K Final Report

Report On Marketing Management K&N’s (Marketing Mix) Submitted To: Madam Shumaila Dilawar Submitted By: Aneela Jabbar BB-08-15 Aqsa Mehmood BB-08-06 Arif Zafar BB-08-8 Rabeea Rafiq BB-08-33 Sahar Naveed BB-08-54 Sana Fatima Malik BB-08-64 Zobia Malik BB-08-19 Dedication We dedicate this work solely to our loving and supporting friends and teachers and those who have ever been praying for our success. Acknowledgements First and foremost, we would like to thank our Creator, Family and Friends for their undying love. We would never have come so far without them.We would also like to take this opportunity to thank my teacher, Madam Shumaila Dilawar, for her insightful guidance. Last but not least, we would like to thank our friends at Institute of Management Sciences that have always been proved helpful. For everything that is right, credit goes to all of the above. For anything that is wrong, we are culpable. Preface Practical leaning is an essential part of my education and it i s the specialty that distinct the department of IMS from others. To have deep understanding of the concepts, only theoretical knowledge does not provide the concrete base. In this report we have bridge that gap.The knowledge we acquired through this experience will be long lasting. Since we ourselves explored the field o work and analyzed different factors and variables. Introduction of K&N’s K&N’s, a founding pillar and beacon for Pakistan’s Poultry Industry started in 1964 with a single minded objective of providing better nutrition for health and happiness of the nation. Building on years of poultry expertise and commitment to food-safety, K&N’s integrated all poultry production activities under one umbrella to bring you safe and healthy chicken by managing and controlling all stages of production.The year 1964; Pakistan a young independent nation forging ahead towards a dream: self sufficiency in food production. Malnutrition remained a major problem and one out of four children died before attaining the age of five. 80% of ailing children were affected with diseases caused by protein, vitamin and mineral deficiency. Poultry production, the quickest and least expensive way of filling the protein gap was planned to overcome malnutrition. Backyard poultry farming had to graduate to a more professional level. January 1964, a young man, Khalil Sattar, still a college student, had the vision to foresee a need to establish a poultry farm.His interest led him to start a small broiler farm of 1,000 chicks. Little had he known this flock was to become the foundation stone of K&N’s? This was the simple, inspired and nationalistic beginning of K&N’s with a single-minded objective of providing better nutrition for Health and Happiness of the Nation. Poultry Breeding K&N’s maintains layer and broiler parent stock populations in different regions of Pakistan. Layer parent stock farms are located in the south and broiler p arents are bred in the colder mountainous northern region. Both types of parents are housed at isolated breeder farms.To ensure strict bio-security, all breeder farms work on the important principle of all-in-all-out to avoid multiple ages at any breeder farm. Breeding stock is housed in environment-controlled houses equipped with most modern ventilation, cooling and heating equipment. Some of the world’s best performances have been achieved at K&N’s. Strict bio-security measures are taken at all farms to reduce the risk of disease transmission through mechanically and physically transferred disease causative agents. Careful attention is paid to bird health, vaccination, weightage and selection to maintain healthy and uniform breeding flocks.Hatching-eggs are cooled down inside air conditioned, humidified egg-rooms, packed and dispatched in sanitized and environment-controlled vehicles to company owned hatcheries located throughout Pakistan. Hatching K&N’s opera tes several strategically located hatcheries covering all day-old chick markets to ensure delivery of high quality layer and broiler day-old chicks to commercial farmers throughout Pakistan. All hatcheries are equipped with most modern cooling, heating and humidification systems to provide a uniform and consistent hatchery environment independent of varying outdoor weather conditions.Incubators from world-renowned manufacturers are installed at all hatcheries and their performance data is recorded and monitored by a computerized incubation monitoring system. Upon arrival from breeder farms, hatching-eggs are candled at all hatcheries to remove eggs, which may have cracked during transit. Sanitation and hygiene is enhanced by mechanically transferring eggs from one type of tray onto another until chicks are harvested from hatchers. Maximum care is exercised while handling, reconstituting and administering vaccines using proper techniques and modern equipment.To ensure chicks get off to the healthiest start and stay protected from viral diseases, they receive inject able and spray vaccinations at the hatchery. Day-old chicks are delivered to farmers in environment-controlled chick delivery vehicles to maintain quality during transit. After making deliveries, vehicles are washed and disinfected before entering the hatchery premises to avoid any risk of carrying disease causative agents back to the hatchery from the field. Feed Milling To ensure consistent performance with high standards, our chickens really live on a healthy and well balanced diet.It is based on: natural grain products such as corn, corn gluten, rice and wheat; oil seed meals such as soybean, canola and sunflower; fish; oyster shells supplemented with multi-vitamins and minerals. Feed is always tested by our quality assurance lab to ensure it is wholesome because K&N’s does not compromise on quality. Feed is also supplied to our day-old chick customers and growers for realizing the profit potential of K&N’s quality day-old chicks. Poultry Processing At our state-of-the-art poultry processing plant, only healthy chickens are used to produce high quality, safe and healthy chicken products.Chickens are Halal slaughtered by hand (Islamic Zabeeha) strictly according to The Shariah. After Halal slaughter, chickens are processed in the most hygienic and automated manner. During processing, the birds are washed inside out and our veterinarians constantly examine the birds to confirm they are wholesome. Cleaning is constant and each evening the entire operation is completely washed and sanitized. Only after very thorough inspection, the plant begins operation each day. All chickens pass through veterinary inspection to confirm they are wholesome.To keep a continuous check on quality, hygiene and food-safety, random samples are collected from the processing line for lab testing. Some chickens are prepared to ship whole; others are packed as bone-in cuts or boneless prod ucts. Products for quality and food-safety conscious institutions – such as hotels, restaurants, airlines, clubs and international restaurant chains – are cut according to their specific requirements and packed in bulk packaging. Products for retail are packed in K&N's branded packaging and individually weighed, adding another step to K quality control.Products are then blast frozen at a very low temperature of –30? C to ensure product freshness, taste and food-safety. Ready-to-Cook and Fully Cooked Products Some chickens are used for preparing our ready-to-cook and fully cooked chicken products using state-of-the-art meat preparation and production equipment. Choicest meat is carved and select ingredients are added to our premium chicken meat, for preparing flavorful high-quality products such as burger patties, nuggets and kababs.Our world-class value-added chicken products are individually quick frozen using Individual Quick Freezing (IQF) Technology. Distrib ution System and K Distribution stores Products are stored at -21? C to maintain freshness. Packed products are moved into K sanitized refrigerated trucks for distribution to ensure uncompromising quality control. K chicken products are available at K Chicken Stores and leading retailers and also delivered to quality and food-safety conscious institutions such as hotels, restaurants, airlines, clubs and international restaurant chains.Quality Assurance Lab K state-of-the-art Quality Assurance Lab monitors the entire integration process, from livestock to feed and on to preparation of ready-to-cook & fully cooked products. The entire integration process is monitored and regulated to ensure K chicken products are wholesome, safe and healthy. K Poultry Diagnostic and Research Institute With the assistance of US Agency for International Development, K Poultry Diagnostic and Research Institute was established in collaboration with Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.It is a very well equipped and state-of-the-art disease diagnostic, feed and feed raw material testing laboratory which provides invaluable service to Pakistan’s poultry industry through research and extension service in close coordination with K Advisory Service. Certifications †¢K's ensures food-safety by implementing the HACCP* (international food-safety) System to produce safe and healthy chicken & chicken products. ( *HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points) — pronounced ‘hassap’— is an international food-safety system for preventing microbiological, chemical and physical contamination along the food supply chain. †¢Quality Management System at K&N’s is ISO 9001:2008 certified. Through this internationally recognized quality management system, K&N’s is able to control and monitor quality specific factors, which ensure consistency in its products and services while assuring customer satisfaction. †¢Chickens are HALAL slaughte red by hand (Islamic Zabeeha) strictly according to The Shariah. K&N’s slaughtering procedure has been assessed by Darul-Ifta ofJamia Ashrafia and Jamia Naeemia, both authentic institutions for granting Halal certification.Corporate Social Responsibility K&N’s Advisory Service, a division of K&N’s, provides invaluable service to customers and the industry through the Nation’s widest network of sales, technical and extension service centers’. This division employs the nation’s largest team of veterinarians, nutritionist and highly experienced technical staff, and publishes technical bulletins, brochures, management guides and other advisory literature for customers, and also provides them with practical on-spot technical know-how.Seminars are organized in all major cities and rural poultry centers where local and foreign experts are invited to address poultry farmers on latest poultry developments. Free of charge vaccination and de-betaking s ervice is extended to customers, and least-cost feed formulations are also provided to farmers. Technical training programmes for poultry farmers are regularly organized and training is also imparted for carrying out vaccination and de-betaking. Through the training process, K&N’s has made a significant contribution to Pakistan’s rural development.Tens of thousands of skilled and semi-skilled workers have been trained to provide service to industry, and to earn a livelihood for themselves and their families. Marketing Mix These are actually the 4 P’s of marketing. Marketing decisions generally falls into the following four controllable categories. Product Product is the actually offering by the company to its targeted customers which also includes value added stuff. Product may be tangible (goods) or intangible (services). While formulating the marketing strategy, product decisions include: †¢What to offer? †¢Brand name Packaging †¢Quality †¢ Appearance †¢Functionality †¢Accessories †¢Installation †¢After sale services †¢Warranty Price Price includes the pricing strategy of the company for its products. How much customer should pay for a product? Pricing strategy not only related to the profit margins but also helps in finding target customers. Pricing decision also influence the choice of marketing channels. Price decisions include: †¢Pricing Strategy (Penetration, Skim, etc) †¢List Price †¢payment period †¢Discounts †¢Financing †¢Credit terms Using price as a weapon for rivals is as old as mankind.But it’s risky too. Consumers are often sensitive for price, discounts and additional offers. Another aspect of pricing is that expensive products are considered of good quality. Place (Placement) It not only includes the place where the product is placed, all those activities performed by the company to ensure the availability of the product to the targeted custom ers. Availability of the product at the right place, at the right time and in the right quantity is crucial in placement decisions. Placement decisions include: †¢Placement †¢Distribution channels †¢Logistics Inventory †¢Order processing †¢Market coverage †¢selection of channel members Promotion Promotion includes all communication and selling activities to persuade future prospects to buy the product. Promotion decisions include: †¢Advertising †¢Media Types †¢Message †¢Budgets †¢Sales promotion †¢Personal selling †¢Public relations †¢Direct marketing As these costs are huge as compared to product price, so it’s good to perform a break-even analysis before allocating the budget. It helps in determining whether the new customers are worth of promotion cost or not. Product FeaturesFor customers psychological benefits represent certain benefits they perceive to receive when using the product though these may b e difficult to measure and may vary by customer. These benefits address needs such as status within a group, risk reduction, sense of independence, and happiness. Such benefits are developed through promotional efforts that target customer’s internal makeup. Four basic objectives of absolute integrity, enthusiastic diligence, continuous improvement and high quality maintenance are at the core of all operations which provide an impelling urge for attaining perfection.Driven by its basic objectives in pursuit of perfection, K&N's is committed to have superior product and unmatched service through devoted people and consistent development K products K have different product lines, but we will discuss only a single product line which is Ready to Cook meal. This category includes: †¢Nuggets †¢Chappli kabab †¢Burger patties †¢Chicken tempura †¢Kofta †¢Combo wings †¢Croquettes †¢Haray bharay nuggets †¢Hot tenders †¢Fun nuggets K from the very beginning has focused on providing better nutrition for the health and happiness of the nation.Quality is very first priority that will make them build strong and profitable customer relationships. They are managing and controlling all stages of production in order to ensure 100% safe and healthy production of our product. Our product offers consumptions, attention to satisfy desire or need in the market. Level of Product †¢ Core Benefit: providing the good taste. †¢ Actual Product: our product includes all ingredients in packaging according to the core benefit. †¢ Augmented Product: our product provide some benefits which are related to product just as recipe.Branding Branding involves decisions that establish an identity for a product with the goal of distinguishing it from competitors’ offerings. In markets where competition is fierce and where customers may select from among many competitive products, creating an identity through branding is essen tial. It is particularly important in helping position the product (see discussion of product position) in the minds of the product’s target market Brand Names and Brand Marks At a very basic level branding is achieved through the use of unique brand names and brand marks.The brand name, which may be either the individual product name or a name applied to a group or family of products, is important for many reasons including suggesting what the product is or does (e. g. , Mop-and-Glow). The name is also what we utter when we discuss the product (i. e. , word-of-mouth marketing). The brand mark is a design element, such as a symbol (e. g. , Nike swoosh ), logo (e. g. , Yahoo! graphic), a character (e. g. , Keebler elves) or even a sound (e. g. , Intel inside sound), that provides visual or auditory recognition for the product.K brand Along with the developed brand identity and trust reposed by customers, K has established its name in international market as well. It is a well- developed and promoted brand. It is a strong brand which is leading to financial advantages through the concept of Brand Equity in which the brand itself becomes valuable. Packaging Nearly all tangible products (i. e. , goods) are sold to customers within a container or package that, as we will discuss, serves many purposes including protecting the product during shipment.In a few cases, such as with certain produce items, the final customer may purchase the product without a package but the produce marketer still faces packaging decisions when it comes to shipping to the store. Factors in Packaging Decisions Packaging decisions are important for several reasons including †¢Protection – Packaging is used to protect the product from damage during shipping and handling, and to lessen spoilage if the project is exposed to air or other elements. †¢Added Value – Packaging design and structure can add value to a product.For instance, benefits can be obtained from p ackage structures that make the product easier to use while stylistic designs can make the product more attractive to display in the customer’s home †¢Visibility – Packaging design is used to capture customers’ attention as they are shopping or glancing through a catalog or website. †¢Distributor Acceptance – Packaging decisions must not only be accepted by the final customer, they may also have to be accepted by distributors who sell the product for the supplier. †¢Cost – Packaging can represent a significant portion of a product’s elling price. †¢Long Term Decision – When companies create a new package it is most often with the intention of having the design on the market for an extended period of time. In fact, changing a product’s packaging too frequently can have negative effects K packaging Each product is wrapped in butter paper, and then packed in sealed plastic bags that are safe for health, and the n finally packed in the box. Some chickens are prepared to ship whole; others are packed as bone-in cuts or boneless products.Products for retail are packed in K's branded packaging and individually weighed, adding another step to K&N’s quality control. Products are then blast frozen at a very low temperature of –30? C to ensure product freshness, taste and food-safety. Labeling Most packages, whether final customer packaging or distribution packaging, are imprinted with information intended to assist the customer. For consumer products, labeling decisions are extremely important for the following reasons. †¢Labels serve to capture the attention of shoppers.The use of catchy words may cause strolling customers to stop and evaluate the product. †¢The label is likely to be the first thing a new customer sees and thus offers their first impression of the product. †¢The label provides customers with product information to aid their purchase decision or help improve the customer’s experience when using the product (e. g. , recipes). †¢In some countries many products, including food and pharmaceuticals, are required by law to contain certain labels such as listing ingredients, providing nutritional information or including usage warning information.K&N’s labeling ?K&N’s label is to attract the attention of the customers. ?COLOUR is attractive sharp red which is eye catching. These are the things which are listed on the wrappers ?Ingredients ?Nutrition Facts ?Procedure Nuggets Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 5 pieces (110g) Amount per serving Calories 263 Calories from Fat 147 % Daily Value* Total Fat 16. 30g Total Carbohydrate 14. 2g Fibers 1. 98g Protein 14. 90g Salt 1. 6g25% 5% 8% 30% * % Daily Value based on 2000 Calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.Procedure Appliances and utensils vary; adjust heating times accordingly. Do not defrost Karahi (Wok): Preheat oil to frying temperature (180 °C). Deep fry frozen Nuggets for 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Oven: Preheat oven to 230 °C. Bake frozen Nuggets on a baking sheet (turning halfway through baking) for 5 minutes, or until golden brown PRICING STRATEGIES Pricing is the monetary value of the benefit that a customer is paying to get that particular benefit. So a company is very careful in setting its prices. As we know that there are two types of new product pricing strategies Market skimming pricing †¢Market penetration pricing For its product K&Ns have selected the market penetration pricing strategy. They apply this strategy to keep their product prices lower so that by doing this we attract a large numbers of buyers and also to gain large market shares. The reason for not using market skimming strategy is that as its product is an eatable product and there is no sense of keeping high prices for an eatable product, because as K&Ns knows that skimming strategies are for luxury products. PRICE ADJUSTMENT STRATEGIESAfter penetrating into the market, K&Ns will adopt adjustment strategies in order to increase its sales and attract more customers. Basically these adjustment strategies are according to the taste, culture and the changing situation of the market. Following are the price adjustment strategies. Segmented pricing. Psychological pricing. Promotional pricing. Geographical pricing. International pricing. DISCOUNT AND ALLOWANCE PRICING K&Ns applies this strategy by giving quantity discount to its customers. Quantity Discount: K&Ns gives quantity discount by offering â€Å"buy one get one free† offers.Besides this K&Ns also gives discount to those customers who will buy in bulk or in large quantity. Segmented pricing: K&Ns launched its product in almost all the parts of the country with almost the same prices. They segmented their product price in the following ways. Time pricing strategy: In time pricing K&Ns lowers its prices according to diffe rent seasons. It reduces prices in Ramadan season, as its demand is more in that season. Promotional pricing: This strategy involves temporary lowering of the prices of the product below the cost to increase the short run sales.K&Ns applies this strategy when any one of its competitor lower its product price in order to grab market shares. To compete with them it also lowers its product price so that it can retain its market shares. Geographic pricing: In Geographic pricing K&Ns adopts freight absorption strategy. Freight absorption strategy: K&Ns do not add freight charges to its product price in order to keep its product price lower, as its focus is to capture more customers. International pricing: As K&Ns is not yet internationally recognized so K&Ns do not set international prices for its products.K&Ns is only serving nationwide so it sets prices of its product nationally. PRICE CHANGES: Some time companies have to initiate price change after developing pricing strategies Becaus e of different reasons, Price change could be a price cut or price increase. Initiating a Price Cut: K&Ns already set a low price for its product but it cuts price of its product if its sales will not increase accordingly, in that situation K&Ns will cut the price in order to increase sales and to capture market shares. Initiating a Price increase:Once K&Ns product achieved a position in a market and it sets a good image in the consumers mind and has a large number of potential buyers then K&Ns might increase its product price. But its aim is to give good quality product in an affordable price. K&Ns can initiate its product price when its product demand increases and K&Ns cannot supply according to the demand but INSHALLAH this situation will never come because K&N’s has its own poultry and breeding farms. Buyer’s Reaction to Price Changes: Changing in price has a great effect on the consumers mind.They think that there should be some problem with the product so the co mpany is decreasing its product price or the customers may interpret it as the company is closing its business and they will not offer this product in future. On the other hand price increase also affects the buyers in a way that they think that this product is unobtainable unless they buy it soon. They also think that the company is greedy and they are charging more prices for their product. Competitor’s Reaction to Price Changes: K&Ns is aggressive while changing its product price and has to change its product price according to the competitor’s product price.So K&Ns keeps its competitors into consideration before lowering or increasing its product prices. Responding to Price Change: If any of the competitors of K&Ns changes the prices it affects its sales. So K&Ns analyzes the change and react to it accordingly. Like if they low their price it will decrease its sales so K&Ns then adopts strategies to increase its sale by lowering its prices, giving discounts or impr oving quality of its products. PLACE Place include company activities that make the product available to the target customers.For customers, product and service should be as conveniently available as possible. This includes the strategies, how the organization is going to distribute the product or service to the end users. Distributing the right product at right time is the rule of thumb. Efficient and effective distribution is important to meet all the desired marketing objectives of the firm. If the firm is not understanding or underestimating the demand of the customers and customers are not getting the product due this negligence then it is going to affect the overall profitability of the firm in the long run.PLACE MIX DECISIONS: Place mix decisions include designing the strategies for the better availability of the product at the right time to the target customers to achieve organizational objectives. It comprises decisions about: †¢Channels †¢Coverage †¢Assortme nts †¢Locations †¢Inventory †¢Transportation †¢Logistics CHANNEL OF DISTRIBUTION: Channel of Distribution involves the routes of getting the product from the manufacturer to the ultimate consumer. These channels of distribution are also called intermediaries.There are many types of intermediaries such as wholesalers, agents, retailers, the Internet, overseas distributors, direct marketing (from manufacturer to user without an intermediary), and many others. Types of channel of distribution: There are two types of channel of distribution of the products or services available. †¢Indirect distribution: it involves the distribution of the product by the use of an intermediary for example selling the product to the wholesaler and then on the way to the retailers. Direct distribution: it involves the direct distribution of the product from the manufacturing concern to the consumer, without involvement of any third party or middle men. There is an advantage of dire ct distribution over indirect distribution that the manufacturer gains complete control over the consumer. The following figures depict the two types of channel distribution. INDIRECT CHANNEL OF DISTRIBUTION DIRECT CHANNEL OF DISTRIBUTION Distribution strategies: Depending on the types of the product, there are three major types of channel of distribution strategies available. . Extensive distribution: It is commonly used to distribute low priced or impulse purchase products e. g. chocolates and sweets etc. 2. Selective distribution: Here a small number of retail outlets are chosen to distribute the product. Selective distribution is common with products such as computers, televisions household appliances, where consumers are willing to shop around and where manufacturers want a large geographical spread. 3. Exclusive distribution: It involves limiting distribution to a single outlet.The product is usually highly priced, and requires the intermediary to place much detail in its sell . An example of would be the sale of vehicles through exclusive dealers. If the manufacturer decides to choose selective or exclusive distribution, then it must select an experienced, creditable and renowned intermediary. COVERAGE: Number of active retail and/or wholesale outlets (relative to a saturation level) that sell a specific firm's brands in a given market. Required market coverage is achieved by following concentrated marketing, differentiated marketing, or undifferentiated marketing strategy.Concentrated marketing: Concentrated marketing or niche marketing is market-coverage strategy in which a firm goes after a large share of one or a few segments niches. It appeals to the marketers when company resources are limited. Through niche marketing, the firm achieves a strong market position because of its greater knowledge of consumer needs in the niches it serves and a special reputation it acquires. It can market more effectively by fine tuning its products prices and program s to the needs of carefully defined segment.It can also market efficiently, targeting its products or services, channels and communications programs toward only consumers that it can serve best and most profitably. It is highly profitable but at same time provides with greater than normal risks as companies solely depend on fewer segments for their business and large competitors can enter the same segment with greater resources. Differentiated marketing: Differentiated or segmented marketing is market -coverage strategy in which a firm decides to target several market segments and designs separate offers for each.By offering product and marketing variations, companies hope to get higher sales and strong position in each market segment. But there is a drawback that differentiated marketing for each segment bears a lot of cost to satisfy each target segment’s customers. Developing separate marketing plans for the separate segments requires extra marketing research, forecasting, sales analysis, promotion planning, and channel management. Mass marketing: The marketing strategy that provides an opportunity to the organizations to appeal to a wide variety of potential customer is mass marketing or undifferentiated marketing.Here a firm ignores the market differences and go after the whole market with another. The idea is to broadcast the message to the largest number of people possible. Mass marketing creates the largest potential market that yields to lower cost as it focuses on high sales and low prices. Typically, things which are perceived to necessary or essential to the consumer are subject to mass marketing. On the contrary, mass marketing fails to satisfy all consumer needs and face trouble to compete other firms following better marketing approaches.ASSORTMENTS: Assortment means the group or collection of products and services offered in the market for sale. It refers to the variety of the offering being available in the market according to the custo mer’s demand. Role of channel members: Channel members play a vital role in assorting the quantity and variety of the products according to the market and consumer’s needs. Producers use these intermediaries because they create greater efficiency in making goods available to the target markets.Through their contacts, market insight and scale of operation, they transform the assortments of the products made by the producers into assortments wanted by consumers. Producers make narrow assortments of the products in large quantities, but consumers want broad assortments of the products in small quantities. Marketing channel members buy larger quantities of the products from the producers and break them into smaller quantities and broader assortments wanted by consumers. So, intermediaries play an important role in matching the supply and demand in the market. LOCATIONS:The location for the sale of the product is analogous to distribution center. A distribution center for a set of products is a warehouse or other specialized building, often with refrigeration or air conditioning, which is stocked with products (goods) to be re-distributed to retailers, to wholesalers or directly to consumers†¦ A distribution center can also be called a warehouse, a DC, a fulfillment center, a cross-dock facility, a bulk break center, and a package handling center. The name by which the distribution center is known is commonly based on the purpose of the operation.Distribution centers are the foundation of a â€Å"supply network† as they allow a single location to stock a vast number of products. Some organizations operate both retail distribution and direct-to-consumer out of a single facility, sharing space, equipment, labor resources and inventory as applicable. How a distribution center operates? The way a typical retail distribution network operates is to have centers set up throughout a commercial market. Suppliers will ship truckloads of products to the distribution center. The distribution center will then store the product until needed by the retail location and ship the proper quantity.Many retailers own and run their own distribution networks, while smaller retailers may outsource this function to dedicated logistics firms that coordinate the distribution of products for a number of companies. A distribution center can be co-located at a logistics center. Storage at distribution center: Another important secondary role of distribution center is storage. Many retailers have prioritized having as many items in stock at one time as possible. To conserve space, minimize inventory costs, and maximize the variety they offer the retail might only stock one or a few items of a particular product.This requires the ability to ship a replacement quickly once an item is sold. By keeping product on hand in the distribution center, the retailer can ship a replacement almost immediately after a product is sold. Storage location and storag e containers: Goods (products) arrive and are stored in a distribution center in varying types of storage locations and containers suited to the product characteristics and the amount of product to be transported or stored. These types of locations and containers have specific industry accepted names. There are specialized and various types of containers.The following is a list of some of the names and characteristics of common storage containers: †¢Intermodal containers (shipping containers) – are used for the efficient transportation of goods. There are standards that specify the volume and dimensions of containers to facilitate efficient handling. †¢Pallets- are one of the most commonly used means to store and move product in a distribution center. Pallets are stored on the floor, may be stacked, and may be stored in pallet rack. †¢Gaylord’s- are large single boxes usually connected or attached to a pallet. Cases and Cartons- are boxes usually contain ing many items. In distribution centers there is a generally accepted distinction made between the terms carton and case although both are boxes. Goods are received and stored in cartons. Goods are shipped in cases. A stored carton is called a case once it has been picked or pulled for shipment. †¢Totes- are reusable containers used to hold and transport goods. INVENTORY: Inventory or stock means a list compiled for some formal purpose, a list of goods and materials to the goods and materials themselves, especially those held available in stock by a business.Manufacturers', distributors', and wholesalers' inventory tends to cluster in warehouses. Retailers' inventory may exist in a warehouse or in a shop or store accessible to customers. Reasons for keeping stock: There are three basic reasons for keeping an inventory: 1. Time – The time lags present in the supply chain, from supplier to user at every stage, requires that you maintain certain amounts of inventory to use in this â€Å"lead time. † 2. Uncertainty – Inventories are maintained as buffers to meet uncertainties in demand, supply and movements of goods. 3.Economies of scale – Ideal condition of â€Å"one unit at a time at a place where a user needs it, when he needs it† principle tends to incur lots of costs in terms of logistics. So bulk buying, movement and storing brings in economies of scale, thus inventory. While the reasons for holding stock were covered earlier, most manufacturing organizations usually divide their â€Å"goods for sale† inventory into: †¢Raw materials- materials and components scheduled for use in making a product. †¢Work in process, WIP- materials and components that have begun their transformation to finished goods. Finished goods- goods ready for sale to customers. †¢Goods for resale – returned goods that are salable. Inventory management: Inventory management involves a retailer seeking to acquire and mai ntain a proper merchandise assortment while ordering, shipping, handling, and related costs are kept in check. Systems and processes that identify inventory requirements, set targets, provide replenishment techniques and report actual and projected inventory status. The improvement of inventory management has two parts: the capability of the organization to manage inventory, and the way in which it chooses to do so.For example, a company may wish to install a complex inventory system, but unless there is a good understanding of the role of inventory and its parameters, and an effective business process to support that, the system cannot bring the necessary benefits to the organization in isolation. Management of the inventories, with the primary objective of determining/controlling stock levels within the physical distribution function to balance the need for product availability against the need for minimizing stock holding and handling costs. TRANSPORTATION:Transport or transporta tion is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. Transportation infrastructure: Transport infrastructure consists of the fixed installations necessary for transport, and may be roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines, and terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refueling depots (including fueling docks and fuel stations), and seaports.Terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance. Vehicles traveling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters, and aircraft. Operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including financing, legalities and policies. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of in frastructure can be either public or private, depending on the country and mode. LOGISTICS:Logistics can be classified as an enterprise planning framework for material management, information, service and capital flows. In the words, logistics can be defined as having the right type of product or service at the right place, at the right time, for a right price and in the right condition. The primary goal of the logistics is to effectively manage the product life cycles and resultant efficiency. Logistics does not mean a single work activity but refers to a group of activities performed to attain the goal of a business enterprise that is maximizing the Profits.This may involve steps like purchasing, planning, coordination, transportation, warehousing, distribution and customer service. Logistics management: Logistics management is that part of the supply chain which plans, implements and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services and rel ated information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customer and legal requirements. A professional working in the field of logistics management is called a logistician.Logistics management is known by many names, the most common are as follows: †¢Materials Management †¢Channel Management †¢Distribution (or Physical Distribution) †¢Business or Logistics Management or †¢Supply Chain Management PLACE MIX_K: K chicken products are available at K Chicken Stores and leading retailers and also delivered to quality and food-safety conscious institutions such as hotels, restaurants, airlines, clubs and international restaurant chains. It has a strong supply chain through its distribution channels. In Pakistan K is operating in more than 35 cities.There is very diversity in its distribution. We take the example of Islamabad city . In Islamabad there are many stores as well as retailers in every sector, and only in I-8 there is o ne K store and 17 retailer’s shops. DISTRIBUTION OF PRODUCT: After the development of product, product should be distributed into the market for the satisfaction and attraction of our consumers. The products play a vital role in the availability of their services to attract the customers. How to Distribute Product to Retailers: K follows the following ways to distribute product to retailers: †¢Sell Directly to Retailers Sell through distributors, which sell a broad range of products to many retailers †¢Sell through captive distributors, which sell a broad range of products to one chain of retailers. †¢Sell through distributors, which sell to targeted customers. Distribution Channel of Product: The distribution channel of our product is indirect marketing channel because this channel contains one or more intermediary levels. Cities in which products are available: In Pakistan, K chicken is available in the following cities. Abbottabad, Bahawalpur, Chakwal, Chini ot, Daska, D. G. han, Dharki, Dina, Faisalabad, Farooqabad, Gujar Khan, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Jaranwala, Jhelum, Kabirwala, Kamra, Karachi, Khanewal, Kharian, Lahore, Lalamusa, Larkana, Machi ghot , Mangla, Mansehra, Mardan, MirpurAJK, Mirpur Methelo, Mirpurkhas, Multan, Murree, Noshehroferoz, Nawabshah, Noshehra, Okara, Panu Aqil, Peshawar, Pitaro, Quetta, Raiwind, Rawalpindi, Rahimyarkhan, Risalpur, Sadiqabad, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Shorkot, Sialkot, Sukkar, Tandoadam and Wah cant. Promotion Strategies: Promotion is the activity in which the company has a chance to interact with its customers.To Promote K uses different promotional tools. These tools include advertisements, sale promotions, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing. Advertisements: It uses informative advertising because it is mostly used when introducing a new product. The objective of it is to build primary demand. It will use the persuasive advertising when it has a competition in the market. Sales Promotions: In sales promotions it uses different discount strategies, giving short term incentives in order to increase its sales.It also introduces sponsorships, memberships and discount coupons. Memberships: K also offers memberships to its customers. The K's Way Club membership is free. One can enroll by just filling the form, click submit and simply print the Temporary Card. Temporary card: Having enrolled as a new club member, you can use your Temporary card to earn points with immediate effect. Please remember to always present this Temporary Card while shopping at K&N’s Chicken Store for point’s credit into your club account. Club card and pin:Along with your club Member card, you will also receive a 5-digit PIN (Personal Identification Number). You will need this PIN (along with your club card number) to enquire about your account balance; update your individual club profile online, and for all other club online services. As a new member, it is important to know you cannot use our online services, nor redeem your points, until you have received your PIN. One can also enroll oneself by filling out the Enrolment Form available at all K&N's Chicken Stores and send it to the company.One has to detach The K's Way Club Temporary Card and retain it. After becoming the member, K&N’s offers different discounts, exclusive privileges and other benefits to its members when they collect points. The more they collect, the more they benefit. As a member every time you shop at any K&N’s Chicken Store in Pakistan, you earn valuable points which can be redeemed for free K&N's products. Number of points: Number of points earned is directly related to purchase amount, K product category and your status within The K's Way Club. You earn 2. 50 status and award points for every Rs. 0/- spent on Whole Chicken, Designer Cuts and By-Parts. For Boneless products you earn 3. 50 points, while for Ready-to-Cook, Fully Cooked and Deli L ine Products you earn 5 points for the same amount spent. Your club status determines whether you will be able to enjoy additional benefits and privileges associated with Silver, Gold or Circle status within The K&N’s Way Club Program. Award points: Award points are earned every time you shop at a K&N’s Chicken Store. As the name suggests, award points can be exchanged for awards, such as free K&N's products and special discounts.Award points can also be earned against special K's product offers and promotions from time to time. Award points do not count towards determining club status. Status points: Status points are earned simultaneously with award points every time you shop at a K&N’s Chicken Store. As the name suggests, status points determine club status and enable you to move towards and/or retain the higher Silver, Gold or Circle status. Certain limited time promotions or special offers may be excluded from status points’ accrual. Executive bonus: A higher status of Silver, Gold or Circle within the Club also entitles you to an Executive Bonus on award points earned, even for the same purchase amount. If you have Silver status, you earn 25%. Gold status entitles you to 50%, while Circle status gives you 100% Executive Bonus. Executive Bonus is not applicable on Status Points. Member: Once you have reached 50 status points K&N’s welcomes you as a permanent Member of The K&N's Way Club where a world of privileges, attractive awards and benefits are offered to the customers on their future shopping.Silver: Attaining Silver status is easy and within reach. To start with, a customer has to earn 25% Executive Bonus award points on every purchase he makes, and enjoy a host of other privileges designed for the Silver members. Gold: A customer has to earn required number of status points and he gets the Gold status The K's Way Gold members get as much as 50% Executive Bonus award points on purchases, 6 discount eVouchers in a c alendar year for attaining or extending the status each time, and other privileges designed only for the Gold members.Circle: The K&N’s Way Circle status recognizes the loyalty of the exceptional customers. It offers these privileges as an expression of their utmost appreciation for the loyalty of their exclusive ‘circle’ of such customers. For instance, if a customer treats himself to 100% Executive Bonus award points on his purchases, 12 discount eVouchers in a calendar year for attaining or maintaining the status each time and other privileges designed exclusively for their Circle members. Personal Selling It also promotes its product through personal selling.Personal selling is more effective than any other promotion strategy. Through personal communication, it is easy to persuade someone to buy your product, because in personal selling there is a direct contact with the buyers. Public Relations: To increase its sales it also ties good public relations. K&Nâ €™s develops its public relation by doing the work of social responsibility, like wishing happy Eid or wishing any other special event to the customers. Through Public relations it also creates a good word of mouth for the product which is the most efficient way of promoting a product.Direct Marketing: In direct marketing K&N’s targets its customers through internet, telephone, print media and electronic media (television and radio). Print Media: It promotes its product through print media by advertising its product in newspapers and in different magazines. K&N’s adopts this type of advertising when it wants to introduce some new discount packages or sales offers. Other then advertising in newspapers and in magazines it also advertises its product on bill boards and banners. Electronic Media:To promote its product through electronic media K&N’s advertises its product on different television channels and on radio stations. To make its product information more convenient and easy it provides its website and 24 hours toll free numbers, through which the customers can contact and also give feedback about the product. The website of K&N’s is http://www. kandns. com Promotion for kids: To make its products favorite among kids, K&N’s introduced a product called â€Å"Fun Nuggets†. It has designed special advertisements for children.As kids are more attracted by cartoons, K&N’s has used cartoon characters like dinosaurs, dolphins and ducks and have given them special names like Din Din, Dolf and Ducky to make their products familiar with kids. K&N’s Cooking show: To promote its product, K&N's has now brought a dedicated cooking show for quick recipes with answers to all viewers’ ‘how do you do that' questions, and helpful tips – all at Smart Cooking with K's! Chef Mehboob Khan is the name consumers trust and count on for reliable and tasteful recipes.People can now watch him use a wide ran ge of K&N’s chicken products for easy-to-prepare recipes like Lahori Karahi, Chicken Ala Kiev, or Fajita Wraps. Smart Cooking with K&N's is aired on every Saturday 6:30pm, Sunday 4:00pm and Wednesday 2:00pm, on ARY Zauq. In this winter, to promote its products, K has now offered discounts on its products like Croquettes and chapli kabab. Similarly, in Ramazan, K offered its members to get 50% bonus award points on all of its products. In the same way, it had offered its members price discounts on Haray Bharay Nuggets and Tender Pops in Ramazan.Other then the print and electronic media the cheapest way to promote the product is through Short messaging service: They have a contract with different cellular companies where they will send K promotional messages to their special numbers. K face book page: K has also created face book page. Now-a-days, many companies, designers and artists are making their fan pages on face book for the advertisements of their products. People go on these pages, learn about the products, give their comments, resolve their queries and recommend these pages to their friends.In the same way, K has made its face book page to advertise its products. Its face book link is: http://www. facebook. com/pages/KNs-Chicken/120891524596651 Promotion Budget: To allocate budget for the promotion strategies K uses objective and task method. According to this method first it defines its promotion objectives, that why are they promoting their product? After that they determine different tasks to accomplish those objectives and at the end they estimate the cost utilized in performing these tasks. PRODUCT POSITIONINGIt is the evaluation of a company’s product’s position that what place it occupies in the market and how customers differentiate it from other products. Choosing positioning strategy To position the product different companies use different positioning strategies. Major competitors: Major competitors of K and N are †¢Kitchen confidence. †¢Mano Salva, †¢ seasons canola`s menu †¢Locally available chicken Kitchen Confidence basically produces frozen products like Chicken Nuggets. Burger Patties, Meat balls, Samosa,Rolls etc. Recently co. has started non frozen item i. e. Bread Crumbs.Salwa Foods offers an assortment of deep frozen food products for both retailers and food service. The assortment ranges from basic standard products to highly refined ready-made products. Salwa foods have launched its ready to cook items under the name of Mano Salwa. Season’s canola has launched its range of ready to cook food items with the name of menu. But the largest of the competitors that was a challenge to K and N was the locally available chicken in the market. It had the stereotypic advantage of being truly Halal and cheap than any kind of chicken available in packets in frozen form.Competitive Advantages Following are the competitive advantages that make it different K & N from rest of its competitors. Product Differentiation: We offer a pack of four. Each separately wrapped in butter paper, combined packed in sealed plastic bags that are safe for health, and then finally packed in the box. Service Differentiation: Our product will be accessible and will be available at every outlet of K. Channel differentiation: In Pakistan K is operating in more than 35 cities. There is very diversity in its distribution. We take the example of Islamabad city .In Islamabad there are many stores as well as retailers in every sector, and only in I-8 there is one K store and 17retailer’s shops. People differentiation: Technology is highly involved in the production so we will hire trained staff, those who knows how to operate the machines. We also hire qualified staff in order to guarantee healthy relationship between customers and retailers. Image differentiation: Since our product comes under K brand name hence a good image will be casted over the consumers. Also K is a s ymbol of quality; hence will automatically be recognized as a quality product.Product Chain K are enjoying their own product chain. They have their own breading and poultry forms, from where they get there raw material for their product. Choosing the right competitive advantage †¢Important: We deliver highly valued benefits to our target customers in our products. †¢Distinctive: we have no strong competitor and enjoy distinctiveness in the market. †¢Superior: we are providing pure hygienic food in at comparable prices. †¢Communicable: the consumers can feel the difference in our quality, taste, hygiene and prices that are communicable. Preemptive: competitor needs a lot and lot of hard work to match our standard else it is not possible. †¢Affordable: Buyer can afford to pay for the difference. †¢Profitable: the difference is profitable both for the company and the customers. Selecting an overall positioning strategy Our overall positioning strategy will be focused on More for Less winning value proposition i. e. will offer more quality at less price range and we will focus on the needs and wants of target customers in order to give high customer value and satisfaction POSITIONING STATEMENTTo target the teenagers, working women, hostilities and bachelors, we offer, a ready to eat hot and spicy paratha, with high quality, affordability and accessibility. Conclusion We have come to a conclusion that K is the most superior and famous quality delivering company. Its Promotion through advertising is highly frequent on different TV channels. It has differentiated itself from its competitors by having highly trained sales person with different discount allowances and coupons. It has developed strong bonds with its customers. It

Macbeth as Tragedy Essay

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is often considered one of literature’s greatest tragedies and is said to reveal much about human nature. Do you agree or disagree that the play conveys much about humanity or about the human experience? What, if anything, does the work suggest about human beings or society? Support your views with textual details and analysis. In your response, address how Macbeth’s subject matter, themes, form, or other literary elements might (or might not) be characteristic of tragedy. How do tragic qualities of the play contribute (or not) to the story’s larger message(s)? Macbeth has always been a play of interest in any age groups. I remember this play in my high school but then which school does not get involved with this play. I do agree with the statement that Macbeth reveals much about human nature. Macbeth reveals the dark side of human nature; ambition, hunger for control and power, it shows us the aftermath that it leaves behind. The play suggests the dark tendencies that lives within many of the human beings in our society; the need to succeed and annihilate their obstacles at any cost: human beings are opportunistic. Macbeth shows us how far a person will go to in order to realize their own ambitions; even to commit a killing. Free will exists in humanity and everyone has the potential for good and the commit evil deeds. The Macbeth’s lust for power and greed ends up in grim tragedy. Macbeth starts off as a hero; a brave warrior in the battlefield, standing behind his king and protecting his land. This is what makes Macbeth a tragic hero. â€Å"Tragic hero: A main character who acts with courage but falls from high standing into catastrophic circumstances because of a weakness of character or serious misjudgment. (Clugston, 2010, page. 4. 4, para. 3). Lady Macbeth is willing to lose her soul in order to push her husband’s faith to be king a reality and sooner; she asks the gods to remove all compassion and femininity and replace with cold and ruthless qualities; this symbolizes the darkness of human nature. The Macbeth’s had it all but failed to recognize it due to having their dark ambitions take over them; consuming them and this is the tragedy. The literary elements are the motifs, they are the hallucinations and violence; these motifs lead to tragedy end of the Macbeth’s.

Four Views on Religion in a Pluralistic World

With the understanding that religious pluralism is the greatest challenge facing Christianity in today’s Western culture, Dennis L. Okholm and Timothy R. Phillips assembled the writings of five scholars to address the issue of whether explicit belief in Jesus is the only way to salvation. The contributions of these scholars, along with introductory comments by Okholm and Phillips, are found in the book, Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World, edited by Okholm and Phillips.In this work, John Hick argues the view of normative pluralism and its assertion that all ethical religions lead to God. Clark Pinnock promotes inclusivism and the view that salvation is ultimately based in Christ even though people of other religions may be saved apart from explicit faith in Christ. Alister E. McGrath argues for a particularist view of salvation from a post-enlightenment perspective. R. Douglas Geivett and W. Gary Phillips present a particularist view from an evidentialist perspectiv e. This paper will give a critical review of Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World.It will attempt to accurately summarize the views of Hick, Pinnock, McGrath, and Geivett and Phillips. This paper will also evaluate the arguments made by these contributors. Introductory Issues as Presented by Okholm and Phillips Okholm and Phillips offer a helpful introduction to the issues of pluralism, inclusivism and particularism. They do this by discussing the rise of religious pluralism and the challenges it has brought to Christianity. Okholm and Phillips point out that the traditional Christian view of particularism was challenged during the Enlightenment (8).Schleiermacher took an important step toward inclusivism when he asserted that God is salvifically available in some degree in all religions even though the gospel of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment and highest manifestation of this universal awareness (8). Classical liberalism followed Schleiermacher’s inclusive asserti ons until the late nineteenth century when historicism and its heightened awareness of cultural and religious relativities challenged the claim that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of religion.Ernst Troeltsch argued that all people at all times are purely historical creatures, therefore, all religious claims are culturally conditioned perspectives of the divine. Being unable to make normative religious judgments, Troeltsch espoused pluralism (8-9). Okholm and Phillips assert that the late twentieth century â€Å"has heightened the dialogue regarding other religions† (9). In the current pluralistic environment normative religious claims are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.Likewise, arguments for the uniqueness and superiority of Christianity are not well received. They also point out that the differences between liberal inclusivists and pluralists are only a matter of degree (10). In fact, in recent decades some liberal leaders have crossed over to religious plural ism. The strong pull towards pluralism has also affected conservative Christianity as more within the conservative camp question whether explicit belief in Christ is always necessary for salvation (11). Pluralism as Presented by John HickOkholm and Phillips point out that John Hick â€Å"towers over all other pluralists in influence and renown† (13). Hick believes salvation must be understood in more general terms than Christianity has traditionally allowed. According to Hick, salvation should be understood as a human change—a gradual transformation from natural self-centeredness to a radically new God-centeredness (43). He calls this transformation â€Å"salvation/liberation† (44). Hick believes that all ethical religions lead to God and rejects the view that Christianity alone is superior or uniquely true.He opts for the view that â€Å"the God-figures of the great theistic religions are different human awarenesses of the Ultimate† (39). Presenting hims elf as a former Christian fundamentalist who is familiar with traditional Christian claims, Hick explains why he rejects Christian particularism in favor of pluralism. First, Hick rejects the Bible’s authority and its ability to settle theological issues. He believes that the Bible presents pre-scientific beliefs and cultural assumptions that are no longer acceptable today (33).He also does not believe that God reveals propositions to people in human language. To Hick, the formulation of theology â€Å"is a human activity that always, and necessarily, employs the concepts and reflects the cultural assumptions and biases of the theologians in question† (36). Second, Hick rejects the New Testament teaching of the incarnation. To him, Jesus was not God and never claimed to be divine. The New Testament declarations of Jesus’ deity were written by people who did not know Jesus and reflect a gradual deification of Jesus in the minds of Christians.Hick’s denial of the incarnation naturally leads him to reject the â€Å"central doctrines of Trinity and Atonement† (52). Hick says the idea of the incarnation was a metaphor. To him, Jesus embodied as much of the infinite divine moral qualities as could be expressed in a finite human, but Jesus himself was not divine (57). Third, Hick argues that the morality of Christians is basically the same as people who follow other religions. If Christianity were uniquely true, he asserts, Christians should be morally superior. This is not the case according to Hick (39-42).Since people of differing religions have basically the same sense of piety and morality, this suggests to him that the major world religions are basically equal and saying the same thing. The primary appeal of pluralism is that it fits well with the thinking of modern Western society. Today’s society holds to a high view of man that has carried over from the Enlightenment. It also likes to stress fairness and equality and shows a disdain for the idea that large numbers of people may be lost for eternity because they never heard of or trusted in the Christian message.Hick’s pluralism appears to be an enlightened approach to religion but it has more problems than solutions. The first major issue with Hick’s pluralism involves his starting points for understanding people and religions. Hick’s starting point appears to be the Enlightenment’s positive anthropology and Western conceptions of fairness. He also explicitly states that he rejects the Bible’s authority when it comes to evaluating religions. Not only is this high view of man being challenged in the new postmodern environment, Christians who believe the Bible must reject Hick’s starting points.For those who accept the Bible’s authority, Hick’s perspective on these important matters is certain to be skewed since he rejects the one true source that is able to give us direction on these import ant matters. Second, Hick disrespects and even insults the major religions by claiming that they are basically teaching the same thing. As McGrath’s analysis showed, Hick’s perspective is shallow and shows a disregard for what the major religions actually teach.Certainly, there are aspects of Christianity such as the Golden Rule that have parallels in other religions, but there is much about Christianity that is mutually exclusive to other religions. The Christian belief in one personal God, for instance, cannot be reconciled with Buddhism and Hinduism. The Christian view that God is a God of grace and mercy who can be reached only through faith alone is foreign to the Allah of Islam. The deity of Jesus Christ is a particular of Christianity that is rejected by other religions. This reviewer also disagrees with Hicks’ attempt to mold Christianity into his own image.Hick wants to acknowledge that Christianity is a way to God but only after stripping it of its ess ential elements. He also wants to keep the elements of Christianity he finds acceptable while rejecting other parts. For example, Hick wants to keep the ethical teachings attributed to Jesus in the New Testament but rejects any claims concerning Jesus’ deity. Such distinctions appear arbitrary and subjective. Third, this reviewer rejects Hick’s modern assumptions that religious beliefs are totally culturally conditioned and that true knowledge of God cannot be reached.It is true that humans are influenced by culture and that no one person or group has a complete understanding of â€Å"the truth. † If God does exist, however, why should He not able to reveal Himself in such a way that humans can have some true knowledge about Him and His ways? Inclusivism as Presented by Clark Pinnock Clark Pinnock believes that inclusivism correctly offers a middle ground between exclusivism and pluralism. To him, â€Å"Inclusivism believes that, because God is present in the w hole world (premise), God’s grace is also at work in some way among all people, possibly even in the sphere of religious life (inference)† (98).Pinnock asserts that inclusivism rightly holds to two equal theological truths—the particularity of salvation through Christ and God’s universal plan to save sinners. Particularists, Pinnock says, hold the former and not the latter. Pluralists, on the other hand, deny the former and affirm the latter. â€Å"Inclusivism,† Pinnock asserts, â€Å"permits us to hold both particularity and universality at the same time† (142). Pinnock points out that inclusivism is not a tightly defined position. He says his form of inclusivism is â€Å"cautious† or â€Å"modal. Unlike another influential inclusivist, Karl Rahner, Pinnock stops short of stating that other religions possess salvific status or are vehicles of salvation. Pinnock holds that â€Å"Religions can be pathways to damnation† (113). He does believe, though, that the Holy Spirit is operative in human religion in a way that prepares people for the gospel of Christ (96). He also claims that wherever the triune God is present, grace must be present (98). Using the examples of Melchizedek and Cornelius, Pinnock states, â€Å"I believe that the Bible supports inclusivism† (109).Important to Pinnock’s inclusivism is the belief that â€Å"God can use both general and special revelation in salvific ways† (117). Pinnock rejects the traditional idea that God reveals himself in such a way that worsens the condition of sinners and makes their plight more hopeless (117). Pinnock should be credited for emphasizing the vastness of God’s mercy and encouraging particularists to reexamine their beliefs. As a reader, though, I was disappointed with Pinnock’s defense of inclusivism. First, Pinnock appears to have a higher view of human religion than Scripture does.Scripture consistently presents the other religions as wicked and idolatrous. God viewed the religion of the Canaanites as an abomination (Ezra 9:1). Paul was persecuted for teaching that the gods of the Gentiles were â€Å"no gods at all† (Acts 19:26). In his letter to the Thessalonians Paul commended his readers for turning to God from idols (1 Thess. 1:9). Second, Pinnock’s anthropology is not true to Scripture. He does not address Scripture’s strong emphasis on man’s depravity. He appears to share with Hick the idea that people are basically good and are deserving of a chance at salvation.Salvation in Scripture, though, appears based more on God’s choice than on something God owes the human race. His claim that general revelation can save is also not supported by Scripture. Pinnock’s inclusivism is most striking in his assertion that people of other religions may still be saved even if they reject the Christian gospel and remain in their current religion (120). How can th is be reconciled with Jesus’ message in Matthew 10:37-39 that no one who is unwilling to deny mother, father, and even his own life to follow Him is worthy of salvation?McGrath’s Post-Enlightenment Particularist View McGrath presents a post-Enlightenment particularist approach to salvation, but the main focus of his chapter is to highlight the major problems with pluralism. After acknowledging that the issues raised by pluralists are important, McGrath shows why he believes pluralism is seriously in error. According to McGrath, the whole issue of religious pluralism has been â€Å"fatally flawed† by a mentality that demands that all religions be â€Å"reduced to the same mold† (156). The assumption by pluralists that all religions are asically saying the same thing reflects an outdated foundationalism and a view of religion that reflects a Western cultural bias. McGrath argues that interaction between people of different faiths is good. He disagrees, thou gh, with religious discussions that overlook important areas of disagreement. Proper discussion can enhance understanding of other religions and cause Christians to reexamine long-held views that rest on inadequate scriptural foundations, but it should never be at the expense of downplaying key beliefs (159).McGrath, therefore, calls on theologians to respect all religions and their unique elements. Christianity, for example, holds to key beliefs that separate it from other religions. As he states, â€Å"The New Testament thus affirms the particularity of the redemptive act of God in Jesus Christ† (163). This foundational difference should not be ignored or â€Å"merged into the various concepts of divinity found in other religions† (165). McGrath also draws attention to the Reformed view that God has revealed himself to all people through natural revelation.Thus, McGrath, unlike Karl Barth, does believe that people of other religions know some true things about God fr om the creation. Knowledge of God from natural revelation, though, does not necessarily translate into salvation. In the last four pages of his chapter, McGrath specifically addresses his personal views on salvation. He states that we can be assured that all who respond in faith to the explicit preaching of the gospel will be saved. He does not, though, conclude that only those who respond to the explicit preaching of the gospel will be saved.According to McGrath, â€Å"We must be prepared to be surprised at those whom we will meet in the kingdom of God† (178). He cites the Ninevites, the queen of Sheeba and those who lived in Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of people who may have experienced salvation in untraditional ways. McGrath says the traditional evangelical view that a verbal proclamation of the gospel is always necessary for salvation is â€Å"flawed† (178). This approach, he says, â€Å"limits God’s modes of action, disclosure, and sav ing power† (178). For McGrath, â€Å"A human failure to evangelize cannot be transposed into God’s failure to save† (178).God’s prevenient grace is at work and may bring salvation to people even if their â€Å"act of hope and trust may lack the fully orbed character of an informed Christian faith† (179). Although giving no documentation or explanation, McGrath claims that many Muslims are becoming Christians through dreams and visions of the risen Christ. For McGrath, then, human preaching is a means that God uses to bring salvation, but it is not the only means. In the end, McGrath states his confidence that the Judge of the earth will do what is right (Gen. 18:25).As mentioned, McGrath’s discussion is mostly a critique of pluralism. In this area he does well. McGrath rightly charges Hick with disregarding the particularity of Christianity and overlooking the major differences between the world’s major religions. I also agree with McG rath’s emphasis on the particularity of Christianity and the necessity of belief in Christ for salvation as it relates to Christianity. He may also be correct in his assertion that we may be surprised as the number of people we will meet in heaven (178), although the texts he uses to support this assertion are questionable.His use of the Ninevites, queen of Sheba, and the cities of Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, and Gomorrah are not true challenges to traditional exclusivism. The Ninevites and the queen of Sheba had access to special revelation. The Gentile cities he mentioned may be less guilty than Jewish cities that rejected the message of Christ, but this is no evidence that people in those cities were saved. McGrath may also be correct that human preaching is not always necessary for a person to be saved. God may use extraordinary means outside of human proclamation to bring people to saving faith.Like McGrath claims, God may use visions of the risen Christ to bring people to faith . How much of this activity takes place is not known. I wish McGrath would have documented his statement that many Muslims are coming to Christ through special visions of the resurrected Christ. Geivett and Phillips’ Evidential Particularist View Geivett and Phillips promote the view that â€Å"individual salvation depends on explicit personal faith in Jesus Christ† (214). Their position is a version of Christian particularism that is sometimes called exclusivism or restrictivism.This view has been the traditional view of Christianity up until the Enlightenment and still has many adherents today. Geivett and Phillips set forth their methodology for engaging inclusivists and pluralists. The discussion with inclusivists is a â€Å"first-order intramural debate† between those who accept and believe the Bible. Thus, debate over what the Bible says becomes primary. In this context, they do a theological analysis of texts they believe support particularism. The texts they use include Acts 4:12; John 3:16, 18; Romans 10:9-15; and John 14:6; 17:20.Geivett and Phillips argue that these texts affirm the necessity of explicit belief in Christ for salvation to occur. With pluralists, however, there is a â€Å"second-order intramural debate. † Here arguments from Scripture are not the starting point since pluralists do not accept the Bible’s authority. For Geivett and Phillips, discussion with pluralists is possible, but the starting point must be natural theology. In particular, they begin with arguments for the existence of God to set the base for their eventual conclusion that we can trust God’s special revelation as found in the Bible.To them, natural theology and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead give strong evidence that the Bible is true and that we can trust it when it speaks to how one must be saved. I am mostly in agreement with the position of Geivett and Phillips. The strong emphasis in the New Testament on faith in Christ for salvation and the emphasis on taking the gospel to the ends of the earth are strong evidences for Christian particularism. Plus, although John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 do not present an airtight case for particularism, these texts do emphasize the exclusive nature of Christianity.Geivett and Phillips are to be commended on two points. First, they are to be commended for their scholarly and humble attempt to establish the truth of their position. As they say, â€Å"We have not argued merely for the coherence of our position; we have argued that it is true† (245). They not only offered the most specific exegesis of any of the writers, they also interacted seriously with the texts most emphasized by their opponents. Geivett and Phillips also point to a practical issue in their favor. If the pluralists are correct there is little danger in preaching inclusivism or particularism.If the inclusivists are right there is little danger in promoting particularism but it is risk y to promote pluralism. If particularists are correct, however, there is great danger in promoting pluralism and inclusivism for many will be deceived into thinking they are saved when they are not. The consequences of this last scenario are disastrous. Not all of the points made by Geivett and Phillips were equally good. I did not find their discussion on Christian evidences as being particularly helpful. Though I am in agreement with their conclusions about general revelation, this discussion appeared out of place.Perhaps this space could have been devoted to more important matters and amplifications of other points made in the chapter. Plus, one could believe in the particularism of Geivett and Phillips and also hold to a presupposition apologetic that would not start with evidences for the existence of God. In sum, Four Views is a significant work that presents the major views on salvation in a pluralistic world. It is a helpful read for those who want a basic overview of the ma jor positions on this important issue.

Plagiarism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Plagiarism - Essay Example Electronic communication has become prevalent in the modern era, such as through the internet or telephone. In particular, the internet has become a popular method of spreading information, both positive and negative (Buttle, 1998). Other potential WOM mechanisms that are not included in Arndt’s definition are forms of written communication such as e-mail, letters and faxes. The second problematic aspect of this definition is that the person communication is considered to be unassociated with the item that is being discussed. Consumers are becoming more wary about how independent advice from a third party is, but WOM remains an influential source of information. Many businesses have been working to try and take advantage of the ability of WOM to promote goods or services, by playing a direct role in the recommendation process. For example, relationship marketing uses the approach of rewarding customers who recommend family or friends. Likewise, the use of reciprocal referrals has been developing in many businesses (Stokes & Lomax, 2002). One form of this is schemes that are known as Member Get Member (MGM). In addition, network marketing has developed to the extent that the personal relationships that an individual has and that clients have, have become crucial in the development of sales. The fact that this form of recommendation is often successful shows that although the person giving the recommendation is not independent, there is still a significant effect on behaviour, and thus, it is a WOM activity. These arguments have resulted in the development of a more up-to-date definition of WOM, which is all communication that occurs between people that focuses on either products or services, where the communication is believed to be impartial by the receiver (Stokes & Lomax, 2002). The use of personal referral is often considered to be a highly effective method of influencing the behaviour of consumers.

A Step For the future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Step For the future - Essay Example Mama says, â€Å"In real life I am a large, big.boned woman with rough, man.working hands† (Walker). Although she is very weak financially, yet she has remained composed through all thick and thin of life. To me, Mama is a role model because being a woman does not make her deprived of any thing in any sense. Having studied Mama as a character in Everyday Use, I have come to realize that much of the injustice women conventionally complain of can be attributed to their self perception of a weaker sex. It is their own sense of delicacy and insecurity that makes them underestimate themselves, and the opposite gender takes advantage of it. If women leave underestimating themselves, no man can undermine them, and Mama stays as an evidence for this. A & P: Having read A & P, the biggest lesson that I have learnt is that men’s preferences and sense of responsibility in life change as they mature. For a man who is as young and immature as Sammy, gaining approval of a girl passin g by may mean more than job, that is the most fundamental demand of a mature man. Sammy enters into an extremely useless and unproductive argument with the store manager for girls whom he has seen for the first, and perhaps the last time in his life in the store.

Fundraising Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fundraising Plan - Essay Example The fundraising extends a period of three weeks, a period within which the managers will develop and trade various products and services before culminating into a large fundraising dinner on 14/11/2014 at the University’s pavilion. The fundraising is a way for the university’s teams to involve the community in its development. The teams seek to enjoy financial independence by creating an effective management team that will oversee the utilization of all its resources for posterity of athletics in the society (Tullberg, 2006). Hill toppers has been the name of the university’s team since 1925. The teams take part in different sporting events thereby contributing to the extracurricular development of the students. Additionally, the sports offer the students with an effective platform to interact and develop their management skills. The teams have grown concurrently with the University (Blick, 2011). Since 2005, Hill toppers has achieved great success owing to the effective management of the teams. The teams have a history of raising funds to acquire resources and enhance the success of the teams. In 2007 for example, the teams raised two hundred thousand dollars for the development of both a soccer and football pitches within the university. The success of the fundraising event enhanced the performance of the two sports a feature that informs the current even which sees to raise adequate resources for refurbishing the entire university’s sport’s fraternity. The fundraising’s strengths include the diversity of the services and products. This implies that the fundraising will raise money from numerous sources. Additionally, the large duration coupled with the large number of interested stakeholders ensures that the project exhausts all its resources. Its weakness on the other hand is the huge sum it seeks

COMPUTER PHYSICIAN ORDER ENTRY Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

COMPUTER PHYSICIAN ORDER ENTRY - Research Paper Example The CPOE system has been identified as significant model of attaining improvement, especially with regard to medication error minimization. Wrong medication administration has often resulted from errors in transcription of handwritten orders as well as confusion of drugs with similar sounding labels or names. However, with computerized ordering and bar code reading of orders and patient records, nurses are least likely to make errors. The capability of CPOE to significantly change the ordering procedures could substantially reduce misuse, underuse and overuse of the health services. The application of CPOE can bring significant improvement in various areas by enhancing compliance, shortening length of hospitalization, reducing medication errors, reducing healthcare costs, reducing legal suits and improve care outcomes (Committee on Quality of Health Care in America, Institute of Medicine, 2000). Introduction of CPOE within health facilities requires structural changes in staffing coupled by appropriate IT training to support staff use. Therefore, there is a need for systematic and extensive review of the ordering system and subsequent restructuring and redesign of the process. All these process should involve all stakeholders interacting with such a system so that they can learn how to apply it in care delivery (Kuperman & Richard, 2003). The CPOE system basically works by guiding the ordering system, and orders are first made by the medical practitioner based on the patient conditions and care requirements. In addition to order details other pertinent issues such as polypharmacy and patients allergies as well as conditions are included alongside the order. The complete order is the transmitted simultaneously to the pharmacy department as well as the patient care unit (AHRQ, 2012). The pharmacy uses the order dispense medicine and check any possible complications and proble ms that may arise

Respnse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Respnse - Essay Example To speed up delivery and installation at customer sites, I had insisted that service engineer be attached to this team, which was sanctioned by the Executive Director. Our internal quality processed required that the externally sourced goods be verified and checked before installation at customer sites. This activity was controlled by the service manager. He would deliberately delay the process, as je was upset that I had transgressed into his sphere of power. Entertainment expenses as part of marketing activities was only permitted for managers. Since I had the additional responsibility of liaison with public sector and government agencies, I was given a special concession for entertainment bills, with the requirement that the bill be countersigned by the Executive Director before reimbursement. Scrutiny of bills before passing it on to accounts for reimbursement was the responsibility of the HRM deputy manager. She would call me for verifications each time a bill was presented, per ked at a benefit that she did not enjoy, though we were in the same grade. 3. Do â€Å"organizational politics† have a place in effective leadership, or are they consistently counter-productive to leadership effectiveness? Discuss.

Learning Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Learning Process - Essay Example The Learning process mostly depends on experience and leads to long-term changes in behavior potential. Behaviour potential designates the possible behavior of an individual, not actual behavior As opposed to short-term changes in behavior potential (caused e.g. by fatigue) learning implies long-term changes. As opposed to long-term changes caused by aging and development, learning implies changes related directly to experience. Major research traditions are behaviorism, Cognitivist (psychology) and self-regulated learning (Psychology of Learning 2005). Learning has to be periodically reinforced, so that knowledge will not eventually lose in that individual (Learning 2005). Example can be seen in infants and children. Imitation of a role model is a natural mechanism for infants and children, when learning from experience. Childs play is another method for learning by the example of other children, who naturally gain satisfaction by playing the role of teacher or mentor to a less-expe rienced child (Learning 2005). Learning by teaching, is a method of teaching which allows teachers to share the new lesson contents and let little groups prepare their part in order to teach this contents to the rest of the class (Learning 2005). In education and psychology, learning theories help teachers understand the process of learning. There are two main perspectives in learning theories, constructivism and behaviorism (Learning Theory 2005). Other informal theories of education deal with more sensible components of the learning process. One of these deals with whether learning should take place as a building of concepts toward an overall idea, or the understanding of the overall idea with the details filled in later.

Googles dilemma Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Googles dilemma - Case Study Example When Larry Paige and Sergie Brian hit upon the idea in 1998, the concept of search engine was still vague. Thus, Google’s success lies in tapping the search engine space and as it grew exponentially; it had to evolve into some kind of structured organization if it had to maintain its astounding growth rate. Summary of the situation: The tile of the case about the â€Å"dilemma† faced by Google is how to motivate and energize its young staff while maintaining a semblance of formalized structures. The key is to incubate new ideas in an organization while having some sort of bureaucratic structures in place to sustain its growth. SWOT The strength of Google is innovation and the workforce that prides itself on being â€Å"geeky† but resents formalized structures. Google derives its main strength from the way in which employees use their spare time to sound off on potential ideas that can be the â€Å"next big thing†. The weakness of Google lies in the way in which it is grappling with establishing formal governance structures. This is a classic dilemma faced by many technology companies: How to grow without making the workforce feel that are part of an â€Å"impersonal† and â€Å"mechanical† organization. Google’s opportunity is the ever growing web applications market that has seen it grow at an annualized rate of around 30% over the last few years. The vitality and creativity of the workforce is another area of opportunity. Finally, the threat to Google is two-fold: potential start-ups like cuil.com that were started by ex-Google employees and can eat into its search engi ne market. Second, the rising headcount that now stands at over 6,000 can make it a victim of its own success. Recommendations: it is recommended that Google’s management team inculcate a spirit of structure and formalized communication channels instead of the â€Å"college† atmosphere that

Challenges of the Twenty-Year Veteran Seeking Federal Employment Research Proposal

Challenges of the Twenty-Year Veteran Seeking Federal Employment - Research Proposal Example The paper tells that the Federal Executive branch has been recognized to be the principal owner with regard to Veteran employees in the United States. A huge number of Veterans are believed to be engaged presently in different agencies throughout the country as well as the world. The Federal government is learnt to comprise augmented number of Veterans as its employees in comparison to the other private segments. It has been further found that the Federal government even plans to increase its recruitment of Veterans in the various fields of services. Employing Veterans by the government is not only considered to be morally appropriate but is also believed to be advantageous from the business point of view. It is considered to be quite beneficial as the government is often believed to put in noteworthy amount of resources for the reason of training as well as development with regard to the military service workforce. The insistent steps taken towards keeping hold of the evolutionary m ilitary service workforce within the government aid in making the most of their return on the made investments. This also facilitates the government to make recruitments and fill up the places that entails higher requirements in the Federal agencies. The twenty-year veterans’ were found to witness challenges while seeking federal employment after the completion of their service in the armed forces. This is proving to be discouraging for the twenty-year veterans’ as they are being held back from leading a normal life post service. The main challenges faced by the twenty-year veterans’ along with the causes are considered to be the problem which is aimed to be explored in this study. Purpose Statement The purpose of this study will be to focus on the various challenges faced by the twenty-year veterans while seeking federal employment. The study will also intent to identify the causes triggering the challenges along with suggesting suitable solutions. Conceptual T heoretical Framework The aim of this research will be to identify the challenges faced by the twenty-year veterans while looking for federal employment. The research will relate to the laws favoring the appointment of twenty-year veterans’ in federal employment and the other relevant laws related to the preference and disabilities along with the needed steps that is required to be undertaken in this context. Research Questions The research questions in relation to the topic of the research identified are: The kind of challenges witnessed by the veterans’ The role of the Veterans’ Preference Laws in overcoming the challenges Literature Review From the time period with regard to the Civil War, considerable extents of preference in the course of selection in relation to the Federal jobs are being provided to the Veterans related to the Armed Forces. Taking into consideration the degree of sacrifices made with regard to those individuals offering their services in t he field of Armed Forces, the Congress passed laws with the intention to avoid or check veterans on the lookout for Federal service from being reprimanded owing to the amount of time spent by an individual in the field of military service (Howell, 2011). According to the regulations, the physically disabled veterans or the ones who rendered their respective service in relation to dynamic responsibility with regard to the Armed Forces in the course of definite particular time phases or even in military movements would enjoy certain

The United States of America Essay Example for Free

The United States of America Essay The year is 2039 in the United States of America. There is a new mandatory government law and procedure that requires all American citizens to adhere to. The procedure is called the Ein which is a German word that means â€Å"one†. The procedure changes all normal human beings as we know them into super intelligent people and reconstructs them into beautiful beings. The process starts on an automatic escalator on which the human being rides, and travels from one machine to the next. The first machine controls the brain by using an automatic electronic head piece that descends from above onto the human head. The electronic headpiece shocks the brain and reprograms everything that is sympathetic such as emotions, empathy and creativity. After that part of the brain is completely numbed, the computer programming begins to transform the mind, turning everyone who enters into alienated, egocentric human beings. After the process is done, the human is totally dumbfounded and automatically moves to the next machine which is called the Van-Trans. To keep the human from feeling any pain, he or she is first injected with a super pain reliever and then the human’s skeleton reshapes into a human box. After the person is shaped like a box, the Van-Trans start the reshaping procedure. After molding and trimming, the person is created into a supermodel form. This is a governmental standard requirement for all people to follow who resides within the United States. All of the humans who are recreated are referred to as Supers by the government. Finally, when the procedure is finished, the Super is now allowed to exit the Machine. On one occasion after having the procedure done, there was a young woman who witnesses a little girl who was hurt in a car accident and she needed the young woman’s help. The little girl was unconscious and no one would help her because of how the required procedure affects everyone who has the procedure done. All of their emotions and compassion is removed during the procedure. Therefore, the woman just stepped right over the child having no feeling at all for the little girl. The world has been turned into a heartless society. The government has created a society that is numb to having feelings and worships their intellect and outer man. â€Å"Power has become so subtle and complex a thing [†¦] that only a subtle mind can watch it work; here it is still limited, still visible† (LeGuin 5). The people’s only power is their knowledge but they use their knowledge to get over on others who are not Supers like them. â€Å"Nothing succeeds like success† (LeGuin 5). Works Cited LeGuin, Ursula K. The Left Hand Of Darkness. New York: Walker And Company, 1969.

Assignment On Aircraft Power Systems

Assignment On Aircraft Power Systems In this assignment, I intend to provide a brief presentation about the principle of operation of the aircraft electrical power systems, specifically, Integrated Drive Generators (IDG) in a modern aircraft. I will compare and contrast the fluid and electrical methods of power generation and give a brief on the safety precautions to be followed when handling aircraft electrical power supplies and during a functional test. There are various kinds of power generation on an aircraft, namely electrical (generators batteries), fluid (hydraulics pneumatics). Depending upon the application, the power sources may vary. AIRCRAFT ELECTRICAL SYSTEM The main function of any aircraft electrical system is to generate, regulate and distribute the electrical power in the aircraft. Modern aircrafts use more electrical power as they are equipped with more Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS). This is done so as to reduce pollution in the environment, for a clean and safe flight. Electrical power is used to operate: Aircraft Flight Instrument- Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitoring (ECAM) Essential Systems- Primary Flight Display (PFD), Navigation Display (ND) Passenger Services- In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) Most of the aircraft systems use a power standard of 115 [emailprotected] 400Hz; 28VDC. There are various electrical power sources on the aircraft: Engine Driven AC Generators (EDG) Auxiliary Power Units (APU) Ram Air Turbine (RAT) Battery Supply External/Ground Supply (Spoor, 2012) Components in an electrical system include: AC Generator/Alternator produces AC power. Constant Speed Drive Unit (CSDU) regulates the rotating speed (input) to deliver a constant output from the engine to the generator. Integrated Drive Generator (IDG), Generator and CSDU connected either coaxially or side-by-side. Mostly coaxial connection. Transformer Rectifier Unit (TRU) converts the AC power to DC power Generator Control Unit (GCU) monitors and controls the generator output. Each engine powers up one or more generators. Airbus A380 has four engines and four generators. Whereas, Boeing 777 has two engines and two generators. The power produced by these generators is used to power up the entire aircraft. (Boeing, 2012) All the other power sources, except external supply, are used in case of emergencies only. External power supply is used on ground when the engines and the APU are not running. It is supplied via Ground Power Unit (GPU). GPU can be portable or stationary and they provide AC power through the external plug on the nose of the aircraft. They can be used to power up an entire aircraft or a specific area in the aircraft. (Spoor, 2012) Figure : Aircraft Electrical System (Classic Jet Sims, 2012) AIRCRAFT HYDRAULIC SYSTEM The principle of a hydraulic system is to convert fluid power into mechanical power and then use it for various applications on the aircraft, such as extension/retraction of landing gears, flaps, and speed and wheel brakes. The power source here is the hydraulic fluid. The pressure for generating the hydraulic power is supplied by the Engine Driven Pump (EDP) and the Electric Motor Driven Pump (EMDP). They are both mounted on the engines. Commonly used hydraulic fluids on the aircraft are: MIL-H-5606 (Mineral Based Fluid) MIL-H-83282 (Synthetic Hydrocarbon Based Fluid) MIL-H-87257 (Same as MIL-H-83282, but it has been improved in its low temperature viscosity) MIL-H-8446 (Phosphate-Ester Based Fluid) (Wikipedia, 2012) Special care must be taken when handling the hydraulic fluid. Some of the hydraulic fluids are skin/eye irritant. Also it is extremely important for the fluid to be free from any contamination for flight safety. Advantages of the hydraulic system as a power source includes: Lightweight Easy installation Simplified Inspection Minimum Maintenance Approximately 100% system efficiency, with only negligible loss due to friction. (EAC, 2012) Figure : Basic Hydraulic System (Free Online Private Pilot Ground School, 2006) COMPARISON OF AIRCRAFT ELECTRICAL AND HYDRAULIC SYSTEM FEATURE ELECTRONIC HYDRAULIC Construction Power is generated by the engine, by rotation of turbine shaft. Power is generated by incompressible hydraulic fluid. Pressure for hydraulic actuation is supplied by EMDP and EDP. Similar to that of an electric circuit. Components include: Generators/Alternators, Batteries, Switches, Bus bars, Fuses, Circuit Breakers, Voltage Regulators, Ammeters, and Wires. (Free Online Private Pilot Ground School, 2006) Components include: Reservoir, Pump, Hydraulic Fluid, Accumulators, Actuators, Filters, Hydraulic Fuses, Tubing, Pipes, Valves, and Seals. Uses Lights, Radio Equipment, Indicators, Warning Systems, Heaters, Starting motor. (FlightLearnings, 2012) Extension/retraction of landing gears, flaps, and speed and wheel brakes. Principle of Operation Generate, Regulate and Distribute electrical power generated. Work is done by moving an incompressible fluid, Pascals Law. (EAC, 2012) EMERGENCY DEPLOYMENTS IN EVENT OF GENERATOR(S) FAILURE In case of main engine driven generator (EDP) failure, there are various methods to ensure continued power supply for safe landing: Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) Ram Air Turbine (RAT) Battery When the main engine generators fail, APU or RAT is deployed. When the secondary methods fail, batteries are used as the last resort for a safe landing and evacuation. AUXILIARY POWER UNIT (APU) Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) is a small gas turbine engine which provides electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic power (depending on the design) for ground or in-flight operations. It is also used as a backup source in emergency situations. It is commonly found on large aircrafts. It is usually located in the tail end of the aircraft. When started, it normally runs on 100% speed. It produces 115VAC @ 400Hz. Some can also generate 28VDC. The main purpose of the APU is to start the engines in the aircraft. This is because the engine requires high rotational speed for its self-sustaining operation. In this case, APU is started by battery or hydraulic accumulator and then used to generate the necessary rotational speed. It is also used to run the equipment when the engines are shutdown. This is used for air conditioning for the passengers prior to engine start. However, it can also be connected to a hydraulic pump to power up hydraulic equipment (flaps and flight controls). (Wikipedia 2012) RAM AIR TURBINE (RAT) Ram Air Turbine is a small airflow driven turbine that is connected to either a hydraulic pump or an emergency alternator or a main generator. In normal flight, it is stowed away in closed compartment in wing or fuselage. It is deployed only when there is total power loss due to engine failures. It provides enough power to run the critical systems, such as, flight controls. The power generated by the RAT depends on the airspeed. More the speed, more the power generated will be. Some aircrafts use RAT in normal operation. For example, in crop dusting RAT is used to power up the chemical sprayer. (Wikipedia, 2012) BATTERY Aircraft batteries are used to start the engines or the APU. But they are also used in emergency situations as a last resort for safe landing. There have been cases where it has been used to restart the engines even after engine flame-out. They also act as a buffer for the DC connections. It regulates the voltage to ensure the power quality for the equipment connected to it. Two types of batteries are used in aircrafts today, Lead-acid and Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd). Lead-acid batteries are either valve regulated or vented. They are used in light and general aircrafts. Ni-Cd batteries are used in larger aircrafts. Lead-acid batteries are generally heavier and have less capacity than the Ni-Cd ones. (Dr. Thomas, 2010) Figure : Lead-Acid Battery (Chief Aircraft, 2012) Figure 4: Nickel-Cadmium Battery (Surplustraders.net, 2012) AIRCRAFT ELECTRICAL SYSTEM USING FREQUENCY WILD AC GENERATOR From 1950s to early 1960s some turboprop aircrafts used frequency wild, now Variable Frequency (VF) system. Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner are some of the modern civil aviation aircrafts that have adopted the VF system again. Figure : Simplified Frequency Wild System (Scribd, 2012) CONSTRUCTION As shown in Fig.4, the Variable Frequency Generator (VFG) is directly connected to the engine gear box. (Langlois, 2004) states: VFG is a conventional wound rotor synchronous alternator. There is no CSD or IDG in this system. This is done so as to improve the reliability of the system and also to reduce the weight of the aircraft. Airbus A380 uses aluminium cables instead of copper for weight reduction. The system is also fully computerized. Contactors and Breakers have been replaced by solid-state devices for increased reliability and performance (Global Aircraft, 2012). OPERATION Frequency Wild AC power can only be supplied to the resistive circuits such as the electrical heater, engine de-icing heaters, windshield heating, etc. as shown in Fig. 4. The AC power generated is sent to the TRU where the voltage is stepped down from 360Hz-760Hz (Langlois, 2004) to 28V and then rectified to DC voltage. Then it is used by the DC components. CONTROL PROTECTION A traditional Constant Frequency unit has only a constant frequency of 400Hz voltage supply. A constant speed drive unit drives the generator. It is also expensive and not easy to maintain. A VFG is flexible as it can handle a range of frequencies rather than a constant one. In this unit, there is no CSD or IDG. It is more advantageous over Constant Frequency Unit because: It has low maintenance Long lifespan Cheaper Process temperature is controlled within VFG itself. Equipment protection from excess torque damage The variable frequency generator (VFG) is used on applications with a high percentage of resistive AC or DC loads and provides power to many of the next generation aircraft. Hamilton Sundstrands variable frequency starter generator (VFSG) and motor controller system provides main engine start and control. The voltage is controlled around the generator. This is done by controlling field strength of the AC generator by feedback signal from the voltage regulator, which keeps the voltage constant irrespective of the speed and load variations. VFGs are preferred over DC systems because they were much less affected by poor brush performance at higher altitudes and they had better power to weight ratio. AC/DC ELECTRIC MOTORS AND ACTUATORS PERFORMANCE DC actuators are typically high-speed reversible series-wound motors. Their output is converted to driving torque using step-down gearbox. These motor actuators are self-contained units, as they combine both electrical and mechanical devices. They can exert linear thrust over a short distance. AC MOTOR DC MOTOR