Modern Day Cinderella Story

My Modern-Day Cinderella Story P3 Language Arts It was pouring outside. Not just pouring, that word doesn’t suffice how much water was aimlessly falling from the sky and crashing to the ground with every footstep that Ella Kess took on her way home. Today was the day that seven years ago her parents died in a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean. It was strange, how she had to live on after the death, but she pulled through with the help of her best friend Kylee Lainer. She would have been okay this year too but they were not friends anymore.They had grown up together, friends since age three but when they reached high school Kylee became a different person, got new friends, and left Ella alone. After their breakup as BFFLs, Ella’s so called friends dropped like flies. She figured it was because they liked Kylee not her, but this didn’t bother Ella, she never liked them anyway. She reached her uncles condo right before the thunder started to roar. She dashed in th e building and walked right over to the elevator without bothering to say hello to the front desk manager, Gary, who had been her mentor since her parent’s death.He was an older guy, probably in his 70’s, but he knew a lot and told her stories of when he was a child and these things kept her calm. She knew he would understand that she didn’t want to talk. Ella pushed the up button and the elevator doors opened. She walked in and saw Drew Hawthorne. Drew just wasn’t ANY guy, she had liked him ever since he stole her crayons in kindergarten. He threw a lopsided smile in her way and said â€Å"hey†. â€Å"Hi† was the best she could muster. Conversation wasn’t her thing, especially right here, right now. The trip from the lobby up to the penthouse level seemed like it would go on forever.Drew had lived in the other penthouse since about the time her parents died. Ella was convinced that one day they would get married and have three childr en, two girls and one boy. She had already named them anyway. Her fairytale ended right when the Kylee, knowing that Ella and Drew we’re in the pre-dating stage (in other words, neither of them we’re planning on asking the other out), asked Drew out herself. Kylee and Drew are still going out. The elevator finally made it to the top level of the high end condos and made a stop. â€Å"See you around. , Ella,† Drew said. â€Å"Um, yeah.Have a nice weekend,† Ella replied trying to sound cheerful and happy. Tonight was the fairy queen parade. She never bothered to enter the contest, she just enjoyed watching the catty girls bring each other’s confidence down and argue over what color lipstick looks best on who. This year was going to be even more interesting because her two step-cousins, Regina and Carly, we’re entering. She would have too, but they made it clear that that wasn’t happening anytime soon. She walked past the kitchen and gra bbed an apple on the way to her room. Her room was her sanctuary, her favorite place in the whole entire world.It had amazing views of the city, Seattle, and from here she could pretend that she was on top of the world. â€Å"Can you like stop being so depressed, Ella. I swear to god if you ruin this weekend for Regina and me, you will suffer,† Carly hissed at her on the way to her own room. â€Å"Carly, don’t be so mean to her! † Regina snapped. Regina is probably the closest thing to a sister Ella never had. She can be mean, but hey, at least she tries to be her friend. â€Å"Carly, chill. I’m not even entering and even if I was I doubt I would win,† Ella yelled to Carly down the hall. Regina came in and sat on her bed. Ella, I know that you just want to feel like you belong†¦ and you do,† Regina said trying to cover up any of the pain she sees on Ella’s face. â€Å"Yeah, whatever. † She shot back, knowing that sheâ€℠¢ll get the signal. Ella didn’t want to talk. As she sat and thought about how much she wanted to enter, the desire got greater. Only one problem†¦ she didn’t have a thing. She decided to go down to the lobby and ask Gary for advice. He would surely know what to do in a situation like this. â€Å"Hey Gary,† she said while trying to decided how to ask about all this without sounding needy. I need†¦ a favor. † â€Å"Hello there dear! Finally decided to enter the contest, eh? I knew you would and that is exactly why old Gary made a couple of calls and got you everything you needed, And remember kid, you go out there and win that thing and Drew will be yours. † It’s like he read her mind. He knew exactly what she needed and why. This is why she liked Gary so much. But how’d he know about Drew? â€Å"Gary, thank you so much. But, how’d you know about Drew? † â€Å"It’s extremely obvious. Now run along! † and with that he handed her a large box.She got back up to her room and with excitement bubbling in her blood she threw open the lid. Her mouth dropped. She reached in and pulled out the most beautiful blue dress her emerald eyes had ever seen. It wasn’t just any dress; it fit her body like a glove. The dark blue satin shined as she walked over to her mirror. The dress was elegant from head to toe. She walked back over to her bed and looked inside the box, discovering the silver heels, diamond necklace, and blue hair pin. This must have been Gary’s wife’s clothing. She died of cancer awhile back†¦Ella guessed he never really got over it. â€Å"I look like a princess,† Ella thought aloud. She knew it was time to go now or she would miss the whole thing so she grabbed her mom’s silver shawl and headed out. Once she got to the parade, any bit of confidence she might have had, vanished. She didn’t know a thing about being pretty and she s ure as heck wasn’t going to start learning now. â€Å"No. I’m not doing this,† Ella said to herself. But it was too late. From across the street she saw Carly and the other girls looking straight at her, the envy clear in their eyes. â€Å"GET OUT OF HERE!!! † screamed Carly.Gasps and awes escaped the mouths of the jealous contestants and Ella knew she needed to leave right then. She turned on her heels and ran, tears streaming down her face. She got so flustered and so panicked that to prevent her from being there any longer, took down her hair and threw her heels and blue hair pen on the sidewalk. She didn’t care who found them. And then she heard a voice. â€Å"Ella! Wait, stop running! † the voice yelled. She immediately recognized it as Drew’s. Her Drew. She looked back, tears now streaming down her face and gave him the best smile she could. And then she was gone.The next morning, Ella woke up to the sound of Carly’s voic e drifting in from the kitchen. â€Å"I can’t believe she showed up AND ACTUALLY LOOKED PRETTY! † Carly yelled â€Å"Well, you know it was bound to happen. I saw Drew looking the whole time. I went over there this morning and he said that he found a blue pin and silver shoes. He’s confident they belong to her, after all he went psycho on Facebook messaging almost every girl. † Regina said. â€Å"He was looking for me† Ella thought. The next morning Ella decided to go down to Starbucks. She headed out into the hallway and pushed the down button.And there he was, Drew, leaning calmly against the elevator railing. â€Å"Great,† Ella said under her breath. â€Å"You looked beautiful, Ella. I don’t know why you left,† And with that he pulled out the silver shoes and blue pin from behind his back. â€Å"I believe these are yours, are they not? † Drew said flashing his lopsided smile. â€Å"Uh, yeah thank you† Ella stamm ered. â€Å"I broke up with Kylee† Drew choked out. And in that moment when they were both staring at each other intently, Drew realized she was his Cinderella and he was her Prince Charming. â€Å"I’ll buy you that drink if you be my girlfriend,† Drew teased. The End

Training & Development: a Tool of Retaining Employees

Training & Development: A tool of Retaining Employees â€Å"Abstract† NITIN GUPTA (ASST. PROF. IIMT HOTEL MANAGEMENT COLLEGE) The objective of this study is to show that training & development is required for an organization to retain its employees, as Training is activity leading to skilled behavior and it realize the employees that what they want in life& knowing how to reach it, where they want to go and how to get there, how high they want to rise and how to take off in the organization. The people in your organization are your most important resource. It is not only essential to hire the very best employees but the important is that a company retains those employees. Training and re-skilling inspire loyalty. Training is seen as expensive and a way of making their employees attractive to others. The risks involved, when weighed against the benefits, often mean that retraining is overlooked in favor of recruiting externally. However, the recruitment costs of staff time before and after the hire and direct expenses compare favorably against staff development costs. Training employees reinforces their sense of value. Through training, employers help employees achieve goals and ensure they have a solid understanding of their job requirements. A mixed approach of valuing staff by developing skills, providing interesting/motivating work while recognizing their individual contribution, along side benefits and perks, will mean that you are an employer that employees don't want to leave. TOPIC Training & Development: A tool of Retaining Employees INTRODUCTION The people in any organization are most important resource. It is not only essential to hire the very best employees but the important is that a company retains those employees. Training and re-skilling inspire loyalty. Training is seen as expensive and a way of making their employees attractive to others. The risks involved, when weighed against the benefits, often mean that retraining is overlooked in favor of recruiting externally. However, the recruitment costs of staff time before and after the hire and direct expenses compare favorably against staff development costs. Employees leave organizations for many reasons; oftentimes these reasons are unknown to their employers. Employers need to listen to employees’ needs and implement retention strategies to make employees feel valued and engaged in order to keep them. These retention methods can have a significant and positive impact on an organization’s turnover rate. According to strategic planning consultant Leigh Branham, SPHR, 88% of employees leave their jobs for reasons other than pay: However, 70% of managers think employees leave mainly for pay-related reasons. Branham says there are seven main reasons why employees leave a company: 1. Employees feel the job or workplace is not what they expected. 2. There is a mismatch between the job and person. 3. There is too little coaching and feedback. 4. There are too few growth and advancement opportunities. 5. Employees feel devalued and unrecognized. 6. Employees feel stress from overwork and have a work/life imbalance. 7. There is a loss of trust and confidence in senior leaders. WHY RETAINING EMPLOYEES IS IMPORTANT? Turnover is costly. According to Right Management, a talent and career management consulting firm, it costs nearly three times an employee’s salary to replace someone, which includes recruitment, severance, lost productivity, and lost opportunities. Life Work Solutions, a provider of staff retention and consulting services, provides the following turnover facts and rates: †¢ Over 50 % of people recruited in to an organization will leave within 2 years. †¢ One in four of new hires will leave within 6 months. †¢ Nearly 70% of organizations report that staff turnover has a negative financial impact due to the cost of recruiting, hiring, and training a replacement employee and the overtime work of current employees that’s required until the organization can fill the vacant position. Nearly 70 % of organizations report having difficulties in replacing staff. †¢ Approximately 50% of organizations experience regular problems with employee retention. From these statistics it’s clear that it’s important to develop a retention plan to retain employees and keep turnover low. If an employee resigns, then good amount of time is lost in hiring a new employee and then training him/her and this goes to t he loss of the company directly which many a times goes unnoticed. And even after this no one can assure the same efficiency from the new employee (He might be better and might not be). It requires time to judge his capabilities and work nature. And above all these things, one resignation many a times triggers a chain reaction among other employees, leading to a negative effect. RETENTION METHODS Here are some effective methods employers utilize in order to keep employees happy and part of their organization instead of looking for employment opportunities elsewhere. Training: Training employees reinforces their sense of value. Through training, employers help employees achieve goals and ensure they have a solid understanding of their job requirements. It’s important for companies to give coaching to employees so that their efforts stay aligned with the goals of the company and meet expectations. During an employee’s first few weeks on the job, an employer should provide intensive feedback. Employers should also provide formal and informal feedback to employees throughout the year. Mentoring. A mentoring program integrated with a goal-oriented feedback system provides a structured mechanism for developing strong relationships within an organization and is a solid foundation for employee retention and growth. With a mentoring program, an organization pairs someone more experienced in a discipline with someone less experienced in a similar area, with the goal to develop specific competencies, provide performance feedback, and design an individualized career development plan. Instill a positive culture. A company should establish a series of values as the basis for culture such as honesty, excellence, attitude, respect, and teamwork (IOMA, 2008). A company that creates the right culture will have an advantage when it comes to attracting and keeping good employees (Main). Use communication to build credibility. No matter what the size of the organization, communication is central to building and maintaining credibility. Many employers get communication to â€Å"flow up† through a staff advisory council (or similar group) which solicits and/or receives employees’ opinions and suggestions and passes them on to upper management (IOMA). It’s also important for employees to know that the employer is really listening and responds to (or otherwise acknowledges) employee input. Show appreciation via compensation and benefits. Offering things like competitive salaries, profit sharing, bonus programs, pension and health plans, paid time off, and tuition reimbursement sends a powerful message to employees about their importance at the organization. The rewards given to employees must be meaningful in order to impact their perception of the organization and therefore have a marked influence on its retention efforts. Moreover, if an organization promises a reward, it should keep that promise. Encourage referrals and recruit from within. Having current employees offer referrals could help minimize confusion of job expectations. Current employees can realistically describe a position and the environment to the individual he/she is referring. Another way an employer can lessen the impact of turnover is to hire from within, since current employees have already discovered that they are a good fit in the organization. Provide growth opportunities. An organization should provide workshops, software, or other tools to help employees increase their understanding of themselves and what they want from their careers and enhance their goal-setting efforts. It’s important to provide employees with adequate job challenges that will expand their knowledge in their field. According to Right Management, employees are more likely to stay engaged in their jobs and committed to an organization that makes investments in them and their career development. Make employees feel valued. Employees will go the extra mile if they feel responsible for the results of their work, have a sense of worth in their jobs, believe their jobs make good use of their skills, and receive recognition for their contributions. Employees should be rewarded at a high level to motivate even higher performance. The use of cash payouts could be used for on-the-spot recognition. These rewards have terrific motivational power, especially when given as soon as possible after the achievement. It’s important for employers to say â€Å"thank you† to employees for their efforts and find different ways to recognize them. Even something as simple as a free lunch can go a long way towards making employees feel valued. Listen to employees and ask for their input as to what rewards might work best at your organization. Conduct meetings and surveys to enable employees to share their input (Branham). Most team members will work harder to carry out a decision that they’ve helped to influence. Lower stress from overworking and create work/life balance. It’s important to match work/life benefits to the needs of employees. This could be in the form of offering nontraditional work schedules (such as a compressed work week, telecommuting, and flextime) or extra holidays. When work-life balance is structured properly, both the employee and employer come out ahead. For example, the employer will experience more productivity in the workplace because employees will be less stressed, healthier, and thus, more productive (Wingfield). Encouraging employees to set work/life goals, such as spending more time with their children, communicates that you really do want them to have a life outside of work and achieve a healthy work/life balance. Foster trust and confidence in senior leaders. Develop strong relationships with employees from the start to build trust. Employees have to believe that upper management is competent and that the organization will be successful. An employer has to be able to inspire this confidence and make decisions that reinforce it. An employer cannot say one thing and do another. For example, an employer shouldn’t talk about quality and then push employees to do more work in less time. In addition, employers need to engage and inspire employees by enacting policies that show they trust them, such as getting rid of authoritarian style of management. HOW TRAINING WORKS IN RETAINING EMPLOYEES? Once skilled workers are nestled within any organizations there is a second challenge in keeping them there – and here training and education can play a crucial role. Retaining good employees is critically important to a company's bottom line. Many companies that fail to place adequate emphasis on training make the mistake of assuming that pay is the only important motivating factor for their staff. In 1999 the Hay Group studied over 500,000 people in 300 companies to find out what promoted employee loyalty. The top three factors, mentioned by ninety percent of respondents, were; â€Å"career growth, learning and development†; â€Å"exciting work and challenge† and â€Å"meaningful work, making a difference and a contribution†. Fair pay and benefits was tenth on the list. After studying the above, following results are concluded as the output of training & development of employees: †¢ Optimum Utilization of Human Resources – Training and Development helps in optimizing the utilization of human resource that further helps the employee to achieve the organizational goals as well as their individual goals. †¢ Development of Human Resources – Training and Development helps to provide an opportunity and broad structure for the development of human resources’ technical and behavioral skills in an organization. It also helps the employees in attaining personal growth. Development of skills of employees – Training and Development helps in increasing the job knowledge and skills of employees at each level. It helps to expand the horizons of human intellect and an overall personality of the employees. †¢ Productivity – Training and Development helps in increasing the productivity of the employees that helps the organization further to achieve its long-term goal. †¢ Team spirit – Training and Development helps in inculcating the sense of team work, team spirit, and inter-team collaborations. It helps in inculcating the zeal to learn within the employees. Organization Culture – Training and Development helps to develop and improve the organizational health culture and effectiveness. It helps in creating the learning culture within the organization. †¢ Organization Climate – Training and Development helps building the positive perception and feeling about the organization. The employees get these feelings from leaders, subordinates, and peers. †¢ Quality – Training and Development helps in improving upon the quality of work and work-life. †¢ Healthy work environment – Training and Development helps in creating the healthy working environment. It helps to build good employee, relationship so that individual goals aligns with organizational goal. †¢ Health and Safety – Training and Development helps in improving the health and safety of the organization thus preventing obsolescence. †¢ Morale – Training and Development helps in improving the morale of the work force. †¢ Image – Training and Development helps in creating a better corporate image. †¢ Profitability – Training and Development leads to improved profitability and more positive attitudes towards profit orientation. †¢ Training and Development aids in organizational development i. . Organization gets more effective decision making and problem solving. It helps in understanding and carrying out organizational policies †¢ Training and Development helps in developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, better attitudes, and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually display. CONCLUSION Itâ⠂¬â„¢s clear that having proper retention strategies is key in order to retain employees. Productivity is maximized when employees enjoy their work. Offering opportunities to explore different options within the organization is one way of motivating the workforce. A company that is tuned into meeting employee needs should encourage movement across processes and functions. An environment that motivates and stimulates employees, managers need to incorporate motivation-building practices into their corporate culture. These practices include listening to employees and respecting their opinions, basing rewards on performance, and trained them to develop their skills & being available to them for everything from listening to their ideas and concerns to assisting them with their career advancement. Rotation of functions provides a forum for constant learning and self-improvement. When employees are given a chance to grow in various functions, a positive work environment is created. Thus, employee morale and productivity are maintained at a very high level. References/ Bibliography †¢ Crosscut magazine, spring 2002 (article by Iain Macdonald, Associate Director, Centre for Advanced Wood Processing) †¢ Harvard Business Essentials: Guide to Hiring and Keeping the Best People, Harvard Business Press by Sarah K. Yazinski, University of Scranton †¢ Training as important as salaries in staff loyalty By Gareth Morgan, IT Week Tuesday, July 31, 2001 02:59 PM Handle with care: motivating and retaining your employees   By Barbara A. Glanz Recruiting, training, and retaining new employees: managing the transition †¦ By Jack J. Phillips, Sharon L. Oswald Retaining your best employees: nine case studies from the real world of training  By Patricia Pulliam Phillips Web Page: http://writer4u. com Submitted By Leslie Wood

Implications of trade liberalization in Australia and government protectionism Essay

Australia is a worldwide trading nation with different range of trading partners. About 20 of the top export items for the country come from a range of commodity, resource and service industries. The leading exports from the country are iron ore, coal as well as educational services. Access to fair as well as free international shipping is basically important to Australia. Considerable drive for the ongoing development in international commerce in Australia emanates from trade liberalization. The fact that the country has lowered the trade barriers and improved in international transportation, communication and technology, this has led to an increased trade exposed as well as interdependent economies. The government has realized the opportunities that are underlined in the competitive global marketplace for the service providers, consumers as well as producers and this has pushed the government to seek for trade liberalization. The country seeks to reduce and if possible remove all barriers so as to open future commercial opportunities (Gruen, 2010). Policies assumed by the government Australia launched the internal structural reforms as well as measures for unilateral trade liberalization in the early 1990s and since then there have been high productivity, lower unemployment and high growth of GDP. The economic reforms entailing tariff reform, privatization and deregulation of many service sectors and reduction of subsidiaries have led to increased competitiveness of Australian stimulated exports along with business. The internal structural reforms in Australia have been evidenced to implement the process of trade liberalization. The commitment by the government to minimize the budget deficit has spurred the reduction of subsidies (Chand, 1999). Australia has already endorsed a new competitive policy which needs inter alia. This is an evaluation of all legislation that may enforce costs on business and consist of anti-competitive elements. Furthermore, government enterprises which were previously exempted from competition rules are currently subjected to similar rules just like private business. Privatization and deregulation are also being experienced in majority of the services sectors. A comprehensive internal deregulation and policy reforms for competition accompanied by a continuation of trade reforms is the central key increasing the ability for the country to compete effectively on the international market. Consequently, this leads to improved competitiveness in the country. The high degree of precision concerning the effects and nature of particular twist to competition has tremendously facilitated the trade and structural reform process (Sharma, 2004). The reform process can be linked positively to the Australia’s rates of GDP. Moreover, the reform process can be associated to the effect factor for productivity growth in Australia which has been described to be the highest among the industrialized countries in the OECD group. The Australian economy has gone through a period of strong growth along with low rates of inflation since 1994. A stable macroeconomic environment geared upon the Australian industry has been facilitated by the prudent monetary policies. On the other hand the fiscal policy has determined to consolidate privatization and budget deficit to decrease the savings investment gap which has led to persistent present account deficits (Gruen, 2010). Australia has adopted the method of elimination of barriers of trade in goods as well as services and this has led to securing improved and new market access chances. This has been a key focus for bilateral, multilateral as well as regional agreements. The agreements offer a framework that is legally binding and this helps in the advancement of the market access objectives in Australia. The country has been involved in major negotiating rounds under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This has been in Kennedy, Dillon, Uruguay and Tokyo Rounds. The agreement came with lots of trade liberalization at a worldwide level though the success has been limited especially in the agricultural sector (Sharma, 2004). The country launched the Doha Development Agenda in 2001 and includes a wide range of matters such as industrial products, agriculture and other World Trade Organization rules issues, some trade and environment issues and all these are entailed in the present WTO negotiating. Negotiations The negotiations provide to the country a foundation for further trade liberalization and consequently address the removal of subsidies on agricultural export. An example of a negotiation is the one the country entered with Singapore in 2002 and the agreement was to cover various chapters such as investment, telecommunication services, electronic commerce and educational cooperation among others. The country’s current trade liberalization commitments are protected by the dispute settlement mechanism and rule-based trade as provided by the WTO. Because of the negotiations Australia made with Uruguay, the processes for dispute settlement mechanism have been strengthened and this has increased its use since the establishment of WTO in 1994. The regional as well as bilateral agreements on free trade have been based on elimination of discrimination and tariffs against service suppliers for trade between Australia and any other country (Gruen, 2010). The rules from the WTO have been hard to implement effectively in Australia because of their ambiguity though they are aimed at upholding comprehensive agreements that reduce distortions in trade. Agreements The country has adopted the bilateral trade agreements and this has been effective in looking onto matters that are linked to bilateral interest like professional qualifications and recognition of conformity assessments. Free trade agreements in Australia institute a framework for current cooperation on policy and regulatory actions that influence trade and investment. The country has already concluded free trade agreements with countries such as United States, Thailand, Singapore and New Zealand. Currently, negotiations are going on with China, Malaysia, Japan and Chile. The country in addition is carrying out feasible studies concerning possible free trade agreements in India, Republic of Korea and Indonesia. The impediments on the investment and trade in Australia have been addressed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC). Areas of interest have been on customs procedures, business mobility, competitive policy, standards and rights to intellectual property. APEC adopted an action program in 2007 to give strength to regional economic integration in the country and this included the assessment of the prospects and options for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (Sharma, 2004). The country has adopted the method of complying with the WTO commitments that entails tariffication of enduring quantitative restrictions basically in agriculture and making adjustments to farm legislation to abide to the WTO Agreement concerning agriculture. The country’s preferences for developing nations as offered through the ASTP is gradually decreasing as the country continue to reduce the import tariffs. Besides the bilateral agreement with New Zealand, Canada and Papua New Guinea, Australia has been involved with limited regional trade agreements. The participation it has with the APEC is executed basing on the objective of sustaining an open regionalism in the multilateral rules. The country is highly committed to the system of multilateral trading and it is through the Cairns Group that the significance for extent multilateral reforms particularly in agriculture is emphasized. The country looks forward in placing agriculture in the same level with industrial products. In addition there is much emphasis on removal of export subsidies as well as intense cuts in domestic subsidies and considerably improved access to market through exclusion of non-tariff barriers along with deep reductions in tariffs. There has been an increase in the emphasis on opening foreign markets by the bilateral efforts to the Australian exports. Measures for giving preference to business by its own nationals Considering that the country is an island nation, it is remote from the key trading partners and hence it highly relies on foreign shipping services for the purpose of practicing the majority of its trade. The Australian government abides with the OECD Maritime Transport Committee policy of enhancing fair and free shipping markets. The country also pursues this same policy in the World Trade Organization. The country offers support to the policy initiatives as imposed by the international organizations like the OECD, to come against the trade distortion that emanates from the international employment of sub-standard shipping. Within the maritime transport sector for Australia, international trade is highly unrestricted and relatively open by world standards (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). The government of Australia is aimed at giving Australian industry the best of the opportunities for winning new work both in the private and public sectors. It is particularly significant that local firms in Australia have the chance to bid for infrastructure contracts and Commonwealth procurement. The Australian Government is known to be a big customer and hence since 2008, the government has invested almost $77 billion to prevent the country from global recession and 70% of the money is in infrastructure. In 2009, an estimated amount of $230 billion was to be involved in major investment projects. The government goal is to see the Australian services, manufacturing and construction firms participate fully in work. With that in consideration, the government has introduced measures that guarantee that local companies, particularly those that are small, get fair, full as well as reasonable opportunities of competing for major projects and tenders (Australian Government, 2009). The first focus for the measures taken by the government is based on increasing awareness. This entails offering to the Australian suppliers the best information regarding the work available and providing the procurement managers and project proponents with the best information concerning the capabilities of the Australian industry. The second focus entails making the local firms a bit more competitive (Perkins & Conlon, 1999). This is accomplished if the firms improve their skills which lift productivity and consequently increasing innovation. Through the Supplier Access to Major Projects (SAMP) program, the Industry Capability Network (ICN) has the responsibilities of matching the companies in Australia with the supply opportunities. The network has offices in New Zealand and Australia and applies technical experts to look into the needs of specific industries. ICN offers professional advice to the procurement managers and project proponents concerning Australian industry capabilities. It assists them to create Australian Industry Participation Plans and tender packages along with identifying and short-listing potential suppliers. Moreover, the network assist the local suppliers locate and track project opportunities and in an addition connect them with government services like Enterprise Connect (Australian Government, 2009). Measures of restricting access to its own markets The priority for the Australian Government policy is for a maritime industry that is competitive internationally and which abides to the international standards of environmental and safety protection. The government established the Shipping Reform Working group (SRWG) that considers alternatives for obtaining maritime industry that is more competitive internationally. In the process the SRWG considers ways upon which Australian flagged ships are encouraged to stay registered in Australia. The Australian government is dedicated to reform based on micro-economic of the marine sector. The review of the regulation in the coastal trade resulted to introduction of new rules to streamline the license or permit system for coastal trade. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority that was formed in 1990 to carry out marine environment protection and marine safety regulation from shipping operations (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). A review carried out in 1997 on the Australian Maritime Safety Authority revealed that the authority was providing an accountable and cost effective means for offering environment protection as well as maritime safety services to industry (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, 2008). The government of Australia sustains a inflexible regime for the use of sanitary and phytosanitary measures whose main responsibility is restricting imports of different agricultural products. The quarantine policies in Australia in addition efficiently forbid the importation of whole grain. The country has a detailed regulatory framework for risk assessment for looking into biotechnology problems (International Labor Office, 2008). Conclusion The structural as well as reform process in Australia ought to progress and be completed to make sure that there is strong growth ultimately. This would lead to increased growth in international trade and a further decrease in unemployment in the country. Australia appears to hesitate on pushing on reforms particularly for industries that are often heavily protected like the automotive sector, textiles and clothing industries. According to a report released by the WTO Secretariat regarding Australia’s trade practices and policies, the report suggested that the country ought to continue with its reforms and look on the needless regulatory measures along with rigid structural factors that result to the impairment of the competitiveness of its economy.

Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Research Proposal Example Thus, while consumers may have desired to buy new electronics, especially high-tech equipment, most could not do so because they had limited ways of generating capital that they could use to allow the purchases (Hartman, 2010: p38). This can be seen in the losses suffered by such electronics companies as Motorola Mobility and Blackberry, which emphasized the profound effects of economic recession. The research will seek to evaluate the effects of the recession on behaviour of the consumer in the UK electronics industry, particularly with regards to the smartphone industry. Understanding the response of consumers to the economic downturn with regards to their buying behaviour is imperative for companies seeking to ensure future success (Chakrabarti, 2011: p56). While signs show that the UK economy is stabilizing, leading to questions about this research’s relevance, the changes to consumer behaviour by recessions tend to last for a long time. Therefore, even as economists signa l the end of the recession and beginning of recovery, this is unlikely to be reflected immediately by consumers in their buying behaviour. The UK economy’s current state has heavily burdened many companies across the country. The declining spending and tendency to save among consumers led to profit losses for many organizations, which have been predicted by experts to have long lasting effects (Ver Eecke, 2013: p82). Today, consumers are more aware of the pitfalls bedevilling spending above one’s means with improved financial education. This trend will portend challenges for marketers because the consumers now tend to do need evaluation, while also showing more selective behaviour in buying decisions. Thus, companies will be required to conduct a re-evaluation of marketing strategies with the aim of identifying effective was of product marketing, focusing on delivering value and meeting needs of the consumer (Chaston, 2009: p40). If the marketing

Report on the BOOTS and ALLIANCE in talks over 7.5bn merger Essay

Report on the BOOTS and ALLIANCE in talks over 7.5bn merger - Essay Example The other company, which is inching towards the deal, is Alliance UniChem, which has an estimated market worth of nearly 3.2bn. The company conducts extensive wholesale operations all over the UK, Netherlands, Norway & Italy in the field of Drug Trade with the presence of nearly upto 1200 pharmacies throughout these countries. Over the last one year, the de-regulation of the market in the Pharmaceutical Sector has resulted in a stiffer competition in the high street market among retailing companies. Companies and Supermarkets now have the liberty to set up in-store pharmacies, which poses a danger to key pharmaceutical players like BOOTS and Alliance. In an analysis published in biotech-info.net- "Due to the softening of rules and the law, BOOTS is facing stiff competition from other pharmaceutical retailing majors such as TESCO, which enjoyed and continues to enjoy a place of dominance and monopoly in the market". Tougher competition from the supermarkets has forced Mr. Baker of BOOTS to cut the price of his products in an attempt to prop up the so far lukewarm sales, although this has put some further pressure on the profit and operating margins. As such, both the firms have decided that it is time to join hands in order to compete effectively in the market and also to improve upon their current individual deficiencies. The present deal is expected to give the new firm an industry share of nearly upto 20%. But the present deal has been met with a lot of speculation especially from the institutional shareholders who generally regard such nil-premium mergers with skepticism. The companies therefore intend to seek support for the deal by outlining the capacity of the new merged outfit's capacity to generate significant cost and purchasing synergies and boost

Learning with educational games Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Learning with educational games - Essay Example Therefore, educational games and some activities in the textbooks are good learning strategies that help students in overcoming problems of information reception and acceptance. These are activities performed by students in order to develop their mental and physical abilities and also bring them fun and entertainment. In addition, learning with educational games helps students to acquire knowledge (Al-Ghamadi, 2009). Play, as a part of learning, has a number of benefits to students. Firstly, it promotes interaction between individual students. As the students interact, they also get to discover individual differences and personalities among them (Van, 2006). This discovery shall help to understand each other more. Educational Games also help students with visual learning preferences understand topic concepts easily. Lastly, games boost mental health by activating the mental capacity. Learning with games usually requires that students cluster into different learning groups. One advantage of this clustering during learning games is that a student gets his or her capabilities and superiority over the others. This fact gives one confidence and heightens self esteem. Gaming also promotes thinking and imagination of an individual since most games are usually in the form of puzzles. Besides, these games have rules that must be strictly adhered to. As students keep on following these simple rules of gaming, they also learn and grow up to be law abided citizens. Lastly, learning with educational games in groups promotes corporation and unity among students thus; individual group members feel a sense of belonging (Balkis, 1987). A teacher plays an overall oversight role in learning with educational games. The teacher, other than identifying and selecting the most appropriate games for the students, facilitates the formation of various groups and defines the role of each group member (Balkis, 1987).. He also plans and schedules the time and place for these

You should use clear, plain language and specific examples from Essay

You should use clear, plain language and specific examples from readings to describe what anthropologists do and how they do it - Essay Example It is important to understand that anthropology in itself is very wide, involving four main fields that include cultural and anthropology, physical, linguistic anthropology as well as archeology. Each of these four fields teaches distinct skills like development of various extensive sets of data. In their studying, anthropologists often specialize in one area so as to understand the concepts in question (Baca, 45). Additionally, anthropologists often focus on certain populations in specific regions. Others often specialize in studying various cultural practices such as how communities create and manage their social, political and economic systems. This paper examines some of the works that anthropologists do and the way they do it in achieving the goals and objectives of their specific fields. After specializing in the different anthropology fields, anthropologists perform different and distinct functions. For instance, physical anthropologists are often concerned with observing various biological behaviors, which become essential in understanding the ongoing process of human evolution and the different adaptations to certain environments like maternal physiological responses to pregnancy. Additionally, it helps them to effectively examine and understand the effects that altitude has on the fetal and maternal well being, thus performing various comparative studies for the physical responses to the residents in different places. Sociocultural anthropologists often examine the social practices and patterns across various cultures, having special interest in the way people live in certain places and how they manage organizing, governing and creating certain meanings (Gellner 43). One of the hallmarks for sociocultural anthropology can be identified through its emphasis on the participant observations that involve placing individuals in the context of research for extended periods. Some of the topics of

The impact of social media on brand image of UK coffee shops Dissertation

The impact of social media on brand image of UK coffee shops - Dissertation Example The main objective of this dissertation has been to identify the impact of the social media sites on the brand image of coffee shops in the UK for which Starbucks has been considered as the sample brand. In order to attain the objective, this dissertation has taken into consideration a mixed approach. Furthermore, the sample size for the project is 200 respondents who were supposed to respond to online survey. Questionnaire was also prepared comprising of close-ended questions. In this regard, it has been identified that social media sites imposes a significant impact on the creation of brand image of Starbucks. Table of Contents 1 Abstract 2 Chapter 1: Introduction 5 1.1.Background of the Study 5 1.2. Scope and Objective of the Study 8 1.3 Methodological Overview 11 1.4 Structure of the Project 12 Chapter 2: Literature Review 14 2.1 The Growing Significance of Social Media in the Business Environment of UK (Coffee Retailing) 14 2.2 Contribution of Social Media in Developing Brand Im age 16 2.3 Influencing Factors Causing Impact on Inclusion of Social Media 20 2.4. Opportunity and Risks of Social Media Inclusion 25 2.5 Organisational Strategies Generally Adopted By UK Coffee Shops to Use Social Media 30 2.6. Research Gap 33 Chapter 3: Research Methodology 35 3.1 Overview 35 3.2 Research Philosophy 36 3.3 Research Design and Approach 37 3.4. Data Collection 40 3.5 Data Analysis 41 3.6 Ethical Considerations and Research Limitations 43 3.7 Expected Results 45 Chapter 4: Results and Analysis 47 4.1 Overview 47 4.2 Findings 47 4.3 Evaluation 68 Chapter Five: Conclusion and Recommendations 77 5.1 Key Findings 77 5.2 Recommendations 79 5.3 Further Research 82 References 84 Appendix A 97 Questionnaire 97 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1. Background of the Study Social media has been successful at rediscovering the association between companies, employees, suppliers as well as regulators, minimising the implementation of methods that were generally identified as quite time-c onsuming in the traditional era concerning public relations. Most of the companies are making use of the social media so that their efficiencies can be enhanced in respect to the supply chain (Lew & Fung, 2010). In the similar context, others are making use of the social media so that they can create innovative business models and develop relationships with the customers, employees, investors as well as other interested stakeholders gaining the identification of a socially responsible corporate entity. A handful of the companies are making use of the social media sites so that they can boost the morale of the employees and hence enhance efficiency in terms of communication within the organisational setting. The companies striving to strengthen their brand, customer loyalty as well as increase the market share are also making use of the social media sites (Insead, 2012). Although, social media users are basically found to belong from the young age group of the society, an increasing number of middle aged users, especially those possessing a higher level of discretionary income. It has been noted that nearly 67% of the users of the social media believe that the information rendered online imposes a significant impact on their purchasing decision. In the recent phenomenon, it has further been observed that this trend is likely to continue, majorly owing to the underlying fact that advances in technology continue to increase the impact of social media. This trend has permitted the consumers to

TinyOS and nesC Programming Approaches and Challenges for Networked Research Paper

TinyOS and nesC Programming Approaches and Challenges for Networked Embedded Systems - Research Paper Example These types of Networked Sensors are compact devices that could be used to movement, sense, heat, position, light, and many others. That is from real environments and communicated back information to the old-fashioned computers (Dalton et al.). There was need for assistance for each other while collecting data and handing in the results to the main collection point. Not similar to the out-dated type of computers, motes are mainly used to collect data and in managing the local environment and not the general cause of computation. Therefore, there is focus that leads to two observations. Most motes are very important in the event that is driven by the reactions to changes in the environment that involves message arrival and sensor acquisition. These occur as a result to being driven by interactive or rather the batch processing. This shows that the second event arrival and data processing are concurrent and all the activities demand the main approach to the concurrency management that tend to address the potential bugs such as race conditions. These happen because motes have very limited physical resources that occur because of the goals of small sizes, low power consumption and low cost. There is no new technology that removes these limitations that benefit the Moore’s Law that will be applied to reduce the size and cost rather than increasing the capability that the current motes are measured in square centimeters (Levis and Gay). This has a deferred computation runs to completion and with no pre-emption. It is invoked by module upcall and may pre-empt the basic tasks or many other events. Additionally, very low overhead or no threads. This also helps in data collection and control processes. Not only that but it serves the general purpose computation (Antsaklis). With that it is reactive and event-driven type of programming model. On the other hand, Soft

Think Global Act Local Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Think Global Act Local - Essay Example Nurses can be involved in the planning of their activities, for example, the ones that promote giving to present voluntary giving without anticipating anything in return. These are the work that most nurses do by helping others voluntarily. Nurses can also be assisted to help others develop their self-esteem by helping them value themselves. The next organization is Philadelphia FIGHT. This is an all-encompassing AIDS service agency, which provides primary care, advocacy on potential vaccines or treatments and consumer care. The main goal is to provide care to HIV/AIDS through offering a wide range of prevention, education, as well as information services such as AIDS Library, Project TEACH, Critical Path AIDS Project and the Youth Health Empowerment Project. These missions are also how its goals are being achieved and the agency can be really assisted a lot with the introduction of nurses into their program. For instance, a nurse can be brought in to assist in the Project TEACH, whi ch basically teaches people who to live after developing AIDS and also how to prevent themselves from catching the virus. The final organization is the American Association of University Women. This organization promotes equity and education for girls and women. What the organization has done to realize its mission is spreading itself into different universities in the United States and areas where education is not female education is not widespread to advocate for the education of more female adults and young ones.

Communicating Expectations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Communicating Expectations - Assignment Example The work involved scheduling work and filling worksheets. Based on the information contained in the worksheets, each worker would have a specific duty to attend to. Every worker would have a worksheet that detailed where they would be working, the specific type of work they would be doing, how much time they would need to perform the work, and the main procedure involved in completing the work. After the work had been done, each worker the supervisors would certify that the workers did all the work specified in the work sheets. Based on the worksheets, the employees working on contract would be paid. Because each day had different demands, the worksheets had to be prepared every morning based on the orders that the company received. While everything worked well when the company had few orders to deliver, there was a big problem whenever there were several orders. The process of filling worksheets was slow much as I tried hard to cope with the numerous worksheets to fill. Many times, workers idled around as they waited for their worksheets while in fact they should have been working. This meant that sometimes the company failed to deliver its orders within deadline which never went well with the management. Realizing where the problem was, the manager in charge of my department informed me that I had to find a way of ensuring that the worksheets were produced within a much shorter time. He emphasized that he believed that I could find a way of making the process faster and more efficient so that production would be improved. I took his word positively and tried even more to work faster. There was a slight improvement in production as I produced more worksheets within a shorter time within three days. However, the manager still insisted that he believed that I could do much more to realize real change. I knew I was putting my very best effort and could not see at that time how I could work even faster. I got into real thought

Career Research Essay Essay Example for Free

Career Research Essay Essay Psychology is the study of the human brain, its functions and its behavioral affects to us as humans. This field or specific job always has fascinated me as a child and now as a teenager it still does. Being a psychologist would suit me because it’s an overall interesting field and career path. It is a time consuming, intense and impacted course but as a professional job it meets my standards and requirement. It has good pay, comfortable job place and it is a steady career that is more than useful in just that field with that you are also able to create your own business and grow off your own knowledge and expand as an entrepreneur. Being a professional job and with its extensive education it has a good pay. To be a psychologist you have to obtain a PhD or a doctor of psychology Pys.D. Working for both is a bit costly and may increase student loan debt and other debts one may have. Now to be qualified and licensed you must have either of the degrees, pass the national exam and then sign up to be licensure in state you want to begin practicing. That’s when the whole career changes. Cause now you are able to do what you love and a bonus: paycheck. â€Å"According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . . . earned between $48,700 and $82,800. . .† (Cherry) that would be the estimated earning of a classified psychologist. With job sometimes paycheck may be unstable and pay may either go down or up but usually after the 5-10 years in the field the income pay may increase. It is also up to put in extra hours or to do part-time if psychologist is willing to give in extra time for patients and clients. I belie ve in the first years it may be difficult because now the debt and loans are being paid off with the first pay checks but later on it will pay off to give a good retirement plan. Also psychologists don’t depend on the government unless you plan on being an industrial organizational psychologist. But if in case a situation so terrible would occur and it would cause instability within field it wouldn’t be hard to find another job that requires the same knowledge because with a PhD you can pretty much move onto other fields, that may or may not pay as well as the actual psychologist get paid but it may pay enough to be considered livable and be classified as middle class. Psychologist career isn’t a government either so you can’t be considered to be a civil servant but some near qualifying jobs that may involve the government may be collaborations with FBI or criminal justice. To become a psychologist it is easy to get a job and establish one but if planning to move out of the state and still want to be practicing the career licensing might be problem. Every state has different requirements and qualifications for the job so you might need to take the national exam a couple of times you plan on moving constantly. Working conditions for a psychologist is a really comfortable and accommodating. Most psychologist are usually self-employed mainly the offices are suited to personal desire and also fit to de-stress patients, mainly a neutral-toned environment to help relieve stress but it all depends on psychologist tastes and practices. Other workplaces may include â€Å"clinics, hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, community and mental health centers† (Bureau of Labor†¦). Or if you want to be a research psychologist working place would mainly be at universities or colleges. As well the working schedule is mainly accommodated around patients and cli ents. It is mainly really flexible depending if you are self-employed or if you work with an employer. Usually the hours are business hours. Since job depends if you are self-employed or employed a day or years may differ. Some days may be short and fast because some patients may be busy on day session or can’t see you on the appointment given. Or you may have a patient who just passed though something on an unexpected day and they may want to set up an unplanned appointment. Also, taking in consideration dates of vacations, holidays and weekends. It all depends on dedication and loyalty psychologist is willing to give for a patients and clients. Something I am willing to give time to help clients at time of need. Psychology is a growing study within colleges today and has been growing for the last few years. Now it is a competitive and impacted field and it is a bit harder to enter the field. To become a psychologist you need to aim for a doctorate (Ph.D.) or a doctor in psychology (Psy.D.). To get proper certification you need to take; year-long internships, pre-doctorate or post-doctorate supervised experience to have what it takes to become certified and licensed. Mainly in this field you don’t have promotions or you don’t have supervisors because once you are fully certified you are your own boss. With this you don’t have to gain other knowledge other than knowledge obtained. You may be able to conduct studies and researches to gain more knowledge to study in depth clients and patients situations more in depth. Some important qualities to have in mind while entering career are â€Å"analytical skills, observational skills, communication skills, patience, people skill s, problem-solving skills and trustworthiness† (Bureau of Labor†¦) skills I have making psychology a perfect, suitable career for me to embrace and consider. With psychology being an extensive career that takes time and dedication and of course the most intense classes in my opinion the study is really interesting. Psychologists mainly study the mental process and the human behaviors by observing, interpreting, and recording how people and humans react to one another in an environment. With patients and clients they want to understand and explain: emotions, feelings, thoughts and behaviors in which they seem to be troubled. In this career a lot of paper work is dealt with. You have to gather information, analyze, and take notes of patients or clients. They have to also make treatment plans and diagnose them with disorders, establish them in asylums or mental institutes or may also refer you to family therapists and/or personalized therapists and counselors. Mainly a psychologist â€Å"they help mentally and emotionally distressed clients adjust to life. . .† (Health Care Salary. . .) something I am willing to do. Even though the job is fun and exciting it also has its own emotional factors into the role played as psychologist. This career may â€Å"depress your emotions for the most part because you are mainly dealing with people who have been through a lot† (Gomez). You may also have to deal with people of all ages so it all may be emotional draining and it may depress your spirits but as a professional one must remain calm and try not to show emotions because you have to be the strongest to help your patient out of whatever mental state they may be in. A regular session may either take place in your own office or in a special room where your patient feels comfortable to unwind and de-stress. It may also take place if your patient is in a clinical institute or under supervision. So all situations are taken into consideration. With this so more reasons psychology and being a psychologist really interests me is the fact if I already have acquired knowledge and this no longer entertains me I am able to move on to another job with the knowledge I have obtained. This field is so diverse with the knowledge obtains mean while or on the pursuit to getting a doctorate. Also if I decided to stay in the job I don’t have to be employed I can also be self-employed and expand my career from there too. The jobs that branch off of the same psychological field are; anthropologist, mental health counselors, market research analysis and these are just a few of the different jobs that branch of it and it is very diverse and something new is obviously in store with this great career if you barely drift off for a bit. With this field you are able to win a lot of rewarding positions. Also it is said that this field is one of the ten to be growing and it’s expected to be a impacted intense career later on in the future. â€Å"Employment of psychologists is expected to grow about as fast as the average† (Psychology Ph.D. . .). This is what’s expected for a few years to come. Career is not at all vigorous nor does it include health so anyone is capable of pursuing this job and career because all that is asked of career is the ability to use reasoning and analyze. Technology also won’t be a problem with in job because a computer or a smart-phone won’t be able to replace this career since technology isn’t so advanced to accurately treat, diagnose and observe an individual. As well all qualities and skills learned in this career can also be recycled to be used in other jobs and positions. This leads to many different job opportunities. If you are an entrepreneur that has soaring high ambitions this road would be perfect to take advantage of the many and multiple opportunities given. With a Pys.D. at hand you are also capable of getting jobs maybe at a higher government position like in government facilities or at a U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and some of Federal Agencies which may be swung by the economy but as governments job it may have some good civil servant and benefits. But it is mainly possible and more likely to be self-employed. Also jobs as a self-employed employee provide more flexible hours around your own schedule. I believe the psychologist job would suit me well because it is a very broad career that can help me grow as an individual and also help me develop a more successful career. It is also a very interesting study to partake in. even though it may be becoming more than impacted, intensive and competitive it has so many opportunities to offer. The pay for the job is splendid. It is an honest pay for such a fun, interesting career. All the qualities necessary for the job I already have. I just need the education and the proper training and I’m pretty sure I’d be a good psychologist. Within the job you can potentially grow with colleagues that want to pursue the same career and you can be potentially business owners and make a company. This job would also be the perfect fit because I enjoy helping others with their life and emotional health. Also doing research to get to the bottom of whatever is the problem. If I am able to help and save them from themselves then why not. If I am able capable of making them feel better then why not? Since this career is mainly focused around research, analysis, and observation the career is almost to perfect. As well the fact that I am able to recycle my own knowledge to create and start my own business. With this job there are incredible amounts of opportunities that cannot be put down.

Theories for Play and Learning in Childcare

Theories for Play and Learning in Childcare Introduction: Education is the backbone for any nation and children are future of a country. Proper education for children is very important for any children. But this education process must need to be productive and effective and designed in structured ways for prosperity of nation. To make education process effective through play and learning planners need to plan according to theoretical approaches practiced long time in play and learning. Not every child in a school or learning activity set is same. Some children are with special needs and need to be teaching carefully. Several types of assessment can be conduct to find out these children with special needs and teach them. Planning play and learning activities for children will be more productive by preparing them by consulting with parents and professionals. Finally results should be recorded for future uses with further education planning for a nation to be more developed. Wrong education in early stages can ruin the future of a child. So hi gh care, in designing early learning activities need to be taken for development of children and nation. Assessment criteria 1.1- Describe the development, over time, of theoretical approaches to play and learning. Several theories in play and learning have developed time to time but no theories were good enough to describe it. Many theories for development in educational practices for children are being used during 20th century. Important theories among them are maturational theory, behaviourist theory, psychoanalytic theory, constructivist theory, socio-historical theory, ecological theory, ecological theory, environmentalist theory and many others. Maturational Theory: This theory was developed by Arnold Gesell in 1925. This theory was developed, based on 3 assumptions, Development base is biological, Type of body, Ectomorph Endomorph Mesomorph Alternating between good and bad years. These assumptions are related with personality development that influenced teaching and reading method of children in mid nineteenth century. By this theory children were not ready for study until 6 years old mentally. Activities in school were developed for unready children to help them to be ready for reading. This process is still in practices known as preschool. Behaviourist Theory: Behaviourist theory was developed by Skinner and Bijou. This theory influenced special education programmes in schools. Its main theme is role of environment in children’s education and development. Teacher uses this theory for those who found with difficulties in on-going environment. Major objective of this theory was not left any children behind. Psychoanalytic Theory: From the very start of 1920 this theory was used for analysing behaviour disorder of children, developed by Freud. In this theory, play therapy was recommended for children accompanied by parents or children. This theory was very useful for children with special needs. Constructivist Theory: There are many constructivist theories, among them theory of Pia Get affects activities of classroom in 21st century. This theory focused on mathematical and logical knowledge of children via improving individual’s relationship rather than socially build knowledge. Socio-historical theory: Developed by Vygotsky in 1978 gave importance on socio-historical context of learning by teaching culture, language and literacy and involvement of adult persons in proximal development zone of a child. Proximal zone of development in children education concept affected learning and play greatly. Ecological System theory: This system stated that children’s learning capabilities are directly or indirectly get affected by their residence place. All macro, micro, meso and exo system of residing place affect a child’s temperament, activity, capability to learn and attention. Environmentalist Theory: This theory resembles ecological theory in some point. Follower of this theory believe that learning theory of children get shaped by environment they belongs to as natural response tendency of human to nature. This concept leads to the idea of developing schools, educators and most importantly families for proper learning of a child. Multiple Intelligence Theory: Developed by Gardner, this theory is influencing recent learning system. Main theme of this theory is to develop multiple types of problem solving abilities in children to develop them. Assessment criteria 1.2- Evaluate different philosophical approaches to play and learning. Philosophical approaches in play and learning are approaches taken by preschools to improve readiness of children. There are many of these approaches and some of them are evaluate below. Play based: Play based philosophy is program of school where children have the ability to choose activity according to their interest. This approach is also known as â€Å"child-centered† approach. In this philosophy, classroom is divided into various sections such as, science, kitchen, reading and many other reading related toys. Teachers let children to play. It seems that children are just playing but through playing they are building social communication skill, cooperation and getting interested in specific subject. This approach is one of the best philosophical approaches. Academic: It is designed with lots of activities for children. Opposite of play based where teacher guide children to do specific activities. Here children get prepared for reading. Teacher let children learn music, letters, shapes, colours etc. most of the parents think that this approach is best as their children are learning in a structured way but philosophers says that preschool stage is for learning social and communication skills. Montessori: This approach designed by Maria Montessori in Italy. This approach is play based with focus on academic activities. In this system children learn according to their pace. Teachers gathered them and design the classroom according to age. This helps younger to learn from older. This is a good approach as it’s based on play and learning both. Waldorf: This system increase children’s creativity in learning. Specific activities set according to time in weeks and ages of children where they can learn gardening, music, reading, singing, and acting. This system is a blend of creative learning and reading. They also learn other social skill in this system. Reggio Emilia: This system is designed to let children explore their learning capabilities. It was developed by Reggio Emilia in Italy. It is project based philosophy where students can learn according to their interest. Though, this system is good for aged children but not appropriate for younger children. Assessment criteria1.3- discuss on current influences on play and learning and the planning and provision of learning. Influencing factors Play and learning Planning and provision of learning Physical security In play and learning students do lots of activities and security program must be taken for them. Sometimes teachers may reject some activities where children might get physical injury. Social and emotional issues. Wrong social and emotional education ruins students’ ability in social skills and emotional feelings. Planners have to choose teacher with good social skills and emotional knowledge which is a tough task. Environment Environment of learning and play influence children ability to learn. Higher school authority has to ensure perfect environment for play and learning which is sometimes costly. Curriculum Curriculum leads children to further learning process after preschool. Wrong curriculum can kill valuable times and future of children so it must be designed with specialist. Parent and teacher role Better parental and teacher role can develop learning process and let a child learn hurry. Teacher role can be controlled by supervision but parent need to be counselled by school authority which increase cost and manpower. Assessment criteria 2.1- explain the use of observations to assess learning needs, consider how assessment based on observations can inform planning and respond to individual learning needs. Observation can be great uses to asses learning needs of a child. In this process a teacher observe children behaviour of academic learning, engagement in activities, interest, response to environment, continuity in interest, progress made by children etc. and record them. Parents can also children behaviour in their community. Systematic observation over time is better than one time observation. By observing several time it easy to know interaction of a child with activities and toys around him/ her. By documenting children behaviour, measuring children’s needs is easy. It allow to design further learning plan for children. For example 3 children playing with parts of aircraft toys and talking for much time help an observer to decide about children’s interest in airlines education along with their language, social and cognitive skills. Observer must be an unbiased person and avoid their personal interests and impression to assess needs of a child. Systematic observatio n should be; Happen several times over a time period. Designed to collect information about children from various types of sources including parents. Designed to collect information about children from various types of context. If teachers observe children they can know about the environment, curriculum, planning and strategies for teaching and can determine whether it need to be developed or not. Assessment criteria 2.2- discuss how information from other agencies can contribute to the assessment of learning needs. Information from other agencies can also contribute to the assessment of learning needs. It will help school to know about pros and cons of it. It enables a school to know perfectness of its progressing and needs. Information from other agencies also can be useful to know about of areas that need to be improved. It also informs about various types of different activities from other children in the community and can take precautionary system to avoid any wrong done in learning and play for future. Performances of other agencies also lead to motivation for teacher. Exchanging information between agencies can lead to amalgamation of agencies to work as safeguard for children and their learning. It can protect children from maltreatment, maintaining equality in children’s development, proper curriculum for learning process and take step that will help children to get the best outcomes. Professionals from agencies can analyse each other’s information to develop a much broade r and effective learning activities set or proper curriculum too. For example information from agency where only children with special need learn can be useful for children with special needs in another agency. These are some ways agencies information exchange can develop learning and play process of education for children. It is responsibility of agencies, authorities and parents in the community to work together to bring best outcomes of children for further national development through education. Assessment criteria 3.1- explain how to plan curriculum activities which promote learning. Curriculum activities are predesigned set of activities for learning of children step by step. Flawless curriculum can provide a child with best education he/ she needed and promote learning. Curriculum can be planned in various ways according to culture and social needs and experience of adults. But curriculum planned to promote learning must include following; The arts: Children need to be encouraged and stimulated by adult persons to reveal their thought, ideas and develop their creativity. Opportunity to share these ideas and thought via various types of arts such as writing, music, drama, dance, painting, design and other activities are very important. Language development: Language development is to improve children’s basic language skill and improve them to communicate with other. Language is the only media to share, gather and learn. So language development is a crucial part for development. Mathematical knowledge: Developing mathematical knowledge in early stage is important. Mathematical knowledge develops children’s logical skill and need for day to day life problem solving skill. Both indoors and outdoors activities should include this. Personal, social and emotional development: This is the utmost important education for children. This is about building their mental identity, values, norms, sustainable relationship, positive attitudes and finally for their well-being. Strong socio-personal and emotional development leads to success in other learning. Physical development: Physical play in outdoors or indoor develop physical strength and stamina of children and let them physically fit beside developing balance and body controlling and awareness about surroundings. Others thing need to be include in curriculum to promote learning are diversity, goals and objectives, routines, family involvement in learning process etc. Assessment criteria 3.2- assess the effectiveness of different approaches to planning learning opportunities. Whole school approach: Whole school approach is based on the idea that, every child has the ability to learn. Whole school practices is the method of diversified learning with high sets of measurement tool for achievements, learning and outcomes and teaching according to achievements of each students. This system includes behaviour support and learning support that need these. In a whole approach system teaching system s diversified with differentiate teaching style according to learners’ needs. Teachers teach here in 2 groups; focused teaching for student with normal achievement pace and intensives teaching for few students who need extra care. Integrated teaching approach: It’s a combination of play and learning guided by either elder person where adult people are intentionally involved with children in playing and learning or child directed play. Child directed play is learning process lead by children’s interest of exploring things. Children are able to learn by themselves but in this approach adults increase children’s learning by intentional engagement. Assessment criteria 3.3- consider methods of involving parents and other professional in reviewing assessments and plans. No specific methods are available of involving parents and other professional in reviewing assessments and plans. It happens in numerous ways. Professional and parents involvement in reviewing assessments helps to understand assessments results in a better way and to create more perfect plans for learning. Family centred system: Parents also can assess children’s behaviour and other activities. Observing only activities in school can’t provide better result. Children’s behaviour and interaction in society and community is important too, that can be assessed by parents and professionals in home. Working together: Another better way for parents, school and professional is to work together to assess behaviour of children and create plans for further learning. They can set standards for assessing by their experience and viewpoint and create plans. This assessment and planning method is more fruitful than any other. Communication: School authority also can communicate with parents and professional as needs to increase effectiveness of learning. Communicating them with assessment process and vital standards will bring proper result and plan. Advocacy and decision making: Advocacy by parents and professional in decision making process by using information from assessment can helpful too. School authority can take suggestion, guidelines and necessary step to make assessment and plans more successful. Community collaboration: Community collaboration by school with professional and parents can be great resulting methods. Collaboration with community let school and professional know more about activities and behaviour of children outside the school. That helps in assessment and planning. Assessment criteria 4.1- analyse the key issues in ensuring that assessment are objective and valid. Key principles for an assessment to be are validity, reliability, practicability and equitable and fair. Assessments procedures and process should be in standard way that can be reliable. Unbiased and regular practicability of assessment procedures is important also. These make an assessment objective. But to be valid there are 6 more key issues and they are, Content and standards: enough time should be taken to familiarise assessor with the units and their needs. This help to determine knowledge and skills need to assess. Create an assessment plan: assessment plan need to be created in this step. Considering learning stage of candidate along with assessment criteria. Choosing assessment method: it is very important issue. Method should be supportive to learning, capable of collecting evidence, providing chance for combination of assessment. Developing an assessment: assessment methods, standards and other criteria determined here. Determining acceptable evidence for the assessment: evidence of developing learning needs should be determine in this stage. Assessment criteria 4.2- reflect on the role of the practitioner in meeting children’s learning needs. Practitioner plays an important role in early learning of children with relevant curriculum. Practitioner must act properly and need to be productive to carry on their role to fulfil learning needs. Their roles are described below; Practitioners have to be capable of understanding curriculum for children education to implement them. They have to understand the importance of physical, intellectual, emotional and social knowledge needed for children. They should ensure security and value for every child equally without considering any discrimination. Practitioner and parents must have to work together to increase confidence of children. Practitioners have to help children to overcome their disadvantages. Positive relationship by practitioner with children and parents create an effective learning environment where children can feel safe and sound. Practitioner should engage children in different kinds of activities designed and lead by them. They need to be able to communicate with children appropriately. They need to take purposeful activity and proper intervention to engage children in learning process. At last, education to be productive and effective needs high care by practitioners. Conclusion: Various types of theoretical approaches used and being used in learning process of children. They were developed time to time and have effective influences in play and learning activities. Combining these theoretical approaches with philosophical approaches in play and learning can be more successful. These approaches affect play and learning and planning of play and learning. Observation method of assessment is one of the best methods to assess learning needs of children for future planning of learning. Information of other agencies is useful in case of planning developed learning plan. Play and learning activities in any school run according to a curriculum. A curriculum must be planned in ways that promote learning. Integrated approaches can be effective one to plan learning opportunities. Parents and professional involvements give different dimension to plan of play and learning. Their evaluation and opinion helps to develop a more productive and effective learning plan. For that , assessments of children need to be valid and objective and practitioners have to works perfectly for education of children needed to be effective in all sector of nation.

The Real Time Fashion Photography Studio Marketing Essay

The Real Time Fashion Photography Studio Marketing Essay Real time Fashion Photography studio is a small business aimed at bringing a smile to every models face when they see their beauty captured in a stunning portrait. The business will offer a wide variety of products, such as: formal studio portraits, location portrait sessions, holiday candid photographs, portrait finishes, and framing. Portrait sittings are available in either the well-equipped studio, the comfort of the clients home, or in an outdoor setting. Real time Fashion Photography will be located in Indira Nagar, Bangalore. The business will be established as Sole Proprietorship. With two years experience in a variety of dealing with Fashion portfolio, British library, Bone China, I have acquired a range of transferable skills and attributes. These include sales experience through my previous retail management experience as well as photographic and design management skills gained through professional studies at Ayr College as well as Image College of art, animation and technology. My target audience will be upcoming models those who were studying fashion, love fashion to be a part of their carrier, and also one who have glamour and beauty and wanted to show their talent and skills. In Bangalore city there are numerous no of institutes around 16 institutes for fashion and total no of student in each year comes around 2000 students each year. Not only institutes, a individual also be my target audience who wants to shows his talent through his portfolio. Real-time Fashion Photography studio will reach their audience by targeting clients of these existing markets. We will fill an existing need for the client by specialising in fashion photography. Through advertisements in the print media, brochures, and establishing working relationships with fashion organizations and we will highlight our quality products and services to them. Each Clients of real-time fashion studio will receive a customizable profile page to introduce their skills and a photo album. Real-time Fashion Photography will be in a unique position of competition. We compete against the standard portrait studio that may photograph people, but only as an adjunct to fashion photographing. Real-time Fashion Photography will be in competitive edge as its commitment to customer service and satisfaction. We offer an array of services, flexible scheduling, and have the latest technology, with state of art infrastructure to produce beautiful fashion stylist photographic portraits. At Real-time Fashion Photography studio, models will our primary business; we understand model and how to get the right elements together for a successful portrait session. Our number-one goal will be quality results. Photography businesses usually require a significant initial investment in equipment and facilities. However the owner of Real-time Fashion Photography has been freelancer fashion photographer for two years and experienced professional-level photographic equipment to get the business off to a good start. In addition, the will be a cash support from family-based business. I really say thanks for giving a backbone support towards my fashion studio to my family members. 2. Introduction Establishing a Real-time Fashion studio business has been a goal for the past two years. For the past year i had worked with an experienced model in order to develop the reputation and professionalism required to establish this business. My mission statement is Treating our each model like beauty and Glamour The keys to success at Real-Time Fashion Photography studio include: Customer Satisfaction: providing a service that consistently meets or exceeds customers expectations. Environment: providing an environment conducive to bringing the best out of the model. Convenience: offering clients a wide range of services in a location or environment convenient to them. Reputation: reputation of the model and business as providing superior personal service. Professionalism: includes everything from meeting deadlines to hiring the best staff. Individual Attention: Each clients experience will be tailored to his or her preference. Repeat business/Recommendations: giving the kind of service that brings people back and encourages them to recommend us to friends and colleagues. Competitive Pricing: providing a fair and competitive price for the quality and array of services offered that provides the business with a fair and reasonable profit. 3. Goals and Objectives Real-Time Fashion Photography studio will be a small business aimed at bringing a smile to every model face when they see their beautiful face captured in a stunning portrait. We have set goals for the business and these are as follows. 0-6 Month Goals Added image manipulation to services provided. Setting up basic machines Secured a business mentor. Contracted tax/accounting consultant. Attending Biz financial training. Applied to Work and Income for start-up funding. Identified a preferred income protection insurance plan (to afford a replacement photographer and/or loss of income protection). 6-12 Month Goals To achieve profit of minimum Rs 8 lakh. Completed work for 350 numbers of clients. Created 100 pieces of stock photography and submitted to stock libraries. Maintained relationships with modeling agencies, Movie-Makers, Advertising agencies, fashion photographers. 1-2 Year Goals To achieve profit of 15 lakh. Completed work for 450 clients. Have to done at least 3 photo exhibitions in 5star hotels. Targeted 2 other places to open in India which include Pune, and Chennai. 3-5 Year Goals To achieve profit of 25 lakh. Completed work for 1200 clients. To be recognised as Indias top 10 fashion photography studios. Franchised the fashion photography business nationwide. Franchised the fashion photography business into India. 4. Business Details Business Ownership and Legal Structure Real-Time Fashion Photography will design to be a Sole Proprietorship business and will initially operate as a sole trader business. At this time it is the most appropriate structure as the business is managed and run by me. At this initial stage the business will face no long term liabilities or debts such as a lease or hire purchase costs; its all supported by my family. I anticipate registering the business as a Limited company in the second year, subject to professional advice. Such advantages would include: Limited liability on the business operations. The perception of professionalism by clients. Taking advantage of lower company tax rates as profits increase above 1000000 rs per annum. Providing a structure that would allow other photographers to participate in my company ownership in the future. Ability to franchise the concept. Company Locations and Facilities Real-time Fashion Photography will be located Indira Nagar, Bangalore. It will be Sole Proprietorship business, with an area of the 1400 square feet dedicated to client reception, office, and a small studio. Clients can elect to have the portrait sitting done in the studio, on location , or in an outdoor setting. The benefits of having the business located at Indira nagar include: Overheads for the business, in the form of the rental of space, power supply and landline telephone, can be minimized as compare to other part of Bangalore such as M.G road, Bgrade Road. The location on the main road of Indira nagar means that clients can easily access the premises by either public or private transportation. Its also in central part of Bangalore. So that most of youngster who want to have portfolio can easily access me. Our office will be equipped with a fax machine, email and a computer. The company will maintain a high degree of professionalism by using only the highest-quality photographic equipment and graphics to produce its portfolio. Products and Services Real-time Fashion Photography Studio offers a variety of products and services to meet our clients needs. We offer specific information on each of our products to the prospective client. This information will design to help the client select a setting for the portfolio session. The pictures we provide will give the client a feel for the variety of poses that can be used, and helps them decide if they wish to incorporate other fashion models in their portfolio. The discussion of the different settings helps the client select a studio session, home session, or outdoor location for the portfolio. We also provide instructions for each setting. Fashion Photography Studio The studio will be controlled environment, free from distraction, where the model can be comfortably posed and lighted to enhance the beauty of the final image. A variety of props and backgrounds will be used to stage a setting that will highlight the models features and coat color. These sessions must not be rushed, so the model can become comfortable in the studio environment and be certain that the studio lights do not frighten or excite the model. There is a standard charge for the portfolio session which we refer to as the sitting fee. The model will provided immediate digital images to be certain we have captured a pleasing likeness. These digital images are not the final proofs, but they do provide photographer and client with the assurance the session is accomplishing the desired outcome. A total of 24 proof-quality photographs will be provided for the client within two days of the photo session. The client will then have 1 days to consider the images before making a final selection. Location for Portfolio Session The model may be more comfortable in the home or a familiar outdoor location. The staff of Real-Time Fashion Photography will travel to the location prior to the portfolio session to select an area that will be the best suited for the session and will most acceptable to the model. Prior to the session, Real-Time Fashion Photography staff will stage the lighting and any other props needed for the photo session. If the location selected for the photo session will be in a public park, the model, not Real-Time Fashion Photography, will legally responsible for the behaviour of the publics. The fee for a photo session in the home or outdoor will be more than the studio because the equipment must be transported, staged, and then broken down. The client will be provided 24 photographic-quality images within two working days of the photo session. The client will then have one working day to consider the images before making a final selection. Additional Services Real-Time Fashion Photography will aware that a model portfolio will be investment as well as a cherished display of beauty and glamour. We offer a variety of portfolio finishes from which to choose. These finishes will be shown to the client upon pick up of the proofs, and the client will be given a brochure which illustrates these finishes to compliment a variety of model images. These finishes are used on the beautiful portfolios that will display in our studio gallery. Real-Time Fashion Photography also offers custom and readymade framing for all portfolios. We have a beautiful selection of tabletop frames to enhance the clients selection, and a variety of framing materials displayed in the studio for custom frame construction. At Real-Time Fashion Photography we will committed to customer service and satisfaction. Start-up Summary The founder of Real-time Fashion Photography Studio had graduated from Image College of Art, Animation and Technology. As I am the owner have a capital available of Rs 40-45 lakh from family to meet these start-up costs, funding is being sought from Work and Incomes Enterprise Allowance Scheme. Once these assets and start-up costs are done the business will be able to begin operations. A range of suppliers were approached for the majority of these start-up costs in order to ensure both quality and a competitive price. Quotes, from the chosen suppliers, for all the start-up costs purchased through the Enterprise Allowance Grant are included in the appendices at the back of the business plan. . Business Management Management Summary The management of Real-time Fashion Photography studio will be very simple in the first few years with the founder also managing the business. In addition to performing the artistic functions of the business, the market expert as well as owner will both initially must be involved in all aspects of the business, such as marketing, payroll, management of both accounts receivable and accounts payable, and other miscellaneous business details. Additional personnel can be added as the business accounts grow, in order to alleviate these responsibilities from the photographer, and this is expected to happen after having all things and equipments that will be 1 month after starting off. Real-Time Fashion Photographys growth will be deliberate rather than fast paced. It is a reasonable assumption that the demands of the office, and also assisting the photographer, might become too much for one individual. Depending on the strengths of the individual that fills the first full-time position, a second staff member may be hired within the first two week, and both will be trained in the others duties. Skills and Experience With two years experience in a variety of creative and commercial employment, Owner(me)had acquired a range of transferable skills and attributes. These include sales experience through his previous Freelance work as well as photographic and design management skills gained through his professional study. I had creative career path started during graduating with a professional degree and since I had also completed one year foundation course in graphic design from Ayr college Scotland. I had spent the past year as a Freelance photographic work for well known Indian companies like British Library, Bone-China and for model work I did completed portfolios for numerous models such as one of my client Rupa Khurana had performed in T.V serials in Rahul lai jayegaa Dulaneyaa in NDTV. I had built a strong network with other established photographers and belong to the Indian Institute of Professional Photographers who openly provide professional and legal advice and benefits. In areas such as financial planning, accounting and legal advice I will building relationships with such advisors to develop these areas of the business (see Advisors, Networks and Support). Staff Requirements Initially few permanent staff will be employed, with a photographic assistant contracted in on a project by project basis as required. After one months a receptionist/photographer assistant position will be advertised and appointed. The duties and job description for this person would include: General reception duties, including phones, mail, and greeting customers, setting appointments and managing appointment calendar, billing, handling both accounts receivable and accounts payable. 2 Assist photographers in portfolio sessions. 2 Marketing executives 2 Tele Callers with online promotions 1 Makeup Artiste 3 Helper 1 Stylist Artist 3 Post-Production Worker Salary Chart Position Salary (Monthly) Salary (Yearly) 1 Receptionist 12000 144000 2 Assistant Photographer 15000/each 360000 2 Marketing Executives 15000/each 360000 1 Make-Artist 15000 180000 3 Helper 12000/each 432000 1 Stylist Artist 15000 180000 3 Post-Production Worker 15000/each 540000 Grand Total 183000/Monthly 2196000/yearly It is understood that anyone employed by the business must have a written employment agreement, whether it be an individual agreement or a collective agreement. It is recognized that the Department of Labor website has an employment agreement builder to provide guidance to employers and employees on content for the creation of individual employment agreements. The builder provides examples of clauses drawn from a range of existing employment agreements, indicates which clauses are legally required in all agreements, and assembles the clauses into one draft agreement for saving and printing out. Advisors, Networks and Support It is recognised that the owner has not previously run a business and that he will need the support of a range of experienced business people, particularly in developing the financial management and processes required for the business. The following advisors will be utilised to assist the business owner operate the business in the most efficient manner. Bankers: Oriental bank of commerce, Indira nagar Bangalore Providing assistance in minimising bank fees and identifying banking products that can help manage and maximise cash flow. Accountant: Rahul Singh Lal bag Bangalore (Assisting in establishing financial processes for the business and will complete end of year accounts.) Lawyer: Sanjay Nandani City center Bangalore (Reviewing client copyright agreements and will be utilised when a limited liability company is established.) Business Advisor: Lakshy Management Consultant Pvt. Bangalore (Providing business advice through the first six months of the business operations.) Professional Association: National Institute of Photography New Delhi (Represents over 1500+ commercial fashion photographers in India. Provides resources, information, marketing and networking opportunities for members.) 6. Business Environment Market Size While no figures exist for overall fashion models in Bangalore, it will known that 15% of Bangalore populations are in fashion industries, thats why it made Bangalore the Fashion capital of East after Paris. In the Bangalore region there are 16 private and 4 national institutes for fashion. Approximately 2000 student each year needed portfolio and 15% of overall population also will be there in fashion. So within this target market, there is wide range of getting lots of customers. And also Bangalore is house of publishing many of international fashion magazines so it will be great for my business if we got tie-up from these magazines company. Today there are a lots of opening in glamour world of still for all age groups. Its not just for youngster but also for kids, mature, old every one. As growth of new trends new products regarding jeweler, cloths, food item, shopping malls, hotels, everywhere fashion photography involved. Market Trends Fashion has always been an important part of the Bangaloreans lifestyle. However, as the Bangalore culture has changed in the last two decades, an even more prominent role for the fashion has emerged. As Bangalore has enjoyed increased standards of living, they expect to pass this on to their fashion. Competition Real-time fashion Photography will be in a unique position of competition. While the portrait photography business is composed of dozens of small, individually-owned studios, fashion photography is a new, but very successful, experiencing rapid growth. We compete against the standard portrait studio that may photograph people, but only as an adjunct to photographing model. The benefits and drawbacks of each of our competitors as compared with the services we offer are hardly a match in quality and price. We are experts in working with model to make them comfortable and to bring out the inner quality and personality of the fashion model. Although we are a new organisation, we are not novices to photography or photographing models. Our scheduling and location flexibility are specifically geared to be client friendly. The fee schedules for Real-Time Fashion Photography are competitively priced. No other area photographer offers the flexibility and array of services provided to the client at Real-Time Fashion Photography. Our commitment to customer service and satisfaction is unequaled. Our major competitors are: Divas fashion studio Strengths: Exclusive Fashion Photographer. Have been in the market longer. Have established client base and reputation. Weaknesses: Array of services is limited. Inflexible with schedules Limited studio capability. Quality of final portrait. Prasad Photography Studios Strengths: Established studio locations and support staff. Established client base, often with repeat clients. Reputation as reliable and stable business. Weaknesses: Often very expensive. Little or no experience in fashion photography. Fashions are a sideline and not the major focus of the business. Can be inflexible with scheduling and out-of-studio work. Local Amateur Photographers Operate from home. Strengths: Pricing. Weaknesses: Quality of final product. Lack of professional photographic equipment and skills. Competitive Edge Real-Time Fashion Photographys competitive edge is its commitment to customer service and satisfaction. We offer an array of services, flexible scheduling, and have the latest technology to produce beautiful photographic portfolio. At Real-Time Fashion Photography, Fashion photography is our primary business, not a sideline or hobby. We understand model and how to get the right elements together for a successful portfolio session. We are patient, and our number one goal is quality results. 7. SWOT Analysis Strengths Formally skilled in photography. Have an established professional network (other photographers and related creative professionals). Acquired photographic best practice skills and knowledge (through working as a photographic assistant). Relationship building appreciates the value of building and sustaining professional relationships. Have strong skills in graphic design and image manipulation. Weaknesses Limited business and industry management experience. Small existing client base. Less start-up capital available. Opportunities Can add image manipulation as an additional service. Target major fashion shows and fashion organizations in other parts of Bangalore. Can create stock photography and submit to stock libraries. Hold first national fashion photo exhibition Franchise the Fashion photography business nationwide. Threats Established Fashion photographers in the Bangalore region. Sudden negative change in the economy, since this is a luxury item. Increased competition in the regional market. Forward Plans Opportunities Completion Date Add image manipulation to services provided. 1 months Create stock photography and submit to stock libraries. 1-2 months Hold first national Fashion photo exhibition. 1-2 years Target major Fashion shows and Fashion organizations in other parts of Bangalore. 1-2 years Franchise the fashion photography business nationwide. 3-5 years Contingency/Task Plans Weaknesses Contingency/Task Date Completed Limited financial management skills and experience. Contract tax/accounting consultant. Undertake free financial training through the Biz Programme. Completed 3-6 months Limited business and industry management experience. Utilise resources provided through membership of Indian Institute of Professional Photographers. Identify and approach a business mentor. Completed Completed Small existing client base. Develop relationships with fashion institutes. 1-3 months No start-up capital available. Apply to Work and Income for start-up funding. Within 1 month Loss of income due to illness and not being able to work. Identify a preferred income protection insurance plan (to afford a replacement photographer and/or loss of income protection). Within 1 month Threats Contingency/Task Date Completed Established Fashion photographers in the Bangalore region. Continuously observe competitors (what they do and who they do it for) and pitch the business with a point of difference. Ongoing Sudden negative change in the economy, since this is a luxury item. Maintain relationships with fashion specialty show organizers. Maintain relationships with wedding and event organizers to supplement any downturn by undertaking other types of photography work. Ongoing Ongoing Increased competition in the regional market. Maintain relationships with fashion specialty show organizers to limit access to market for competitors. Ongoing 8. Legal Implications/Regulations The primary legal considerations are business legal structure, copyright (e.g. licensing), privacy (e.g. property and model approvals) and regulatory (e.g. tax). Contractual Process and Documentation Before each job starts it is important to clearly document the expectations (Services required) with each client. This will effectively be the contractual arrangement with the client for each project. To ensure all legal obligations are covered the following documentation has been sourced through other professionals and associations. Project brief. Estimate/Invoice template. Licenses and Order Confirmation Form. Terms and Conditions of Engagement. Talent and Property Release Form. Project Brief Briefs provide a job description for each project; they are created before any work starts outlining the details of the images required by the client. Copyright License Agreement Copyright is a form of protection for original works that photographers enjoy. It is afforded automatically to any work, immediately on its creation in fixed form, and the copyright on the work normally becomes the property of the creator. Copyright is part and parcel of the creation process. Real-Time Fashion photography retains the copyright of all images photographed (in order to control who can reproduce them) as outlined in the Terms and Conditions of Engagement. In addition this information will be printed on the back of each photograph. To determine client reproduction rights for each project a License and Order Confirmation Form will be prepared for the client to read and sign before the commencement of any work. This License outlines the agreed media, time period and territories where the client can use these images where the client needs to use the photographs for publication. This is expected to be the case for fashion show organizers. Estimate (Cost) Written estimates are developed in accordance to the brief and licensing requirements: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢How many photographs model need basic 16 photographs come under a basic portfolio and 25 photographs come under premium portfolio. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Basic portfolio charged will be Rs 30000 and premium portfolio will be charged Rs 45000 include make-up artist and fashion stylist. Terms and Conditions The Terms and Conditions of Engagement are the standard provided for use by the Indian Institute of Professional Photographers. Release Forms Under the Privacy Act 1993 approval needs to be sought to photograph personal property and people. The Indian Institute has professionally prepared Model Release and Property Release forms available for photographers to use. Financial Regulations and Insurance I Will going to be GST (Goods and service taxes) registered and a tax agent has been consulted to assist Real-Time Fashion Photography set up processes in relation to GST and tax. Spreadsheets have been set up to manage sales and expenses on a monthly basis, and the business owner will complete the two monthly GST returns. The tax agent will complete annual business accounts. A current business account has been set up through National Bank. This account has linked accounts for tax and GST. The owners current insurance is through State, who offers a full line of insurance coverage, and photographic and IT equipment will be insured for its full value by adding a rider to the existing owners policy. Compliance Issues I had received an affirmative answer from Bangalore City Council that the business can operate from a residential neighborhood, since noise, traffic, and pollution are not factors to be considered in this type of business. Compliance to the following Acts needs to be adhered to at all times: Privacy Act 1993 Fair Trading Act 1986 Consumers Guarantees Act 1993 Unsolicited Goods Act 1975 Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 Health and Safety in Employment Act 2002 Real-Time Fashion Photography recognizes it has a responsibility for the health and safety of us, our colleagues and our customers. We have a policy of identifying hazards in the work environment and, wherever possible, of taking practical action to ensure that these hazards do not cause accidents and injury so as to protect employees and other form of any harm that could result from work activities. This policy recognizes that the handling of model presents health and safety issues for staff and customers. In order to manage the risk Real-Time Fashion Photography will implement a three step health and safety policy action plan. These three steps are The development of an effective system for managing hazards in the place of work. Ensuring that employees have all the practical information they need to carry out their work safely. The recording, reporting and investigating of all accidents or incidents in the place of work. We aim to implement this action to the best of their ability within the resources available. Progress in implementing the three step plan will be regularly reviewed. 9. Marketing Strategy Marketing Summary Real-Time Fashion Photography will use marketing databases to accurately target our market. Working closely with local fashion show organizations, Fashion institutes, we will place well-designed advertising material in these locations to illustrate our capabilities. Our fashion studio will maintain