Forensics Based On Evidence Gathered With Peep Attacks Essay

Forensics Based On Evidence Gathered With Peep Attacks - Essay Example Cybercrime has been cited as one of the most prevalent problems in society. The vast majority of investigators perceive this crime to be on the rise and of becoming an ever increasingly complex and multi-faceted problem. This paper attempts to clarify the complex investigation effort following a Peep attack. We describe evidence collection and problem-solving techniques in the application of computer forensic analyses. A Peep attack is one of the most notorious hacking tools, based on the Robot Network (Botnet) Structure. A Botnet is a term for a collection of zombie systems and autonomous software robots. The threat from Botnets is growing at an alarming rate and the attack techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The majority of the literature describing Botnet attacks is focused on a varied level of IRC-based malware, the activity of Spam mail and the structure of Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS). However, some Botnets are used primarily for data collection, remote control or various other purposes (Microsoft Corporation, 2005). Botnets have gained a significant presence on the Internet as a remote control means for malicious purposes. A Botnet can run programs under the control of a managed network infrastructure. In practice, Botnet communities usually have one or several owners and rely on individual friend-to-friend relationships for their operation (Desmond, 2005). Because new attacks originating from a Botnet are difficult to identify by default fingerprinting., there is rarely a geographically identifiable pattern to the distribution of the infected computers. Firewalls cannot readily be configured to react to a Botnet attack by using information obtained from previous attacks. The Peep attack is still a developing technique. In this paper we introduce a digital forensic analysis applied to the investigation of a Peep attack, and discuss some of the resulting problems and concerns. Although differing somewhat from the original definition of IRC Botnets, a huge network of zombie computers is

The U.S. government opportunity cost for fighting the Global War on Essay

The U.S. government opportunity cost for fighting the Global War on Terrorism - Essay Example (Belasco, 2007) Opportunity costs of the global war on terror are crucial because they give an insight into other alternatives that the government would have sought if they had not invested in the war. They are also a means of measuring the effect of the measured direct costs of the war. The global war on terror has had serious implications on expenditure patterns in the country owing to the fact that some local expenditure had to be foregone. This has eventually reduced the public’s perception of their well being. Additionally, the global war on terror has caused the US government to reduce the amount of expenditure that they dedicate to economic investments. For instance, the US government has had to reduce the amount they spent on construction of residential buildings. They have also reduced the expenditure on health and education within the country. Investments in fixed businesses and also in infrastructural facilities have been much lower than they were before the global war on terror. It is particularly alarming that the global war on terror has caused a reduced investment in health because this is a crucial sector of the US economy. If people within the country cannot access quality health facilities or services, then they are likely to have lower living standards. This impacts on the GDP very negatively. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the United States government has dedicated six hundred and fifty one billion dollars on the global war on terror between 2001 and 2007. It should be noted that these estimates do not incorporate what has happened this year. Additionally, many other experts assert that this is a large under estimation. In fact, they argue that these are merely direct costs. (Chernick, 2006) The Congressional budget estimates were derivatives of what the US government has spent on disability compensation, military operations, survivor benefits and medical costs. As it can

Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty

Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty Background of the topic: The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze and investigate the effect of the loyalty cards on customer loyalty and how does it helps large organizations to achieve its goals. When shopping in supermarkets there is one experience that everyone has, when customers finish with their shopping and get to a checkout, the assistant will ask the customers, whether they have a clubcard. This will continue every time whenever those customers without a clubcard shops in the future, the assistant will keep on asking them for a clubcard unless they get one for themselves. Now there is a question that will come across every customers mind, what is a clubcard and why does every company insist them and every customer to be a part of the clubcard family? Now people become curious and they want to get a clubcard too. The assistant says to fill up a form with the customers general details like name, address and contact details and the day customer fills the form, next day they will receive a clubca rd. Impressive, now why companies offer clubcards to their customers, how do companies benefit from these schemes they provide for their customers? Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Loyalty cards can significantly boost business profits whilst simultaneously building customer loyalty. Studies show that loyalty cards are one of the most cost effective ways to build brand loyalty and improve customer retention. Loy alty cards are used by all the major retail and supermarket chains as a vital tool to improve profitability, but one does not need to be a national high street store in order to run a profitable reward card scheme. One of the reasons the supermarkets are taking business away from independent retailers are the incentives offered in their loyalty card schemes. The loyalty cards market in the UK is one of the most significant in the world and forms the backbone of marketing and customer retention planning. With over 85% of UK Households possessing loyalty cards it is really a case where companies can afford not to offer a loyalty card service to their customers. There are different companies who offer loyalty schemes for their customer and give customers shopping vouchers after they spend certain amount of money through those loyalty cards. Main objective behind loyalty cards is to keep customer loyal with the company by offering them discounts and gifts on their shopping so they spend more money in their shops and markets. Most common example of loyalty card is Tesco club card, Sainsbury nectar card and other such cards offered by different companies in the country. But most of the people wont understand the idea behind those loyalty cards that how they work. The success of the Tesco Clubcard has been well documented, in 2002 a Market and Opinion Research Poll found that Tescos Clubcard had been more successful than the programmers offered by rival supermarkets (Smith, 2004). Rationale: Why is this study being done Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Companies offer such countless schemes for their customers to retain and maintain customer loyalty for their store. There are many other factors behind these loyalty schemes where companies benefit. Loyalty card schemes are not only beneficial for the customers, but are equally beneficial for the companies as well. Significance: How does the study contribute The aim of the research is to identify the impact of the Tesco Clubcard on customer loyalty. This will contribute to contrast customer perceptions of the Clubcard, staff and â€Å"feeling valued† to identify which factor has the greater impact on customer loyalty to store. The paper is useful to both practitioners and academics in the fields of relationship marketing and loyalty. The research provides some initial insight into consumer perspectives in the value of loyalty cards. Tesco has succeeded with the strategy of loyalty cards, but its competitors did not. Retailers like Sainsburys and ASDAs who are the competitors of Tesco, did not manage to promote their business using their loyalty cards as Tesco did. Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. Tesco has been known for their best customer service where as its competitor, Asda have been known for their best value and low competitive prices. Now why has Tesco chosen such a marketi ng strategy to attract customers and increase revenue? The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Tesco has chosen a marketing strategy where they need to gain customers faith and trust to maintain a good relationship with them. Hence they need to know everything about their customers individually. How will they keep a track of each and every customer they have? There are many strategies to know your customers and Tesco uses such strategies to have a good track of their customers. The best way to do this is by the method of loyalty cards. Companies can know much more about their customers through loyalty cards. This study will show how Tesco collects data of t heir customers and use that data to improve their customer service in order to gain customer satisfaction. Aims Objectives: The aim of the research is to investigate the influence of the Tesco Clubcard on customer store loyalty. In 1995, Tesco introduced the loyalty Clubcard that was to offer, â€Å"Benefits to regular shoppers whilst helping the company discover more about its Customer needs†. The main aim of this research will be to compare the Loyalty schemes of Tesco Clubcards with its competitors like Sainsburys and ASDA, and find out why Tescos Clubcards were a huge success unlike Sainsburys Nectar and Asda loyalty cards did not succeed in promoting their business. The study also focuses on the need of customer loyalty and what steps were taken by Tesco to retain and maintain its customer loyalty. (www.tescocorporate.com) Sign Posting: A glance at the major and successful organizations around the globe shows that their success is partly due to their ability to apply the theory of relationship marketing. In the contemporary business arena, all organizations, large or small improve their effectiveness and efficiency by applying this theory, thus improving their customer service and customer relations which play a very important role for any business organization. This study shows the brief idea of the Relationship Marketing and how it has been used by the retail giant, Tesco to gain their customers loyalty and retain it for a long time. Tesco is the company on which this whole study has been based on. At the first there is some information and idea has been explained about Relationship Marketing and how is plays a vital role in companys marketing strategies. It also discusses about the benefits of the relationship marketing and how it is used by the company to achieve its aims and objectives. This will later on conti nue with the main topic, that is, the success of Tescos loyalty cards other than its competitors. It will discuss the concept of the loyalty cards and the different strategies used by Tesco and even its competitors to get a competitive edge in the surviving market. The later part of the study also shows how Clubcards are beneficial for the customers as well as the company. Then research methodology is identified that how the research will be conducted, it includes that how the research will designed means the ways through effective data can be find out. Literature Review In this discussion outcomes from the previous research will be demonstrate to provide the clear understanding to the topic. In this chapter views of different authors and researches will be quoted to support the research. It will include the work of researchers who have worked on this matter and have reached to some conclusion. As a literature review chapter it will consist of basic definitions of customer loyalty, customer relationship, loyalty cards and the most important one relationship marketing. This chapter will also explain these theories and how are they applicable for the strategies used by the companies to achieve their goals and success. Customer Relationship: What does it mean for an organisation and its customer to have a relationship with each other? What kind of a relationship would they have with each other? Do customers have relationships with enterprises that do not know them? Is it necessary that the companies know their customers or the other way around? What kind of a relationship would that be if both the parties are unaware of the relationship they have? Can the enterprise be said to have a relationship with a customer it does not know? Is it possible for a customer to have a relationship with a brand? It can be said that customers would know the products but not the company. Experts have studied the nature of relationships in business for many years, and there are many different perspectives on the fundamental purpose of relationships in business strategies. It can be said that the only aim of the company is not only to gain maximum profits out of their customers or having the greatest market share or the rank the company is. Instead, to be successful in the era of interactivity, when it is possible to deal individually with separate customers, the business objective must include establishing meaningful and profitable relationships at least with the most valuable customers, and making the overall customer base more valuable. Technology plays a very crucial role in maintaining this relationship between companies and customers. In short, the company strives to get a customer, keep that customer for a lifetime, and grow the value of the customer to the organisation. Relationships are the crux of the customer-strategy enterprise. Relationships between customers and enterprises provide the framework for everything else connected to the customer-value business model. This is the same model used by Tesco in order to gain a competitive advantage in the most competitive markets in the world. The exchange between a customer and the enterprise becomes mutually beneficial, as customers give information in return for personalized service that meets their individual needs. Because we are talking about relationships between businesses and their customers, it is important that we agree on a few of the elements that make up a genuine relationship. And while dictionary definitions are not bad as starting points, the most important issue for us to consider is how well our own definition of relationship helps companies succeed in the â€Å"customer dimension† of competition. Lets list some of the distinct qualities that should characterize a relationship between an enterprise and a customer. First, a relationship implies mutuality. In order for anyone to consider a relationship, both the company and its customer have to participate in and be aware of the existence of the relationship. This is the most common factor which is needed to be realized by both the parties. This means that relationships must inherently be two-way in nature. Second, relationships are driven by interaction. When the company and the customer interact, they exchange information, and this information exchange is a best tool for building the relationship. This, of course, also implies mutuality. But interactions dont have to take place by phone or in person or on the Web. An interaction takes place when a customer buys a product from the company that sells it. This is where the customer and the company are in face to face for a reason which builds up this relationship. Every interaction adds to the total information content possible in the relationship. This leads to the third characteristic of a relationship: It is iterative in nature. That is, since both the customer and the company are interacting mutually, the interactions themselves build up a history, over time—a context. This context gives a relationships future interactions greater and greater efficiency, because every successive interaction represents that the company and the customer is growing into a healthy relationship than before by communication and a benefit for both the parties. The mo re that company communicates with its customer, the less they need to say the next time around to get their point across. Another characteristic of a customer relationship is that it will be driven by an ongoing benefit to the customer and the company. The customers convenience is one type of benefit, for the customer, but not the only one. Participating in a relationship will involve a cost in money, time, or effort, and no customer will engage for long in any relationship the company wont be more beneficial for that customer, of it that customer is not getting more benefits that before. However, precisely because of the context of the relationship and its continuing benefit for the customer and the company, each party in a relationship has an incentive to recover from mistakes. Relationships also require a change in behavior on the part of both, the customer as well as the company, in order to continue. After all, what drives the ongoing benefit of a relationship is not only its c ontext, its history of interactions, developed over time, but also the fact that the customers and the companys current and future actions reflect that previous context. This is an important characteristic, because companies sometimes mistakenly believe that interactions with a customer need is always the same, the communication from the companys side, cannot deliver same behavior pattern to every customer. In other words companies need to have relationships with their customer individually because the behavior of every customer is not always the same, which can result in different kind of relationship pattern with the company. But unless the companys actions toward a particular customer are somehow different, there is a possibility of miscommunication and can ruin the relation between that customer and the company, which will be no ongoing benefit for the customer, and as a result the customer might not continue the relationship. Every relationship is different. Relationships are c onstituted with individuals, not with populations. This means relationships are with the individual customer and not the whole segment of the customer population of the company. As a result, a company who wants to engage its customers in relationships must be prepared to participate in different interactions, remember different customers and their behavior or spending habits, and engage in different behaviors toward different customers.(Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) During the last few years there has been a growing interest in studying the economics and markets of long-lasting customer relationships where customer relationships play a vital role for every company. This kind of relationship can help to increase revenue for the company which can be a long term process and a continuous growth of the relationship between the organization and the customer. Heskett introduced the concept of market economies, which means achieving results by understanding the customers behavior instead of by concentrating on developing scale economies. (Heskett, J.L., 1987) A mutually satisfactory relationship between the company and its customers makes it possible for customers to avoid significant transaction costs involved in shifting from one company or a service provider which can be beneficial for both, the customer and the company. However, customer retention is not enough. Some long-lasting customer relationships, where the customers are obviously satisfied with what they get, are not profitable even in the long run, as Storbacka says. There is clear evidence that from a profitability point of view intelligent relationship building where company can be beneficial to the customer as well as themselves in the long run, then only such a management make sense. (Storbacka, K., 1993) Customer Loyalty: The whole point of a relationship is to keep your customers, and simultaneously grow new customers. So what is customer loyalty? Those whove tried to answer that question have approached it from two different directions: attitudinal (what Barnes calls â€Å"emotional†) and behavioral (what Barnes calls â€Å"functional†). Although each of these two definitions of loyalty is valid, they have different implications and lead to very different prescriptions for businesses. The attitudinal definition of loyalty implies that loyalty is a state of mind. Customers are loyal to a brand or a company if they have a positive, preferential attitude toward it. They like the company, its products, or its brands, and they therefore prefer to buy from it, rather than from the companys competitors. In purely commercial terms, the attitudinal definition of customer loyalty would mean that someone who is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even when the products they represe nt are virtually equivalent, is loyal to Brand A. But the emphasis is on willingness, rather than on actual behavior, per se. In terms of attitudes, then, increasing a customers loyalty is virtually equivalent to increasing the customers preference for the brand. It is closely tied to product quality and customer satisfaction. Any company wanting to increase loyalty, in attitudinal terms, will concentrate on improving its product, its image, or other elements of the customer experience, relative to its competitors. The behavioral definition of loyalty would mean that someone is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even without respect to the attitudes or preferences that underlie that conduct. By this definition, customers are loyal to a company if they buy from it and then continue to buy from it. Loyalty is concerned with repurchase activity, regardless of any internally held attitudes or preferences. In the behavioral definition, loyalty is not the cause, but the re sult of brand preference. A company wanting to increase customer loyalty will focus on whatever tactics will in fact increase the amount of repurchase behavior— tactics that can easily include, without being limited to, raising consumers general preference for the brand or their level of satisfaction with it. (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Customer loyalty could be termed a â€Å"customers commitment to do business with a particular organization, purchasing their goods and services repeatedly, and recommending the services and products to friends and associates†. It is a term which is neither easy to gain nor maintain, rather it is vulnerable, where â€Å"even if its customers are satisfied with the service they will continue to defect if they believe they can get better value, convenience or quality elsewhere†. (McIlroy, A. and Barnett, S. (2000) In order to investigate the concept of loyalty, we see the framework of Sopanen (1996) to reveal six different types of loyalty: (1) Monopoly loyalty, where there are no available choices. (2) Inertia loyalty, where customers do not actively seek substitutes. (3) Convenience loyalty, where loyalty is solely defined by location. (4) Price loyalty: where customers are influenced by the lowest price. (5) Incentivized loyalty, where loyalty relates to the benefits gained from reward cards and programmers. (6) Emotional loyalty, where customers are influenced by factors such as brand. From this we can observe that loyalty programs such as Tesco Clubcard can be considered an incentivized type of loyalty, which can be exhibited by customers, but the strength of this loyalty is often questioned. â€Å"As organizations become increasingly customer focused and driven by customer demands, the need to meet the customers expectations and retain their loyalty becomes more critical† (Disney, 1999, p. 491). Customer loyalty is one of the fundamental goals of marketing (Selnes, 1993). Not only does it guarantee repeat customers, but it also decreases the need for companies to spend large portions of their budgets on advertising and promotion in order to attract new customers. Mittal and Lassar (1998) identified that customer loyalty is very often thought of as an outcome of customer satisfaction. This explains why customer satisfaction has become an essential concept in marketing and its quest is one of the most important goals for businesses (Webster, 1994) Relationship Marketing: Relationship marketing is very much interlinked with the notion and practice of customer care. There is no doubt that the development of relationship marketing has had and will continue to have major implications for the marketing managers. Comprehensive accounts of the development, meaning and implications of relationship marketing for the contemporary marketer are given by Lancaster and Massingham. As so often, there are many different views as to the precise nature and hence definition of relationship marketing. So, for example, Groonroos stressed the element of mutual exchange ad trust in relationship marketing as follows. â€Å"Relationship marketing is a process including several parties or actors, the objective of which has to be met. This is done by mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises, a fact that makes trust an important aspect of marketing†. Stone and Woodcock on the other hand put more emphasis on the traditional tool of sales, communication and customer care techniques. Again we see overlap between these two areas. â€Å"Relationship marketing involves the use of a wide range of marketing, sales, communications and customer care techniques and processes to: identify named individual customers, create a relationship between the company and these customers, and manage that relationship to the benefit of both the customer and the company†. Perhaps one of the simplest and yet the most powerful summaries of what relationship marketing is however, is that provided by Buttle. â€Å"At its best, RM (relationship management) is characterized by a genuine concern to meet or exceed the expectations of the customers and to provide excellent service in an environment of trust and commitment to the relationship†. Buttle goes on to indicate what is involved in successful relationship marketing and the commitment of the company required to generate this success. â€Å"To be successful relationship marketers, companies must develop a supportive organizational culture, market the RM idea internally, intimately understand customers expectations, create and maintain a detailed customer database, and organize and reward employees in such a way that the objective of RM, customer retention, is achieved†. This illustrates that relationship marketing has major implications for both how we think about marketing and our approach to the practice of marketing. It affects and includes the provision of marketing information, organizational systems and procedures, and the elements of marketing strategy. Relationship Marketing refers to Promotional and needs and maintain the relationship. This proposal is concerned with Relationship management and marketing at how it is been used by companies to maintain existing customers, retain lost customers and attract new customers. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/relationship-marketing.html) Relationship marketing is systems-oriented, yet it includes managerial aspects. A systems approach is well suited as a basis for a general theory of marketing, because it makes it possible to include all relevant actors, environmental influence, and even the process nature of marketing. (Kuhn, T.S. (1957) The concept of relationship marketing has emerged within the fields of service marketing and industrial marketing. The phenomenon described by this concept is strongly supported by ongoing trends in modern business. Grà ¶nroos defines relationship marketing in the following way: Marketing is to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other partners, at a profit, so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is achieved by a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises. Such relationships are usually but not necessarily always long-term. Establishing a relationship, for example with a customer, can be divided into two parts: to attract the customer and to build the relationship with that customer so that the economic goals of that relationship are achieved. (Grà ¶nroos, C. (1990) More businesses are moving toward relationship marketing in dealing with their customers as more customers expect a personalized experience. Considering relationship marketing vs. transactional marketing for http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid11_gci1253633_mem1,00.html) Relationship marketing is a marketing strategy that emphasizes customer loyalty, customer retention and long-term customer engagement. Using the relationship marketing approach, an organization aims to develop strong, long-term connections with customers by providing them with information directly suited to their needs and interests. This approach often results in increased word-of-mouth activity, long-term purchasing behavior and a willingness to provide information. The goal of every enterprise, once you strip away all the activities that keep everybody busy every day, is simply to get, keep, and grow customers. Whether a business focuses its efforts on product innovation, operational efficiency and low price, or customer intimacy, for that firm must have customers or the enterprise isnt a business—its a hobby. This is true for nonprofits (where the â€Å"customers† may be donors or volunteers) as well as for-profits, for firms large and small, for public as well as private enterprise. What does it mean for an enterprise to focus on its customers as the key to competitive advantage? Obviously, it does not mean giving up the product edge, or the operational efficiencies, that have been successful in the past. It does mean using new strategies, nearly always requiring new technologies, to focus on growing the value of the company by deliberately and strategically growing the value of the customer base. Companies needed to build compr ehensive customer databases. Companies had been maintaining product databases, sales force databases, and dealer databases. Now they needed to build, maintain, mine, and manage a customer database that could be used by company personnel in sales, marketing, credit, accounting, and other company functions. As customer database marketing grew, several different names came to describe it, including individualized marketing, customer intimacy, technology enabled marketing, dialogue marketing, interactive marketing, permission marketing, and one-to-one marketing. Modern technology makes it possible for enterprises to learn more about individual customers, remember those needs, and shape the companys offerings, services, messages and interactions to each valued customer. The new technologies make mass-customization (otherwise an oxymoron) possible. At the same time, technology is only a partial factor in helping companies do genuine one-to-one marketing. The following quotes about custome r relationship management (CRM) make this point vividly: â€Å"CRM is not a software package. Its not a database. Its not a call center or a Web site. Its not a loyalty program, a customer service program, a customer acquisition program or a win-back program. CRM is an entire philosophy.† (Steve Silver) â€Å"A CRM program is typically 45 percent dependent on the right executive leadership, 40 percent on project management implementation and 15 percent on technology.† (Edmund Thompson, Gartner Group) (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Loyalty Card: Any retailer running a loyalty card scheme could call up customer details and purchase history from incoming phone numbers. In many firms, loyalty cards are used for direct marketing and not much else. Using them to dramatically improve customer service seems a fitting reward for loyalty. Marketing program designed to enhance brand loyalty by cultivating an ongoing relationship between a marketer and his customer. Successful loyalty programs encourage the consumer to buy frequently, to increase the amount spent each time, and to concentrate all or most of their related purchases on that brand. Most loyalty programs offer perks for membership in a club or program and reward purchases. Rewards may be based on the dollar value of purchases made or on the frequency of purchases. The most well-known loyalty programs are airline frequent-flyer programs that offer discounts against future travel called award miles. Most large supermarket chains now have frequent-buyer clubs that offer no-coupon discounts as well as newsletters and http://www.answers.com/topic/loyalty-program) A loyalty card program is an incentive plan that allows a retail business to gather data about its customers. Customers are offered product discounts, coupons, points toward merchandise or some other reward in exchange for their voluntary participation in the program. A secondary goal of a loyalty card program is to build repeat business by offering participating customers something that isnt available to non-participating customers. Loyalty cards often resemble plastic credit cards but they can also be keychain fobs or stickers. Typically a loyalty card has a barcode or magnetic stripe thats scanned at the point of sale (POS). The card identifies the customer and sends information about what the customer bought to a database. The information in the database is used to help the retailer understand and influence his customers buying habits. According to research carried out by Boston Universitys College of Communication, eighty-six percent of American shoppers are listed in a loyalty database; a majority of survey respondents said receiving the card was worth giving up some measure of privacy. Loyalty schemes are necessary for the retailers because it helps them in attracting the customers and when they came to them they try to retain them by offering their services on discounted rates and by offering them further discounts and services. Smith states the importance of loyalty cards and schemes in the following sta tement â€Å"if Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty Effect of Loyalty Cards on Customer Loyalty Background of the topic: The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze and investigate the effect of the loyalty cards on customer loyalty and how does it helps large organizations to achieve its goals. When shopping in supermarkets there is one experience that everyone has, when customers finish with their shopping and get to a checkout, the assistant will ask the customers, whether they have a clubcard. This will continue every time whenever those customers without a clubcard shops in the future, the assistant will keep on asking them for a clubcard unless they get one for themselves. Now there is a question that will come across every customers mind, what is a clubcard and why does every company insist them and every customer to be a part of the clubcard family? Now people become curious and they want to get a clubcard too. The assistant says to fill up a form with the customers general details like name, address and contact details and the day customer fills the form, next day they will receive a clubca rd. Impressive, now why companies offer clubcards to their customers, how do companies benefit from these schemes they provide for their customers? Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Loyalty cards can significantly boost business profits whilst simultaneously building customer loyalty. Studies show that loyalty cards are one of the most cost effective ways to build brand loyalty and improve customer retention. Loy alty cards are used by all the major retail and supermarket chains as a vital tool to improve profitability, but one does not need to be a national high street store in order to run a profitable reward card scheme. One of the reasons the supermarkets are taking business away from independent retailers are the incentives offered in their loyalty card schemes. The loyalty cards market in the UK is one of the most significant in the world and forms the backbone of marketing and customer retention planning. With over 85% of UK Households possessing loyalty cards it is really a case where companies can afford not to offer a loyalty card service to their customers. There are different companies who offer loyalty schemes for their customer and give customers shopping vouchers after they spend certain amount of money through those loyalty cards. Main objective behind loyalty cards is to keep customer loyal with the company by offering them discounts and gifts on their shopping so they spend more money in their shops and markets. Most common example of loyalty card is Tesco club card, Sainsbury nectar card and other such cards offered by different companies in the country. But most of the people wont understand the idea behind those loyalty cards that how they work. The success of the Tesco Clubcard has been well documented, in 2002 a Market and Opinion Research Poll found that Tescos Clubcard had been more successful than the programmers offered by rival supermarkets (Smith, 2004). Rationale: Why is this study being done Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Background of this research title is concerned with the highly competitive market where retail giants have to survive and maintain their competitive edge to always stay ahead in the race or even to survive the downfall whenever necessary. Unlimited majors are taken and a huge amount of time and money is spent to attract customers who bring revenue to the company. Having a large number of competitors around, it is very difficult to have a competitive advantage. Basic mean for this subject matter is to identify the purpose and importance of relationship marketing, and its benefits to make strategic decisions. Companies offer such countless schemes for their customers to retain and maintain customer loyalty for their store. There are many other factors behind these loyalty schemes where companies benefit. Loyalty card schemes are not only beneficial for the customers, but are equally beneficial for the companies as well. Significance: How does the study contribute The aim of the research is to identify the impact of the Tesco Clubcard on customer loyalty. This will contribute to contrast customer perceptions of the Clubcard, staff and â€Å"feeling valued† to identify which factor has the greater impact on customer loyalty to store. The paper is useful to both practitioners and academics in the fields of relationship marketing and loyalty. The research provides some initial insight into consumer perspectives in the value of loyalty cards. Tesco has succeeded with the strategy of loyalty cards, but its competitors did not. Retailers like Sainsburys and ASDAs who are the competitors of Tesco, did not manage to promote their business using their loyalty cards as Tesco did. Tesco got a huge amount of success with its loyalty schemes unlike its competitors. Tesco has been known for their best customer service where as its competitor, Asda have been known for their best value and low competitive prices. Now why has Tesco chosen such a marketi ng strategy to attract customers and increase revenue? The reason behind this study is to find out why Tesco was so successful with their Loyalty cards, Tesco Club cards, as they are named, and how it played a very important role in maintaining their customers loyalty, which is very important for any business today. The theory behind this concept is Relationship Marketing, and how it was used by Tesco to grow its business. Tesco has chosen a marketing strategy where they need to gain customers faith and trust to maintain a good relationship with them. Hence they need to know everything about their customers individually. How will they keep a track of each and every customer they have? There are many strategies to know your customers and Tesco uses such strategies to have a good track of their customers. The best way to do this is by the method of loyalty cards. Companies can know much more about their customers through loyalty cards. This study will show how Tesco collects data of t heir customers and use that data to improve their customer service in order to gain customer satisfaction. Aims Objectives: The aim of the research is to investigate the influence of the Tesco Clubcard on customer store loyalty. In 1995, Tesco introduced the loyalty Clubcard that was to offer, â€Å"Benefits to regular shoppers whilst helping the company discover more about its Customer needs†. The main aim of this research will be to compare the Loyalty schemes of Tesco Clubcards with its competitors like Sainsburys and ASDA, and find out why Tescos Clubcards were a huge success unlike Sainsburys Nectar and Asda loyalty cards did not succeed in promoting their business. The study also focuses on the need of customer loyalty and what steps were taken by Tesco to retain and maintain its customer loyalty. (www.tescocorporate.com) Sign Posting: A glance at the major and successful organizations around the globe shows that their success is partly due to their ability to apply the theory of relationship marketing. In the contemporary business arena, all organizations, large or small improve their effectiveness and efficiency by applying this theory, thus improving their customer service and customer relations which play a very important role for any business organization. This study shows the brief idea of the Relationship Marketing and how it has been used by the retail giant, Tesco to gain their customers loyalty and retain it for a long time. Tesco is the company on which this whole study has been based on. At the first there is some information and idea has been explained about Relationship Marketing and how is plays a vital role in companys marketing strategies. It also discusses about the benefits of the relationship marketing and how it is used by the company to achieve its aims and objectives. This will later on conti nue with the main topic, that is, the success of Tescos loyalty cards other than its competitors. It will discuss the concept of the loyalty cards and the different strategies used by Tesco and even its competitors to get a competitive edge in the surviving market. The later part of the study also shows how Clubcards are beneficial for the customers as well as the company. Then research methodology is identified that how the research will be conducted, it includes that how the research will designed means the ways through effective data can be find out. Literature Review In this discussion outcomes from the previous research will be demonstrate to provide the clear understanding to the topic. In this chapter views of different authors and researches will be quoted to support the research. It will include the work of researchers who have worked on this matter and have reached to some conclusion. As a literature review chapter it will consist of basic definitions of customer loyalty, customer relationship, loyalty cards and the most important one relationship marketing. This chapter will also explain these theories and how are they applicable for the strategies used by the companies to achieve their goals and success. Customer Relationship: What does it mean for an organisation and its customer to have a relationship with each other? What kind of a relationship would they have with each other? Do customers have relationships with enterprises that do not know them? Is it necessary that the companies know their customers or the other way around? What kind of a relationship would that be if both the parties are unaware of the relationship they have? Can the enterprise be said to have a relationship with a customer it does not know? Is it possible for a customer to have a relationship with a brand? It can be said that customers would know the products but not the company. Experts have studied the nature of relationships in business for many years, and there are many different perspectives on the fundamental purpose of relationships in business strategies. It can be said that the only aim of the company is not only to gain maximum profits out of their customers or having the greatest market share or the rank the company is. Instead, to be successful in the era of interactivity, when it is possible to deal individually with separate customers, the business objective must include establishing meaningful and profitable relationships at least with the most valuable customers, and making the overall customer base more valuable. Technology plays a very crucial role in maintaining this relationship between companies and customers. In short, the company strives to get a customer, keep that customer for a lifetime, and grow the value of the customer to the organisation. Relationships are the crux of the customer-strategy enterprise. Relationships between customers and enterprises provide the framework for everything else connected to the customer-value business model. This is the same model used by Tesco in order to gain a competitive advantage in the most competitive markets in the world. The exchange between a customer and the enterprise becomes mutually beneficial, as customers give information in return for personalized service that meets their individual needs. Because we are talking about relationships between businesses and their customers, it is important that we agree on a few of the elements that make up a genuine relationship. And while dictionary definitions are not bad as starting points, the most important issue for us to consider is how well our own definition of relationship helps companies succeed in the â€Å"customer dimension† of competition. Lets list some of the distinct qualities that should characterize a relationship between an enterprise and a customer. First, a relationship implies mutuality. In order for anyone to consider a relationship, both the company and its customer have to participate in and be aware of the existence of the relationship. This is the most common factor which is needed to be realized by both the parties. This means that relationships must inherently be two-way in nature. Second, relationships are driven by interaction. When the company and the customer interact, they exchange information, and this information exchange is a best tool for building the relationship. This, of course, also implies mutuality. But interactions dont have to take place by phone or in person or on the Web. An interaction takes place when a customer buys a product from the company that sells it. This is where the customer and the company are in face to face for a reason which builds up this relationship. Every interaction adds to the total information content possible in the relationship. This leads to the third characteristic of a relationship: It is iterative in nature. That is, since both the customer and the company are interacting mutually, the interactions themselves build up a history, over time—a context. This context gives a relationships future interactions greater and greater efficiency, because every successive interaction represents that the company and the customer is growing into a healthy relationship than before by communication and a benefit for both the parties. The mo re that company communicates with its customer, the less they need to say the next time around to get their point across. Another characteristic of a customer relationship is that it will be driven by an ongoing benefit to the customer and the company. The customers convenience is one type of benefit, for the customer, but not the only one. Participating in a relationship will involve a cost in money, time, or effort, and no customer will engage for long in any relationship the company wont be more beneficial for that customer, of it that customer is not getting more benefits that before. However, precisely because of the context of the relationship and its continuing benefit for the customer and the company, each party in a relationship has an incentive to recover from mistakes. Relationships also require a change in behavior on the part of both, the customer as well as the company, in order to continue. After all, what drives the ongoing benefit of a relationship is not only its c ontext, its history of interactions, developed over time, but also the fact that the customers and the companys current and future actions reflect that previous context. This is an important characteristic, because companies sometimes mistakenly believe that interactions with a customer need is always the same, the communication from the companys side, cannot deliver same behavior pattern to every customer. In other words companies need to have relationships with their customer individually because the behavior of every customer is not always the same, which can result in different kind of relationship pattern with the company. But unless the companys actions toward a particular customer are somehow different, there is a possibility of miscommunication and can ruin the relation between that customer and the company, which will be no ongoing benefit for the customer, and as a result the customer might not continue the relationship. Every relationship is different. Relationships are c onstituted with individuals, not with populations. This means relationships are with the individual customer and not the whole segment of the customer population of the company. As a result, a company who wants to engage its customers in relationships must be prepared to participate in different interactions, remember different customers and their behavior or spending habits, and engage in different behaviors toward different customers.(Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) During the last few years there has been a growing interest in studying the economics and markets of long-lasting customer relationships where customer relationships play a vital role for every company. This kind of relationship can help to increase revenue for the company which can be a long term process and a continuous growth of the relationship between the organization and the customer. Heskett introduced the concept of market economies, which means achieving results by understanding the customers behavior instead of by concentrating on developing scale economies. (Heskett, J.L., 1987) A mutually satisfactory relationship between the company and its customers makes it possible for customers to avoid significant transaction costs involved in shifting from one company or a service provider which can be beneficial for both, the customer and the company. However, customer retention is not enough. Some long-lasting customer relationships, where the customers are obviously satisfied with what they get, are not profitable even in the long run, as Storbacka says. There is clear evidence that from a profitability point of view intelligent relationship building where company can be beneficial to the customer as well as themselves in the long run, then only such a management make sense. (Storbacka, K., 1993) Customer Loyalty: The whole point of a relationship is to keep your customers, and simultaneously grow new customers. So what is customer loyalty? Those whove tried to answer that question have approached it from two different directions: attitudinal (what Barnes calls â€Å"emotional†) and behavioral (what Barnes calls â€Å"functional†). Although each of these two definitions of loyalty is valid, they have different implications and lead to very different prescriptions for businesses. The attitudinal definition of loyalty implies that loyalty is a state of mind. Customers are loyal to a brand or a company if they have a positive, preferential attitude toward it. They like the company, its products, or its brands, and they therefore prefer to buy from it, rather than from the companys competitors. In purely commercial terms, the attitudinal definition of customer loyalty would mean that someone who is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even when the products they represe nt are virtually equivalent, is loyal to Brand A. But the emphasis is on willingness, rather than on actual behavior, per se. In terms of attitudes, then, increasing a customers loyalty is virtually equivalent to increasing the customers preference for the brand. It is closely tied to product quality and customer satisfaction. Any company wanting to increase loyalty, in attitudinal terms, will concentrate on improving its product, its image, or other elements of the customer experience, relative to its competitors. The behavioral definition of loyalty would mean that someone is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even without respect to the attitudes or preferences that underlie that conduct. By this definition, customers are loyal to a company if they buy from it and then continue to buy from it. Loyalty is concerned with repurchase activity, regardless of any internally held attitudes or preferences. In the behavioral definition, loyalty is not the cause, but the re sult of brand preference. A company wanting to increase customer loyalty will focus on whatever tactics will in fact increase the amount of repurchase behavior— tactics that can easily include, without being limited to, raising consumers general preference for the brand or their level of satisfaction with it. (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Customer loyalty could be termed a â€Å"customers commitment to do business with a particular organization, purchasing their goods and services repeatedly, and recommending the services and products to friends and associates†. It is a term which is neither easy to gain nor maintain, rather it is vulnerable, where â€Å"even if its customers are satisfied with the service they will continue to defect if they believe they can get better value, convenience or quality elsewhere†. (McIlroy, A. and Barnett, S. (2000) In order to investigate the concept of loyalty, we see the framework of Sopanen (1996) to reveal six different types of loyalty: (1) Monopoly loyalty, where there are no available choices. (2) Inertia loyalty, where customers do not actively seek substitutes. (3) Convenience loyalty, where loyalty is solely defined by location. (4) Price loyalty: where customers are influenced by the lowest price. (5) Incentivized loyalty, where loyalty relates to the benefits gained from reward cards and programmers. (6) Emotional loyalty, where customers are influenced by factors such as brand. From this we can observe that loyalty programs such as Tesco Clubcard can be considered an incentivized type of loyalty, which can be exhibited by customers, but the strength of this loyalty is often questioned. â€Å"As organizations become increasingly customer focused and driven by customer demands, the need to meet the customers expectations and retain their loyalty becomes more critical† (Disney, 1999, p. 491). Customer loyalty is one of the fundamental goals of marketing (Selnes, 1993). Not only does it guarantee repeat customers, but it also decreases the need for companies to spend large portions of their budgets on advertising and promotion in order to attract new customers. Mittal and Lassar (1998) identified that customer loyalty is very often thought of as an outcome of customer satisfaction. This explains why customer satisfaction has become an essential concept in marketing and its quest is one of the most important goals for businesses (Webster, 1994) Relationship Marketing: Relationship marketing is very much interlinked with the notion and practice of customer care. There is no doubt that the development of relationship marketing has had and will continue to have major implications for the marketing managers. Comprehensive accounts of the development, meaning and implications of relationship marketing for the contemporary marketer are given by Lancaster and Massingham. As so often, there are many different views as to the precise nature and hence definition of relationship marketing. So, for example, Groonroos stressed the element of mutual exchange ad trust in relationship marketing as follows. â€Å"Relationship marketing is a process including several parties or actors, the objective of which has to be met. This is done by mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises, a fact that makes trust an important aspect of marketing†. Stone and Woodcock on the other hand put more emphasis on the traditional tool of sales, communication and customer care techniques. Again we see overlap between these two areas. â€Å"Relationship marketing involves the use of a wide range of marketing, sales, communications and customer care techniques and processes to: identify named individual customers, create a relationship between the company and these customers, and manage that relationship to the benefit of both the customer and the company†. Perhaps one of the simplest and yet the most powerful summaries of what relationship marketing is however, is that provided by Buttle. â€Å"At its best, RM (relationship management) is characterized by a genuine concern to meet or exceed the expectations of the customers and to provide excellent service in an environment of trust and commitment to the relationship†. Buttle goes on to indicate what is involved in successful relationship marketing and the commitment of the company required to generate this success. â€Å"To be successful relationship marketers, companies must develop a supportive organizational culture, market the RM idea internally, intimately understand customers expectations, create and maintain a detailed customer database, and organize and reward employees in such a way that the objective of RM, customer retention, is achieved†. This illustrates that relationship marketing has major implications for both how we think about marketing and our approach to the practice of marketing. It affects and includes the provision of marketing information, organizational systems and procedures, and the elements of marketing strategy. Relationship Marketing refers to Promotional and needs and maintain the relationship. This proposal is concerned with Relationship management and marketing at how it is been used by companies to maintain existing customers, retain lost customers and attract new customers. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/relationship-marketing.html) Relationship marketing is systems-oriented, yet it includes managerial aspects. A systems approach is well suited as a basis for a general theory of marketing, because it makes it possible to include all relevant actors, environmental influence, and even the process nature of marketing. (Kuhn, T.S. (1957) The concept of relationship marketing has emerged within the fields of service marketing and industrial marketing. The phenomenon described by this concept is strongly supported by ongoing trends in modern business. Grà ¶nroos defines relationship marketing in the following way: Marketing is to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other partners, at a profit, so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is achieved by a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises. Such relationships are usually but not necessarily always long-term. Establishing a relationship, for example with a customer, can be divided into two parts: to attract the customer and to build the relationship with that customer so that the economic goals of that relationship are achieved. (Grà ¶nroos, C. (1990) More businesses are moving toward relationship marketing in dealing with their customers as more customers expect a personalized experience. Considering relationship marketing vs. transactional marketing for http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid11_gci1253633_mem1,00.html) Relationship marketing is a marketing strategy that emphasizes customer loyalty, customer retention and long-term customer engagement. Using the relationship marketing approach, an organization aims to develop strong, long-term connections with customers by providing them with information directly suited to their needs and interests. This approach often results in increased word-of-mouth activity, long-term purchasing behavior and a willingness to provide information. The goal of every enterprise, once you strip away all the activities that keep everybody busy every day, is simply to get, keep, and grow customers. Whether a business focuses its efforts on product innovation, operational efficiency and low price, or customer intimacy, for that firm must have customers or the enterprise isnt a business—its a hobby. This is true for nonprofits (where the â€Å"customers† may be donors or volunteers) as well as for-profits, for firms large and small, for public as well as private enterprise. What does it mean for an enterprise to focus on its customers as the key to competitive advantage? Obviously, it does not mean giving up the product edge, or the operational efficiencies, that have been successful in the past. It does mean using new strategies, nearly always requiring new technologies, to focus on growing the value of the company by deliberately and strategically growing the value of the customer base. Companies needed to build compr ehensive customer databases. Companies had been maintaining product databases, sales force databases, and dealer databases. Now they needed to build, maintain, mine, and manage a customer database that could be used by company personnel in sales, marketing, credit, accounting, and other company functions. As customer database marketing grew, several different names came to describe it, including individualized marketing, customer intimacy, technology enabled marketing, dialogue marketing, interactive marketing, permission marketing, and one-to-one marketing. Modern technology makes it possible for enterprises to learn more about individual customers, remember those needs, and shape the companys offerings, services, messages and interactions to each valued customer. The new technologies make mass-customization (otherwise an oxymoron) possible. At the same time, technology is only a partial factor in helping companies do genuine one-to-one marketing. The following quotes about custome r relationship management (CRM) make this point vividly: â€Å"CRM is not a software package. Its not a database. Its not a call center or a Web site. Its not a loyalty program, a customer service program, a customer acquisition program or a win-back program. CRM is an entire philosophy.† (Steve Silver) â€Å"A CRM program is typically 45 percent dependent on the right executive leadership, 40 percent on project management implementation and 15 percent on technology.† (Edmund Thompson, Gartner Group) (Peppers .D, Rogers. M 2004) Loyalty Card: Any retailer running a loyalty card scheme could call up customer details and purchase history from incoming phone numbers. In many firms, loyalty cards are used for direct marketing and not much else. Using them to dramatically improve customer service seems a fitting reward for loyalty. Marketing program designed to enhance brand loyalty by cultivating an ongoing relationship between a marketer and his customer. Successful loyalty programs encourage the consumer to buy frequently, to increase the amount spent each time, and to concentrate all or most of their related purchases on that brand. Most loyalty programs offer perks for membership in a club or program and reward purchases. Rewards may be based on the dollar value of purchases made or on the frequency of purchases. The most well-known loyalty programs are airline frequent-flyer programs that offer discounts against future travel called award miles. Most large supermarket chains now have frequent-buyer clubs that offer no-coupon discounts as well as newsletters and http://www.answers.com/topic/loyalty-program) A loyalty card program is an incentive plan that allows a retail business to gather data about its customers. Customers are offered product discounts, coupons, points toward merchandise or some other reward in exchange for their voluntary participation in the program. A secondary goal of a loyalty card program is to build repeat business by offering participating customers something that isnt available to non-participating customers. Loyalty cards often resemble plastic credit cards but they can also be keychain fobs or stickers. Typically a loyalty card has a barcode or magnetic stripe thats scanned at the point of sale (POS). The card identifies the customer and sends information about what the customer bought to a database. The information in the database is used to help the retailer understand and influence his customers buying habits. According to research carried out by Boston Universitys College of Communication, eighty-six percent of American shoppers are listed in a loyalty database; a majority of survey respondents said receiving the card was worth giving up some measure of privacy. Loyalty schemes are necessary for the retailers because it helps them in attracting the customers and when they came to them they try to retain them by offering their services on discounted rates and by offering them further discounts and services. Smith states the importance of loyalty cards and schemes in the following sta tement â€Å"if

GMOs Essay -- Science DNA Papers

GMOs What is a GMO? A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is a virus, bacterium, or more complex life-form in which the DNA has been altered for a particular purpose. Some of these purposes include: research into the nature of genes and biological processes, manufacturing animal proteins, correcting genetic defects, and making improvements to animals and plants (Natural Environment Research Council). Making improvements to animals and plants is a major motivation to produce GMOs. With a world population on its way to 9 plus billion by the year 2050, a viable option for sustenance production is needed. With this ever-growing world population there is a need for somehow controlling the amount of people born. China is one country which has dealt with their overcrowding problem, but it seems that many of the other countries of the world are not doing much if anything to control their own populations. Because of this lack of action in controlling the world population, the need is shifted to how we will pr ovide for all those people. GMOs are a way in which we as a world population can better provide for ourselves so that everyone will have enough provisions to survive. How is a GMO created? GMOs have been created naturally for millions of years. Agrobacterium tumefaciens is one example of a natural genetic engineer because it is able to alter another organism’s DNA to benefit itself. This species of soil-dwelling bacteria infects plant cells with a piece of its own DNA, and when it is integrated with the plant’s chromosome, it uses the plant’s own cells to proliferate the population of the bacteria. The way in which the bacterium does this is through the use of its bacterial chromosome and a plasmid, which is ... ...info/articles/myths.html Murphy, Paul. (2004, May) Gene firm pioneers desert crops. Retrieved October, 23, 2004 from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,1221662,00.html Natural Environment Research Council (n.d.). GMOs and the Environment: Scientific certainties and uncertainties. Retrieved October 3, 2004 from: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/publications/gmo/ Read, Deborah. (2000, December) Use of Antibiotic Resistance Marker Genes in Genetically Modified Organisms. Retrieved October 24, 2004 from: http://www.ermanz.govt.nz/resources/Publications/pdfs/ER-GI-01-1.pdf Shelton, Anthony M. (2000, March) Bt Crops on Trial. Retrieved October 24, 2004 from: http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/gmo/pr-bt-crops-on-trial.htm UNFPA. (2004) Population Growth is Still an Issue. Retrieved November 25, 2004 from: http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2004/english/ch1/page7.htm#1 GMOs Essay -- Science DNA Papers GMOs What is a GMO? A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is a virus, bacterium, or more complex life-form in which the DNA has been altered for a particular purpose. Some of these purposes include: research into the nature of genes and biological processes, manufacturing animal proteins, correcting genetic defects, and making improvements to animals and plants (Natural Environment Research Council). Making improvements to animals and plants is a major motivation to produce GMOs. With a world population on its way to 9 plus billion by the year 2050, a viable option for sustenance production is needed. With this ever-growing world population there is a need for somehow controlling the amount of people born. China is one country which has dealt with their overcrowding problem, but it seems that many of the other countries of the world are not doing much if anything to control their own populations. Because of this lack of action in controlling the world population, the need is shifted to how we will pr ovide for all those people. GMOs are a way in which we as a world population can better provide for ourselves so that everyone will have enough provisions to survive. How is a GMO created? GMOs have been created naturally for millions of years. Agrobacterium tumefaciens is one example of a natural genetic engineer because it is able to alter another organism’s DNA to benefit itself. This species of soil-dwelling bacteria infects plant cells with a piece of its own DNA, and when it is integrated with the plant’s chromosome, it uses the plant’s own cells to proliferate the population of the bacteria. The way in which the bacterium does this is through the use of its bacterial chromosome and a plasmid, which is ... ...info/articles/myths.html Murphy, Paul. (2004, May) Gene firm pioneers desert crops. Retrieved October, 23, 2004 from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,1221662,00.html Natural Environment Research Council (n.d.). GMOs and the Environment: Scientific certainties and uncertainties. Retrieved October 3, 2004 from: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/publications/gmo/ Read, Deborah. (2000, December) Use of Antibiotic Resistance Marker Genes in Genetically Modified Organisms. Retrieved October 24, 2004 from: http://www.ermanz.govt.nz/resources/Publications/pdfs/ER-GI-01-1.pdf Shelton, Anthony M. (2000, March) Bt Crops on Trial. Retrieved October 24, 2004 from: http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/gmo/pr-bt-crops-on-trial.htm UNFPA. (2004) Population Growth is Still an Issue. Retrieved November 25, 2004 from: http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2004/english/ch1/page7.htm#1

Subway Verses the Tube Train

Subway and The Tube Train George Tooker, an American artist painted â€Å"Subway† in 1950. Cyril E. Power, a British artist, created â€Å"The Tube Train† in 1934. With a quick glimpse of the eye, one may think these two pieces of artwork are similar. After all, a subway and a tube train are basically the same thing. To a trained eye, one can see the many differences in the two pieces. Tooker was associated with the Magic Realism movements, and is best known for his depictions of alienation in modern city life (Artnet).Tooker focused on urban loneliness and disillusionment. His subjects are often obscured by heavy clothing and appear sagging and shapeless, trapped within their own dull worlds (Leninimports). Tooker adopted a method of using egg yolk thickened slightly with water and then adding powered pigment, a medium that was quick drying, tedious to apply, and hard to change once applied, called egg tempers (Leninimports). â€Å"Subway† depicts office workers trapped in a maze of prision-like passageways (Artnet).The central figure in â€Å"Subway† is a middle aged woman with short, gray hair, cut and curled in the style of 1950s (Whitney). Her facial expression is fearful, appears anxious, and looks depressed. Tooker paints her in midstride as she walks toward an unseen destination. She is wearing a bright red dress. The surroundings are dark and dull and of neutral colors. The viewer’s eye is drawn to the woman because of the positioning of the other figures in the painting and because the walls and railings of the subway create a fanlike effect around her (Whitney).The other female figures in the painting are in the distance and hard to be seen by the eye. The men in the painting are threatening figures who lurk in the background, wearing long coats, all identical except for the color (Whitney). Some of the men are looking suspiciously around the walls of the booths at the woman. The woman wears red, white, and blue whi ch may symbolize the desperate desire of American women in the 1950s to become more modern and independent (Whitney). Power was elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1925.That same year he helped set up Grosvenor School of Modern Art. It was here where he learned about lino cutting (Lenimports). Linocut is a printmaking technique where a design is cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife, with the raised areas representing a mirror image of the parts to show printed. The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller and then pressed onto paper or fabric. Power’s work was generally printed in color, with separate blocks for each color of ink (Nydam). â€Å"The Tube Train† is made of four colors, yellow, red, light blue, and dark blue.It is a representation of life in London as workers go home on the underground train. The seated rider’s heads are buried in newspapers. A few people are standing in the front of the train. Both men and women are seen in the print. The viewer is looking down the isle of the train, as if they are sitting in the back. This print is an example of a one point perspective. They print also uses a lot of repetition. The deiling design is repeated is all the ceiling tiles. All the seated riders are holding a newspaper. The men on the train are all wearing hats.One can now see how a quick look at a piece of artwork can be deceiving. Although the subject matter of art may be alike, the fine details, which give art its true meaning, can differ greatly from one piece to another. http://www. leninimports. com/cyril_e_power. html http://www. leninimports. com/george_tooker. html http://whitney. org/Education/Teens/RaidTheMuseum? GeorgeTookerByVita3052 http://www. artnet. com/artists/george-tooker/ http://nydamprintsblackandwhite. blogspot. com/2011/05/cyril-powers-tube-train. html http://query. nytimes. com/gst/fullpage. html

Firestarter

Firestarter is the 8th novel written by Stephen King/Richard Bachman and the 10th to be adapted into film. It came out in 1984 right on the heels of four other adaptations of King works released between 1983 and 1984 namely Christine, Cujo, The Dead Zone and Children of the Corn. Unfortunately, the commercial success of the book did not translate into box office receipts in spite of how closely it followed the book. Then again, it could also be said that its faithful adaptation diminished the impact it could have since film is a different medium altogether.The book’s plot followed a formula – that of a government experiment gone wrong. An experimental drug code-named Lot Six was administered by The Shop, a shady government agency, to twelve college volunteers. They wanted to see if psi ability can be stimulated by drugs and bring about telekinesis, thought transference and mental domination. The action in the film and in the book started when The Shop decided to bring i n the McGee family particularly Charlie McGee, the eight-year old child who was the result of the union of the only two remaining relatively healthy subjects who took Lot Six. The others had died or lost their minds and maimed themselves during the experiment or later committed suicide. Far from being an ordinary child, Charlie could make fires with her mind.As in the book, the movie used flashbacks to provide the background on how things came to be. In the book, this approach was used effectively since it can put in as much detail as it can not merely to explain the how and why, but also to gain sympathy for the characters’ plight. In the movie, however, this approach limited the development of the character. As it was, the characters became mere representations of the institutions they stood for. Perhaps, it was assumed that the stellar cast and their acting reputations would create audience empathy. It failed to do that, however.Stanley Mann’s script paid homage to the original lines found in the novel. It was necessary to create closer affinity to the book. No updating was necessary since the setting and context was still relevant at the time the movie was made such as the anti-Russian comment against warrant less searches. The Cold War was still very much felt in the 1980s. Aside from being a King novel, one other reason that this was made into a movie was its potential for spectacular effects of fire and explosions. Its target audience were obviously the fans of the Stephen King’s books who would most likely be curious how the fiery scenes would be pulled off. This was why the script followed the book as faithfully as it can so as not to alienate the purists as Stanley Kubrick did with The Shining. However, the book Firestarter is in itself not compelling.The origins of Charlie’s extraordinary ability was explained early on hence there was not real tension or suspense to be had. Once the pursuit started, their capture and the eventual escape were already predictable. The good guys and the bad guys were firmly established that there could only be one ending. King may have wanted the basic premise to be thought-provoking, that of inflicting unethical experiments on unsuspecting victims. The book focused on the consequence of the experimentation. However, the movie seemed to have focused more on reaching its climax than to pursue this premise. In the movie, there was no exploration of Andy and Vicky’s unease after their psychedelic experience. There was no feeling of dread over what had transpired. There was not feeling of common guilt of being responsible why Charlie turned out to be a firestarter.The director banked on Drew Barrymore to carry the movie and show the incongruity that such an angelic face can carry an ability that can only destroy. Dr. Wanless diatribe and should have explored   the horror of the immensity of her probable power but it just came out as politically preachy. Had the ap proach been altered so that it followed a chronological and continuous tale from the 1969 experimentation up to the pyrotechnic display, perhaps a certain suspense could have been maintained with the audience and the characters could have been developed more clearly which the audience can relate with. Also, the visual tricks of physical turmoil used in the movie such as the nosebleed on top of his facial contortions seem over the top. King did not use both devices in the book. He just made him turn pale and very tired and if we wanted something more visual, there were the explorations of numbness on his face.With Barrymore, her face was fully exploited. In the book, her character was becoming drawn, but in the movie she was in the peak of health. Every time she hurls fire, she gets a close u and her golden hair would be blown away from her face (the better to see you, my dear, so to speak) so one can be mesmerized by how beautiful she was as she hurled her fireballs of death. The so undtrack by Tangerine Dream also helped set the mood as its synthesized music shifts from slow to mysterious to panicky as appropriate with the action taking place on screen. The unilateral explosion of the cars in the Manders farm visually showed he spontaneity and the lack of control by Charlie over her powers as compared to the deliberate way made her fireballs and directed them towards specific subjects at The Shop’s compound.The choice of George C. Scott as John Rainbird was a notable deviation from the book. While Scott was truly effective as the assassin sociopath, being able to transform from a kindly orderly who’s afraid of the dark to the ruthless killer who can just as easily â€Å"strike her across the bridge of the nose, breaking it explosively, and sending bone fragments into her brain,† his native American ancestry was stretching the realm of make-believe quite a bit.   In the movie, his face was not deformed.His eyepatch was a perfunctory disgu ise and not used to actually cover up an eyeless socket. The book explained his deformity as a result of the stupidity of his stoned fellow soldiers in Vietnam. One can only guess why these details were left out. A true Native American may not have been chosen so as not to stir up any resentments and controversy for portraying a crazy man. Moreover, his lack of deformity would avoid questions as to how he got his battle scars. In 1984, moviegoers were not yet primed by Oliver Stone’s Platoon which came out in 1986 to the harsh realities of war.Then, there was Martin Sheen’s depiction of Hollister. The book had him losing his mind in the end, seeing things that were not there, a negative after-effect of Andy’s mind domination if he â€Å"pushed† too hard. Instead, he was made to play it like a fool in the movie, mindlessly following orders with no manifestations of incipient craziness.The ending was also rather stilted. After the climax and after running f or almost two hours, the movie just had to end quickly. There were no speculations as to what would happen to the Manders couple whose farm was the scene of the first outburst, and which The Shop knows about once Charlie sought sanctuary with them. There was no speculation about The Shop nor to the effects on Charlie who just lost her father and killed a lot of people (in self defense). The book showed The Shop running after her again and Charlie, on her own, found the Rolling Stones magazine to tell her story. It could be that the movie audience can reconcile it better if Charlie had adult supervision.Works CitedFirestarter, Dir. Mark L. Lester. Perf. David Keith, Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen, George C, Scott. Universal Pictures, 1984.King, Stephen. Firestarter. New York: Signet, 1980.