10 Companies With Amazing Benefits for Part Time Employees

10 Companies With Amazing Benefits for Part Time Employees Trying to finish school or take care of a family, or start a business on the side, but jealous of everyone with full-time benefits? Here are 10 companies you could work for that offer great benefits for part time employees. 1. Avis/BudgetThe Avis Budget Group also includes Apex, Payless, and Zipcar. When you work for this company, you are eligible for the employee stock purchase plan after 90 days. And after 1,000 hours of service, even part-time sales associates and vehicle techs are eligible for a 401k.An extra perk? You can get a discounted price on former rental vehicles when you need to buy a car.2. Barnes NobleBarnes Noble offers basic life insurance to everyone who works there. Plus after six months of employment, you get one paid week off per year. After one year, that doubles to two weeks! If you love books- or even just tolerate them- this could be the place for you.3. The Container StorePart-timers here get access to 401k, medical, dental, and vision plans. There’ s also good counseling, a corporate wellness plan, gym membership discounts- and even pet insurance discounts. Plus you might be able to get coverage for your common law spouse or domestic partner.4. CostcoAfter you’ve worked part-time for 180 days (or 600 hours), you’re eligible to receive benefits- healthcare, prescription drugs, etc. And if you work at least 10 hours per week, you’ll be enrolled in short-term disability insurance as well.5. Lowe’sLowe’s will give you a preventative health care plan right off the bat- which doesn’t cover hospitalization or illness, but will hopefully keep you in primo shape with tons of preventative care. They also have 401k, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, auto and home insurance plans or discounts.6. REIThis co-op gives employees health care, life, and disability on a sliding scale (based on annual pay) when they work at least 20 hours a week. If you work less than that, they’ll help y ou navigate the marketplace and get coverage elsewhere. There’s a great employee assistance plan available to all. Plus, the company gives 5% of eligible employees’ base pay to a retirement plan, plus profit sharing opportunities and pre-tax transportation subsidies.7. StaplesWork there for 90 days, and you can sign up for dental, vision, short-term disability, and life insurance. If you average 30 hours a week for a year, you’ll then be able to enroll in full-time medical. After 1,000 hours and a year, you’re also eligible for 401k and stock options.8. StarbucksWork 240 hours over three consecutive months and average 20 hours a week, and Starbucks gives you great benefits- including a health plan that includes acupuncture and chiropractic care. After a year, you’re eligible for PTO. And there are life insurance, 401k, online tuition reimbursement, and adoption expense reimbursement benefits programs available. Plus free coffee every week!9. U-Haul There are limited medical and dental plans available to all part-time employees. Plus 401k and stock options, travel insurance, and a credit union for banking.10. UPSUPS offers education assistance to part-time employees. Get an extra $5250 a year ($25k max, lifetime) to go back to school!

Tips For Writing A Microeconomics Essay

Tips For Writing A Microeconomics Essay Microeconomics Essay: Topic of Relevance A big challenge many students face is coming up with a unique topic to write about. Crafting the right question is a crucial part of your writing progression. Just one poor choice and the results can be devastating. In order to choose the right choice topic, figure out which topic you are conversant with because the more you know about it, the easier it will be for your writing process. Choosing your topic in haste can result in very disappointing results since your final work will be jumbled up. Take your time while figuring out the topic of discussion that you are familiar with, do personal research of how best you know it and if it fits your description, draft it. Many students assume that sitting down to brainstorm, conduct research and finally structuring the right question is a waste of time. What you should understand from this is that the time you have invested will save you more time and energy when writing down your essay. Our article has researched and came up with the 65 common topics, particularly in areas microeconomics essay papers focus on. The list consists of both broad and narrow scoped topics. Important Areas of Research Microeconomics is a branch of economic science that entails elements of a scientific study. This study through research has conveyed ways of helping economists predict economic propensities. For instance, they can foresee the market reaction when a specified group of individuals comes up with a purchasing decision. Keep in mind that this model is based on the predictions which are limited to highlighting possible changes on the market. This relates to the market incentives which may give you different results from the ones you predicted. Below is a list of 15 broad-spectrum topics that any micro-economics paper question can be crafted around: Finding a balance for supply and demand Opportunity costs Information economics Elasticity (the extent on variable response can quickly change in another variable) Ecological problems facing the US and Europe due to planned economies Production costs Game theory Flawless competition Consumer demand theory (the ability of the consumers to strike a balance between the need for buying a product, or services rendered and the costs charged). Economics of labor Market structure and the systems that run it Conditions to be met or a microeconomic model to be implemented. Mention the interaction between natural, industrial and household. An argumentative essay based on the microeconomic market organization Theory of production (a study that explains how inputs are converted to outputs). The effect of monopoly on the market (how a single dominant organization that supplies a particular commodity influences the marketplace dynamics and the consumer demand theory Microeconomics Essay Questions Relating to Supply and Demand How is pricing influenced by the dynamics of supply and demand How is the labor market a major influence of supply and demand? Is there an active role the labor union contributes to this? How do diverse market structures influence supply and demand? Microeconomics essay questions that focus on Ecology and Nature How do seasonal variations affect the economy? Discuss ways you can reduce the influence of a small business on an environment How do companies maneuver through ecology based on market and planned economies? What is the overall effect of enforced travel fees on eco-responsibility? What are the indicators of ecological economics that help define its effectiveness? What is your take on the concept of green business process management? Is a crucial part of environmental economics? Does the concept of sustainable development really assure sustainability in terms of Environmental Economics, Ecological Economics Green Economics? What is the ultimate purpose of Ecology, and what do we hope to achieve in advancing the field? What do you think are the differences between green economy and ecological economics? Which paradigm(s) is (are) the most suitable for assessing the economy-environment relationship? How can ecosystem service (ES) assessments be designed to include equity issues about the distribution of benefits and costs of ES use? Explain the concept of Payment of ecosystem services and watershed restoration How to quantify forest ecosystem services such as aesthetic values, recreation, etc.? What is an ecological modeling reference? Can green economies exist outside green markets? What is the basic difference between Ecological Economics and Environmental Economics’? Micro-economic Essay Based on Healthcare Economic models that are applicable in the informal payments of healthcare systems Describe what you can learn on cost-effectiveness analysis of healthcare interventions What are the main characteristics of a private healthcare care system? Explain the correlation of healthcare profits to taxation Micro-economic Essay Questions on Business, SMB, and Manufacturing Economics Problems experienced by a new business due to the current market dynamics? What is the law of diminishing returns and how do you handle its effect on input? How do you develop the profit returns of a business? What is the impact of local manufacturing to the community? What is the effect of purchasing local produce on the economy of a country? What are the main aspects of a successful business? What are the advantages of having a good working atmosphere for a business? What ways can a business employ to survive an economic crisis? How do small companies compete with well-established rivals? Do a case study of business foreseeing closure and make an analysis of alternatives? Carry out research and document the local trends within a community that influence the expansion or opening of a business Benefits of the no-sale policy on a business What are the effects of the recession on a company? Provide a specified company as your specific enterprise to talk about. What are the ways of reducing risk and loss in an expanding business? Define and analyze the traits of a strong leader in a business enterprise What are the strategies you need to employ to ensure a small business does not go bankrupt? Does crowdfunding have any benefits? discuss Discuss the benefits of creativity and their influence on the success of a company Micro-economic Essay Based on Aspects of Social Media, PR, and Advertising: Explain ways advertising influences purchasing decisions How are advertising and microeconomics associated? What are the benefits of this? What are the chances that a business will successfully maneuver through a quality related scandal? The importance of social media advertising in encouraging supply Explain pricing as compared to salary in relation to a minimum wage increase The above samples are relevant in your research for ideas about essays that relate to micro-economics. By reading through this list, I hope that you will get inspired to come up with your own. However, this list should be utilized as a guideline to tailor your own essay question that you can best handle based on your knowledge about it. The topics covered are just a few out of the many that you can find upon research. A Sample Essay for Microeconomics Below is an essay that we have created for you to give you an in-depth understanding of the writing of a microeconomics essay: QUESTION: Has industrialization posed a threat to nature? What effects does the destruction of nature have on economics? Between the years 1970 up to 2012, the economy of the United States has grown steadily to the 100 percent mark. This, however, was not easily achieved, since the natural environment has suffered pollution. Even with the many anti-pollution policies made and adopted by the United States government, the action towards upholding their integrity has been minimal.   Prior research estimated that carbon dioxide emissions have only decreased by 12% within the period of 2007 and 2012. Carbon dioxide, however, is the one out of the many toxins that affect the environment. This is a clear indication of the negative effects that many businesses and companies contribute to with their ignorance on controlling and eliminating pollution. Microeconomics describes pollution as an externality. The meaning of an externality is an act that distresses third party people who were not related to the action.   This phenomenon can pose both positive and negative problems. For instance, if you live in an area where there is a nightclub which you do not attend but you always hear the loud thuds and noises each time it is operational, you are considered an externality. This is a situation where you can you are not part of the activities that are around you but the events happening reach you. This can be either a positive or negative experience depending on how you feel about it. Pollution, however, will always be a negative externality since it poses harmful effects on humans, animals, and plants. With the increase of demand for commodities, production rates have been increased; thus an upsurge in the toxic by-products which pose a threat to the health of the environment.   This trend sieves through societys moral standards and eventually becomes a custom to them. Maintaining a healthy environment can only be achieved if the amounts of commodities manufactured by a company are reduced. This, however, will be hard to achieve because everyone is out to search for their source of wealth, and do not care about the consequences that might arise. As a way for managing this trend, most of the economists suggest that each cost of production should have a budget for the cost of pollution. The list provided should cover the following aspects; the influence that the pollution has on human health and safety, the resulting effect it extends to property value, its effect on recreation events and its effect on the wildlife habitat. Here is an example of how the cost consideration should be summed up: A company manufactures freezers at a production cost estimated at $700 per unit; the cost of production will increase to $150 per unit if pollution management production is included in the production of the freezer.   Several units that could be produced will take a downward dive due to the increased expense. This will affect the sales price which will shoot up since the cost production has significantly gone up. Within the customer’s perspective, when it comes to choosing a product that is eco-friendly, or the one that lacks this element and is cheaper, the customer will always opt for the cheaper option. This means that the eco-friendly companies will suffer a loss despite the fact that their product is of more quality than the one they chose. To reduce pollution, the consumer trends adopted by many should change and opt for eco-friendly products. To enforce this dynamic, government legislation may have to be put into order, where the damage cost exceeds the normal cost to ensure producers change their designs to more eco-friendly products. This type of conditions will be the reason for the shift of economic perspective to the protection of the environment.†

A living person leadership style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A living person leadership style - Essay Example She possess all the qualities of a leader as she has a vision ,managing power ,influencing abilities ,can work under pressure ,turn the company’s falling stock prices to move up etc. Confidence Her confidence and believe on herself was one of determinant factors not in her career but also in personnel life. How confidently she recovered from the disease was similar to how she turned falling stock price to move up on the board. She has the skills to fix the problem in tough situation from failing company she developed company’s reputation of customer oriented, technically focused and change agent (Alleyne). Dedication Burns has been given many different position in the company at different times through which she learned almost all major product development ,which helped her to focus more on the smallest low performing products to how to expand globally. Long term Approach Whenever a firm faces loses its first step is to reduce cost but how to do it efficiently, so that firm efficiency is not at risk, is an art. Before Burns took the post thousands of employees were lay off, but this time Burns out sourced its largest manufacturing unit with 5000 jobs to Flextronics International (Alleyne). In this way company maintained its valued work force and product efficiency with maintaining low cost.

Changes to the public benefit requirement under the Charities Act 2006 Essay

Changes to the public benefit requirement under the Charities Act 2006 have transformed the law in the area of charitable trusts. Discuss - Essay Example Alastair Hudson states ‘A charity is defined in the Charities Act 2006 as being ‘an institution which established for charitable purposes only’ and which falls to be subject to the control of the High Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction with respect to charities.’1 Before the act was implemented, there were four charitable purposes known as heads. These heads are the advancement of education, the advancement of religion, the relief of poverty and the benefit of the community. The new act of 2006 aims to reinstate the obligation that are laid charities had of been able to show that their charities directly benefit the public. One of the important purposes of the charities act of 2006 has been Public-benefit requirement. All charitable organizations in the United Kingdom must be able to demonstrate and provide evidence that they have been able to successfully benefit the public. In England and Wales, there are almost 600,000 organizations which includes about 200,000 registered charitable organizations which to not fall under the profit sector. The UK has always been known for having a strong tradition of charitable activities. Other organizations which are most common throughout the world have modern concerns and seek to make a profit whereas c haritable organizations have been around for the last 400 years in England and has been constantly trying to change the area of public benefits. However in the last 400 years, the society in the UK has gone through a number of important changes end there for charitable needs to be abreast with the changing societal patterns in the UK. The voluntary sector has played a major role in the charities of the UK. They have always been the subject of reviews by the government and have worked in close partnership with local and central governments. The Charities Act Of 2006 has therefore been able to provide the voluntary organizations with a much better legal framework for carrying out

Interview data collected and analysed (grammar, linking words, rewrite Essay

Interview data collected and analysed (grammar, linking words, rewrite concussions for each part - Essay Example It is quite necessary to conduct such a study in Saudi Arabia, as it is one of the most resourceful countries. Unfortunately most of its resources are wasted on unnecessary purposes like maintenance of buildings, especially hospitals. So this study bring to light a good point that maintenance costs would be less or not required at all if there is no faulty construction. However, there is a need to focus on the relationship between design building and maintenance, in terms of reduced maintenance budgets, in order to avoid design defects in Saudi Arabia, as the harsh climate of the Saudi Arabian Rub Al-Khali shortens the life of buildings. Therefore, this study will talk about the appropriate steps that should be considered while building new infrastructures in the future. Poor designing leads to defects and imperfections in the building structure, and it occurs due to defects in material selection, ventilation arrangements that are made as well as flooring defects that occur during th e construction process of the building. The beginning chapters lay emphasis on maintenance and stress that maintenance of buildings is increasing annually by great margins in Saudi Arabia. One of the main cause for this increase is the defects that take place during the construction process itself because if a building is constructed with the right selection of quality materials with the right design concepts and with the accurate plan then the maintenance cost required will be much. This is due to the fact that quality building material during construction will obviate the necessity for frequent repairs. As a continuation of the previous chapters it is an understood fact that building designs, which ignored the maintenance practicality and adequacy were the main determinants of increased maintenance costs in case of the hospitals in Saudi Arabia. But this maintenance is difficult because of the non-availability of replacement materials, skilled personnel and lack of funding for mai ntenance purposes. Hospital maintenance in Saudi Arabia is governed by a number of rules, which resist breakdown provisions of hospitals. Compared to other buildings, it is a hospital that requires timely and appropriate maintenance, as it is a life saving institution as doctors try their maximum to treat the patients. It is an established fact that hospital buildings should be based on the equipments that the hospital plans to install. Thus, the issue of maintenance stems from the wrong designing concept that has been used. Design faults in hospitals require costly restoration as maintenance cost or it requires the total tearing down of those buildings. Specification writing defect is a design fault, which is of high importance in the construction of hospitals. The next identified defect in design fault is the wrong material selection. Thus, proper care should be given with respect to procurement of materials and it would be good to prepare a material requirement plan in advance so that shortage of materials does not lead to the procurement of defected materials. In the literature review it has been mentioned about TQM or Total Quality Management. TQM is considered as a revolutionary approach to successful organization. The numerous researches in TQM have materialized from realistic requirements of organizations implementing the principles, which is highly practical

Situation And Macro Environment: The Efteling

Situation And Macro Environment: The Efteling The Efteling stands for a world full of miracles: this is the service they are offering. The Efteling is well known as a theme park that knows how to fulfill its customers needs. The Efteling emphasizes the experience that its customers obtain from a visit. In the previous years there were no new theme parks entering the market. This does not mean that the competition also stagnates. The main theme park competitors are Walibi World (in The Netherlands and Belgium), Warner Bros Movieworld, Bobbejaanland and Disneyland Resort Paris. With this marketing plan we focused on attracting students. As a consequence the perception of The Efteling will approach those of day trips like festivals these are very popular with our main target group. The Efteling has several target groups: summarized they are groups, families and companies. The Efteling has its own fairytale series, a radio station where kids can listen to interviews with The Efteling inhabitants, music and fairytales. These are examples of The Eftelings market communication. The Efteling is also present in the business-to-business market: they offer businesses to organize an event at The Efteling. The main strategy for targeting students is giving students a à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 4.00 discount on top of the Albert Heijns discount of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬8.00. The advised ticket price will then be à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬17.00. Consequently, students will go more often to The Efteling, will take other students with them, and experience The Efteling together. This will increase the customer base and potential customers. Our goal is to increase offerings to students: achieve that 5% of all students visit The Efteling once a year on a non-weekend day. This has to be achieved before the academic year 2012-2013. The applied strategy is based on the differentiation strategy. The sales promotion should increase with the emphasis on the fact that it is better to visit The Efteling on a non-weekend day. In this way the admissions are evenly spread throughout the week. Situation Analysis: Macro Environment Political/Legal Marketing decisions are strongly affected by developments in the political/legal environment. Especially when customers demand faster and more thrilling attractions, the legal obligations for the park are rising. Security standards for rollercoaster and similar attractions are very strict and will be inspected by independent officers. If the park would be caught, not keeping the security standards on the mandatory level, it can have some major consequences including sanctions from the government. But not only the governmental restrictions, also environmentalists are making life harsh for The Efteling. They are afraid that The Efteling will affect the forest Entenwoud and will refuse to accept this. Furthermore we have to add that our target group, students, is able to travel using public transport for free of with 40% discount throughout the academic year. This is favorable because students are able to come from a greater distance for less money. Economical Economical issues rise from the fact, that the daily routine in theme parks in general is very capital and labor intensive. This is an interesting fact, because in most industries, either the labor or the capital intensiveà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡. One the one hand, investing in new attractions, setting up new shows and keeping the already existing carousels and coaster in good conditions, is really expensive, and especially the latter one is an ongoing expense. On the other hand, many people have to be employed, to keep the visitors pleased and deliver good experiences throughout the park. As most of the labor intensive work is done behind the scenes, it may not seem to be obvious that a theme park is very labor intensive, but when you think of the security standards, which have to be met, the garbage of thousands of visitors, which have to be cleaned and so forth, it quickly becomes clear that many people have to work hard each day to ensure a smooth running of the park. On the other hand, many people have to be employed, to keep the visitors pleased and deliver good experiences throughout the park. As most of the labor intensive work is done behind the scenes, it may not seem to be obvious that a theme park is very labor intensive, but when you think of the security standards, which have to be met, the garbage of thousands of visitors, which have to be cleaned and so forth, it quickly becomes clear that many people have to work hard each day to ensure a smooth running of the park. Next to this, The Efteling had to face the recession. People saved on day-trips, which are very expensive compared to what you could have bought for the same amount of money. We could say that students do not feel that much of the recession because they do not have a fulltime job, but they do not have the financial sources to go for an expensive day out. Ecological Opening a theme park brings along some big matters of dispute. A previously untouched landsite in the middle of a forest, as it was the case for Efteling, can be severely damaged if constructing of the park is done without any precautions. The soil is being compressed, many square meters or even kilometers are bituminized, and once the park is finished the daily visitors have to get there in the first place, which is unseperately combined with increasing noise and air pollution. In addition to that, it has to be mentioned that the running of big attractions consume a lot of electricity on an ongoing basis. Technological Because of the increasing complexity of new and planned attractions in the park, building- and maintaining costs are raising proportionately. Furthermore, sophisticated new computer-controlled fun rides call for better trained personal to take care of. On the other side of the coin, in case of failure or breakdowns, the error can be detected more easily due to computer analysis of the construction. On top of that computer controlled maintenance schedules leave less rooms for unintentional human failures. The Internet is the most important marketing tool, this because the fact that the possibilities for The Efteling are very high when you look at the area of the computers. Almost everyone has a pc at home. You can order your ticket online, and just scan it at the entrance. Thats it, and you also get a discount of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1,00. Another example: by e-mail or by the website, The Efteling alerts people when there are new attractions or when there are new shows. Also for kids the website is very attractiveà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ . Socio-Cultural Major cultural and social topics for The Efteling are the small, but nevertheless existing differences of its visitors from different countries. As the case of Disney-Land Paris taught us, ignoring cultural habitats and taken-for-granted attributes of a society can quickly lead to a financial disaster. Secondly the theme park faces the challenge to be attractive to every single age segment. Concentrating on just children from age 6-10 for example may seem like a distinctive strategy for a theme park, but after all, around 80% of the rest of the population and therewith potential customers are left out the focus point. Thereby customers demand more quality from its money; more for less. Customers want to experience the feeling The Efteling givesà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™. Situation Analysis: Micro Environment This section of the situation analysis will deal with different steps of discussing the market features in which The Efteling theme park is enacting, this means we will analyze the microenvironment. Size of the market The market in which The Efteling is positioned can be characterized as an international end-consumer market in the service category. Because of its close location to the borders of Germany and Belgium it gains the advantage of attracting visitors of these countries as well. However, there is also the risk of losing domestic customers to foreign theme parks which are at a reasonable travelling distance. Harsh competition is obvious in this triangle of countries. The Eftelings competitors Country Park name Germany Movie Park Germany, Phantasialand, Legoland Discovery Center; Panorama Park and Fort Fun Belgium Bobbejaanland and Walibi Belgium The Netherlands Drievliet, Duinrell and Koningin Juliana Toren * When researching for these competitors we took into account that our target group students are geographically seen relatively mobile. Because Dutch students have a special public transport card they can easily go to any theme park in The Netherlands. Eftelingà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚  Walibi Worldà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Bobbejaanlandà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Warner Bros Movieworldà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬   Disneyland Resort Parisà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ Strengths (compared to The Efteling) Large park Own theatre Own hotel Part of int. Walibi organization Close to The Netherlands Part of Walibi organization Close to The Netherlands Strong brand image Entering new businesses easy Weaknesses long queues Especially attractive for teenagers Small park Germany-oriented possibilities for miscommunication (too) High expectations One-day Price (adult) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬29,00 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬28,50 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 31,00 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬32,00 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬52,00 Opportunity to sleep Yes, own hotel Yes No Yes Yes, own accommodations When we speak of competitors, we use the following definition from our Marketing Management text book, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ competitors are the firms that satisfy the same customer need, (Kotler et al, 2009) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€  Because of the large quantity of possible competitors, the market is extensive in size. Of course there are also other competitors. For a day out, consumers can also go to a festival like Lowlands, or Breda Barst. For students these festivals and days out are also very attractive. It is the task of The Efteling to keep this potential target group going to the park. This is possible by giving special discounts for students. Another possibility is that The Efteling creates its own festival with famous artists. We only focused on the main other parks because these are in the same market segment. Marketing channels The growth of the market for theme parks can be described as stagnating. In the last few years there were no new theme parks entering the market. This doesnt mean that competition also stagnated. On the contrary: Every park tries to extend their customer base by offering new attractions, more ways to reach the park and other methods to increase customer value. This is also an approach to overcome the exposure to market myopia. The Efteling has to configure its competitive market in terms of customer needs and not just competitors which deliver the same service. One of the first advertisements of The Efteling (shortly after 1952)Efteling for example has launched its own radio station, it is broadcasting television series with characters that can be seen in the theme park and has recently opened its new overnight camp Bosrijk. In this way, The Efteling tries to convince more people to visit the park, who have to travel longer distances but now have the possibility to stay for more than one day. So this is more convenient for these families and positively influences The Efteling park experience. On January 6th, Efteling announced to invest à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬40,000,000 for a new restaurant, a new conference centre and a new event/performance arena. In general, the trend in the market for theme parks is moving away from just competing in the bare numbers of attractions. Customers demand to enter a world in which attractions and offerings are integrated with each other. The whole park should convey a holistic atmosphere rather than just different obstacles placed inside the boundaries of the parks. Situation Analysis: SWOT analysis In this section we will make an analysis on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats concerning The Efteling. We have combined this analysis; its the SWOT analysis on The Efteling in general and in addition the SWOT analysis focused on our innovation: students segment. The strengths -The Efteling has a strong brand name. It is to a great extent known, because of great advertising expenses and the attractiveness of the park. This creates a strong, magical vision/perception in the minds of people that (may) visit the park. -The Efteling is associated with more than only being a park including creating musicals, games for on the computer, having its own radio station and television-programmes. -An additional strength is the fact that The Efteling is attractive to every visitor. For the kids there is Het Sprookjesbos, the parents are entertained by memories from their own childhood when they visited The Efteling, many things have changed but the main concept and appearance remained the same. Also, for the grandparents there are tranquil attractions and enough entertainment when the small ones are in a more turbulent ride. For the adolescents there are the big, fiery attractions like the Python, a rollercoaster with multiple looping and the Piraà ±a. -The Efteling has multiple relationships with differentiated companies, for example the Albert Heijn supermarket, sometimes they create a promotion; when you spend a certain amount of money at the Albert Heijn supermarket, you get a discount ticket for The Eftelingà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ °. -Except for going to the park for amusement, you can also arrange meetings, parties and events there. -A lot of students are living in the neighbourhood of The Efteling, as you can see in the table belowà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â€š ¬. So the demographic position of The Efteling is perfect for students, its close to their home, the connections by train and bus are also well regulated and during the week, this public transport may be for free. The weaknesses -Compared to other amusement parks, there are only a few shops and stalls settled in The Efteling. Customers do not get tempted to buy merchandise from The Efteling because they just dont see it and dont get the opportunity to buy it. There are not too many distribution points of these products. However, when customers do want to buy something in the few shops that are available, the shop is totally stuffed with other customers. -The queue to get in the rides is relatively long. Visitors will have to wait a very long time before they can actually get in one. Because most people are visiting The Efteling for just one day, it is very infuriating because they cannot visit many rides in this way. -When The Efteling builds new attractions, there is in almost every case a delay. Visitors will come especially for that new attraction, but it is not finished yet. And there are also a lot of attractions that break down more often than others do. When this is a popular ride, this is bad for the reputation of the park. -There is more traffic than ever coming from and going to The Efteling. Although the parking area is very big, it is not working well enough to handle all the cars coming out of their places when the park closes down. Everyone wants to leave at the same time; the exits of the parking lot cannot handle this, which results in very long traffic jams. -The Efteling gets more expensive every year. Of course it is reasonable that The Efteling has to maintain their earnings to finance new projects, but in these times when we are also dealing with the recession, it may be a weakness to use such a price strategy. Visitors, who have been there once, will come back probably because they know that its worth it, but visitors who havent been there will be shocked by the high entrance price. -The prices are too high for students, for the same price; they can get a lot of beers in the city centre of Tilburg or another city in the neighbourhood or do something else, like shopping or spent that money on their room. The opportunities -Get flexible entrance prices; The Efteling has experienced with the amount of visitors so they can estimate this for future periods. When there is a quiet day, lower the prices of the tickets so that the park will be cosy but not packed, when it is usually quiet. When it is going to be a busy day, raise your entrance price so that people will get spread over the weekend and weekdays. This solves the problem of long queues and a bit of the large traffic jams. Also people who want to go to The Efteling for a lower price get that opportunity now. -Get more attractive shops and stalls in the park, so that people will buy more during their stay. Although there is a recession, people always want to have a souvenir. These extra sales may be a stimulus, i.e. way of financing lower entrance prices. -The disposable income of seniors has risen the past few years and the number of elderly people has risen tooà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â€š ¬. An opportunity for The Efteling is to focus their attention on this group by for example organizing special days for them to fresh up their memory. -Students are also a very large group at this moment. But The Efteling focuses most of the attention to kids and grandparents because they want to attract whole families. But this does not include the students who maybe want to go with a group of friends. It could be wise to get special student discounts because the average student doesnt have enough money to pay the entrance price. Also a lot of students dont have lectures during some weekdays. When you can attract them to come at these days, the park will be filled more and the cost of the discount will be incalculable. Also there are just a few attractive attractions for youngsters. They need to have some more rough roller coasters to remain positive. There are a lot of students in the neighbourhood of Tilburg, so The Efteling has a lot new potential visitors which it can attract by lowering the prices and build more new thrill rides. The threats -Most young kids prefer rough roller coasters to Dancing Shoes in het Sprookjesbos. Only very young kids will be attracted to this kind of attractions. -Besides, more and more people are getting older and there are not enough kids to fill this gap. -The recession is a big threat because parents watch their money more carefully than they did before. -Students also have other opportunities to go to, like other parks or for example a festival or museum. The Efteling really has to improve and change some attractions and its brand image for students, otherwise; students will prefer to go to something closer to their home village or students house. When students live in the north of the Netherlands, they will rather go to (for example) Walibi World because it is closer and there are more thrill rides. Strategic Options and Choices: Mission On the companys homepage the statement is put forward: The Efteling theme park is a custodian of the fairy tale (www.efteling.com). This statement is crucial for every staff member of the amusement park, as it should be communicated to every single visitor of the park. It contains more than it seems like on the first sight. Against the modern process of making everything faster and less lasting, the Efteling is trying to do the opposite. Reminding itself of traditional values it invites the visitor to enter a complete distinct world which he will have never seen before. Preserving cultural heritage could be the most important role for the theme park. Next to this, the protection of the environment is a second crucial mission of the Efteling. As an international leader in the tourism and recreation sector, the theme park acknowledged that following this statement provides the most secure formula for its success since its founding in 1952. Building a widespread reputation of a highly-professional, creative and efficient organization, the Efteling continues to concentrate on being innovative and reacting as quickly as possible to customer needs. In this way the parks pursues its basic goal of entertainment on a very familiar and customer friendly level. Goals and Strategy Product strategy The Efteling is clearly a product leader, there is no other theme park that can compete with the position of The Efteling. The Efteling is a world full of miracles, but it has to watch out that they have to continue to think of new attractions. Although The Efteling has a high position the amusement park has to be still innovative. In the minds of many customers the attraction Villa Volta and Droomvlucht are still the most exciting attractions, despite the fact these two attractions are running for a while now. The Efteling should innovate a lot more and should come up in a higher frequency with new attractions. These new attraction have to fit in the world of miracles that The Efteling represent. The new attractions have to challenge the customer. This will give the customer a higher incentive to visit The Efteling more frequent or to attract new customers. In product strategy creativity and inventiveness is necessary, this are the two concepts where The Efteling stands for. Also to stay traditional is a core concept, but with the right strategy the three concepts are good to combine. Every attraction has a legendary and traditional meaning. It is like the attractions came from the test of time. That is the experience that The Efteling wants to give to its customers and that those experiences stress the differences between The Efteling and other amusement parks. The Efteling is not just a theme park, its an experience. Price strategy The Efteling has different prices because Efteling has a different program in the evening than in daylight and The Efteling is also different in the summer than in the winter. The Efteling has this year the Summer Seven League from 19 July through 5 September when the park is open from 10.00 hours until 21.00 hours. On the Summer Evenings, every Saturday during the Seven League Summer, the park is open until midnight. This difference is shown by the price. The price of a normal ticket for an adult is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 29.00 and during the Summer Seven League the price of the entree ticket is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 31.00. For a senior citizen the price is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 27.00 during a normal period. During the Seven League Summer the price is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 29.00. On the other hand the two-day ticket has for both periods the same price namely à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 49.00. The Efteling has also tickets with reduction. For Groups of 20 or more people the ticket price will be à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 24.00 for each person. There is one major exception and that is the price for schools. If schools book before 1 April the school will pay à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 12.00 per person. If schools book on or later than 1 April than they have to pay à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 17.00 for each person. The incentive to lower the prices for groups and schools is to give the pupils and the groups an experience and a service that they want to come back. Even, if they have to pay a higher price. Efteling collaborates several times in a year with the supermarket chain Albert Heijn to give the customers of Albert Heijn a discount on tickets for The Efteling. The customer of Albert Heijn gets a savings card to collect points. The customer collects points through buying an X amount of product. If the card is full the customer gets à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 8.00 discount of an Efteling ticket. The Efteling should give a higher discount to students. For example: the current price of a Efteling ticket is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬29.00. With the discount of Albert Heijn it will be à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 21.00. The Efteling should give the students a à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 4.00 discount on top of the à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 8.00 Albert Heijn. You could ask the question Is Albert Heijn the supermarket where students go for their groceries? Firstly, we acknowledge that Albert Heijn is not one of the cheapest supermarkets, but The Efteling has a high reputation that automatically will be linked to the supermarket. If The Efteli ng collaborates with a cheap supermarket the status of The Efteling could be damaged. The Albert Heijn has also a high status with respect to other supermarkets. So the combination of these two companies works perfectly. Secondly, it is proven through several questionnaires that a lot of students do their groceries at the Albert Heijn because it is the nearest one or because of the bonus-products that the Albert Heijn each week offers. Bonus-products are daily products that Albert Heijn offers with a discount. Market communication The Efteling has several target groups: Groups, families and companies. To communicate with these target groups The Efteling has to know their preferences to give them the service that they need. To communicate with families The Efteling has its own fairytale series. The Efteling has also a radio station where kids can listen to interviews with The Efteling inhabitants, music and fairytales. Efteling also reaches out to other companies; it offers them the opportunity to organize a certain event at The Efteling. For example: a party for all employees of a company. Efteling has a large chamber where they can realize certain events for companies. As mentioned we want to attract students as a new target group. There is a simple explanation for the reason why student do not go to The Efteling: the ticket price. If The Efteling will let the students know that they are getting a certain discount, a lot of students are then willing to go to The Efteling. The Efteling can make this possible through advertisement on universities or through cooperating with the students if the students, like our group, chose The Efteling as the company where they have to do an assignment about. If students go to The Efteling with other students and experience the event, the chance that they will go again with other students will then be higher. Then The Efteling gets a much better kind of advertisement and that is word to mouthà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ . Segmentation Market segments  ´Segmentation offers key benefits over mass marketing; it is useful to differentiate positively over our competition because it increases understanding of our customer groups ´ (Kotler et al, 2009)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€ . In this and the next section we define the targets groups mainly by age. The Efteling offers some more adventurous rides, which are aimed at a segment group of visitors aged between 12 and 25. For example the wild water rafting Piraà ±a the steel rollercoaster Python and the high speed Bobbaan, the main focus of the theme park is actually concentrated on young children and people of age over 25. Thus the majority of the rides are designed for these two targets groups, so they satisfy the perceived needs of two age segments. The whole park is built on the basic belief to construct a world, equal to a fairytale. And so are many of the rides of the park. To give some examples: The Fata Morgana in a slow river boats ride through a city taken from the fairytale 1001 nights, there is Magic forest , a haunted castle and a steam locomotive. They are all meant for one of the different age groups we defined. Demographics and Needs of the customers The Efteling is approaching to a wide base of customers. Mainly families of the middle and upper social class are targeted by the marketing efforts of the theme park. In the following, the different segments are mentioned and their needs are discussed. Children of age between 6-12: The needs of this segment is rather simple, children are confronted with advertising, mostly on TV, in which the same characters as in the series of Efteling appear. By presenting the park as a fairy-tale wonderland, the children are urged to experience it themselves. Teenagers, age between 13-19: Although not the main target group at the moment, still are important for the park, because this group represents a strong decision making unit inside the family, when it comes to vacation planning. Most of the members of this cohort are not yet able to effort to go on holidays without their parents. Their need is to have an adventurous stay at the park. They want to experience something extraordinary they can tell their friends about. Young adults 20-25: This segment is not of big interest for the park because it does not represent any major point of attraction for this group. Young parents 26-32: Couples, who have become parents not that long ago, are, in contrast to the preceding segment, of great importance for the park. This segment is typically looking for a good deal to book a short vacation or daytrip. With the relative low price for the park and its services, compared to a conventional holiday (special subscription offerings are provided), the family is buying a whole bunch of activities. In the park all needs, like entertainment for the kids, relaxation for the parents and eating out together, can be easily fulfilled, there are restaurants various attractions that are appropriate, even for small children. Adults 33-40: also strongly affected by the pull factors of the theme park, with very similar attributes of the previous group. Even though they might have older children the offerings of the park still covers those needs. Elderly 60+: In order to meet the needs of this segment, The Efteling park has thought of several convenience factors. The park is equipped with many toilets and resting areas, which allow the elderly to enjoy the park without being stressed. Many authentic, vintage rides appeal to this segment and constitute a nice contrast to faster rides. On top of that, restaurant, which offers high quality food and a relaxed atmosphere complete the offerings for this group. As The Efteling has special subscription discounts for people of age 60+ another pull factor is placed. Targeting  ´An important aspect of targeting is trying to find what target can be reached a competitive manner ´ (Kotler et al, 2009)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€ . We will focus on the target group students only. ANP (Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau) predicts the number of University students and high school students in 2012-2013 on 242.000 respectively 399.000à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ . Nowadays, students have a lot of leisure time and that is where the Efteling will respond to. This is to achieve a more equal distribution of visitors during a normal week. The weekends are very demanding in the Efteling and by offering discounts to students they can increase their turnover on the other days of the week. Positioning  ´One of the crucial pillars of the marketing strategy is positioning, it means creating awareness in the target market so that the consumer recognizes the distinctive offering and image ´ (Kotler et al, 2009)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€ . The goal of positioning is to establish the brand in the minds of consumers in order to maximize the potential benefit to the firm. The Efteling has a strong brand positioning, they try to achieve that consumers recognize the name  ´Efteling ´ and make a link with a high quality park. To achieve these consumer experiences is very important because of worth-of-mouth marketing as concluded in previous sections. When their response is positive, in this way The Efteling knows that they provide the right market offering at an acceptable price. Point-of-difference are attributes or benefits consumers strong associate with a brand, positively evaluate, and believe t

Physics of Sailing :: physics sail boat sailing boating

A boat floating can be greatly appreciated, especially if you are in the boat at the time. But what keeps a boat from sinking? Physics can explain these concepts. There are many forces that act on a sailing ship to put it in motion, but the buoyant force is what is required to keep the boat from sinking. A buoyant force is the normal force that pushes up on the boat supporting its weight in a fluid. The buoyant force "equals the weight of the fluid displaced by the object."(pg.427, Serway and Jewett) This concept is Archimede's Principle. The pressure on an object in a fluid varies with the depth of that part of the object in the fluid. B=(P b – P t)A = (Ï  fluidgh)A = Ï  fluidgV B=Buoyant force P b=pressure at bottom P t=pressure at top A=area of bottom face Ï  fluid=fluid density g=gravity h= height V=volume of fluid displaced by object (formula from pg. 428, Serway and Jewett) "The fraction of the volume of a floating object that is below the fluid surface is equal to the ratio of the density of the object to that of the fluid."(p.429, Serway and Jewett) V fluid/Vobj = Ï  obj/Ï  fluid Vobj=volume of the object Ï  obj=density of the object Buoyancy of the craft is created by the shape of the hull, but also with buoyant materials in specific places. Air tanks, buoyancy bags, and polystyrene blocks are all used to add buoyancy to a boat. The figure below shows how the buoyant material should be distributed and the effects if it is not. figure from The Handbook of Sailing The distrubution of buoyancy is key to having the boat float properly. Bernoulli's principle is that the air moving past a foil, an object that has one curved side and one flat side, will take longer to move past the curved side than the flat side of the foil. This will cause the flat side to have higher air pressure and to exert a force on the object. The force cause a planes wing to lift and a sail to push a boat. "With the wind pushing on one side of the sails and the water pushing on the other side of the centerboard, the boat moves forward." (p. 35, Dellenbaugh) The angle at which sailing is important. A 45 degree angle to the wind is the most effective angle. Wind is what propels a sailing ship so weather has a large impact on the craft. Certain weather conditions are not suitable for sailing or specific crafts.