Estimating Purchasing and Cost Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Estimating Purchasing and Cost Control - Essay Example Cost management is an integral part of financial control and management in any for profit and non-profit organisation, notwithstanding the industry or sector. The same applies particularly to the engineering and construction sector in which the huge amounts of financial and other resources pumped must be accounted for to stakeholders such as the government, project funders and the public/customers.Unfortunately, for various reasons, many countries’ construction sectors lag behind in the use of cost control techniques such as the Cost Value Reconciliation (CVR) and Earned Value (EV), two rather common methods of cost control. Many a stakeholder cites the technical skills and the huge resources required as the reasons many constructions firms and financial managers do not apply CVR in their cost control practices. Most affected by the cost and skill requirements of CVR and other cost control techniques such as CVR and Earned Value (EV) are the small and medium-sized construction and engineering firms that lack the wherewithal to design and implement these techniques of cost control. The other reason for the little use of cost control techniques such as CVR and EV is the apparent lack of literary coverage and information on these methods, implying that stakeholders are not quite conversant with the metho.Nonetheless, these methods are generally used in the construction and engineering industry to measure and monitor project progress, profitability and performance for their strengths. One advantage of EV is that it is capable of combining the assessment of work cost, schedule and scope in a single integrated process or system. What is more, Earned Value gives accurate information and forecasts on project problems, which are important contributory factors in project management. EV has been shown to affect project planning and control aspects more even as it improves project scope and the analysis of project performance. EV is thus a positive predictor of proj ect success. The popularity of EV is evident in the many government contracts that are assessed using this method, more so in its application to assist substantiate contract disputes. This paper explores the use of cost control methods such as the Coat Value Reconciliation (CVR) and the Earned Value (EV) with regards to their effectiveness in providing information on costs, in the monitoring work progress, their benefits, ease of use, advantages and disadvantages. Practicing CVR and EV The importance of using these cost control methods in the construction and engineering sector is the uniqueness and the uncertainties that characterise each project. In fact, every project in the industry has its own set of challenges and hardships that affect not only their successful completion but also their effective use of the available resources. The uncertainties inherent in construction projects result in losses and ultimate project collapse even for big, long-established, sophisticated and fi nancially endowed constructors (Potts, 2008). With more sophisticated structures being ordered by clients every other day with the budgets getting tighter by the day, construction firms must embrace cost control and sound finance management to achieve their objectives. Just like any other cost control measures, CVR has several core elements or principles by which it is successfully applied to give the required data. Important in CVR are the totals for cost and value, which are crucial in establishing a firm’s profitability (Sidwell, 2005). In this regard, CVR’s major objective is to achieve accuracy while displaying a firm’s accounts. CVR’s display of financial accounts and position is thus among the most accurate compared to other methods. It is thus quite apparent that CVR seeks to portray a firm’s statutory accounts as a legal obligation (Sidwell, 2005). Additionally vital is CVR’

Manufacturing in China and its environmental impacts Essay

Manufacturing in China and its environmental impacts - Essay Example The automotive industry played, and continues to play, a key role in this concept. The Volkswagen Group has set up two joint ventures for the manufacture of automobiles in China. While the Shanghai Volkswagen success story began in 1984, the contracts for FAW-Volkswagen were signed in the northern Chinese city of Changchun in 1990. In January 2003, another joint venture, this time producing gearboxes, began operations in Shanghai. This was followed in 2004 by a joint company for manufacturing powertrain components. Two further joint ventures for modern engines started production in 2006 and 2007. Data suggest that there is a constant steady growth during the time of study, except between the years 2001 and 2002. Primarily, the reason for this is that China has become a member of the World Trade Organization in 2001. As the sales performance shows, the Volkswagen Group has gained full advantage of this opportunity. The data clearly suggest continuous growth of product sale from 1999 to 2006; however, the market share has been reduced from a peak of 50% to 17.1% in 2006. The tendency of decrease in market share is expected, mainly due to the current and anticipated burgeoning growth of automobile ownership in China. Toyota has grown to become a large multinational corporation from where it started. It has expanded to different worldwide markets and countries by becoming the largest seller of cars in the beginning of 2007 and the most profitable automaker in 2006 with increasing sales in the world. Toyota has long been recognized as an industry leader in manufacturing and production. In retrospect, Toyota Motor Company Limited (currently Toyota Motor Corporation) was established in 1937 and started to export automotive to China since 1964. It founded Toyota Automotive Services Centre in Beijing and the Technical Support Centre in Tianjin in 1980 and 1990, respectively.

Role of Music and Movement

Role of Music and Movement Young children learn through exploration, active participation and through imitation and as such, quality music programmes taught in the early childhood classrooms should incorporate five different characteristics according to McDonald and Simones, 1989 (cited in Isenberg Jalongo, 1997). Both stated that musical activities conducted should be developmentally appropriate and age appropriate for children and have a balance of both teacher planned and child initiated activities. Music programs conducted be pleasurable and support the development of positive attitudes and emotional responses in children as well as to instil in them lifelong love for music. They added that children should be exposed to a variety of musical activities that includes music appreciation -children be exposed to listening to different types music, singing and moving to music and to create music through the use of musical instruments. They further mentioned that children should learn to participate in a group with their peers and experience the pleasure of group music making. Both agree that music programme should be integrated as part of curriculum and children are allowed to experience music throughout the day and not just during the music time. Music should also be used during transitions from one activity to another. As in the Singaporean classroom, it is a requirement by the Ministry of Education that music programme be included as part of the curriculum. However music and movement activities conducted are seldom planned to include a variety of activities and most of the instances teachers conduct activities with just a CD player. Children are observed to be singing and moving to the song played. The essence of music programme that enhances childrens total developmental skills is not delivered due to the fact of teacher quality. Although the experts have stated that musical education does foster growth in childrens physical, cognitive, social and emotional development, this research will only focus on the social and emotional development through music. Music is part of the curriculum and it is indeed a great way to expose children through musical activities that include songs, musical games and rhythmic activities as the teaching tool to enhance childrens social skills. Singing simple songs enable children to absorb social values better than when they are being taught. If songs touch on values and principles, children will begin to incorporate them into their social development. Music activities also allows children to sing, dance and use certain gestures for certain parts of the song and these will also allow them to release social and emotional problems. Children are constantly experiencing new emotions and situations as they grow and each new experience contributes to their social development. As stated by Forsyth ,1977 ; Madsen Alley, 1979 ; Sim,1986 ; Standley Hughes,1996 ( cited in Forsyth ,1977 ) researchers have documented the effective use of music to enhance childrens social skills especially when interventions and instructions involve the use of participatory activities. The question the researcher intends to find an answer for is derived from the above explanation on How does active participation in music and movement impact on childrens social and emotional skills According to the Collins dictionary, arts such as dance, music and drama that are performed live in front of an audience is referred to as performing arts. Performing as mentioned by Wright (2003 p.107) includes the physical or bodily competence and interpretation providing a foundation for childrens learning using a range of movement techniques. Performing will involve the participant being observed by caregivers, peers and teachers in the classroom context. Role of Music and Movement in the development of social emotional skills Bruner (1968) (cited in Isenberg Jalongo, 1997) states that as children grow, they go through three learning stages The enactive stage This is an action based stage where children develop the ability to use objects in the environment to perform physical tasks using their motor skills for example , children playing a musical instrument and moving to the beat. The iconic stage the visual imagery stage where children are able to imagine events and actions through visual memory. This stage takes place when children role play at the dramatic corner or during a drama performance as they take on imaginative roles that they have seen The symbolic stage- children are able to use ideas, symbols and language to understand and define concepts. For example, children working as a group in planning for a drama performance, children will need to use their creative ideas to plan, identify the characters, symbol image for each character and the language to dictate the drama. Bruner (1962) (cited in Isenberg Jalongo, 1997) adds that each of these stages suggests developmentally appropriate musical experience for children. Isenberg Jalongo, 1997 adds that Bruners enactive stage relates to Piagets (1952) sensorimotor stage and Eriksons (1950) trust building stage where physical activity and music are intertwined. Thus musical activities stimulate childrens senses, cognitive development and also build social relationships. Bruner and Piaget believed that children used their senses to learn and explore their environment while Erikson stressed that children needed maximum comfort to trust themselves and the others in order for them to explore and learn in the environment. All these stages are inter-related to enhance childrens total development. Music, according to Gardner, 1973 ( cited in Isenberg Jalongo, 1997) contributes to the childs physical, intellectual, emotional, social , cultural and aesthetics development. As stated by McAllester, 1991 (cited in Isenberg Jalongo, 1997 p. 131) music encourages participation, sharing and cooperation. Through musical activities such as singing and games, children learn to subordinate their individual wishes to the goals of the group which is the essence of cooperation. Music is an effective program for children to adapt to social skills in a fun and enjoyable way. Leonhard, 1983 (cited in Lau, n.d.) regards music as a social art which has the capacity to unite social groups and enable each individual to feel as part of the group. While Spodek, Saracho and Lee, 1983 (cited in Lau, n.d. ) further emphasized that music has the ability to draw the shy and withdrawn child to come closer with their peers thus supporting social relationships. A shy child who does not interact with her peers verbally, will be able to engage in a music and movement activity where she physically gets closer to her peers during the activity especially when it involves pairing with partners or in a group. Catron Allen, (2003) stated that young children must learn to cooperate with peers and act in a socially responsible manner so that they would develop a cooperation spirit through participating in a variety of small group activities. Social and Emotional Development in Children Social and emotional development according to Cohen and other experts as (cited in Social Emotional Development domain Child Development, 2009) includes the ability of a child to express and manage his emotions as well as his ability to build positive relationships with others. They shared the same view as Howard Gardners theory of multiple intelligence on intrapersonal and interpersonal processes and presented a strong relationship between knowing of ones feelings and the feelings of others. Gardner believed that if both these abilities are well developed in young children, it will strengthen their sense of self and the relationship with others (Cited in Dowling, 2005 p.61). On the other hand, Nowicki Duke, 1989 (cited in Dowling, 2005) supported Gardner, as they found that children who are sensitive to others and aware of their own feelings appeared to achieve better in school than those with similar intellectual ability but less emotional ability. Social Skills and Social Competence Social skills can be defined as the ability to implement developmentally appropriate social behaviours that enhanced ones interpersonal relationship without causing harm to anyone (Schneider, 1993 p.19). It is necessary for children to respect one another and to build healthy social skills to develop positive relationship with people around them. As stated in Jean Piagets theory, social development takes place through interaction between the child and the environment and that the developing child constructs his own knowledge. An example of this is when a child is engaged in the learning centre, he is learning through exploration using his senses as well as interacting with the materials in the environment. On the other hand, Vygotsky viewed socialisation as two fold firstly, cognition as related to social engagement and secondly language as a tool for communication within the social context (cited in Berk, 2000). When children are engaged in dramatic play both language and social relationship is enhanced. As such, social skills play a vital role in helping children cope with the many complexities and demands of the world. According to Jalongo (2006), social competence is defined as a set of abilities, behaviours and responses directed towards other individuals that serve to foster positive human relationships. Katz and McClellen (1997) suggested that components of social skills include social understanding and interaction skills. It is important for the child to portray good behaviour and effective communication with others to engage in healthy relationship. Role of Performing Arts in the Development of Social Emotional Skills Pinciotti (1993) mentioned that children learn from their experiences when they are engaged in social activities. Cornett (1999) further supports the need for teachers to integrate creative drama in the classroom as she states that drama being a part of everyday life, prepares an individual to connect to real life situations. Cornett (1999) adds that when children are participating in the drama, they are able to look at problems from different points of view, respect diverse thinking and realise that there are many ways to settle one problem. She further states that through drama, children learn to exchange feelings and emotions with each other. This enhances their personality development. Cornett (1999) also states that personal development takes place when children control their body and words as they express ideas and feelings during the drama activities. She also indicated that positive self image and confidence are developed through the problem solving situations. Cornett (1999) reiterates that children engaging in situational confrontations during their role play, also become aware of the different emotions people feel for example happiness, sadness .anger, fear. She adds that the children learn that these feelings can be dealt in a positive way and they also learn to accept different temperaments portrayed by their peers thus developing a tolerance towards them. Isbell Raines (2007), agree that social skills can be developed in drama as children working in group overcome difficulties through problem solving skills. They experience working with peers as they negotiate plans to stage the drama. During interactions, children learn to negotiate with each other, work cooperatively and develop respect for each other. As mentioned earlier, Bruner (1968) stated that children use ideas, symbols and language Children are able to use ideas, symbols and language to understand and define concepts when they are in the symbolic stage, thus musical re-enactment of story songs would be an appropriate musical activity for young children. Teachers role in enhancing social skills development According to Raikes, 1996 (cited in Preusse, 2008) secure attachment bonds between the child and caregiver creates a sense of trust that supports the child for exploration of the world and builds a strong base for future development. As such, it is rather important for teachers to build strong relationship with children under their care. On the other hand , Berk, 2002 ( cited in Preusse , 2008 ) mentioned that preschool children are independent, cooperative as they gain their language skills , self awareness and to think in another persons point of view. All these will enable children to have better social interaction with their peers. It is the teachers role to facilitate and provide the opportunities and activities to enhance childrens social skills. Teacher parent partnership is another important factor in enhancing childrens social skills as stated by Webster- Stratton (2006 p. 6) family involvement has positive effects on childrens academic achievement, social competence and school quality. On the other hand, Brand Fernie, 1983 (cited in Isenberg Jalongo 1997, p.145) stated that teachers fulfil their musical roles and responsibilities when they function as motivators, planners, co participants and observers. As a motivator, the teacher uses an object or a story to introduce the music activity to interests and motivate childrens participation. For example, to sing old Macdonald had a farm a teacher would prepare headgears of farm animals and have children pretend to be animals and involve them to make the animal sounds when they are called. A teacher planner looks into preparation of the music activity identifying the purpose, providing a variety of activities like playing instruments, moving to music and has materials that are required prepared before the lesson and ensures that children are spaced and seated comfortably for the musical activity. An observer looks out for childrens behaviour during their participation in order for her to plan activities according to childrens needs and development as well as evaluate the positive or negative responses of the activity. Teachers attitude and belief plays an important role in providing these opportunities for children to enhance their social emotional skills. Further, teachers also need to be trained in order to carry out the various arts activities. They must have the knowledge to observe children and to identify and plan according to childrens needs in order to enhance their social emotional development. Conclusion Prosocial behaviour is part and parcel of happening in an individuals life context. Building a strong foundation in social emotional skills during the early childhood years is crucial to a childs social emotional behaviour to achieve better in school and succeed in later life. Music and drama are one of the strategies that can help develop good social and emotional skills .As researchers strongly believe that musical activities and drama have enabled children better exposure and experience in developing cooperation, acceptance, tolerance, confidence, positive relationship and social interaction all of which are foundation skills of social emotional development in children. Finally, as Gardner believed when intrapersonal and interpersonal processes are well developed in children it will enable them to build strong and positive relationship with people around them as well as enhances their self confidence. As my findings have shown the role of the teacher as a facilitator of childrens social and emotional development of is important as it enhances the growth of prosocial skills through music education, this research will seek to employ teacher planned activities to collect the data needed to form a conclusion that music education does foster childrens social and emotional growth.

Analysis of as new park case study Essay

Analysis of as new park case study Introduction                   The planning process involves developers, communities, engineers, planners, and government. The involvement of all the stakeholders in planning process ensures that a project is positively implemented in the public interests (Carmona, 2010). The new project would commence as an improvement the old city. The old city was widely used by women and children. Although it was developed 30 years ago, it still remained as the best choice for the people living at its vicinity. It formed the best recreation centre for people during warm winter season. The new park would replace the old trees, grass, and build new shades and buildings that would be used to shade people during hot weather. The case involved closed down of the old city for 2 years and relocation of people living around the city to place where there were no social amenities such as schools and recreation centre. The case represents of unethical issues that pertains to urban planning evident through th e developers.                   The ethical issues include closure of the city and denying people their recreational facility. The new park development would deny people a chance to enjoy their recreational facilities, which is professionally unethical to a developer. In addition, the developer would be destroying people’s heritage on old trees and grass. The modern buildings would destroy the old trees and grass heritage in the new park. Moreover, it is not ethical to transfer people from their own comfort zone where they enjoyed social amenities such as schools, parks and other infrastructures such other shopping malls to a place where they no longer enjoy the amenities. The act is believed to on self- interests that do not care about other community. In planning process, it is important for planners and developers to consider professional ethics while executing their city planning so that respect between communities and the affected people is maintained (Allen, 2009).                   In this case, the most probable solution would be first to develop the area where the two communities would be relocated before relocating them. It would be most appropriate if the government could start by developing infrastructures such as roads, schools, hospitals, and recreational centres before displacing people in towns if the new park would not be avoidable. On the other hand, a new park could be developed elsewhere and the old one be renovated to maintain national heritage. Moreover, the old park renovation should not be closed for a long period and should developers should allow people to access the park even under constructions. The renovation of the park would ensure that the national heritage on traditional trees and grass would not be destroyed thus maintain it as way of protecting the countries indigenous species. This would ensure that people are not relocated from their original comfort zone. Consequently, development of area that the two communities were transferred would ensure that the communities’ living standards would not be affected except their geographical shift. The move would maintain the respect between the communities, planners, developers and engineers as their lives will not be affected.                   The solution approach where the planners would ensure that all the social amenities are developed before relocation would ensure that the professional code of ethics on the conscious on the right of a third party would be upheld (American Planning Association, 2009). In addition, the code of ethics on fairly dealing with all the people involved in the process will be highly upheld. However, the value of professional code of ethics on heritage will be violated through electing a new park and indigenous trees will be destroyed. The planners will have made sure that the decision making process involves all the party and thus no one would be negatively affected by the new project. Similarly, the second approach of electing the new park elsewhere would ensure professional code of ethics for planners to ensure social justice and responsibility not to disadvantage people would be upheld. This solution would ensure that people are not relocated and at the same t ime the national heritage is maintained. The value of heritage that is attributed to indigenous trees will be upheld while that of excellence design and updated design will be violated (American Planning Association, 2009).                   Both solutions would minimize the negative impacts of the planning in the city. However, the best solution will be to design and construct the new park elsewhere near the old park. The solutions to planning dispute safeguard the rights of the people and the professional ethics of the planners (Staatskoerant, 2011).The old park can only be renovated so that the heritage of the city will be upheld. Similarly, there would be relocation of people to new areas and thus they will be fairly treated and their lives will not be affected. In addition, the solution will ensure that people are not denied their rights to enjoy themselves during winter. Renovation for the old park could be done during summer when people are not using the park so that they would not be limited access during winter. The move will impact positively to people living there and would retain the respect of communities to developers.                   The solution would limit the planners, developers and engineers from implementing their own design and planning of the city. In addition, the people would not have a chance to enjoy a modern facility. However, there would still be a chance for them to construct a new park elsewhere in the city and increase the number of parks. One that would be rich in heritage and there other one would be modern. Although space and area allocation may be a problem, a new park elsewhere would stand out for this case. Conclusion                   In conclusion, it can be noted that planners, developers and engineers should highly consider professional ethics when carrying out new projects that would impact negatively to the public. All planning processes should involve all stakeholders and fair implementation of the project should be considered to avoid unethical issues that are evidenced in the case of new park development. References Allen, J. (2009).  Event planning: Ethics and etiquette : a principled approach to the business of special event management. Mississauga, Ont: Wiley. American Planning Association,. (2009). AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Planning.org. Retrieved 13 May 2014, from http://www.planning.org/ethics/ethicscode.htm Carmona, M. (2010). Public places, urban spaces: the dimension of urban design. Oxon: Routledge. Staatskoerant,. (2011). Code of ethics and professional conduct for the urban and regional planning profession. Gov.za. Retrieved 13 May 2014, from http://www.gov.za/documents/download.php?f=147400 Source document

Holden Australia Essay

1. Management Decision Problem 1.1 Background Holden is an Australian company which is manufacturing and supply of cars, engines and auto parts. With the vehicle market in good times, the sales of Holden continued to drop even though it received a massive financial supplement of approximately $150 million a year from the Australian government (Coorey, 2013). Moreover, Martin (2013) states that the VF model as a new product cannot alleviate the crisis in the market and influence Holden’s decline 12.5% in 2012 (Appendix 1). In 2013, Holden manufacturing plants suddenly announced that it will cease its production line in Australia in 2017. The main reason is that Holden doesn’t have a definite understanding of the consumer preferences and purchase intentions. These problems resulted in the company facing difficulty with their business operation. 1.2 Decision Makers Key Goal Holden should improve their innovation of products to increase their sales volume. 1.3 Management Decision Problem Should Holden is new product be changed? 1.4 Rationale Research Problem The new product of Holden has problems that are different from the real demand of the customer. Successful industrial innovation has three critical factors which are technology push, demand pull, and integrated model (Rothwell, 1992, p. 221).Holden’s innovation developments not only dominate product line but also influence on product sale result. When Holden develops new products, it is not based on the customer feedback instead according to the company’s product categories and competitors’ developed product. It leads to setting a vague plan to develop products. As a consequence, some customers may not purchase the innovation vehicle because the products are not needed. 2. Marketing Research Problem 2.1 Marketing Research Problem statement To determine consumer preferences and purchase intentions for the proposed. 2.2 Rationale Research Problem According to Holden Australia, the outlook of vehicles market is positive, but its market share is in decline, some scholars think that Holden is  inability to build quality in innovation may be the main problem that will influence its market share and change consumer purchase behavior. Therefore, Holden should maintain its competitive advantage through decreasing product life cycles, building quality in innovation and investigating perceptions held by Australia customers. Additionally, Holden can identify different variables which may change consumer decision making based on the MRP in order to increase market share and develop new product. 3. Research Objective Problem 3.1 Research objective one To rank how Holden Australia introduces new attractive offers for the customers to increase the sales of the product. (RO1) 3.2 Research objective two To assess Holden Australia’s new product to satisfy the different customers’ needs. (RO2) 3.3 Research objective three To identify Holden Australia needs to supply target group planning to vehicle market. (RO3) 4. Repertory Test The repertory test is one of the research objectives. It is through the structured qualitative interview (normally one-on-one) that is used to identify the interviewees’ opinion to the test topic and it is trustworthy. Repertory test also known as Kelly’s Triads or Triad sorts (Wilson, A. M., 2006). In today’s society, repertory test analysis is one of the popular techniques for estimating research targets and it is a common method to generate constructs through some targets and participants (Pike, 2005). Furthermore, the repertory test has other benefits which are help researchers to understand the opinion of the respondents more conveniently and effectively and distinguished the detail could be more identify etc.. However, the repertory test also has a couple of disadvantages including taking more time for analysis and lack of standard of test. In this case, Repertory test can be used in research to identify how Holden attracts customers to purchase. There are two key points to help Holden attract clients. First of all, the repertory test will be used on the Ro1. The company can use this test to understand the clients’ psychological state. According to appendix 2, car customers’ ranking shows Holden’s score is -3%. In contrast, Japanese cars with a positive score come out top. Holden really  need to understand the Australian consumer buying behavior or psychological motivations, and which marketing method is the most attractive to Australian consumer. Secondly, it can also use this test on the Ro2. The aim of RO2 is to satisfy the customer different needs, so the test can be used to identify what the customers’ real demand about the existing car or new product is. For example, quality and safety are important factors for Australia consumers buying a new car (Appendix 3). Therefore, Holden can analyze the competitive strengths and weaknesses, and then improve their products. This will improve their sale status. 5. Focus Group The focus group is the mostly widely used in qualitative tools. A focus group discussion is to collect data through a group (8 to 10 participants) interaction and a moderator. The main objective of a focus group is to get in depth answers of consumers, and understand consumer attitudes and behavior on its products (Warren, C. A. B., & Karner, T. X., 2010). The group participants are selected carefully and discussions based on their experiences and views. In addition, researchers or clients can use one –way mirrors to observe participants’ opinions and behaviors. Moreover, focus groups can be an early stage to reduce problem as a filter. The advantages of focus groups are freedom, comfortable, high involvement, and commonality experience. For example, if participants have similar experiences and attitudes as others, they will have higher willingness to discuss the topic with other group members. Therefore, researchers not only can involve participants efficiently, but al so can stimulate discussion of the topic. However, there still are some disadvantages of focus groups, including misuse, misjudge, moderation, messy and misrepresentation. For example, when participants have difficulties in presenting their opinions it will cause the discussion to fail. In this case, the focus groups can be used for research objective three. Researchers of Holden Australia should make up a target group in order to investigate consumer attitudes and behaviors. The main goal is to increase Holden’s market share through consumer trends. There are three main topics to increase market share and maintain competitive advantages. Firstly, Holden should build quality in its new product in order to satisfy consumer demands. For example, safety is very  important for majority consumer (Appendix 3). The second topic is to focus on price, when consumers who focus on cost will change their purchase behavior (Ahmed, M., Zaman, F.& Irfan ,M. S., 2013). For example, Holden can provide promotional program to attract consumers. The last one is that Holden’ sales services are a very important stage to increasing costumer’s willingne ss to purchase again. Reference Colquhoun, S.& Blackbur, B. (2010, August 3). Ford, Holden fail satisfaction survey. Drive. Retrieved from http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/ford-holden-fail-satisfaction-survey-20100803-114hk.html Coorey, P. (2013, December 11). Government’s treatment of Holden was bizarre. Financial Review. Retrieved from http://www.afr.com/p/national/government_treatment_of_holden_was_QwElLu2O3lse6cNIradzzI Martin, T. (2013, November 8). Market Insight: Holden hopes rise with VF sales. Market Insight company news. Retrieved from http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/34C9E821132DC201CA257C1D0005E329#!prettyPhoto Masoom Ahmed, Fazluz Zaman, & Munshi Shamsuzzaman Irfan. (2013). Consumer’s brand choice behavior for car. Kuwait Chapter of the Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 2(5), 198 Pike, S. (2005). The use of repertory grid analysis and importance-performance analysis to identify determinant attributes of universities. Journal of Marketing for Higher Educ ation, 14(2), 1-18. Rothwell, R. (1992). Successful industrial innovation: Critical factors for the 1990s. R&D Management, 22(3), 221-240. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9310.1992.tb00812.x Warren, C. A. B., & Karner, T. X. (2010). Discovering qualitative methods: Field research, interviews, and analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. Wilson, A. M. (2006). Marketing research: An integrated approach. New York: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.

The Problem Of A Single Parent Families Of The White Bone...

You have probably heard of Madonna. An extremely famous and successful singer, songwriter, actress, and also, single mother. However, unlike Madonna, many single mothers are struggling to raise their children and also finding time for themselves. This has been a very common and reoccurring problem in Canada. â€Å"About 8 in 10 lone-parent families were female lone-parent families in 2011, accounting for 12.8% of all census families, while male lone-parent families represented 3.5% of all census families.† (Statistics Canada, 2011) In The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy, Mud, a pregnant female elephant, is faced with a similar problem. Mud was abandoned by her birth family and she was at the mercy of a passing family that generously took them in, the She-S family. Single motherhood is a raising concern because it is increasing over the years and with this it is becoming harder to be a single parent. The reason is because the difference of their wages which effects their ability to support the family, health issues that may result due to stress, and lastly, the behaviour and relationship between the mother and her child. Money is one of the most obvious issues that single mothers may deal with. As mentioned earlier, the average difference in salary between single mothers and single fathers exceeds almost $60,000 which makes it so that single mothers are more likely to struggle with money problems. This is because they earn less than a male typical because of their gender. The most

Lions Roar Mandala Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Dharma...

Lion’s Roar Mandala Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Dharma Center meets at the Do Nga Dhargey Temple, meaning â€Å"Sutra and Tantra Flourishing† (Location). Sutra means â€Å"a collection of aphorisms relating to some aspect of the conduct of life† (Sutra). In other words, they are sayings that are meant to help you to reflect on life and how we should all act. Tantra is when you try to make a connection with the Buddha(s) through yoga and meditations. Upon approaching the temple, one cannot help, but to notice how clean their temple is from outside; the lawn is mowed, the path is swept, the building is without stains or damages, the bushes and trees are pruned, even the gate looks nice! Arriving a few minutes early to the â€Å"Mindful Meditation for Everybody† 9AM session on October 24th, taking my Jordan’s – sneakers – off and one of the members giving me a prayer book, there is a box for donation. This is important because churches, temples and mosques need to have a way for sustaining their location. I respect that they do not force payment. I was quickly and vaguely given the run down by others participating. Most everyone was sitting in the seats, few on cushions, when the gong rang. As the teacher walked in, everyone stood and bowed as a sign of respect and did not sit until he did. The altar was covered in fabric and pictures of Buddha in yoga position (Buddha almost seemed as a deity). Prayer was done in English from a prayer book. It was a little baffling as to why Buddhists