London prepares for the Olympics

The photograph on the sheet was taken in early 2009 and presents a snapshot of the major development under way in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics. In the foreground one can see Stratford east railway station where key transport developments are taking place. In the background are a number of Olympic construction projects, including the Westfield Shopping Mall. In the past, the land shown in the photograph used to be mainly low industrial units, transport depots and railway sidings. It was relatively low-value land, which is one of the reasons that this site was chosen for the Olympics. The owners of the various industrial units have received support and compensation to enable them to relocate elsewhere. 1. What is the evidence that major redevelopments are taking place? It is evident that there is construction going on in the area, this can be seen particularly from the machinery but also because: -the Westfield Shopping Mall can be seen in the background, still under construction. – There are lots of buildings which can be seen in the background. -there is a large sign which says ‘Everyone's London 2012' which suggests that the developments taking place are on a large scale to attract large amounts of people. 2. The development at the railway station is part of an overall plan to provide a top quality public transport infrastructure for the Olympic Games. What are the benefits of this approach to transport management? -Well, the Olympic Games by nature are going to attract large amounts of people to come, and this is financially rewarding. However, public transport infrastructure must be carefully taken into consideration, because no matter how amazing the Olympic Games are, if people cannot reach there, then it may end up being a big problem (for example financially, if many people do not even bother to purchase tickets to attend the Olympic Games, as the destination is not accessible. -well thought out infrastructure is convenient for people when travelling. -Also, regarding long term benefits, it means that more people in the local area can travel after the Olympic Games to work in other areas (perhaps secure jobs with higher incomes). -the temporary workers on the Olympic Site can travel there conveniently. – The main benefit is that it will help to ensure the public gets to the venues in time and in some degree of comfort. 3. Notice that there is a slogan in the photograph, albeit partially obscured that reads ‘Everyone's London 2012'. A) What do you think is meant by this slogan?It means that all these developments which are taking place for the Olympic Games, when finished are for everyone to enjoy and experience, for example not just the athletes and tourist, but local people as well. Basically, the ambition of ‘everyone's 2012' is to inspire people of all ability, belief, postcode, and colour to participate fully in the Games – and it extends far beyond London and late summer 2012. B) How will the local community benefit from the building work taking place in preparation for the Olympics? -the area is hoped to be regenerated socially, economically and environmentally. -the sporting facilities can be used by the community; this can promote a healthy lifestyle in an area with high levels of obesity. -the community can enjoy more entertainment/recreation facilities such as the Westfield Shopping Mall. -improvements in transport infrastructure have the most long term benefits as local people can benefit from its convenience, also it means that local people could travel to other areas for job opportunities. -lots of temporary jobs will be needed, especially in the construction industry, so local people's skills can be used, and local people can be trained as well (e.g. apprenticeships). – Boosting social and economic prospects in Stratford and the Lower Lee Valley, an area of high unemployment and deprivation. – Bringing about the transformation of largely derelict, brown-field sites through comprehensive and co-ordinated development. -Improvements to transport infrastructure which would be of benefit to the wider Thames Gateway area. C) One critical element of London's winning Olympic bid was the so-called ‘legacy' of the games- the longer term benefits arising for the local community. Can you see from the photograph what some of these might be? Well, there are obviously a lot of developments going on, and it is likely that the sports facilities could be used in the future by local communities, as well as recreational uses such as the Westfield Shopping Mall, and generally the area will attract tourists, and therefore increase the economy of the area (e.g. prices going up such as hotels charging more money etc which will benefit the tourist industry). Other benefits include: * Sports facilities with a national and international profile. * The Olympic stadium itself, which could be used for an Athletic or Premiership football stadium. * 4,000-4,500 new residential units built to house teams in the Olympic village- could be used to provide affordable and key worker housing. * A 1,000,000 sq ft media centre would be created for the games, which would have the latest technology and could be used as a centre for media based organizations and creative industries in the future and would also encourage associated and complementary industries and lever in much needed private investment. * An increase in tourism linking into and complementing existing and planned regeneration in east London (people still go to Barcelona and Munich to visit the Olympic sites) * Wholesale environmental and landscaping improvements and new urban design concepts * Staging a major international event such as the Olympics would be a major cultural boost to east London, which has long suffered from the image of dereliction and unattractiveness. It would be an excellent chance to publicise the area's wide cultural diversity and create tourist attractions such as an Olympic Park. 4. If you were to visit the areas shown here one year after the photograph was taken, how do you think it would have changed? I think there would still be a high level of construction going on, and the area would look more developed e.g. the Westfield Shopping Mall might have more added to its exterior (such as the windows etc). There might also be more people there (e.g. working/just observing etc).

iTUnes Essay

Abstract Since April 2003, iTunes Music Store has permitted the consumer to purchase music and digital books over the Internet with success. By 2005 their shares increase significantly as a result of their tremendous success. Their product became a platform for the digital music business to explode into the industry it is today. This also made digital music affordable to the consumer who may have gone to illegal downloads in the past which in turn ensured that the music industry was getting paid for their product as well. The $0.99 cents per song download provided $0.70 cents to be paid to the record companies and the remainder ($0.29 cents) was Apple profit. By August 2005, some of the larger record companies felt that their product was underpriced and requested that flexible prizes were instituted. However, this was not a shared opinion by all, the fear was that the market might not be stable enough to survive a price increase when illegal downloading was widespread. A price increase would encourage this type of activity to continue and no one would be making money. Due to its power, Apple kept the same prices, however by January 2008, Amazon.com entered the market place with a similar product without all of the restrictions that were placed on music in the iTunes Store. Questions 1)Provide an argument for why a variable pricing policy might increase the sales revenue from Apple’s Music Store (compared to the flat pricing policy). Life is complicated, but Apple Computer ‘s iTunes store is pretty simple: Download a song and pay $0.99 cents. In 2009, Apple announced that for the first time would allow beginning implementing variable pricing on the iTunes Music Store. Instead of a absolute $0.99 cent price point, record labels would now have the option to charge $1.29 for more popular songs and $0.69 for less popular tracks. It was not too long before almost every top song on iTunes jumped from $0.99 to $1.29. While most tracks that saw an increase in price suffered a small drop in sales, the $0.30 price difference more than made up for that fact, worked to increase overall revenues. Apples position during the time to increase the price of popular songs was global. Many of Apple’s products such as the iPod and laptops were sold all over the wo rld. The iTunes Music Store was highly successful, and has already  accomplished large user numbers. The change in price did not suggest a complete renovation in the way people downloaded and listened to their music. Also, Digital downloading of music is just one of the many markets that Apple has recruited into. Under a new pricing plan songs would cost depending on how desirable they are considered and having Apple such a market power, the new pricing strategy was another successful for the company. 2)Discuss other potential pricing policies that might increase the revenue from Music Store sales. With the increase in the demand for online-based music, Apple is likely to increase its prices to gain more from its products. The company cannot however enforce high prices on the consumers because the sale of online music is still in a changing stage. Apple could consider other pricing schemes like a bundle pricing where they combine popular and unpopular music or getting the latest popular music across genres. This could expand customer base to different genres and increase the sales of unpopular songs. The bundling strategy will help in increasing profits by extracting additional consumer surplus. They also could offer an entire group of songs, as a group, for a single price. The company could resort to sale of large music files such as MP3s, JPEG and MP4 and other music formats for various consumer needs (Brickley, Smith, & Zimmerman, 2009). 3)What are the risks and potential costs of implementing more sophisticated pricing schemes for the downloaded music? Sophisticated pricing tools are potentially available to provide a contrast to the uniform pricing model that used to implement iTunes. This sophisticated alternative tools may include song-specific pricing, pure bundling, mixed bundling, two-part tariffs among others that could be use to raise revenue. If firms have market power they can raise their prices without losing all customers to competitors. Firms have as ultimate objective to choose the pricing policy that boosts the value of the firm. Managers are trying all the time to devise a pricing policy that captures as much gain as possible catching costumer surplus as company profit. For managers and companies in general, only incremental prices matter in pricing decisions. As this case show, iTunes has certain power on their loyal costumers and confronting the risk of some decreases on sales, iTunes took the risk when they increase their  song’s prices and at the end, the most loyal costumers remained whit the company. The potential costs were evident when iTunes suffered at the first moments a fall in sales. Was very worrying that people were still able to download free music from other sites. Nevertheless, iTunes survived, and the company was still betting on iPods sales at the same time. 4)Is Apple’s pricing objective to maximize the revenue it receives from the sales of the downloaded music? Is this the objective of the major record companies? Explain. (Hint: review the revenue/product data from Apple ’s 10-K) Apple as all companies is interested in maximize its revenues, but it not its objective reach it trough the downloaded music pricing strategies which is the objective of the record companies. Apple is a successful company that has a lot of attractive products that convert all the costumers in loyal fans of Apple. The Company is confronted by aggressive competition in all areas of its business; the markets for the Company’s products and services are highly competitive. The Company’s competitors who sell mobile devices and personal computers based on other operating systems have aggressively cut prices and lowered their product margins to gain or maintain market share. However, Apple is focused on expanding its market opportunities related to personal computers and mobile communication and media devices. The Company believes it offers superior innovation and integration of the entire solution including the hardware (iPhone and iPod), software (iTunes), on line services (iCloud), and distribution of digital content and applications (iTunes Store). The Company’s ability to compete successfully depends heavily upon its ability to ensure a continual and timely flow of competitive products, services and technologies to the marketplace. The Company continues to develop new technologies to enhance existing products and to expand the range of its product offerings through research and development. On the other hand record companies are just interested in gaining the greatest among of money from each company that distribute the music on which they have rights, they matter is to collet the most possible from every song downloaded. 5)Do you think that Apple’s ability to control the pricing of downloaded music is likely to change in the future? Explain. My personal opinion is that Apple has a huge recognition all around the world. Apple has been able to achieve its position with prodigious skills in the market. Nowadays, as we all know, Apple has the most loyal costumers in  the world. Every single time that Apple launches a new product the most loyal costumers excited sleep for nights on the doors of the stores to be the first ones buying the new products that always offer the most cutting-edge advances in techn ology. I would say that Apple’s ability to control its prices related to downloaded music would not change too much in the next future. In deed, Apple has increasingly assumed the control of technological development in the industry. The Company is committed to bringing the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software and services. Apple is pioneered providing its customers new products and solutions with superior ease-of-use, seamless integration, and innovative design, every time getting closer to the wishes of consumers. As part of its strategy, the Company continues to expand its platform for the discovery and delivery of third-party digital content and applications through the iTunes Store allowing customers to discover and download applications and books through either a Mac or Windows-based computer. The Company’s strategy also includes expanding its distribution network to effectively reach more customers and provide them with a high-quality sales and post-sales support experience. As a customer of Apple is very difficult to see that for the near future the company may lose its ability to control the prices of their products. When people become a fan of Apple never more would pay a similar price for another technology more than Apple offers. That is the reality today.

Moving the NHS from public sector to private sector Essay

The National Health Service (NHS) is a state run entity set up by the Labour government after 1948 as part of the welfare state. It was originally run by local authorities with funding from public money allocated by central government. Though in recent years this money has been moving to the private sector and many have speculated that this is privatisation by stealth. In this essay I will attempt to understand this process by giving some historical context to the events of the last few decades while pointing out some of the advantages and disadvantages, and the forms it could take, of privatisation. In conclusion I hope to point to a future where the NHS can exist with public money and private management. †It came out of a working class movement. The ‘powers that be’ introduced various health and welfare reforms after the Second World War in response to working class agitation and mobilisationæ ¢  health system seemed a better option than a Russian revolution†1 This is a institution that does not fit easily into the world of market liberalisation and globalisation, but it is a right many people feel should be free and is even recognised by the U.N. as a fundamental human right. Selling off the NHS, as previous Tory governments have done to other parts of the U.K.s infrastructure †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦would be politically unacceptable especially given the general popularity of the NHS and its entrenched public nature.†2But reform and change have accrued. The first change, by the Tories in 1983, was in the way funding was allocated. †For example, budgets where previously allocated on the basis of geographical areas’ needs†¦Now funding is alloca ted as payment per patient†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 3 This change allowed for the transfer of money from the public to the private sector. This can be seen in the provision of private long term care †which grew from 175,000 places in 1985 to 650,000 in 1998. This growth was funded almost entirely out of the public purse†4 This has led to a system where money is now thrown at the private sector through arrangements such as Independent treatment centres (ISTCs) and the private finance initiative (PFI). One such arrangement †Ravenscourt Park cost   to set up and closed with a deficit of. These are figures that have to be borne by the NHS†5Clearly the NHS is now a half-way house between the public and private sectors. While the present Labour government seems set on pushing ahead with more ways of privatisation. John Carvel noted that  Ã¢â‚¬ Health secretary Patricia Hewitt is preparing to transfer NHS hospitals buildings into the private sector as part of a bn scheme to promote competition in the health service†¦companies bidding for contracts†¦will be allowed to take over NHS premises, doctors and nurses.†6The implementation of this document are already in motion. Recently DHL gained a contract worth 6bn to provide non pharmaceutical supplies for ten years. Payment will be made †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦according to the savings it can make, which the government estimates at some n.†7So while this may seem like a good idea †Effective implementation of grand investment projects†¦is hardly the governments strong point.†8 So to make this work DHL would have to be finely regulated. Given enough freedom so that they can destroy cosy past relationships, but not be allowed to bully suppliers and lower standards due to a need to please shareholders and make profit. To see what problems a health service run for profit creates we only have to look at the USA and its private health system. The system of HMOs was set up in the 1970s by the Nixon administration. We can see from these comments recorded on the Nixon White House tapes, (Nixon quotes), that this system was created not to look after patients but to make profit. While the US may have the most advanced health care system available, if a customer does not have enough money or adequate insurance their options are limited. These problems where highlighted in Michael Moores’ documentary Sicko, which compared the US system to that of Cuba, Canada and the UK. It could be said that the narrator was unabashed in his bias against the HMOs, but the case shown, that healthcare will become unaffordable for average people, may arise here if privatisation becomes widespread. At the same time though because of the lack of reinvestment in the NHSs’ infrastructure and Gordon Browns’ adherence to EU spending targets, alternative funding methods must be found. A recent study by the European Health Consumer Index (EHCI) showed the UK at 17th place behind Ireland, Czech Republic and Estonia in provision of healthcare. Three countries a long way behind the economic development of the UK. In fact while per capita spending placed the UK in 12th place, the Czech Republic placed 21st showing  that efficiency targets are possible if money is spent wisely.9This of course is the main argument for the involvement of the private sector in the provision of health care. That they will cut bureaucracy, while subjecting spending plans to stringent management oversight and thus provide better services for cheaper. Unfortunately the †reduction in public provision of long term care, NHS dentistry, optical services and elective surgery shows the trajectory for the NHS under the PFI.†10 We only have to look to Austria to find a publicly funded health system that allows patients who †..regardless of salary, are entitled to use the services of the health system for free although they do pay higher income tax†.11 While looking at the EHCI tables we see Austria ranks in first place but only spends (figure here) more than the UK per capita. This suggests that the UK could indeed improve services without the need of the private sector but this would involve raising taxes, a strategy both political parties seem wary of due to potential lose of electoral support. One new potential direction for the health service could be the internet. The main advantage of the internet is the access to knowledge that it can provide the customer while providing savings within the administration of the NHS. Unfortunately there is one problem that would need to be overcome, computer illiteracy. In most cases those with health problems will be the older members of society, those who are the least computer literate. This suggests to me that while saving could be made, they would not be worthwhile while we have a generation of customers who do not feel comfortable with computers or the the internet. In the long term there is potential, but unfortunately it does not provide any solutions in the short. In does seem that the disadvantages of privatisation on its present course do seem to outweigh the advantages. The present government though has already started down a path that appears to be irreversible. While many within the service would agree that reform is necessary the problem is that healthcare is seen as a fundamental right provided by the NHS, a endowment to the citizens of the UK after the trauma of World War 2 and the sacrifices they had endured. The UK government has also shown on many occasions that it cannot regulate private companies, that are funded through public funds, to  put the general public before profit. Looking at past privatisations of industries we can see, even in the case of the most successful, telecommunications, that this sector lags behind other European countries such as France where for example broadband infrastructure is far ahead of that provided in the UK. Thus in conclusion the only solution that I can see is a single payer system with strong enough legislation that creates †European wide regulation in the shape of pharmaceutical price controls and levies on research and education†12 In effect creating a new framework that allows the private sector to provide to provide healthcare. This way the tax payer can benefit from the private sectors skill in delivering increased productivity and value for money, while protecting against its’ overwhelming desire for profit. 1http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/gatsprivatiationhealth.htm2ibid3http://www.healthmatters.org.uk/issue 41 p12-134ibid5http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1931236,00.html6http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1575243,00.html7http://store.eiu.com/product/1860000186-sample.html8 ibid9EHCI 2007 study10Bmj.com 1/4/9911Irish Independent, 6/9/07 The Austrian health service is the best in Europe†¦, Gemma O’ Doherty12http://www.healthmatters.org.uk/issue 48 summer 2001 p 11

Unit 2 IPIntroduction to American Court System Essay

Unit 2 IPIntroduction to American Court System - Essay Example risdiction is the power provided to the court that it can only hear cases which are brought to the court, or the cases which the court has been limited to, not anything else. Subject matter jurisdiction limits the power of the court so that it can only hear cases which the laws of jurisdiction permit it to. (Subject matter jurisdiction) Personal jurisdiction allows the court to make decisions against or in favor of people who are involved in the case. Every court in a state can exercise personal jurisdiction over the people who live in that state, but not on people who belong to some other state. Therefore, courts cannot implement authority beyond their territories. The government allows the court to pass judgment to all residents of the state and also to those who have been away from the state for a brief period. Residents of other states, who have been in the state for a short period, are also answerable to the court. Moreover, a court which has jurisdiction in a state, also have authority over companies who have opened their offices in that state. The corporations are required to take permission from the court before they can continue their business in that area. The criteria of ‘minimum contacts’ differs in every case. In situations where the case involves a defendant’s contact with the state, the number of contacts required to form personal jurisdiction may be less. If a non-resident in a state does something wrong, the court of the state then, in order to protect its residents, can authorize personal jurisdiction on that person. (Personal Jurisdiction in Federal Courts) Although the courts are allowed to practice personal jurisdiction, there are certain laws, statutory and constitutional, which limit the power of the courts. Because of statutory restrictions, the court should examine the state law to ensure whether it can properly implement personal jurisdiction or not. However, there are three types of personal jurisdiction: Firstly, In Personam

The Idea Of A Japanese National Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

The Idea Of A Japanese National Culture - Essay Example This notion or set of beliefs finds Okakura in an inappropriate position of agreeing with the sentiments and instead Okakura in his opinion believes that the unity embraced by the Asian community is associated with the foreigner’s colonization and not the Asian beliefs. He finds it hard to accept that the Asian unity is of purpose and not circumstantial. The Japanese idea of unity attributed to the religion and art is relative to the whole Asian community, however, Okakura believes that at no single moment the Asian community practiced the natural relative to the fundamental values. They only came together because they needed to protect interests. Whereas the Japanese National culture is immensely attributed to the sense of self and collective creativity in all sectors which has made it grow to its present state, Okakura believes that Japan and its people depend on the products of imitation. In term of language, the people of Japan have imitated the western languages and adopted them in their daily lives. In addition, the Japanese and Asian art are slowly losing meaning since the western attributes such as design; texture and sense of communication among others have been integrated into the original Japanese culture and this has neutralized the originality of Japanese and Asian culture at large. This integration makes Okakura thinks and perceives the relationship between the national culture of Japan and Asia at large as imitated and not original as the people of Japan claim. In his opinion, Okakura believes that the Confucianism in China and the Toyotomi and early Tokugawa period in Japan formed the originality of the Nationa l Japanese and Asian culture and not religion. On the other hand, the aspect of the Greater East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere which was perceived by the majority of the Asian community as a weapon of trouncing modernity which was attributed to the modern state and industrialization (Kakuzō, 34).

Introduction to Mass Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Introduction to Mass Media - Essay Example Thus, Leo Bogart of the Newspaper Advertising Bureau observed that in the 1992 Winter Olympics, the CBS coverage was crammed with so many ads that the event itself has been relegated to a â€Å"mere sideshow.† Media is also a business concern and media organizations need advertising revenues to survive, but too much of ads smack of greed and present an irritating distraction to consumers. Regulating the volume of ad placement in media will not work, as demonstrated in the US when the National Association of Broadcasters required radio and TV stations to limit the quantity of their commercials in a given program as part of a code of ethics for the broadcast industry. The stations protested and the federal court subsequently ruled against the NAB-ordered limitation as arbitrary and monopolistic. Therefore, the best way to solve the problem of advertising clutter, I think, is to leave the matter alone to consumer welfare groups since it is the consumers themselves who feel slighted by this media practice. There are well-organized consumer groups everywhere who can mount a campaign to persuade newspapers and magazines, radio and TV networks to moderate their ad placements by appealing on their common sense and spirit of fair play. Among the possible arguments is that by serving up more ads than content, the newspapers or stations might alienate their readers or listeners who will feel that their interest is being subordinated to monetary considerations. Regulatory bodies like the Advertising Standards Canada have helped advance consumer interest in such areas as public health, child welfare and quality programming. For example, the ASC edict controlling or banning ads on alcoholic beverages in broadcast media, depending on the age and educational level of a program’s target audience, certainly promotes public health and well-being through responsible consumption of alcohol. The same benefit is derived from

Evidence-Based Practice Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Evidence-Based Practice Project - Assignment Example It would be appropriate to get consent or approval for the potential subjects because most of them will not be of legal age. It would be appropriate to seek approval from the relevant institutions such as the school administration or the parents to ensure that the process of implementing the solution is legal and addresses issues of confidentiality and ethical consideration. This project will take about three to four months to carry out because there are several aspects that must be covered to ensure that the potential solution is well addressed in terms of risks and potential benefits. The timeline will cover aspects such as the identification of the population for study, identification of the potential study group, and selection of the subjects from the sample among other aspects. This will allow for proper decision-making on whether to fully implement the solution (Cooke-Davies, 2002). The implementation of the proposed solution will require different resources to ensure that it is done in the required manner. First, human resource will be required in terms of the subjects that will be used as the study participants. As already stated, these will be taken from teenagers. The human resource will also feature research assistants who will help me collect the data and results from the chosen group. Secondly, I will need fiscal resources to cover the expenses that will be needed for instance printing of materials, searching and looking for the echocardiography machines, movement when administering the research among others. Time will also be a resource, as it will be needed here. Changes might be needed in the implementation of the solution. For example, a study subject might decide not to participate at the middle of the intervention calling for inclusion of a new subject, the machines could not be readily be available or the fiscal resource could be limited. However, such changes will be determined in the