Lisa Bright & Dark Essay -- essays research papers

John Neufeld is the author of â€Å"Lisa Bright & Dark†. He lives and works in New York City these days. He was educated at Yale. His style of writing are usually touching stories. Finding information about John Neufeld is quite difficult since the Internet nor the book has provided any help whatsoever. Lisa Shilling is the main character of this book. She is just sixteen as she slowly loses her mind. Lisa is quite an example of teenager with problems which is why she’d be classified as a very real character. Her dangerous state of mind reflects the realism that this does happen. Her moods are forever changing. Lisa’s motivation as a teenager is to live her live normally. This is hard to do since she is in need of help. Many can relate to Lisa and her illness because it is among teenagers today. Her mother and father snub her off completely overlooking her serious unstableness. Luckily, she has friends that care enough to help her. The main conflict of this book is the struggle to convince Lisa’s parents that she is ill and needs serious help. Her parents did not pay attention in the beginning when Lisa started to act a little different. This is rather understandable. Lisa was in school and pricked herself with a needle that drew blood. Many told Lisa’s stubborn parents that she needed a psychiatrist. They simply refused to accept the fact that their daughter was in need of anything. When Lisa even screamed out that she needed help, they simply wouldn’t understand. She even w...

Mystery Shopper Next

For our marketing Research project we were required to carry out extensive research on the topic of mystery shopping. This project required us to construct a mystery shopping programme of a service business. The service business that was chosen was Next, a renowned retailer for fashion and homeware. The project will outline the objectives of the research and the mystery shopping programme.It will also examine the results of the programme and suggest possible recommendations. Methodology The primary objective of the report was to find out the public’s perception of Next. In order to attain this information, we decided it was best to initiate a mystery shopper programme. This programme involved hand-picking ten individuals, based on age, sex, and location, to act as consumers in Next. Each individual was to enter the chosen store and to return honest feedback on their experience, through the use of a questionnaire.The drafted questionnaire examined areas such as store layout, st aff, and ambience. The objective of this was to access direct knowledge of consumers opinions in areas that were outlined in the questionnaire and mystery shopper briefing. In order to eliminate bias, each selected individual was briefed on understanding the questionnaire and what aspects of the shop were to be examined. The chosen method provided us with objective feedback which was essential in the completion of the report. Findings In this section of the report we will show our findings of each store that was visited.Altogether there were seven stores visited. (Sligo, Enniskillen, Letterkenny, Athlone, Castlebar, Limerick and the store in the Jervis shopping centre in Dublin). These are our findings: Sligo The Sligo store is located in the quayside shopping centre in Sligo town. The store was visited on four occasions. On each occasion the store was clean and tidy on the inside and out. On every visit the changing rooms were tidy. The outside of the shop was attractive and inviti ng towards customers, with posters advertising a sale and an entrancing and eye catching clothes display in the window.The store is completely wheelchair accessible. No one was greeted as they entered the store, on one visit members of staff were standing around talking amongst themselves, and only one person thought that there was a welcoming atmosphere in the store as it was warm and there was calming music being played. Three out of four people were pleased with the temperature within the shop with one person thinking the air conditioning was turned up too high. The clothes on display were easy to reach for three out of four of the customers, with the same amount finding that all sizes were on display.Only on two of the visits were the staff wearing the correct uniform, such as name badges. On just two out of the four visits the staff asked if assistance was needed and only one customer said that eye contact was made with them and that they were polite. At the till there was an a verage of 1-4 till kiosks open with less than five people in each queue. On all four visits it did not take long to get served and all of the customers were thanked for shopping at the store, but found that the exit signs were not clearly illuminated.All four people said that they would recommend the Sligo store to others. The overall opinions of the store varied. One out of the four customers said that it was perfect. Out of the other three, more helpful staff, a new layout, lower shelves and a bigger store were mentioned. Enniskillen The Next store in Enniskillen is located in the Erneside shopping centre in Enniskillen. This store was visited on only one occasion. On this occasion the entrance and the outside of the store were clean and tidy. The inside was also tidy.It was attractive on the eye and the changing rooms were spotless. The outside of the shop looked attractive and inviting due to the black and white theme on the outside of the shop which ‘Next’ is renow ned for. The store is wheelchair accessible. The customer was not greeted by any member of staff on entrance to the store and thought the atmosphere was not welcoming as it was dark inside the store. The customer thought that the temperature in the store was comfortable. They were not asked however by any member of staff if they needed assistance.The customer found that some of the rails in the store were too high but all sizes were stocked and that the staff were helpful when asked about the sizes, but not all members of staff were wearing a name badge. At the checkout four checkouts were open and there was less than five people in the queue, and did not have to wait long to get served. The customer was thanked for shopping at the store and found that the exit signs were clearly visible. This customer said that they would recommend this store to others and that the staff were quite friendly but could have been more helpful.They’re overall opinion was that the store could be bigger with more or better lighting conditions. Letterkenny The Letterkenny store is located in Letterkenny Retail Park. This store was visited on one occasion. On this occasion the outside of the premises was not clean and tidy and did not look attractive and inviting to customers as it looked dirty. The store is wheelchair accessible. On entering the store the customer was not greeted by a member of staff and the atmosphere was not welcoming as the music in the store was very faint and couldn’t be heard clearly.Other than that the inside of the store was clean, tidy and attractive. The temperature in the shop was fine also. No member of staff asked the customer if they needed assistance. The customer was not able to reach some of the clothes as they were hung too high. Not all the sizes were displayed and stocked but the staff did check to see if they had the size in the store room. The changing room was tidy and uncluttered. When the customer got to the till four tills wer e in operation, there were more than five people in the queue and it took six minutes for them to get served.The staff at the checkout were described as friendly and thanked the customer for shopping in the store. The exit signs were clearly illuminated. The customer said their overall experience of shopping in the store was disappointing but acceptable. The customer also said that they would not recommend this store to others because not all sizes were stocked and the atmosphere in the shop and the customer service was poor, and suggested having more staff on the floor. Athlone The ‘Next’ store in Athlone is located in the Athlone Town shopping centre, just off the M6 motorway.This store was visited once only. The entrance to the store was clean and tidy and the outside of the store was attractive and inviting to customers. The store is wheelchair accessible. When the customer entered the store they were not greeted by anyone. The atmosphere within the shop was not wel coming as there was no music being played in the store, but the temperature was acceptable. The inside of the store was attractive, but the changing rooms were not tidy and unsatisfactory. The clothes were easy to view and reach but not all sizes were displayed.No member of staff asked if the customer needed assistance, but they were polite and helpful when getting a bigger size for the customer. All staff were wearing full uniform including name badges. When the customer got to the checkout there were four tills in operation and did not take long to get served. They were not thanked for shopping at the store but said the checkout staff were friendly and the exit signs were clear and illuminated. The customer said that they would recommend this store to others as they had a good overall experience in the store but feel that more staff are needed.Castlebar The Castlebar store is located in Lannagh Road Retail Park which is a five minute walk from the main street in Castlebar. The ent rance to the store was not up to standard as it was not clean and tidy, although the front of the shop was. The store is wheelchair accessible. When the customer entered the store they were greeted by a member of staff, and due to this made the atmosphere of the store feel welcoming. The inside of the store itself was clean and attractive and the temperature of the store was fine. A member of staff offered assistance, with a smile and good eye contact was made.All staff were wearing the correct uniform with their name badges. All of the sizes were displayed on the rails and they were easily accessible. The changing room was clean and tidy. At the till only a limited number of tills were in operation with less than five people in the queue and it took around three minutes to get served. The customer was thanked for shopping at the store and the exits were clearly marked and illuminated. This customer would recommend this store to others due to the friendly and welcoming atmosphere, b ut suggests better parking facilities. LimerickThe Limerick store is located in the Crescent shopping centre in Limerick which is situated two miles outside of Limerick city centre. The entrance to the shop was not clean and tidy and was blocked by a stand, this did not make the store look attractive and inviting to customers, although it was bright and lit up, the stand spoilt it. The store is wheelchair accessible. The customer was not greeted by a member of staff on entering the store and the atmosphere was not very welcoming. Also the store did not have a modern feel to it, which ‘Next’ would have a reputation for being.The store was not clean or tidy either. The temperature in the store was not sufficient as the customer found it very stuffy. One of the good points about this store was that a member of staff did ask if the customer needed assistance but did not smile or make eye contact while doing so. The staff were wearing the correct uniform including name badge s. The clothes were easily reachable on the rails but not all sizes were displayed or stocked and staff were not helpful when asked for another size. The changing room was clean and tidy.At the checkout there were 1-3 checkouts in operation with more than five people in the queue. It took ten minutes to get served, and the checkout staff did not speak. The customer was not thanked for shopping at the store but the exit signs were clear and illuminated. This customer would not recommend this store others due to not being felt welcomed or comfortable in the store and believes that the store should be renovated. Dublin There are many next stores in Dublin but the one that was visited was the one located in the Jervis shopping centre in Dublin city centre.This store was visited on one occasion. The entrance to the store was not clean and tidy but the outside of the store looked attractive and inviting due to the window display of the stores clothing. The store is wheelchair accessible. On entering the store the customer was not greeted by a member of staff, but the atmosphere was welcoming and the temperature in the store was nice and warm. The inside of the store was clean, tidy and attractive. The customer was not asked by any member of staff if they needed assistance. The clothes were easy to view and reach, and all sizes were displayed.The changing room was clean, tidy and uncluttered. At the till there were between 1-3 checkouts open, there was less than five people in the queue, it did not take long to get served. The staff were not neatly dressed and wearing their name badges but they were polite and made good eye contact with the customer and thanked the customer for shopping at the store. The exit signs were not clearly illuminated in this store. The customer would recommend this to others as the staff were very friendly. But said that they should be better dressed. RecommendationsIn this part of the report we outline the recommendations that we would mak e to Next based on our findings from the mystery shopping exercise. These are our recommendations: Firstly we believe that they should retrain right across the board. From shop assistants right up to managers. There should be a strict set of rules implemented into this training and an exam must be passed by all employees. The employees will then get a certificate to say that they have completed this. The managers would have to complete a more advanced course, dealing with all the topics the employees have to with a few added extras.During this training the following must be covered. Employees 1. Customers must be greeted when they walk in the door to make them feel welcomed. 2. Staff must ask customers if they need assistance within thirty seconds of them being on the premises. 3. When speaking to customers, speak politely and mannerly and eye contact must be made. 4. Correct uniform must be worn at all times. Especially a name badge. 5. Staff must make sure that the changing rooms are clean and clutter free at all times. 6. Make sure all sizes are on display. 7.If there is a substantial queue at the till, get another staff member to open another till. 8. Always thank the customer for shopping at the store. Managers 1. Make sure the outside of the premises is kept clean. 2. Delegate different employees to particular jobs. And make sure everybody knows what there job is. 3. Make sure that the music in the shop is on, clear and loud enough so the customers can hear it but not so loud that it is deafening. 4. Keep on top of the uniform issue as this was one of the weak areas of the mystery shopping survey.Secondly we believe that you should have a review of all your stores and try and complete any work that needs to be done. Such as a new layout or renovation. For example. The store in Limerick was described as not very modern. Next is well known for having a fashionable range of clothing and if the shop does not reflect this image then customers will not come in to the store. Another example would be a lot of rails have been described as too high. You could combat this by making them lower or having a hook that customers would use to reach the clothing. Finally we would recommend that you should look at your staffing policy.On a number of visits to your stores it has pointed out that if there was more staff then it would have been a better shopping experience. Even one more extra staff member per store would make a huge difference. Conclusion Overall, the project was a huge success. The implementation of the Questionnaire gave us valuable opinions which were vital in being able to recommend changes for the service. The physical aspect of the mystery shopper enabled us to gather first hand, unbiased information which would have been very difficult to receive, had another method of research been chosen. Appendices:

Exercise Among College Students Exercise - 1182 Words

Abstract Obesity has been a struggle that Americans have been trying to fight over the years but according to study’s many Americans don’t exercise at all. Although exercise is encouraged to Americans the obesity rates continue to increase. College students are vulnerable to weight gain because of the environment and obstacles that surround them. A survey was conducted at the University of Texas at El Paso asking the students questions towards exercising. This literature review will inform the reader how exercise plays an important role in a student’s life benefiting them in a variety of ways. Exercise among college students: A Review of Literature Many individuals become concerned about their weight and talk†¦show more content†¦Lack of exercise affects all individuals in any type of discourse community. Therefore college students should be encouraged to get exercise being that the students are vulnerable to gaining weight through college. Nelson (2009) expresses how parents are the encouragers and they report that 52% of students do not get exercise. If parents can encourage students to study, make friends, and join sports then why don’t they encourage them to exercise? Many college students are not aware of the importance of exercising and the benefits it comes with. A survey was taken at the University of Texas at El Paso asking the college students how important exercising was to them. Figure 1 shows the results: Out of 23 students 11 felt like exercising was extremely important. There was 2 students who believed exercise was slightly important which explains the numbers of Americans participating in physical activity going down. According to Desai (2008) â€Å"overweight and obesity are increasing nationally† (p. 1). In some cases lack of knowledge toward exercising can result in not getting the amount of exercise needed for the body and brain respond properly. Aballay (2013) informs the audience that the â€Å"National comparative studies found that the prevalence of obesity in the adult population is over 20% in 17 of 20 Latin American countries† (p. 2). The obesity rates are high in many countries; many have adjusted to this new lifestyle. According to Knopp (2010) the average weightShow MoreRelatedLack of Exercise Among College Students Essay691 Words   |  3 PagesLack of Exercise among College Students For most people it is common knowledge that maintaining an active lifestyle and exercising on a daily basis is essential to a healthy life, research shows that approximately fifty percent of all college students see a decrease in regular exercise following high school graduation (Kilapatrick 2005). The decline of regular exercise displays a problem in more then a few colleges; the correlation of increased sedentary lifestyle and decreased physical activityRead MoreThe Importance Of Physical Education1361 Words   |  6 Pages Today’s generation of college students have been infected with social media poisoning, which places little to no importance on physical activity. Their idea of exercise consists of how fast their fingers type. Immediate changes need to be implemented in the education system to avoid serious long-term effects. College physical education courses are designed to promote a healthy lifestyle through education and exercise. The main objective of the education system incorporating physical educationRead MoreThe Effects Of Physical Inactivity On College Students920 Words   |  4 Pagessuggests that approximately 36.7% of all college students are overweight/obese, with numerous at risk for weight gain throughout the college years (McDaniel, Melton, Langdon, 2013). â€Å"Emerging adults, such as students transitioning from home to a collegiate environment, savor the independence and responsibility of making their own decisions† (Musselman Rtledge, 2010). Such autonomy can l ead to poor dietary choices and physical inactivity. Sustained over the college years, these lifestyles might explainRead MoreThe Role Of Peer Pressure On College Students1235 Words   |  5 PagesThe college culture praises unhealthy behaviors, such as binge drinking and the use of drugs such as marijuana, for us immature and still developing young adults. A popular reason for why college students partake in this extremely unhealthy behavior is the phenomenon we have been taught in schools and experienced all our lives: peer pressure. Authors, Nancy P. Barnett, Miles Q. Ott, Michelle L. Rogers, Michelle Loxley, Crystal Linkletter, and Melissa A. Clark, of the article, â€Å"Peer AssociationsRead MoreThe Effects Of Stress Among College Students Essay855 Words   |  4 PagesOver the years many studies have been conducted to determine what creates stress and how college students can cope with stress. Stressors in a student’s life can be created through personal, educationa l and social experiences. A student faces many experiences while transitioning from high school, to college, and into adulthood. These experiences include: living arrangements, personal finances, important career decisions, experiences of failure, interpersonal relationships, and personal financesRead MoreStress Experience By Millennial College Students Essay1505 Words   |  7 Pages Stress in College Students Helen W. Bland, Bridget F. Melton, Lauren E. Bigham, Paul D. Welle Georgia Southern University, University of Georgia, Carnegie Mellon University Author’s Note Helen W. Bland, Department of Public Health, Georgia Southern University; Bridget F. Melton, Department of Health and Human Science, Georgia Southern University; Lauren E. Bigham, Department of Counseling Psychology,University of Georgia; Paul D. Welle, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, CarnegieRead MoreNewton s First Law Of Motion Essay1458 Words   |  6 Pagestwenties. Because a major portion of this age category is in college, it is crucial for universities and community colleges to provide physical education to help students achieve and maintain a standard level of physical and mental fitness outside and inside the classroom. At one time, the American physical education programs were producing strong bodied and strong willed children. The common gymnasium was no less than an arena for students to release pent-up energy and to display their physical abilitiesRead MoreRecently, More And More People’S Bodies Started To Have1381 Words   |  6 Pagescalled exercise. I think everyone is familiar with this word, and we always meet people who exercising in our daily life. Such as students who like to run in downtown or on university campus, a few of student workout at the gym, and so on. Even for some old people, they also like to join the pace. I have been keep doing some simple exercise every day in the past 3 months. 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The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Around 1,100 students attend the traditional day and adult evening degree completion programs. Students from almost every county in the state attend Huntingdon College. Huntingdon College is consistently listed among the top best colleges in the region. They are a member of the Tree Campus USA program. The

Understanding The Resource Based View Concept Business Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 1981 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Resource-based view (RBV) is a modern and promising concept that provides insights on both strategic and organisational matter. It is a manner of viewing the organisation and in turn of approaching strategy (Powell, 2007). Sustainable competitive advantages happen when a firm is executing a value-creating strategy that is not being executed by rivals and when these rivals are unable to replicate the benefits of this strategy (Henry, 2008). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Understanding The Resource Based View Concept Business Essay" essay for you Create order The achievement of sustainable competitive advantage can be anticipated to lead to higher performance measured in terms such as market-share and profitability (Sheehan and Foss, 2007). Thus, the main purpose of this critique is to determine whether resource based view analysis has a strong relationship with firms performance in attaining a sustainable competitive advantage. It is also to discuss the merits and demerits of RBV as the best strategy route in the development of a firms strategy and strengths and weaknesses of the RBV analysis in achieving competitive advantage and the contribution to firm-level value creation. 2.0 Body 2.1 Discussion In the dynamic environment faced by several firms, market positioning can become obsolete quickly because of new innovations, process enhancement and competitive environments. To compete successfully in these markets, it is said that organisations need to constantly craft new sources of competitive advantage (Powell and Thomas, n.d.) In order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and good performance, it is said that resource based view theory is essential (Klein, 2011). RBV underlines the internal capabilities of an organisation in creating strategy to attain sustainable competitive advantage in its market and industries (Henry, 2008). RBV claims that organisations achieve and sustain competitive advantages by deploying valuable capabilities and resources that are inelastic in supply (Ray, Barney and Muhanna, 2004). Competitive advantage happens only in a situation of resource heterogeneity, diverse resources across organisations and resource immobility, the incapability of competing organisations to gain resources from other firms (Madhani, P.M., 2009). Given that competitive advantage occurs in a situation of resource heterogeneity, organisations should have some basic threshold resources in order to battle in the market (Andersen, J., 2011). A division should to be made between capabilities (resources or competences) that are at a threshold level and those that might assist the firms to achieve competitive advantage and higher performance. Threshold resources are significant but it does not of themselves generate competitive advantage or the source of higher performance. These are dependent on a firm having distinctive capabilities that rivals will find it complicated to replicate (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008). It is held that RBV can be used to discover if the organisation have any strategic resources which can be utilised to base the firms strategy on. However, according to RBV, not each and every resources of an organisation will b e strategic resources. If managers can recognise these resources, it permits them to cherish it. Besides that, managers in low performing organisation may exploit the RBV to discover resources that are deficient and inspect if it can be alternate or replicate these resources (Sheehan and Foss, 2007). Strategic assets offer the organisation with a source of stable stream of rents so that it achieves a sustained competitive advantage over its competitors. Barney proposes that such advantages depend in a critical way, on the resource endowments controlled by the firm. Hence, it is the stock of strategic assets that are significant in determining the organisation profitability level. Moreover, managers should highlight on the utilisation of already controlled resources to attain economic rents for the organisation (Kochhar, 1997). 2.2 Comparison of RBV and Porters analysis RBV is constantly seen as a substitute to Porters five forces framework. Porters framework generally emphasises on the external impact on strategy execution and it assist organisation to examine the five forces in an industry. The core disagreement is that the theory deals with the success of the industries instead of individual organisation. Hence, it does not assist firms to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. In contrast, RBV implies that organisations must place their self deliberately based on their unique, valuable and matchless resources and capabilities. Resources and capabilities are more lasting compared to markets and goods. Thus, resources and capabilities can be considered as a platform for an organisation to develop diverse goods for diverse market. So, leveraging capabilities and resources across many markets and goods becomes the strategic driver instead of targeting particular products for particular markets as in Porters analysis (Trainmor-knowmore, 2008) 2.3 Merits and demerits of RBV as the best strategy development of a firms strategy According to Connor (2002), RBV is an important, crucial and an inside-out management theory that is functional in developing victorious strategy. One of the merits of RBV as the best strategy route in development of an organisations strategy is RBV strategy recognises and highlights on the importance of resources in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. It focuses on the capability and efficiency of internal resources. Tangible and intangible resources are integrated with RBV. The RBV of strategy also crafts a framework for the management to think about their strength and weakness, understand marketing problems that aids to improve organisations performance (Falkenreck, 2010). RBV is also useful in understanding the nature of internal resources and their optimal exploitation (Connor, 2002). Although there are merits of RBV, it is not without demerits. The general demerit of RBV is RBV does not address the vital issues of how resources can created and change over time. So me researchers also have argued that RBV of strategy lacks in detail hence it is quite difficult to implement in an organisation (Henry, 2008). 2.4 Why do some firms outperform and maintain their competitive advantages over others? Advancement in strategy basically relies on how good the field responds to the question Why do a number of firms outperform others? and other corollary questions like, How do organisations penetrate into a spot where they can outperform others? and How can organisation uphold this spot? The RBV is a brilliant means for explaining why some firms outperform others (Sheehan and Foss, 2007). It suggests primary approach on why organisations with valuable, rare, inimitable, and well structured resources may benefit from high performance (Barney, 1995). Distinctive competencies are one of the traits of an organisation that permit it to practice a strategy more effectively and efficiently than other organisations (Barney and Arikan, 2001). However, a firms competence is merely distinctive when they emanate from traits which others do not have. For it to be sustainable, the traits must continue over time. One of the distinctive competencies is general management competence. General mana gers can have a major impact on the strategies an organisation choose and on the capability of the organisation to execute the strategies it created. It is argued that naturally organisations that comprise of good quality general managers will generally outperform organisations that comprise of low quality general managers. Thus, choosing and training good quality general managers is the essential strategic option for an organisation (Barney and Arikan, 2001). Organisations with distinctive competencies have power that may facilitate them to get hold of high performance and leaders as creative thinker and organisation builders instead of a decision makers and administrators. These would be the important source for a firm to outperform others (Selznick, 1957). A firms ability to innovate fruitfully is also a form of distinctive competencies which is sustainable and appropriable. For example, a firm can produce innovative products such as Apple with i-tunes and i-pod. In a survey to d iscover 50 most innovative companies around the world, it is revealed that Apple got the third place. Apples unrivalled innovation in product function and design is verifying that it is hard for competitors to chase. Both these competencies allows firm to outperform others (Henry, 2008). Besides that, core competence is also a trait for organisation that permits it to outperform and maintain competitive advantage over others (Barney and Arikan, 2001). Core competencies is known as the combined learning of the organisation, particularly how to synchronize various production ability and assimilate numerous streams of technology (Zubac, Hubbard and Johnson, 2010). A core competence should offer broad access to variety of markets, create important contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the end products and should be hard for rivals to imitate (Henry, A., 2008). Organisation that has core competencies will regularly realise that it is less complex to achieve competitive ad vantages. Thus, if an organisation wants to achieve high performance, its managers need to consider the activities that the organisation desires to engage into and the kinds of resources the organisation needs to exploit to permit those activities to take place as well as the assets and capabilities that an organisations managers have to manage (Barney and Arikan, 2001). Toyota is able to outperform other competitors because of its core competence. Its core competence develops from its capability to combine core competencies across the whole organisation. Toyota is delighted with its victory of its Prius, an electric-and-petrol hybrid car that has sold well in America. Its rivals such as General Motors, BMW and Ford are trying hard to produce their own hybrid car. However, Toyota believes that with practice they can master the fuel-saving technologies faster than its competitors. While the competitors try to integrate hybrid engines in their cars, Toyota is trying to cut the price o f the engines in half to make it harder for the competitor (Henry, 2008). 2.5 Strengths and weaknesses of RBV analysis in achieving competitive advantage and the contribution to firm-level value creation For organisations resources to achieve sustained competitive advantage, it is stated that the resources need to be valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable (Powell and Thomas, n.d.) Thus, if an organisations resources possess these characteristics, it allows the organisation to enter into new market and add value to the customers such as Toyotas hybrid car and Apples I-pod (Henry, 2008). This is one of the strengths of RBV analysis in achieving competitive advantage and the contribution to firm-level value creation. Furthermore, firms focusing on RBV have potential that permit them to produce at lower cost which will lead them to the benefit of focusing on cost-leadership strategy or create a better goods or service at standard cost compared to other firms with lower capabilities which leads them to focus on differentiation strategy (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008). The main critique of the RBV is that though it offers a theory of sustainability, it is not a con cept of value creation. If it is true, the usefulness of RBV as a strategic tool will be challenged (Sheehan and Foss, 2007).The RBV is mainly recognition of the uniqueness that resources have to generate rents in balance. This somewhat leave out the concern with process of crafting strategic resources through innovation and similar creative act or restoring such resources (Matthews, 2006). How should resources be pooled, in which proportions, quantity, sequence, etc. to yield value? These are vital implementation matters that are not considered in RBV (Sheehan and Foss, 2007). 3.0 Conclusion In conclusion, the existence of strategic resources is adequate to establish the potential for competitive advantage. Therefore, there is a strong relationship between resources and performance. The important elements of RBV of an organisation are the organisations main resources and the responsibility of management in changing these resources into situation of sustainable competitive advantage leads to superior performance in the marketplace (Sheehan and Foss, 2007). It is stated that RBV suits the best in a static or predictable context (Zubac, Hubbard and Johnson, 2010). Some research revealed that the RBV can be used at the level of the strategic group and the industry as well as the organisation (Fahy, 2000). RBV definitely has vast potential for assisting managers and organisations to improve their practices and performance (Klein, 2011). The flexibility of this framework makes it fairly adaptable to specific organisation or industrys situations (Stephane, 2007). Industries s uch as financial services are example of where sustainable advantages are hard to achieve and competitive moves are replicated quickly (Fahy and Smithee, 1999). As organisations industry environments have become unstable, thus the internal resources and capabilities have been suggested as a securer base for crafting strategy instead of external market focus (Grant, 2005).

Environmental Damage Due to Development Has Affected...

TOPIC: Environmental Damage Due to Development Has Affected Tourism in the Caribbean: Inevitable. Audience: Faculty of built environment and tourism management students. PURPOSE: To convince students that environmental damage is inevitable and precautionary measures should be taken to lessen this problem to ensure that the Caribbean keeps it title as a â€Å"tourist destination†. THESIS: Within in the Caribbean environmental damage is inevitable and one should focus on minimizing the effects of progress, change and advancement and take precautionary measures to lessen the potential damage which can occur and decrease the arrivals of visitors to the Caribbean. CLAIMS: I. The improvement to people’s standard of living, infrastructure and†¦show more content†¦Thus sing sustainable architecture to promote tourism while being environmental friendly C. Through the promotion of environmental awareness and encouraging the idea of being green and sustainable with a long term environmentally friendly development plan which facilitates economic growth also however because many of the Caribbean islands are small the issue is finding the suitable balance between sustainable development and economic prosperity while making the Caribbean the focal point for tourism development . REFERENCES Development and Environment Issues with Special Reference to Gandhian Perspective. Dr. Kavita Y. Suchak. (PhD). http://www.mkgandhi-sarvodaya.org/environment.htm Dohan, John. â€Å"Recession: How Deep?† World Link. March/April 1991: 10-12. A Guide for the Survival of Humankind, and Improving the World, Society, and Yourself! Economic Profit versus Environmental Safety. http://www.philforhumanity.com/Economic_Profit_versus_Environmental_Safety.html Economic Development vs. the Environment Summary: Is the economic development of developing countries more important than protecting the environment? Author: The Debatabase Book (UnitedShow MoreRelatedDiscuss the Social and Economic Impact of Natural Disasters on the Caribbean.2527 Words   |  11 Pageswhich cause great damage by disrupting the functioning of a society thus rendering the country incapable of coping through using its own resources as there is a need for outsider assistance in order to effectively preserve lives and the environment. Conversely, Natural hazards are natural phenomena that are potential threats to people within a society, structures or economic assets and may cause disaster. Natural disasters are inevitable and ubiquitous worldwide. 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Disasters and Emergencies Earthquakes and Floods

Question: Discuss about theDisasters and Emergenciesfor Earthquakes and Floods. Answer: Introduction A disaster refers to a situation which occurs and results to disruptions of the normal activities, hence causing damage to the affected people. On the other hand, an emergency occurs as a result of a disaster. It is a state where by normalcy is disrupted to avert or take care of an on already existing disaster. Recently the world is faced with numerous disasters and hazards that are posing threats to human life, and countrys development(Quaranntel, 2008). This paper will address the causes of emergency and disaster situations and identify resources and strategies that could be utilized to reduce and manage the risks associated with these conditions. Causes of Disasters and Emergency Disasters are caused by either natural causes or human factors. Natural factors are beyond human control. Examples of natural factors which are disastrous are earthquakes, floods, hurricanes among others. Examples of natural disasters that have struck the world are the tsunami that struck Japan on March 2011 and spread through the Pacific and the Katrina hurricanes that caused the most damage in the US. The Boxing Day earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia which resulted in strong water waves (tsunami) that left more than 230,000 people dead, and destroyed millions of properties and people livelihoods in 10 countries. A natural disaster is beyond human control, and in most cases, its very hard to control, since there may be no signs of the disaster striking(Blaikie, 2003). On the other hand, there are other disasters which are caused by human activities, for instances fires, which can result from oil spillage. Also, there are disasters resulting from environmental degradation. For example, droughts and famine which result to the death of many. Environmental degradation has as well greatly contributed to climatic changes, and as a result, most countries are already feeling the impacts of global warming, which are causing health and ecological disasters as was witnessed in 2003 in the European heat wave which killed thousands of people (Wilson, 2010). Emergencies are as a result of primary effects of disasters. Its in an attempt to avert the disaster from more damage. Either after it has already stricken or before it even strikes in case it shows signs of occurring. A primary disaster, for instance, is an emergency medical attention to several people injured during a mudslide or earthquakes or even from the fire. Secondary emergencies, on the other hand, are not directly linked to the disaster though they result from the extreme effects of disasters. For instance, a mudslide that can lead to breakage of sewers and hence disease outbreak which calls for emergency actions(Schepher-Pines, 2005). Framework and Plans for Emergency and Disaster Reduction As a result of the numerous changes taking place worldwide, many nations have resolved to form a framework for addressing the disasters and the arising emergencies. Since the year 2004when a great tsunami struck Asia, the nations realized the need to have effective strategies in place in case a disaster occurs, especially with the unpredictable nature of disasters. As a result, there is increased international cooperation because disasters know no borders. Countries have partnered to form multilateral and bilateral firm partnership as a strategy to reduce risks caused by emergencies as well as by the natural or human-related disasters. Many global countries have resolved into integrating the disaster reduction initiatives with their MDGs. There has also been a rise in the setting up of regional platforms to address the challenge of disasters and emergencies both at regional and at the international levels(McEntire, 2000). Countries have resolved into holistic strategies of dealing with the disaster challenges. There is, for instance, the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015), formed in the year 2015, by the World Conference on Disaster Reduction. The framework aimed at strengthening the global goals of development and the disasters and risk reduction strategies. The framework has three main strategic goals; Integrating the disaster prevention plans with the overall sustainable development plans and policies. Systematically incorporate the risk reduction strategies to the implementing of disasters and emergency preparedness recovery programs as well as with the necessary responses. Develop and strengthen the institutions, available mechanisms, and the global capacities to create resilience towards hazards and disasters. Additionally, there is also the Gleneagles 2005 summit, which is a strategy in which the countries who are members of the G-8 commit themselves to offer all possible support to countries prone to disasters. There are also driven by the desire and motive of sharing information and knowledge regarding hazards and risk management, giving warnings to areas which are susceptible to disasters. The G-8 countries work hand in hand with the World Bank and the UN, as well as with all the other willing development banks and the developing nations, to help address the issue of risk management. The Hyogo Framework for Action and the G-8 are existing platforms with a driving, and of reducing occurrences of emergencies, they encourage bilateral and multilateral partnership, also advocate for regional countries community-based preparedness and efficient, responsive plans in efforts to mobilize the community to have effective responses to disasters(Dynes, 1994). Additionally, still on disasters reduc tion efforts, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) is undergoing numerous to act as a strategic tool for implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action to be used by all the stakeholders, both the UN and non-UN contributors and through an efficient building of infrastructure and housing stocks. Its not possible. The Kyoto Protocol Climate Conference held in 1997 came up with plans for reducing risks caused by climatic changes resulting from industrial activities in developed countries. The countries developed an overall framework for cutting greenhouse gases emissions. The US promised to stabilize its emissions while the European Union promised a 15% decrease. During the conference, the agreed framework would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions(Aldrich Meyer, 2015). Strategies to Reduce the Risk of Emergency Situations and Disasters Disaster management should be treated as a holistic process involving all the sectors of development. It calls for an active planning and broad investments, failure to which significant losses will be incurred if a disaster hits a country. Some disasters are manageable hence there should be a collective measure by the regions which are susceptible to certain disasters. Below are some strategies that countries can put in place to help reduce the risk of disasters and emergency occurrences. Country level advocacy on risk reduction; the World Bank has a set up natural disaster hotspots known as the Global Risk Analysis, which will help identify the disasters susceptible regions and countries. This will help the countries being in prepared for the kind of disasters that can strike their region. If countries are aware of the imminent risks, they will be in a better position to put in place effective risk avoidance measures hence the occurrence of the disaster may be prevented or the impacts minimized. The World Bank in collaboration with other international bodies has come up with the several tools which help in risk management. What the countries should do is they should get the risk management tools and distribute them across their Ministries of Planning, Finance and Disaster Management; this will increase their level of preparedness towards disasters(Neumayer, 2007). Country-level hazard risks and poverty assessment; to ensure that poverty implementation strategies are sustainable the government should consider incorporating hazard risk assessment and reduction strategies of the region. Hazard risk assessment policies incorporate the hazard mapping, protecting economic and social developments as well as activities from danger through incentivization alleviate poverty without managing risks, since no matter the developments a disaster can bring them down in a day(Neumayer, 2007). Countries should make use of existing poverty elimination strategies to measure the levels of risks and disasters vulnerability. Identification of poverty causes can help identify the specific disasters that recurrently affect the prone areas, and this will ease the risk reduction process as they are already known which disaster to deal with. Sectorial risk management strategy; the impacts of a disaster impact negatively on all sectors. This, therefore, means that to overcome risks and disasters, countries should ensure they have specific strategies for all the sectors; this will help reduce the overall damage and losses incurred when a disaster strikes. These strategies include; Human resource development; to successfully overcome risks its important to educate the general public of the various disasters that exists, especially the human-related disasters, many human-related disasters occurs as a result of lack of knowledge of the dangers that their activities can lead into. For example, great fires have been caused by oil spillages; this means that the government should come up with strategies for educating the citizen about disasters. Also, the public should be informed about the disasters that the country is vulnerable to, enlightening them on precautionary measures as well as the best reactions they should turn to in case of emergence of the strike. Its important to alert people on how they should react to fire, floods, earthquakes and other disasters in case they strike. This strategy can help reduce losses and reduce the chances of risk occurrences. Risk management should be introduced in the learning institutions(Maskrey, 2009). Medical education and safety of health facilities; to take care of emergencies in case disasters occur calls for proper strategy inception in the medical sector. Medical practitioners, for example, should be trained on how to handle mass casualties. Managing the vast number of causalities also means that three should go through preparedness to be able to accommodate a large number of disaster victims. It, therefore, means that all the national government should strategically ensure that their medical facilities can handle large masses of casualties in case of a disaster. The Government should as well consider restructuring the health facilities infrastructure to suit the needs of disaster victim if a disaster occurs. This will also help reduce secondary effects of emergency in case an outbreak occurs. The facilities should be strategically built in a way that outbreaks are not easily spread within the hospital premises(Mileti, 1992). Public management capacities and administration enhancement; the Federal government as well as the local civil services like the municipal council play critical role in the creation and implementation of risk reduction strategies. Countries should, therefore, come up with disaster and risk refresher training programs towards the federal officers and the civil service. This will help increase their preparedness to disasters as well as provide them with knowledge of how to prevent risks from occurring. Informing them of the countries vulnerabilities to risks and disasters is also an important strategy of risk reduction and management. The national training policy of every country should strategize on achieving this as part of the public management and administration enactment strategy.The government must priotize provision of adequate capacities in the public management training as there will be an increase in disasters with the increase in population, the higher rates of urbanization, increased environmental degradation, climatic changes among others (Korstanje, 2011). Strengthening decentralization; three local communities and the local governments are responsible for handling emergencies brought up by impending risks and disasters. Their disaster management capabilities significantly affect the extents of damages caused by the risks(Korstanje M. E., 2001). To prevent risks from resulting into disasters, the government should come up with risk adoption and development strategies during the initial planning of the socioeconomic programs of development. Local governments should be given the capacities needed to empower the people on matters of disaster vulnerabilities, and on the various ways of reducing the occurrence of risks(Paul, 2003). Capacity enhancement to the vulnerable groups; when a disaster strikes vulnerable groups is affected most. These calls for a need to ensure risks are reduced on them by all means, the governments and the international group should collectively develop strategies acts as risk mitigation tools to enable the poor, as well as the vulnerable groups, reduce the risk occurrence. There should also be appropriate strategies to assist the post-disaster communities to get back to their lives and offer a quick response to the disasters to reduce the risk of secondary emergencies occurrences. For example, if an area is affected by floods the government should have appropriate strategies put in place to avoid disease outbreaks(Bankoff, 2004,). Strengthening the hydro-meteorological services; there are several disasters which arise as result of climatic and non-climatic hazards. The government should ensure to put in place appropriate strategies to learn of the possible disasters and provide a relevant warning to the people. For example, if mass rainfall is expected which might result to flooding the government should provide a warning to the people living in sloppy and flat areas which may suffer the consequences of the floods(Susanna M. Hoffman, 2002). This will lead to increased levels of preparedness among the people. This, therefore, calls for setting up of climatic risk management strategies which should long term. Vulnerable regions should work in collaboration with the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (ESSD) and country teams to develop a framework that will help the country mainstream adaptation means to climate variability and climatic changes(Alexander, 2002). In conclusion, it's evident that many disasters are facing the world today, it, therefore, calls for a common measure to prevent the occurrence of disasters since some are manageable, and reduce risks of those that are not. The international and regional bodies have come up with frameworks and planned to help face these challenges. If these disasters and risks are to be effectively managed, the strategies employed must be collective. At the international level countries in the same region must collectively strategize on how to manage and reduce risks. Also within the country, the government must involve all parties to fight this epidemic together. No one developmental sector can fight disasters on its own. Strategies to help reduce risks and disaster occurrences have also been identified, and its worth noting the list is not exhaustive of all possible strategies. References Aldrich, D. P., Meyer, M. A. (2015). "Social Capital and Community Resilience. American Behavioral Scientis, 254-269. Alexander, D. (2002). Principles of Emergency planning and Management,. Oxford: Principles of Emergency planning and Management, . Bankoff, G. G. (2004,). Mapping Vulnerability: Disasters, Development and People,. Routledge, : ISBN 978-1853839641. Blaikie, P. C. (2003). At Risk Natural hazards, people's vulnerability and disasters, . Wiltshire: Routledge. Dynes, R. (1994). Community Emergency Planning: False Assumptions and Inappropriate Analogies. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 141-158. Korstanje, M. (2011). "The Scientific Sensationalism: short commentaries along with scientific risk perception". E Journalist, 10. Korstanje, M. E. (2001). "Swine Flu in Buenos Aires: Beyond the Principle of Resilience. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 5973. Maskrey, A. (2009). Disaster Mitigation: A Community-Based Approach. OXFORD: Oxfam. McEntire, D. (2000). Sustainability or invunerable development? Proposals for the Current shift in Paradigms. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 58-61. Mileti, D. a. (1992). The causal sequence of Risk communication in the Parkfield Earthquake Prediction experiment. Risk Analysis, 393-400. Neumayer, E. a. (2007). 'The gendered nature of natural disastersL the impact of catastrophic events on the gender gap in making disaster risk reduction gender-sensitive: policy and practical guidelines life expectancy 1981-2002'. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 551-566. Paul, B. K. ( 2003). Public Response to Tornado Warnings: a comparative Study of the May 04, 2003 Tornadoes in Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee. Quick Response Research Report, no 165, Natural Hazard Cent. Oxford: University of Colorado. Quaranntel, E. (2008). "Where We Have Been and Where We Might Go", What is a Disaster?: A dozen Perspecrives on the Question,. London: Routledge. Schepher-Pines, L. (2005). Katrina: the disaster and its doubles. Athropology today, 6. Susanna M. Hoffman, S. M.-S. (2002). Catastrophe and Culture: The Anthropology of Disaster. School of American Research Press, , 12. Wilson, H. (2010). "Divine Sovereignty and the Global Climate Change debate". Essays in Philosophy, 1-7.

What is Spam Anyway Essay Example For Students

What is Spam Anyway? Essay Ive found when people discuss spam they really have no idea what they aretalking about. There are as many different definitions of spam as there arepeople. In point of fact, this factor alone (not being able to define whatspam is and what it consists of) makes it virtually impossible to control. In order to control spam, a useful definition is necessary. Why? Simple. Inorder to control something, you must know what you are controlling. Whenyou understand the basic facts, then you can take whatever course of actionis necessary. Until you achieve that understanding, you will be shootingblindly at an undefined target. This makes it very difficult to actually doanything useful. So on that note, what kind of definitions for spam work and dont work?Commonly spam is defined as unsolicited email. Unfortunately, thisdefinition by itself is NOT spam and means absolutely nothing. Whats wrongwith it? This definition does not help you solve the problem, and thus isincorrect. If this definition was true, then to prevent spam you would haveto somehow contact a person to ask them if you could send them an email. We will write a custom essay on What is Spam Anyway? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now For example, I dont generally call someone on the phone and ask them foran email message. That would be silly. In fact, by definition most email isunsolicited; I dont, for example, expect my wife or a friend to ask me ifits okay to send me a message. Sometimes spam is defined as emails that are from unknown sources. Hmm. This really doesnt work well either. Ill get emails from my website frompeople I dont know these are not spam. Also, sometimes my friends willpass my email address to their friends, who send me email. These are alsonot spam, even though they were from an unknown source and wereunsolicited. How about just plain annoying emails? That seems to be the definition thatmost people have in mind when they mention spam. If the email is annoyingin some manner, and especially if it was unsolicited, it is spam. Thisdefinition probably gets a little closer to the heart of the matter, but itreally doesnt define spam well. What about unsolicited bulk email? This definition gets a little bit closerbut it still doesnt really define spam well. I mean I give my emailaddress to my bank and I really didnt ask them to send me emails (althoughI didnt ask them not to as well). Yet I would not call this spam as I dobusiness with the bank. Their emails might be annoying, but since I have abusiness relationship with the bank I expect them to communicate with meoccasionally. Okay, so what is spam?I like to think of spam as unethical mass email. By this I mean emailswhich violate the netiquette standards of the majority of users of theinternet. Note that by this definition, an individual email sent to a person is notspam. A commercial email, however, is another matter. Even a singlecommercial email might be unethical if it does not follow the rules below. Ethical emails are targeted well towards their audience. Unethical emailsare mass mailings sent out blindly to a large number of people. These are emails that are sent to thousands, tens of thousands, evenmillions of people, hoping against hope that a few dozen will be stupid orgreedy enough to respond. These emails are untargeted and will not pertainto the majority of the recipients. Since the majority of the people readingthe message (usually upwards of 99%) will simply delete it immediately,this makes the mailing unethical. .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f , .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f .postImageUrl , .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f , .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f:hover , .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f:visited , .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f:active { border:0!important; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f:active , .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u99b409746df8d2976f3f5bb8ebf6408f:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Homeless Assistance EssayEthical email messages include valid email header information. Thisinformation properly identifies the sender of the message. In addition, allof the other header data in the message is correct. Spam messages often have forged or invalid email headers. This means it isdifficult (if not virtually impossible) to trace the source of the emailbased upon the header information within the email message. Since thesender of the message cannot be identified the message is unethical. Inthis case, even a single email message would count as spam. Ethical mailings include a method for opting out which actually works. If you run a newsletter or do any kind of mass mailing, you must include atleast one method of removal in the email message itself. This removalmethod (and more than one is preferable) MUST WORK. Some things which Ioften see in opt-out schemes which ARE NOT VALID include the following: . Any email message which states that the reader must go to a web site,log in and then modify his email preferences is UNETHICAL. Thisrequires too much information from the user and forces him to do toomuch work. . If the email message includes an unsubscribe link (or other means)which does not work, then it is UNETHICAL. . Messages which validly allow for opt-out but then say you will beremoved in a week or some other long period of time are UNETHICAL. These are computers people, and there is no reason to include theselong delays. Remove the person immediately. Ethical mass mailings are double-opt-in. This means after a person signs upfor the mailing list, he receives a confirmation message. He must eitherreply to this message or click a link to activate the mailings to him. Anyother form of opt-in is UNETHICAL as it allows people to be subscribed byothers or by accident. Ethical mailings do not include webbugs, set cookies or perform any kind ofinvoluntary tracking. Email messages are often opened up by the recipient before he knowsanything about the message. This means if you are doing any kind oftracking, the person has no way to stop it, short of blocking the receiptof the message entirely. This lack of a choice on the part of the recipientmakes this kind of tracking UNETHICAL. The only time this would be ethicalis if it was clearly stated when the user signed up for the mailing. Inthat instance, this behavior is known and this makes it ethical. Note thatwhile the web site privacy policy should state this fact, it must also bestated clearly on the page where the person actually signs up for themailing. Ethical mailers do not use email harvesters. Using special robots to gatheremail addresses from web sites is UNETHICAL. These email addresses aregenerally included on web sites to allow individuals to communicate withindividuals. Rarely is the intention to join a mass mailing listdistributed on CD. ALL USES OF EMAIL HARVESTING IS UNETHICAL. Ethical mailers do not take advantage of open relays or use other spammertricks. If you are legitimate, then there is no need to attempt to hideyour whereabouts or cover your tracks. Using a relay without permission orsending millions of emails through an unprotected formmail script is simplybad manners. Get the idea? Spamming is NOT sending someone one or more email messageswithout their express permission. Spamming is simply ignoring the rights ofothers (your audience, system administrators and even the users of theinternet as a whole). Thats all it is.