Safe Journey

SAFEJOURNEY 1. Introduction Since the innovation of diesel engine mankind has got new dimensions in their piece of living conditions i. e. the civilization. Most important achievement thereby was that men got the motion. These diesel engines gave shape in manifold. In transport sector the horse car/coach were started replacing by motorcars of different sizes and shapes to fit the needs of mankind. The addition of petrol engine has accelerated the rate. In the present era nobody can even think of avoiding the elements of transportation because the society has become too much dependent on this.But still there is a problem. The problem lies with the technology. Nobody can claim that these technologies will never fail. Due to mechanical fault, poor maintenance, overuse, overage, misuse etc these failures occur. Though we are aware of these and may take preventive and reactive measures to avoid those situations but these failures are still day-to-day phenomena. Think about a situation â⠂¬â€œ where your personal vehicle becomes out of order on the highway in a remote place. If so, what is the remedy? There are some arrangements by the Government.However, that could not earn the faith of the public. Thus, in our case, this aspect is still remaining uncared. The astute investors could have identified the need of assistance in such situation in many countries. The effort of our new service oriented firm Safejourney is to care these aspects. The purpose of this plan is to analyze the strategic and situational aspect of the firm and focus market product, marketing mix and thereby project a detailed marketing plan of the firm. The scope of this plan will be limited to the following: Concept Development Process †¢ Company Description †¢ Strategic Analysis †¢ Situation Analysis †¢ Market Product Focus †¢ Marketing Mix †¢ Financial Analysis †¢ Organization †¢ Implementation †¢ Evaluation and Control While formulating the plan fir stly our effort is to highlight the concept development process, followed by the orientation with the company. Then Mission, goals and core competency of the organization will be covered under strategic analysis. Thereafter, analytical part of the plan will include – SWOT, industry, competitor, company and customer analysis.The market, product and financing objectives of the organization and also target market identification will be the contents of the product market focus. This part will also mention the Unique Selling Proposition [USP] and positioning plan of the organization. Then under the marketing program 4 P’s i. e. marketing mix will be illustrated. The financial analysis and organization’s planned set up will be discussed followed by the implementation plan. Finally, the evaluation and control measures will be pen-pictured. We have carried out a detailed study, which was a combination of primary and secondary data analysis and empirical study.Our contac t method was mainly in the form of personal interviews with the competent official of the concerned authority, and collecting public views associated to this sector. We have also conducted the market survey deliberately, carried out various statistical analyses by testing related hypotheses. Collection of associated data from Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and Bangladesh Police [traffic control] were also a part of the survey. Thereby, we have found it is feasible to serve the victims of the roads. 2. CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 2. 1 The Idea GenerationBangladesh is a third world developing country. The country’s GDP is not again encouraging. Therefore, the people cannot always effort to have all first hand / brand new vehicles of any sorts. The used vehicles are not always reliable and often found to be out of order. Moreover, poor infrastructure of the country has also strong influence to cause such failure – a fatal accident is not also an exception to it. The arrangements offered by the Government to support such cases are often seem to be inadequate, time consuming, costly and failed to earn confidence.Thus, there is always a need to support those victims in terms of mechanical, medical, psychological and emergency assistance. This led us to create the idea of a service organization to support in this regard. 2. 2 Concept Development The concept of providing necessary service by Safejourney is to have number of Highway Mobile Patrols [HMP] and Static service points at regular intervals. Maintaining a reliable communication network, our teams will be called by our valued customers and in response, will be capable to reach the spot within 30 minutes. Service charge will be collected depending upon the degree of assistance rendered.Membership will be offered on the basis of annual subscription. 2. 3 Nature of Service Safejourney will have the capability to offer the following services: Small scale repair work on the spot. Medium scale repa ir work at the static service points (Towing facilities will be included) Large scale repair work at the zonal workshops (Towing facilities will be included) Available at the static service points. On call. First aid will be provided on requirement. Evacuation support:Will be provided on emergency basis. 2. 4 Investment/Benefits/ Commissions/ Business 2. 4. Investment Concept 1Invest to purchase vehicles, repair machineries, establishment of Head offices, zonal workshops & static service points. Concept 2Invest to establish versatile communication network. Concept 3Invest in acquiring required manpower. Concept 4Invest in promotional and social activities. 2. 4. 2 Benefits Concept 1Earnings from membership charges. Concept 2Earnings from service charges. Concept 3Earnings from charges of emergency support. 5. Time Frame Concept 1To provide services round the clock. Concept 2To reach the spot within 30 minutes after calling.Concept 3To provide medical and emergency support as and wh en required. 6. Number of Outlets /Service Points Concept 1To arrange service facilities in the major highways. Concept 2At least two mobile patrols under each static service points. Concept 3Static service points are to be established every after 70/80 km. Concept 4Zonal offices are to be established near the major cities. Concept 5Head office is to be established at Dhaka. 3. Company Description 3. 1History Although it is new for the country like Bangladesh, service organization as Safejourney is not a new venture in the world.In Germany, there is such an organization known as â€Å"Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobile- Club† in short ADAC operating for more than 40 years. Earning the confidence and faith of the public is the first and foremost criteria for most of the businesses success. If one can achieve it, other part of the business becomes much easier. The newly established firm Safejourney is the pioneer in Bangladesh in this field. 2. Name The legal name of the firm is SAFEJOURNEY BANGLADESH PRIVATE LIMITED and the motto of Safejourney is Destination Guaranteed†¦ 3. PurposeThe purposes of Safejourney are described as follows: ? To provide quality repair and recovery services to the vehicles on the prescribed highways. To support the under mentioned services in emergency: a. Providing First aid to the accident Injuries. b. Evacuating the serious cases to the nearest hospital/ clinic. c. In case of criminal act, providing support by informing highway Patrol Police. d. To provide transportation service to anyone on payment only in emergency cases. ? In future we plan to render our communication network facilities to the transport companies. 4. Functional ActivitiesSafejourney has started her journey to serve the victims of the roads and persons in emergencies. On receiving the call from the customers our control station will intimate the matter and appropriate location to the responsible zonal office and / or static point keeping divisional offi ce informed. The zonal office or static points will than direct the nearest Highway Mobile Patrol (HMP) to the spot. HMP, upon initial investigation will render effort to repair the necessary defects. If the case appears to be relatively difficult, the vehicle will be towed to the respective static point.Likewise, major cases will be handled by the zonal workshop. In simple cases, on completion of the necessary repair jobs the customer will pay the bill prepared by HMP as per prescribed price chart. The members will get the discount if he/she possesses the Safejourney ID Card. In case of major / difficult cases the customer may pay in the head office or any of the zonal offices. A diagrammatical presentation of functional activities is as in Appendix A 3. 5 Organization It is essential to have a very well structured organisation to achieve the success in any kind of business. Thus, Safejourney has taken all out effort o organize both the administrative and functional aspects in orde r to ensure a quality service, secured and unbroken flow of information, good administration, better co-operation and co-ordination. Therefore, overall planning, organizing, leading and controlling aspects of Safejourney are vested on the head office. Under head office there are various departments for looking after the administrative perspectives of the firm. Moreover, our service areas are divided in three divisions. The divisions are again subdivided into area/zones to have a better control of the functional perspective of our organisation.However, a detail of Administrative Organisation of Safejourney is illustrated in Appendix B and Functional Organization of Safejourney is illustrated in Appendix C of this plan. 6. Establishment and Number of Outlets/Service Points We have offered initially three major route of the country. The routes are as follows: †¢ Dhaka – Chittagong Road †¢ Dhaka – Bogra – Rajshahi Road †¢ Dhaka – Jessore â€⠀œ Khulna Road Our head office is located in Dhaka, whereas the Divisional offices are in Chittagong, Bogra and Jessore. Detail of the Zonal Workshops, Static service points and outlets are presented in Appendix D of this plan. . 0 STRATEGIC ANALYSIS 4. 1 Mission Reaching our customers with in 30 minutes after calling at anytime on the highways when someone gets stuck with his/her vehicle and repair it to make him/her feel safe. 4. 2 Objectives 4. 2. 1 Financial Objective †¢ To earn an annual rate of return on investment at 20%. †¢ To Make Profit 20% above sales. †¢ To reduce the amount of investment capital where possible. †¢ To acquire 3500 members by year 5 †¢ To reach at the breakeven point by year 5 †¢ To achieve 80% of the market share by year 2008. 4. 2. 2 Marketing Objective †¢ To repair 30 vehicles per route each day. To provide better quality service than the potential competitors. †¢ To provide superior and timely repair †¢ To achieve strong brand name. †¢ To establish capable and systematic service outlets at each 60-80 km intervals. †¢ To ensure wide geographic coverage than rivals’ and potential competitors. †¢ To ensure higher level of customer satisfaction. †¢ To provide limited first aid and transportation to accident injuries to increase social value. 4. 3 Core Competency and sustainable competitive advantage Core competency means the achievement of significant competitive advantage by a firm over its rivals.Our core competency will be reaching in time to the customers and providing services of better quality than our competitors. 4. 3. 1 Reaching in time to the customers: We will have number of service centers each after 60-80 km. So, any one calling us over mobile/ T & T phone, we will ensure our presence with in 30 minutes. This will make the customers feel safe and confident about our organization. 4. 3. 2 Providing better quality service: At present our main competit ors are the old aged roadside or sub-urban based repair workshops. Our services will be provided in time with the modern equipment and of course we will maintain our quality. . 3. 3 Pioneer advantage: Though there are number of repair workshops but we are the first to provide on call services on the highways with fast speed and responsibilities. At present we don’t have much strong competitors, but even new competitors enter, we will have customer’s preferences as we are the first in this business. We will already have lot of members and hold the lion share of the market. 5. 0 SITUATION ANALYSIS 5. 1 SWOT Analysis 5. 1. 1 Strength: Main strengths of â€Å"safe journey† are identified as follows: 5. 1. 2. Weakness: The weaknesses are as follows: business is based on happenings of some eventualities . 1. 3. Opportunity: Opportunity means where the company can operate profitably. The Opportunities of safeJourney are as follows: 5. 1. 4 Threat: The happenings which may create obstruction in achieving our business objectives are as follows: 5. 2 Industry Analysis â€Å"SateJourney â€Å"is a service oriented organization. There are many others who provide the same services to the customers. There are many workshops located in the rural, suburban or urban areas. The rural or suburban based workshops are old aged, that doesn’t have any efficient system of identifying the problems and repairing those.There are few big sized workshops in the city areas but they hardly provide on call service. They also don’t have an efficient way of dealing with the customers. As a whole in the industry nobody is holding absolute supremacy. ‘Safe Journey’ will enter the business considering the aspects of winning customers’ mind. The competitors will not affect its operation and business objectives. The local workshops are weak but close competitors. City based service centers are strong but distant competitors, so ‘SafeJou rney ‘will enjoy almost monopoly in the rural highways and likely to face pure competition in the urban areas. . 3 Competitor Analysis 5. 3. 1 Brand Competitor: SafeJourney is the first company to provide mobile repair service and serve the customers even in the remote place on the high ways. Thereby at present we don’t find any brand competitor of ours. 5. 3. 2 Industry Competitor: Our service is based on repair services of the automobiles. There are many other small or big workshops providing the same kind of services. So they are our industry competitors. 5. 3. 3 Form Competitor: This service provides the need for safety on the high ways by repair and maintaining vehicles.There are few other workshops other than automobile workshops that also carryout some sort of repair works like motor cycle or bicycle repair. They are our form competitors. 5. 3. 4 Generic Competitor: Ours generic competitors would be anyone taking away our customers. The roadside restaurants, towe r vehicles, public transports are few of our generic competitors. 5. 4 Company Analysis Our company will have numbers of static points (service centers) each after 60-80 km distance on the highways. Those static points will remain under direct control of Head office located at Dhaka.We will also have offices in other major cities. They will deal with membership, complains, suggestions for operation and future expansion of the business. 5. 5 Customer Analysis 5. 5. 1 On the basis of buying Roles 5. 5. 2 On the basis of customer Buying Behavior Our service falls in the complex buying behavior group as it is a high involvement service. Customers normally don’t come to the workshops unless they need it. Again for yearly membership one has to pay Tk5000. Thereby, it is a service that involves a good amount of money. Customers will think twice to be a member of Safejourney.Thus, our customers buying will follow complex buying behavior. 6. 0 MERKET PRODUCT FOCUS 6. 1. Financial, Mar keting and Service Objective 6. 1. 1 Financial Objective 6. 1. 2. Marketing Objective. 6. 1. 3. Product / Service objective 6. 2 Target Market 6. 2. 1. The Selection of Target Market The Underlying logic and hypothesis dictated us to select the specific target markets: 6. 2. 2. Market Segmentation To attain the objective of our business plan, bases for our market segmentation is Demographic and psychographic factors. Under the demographic, the segment variables are social class and occupation.In social class the upper class and upper middle class is our focal point. And under occupation we have mainly focused to the business class. Under the psychographic bases we have considered the social values to be our main segment variables. People who are highly security concerned and highly time concerned are the point of concentration here. 6. 2. 3 Specific Target Group Basing on our logic/ hypothesis, our market segmentation has led us to select the following specific target groups as our customers: Private car owners. Business class traveling in personal/ official car.Taxi cab companies Transport owners/ Agencies. The target groups as per the segmentation can be categorized as under: |Market segment |Customer group | |Market segment 1 |Private car owners | |Market segment 2 |Business class | |Market segment 3 |Transport owners/Agencies, Taxicab companies. 6. 2. 4 Effectiveness of the Targeted Market Segment. Effectiveness of the segmentation can be measured using five useful criteria. These are Measurability, Substitutability, Accessibility, Differentiability and Actionable criteria. Testing of our segmentation based on these criteria is shown as under: Market Segment |Measurable |Substantial |Accessible |Differentiable |Action-able | |MS 1 |Very Good |Large and highly |Easily Accessible |Good |Effective and | | | |profitable | | |feasible plan can | | | | | | |be formulated | |MS 2 |very Good |Large and Profitable |Accessible |Good |Effective and | | | | | |feasibl e plan can | | | | | | |be formulated | |MS3 |very Good |Very Large and profit |Accessible |Good |Effective and | | | |able | | |Feasible plan can | | | | | | |be formulated | 6. 3 Point of Difference One of the most important factors for launching any new product/ service is the points of differentiation. We will differentiate our service from the competitor in respect of service, personnel and image differentiation. 6. 3. 1 Service Differentiation The key to success of our business will lie in adding value to the services and continuous improvement of quality. SafeJourney will differentiate its service from others in respect of following attributes: Ordering Ease |Any one facing the problem in highway can easily call us | | |simply making a phone call. Need not to take the trouble of | | |searching around miles together for someone leaving the | | |vehicle in uncertainty. | |Delivery |The mobile workshop of SafeJourney will be committed to solve | | |the problem in a speedy manner with adequate care and | | |accuracy. |Special service and Maintenance |Any one calling SafeJourney for a mechanical problem of | | |vehicles will be provided with free wind shield wash to that | | |vehicle and the assurance will be provided that any further | | |problem for same reason will be given free service in that | | |particular journey. | 6. 3. 2 Personnel Differentiation ‘SafeJourney’ will gain a strong competitive advantage by developing a better-trained people. For attaining this we will emphasize on the following aspect: Competence: The engineer/ mechanics of ‘safeJourney’ will possess the required skill and knowledge to deal with any mechanical/ technical problem of any type of vehicle. The mechanics will be grouped in such manner so that they can deal with any problem of the affected vehicle for which they are called for. ? Courtesy: The employees of our service will be trained to behave in a friendly, respectful and considerate manner in re sponse to any problem given by the customer. ? Credibility: The trustworthiness of the service will be developed by providing price rate card from the company along with the specific identity card for the employees. ? Responsiveness: The Company will have a quick response in any call by sending the mobile workshop within half an hour on the spot. Communication: ‘Safejourney’ will keep the system of communicating about any problem/ comments by giving a comment card while solving the vehicle problem. This will be used by the management for further improvement of service. 6. 3. 3 Image Differentiation Our service will give adequate emphasis on building an image of quick and quality service. To do this, we will express our messages in symbols, written and audiovisual media, different events and also by employee behavior. 6. 3. 4 Unique Selling Proposition (USP) This is the factor which will attract the customer to accept our service rather than the competitors. We will conc entrate on the following USP of our service. Caring about customer's time. Greater attention on safety measures. First to provide reliable mobile repair/ recovery service in the country. 6. 4 Positioning To attain a distinctive position in the customer’s mind we will give adequate emphasis on our unique selling proposition. We will create an image of the company by promoting the idea â€Å"SafeJourney–for people who cares about time and safety†. 6. 4. 1 Positioning strategy For attaining the desired positioning in customer's mind we will adopt the double benefit strategy. We will claim two benefit in this regard: The fastest. The safest 7. 0 MARKETING PROGRAM 7. 1 Service Strategy 7. 1. 1 Type of Service This is a utility service for providing mobile mechanical/ technical support to the vehicles facing problems in highways.This will ensure a quick and easy service which will allow the travelers to reach to their destination safely without wasting the time. 7. 1. 2. Features of service The service will be provided both in membership and non membership basis and have the following features to provide: Repair and Recovery a. The first effort will be given to reach to the spot with mobile workshop by half an hour of receiving any call. b. The main effort will be in repairing the vehicle on spot as quickly as possible. c. Relatively difficult cases will be handled by the static service point d. In case of major difficulties the option will be given to deliver the vehicle to the desired destination after necessary repair works. Emergency Service a.Providing first aid to the accident injuries. b. Evacuating the serious cases to the nearest hospital/ clinic. c. In case of criminal act, providing support by informing highway Patrol Police. d. To provide transportation service to anyone on payment only in emergency cases. Communication service a. The company will establish an internal communication system for its operation. b. The company will rende r this facility to be used by the transport companies on the basis of payment. 7. 1. 3 Brand Name The brand name of the service is given ‘SafeJourney. ’ This is done to create a favorable brand image and brand familiarity by adding the safety as a sensitive issue.All necessary exposure and promotion activities will be done to uphold the different attributes, benefits and values related to the brand. 7. 1. 4 Special / After Service offer To create favorable positive response to the mind of customers the following special offerings will be kept: ? The provision will be kept to provide free windshield wash for the vehicle where applicable. ? Once given service by any mobile workshop the free service guarantee will be given if any problem faced for same reason in that journey. ? For dealing with the emergency situation, the service will be rendered 24 hours. 7. 1. 5 Sources of Spare parts Contacts will be made with the authorized dealer of various motor parts to keep the su pply of spare parts available.The amount of the various spares parts inventory will be decided basing on the requirement. 7. 2 Price Strategy 7. 2. 1 List Price Transparency in transaction is considered as one of the most important issues of our business policy. To maintain the trustworthiness and transparency, list price of all types of service will be kept/ hanged with the mobile service team and other service centre. The list price will be also published in the advertisement in print media. A minimum fixed charge of Tk. 250 will be charged for every vehicle calling for service. Other charges will vary basing on the intensity of the job. A model of list price is shown as under: PRICE LIST SERIAL NO |SERVICE DESCRIPTION |PRICE | | | |(In Taka) | |01 |Call charge |250 | |02 |Membership Subscription |5000 | |03 |Servicing |250 | |04 |Oil change |100 | |05 |Air Lock Clearance |250 | |06 |Fuel line Clearance |250 | |07 |Tappet Clearance |800 |08 |Cylinder Head Leakage Repair |100 0 | |09 |Timing |2000 | |10 |Spark Plug Change |600 | |11 |Self Starter |500 | |12 |Fuse Box |100 | |13 |Carburetor Cleaning |200 | |14 |Gear Box Repair |500 | |15 |AC pump Repair |300 | |16 |Break Repair |500 | |17 |Steering Gear Repair |500 | |18 |Electric Circuit |250 | |19 |Lighting |250 | |20 |Spare parts |As per mkt price | 7. 2. 2 Discount To Increase the membership number and attract the customers a 65% discount will be given to the members of safeJourney. 7. 2. 3 System of payment The Payment system will be on the basis of cash payment before delivery. However, the payment may be made at any zonal / area offices also. 7. 2. 4 Different Price strategy. We plan to adopt different price strategies in different situation. ? At Launching Stage.As this is a new service in this country, our company being first to enter in this business will have a pioneer advantage. And as we will not have any brand competitor at this stage so we will adopt cost plus policy at this stage. Th e assumption led us to follow this policy is the substitute awareness effect which tells that customers are less price sensitive when they are less aware of substitutes. ? At Brand competitive Stage. In Brand competitive stage it is likely that new entrants will also come in this business. If we face challenges by the new entrants in terms of price strategy, we will face this by adding new values and better quality through more promotional activities.As the new entrants are likely to face huge amount of initial investment expenditure, it is likely to be difficult for the competitors to snatch our significant market share. Again a substantial amount of revenue in the business will come through the membership subscription which is given yearly. So due to involvement of high switch over cost customers are less likely to switch over to new competitors. ‘The difficult comparison effect’ of price sensitivity also supports our strategy as it speaks — customers are less price sensitive when they cannot easily compare the quality of substitutes. However in this stage we may have to go for the price cut strategy basing on the market condition. 7. 2. 5.Pricing Method Basing on the market survey and the result of our hypothesis we have used a combination of both perceived value pricing and going rate pricing method to select our price. 7. 3 Promotion Strategies Promotion is considered as one of the greatest market winning factor to increase the sales of own product/ service. It consists of different promotion mix i. e. advertisement, Sales Promotion, Personal Selling, Direct Selling and Public Relation (PR) . The promotion activities also varies basing on the product/Service life cycle through which a product/ service comes from introductory stage to growth, maturity and at last at declining stage.So our promotional activity will also vary in response to different life cycle of our service in following ways: 7. 3. 1 Introductory Stage In this stage our main strategy will be to create the customer awareness about the brand name of our service. Since the service involves the complex buying behavior, the main emphasis will be given to the print media. The promotional activities include: Regular advertisement in daily newspaper and magazines. Using Billboard in the entrance and exit of the petrol pump. Using Billboard in highways with repeated intervals. In TV and radio highlighting our USP during the commercial slot. ? Providing attractive and colorful posters, calendars etc to the car sales centre. 7. 3. 2 Growth StageAt this stage the strategy will be to create brand familiarity to keep the present customers satisfied and to attract the new customers. This will be done as follows: ? Differentiation advertisements in both print media and loud media frequently. ? Create value chain for the existing members by sending small gifts like calendars, cards etc containing the brand symbol Arranging different types of PR programs. 7. 3. 3Ma turity Stage At this stage the strategy will be to keep the people conscious about our product by various remainder advertisement and other programs It includes: Remainder advertisement in both print media and loud media. ? To increase brand preferences providing advertisement with celebrities. Arranging various PR Programs.Sponsoring different games/ sports cultural programs etc. 7. 3. 4 Decline stage Starting from the maturity stage onward, the amount of our market share is likely to decrease. At decline stage it will tend to reduce more. But the human psychology about time and safety will always exist. The market is also likely to expand. Even though, the company may face difficulties due to more number of competitors. To overcome the problem, the following strategy will be adopted: Providing new features to the customers by making differentiation. Giving reminder advertisement both in print and loud media Arranging PR programs using satisfied customers etc. 7. Placement (Distrib ution strategy) The Placement strategy is very important to ensure that the company’s product/ service are passed through the right channel to achieve the objective of the company. 7. 4. 1 Places to Serve Initially the service will be started only in three important routes. These routes are: Dhaka – Chittagong highways. Dhaka – Jessore – Khulna highways Dhaka – Bogra- Rajshahi highways Subsequently basing on the feedback and market condition the number of routes will be increased. 7. 4. 2 Channel Strategies The channel of our service will be direct. ? Head office -Zonal service centre – Static Point- Mobile service workshop We will also increase the number of zonal offices/ service centre to most of the district towns. ? We will also acquire the local agency to act as the local representatives in zonal offices. ? The detail distribution channel is illustrated in Appendix E. 8. 0 FINANCIAL DATA AND PROJECTIONS | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |8. Initial Investment | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Fixed Expenditure | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Item | | | Tk in Lacs | | | | | |Construction/Office | | |7 | | | | | |Office Furniture | |7 | | | | | |Vehicle Procurement | |223. 4 | | | | | |Tel/Mobile | | |9. 4 | | | | | |Tools and Equip | |25 | | | | | |Promotion | | |10 | | | | | |Training | | |3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Total | | |284. 54 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8. 2 Yearly Expenditure | | | |Tk in Lacs | | |Salary | | |85. 3 |Details Shown in Appendix F | |Tel Bills | | |9. 48 | | |Fuel | | |35 | | |Rent-Office/Outlets | | |81. 4 | | |Promotion | | |12 | | |Electricity/Gas/Water |5. 64 | | |Miscellaneous | | |6. 4 | | | | | | | | |Total | | |235. 69 | | | | | | | | 8. 3 Projected Yearly Return in 5 Years From providing highway Service | | | | |Yearly |In 5 Years | |Per Day 30 Cases X 3 Routes X 500 X 365 |164. 25 |821. 25 | | | | | Tk in Lacs From Membership Charges Year | | |Tk in Lacs | |Year 1 |1000 |5000 |50 | |Year2 |2000 |5000 |100 | |Year 3 |3000 |5000 |150 | |Year 4 |3500 |5000 |175 | |Year 5 |3500 |5000 |175 | | | | | | |Total income in 5 Years 650 | 8. 4 Calculation of Payback Period | | |Taka In Lacs | | | | | | | | | |Year |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 | | | | | | | | | |Opening Bal |-284. 54 |-305. 98 |-277. 42 |-198. 86 |-95. 3 | | |Cash out flow |-235. 69 |-235. 69 |-235. 69 |-235. 69 |-235. 69 |-235. 69 | |Cash in flow |214. 25 |264. 25 |314. 25 |339. 25 |339. 25 |339. 25 | |End Bal |-305. 98 |-277. 42 |-198. 86 |-95. 3 |8. 5 |103. 56 | | | | | | | | | | |Fraction of years=330. 99/339. 25=. 975 Years. | | | | | | | |Total Pay back Period =4+. 975=4. 975 Years. | | 8. 5 Projected Profit |Expected profit in year 5 = Tk 8. 25 Lac | |Expected profit from year 6 onwards = Tk. 103. 56 Lac | 9. 0 IMPLEMENTATION PLANImplementation is the key success factor for any business. The business planning may be the best but if implementation plan is wrong the business will fail to achieve its objectives. To achieve our business objectives we plan our business in the following way: 9. 1 Services Strategy Safejourney will provide services to the customers as and when they call. Someone may get services if they come directly to the static points. Our efforts will be to establish strong communication network to reach our customers using existing T & T facilities and mobile networks. We will also have our own communication network to ease our customers to reach us at anytime.Practice of mobile patrol on the highways to find out and meet any eventualities will also be there. Besides repair, we also plan to provide some additional services in following ways: (1) For ensuring smooth first aid service, our employees will be specially trained on first aid. (2) Delivering the vehicle at desired place after repair will be accomplished with the necessary co-ordination with zonal offices. (3) Evacuation to accident injuries will be provided by mainta ining a good will and liaison with the local hospital and clinics. (4) On establishing our own communication facilities it may be rented to the transport agencies. 9. 2 Price StrategyAs it was stated earlier, services will be provided on the basis of payment and we will have separate price strategy for our members and non-member customers. On accomplishment of any service, the senior mechanics will calculate the price basing on the minimum call charge, price of spare parts, membership discount rate and services as per price table and make the bill to the customer. Customer may pay the bill in cash on the spot or any of our offices/outlets. In the later case, the vehicle will be delivered only after the confirmation of the payment of the due bill. To deal with the competitors in the competitive stage, SafeJourney may also change the service charge or membership subscription as the situation demands but the quality will not be compromised in any case. 9. 3 Promotion Strategy:To implem ent our business strategy we will go for rapid skimming. For this we will spend an amount of Tk 1,000,000 as we launch the service. In addition to it an amount of Tk 12, 00,000 will be spent on promotional activities per year. In this regard maximum emphasis will be given to print media and using the billboard. We plan to provide advertisement on web sites also. 9. 4 Distribution Safejourney is taking all out efforts to establish a smooth, secure and effective distribution channels. Members will be enrolled either by the zonal offices directly or through local agents and few selected petrol pumps. The selected petrol pumps will be considered as exclusive distribution means. 10. 0 ORGANISATIONThe Head office of Safejourney will be established in Dhaka. The whole organisation is headed by Managing Director (MD). The MD will look after the overall planning, organizing, leading and controlling aspects of Safejourney. There are total six departments in head office, which are as follows: †¢ Operations and Planning †¢ Technical Support †¢ Administration and Medical †¢ Management Information System †¢ Accounts and †¢ Human Resource Management Under the department of operation and planning there will be one control station on for 24 hours. The three Divisional managers are responsible to control the three routes under the supervision of Operation department.Dhaka – Chittagong route looked after by Divisional Manager –1 (Chittagong) Dhaka – Bogra-Rajshahi route looked after by Divisional Manager –2 (Bogra) Dhaka – Jessore-Khulna route looked after by Divisional Manager –3 (Jessore) Under each Division there are three zonal offices and under the zonal offices there are three static points each. Each static point is equipped with at least two Highway Mobile Patrols. 11. 0 EVALUATION AND CONTROL To learn how well the company is running, we must evaluate the present strategy. Accordingly management will be taking decision on what should be done. For that we will evaluate our performance by finding the information of following aspects: 1] Is the competitive approach of the company is correct? [2] Could we differentiate our services from our rivals? [3] Could we provide our services at a broad spectrum or to a niche? [4] Is the geographic coverage of our services correct? [5] Are the functional activities of the company correct? [6] Could we make expected return/ cash flow? [7] What is the company’s image and reputation with the customers and competitors? [8] Could we make continuous improvement of our performance? We will also carry out evaluation of information continuously. This will help us to take timely decisions. We plan to carry out analysis of information on the following manner: 1] Daily earnings and expenses report. [2] Total number of customers per day. 12. 0 CONCLUSION Continuous improvement and development of new offerings is an essential part for any business s uccess in the present world. Everyday people in the business world seek for new opportunity and spending millions in this purpose. The overall paper is developed highlighting all the detail that is required to do a successful marketing of a new offerings. The alternatives are highlighted and the provisions are kept open to carry out the necessary adjustments as the market dictates. Proper implementation of the plan can make the service-SafeJourney a successful one.

Investigating World Financial Markets Essay

The stock markets in consideration, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (SSE), and the Australian All Ordinaries (ASX-All Ords) are among the major stock markets in the world. The value of these stock markets often gauge the local economy and is considered as the benchmark of economic health within their regions (Kaeppel, 2009). For instance, DJIA is the primary indicator of US economic health. Along with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ, the Dow is a collection of the top 30 industrial and commercial companies in the United States. The dominant industries in the DJIA range from Banking, Oil and Mining, Heavy Industries, and Food Manufacturing among others. According to Yahoo! Finance for the past couple of years during the global economic recession, the composition of the Dow has changed as it did for the past decades. Particularly, banking giants Citigroup and AIG were replaced in mid-2009 by The Travel Company and Kraft Foods, respectively due to the former’s poor stock performance on the onset of the global recession. One particular similarity of the stock markets mentioned in this paper is how other markets (SSE & ASX All Ords) were affected by the crisis that started in the United States. The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index was at its all-time high (6000-level) in 2007 but suddenly cascaded downwards to the 4000 level during the global recession. The SSE in recent years has become a significant stock market indicator in Asia along with the Nikkei 225 of Japan and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong. The Shanghai bourse is divided into 2: Shanghai-A for foreigners and Shanghai-B for the local Chinese. Dominant industries in the SSE are mining and commercial banking. For instance, one of the largest IPOs in the world happened in 2007 during the listing of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). Another is the Australian All Ordinaries which is on a league of its own. It is considered to be the primary bourse of the Australian market and is usually classified together with the Asian markets due to proximity. The ASX has been known for in the past due to its mining and rubber industries. The ASX of today however is dominated mostly by food manufacturers and commercial banking while mining industries still contribute significant amounts of trade volumes. On the other hand, this paper will also look into the bonds market through the JP Morgan Global Bond Market-All Maturities which are government issued IOUs which a government usually guarantees to pay on a specified amount of time. Usually issued as 5-10 year bonds, the bonds market are resistant to bankruptcy and default since the government guarantees it in a long period of time. Cross-Market Comparisons The performance of the stock markets around the world has suffered a lot for the past two years due to the global economic crisis. Several banks and industries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sought for their governments to intervene (Selden, 2010). On Figure 1 below, the US market in general was already on a downward direction even before the worse of the global crisis. This was due to the fact that defaults on the US Housing market was heavily affecting investor sentiments and the uncertainty of the then incoming US presidential elections was leading the markets down. With the DJIA as one of the benchmark indices for other markets in Europe and Asia-Pacific, the SSE and the ASX also were on a minor down shift. This worsened when the American company Lehman Brothers which is a century-old company in the US filed for bankruptcy on September 2008 prompting panic on Wall Street and around the world. News stories of companies with large defaulting accounts sent shockwaves in other markets causing bear markets around the world as reflected on the graph. A slight recovery was seen on March of 2009 when newly sworn US President Barrack Obama agreed to bail out Wall St and provided Bailout packages to Citigroup and the US Auto Industry. On Australia, the market also reacted positively over the acquisition of BHP Billiton of Rio Tinto in late 2009 ending a series of sour negotiations in the previous year. China was also able to prove that it was resistant to the worse of the financial crisis and was still able to compensate for its 11% inflation for 2008. The local Chinese economy was also saved by the revenues from the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as other industries who are still eager to invest in China all the more in order to reduce costs.

Character and Setting in Popular Music

Whether through characters and scenes music in popular music or written literature like novels, a character can convey emotions and thoughts. The audience understands through the present role. Just as we find the character we like, we also find characters that look down. The setting is almost the same. Whether explicitly given or implicitly set, the audience will think about the picture. Sometimes it's a beautiful place, sometimes it's a place we'd rather ignore. In this article, we will explain the role of the environment in public machinery. Analyze the relationship between the central figure and the surrounding environment. Do you set character limit options or affect plot development? Does the environment play an important role in raising the theme of the story? Popular Machinery was written to imagine details to the audience. Men and women in the story are anonymous, there is no clue to the explanation of the story, there is no mention of the city, state or country where the sto ry takes place. This allows the reader to draw the context and detail of the story in his own way. Perhaps the reader has heard of it or is in a similar situation and you can put your face and place in the story. The setup details are very simple, but it is also the most detailed information on every element of the story. Whether through characters and scenes music in popular music or written literature like novels, a character can convey emotions and thoughts. The audience understands through the present role. Just as we find the character we like, we also find characters that look down. The setting is almost the same. Whether explicitly given or implicitly set, the audience will think about the picture. - Setting is a term indicating where the behavior occurred in the narrative work and the past time. However, the settings can be used for other purposes of the novel, such as as a symbol supporting the novel theme. Various settings of red letters such as market, forest, Hester Cott age are examples of this. The market is a typical department of a tough Puritans society In psychology literature, the word personality has become common. This is a term popular in the early 20 th century. Back then, people believed that people had a particular character and had a series of virtues and moral personality traits, including integrity, honesty, generosity, reliability. But by the middle of the century this word became unpopular and rarely used. The main reason for being rejected by psychologists is that according to the mainstream theory at the time, human behavior is determined not by individual but by environment.

Epidemly and biostat Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Epidemly and biostat - Assignment Example The objective is to evaluate one or more new treatments for a disease or condition. Intervention trial therefore involves choosing a sample from the diseased people to investigate there rare disease and undertake a follow up condition. Q2. What statistical method(s) a researcher can use to determine if the mean body mass index of the population is the same for three groups of subjects (group1=diet restriction; group2=exercise; group3=none). (EACH IS TWO POINTS =TOTAL=SIX POINTS) Q3. Ã… ¶ represents the predicted value of y calculated using the equation Ã… ¶ = a + bx. In the formula, SBP = 34 + 0.2 x; where x = value of postnatal age (hours) for the neonates ≠¤ 1,000 grams? What is the value of the intercept (a)? What is the value of the slope (b)? (TWO POINTS) Q5. An equation indicating that systolic blood pressure or SBP = 30 + 0.4x. If the value of x is postnatal age of 20 hours, what is the value for Ã… ¶ or SBP for neonates ≠¤ 1,000 grams? Show your calculations. (TWO POINTS) Population attributable fraction is a statistic used to estimate the proportional reduction in average disease risk over a given time interval that would be achieved by eliminating the exposure of interest from the population while distribution of other risk factors in the population remain constant. This means that 85% of the cases of a disease could be avoided if the factor causally related to increase risk is eliminated and that the distribution of other risk factors remains unchanged. Q9. The death rates from various conditions are often compared across geographic areas. These comparisons are usually based on directly age-standardized mortality rates. Which of the following best describes what is meant by an age-standardized rate created by the direct method? (Choose one best answer and provide rationale). (TWO POINT) Q12. The strength of an association is one of the criteria for

Food Wasted Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Food Wasted - Research Paper Example These figures are extremely significant when one would consider the fact that millions of people all over the world, including some Americans are currently facing starvation or poverty. As per the 2009 statistics from America, 14.3 percent of all persons lived in poverty (Poverty in the United States). â€Å"How can 50 million people face hunger in a country that wastes billions of pounds of food?†(Feeding America). This paper analyses the reasons and consequences of poverty and food wastage in America. According to Usborne, â€Å"28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries in the fiscal year 2008, the highest level since the food assistance program was introduced in the 1960s†. United States is supposed to be the wealthiest countries in the world. Yet, it is surprising to know that 28 million people in America are facing some kind of poverty. It is an accepted fact that American food production is more than what they requ ired for the food needs. In fact America is exporting surplus food items to overseas countries. Yet, a substantial portion of the Americans are facing starvations. This happens mainly because of the problems in the management of food chain in America. â€Å"There is enough food to feed every man, woman and child in America. Hunger in America is not about supply, it is about redirecting the excess food that is lost each year to those who need it most† (Feeding America). Tons in millions of food items are wasting in American warehouses because of the problems in the supply chain. In fact the major reason for starvation is not lack of production, but inadequate supply of food. According to Bloom, 49 million food- insecure Americans were there in 2012. This happens mainly because of the food damage that taking place in between farm and fork. Dana Gunders (p.1) pointed out that 10 percent of the total U.S. energy budget, 50 percent of U.S land and 80 percent of all freshwater reso urces were utilized while food production take place in America. In her opinion, 40% of the total food production in America is getting wasted nowadays. Another argument put forward by Dana is that uneaten foods and the foods thrown away as waste are contributing heavily to the environmental problems in the form of solid waste accumulation. Solid wastes have the ability to generate toxic gases such as methane. In her opinion, reduction of food losses by 15 percent would be enough to feed more than 25 million starving Americans every year. It should be noted that the governments all over the world are spending too much to avoid environmental damage. The objective of these spending is to keep the environment fresh always to make life of animals, human and plants safer. It is a fact that plants are the only food producers in the world and no other thing in this world has the ability to produce food. Because of this awareness, governments are trying hard to fortify plant life in this wo rld. However, dumping of wasted food in agricultural lands is causing huge problems to the plants in the form of solid waste. It should be noted that solid wastes have the ability to produce toxic gases such as methane which is harmful to plant life. â€Å"When food is disposed in a landfill it rots and becomes a significant source of methane - a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Landfills are a major source of human-related methane

Adam de la Halle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Adam de la Halle - Essay Example Although his poetry is indicative of possible aspects of his life, it is impossible to distinguish what is art, what is fiction, and which of the different aspects reflect his life ad which reflect that of his patrons. He died in 1288 and it is estimated that he was in his late forties or early fifties at this time (Marshall and de la Halle). Le Jeu de Robin et Marion According to Dane, â€Å"Le Jeu de Robin et Marion is among the first secular vernacular dramas. It is in part a dramatization of the medieval lyric pastourelle (a quasi-dramatic lyric type involving an encounter between a knight and peasant)† (49). The piece was written in French and represents the social opposition in which the story of Robin Hood is most often thematically written. The presentation of the play is only available through hypotheticals, a given representation not having been passed down in history, although it is considered the historic example of the beginnings of the comic opera. The music is h ighly rhythmic and representative of medieval troubadour music. Fi maris The chanson is courtly music that is â€Å"about love, rather than love songs in any Romantic sense† (Marshall and de la Halle 3). ... He did not, like a Romantic poet, reach out for the universal from a basis of personal experience† (Marshall and de la Halle 4). Fi Maris is written to express a witty look at infidelity and is written in French. Its monophonic tone and rhythmic background with harmonic vocals supply the form of the piece. Je muir, je muir d’amourete Je muir, je muir d’amourete is a rondeau, meaning that it had a rigid structure in which the verse and the refrain are repeated, from which the poetic rhythm scheme can be translated as AbaAabAB. Formed from the monophonic traditions, this piece is a gentle and sentimental work that has a beautiful introduction. The repetition sets up a sense of the emotions of the work. It is in French, with a gentleness that brings forward a meaning that is beyond the lyrical translation. Works Cited Dane, Joseph A. Abstractions of Evidence in the Study of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books. Farnham, England: Ashgate Pub, 2009. Print. Fi Maris. You tube.com. 24 September 2010. Lumina Vocal Ensemble. 11 June 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnDZrJLJ2uk Je muir, je muir d’amourete. Youtube.com. 26 July 2010. Quellidelgiardino. 11 June 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8MbPkdIppc Le Jeu de Robin et Marion. Youtube.com 17 May 2010. Cowboybepopp444. 11 June 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_ENI8s6tgY &feature=related Marshall, John H. and Adam de la Halle. The Chansons of Adam de la Halle. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1971. Print. Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Monteverdi was born in 1567 and died in 1643 and was a composer, singer, and musician playing the viola da gambe. His work can be considered for its transitional position between the Renaissance

International Business (Globalization) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International Business (Globalization) - Essay Example Nevertheless, it is significant not to run away by means of the plan that the kind of globalization we have been discussing also involves multinationals turnover, on a number of outsized scale, to translational: International businesses are at present largely restricted to their where they originated from, only if we consider their overall business operations and activity; they stay heavily nationally rooted and carry on to be multinational, to a certain extent than translational ,organizations . (Palmisano 2006) While full globalization in this organizational sense may not have occurred on a large scale, these large multinational corporations still have considerable economic and cultural power. Multinationals can impact upon communities in very diverse places. First, they look to establish or contract operations (production, service and sales) in countries and regions where they can exploit cheaper labour and resources. While this can mean additional wealth flowing into those communities, this form of globalization entails significant inequalities. It can moreover, it may lead to outsized scale job loss in especially for those whose industries were in the past located. The wages paid in the recent settings can be nominal, and workers privileges and conditions pitiable. For instance, a 1998 study of exceptional economic zones in China showed that manufacturers for organizations such as Ralph Lauren, Adidas and Nike were the ones paying low wages, to the extent of 13 cents per hour Second, multinationals continuously look new or else under-exploited markets. They look to increase sales - often by trying to create new needs among different target groups. One example here has been the activities of tobacco companies in southern countries. Another has been the development of the markets predominantly populated by children and young people. There is increasing evidence that this is having a deep

The Reflective Practitioner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Reflective Practitioner - Essay Example Since its debut, the social site has grown exponentially, becoming the model for many other social sites. A week after the billion dollar winner was released; three other Harvard students proclaimed thefacebook.com was a joint venture. However, by then, the ingenious internet site could not be detonated. FaceBook had become one of the largest social media sites in the world. By 2010, the site traffic was in the millions and still growing (Carlson, 2010). The United States courts would have to decide who had a right to rake in the huge profits. Until Facebook, the most sophisticated social websites were chat rooms running blogs in real time. The only personal space for users was an inbox and a small picture profile. Zuckerberg introduced a ‘wall’ concept, where users were represented in a much larger space. News feeds were added to traditional inboxes and favorites links. As the concept grew socially, naturally, businesses began to take notice. The extra room made it poss ible for businesses to build virtual billboards. Today, businesses capitalize on the massive connections obtained through a Facebook business page. If a 24 hour connection to billions of people around the world will build your business; climb aboard and build a Facebook business page, too. 1. Facebook for Small Business At least one billion people log on and interact through FaceBook, every day, all day, over the world. That’s over one billion reasons why your business should have a Facebook page. Everyone from recording artists to cooking gurus have packed up and moved into the world’s largest Internet community. The website continues to grow exponentially, connecting people and businesses. Even non-profit organizations have jumped on board to gain more exposure. Retailers of both products and services instantly become global by obtaining a website address and providing product, service, and contact information. In 2010, FaceBook launched the Small Business Saturday F acebook page, which pronounces the first Saturday following Thanksgiving as a special day for shoppers. Partnering with Twitter and American Express, the application was developed to draw shoppers and to polish small businesses with awesome applications and tools designed for eCommerce. The occasion is to encourage ‘small shopping’. Today, the the Small Business Saturday Page has received almost 3 million ‘likes’. Although nothing can guarantee 100% success or increased activity consistently for a long period of time, a FaceBook business page comes pretty close. Smart entrepreneurs know that capitalizing on massive Internet traffic and superior marketing tools is a formula for success. When you register your small business with FaceBook, the high traffic is already established and marketing tools are already in place to guide you. And the beauty of the entire concept is: it’s free. 2. Setting up Your Business Page Resist the urge to hire a contractor to build your Page. Building it yourself is simple and will reflect your personality, rather than that of a contractor. FaceBook Pages may be embedded with photos, videos, flash presentations and graphs, and direct links to other sites. Much like building a traditional web site, Facebook software and the help centre provide steps to build a business page that will grab the interest of many (FB, 2012). You may always revise your Page by omitting or adding items to improve appearance and make it more practical. As your business changes, so will

There is no need to have laws which regulate immigration into the Essay

There is no need to have laws which regulate immigration into the UK.Consider whether you agree with the above statement, presenting arguments and evidence for your position - Essay Example UK offers both, job opportunities as well as education. Most of the times, immigrants do not want their children the kind of life which they had spent. In such case, people make the run for the border. Nowadays, the contemporary British society is facing the most serious problems of immigration laws. A lot of people from all over the world have started moving to UK. A large number of those people come from Asia. States like Manchester, London and Birmingham constitute of Asian immigrants to a greater extent than ever before. Many experts believe that the increasing number of illegal immigrants is dangerous not only for the socio-political life of the nation but also for the development of the national economy. This situation has become a serious concern for UK Government. The history of UK reveals a heavy inflow of immigrants which leads to adverse reaction to the existing population of the country. Majority of the citizens of UK believe that the number of immigrants that are coming to the country must be limited and the existing immigration laws must not be changed. The direction of immigration can be in both ways, there can be positive development but on other hand, negative development can also not be denied. On one hand, it open various ways for the talented people coming from other land but on other hand it raises the rate of competition and issues of struggling for native people. In my opinion, the existing immigrations laws of UK must not be changed. The reason is that immigration laws work well for the stability of the population of a country and it helps in reducing the citizens’ unsatisfaction that comes from the antagonism towards the immigrants. Many citizens of UK believe that the major concern is that when immigrants come to their country, they snatch jobs from the native people. In actual, that’s not the real situation. The major concern is of illegal immigration. The Nationality Act and Immigration limits the number of work permits or

Interest Groups Essay Example for Free

Interest Groups Essay They vary considerably in size and ideological perspectives. The strategies and tools employed by interest groups are not static, and they differ depending on the geographical scope of their operations and the resources they have. While many interest groups tend to address a wide range of issues, others deal with distinct issues. The life span of interest groups is also not static. In this case, some groups have long term objectives; hence, they remain active for long duration. For instance, the interest groups that aim at challenging policy issues and politics operate on a long term basis. On the other hand, some groups are usually initiated with an aim of achieving a particular end after which they are dissolved. For example, during elections, many groups usually emerge with an aim of ensuring that the process is handled according to the stipulated guidelines of the electoral process. A representative government is always formulated in manner that facilitates participation of contending interests, and at the same time it tries to mitigate the variance that inexorably accompanies faction competition. In the traditional creation of pluralism, contending interests work together by mobilizing resources and opinions in order to enhance effective formulation and implementation of essential public policies. â€Å"Institutions are formed to accommodate the inevitability of diverse and competing interest from becoming powerful enough to undermine the rights of others† (Wilson, 2009). This process is governed by constitutional provisions, which stipulate the nature of interest groups’ activities. Therefore, many interest groups that work together tend to stabilize political environment, and this enables them to forward their interests to the government. â€Å"This implies that the pluralist vision of politics is an ideal vision of interest group politics and political institutions† (Barber, 1990). The activities conducted by various interest groups can be used to differentiate them. For instance, some of them endeavor to address several public issues, while others have a narrow scope of private interests. There are two distinct types of interest groups, and they can be described as follows. First, we have public interest groups, and they aim at working on issues that benefit the general public. For instance, they support policies that provide equal opportunities that can be enjoyed by everyone in the society. However, the success of public interest groups may not be very substantial at an individual level since they aim at reaching out to many people. â€Å"Some of the major public interest groups in his category are National Taxpayer’s Union and Concerned Women for America† (Orman, 1988). The second category is referred to as private interest groups. These are groups which endeavor to challenge public policies in order to specifically benefit their members or individuals that support their interests. Nonetheless, the objectives and activities of private interests groups should not interfere with the welfare of other individuals. Political self interest is perceived to b e healthy for a political system. In the USA, there is a popular belief that contending interests make the society more successful. This is because bad policies are always eliminated when various groups compete against each other â€Å"Other examples of interest groups include business organizations labor unions, Professional associations, and Non Governmental Organizations† (Grossman, 2002). The Relationship between Interest Groups and Political Parties There is no great disparity between political parties and various interest groups, because they are both composed of individuals having common objectives and opinions. Apart from this, â€Å"they are similar in the sense that they both seek to challenge government institutions, elections, and they all make public policy choices† (Brunell, 2005). Nonetheless, there are significant variations between these two bodies. Generally, interest groups never directly support their own members to contest for public office, especially in a case where economic parameter is concerned. In most cases, interest groups never adopt overt party labels, which electors use to identify and express their political affiliations (Dulilio Wilson, 2011). However, some electors may link particular interest groups with specific parties in a general manner. For example, the Tea Party is often linked with the Republicans and the white conservatives. In the recent past, public interest groups that are ideologically driven have increased considerably (King, 2011). For instance, a there are some groups which have pushed the tax agenda in political circles. Another distinguishing factor is that interest groups have a limited focus, and they only handle specific issues of concern in the public policy. For example, â€Å"interest groups form around specific concerns like environment, free speech, tax reform, and labor standards† (Petracca, 1992). In contrast to this, political parties tend to focus on several issues. Moreover, political parties try to merge some of these facades under one â€Å"big umbrella†. In some circumstances, interest groups seriously struggle against political parties. For instance, some internal rivalries have been witnessed in key political parties that operate in Texas. When elections were conducted in 2000, several environmentalists who were members of the Texas Democratic Party massively supported Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate, since they felt that Al Gore was less committed toward environmental issues. They labeled him â€Å"not green enough†. On the other hand, some Republicans have tried to make the party conservative by working against some of their Republican colleagues. This indicates that the interest groups tend to favor parties and politicians that support their interests, and they ignore those who are less committed in helping them. Interest groups always aim at maximizing policies, while political parties are usually trying to obtain many Congress seats. These competing interests influence the manner political parties relate with the interest groups. According Thomas Brunell, â€Å"interest groups have a preference as which party controls a majority of seats in Congress, which leads them to direct â€Å"sincere† and electorally useful money to this party† (Hay, 2001) When interest groups offer funds to the â€Å"other† party, they always fund it in a manner that is less effective. Interest groups usually execute this goal by offering strategic funds to this party as follows: provide little financial support particularly to the popular candidates who do not necessarily have to be funded in order to succeed in the elections. They can also choose to fund incumbent candidates who already have political clout. Therefore, even if these groups offer funds to these parties, they always do it in a biased manner, and they favor only the parties that are likely to push forward their interests. These funds enable their preferred candidates to run their campaigns smoothly without experiencing financial hitches. Apart from offering finances, interest groups also provide key information that enables their favorite candidates to be more competitive than other contenders. They also sensitize their preferred candidates on issues that always influence election outcomes. All these services are organized by interest groups with an aim of fulfilling their common objective of influencing election results and policies. The fact that these institutions have a relationship is therefore undeniable. These groups often forge close ties and pursue similar objectives in order to enhance their political clout. Nonetheless, they remain independent, and their nature of operation and design also remain different. â€Å"The space for action, speech and flexibility that is maintained in politics makes them much more political than interest groups† (Grossman, 2002). How Interest Groups Try to Influence the President and the Congress? Although interest groups do not directly have elected members in political offices, they do aim at fixing their members into appointed positions. They normally do this to enable them perform their state functions through mechanisms that support the desired policies of the interests groups that facilitated their appointments. The fact that â€Å"groups† operate as political players has always been recognized and examined, even if not properly understood. The manipulation of legislative processes by groups is a question that has not yet been answered, and it is still being begged. Between the period of the 1970 and 1980s, some â€Å"explosions† were witnessed in Washington, and researchers have wanted to clearly understand them. As many groups emerged in Washington, many people joined them, and the groups increasingly funded parties. The citizens at the same time criticized the roles of interest groups and joined them in large numbers probably to suppress the powerful corporate groups. The role of groups in policy issues seemed to have taken a new dimension, and everyone was keen to see how it happened. Therefore, it can be argued that group manipulation of the Congress can be identified by simply examining the development of legislation that a group is favoring. For instance, a group’s ineffectiveness in legislative process can be measured through its failure to intercept unpopular bills. In general, â€Å"interest group activities predict, at least in part, how far bills will progress through the legislative process† (Brunell, 2005). The term influence as applied in this context is quite narrow from the perspective of interest groups, and it is broad from a congressional perspective. Interest groups perceive influence as a process that should produce good policies or prevent undesirable policies from being adopted. However, a group does not have to obtain policies from the Congress that directly indicate their actual desires; rather a group’s influence is seen when the Congress makes or discards a policy, which is in line with the interests of a group. From a congressional perspective, influence emerging from interest groups can come in several ways. Interest groups are often said to have manipulated the Congress when its members are compelled or encouraged to change the course or provisions of a given bill in order to meet the demands of the interest groups. This influence might come in the form of a change of wording, a passage from a subcommittee, and not passing from a standing committee† (Orman, 1988). In this process, interest groups may lead to the change of legislation, and the president may not have the capacity to reverse the whole process of legislation, even if he does not like the content of the bill. On the other hand, the president can also manipulate the Congress by working closely with the interest groups. As discussed above, the law making process can be indirectly manipulated through elections. For instance, an incumbent President may pass some bills in favor of some groups so that he may get some support from them during the next elections. Besides this, interest groups may support pliable candidates whom they can easily manipulate during the law making processes. This symbiotic relationship between the interest groups and the politicians to some extent affect the capacity of both the president and the Congress to formulate effective laws. Politics in America has become complicated to many politicians. This is because interest groups have managed to seriously entrench themselves in politics and much of their attention has been geared towards influencing the White House. â€Å"Since the American President has come to play an increasingly important role in the public policy process, interest groups and their lobbyists now descend on the presidency with the same vigor as they descend on the congress† (Orman, 1988). In this context, the president is faced with the challenge of fulfilling the needs of the ordinary citizens and the interest groups. Interest groups have faced much criticism especially when it comes to policy issues. Its critics contend that most of the policy issues dealt with by interests groups have no connection to the desires of the public. The leaders of these groups have also been blamed for being dishonest because they always fail to fulfill the demands of their members. The weaknesses of the interests groups have been seen as one of the factors interfering with democracy in the USA. It has also been noted with a lot of concern that some political candidates have been seriously intimidated by some interest groups, and this further affects the reputation of the interest groups. Conclusion  The above discussion indicates that the American government is guided various institutions, which work together with an aim of building a more democratic society. The interest groups have been instrumental in addressing the plight of the public by ensuring that policy issues are handled properly. The effectiveness of the government has also been enhanced by the numerous contending interests. The American government has been able to adopt better policies due to the serious competition that exists among various institutions. These groups have played a fundamental role of widening the democratic space in America. The American government has been influenced by several groups over the years to an extent that some individuals refer to it as â€Å"a world of interest groups†. The interest groups should, therefore remain committed towards enhancing democracy and good governance. And I think those groups have same mission, its to make the government do something right like that should be. for example, national education thinks that the system of lesson in ur country have to be changed because it is not effective, so the collect the data to support their argument, and send it to government, and hope it will influence the policy.

Parliamentary Or Presidential System Of Government Politics Essay

Parliamentary Or Presidential System Of Government Politics Essay There is a popular saying that if a company can establish itself in a successful position among the modern fierce competition, two basic abilities must own that first ability is managing interior business successfully, and another one is having a good public relationship. In fact, so it does, and more and more companies are putting the activity of making a good public relationship on an important place. So business lobbying has larger and larger market, at the same time, there are more and more companies and interest groups who engage in the activities, and the industry of business lobbying is forming and becoming mature gradually. Business lobbying plays its role through impacting the making of some laws and regulations (Mortern Secen, 2002). Because of the important role of business lobbying playing, the government and some related departments are putting this issue on agenda (Raymond Terrence, 1986). But different system of government will provide different opportunities for bus iness lobbying. This paper will analyze and compare the different influence of two main system of governmentparliamentary or presidential system on business lobbying and provide the conclusion that the presidential system of government will provide better opportunities. In the following parts of this paper will give some key reasons for this conclusion by the method of comparative analysis, and the last part will provide some suggestions for companies, lobbyists and government about business lobbying and some reflections from the analysis also will be stated in this part. Why presidential system of government can provide better opportunities for business lobbying than the parliamentary one? Making a comparison between parliamentary system and presidential system First, the origination ways of government is different. In the parliamentary system, government is usually organized by the political party or party alliance who takes a major part in the parliament; but in presidential system, the members are appointed and leaded by the elected president (Presidential system, 2010). Second, the powers of office of the parliament are different. The parliament in the parliamentary system not only has the rights of lawmaking, supervising government, and deciding financial budget, but also have the right of organizing the authorities of government; but the in presidential system, the parliament only have the rights of lawmaking, supervising government and deciding financial budget, and do not have the right of organizing government. Third, the relationship between government and parliament is different. In the parliamentary system, the government is responsible of the parliament. If the parliament passes the case of not trusting government owing to being unpleased with the governments policy, the government must resign or apply the head of nation to dismiss the parliament and vote again. But in the presidential system, the government leaded by president is only responsible of electors, and not the parliament. Both the members of parliament and government can not hold a concurrent post. The president need not have the policy responsibility of parliament, so the parliament can not compel president to resign by proposing untrusting case, but when the president disobeys the constitutions, they can propose impeach. Fourth, the position and function the head of state plays are different. In the parliamentary system, the head of state only has suppositional rights not real rights, but in the presidential system, the president is the same to the head of state, at the same time, he is also the head of the government, so he has the real rights. Fifth, the means of political partys producing is different. In the parliamentary system, the political party is usually the party or the party union who win in the general election of the parliament; but in the presidential system, the political party is usually the party or party union who win in the general election of the president. Sixthly, in the parliamentary system, executive are drawn from the legislature, but in the presidential system, executive and legislature strictly separate. Finally, the producing ways of the head of state is different. In the parliamentary, the president is mainly elected by the parliament excluding some little nations, but in the presidential system, the president is voted by the whole people directly or indirectly (What government, n.d.). The reasons for why the presidential system can provide better opportunities for business lobbying than the parliamentary system For interest groups, they can participate in the political process by making some campaigns, drafting and making some political proposes and communicating with the lawmakers and their staff about the issues they concern in order to obtain some favor in their position. So through above comparison analysis, the presidential system of the government can provide better opportunities the process of business lobbying. Some special reasons will be discussed in the following. First, in the presidential system of government, the communication between the lobbyists and the government will be easier and more convenient than in the parliamentary system. In the presidential system, the president is voted by the whole people directly or indirectly, and is responsible for his electors, at the same time the lobbyist and the other members of the interest groups which the lobbyists stand for are the part of the voters, and because the influence of the interest groups are so wide among the voters that they are playing an important role in the election of the president. So the president will be pleased and can not refuse usually to communicate with his voters although at the same time they are the lobbyists and maybe their opinions are so different from him. Just for these reasons, the communication with the government will be easier and more convenient, and the lobbyists will accept the basic respect. The situation between the lobbyists and the local government will be the same. Second, in the presidential system of government, the rate of successful business lobbying is higher than in the parliamentary system. According to the ways of the election of president and other characteristics of the presidential system, the president will take some consideration of his voters including the lobbyist voters for the success of the next president election. And in this system, to some degree the parliament and the president is consistent and the president has the real rights, so if the lobbyist can make a good relationship with the head, the business lobbying is already successful for half. So the successful rate will increase. Third, in the presidential system, the market of business lobbying will be larger than in the parliamentary system. Because the communication will be easy between lobbyists and government and the successful rate of business lobbying is high, at the same time, what is the most important is that if the business lobbying is successful, the benefit will surpass the cost bigly, so the enterprises will employ more lobbyists for more issues which they concern. Just for this reasons, the market of business lobbying will be larger. Though above discussion, and according to the contrast of characteristics between these two different systems, the presidential system of the government will provide better opportunities for the business lobbying (Nirmalendu, 2004). Some suggestions and reflections People always say that a healthy political system is an essential element to a healthy economic system; on the contrary, the economic system will have influence on the political system (Tomaso, D. 2005). As the market of business lobbying is increasing seriously and the influence of the lobbyists is on the rise, some problems must be taken into consideration about the business lobbying for its continue and healthy development. The activities of business lobbying are mainly related to three beneficial parts, which are enterprises, lobbies and government. Just these three parts make the business lobbying go on. There are some suggestions and reflections about the three beneficial parts (Hamilton David, 1997). First, for enterprises, they must have a right incentive for business lobbying, and should not use business lobbying for no reasons. As soon as decide to go on the activities of business lobbying, they should union some other related companies and find a suitable and qualified lobbyists to make it successful to increase the powers and successful rate of business lobbying. Second, for lobbyists, when they receive some enterprises invitation and apply, they should think it over and over, because they should have their own positions. But as soon as they decide to receive the business lobbying, they should have a complete and detailed plan before actions and choose and use proper and suitable ways to influence the process of politics. Maybe they can combine direct and indirect ways of business lobbying (Dustin, 2010). Third, for government, although there are more and more interests groups and professional lobbyists who are engaging the activities of business lobbying and their advisers are usually persuasive, the government should have its own position about some specific issues and should think over things from the perspective of the whole peoples benefit. Only by the common and simultaneous hard workings of enterprises, lobbyists and the government, the business lobbying can play its deserved role in the development process of politic and economy.

Student :: essays research papers

Dewey Dell’s conflict   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dewey Dell is the fourth child, and the only daughter, of Anse and Addie Bundren in As I Lay Dying. â€Å"Dewey Dell monologues are characterized with unarticulated wishes, powerful but poorly misunderstood emotions, and weakness.† From the dialogue, Darl said to Dewel Dell that Addie is going to die and she will die before they get back from the lumber job. Based on the story As I Lay Dying, does Dewey Dell hates Darl or she doesn’t? If yes, what is the reason? This paper will discuss how Dewey Dell’s attitude towards Darl is continuous with her weird dreams. First, Dewey Dell is the fourth of five children from Addie’s Bundren. She is the only daughter of the family. One night, Darl, Cash, Dewey Dell and Vardaman went to New Hope. Cash and Darl are swimming. â€Å"Vardaman rise and go to the window and strike the knife into the fish, the blood gushing, hissing like steam but I could not see.† Vardaman is younger brother of Dewey Dell. â€Å"He’ll do as I say.† Dewey Dell can persuade him to anything. On that night, Dewey Dell’s got a weird dream. â€Å"I rose and took the knife from the streaming fish still hissing and I killed Darl. She remembers a dream where she killed him. But it was only a dream. † When I used to sleep with Vardaman I had a nightmare one I thought I was awake but I couldn’t see and couldn’t feel the bed under me and I couldn’t think what I was I couldn’t think of my name I couldn’t even think I am a girl †¦She remembers a nightmare whe re she did not know where or who or what she was, nor what was happening. â€Å"Do you know she is going to die, Jewel?† Darl said. â€Å"It takes two people to make you, and one people to die.† I said to Dewey Dell: â€Å"You want her to die so you can get to town: is that it?† She wouldn’t say what we both knew. â€Å"The reason you will not say it is, when you say it, even to yourself, you will know it is true: is that it? But you know it is true now.

Capital Punishment Essay - Lets Abolish Legalized Killing :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Let's Abolish Legalized Killing      Ã‚  Ã‚   Capital Punishment in the United States was declared constitutional in 1976 by the Supreme Court. It had been struck down four years prior to 1976 (The Economist 19). There are courts in the United States today that want to abolish capital punishment because the methods used are believed to be cruel and unusual (Creque 51).    The gas chamber execution involves toxic chemicals which "enhances physical trauma to induce death" (Creque 51). A death by hanging may decapitate a person, a firing squad may miss the person and leave him/her to bleed to death, and the electric chair can cook a person to the point of charring and loosening the skin from the bone. While these methods are widely accepted as forms of the death penalty, the procedures can and do go awry.    In 1994, serial killer John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection. This procedure should take no longer than five minutes, but it ended up taking eighteen minutes to complete (Siedeman 52). In 1976, Joseph Tafero was to be executed by electrocution. "When the switch was flipped, six-inch flames and smoke spewed out of Tafero's head" (Siedeman 52). It took an additional two jolts to kill him. These are examples of cruel and unusual punishment.    Some people in the United States believe that capital punishment should not be abolished, just updated and made more efficient. What is suggested is the use of nitrogen asphyxiation which simply puts someone to sleep. This death penalty method would cause no pain or physical trauma (Creque 51). This method of punishment is also cruel and unusual. It is cruel and unusual to make someone believe that they are "just going to sleep" when in they are really being put to death. Creque suggests in this article "Killing With Kindness" that it is okay to punish a human being by this method. What makes this method of punishment any more uncruel and usual?    Many people, including myself, think that the United States should do away with capital punishment all together. Their belief is that the death penalty is racially biased and morally wrong. Many taxpayers believe that capital punishment is more expensive than life in prison.

The Changing Role of Human Resources :: Human Resources Essays

Introduction In most companies today, the HR function provides vital services to such stakeholders as job applicants, workers, supervisors, middle managers, and executives. Yet, the HR function tends to be located at the end of the business chain, on the reactive side, and too frequently centers on carrying out actions rather than achieving outcomes. The role of the HR function is frequently one of providing people, training, and secluded HR efforts after others have formulated organizational strategy and have initiated operational accomplishment. Cost centered management of worker benefits programs such as health insurance, workers' compensation, and pension plans have also figure outstandingly in an effort to control out of control operating costs (Dunn, 2006). Discussion The HRM department at our company does not really play a strategic role in the organization. Presently they spend the majority of their time doing the day to day things like hiring people, training, and other HR efforts that allow the business to function everyday. In order for business to achieve success in the every changing business world it is important for HR departments to become more strategically aligned with the overall goals and efforts of companies. There are three key reasons why businesses are changing their methods. The first is reducing costs. HR departments should no longer want to be seen as just a support function and cost center, they need to show their value. Secondly, it is the competitiveness of business today and the fight to employ and retain people that will help drive the business. Finally, HR departments are now expected to have an understanding of how other departments function in order to make a valuable contribution to the whole of the business (Brockway, 2007). The HR professional who will succeed in guiding their organizations into the future will be those who understand and use business strategy; understand corporate culture, plans and policies; recognize future problems and work solutions; can deal with all types of people; can communicate well verbally and in writing; and can recognize, recruit and train future executives. As organizations continue to move towards collective systems and combined financial resources for managing their human capital, we are likely to see more organizational structures combining both HR and Organizational Development (OD). The time has come to quit debating OD's involvement in HR systems and seek the present opportunities of showcasing the skills of OD in building organizational capacity and having a measurable impact on workforce productivity.

Reflections on Kinsey, the Movie

Every scene in the film was worth paying attention to.   The plot that is based on the real life story of Prof. Alfred Kinsey is unusual and enlightening.   The movie has effectively depicted the life of the professor and has shown the audience his struggles in his research on   human sexuality.   Kinsey manifested how taboo the subject of sex and human sexuality was during the late 1940’s.   Moreover, the film has clearly shown how complicated it was to explore the subject and to impart the information to the public. Thus, efforts of Prof. Kinsey to let out in the open all about the subject have created noise during the said period. There was a part in the film where he stated that people are anxious and guilty over sex because they are not aware of how others engage in it.   Because of his research on human sexuality, he was accused of aiding the communist aim of weakening and deteriorating the youth of America.   Furthermore, the book he wrote about the sexuality of the human male created chaos, even at the national level.   At the same time, however, his works opened the minds of its readers. In addition, all the key actors in the movie have portrayed their parts well.   Liam Neeson in particular, effectively played the role of Prof. Alfred Kinsey.   Meanwhile, my favorite character in the movie is Prof. Kinsey’s wife, Clare McMillan whom he fondly called â€Å"Mac†.   She described herself as free spirited, which in the film, was actually depicted.   She is extremely supportive to Prof. Kinsey in all that he does. There was a scene in the movie where I admired how Mac’s emotional weakness manifested strength.   It was when she showed Prof. Kinsey how hurt she was when he slept with a male friend, Clyde.   Here, she questioned Prof. Kinsey where marriage and family stands amidst all these human sexuality research that he has gotten obsessed with. Though she was supportive of Prof. Kinsey’s endeavors, she appeared to disagree at some aspects and ensured to let Prof. Kinsey know.   One surprise however was when she also agreed to have sex with Clyde.   It was not clear to me why she exactly did that but it seems she wanted to let Prof. Kinsey feel how she did when, he in the first place, slept with Clyde.   As she also enjoyed the act, perhaps she has also learned to take Prof. Kinsey’s reasons for sleeping with him. I think Prof. Kinsey became obsessed with the subject of human sexuality because of his eagerness to create change by increasing the awareness of people on the subject of human sexuality.   As mentioned, sex was then taboo.   It appears that Prof. Kinsey wanted to unravel all secrets regarding human sexuality and let these all out into the open.   Prof. Kinsey was aware of the chaos that was certain to happen but still aimed to let the people know the diversity and richness of human sexuality. As I understand it, his interest in the subject all started when he himself encountered difficulty in engaging in sex as shown in the scene where they first made love. He thought of consulting with an expert and has eventually managed to work on their sexual relationship.   Meanwhile in the university, he spoke with some students and learned that they had a lot of incorrect notions on sex.   He suggested to the academe that sex education should be part of the curriculum.   The teaching body, however, was adamant to this idea.   He then held a marriage course given to the engaged-to-be-married couples where he started teaching about sex, in a scientific and methodical approach. One can see the intensity of his drive to research on this matter when he dramatically shifted focus from studying wasps to studying human’s sexual acts, homosexuality, sexual rituals, extramarital and premarital sex. In addition, he used his own body for research when he inflicted pain on himself by cutting his foreskin, intending to grasp why others find pleasure in pain during sex.   He even created a team, which later on seemingly became guinea pigs, as they engaged in group sex. After watching the film, I realized that humans may be â€Å"animals†, as Kinsey maintains, but   have morals that have delineated decent form indecent, the socially unacceptable and acceptable.   This makes us distinct from dogs, pigs and other animals.   I think Prof. Kinsey went overboard in looking at sex objectively.   We still are subject to emotions and feelings.   I also learned that though science aims to quantify all things, human sexuality is still, most of the time, governed by morals and social norms.   There still are boundaries and limitations.      

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 25

25. Being the Chronicles of Abby Normal, Failed Nosferatu, Heartbroken Day Dweller, and Deposed Backup Mistress of the Greater Bay Area Darkness My heady powers of the night are gone, my manga-haired love monkey with a most fly ride is gone, even my tail is gone-worst of all, the Countess is gone. We watched her sail off just before dawn, the Rastafarian imbecile piloting the Raven out past Alcatraz as we stood there on the dock. Then Rivera and Cavuto came blazing up in their shit-brown cop-mobile and jumped out of the car, all â€Å"We have totally watched a number of cop shows and now know how to look urgent.† And Cavuto is all, â€Å"Don't even move, missy.† And he's holding a Super Soaker again. This time, a yellow one. And Rivera is all creeping up the other side of the dock, as if we don't see him, even though the dock is only like fifteen feet wide and there's no cover and it's almost dawn. And Tommy's like, â€Å"You guys, I should probably explain.† But before he can say anything else, I jump up and I'm all, â€Å"Rawr,† at them, coming down with total monster claw hands and scary face. And they fire up their sun jackets and totally open up on Tommy and me with the Super Soakers, until we are wet and laughing so hard that we're falling down on each other. And Marvin jumps out of the car window and runs over to us all doggie â€Å"whaaaa?† face, because he doesn't see a lot of laughing in the cadaver dog business. And Rivera looks at Cavuto, then turns off his sun jacket, and Cavuto turns off his, then holds his squirt gun like it's just turned into a giant yellow turd. And he's all, â€Å"Well, fuck.† And I'm all, â€Å"Oh ass bear, you make me wet,† which totally made us giggle some more, and Marvin ran over and started licking my face, which made me laugh even more, until finally Rivera pulled out his handcuffs and we stopped laughing. So we explained about the old vamps being dead and how they had gotten rid of all the kitty vamps and Chet, and how everyone else had been changed back like us, and it was all good so they just needed to chill the fuck out. And Rivera's all, â€Å"What about the black ship?† And we're like, â€Å"It was owned by this eccentric bazil-lionaire, and the vamps had taken it over, but now that they were dead he was going home.† And Rivera was all, â€Å"But the Emperor said-â€Å" And I'm all, â€Å"Bitch, please. The Emperor of San Francisco, protector of Alcatraz, Sausalito, and Treasure Island, you mean?† Snarking hard. And Rivera is all, â€Å"Okay, good point.† And then the Animals all pull up in two cars, and they jump out all loaded up with squirt guns and garden sprayers, and the Emperor and his dogs jump out, and they are all ready to kick ass, when Rivera stopped them and ‘splained and they went off to get high and the Emperor walked off down the waterfront, watching the Raven sail out to the Golden Gate. ‘Kayso, now the sun is up and Rivera and Cavuto realize that we are totally not vamps, so they take Marvin and climb in their shit-brown mobile and drive off. So Tommy and I are just standing there, at the edge of the dock, and we can just barely see the Raven out by the Golden Gate Bridge, her sails up now, all silver in the sun. And I'm like, â€Å"We should probably go get that money the Countess hid on the roof. It's like three hundred thousand dollars.† The Countess told us where it was before she left. She said she wouldn't need it. And he's like, â€Å"Yeah. It might be a little harder to get up there now that we don't have super powers.† And I'm like, â€Å"She said there's a fire escape most of the way.† And he's all, â€Å"‘Kay.† And he's just staring at the ship. So I'm like, â€Å"So I know you're not nosferatu anymore, but I could still be your minion, if you needed one.† And he's like, â€Å"I'm kind of broken-hearted over here.† And I'm like, â€Å"Me, too.† And he's all, â€Å"Besides, I think you've sort of advanced beyond the level of minion.† So I'm like, â€Å"I could be your girlfriend.† And he's all, â€Å"I thought you loved Foo.† And I'm like, â€Å"I kind of do.† So then he's like, â€Å"I thought you loved Jody.† And I'm all, â€Å"I do. I'm polyamorous.† And he's like, â€Å"Now you want to fuck parrots?!† And I was about to go off on him, but I saw he was grinning, so I just elbowed him in the ribs, like, you dick, as we watched the ship disappear into the fog outside the bridge. And he's like, â€Å"When do you think the Raven will be back?† And I go, all scary voice, â€Å"Nevermore.† Then he looks at me, with a big smile, and he takes my hand. And I totally wanted to kiss him, with plenty of despair and tongue and whatnot. But then I would have had to slap him, so he didn't think that I was a slut, since I'd only been dumped like hours before. But then I thought, he might slap me for the same reason, so instead of a kiss I decided to do a small celebratory booty dance of forbidden passion, which made him grin like a big doof. So we sort of stood there, holding hands, looking at where the ship used to be, realizing that the future was fucking ginormously huge. Like the abyss, only, you know, with better lighting. And I'm all, â€Å"So what now, cornflakes?† Then he's all, â€Å"I think I'll write a book.†