Website Field Trip 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Website Field Trip 2 - Essay Example , their financial status, the organizations they are affiliated with, job opportunities available with ABA and in all the entire purpose of ABA and the way it serves the customers. The website also offers memberships to students that are studying law, to different types of lawyers and all those who are interested in the profession of law. ABA provides the legal professionals with resources for the purpose of developing standard ethical codes, improvements of justice administration, focusing towards law school accreditations, so on and so forth. The website has briefings about its mission and goals and also the career opportunities in ABA. The website gives a good insight on many of the legal issues and requirements on different aspects for lawyers and law students both. The main purpose of the website is to give the law professionals information related to the subject and hence this website would prove to be highly useful for lawyers of any discipline and law students as well. This website can be strongly related to criminal justice, ethics and the course as it provides all the resources such as books and publications required to understanding law of any discipline and ethics as well. All types of government and legislative work details are elaborated on the website that allows the viewers to gain an insight on the law principles. Changes in policies are updated on the website making it easier to be well aware of policy changes taking place in the different disciplines of law. There is a separate section on ethics and professionalism and this section helps to understand the various ways on dealing with ethical situations, ethical opinions and how to respond in an ethical way towards various scenarios. For example, on the website professional conduct rules book is a new book and its information is updated on the ABA website. The new entries as such on ethics and professional conduct are updated on a constant mode. Criminal justice law cases are discussed and

Third version of Parents Essay Example for Free

Third version of Parents Essay Birth place of parents.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both my mother and father were born and brought up in India. My father finished Physical Therapy when he was only nineteen years old, and soon after, he took up a job in Norway. Later on he moved to the USA, got married and settled down in South Florida. Traits of my father.—Intelligence, honesty, integrity, love for the family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     My father is a very intelligent and knowledgeable man He is a very sincere and hard working man and looks for perfection in any job that he undertakes.    .He has conservative family values and never seeks fun and recreation without his family. He is a very honest person and is straightforward. He never goes out to social gatherings without my mother and they are always seen together. My parents have been happily married for nearly twenty five years and make an ideal couple. Traits of my mother—Extrovert by nature, helpfulness, sensitivity, light-heartedness., expertise in public speaking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  My mother is a very fun-loving and out-going person. She does a lot for the community and organizes   six   to seven events a year, in her Indian Community Association. She possesses great interpersonal skills and is also good at public speaking .She can convincingly talk to a crowd without any hesitation and reservation. She is a wonderful home maker.   She loves music and dancing and is also a good orator. Traits that I inherit from my father.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I have inherited the family values of my father and would stretch myself for family and friends. Patience is another trait that I am proud to have imbibed from him. Diligence to duty is the foremost characteristic of my father and I too never shy away from hard work. I am very hard working like my father and give my maximum effort to anything that I undertake. I am also abreast with what is going on in spheres that are relevant to my education and future career and my father is responsible for my interest in commercial business news. Traits that I inherit from my mother.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  I have inherited the same leadership qualities, organizing capability, oratory and dancing skills of my mother. My mother is the root cause of my aptitude to public speaking and I can lead a team, organize events and coordinate efficiently .I have also imbibed the proper balance between duties and hobbies in my routine. I am nimble on my feet and this dancing skill has been handed down to me by my mother. Like her, I too love to drive cars fast. .Rapport with my parents   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  I have a great rapport with both my father and mother though I am closer to my mother. The topics of discussion vary. I look up to my father for advice in serious matters, and discussions are restricted to cars, college, business, education and the like With my mother I am more comfortable with emotional problems and can discuss anything under the sun. It can be either be a light-hearted sharing of jokes, holidays, a birthday present, or a tough question paper, an unexpected silly mistake in my Math exam, or a silly argument with my friend.   There is not one problem that I cannot confide in her and seek her intuitive emotional support.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     The absolute intellectual rapport that exists between my father and me and the emotional closeness with my mother provide a very good balance in me. Hobbies and interests   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     My father is a good reader. His interests are in world affairs, economy and the financial markets. There is not a day when he would miss reading a newspaper or listening to news telecast. He knows the nuances of business , industry, , fluctuations in stock indices, emerging economies, global trends, growth prospects of different sectors, political trends, and so on.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My mother loves reading, music, and participation in social events. She loves to listen to all kinds of music. She is the president of a local Indian Community Association. She has been successful in organizing events because she knows what kinds of competitions and events would interest her friends in the community. She is a perfect coordinator and her friends look up to her for her innovative ideas in social gatherings.     She is quite popular and her name has been published a in the local section of the news papers. Her other interests include car driving. She loves to drive cars and is excited when the speedometer shoots up.

Introduction to Physiology and Pharmacology

Introduction to Physiology and Pharmacology The aim of this experiment is to prepare a sample of guinea pig ileum and to determine the contractile dose response curve to acetylcholine and dose response curve to carbachol and biological variation. Abstract In this experiment pharmacological effect of acetylcholine and carbachol are studied by using an isolated tissue preparation, which is a guinea pig ileum. The contractile property of the smooth muscle is used for the straightforward measurement of the force it produces as an indication of effect. The ileum is a part of the intestines among the pyloric sphincter and colon. The ileum has a tube of muscle and epithelial layers, innervated by bundles of fibres. The muscle layers have inherited contractility. The contractility is transformed by the nervous inputs in the myenteric plexuses. In the myenteric plexuses the ganglia linking pre and post ganglionic neurons with acetylcholine act to transmit among them. The muscle layer makes the tissue shorter and pulls the tube together. So the muscle lengthens the tissue little bit. Acetylcholine can stimulate the contraction when it is released from the enteric nerve terminals onto the muscle layers. In the enteric nervous system are the muscarinic g-protein coupled receptors. Those receptors mediate a biological response an acetylcholine agonist. The cells of the muscle form gap junctions with each other and so are electrically coupled, allowing for smooth coordinated contractions that underlie peristalsis. The ileum was kept continually in the oxygenated Tyrodes solution. The temperature of Tyrode solution was maintained at 32 Celsius. The contraction or relaxation of the piece of tissue was attached to an isotonic transducer. An instrument, which converted changes into electrical current and that, was used to drive a pen recorder. Method: For the second experiment the time was reduced to 4 minutes from 8 minutes. Description of the results Acetylcholine Average % Max Response Dose Response Height Percentage Maximum Response Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 A 0.00000001 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 B 0.00000003 0.00 1.00 45.00 0.00 0.87 10.47 3.78 C 0.00000010 1.00 10.00 85.00 1.00 8.70 19.77 9.82 D 0.00000030 3.50 115.00 220.00 3.50 100.00 51.16 51.55 E 0.00000100 100.00 110.00 430.00 100.00 95.65 100.00 98.55 F 0.00000300 80.00 100.00 380.00 80.00 86.96 88.37 85.11 Carbachol Average % Max Response Dose Response Height Percentage Maximum Response Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 A 0.00000001 40.00 20.00 0.00 3.28 3.23 0.00 2.17 B 0.00000003 20.00 20.00 0.00 1.64 3.23 0.00 2.15 C 0.00000010 240.00 100.00 5.00 19.67 16.13 5.26 13.69 D 0.00000030 280.00 170.00 40.00 22.95 27.42 42.11 30.83 E 0.00000100 560.00 620.00 80.00 45.90 100.00 84.21 76.70 F 0.00000300 1220.00 540.00 95.00 100.00 87.10 100.00 95.70 Discussion A more sophisticated organ bath could be used as the volume of the bath was filled visually. If it had a mark then the filled amount would be the same and no error would occur. Questions: The ileum is innervated by the enteric, sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system. The Myenteric (Auerbachs) and submucosal (Meissners plexuses) are the two plexuses of the enteric nervous system. The agonists Histamine and ATP cause peristaltis in the gut. (Morphin, cannabis drugs) A vehicle is a pharmaceutical ingredient (usually a liquid) used a medium for dissolving the active drug in a mass suitable for its administration. The transporting agent is used to increase the bulk or decrease the concentration of a mixture. Acetylcholine esterase cannot easily metabolise carbachol. Carbachol is a choline ester and does not well absorb in the gastrointestinal tract. It does not cross the blood brain barrier. Carbachol is a drug that binds and activates the acetylcholine receptor. It is classified as a cholinergic agonist. Applications are for ophthalmic purpose, such as treating glaucoma or for use during ophthalmic surgeries. It stimulates bladder emptying and for chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting. Postradiation nausea and vomiting. Yes, the dose range for each agonist is sufficient to obtain a complete dose response curve. Both agonists reached a maximum response. EC50 11 No difference 12 13 14 15 Antiemetic can either reduce nausea or stop people from throwing up. Different drugs types and different strength are in use. The simplest indication is and simple motion sickness and to prevent nausea or for nausea. They antagonize the following receptors : 1-peripheral 5-HT3 receptor blockade on intestinal vagal afferents; 2-central5-HT3 receptor blockade in the vomiting center and chemo trigger zone. Use: because of the 5HT3 receptor antagonists in the chemotherapy it is inducing vomiting. Conclusion: Using tissues helps to overcome some problems. If a whole guinea pig is used applying orally a drug, it may complicate the interpretation of the observations. As a tissue is used in this experiment the following factors, such as absorption from the gut and its distribution throughout the body do not have to be considered when the response of a piece of isolated tissue is controlled. Agonists produce a biological response when applied to a tissue. From this experiment practically I gained that the produced size of response by an agonist depends on the dose. Each drug has a threshold dose. Under this dose no response can be spotted. Increasing the application of the drug over the threshold dose increases the response until it reaches a maximum value. Apart from the increased dose, the response will not increase. Using the term concentration made the comparison between the experiments easier. All the tissues from an animal (in this case guinea pig) may possibly response different to given drugs and make a respond from an amount of different tissues. The response from the guinea pig to acetylcholine and carbachol induced by fixed concentration different levels due to the biological variation.

Caddie - Australian Movie Review :: essays research papers

The movie Caddie stars Helen Morse as ‘Caddie’ Marsh, a young woman in the depression, Jackie Weaver, as Caddie’s friend Leslie, Jack Thompson as Ted, and Takis Emmanuel as Peter. Caddie is set in the times of the Australian depression and was the first remotely successful Australian feature film. It follows the story of a spirited woman and her experiences over seven life-shaping years of her life. Through her eyes we see the effect of the depression on the average Australians of the time. The movie tells the story of a young Sydney woman during the years 1925 to 1932 in which time she changes from a young suburban 25 year old matron and mother to a free-wheeling woman of 32. The film opens with Caddie learning that her husband is in love with her best friend, Ester, and taking the only course she feels is open to her; she leaves him taking the children with her. To earn enough money to keep her and the children, Caddie takes a job as a barmaid, and soon learns the ropes with the help of fellow barmaid Josie. One day Ted, the SP bookmaker comes into the pub. He names her Caddie after his brand new Cadillac that, like her, he says has class and beauty. Caddie is struggling to look after her two children, Anne, and Terry properly, so she makes the very difficult decision to put them into children’s homes. Through a friend, Caddie meets Peter, a Greek immigrant and successful businessman. They fall in love and become lovers, but fate strikes with the sudden illness of Peter’s father and he has to leave for Greece. Winter two years later, and the Great Depression is taking its toll on Sydney and Caddie. She has trouble staying employed, and finally is bed-ridden suffering from malnutrition and nervous exhaustion. She is befriended by â€Å"Bill the Rabbito† and his younger brother Sonny, who share their meagre belongings with her until she is well and strong again. Caddie takes yet another job as a barmaid, and meets Paddy Reilly who

Excuses, Excuses

Excuses, Excuses Even though some excuses for turning in work late as seen in â€Å"The Dog Ate My Disk, and Other Tales of Woe† by Carolyn Foster Segal, some excuses given are legitimate for turning in late work. Some unforeseeable events, such as traffic accidents, death in the family, weather that causes an evacuation, and a fire are just a few are all events that students can not control, which result in turning in late work. It is Monday morning, students are on their way to the first class period of the day, their paper is due first thing as they walk in the door.Tragedy strikes on their way to school as a mo-torists runs a red light, t-boning the students car and causing a major accident. However the stu-dent could have emailed the assignment to the professor, this professor only accepts copies in pe-rson. The student did not predict the accident he/she would be involved in this morning, or maybe he/she would have left a little later, or a little earlier, or even taken a different route to school that day. Family members getting into an accident could go either way, depending on who the family member is and where they are located.If a distant cousin from four hundred miles away gets into a fender bender, teachers will probably be very skeptical to accept late work. However a mother, father, or immediate family member, gets into an automobile accident could be an acceptable excuse for turning in late work. A death in the family is a very tragic occurrence and could have many different effects on the student and their work they are planning to turn in. Segal states â€Å" What heartless student would lie, wish death on a revered family member, just to avoid a deadline? (461) Hopefully no student would use a death in the family to avoid a deadline. Death is not to be taken lightly, nor used in a demeaning manner. Segal also says, â€Å"What heartless teacher would dare to question a student's grief or veracity? †(461). Hopefully no teacher or professor would call their students out or question that their was a death in their family. Letting the professor know exactly what is going on and when the student will turn in their paper is a proper course of action, to avoid receiving an F for the assignment or incomplete in the class.Nothing is more frightening than having to pack bags and evacuate due to serious and catastrophic weather. Students and teachers, not knowing what to expect when the storm passes, or what damage could come of their campus or surrounding areas. When a storm is a brewing miles away and expecting to hit in the next week, students are not worried about an assignment, they are focused on packing the must haves when evacuating and arriving somewhere out of harms way. Most teachers probably allow students to turn their work in after the storm has passed and once the school opens back up to regular hours.Weather is a unstable force, the storm could hit further away or not be as strong as anticipated, but students do not focus on their school work at this time. Giving them a legitimate excuse for not turning their work in on time, because they were forced to evacuate due to storms and unforeseeable damages that may occur. Fires destroy many homes and buildings each year, leaving the occupants without a roof over their head. In the event of a fire, people are taught not to try and save anything from their houses, dorms, and apartments.Their main goal is to get to safety, and let the fire department do their job at extinguishing the fire. A student that is the victim of a fire, should be allowed to turn their work in late, especially if they have lost most if not all of their things in the fire. Sunday night, the student is putting the finishing touches on their paper due Monday morning, and their computer crashes, not allowing them to save any material to a disc, or thumb drive can be very upsetting. The student arrives in class and tells their professor that the reason they are not t urning their paper in was because their computer crashed the night before.This could happen, and not allow the student adequate time to go to their nearest computer lab or library on campus and redo their paper. This common occurrence with computers and technology could give the students an extension to resubmit their assignment at a later day. This would be at the profess-ors discretion of course, or the professor could ask for proof that the action that did happen, truly did happen. This returns to the question from the death in a family section, just in different words: Would a teacher actually question, why a student is turning their work in late or not.Excuses are thrown around colleges and schools like jokes at a comedy club. Some excuses are just absurd and just a reason for students to get out of doing their assignments; others are legitimate reasons as to why they are not turning their assignment in. The bad excuses make the legitimate excuses seem untrue and just another e xcuse, that students will use to get out of an assignment. Work Cited Segal, Carolyn Foster. â€Å"The Dog Ate My Disk, and Other Tales of Woe† Patterns for College Writing. 12th ed. Ed. Laurie G Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Bedford, 2012 460-463. Print.

Kristin Landeros Essays (662 words) - Economic Ideologies

Kristin Landeros Essays (662 words) - Economic Ideologies Kristin Landeros S. Gran HIST M180 Western Civilization 09/24 /2016 Industrial Revolution The industrial revolution had a great impact on Europe, especially when it comes to social and economic aspects, since they underwent a great change during the period. Still, whether the industrial revolution was positive or negative as a whole depends on if you focus on either of these two aspects. Optimists will say that it was good, and they'll focus on the favorable consequences on economy. Pessimists, however, will focus on social aspects, since society suffered a decline as to way of life. When it comes to economy, most of the consequences of the industrial revolution on it were quite positive. Wages rose, and people had enough money to buy goods. Industry developed, making it more efficient to produce products with the help of machines. These made it more profitable for industries, since work was done faster and without a need for a big human work force , thus creating mass production. It was cheap to make goods, and they were produced at a large scale, which in turn led to consumers being able to afford more products. Another thing was the creation of banks, which favored economy as they lent money to set up even more industries. Mercantilism also helped European countries, since they had a market for their goods. Also, industries were favored by the construction of better roads and canals, and with the invention of the steam engine, as well as with the construction of turnpike trusts. Goods were transported in faster, safer and cheaper ways, which had a positive effect on industry and economy. The improvement of the transport system also had positive effects on social aspects. Now that people had more money, they could use it to go on day holidays to the coast, since they could use the railroad. Improvement in transportation also eventually led to the creation of national sport leagues, as teams could move around from place to place. Another positive consequence of the improvement of transport reflected on people's diets. Fresh food could be transported faster and cheaper into urban areas, thus making it available for consumers, who, with the improvements in economy, now had money to buy it, as well as some mass produced clothes. Still, even if people had more money, standards of living didn't rise as much. To get money, people had to work for long shifts, and housing was also more expensive. This made people pack together in small houses. Over-crowding inevitably led to the quick spread of diseases and illnesses as pollution from industries and wastes filled the cities, affecting people who lived very close together. People working in the city also had bad working conditions. They worked for long shifts under unhealthy conditions, and accidents were common due to the over-tiredness of the workers after so many hours of work. Also, for a family to meet monthly expenses, children had to work. Child labo r was common, and children had harsh jobs, working all day instead of being able to go to school and get an education. Another negative consequence of the industrial revolution was the sharp increase of crime in cities. As industries and large farms prospered, small farmers and peasants suffered. Many were left without a job and thus migrated into the cities. Population increase in urban areas, however, didn't always match the increasing need for workers in industries; many people were left without a job and thus had to resort to crime to be able to survive. It is clear that the Industrial Revolution had a great impact on people's lives throughout Europe. A capitalist economy flourished, while workers suffered unhealthy conditions as they struggled to survive in a changing society. Western Civilization Seventh Edition Beyond Boundaries Volume II Si nce 1560 ) Chapter 20: The Mechanical Age ( Noble. Strauss, Osheim, Neuschel, Accam po, Roberts and Cohen 01/28/2013 )

Organizational Behavior and Concepts

Organizational Behavior and Concepts Organizational Culture and behavior Culture and behavior of an organization tend to have a similar meaning and are very important in determining the way the operations of an organization are carried out.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Behavior and Concepts specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The concept is essentially concerned with the way employees of an organization think, hence become so crucial in understanding how their performance can be increased, make it cost effective, and ensure that their services are well utilized in the organization. For one to comprehend the meaning of the above statement, one should first of all have an understanding of what the term culture entail (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005). This term implies the customs and beliefs that are followed by a certain group of people who live together. For instance, every ethnic group has specific values that it upholds and maintains from generation to generation and must be respected. So, when it comes to an organization the same meaning applies whereby there are specific stipulations and codes of conduct that each and every staff is bound to respect without any compromise. This implies that each and every employee is supposed to behave within these stipulations. Organizational cultures can further be categorized by use of a pyramid whereby the lowest part illustrates the artifacts and behaviors which are most concrete of all cultures hence describe more about an organization. The other category comprises of the values which are responsible for controlling suppositions and conduct of the personnel. The last and top most section shows the hypothesis and principles which form the most essential part of this pyramid and are very abstract. They are the hardest aspects to inculcate into the employees mind, but once they are assimilated they influence greatly how the staff follows the other elements of culture (Robb ins Judge, 2010). Organizational behaviors on the other hand have some link with culture due to the fact that the later determines the kind of behaviors to be adopted in an organization. Organizational behaviors involve the kind of conduct that is followed by employees in organization. It forms a very basic and crucial aspect that needs to be put into consideration within the organization. The kinds of behaviors that are exhibited by the staff of business are influenced by the standards that are set by the organization. This means the behaviors of employees is limited to the expectations of the firm. The importance of knowing about organizational behaviors is to help organizations come into terms with the conduct of their human resource and learn how to mould the behaviors into what they want and is best for the business (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Organizational Diversity Diversity has become a common scenario in the society since it touches on very many areas of people’s lives such as on the nationality, educational levels, social status and many other elements that have varied characteristics. All these aspects have had a diversified nature hence making organizations to put this into consideration since it is now obvious that they must cater for all these differences. It has become a hard task for organizations to offer employment to people in a manner that ensures equitable distribution of the opportunities to all the people in a particular area so as to meet the needs of all the individuals in the society. This therefore demands that the organizations in the present time should be ready to accept and adapt to the dynamic society that is there nowadays. For an organization to be perceived wholesome it must be at a point of having diversified team of members and at the same time should be of fering goods and services that meet the needs of all kind of people in the society. This has led to a great change in the operation of many organizations whereby they have put in place mechanisms that enable businesses to cater for the wide range of people that have come up. In typical organizations, the Information Communication Systems such as computers and the Internet have enabled managers to diversify the operations of their organization due to the fact that there is timely and accurate information. Organizational Communication For an organization to have a smooth running of its operations, it must have a good communication system. Organizational communication is viewed as the freedom to convey information between the executives and the staff which facilitates better performance. This helps the members of an organization to have a good correlation. This happens by selecting communication skills that are able to cut across the different class of people within the organization. P roper communication systems in organizations have led to many positive changes which can be described by the rapid growth of a company. Communication has enabled organizations to become more innovative and has also streamlined the mode of management. Effective communication has also enabled businesses to meet the international levels of standard since they can be able to interact on a global platform. Organizational communication has been facilitated by the advancement of technology that has made the world to seen as a global village. This has widened the organizational scope hence improving the operations and quality of work that is done by businesses (Miner, 2007).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Behavior and Concepts specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Business ethics Business ethics refers to the conduct that organizations are bound to follow as it executes its day to day operations with the society and the environment in general. Each and every business has its own kind of ethics that define how it carries out its deals, which does not only involve how it relate with the large population but also on the individual consumers and parties that are associated with it. Business ethics have come in handy, more specifically on the kind of status it acquires. In the current world most of the legitimate organizations have moved from the era of being profit oriented to an era of minding the rapport they have with the customers and the world at large. The survival of many organizations in the present world has been sustained by the kind of ethics they possess (Miner, 2007). Change management Organizations have the role of offering goods and services to the consumers and also the duty of carrying out changes that are relevant for the company’s development. Change management refers to the way an organization carries out important amendments in a manner that depicts order and effecti veness (Robbins Judge, 2010). Every organization has to implement any change that is deemed relevant so as to remain competitive and within the stipulated requirements. For instance, when an organization decides to change its network system, say from local area network (LAN) to a virtual local area network (VLAN), it must consider all the costs and benefits associated with the change, among other factors. There is need to inform all the parties involved in the change, thus appropriate strategies must be documented and implemented with the aim of making such changes feasible. References Miner, J. (2007).Organizational Behavior: From Theory to Practice, Behavior. New York: M.E. Sharpe. Robbins, J. Judge, T. (2010). Organizational Behavior, My Management Lab Series. (14th Ed.) Chicago: Prentice Hall. Print.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Schermerhorn, J.R., Hunt, J.G., Osborn, R.N. (2005). Organizational Behavior. (9th Ed.). Chicago: Wiley Publishers.

Pressure distribution on an ellipto-zhukovsky aerofoil Essay Example

Pressure distribution on an ellipto Pressure distribution on an ellipto-zhukovsky aerofoil Paper Pressure distribution on an ellipto-zhukovsky aerofoil Paper The pressure distribution around an Ellipto Zhukovsky aerofoil with a chord of 254 mm at a range of angles of attack (-4? , 7? and 15? ) was determined and pressure contributions to lift were evaluated in a T3 wind tunnel at City University. This was carried out at a chord Reynolds number of 3. 9 x 105. Graphs for lift and pitching moment coefficients were plotted against angles of attack. A graph for Cm and Cl was also plotted from which the aerodynamic centre was determined to be 23. 7%. The value of lift curve slope was determined to be 4. 4759. Hence the value of k (the ratio of the actual lift curve slope to the theoretical one) for this aerofoil was determined to be 0. 917. The value of Cmo was also found to be 0. 0172. Specimen calculations for 15 degrees angle of attack can be found in the appendix section. LIST OF SYMBOLS Cp Pressure Coefficient Cpu Pressure Coefficient of upper surface Cpl Pressure Coefficient of lower surface Cl Lift Coefficient Cm Moment Coefficient x/c Position of pressure tapping on aerofoil divided by chord length Px Pressure at tapping x (Pa) Patm Atmospheric Pressure (Pa) ? Density of air (kg/m3) i Dynamic viscosity ? Kinematics viscosity (m/s2) h Digital manometer reading ? angle of which manometer is inclined D or t Diameter of cylinder (mm) h tunnel height (mm) V Velocity of air flow (m/s) R Molar gas constant (J/kg. K) T Temperature (K) Re Reynolds Number INTRODUCTION An airfoil is any part of an airplane that is designed to produce lift. Those parts of the airplane specifically designed to produce lift include the wing and the tail surface. In modern aircraft, the designers usually provide an airfoil shape to even the fuselage. A fuselage may not produce much lift, and this lift may not be produced until the aircraft is flying relatively fast, but every bit of lift helps. The first successful aerofoil theory was developed by Zhukov sky and was based on transforming a circle onto an aerofoil-shaped contour. This transformation gave a cusped trailing edge, and so the transformation was modified to obtain a slender semi-eclipse trailing edge, which gave rise to the name Ellipto Zhukovsky. When a stream of air flows past an aerofoil, there are local changes in velocity around the aerofoil, and consequently changes in static pressure in accordance with Bernoullis theorem. The distribution of pressure determines the lift, pitching moment, form drag, and centre of pressure of the aerofoil. In our experiment we are concerned with the effect of pressure distribution on lift, pitching moment coefficient (Cm), and centre of pressure. The centre of pressure can be defined as the point on the aerofoil where Cm is zero, and therefore the aerodynamic effects at that point may be represented by the lift and drag alone. A positive pressure coefficient implies a pressure greater than the free stream value, and a negative pressure coefficient implies a pressure less than the free stream value (and is often referred to as suction). Also, at the stagnation point, Cp has its maximum value of 1 (which can be observed by plotting Cp against x/c). Zhucovsky claimed that the aerofoil generates sufficient circulation to depress the rear stagnation point from its position, in the absence of circulation, down to the (sharp) trailing edge. There is sufficient evidence of a physical nature to justify this hypothesis and the following brief description of the Experiment on an aerofoil may serve helpful. The experiment focuses on the pressure distribution around the Zhucovsky airfoil at a low speed and the characteristics associated with an airfoil:  coefficient of lift,   coefficient of pitching moment   and centre of pressure. The airfoil is secured to both sides of the wind tunnel with pressure tappings made as small as possible not to affect the flow,(appendix- photo 1 . The pressure difference around the airfoil is measured with twenty-five manometer readings which are recorded for each angle of attack. The manometer fluid is alcohol and has a specific gravity of 0. 83 and inclined at an angle of 30 degrees. Tube 1 is left open to atmospheric pressure, while tubes 2-13 are the lower surface of the airfoil and tubes 14-24 are the upper surface of the airfoil. The pressure tapings are positioned on the airfoil at a distance x/c, noted in the results table and tube 35 is the static pressure of the wind tunnel. The dynamic pressure is given by a digital manometer. The digital readout results were used for all calculations because they are more precise. Results Raw data and calculated values for x/c, Cp and Cp(x/c) can be found in the appendix. Graphs of Cp against x/c for angles of attack -4, 7, and 15 degrees can be also be found in the appendix. These graphs determine the lift coefficient. Counting the squares method was used to determine the values of Cl. Graphs of Cp*(x/c) against x/c for angles of attack -4, 7, and 15 degrees can be also be found in the appendix. These graphs determine the pitch moment coefficient. Counting the squares method was used to determine the values of Cm. Graphs of Cl against angle of attack ,Cm against angle of attack, and Cm against Cl can be found in the appendix. Also below is a summary of the results: Angle of Attack (degrees) Cl Cm -4 -0. 513 0. 153 7 0. 740 -0. 166 15 0. 946 -0. 183 Discussion The experiment was conducted in a low speed, closed wind tunnel, operating at approximately 50% of its speed. The aerofoil was mounted in the wind tunnel and its pressure tapings connected to a manometer inclined at 30 degrees to the horizontal. The height of the liquid in each manometer tube represented the pressure acting on each of the aerofoil tapings. The pressure in the working section, and the pressure at the venturi inlet were taken into account, and a resulting wind tunnel velocity was displayed on a digital manometer. The Reynolds number was calculated (see appendix. Values of Cl and Cm for other angles of attack were obtained from other groups conducting the experiment, and were used to obtain more accurate graphs. It was also found that the slope of the Cl against angle of attack graph was 4. 4759, which was not relatively close to the theoretical value of 7. 105. The aerodynamic centre was calculated at 23. 7% of the chord length (from the slope of the Cm against Cl graph). It was found that the lift increased with angle of attack, up to a point where the aerofoil experiences stall, and a dramatic loss of lift occurs. As there was little change in the lower surface pressure distribution, the lift was mainly generated due to the upper surface suction. As the angle of attack increases, the height of the upper surface suction peak should increase, and move forward, indicating that the centre of pressure is moving forward. However, experimentally this was not prominent, and can be attributed to a possible disturbance in the pressure distribution around the aerofoil. At zero degrees angle of attack, for a symmetrical aerofoil, lift and Cm should equal zero. The reason that they were not zero means that the aerofoil must have had a very small angle of attack. The discrepancy between the theoretical and experimental value of lift curve slope is due to boundary layer effects, and the effect of the thickness of the aerofoil, and thus the theoretical value needs to be multiplied by the k value (=0. 917) to obtain the experimental result. Conclusion The aim of the experiment was achieved with a relatively good level of experimental accuracy. The pressure distribution over an aerofoil contributes towards the lift and pitching moment coefficient, where the increase in suction on the upper surface (due to an increased angle of attack) increases the lift, and pitching moment coefficient. The variation of pressure distribution also affects the location of the centre of pressure. The factors which affected the pressure distribution, were mainly the thickness and the Reynolds number. However, when it comes to comparing the results with their theoretical values it is clear to see that there have been significant errors have occurred in the experiment. These are listed below. Human errors in reading of the manometer tubes. Where several people were involved and this led to different techniques being used it would have been best for everyone to take their own set of readings and the average value calculated using all the data. The most common error without ant doubt was parallax and this could have been avoided by using digital measuring devices. Calculation errors i. e. rounding off, conversion error and error occurring when the area under the graphs was calculated for the coefficient of lift.   Experimental errors some of the tapping may have been defective and not enough tapping were provided. Also to obtain a better lift curve slope there should have more angles of attack. Also any obstructions in front of the wind tunnel such as people would create unnecessary turbulence inside the wind tunnel. Appendix Specimen Calculations.

International Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

International Marketing - Essay Example Franchising is defined by Czinkota et al as â€Å"the granting of the right by a parent company (the franchisor/ franchiser) to another, independent entity (the franchisee) to do business in a prescribed manner. (2011). 4. The Toronto headquarters must the proceed to design the corporate strategy of DHL Canada. Corporate strategy encompasses â€Å"the long-term, organisation-wide strategy for a business, formulated by top-level managers† (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2009). In doing this, we must get accurate information about important elements of doing business across Canada, namely an Operational Model, Legal Model, Marketing Strategy and Franchising Model. 5. The Operational Model must define how logistics and goods will be moved from one point to another to Canada. This will involve the identification of warehousing, transportation and other systems that would be used. In doing this, we will need to globalise or localise. If we globalise, it would mean that we will maintain the standards in the home country of DHL in Canada. If we decide to localise, we will examine the way other courier companies work and marketing conditions in Canada and then define a different operational model from the scratch. I recommend a mixed strategy of globalisation and localisation. This will enable us to be flexible in drawing up operational requirements for the company. 6. After this, we have to define the legal requirements for our franchising agreements. We will identify the capital base that each franchisee needs and the rules that they have to follow. Also, the contributions they will make to the company for marketing costs will be defined. Additionally, Franchising fees will be given and a timeline for meeting requirements will also be given. 8. When the major planning activities are completed, we can come up with a time, budgetary and resource

The Reproductive Health Bill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Reproductive Health Bill - Essay Example The bill has been unanimously approved by the House Committee on Population and Family Relations last January 31, 2011. It is now awaiting approval on third reading in Congress after which it will be submitted to the Senate for approval and eventually submitted to the Office of the President for signature (Montenegro, par.2). This process however is not an easy route. Various contending factions have their own vocal supporters from prominent groups and personalities in the fields of the academe, government, civil society and the religious. It is worth noting that the powerful Catholic Church, representing Catholics who comprise around 80 percent of the Philippine population (Santos, par. 4), is in the forefront of the campaign against the bill. The RH Bill seeks to guarantee universal access to family planning methods. The bill also aims to provide universal access to information on contraception and maternal care, and promote age-appropriate sexual education to youths in elementary and high schools (Palmer, par. 5). The bill seeks to protect the health and lives of mothers who die from unnecessary causes in childbirth, prevent unintentional pregnancies and thereby prevent abortions. For the bill’s proponents, one of the primary reasons why they wrote the bill is the interconnection between rapid population growth and poverty, with much of the growth in population occurring among the poor. In a 2004 study, the Asian Development Bank cited the country’s large population as one of the core drivers of the country’s poverty (Palmer, par. 2). Ernesto Pernia, an economics professor points out that with fewer children and wider birth intervals the poor will be able to devote more of their very limited resources to each child’s education and health which in turn will increase their chances of climbing out of poverty (Palmer, par. 7). It is worth mentioning that not all religious groups are against the RH Bill. The Philippine Council of Evang elical Churches supports the RH Bill because it is pro-life, pro-development and pro-poor. Addressing the concerns of the Catholic Church that the bill promotes a â€Å"culture of death† by allowing artificial contraceptive methods, its leader Bishop Efraim Tendero had this to say: "Life begins at fertilization. Therefore if there is no fertilization, there is no life yet. The use of artificial contraception is not taking away life because life has not yet started." (Santos, par.5 & 7). Another influential religious group, the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), believes that the RH bill will help decrease many of society’s worsening ills which could be attributed to the increase in population. The group’s stand is with the RH bill, married couples can avoid unwanted pregnancies (Santos, par. 7-8). Another group, the Interfaith Partnership for the Promotion of Responsible Parenthood considers the RH bill as necessary to prevent the deaths of mothers and babies (Santos, par. 11). Leading the groups against the RH Bill is the Catholic Church. The Church supports Natural Family Planning, which includes abstinence and fertility beads among women. But it strongly prohibits the use of artificial means, such as birth control pills and condoms because it prevents human life (Palmer, par. 11-12). The Church argues that by making contraceptives universally accessible and promoting sex education in schools, it will promote promiscuity (Palmer, par. 13). But proponents argue that that is exactly why the proposed sex education of the youth includes values formation. The Church believes there is no relation between population size and poverty. They argue that instead of spending P6 billion in implementing the bill, it should instead be used

I wore a mask, and my face grew to fit it Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

I wore a mask, and my face grew to fit it - Essay Example I was lucky because I have very supporting parents. However, reflecting back on those experiences, I could say that those were the times when I wore a mask. Wearing a mask means not showing my real feelings but feigning them just to please my parents. Every good child wishes for his/her parents to be happy. In order to make them happy, one would normally do things that would please one’s parents and make them proud. For example, a child would study hard, aim for good marks, or aspire for the most valuable player award. To please my parents, I wore a mask to be what my parents expected me to be. During times I felt weak and afraid, I wore that mask of courage and aggressiveness. When I felt longing to hide at my father’s back on the first day of school, I wore a mask of confidence to avoid disappointing him. When I felt like sinking in my mother’s lap, I wore a mask of strength to perform an oratorical speech in school. In fact, I have worn many masks in many places just to make my parents feel proud. The mask allowed me to be the person my parents wanted me to be and to bring out the best in me. At first, the mask felt rather unfit and too tight, but as I wore it, it felt comfortable to use, it was as if my f ace grew to fit it. Using the mask that my parents caused me to wear has made me the person that I am right now, full of courage, strength and goals. The mask allowed me to discover my capabilities and talents. If I did not wear it in grade school, I would have been ostracized. If I do not wear it today, I will not gain acceptance in the university, and will not have the means to achieve my dreams. The mask has allowed me to exist in the present world, where other mask wearers like me exist (Shadowmat.org). It has gained me appreciation and respect not only from my parents but also from other people around me: my teachers, classmates, friends, and neighbors. The

The Blue Spider Program and the reasons for its failure Essay

The Blue Spider Program and the reasons for its failure - Essay Example Could adaptive control system theory be the basis of the 'theory of agile systems'" (Alleman, "Herding Cats"). For the successful management of complex interactions, agility is most certainly needed. The case study presented clearly shows a plethora of complex interactions emerging from the mere fact of the behind-the-scenes deception and lack of communications alone. "In most feedback systems, small deviations in a parameter's value from its design value will not cause a problem in the normal operations of the system, provided these parameters are inside the control loop. If the process parameters vary widely because of environmental changes, then the control system will exhibit unsatisfactory behaviors...To be called adaptive, self-organizing features must exist" (Alleman, "Herding Cats"). We might ask ourselves what are these features that must exist We can name them in a list of three. "Identification of the dynamic characteristics of the process. Decision making based on the identification of the process." And "modification or actuation based on the decisions made" (Alleman, "Herding Cat s"). In our notes on the project, we clearly see that Anderson is never able to get a handle on making leadership decisions based upon his obvious need to modify what he is doing. Does he understand the dynamics of management of the Blue Spider Program development Clearly not. He tries to take on too much on his own most of the times (researching instead of managing), while at other times there is lack of given information, administrative mistakes. For a PM to really know how to manage what he is doing would require a solid foundation in theory that is barely available in our present... The Blue Spider Program and the reasons for its failure The theory of management comprises viewing PM as having "a strong causal connection between the actions of management and outcomes of the organization"; assuming "that planned tasks can be executed by a notification of the start of the task to the executor"; and maintaining that there is "a standard of performance; performance is measured at the output; the possible variance between the standard and the measured value is used for correcting the process so that the standard can be reached" (Koskela & Howell). Anderson did not understand the connection between himself and the project’s success or failure. Performance standards were notoriously lacking. These and the aforementioned matters would have to be corrected to ensure future success. The theory of management comprises viewing PM as having "a strong causal connection between the actions of management and outcomes of the organization"; assuming "that planned tasks can be executed by a notification of the start of the task to the executor"; and maintaining that there is "a standard of performance; performance is measured at the output; the possible variance between the standard and the measured value is used for correcting the process so that the standard can be reached" (Koskela & Howell). Anderson did not understand the connection between himself and the project’s success or failure. Performance standards were notoriously lacking. These and the aforementioned matters would have to be corrected to ensure future success.

Derivatives and financial crisis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Derivatives and financial crisis - Assignment Example Such types of derivatives are used based on the type of risk exposure i.e. liquidity, financial, exchange rate risks, etc (Chisholm, 2011). Derivatives were used primarily to hedge risk, but over time people used it to make gains out of the price movements of the underlying assets. The purpose of using derivatives is incumbent on the investment objective. The price volatility of the underlying influenced various investor community to use derivative as a lucrative investment option. Earlier the use of derivatives was not popular, owing to its complexities it was not considered to be a feasible investment option. Over time, it was adopted by various investors to insure the various risks facing them. With various risk outcomes, the fluctuations in the price of the underlying assets made it volatile. Such price volatility attracted speculators, who engaged in the use of derivatives to earn profits. Speculations are done on both the up trends and down trends of the asset price movements. The impact of speculations is felt across the investor community i.e. the hedgers. Speculators gamble on the direction of the asset price m ovement. When a speculator feels that the price of the underlying asset will fall, he will short sell the stock or buy an option. When the price of the asset falls, he exercises the option or buys the underlying asset to make profit. Speculators leverage the vulnerability of the price movements of the asset to make gains. Though all types of derivatives cannot be used to speculate, but futures, options and swaps are lucrative avenues for speculators (Poitras, 2002). From the inception, starting in 1970’s and continuing through the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, the financial market evolved and made it a riskier place for trading. The interest rate changes, bonds and stock markets witnessed phases of increased volatility. Owing to such evolution of risk, investors and managers of financial institutions became wary and resorted to

Multicultural Education Final Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Multicultural Education Final Project - Essay Example The key points of the Constructivist learning theory that make it useful for differentiation in teaching are that it: (1) helps students from different cultural and social backgrounds to interact more naturally; (2) provides a common ground for learning to take place; and (3) helps students to think and be creative, which is one of the important learning objectives I have in my math classes (EBC, 2007; Matthews, 2003). Analyzing the underlying principles show how the theory supports my approach to differentiation. With its emphasis on big concepts that begin with the whole and expanding to include the parts, constructivism provides the intellectual foundation that allows the students coming from diverse cultural and personal backgrounds to grasp concepts of working together, sharing common goals, and appreciating differences. This mindset is useful to guide students - many of whom are traumatized by immigration, the challenge of a new culture, and coping with family problems - to work towards achieving grand objectives and see the part everyone plays in it. By giving value to student questions and interests, the constructivist learning theory helps the students develop self-esteem by making them realize that personal differences make them unique, and that these differences play an important role in the learning process and in fostering unity and agreement within a multicultural environment. The interactivity of learning builds on what students know from their own backgrounds and personal experiences. While I use typical examples from American culture to teach mathematics, I encourage students to use examples from their own cultures to enhance a familiar feel by not completely detaching students from their unique histories. I find this useful when dealing with students coming from cultures of oppression and inferiority, emphasizing for example that while respect for authority is an important value, it needs to be balanced with other values important in a democratic society, such as formation of individuality, love for freedom, and the n eed to establish and achieve high standards (Glatthorn, 1999, p. 5). Unique personal learning is encouraged by the constructivist principle of dialogue with students aimed at helping them construct their own personal knowledge. The teacher's interactive role, rooted in negotiation, helps students acquire life skills that are crucial for their futures. The emphasis on group work reinforces the interaction of the students among themselves so they develop the abilities of self-expression, independent thinking, and understanding differences in viewpoints, all cornerstones of American society. Constructivism's emphasis on process, observations, and tests and the recognition that knowledge is dynamic and changes with personal experience are useful in developing in students the habits of lifelong learning, experimental daring, and the curiosity to learn more about the world around them. Since each culture has unique world views, constructivism helps everyone learn from the different ways people view and learn from the world. This does not mean that Instructivism, the ideological opposite of constructivism, does not contain good points that are useful in making education in a diversified classroom more effective. The Instructivist emphases on developing basic skills, having a well-planned curriculum, the value of repetition, the recognition of the teacher's authority, teaching correct answers, and fostering learning independence

The Blue Spider Program and the reasons for its failure Essay

The Blue Spider Program and the reasons for its failure - Essay Example Could adaptive control system theory be the basis of the 'theory of agile systems'" (Alleman, "Herding Cats"). For the successful management of complex interactions, agility is most certainly needed. The case study presented clearly shows a plethora of complex interactions emerging from the mere fact of the behind-the-scenes deception and lack of communications alone. "In most feedback systems, small deviations in a parameter's value from its design value will not cause a problem in the normal operations of the system, provided these parameters are inside the control loop. If the process parameters vary widely because of environmental changes, then the control system will exhibit unsatisfactory behaviors...To be called adaptive, self-organizing features must exist" (Alleman, "Herding Cats"). We might ask ourselves what are these features that must exist We can name them in a list of three. "Identification of the dynamic characteristics of the process. Decision making based on the identification of the process." And "modification or actuation based on the decisions made" (Alleman, "Herding Cat s"). In our notes on the project, we clearly see that Anderson is never able to get a handle on making leadership decisions based upon his obvious need to modify what he is doing. Does he understand the dynamics of management of the Blue Spider Program development Clearly not. He tries to take on too much on his own most of the times (researching instead of managing), while at other times there is lack of given information, administrative mistakes. For a PM to really know how to manage what he is doing would require a solid foundation in theory that is barely available in our present... The Blue Spider Program and the reasons for its failure The theory of management comprises viewing PM as having "a strong causal connection between the actions of management and outcomes of the organization"; assuming "that planned tasks can be executed by a notification of the start of the task to the executor"; and maintaining that there is "a standard of performance; performance is measured at the output; the possible variance between the standard and the measured value is used for correcting the process so that the standard can be reached" (Koskela & Howell). Anderson did not understand the connection between himself and the project’s success or failure. Performance standards were notoriously lacking. These and the aforementioned matters would have to be corrected to ensure future success. The theory of management comprises viewing PM as having "a strong causal connection between the actions of management and outcomes of the organization"; assuming "that planned tasks can be executed by a notification of the start of the task to the executor"; and maintaining that there is "a standard of performance; performance is measured at the output; the possible variance between the standard and the measured value is used for correcting the process so that the standard can be reached" (Koskela & Howell). Anderson did not understand the connection between himself and the project’s success or failure. Performance standards were notoriously lacking. These and the aforementioned matters would have to be corrected to ensure future success.

Multicultural Education Final Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Multicultural Education Final Project - Essay Example The key points of the Constructivist learning theory that make it useful for differentiation in teaching are that it: (1) helps students from different cultural and social backgrounds to interact more naturally; (2) provides a common ground for learning to take place; and (3) helps students to think and be creative, which is one of the important learning objectives I have in my math classes (EBC, 2007; Matthews, 2003). Analyzing the underlying principles show how the theory supports my approach to differentiation. With its emphasis on big concepts that begin with the whole and expanding to include the parts, constructivism provides the intellectual foundation that allows the students coming from diverse cultural and personal backgrounds to grasp concepts of working together, sharing common goals, and appreciating differences. This mindset is useful to guide students - many of whom are traumatized by immigration, the challenge of a new culture, and coping with family problems - to work towards achieving grand objectives and see the part everyone plays in it. By giving value to student questions and interests, the constructivist learning theory helps the students develop self-esteem by making them realize that personal differences make them unique, and that these differences play an important role in the learning process and in fostering unity and agreement within a multicultural environment. The interactivity of learning builds on what students know from their own backgrounds and personal experiences. While I use typical examples from American culture to teach mathematics, I encourage students to use examples from their own cultures to enhance a familiar feel by not completely detaching students from their unique histories. I find this useful when dealing with students coming from cultures of oppression and inferiority, emphasizing for example that while respect for authority is an important value, it needs to be balanced with other values important in a democratic society, such as formation of individuality, love for freedom, and the n eed to establish and achieve high standards (Glatthorn, 1999, p. 5). Unique personal learning is encouraged by the constructivist principle of dialogue with students aimed at helping them construct their own personal knowledge. The teacher's interactive role, rooted in negotiation, helps students acquire life skills that are crucial for their futures. The emphasis on group work reinforces the interaction of the students among themselves so they develop the abilities of self-expression, independent thinking, and understanding differences in viewpoints, all cornerstones of American society. Constructivism's emphasis on process, observations, and tests and the recognition that knowledge is dynamic and changes with personal experience are useful in developing in students the habits of lifelong learning, experimental daring, and the curiosity to learn more about the world around them. Since each culture has unique world views, constructivism helps everyone learn from the different ways people view and learn from the world. This does not mean that Instructivism, the ideological opposite of constructivism, does not contain good points that are useful in making education in a diversified classroom more effective. The Instructivist emphases on developing basic skills, having a well-planned curriculum, the value of repetition, the recognition of the teacher's authority, teaching correct answers, and fostering learning independence

Equality frequently throughout the texts Essay Example for Free

Equality frequently throughout the texts Essay Equality is understood and implied differently by everyone. Thats why it is easier said than done to pin point what equality truly is, or else can be classed as. Thomas Mores Utopia and Gorge Orwells 1984 explore the issues of equality frequently throughout the texts, although it is the same theme that is portrayed, the way in which they do it is individual to their personal views and interpretations of equality, which is often effect by there culture and the time period of which was written. Thomas More implies the theme of equality throughout the book through the subject matter of labour and education. Farming is everybodys job The women and men both have equal opportunity to study a trade as well as functioning in farming. Furthermore, the Utopians all have the same working hours and hours of free time, building the people into an equal unit, contrasting to a status based capitalist countries. More eludes the sense of equality through the use of pedantic numerical figures, omnisciently manipulating the reader into believing in this all equal society without questioning, almost creating a semblance. More continues to reinforce the theme of equality by touching on the Utopians educational methods. An illustration of this would be the fact that students are taught in mixed ability groups, there is no higher achy foundation or higher tiers. Utopians are all taught equally rather than individualising them through different intellectual ability. From the word go the Utopians are indoctrinated into prioritising agriculture. They are all required to study from a small selection of trades; this removes the ability to make individual choices making the utopians become psychologically equal. This is so the people do not became philosophical and start questioning their society, therefore they are all equally being manipulated. More eludes equality through synthetically listing the trades, subliminally making us believe Utopians have a large choice of trades, when in reality there is a small restricting hand full that makes sure people are equal and can not gain status through their work place. Everyone is brought up to have equal aims working the trade that is essential to the Utopians survival. More successfully creates a constant feel for equality trough the repetition of plural pronouns; they all everyone The connotation of the lexical choices used suggest of equality and collaboration. More never individualises anyone, an example of this would be the fact that during this passage Raphael never uses the names of the people this subliminally reinforces equality. Practicality is clearly an equal priority for the Utopians; essential to the public They only practice trades that are essential to survival their clothing is produced based on practicality in the work place as well as every day functioning although this way of life sounds lifeless and boring nether the less Raphael seems to enjoy it; these clothes are quite pleasant to look at Mores descriptive writing creates an image, a sea of people who are equal physically and mentally, the imagery produced create a feel of indoctrination the connotation of this passage, produced by the suggestive lexical choices suggest of a society were individually has disappeared so much so that even physically they are starting to look equal. Raphael continues to talk about clothing; Everyone wears the same sort of clothing This removes individual style and stereotypes from society, therefore no one has the chance to convey7 power or status through how they dress. This however is a complete juxtaposition to the society More comes from; were people such as Henry the 8th, rely heavily on fashion to convey their wealth and power. However the portrayal of complete and utter equality is clearly ironical contrasted by the fact that Raphael then goes on to state they vary according to sex and material status This presence the theme of equality through the use of inequality. George Orwells 1984 suggests of an emotional equality by describing hate week; savage, barking rhythm The military connotation suggests that the musics purpose is to evoke strong emotion. This implies that Big Brother aims to create unity of the people through emotional hate. The purpose of this would be to create an equal response from society as a whole making sure none question the meaning of hate week. Orwell makes us as the reader also feel the hate by pace shifting the text through the use of a asyndetical sentence structure, causing the reader to read at a faster pace therefore, making us feel emotionally equal to the characters because the read to feels the tension and rush they seem to feel in the book. Propaganda is introduced through the use of branding; victory mansion The mention of victory items is a constant theme right the way through the book. The repetition and reinforcements of possessions such as victory gin creates propaganda were the characters are equally subliminally manipulated. The characters are force to believe in the sense of winning there is no question of losing, they are so confident about the matter in hand. Furthermore this creates equality as they all have the same branding of products therefore know one can be classed as having a higher status or amount of wealth due to the branding they own. This has the same principles of why the utopians wear the same sort of clothing, also in 1984 they have to wear the same overalls, removing any individuality for society making all equal. This is a contrast to Orwells society were certain branded items implied you may have more class. Orwell starts using metaphorical references to describe Winston and Julia; lay side by side on a stripped bed under the opens windows, naked for the sake of coolness. The rat never came back but the bugs had manipulated Their nudity portrays a sense of equal vulnerability in which they both feel free and careless of their surroundings. Furthermore they are both equally disobeying the rules of their society, both continuing to question the regulations, in other word Julia and Winston are unified and are equally taking a stand by no longer fighting their sexual animal instincts. Julia and Winston are portrayed as an equal force, they both have equal power over each other. The bugs produce connotations of being dirty which is what society views on sex, this is metaphorical for Julia and Winston being scandalise and dirty. The rats however represents humans natural animalised sexual instinct. The bugs and rats implied meaning contrast massively.

E-Commerce Analysis: Online Ticket Purchasing

E-Commerce Analysis: Online Ticket Purchasing CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the background of the research study. It starts by providing an overview of Electronic Commerce, customer satisfaction and service quality, followed by an outline of the current situation concerning â€Å"Online Ticket Purchasing† in Kuwait. The problem of the study is then defined, highlighting the research the study seeks to investigate and its significance alongside the research objectives, questions and methodology used to achieve these desired objectives. The research limitations are then explored and the chapter concludes with an outline of the thesis structure. 1.2 OVERVIEW Unprecedented advances in Information Technology in recent decades, alongside evolving business environments have seen the emergence of Electronic Commerce (E-commerce) as a major economic force. With the increasing number of Internet users and rapid development of network technologies, e-commerce is perceived as an essential application of the computer and communication technologies (Manvi and Venkataram, 2005 cited by Zhang and Tang, 2006). As observed by Gunasekaran and Ngai (2005) e-commerce enhances communication channels and provides a virtual interactive environment where the suppliers and customers can exchange information and products. Moreover, it improves the communications between partners along the value chain and offers an integrated business model by which companies can be more responsive and flexible to the changing markets and customers requirements (Zhang and Tang, 2006). E- commerce therefore replaces or enhances the traditional market channels by opening web-based storefronts, which is known as â€Å"business to customer e-commerce†. Firms present their products and services on the web and generate revenue from the sales of those products and services to their customers (Molla and Licker, 2001). According to Khalifa and Liu (2003) there has been considerable growth of internet based services, both from internet businesses and from traditional companies developing online services. The technology of e-commerce identifies what can be offered to customers, but only customers determine which of those technologies will be accepted (Lin, 2003). As Jamal (2004) has argued, in the last forty years the issue of customer satisfaction has been one of the most important theoretical as well as practical issues for most marketers and customer research. Satisfaction is significant in the success or failure of any business depending on the performance of the perceived service, if the perceived performance is less than customer expectation the customer will be dissatisfied; whereas, if the perceived performance exceeds their expectations then customers will be satisfied. Many researchers agree satisfaction is an attitude or evaluation that is formed by the customer comparing their pre-purchase expectations of what they would receive from the product to their subjective perceptions of the performance they actually experience (Oliver, 1980). Numerous studies on service quality and customer satisfaction present service quality and customer satisfaction as conceptually distinct, but closely related constructs. Satisfaction is defined as the degree of discrepancy between customers normative expectations for the service and their perception of the service performance (Parasuraman et al., 1994; Dabholkar, 1996). Different researchers such as Gronroos (1983) and Parasuraman et al. (1985) have tried to identify features of service more related to quality assessments. The most common measure reveals ten dimensions of service quality: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy, understanding the customer and access. These were then filtered to 5 dimensions and based on these 5 items a measurement tool for service quality was devised known as SERVQUAL (PUT SOURCE HERE!!!). While Yang (2001) highlighted the rapid growth of online retailing with broadening experiences of consumers online shopping, Santos (2003) believes that e-service quality can increase attractiveness, hit rate, customer retention, stickiness and positive word of mouth. It can also maximize competitive advantages of e-commerce. Numerous researchers have the discussed the dimensions of e-service quality including Cox and Dale (2001), Madu and Madu (2002), Parasuraman (2002), Yang et al. (2003), Parasuraman et al. (2004) and Lee and Lin (2005), yet online retailers appear to fail due to poor quality services provided to their customers. For that reason online service quality is significant for two reasons: (1) it influences customers satisfactions and intentions to shop online and (2) e-service quality plays a major role in attracting potential customers (Cai and Jun, 2003). Zeithaml (2002) points out online companies should focus on all elements of e-service quality before, during and a fter the transaction, as e-service quality is the extent to which a website facilitates efficient and effective shopping, purchase and delivery. 1.2.1 E-Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is a critical element in the success or failure of any business. Web customer satisfaction has been emphasized as crucial by the rising demand for long-term profitability of dotcom companies and traditional companies that are â€Å"Net enhanced† (Pather, Erwin and Remenyi, 2002). An understanding of the factors that influence web customer satisfaction is vital for e-commerce. Satisfaction is a result of an effective evaluation, where some comparison standard is compared to the actually perceived performance. If the perceived performance is less than expected, customers will be dissatisfied. In contrast, if the perceived performance exceeds expectations, customer will be satisfied (Lin, 2003). A broad idea of traditional service quality might not be enough to build the e-service quality dimension, hence amending several variables is important. Santos (2003) discussed the e-service quality dimensions of, ease of use, web-appearance, linkage, structure and layout, content as the incubative dimensions; reliability, efficiency, support, communication, security, and incentive as active dimensions. This paper focuses on achieving a measurement of the service quality of the Jazeera Airways Website as perceived by their passengers, using a conceptual model of e-service quality developed by Santos (2003). 1.3 ONLINE TICKETING Electronic ticketing over the Internet facilitates the buying or reservation of tickets online, by making the process more easily accessible and convenient. Through these services tickets may be purchased from any location and at any time, provided an Internet connection exists. The tickets are ordered from a web site that provides both ticket information and the purchasing or reservation service. Internet booking or online ticketing concentrates on providing a helpful and efficient service to clients. Firms who sell travel tickets, performing arts, game tickets, concerts, movies and many other activities have notably embraced the online ticketing system according to Burford (1998). Convenience is a main advantage of buying tickets via the internet as the service is available at any geographical location, including ones home via laptop and cellular phone and at any time or day. Electronic ticket services have a further advantage by providing relevant information along with the service. This can help purchasing decisions and may encourage future usage (Burford, 1998). Another feature is that apart from maintenance and data updates, no manpower is necessary to offer the service once it has been established. The process of recording the transactions is more automated and overheads are reduced. An essential point is that ticket providers while providing a convenient service are thereby improving their public image and encouraging return customers (Burford, 1998). A number of countries across the globe are already benefiting from electronic ticketing including the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and France. In fact the U.S.A. it has 80% market p enetration, while in Europe it is approximately 40% and in the U.S.A. more than $350 million dollars in event tickets were sold online during 2000 increasing to $3.9 billion in 2004 (Bhatia, 2004). 1.3.1 Online Services and E-Ticketing in Kuwait The internet is a technology with many properties with the potential to transform the competitive landscape in many industries while at the same time creating completely new industries (Afuah and Tucci, 2003). The revolution of the internet continues to excel leading to rapid changes in many fields, at an overwhelming speed. In Kuwait, prior to 1990 internet usage was limited to electronic mail and minor services, however in 1992 a decision was made by the Ministry of Communication to facilitate the public data network. In the same year the National Science Foundation agreed to extend the Internet to Kuwait at a time when it was only available for US institutions and some selected institutions overseas. In recent years with the support of the Kuwaiti government for IT plans, practical steps have been taken in this field with the possibility of payment for mobiles and traffic tickets via the internet and the sale of online airlines tickets for the first time. These advances indicate the growth and development in the IT field in Kuwait as a whole. In 1943, the oil boom opened a new chapter in the modern history of Kuwait as The Kuwait Oil Company Limited (KOC) was founded. By 1947-1948 KOC developed the new Al-Nugra (Al-Mayass) Airport, located in the Nuzha district, operating in daylight only, with airlines opening offices in Kuwait City to handle ticketing and cargo operations for the Arab expatriate community. By 1954, the Kuwaiti National Airlines Company celebrated the arrival of the first airplane, which was called â€Å"Kazma† (http://www.da.gov.kw). The worldwide revolution of low-cost carriers (LCCs) started successfully with Pacific Southwest Airlinesin the United States, which pioneered the concept in 1949. Notable successes which have followed are Irelands Ryanair, which began low-fares operations in 1990, and EasyJet, formed in 1995. These low cost carriers then developed in Asia and Oceania from 2000 led by operators such as Malaysias AirAsia, Indias Air Deccanand Australias Virgin Blue. The low-cost carrier model is applicable worldwide, although deregulated markets are most suited for its rapid spread. In 2006, new LCCs were announced in Saudi Arabia and Mexico (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com). On September 12, 2005 Jazeera Airways owned by Marwan Boodai, Chairman and CEO, announced its first flights were open for booking. Jazeera Airways is the first privately owned airline in the Middle East, established in Kuwait. It offers passengers ticketless flights to Dubai, Lebanon, Damascus, Amman and Bahrain via the web, by phone, SMS or through travel agents (www.jazeeraairways.com). Breaking away from out-dated business models by developing a new model tasked with raising operational efficiency requires incorporating the latest revenue management procedures into the company and installing state-of-the-art technologies. This will ultimately enable travelers to become more independent in their bookings and payment. With tickets sold through a website as the main distribution channel, online booking is a very efficient distribution method for airlines. It reduces the number of back office staff and reduces the payment cycle. Jazeera Airways has worked hard to entice travelers to book through its website by making it the cheapest method to purchase tickets. Many promotional offers made by the company are available only to travelers who book online, therefore Jazeera Airways strategy is rewarding travelers who book online (www.jazerraairways.com) 1.4 PROBLEM DEFINITION Understanding customers requirements is vital to any business enterprise in order for it to remain competitive. Customer satisfaction is of great interest since it has a direct effect on customer retention, loyalty and the prospect of new customers. Retention is a major challenge, as customers can easily switch from one service provider to another considering the internet can facilitate easy access to a wide variety of choices with lesser cost. Acquiring new customers may involve significant cost on the part of the company in terms of marketing, advertising and promotion. Hence it is important to understand the determinants of customer satisfaction and assess the current experience of the customer in order to improve services. Customer satisfaction is a major issue of Jazeera Airways and good online service quality is a key factor that will determine in the long term, whether it will succeed or fail in retaining existing customers and attracting new ones. Due to rapid technological advancements in the marketplace Jazeera Airways maintains a close relationship with their customers, as their expectations and perceptions of online service quality may change. This research will therefore be conducted on Jazeera Airways, the first low cost airline in Kuwait. Jazeera Airways offers online ticketing in its website as the main distribution channel. Therefore it is important to take into account the quality of its website and to pay more attention to customer evaluation of the service given. Customers want to make their own bookings in their own time without depending on middlemen; as a result it is necessary that online service quality determinants lead to satisfaction. Dissatisfied travelers may perceive one of the following: Web sites do not seem to have many of the very basic features that experts consider important in forming relationship with customers. Service providers undervalue the attributes that customers use to judge service quality that should be monitored and enhanced to help the service performance. There are other variables of the online service quality that affect the overall travelers satisfaction. Therefore this research aims to address such problematic issues by researching the relevant factors including current opinion of the airline users. 1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES As this research study aims to examine the customer satisfaction of the service of Jazeera Airways in online ticketing through the quality delivered through its website, its main objectives are as follows: To assess the perception of each service of Jazeeras e-service Quality dimensions. To evaluate consumer satisfaction towards e-service quality for online service quality within Jazeera. To determine the important dimensions leading to satisfaction when purchasing online tickets within Jazeera. 1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS In order to fulfill the objectives of this study, the following questions need to be addressed: What key incubative dimensions do online customers perceive as important for their e-service quality? What key active dimensions do online customers perceive as important for their e-service quality? What are the most influential online service quality dimensions of the website as perceived by respondents with a high level of customers satisfaction in the Jazeera Airways website? What are the most influential online service quality dimensions of Jazeera Airways contributing to customer satisfaction when examining the Jazeera Airways website? Are the different socio-demographic variables involved perceiving e-service quality and satisfaction in the same way or differently? 1.7 Research Methodology This research is considered deductive, quantitative, descriptive, explanatory, and exploratory to some extent type of study. The research follows the survey strategy approach and consists of 67 questions composed of a two page questionnaire distributed to the target sample in Kuwait. Data was collected using Arabic and English questionnaires, from a sample size of X passengers who booked online through Jazeeras website. The questionnaire consists of four sections (A, B, C, D). Section A solicits demographic information. Section B evaluates Jazeeras Airways e-service quality using an adapted Santos (2003) model. Section C measures the level of customer satisfaction. Statements of Section B and C are scaled using a Likert type scale from 1 to 5. Section D collects information added by customers that will add value to the research. 1.8 RESEARCH LIMITATIONS Throughout this research conducted in Kuwait regarding Jazeera Airways website service quality a number of limitations were noted as follows: The thesis investigates the customer satisfaction of Jazeeras Airways website service quality and does not include the companys perspective/point of view; therefore the study is limited in its scope to customers and not employees or managers. The study does not include product quality, price, situational factors, personal factors, and other services provided by Jazeera Airways. Using a quantitative approach only towards addressing the research problems, a qualitative approach is lacking. The research scope is limited as it assesses Jazeera online service â€Å"e-ticketing† excluding airport customer services such as check in, luggage, lounge and on board services. There is limited relevant literature concerning service quality in the airline industry in Kuwait and the region, therefore there are no previous findings or frameworks to consult. 1.9 THESIS STRUCTURE This study is composed of five main chapters. Chapter One presents the background details of the selected research area and the experience in Kuwait, followed by the problem definition, the research objectives and questions, the methodology, the studys limitations and the thesis structure. Chapter Two discusses related theories, concepts and models providing a comprehensive review and an insight into the subject area as a whole, followed by an explanation of the research to the country of Kuwait. Chapter Three describes the methodology, research design and techniques used in the collection and analysis of the data. Chapter Four presents the gathered data, their interpretation and analysis. Chapter Five looks at the findings, assessing whether they satisfy the research questions and objectives to draw conclusions from the results. Based on these conclusions, recommendations for management are provided with further suggestions for future research. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter a comprehensive review of available related literature is made concerning website service quality and customer satisfaction. In the process various concepts, models and theories covering customer satisfaction, determinants of customer satisfaction, the relationship between online service quality and satisfaction and online service quality dimensions are presented and explored to give the study a wide ranging theoretical basis. In addition the relevance of the research to the country of Kuwait is also addressed. 2.2 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 2.2.1 Definition of Customer Satisfaction Oliver (1980) explains satisfaction as the summary of a psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations is coupled with a consumers prior feelings about the consumer experience. In other words, satisfaction is an attitude or appraisal that is created by the customer comparing their pre-purchase expectations of what they would receive from the product or service to their subjective perceptions of the performance they actually did receive. Customer satisfaction has become a key intermediary objective in service operations, because of the benefits it conveys to organizations (Ranaweera and Prabhu, 2003). The importance of customer satisfaction results from the generally accepted philosophy that for a business to be successful and profitable, it must satisfy customers (Shin and Elliott, 2001). While many authors have described satisfaction using various definitions, Table 2.1 presents a few notable explanations of customer satisfaction. Table 2.1 Definition of Customer Satisfaction Definition Author Customer satisfaction is a collective outcome of perception, evaluation and psychological reactions to the consumption experience with a product/service. Yi (1990) Satisfaction is function of consumers belief that he or she was treated fairly. Hunt (1991) Satisfaction is a persons feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectation. Kotler et al. (2000) Source: Research based From the above table we understand that satisfaction is the consumers evaluation of the product and service that meet their needs and expectations. According to Parker and Mathews (2001) there are two main interpretations of satisfaction; satisfaction as a process and satisfaction as an outcome. Whereas Gustafsson (2005) argues satisfaction has a strong positive effect on customer loyalty intentions across a wide range of product and service categories. 2.2.2 Determinants of Customer Satisfaction Zeithaml et al. (2005) argued that satisfaction, as shown in 2.1, is influenced by service quality perception, product quality, and price as well as situational and personal factors. Economists differentiate between two categories of properties of consumer products; search qualities and experience qualities. With search qualities consumers determine before purchasing a product like color, style, price, fit, feel, hardness and smell. Experience qualities, are hard to determine; as a result it can be evaluated after the purchase and until the service is received like vacations and restaurant meals (Zeithaml et al., 2005). Keaveney (1995)ppp.jpg point out that a main reason leading to customers switching services is price, as customers, based on prior experience with the service provider, sometimes felt cheated and believed that price increases were unfair or even deceptive. According to (Zeithaml et al., 2005) comparing the price relative to value and state, research reveals that customers of services will make trade-offs among different service features such as price level versus quality. A number of customers, for example, view price as an important element for their satisfaction more than quality. Perceived service quality is only one factor of customer satisfaction (Zeithaml et al., 2005). Consequently to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction, most researchers suggest that a high level of service quality should be delivered by the service provider as service quality is normally considered an antecedent of customer satisfaction (Cronin et al. 2000). Zeithaml et al. (2005) described a consumers emotional state as a personal factor. Satisfaction will vary due to customers biographical characteristics such as age, gender, education, ethnicity and income (Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006;Van Pham and Simpson, 2006). Customers take partial responsibility for outcomes and describe those negative feelings that influence how a consumer responds to services, causing a person to overreact negatively to the slightest problem (Zeithaml et al., 2005). Situational factors can notably influence purchase decisions such as social environment, physical environment of the purchase place, time influence and the previous states (Vysekalovà ¡, 2004; Nagyovà ¡, 2001). 2.3 The Evidence of Service (3Ps) Services are intangible; therefore customers are searching for evidence of service in every interaction they have with the organization. The three major factors of service experienced by customers are: people, process, and physical evidence. Together these elements are considered as an evidence of the service. Each evidence or subset is present in each service 2.2. Firms should essentially manage the service quality that will lead to satisfying their customers (Bitner, 1993). 2.4 SERVICE QUALITY Numerous researchers have defined service quality their own ways, including Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994) who described service quality as the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority / superiority of the organization and its services. Perceived service quality is only one component of customer satisfaction (Zeithaml et al., 2005). According to Parasuraman et al. (1994) service quality is defined as, the degree of discrepancy between customers normative expectations for the service and their perception of the service performance. Gronroos (1982) stated that total service quality is customers perception of difference between expected service and perceived service. Afterward in 1984, he then explained service quality of the service encounter as two different dimensions: one is technical or output quality and the other functional or process quality. Therefore, service quality has become a well-liked area of academic investigation, recognized as a major factor in differentiating service products and gaining competitive advantage (Zeithaml et al., 1996). Table 2.2 presents the concept of service quality from varied authors viewpoints who combined suggest we can understand that meeting the need and requirements and achieving customers expectations depends on delivering the best level of service quality. Notably with time, service quality takes place before and leads to overall customer satisfaction Table 2.2 Definition of Customer Satisfaction Definition Author Service quality as the subjective comparison that customers make between the quality of the service that they want to receive and what they actually get. Gefan (2002) Service quality can be defined as â€Å"the difference between customers expectations for service performance prior to the service encounter and their perceptions of the service received†. Asubonteng et al. (1996) Service quality is determined by the differences between customers expectations of services providers performance and their evaluation of the services they received. Parasuraman et al. (1985,1988) Source: Research based Gilbert and Veloutsou (2006) determined different approaches to measure customer satisfaction, varying between measuring expectations relative to perception or measuring the performance aspect only, without relating it to the desired level of service. Service quality has been found to be an important input to customers satisfaction (Caruana, 2002). 2.4.2 Dimensions of Service Quality Service quality has been the focus of increased study in recent years as many researchers have tried to reveal features of services that significantly relate to quality evaluation in traditional service environments. In 2001 Brady and Cronin presented a model consisting of interaction quality, physical environment quality, and outcome quality. These dimensions draw on, among others, the work of Gronroos (1982) and Rust and Oliver (1994) who suggest that exploring both what is delivered (Gronroos technical quality) and how it is delivered (Gronroos functional quality) are important aspects of service quality. Table 2.3 Dimensions of Service Quality Quality Requirement Description Reliability Reliability Consistency of service/ dependability, i.e. the ability to provide the service on time, accurately and dependably Responsiveness Responsiveness Willingness/readiness of employees, i.e. the ability to deal effectively with complaints and promptness of services Assurance Credibility The extent to which the service is believed and trusted; involves honesty, trustworthiness and believability Courtesy The politeness, respect, consideration and friendliness shown to the customers by the contact personnel Security The freedom from danger, risk and doubt Competence The possession of staff of the necessary skill, knowledge and information to perform the service effectively Empathy Access The ease of approachability and contact Communication Listening to customer and keeping them informed about the service Understanding the customer Trying to understand the customers needs and specific requirements Tangibles Tangibles Appearance of personnel and condition of equipment Source: Parasuraman et al. (1985); Ghobadian et al. (1994); Curry and Herbert (1998) A most widely used and accepted study done on service quality is by Parasuraman et al. (1985). Having developed ten dimensions through focus group studies: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy, understanding the customer, and access. These ten dimensions were then filtered and extracted to five: tangibles, reliability, responsibility, assurance, and empathy, which constitute the basis of a global measurement for service quality, SERVQUAL (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Based on these five dimensions researchers presented a 22-item service quality scale and on an operational level service quality research has been dominated by the SERVQUAL (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Curry and Herbert, 1998). Table 2.3 presents a description of the service quality dimensions. 2.4.3 Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality Service quality has been found to be an important input to customer satisfaction (Caruana and Malta, 2002). Cronin and Taylor (1992) examined the causal relationships between service quality, customer satisfaction, and purchase intention. The results suggested that service quality was an antecedent of consumer satisfaction, service quality had less effect on purchase intentions than did consumer satisfaction, and consumer satisfaction had a significant effect on purchase intentions. Customer satisfaction had a stronger effect on behavioral intentions than service quality did (Dabholkar et al., 2000). As a process in time, service quality takes place before, and leads to overall customer satisfaction. Customers loyalty was affected by product quality, service quality, and retailer image. They also suggested that quality of product and service is directly related to customer satisfaction, and then leads to the loyalty of the customer (Cà ¶ner and Gà ¼ngà ¶r, 2002). Based on empirica l findings in service quality and satisfaction literature, service quality is one of the antecedents of satisfaction (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Cronin and Taylor, 1992), and loyalty is one of the consequences of satisfaction. Luarn and Lin (2004) indicated that not only customer satisfaction and perceived value directly affected customer loyalty, but also indirectly affected customer loyalty through commitment. 2.5 THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN SERVING CUSTOMERS According to Parasuraman (2000), delivering excellent customer service is vital in case customers have to serve themselves by technology-based systems. With quick penetration of technology-based customer-company interfaces such as online banking and e-commerce, employee-delivered service is being replaced by self-service, reducing the need for face-to-face encounters between customers and company personnel. However, this fundamental shift does not mean that companies can afford to ignore customer service. Development of self-service technologies need to emphasize customer service to ensure the customer-technology interface is user-friendly, putting in place an excellent customer-service infrastructure (including properly tr