost as a pet because they did not know what to do with her or how to treat her. In order for Annie to succeed in teaching Helen, she has to battle with Captain Kellers stubbornness, Kates overly protectiveness, and Helens combativeness. For instance, Annie is forced to show her combative side as she repeatedly faces off with Captain Keller to be able to teach Helen better. For example, Annie and Captain Keller argue at the breakfast table over how to teach Helen, and Captain Keller exclaims, I fail to see where you have taught her anything yet, Miss Sullivan! to which Annie responds angrily, Ill begin this minute if youll leave the room, Captain Keller! (Gibson 668). Captain Keller desperately wants to have peace at the breakfast table; however, Annie interrupts that peace by demanding that he leave the room. Annie knows that, in order for her to be able to discipline Helen, Captain Keller and Kate must leave the room so that they cannot interfere. In addition, Annie requests another week to teach Helen without the interference of her family, and Captain Keller exclaims, And what would one more week accomplish? We are more than satisfied, youve done more than we ever thought possible, taught her constructive(691). Captain Keller is more than satisfied because Annie has taught Helen manners and how to behave. Annie is frustrated with the Kellers because she knows that Helens learning manners is only the first step in her education; Annie wants to teach Helen communication, but knows that this skill is unattainable with Kate and Captain Kellers frequent interferences. Furthermore, at Helens welcome home dinner, Helen tests her parents and throws a water pitcher on Annie, Captain Keller tries to stop Annie from disciplining Helen, but Annie rounds on him and yells, Dont smooth anything else out for me, dont interfere in any way! I treat her like a seeing child because I ask her to  see, I expect her to see, dont undo what I do! (700). Helen has been in the garden house with Annie for the past two weeks, following rules day and night, and Captain Keller wants to make Helens welcome home dinner more enjoyable by allowing her more freedom than she has had in the past two weeks. Annie knows that if Captain Keller allows Helen to get her way, even once, all the progress she has made over the past two weeks will have gone to waste and she will return to her previous bad habits and distasteful manners. Annies being obstinate and her sheer will power help her to stand up to Captain Keller, insure that Helen can succeed in her learning and becoming able to communicate with a world from which she has been closed off. Moreover, Annie is driven to a constant battle of wills against Kates blinding love for Helen because this love interferes with Helens being able to learn from Annie, her teacher. For example, Annie turns indignant when Kate gives Helen a sweet after Helen stabs Annie with a needle, and Kate explains, We catch our flies with honey, Im afraid. We havent the heart for much else, and so many times she simply cannot be compelled (664). All Kate realizes is that Helens bad behavior stops when she is given candy, thus Kate accidentally rewards her for misbehaving. Annie feels frustrated because she knows that if Kate carries on rewarding Helen for bad behavior, Annie will never be able to rid Helen of her bad habits. In addition, when the Kellers are taken aback by Annies proposition of spending two weeks alone in the garden house, Annie explains, Mrs. Keller, I dont think Helens worst handicap is deafness or blindness. I think its your love. And pity (667). Annie knows that Mrs. Kellers love and pity for Helen has caused Kate to distort Helens differentiation between right and wrong, and Annie realizes that being alone with Helen will allow her to be taught without the interference of her mothers love. Annie thinks that this love and pity from Kate is Helens worst handicap because it prevents her from learning language and keeps Helen closed off from the world around her. Furthermore, Helen tests her family, and her teacher, when her welcome home dinner after her two weeks alone with Annie, repeatedly dropping her napkin, Kate tries to make excuses for her and supposes, Will once hurt so much, Miss Annie? Ivemade all Helens favorite foods, tonight (699). Kates desire to make Helen happy on her first night back blinds Kate to the  realization that if she allows Helen misbehave even once, the progress that Helen has made in the time she spent with Annie in the garden house will diminish and Annie will have to start teaching Helen all over again. Annie knows that if Helen realizes that she can get away with misbehaving, now that she is reunited with her family, she will revert back to her old ways and continue misbehaving. Because Annie fights with Kate to keep Helen in line, Annie is able to teach Helen how to act and behave like a seeing child, and begin to break through Helens shell that prevents her from learning language. What is more, due to her stubborn, fiery attitude, Helen forces Annie to battle with her in order for Annie to make Helen understand that everything has a name. For Example, upon first meeting Helen, Annie shows her a doll and immediately spells d-o-l-l into Helens hand, Helen, wanting the doll, rejects the spelling and whacks Annie over the head; as Annie gets up looking for Helen the narrator reveals, But rounding from the mirror she sees the door slam, Helen and the doll are on the outside, and Helen is turning the key in the lock, Annie darts over, to pull the knob, but the door is locked fast. (655). Helen has no desire to spell back to Annie, and when Annie will not give her the doll until she spells back she hits Annie with a haymaker and flees out the door. Due to her injury, Annie immediately realizes the difficulty she is going to have teaching Helen, and she becomes ever more determined to succeed in making Helen learn. In addition, Annie tries tirelessly to get Helen to eat her breakfast with a spoon, but the narrator reveals, She tries again this time Helen accepts the food. Annie lowers the spoon with a sigh of relief, and Helen spews the mouthful out at her face (672). Helen resents the attempts that Annie makes to teach her how to use proper manners and fights back bitterly with her entire arsenal of tricks. Annie, instead of being discouraged by the insult, is only more determined to succeed in teaching Helen table manners after having food spewed into her face. Furthermore, Helen proceeds to misbehave once she is reunited with her family, accumulating in her deliberately flinging a water pitcher at Annie; the narrator reveals, Annie gets her breath, the snatches the pitcher away in one hand, hoists Helen up bodily under the other arm, and starts to carry her out, kicking Annie takes Helen to the water pump  to refill the pitcher and it is there the miracle happens as Helen says Wah. Wah (and again with great effort) Wah. Wah' (701). Annie grabs Helen to take her outside to refill the water pitcher and, is rewarded when, once outside, Helen comes to the realization that the letters Annie has been spelling into her hand are indeed the names of the things around her. Helen, although originally furious at being dragged outside, is astounded when she comes to the realization that the things Annie has been tapping into her hand mean water, and she is even able to think back to before her disability when she could say Wah Wah. All of Annies efforts with Helen are finally rewarded when Helen is opened up as she realizes that everything does have a name. Annie succeeds in teaching Helen the meaning of language because she stubbornly battles Captain Keller, Kate, and Helen. Annie knows that Helens worst handicap is not her deafness or blindness, rather that she has been kept as a pet out of her parents love and pity. Captain Keller tries to stop Annie from disciplining Helen, but Annie ferociously demands for him to get out of the way and stop interfering. Annie triumphs over the difficulties she faces and succeeds in her goal of teaching Helen language and opening her up to let the world know the treasures she holds in her imagination.

Multilevel Thresholding According to Histogram

Multilevel Thresholding According to Histogram Make Multilevel Thresholding According to Histogram by Cooperative Algorithm based on AFSA and Fuzzy Logic Image segmentation is a technique which is usually applied in the first step of image analysis and pattern recognition and is an important component of them. This technique is taken into account as one of the most difficult and the most sensitive problems in image analyzing. In this paper, a cooperative algorithm is proposed based on AFSA and k-means. The proposed algorithm is used to make multilevel thresholding for image segmentation according to histogram. In the proposed algorithm, first, artificial fish (AF) perform optimization process in AFSA. After swarm convergence, obtained cluster centers by AFs are used as initial cluster centers of k-means algorithm. After forwarding AFSAs output to k-means, AFs are reinitialized and performs clustering again. The proposed algorithm is used for segmenting 2 well-known images and obtained results are compared with each other. Experimental results show that segmented images quality by the proposed algorithm is much better than four other t ested algorithms. Keywords: Multilevel Thresholding; Histogram; Cooperative Algorithm; k-means. Image segmentation is a technique which is usually applied in the first step of image analysis and pattern recognition and is an important component of them. This technique is taken into account as one of the most difficult and the most sensitive problems in image analyzing. In fact, quality of final result of image analysis depends highly on the quality of image segmentation result. In image segmentation process, an image is divided into different regions. Segmentation approaches of mono-color images are with respect to discontinuity and/or similarity of gray level amounts in one region. If the approach performs segmentation based on discontinuities, the image is segmented with respect to abrupt changes on gray level by means of recognizing dots, lines and edges [1].The purpose of image segmentation approaches is to classify and convert pixels into regions. Histogram thresholding is one of the techniques, which has been applied extensively in mono-color images segmentation [2]. Generally, images are composed of regions with various gray levels. Therefore, an images histogram can consist of some peaks that each of them is related to one region. To separate boundaries of two peaks from each other, a threshold value is considered between valleys of two adjacent peaks. Indeed, histogram thresholding is a famous technique which is looking for peaks and valleys in a histogram [3]. Various clustering algorithms such as k-means [4] and FCM [5] have been used for histogram thresholding so far. As a matter of fact, clustering approaches, because of simplicity and effectiveness, belong to the most famous techniques that could be used for natural image segmentation. Applying clustering algorithms in histogram thresholding are such that first colors histogram is built and after that, clustering is done according to color distribution among pixels. O ne of the clustering methods is to use such swarm intelligence algorithms as particle swarm optimization (PSO) [6], and artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA) [7]. PSO was presented by Kenedy and Eberhart in 1995 [8]. Different versions of this algorithm have been used many times in data clustering [9]. Artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA) was presented by Li Xiao Lei in 2002 [10]. This algorithm is a technique based on swarm behaviors that was inspired from social behaviors of fish swarm in nature. AFSA works based on population, random search and behaviorism. This algorithm has been applied on different problems including machine learning [11, 12, 13], PID controlling [14], image segmentation [16], data clustering [7, 16] and scheduling [17]. K-means or famous Lloyd algorithm is one of the famous data clustering algorithms [18]. This algorithm is of high convergence rate, but has some weaknesses such as sensitivity to initial values of cluster centers and convergence to local op tima. Researchers have tried to remove these weaknesses by hybridizing this algorithm with other algorithms such as swarm intelligence ones [6, 19] and to utilize their advantages. One of these algorithms is KPSO in which first, k-means is performed and after that outcome of k-means is delivered to PSO as a particle [20]. Hence, at the beginning of the algorithm, k-means reaches to a local optimum with its high convergence rate and after that PSO takes the responsibility of increasing the result accuracy and exiting form local optimum. In this paper, a cooperative algorithm is proposed based on AFSA and k-means. The proposed algorithm is used to make multilevel thresholding for image segmentation according to histogram. In the proposed algorithm, first, artificial fish (AF) perform optimization process in AFSA. After swarm convergence, obtained cluster centers by AFs are used as initial cluster centers of k-means algorithm. After forwarding AFSAs output to k- means, AFs are reinitialized and performs clustering again. In fact, in the proposed algorithm, AFSA is used for a global search and k-means is used for a local search. The proposed algorithm along with four other algorithms is used for image segmentation on two known images Lenna and Barbara. Efficiency comparison shows that the proposed algorithm has an appropriate and acceptable efficiency. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: in sections 2 and 3, standard AFSA and k-means algorithm will be described respectively and in section 4, the proposed algorithm will be presented. Section 5 studies the experiments and analyzes their results and final section concludes the paper. In water world, fish can find areas that have more foods, which is done with individual or swarm search by fishes. According to this characteristic, artificial fish (AF) model is represented by prey, free-move, and swarm and follow behaviors. AFs search the problem space by those behaviors. The environment, which AF lives in, substantially is solution space and other AFs domain. Food consistence degree in water area is AFSA objective function. Finally, AFs reach to a point which its food consistence degree is maxima (global optimum). In artificial fish swarm algorithm, AF perceives external concepts with sense of sight. Current position of AF is shown by vector X=(x 1, x 2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, x n). The visual is equal to sight field of AF and Xv is a position in visual where the AF wants to go. Then if Xv has better food consistence than current position of AF, it goes one step toward X v which causes change in AF position from X to Xnext , but if the current position of AF is better than X v, it continues searching in its visual area. Food consistence in position X is fitness value of this position and is shown with f(X). The step is equal to maximum length of the movement. The distance between two AFs which are in Xi and Xj positions is shown by Dis ij =||X i-Xj|| (Euclidean distance). AF model consists of two parts of variables and functions. Variables include X (current AF position), step (maximum length step), visual (sight field), try-number (the maximum test interactions and tries) and crowd factor ÃŽÂ ´ (0 The standard k-means algorithm is summarized as follows: Initial position of K cluster centers is determined randomly. The following steps are repeated: a) for each data vector: data vector is allocated to a cluster that its Euclidean distance from its center is smaller than the other clusters centers. Distance from cluster center is calculated by Equation (1): (1) In Equation (1), Xp is data vector p, Zj is the center of cluster j and d is the number of dimensions of data vectors and cluster center vectors. b) After allocating all data to clusters, each of cluster centers is updated by Equation (2): (2) Where, nj is the number of data vectors that belong to cluster j and Cj is a subset of all data vectors which belong to cluster j. The resulted cluster center of Equation (2) is the average vector of data vectors comprising cluster. (a) and (b) steps are iterated until the stopping criterion is satisfied. In this section, the proposed algorithm is described. In the proposed algorithm, there exists a population of AFSAs AFs. This population of AFs is initialized randomly in problem space. Each AF consists of K cluster center positions in one dimensional image histogram space. Therefore, search space for AFSA for K cluster centers has K components. Fitness function which AFSA has to minimize is shown in Equation (3). (3) Clustering on histogram is done by Equation (3) based on color distribution between given images pixels. The image is divided into K clusters (Ci) according to color attribute by K-1 thresholds. In Equation (3), the distance between color Xj on image histogram and the center of a cluster which it belongs to ( Zi), is multiplied by the frequency of pixels (fj) which have color value Xj on given image. This value is computed for all color values with respect to the center of a cluster which they belong to. Each color becomes the member of a cluster in which their distance from that cluster center is less than other cluster centers. Finally, the obtained results of all clusters are summed with each other. Indeed, Equation (3) calculates sum of intra cluster distances for one dimensional gray scale images, which is one of the most well-known clustering criteria. For improving obtained results by AFSA, some modifications must do on its structure. The best found position by swarm members so far in AFSA is saved in bulletin and AF which has found it might go even toward worse positions with performing a free-move behavior. Therefore, AFs cannot utilize their best swarm experience for improving the convergence rate because they just save it in bulletin. On the other hand, performing free-move behavior is inevitable for maintaining diversity of the swarm. In this paper, to remove this problem, every AF except best AF can perform free-move behavior. In fact, during execution of the proposed algorithm, this behavior is not performed for the best AF of the swarm at all. Hence, the best found position by the swarm would be the position of the best AF of the swarm. As a result, other members of the swarm can move in the direction of the best found position by executing follow and swarm behaviors. The purpose of designing the proposed algorithm is to take advantages of both AFSA and k-means algorithms and remove their weaknesses. K-means is of high convergence rate, but its very sensitive to initializing the cluster centers and in the case of selecting inappropriate initial cluster centers, it could converge to a local optimum. AFSA can pass local optima to some extent but cannot guarantee reaching to global optima. However, AFSAs computational complexity for optimization process is much more than k-means. How the proposed algorithm functions remove weaknesses of these two algorithms and apply their advantages is as following: In the proposed algorithm, first, the AFs are initialized in AFSA. Each of AFSA contains K cluster centers (K-1 threshold) which are displaced in the problem space by performing AFSAs behaviors. AFSA continues to perform until the AFs converge. After convergence of AFSA, best AFs position including the best cluster centers which have found by AFs so far is considered as the input of k-means. Then, k-means algorithm starts working and while it is not converged, it continues working. Therefore, AFSA searches globally and as far as it can, it passes local optima. After convergence of AFSAs AFs, its output would have an appropriate initial cluster centers for k-means. Hence, after sending AFSAs outcome to k-means, this algorithm starts searching locally. Consequently, in the proposed algorithm, global search ability of AFSA has been used and after converging, a great part of optimization process will be given to k-means to utilize high capability of local search of this algorithm and its high convergence rate. Since initial cluster centers for k-means are obtained by AFSA and k-means is used for local search, k-means weakness of sensitivity to initial cluster centers is removed. But, AFSA capability may not be enough for preventing from being trapped in local optima. If this algorithm is trapped in local optima, it cannot present proper initial cluster values to k-means. Thereafter, according to low ability of k-means in passing local optima, the obtained result cannot be acceptable. To raise this problem, after convergence of AFSA, the output of this algorithm is sent to k-means. Simultaneously with starting of k-means, AFSAs AFs are initialized and start global search again. In fact, in one time of executing the proposed algorithm, AFSA has several times of chance to perform an acceptable global search. It should be noted that in the proposed algorithm, in each time of executing AFSA, AFs just search globally and converge after a short time and k-means undertakes the remaining of optimization process which is local search. Therefore, with respect to low computational complexity of k-means, huge amount of computations for local search is prevented. In the proposed algorithm, it has been tried to utilize this conserved computation load for giving new opportunities to AFSA in order to perform an acceptable global search in at least one of given opportunities to it. Hence, for each execution of global search by AFSA, k-means is also performed once. In the proposed algorithm, to determine the convergence of artificial fish swarm, the difference of obtained results in consecutive iterations of performing the algorithm is used. When particles converge, the obtained results difference in consecutive iterations decreases, so by considering a threshold for the difference between best AFs fitness values in iterations i and j, it can determine their convergence. In the proposed algorithm, because AFSA and k-means algorithms are performed multiple times , always, it has to save the best found cluster centers by algorithm so far. For this purpose, a blackboard is applied that each time k-means finishes after convergence of AFSA, the obtained result of that will be compared with saved result in blackboard. If obtained cluster centers are better than saved result in blackboard, saved value in blackboard is updated. K- means execution finishes when after two consecutive iterations of its execution, cluster centers wouldnt be displaced. Pseudo code of the proposed algorithm is represented in Figure (1). Experiments are done on two known gray scale images, Lenna and Barbara, of sizes 512*512 in Figure (2). In this paper, the well-known criterion of uniformity is used to compare images segmentation qualitatively [3] which is shown in Equation (4) (4) Where, c is the number of thresholds. Rj is the segmented region j. N is the total number of pixels in the given image, fi shows the gray level of pixel I,  µi is the mean gray level of pixels in jth region, finally, fmin and fmax are the minimum and maximum gray level of pixels in the given image, respectively. Usually, uà Ã‚ µ[0, 1] and larger amount for u declares that the thresholds are specified with better quality on the histogram. Proposed Algorithm: 1:for each AFi 2:initialize xi 3:Endfor 4:Blackboard = arg [min F(Xi)] 5:Repeat 6:for each AFi 7:Perform Swarm Behavior on Xi(t) and Compute Xi,swarm 8:Perform Follow Behavior on Xi(i) and Compute Xi,follow 9:if F(Xi,swarm) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ F(Xi,follow) 10:then Xi(t+1)= Xi,follow 11:Else 12:Xi(t+1)= Xi,swarm 13:Endif 14:Endfor 15:if swarm is converged 16:then Execute k-means on XBest-AF until stopping criterion of k-means is met 17:Endif 18:if F(Xk-means) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ F(Blackboard) 19:then Blackboard = Xk-means 20:reinitialize AFSA 21:Endif 22:until stopping criterion is met Figure (1): Pseudo code of proposed algorithm. The proposed algorithm along with standard AFSA, PSO algorithm, hybrid algorithm called KPSO [20], and k-means is used to segment two images, Lenna and Barbara. PSO and KPSO parameters are adjusted according to [6], and for k-means, initializing Forgy method is applied [21]. AFSA parameters and are adjusted according to [7]. AFSA settings in the proposed algorithm are the same as [7]. With respect to various experiments, if fitness value relating to Best AF is less than 0.1 in 3 iterations, it means that artificial fish swarm is converged. The following results are obtained from 50 times repeated experiments. Figure (3) shows segmented images, Lenna and Barbara, by the proposed algorithm with 5 and 3 thresholds. Figure 2: Orginal gray level Lenna (left) and Barbara (right) images Figure 3: The thresholded images of Lenna and Barbara using 5, and 2-level thresholds, from top to bottom. Average uniformity obtained from 5 algorithms on two images with thresholds 2, 3, 4 and 5 are shown in Table (1). As it is observed in Table (1), obtained results from the proposed algorithm is better than the other algorithms for all cases. AFSA algorithm has the worst result for all cases because of low ability in local search. K-means algorithm has found better results than AFSA because of high capability of k-means in local search. The reason for superiority of k-means to AFSA is the problem space property in histogram clustering. In fact, because of low dimensions of problem space in this environment, local search ability is of greater importance than global search ability. Also, it can reduce k-means weakness of sensitivity to initial values by means of one of the initializing methods of k-means like Forgy. Thereafter, with respect to considerable superiority of k-means local search ability in contrast to AFSA, k-means results are better than AFSAs. TABLE I: Comparison of uniformity for the five Algorithms Image T AFSA K-means PSO KPSO Proposed method Lenna 2 0.9138 0.9634 0.9730 0.9728 0.9775 3 0.9361 0.9749 0.9781 0.9783 0.9795 4 0.9495 0.9762 0.9816 0.9811 0.9826 5 0.9517 0.9804 0.9835 0.9834 0.9838 Barbara 2 0.9758 0.9761 0.9765 0.9768 0.9781 3 0.9783 0.9802 0.9808 0.9805 0.9820 4 0.9797 0.9834 0.9843 0.9851 0.9862 5 0.9822 0.9849 0.9855 0.9850 0.9884 Obtained results from PSO are better than k-means in all cases and its because of global search ability superiority of PSO to k-means. Moreover, in PSO, theres a trade-off between global search and local search abilities [16] and PSO also can perform a proper local search beside an acceptable global search. KPSO results are better than k-means results for all cases because after executing k-means in this algorithm, PSO algorithm is performed and improves obtained results from k-means. But obtained results from KPSO are not better than PSO for all cases. The reason is that sometimes k-means converges toward a local optimum and obtained result from that is not appropriate. Therefore, PSO is responsible for taking out the result from local optimum; however, it sometimes may not be successful. Indeed, improper result of k-means causes fast convergence of particles to local optimum. Obtained results from the proposed algorithm are better than other algorithms in all cases. The reason is u sage of strategies which have been used for global search in this algorithm. In fact, the proposed algorithm is successful in finding the global optima in most runs and can prevent final result from being trapped in local optima, whereas, this ability is observed less in other algorithms and they cannot guarantee passing local optima. This weakness causes that other algorithms to be of less robustness and not to be able to reach to almost the same results in their various implementations. Also, in the proposed algorithm, k-means algorithm performs local search after finding global optimum region by AFSA. Consequently, with respect to high ability of k-means in local search and taking proper initial cluster centers from AFSA, local search is done well in the proposed algorithm, too. As a result, both k-means and AFSA algorithms abilities are utilized in the proposed algorithm and the weakness of k- means algorithm cant decrease the algorithms efficiency. As it is observed in all algo rithms except KPSO, with rising up the number of thresholds, uniformity amount is improved. In KPSO, since the weakness of k-means has an undesirable effect on PSO efficiency, obtained results are not stable. In this paper, a new cooperative algorithm based on artificial fish swarm algorithm and k-means was proposed for image segmentation with respect to multi-level thresholding. In the proposed algorithm, AFSA performs global search and k-means is responsible for local search. The process of the proposed algorithm is such that the robustness and ability of preventing from being trapped in local optimums is improved. The proposed algorithm along with four other algorithms is used for segmenting 2 well-known images and obtained results are compared with each other. Experimental results show that segmented images quality by the proposed algorithm is much better than four other tested algorithms. [1] R. C. Gonzalez, and R. E. Woods, Digital image processing, In: Pearson Education India, Fifth Indian reprint, 2000. [2] S. Arora, J. Acharya, A. Verma., and K. Panigrahi, Multilevel thresholding for image segmentation through a fast statistical recursive algorithm, In: Journal on Pattern Recognition Letters 29, pp. 119125, 2008. [3] Maitra. M, A. Chatterjee, A hybrid cooperative-comprehensive learning based PSO algorithm for image segmentation using multilevel thresholding, In: Journal on Expert System with applications 34, pp. 1341-1350, 2008. [4] M. Mignote, Segmentation by fusion of histogram-based k-means clusters in different color spaces, In: IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 2008. [5] X. Yang, W. Zhao, Y. Chen, and X. Fang, Image segmentation with a fuzzy clustering algorithm based on Ant-Tree, In: Journal of Signal Processing 88, pp. 2453-2462, 2008. [6] Y. T. Kao, E. Zahara, and I. W. Kao, A hybridized approach to data clustering, In: Journal on Expert System with Applications 34, pp. 1754-1762, 2008. [7] D. Yazdani, S. Golyari, and M. R. Meybodi, A new hybrid approach for data clustering, In: 5th International Symposium on Telecommunication (IST) , pp. 932937, Tehran, 2010. [8] J. Kennedy, and R. C. Eberhart, Particle swarm optimization, In: IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks, 4, pp. 1942 1948, Perth, 1995. [9] A. A. A. Esmin, D. L. Pereira, and F. Araujo, Study of different approach to clustering data by using the particle swarm optimization algorithm, In: IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 18171822, Hong Kong, 2008. [10] L. X. Li, Z. J. Shao, and J. X. Qian, An optimizing method based on autonomous animate: fish swarm algorithm, In: Proceeding of System Engineering Theory and Practice, pp. 32-38, 2002. [11] D. Yazdani, S. Golyari, and M. R. Meybodi, A new hybrid algorithm for optimization based on artificial fish swarm algorithm and cellular learning automata, In: 5th International Symposium on Telecommunication (IST), pp. 932-937, Tehran, 2010. [12] D. Yazdani, A. N. Toosi, and M. R. Meybodi, Fuzzy adaptive artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: 23 th Australian Conference on Artificial Intelligent, pp. 334-343, Adelaide, 2010. [13] J. Hu, X. Zeng, and J. Xiao, Artificial fish swarm algorithm for function optimization, In: International Conference on Information Engineering and Computer Science, pp. 1-4, 2010. [14] Y. Luo, W. Wei, and S. X. Wang, The optimization of PID controller parameters based on an improved artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: 3rd International Workshop on Advanced Computational Intelligence, pp. 328-332, 2010. [15] C. X. Li, Z. Ying, S. JunTao, and S. J. Qing, Method of image segmentation based on fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm and artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Integrated Systems (ICISS) , pp. 254- 257, Guilin, 2010. [16] L. Xiao, A clustering algorithm based on artificial fish school, In: 2nd International Conference on Computer Engineering and Technology, pp. 766-769, 2010. [17] D. Bing, and D. Wen, Scheduling arrival aircrafts on multi- runway based on an improved artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: International Conference on Computational and Information Sciences, pp. 499-502, 2010. [18] J. A. Hartigan, An overview of clustering algorithms, In: New York: John Wiley Sons , 1975. [19] C. Y. Tsai, and I. W. Kao, Particle swarm optimization with selective particle regeneration for data clustering, In: Journal of Expert Systems with Applications 38, pp. 65656576, 2011. [20] D. W. der Merwe, and A. P. Engelbrecht, Data clustering using particle swarm optimization, In: Congress on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 215-220, 2003. [21] E. Forgy, Cluster analysis of multivariate data: efficiency vs. interpretability of classification, In: Biometrics 21, pp. 768, 1965

The Complex Character of Amanda in The Glass Menagerie Essay example --

The Complex Character of Amanda in The Glass Menagerie    Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie furnishes an excellent example of a carefully crafted, complex character whose speech and action arise from the "psychological" being created by the playwright. In his character description, Tennessee Williams starts his reader on the road to discovering Amanda's complexity. AMANDA WINGFIELD the mother. A little woman of great but confused vitality clinging frantically to another time and place. Her characterization must be carefully created, not copied from type. She is not paranoiac, but her life is paranoia. There is much to admire in Amanda, and as much to love and pity as there is to laugh at. Certainly she has endurance and a kind of heroism, and though her foolishness makes her unwittingly cruel at times, there is tenderness in her slight person. (Williams 781) â€Å"Before the first lines are spoken Amanda's complexity is established†(Falk 126) by the nuances and contrasts given here. This basic description must be laid over all dialogue and action throughout the play so as to preserve the fullness of Amanda's character at times when only portions of her nature are being exhibited.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The complexity of Amanda's character directly affects her action and dialogue with her children. In her role as mother she exhibits an overwhelming desire to see her children succeed in life. In trying to... ...ding Plays. Boston: Allyn, 1990. 307-314. Bigsby, C.W.E. A Critical Introduction to Twentieth-Century American Drama. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1984. Falk, Signi. "The Southern Gentlewoman." Modern Critical Interpretations Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie. ed. Harold Bloom. NY: Chelsea House Publishers, 1988. Jackson, Esther Merle. The Broken World of Tennessee Williams. Madison: & of Wisconsin P, 1965. Parker, R.B., ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Glass Menagerie. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1983. Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. Masterpieces of the Drama. Ed. Alexander W. Allison, Arthus J. Carr, Arthur M. Eastman. 5th ed. NY: Macmillan, 1986. 779- 814.

Decision-Making Models Essay -- Responsible Decision-Making Model

Decision-Making Models   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several decision-making models to choose from in any given situation. Some of these models available on the Internet are the Responsible Decision-Making Model, the Ethical Decision-Making Model, the Ethics Toolkit PLUS Model, the Vigilant Decision-Maker Process, and some basic ones as well. In general, all decision-making models are the processes we use to make well-thought out decisions. There are three major elements of all decision-making models. These three elements are: how are criteria determined, how are alternatives generated, and how are alternatives evaluated against criteria (Scholl, p. 1). In this paper, we will use the Responsible Decision-Making Model to explain how the process works to help us make better decisions. The Responsible Decision-Making Model   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Responsible Decision-Making Model is a Power Point presentation that was on the Internet (Scarbo, slides 1-18). There are six steps to this decision-making model. The first step is to clearly describe the situation either in writing or aloud. The second step is to list any possible solutions to the situation. The third step is to share the list of possible solutions with another responsible person because he or she may have other solutions to add to the list. The fourth step is to carefully evaluate each possible solution using the six criteria. We will look at these six criteria in the next paragraph. The fifth step is to make a final decision on which sol...

History Of Hockey Essay -- essays research papers

For more than a century, hockey historians have found that precisely tracing the sports origin is not only a difficult task but, a virtual impossibility. Therefore I can only try to deduce for myself, from the records, claims, and accounts, which are available to me, when, where, and by whom the first ice hockey was played. I’ll also discuss the early problems and obstacles that the NHL encountered. Plus I will also tell a little bit about early equipment, along with early game play and ice conditions that players encountered. Lastly, the Stanley Cup, which is the most prized and oldest sports award of the NHL. It has been won many times, by many different teams. Ice hockey is traceable to games played on fields as far back as nearly 2500 years ago. In 478 BC, a Greek soldier, Hemostocoles, built a wall in Athens which contained a sculpture scene portraying two athletes in a faceoff-like stance holding sticks similar to those later used in field hockey. (Hubbard & Fischle r, page17) Perhaps native Americans were the first to play hockey like games. The Indians of Canada invented the field game lacrosse, which is known by the legislative act as Canada’s and national sport. The Alogonquins who inhabited the shores the St. Lawrence River played an ice game that was similar to lacrosse called "baggataway," played without skates and with an unlimited number of participants. French explorers who visited the St. Lawrence River area and northern areas of United States in the 1700’s witnessed these matches. (Hubbard & Fischler, page17) According to the dictionary of language of Micmacs Indians, published in 1888, the Micmacs of eastern Canada played an ice game called "oochamkunutk," which was played with a bat or stick. Another ice game played by the Micmacs was "alchamadijik," which was referred to in legends of the Micmacs, issued in 1894. (Hubbard & Fischler, page18-19) Early hockey-like games that came from across the Atlantic include the Field game Hurley from Ireland, field hockey from England, and the ice games English bandy and Kolven from Holland. Hurley is a ground game that is still popular in Ireland. It was originally played by an unlimited number of players representing one parish against another. A flat field hockey-like stick and a large ball were used. Irish immigrants, who came to work on the Shubenacadie C... ... to an end. 1918-19, The NHL continues to suffer bad times in the second season. Crowds remained sparse, even though the league tried to elict interest by adopting new rules to make the game faster and more interesting. During this season an very unusual thing had happened, for a first time ever the Stanley cup was not awarded, the reason why it was not awarded is because Canada was in the midst of a lethal flu epidemic in the which touched the a Stanley cup teams. The flu sent many players to the hospital, tragically some of them died 6-8 weeks later. Therefore the competition was held off and a cup of was not awarded. Never again has the Stanley cup not been awarded after post season. (Hubbard & Fishler, page 55-68) Over the years the NHL suffered similar obstacles, financial problems, wars, and the lack of fans, to about the 1924-25 season. After that season times started to become easier. More profit was being made by the owners, and more fans were attending the games. Ho ckey was becoming one of the most popular sports in all of Canada, which quickly spread to the U.S. Nowadays hockey is one of the most profitable and enjoyable sports throughout North America and Europe.

Country of Origin

Country Of Origin Image The Country of Origin Image or COO can be described as the motivation behind the tendency for consumers to make buying decisions, guided by their perception of the country which is associated with the purchased product. It is essentially one of the building blocks for brand equity when introducing new products into new markets internationally. This could be attributed to consumer’s need to make quality inferences via brand cues, which will help them move forward faster in the buying process.In recent times, the validity of COO image as a brand metric has become arguably questionable, as the arrival of globalization has diluted the efficacy of the country of origin term. These days, an Apple Iphone could be designed in San Francisco, California and manufactured in Taiwan at lower operating costs. Based on this phenomenon and the study by Essousi and Merunka (2007), the COO concept can be further evaluated on the basis of two sub categories, which are cou ntry of design (COD) and country of manufacture(COM) image.A lot of companies remain ethnocentric in their business operations, this means that they restrict their resources to the initial country of origin, but sell to varying markets on the international scene. This is in contrast to the truly global companies that distribute their resources worldwide and operate in a global market. It begs the question of whether country of design or country of manufacture, is the influencing factor with regards to consumer behaviour and a product’s country of origin image.Referring to the previous example of Apple’s Iphone, is the product quality amplified in the consumers eyes by virtue of its American design or is its value downgraded by Taiwanese production? , considering Taiwan’s COO image as one of cheap but low quality products. Reardon et al (2005) suggest that with the products being unfamiliar to the market, country of origin image becomes the most viable source of quality identification for the consumer, an opinion backed by Balabanis and Diamantopoulos (2008) and Carvalho, et al ( 2011) studies on brand associations with country of origin images, among consumers.This is akin to celebrity endorsement of brands, with countries playing the role of celebrity ambassadors to those new to the brand. Harun et al 2011, proposes a different perspective to the discussion with country of brand origin (COBO). This is far more effective as a brand metric because as the name implies, the focus is placed on the brand itself rather than the product. For a description of the slight differences between the two concepts, Consider a consumer’s choice to buy a virtually unknown suit brand, because it was made in Britain.Britain’s strong COO image for products like suits, is the major player in this purchase decision. On the other hand, the buyer could decide to go for a Louis Vuitton Suit to feel ‘French’, as Louis Vuitton is primarily a French brand, thus illustrating the concept of the COBO effect. From this, it is clear that the country of origin effect still maintains some relevance with regards to influencing purchase decisions, whether it involves the design origins or place of manufacture or even down to the general associations the brands has with a country.Place Brand With the ever constant battle for the consumer’s disposable income and foreign direct investment by businesses, there has been an upsurge in the marketing of entire geographical locations, as suitable places to spend money. According to Medway& Warnaby (2008), the focus of the process is on creating favourable or attractive image associations for places and downplaying any negative images it may already have, unless demand for its resources outgrows supply.It can be argued that products and services become brands by virtue of the benefits they offer. This implies that if the benefits are negative, the product or service gains a negati ve brand image and vice versa. Similarly, places become branded by what they have to offer, usually in terms of culture, heritage, art, natural resources (Kemp et al, 2012) and many other variables. This phenomenon known as place branding, seeks to create identity, differentiation and personality for a place(Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005).It typically involves any residential geographic entity, and is usually most evident in the marketing of nations and cities. In examining the tenets of place branding further, the branding of cities can be utilised as a sample from which reasonable inference can be drawn and applied to a larger population such as countries. Pfefferkorn (2005) outlines the effects of branding on cities and the ingredients common to strongly branded cities.Included in the requirements for strong city branding are attractive employment opportunities, affordable cost of living, efficient public transportation and school systems, recreational/ cultural attractions, and go od climatic conditions. These are described by the author as functional values, but for truly strong place brands to exist, there must also be added value that differentiates it from others.The added value is unique to each city, as residents may tend to make meaningful associations between themselves and a place. Examples of this include the marketing of Jerusalem and Mecca as ‘holy cities’ of pilgrimage to devout faithfuls, Rio as a destination of choice for carnival lovers, Paris as the city of love for romantic individuals or in the most popular city branding efforts for sports enthusiasts, English soccer (Edensor & Millington, 2005) and the Olympics (Zhang & Zhao, 2009).An observable common denominator amongst these examples is the presence of images or perceptions, associated with orchestrated activities that result in the brands of a place. (Kavaratzis S& Ashworth, 2005). Global Brands The definition of globalised companies in contrast to international companies lies in the distribution of its resources (Abdulrazak. R, 2013). One of the foremost issues with brand globalization is the standardisation versus adaptation debate.A global brand is one which has been able to extend its brand identity across the world from its country of origin, and therefore the argument falls largely in favour of standardization with an adaptation of certain variables where necessary. Discussion Global brands offer consumers a sense of familiarity and streamlines the decision making process for purchasing from a range of both local and international alternatives. The country of origin image as well as place brands associated with the place brand may further serve to amplify the equity of the global brand. SIRRA

Business Research Method – Volkswagen.Doc

I. Rational II. Situational Analysis III. Theoretical background IV. Conceptual Model V. Research Design VI. Sources I. Rational: According to James R. Healey (2011), reporter for USA Today, customers have lost confidence in Volkswagen’s quality. Volkswagen has been subjected to a real loss in the perception of its customers regarding its cars quality. This situation results mainly from a quality problem. In fact, according to Marty Padgett (May 14, 2007), for the website  www. thecarconnection. om: â€Å"The CEO of Volkswagen of America admits the company generated a lot of ‘venom’ with the massive quality problems it experienced earlier this decade. † This position is emphasized by a Hallmark representative who observed: â€Å"Volkswagen representatives point out that the company's scores are improving, which is true. But so is almost everyone else's. Shame on us that we haven't moved up the ranking. † Volkswagen had difficulty recognizing the pr oblem as evinced by Trahan’s 2010 position on this matter. He was effectively thinking that the brand did better that it got credit for.Nevertheless, according to James R. Healey (2011), for USA Today, the company now seems to be taking the problem seriously since the beginning of 2011. â€Å"We have some trouble in IQS that we have to fix† remarked Trahan earlier this year. In the 2011 IQS, Volkswagen owners reported an average of 131 problems per 100 cars, putting the company into a tie with Mini for 29th  among 32 brands. The best was Lexus at 73/100, and the worst was Dodge at 137/100. Volkswagen’s score in 2010 was slightly worse than Dodge’s in 2011 at 135/100. That said, the company is still struggling to improve his score.According to the 2010 IQS report, Volkswagen score was only slightly worse than the 2011 one, with 135 problems per 100 cars. Historically, Volkswagen has been known for the quality of its cars; quality is measured by a carâ₠¬â„¢s reliability and its ability to make life easier for owners. To improve Volkswagen’s IQS score and thus reverse the trend in the US, the brand should reevaluate its quality standards that originally established its reputation. By doing so, Volkswagen could maintain its leading position in Europe while improving its market share in the US. This could enable the company to remain the most profitable automotive brand.What position should Volkswagen take on the current quality situation? What are the causes of such loss? What departments should Volkswagen restructure to avoid the quality problems? II. Situational Analysis: The brand has always been known for its reliable cars. Jason Chavis (2010), contributor for the website www. ehow. com, easily stressed it out by reminding that, throughout the eighties and the early nineties, Volkswagen was plagued by a number of quality control issues, particularly in its American market. This resulted in a new goal for the company. Volk swagen wanted people to know that driving was fun again.The famous â€Å"die deutsche Qualitat† motto results from this. Nevertheless, things have changed; the quality of Volkswagen products is recently decreasing. The Volkswagen Annual Report 2010 made obvious that Volkswagen does not really realize that its Quality Assurance is not as reliable as it used to be. The report clearly explains that the aim of Volkswagen is â€Å"to secure a pole position in terms of customer satisfaction and brand loyalty†. The problem is that Volkswagen needs to do more than securing a pole position. Volkswagen needs to reach this position. For instance, the J. D. Power – a ebsite providing consumers information by using consumer satisfaction data collected to help them in their buying decisions – and Associates 2011 Initial Quality Survey illustrates this situation quite well: Volkswagen reports 131 problems per 100 vehicles. This is very close to the last one, Dodge, with 137. To make a good comparison, Lexus is first with 73 problems per 100 vehicles. This situation is stressed by the fact that people seem not to trust Volkswagen anymore. As we can easily see in the Consumer Reports' 2011 Car Brand Perception Survey, Volkswagen has received one of the worst ratings.The results are given in a chart on wich figures are aggregates, reflecting a brand's total perception level across seven areas. Volkswagen received one of the worst ratings, with an overall score of only 19. To compare, the lowest rating is given to Isuzu with 2 and the best rating is for Toyota with 147. Volkswagen does effectively not seem to have the image it used to have: the image of all German car manufacturers. Nevertheless, despite all these problems, the German car manufacturer’s Annual Report 2010 shows the willingness of the brand to keep the customers in the heart of the its decision.Although, Volkswagen says in this report that its competitive advantages are not secu red through product quality and appeal alone. The brand reminds the theory following which customers’ loyalty to a specific brand is also influenced by the quality of service they receive. After-sales and customer service in the Volkswagen Group focuses primarily on establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with customers and partners worldwide. Its aim is to captivate customers with their outstanding commitment to good service combined with Volkswagen’s high quality standards.But, as explained before, these standards are not that high. In fact, the current situation is that customers do not trust Volkswagen quality as they used to. This is due to a lot of reported quality problems. Nevertheless the brand has now taken into account this issue and now understands that it has to enhance the quality of their cars. According to www. businessdictionary. com, the brand image is developed over time through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme and is authen ticated through the consumers’ direct experience.To summarize the situation, the downswing in the perception of Volkswagen brand image is due to the last part of this definition. The company has failed to make the consumers enjoy the experience of having a Volkswagen car. As explained before, this is mainly due to the high number of problems experienced by consumers. In order to improve their brand image, the company has to improve its IQS score, which would prove to the consumer that Volkswagen cars are as reliable as they used to be, which would consequently improve the company’s brand image. III.Theoretical background: According to Narasimhan, Ram, Mendez and David (2001) and the Wacker Theory (1989) on quality and evaluative judgment  «Product’s improved quality will take several periods of good performance before customers will recognize its performance as being related to quality†. This means that customers’ point of view regarding brandsâ⠂¬â„¢ quality will not change overnight. It will takes time to prove them that things have changed because customers are more and more dubious and because it takes time to have feedbacks concerning quality.That said quality is not the only factor when it comes to purchasing a car. Indeed, according to Nadia Huitzilin Jimenez Torres (October 2007) from the Universidad de Burgos  «Consumer purchasing decisions relating to foreign products are influenced by economic, psychological and sociological factors ». a. The economic factor: According to the neoclassical school of thought, consumers are rational. They make buying decisions toward getting the most out of everything. They just take into factor the economy of use, convenience, efficiency in use, dependability in use and finally improvement in earnings.Nevertheless in practice, these elements aren’t the only ones used or often poorly applied. Indeed, psychological and sociological factors are also used when making a buyin g decision. b. The psychological factor: Psychological factors affect the way consumers think and behave while making a buying decision. For example some consumers do compulsive purchases because of their mood, which often are completely irrational. According to Black, Donald W. (2007), Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is characterized by excessive shopping cognitions and buying behavior that leads to distress or impairment. . The sociological factor: This factor is highly important for companies for whom brand image result from reputation. In fact many consumers from all around the world base their buying decision upon stereotypes. Sander Gilman (1985) argued that stereotypes are representations that are not accurate, but a projection of one to another. According to this definition the fact that many people believe that â€Å"Germans make good products† is a stereotype. This phenomenon might result to a biased representation of a product quality.A company can benefit from th e good image of another brand because they both are from the same country. This proves that the county’s reputation helps consumers to discriminate between firms and products they are not familiar with. Consumers can also be influenced by social factor. One can buy a product from the same brand his idol or friends wear because he wants to look like him or them. This is also true with word of mouth, which makes people like or dislike products. As we have seen many factors influence the perception of quality.This diagram summarizes the steps that a consumer follow when analyzing a brand’s quality: [pic] The reputation results from the level of advertising and the brand’s reputation. Added to the perceived monetary price and the consumer’s perceived features of the good, it results to the consumer perceived quality of the product. IV. Conceptual model : [pic] Hypothesis: 1. The more adapted the communication message, the greater the brand ______image is 2. T he better the reputation, the greater the brand image is 3.The better the anterior experience with the product, the greater ______the brand image is 4. The better the media planning, the greater the brand image is V. Research Design a. Nature of proof: A correlational study seems the most adapted in this situation. This will allow us to delineate the important variables associated with the problem. These variables are the communication, the reputation, the customer’s anterior experience. We want to know how the potential and the already granted customers think of Volkswagen. It is now obvious that the study will be a descriptive one. . Unit of analysis: We want to know how many of the population would be interested in buying a Volkswagen car, depending on their opinion about the brand. Thus, we decided to stratify our sample in three groups: country, sex and age. c. Sampling: Stratified sample: [pic] d. Interference of the researcher As the study is a correlational one, this will take place in the same natural environment in which employees normally function, thus in noncontrived settings. Moreover, this kind of study is conducted with minimal interference of the researcher, such as manipulation of variables.According to all these elements, we clearly face a field experiment. e. Source of data & data collection methods: In order to get the most accurate sources, the sources that matched as good as possible, we will use primary data. To collect them, we have prepared one interview, one questionnaire and two observations. The first one, the interview, deals with the variable of the communication; the second one, the questionnaire, is taking care of the reputation; the two last ones deal with the previous experience of customers and the communication. f.Managerial implications: g. Gantt-chart: 1. The more adapted the communication message, the greater the brand image is. Interview : 1) Age / Sex / Nationality / Occupation 2) Do you currently own a Volkswag en  ? If yes  : Why have you bought one  ? If no  : have you own one in the past  ? – If yes  : Why have you changed  ? – If no : Why  ? 3) Have you ever seen a Volkswagen advertisement  ? If yes  : on which media did you see it  ? Do you remember it well  ? Do you remember what was the message communicated during the advert  ? If yes : Did you feel concern by it ?Do you think there could be a better ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccmessage (open question) ccccccccccccccccc Did that make you want to own one  (open question  : why  ? ) ? If no  : for what reason do you think you have never seen one  ? What did you think about Volkswagen 5 years ago ? [pic] Observing 1. Observation of the number of returns in the selected country 2. Number of person who has replaced their Volkswagen by another Volkswagen VI. Sources: – Marty Padgett (May 14, 2007), VW Focused on Prices, Quality, http://www. thecarconnection. com/news/1014959_vw-focus ed-on-prices-quality; James R. Healey (2011), VW: We know you're nervous, but our quality is improving http://content. usatoday. com/communities/driveon/post/2011/08/vw-quality-problems-warranty-costs–/1 – Jason Chavis (2010), History of the Volkswagen Brand http://www. ehow. com/facts_4966661_history-volkswagen-brand. html – The Volkswagen Annual Report (2010), http://www. volkswagenag. com/content/vwcorp/content/en/homepage. html – Syvetril Perryman (2011), J. D. Power Associates 2011 Initial Quality Survey http://businesscenter. jdpower. com/news/pressrelease. aspx? ID=2011089 Consumer Reports' 2011 (January 2011), Car Brand Perception Survey http://www. consumerreports. org/cro/cars/new-cars/news/2011/01/2011-car-brand-perception-survey/overview/index. htm – Narasimhan, Ram, Mendez, David (2001), Wacker Theory (1989), Strategic aspects of quality: A theoretical analysishttp://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa3796/is_200101/ai_n8943712/? tag=co ntent;col1 – Nadia Huitzilin Jimenez Torres (October 2007), The purchase of foreign products: The role of firm’s country-of-origin reputation, consumer ethnocentrism, animosity and trust http://www3. va. es/empresa/uploads/dt_13_07. pdf – Sander L. Gilman (1985), Difference and pathology: stereotypes of sexuality, race and madness – Black, Donald W. (February 2007), A review of compulsive buying disorder http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC1805733/? tool=pmcentrez – Uma Sekaran & Roger Bougie (2009), Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach – Janine Frauendorf (2006), Customer processes in business-to-business service transactions

Axis Bank Future Plans

Axis Bank plans VRS to cut flab at top Anita Bhoir, ET Bureau  Dec 12, 2012, 06. 00AM IST * (The bank plans to roll out†¦) MUMBAI: Three years after  Shikha Sharma  took the corner room at Axis Bank, the country's third-largest private sector lender is making another attempt to cut flab. The bank plans to roll out an early retirement scheme for senior employees aged 40 or more, who have been with the lender for 10 years or longer. This is the bank's second attempt to trim its 31,000-strong workforce since 2009.The first attempt had received a lukewarm response, and this time the private sector lender has tailored the scheme to target people who may be good performers but don't have the ability to make it big. â€Å"This time, the scheme seems to be more targeted and we hope executives will prefer to accept it rather than be fired at a later date on the pretext of non-performance,† said an  Axis Bank  official, who requested anonymity. â€Å"The management wants to reduce the number of vice-presidents and senior vice-presidents. It wants a leaner and younger organisation,† the official added.Axis Bank is not the first private institution to offer an early retirement scheme. In its earlier avatar as a financial institution, ICICI had introduced its first  VRS  in 1996-97. The second scheme came in late-1999. Later, in 2003, the KV Kamath-led  ICICI Bank  announced an early retirement offer targeted at erstwhile employees of ICICI and Bank of Madura. Shikha Sharma, who headed ICICI Prudential before taking up the reins at Axis Bank, seems to be following the ICICI management style in her new job. Axis has 31,738 employees. Its staff cost was 577. 90 crore at the end of September 2012, compared with 498. 2 crore in the year-ago period. â€Å"The bank may face immediate financial burden as it would have to make lump sum payments to employees. However, over a period it would led to cost savings,† said Kajal Gandhi, an analy st with ICICI Securities. http://articles. economictimes. indiatimes. com/2012-12-12/news/35773778_1_shikha-sharma-axis-bank-private-sector-lender Axis Bank plans Rs 6000 crores share sale to meet Basel III norms ET Bureau  Dec 18, 2012, 08. 06AM IST MUMBAI:  Axis Bank, the country's third-largest private bank, is looking to sell as many as 4. 8 crore new shares to boost its capital before the  Basel-III norms  kick in, which at current prices may help it fetch more than Rs 6,000 crore. The lender, headed by  Shikha Sharma, will be the second private sector bank to raise funds this year after IndusInd Bank. City Union Bank's rights share sale is underway whileYES Bank  and  Development Credit Bank  are also in the process of raising equity. ICICI Bank  and  HDFC Bank  may also reach out to investors in the coming months for funds as the market for equity issuances opens up and the need to raise funds increases to meet capital norms. The capital raising is large ly to fund growth and also to meet Basel-III norms,† said  Kajal Gandhi, analyst ICICI Securities. â€Å"Other private sector banks like YES Bank and  IndusInd Bank  have also raised funds recently. † The equity issuance by Axis will lead to a 10. 75 per cent dilution. Axis said its board has approved the fund-raising plan, which will either be a domestic sale to institutions or a GDR issue. It also retains the right to sell to existing holders. Indian lenders are raising capital as loan growth is seen picking up next year after more than a year of sluggish demand.With the government proceeding with some reforms, investment demand may accelerate and banks will need to keep a higher capital buffer. RBI's plan to implement the Basel-III norms to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis mandates banks to keep higher capital. It will be implemented in phases over six years. Axis Bank's tier-I capital, or equity capital, is at 8. 99 per cent, compared with 7 per c ent prescribed by Basel-III norms. http://articles. economictimes. indiatimes. com/2012-12-18/news/35890925_1_basel-iii-shikha-sharma-axis-bank Axis Bank plans to step up lending to MFIsKOLKATA  Ã‚  Aug 13, 2012 Axis Bank – which had gone slow on lending to the microfinance institutions (MFI) post the recent crisis in the industry – now plans to scale up its exposure to the sector. The bank also looks at direct lending to self-help groups. â€Å"We had gone slow on lending to the MFI sector due to the recent crisis. However, with the regulations in place we plan to step up our lending to the sector,† said Ms Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Axis Bank. The bank's exposure to MFIs was earlier in excess of Rs 800 crore.She was talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the launch of a financial inclusion programme organised by Axis Bank Foundation and microfinance institution Bandhan here on Saturday. MFIs have been recently criticise d on issues of multiple lending, evergreening of loans, lack of due diligence and coercive recovery practices. Axis Bank, Ms Sharma said, aims to achieve a credit growth in excess of 18 per cent during the current year. â€Å"The RBI has projected a growth rate of 18 per cent, we are hopeful of doing better than this,† she said.Asked about concerns regarding asset quality, she added, â€Å"There are no signs of rising defaults in the system at present. † http://www. thehindubusinessline. com/industry-and-economy/banking/article2354147. ece Axis Bank launches new campaign ‘Zindagi ke highway pe koi akele nahin badhta’ Udaipur, January 23, 2013: Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector Bank, today announced the launch of its new campaign ‘Zindagi ke highway pe koi akele nahin badhta’ that aims to drive home the message that progress and subsequent success is mutual.The campaign designed by Lowe Lintas features Axis Bank’s Br and Philosophy ‘While we keep progressing in our lives, there always is someone else progressing along with us, so let’s Progress Together’. The campaign highlights Axis Bank’s credentials as a customer centric bank and a partner in progress who walks with its customers on the highway of life – hence the tag line Zindagi ke highway pe koi akele nahin badhta. Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Mr. R. K Bammi, Executive Director – Retail Banking, Axis Bank said, â€Å"The new film takes our brand positioning of Badhti ka naam zindagi†¦ or Progress On†¦ ahead.We understand that Progress always has a ripple effect. When one person progresses, others around him progress too. This insight is captured in our new TVC that clearly demonstrates the circle of progress and how you touch lives of others even when you do not know them. † Explaining this new phase in Axis Bank’s communication journey, Arun Iyer, National Creativ e Director, Lowe Lintas says that, â€Å"Last year we crafted ‘Badhti ka naam zindagi’ to define the fundamental philosophy for Axis Bank. The task this year was to continue building this sentiment on a larger canvass.What better than changing the frame of reference from what it means for one individual, to what it means in the context of the entire community we live in? The fact is that when you progress, others benefit too. And hence no one really progresses alone. When you move up, others do too. We hope the execution will make our audience have this joyful realization about how we are connected with each other. † Taking its philosophy of progress together Axis Bank plans to enable its customers to acknowledge contributions of others in their progress through an application called ProgressTogether.The application would be hosted on a microsite which can be reached on the URL www. progresstogether. in and will also be mirrored on Facebook. com on the Axis Bank page. Customers can use the application from their PCs and from their tablets. http://thetimesofudaipur. com/? p=1308 Axis Bank eyes 30 per cent retail assets by FY15 Press Trust of India | Updated On: October 17, 2012 12:46 (IST Private lender Axis Bank plans to increase the share of its retail lending from the present 26 per cent of the total loan book to 30 per cent by 2015, a top official said on Tuesday.As of the September quarter, the third largest private lender saw its retail loan book jump by 5 percentage points from the year-ago period, Axis Bank Executive Director Somnath Sengupta told reporters in a post-earnings conference call. On a year-on-year basis, the retail banking grew 43 per cent as of the second quarter, while large and mid-corporate banking grew just 15 per cent, he said. â€Å"The focus on retail assets will continue to grow, and our target is to take it further to 30 per cent by the end of FY15.It is a part of strategic intent to grow the retail book. We a re expanding through home, auto and personal loans. We are also selling credit cards to our existing customers. † On Monday, the bank reported better-than-expected Q2 numbers logging in 22. 08 per cent rise in net profit to  Rs. 1,123 crore. Terming the quarterly numbers as satisfactory despite a challenging environment, Sengupta said retail advances and lower expenses helped the bank post good numbers.Total income rose 27 per cent to  Rs. 8,280. 29 crore in the July-September quarter. NII rose to  Rs. 2,327 crore from  Rs. 2,007 crore, while other income grew 29 per cent to  Rs. 1,593 crore, driven by growth in fee income which stood at  Rs. 1,343 crore, a growth of 20 per cent. The bank saw its trading income rise to  Rs. 207 crore during the quarter, he said. The bank improved its net interest margin to 3. 46 per cent in the reporting period from 3. 37 per cent at the end of the first quarter.Sengupta further said the bank could maintain asset quality as its g ross NPAs and net NPAs stood barely unchanged at 1. 10 per cent and 0. 33 per cent, respectively as against 1. 08 per cent and 0. 34 per cent as of September 2011. The bank held a provision coverage of 80 per cent as a proportion of gross NPAs, including prudential write-offs. The bank had made an additional provision of  Rs. 115 crore in the quarter, he said, adding it has provided for the exposure to the troubled Hyderabad-based Deccan Chronicle Group, which has become a bad asset now.However, Sengupta did not reveal whether the bank has made full provisions for the Deccan loans and also the exact amount of the exposure. However, it has been learnt Axis Bank has exposure of over  Rs. 400 crore to the diversified company. Asked about the bank's exposure to the state-run power distribution companies (discoms) whose  Rs. 1. 9 trillion of debt was recast last month, he said it was â€Å"limited† but refused to quantify it. Similar was his response when asked about the tex tile sector, whose  Rs. 16,000 crore of debt is being recast with government intervention now.Sengupta also refused to disclose the status of other two default accounts– SevenHills Hospital (exposure at around  Rs. 463 crore) and Icomm Tele (around  Rs. 220 crore). About fresh slippages during Q2, he said the quarter saw a gross slippage of  Rs. 628 crore primarily due to a large corporate account. During the quarter, the bank saw  Rs. 99 crore incremental slippages net of restructuring and upgrades. http://profit. ndtv. com/news/corporates/article-axis-bank-eyes-30-per-cent-retail-assets-by-fy15-312162