Ad-Comm Group “Whitebook”: Cross-Marketing Platform for Luxury Brands in Japan Essay

1. What is a Whitebook? What role(s) does it play in the Marketing strategy of Ad-comm’s client companies? Answers 15 lines maximum. Whitebook is a cross marketing platform, a magazine that is published in Japan every 4 months and which displays nine luxury brands in nine diverse types of product. The magazine is customized for each luxury sponsors. The Whitebook plays an important role in terms of marketing strategy as it is a brand ambassador and CRM tool. As the Whitebook is mainly distributed through sponsors, the Whitebook targets a prequalified small group of costumers but right ones, right at the beginning. Being displayed in the magazine can be seen a recognition of being a top luxury brand and be therefore an award. The Magazine creates a strong relationship between the brands and the costumers, as the costumers feel privileged to receive special attention from the brand. Moreover the Whitebook organizes event as well, which gathers customers and one brand. Those events gives the opportunity for luxury brands to create a personal relationship (â€Å"face-to-face† relationship) with its customers, by telling its heritage and answering questions. 2. Take the perspective of the general manager of Porsche Japan. See more: Old Age Problem essay How would you assess the cost effectiveness or ROI of investing 20 million Yen a year to sponsor Whitbook? Would you be willing to be a sponsor? Why or why not? Answer by using a break-even analysis, and by calculating the expected customer lifetime value (i. e. today’s expected value of a customer’s purchases over the course of his/her life as a Porsche customer). 1 to 2 pages. a. You must know what a break-even analysis is: this is when your return/revenue covers your investment – in other words: how many cars to sell to repay for the investment in Whitebook? b. Customer Lifetime value: refer to the last class definition – expected value of a customer over the course of his/her life as a customer = selling price of a Porsche x number of Porsches purchased in a lifetime. Be creative by using the data of the case and common sense. There is no magic formula. I will take your assumptions into consideration. c. Then the cost effectiveness can be assessed by comparing to competitive offerings Porsche sales increased by 4. 55 ( 3000/658= 4. 55 – p. 8) in 6 years. For a luxury brand, democratization of the product also means loss of prestige and exclusivity. Whitebook is a way to keep the luxury image of the brand by creating a special relationship with the best costumers. 20 million Yen represents 2. 4% of the total marketing budget (p. 8). Assuming that an average price of Porsche is 75 000$ USD , in 6 years they have sold for 175 650 000$ (75 000 x 2320) . 20 million Yen is equal to 214 241. 04$ USD which corresponds to 1 285 446. 24$ USD in 6 years. In terms of break-even analysis and still assuming the average price of 75 000 $, they need to sell 3 cars (2. 86) (214 241. 04 / 75 000) per year to repay their investment in Whitebook. However, the case mentions that â€Å"10% of the VIP customers own 8-9 Porsches† (p. 8), therefore we can assume that Porsche company sells at least 3 cars per year and therefore sponsoring Whitebook is profitable. In terms of Costumer Lifetime value, we shall still assume the average price of 75 000$ USD per car and the number of Porsches purchased in a lifetime of 8. 5 (â€Å"8-9 Porsches† own over lifetime – p. 8). The Costumer Lifetime Value is therefore equal to 637 500 (75 000 x 8.5). Finally, in terms of cost effectiveness, if we look at exhibit 9, we see that the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of Whitebook is best advantageous compared to other selected print media in Japan. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is relatively low (5 000 000 Yen) compared to the number of pages and the location. Let’s take 25ans’. The MSRP is 4 200 000 Yen for 2 pages on the back cover; compared to 800 000Yen more for Whitebook (therefore 1. 19 more expensive (5 000 000 / 4 200 000 = 1. 19) ) for 3 times more pages inside the magazine for Whitebook. It is then clear that Whitebook is more profitable compared to less expensive magazines in terms of cost effectiveness. Moreover 25ans’ targets women’s luxury, however Porsche and fast cars are commonly known to be of mainly great interest for men. Concerning Esquire, the MSRP is 3 200 000 Yen of 2 pages on the back cover, Whitebook is 1 800 000 more (therefore 1. 5626 more expensive (5 000 000 / 32 000 000)) for 3 times more pages inside the magazine. Thus, Whitebook magazine is more profitable than Esquire. Moreover Esquire targets Men’s fashion/lifestyle only, however purchasing a Porsche can also involve women (Porsche Cayenne for example). Concerning Nikkei Business, the MSRP is 5 680 000 Yen of 2 pages on the back cover which target business customers. Compare to Whitebook, Nikkei Business is 1. 136 more expensive than Whitebook for less pages. Moreover the Nikkei Business target only business Concerning Asahi Newspaper, the MSRP is 22 500 000 Yen for full page. Compare toe Whitebook, Asahi Newspaper is 4. 5 more expensive. Moreover, Asahi Newspaper targets general public, however Porsche wants to keep the luxury prestige and exclusive image of the brand by investing in a magazine, the target readers doesn’t therefore correspond to the main aim of Porsche. In conclusion, Whitebook is the best investment in terms of cost effectiveness compared to competitive offerings. 3. Put yourself in the shoes of Andreas Dannenberg. Whitebook exploits opportunities (and leverages strength, addresses weaknesses, and counter threats) in the luxury market and advertising industry, and it helps Ad-comm stay ahead of potential capability improvements by Japanese and multinational competitors. What is Whitebook to you? What role(s) does it play in the marketing strategy of Ad-comm itself? Answer by using a SWOT analysis (for Ad-comm) to understand internal and external strategic position. 1 to 2 pages. In terms of Strengths: * Whitebook enables to be independent from Japanese Players * Doesn’t have to be subcontracted by Japanese agencies * Target the right costumers. * Plays a role of CRM tool * Create privilege relationships between the brands and the costumers * Maintain the luxury and exclusive image of the sponsors * Create events to build a face to face relationship and build a trust relationship in the long run with VIP costumers -> the brand tells stories and heritage to the customer and the Japanese consumption, customers are choosing a brand mainly because of its heritage, recommendations of experts and experiences of family and friends. * Plays a role of brand ambassador * Enable luxury companies to display the corporate portfolio * Enable luxury brands to make their cash flows easier. In terms of Weaknesses: * Limited to Japanese market * Limited to the Japanese market * Implementation on international market requires global corporate decision In terms of Opportunities: * Cross-marketing platform * Select prequalified targeted and top-tier customer * Create a unique virtual experience for privilege guests as well trough its website and entry key * Track behaviors of target customers * The website tracks behaviors of target customers * Create events which can be an opportunity to launch a new product to a right target costumer * Enable luxury companies to get new costumers. * Work as a CRM tool In terms of Threats: * No competitors at the moment because is very selective and the nurture the relationship with the brand. * However, competitors can come in the market, target also luxury clientele with more luxury brands or more subcategories * New competitors can come and create other type of cross-marketing platform like a privilege club which enables the brands to meet * New competitors can come an create the same magazine suited for the global market or USA market which number of customers are greater. 4. What would you do with the expansion opportunities described at the end of the case (pp. 10-13)? Would you pursue: (a) increasing the number of sponsors I the current Whitebook? (b) replicating the current Whitebook in overseas market; or (c) developing an alternative Whitebook focused on the new â€Å"edgy† brand market? Why? Answer with Pros and Cons in 1 to 2 pages. (a) Increasing the number of sponsors I the current Whitebook Pros: * Increase flexibility when planning events * Increase quantity of events (number of events) * Increase quality of events, as more VIP customers and sponsor companies are available * Increase the use of CRM tool * Make the relationship between brand and consumer more visible Cons: * Additional cost could offset the fixed costs of production * Losing credibility * Losing trust with the brands * Losing luxury appeal because luxury is based on scarcity and exclusivity (b) Replicating the current Whitebook in overseas market (the best option because:) Pros: * Minimize additional effort and attention required to Whitebook * Provide learning opportunity for the account managers. * Can introduce new categories in the book * Multinational sponsor already present in the Japanese version can be included in the overseas version * Already implemented in US, Singapore Cons: * There’s a small budget required by sponsors * The decisions so fare are regional and not on corporate level * Changing the marketing strategy at a global level will be uncontrollable for Whitebook unless they change the whole corporate structure, which possible (c) Developing an alternative Whitebook focused on the new â€Å"edgy† brand market Pros: * Maintain most loyal costumers * Help to acquire innovative customers. * Guarantee of 50 000 targeted customers * Involves high-margin brand segments * Developing new relationships with new companies Cons: * Should redirect the target customers on young customers * Being part of a community takes out their own personality and uniqueness * Because edgy brands target young customers and customers prefer interactive marketing tools so edgy brand prefer to invest their marketing budget and events or promotions rather that printing marketing * Change the value of luxury image of the book * Because luxury is based on exclusivity and scarcity, including edgy brands will damage this luxury image.

My Theory on Personality

My Theory of Personality Personality refers to a combination of long-lasting and distinctive behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotion that typify how we react and adapt to other people and situations. (Plotnik, 2012) Many psychologists, like Freud, theorize that it is a combination of many factors that affect the personality. Many of these factors ranging from early childhood development and unconsciousness to rewards and punishments. I have chosen four concepts that I believe contribute the most to the development of the personality and will explain why.The concepts I have chosen to be part of my very own personality theory are: childhood experiences, interpretation of experiences, and observable behavior. Alfred Adler, an Austrian medical doctor and psychologist, once said that we develop our desires and drives during our childhood then our whole adulthood becomes affected by these childhood experiences. People keep striving during their adulthood to fulfill the desires they have developed during childhood. (Radwan, 2008) Childhood experiences are the first lessons you learn, the first observations you see, and are what I believe to be the basis of personality in adulthood.For example, if a child grows up with an overprotective family, she/he will learn to fear strangers and have a lot of insecurities. But in adulthood they will have to deal with that fear, in such a way that it might transfer to another fear like a fear of taking risks or trying new things. Growing up, there are always situations when you have to meet new people or interact with strangers, and sooner or later you get over the insecurities you have about meeting new people and become friendlier, or you keep your anthropophobia and become very isolated.Personality traits you learn at a young age sticks with you throughout your life even if you forget about them, you're unconscious mind still puts them in to effect on a daily basis. Interpretation of experiences very from person to person. â⠂¬Å"Kids need to feel badly sometimes,† says child psychologist David Elkind, professor at Tufts University. â€Å"We learn through experience and we learn through bad experiences. Through failure we learn how to cope. † Some people might take overbearing parents as a sign of love and affection.While on the other hand a different person might see it as suffocating and annoying. Depending on how they interpret these situations of over-protection by their parents will build on their personality. (Marano, 2004) The child who sees the overbearingness as love will embrace and project it as an adult. But the child who sees the protectiveness as suffocating will want to take more risks and be more outgoing as an adult. A real question I have is why do we interpret these situations the way we do.Most of the time I realize the way I react to certain situations is the same as the way my mother would have reacted. Maybe it is because we spent a lot of time together in my teen year s. Observable behavior is basically what you see people do and how they act. There is a phase people say to one another that, in its simplest form, means take note and execute. â€Å"Pay it forward†. Paying it forward is when you notice someone going out of their way to do something nice for you. And in return you do the same for someone else.In a way it is supposed to start a chain reaction and sooner or later more and more people will be kinder to strangers. But after a while the chain end due to someone not paying it forward. Maybe they didn't notice or they were not paying attention. And when it comes time for them to pay it forward they think nobody has done it for them, so why should they do it for someone else? So, they do not help this person out. That is observable behavior, people learn by watching, and it can change them to be friendlier or ruder.In my theory of personality, childhood experiences, interpretation of experiences, and observable behavior all contribut e to it. Each has its very own contribution towards a person's personality. Weather it is from early childhood and how the child is treated or young adulthood observing your environment and learning from your environment. Even how you see certain situations, you can see the positive side or the negative side. Just one behavior cannot be the only reason for a person's personality. It takes many different events to establish it.

Reading Response to Introduction in Handbook of Race and Ethnic Studies Essay

Upon reading the Collins and Solomos introduction to their Handbook of Race and Ethnic Studies, I soon realized that the field of race and ethnicity is a diverse, living thing that is constantly evolving. The authors make reference to the fact that the civil rights movement has been working for decades and it appears at times that no progress has been made. They make this point by mentioning the nightly newscasts on television that show global atrocities brought on by policies of ethnic cleansing or other forms of hate. This is proof that more work has to be done and we must continue to seek and promote understanding and equality. Collins and Solomos also mention the rise of more right-wing political groups that they refer to as the new right. These groups use the media to promote their ideas of an ideal state. They state that `for the new right` the appeal is by and large no longer to racial supremacy cultural uniformity` and they get around this by  ¨parading under the politics of nationalism and patriotism ¨. This reminded me of my history classes in school where I first learned of Hitler and how he used extreme nationalism as one of his tools to gain influence and power over a economically struggling Germany. There seems to be a great many voices and perspectives out there that may contradict one another at times, but I feel that the study or race and ethnicity must continue to be pursued.

Workplace Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Workplace Violence - Essay Example Workplace violence is a growing concern for employers and employees all over the world (OSHA, 2002). Though any worker can be subjected to workplace violence, some occupations place certain individuals at increased risk of violence. Workers who deal with money, who deliver goods, passengers or services, those who work alone or work with small groups, workers who work late in the nights or early hours in the morning are at increased risk of workplace violence. Others at risk are those who work in areas with high crime rates, in community settings and in health care and social services. Psychiatric evaluators, nurses, water utility employees, TV cable installers, letter carriers, taxi drivers, retail workers and probation officers are also at risk for violence (OSHA, 2002). 1. Type 1: Violence by criminals who are not associated with the workplace, but enter the workplace with intentions of robbery or any other such crime. This type of violence accounts for about 80% of workplace homicides. Taxi drivers and late-night retailers are at increased risk of this type of violence. The motive in this type of incidents is usually theft and in many cases the criminal will be carrying dangerous weapons like gun. 2. Type- 2: Violence by the receivers of service against the service providers. Examples of this type of violence are violence against doctors or nurses by the patients, violence against teachers by the students and violence by the customers against the retailers. Even police officers, security guards, correctional officers and mental health workers are at risk of this type of assault. The largest number of victims facing this type of violent behavior are those in healthcare services. 4. Type- 4: Violence stemming from a personal relationship: The violence is committed by an individual who has no direct association with the workplace but is personally related to one of the workers either through marriage or

Should football managers be sacked when results (on the field) are Essay - 1

Should football managers be sacked when results (on the field) are poor What does your answer tell you about how we should - Essay Example The models influence two different leadership succession theories that will come in handy in the discussion of the subject matter. The two leadership succession theories are vicious cycle theory and common sense theory. The two theories give different relationship of leadership succession and performance of the organization thereby providing the basis for and sacking unsuccessful managers. The integration provides great context to explain the effect of leadership succession. The common sense theory holds that the performance of an organisation will improve when an organization sacks an unsuccessful leader. This indicates that the managers are hired to control the performance of a firm and hence are responsible for good performance. According to the resource dependence theory, the manager has control over the performance of the organisation since he has the ability to start or terminate actions at his discretion. The managers bring on board resources, information and legitimacy. This results if the organization sacks a manager with poor results and hires one with the right mix of resources, the performance will improve. This therefore roots for the sacking of the manager since he is to blame for the organization’s poor performance and hire a manager who has the right mix of resources to spur good performance in the subsequent time period. This thus provides the basis for sacking unsuccessful managers (Soebbing & Washington 2011). The other leadership succession theory is the vicious cycle theory, whose underlying support is organizational learning. The vicious cycle holds that succession in leadership naturally disrupts the organization leading to poor performance. Organization learning provides that for an organization to improve its performance there should be strategic renewal, which focuses on the whole organization not just the managers. The model disregards that managers are an important component, which determine how well the organization is run an d how well information diffused to the lower offices and employees. Organization learning holds that when a poorly performing leader is sacked the performance of the team becomes even poorer. This thus supports the vicious theory that poor performance in an organization leads to organizational change but lower performance is a result of change (Soebbing & Washington 2011). This paper will not use institutional theory in arguing the subject matter at hand since it supports the ritual scapegoat theory. The ritual scapegoat theory holds that there is no relationship between leadership succession in an organization and the performance of the organization. From this perspective the leader is only a symbol and does not influence the performance of the organization. This promotes that change is undertaken to promote social constructs, therefore going contrary to the main market consideration that change is undertaken in the search for performance gains. A non-performing manager should be s acked since a new manager spurs immediate short-term reprieve. Of nine studies scrutinizing six countries that included England and Spain, showed that replacing a poorly performing manager does improve the on-field performance of the club. This leads to increase in the club’s short-term performance when a new manager is appointed. The sacking is usually based

Infomation system management exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Infomation system management exam - Essay Example Overall, companies need to use data mining in order to enhance their customer relationship management (CRM) skills. Analysis needs to focus for the company, upon any problems that its customers may be having. This is one of the basic marketing rules of customer service in action. The present analysis therefore advocates the position that not only should these standards become lucrative trade-offs. â€Å"Current emphasis on customer relationship management makes the marketing function an ideal application area to greatly benefit from the use of data mining tools for decision support. A systematic methodology that uses data mining and knowledge management techniques is proposed to manage the marketing knowledge and support marketing decisions† (Data, 2010). Another solution is to use Customer Relationship Management to market more effectively and reach the client better. â€Å"When customer relationship management CRM) came on the health scene approximately six years ago, some viewed it with skepticism and primarily saw it as a way to refine rather than reinvent marketing. More progressive marketers adopted the CRM techniques of compiling all consumer and market data into a centralized database and used data mining to more narrowly define target audiences based on characteristics rather than general demographics† (Paddison, 2004). Yet another solution could focus more on the management of the company than the client, and highlight management having a working knowledge of marketing and being able to work with marketers and consultants in a proactive manner that reflects the abovementioned external dynamism of the IT market. Data mining is advocated by companies. In terms of environment that are narrowly defined by marketing parameters, the local market offers expanded opportunities that should be taken advantage of by the

Reflective Portfolio 04014 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Reflective Portfolio 04014 - Essay Example adopting the sustainability models of working, organizations are able to focus upon providing long term values for stakeholders of present as well as the future (Baumgartner and Ebner, 2010). PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is one of the most globally renowned financial services firms. Their sustainability strategies are known to be highly feasible. The framework the company follows in this respect is as follows: PwC’s sustainability strategies focus upon four important business areas. These are essentially; the marketplace, people, community and the environment. The sustainability strategies of PwC focused on two crucial tenets which are being the catalyst of change and to pursue the right activities (Dyllick and Hockerts, 2002). Starbucks and Ford are also companies which are popular globally for their feasible and logical sustainable practices. Corporate analysis in general reveals that sustainable strategies are a responsibility of not just a single firm. It is an aspect that must be given effect to by a number of organizations collectively. Sustainability strategies are related to meeting issues such as weather change and resource scarcity (LÃ ³pez, Garcia and Rodriguez, 2007). Being a broad phenomenon, such issues can only be met through collective efforts. Sustainability, in most firms as also in the case of Ford, is about balancing the needs of stakeholders and the environmen t, keeping in mind the needs of the future generations. In many companies such as in Nike, innovation is considered to be a useful tool for meeting sustainability related objectives (Salzmann, et al., 2005). During the seminar, a number of aspects relating to sustainability and the manner in which firms adopt different approaches and strategies for meeting sustainability needs were elaborately discussed. Through the discussion carried out, I could gain valuable insights regarding the subject matter of sustainability. On the basis of the discussions carried out, I came to the

Discuss the problem of compounding Type I error and explain how the Essay

Discuss the problem of compounding Type I error and explain how the ANOVA addresses this problem - Essay Example In most cases, the effects of multiple tests are ignored and their interaction in the two-way ANOVA. According to Huck (2014), chapter eleven, some of the recommended solutions to compounding the Type 1 error is through ignoring them or by the use of ANOVA. The ANOVA works by comparing the variance within each sample population and the variance between different samples. The variance between and within the samples are computed by getting the sum of the squares then using different formulas to obtain the final result. First, compute the variance between the samples then compute the variance within the samples. Next, computation of the ratio that exists between the variance obtained from between and within to obtain the F ratio. If the null hypothesis is true it implies that the variance between the samples should be equal to zero. Is the converse is the case, the F ratio is larger and the bigger the value gets, the more the chances of rejecting the null hypothesis. Another solution is through the Bonferroni adjustment in which case the alpha is divided by the number of tests. This helps in minimizing on the effects of factorial issue on the final result (Ware & Brewer,

Multidimensional Chromatography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Multidimensional Chromatography - Essay Example Hence, essentially speaking, one dimensional chromatographic separation is definitely not the last word for isolation and characterization of biomolecules, chiefly proteins. The limitation is due to its low resolving power in presenting a homogenous protein sample from a complex mixture of several other unwanted proteins, associated matrix components and metabolites that can otherwise be segregated in a much more efficient way by various types of matrix loaded multiple columns utilizing their differential properties and affinities. Moreover, combination of two or more analytical separation steps involve perfectly standardized pre-treatment processes that are to be coordinated in an automated way for a complete segregation of the test samples. (Mondello, P. 251) Multidimensional separation techniques were first devised with the implementation of two dimensional separation beds, in which two different parameters for migration corresponding to two distribution coefficients help to identify the separated components on the bed with more certainty and a high peak capacity than that achieved by one dimensional separation procedures. (Cortes, P. 14 - 15) A high value of peak density is an important requisite for effective separation process and it can easily be achieved by combining two or more chromatographic separation techniques. The greater the number of peaks that can be resolved effectively in a given multidimensional separation procedure within a fixed time frame greater is the overall efficiency of the process. Likewise with effective resolution of a higher number of peaks more and more complex samples can be duly segregated, characterized and analyzed for further investigation. In a simple two dimensional chromatographic process that is c arried out by a combination of two different columns, the maximum peak capacity will be the product of the peak capacities of the individual columns, thereby generating a higher capacity of resolution for the overall analytical process. As for example, the peak capacities for each separation process being 100 and 200, the combined value of the maximum peak capacity of the two dimensional separation procedure becomes a product of the two, that is, 20000, thereby ensuring high resolution and larger separation between the collected fractions. (Chromatography Online.com, 1998 - 2008) Multidimensional chromatography, therefore, finds a maximum usage in biomedical research and especially in proteomics, where investigation of biological samples of protein mixtures requires prior separation and characterization in order to tag the target protein. In protein analysis research several novel methods of multidimensional chromatographic separations are being currently used in complementation with the 2-D polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic separation (2D-PAGE), for a much better resolution and greater separation space between analyzable eluents. Multidimensional approach involving multidimensional liquid chromatography (MDCL) used in unison with bio-mass

Obesity in New Orleans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Obesity in New Orleans - Essay Example That ... would be like a 5-foot-8-inch person weighing 197 pounds. The National Institutes of Health defines morbid obesity as a BMI above 40." (Graves). New Orleans is the city that loves to eat. It's no wonder, that this passion is reflected on the appearance and health of dwellers. The estimated quantity of overweight people in the New Orleans is 60% percent. The officials say it is obesity that is the cause for most diseases the New Orleans dwellers suffer from. They also add that the obesity-related diseases account for more than half of Louisiana's health care budget. (Sell) In 2005 Men's Fitness ranked New Orleans the seventh fattest city in the country. In 2004 it was on the twenty second place. The quantity of obese people in New Orleans is growing rapidly with each passing year, and thus the quantity of those, who suffer from the obesity-related diseases, also increases. New Orleans dwellers become less active, and eat more. One of the reasons of this process is that the fast foods are gaining popularity in New Orleans, the same as in the other American cities. The contemporary pace of life often doesn't allow time for cooking at home, thus the families either eat out, or order food home. It is rarely that families order home healthy foods like salad.

Usability evaluation of the website Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Usability evaluation of the website - Essay Example E-commerce websites are designed to offer products/services to interested clients. Nonetheless, ease or difficulty with which clients interact with the e-commerce applications is pivotal to their failure or success. Conventionally, any website must not just be designed to sell or convey information but must go beyond to ensure the needs of the would-be web visitors are adequately met. E-commerce has undergone extensive and remarkable growth in the recent past to supersede human expectations. Today, e-commerce is the largest form of business operation, communication, as well as R & D. Increased acceptance of internet and the move towards globalization as also affected e-commerce trends to a large extent. As a matter of fact, e-commerce marketing and sales have come to occupy a central point in the global economy. 2013 global e-commerce rates have reflected a significant shift in the manner people manage their businesses. The great internet potential has seen many corporations come up with new ways to avail products and services to consumers. In general, global e-commerce trends of 2013 have seen more focus on more personal websites to make shopping more mobile and increase channels. Additionally, global e-commerce 2013 trends reveal that additions to online businesses has raised traffic ratio for store fronts and further boosted online leads/sales. E-commerce websites further offer a platform through which business can globalize their brands and products/services they offer. Overall Problem As already mentioned, http://www.carphonewarehouse.com provides a platform for consumers to purchase electronics and subscriptions for data, voice and messaging services. The paper seeks to assess the website usability issues. General information shared by consumers online with retailers help in application personalization. All factors including age, lifestyle, contacts, friends and family, geography and social status are included during the personalization and play a helpful role in offering relevant and valuable shopping experience for consumers. Global e-commerce trends include the adoption of real time and personalized facilities for everyone who approaches the online market across the globe. Personalization has never been a new concept in this case, but the increasing popularity of personalization shows it is the most widely accepted trend in the global e-commerce 2013 values. Businesses and enterprises – big or small have made it easy and simple for the masses to obtain a personalized, simplified or complex technology in the sectors such as finance, travel, media and many more. The other global e-commerce trend includes incorporating mobility among the online sh oppers. Making your website mobile friendly or developing an application for an android or an iPhone shall no longer be enough. The year 2013 has further opened up avenues to offer advanced facilities. Consumers who have turned entirely towards mobile phone and tablets want newer and better shopping experience with geo-specific or ‘multi-lingual’ content. They expect special offers, various other platform-specific elements and much more to harmonize and add to overall life style of the consumers. The global e-commerce 2013 scenario has witnessed an even higher increase in online consumers, than what it saw when the first Apple product was launched in the global market. Current website interaction and arising usability issues The website is an e-commerce website and is meant to provide visitors

Media Coursework Essay Example for Free

Media Coursework Essay For my GCSE media coursework I have been asked to write about a television soap or series. I have chosen to write about the popular soap, Eastenders. Eastenders is a fictional drama soap about a small community living in East London. First I shall explain what a soap is. A soap is a television program that is all about peoples daily lives and the events that happen. Soaps are ongoing, contemporary dramas. Contemporary means that the plots and storylines are all based on on real life events that can and do happen to real people. Ongoing means the plot of the soap is held out over the episodes. Soaps can be split into different categories such as, countryside soaps, city soaps, or police soaps. Emmerdale is an example of countryside soap, Coronation Street, Eastenders, as city soaps, and The Bill as a police soap. The reason television soaps are called soaps is because the soap used to be advertised on the side of soap packets. Soaps always end with a cliffhanger. When I say cliffhanger, I mean that at the end of the episode the main plot finishes half way through. This leaves the viewers wondering what will happen next, so they watch the next episode. On the other hand, series have a different way of keeping the viewers interested. At the end of the episode they show you a sneak preview of what will be happening in the next episode. I dont think this is a good way to make sure you keep your viewers because its spoils the surprise. A series has a new main plot for every episode, the plot is introduced as the episode begins and finishes as it ends. Series always have smaller plots. The idea for these is for you to keep in the back of your mind, so you keep watching. The smaller plots are carried on over two or three episodes, like in soap. Another way they keep people watching is by letting newspapers and magazines inform their readers of the future storylines. I dont think they should be allowed to do this because most people would rather watch the soap without knowing what will happen next. It makes the soap or series more enjoyable. By doing this, it means more people watch so they get more money. Another Eastender makes its money is by merchandising. In other words, Eastenders produce product which have a connection to Eastenders and try to sell them. On the Eastenders website (www. bbc. co. uk/eastenders) they sell items such as, mugs, T-shirt, books etc. All of which have some connection to Eastenders. They may have a picture of a character of Eastenders written across it. Series are not ongoing. They usually have about 12 episodes, then switch with a different series. Series also have different categories, such as, city and countryside series, relationship series, police, crime and prison series, comedy series, and hospital series. Both soaps and series exaggerate the plot to make it more interesting and attract more viewers. We know that it doesnt really happen like that in life but we except and believe it to make the soap work, if we didnt they would be no point in watching. Like in Eastenders, the characters live in a fictional city called Albert Square in East London. We all know this place doesnt exist but we believe in it. Julia Smith and Tony Holland created Eastenders as a rival for Coronation Street. The first ever episode was transmitted at 7pm on the 19th February 1985. For the first eight years, Eastenders was shown twice weekly but on the 11th April 1994, it was changed to three episodes per week. Now, in the year 2002, the standard yearly output with four episodes a week is 208 episodes plus the omnibus repeat on Sundays. However, there are often additional episodes filmed throughout the year, increasing the figure to between 210 and 215 episodes. I think one of the reasons it was changed to four times a week is because that is how many times Coronation Street is shown. Eastenders is one of the most successful BBC programs in history and to date is topping the charts with viewing figures of 11. 2milion viewers per weekday episode, which is equal to 53% share of television viewing. Eastenders is mostly watched by people aged 25- 45 with 34% of the viewers fitting in that age group. Closely following is the under24s which make up 24% of the viewers. The remaining 42% of the audience are the over 45s. Over half of the viewers are female whilst only 33% are male and 12% of Eastenders audience are children. The reason for such a low percentage of children, I think, is because Eastenders is on our screens at round about 7:30pm or 8:00pm and stays there for roughly half an hour. Most children would be in or going to bed. Eastenders is transmitted for our enjoyment, every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday with a repeat every Sunday. I timed an episode of Eastenders. The viewing time was 27:06:92 minutes and the credits were 00:31:38 seconds, which together, give a total o 27:38:25 minutes. This is slightly over the target length for Eastenders, which is 27 minutes and 15 seconds. The maximum is 27:40:00 minutes. I also timed an episode of another popular soap, Coronation Street. I found out that Eastenders is on our screens for about 1 minute and 30 seconds longer than Coronation Street. The reason for this may be that, Coronation Street has a commercial break, which Eastenders doesnt have. A plot is the main storyline of the program. It usually involves two or more of the characters. Currently, the main plot of Eastenders includes Phil Mitchell, Peggy Mitchell, Sonja Jackson, Jamie Mitchell, Lisa Fowler and her and Phils baby, Louise. In a recent episode, Lisa took her baby and fled to Portugal. Phil wasnt happy about this; after all she had taken his child. Phil followed her to find his daughter. In the last episode, Phil pulled up in a taxi and climbed out with Louise. The viewers were then expecting Lisa to get out, but then the taxi pulled away. Phil had returned. Without Lisa. People were very suspicious and refused to believe when Phil lied to them saying that he and Lisa had came to an agreement. He said Lisa was suicidal and they had agreed it was best for Phil to take the baby. We found out that this was a complete lie when Peggy, was unpacking for Phil and she came across two passports. One was Phils and the other was Lisas. Peggy knows he is lying but she refuses to believe it and keeps quiet about it. This is the main plot at the moment, it only involves a few characters, but it is interesting to watch. Other issues that have been in the plot of Eastenders include, rape, abortion, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, drug addiction, prostitution, divorce, extra marital affairs, unmarried mothers, mixed marriages, murder, gambling, adoption, teenage runaways, Alzheimers disease, HIV/AIDS, drink driving and euthanasia. I think that it is a good idea to broadcast these issues because all these subjects happen in real- life and it helps people to learn about it and how to cope if it should ever happen to them. These issues could also be involved in the sub- plot. Sub- plots are just like main plots but they involve fewer characters and are just there for us to keep in the back of our minds. If soaps only had one storyline, it might not involve your favourite character so you might not be interested in watching. The most recent sub- plots in Eastenders are involving Ian and his wife, Laura. Laura is pregnant, but we all know it isnt Ians child because he has had a vasectomy. Steven, Ians son has found out that Ian is not his real dad and that his real dad doesnt even live in England or know he has a son. Sonja made her boyfriend Jamie, sneak into Phils pub to find Lisas passport. Soaps usually have about three or four sub- plots. This means only about half of the cast is actually involved in one episode. They are roughly 35 different characters in the cast, two of whom have been in Eastenders since the first episode. The two characters that have been in Eastenders since the first episode are Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale and Wendy Richard, better known as Pauline Fowler. Adam Woodyatt is my favourite character. He is 34 years old and was born on the 28th June 1968. He was born in Walthamstow. Adam is one of the few cast members to actually come from the East End of London. Ian Beale is my favourite character because he is a very believable character. This is because if you combine Adams wonderful acting with the skill of the scriptwriters, it creates a real, believable character. Also, Ian is nearly always written into the script. So far, Ian has been through divorce more than twice, bankruptcy, his wife tried to murder him, he has slept with a prostitute, told his old fianci e, Mel, that his child was ill just so she would marry him and his most recent plot is that his current wife, Laura, is pregnant but the child is definitely not Ians. Ian Beale comes across as a sneaky, sly, wimp and he likes to get his own way. He always seems to be plotting something but his plans never work. He is a bit of a failure. As a businessman, as a husband and as a dad. His business failed when he went bankrupt, he has been married three or four times and his son has left him, to go see his real dad. Ian does not seem like a nice man. The reason I like him is because I feel quite sorry for him. Everything goes wrong and I think he deserves something nice to happen. Underneath, I think he is really sensitive. He cries a lot, I must have seen him cry about 5 times, usually to do with his children. Ian is a character I definitely wouldnt like to be, because he has a hard life. However, the character I would love to be is Janine Butcher. The actress Charlie Brooks has the task of being Janine Butcher. Charlies date of birth is 3rd May 1981 and is originally from Barmouth, North Wales. Her first appearance in the soap was on 22nd June 1989 when she was only eight years of age. She was the third actress to play Janine Butcher. Janine is a fairly pleasant character although she is awful to the people she dislikes. I think she is greatly misunderstood. She likes to get her own way, and if she doesnt she really can be a frightful person to be near. She is also uses people. She once made friends with a man called Terry, just to get her hands on his money and have a job and a place to stay. But, I would still like to be Janine because she knows how to have fun and is very witty. Janine also knows how to take care of herself. These are the reasons I admire her. On a whole, I think Eastenders is really realistic because they dont exaggerate the issues too much unlike other soaps. It is also fun and easy to watch. It doesnt matter if you miss one or two episodes because it is so easy to catch up on the plot. I really enjoy watching Eastenders along with 53% of television viewing and I think it is one of the best soaps to watch.

Theory of employability

Theory of employability Chapter 1 1. Introduction The theory of employability can be difficult to identify; there can be many factors that contribute to the idea of being employable. Little (2001) suggests, that it is a multi-dimensional concept, and there is a need to distinguish between the factors relevant to the job and preparation for work. Morley (2001) however states that employability is not just about students making deposits in a bank of skills, Knight (2001) further considers the notion of employability to be: â€Å"A synergic combination of personal qualities, skills of various kinds and subject understanding†. (Knight and Yorke. 2001) The understanding of employability can be seen to be more complicated than the emphasis that Dearing (1997) has placed on students personal qualities, which suggests less emphasis on these qualities and more on generic academic skills. However, it could be assumed that the individuals personal skills could have considerable bearing on a particular students success in the employability stakes. The jobs market is rapidly changing with new sectors emerging, changing the nature of work and the way employees perceive the workplace. Graduates will have to be flexible and have the personal capabilities to manage changing and challenging work situations. Employers are looking to recruit graduates who fit into the organisational culture and utilise their abilities and skills to transform the company by facilitating innovative teamwork. (Harvey et al., 1997) According to Yorke and Knight (2004b) employability is seen to be influenced, amongst other things by students self efficacy beliefs, students self-theories and personal qualities. They highlight that what is of critical importance is the extent to which students feel that they can â€Å"make a difference†. This, importantly, not only broadens the focus to include a wider range of attributes required to be successful within employment but also includes the attributes required to manage ones career development in ways that will sustain ones employability. Its important to identify the significance of self-efficacy in influencing career intentions since the level of self-belief which individuals have in their ability to be successful in the quest of a particular career is likely to control which path is chosen. Individuals will require higher levels of self-efficacy if they are to select a route which is perceived as difficult, challenging or non-traditional. According to Bandura (1997) self-efficacy beliefs are â€Å"beliefs in ones capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments†; indeed, â€Å"peoples level of motivation, affective states, and actions are based more on what they believe than on what is objectively true† (Bandura, 1997, p.3). The literature review will look in turn first at, the employability definition, second, employability and transferable skills, third, employability attributes and finally, personal and self-efficacy attributes 1.1 Methodology and methods 1.2 Aims of the research project The main aims of the research project are to: Provide an evaluative summary of the literature on employability (through the provision of a literature review) Present a picture of graduate employability to employers Explain how self-efficacy has a major influence in the graduates employability profile. Make recommendations for further research on graduate employability. 1.3 Personal aims include: Completion of the compulsory component for the award of an Honours degree in Business Management Preparation for employment 1.4 The objectives of the research project are to discover: Identification of the definition of employability. How graduate employability is viewed by employers and Government. The role of universities in graduates employability attributes. Higher education influences on student personality. Employers approaches in recruiting graduates. How self-efficacy contributes to employability. 1.5 Literature search and review Secondary data will be accessed through Library and Information Service using a selection of tertiary and secondary information sources such as Blackboard, commercial bibliographic databases and Internet search engines and directories. Sources accessed and retrieved will be used to write the literature review. 1.6 Source critique of secondary data The criteria for source critique are authenticity, time relation, independency, and tendency avoidance. Authenticitymeans that the source should be correct and not misleading. Timerelationmeans that the source should be up-to-date. However this does not mean that all old sources should be rejected, as these can include valuable information that is still useful. Independency and tendency avoidanceimply that sources for example should be impartial and objective. The above criteria have been considered to greatest possible extent throughout the work with this paper. To ensure authenticity, the use of original secondary sources will be used, by doing this there is minimal risk of misinterpretations and there is opportunity for the reader to look up and evaluate the original source. To ensure authenticity and high quality of sources only peer-reviewed and well cited sources have been used. There is however a few sources that are not frequently cited. These though have been included to bring interesting and broader aspects to this work. 1.7 Scope and limitations of the study The literature search will aim to be comprehensive; however restricted access to primary literature, for example due to the commercialisation of some of the material sought, will exclude consideration of some sources in the actual literature review. 1.8 Statement of the Problem Which employability skills are desired in todays local workplace for an entry-level applicant? There is a suggestion from some graduate recruiters that students are not prepared for work. However, through efforts from universities and government directives is it the case that employers and universities have not synchronised the expectancy of what makes a graduate employable? Determining what employers want and matching the needs with under-graduate courses can only be achieved if universities obtain the specific needs articulated by potential employers, and keep up with the changes that are taking place in todays workplace, and produce a graduate ready for the world of work. 1. 9 Delimitations The specific delimitations imposed on the study depict what issues the study dealswithand what issues it covers. It therefore can be argued that this study focuses on hypothetical, rather than on practical argument; the picture given of different aspects of the processes of employability will be somewhat limited in comparison to an empirical/practical study of issues of the same processes. A study with a purely theoretical focus will inevitably tend to simplify some aspects of process studied. However, in the process of more or less ignoring certain aspects that otherwise might have contributed to the over-all portrayal of a biased reality, other aspects can be examined, described and analysed with further rigidity. Chapter 2 2 Literature Review 2.1 Literature Review Introduction Defining employability is a difficult process; as Hillage and Pollard (1998) suggests, it is a term used in a selection of contexts with a variety of meanings and can lack clearness and accuracy as concept. This literature review is an attempt to analyse the concepts of employability in regards to UK graduates. And further exploring the affects, self-efficacy has on students ability to be successful in the workplace. 2.2 Employability Baruch (2001) suggests that individuals assume responsibility for their ongoing employability while employers provide opportunities for development. This simplistic view of employability is where individuals manage their careers across employment opportunities and organisations, who in turn offer employment as long as the person is needed. Hillage and Pollard (1998), however, see employability as being capable of getting and fulfilling work through the ability to be self sufficient within the labour market, to realise the potential through sustainable employment. Further, their finding from their report for the DFES for developing a framework for policy analysis on employability, found that employability is about having the capability to gain initial employment, maintain that employment and if necessary find new employment. Knight and Yorke (2003), however, define Employability as: â€Å"A set of achievements, understandings and personal attributes that make individuals more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen careers.† (Knight and Yorke, 2003) Employability of a graduate is the predilection of the graduate to show attributes that employers predict will be required for the future successful functioning of their organisation.(Harvey, 1997) He further suggests that graduates will need to be flexible due to the increasing number of short time contracts and part-time work in the work place.(Harvey, 2000) From the HEIs perspective, employability is about producing graduates who are capable and able, Williams and Owen (1997) state the most perceived graduate qualities are the ability to learn, intelligence, ideas and imagination and communication skills. Billing (2003) adds employers want employees who are â€Å"effective communicators, problem solvers and critical thinkers, and can work well within a team†. (Billing, 2003) To understand employability requires a consideration of the various component parts and the different ways in which it is described and evaluated, the generic transferable skills nurtured through university, through to competencies required for employment. This suggests that employability is likely to be less about nurturing attributes, techniques or experiences just to enable a student to get a job; it is about learning with less emphasis on ‘employ and more on ‘ability. The prominence is on developing critical and reflective skills, with a view to empowering and enhancing the learner. Employment is a by-product of this enabling process (Harvey, 2003; Lees, 2002; Knight and Yorke, 2002). Therefore if employability is defined as the ‘set of personal attributes acquired by the under-graduate as a result of their investment in higher education, then what are the attributes that make graduates employable? Much of the literature broadly defines employability attributes as: key, core, generic, personal transferable skills, work/employment related skills (Holmes 2001). However Lees (2002) suggests this imprecision makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly what is meant by the term ‘employability skills. It can be argued, it is where various employers needs and individuals attributes meet. 2.3 What are employability skills? Competencies such as ability, aptitude and qualities developed in context that can be applied to an occupation or career can be identified as employability skills. These competencies might develop employability skills as a result of the teaching and learning process in higher education or from work experience. Employers generally see a good degree as an essential entry requirement to any graduate position. It is widely accepted for graduates to be competitive in the labour market, which is seeing a massive reduction in recruitment numbers due to the economic situation; they need to have additional skills to complement their academic achievement. Surveys by AGR, an independent voice of UK-based graduate recruiters, highlighted the following deficiencies in employability skills: ‘Softer skills such as team-working, leadership and project management Awareness of their chosen industry sector; commercial awareness and business/organisation understanding. (AGR, 2007) AGR state that more than 70% of their members use competency-based selection methods. They further suggest that graduates lacking these qualities, or evidence that they have them, will find it more difficult to secure graduate jobs. It is seen as one of the toughest challenges for employers to recruit from an increasing number of graduates, with employers realising that the future of their organisation depends on the selection of the best candidates to add value. The CIPD reports that since the 1980s the number of students entering HE has significantly increased by more than double, but further states, that even with this increase employers still have difficulty in recruiting the types of employees they need. (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2007a, b, c) It is recognized that having a degree will no longer be enough to get a graduate job. There is evidence that graduate recruiters are looking beyond qualifications; they are looking for people with qualities to enable them to cope with the changing demands of the job in an uncertain and competitive world. Employability has been used as a performance indicator for higher education institutions (Smith et al, 2000) and represents a form of work specific (pro) active adaptability that consists of three dimensions: career identity, personal adaptability and social and human capital (Fugate et al, 2004). At the same time, Knight and Yorke (2004) have put forward the four broad and interlocking components of USEM account of employability: Understanding (of the subject discipline) Skilful practices in context Efficacy beliefs Meta-cognition Nabi (2003) says that employability is about graduates possessing an appropriate level of skills and attributes, and being able to use them to gain and remain in appropriate employment. From a human resource development view, employability is a concept that emerged through the 1990s along with a growing perception among employees that they cannot count on their employers for long-term employment. Employability is a promise to employees that they will have the skills to find new jobs quickly if their jobs end unexpectedly (Baruch, 2001). Prior to this, Harvey (2001) has defined employability in various ways from individual and institutional perspectives. Individual employability is defined as graduates being able to demonstrate the attributes to obtain jobs. Commonly, institutional employability relates to the employment rates of the university graduates. However, Harvey argued that employment outcomes of graduates are not an indicator of institutional employability. 2.4 Transferable Skills Amongst the numerous listings which identify the skills and attributes sought by employers, AGCAS Employability Briefing7(2003), suggests the most important are: â€Å"motivation and enthusiasm, interpersonal skills, team working, oral communication, flexibility and adaptability, initiative, productivity, problem solving, planning and organisation, managing own development and written communication†. (HEA, 2006) Atkins (1999) questions how transferable key skills are into employment contexts. Often, the skills most in demand by employers, as measured by the wide range of skills asked of future employees, are typically the least in supply, as measured by the skills, abilities, and competencies that university graduates bring to the job. Eraut (1994) sees transfer as a learning process in its own right, although this may be easier for skills in relation to objects, rather than the ‘softer skills of interacting with and managing people effectively. Brown (1999) believes that the learning development, and transferring the understanding of that learning, is most likely to be effective if the learning situation closely resembles the work place. Knight and Yorke (2000) suggest that for there to be a transfer of learning from one context to another, the learner needs to use that knowledge in a variety of different situations. From these comments, it would seem that practice in a number of contexts is fundamental for the development of employability skills and attributes. Dearing (1997) regarded key skills to consist of four components: communication, numeracy, information technology and learning how to learn. He further proposed that it was essential that these were developed at undergraduate level. The department for Education and Skills (DFES) adds teamwork and problem solving to this list. There are many different lists of key skills, although there is general agreement about the importance of communication, numeracy, teamwork, IT and problem solving (Dunne et al., 2000). These are considered to be generic skills as they represent skills that can be used to support study in any discipline. The possession of some key skills IT, numeracy, for example, will facilitate the acquisition of subject understanding (Yorke, 2001), as using IT for research will enable students to learn more about their discipline. 2.5 Personal Attributes There are many factors that cause organisations to change, but in this current economic downturn it seems the main problem is downsizing and redundancy, therefore the graduate will need to be equipped with the relevant skills and attributes to cope with a flexible and perhaps short term jobs market. Employers themselves want graduates who can quickly adapt to the organisational culture, and utilise their abilities and skills to facilitate innovative collaboration. (Harvey et al, 1997) The CBI (2008) highlights the importance employers place on the ‘softer skills that make people more employable. This means being a good team-worker, communicator and problem-solver is vital, and getting work experience goes a long way with a future employer. ‘Employability is having a set of skills, knowledge, understanding and personal attributes which make a person more likely to choose and secure occupations in which they can be satisfied and successful. (Dacre Pool Sewell, 2007) It is widely accepted that lifelong learning through acquiring new skills improves employability. However despite there being different concepts to analyse the make up of â€Å"employability†, the consensus of these is that there are three key qualities when assessing the employability of graduates: These are: 1) Job specific skills: reading, language, and numeric capacity, listening, written communication, oral presentation, global awareness, critical analysis, creativity and self-management. Lees (2002), Harvey (2001), Little (2001), Mason et al (2003). 2) Process skills: Problem solving, decision making, planning and delegating, understanding business and its commercial interests, prioritizing, team work, and negotiating. These skills are developed through work experience rather than through academia. 3) Personal qualities: AGR states that their research has shown that employers are looking for qualities that include â€Å"self-confidence, self-control, self- esteem, social skills, honesty, integrity, adaptability, flexibility, willingness to learn, emotional intelligence, stress tolerance, punctuality, efficiency and the ability to reflect.† These qualities are very much embedded with the personality type and shaped through life-experiences. Researchers have been seen to classify these qualities in various ways; the common denominator amongst them is that there is a distinction between core skills and soft skills, with soft skills being learned from different experiences. Martin (2007) states that: â€Å"Therefore, it is to be emphasized that an employer with employability focus is looking for an individual with potentials to be realized, rather than suitable skill sets.† (Martin, 1997) Further research from the UK government stated that: â€Å"Our higher education system is a great asset, both for individuals and the nation. The skills, creativity, and research developed through higher education are a major factor in our success in creating jobs and in our prosperity. Universities and colleges play a vital role in expanding opportunity and promoting social justice. The benefits of higher education for individuals are far-reaching. On average, graduates get better jobs and earn more that those without higher education.† (The Future of Higher Education White Paper. 2003, p4) The ‘Skills plus Project highlights and emphasises the importance of ‘personal qualities and their insertion into the model of employability, further stating how these can have a considerable bearing on student success. (Knight and Yorke, 2001, 2002, 2003; Yorke, 2001) From the work of Dweck (1999) and Bandura (1997), there is recognition of the two broad categories of self-belief: an individual/permanent/fixed belief, intelligence for example, that cannot be changed, and an incremental/variable/flexible belief that development is achievable and even likely. They further make assumptions that students with a fixed belief about their intelligence are likely to be discouraged by failure; this is derived from the belief that failure is a lack of intelligence. From this assumption it could be fair to say that these students may avoid more demanding work for fear of disappointment. On the contrary, students with a malleable self-belief are more likely to characterise failure to a lack of effort, and believe that poor performance should lead to further learning. ‘Hence, it is the learning that becomes a source of self-esteem. (Dweck1999. Bandura, 1997) A range of cognitive, social, emotional and behavioural sub-skills will not be enough on their own, but these skills will have to be integrated into the challenges faced. (Yorke, 2001) Therefore, perceived self-efficacy or capability will play an important role in career choice and personal development. This in turn is essential in the individuals employability. Personal qualities are also important in the acquirement of subject understanding and the improvement of skills. â€Å"A willingness to learn, often from mistakes, implies a preparedness to tolerate a degree of stress in order to achieve success† (Knight and Yorke, 2001; Yorke, 2001). The self-construct characteristic of self-confidence enables the individual to have a positive, realistic view of their selves or in situations they find themselves. This characteristic refers to the individuals expectation of their ability to achieve, an influential factor in ensuring personal potential is realised. (Stevens, 2005) This statement suggests that a person high in self-confidence has a pragmatic view of themselves and their abilities, which gives them resolution in their endeavours. According to Neill (2005), self-esteem and self-efficacy in combination is what constitute self-confidence. Neill (2005) defines self-esteem as a general feeling of self-worth or self-value. It is widely recognised that an individual with low self-esteem believes that they are insignificant or insufficient, while a person who has high self-esteem believes otherwise. Self-efficacy on the other hand is the belief in ones capacity to succeed at tasks. Self-efficacy according to Neill (2005) can be general or specific where general self-efficacy is belief in ones general capacity to handle tasks, and specific self-efficacy refers to beliefs about ones ability to perform specific tasks in certain things. Self-efficacy is also sometimes used to refer to situation specific self-confidence. From this, academic self-confidence can be viewed as self-efficacy. (Zimmerman, 1990) There is a close link between self-efficacy, self-confidence and self-esteem in providing the relationship between understanding, perception, skills, practice and personal attributes and employability. According to Bandura (1995, p. 2): â€Å"Perceived self-efficacy refers to beliefs in ones capabilities to organize and execute the course of action required to manage prospective situations. Efficacy beliefs influence how people think, feel, motivate themselves and act†. (Bandura, 1995) He further suggests that there are several sources of efficacy beliefs relevant to employability: Mastery experiences. Vicarious experiences provided by social models. Social persuasion. Mastery experiences occur when people are given the opportunity to try a particular task themselves, such as work experience. â€Å"Mastery experiences are the most effective way of creating a strong sense of self-efficacy, and so play a vital role within employability.† (Bandura, 1995) Vicarious learning occurs when learners decide, after viewing the actions of others, what types of actions will be effective or non-effective for their own performance of a task. The closer the others are in similarity to themselves, the more effective the experiences are. The attitudes and behaviours of other people or groups frequently change our own attitudes and behaviours. Conforming ones attitude and behaviour to a person or group who can exercise authority or to an influential power, is a sensible strategy for receiving further benefits as a basic social skill in general. Social persuasion occurs when people are convinced that they possess the capabilities needed to succeed in a particular activity. This encourages them to put in more effort and stay motivated in order to achieve success. . Bandura (1995, p. 17) further expands his discussion by saying that: â€Å"A major goal of formal education should be to equip students with the intellectual tools, efficacy beliefs, and intrinsic interests to educate themselves throughout their lifetime†. (Bandura, 1995) It can be presumed from Banduras work that by providing the opportunities for in learning of mastery experiences, vicarious experiences and social persuasion, and encouraging reflection on and evaluation of these experiences, self-efficacy can be increased. A graduate who believes they can do whatever is necessary is far more likely to gain a position and be successful in whatever occupations they choose than a graduate who does not have that self-belief. If self-efficacy is seen as an idea that one has the ability in a particular situation, then self-confidence could be seen as the way this is shown to the outside world. Self-confidence appears to be something that can be seen from a persons manner and behaviour. According to Goleman (1998, p. 68) people with self-confidence are able to present themselves with self-assurance and have â€Å"presence†. It has been suggested that self-confidence can be either a trait or something that is specific to certain situations. Norman and Hyland (2003) point out that if self-confidence is seen as a trait, which personality theorists suggest are relatively stable over time, then those who lack self-confidence would be unlikely to develop it through a learning activity. If, however, if it is viewed as a position specific concept, then it is possible for students to enhance their levels of self-confidence for any given situation. An increase in self-efficacy should be reflected by a boost in demonstrated self-confidence. As a sub-set of employability skills, Meta skills can enable the student to expand and exploit the ranges of other skills they have developed. There is an understanding that reflection is a key graduate skill that can contribute to employability, the belief that the employability of students will be enhanced by their ability to reflect on their own learning. Knight and Yorke (2003b) describe employability as being a blend of self confidence and of meta-cognition, which includes students ability to be reflective about their own progress. Chapter 3 3 Discussion 3.1 Define Employability? Personal attributes and attitudescan be connected to an individuals personality and educational background. According to Dench (1997) examples of attributes that are of great significance for employers are honesty, integrity, and reliability, generally fitting in, and playing the game. However, it is essential not to generalise since companies usually search for different attitudes and attributes. (Dench, 1997) Organisations generally put great effort into finding future employees with a personality profile that fit into the organisation, while others are more concerned with finding people with particular job experience skills. (Dench, 1995) Due to the economic climate and the need for employers to recruit the ‘right individuals for their organisations there has been a emphasis on personal attributes and skills. However, researchers have shown difficult to unifying a common vocabulary. Among the most common terms used are behavioural, generic, transferable, core and key skills. These skills give indications of an individuals behaviour and how the person could function in the workplace. However it is recognised that personal skills involve abilities regarding teamwork, problem solving, negotiation and communication. From the research literature it is argued whether or not that these attributes are taught or increased. There are arguments stating that skills are innate, while others claim it is a matter of training. Nevertheless, something that many researchers agree upon is that service is becoming increasingly important due to, for instance, customer demands, more knowledgeable customers, and increased quality che ck-ups. (Dench, 1997) Skills are perceived, analysed and measured differently by different people. Storey (2007) suggests â€Å"it is about individual attributes and capacities people have for performing certain activities†. 3.2 Who values transferable skills and qualities? The review of the available literature has shown that graduate employers are looking for graduates with a range of transferable skills: skills that can be demonstrated in selection processes. The research undertaken by Harvey et al. (1997, p. 63) to establish the values placed on skills in the world of work concluded that: â€Å"There are a large number of graduates looking for jobs and employers, as we have seen, no longer recruit simply on the basis of degree status. A degree might be necessary or desirable but employers are looking for a range of other attributes when employing and retaining graduates†. In the recruitment of graduates, the most common perceived graduate qualities are an ability to learn, intelligence, ideas and imagination, and good communication skills. The DfEE (1997, p. 2) endorses such standards and attitudes held by graduate recruiting organisations, and it further considers that national targets for education and training support its aim of improving the UKs international competitiveness by raising standards and attainment levels in education and training. To be part of a flexible and adaptable workforc

The Benefits And Challenges Of Elogistics

The Benefits And Challenges Of Elogistics The increased competition in all sectors due to globalization has forced the companies to reduce business costs. To reduce cost the companies are forming new management strategies like supply chain management and e- logistics. E- logistics means applying the concept of logistics electronically via the internet in order to conduct the business electronically. According to AMR Research( Challenger,2001), E- logistics helps to reduce cost by 10%. According to Sahay,B.S.(2003) logistics contribute to 10 to 12% of GDP . Based on two references e-logistics helps to save about 1.2% of GDP. That is why the companies like Dell, Compaq, Hewlett Packard is favourable to the E- logistics and supply chain management. E- commerce logistics are the activities that ensures that customers get what they need at right time at right place and at minimum cost. E-commerce logistics face many challenges in developing countries like higher tariffs, Complicated global trade rules, Global Terrorism and Geographical Barriers. The lack of knowledge of total cost in online merchant is the main cause for the failure of many electronic commerce in past decades. According to Hesse 2002, Gunasekaran et al 2003, E- logistics is an internet enabled logistics value chain that offer competitive logistics services like contract warehousing, public warehousing, distribution management, target consolidation and transport management.E- logistics consist of four components like one stop value added services, information management, automation in warehousing network and a transportation network. The one stop value added services helps to improve customer satisfaction .For example in government service one stop value added services like making queries and application, to search council services and to make payment can be done all at one time. Information management is where the information is exchanged through electronic media`s like WWW, Internet and EDI. Automation in warehousing operation will reduce human involvement in updating consolidation, loading and unloading. A Transportation network helps to increase flexibility and reduce transportation costs. The difference between traditional logistics and e- logistics are as follows. In case of traditional logistics the volume is very low because large amounts of goods are sent to lesser location like retail stores. But in case of e- logistics the lesser amount of materials are sent to many customers quickly. In case of traditional logistics the objective is that it is efficient and cost effective but in case of e- logistics it is more speed and can meet customer expectation.In case of traditional logistics the information is gathered through fax, paperwork and Management Information System(MIS) but in case of e- logistics the information is gathered through Internet, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Integrated IS. The E- logistics is more reliable and fast than traditional logistics. In Traditional logistics accountability of shipments is linked to limited supply chain but in e- logistics the accountability is expanded in whole supply chain. In E- logistics the customers have high expectation about quality of service and delivery of shipments but in case of traditional logistics the delivery of products is taking long time as the expectation of customer is not met because today`s customer needs faster delivery of goods. In case of traditional logistics there is less complexity in fulfilling international trade but in case of e- logistics there is larger complexity in fulfilling international trade. In e- logistics it is possible to place direct orders with distributors and producers and also helps in accessing more sellers globally but in case of traditional logistics it is mainly done through fax and paper works as it takes expensive and takes long time in getting reply from producers and distributors. In case of E- logistics the demand for shipment is lacking s tability and also not predictable due to huge number of customers but in case of traditional logistics the demand for shipment is predictable . The challenges of e- logistics in developing countries are economic and educational barriers, lack of infrastructure, security, trust and privacy, channel conflicts, delivery logistics, security problems and global terrorism and geographical barriers. In economic and educational barriers the main obstacles for e- logistics is the lack of economic resources, internet usage and standard of education. Most of e- logistics are used by advanced users in developing countries because of lack of resources to use the internet and shop online. Lack of infrastructure means developing countries poor telecommunication infrastructure and short access of computers create barrier in e- logistics .Internet access cost also result in barrier to e- logistics. Security,privacy and trust is different in different countries and there is no provision in many countries govt rules that e- logistics should be legally binding and trust worthy as such it create barriers in E- logistics. According to survey conducted by Forrester Research said that they turned off global trade because of difficulty in process in e- logistics. The main barrier for e- logistics for this is the language and cultural barriers that destroys the different stages of internet infrastructure and adoption and also incapable to deal with direct global orders. According to Leung et al 2000, Gunasekaran and Ngai (2004b), the benefits of e- logistics are enhancing customer service, minimizing cost and also meeting product delivery deadlines. It helps to develop web based inventory control and also helps in building relationship with large logistics companies like DHL,UPS and FedEx. It help to concentrate and understand the customers more readily. It helps in B2B2C à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬commerce for third part logistics (3PL) , it helps to SME`S to develop strategic alliance and also help to meet growing demand. In conclusion due to globalisation the importance of e- logistics is growing eventhough there are many challenges in e- logistics the significance of e- logistics cannot be ignored. In order to use e- logistics effectively we should understand the strength and weakness of e- logistics effectively and we should use in a proper way and should not misuse it. Last but not least in the coming future the importance of e- logistics will be higher and it will be used by many people in the future.

Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart :: Chinua Achebe Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart "The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart." As the British colonized the areas of Nigeria inhabited by the Ibo, they brought with them their new religion of Christianity, which sought to overrun the traditional animist way of life that had endured in the area for centuries. The new religion was treated with skepticism early on, but the lure of the wealth that British traders brought into the city, along with the support of the British government and judicial system eventually displaced Ibo society completely. Although many historians make the assertion that the tribes’ conversion to Christianity by English missionaries was responsible, even noble, the truth is that the fragmentation of Ibo culture was not for the love of God, but for the love of money and power. For the colonialists, Christianity was used as an effective wedge between the Ibo and their land. They knew that without infiltration from the inside, the people of Umofia and surrounding villages would continue to rebel against British authority in the area. By introducing Christianity into the villages, and creating conflict amongst the natives, they were able to gain a foothold into the psyches of the tribespeople. Converted Christians, having been ostracized by the rest of their communities, were forced to rely on the British for support. The presence of natives loyal to the Queen gave the British blanket jurisdiction over the entire village, and the Royal administrative and judicial system could now enforce British law over the Ibo. Although the argument can me made that these effects were merely byproducts of a noble effort on the part of the Europeans to bring the Christian faith to Africa, more evidence suggests that the real motivation was money, not religion. The colonists had much to gain from a colonized Africa, including abundant natural resources and workers to tend farms and chop trees for the Queen. As the proverb goes, â€Å"Before the White Man came, we had the land and they had the Bible. Now we have the Bible and they have the land.

Important Qualities in the Life of Jesus :: Religion

Important Qualities in the Life of Jesus Ever since Jesus was born, he has always been perfect. There have never been any flaws that had to do with him. He had many different characteristics and qualities that were unique about him including holiness, purity, faithfulness, mercifulness, grace, righteousness, love, integrity, divinity, and courageousness. There is nothing that is more powerful than that of the triunity, which consists of God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son. This report deals mostly with God the Son, which is Jesus. Jesus has all these qualities and we are supposed to be following in His footsteps. Most Christians try as hard to have these great characteristics, but there is no possible way that we could achieve such a goal. It is impossible for humans to reach that goal. It says in the Bible "For everyone falls short of the glory of God.". That right there is enough proof to show that we are not worthy of his presence. God is of the Spirit. He is not made of matter and mind, and he does not possess a physical nature. Some think that God is that of a human. There is no possible way that this could be, because in John 4:24 Jesus speaks "God is spirit, and those who worship him just worship in spirit and truth.". Even though Jesus had flesh was of the Spirit he still did have matter. He had flesh which is matter. In this flesh was very important qualities. God still possesses all of these qualities even though He does not have flesh. These characteristics would fit for either God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit. They all work in the triunity and have these qualities even though one might display it in a different manner than the other. In the thirty-three years of Jesus' life, He had three very important characteristics that are something we all should try and follow: Loveliness, Faithfulness, and Forgiveness. Very often when people think of Love, they think of Jesus. In John 4:8,16 it says that God is love. This is a paraphrase but it is still stating something that is very important. That verse shows that Jesus had (and still does) mercy and compassion for us. Another verse that shows that God's love as apparent is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he

Cultivating an Affirmation of the Past in the Poem “Digging”

The significance of the past is given an affirmation in the poem, â€Å"Digging,† written by Nobel Prize awardee Seamus Heaney. The persona in the poem takes a nostalgic trip into his past, reminiscing about the old days when he watched and participated in potato farming with his father and grandfather. Both men handle toil and hard work with excellence; this is emphasized when the persona states his admiration for the grace and competence exhibited by the men: â€Å"By God, the old man could handle a spade/Just like his old man. † (15-16) However, the demarcation line between the persona and his earlier generation is clearly defined early on.In the first two lines of the poem, he establishes the idea that he is a writer; a man who prefers handling a pen, symbolizing academic and artistic profession, over a handling a spade, symbolizing hard labor, â€Å"Between my finger and my thumb/The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. † (lines 1-2) Nevertheless, the value and p ride of each separate work is equally praised by the persona. He conveys the idea that there is no difference if one uses a pen, or a spade in work, no difference when one plows a field or scribbles on paper. The only important thing is the love and passion one dedicates to one’s profession or work.

Chemistry Investigatory Project

CHEM. RES. CHINESE UNIVERSITIES 2012, 28(3), 415418 Determination of Nicotine in baccy plant by capillary Electrophoresis with electrochemical Detection fair weather Jin-ying1, XU Xiao-yu1,2, YU Huan1 and YOU Tian-yan1* 1. State let out Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of attainments, Changchun 130022, P. R. China 2. Ministry of Public protective covering of Jilin Province, Changchun 130051, P. R.China Abstract A sensitive, unbiased and affordable method based on capillary vessel electrophoresis(CE) with electrochemical(EC) catching at a carbon fiber microdisk electrode(CFE) was developed for the determination of nicotine. do of undercover work capableness, submersion and pH honor of the inorganic phosphate cushion, and snap clip as fountainhead as withdrawal electromotive force drop were investigated. Under the optimized conditions a signal signal undercover work possible of 1. 20 V, 40 m gram jettyeculee/L phosphate weaken(pH 2. 0), a sample injection period of 10 s at 10 kV and a separation potential difference of 16 kV, the linear verify obtained was from 5. 0? 107 mol/L to 1. 0? 04 mol/L with a correlation coefficient of 0. 9989 and the sterilize of detection(LOD, S/N=3) obtained was 5. 0? 108 mol/L. The method was besides utilize to determine the nicotine in fundaments. Nicotine come up ranged from 0. 211 mg/g to 0. 583 mg/g in the tube-shaped structure tobacco of vii brands of hind end and the amount in whizz cigarette varied from 0. 136 mg/cigarette to 0. 428 mg/cigarette. Keywords Capillary electrophoresis electrochemical detection Nicotine Tobacco Article ID blow5-9040(2012)-03-415-04 1 Introduction Nicotine accounts for about 98%(mass fraction) of the enume site alkaloids and presents in a meanness of 0. %? 8% (mass fraction) in tobacco1,2. And nicotine addiction is related with eminent risk for many kinds of diseases such as Alzheimer s, Parkinsons and even suicide3,4. Thus its necessary to control nicotine amount in tobacco products. Determination of nicotine is very key in both the tobacco exertion and toxicology area5. A lot of analytical methods brace been completed for the analysis of nicotine and related alkaloids, such as radioimmuno check mark6, spectrophotometry5, near-infrared spectroscopy7, and recently f unhopeful injection(FI) with electrochemiluminescence(ECL) detection8.The almost frequently use analytical techniques for nicotine and its relation back compounds determination are gamy operation liquid chromatography(HPLC)9? 15 and gas chromatography (GC)16? 23 with mass spectrometry(MS). Besides, HPLC pair with UV-visible absorption(UV)24? 28 or GC with flame ionization detector(FID)1,29,30 and atomic emission detector(AED)31 fall in as well as been developed to determine nicotine and related alkaloids. Capillary electrophoresis(CE) is characterized by high separation efficiency, forget ful analysis condemnation and a keen amount of reagent consumed.Moreover, capillary column is ductile for use, easy to be treated with and cost effective. CE has been considered as an efficient preference for HPLC technique32. Up to now, various detectors have been combine with CE separation for nicotine analysis, such as CE-MS33,34, nonaqueous CE(NACE)-MS35, CE-UV36? 38, chipping mi- jail cellar electrokinetic chromatography(microchip MEKC)-UV39 and CE with three-fold light-emitting diode induced fluorescence (LEDIF) and ECL detection40. Electrochemical(EC) detection has stock more attention ascribable to the unreserved manipulation and good selectivity.Electrocatalytic oxidation properties of nicotine have been investigated at multi-walled carbon na nonube-alumina-coated silica nanocomposite limited glassy carbon electrode(MWCNTACS-GCE), MWCNT-GCE and pencil black lead electrode3,41,42. HPLC with EC detection has been use for nicotine assay in plasma and hair43,44. NACE -EC was also established for tobacco nicotine detection45. In this paper, a simple CE-EC analytical procedure at a carbon fiber microdisk electrode(CFE) was developed. The linear range was 5. 0? 107? 1. 0? 104 mol/L, with a correlation coefficient of 0. 989. The limit of detection(LOD, S/N=3) obtained was 5. 0? 108 mol/L. To evaluate the applicability of the proposed CE-EC method, sevener divers(prenominal) cigarette brands were tested. Nicotine amounts ranged from 0. 211 mg/g to 0. 583 mg/g in subway tobacco of seven brands of cigarette and the amount in one cigarette varied from 0. 136 mg/cigarette to 0. 428 mg/cigarette. 2 2. 1 Experimental Reagents All the reagents were of analytical year that were used as received without advance purification. Nicotine(purity 99. 7%) was obtained from Alfa Aesar(USA). Stock solution of 1. ? 103 mol/L nicotine was vigilant in doubly distilled water * correspond author. E-mail emailprotected jl. cn Received June 20, 2011 accepted November 24, 2011. support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No. 20875085). 416 CHEM. RES. CHINESE UNIVERSITIES Vol. 28 and stored at 4 C. Na2HPO4, NaH2PO4, H3PO4 and NaOH were used for phosphate original solutions(PBS) preparation. All the solutions were watchful and dilute with doubly distilled water unless differentwise indicated. PBS was prepared daily with doubly distilled water.All the solutions were filtered through a 0. 22 ? m membrane in the first place use. Different brands of cigarette were purchased from local market. high detection sensitiveness. As shown in Fig. 2, with the add of the apply detection potential, the up-to-date retort subjoind slowly amidst 0. 70 and 1. 00 V, and whence developmentd quickly betwixt 1. 00 and 1. 20 V. Higher detection potential than 1. 20 V led to a peak current decrease and scene noise increase. To achieve high detection sensitivity, 1. 20 V was selected as the optimal applied detection potential. 2. 2 Apparatu sEC audition was conducted with a Voltammetric Analyzer(CHI 800, USA). A conventional three-electrode system of rules was employed with a 33-? m CFE as working electrode, a Pt cable as counter electrode and an Ag/AgCl electrode as reference electrode. An uncoated fused-silica capillary with i. d. of 25 ? m and length of 45 cm(Ruifeng Chromatogram Equipment Co. , Ltd. , Hebei, China) was used for sampling and separation. Capillary was rinsed in 0. 1 mol/L NaOH overnight before use. Every day before essays, it was redden with doubly distilled water for about 10 min and balanced with running caramel brown for about 15 min.CE-EC was conducted on a self-assembly instrument including a Voltammetric Analyzer(CHI 800, USA) and a high potency supplier(MPI-A, Remax Electronic Co. , Ltd. , Xian, China). model injection was performed electrokinetically for 10 s at 10 kV. Fig. 2 HDV investigation of nicotine c(Nicotine)=1. 0? 105 mol/L sample injection 10 s at 10 kV separation electromo tive force 20 kV CE buffer 40 mmol/L PBS(pH 2. 0) cell buffer 0. 1 mol/L PBS(pH 8. 0). 3. 3 Optimization of CE-EC Conditions 3 3. 1 Results and Discussion cyclic Voltammetry(CV) CV was used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of nicotine.A spectacular current increased from 0. 70 V was observed for nicotine(Fig. 1, rick b) compared with that of background electrolyte(Fig. 1, curve a), indicating that nicotine had high electroactivity at CFE. The adsorption lieu of CFE for nicotine was also investigated under CV experiment, however, no adsorption phenomenon of nicotine was observed. Since the oxidation potential of nicotine was not high at CFE, CE bring together with EC at CFE is practical for nicotine determination. roughly other important agentive roles including buffer concentration and buffer pH as well as separation potentiality were investigated.Running buffer pH value make up ones minds the charge-mass ratio of the analyte and then influences the electrophoresi s behavior of the analyte. We investigated the effect of pH values on the detection between pH 2. 0 and pH 10. 0 as shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 3 encumbrance of pH of CE buffer on detection of nicotine pH a. 2 b. 4 c. 6 d. 8 e. 10. Separation potency 14 kV other conditions were the identical as those in Fig. 2. Fig. 1 Cyclic voltammetry curve of nicotine a. Background electrolyte, 0. 1 mol/L PBS(pH 8. 0) b. 1. 0? 103 mol/L nicotine scan rate 0. 05 V/s. 3. Hydrodynamic Voltammogram(HDV) Investigation Since applied detection potentials influence the detection sensitivity, and then we investigated the HDV of nicotine to achieve At pH 2. 0, nicotine was amply protonated and electroosmotic flow(EOF) was well restrained. EC reply was the highest at pH 2. 0, and then decreased with the increase of pH value. With the increase of pH value, the migration age decreased correspondingly. Strong acidic CE buffer pH is more safe to sensitive and selective determination of nicotine. In considerat ion of the detection sensitivity, pH 2. was selected as the proper CE buffer pH value. Separation potential is an important factor that influences the detection sensitivity and the migration time. When the separation voltage was changed from 10 kV to 20 kV, the migration time decreased from 14 min to 7 min correspondingly. No. 3 SUN Jin-ying et al. 417 As for EC repartee, when the separation voltage increased from 10 kV to 18 kV, the EC intensity of nicotine increased quickly, after(prenominal) that it decreased quickly from 18 kV to 20 kV(shown in Fig. 4). Detection sensitivity at 16 kV was high than that at 18 kV.In consideration of the detection sensitivity, 16 kV was selected as the optimum separation voltage. supermarket. tubing tobacco of 0. 1 g was weighed and placed in a polyethylene tube, in which 10 mL of solvent was added for nicotine declension. Then, 10 L of the blood solution was transferred into a new polyethylene tube and diluted 100 generation by doubly dis tilled water and the diluted decline solution was used for analysis. 4. 2 Investigation of origin Solvents Fig. 4 nitty-gritty of separation voltage on detection of nicotine Applied detection potential 1. 20 V other conditions are as those in Fig. . 3. 4 Linear feed and LOD To obtain high extraction efficiency, solvents including water, methanol, put out and ethyl acetate rayon were investigated. Current solution of nicotine extracted with different solvents is shown in Fig. 5. Current response of nicotine was the highest when water was used as solvent. methanol was also efficient for the extraction of nicotine from pipe tobacco. However, when methanol was used as solvent, migration time prolonged and the baseline shifted. When chloroform was used for extraction, current response was about 36% of that when water was used for extraction.Only very low response was found when ethyl acetate was used as solvent. piss was selected as nicotine extraction solvent for the highest nic otine current response obtained. Under the selected conditions an applied detection potential of 1. 20 V sample injection for 10 s at 10 kV a separation voltage of 16 kV 40 mmol/L PBS(pH 2. 0) as running buffer and 0. 1 mol/L PBS(pH 8. 0) as detection buffer, EC response of nicotine was linear with concentration from 5. 0? 107 mol/L to 1. 0? 104 mol/L(81? 16200 g/L)(y = 0. 2566+0. 4884x, R2= 0. 9978) and LOD(S/N=3) of nicotine was fixed to be 5. 0? 108 mol/L(8. g/L). The proposed CE-EC method was compared with HPLC-MS9,10, HPLC-UV24,28, CE-UV38,39, CE-MS34, CE-LEDIF-ECL40, microchip CE-UV39, NACE-MS35 and NACE-EC45 methods(Table 1). From Table 1 we can receive that linear range and LOD of CE-EC are just about comparable with those of HPLC-MS9 and UV24 or NACE-EC45 methods and CE-EC is almost 2000 times more sensitive than microchip CE method. Table 1 Method HPLC-MS HPLC-MS FI-ECL HPLC-UV HPLC-UV CE-MS NACE-MS CE-UV Micorchip CE-UV CE-LEDIF-ECL NACE-EC CE-EC Fig. 5 extraction sol vent comparison a. Water b. methanol c. chloroform d. ethyl acetate.Separation voltage 16 kV injection 10 s at 10 kV applied detection potential 1. 20 V cell buffer 0. 1 mol/L PBS(pH 8. 0) CE buffer 40 mmol/L PBS(pH 2. 0). 4. 3 Extraction Time Investigation Comparison of CE-EC with other methods for nicotine determination Linear range/(? gL1) 10? 10000 1? 100 0? 16000 25? euchre 250? 100000 500? 100000 1724? 17240 100? 10000 81? 16200 LOD/(? gL1) 10 1 0. 19 8 100 0. 55 20 16000 259. 2 13 8. 1 Ref. 9 8 22 24 28 34 35 38 39 40 45 Our method The influence of extraction time on nicotine detection was investigated between 2 and 7 h.When extraction time was increased from 2 h to 4 h, the nicotine response kept increasing. plainly when extraction time continued to increase, the current response decreased, which may be due to the nicotine decomposition under room conditions. We chose 4 h as proper extraction time based on the experiment result. 4. 4 Tobacco Analysis 4 4. 1 Cigarette A nalysis Extraction Procedure Seven brands of cigarettes were purchased from local Pipe tobacco of 0. 1 g of from each one seven brands of cigarettes was weighed respectively and 10 mL of doubly distilled water was used for nicotine extraction.Nicotine amounts ranged from 0. 211 mg/g to 0. 583 mg/g in the pipe tobacco of each of seven brands of cigarettes. Nicotine amount in one cigarette varied from 0. 136 mg/cigarette to 0. 428 mg/cigarette(as listed in Table 2). The results obtained are somewhat less than the amounts reported in the literature46. With the increase of nicotine concentration, the recovery decreased. For 5. 0? 106, 5. 0? 105 and 5. 0? 104 mol/L of nicotine, the recoveries were 80%, 75% and 418 CHEM. RES. CHINESE UNIVERSITIES 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 B, 2006, 844, 322 Vol. 28 72%, respectively(n=3).Table 2 Nicotine amounts in pipe tobacco and cigarette obtained by CE-EC analysis itemise of tobacco sample 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Nicotine amount in pipe tobacco/(mgg1) 0. 518 0. 502 0. 454 0. 211 0. 583 0. 454 0. 421 Nicotine amount in cigarette/ (mgcigarette1) 0. 337 0. 355 0. 316 0. 136 0. 428 0. 327 0. 276 Man C. N. , Gam L. H. , Ismail S. , Lajis R. , Awang R. , J. Chromatogr. Lafay F. , Vulliet E. , Flament-Waton M. M. , Anal. Bioanal. Chem. , 2010, 396, 937 Shrivas K. , Patel D. K. , food for thought Chem. , 2010, 122, 314 Bao M. L. , Joza P. , Rickert W. S. , Lauterbach J. H. , Anal. Chim. Acta, 2010, 663, 49 Sharp M. P. , Hale T.W. , Hackett L. P. , Kristensen J. H. , Ilett K. F. , J. Chromatogr. B, 2003, 796, 173 Jablonski J. E. , Schlesser J. E. , Mariappagoudar P. , J. Agric. nourishment Chem. , 2006, 54, 7460 Nakajima M. , Kwon J. T. , Tanaka E. , Yokoi T. , Anal. Biochem. , 2002, 302, 131 Doctor P. B. , Gokani V. N. , Kulkarni P. K. , Parikh J. R. , Saiyed H. N. , J. Chromatogr. B, 2004, 802, 323 Chang Y. L. , Tsai P. L. , Chou Y. C. , Tien J. H. , Tsai T. H. , J. Chromatogr. A, 2005, 1088, 152 Zuo Y. G. , Zhang L. L. , Wu J. P. , Fritz J. W . , Medeiros S. , Rego C. , Anal. Chim. Acta, 2004, 526, 35 Cai J. B. , Liu B. Z. , Lin P. , Su Q. D. J. Chromatogr. A, 2003, 1017, 187 Stevens N. A. , Borgerding M. F. , Anal. Chem. , 1999, 71, 2179 Kowalski P. , Marszall M. , Oledzka L. , Czarnowski W. , Chromatographia, 2007, 66, 357 Palmer M. E. , Smith, R. F. , house K. , Tetler L. W. , Rapid Commun. Spectrom. , 2001, 15, 224 Baidoo E. E. K. , Clench M. R. , Smith R. F. , Tetler L. W. , J. Chromatogr. B, 2003, 796, 303 Chiu C. W. , Liang H. H. , Huang H. Y. , Electrophoresis, 2007, 28, 4220 Lu G. H. , Ralapati S. , Electrophoresis, 1998, 19, 19 Yang S. S. , Smetena I. , Chromatographia, 1995, 40, 375 Ralapati S. , J. Chromatogr. B, 1997, 695, 117 Newman C.D. , Giordano B. C. , Copper C. L. , Collins G. E. , Electrophoresis, 2008, 29, 803 Chang P. L. , downwind K. H. , Hu C. C. , Chang H. T. , Electrophoresis, 2007, 28, 1092 Xiong H. Y. , Zhao Y. F. , Liu P. , Zhang X. H. , Wang S. F. , Microchim. Acta, 2010, 168, 31 Levent A. , Yardim Y. , Senturk Z. , Electrochim. Acta, 2009, 55, 190 Chien C. Y. , Diana J. N. , Crooks P. A. , J. Pharmaceut. Sci. , 1988, 77, 277 Mahoney G. N. , Al-Delaimy W. , J. Chromatogr. B, 2001, 753, 179 Matysik F. M. , J. Chromatogr. A, 1999, 853, 27 Ruiz-Rodriguez A. , tan M. R. , da Ponte M. N. , J. Supercrit. Fluid. , 2008, 45, 171 References 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Sheng L. Q. , Ding L. , Tong H. W. , Yong G. P. , Zhou X. Z. , Liu S. M. , Chromatographia, 2005, 62, 63 Solarino B. , Rosenbaum F. , Rie? elmann B. , Buschmann C. T. , Tsokos M. , Forensic Sci. Int. , 2010, 195, e19 Wang S. J. , Liaw H. W. , Tsai Y. C. , Electrochem. Commun. , 2009, 11, 733 Moriya F. , Hashimoto Y. , Furumiya J. , Forensic Sci. Int. , 2007, 168, 102 Rai M. , Ramachandran K. N. , Gupta V. K. , Analyst, 1994, 119, 1883 Langone J. J. , Gjika H. B. , Vunakis H. V. , Biochem. , 1973, 12, 5025 Zhang Y. , Cong Q. Xie Y. F. , Zhao B. , Chem. J. Chinese Universities, 2009, 30(4), 69 7 Lin M. S. , Wang J. S. , Lai C. H. , Electrochim. Acta, 2008, 53, 7775 Tuomi T. , Johnsson T. , Reijula K. , Clin. Chem. , 1999, 45, 2164 Stolker A. A. M. , Niesing W. , Hogendoorn E. A. , Rambali A. B. , Vleeming W. , J. Chromatogr. A, 2003, 1020, 35 Ryu H. J. , Seong M. W. , Nam M. H. , Kong S. Y. , Lee D. H. , Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. , 2006, 20, 2781 tater S. E. , Villalta P. , Ho S. W. , von Weymarn L. B. , J. Chromatogr. B, 2007, 857, 1 Gray T. R. , Shakleya D. M. , Huestis M. A. , J. Chromatogr. B, 2008, 863, 107 Kataoka H. Inoue R. , yagi K. , Saito K. , J. Pharmaceut. Biomed. , 2009, 49, 108 Miller E. I. , Norris H. R. K. , Rollins D. E. , Tiffany S. T. , Wilkins D. G. , J. Chromatogr. B, 2010, 878, 725 Ji A. J. , Lawson G. M. , Anderson R. , Dale L. C. , Croghan I. T. , Hurt R. D. , Clin. Chem. , 1999, 45, 85 Shin H. S. , Kim J. G. , Shin Y. J. , Jee S. H. , J. Chromatogr. B, 2002, 769, 177 Wu W. J. , Ashley D. L. , Watson C. H. , Anal. Chem. , 2002, 74, 4878 Kim I. , Darwin W. D. , Huestis M. A. , J. Chromatogr. B, 2005, 814, 233 44 45 46 42 43 41 40 36 37 38 39 35 34 33 31 32 30 29 28