Future Plan Essay Example for Free

Future Plan Essay Hi, my name is Alberto Bazan. I am eighteen years of age. This year, two-thousand-thirteen Im going tom graduate from Alief Hastings High School. Im going to enroll in a community college in fall for my basic course, and later transfer into a university. My majoring plan is to become a Petroleum engineer. Now that I have some type of experience in the oil field, where I started working after I turned eighteen. The important question is : why am I deciding to go to college? First of all, like some people in this world; love making. So I decided to first choose a career I would like, and would make good amount of money. Second reason is because without knowledge, Im not going to have open opportunities for high-payed jobs. Last but not least; I comprehend that college is very important at this point of our lifetime, because it would help my future in where I can live life without worries of not having the knowledge and skills to get a job. Now in days it is not easy obtaining any job where you can live without worries. From my point of view, I personally think Im not a person to be in school. So therefor, my experience in college can be very harsh at times. I might have ups and downs though out my future career. I know for sure Im going to struggle throughout college, but Im not going to give up in achieving my goals, and to finish my major. Thats why Im going to college!

Report On Online Shopping System Information

Report On Online Shopping System Information The online shopping system is fast gaining media for to sale or purchase items from anywhere and anytime. It is basically based on Internet, It is related with B2C (Business to Customer) model and status of the design and development of e-commerce platform. It can not only save the operating costs of enterprises as well as save the time of customer to go shopping at mall and it is increasing the efficiency of business. This document show the status of Online Shopping System and development background and then introduces or discusses the system design, system objectives, system requirements and overall all phases of development or implementation of system. This system provides good facilities to users with GUI forms to registration, shopping cart management, and information modify etc. for customer. It has also provided some facilities to Admin as add item, update item and etc. It has been designed with B/S three tier structures, JSP technology for dynamic page design and for system security and code reuse the JavaBeans has used. And for better communication between system and easy to access, as well as to store large data of the database has used MSSql Server 2000. In this basically the two user one is Admin who can add item, update item control over the database or the management of customer information and keep security over the information of the customer as well as products. Second is customer who access the site for his requirement, he can register, search or see the products, details of products and comment for product and can do secure transactions over the internet. Chapter 1: Introduction What I am going to do? In the proposed system , as discuss in the abstract we are going to develop the new website Online Shopping System for computer products. In the website I followed the software development methodology called incremental approach nad according to it the system is mainly divided inot the two kinds of users and three kinds of mechanisms in order to make more sutaible for the end users to fulfill their all requirments from one place with quick and in more understandable manner. Here two kinds of users are Admin and End user means customer. In addition to this, three kinds of methods which considered here are NetUI means make available access to the end users for everything from the net which is developed with help of JSP and HTML, second one is the database which used to store large amount of data and easily can retrieve,update etc, and last one is the controls used for the same. Thus here we followed the model based UI desing approach. The important things which we added with this websi te is the latest product with latest configuration customer can choose as per configuration of that product, external devices, security for transcation, customer can send their view or comment and many more. Background In the current world the rapid development of Internet, the Internet has expressly become the best and fast media for collecting information, communication as well as entered into the commerce means selling, purchasing etc. So e-commerce became more popular and more businesses build an online store to show consumers a new shopping concept. Online shopping system as B2B, B2C, C2C ecommerce front-end business platform, the whole process of its business activities plays an important roles. In this site or system, consideration is how to build a B2C Online Shopping System. Online shopping is a kind of interactive features business information which provides users with two types of static and dynamic information resources. The static information are those that change frequently or later that resources, sucha as company profile, management practices and corporate systems etc. Dynamic information is subject to change information, such as commodity quotes, meeting arrangements, and training information. Online shopping system has powerful interactive features to enables businesses and users to easily transfer inoformation to complete e-commerce transactions. This new inter-company transactions to achieve the paperless exchange of documents and funds. Technologies Selection and Justification Following is description of technologies which are used for the website work: 1.3.1 Hardware/Software Requirements Software specifications Hardware specifications: Hardware Minimum Requirement Microprocessor Intel 3.1GHz processor or onwards Random Access Memory (RAM) 512 MB RAM. Hard Disk Drive 20GB (min. free useable disk space). 1.3.2 Technology Description 1) JSP: As there are number of acronyms with which the Internet is packed, another one is JSP. Here the JSP is standing for the Java Server Pages, but ità ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s commonly known as the JSP. JSP is nothing but the scripting language and very much similar to the ASP, PHP languages. Using the JSP, contents in the website are generated dynamically which allowing the rather than only statically as with the HTML. There are many free hosting available for the JSP websites because of the reason is that JSP is free and open source, simple, robust. There are other web development technologies also available now days such as PHP, ASP.net etc. But we encountered some problems with such technologies which are presented in following justification for the same: JSP over PHP: Both (JSP PHP) is web technologies are strong. For the most of the enterprise level applications JSP is better way to do because of its security, stability, speed of execution etc and more are the advantages of JSP. We encountered the problem with the PHP is that it becomes not more secure as compare JSP. As compared to the PHP, JSP is more rapid tool for the development of websites, once we know it, we can design any kind of pages which seems to us harder with the PHP because PHP is harder and also fewer objects oriented than JSP. Using JSP, we can develop web application quick by maintaining the level of performance, security for the same. JSP over ASP.NET: ASP.NET is come with the Microsoft product in the VS framework which is also one of the better way to designs and develop our websites, but the problem with such technology is that it is available only commercially means not freely as the JSP. As the we are getting same performances from the JSP as from the ASP.net, then ità ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s enough to decide to go with the JSP. Apart from this, there some other advantages which of JSP over the ASP.NET we observed such as: Freely Avaliable and Platform independent. Hosting is Cheply available. Web Server for JSP is free. If OS is Linux, no need to pay for the antivirus softwares. Rapid development. 2) MSSql Server 2000: One of the powerful is MSSql. There are many other powerful databases such as Oracle, Mysql etc are available. But while selecting MSSql database, there are two things which were addressed as compared to Oracle as well as MySql as: database which is best suitable with the JSP and another one is database which have fast speed to retrieve, update or communication with data. While with Oracle, MySqlserver there lot of extra efforts needs to be done before setting up the web application, the MSSql database is easy database with the high reliability, fast performance, and easy to use. Project Plan Thus as we used the incremental methodology of the software development, this project is divided into the different phases like requirement analysis phase, designing phase, development phase, deployment phase, testing phase etc. Following chart shows the overview of the proposed project plan with their time durations. Phases in Website Development In this section, some of the quality planes which are considered in order to maintain the quality of the proposed website. The major quality measure which we considered for the website is the proper validation for different things and response time of the proposed website because on the basis of this customers attraction is depends. Following is the brief explanation of these terms: 1) HTML Validation Using this validation we can check the document correctness against the DOCTYPE which is declared. On the basis of this various kinds of reports generated if there are any bugs with it. 2) Validating Links This is one important issue with the websites. Links of the website are checked against the all links given in the website whether they are working according to the specification given. 3) Validating Accessibility This is the most important activity which must be included in every website quality planning. It is not enough only to make the website, because people from different places, with different platforms accessing our website. The initiative of web accessibility is the maintaining the resources list which will help in order to designing the websites which will accessible. 4) Response Time For the websites like proposed one ità ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s necessary to check up with the response time of server because with websites several shopping transactions need to be done. Chapter 2: Software Development Methodologies 2.1 Types of Methodologies The mechanism of methodology is mainly composed of the one or more techniques in conjunction with the one of the models of software development. The prototyping techniques, object oriented techniques which are the multiple ways in order to implement the models such as incremental, waterfall and spiral models. During the single project such kinds of mechanisms are matched as well as mixed. Thus the methodology = techniques + models. Following are different kinds of methodologies which are prepared on the basis of combination of techniques as well as models: 1) Waterfall Model (Life Cycle) 2) Prototyping Model (Life Cycle) 3) Iterative Enhancement Model 4) Incremental Model 5) The Spiral Model 6) Object Oriented Methodology In the next section, we will see the details of each of these models in brief [Ref. http://codebetter.com/blogs/raymond.lewallen/archive/2005/07/13/129114.aspx ] 2.2) Introduction Methodologies 1) Waterfall Model: This model is called as the waterfall model, because in this model the more emphasizes is on the complete phase development before proceeding with the next phase of the development. With the combination with some kinds phase completions, establishment of the baseline is done which freezes the development products at such point. If the current requirement is identified in order to change these products, then the process of formal change is followed in order make the change. Such kind of phases graphic representation during the software development resembling the waterfall model downward flow. [Ref. http://www.onestoptesting.com/sdlc-models/waterfall-model ] 2) Prototyping Model: Waterfall model is basically designed for addressing the issues with the waterfall model. In this model, the basic idea is that rather than freezing the requirements before coding or designs we can proceed, using the throwaway prototype requirements of the development understands. On the basis of requirements which are currently known. The prototype development is inside contains the coding, designing as well as testing. But each of these phases is not done very formally or thoroughly. Thus using such kind of mechanism, end users can get the systems actual feel, only because of the thing that prototype interactions will allow clients to understand the requirements better way for the desired system. 3) Iterative Enhancement Model: This model is trying to combine the features of models like waterfall as well as prototyping models. The main idea behind such model is that development of the software is done on the basis of incremental approaches, in which each and every increment is adding the some kind of functional capability in the system still the system is fully implemented. During the every step, extensions, designing and modifications are made. [Ref. http://codebetter.com/blogs/raymond.lewallen/archive/2005/07/13/129114.aspx ] 4) Incremental Model Main idea in this model is that during the overlapping sections waterfall is performed in order to attempt projects of waterfall model compensate which is done by generating the earlier usable functionality. This kind of model may be needed the overall requirments set that are small projects series. With the general objectives, initially using the basic objective, incremental model is started. 5) Spiral Model The model for the incremental is can be considered as the spiral model sometimes. The view of the spiral model is illustrating the one of the strength of the previous model in this section which is: system size grows while the resources can be held on constant. The size of spiral is corresponds to the size of system, on the other hand the distance among the coils indicating the resources. As the name indicating such model has many cycles. The dimension of the radial representing cumulative cost which is incurred while accomplishing the steps that are done so far as well as dimension of angular representing the progress which is made during the completing the every spiral cycle. [Ref. http://codebetter.com/blogs/raymond.lewallen/archive/2005/07/13/129114.aspx ] 6) Object Oriented Methodology As the name indicating, such methodology requiring using the object oriented techniques which can be used during the requirement analysis, designing and implementation phase of the system. Such kind of methodology asking for the analyst for determining the systems objects, their behavior over the time or their behavior in response to the events, as well as what kind of relations and responsibilities an object has to with the other objects. [Ref. http://codebetter.com/blogs/raymond.lewallen/archive/2005/07/13/129114.aspx ] 2.3 Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages of Prototyping Model Early functionality. Providing the process in order to perfect the definition of requirments. Providing the risk control. Main focus of the documentation is on the end product rather than the evolution of product. Providing the basic specification which is embodied in the operating replica. Disadvantages of Prototyping Model This method is less applicable for the existing systems as compare to the existing new systems development. Suffering from the dirty documentaion. Bad reputation in between the conservatives because of dirty and quick method. Sometimes using this method system is developed with the poor performance. Advantages of Iterative Method Reliable software production. This may be intrdouced gradually to an organization. Disadvantages of Iterative Method Complete sets of requirements are required. Disciplined style may stifle creativity. Advantages of Object-Oriented: Problem owners can joining in producing the solution. Maintenance costs are less due to the object oriented analysis which encourages the complete set of solution. This kind of model expresses the reality of users view. Disadvantages of Object-Oriented This is difficult for those methods which is having the structured analysis of background. This method may be difficult with the DoD-STD- 2167A. [Ref. http://codebetter.com/blogs/raymond.lewallen/archive/2005/07/13/129114.aspx ] 2.4 Details: Two Methodologies In the following section, discussion and detailed working of the two models such as incremental model and waterfall model. 1) Waterfall Model: As we discussed the basic working this model in above section, in this section we will take the overview of basic steps of the model in the software development: Following figure shows the different phase in the development of the software. The documentation included the documentation from each phase. The phases below the detailed design phase include software as part of their output. Transition from phase to phase is accomplished by holding a formal review that is attended by the contractor and appropriate government agencies. These reviews provide the government insight into the contractors progress. At critical points on the waterfall model, baselines are established, the last of which is the product baseline. [Figure:1: Waterfall Model] As showing in above figure 1, as the name indicating waterfall model is made up of sequentially of phases one after the next phase. In comparison with the other software development models, following are some of the salient attributes of this model: This is the forma method. This is like top down development approach. This is consisting of phases which are independent and needs to be completed sequentially. This model is used in different ways: Phases are combined, The starting as well as ending points are different. [Ref. http://www.onestoptesting.com/sdlc-models/waterfall-model ] 2) Incremental Method: C:Documents and Settingsgodwit3Desktopincremental-model1.gif As we discussed in the last paragraph, the model of incremental is performing the waterfall in the overlapping sections in order to attempt length compensation for the waterfall model projects by generating the earlier useful functionality. As compared to the waterfall model, a project which uses the incremental model is starting with the general objectives. In this case, some part of such objectives are defined as the requirements as well as are implemented, after that the next part of these objective are considered and implemented, this process is continues until the complete objective is achieved. However as compare to the complete requirements general objectives can be uncomfortable for the management. Well defined interfaces are needed due to the fact that few modules may be completed early compare to others. This model is more flexible for the development of the websites as compare to the softwareà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s. Thus we selected incremental model for the same. [Ref. http://testing-mines.blogspot.com/2006/05/what-is-incremental-model.html] 2.5) Methodology Selection For our proposed application we have to use the method of incremental approach which is best suitable for such kinds of applications. Because of the following benefits from it: Generates working software quickly and early during the software life cycle. More flexibleless costly to change scope and requirements. Easier to test and debug http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif during a smaller iteration. Each iteration is an easily managed milestone.

Some Things Just Really Make Me Angry :: Education Educational Essays

Some Things Just Really Make Me Angry I was reading Chapter 2, "It's all in the sign!", of Danesi's Messages and Meanings when I ran into a passage that, to put it politely, just really made me angry. Angry because my interpretation of this passage brought back a lot of memories of events that I have had to deal with in my educational "career". There were two sentences, in particular, that really ticked me off. The first was: If a drawing instrument is put in the child's hand, that child will almost instinctively use it to draw--a "skill" that no one has imparted or transmitted to the child. The second was: The child must be exposed to language in order for him or her to acquire it; that same child does not, however, need to be exposed to visual art in order for him or her to draw. These two seemingly innocent statements (that can be found on page 27 and which I have taken out of context) undermine everything that I hold dear. There is a huge assumption in the first sentence that drawing, as a "skill", is innately obtained, especially when "no one has imparted or transmitted to the child". Your naturally talented! Your daughter has so much talent! I wish I had your talent! Your so creative! Well, creative people are like that. I wish I could be as creative as you are! You're the artist of the group/class/school/etc...! Think of something creative/original/new! As I see it, these comments are not compliments of my ability to create visual images but at my "gift", my "talent". Hard work, practice, trial and error, learning the rules, processes, techniques or simple tricks..none of these are examined. The artistic process, to many, remains this mystical and quite godly transformation of something out of nothing and those with this gift of transformation are artistic. What it tells me as a teacher of the arts is this, that I am wasting my time trying to teach everyone, for there are only a talented few (please read the last sentence sarcastically). There is another point of contention that I have with the first statement. What I have taken out of context is the comparison that Danesi makes between language acquisition and drawing skill development. O.K. Danesi states that a child picks up a crayon (drawing instrument) and uses it to scribble naturally and spontaneously, without anyone imparting this knowledge to the child.

Family and Household Essay -- essays research papers fc

Family and Household   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The word family comes from the Latin word familia which means household. This seems to be fitting since they both seem synonymous. In the dictionary the definition of family is a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head or a group of persons of common ancestry. The definition of household is those who dwell under the same roof and compose a family or a social unit comprised of those living together in the same dwelling. Even the definitions are very similar, yet they have come to mean two very different things in our modern day world. As time evolves so does the clarity of what makes up a family and the function of family and household are.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Families are affected by, and in turn affect, the values and structure of the society, in which they are embedded† (Haviland 2002: 245). This statement says so much about what families are and why they differ so much from one culture to the next. They fill the needs of each particular group. In America the â€Å"family† has changed dramatically over the past few decades as the country, itself, has changed. In the 1950’s and sixties the roles of each member of the family were more distinct and defined. The mother and the father were a married couple who stayed together. The mother did not work outside of the home, except in extreme circumstances or cases. She took care of the children and the home. The father was the â€Å"bread winner† and did very little work inside the home. Today most families either have both parents working or they are single parent families, or families divided by divorce. The changes to what comprises our f amilies have also evolved to included families with gay parents; having either two mothers or two fathers or combined families from re-marriages with step-parents and siblings. In these families their function is one of raising independent children who will grow up to become better than the generation before them. And in many cases they also function as an emotional and monetary support for each other; helping each other to obtain their goals of independence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In many other cultures their definition of what a family is very different of that of Americans. In most of these cultures family provides a more important role, one of survival. These family groups usually co... ...alue along with what is irrelevant. Our families provide us with the necessary tools to survive and keep our people going from one generation to the next. I have learned that the definitions of family and household are broad and diverse and that to know one does not mean you know another. What makes up either one of these two things is all about the culture and the society that we live in. But, it also made me realize that no matter how divergent our families and households are they all seem to fulfill the same basic need of survival. We just go about it in different ways. So, no matter where you live or who you live with you are still just learning how to live and that is what we all have in common.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Works Cited Abrams, I.R., & Bishop, J. (Producers). (1994). â€Å"Family and Household,† Faces   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  of Culture [videotape]. Fountain Valley: Coast Community College   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  District. Haviland, William A. (2002) Cultural Anthropology. Forth Worth: Harcourt   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  College Publishers.

First Accomplishment in My Life Essay

It is so difficult to live in the United States, the land of opportunity, without education and the English language. Without these two things, our lives seem like meaningless. My family is one of the victims of this problem. Two years ago, when I was a senior student in high school, I almost could not graduate from high school with diploma in hand because of failing the exit exam twice and my lack knowledge of English. At that time, I really wanted to give up and ended my education at that level, but the encouragement of my parents had helped me go through this challenge to succeed the first accomplishment in my life. The first challenge started out when my family immigrated to this country. Indeed, living in an unfamiliar place is not easy at all. Everything is totally different from my own country such as the weather, culture, food, communication, and education. My first educated place in America was Rancho Cordova High School which is located in Rancho Cordova county of California. Truthfully, when I first began to learn English with eleventh grade in High school, I was just like a deaf and mute person in the class. I didn’t understand what people were saying, and of course I could not speak English as well as people here. The second day of school, I carried the schedule around the school with innocent face and lost my direction to get into the classes. At that time, I even could not express my feeling by asking the only basic question such as â€Å"Would you please tell me how to get into this class.† In that moment, I recognized myself was an alien who came from another planet. My feeling was so down, and I felt so lonely in the world. One day, when I was sitting alone in the bench at school, a white girl with a pretty blond hair whose name is Sarah dropped by to say hi and wanted to make friend with me. She asked me whole bunch of questions, but I didn’t know how to response. After few minutes, she knew that I couldn’t speak English, and she just walked away. I almost cried out in the public, and I felt myself so stupid. Time by time, I began to be familiar to the new life and my studying at school. At that moment, the goal of graduating from high school was important than anything in the world. This is not only my dream and also a significant promise to my lovely parents, because I wanted them to be proud of their only daughter in the family. Besides that, I wanted to bring an honor to my family, take fully care and support sufficiently for the rest of their life with certain status in the community. A year later, the last year of high school, I should be very happy instead of the anxiety and sadness which were carried on my face. Unfortunately, something happened out of control; everything turned out bad to my goal. The other obstacle had come to me again, and I know that I had to deal with another challenge. In that year, class of 06, the educational law had changed in California. The government had required all the students to pass the California Exit Exam to graduate or we could not walk stage. I was so worried about this problem because I already failed it twice. I only had one more chance to take it in February. Actually, with two years of learning English, this test was really a struggle for me. I totally lost self-confidence at that time. I was so upset about the promise I made. I always asked myself â€Å"what can I do now?† When my parents received the news, they didn’t feel so disappointed about me. Furthermore, they encouraged me to work harder and try all my best to do the exam as good as I can. With their support, I completely got back self-confidence to struggle with the next challenge. The morning of the exam day, I got up as early as I could to prepare spiritedly for the test that will take four hours. When I walked into the kitchen, I could sniff out the smell of delicious sunshine up egg with bread, which is ever my favorite food for breakfast, that mom cooked in the early morning. When I was ready to leave the house, my parents gently said to me that â€Å"Loss is experience of success. Mom and dad always stay behind to support you. Don’t worry! My sweetie† I looked at her with tears in my eyes and said,† Mom, I won’t disappoint you.† After two months, the result of exam was coming on May 10. At that day, when I walked into the counselor’ office to receive the result, my hand was shaking, my heart was pounding so fast, and I entered into Mrs. Tiger’s office with extremely worried face. Meanwhile, she announce my result with smiling face that â€Å"Congratulation, you pass the exam with the score 361†. At that moment, I was so surprise, excited and happy. Rapidly, my tears kept falling, and I couldn’t even hold it. Finally, my dream had come true, and I told myself that I did it. Absolutely, I could have a graduated invitation for my parents. The graduation of my senior year was celebrated at the gorgeous park in Cal-Expo. Obviously, I was so nervous and excited on that big day. There is one scene always store in my mind which was my parents’ joyfulness during the whole night. On that big day, they gave me a really big bundle of red roses. For me, whatever presents which I had received are not valuable than their happiness. After I went through this difficult time, I recognized that it was only the threshold of my life. For an English learner like me, I know that there is more obstacles will happen in the life of college. Therefore, it helps me to prepare more strength and spirit to struggle to a lot of other challenges in college. Besides that, I also received the valuable lesson of two characters that a person need to have which are persevering and hard working are so important for us. These both characters will lead us to the way of success. Also, the most valuable lesson I had learned from this challenge that parents is extremely part of my life; my parents are ever significant people in my life because they are always by my side to support me whenever I overcome the challenge or difficult problem. Without them, there is no life at all for me.

Health and Social Care Setting Essay

Everyone is an individual and when they need to use the health and social care services it is import they have access to the setting which precisely meets their needs, different setting are designed to do just that and the trained staff within those settings have the skills and knowledge to meet those particular needs. Key elements: If everyone who needed support turned up at the same place, things would become rather crowded; more importantly, not everyone would receive the support that they really needed. Health and social care services are designed to meet particular needs and are staffed by professionals who know how to do this. Hospitals: Hospitals provide support for people who have an illness or who are recovering from one. Many hospitals provide support for a variant of conditions and illness and are staffed by people who are trained to do this. Some hospitals provide support for particular conditions such as ophthalmic eye care), maternity (care for the mother and baby durin g pregnancy and birth) and paediatric (children). Hospices: Hospices are normally much smaller than many hospitals and provide support for individuals who have a terminal illness. Some hospices provide respite care which means that an individual may come for a few days to give their career a brake. The staff receives special training in order to provide the people in the hospices the right support. Domiciliary support: Domiciliary support is provide in an individual’s own home and can be either health or social care. For example, community nurses will visit a person at home and give them nursing care: sometimes this could be removing stitches after surgery or changing a dressing. Community care assistants may help an older person with their personal care if they can no longer do so themselves. Domiciliary can enable people to either retune to or remain in their own home and provide a choice. Residential homes: Residential homes are designed to meet the needs of individuals who cannot take care of themselves. Many older people who can no longer meet their own personal needs, or who are lonely following the death of a partner, may prefer to live in residential home rather than remain in their own homes. Residential homes provide the companionship which people are missing, and staff will deliver the personal support if this is needed, in any way which preserves the dignity of the older person whilst safeguards. Other residential settings provide a home for younger people who have physical need and c annot live independently. The staff in both residential usually includes an activity coordinator who arranges events and activities designed to encourage the use of skills such as memory and physical mobility. Day centres: Day centres are designed to provide a social space for people who would otherwise spend most of their time alone. Many day centres provide companionship and midday meals for older people, enabling them to meet with people of a similar age and receive support from trained staff. Many day centres have regular visits from health and social care professionals such as counsellors, chiropodists and even opticians. They may also provide other servicer such as hairdressing and nail care. There are also day centres for young people who have a form of physical disability. Fostering arrangements: For a variety of reasons some children cannot be care for in their own homes. When this happens social services may arrange for the child to be looked after by foster careers who wi ll have received training in order to provide a suitable, temporary home for a child. This can either be short -team arrangement, for example if both parents were ill and there was no other relatives available to provide a home for the child, or long-team if there is thought necessary. Foster careers do receive some financial support, but main reward is seeing the children thrive.

New Product Launch Marketing Plan Essay

Executive Summary Learning Team A has shown in the first two phases of the marketing plan that individuals exercise for a variety of reasons including obesity, addressed target markets (recreational, fitness, and professional athletes), decision motivators and buying behaviors (individual needs and health concerns), the Product Life Cycle, the four P’s, and the product mix. Within this final phase, Learning Team A will be discussing situational analysis, market growth potential and competitive analysis, segmentation, target market, and positioning, pricing and distribution, and marketing communication. Also discussed will be the financial aspect, intended market objectives for year 1, year 2 and year 3, implementation milestones, and finally, evaluation and control metrics and methodology to measure performance. Situational Analysis My Run Buddy offers a new innovation in fitness technology as the first voice commanded treadmill. Its product marketing on extraordinary combination of powerful design and features are the key factors for its product brand development and market growth in the fitness industry. Enhancing and implementing strategic marketing plan will also be essential to the success of My Run Buddy. Market Growth Potential and Competitive Analysis There are so many treadmills out on the market today, individuals try to find just the right one that will give them just the right workout for their lifestyle. With the innovative features that are installed on My Run Buddy, such as the Voice Command option, Learning Team A believes that this will escalate My Run Buddy to the top of everyone’s list of treadmills. Learning Team A estimates that with these innovative features, sales will be high and  profits will be generated. Learning Team A compared My Run Buddy with two different treadmills that are out on the market today, the LifeSpan Treadmill and the Life Fitness T5-0 Treadmill. After reviewing both of these, the one that comes closest to My Run Buddy is the Life Fitness T5-0 Treadmill. The Life Fitness T5-0 Treadmill has many of the similar features, warranties and price range; however, it does not have the Voice Command feature. The Voice Command feature is what is unique to My Run Buddy and everyone that uses this machine, whether it be at home or in a gym, will feel comfortable with the features and enjoy the easiness of programming it to their respective needs. Marketing Strategies The major strategies to market My Run Buddy are aimed toward health and fitness industries. According to Wellsource (2014), in the next five years, an increase of at least 4.2 percent within five years is projected for the demand in services and equipment for the multibillion-dollar health and wellness industry. My Run Buddy will reach out to male and female customers mostly between the ages of twenty to forty years old, which does not limit customers who are fifty years of age and above because of the growing demand to promote active health lifestyle for all ages. In addition to the market target stated, a small percentage of customers who may use My Run Buddy include professional athletes preparing for competitions such as marathons or the Olympic games. Positioning My Run Buddy focuses on its ability to become as the first voice commanded treadmill providing extraordinary combination of powerful design, comprehensive product features, and positive health and fitness results to its customers. Its major advantage compared to other existing treadmills is its capacity to offer personalized fitness workouts to ensure safe workouts based on each user’s health status, vital signs, and intensity of workout. Marketing Program Kotler and Keller (2012) mentioned that consumers often make the decision to purchase certain products based on how they perceive the price of the  product is rather than the marketer’s stated price. The automobile may cost $100,000, and if some customers perceive the particular price to be reasonable price for the automobile, they will purchase it based on their perception and not because of the fact that marketers set the price of the automobile as $100,000. Same customer may feel that $30,000 for different automobile is too expensive even though he or she felt that $100,000 for the automobile was reasonable for them because they perceive each products differently. Kotler and Keller (2012) also mentioned that customer are less sensitive to price of the product when they believe that 1) there are not too many similar products in the market that can replace the quality of the given product; 2) the high price of the product can be justified; 3) stated price of the product is just a small cost of obtaining unique product for the life time. Learning team A intends to set the price of the voice commanded treadmill to create the perception that the price of voice commanded treadmill is reasonable enough for a customer to purchase the customized treadmill that can enhance their health status for the rest of their lives. Rather than matching the price of the treadmill to another company’s lower price of the treadmill, Learning team A believes it will be beneficial for the company if the company can justify that customers are paying for superior quality of the voice commanded treadmill, and they are saving money for more value on the voice commanded treadmill by paying the stated retail price. Kotler and Keller (2012) stated that companies need to consider four different objectives when they are attempting to determine the level of effectiveness for their market logistics: 1) How should the company handle orders from customers? 2) Where should the company store their products? 3) How much products should the company store in the designated storage space? And 4) How should the company distribute the product to the customer? Learning team A believes it is best for customers to be able to order the voice commanded treadmill from the company’s internal website or the electronic commerce company, such as Amazon because customers do not always have time to visit the local retail locations to order the product. Learning team A believes the company should store voice commanded treadmill in warehouses located in west coast, east coast, and southern states and use  the fast transportation method, such as FedEx, UPS, and USPS to expedite the shipment process. Learning team A does not recommend the company to store excessive amount of voice commanded treadmill in their storage locations, but they suggest that company’s logistic professional and sales professional should work together to determine the projected amount of sales for the given period and attempt to clear out the amount of inventory if they become too excessive by promoting clearance sales events. Marketing Communication Plan Multiple methods of advertising and promotion for My Run Buddy will be used as part of marketing plan for reaching out to its target market. Kiosks will be installed in stores and retailers selling the product, where its shoppers will experience free product demonstration. Discount coupons, extended warranty, free product delivery, or free trial offers are also few promotions to be considered for customers. Other than kiosks in stores, My Run Buddy can also be offered for free trial or deals to different fitness locations such as LA Fitness or Gold’s Gym. Furthermore, advertising through multiple media such as print, online, television will be utilized to spread information about the product. Financial Information Our cost structure allow us to pass some savings and still have a solid 200% contribution margin which means that even if we start with low profit, we can sustain the operation enough to see the product establish in the market. Our Policy is to have certain allowances and discounts for wholesalers tie to our AR so our Promotional Pricing follow the following: Total Cost (Including Labor, Overhead, and Transportation) per unit: $2,000 US Direct Cost (Parts, electronic components, etc†¦) per unit: $1,250 US Contribution Margin Goal (Floor Price): $2,500 Sensitivity on Total Profit without marketing expense: Price 1: $3,600 (80% Profit) p unit Price 2: $3,200 (60% Profit) p unit. We will sell the Unit to the Wholesale at $3,600 with a contractual allowance to renew each year of 5% prompt pay discount (less than 30 days), and an additional volume (more than 10 Units per month) discount of 7% of  the marked price. This will allow the wholesaler the possibility to pay only $3,181 per unit if they pay on time and order 10 units per month. A savings of $419 per unit or 11.64% discount. Our closest competition based on the specs (4.0 Motor, Absorption pad, Monitor, etc.. but without the voice activation is the Life Fitness Club Series Treadmill (http://www.treadmilltalk.com/treadmill-comparison-chart-5.html) with an average price in the US of $5,500. Financial Objectives To start sales with a minimum of 60% Profit To increase sales by 2% in Year 2, and another 5% Year 3 To keep plan under budget Break Even Analysis Cost to produce a treadmill unit (Direct Cost): $1,250 Fixed Cost (Annual Overhead): $9,000 ($750*12) If selling for $3,200, then we need to sell 5 Units to break even! ($9,000/ ($3,200- $1,250)) If selling for $3,600, then we need to sell 4 Units to break even! ($9,000/ ($3,600- $1,250)) If selling for $3,181, then we need to sell 5 Units to break even! ($9,000/ ($3,181- $1,250)) Marketing Expenses We are estimating a marketing expense (promotion, training, etc†¦) of $500 on Year 1, $400 Year 2, and $280 on Year 3 Per Unit; these figures are considered in the budget. Forecasting Demand We are estimating a total of 200 Units sales on year one with an increase of 2% in Year 2, and another 5% Year 3. We will keep the price the same for the first 3 years; therefore we expect the following each year: Year1: $636,200 in revenue with a 64.7% Profit Year2: $648,924 in revenue with a 64.7% Profit Year3: $681,370 in revenue with a 64.7% Profit Marketing Objectives Year 1: Establish the Product in the industry: To be one of the top 5 brands in the fitness equipment industry among the wholesalers and the consumers. Year 2: Increase Sales on a steady pace: To increase the number of wholesalers purchasing our product by 7%. Year 3: Brand Management: To ensure consistency between our brand licensing strategy and the overall business goal† and to focus on maximizing leverage of the brand. Implementation Milestones Milestones during this project will be the main guides to product progression and success. In order to determine whether the product development and launch is on track our team has decided to set in place milestone or timeline marks to stay on track. Our product will have 4 major milestones with different sub sectioned goals. The first milestone will be identifying customer needs and within this major category we have to accomplish the following goals; business problems, customer requirements, business opportunity, target application and technology requirements/abilities. The second milestone will be to accomplish understanding of the market opportunity. Within this we plan to accomplish industry trends, market size and growth, target market and finally market channels. The third milestone will be entering the market. Within this second major milestone we will accomplish product positioning, competitive strategies, pricing, marketing plan, sales strategy, sales tools and customer support. The third milestone will be a continuous process during the length of the product. The final milestone is generating revenue and the goals accomplished will be establishing partners, channels and leads. The last milestone will also be a continuous process for the length of the product. Milestones may be introduced and revamped depending on the shift of the product lifecycle. Since our team is aiming for continuous growth and success, we are aware that milestones need to be in place and also re introduced so that a cycle does not fail and we continue to succeed. Evaluation of Metrics and Methodology Elrod, Susan Murray, and Bande (2013) mentioned that there are four different categories of performance measures supply chain companies consider when attempting to determine the level of effectiveness for their supply chain management system: financial cost, quality, time, and flexibility. The cost to produce the product, the cost to distribute the product to the customer, and the cost to store the product in warehouse are some of the key  factors affecting the financial cost category of the supply chain management performance metrics (Elrod et al, 2013). Customer’s perceived value of the product, level of accuracy of the product, and the ability for a company to distribute the product safely to the customer without any damage fall under the quality category under the performance metrics for supply chain management (Elrod et al, 2013). Learning team A intends to incorporate similar set of performance metrics by evaluating production cost and inventory cost against the amount of revenue the voice commanded treadmill generated for given period of time to determine if the cost of product is exceeded by the revenue the product generates. Learning team A will also evaluate how fast the company can distribute the voice commanded treadmill to its customers without damaging the product and how well the voice treadmill can perform according to the specific features on the product to obtain customer loyalty. Contingency Planning According to Mindtools.com (2014), â€Å"The need for contingency planning emerges from a thorough analysis of the risks that your organization faces. It is also useful in thinking about new and ongoing projects: what happens when ‘Plan A’ does not go as expected?†. Contingency planning is highly important to our team and will be the foundation we follow for risk assessment and planning. We will minimize error and failure by expecting the worse. What if the consumers do not want to buy our product, what if it doesn’t sell as much as we thought it would. By preparing for the worse we will be setting up for successful future. Our contingency plan will be to continuously conduct risk assessment regardless of how well our product is doing. Communicating issues and good ideas will be a constant goal within the product team and shareholders involved. If at whatever point we need to retrain or train personnel our team is equipped with the information to do so. We will keep documentation of successes and failures no matter how big or small. Finally we will evaluate performance and implement goals so that we are able to assess how well the product is doing. Conclusion In conclusion, Learning Team A has shown, within their marketing plan, that the Voice Command treadmill is a unique product that will generate large profits for the proper company in today’s society. Learning Team A has  also shown how this type of treadmill is more advanced than those on the market with the addition of the Voice Command feature and how it will be accepted in the long term by consumers looking for the proper workout equipment to maintain their health. With this new feature, Learning Team A feels that consumers will be drawn to My Run Buddy for their health needs as the innovative features lets them feel more comfortable working out and they don’t have to worry about calling anyone if there is a medical condition that arises, all they would have to do is tell the machine to contact the hospital. References Elrod, C., Susan Murray, P. E., & Bande, S. (2013). A Review of Performance Metrics for Supply Chain Management. Engineering Management Journal, 25(3), 39-50. Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2012). Marketing management (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Wellsource. (2014). Market trends project more growth for wellness industry. Retrieved from http://www.wellsource.com/company-news/Market-Trends-Project-More-Growth-for-Wellness-Industry.html Mindtools. (2014). Contingency Planning. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_51.htm