Motivation for Crusades Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Motivation for Crusades - Essay Example The Moslems themselves kept the routes open to Christians, and the Byzantine Empire safe, until 1071, when Seljuk Turks took the lands, and persecuted Christians on the way. Lost land, religious conflict, and internal pressures were the background to Western Europe's initiation of the Crusades. R.W. Southern notes that "The worsening position of the Eastern Empire, and the genuine desire of some to save it: the even more potent though secret desire of others to profit by its disintegration; the dim realization that Islam constituted athreat to Christendomsome hoped to be saved by going; others didn't care if they were damned so long as they found new fields for profit and adventure. There was something in the Crusades to appeal to everyone." (Southern, 56) The crusades were, as Riley-Smith states "A holy war fought against those perceived to be external or internal foes of Christendom for the recovery of Christian property or in defence of the church or Christian people" (Riley-Smith, 1987, xxviii). This was certainly the overt motivation for the first Crusade, as initiated by Pope Urban II in November of 1095. This Crusade had a peculiar beginning, and Riley-Smith has made extensive note of this: "Few nobles turned up, and the theatre must have been riskyeven so, his appeal for knights to liberate Jerusalem struck a chord in western society" (Riley Smith, 1995). Urban openly declared "'Dieu le veult' - 'God wills it!'" (Bishop, 105); for many hearing the religious leader of the Western World declaring God's Will, the Crusades must have seemed to be a religious duty. In considering why this speech made such an impression, it should not be forgotten that the majority of Western Europe was, by this time, Christian in name at the very le ast. Europeans had been making the arduous pilgrimage to Jerusalem for decades, and in some ways the early Crusades might be considered another form of pilgrimage. Personal penance and justification by faith were still quite strong issues of faith, and would remain so until at least the mid-fourteenth century (Flagellants during the Black Death being one example of this). Being a Crusader, not only fighting for Christ but also traveling to the Holy Land to do so, was therefore a religious duty, atonement for sin, and a Holy Quest, similar to that being written about in Early Medieval romances. In fact, it seems as though Urban did not intend to have such a dramatic effect upon the nobles of Europe: the impression is that "The pop was taken aback by the success of his proposal. No plan had been made for the prosecution of the crusade" (Bishop, 106). The organization of the First Crusade was rather like a mopping-up exercise, after the disastrous People's Crusade in 1096. Poor people such as this marched under their own steam to free Jerusalem, and rather than the idealism of the nobility, their motivations appear to be genuine religious concern for the Holy Land. It should be clear, therefore, that the overt motivation, religion, was also an emotional force for many of the participants in the first Crusades, Kings and princes, such as Richard I of England, who were not struggling to maintain a fief, were probably

Strategics for Strategic Decision Making

Strategics for Strategic Decision Making What key lessons may be learned from any comparison of these two quite different accounts of the same strategic decision? Strategic decision Chosen alternative that affects key factors which determine the success of an organizations strategy. In comparison, a tactical decision affects the day-to-day implementation of steps required to reach the goals of a strategy.  [1]   From these two accounts there are key lessons which can be learnt as far as strategic decision is concerned. Strategy flexibility. Since strategy is not written on stones, sometimes it has to undergo some changes so as to be able to match with the real market environment at particular entry moment. Sometimes one strategy only fails unless a combination of both i.e. emergent strategy as well as deliberate strategy.  [2]   Ability to turn-on customer loyalty and tastes toward a product whose image is totally spoiled. While most motorcyclists were no doubt decent people, groups of rowdies who went around on motorcycles and called themselves by such names as Hells Angels, Satans Slaves, gave motorcycling a bad image. Some steps Hondas took were re-designing of their product to match with the market needs i.e. from larger machines to smaller lightweight motorcycles. The inevitability of proper and efficient market scanning. Its possible to enter the market with a very wrong strategy due to many reasons including failure to effectively scan the market needs. At start Hondas failed to know what US market needed and unfortunately they brought a wrong product of bigger machines while Americans needed smaller ones. Difficulties in the first entry to the market are not the end of business .Difficulties can be used as crucial mirrors for re-defining the strategy to a successful one. References: CASE STUDY 2: LAURA ASHLEY Question 1: Map Laura Ashleys stakeholders using a power/interest matrix. Stakeholders are those individuals or groups who depend on the organisation to fulfil their own goals and on whom, in turn, the organisation depends.  [3]  (Johnson et al, pp.132) Laura Ashley power-interest matrix is as follows: LOW POWER HIGH LOW INTERST HIGH Harmless stakeholders: THE 11 CEOs, Media Group Business Analysts Laura Ashley Customers Chief executive of Pearson Laura Ashley and the husband Bernard Ann Iverson a new CEO in 1995 Richard Pennycook a new FD in 1997 Shareholders like Malayan United Industries (MUI) LOW INTEREST LOW POWER: This is a harmless stakeholder group which requires less attention. This group is represented by the retired CEOs e.g. The 11 CEOs over the last 14 years. Id really rather focus on driving the business forward, he says. LOW INTEREST HIGH POWER: This group is not always bad but needs to be watched because when not satisfied it turns out to be harmful to the business. Laura Ashleys Customers; Customers have very high power to the business because without customers there is no business at all. HIGH INTEREST LOW POWER: This group is crucial to the business because it contains stakeholders with interest with what is done by the business including core customers of the business products and/or services. This group is represented by Media groups: likes to know about the operations but has got less power. Business Analysts: likes to get information for analysis although they have less power. HIGH INTEREST HIGH POWER: Here you can find all key business stakeholders whose expectations and interests are always in the higher side. This group is represented by Chief executive of Pearson Laura Ashley and the husband Bernard Ann Iverson a new CEO in 1995 Richard Pennycook a new FD in 1997 Shareholders like Malayan United Industries (MUI) its chairman Dr Khoo Kay Peng, David Cook, Lauras Finance director CASE STUDY 3: THE BALANCED SCORE CARD QESTION 1: Why do you think organizations often find the Balanced Scorecard difficult to implement in practice? Definition: The balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and management system that is used extensively in business and industry, government, and nonprofit organizations worldwide to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization.  [4]   Among various methods for measuring business performance, scorecard seems to be superior due to its advantages over other traditional financial methods. Balanced Scorecard incorporates future variables as well as multiple measures of performance compared to other methods. There are about four perspectives under this method which are financial perspective, Customer Perspective, Internal perspective and innovation Learning perspective. The following are reasons for organizations difficulties toward implementation of a balanced score card; The main problem facing organizations on implementing a balanced scorecard is the architecture and assumptions applied especially on selecting appropriate measures and number of measures to incorporate toward improving corporate performance as can be seen in the Shell crisis concerning overstatement of its oil reserves. Research from the Hackett Group shows a very small percentage of companies with mature and good mix of financial and operational metrics in their scorecards. There are processes in setting and implementing the scorecards known as translating the vision, communication and linkage, setting targets through planning and finally getting the feedback. Failing to follow this process organization faces the difficulty of failing to translate the strategic objectives to fit with measurements incorporated in the balanced scorecard which causes confusion than serving the purpose. The persuasion I would use to convince the organization to adopt balanced scorecard is to talk about its advantages over other methods which are as follows: Multiple measures of performance: incorporates a range of variables that measure performance against a multiple set of goals. Forward Looking: incorporates variables that are indicators of future performance including profitability. References: CASE STUDY 4-FIAT Question: Post at least 4 factors, ie a Strength, a Weakness, an Opportunity and a Threat, from one or both of your SWOTs (2004 or 2008). Briefly explain your analysis. SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective.  [5]   The following is the analysis using SWOT tool of a FIAT Company showing its different milestones in business within two periods of 2004 and 2008. SWOT 2004 2008 STRENGTHS Strong management team, e.g. CEO Mr. Marchione. Young and energetic personnel with strong experience. The kids are truly devoted to the cause. They are the heart of the success. Having cars with relatively lower average emissions Product innovation Fiat is the market leader in Brazilian market. WEAKNESSES Unappealing models or Odd cars which Mr. Marchione refers it as an arrogance of thinking. Limited resources. Licensing innovation to other manufacturers. A truck-making joint venture between Iveco and SAIC in China, it is weak in China, India and Russia. OPPORTUNITIES New products -Alfas immediate future i.e. the new MiTo, which is based on the Punto and has been designed to match the driving dynamics of BMWs Mini, and the 149, successor to the compact 147 hatchback. Divorce from a 5-years GM partnership and becoming an independent player. Partnership with other strong manufacturers like TATA and SAIC. THREATS Immergence of new Innovative brands in the car market by new rivals. Its five-year partnership with GM. It had not worked, for several reasons. Sharing platforms, engines and purchasing had not produced the expected economies of scale and Fiats ability to act independently. When new European Union rules on carbon-dioxide emissions come into force At the time when Marchione chipped in Fiat witnessed a clear future as can be shown through re-shuffle of very old workforce. CASE STUDY 6: THE NOVOTEL VALUE CHAIN Question 1: What are Novotels competitive advantages? competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices.  [6]   Novotel Competitive advantages: Multi skilling: Multi-skilling is to develop staff as a team able to perform tasks and work as needed in a flexible manner, this would have many advantages for hotel management, especially in smoothing the need for certain types of staff at peak bottleneck periods of the day or evening. Standardized levels of its services: A system to monitor standard procedures was introduced in 1987 which became known as the 95 Bolts. This system was intended to be a template for learning whose standards was carried out by an internal team of inspectors who visited each hotel approximately twice each year. They worked as mystery shoppers in that they made reservations, arrived, stayed and departed unnoticed. Sophisticated marketing and distribution systems: Novotel operates within both the individual and corporate business and leisure markets. Novotel usually have special promotions and advertising themes done in different locations and in different countries with tailored promotions to local holidays and lifestyles. Partnership programs: Novotel linked programs strengthening relationship marketing; especially the supplier partnership programmes, linked with purchasing and learning efficiencies delivering both scale and scope economies. Staff exchanges: There was Exchange between countries, locations and type of customer mix which contributed to multi-culture is essential to getting customers. The exchange provides means for staff motivation especially in the industry whose labor turnover is critical. References: CASE STUDY 8: THE VIRGIN GROUP QUESTION 3: Does the Virgin Group, as a corporate parent, add value to its businesses? If so how? Corporate parent: Is a business which owns and controls the operations of other businesses by either possessing outright ownership or controlling a majority of the voting stock.  [7]   Virgin was founded in 1970 as a mail-order record business and developed as a private company in music publishing and retailing. However, by 2002, the group included over 200 businesses spanning three continents and including financial services, planes, trains, cinemas and music stores. The group succeeded on adding values to its businesses regardless of decentralization of decision making. How does Virgin group add values to its businesses? Standards: The group had standards which enabled the businesses to perform toward the same goals. There were performance reviews which made employees being held accountable for their performance as well as promotions from within. For example by using stock options, bonuses and profit sharing. Support services: This involves centralised support services. For example, providing HRM, marketing, financial, etc support services and human resource management systems were in place to keep people committed. Corporate development: Branson adopted his own personal style of management within units, boosting himself on effectively adding value to customers through employee involvement and taking their ideas. Managing linkages: In the early 1970s Branson spent his good time soliciting funds for the company to become solvent. References: CASE STUDY 11: RESTRUCTURING SONY Question 1: How many times did Sony restructure itself during the period covered by the case study? Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs.  [8]   Introduction: On 7 May 1946, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita (4) co-founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation) with an initial capital of  ¥190, OOOin the city of Nagoya, Japan. By the 1960s, the company had established itself in Japan and changed its name to Sony Corporation. In its milestones Sony underwent several business restructuring aiming at improving the companys focus on high potential products and expediting the decision making process to make the company more responsive to changing market conditions. Restructuring of electronics business (1994): In this new structure, the regrouping of electronic businesses were adopted getting into eight divisional companies. These eight companies are the Consumer Audio Video Products Company, the Recording Media : Energy Company, the Broadcast Products Company, the Business Industrial Systems Company, the InfoCom Products Company, the Mobile Electronics Company, the Components Company, and the Semiconductor Company. Leadership by team of executives: Here the new framework required Sony to be led by a team of executives at the top management level. The Ten-Company Structure (1996): In January 1996, a new ten-company structure was announced, replacing the previous eight-company structure whereby the previous Consumer Audio Video (AV) company was split into three new companies the Display Company, the Home AV Company and the Personal AV Company. The Unified-Dispersed Management Model: In April 1999 another change was announced aiming at changes in its organizational structure. The new framework required the company to streamline its business operations to be able to exploit the internet technology opportunities. Restructuring Efforts in 2001: Once more in March 2001 Sony provided announcement about another round of organizational restructuring. This was about transforming itself into a Personal Broadband Network Solutions company by launching a wide range of broadband products and services for its customers across the world. References: CASE STUDY 12: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS Qustion 2 : How significant was Jong-Yong Yuns role in the change process? Change process It is an organizational process aimed at empowering employees to accept and embrace changes in their current business environment.  [9]   INTRODUCTION: Samsung is an Asian Electronic Company based in Suwon South Korea. The firm has experienced stiff competition from rivals such as Sony, Nokia, and Motorola on the basis of its revolutionary products. Jong-Yong Yuns role in the change process: Reorientation: This helped the firm to develop new capabilities. He recruited new capable employees such as managers and engineers, many of whom had developed considerable experience in the United States. Retrenchment: There was a layoff of a number of employees amounting 30,000, representing well over a third of its entire workforce. Reduction of number of factories. Discarding a Failing Strategy: Although the firm was making profits, Yun was concerned about the future prospects of a firm that was relying on a strategy of competing on price with products that were based .The success of this strategy was tied to the Samsungs ability to continually scout for locations that would allow it to keep its manufacturing costs down. Developing a Premium Brand: Having managed to cut down the losses, Yun planned to shift Samsung away from its strategy of competition which based mainly on the lower priced products. Consequently, he began to push the firm to develop its own products rather than to copy those that other firms had developed. Pushing for New Products: Through its new product development processes Yun struggled a lot to make it happen ensuring higher margins as compared to its rivals. Designing for the Digital Home: Yuns long term plan is to ensure Samsungs dominance in digital home technologies. He believes that his firm is in a better position to benefit from the day when all home appliances, from handheld computers to intelligent refrigerators, will be linked to each other and adapt to the personal needs of consumers. References: Case Study 10: Mantero Seta Spa: a strategy for China Question 1: Would you recommend Mantero Seta Spas entry into the Chinese market? Market growth An increase in the demand for a particular product or service over time. Market growth can be slow if consumers do not adopt a high demand or rapid if consumers find the product or service useful for the price level.  [10]   YES I would recommend Montero Seta Spas entry into the Chinese market due to the following scenarios: Market Growth: Chinese market promises for the stable growth of the fashion business as you can see In the mid 2000s, stable economic growth had brought substantial income to many groups of people, and with it a growing demand for the satisfaction of higher level needs. Also Upper-class and middle-class people became increasingly interested in their social life, and chose to spend money to better enjoy their spare time. There was a huge potential to sell luxury goods to these groups: 2 per cent of the 1.3 billion people living in China. Identifiable retail Distribution: The government of China had adopted a series of policies to propel the retail industry through a process of fundamental transformation. The move had sparked dramatic changes in Chinese retailing, with market growth reshaping purchasing habits. As a result in the mid 2000s there were many different types of retailing methods, based on different products and market strategy. Geographical Differences: The reasons for the differences were various. In northern China consumers made choices based on seasonal factors. Values and beliefs of people in north China were based on their imperial history and social traditions, with clear distinctions between different social groups and classes. The distinction was underlined in many ways, including clothing. People in the north were aware of their appearance, and wanted others to recognise their wealth and ability. In the south the climate was temperate; therefore consumers chose lighter, more comfortable and durable material for everyday wear. Marketing Communications: Communication processes in the fashion business focused on the brand image and the values embodied in the product, rather than on the product itself. Processes included photographs, shows, showrooms, models, displays, videos and sample collections. References: CASE STUDY 5: THE PROFITABILITY OF UK RETAILERS Question: Are British supermarkets more profitable than their European and US counterparts? Profitability is the ability to gain profit Profit is the positive gain from an investment or business operation after subtracting for all expenses.  [11]   Profitability = TR-TC ( TR = Total Revenue, TC = Total cost) Return on capital employed ( ROCE ) is the ratio that indicates the efficiency and profitability of company capital investments.  [12]   British supermarkets are profitable compared to US and other European countries because of the following reasons:- Cost of labor: Labor costs are lower in the UK due to lower social cost borne by employers. This reduces operation cost and makes the British firms to be more profitable. Technology: British companies have a lead in applying IT in their distributions systems with deliveries in small number of companies warehouses, the use of technology in distribution system reduce the cost of operation contributing to higher profits. Buying power: The British supermarkets have high buying power and tend to be more centralizing than some of the US and other European countries. This help them in reducing cost and also the British firm are more experienced and skillful in using their buying power to negotiate better terms or price from their supplier. Because they have dominated the market the British supermarkets impose the higher than a normal price to consumers (oligopoly power). Because the British supermarkets have high buying power and the use of oligopoly make them more profitable compared to the US and other European counterparts.

Impact on the People of Nigeria by Muslims, French and British Essay

Africans have been migrating through out the continent, including Nigeria, long before there was even written record. Because of this, there has always been an extensive amount of inter-mingling between various ethnic groups, making it difficult to actually trace back who came from where. Aside from this amalgamation, there has been a huge impact on the peoples of Nigeria by outside forces. In particular, three major groups that had a major impact were Muslim merchants from across the Sahara, British slave traders and eventual colonizers, and the French and British Christian missionaries. The combination of these three groups has had both an economic and cultural impact on Nigeria that is still present today. External penetration of Nigeria started as early as the 9th century AD when Muslim merchants from western Sudan, Maghreb, Tripolitania and Egypt started traveling across the Sahara with camel caravans in search of trade. Over the course of the next six centuries, Islam became accepted widely in the north, especially among the Hausa and Fulani, and not only as a religion. It also imposed a central government, segregated the sexes, influenced language and script, and established a hierarchical class system that was not there beforehand. Islam did not spread south because of the dense tropical forest that divides Nigeria into north and south. This also caused the two regions to â€Å"develop† at different rates because while the south was still alien to Europeans, the north was expanding culturally and economically because of its deep involvement with the trans-Sahara trade routes. The peoples of the south remained untouched by Europeans until the 1470’s when Portuguese explorers, under the inspiration and guidance of Henry the Navigator, arrived and traded spirits, cloth, guns and gunpowder for slaves. The Portuguese did not really have much of a cultural effect on the indigenous people (besides the slowly diminishing population). This is because they rarely traveled farther than the coast, if they even left the ships. Eventually the British ships were dropping anchor along Nigeria’s coast after Britain realized the extent of the profits the Portuguese were making and what they could reap from slavery. By 1712 they had established a slave monopoly along the west coast. Chiefs and African slave traders brought slaves to shipside in exchange for Eu... ...t of Nigerians resorted to migration when fighting didn’t work. It is ironic how when one country tries to take over another in a forceful manner, it is met by some form of resistance but if the country introduces itself through trade it is accepted with open arms. The Muslims did not intend to rule over anyone. They were there to make deals and trade goods. Muslim conversion was gradual and voluntary and spanned over six centuries. There is little evidence about wars between Muslims and Nigerians. Also, many Nigerians are proud to be part of the Muslim culture in the north, even if they are from the south, because of its historical tradition, distinctive architecture, useful language, Islamic faith and because it is an alternative to white European culture. The British were the ones that forcefully took people’s land and family members. They were accepted at first, but they betrayed the trust of the people and exploited them for Britain’s gain for over 400 years. Many educated Nigerians today feel that if it weren’t for the slave trade and colonialism, they would be living in a much more modern and progressive country at this time. It is no wonder that they resent the British.

Managing Customer Relations Essay

This helps them to gather customers feedback by collating the responses and discussing about them during meetings, to see if there is an alternative, or a solution to the problem. However, not all feedbacks can have a solution as there are shortages of certain resources such as manpower, turnover rate and space in shop area. Overall, Food For Thought is a successful organisation despite not having a CRM system. They are able to generate high profits every month due to loyal customers and customers who frequent that area. Company’s Background Food for Thought is a Food and Beverage Restaurant (F&B) that sells western-styled food. It started out as a cafe in North Bridge Road. After a few years of establishment, the company decided to open another outlet at a nearby location of a larger space and closed down the cafe. Currently, there are 2 outlets (Queen Street and Botanical Gardens). They sell a variety of foods including salads, pastas, pancakes, cakes and desserts. The company has 2 selling points that differentiate them from other restaurants. First, the ambience provides a good place for customers to relax and hang out with family or friends. The overall layout emits a homely touch. Using recycled items, they decorate the restaurant with 540 jars of emptied pasta sauce. Secondly, they practice societal marketing concept by giving back 10% of their yearly profit to charity organizations. Their 5 missions include ‘Give clean water, ‘Feed good food, ‘Make poverty history ‘, ‘Teach them all’ and ‘Inspire kind acts’. (Refer to appendix A) CRM Planning Process Through the interview conducted, we found out that Food for Thought have yet to implement CRM system. However, they are considering implementing it after the organization is stable. Food for Thought connects with their customers through the use of Facebook and Twitter by learning customers’ needs and wants. Their target markets are the SMU students and the people working around the area of their location. In order to increase the awareness of their organization, they place their advertisement on the SMU daily newsletter and provide promotions for the students. Food for Thought staffs focuses on creating customer’s experience in order to build relationship with the customers. The staffs recognize their loyal customers and create a personal friendship with them. Likewise for new customers, the staff will create a customer relationship as they exercise relationship marketing. CRM Implementation Process In our opinion, Food for Thought has the basic foundation for implementing CRM system as they focus on managing customer’s experience. They start out by creating a Facebook page in order to encourage feedbacks from the customers. The management then analyzes the comments before deciding appropriate measures that should be carried out. Even though Food for Thought doesn’t have a CRM system, they collect their customers’ name card and sent out emails to update them on various promotions and competitions. They initiated the use of smart-phone apps such as chope. com or hungrygowhere. com to provide customers the convenience of making a reservation online. On the other hand, they are able to track their customers’ spending and number of times of reservation made. When queried on why they have yet to implement CRM system, Mr. Pala stated that the organization will only consider implementing a proper CRM system when the organization faces the situation whereby there is a need to analyze customer’s needs and wants to an extent. Impact of CRM on Sales and Marketing Strategy Food for Thought sales strategy focuses on the need to develop solutions to meet customer’s specific needs. The management team conducts a meeting every two weeks to review on the feedbacks mentioned through email, Facebook and Twitter (as mentioned above) to analyze on the customer’s needs. They collect verbal feedback from different customers and inform them about their menu recommendations based on customer’s individual needs and preferences. While they are collecting payments from the customers, the staffs will focus on being dialogue-oriented by engaging in small talks with the customer to understand their needs better before stating the feedback of the food to the head chef. The head chef will then make alternative recipe to meet and satisfy the customer’s needs. Through the use of sales forces, Food For Thought is able to process customer information quicker to meet customers’ need. They focus on sales force automation by using key account management such as the POS system to tabulate monthly and yearly sales. The sales activities allow them to identify the most favorable and least favorable items, via this method; they will up-sell the most favorable item to the customer while considering removing the least favorable items. The use of social media has provided the staffs with information to identify and differentiate their customers. By using this method, the staff will then be able to create a different marketing strategy to interact and customize various offerings to suit the needs of individual customers. For example, premium seating (bar table) are provided to their loyal customers, this allows the customers to not only observe the chef’s method of cooking but also engage in small talks with the staffs. Food For Thought focuses in building relationship. They believe in gaining true loyal customers by creating strong relationships through exchanging information while engaging  in dialogues with the customer. Through this method, customer knowledge will increase and therefore strengthening the relationship with the customer. Most of the loyal customers are under the undivided loyalty. They come from the workplace located nearby and only dine at Food for Thought. Loyal customers are more profitable as they help to spread positive word-of-mouth about the organization. Food For Thought implements retentio n strategies to the customers. One of which would be by rewarding loyal customers – for example, SMU students are entitled to 5% discount. This develops effective acquisition strategies to encourage word-of-mouth referrals for the customers. Loyal customers are entitled to preferential treatment as the organization treat loyal customers like family and refer to them by their name. Outcome of CRM implementation With limited resources, Food For Thought has to identify their desirable customers. Without CRM system, it is difficult to analyze customer from the restaurant. Food For Thought is currently in the stage of developing comprehensive CRM; therefore they do not have a fixed answer of the success or failure in implementing CRM in this restaurant. The current CRM implementation process has help gain customer knowledge, customer satisfaction and help building up the relationship with the customers. As Food For Thought is a developing business, there are rooms for improvement in the CRM implementation. They measure the effectiveness of CRM program through customer feedback. Using the feedbacks provided, the management is able to know the satisfaction of customers regarding the service or food of the restaurant. Unlike other restaurant that focuses on being profit-orientated, Food For Thought is customer-orientated. This implies that customer’s experience is more important than the profit gained. Moreover, customer interaction provides a measurement for the effectiveness of program. This shows that restaurant should improve on their service to retain existing customers. The increase in customer touch point will lead to an increase in opportunity in gaining customer’s knowledge thereby creating a learning relationship between the organization and the customers. Conclusion and future plans of company’s CRM strategy We have concluded that Food for Thought is a successful organization, where  they focus on building customer relationship rather than being profit-oriented. When there is a relationship built with the customers, trust will be built, and because Food for Thought believes in being customer-oriented, they never fail to recognize their loyal customers, which in turn would make the customers feel recognized and good, therefore bringing returned business. Not only do th ey build and strengthen the relationship with their external customers, Food for Thought has also built and strengthened the relationship with their internal customers, namely their co-workers. Food for Thought has also place customer satisfaction as their upmost priority, which is also another factor whereby they are successful in retaining their existing customers or acquiring new customers. Food for Thought currently has no plans to implement CRM yet as it is still a small organization. However, according to Mr. Pala, he has claimed that when the time comes when the organization faces the situation whereby there is a need to analyze customer’s needs and wants to an extent, it is then they will implement CRM, for now, they want to focus more on relationship building with their customers. Lesson Learnt Food for Thought and many other organizations faces the same problem which is the lack of manpower. Such situations are unavoidable and the turnover rate is usually higher in the F&B business as most locals prefer other lines of job than F&B. One way to overcome this problem is to have some employees, mainly the supervisor, to be on standby. Another method to overcome this problem would be to implement self-service in the outlet. However, Mr. Pala has claimed that this method may hinder the process of building relationship with the customers. Being customer-oriented, they value their loyal customers by treating them as a part of their family. Through this strategy, Food for Thought is able to build customer relationship and strengthen the bond between the organization and the customers. They gain customer’s trust by providing service beyond expectation by getting close to the customers and engaging small talks with the customer, proving that they value the relationship with each individual customer. â€Å"All customers are equal, regardless of them being loyal and long-term or new,† quoted from Mr.  Pala. They practice building customer relationship through breaking the ice by engaging in small dialogues with the customers either when they order food or upon settling the bill. When queried on how each and every staff managed to practice building customer relationship, Mr. Pala replied with the answer indicating that practice comes from the inner heart. They believe that by strengthening the bonds with ever y staff and treating them like a family will naturally bring out the courage in each and every staff to build a relationship with the customers.

Arduino

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING TECH. (EE 306) Arduino Research Date: 2013/2/16 INTRODUCTION In this brief report we will discuss a family of electronic boards called Arduino. At the beginning we shall provide an overview of the Arduino boards and what they are. After that we will tackle the board’s component and how the board works. Finally an example of one of the applications will be shown. WHAT IS AN ARDUINO? An Arduino board is simply a microcontroller board. The board is designed with the purpose of facilitating the use of electronics in projects. The use of the board was intentionally made easy so that anyone can use it.The board comes with a software called the Arduino Integrated Development Environment. The software is used to program the Arduino board to do the required operations. An Arduino board receives inputs from different sensors and responds by controlling different types of actuators. It is also worth-mentioning that the board and its software are open-source. It mea ns that anyone can do anything with the board and its software. This nature has made the Arduino boards very popular among users because everyone can innovate with the board and share their innovations.However, this nature has also allowed clones with inferior qualities to be sold under the Arduino name. COMPONENTS There are many types of Arduino boards. Some components vary from type to type, but a simple Arduino board that can be built at home have the following components: 1- An Atmel Microcontroller. 2- LEDs. 3- Resistors. 4- Capacitors. 5- Clock Crystal. 6- Switch 7- Voltage regulator. 8- Connection pins. 9- Diode. 10- Transistors. An Arduino board’s capabilities can be extended by the use of shields. Arduino shields are boards that can be mounted on the Arduino board to perform different tasks.For example the Xbee shield allows multiple Arduino boards to communicate wirelessly, the motor shield allows the Arduino board to control a DC motor. 2|P a ge HOW IT WORKS In gen eral, a code is put in the memory of the board and then processed in the microcontroller. This code interacts with inputs and outputs. Inputs can be signals coming from sensors (light, voice, heat, etc. ) or results from another processed task. After processing the inputs in the microcontroller and applying the codes from the memory, the result comes in an output form (alarm, light, etc. ).Codes are written in the memory by connecting the Arduino board to a computer. Connecting the Arduino board requires the use of an ICSP header or a USB cable such as the one found in the newer versions e. g. Arduino UNO (see figure 1). An Arduino board can be powered from a USB cable, an ACDC adapter or a battery by connecting it in the Gnd and Vin pins. Figure 1: Connect Arduino by USB EXAMPLE OF APPLICATION Blinking LED In this example, we will use the Arduino board like a timer to turn a LED on for 1 second and off for another second. 3|P a ge To do this function see the code below; / Example B linking LED const int LED = 13; void setup () { pinMode(LED, OUTPUT); } void loop() { digitalWrite(LED, HIGH); delay(1000); digitalWrite(LED, LOW); delay(1000); } The First line written after // is a comment that does not affect the program. In the second line, we define the constant attached to pin 13 as LED. After attaching the LED to the pin, we decide whether the LED should be an input or an output, in this case, we chose output. Next, we write the processing code, (digitalWrite(LED, HIGH);) this means to provide voltage to the LED, (delay(1000);) means waiting 1000ms ? s, (digitalWrite(LED, LOW);) means cutting off the voltage, (delay(1000);) the same process, which is waiting 1s. This code will be repeated in a loop. CONCLUSION An Arduino board can be a great starting point for anyone interested in microcontrollers. The board is easy to use and has a wide variety of applications. There are many tutorials available in the world web for the board due to its popularity. Although the board has many advantages, it still has its own limitations. REFERENCE [1] Arduino site, (http://arduino. cc/en/) [2] Simply Arduino, Eng. Abdullah Ali Abdullah, (http://simplyarduino. com/? page_id=5) 4|P a ge

Congress Members Who Voted Against the 2002 Iraq War

Congress Members Who Voted Against the 2002 Iraq War The directionless Iraq War has killed over 4,100 U.S. soldiers, wounded or maimed more than 200,000 more, and delivered a devastating blow to our countrys reputation and moral authority. Its time we honor the members of Congress who voted in 2002 to prevent the Bush administrations hasty rush into an unprovoked attack and occupation of Iraq. Voter Breakdown The dramatic, much-debated vote on Joint Resolution 114 was taken on Oct. 11, 2002. It passed the Senate by a vote of 77 to 23, and the House of Representatives by a vote of 296 to 133. In the end, 156 members of Congress from 36 states had enough information and personal insight and wisdom to make the correct decision for our nation and the world community. Six House Republicans and one Independent joined 126 Democratic members of the House of Representatives in voting NAY. In the Senate, 21 Democrats, one Republic, and one Independent courageously voted their consciences in 2002 against the War in Iraq. These discerning, courageous leaders are exactly what our country needs to lead us out of the present abyss in Iraq under the Bush Administration. We can trust their judgment! Voting Record This convenient list is organized by state, and features all 156 members of Congress who voted NAY to the War in Iraq, including their political affiliations. State Congress Name Party Notes Alabama Rep Earl Hilliard D retired from office Arizona Rep Ed Pastor D Arkansas Rep Vic Snyder D California Sen Barbara Boxer D California Rep Joe Baca D California Rep Xavier Becerra D California Rep Lois Capps D California Rep Gary Condit D California Rep Susan Davis D California Rep Anna Eshoo D California Rep Sam Farr D California Rep Bob Filner D California Rep Mike Honda D California Rep Barbara Lee D California Rep Zoe Lofgren D California Rep Robert Matsui D deceased California Rep Juanita Millender-McDonald D California Rep George Miller D California Rep Grace Napolitano D California Rep Nancy Pelosi D California Rep Lucille Roybal-Allard D California Rep Loretta Sanchez D California Rep Hilda Solis D California Rep Pete Stark D California Rep Mike Thompson D California Rep Maxine Waters D California Rep Diane Watson D California Rep Lynn Woolsey D Colorado Rep Diana DeGette D Colorado Rep Mark Udall D Connecticut Rep Rosa DeLauro D Connecticut Rep John Larson D Connecticut Rep James Maloney D Florida Sen Bob Graham D Florida Rep Corrine Brown D Florida Rep Alice Hastings D Florida Rep Carrie Meek D retired from office Georgia Rep John Lewis D Georgia Rep Cynthia McKinney D Hawaii Sen Daniel Akaka D Hawaii Sen Daniel Inouye D Hawaii Rep Neil Abercrombie D Illinois Sen Dick Durbin D Illinois Sen Bobby Rush D Illinois Rep Jerry Costello D Illinois Rep Danny Davis D Illinois Rep Lane Evans D Illinois Rep Luis Gutierrez D Illinois Rep Jesse Jackson Jr. D Illinois Rep Bill Lipinski D retired from office Illinois Rep Jan Schakowsky D Indiana Rep Julia Carson D Indiana Rep John Hostettler R Indiana Rep Pete Visclosky D Iowa Rep Jim Leach R Maine Rep Tom Allen D Main Rep Baldacci D Maryland Sen Barbara Mikulski D Maryland Sen Paul Sarbanes D Maryland Rep Benjamin Cardin D Maryland Rep Elijah Cummings D Maryland Rep Connie Morella D Massachusetts Sen Ted Kennedy D Massachusetts Rep Michael Capuano D Massachusetts Rep Bill Delahunt D Massachusetts Rep Barney Frank D Massachusetts Rep Jim McGovern D Massachusetts Rep Richard Neal D Massachusetts Rep John Olver D Massachusetts Rep John Tierney D Michigan Sen Carl Levin D Michigan Sen Debbie Stabenow D Michigan Rep David Bonior D Michigan Rep John Conyers Jr. D Michigan Rep John Dingell D Michigan Rep Dale Kildee D Michigan Rep Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick D Michigan Rep Sandy Levin D Michigan Rep Lynn Rivers D Michigan Rep Bart Stupak D Minnesota Sen Mark Dayton D Minnesota Sen Paul Wellstone D deceased Minnesota Rep Betty McCollum D Minnesota Rep Jim Oberstar D Minnesota Rep Martin Olav Sabo D Mississippi Rep Bennie Thompson D Missouri Rep William Clay Jr. D MIssouri Rep Karen McCarthy D retired from office New Jersey Sen Jon Corzine D New Jersey Rep Rush Holt D New Jersey Rep Robert Menendez D New Jersey Rep Frank Pallone Jr D New Jersey Rep Donald Payne D New Mexico Sen Jeff Bingaman D New Mexico Rep Tom Udall D New York Rep Maurice Hinchey D New York Rep Amo Houghton R New York Rep John LaFalce D New York Rep Gregory Meeks D New York Rep Jerrold Nadler D New York Rep Major Owens D New York Rep Charles Rangel D New York Rep Jose Serrano D New York Rep Louise Slaughter D New York Rep Edolphus Towns D New York Rep Nydia Velazquez D North Carolina Rep Eva Clayton D retired from office North Carolina Rep David Price D North Carolina Rep Melvin Watt D North Dakota Sen Kent Conrad D Ohio Rep Sherrod Brown D Ohio Rep Stephanie Tubbs Jones D Ohio Rep Marcy Kaptur D Ohio Rep Dennis Kucinich D Ohio Rep Thomas Sawyer D Ohio Rep Ted Strickland D Oregon Sen Ron Wyden D Oregon Rep Earl Blumenauer D Oregon Rep Peter DeFazio D Oregon Rep Darlene Hooley D Oregon Rep David Wu D Pennsylvania Rep Robert Brady D Pennsylvania Rep William Coyne D retired from office Pennsylvania Rep Mike Doyle D Pennsylvania Rep Chaka Fattah D Rhode Island Sen Lincoln Chafee D Rhode Island Sen Jack Reed D Rhode Island Rep James Langevin D South Carolina Rep Gresham Barrett R South Carolina Rep James Clyburn D Tennessee Rep John Duncan Jr R Texas Rep Lloyd Doggett D Texas Rep Charles Gonzalez D Texas Rep Ruben Hinojosa D Texas Rep Sheila Jackson-Lee D Texas Rep Eddie Bernice Johnson D Texas Rep Ron Paul R Texas Rep Silvestre Reyes D Texas Rep Ciro Rodriguez D retired from office Vermont Sen Jim Jeffords D Vermont Sen Patrick Leahy D Vermont Rep Bernie Sanders I Virginia Rep Jim Moran D Virginia Rep Bobby Scott D Washington Sen Patty Murray D Washington Rep Jay Inslee D Washington Rep Rick Larsen D Washington Rep Jim McDermott D District of Columbia Rep Brian Baird D West Virginia Sen Robert Byrd D West Virginia Rep Alan Mollohan D West Virginia Rep Nick Rahall D Wisconsin Sen Russ Feingold D Wisconsin Rep Tammy Baldwin D Wisconsin Rep Jerry Kleczka D retired from office Wisconsin Rep David Obey D

Meet the Oldest Member of the Human Family

Meet the Oldest Member of the Human Family Meet the Oldest Member of the Human FamilyIn July 2002, an international team led by French paleontologist Michel Brunet announced the discovery of a humanlike skull that may be up to seven million years old, twice as old as any others found. The previously unknown ape species, named Sahelanthropus tchadensis, was found in Chad, in central Africa. The remarkably complete skull was nicknamed "Toumai," which means, "hope of life" in the Goran language. The skull's human-like face and teeth are surprising since they come from a period when researchers believed human ancestors just began evolving. It is not known whether Toumai was bipedal or not. Brunet et al. say that it would be a not unreasonable inference that it was a habitual biped because it shares characteristics with other hominids known to be bipedal. The skull is said to be that of a male because of its surprising combination of primitive and advanced features.Location of discoveryAlong with the fact that it comes from around the time when the hominids are thought to have diverged from chimpanzees, suggests it is close to the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees. According to the view of Bernard Wood of George Washington University, the chief significance of the Sahelanthropus find is not the issue of whether it's a human ancestor, but the clues it offers into the unsuspected diversity of ancient fossil hominids. That might be the most amazing thing about Toumai: that humans can peer into their own beginnings, and see themselves emerging from the long dark night of the forest.