Medea by Euripides | Plot Summary

Medea by Euripides | Plot Summary Crazed Mother Medea relates to real life if you watch the news and hear about ex-lovers ending their relationships with murder or suicide. Medea is willing to sacrifice everything to make her revenge perfect. Medea shows her complete necessity for revenge when she says, â€Å"anyone running between me and my justice will reap what no man wants.† Not only does she kill two children, she kills her own two innocent children, because she does not want the kids in Jasons hands. This type of crazed revenge is seen too often in todays society. The play Medea can be interpreted as a crazy mother who takes her heart broken anger out on her own innocent children. At the beginning of the play, the Nurse talks about the years when Medea and Jason were in love. She mentions how she was broken by saying, â€Å"but Jason has turned from her; he calls the old bond a barbarian mating, not a Greek marriage.† Jason harshly betrays Medea and it is obvious that it is going to lead to violence and rage when Medea says, â€Å"And when I have ruined the whole of Jasons house, I shall leave the land and flee from the murder of my Dear children, and I shall have done a dreadful deed.† Medea has set her plan to ruin Jasons life by taking her childrens. Jason is very arrogant, but is he really the hero he is made up to be? Medea knows she made Jason who he is when she says, â€Å"I gave him success and fame; I saved him his precious life, not once, many times†¦I betrayed my father for him, I killed my brother to save him.† The reason why Jason is where he is at in his life is because of Medea. She did all the dirty work for Jason, but he repays her by running off and marrying the beautiful girl. Jason does not understand that the reason he holds power is from Medea. This arrogance is one of the reasons why Medea is so enraged at Jason. Medea gives many hints throughout the play of her final act of retaliation. As the story progresses the need to seek revenge also builds inside of her. The initial signs of Medeas potential behavior appear at the beginning of the play when the Nurse tells how Medea is emotionally hurt. The Nurse says, â€Å"But Medea lies in the house, broken with pain and rage; she will neither eat nor drink.† It is completely natural to want revenge on something that has stung you in the past. Medea comes right out and tells Jason that something is going to happen, â€Å"Something might happen. It is†¦likely†¦that something might happen to the bride and the marriage.† Medea bluntly tells Jason that something will happen to disrupt his marriage and she will have revenge for what Jason has done to her. Medea showed her first signs of craziness when she killed her family members and others to get what she wanted. She offers more signs of her future behavior when she screams out in her mind about what she will do, â€Å"What I need: all dead, all dead, all dead, under the great cold stones. For a year and a thousand years and another thousand: cold as stones, cold, but noble again, proud, strait, and silent, crimson-cloaked in the blood of our wounds.† Medea wants all that have betrayed her to be dead. Even though Jason is still living, his pride and everything he had, like his children and the princess, is dead. She says that once it has all been completed she will be proud, and noble. This self-reflection is a major give away toward her crazy inner soul. In Medea, the three Corinthian women often show signs that they are afraid of Medea. One of the Corinthian women says, â€Å"They say she is dangerous. Look at her eyes.† The women tell us that Medea is filled with crazed rage and will do something dangerous. One of the Corinthian women says, â€Å"Women hate war, but men will wage it again. Women may hate their husbands, and sons, and fathers, but women will never hate their children.† This statement says that Medea will hate her husband, but she did not hate her children even though she killed them, and this is ultimately what makes her crazy. Medea also shows many heroic qualities, especially when she is willing to kill her own brother to be with Jason. When she kills her brother, she shows that she is willing to do whatever is necessary to get the job done. Medea has been not only cheated, but also betrayed by Jason. She will not tolerate this abuse from him and does something about it. Medea says to Creon, â€Å"You see a woman driven half mad with sorrow, laboring to save her little children.† Medea builds up enough courage to confront Jason and get revenge. There are two main reasons why Medea decides to kill her children. The first is that she feels that it is a perfect way to complement the death of the princess in getting revenge on Jason. When she tells the chorus of the plans to kill the children, they wonder if she has the heart to kill her children, and Medea answers, â€Å"yes, for this is the best way to wound my husband.† This shows that she believes that by killing her children, she will basically ruin Jasons life and succeed in her revenge. The second reason for Medea killing her children has nothing to do with revenge. If she left her children with Jason, they would be living in a society that would look down upon them since they do not have pure goddess origins. Since she does not want to leave her children with Jason, they really have no place else to go, â€Å"my children, there is none who can give them safety.† Medea decides that killing her children is the best way to get both revenge, and the assurance that her children are not in Jasons hands. Medea ends the play with her crazed mind when she stabs her two innocent kids to death. She confronts Jason with the dead children and taunts him as she walks on saying, â€Å"I do not leave my childrens bodies with thee; I take them with me that I may bury them in Heras precinct. And for thee, who didst me all that evil, I prophesy an evil doom.† Medea shows her craziness throughout the entire play.

Creative Story: The Ride :: essays research papers

Creative Story: The Ride It was a beautiful day and definitely not forewarning of the events that would change my life. The warm Las Vegas sun was shining brightly in the blue and cloudless sky. A light breeze cooled the warm air just enough to stop the body from sweating. The breeze was clean and crisp that blew along with the scent of a spring day. The only noise was the roar of the engine as I twisted the throttle and accelerated through the twisted roads near my home. As everything raced by me, I felt a rush of adrenaline, then the fateful turn approached. I had taken the turn a hundred times before but today it would change my life. Around the turn would be my motorcycle accident that would cause me to take life much more seriously. Before the accident my lifestyle was very fast paced. I spent almost all of my time with my friends going out to parties every night. My life was in control without any abusive habits, it was just fast paced and fun times with friends. Never being at home added to an already stressful family environment. My high school education suffered from too much fun and too little studying. My father made being at home a very uneasy feeling, making me want to stay away even more. He never took any time to help me with school, car or money. I always had to work to earn everything, the only thing I wasn't paying for was rent. In turn I wanted little to do with my father, stepmother or brother, never contributing or helping out. I even stopped going with them on vacations. The feelings I had were that I just wanted to be alone by myself, independent. For four months after the accident I was unable to do anything that I had previously done in the normal routine of my life. With a full leg and hand cast I spent almost all my time during the four months recovering on the couch in the living room. I finished my junior year of high school at my bedroom desk. During this period I developed a lot of patience from the slow healing process of my bones. I also spent a great deal of time thinking, assessing, and contemplating my life and my future. Some of my thoughts were "What was I doing with my life?", "Where was I headed?", "What was in my future for myself?", "What did I want to do with my life?", "How my family life was affecting me?

Oil: It’s Benefits and Downfalls :: Oil Movie Film Essays

Oil: It’s Benefits and Downfalls Our country utilizes an average of 700 million gallons of oil per day (NOAA, 2002). We are a country heavily dependent on oil. The film, which is about the important resource of oil, begins at Midway Sunset, the largest oil producing field in California. It is also the â€Å"largest oil-producing field in the continental United States.† In November of 1909, Midway Sunset had great success with the â€Å"Midway Gusher.† This gusher poured out 2000 barrels of oil a day, which was an astounding amount in 1909 (San Joaquin Geological Society, 2000). The film begins with Midway Sunset and its use of seismology, the science of earthquakes, and the drilling of oil wells. Also, the film talked about steam injection, a form of secondary recovery for oil. This method is used to pump oil that is difficult to extract. Steam injection works by the injection of steam into a reservoir to decrease oil viscosity, or thickness. This method, working at a high heat, allows the oil to be pumped more easily. The transportation of oil is a tricky process. The oil must be transported without any leakage into the surrounding area. The oil may be transported to global markets (by ship) or local markets, but either way, it is a difficult process. The oil is carried in large cargoes, which is good economically, but not environmentally. Undesirable results such as volatile emissions may leak into the atmosphere, causing pollution. (Lecture 2/22/02) However, one way, that the film stated, to decrease pollution is to convert to natural gases. Other problems with transportation are oil spills. Oil spills occur when â€Å"tankers, barges, pipelines, refineries, and storage facilities† leak oil into the environment. Spills can be as large as 11 million gallons, the number spilled in the Exxon-Valdez spill (NOAA, 2002). Oil spills damage the surrounding human, animal, and plant life, which is why it is a pressing problem. Different kinds of tankers can attribute to pollution.

The Value of Bar Mitzvah Essay -- Bar Mitzvah Speech

This is a Torah portion that I feel represented my values as a whole. The portion is a part of the Parsha Ha-Shavuah which centers on the story of Sarah (Abrahams wife) having a baby at a very old age, and the details around that. Included in the part that I’m reading, theres emphasis that you should be generally hospitable towards others, and that families don’t always follow â€Å"Traditional† patterns. Now, let me explain my values and how they fit into that Parsha: Humor- Humor is important to me because it helps me keep a fresh, clear outlook on life and just generally brightens someone's day- or my day- in general. Also there's that old stereotype that â€Å"Jews have so much to joke about they can't stop.† So why not just keep making jokes about everything!? It certainly helped us get through some of the hardships that our ancestors had, and in my experience, humor can make any situation better. Family- To me, family is the same things as Community; another value that plays at least a small part in my life. Community is family and Family is Community. I think of the Duke Lemur Center as a community of people who all love doing the same thing, but at the same time I like to think of it as a family as well. There’s also the more traditional sense of family that we all know about. Moms, Dads, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and other extended family members. Loyalty- I chose loyalty for a few reasons, but mostly the first thing I thought when I saw this was: Wouldn't it be ironic to choose â€Å"Loyalty† as a value, but then not stay loyal to your values and choice of values? The whole thing about loyalty- to people and things – Is keeping the belief or whatever faith you had in that thing or person and sticking to ... ...ence, and the editorial work my Dad helped me do on this (and almost everything I write today), because boy do I need it! I’d also like to thank My Uncle for the hard work he’s put into leading the whole thing, and being a generally awesome uncle. Lastly, I’d like to fully thank Ira for all the hard work he put into helping me make this whole process manageable. Arranging the meetings, giving me guidance and nudges towards the right direction, and being the guy who I can ask questions of and get a straight answer from. So, Ira, thank you so much! Obviously I am very grateful, and I hope we can continue to get to know each other even when this is done. What this experience has meant to me/done for me...why it was worth all the effort I put into it. Works Cited Marx, Harpo. 1961. Harpo speaks! [New York]: B. Geis Associates; distributed by Random House.

Retail Book Industry in Nz Essay

The aim of this report is to analyse and outline the business perspectives for opening a new independent book store in the Auckland region. The report analyses the current book retail industry and specifically discusses a new book shop’s viability highlighting the internal and external risks and opportunities as well as strengths and shortcomings. To assess the book retail competitive environment elements of SWOT and Porters’ Five Forces analysis tools were utilised (Needle, 2000). The major strengths of a new book shop which could be turned into a competitive advantage are the independency and local governance, relationship with publishers and closeness to customers. The major threats to and weaknesses of the new venture are attributable to low bargaining power with publishers (Needle, 2000), to lack of resources, and high market competition. The report’s conclusion is that anyone intending to enter the book retail market by opening a new store is advised to be mindful of the industry’s risks and challenges in order to mitigate those on the one hand, and to fully capitalise on the opportunities offered by the industry by turning its strengths to a competitive advantage, on the other hand. Table of Contents Executive Summary2 Table of Contents3 1. Introduction4 2. Discussion5 2. 1 Competitive Environment5 2. 1. 1 Whitcoulls Group5 2. 1. 2 Paper Plus6 2. 1. 3 Dymocks8 2. 1. 4 Independent Booksellers9 2. 2 Risk Assessment11 2. 2. 1 Low Bargaining Power with Publishers11 2. 2. 2 Lack of Resources12 2. 2. 3 Market Competition13 2. 3 Opportunities14 2. 3. 1 Independency and local governance14 2. 3. 2 Closeness to Publishers and Customers15 3. Conclusion17 References18 1. Introduction The given report is commissioned by Susan and Michael Clarke to be completed by 27 August 2009. The report’s main objective is to provide an independent analysis of the book retail industry including potential risks and opportunities of opening a new independent book store in the Auckland area. In order to assess the current business environment, the market competitiveness in which a new proposed book store would be operating is analysed including such main industry players as Whitcoulls, Dymocks and Paper Plus on the one hand, and a number of independent book stores on the other hand. Elements of the Porter’s Five Forces’ (Needle, 2000) were incorporated to analyse the competitive environment of the book retail industry. The findings from the analysis of the competitive environment were then utilised to identify and analyse strengths and weaknesses of as well as opportunities and threats for the proposed new independent book store (Samson & Daft, 2005). 2. Discussion Bookselling is a big industry in New Zealand. According to (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008), starting from 2007 the annual books spending in New Zealand has not gone below $1 billion. Books have always been perceived as a lucrative retail business due to high margins[1] and book value that has not changed much over time (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). 2. 1 Competitive Environment There are two main groups operating in the New Zealand book retail market being chain retailers and independent stores. Historically, the book retail market has always been dominated by a few book retail chains occupying almost 90% of the book retail market, leaving the local independent book stores with no more than 10% of market share (â€Å"Whitcoulls, Paper Plus proceeding†, 2007). The main book retail chains operating in New Zealand are Whitcoulls, Paper Plus and Dymocks. 2. 1. 1 Whitcoulls Group The A&R Whitcoulls Group (Whitcoulls Group) is the largest retail chain in New Zealand presented by the Whitcoulls, Borders and Bennetts Tertiary stores (â€Å"Whitcoulls finally picks†, 2007). The group is also internationally operating in Australia and Singapore with more than 130 Angus & Robertson and Borders stores (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). After acquiring the Australasian and New Zealand businesses of the second-largest United States bookstore chain Borders[2] (â€Å"Whitcoulls’ Borders bid cleared†, 2009) in 2008 the Whitcoulls Group obtained access to a high demographic serious books market niche (â€Å"Whitcoulls widens†, 2008). As a result, the Whitcoulls Group operates 90 stores across New Zealand (â€Å"Whitcoulls finally picks†, 2007) accounting for up to 45% of the book  retail market (â€Å"Whitcoulls widens†, 2008). Further to the existing dominance in all the CBD areas, Whitcoulls is planning to expand into small-town areas starting from Te Awamutu, Richmond and Ashburton (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008). The recent recession prompted the group to seek cost cuts by merging its Australasian retail operations’ support offices into one division located in Australia (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). The group is also looking into opening the online selling operations in August (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008). 2. 1. 2 Paper Plus The Paper Plus chain being fully New Zealand-owned is the second-largest book retailer in New Zealand (â€Å"New look†, 2008). The company operates as a franchise system and has been around for more than 25 years (â€Å"New look†, 2008). Historically Paper Plus has been a strong player in a stationary business[3] whereas its role in bookselling was not taken seriously by the industry[4]. This is one of the reasons why Paper Plus is currently outperformed by Whitcoulls when it comes to bookselling (â€Å"New look†, 2008). However, Paper Plus has recently become an aggressive player in the book retail market announcing an ambitious goal to become number one book retailer in New Zealand[5]. Paper Plus has recently refitted all their 105 stores as booklovers’ destinations (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009) aimed at improving store layout and putting more emphasis on books (â€Å"New look†, 2008). In the meantime, the television and radio celebrity Kerre Woodham was signed up as a frontwoman to do book reviews by hosting the â€Å"books and bubbles† events (â€Å"New look†, 2008). The company’s marketing position is further strengthened by participating in the Fly Buys programme and the agreement with New Zealand Post to host Post Shop and Kiwibank services in Paper Plus stores (â€Å"New look†, 2008). As a result, the company manages to gain a competitive edge by not only targeting the niche of traditional booklovers but also those people who do not have a clear intention to buy books but visit the shops for Post Shop or Kiwibank services. On the management side, Paper Plus has promoted a strong support policy to its franchise stores including effective training by the local support office[6]. In the meantime, Paper Plus has been focusing on the relationship with local publishers as well as has considerably increased spending on advertising raising customer awareness about its products[7]. This all has enabled the company to enter the recession with a very strong financial and marketing position. 2. 1. 3 Dymocks Dymocks is Australian-owned and has been around for over 130 years opening its first store in Auckland in 1994 (www. dymocks. co. nz). Dymocks operates as a franchise system running more than 80 stores in Oceania including six New Zealand stores located in the North Island (www. dymocks. co. nz). Dymocks has been operating with the â€Å"love of books† concept having a reputation as a serious bookseller only without expending their product range to stationary, music and movies (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). The company offers their customers more of a contemporary bookbuying experience through the â€Å"Booklover† Rewards Programme (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). The company focuses on the New Zealand books being historically in the top 10 sellers. Dymocks have been experiencing a sustainable growth opening four new stores over two last years with further plans to expand into the South Island (www. dymocks. co. nz). However, the recession has almost reversed this growth as Dymocks had to close three stores in two months: two in Auckland and one in Wellington[8]. The main causes for these closures were very high rents, bad locations, no street frontage or through traffic and high competition from Borders (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). In addition to this Dymocks had to resort to centralise administration in Australia by closing its New Zealand support office. As such, out of the three main book retail chains, Dymocks has been weakened by the recession the most and is more concerned with a struggle to retain its existing six stores. 2. 1. 4 Independent Booksellers In contrast to the recession-linked problems faced by the book chains the independent booksellers[9] do not seem to suffer any recession at all (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). Despite some loss of customers choosing to go to library instead of buying books, the recent recession helped books products gain a momentum in the gift market[10]. The books’ popularity and affordability merits attribute to the people’s preference of a good book or dictionary gift over a $300 vase or duvet blanket (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008). According to an industry expert[11] it is because the book chains have not been putting sufficient effort and resources into the customer relationship side, while independent stores have managed to develop a very loyal customer base by their excellent customer service, professionalism and personal approach (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). As such, the independent book stores see the recession times as a good opportunity to pull new customers from the book chains which due to their large size and lack of knowledgeable staff cannot compete with independent stores on the professional advice, recommendation and customer service sides (â€Å"Boutique booksellers†, 2009). The competitiveness of the book retail market is further strained by online booksellers, which have experienced a considerable growth over the last few years in some cases almost doubling their sales each year[12]. Taking into consideration the competitive environment analysis above, the book retail market can be defined as highly competitive. Whitcoulls, Paper Plus and Dymocks were found to be the main competitors due to their market dominance on the one hand, and high bargaining power with book publishers on the other hand (Needle, 2000). 2. 2 Risk Assessment Taking into consideration the above analysis of the book retail industry’s competitive environment the following could be identified as risks and threats for a new independent book store. 2. 2. 1 Low Bargaining Power with Publishers Upstream of the value chain (Samson & Daft, 2005) a new independent shop would have a challenge to sign book publishers and authors in to obtain the rights to sell their books. The authors and publishers would likely be inclined to work with big retail chains or strong independent stores as being representative of better channels for promoting and distributing the books. Bookshops would usually compete over the right to sell quality books in order to win the customers’ preference and loyalty. The industry experience shows that it is not the large stock but rather a good book range and quality that enable a shop to be preferred by customers over its competitors (â€Å"Boutique booksellers†, 2009). Therefore, bearing in mind the tight economic conditions and high market competitiveness, a new independent shop would have a risk of not being able to obtain a competitive book range due to insufficient bargaining power with publishers (Needle, 2000). 2. 2. 2 Lack of Resources Opening a new store would require significant spending starting from hiring or buying the store to paying professional staff competitive wages. The Dymocks example with closing two Auckland stores (one of which after only a few months after opening) showed how much a store location mistake can cost to a shop regardless of its reputation, product range and popularity (Refer 2. 1). Thus, a company wishing to enter a book market would face not only the challenge of funding to open a new store but also to be able match the location trade advantages with costs. The downstream of the value chain (Samson & Daft, 2005) such as advertising and promotion as well as customer relations would also require significant funding. The Paper Plus and independent book stores examples show that investing in advertising and building customer relationships are one of the most effective and powerful means to sustain and further gain market share in the current competitive environment (Refer 2. 1). The independent stores’ achievement of being able to build loyal customer base is due to having professional sales people on floor capable of providing good service along with knowledgeable advice to the customers (Refer 2. 1). Therefore, the lack of resources both material and human would be a weakness of a new shop when entering the book retail market populated with rich chain retailers and professional independent stores. 2. 2. 3 Market Competition New Zealand has a very high number of book shops per capita in comparison to other countries (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008). Thus, a new book store would be entering the market which according to some industry experts is already overpopulated[13] with such strong players as Whitcoulls, Paper Plus, Dymocks not mentioning about independent stores and online sellers experiencing a significant growth in recession (Refer 2.1). Whitcoulls has considerably improved its marketing position through acquiring the Borders operations whereas Paper Plus, being strengthened by combining its services with Post Office and Kiwi Bank, has put a comprehensive action plan in place to fight for number one bookseller in New Zealand. In the meantime, the independent shops are gaining a recession momentum to strengthen their current position by capitalising on the inability of big chains to provide competitive books range, on the one hand, and appropriate level of customer service and support, on the other hand. Taking into consideration the above facts, the book market could be classified as mature where there is no unoccupied market niche (Samson & Daft, 2005) left for a new book store to capitalise on. As a result, for a new store to become successful it will literally mean fighting for other shops’ customers. The implication for a new book store is that it will be very hard to compete with the current industry players that have a very high customer loyalty and market reputation for providing exceptional customer service on the one hand and significant resources, aggressive advertising and market dominance, on the other hand. 2. 3 Opportunities This section discusses the main strengths of and opportunities for a new book store in the current business environment. 2. 3. 1 Independency and local governance The centralisation of the stores support and governance is a common move for many in pursuit of cutting costs. However, experience shows that under the current level of competition store problems are timelier and more effectively resolved if there is local governance in place (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). The main competitors of the proposed book store are strategically and operationally managed from overseas[14] making these shops quite inflexible and not quick enough to react to market changes as someone in Australia decides how many copies of a particular New Zealand book the stores should stock. In the meantime, the independent book stores have not felt the recession and are thereby able to respond quicker and serve customers’ needs better by preferring to have better books range over larger stock of out of date books (â€Å"Boutique booksellers†, 2009). Therefore, the independency of a new shop would put the company in a better position in regards to timely reacting to industry changes and thereby avoiding unnecessary losses usually resulted from poor decisions made. 2. 3. 2 Closeness to Publishers and Customers Independent governance makes a proposed new book store closer to local publishers and customers. The New Zealand Book Publishers Association consisting of 95 local publishers is not satisfied with the current â€Å"super market† store running model used by the chains[15]. The main disadvantages are: the decreased books range printed as bulk purchases are made at cost of the books diversity[16], the chains often abuse their bargaining power with publishers[17] and the central display system with ineffective books categorisation[18] (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). As such, the New Zealand publishers are naturally more inclined to work with small independent stores who will have less bargaining power but more flexibility of buying and distributing books. On the other side of the value chain, a new store would have an opportunity to capitalise on the chains’ clumsiness and lack of personal touch when dealing with customers. The main lesson learnt from chains’ struggle in the current recession is that customer satisfaction and loyalty could on its own determine the book retailer’s commercial future. Independent stores, in turn, have put a particular emphasis in implementing effective customer loyalty programs and achieving loyal customer base. Therefore, despite the high market competition, there is a good opportunity for a new book store to win the book chains’ customers by offering better books range, more professional service and personal approach. 3. Conclusion Taking into account the above analysis, the opening of a new independent book store can be classified as a â€Å"Question† according to the BCG strategic tool (Samson & Daft, 2005). On the one hand, the independence, local governance, good relationships with publishers and closeness to customers could enable a  new book store to become a successful venture, thereby shifting to the â€Å"Star† BCG section distinguished by quick growth and expansion. On the other hand, if the new venture has not managed to establish a strong market presence by providing sufficient funding, professional staff and developing effective strategic relationships with publishers, entering the current highly competitive book retail market could result in a commercial failure. The book retail market can be classified as very mature and highly competitive. As such, it would be quite challenging for a new independent book store with limited resources, on the one hand, and the low bargaining power with the publishers, on the other hand, to compete with the book retail chains as well as with a number of other well established independent bookshops and online booksellers in the Auckland region. In the meantime, the fact that a new book store is going to be independent and locally run provides a competitive advantage of knowing its publishers and customers better and, thereby reacting to industry changes quicker and more effectively. The final success of the new proposed book store would be mostly dependent on its ability to cope with high market competitiveness and mitigating its weaknesses on the one hand and capitalising on its strengths and opportunities currently present in the book industry. References Needle, D. (2000). Business in context: An introduction to business and its environment (3ed. ). London: Thomson Learning. Samson, D and Daft, R. (2005). Management, 2nd Pacific rim edition. Australia: Thomson Learning. Big boys’ books. (2009, January 1), The Press, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. stuff. co.nz/the-press/lifestyle/150420/Big-boys-books#share Booksellers ready to write new chapter. (2008, July 14), The New Zealand Herald, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. nzherald. co. nz/business/news/article. cfm? c_id=3&objectid=10521367 Boutique booksellers boom. (2009, August 13), The Dominion Post, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. stuff. co. nz/dominion-post/wellington/2743304/ Dymocks’ official website. www. dymocks. co. nz. How the book trade is turning a page. (2009, June 13), The New Zealand Herald, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. nzherald. co. nz. ezproxy. auckland. ac. nz/business/news/article. cfm?cid=3&objectid=10578175&pnum=2 New look for ‘friendly’ book chain. (2008, June 21), The Dominion Post, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. stuff. co. nz/business/497996 Whitcoulls’ Borders bid cleared. (2009, January 1), NZPA, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. stuff. co. nz/business/130168 Whitcoulls finally picks up NZ Borders stores. (2007, June 07). The New Zealand Herald, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. nzherald. co. nz/business/news/article. cfm? c_id=3&objectid=10514932 Whitcoulls, Paper Plus proceeding by the book in Borders’ buy-out. (2007, November 22), The New Zealand Herald, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www.nzherald. co. nz/shopping/news/article. cfm? c_id=318&objectid=10477609 Whitcoulls widens its Borders in $137m deal. (2008, July 7), The Dominion Post, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. stuff. co. nz/business/477324 ———————– [1] According to industry experts books margins vary from 40% to 50% out of total price (â€Å"Whitcoulls, Paper Plus proceeding†, 2007). [2]The group A&R Whitcoulls group acquired 30 Borders stores as well as exclusive rights to the Borders trademark in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore worth $NZD137 million (â€Å"Whitcoulls finally picks†, 2007). The New Zealand Borders operation acquired included five stores: three in Auckland and one in each Christchurch and Wellington (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [3] The recent achievement of Paper Plus is being recognised as the top seller of greeting cards (â€Å"New look†, 2008). [4] Historically only six out of 105 Paper Plus stores were positioned as serious booksellers (â€Å"New look†, 2008). [5] The company’s growth strategy is supported by the strong financial position improved from the loss of $401,000 in 2007 to profit of $748,000 in 2008 (â€Å"New look†, 2008). [6] Paper Plus has purchased a new 500 square metre store in Auckland’s Sylvia Park to be used for training the franchisees how to implement an effective store layout and design to boost books sales (â€Å"New look†, 2008). [7] Whitcoulls admitted in the past that their loss of market share was directly caused by Paper Plus increasing its advertising spending (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [8] The Auckland Smales Farm franchise store and the company-owned Queen Street store went into liquidation in May and June 2009 and Wellington Lambton Quay shop closed in May 2009 (â€Å"How the book trade†, 20). [9] The most popular independent book stores include Unity Books (Auckland and Wellington), Scorpio (Christchurch) in Christchurch, Vic Books (Wellington), Dear Reader (Auckland), The Booklover (Auckland) and of Cambridge’s Wrights Bookshop (Auckland) (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [10] According to the owners of ‘The Children’s Bookshop’, a book shop in Kilbirnie, last year the store has experienced a 12% increase in revenue mainly driven by the parents preferring books for gift for their children (â€Å"Boutique booksellers†, 2009). [11] Tom Beran owning independent stores in Grey Lynn (Dear Reader) and Takapuna (The Booklover) (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). [12] For example, the New Zealand online seller www. fishpond. co. nz starting in 2004 expanded to Australia in 2006 and in 2007 was recognised in the Deloitte/Unlimited Fast 50 list noting the fastest-growing companies (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). [13] According to Dymocks CEO, Don Grover the New Zealand bookselling market is already over-supplied (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008). [14] Among the book retail chains occupying 90% of the market only Paper Plus is locally supported, whereas Whitcoulls and Dymocks are both owned and governed by Australian companies (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [15] That was evidently expressed in the open opposition from the Book Publishers Association of Whitcoulls’ bid to purchase Borders’ stores as they know that it will result in a decrease of the books range bought by the chain (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [16] For example, a book offered by a small publisher could be of a particular interest to smaller towns’ readers. However, a local chain store is unable to make a purchasing decision instead having to sell the books decided in the support office across the Tasman (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [17] For example, Whitcoulls is viewed by the industry as a tough negotiator with inflexible buying policies demanding from publishers at least 50% discount (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [18] Compared to chain stores that cannot add or change the central display system, the independent stores have much more flexibility in deciding how their stock should be grouped and displayed on the floor (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009).

Favorite Memory

Samantha Vega Eng 073-08 My Favorite memory My Favorite memory was when I first played in a softball game, it was very exciting, nerve reckon and challenging. Stepping into the field was the best feeling in the world. The air was so fresh. The field was very smooth and the dirt was crispy brown. I remembered watching girl’s plays softball at a young age and I always wanted to see how it felt to play. I became fascinated and was amazed how older girls played amongst themselves and I actually learned just by watching. Playing softball for the first time was exciting.The weather was very nice, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the birds chirped and the wing blew so smoothly. I could also hear the crowed yelling and shouting excited to see the game. My parents were also there supporting me at my first game. Lincoln high school, a school that wasn’t very good in softball but that was my team. We were facing a school from Parsippany. It was a home game so we played in ou r field in Lincoln Park. It was diamond shape. The dirt was very smooth as I entered the field with my team. The grass on the outfield was wet and green, it was very shiny.Being my first time I was very happy and excited to play. I couldn’t imagine how much fun I was going to have. Softball is very nerve reckon sport. Trying to catch every ball that comes your way or hitting the ball to make a run. Having two strikes on you, 2 outs, last inning and the game is tied makes you really nervous. In my memory, after the team got ready and prepared to face the opponents, number 23 stepped up to the plate and started of the game. I was in center field on the outfield. I was going to give it my all and have our first win. So number 23 had 2 strikes and 1 ball.Yari, our team captain was pitching; everyone was rooting her on to make that out. Number 23 was a big girl, she looked strong and hit the ball all the way to outfield were I was playing my position. I ran as quickly as I could t o catch that ball and I actually caught it. It was fun running and forcing me to catch it. I was very excited that the ball came to me and it was up to me to catch it. I was so nervous and thought to myself â€Å"What way should I run? † â€Å"What to do? † When I caught it the crowd got so happy and screamed my name rooting me on. Lastly, playing in my first game was very challenging.I didn’t expect it was going to be as challenging as I thought it would. Stepping into the plate for the first time made me feel strong and proud to wear my royal blue with the lion logo uniform. My uniform was crisp and ready to get dirty. The wind was blowing in my face as I was holding my bat ready to swing as hard as I could. The first pitch came my way all you heard was â€Å"STRIKE†, â€Å"STRIKE TWO† the umpire yelled. I hit the ball the third time and hit it to 3 rd base and ran as fast as I could after I ran to first base I tripped on the base but quickly got up before they called me out.I was safe. It was a great feeling being safe but it was very challenging when the girl on first almost got me out. Although, in this game there is so much competition, but the whole point of this game is to have fun and be the best you can. In my case, I had the best time playing my first game. We actually won our first game with the score of 10-8. I had so much fun and worked hard to get my spot in the team. It isn’t all about winning or losing it about having the best time and creating friendships with team members.

Video Vault Case

Introduction: The Video Vault was dominant is the location of major route connecting Westborough to the neighbour communities of Hopkinton and Upton with floor space at 750 square feet, the owners were innovative in displaying their roughly 10,000 units (or 8,000 titles) of inventory, 700 of which were in the DVD format. Peaslee and St. Angelo had 6,000 registered customers, with about half that number being active renters. In order to rent videos at the store, customers provided a credit card number or a $35 deposit, protecting the business against unreturned product or unpaid late fees. New releases, adult videos, and video games rented for $4 per day, catalogue titles rented for $3 per day. The average late fee was $2. 75. Total late fees in 2001 were $6,133. Supply chain performances In revenue sharing contract, the store shares the revenue from the customer with the studio through which it gets its inventory. The widespread use of revenue sharing fundamentally changed the economics of the industry. Under this, distributors sold the tape to the retailer at a much lower price- from $3 to $8 per tape- in return for a percentage of the rental revenue and a percentage of eventual used-tape sales to consumer. But as the same time there were some disadvantages that were came with revenue sharing contract. Store had to share data with the studio and also had to keep maximum and minimum inventory of inventory as per the contract which diluted the controllability of store owners. Since they opened their store, Peaslee and St. Angelo had seen the regular distribution channels and pricing change dramatically. In the past, the partners bought roughly 150 to 200 titles per year, one-third from established distributors that bought directly from studios, and the rest from â€Å"sideways selling†Ã¢â‚¬â€a practice of buying product from other video stores, retailers, or individual traders. The top tier A titles were roughly $70 from distributors and were shipped to stores prior to the video rental release date. Buying product from other avenues resulted in lower prices, but it could take weeks or months after the release date to obtain copies. During 2000 and 2001, however, the Video Vault bought 90% of its product directly from studios, with a few distributors acting as â€Å"fulfillment centers,† shipping product from studios without owning it