10 Facts About the Dodo Bird

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini - 883 Words

Throughout life, everyone experiences some sort of regret from past encounters and usually feel guilty and bitter about the situation. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, revolves around the theme of redemption. Redemption can be used as a cure for guilt. Throughout the novel, the author shows that redemption requires some sort of sacrifice and the only way that is possible is if you can forgive yourself from the mistakes you have made in the past. Khaled Hosseini effectively portrays redemption through motifs such as rape, irony and flashbacks, symbolism, and the development of Amir throughout the story. The motifs that are being presented in this story are rape, irony and flashbacks. A recurring event that is crucial to this novel is the rape incidents of Hassan and later his son, Sohrab. From the beginning, Assef’s rape of Hassan is the primary source of Amir’s guilt. Ive changed my mind. I’m letting you keep the kite, Hazara. Ill let you keep it so it will always remind you of what Im about to do† (Hosseini 73). To further elaborate, Amir being aware of the situation didn’t help the case due to his cowardliness. Because of this incident, Amir becomes emotionally distraught leaving him no choice but to set Hassan up for a ploy so that both of them would be separated. Going in hand with rape, irony plays a huge role. Amir realizes he is a cowards for the decisions he makes and only makes these decisions to get Baba’s approval, only to result in overwhelming guilt. ToShow MoreRelatedThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1651 Words   |  7 Pages   Ã‚  Ã‚   The novel â€Å"The Kite Runner† by Khaled Hosseini describes the life of a boy, Amir. Amir’s best friend and brother (although that part isn’t known until towards the end), Hassan, plays a major role in Amir’s life and how he grows up. Hosseini portrays many sacrifices that are made by Hassan and Amir. Additionally, Amir seeks redemption throughout much of the novel. By using first person point of view, readers are able to connect with Amir and understand his pain and yearning for a way to be redeemedRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1655 Words   |  7 PagesSarah Singer Major Works Data Form Title: The Kite Runner Author: Khaled Hosseini Date of Publication: 2003 Genre: Historical Fiction Historical information about the period of publication: Since the September 11th attacks in 2001, the United States has been at war with Afghanistan. Their goals were to remove the Taliban, track down those in charge of the attacks, and destroy Al-Qaeda. Biographical information about the author: Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. HIs motherRead MoreThe Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini1098 Words   |  5 PagesIn The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, we learn a lot about Amir the main character, and Hassan his servant/brother. In the beginning Hassan and Amir’s relationship was one of brotherly love despite the fact that Hassan was a Hazara and Amir a Pashtun. Back in the 1970’s race and religion played a big part in Kabul and these two races were not suppose to have relationships unless it was owner (Pashtun) and servant (Hazara). Baba Amir’s father had an affair with Hassan’s mother, but it was kept aRead MoreThe Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini1313 Words   |  5 Pagesis not unique to just J.K. Rowling. Khaled Hosseini also incorporates life experiences into some of his novels. A prime example of this is The Kite Runner. The storyline of this novel reflects his past to create a journey of a young Afghanistan boy, whose name is Amir. This boy changes drastically throughout his lifetime from a close minded, considerably arrogant boy to an open hearted and minded man. This emotional and mental trip is partially based on Khaled Hosseini’s own life. Throughout Hosseini’sRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1908 Words   |  8 Pages​In the novel, â€Å"The Kite Runner†, written by Khaled Hosseini, was taken place in Afghanistan during the 1970’s to the year of 2002. Many historical events happened during this time period and Hosseini portrayed it into his novel. Kabul, the capitol of Afghanistan, was a free, living area for many Afghanistan families to enjoy the life they were given. Until one day, Afghanistan was then taken over and attacked. In the novel, Amir, the protagonist, must redeem himself and the history behind his actionsRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1050 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"There is a way to be good again.† (Hosseini 334). This quote given by Rahim Khan to Amir holds a great amount of force and symbolism. In theory, this quote symbolizes the beginning of Amir’s path to redemption. The eye-opening Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini tells about the struggles of Afghanistan before and during the Taliban, and one’s struggle for redemption and acceptance. With regards to the opening quote, some see Amir’s actions as selfish. However, others may believe that Amir truly changedRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1583 Words   |  7 Pagesnovel the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir, the main character, shares his thoughts and actions due to his poor decisions. The problems he encountered were all because of the sin committed in his youth. His sins taunted the beginning of his life and gave him a troublesome memory full of guilt. As the novel continued, Amir attempted to disengage the memory of his sin and forget about it. Amir then faced the long bumpy road to redemption. Khaled Hosseini’s novel the Kite Runner is about sinRead MoreThe Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini871 Words   |  4 Pagesthat person is trying to fix that mistake. This also applies to the novel The Kite Runner. The story revolves around the main character Amir, and his childhood friend, Hassan. After Amir came to America with Baba, his father, he still regrets the things he had done to his childhood friend. He left Hassan getting raped by Assef in a small alley in 1975. Thereafter, Amir always feel regret and seeks for redemption. Hosseini -the author, argues that redemption can be achieved by helping others, teachRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini3402 Words   |  14 Pagestitle â€Å"The Kite Runner† is symbolic as fighting kites and the kite runnings are impacting moments in the novel. Hassan was the best kite runner in Kabul, if not the whole country, after Amir won the kite fighting the running of that last blue kite triggered the monumental changes for Amir. For the beginning of the story the kite running was associated with Hassan’s rape and Amir’s grief. As kites appear throughout the story, they begin Amir’s story and also end it. Amir flying the kite with SohrabRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini2522 Words   |  11 PagesIn The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini creates an awareness and humanization of Afghanistan as a nation and as a culture. Through a postcolonial perspective, the main character, Amir resembles the internal conflicts and external tribulations that a country and its citizens’ face when living in a war-torn region. Postcolonial criticism offers a unique perspective by highlighting the destructive events that lead to death and misery, rather than glorifying the exploratory nature of colonists as they

The Telephone Free Essays

The Telephone â€Å"Before the telephone came to Magdaluna, Im Kaleem’s house was bustling at just about any time of day, especially at night, when its windows were brightly lit with three large oil lamps, and the loud voices of the men talking, laughing, and arguing could be heard in the street below—a reassuring, homey sound† Anwar F. Accawi (p. 46). We will write a custom essay sample on The Telephone or any similar topic only for you Order Now It’s hard to imagine that a single device such as the telephone, albeit a breakthrough in technology, could change not only a person’s day to day life, but an entire village. These men in the village experienced all of the luxuries the village had to offer at no cost, Im Kaleem provided the men with a place to gather for conversation, games, drinks and sexual services. The children used to hang around Ima Kaleem’s courtyard playing games waiting for a call down from some of the men requesting errands in exchange for money. But that all changed once the telephone was installed, most of the men would now sit at Abu Raja’s store, â€Å"they were always looking up from their games and drinks and talk to glance at the phone in the corner, as if expecting it to ring any minute and bring news that would change their lives and deliver them from their aimless existence†. (p. 46) Exposure to the telephone not only affected the men in the village, but it also affected the women, children and their entire way of life. I get very excited to hear about, read about or experience new technology, and I grew up surrounded by a constant emergence of technology, from pagers and cell phones to the home pc. I remember when we bought our first computer, they were just becoming a common household device, my dad came home from the store and asked me to hold the door open while he trucked in these huge boxes, I had never seen my dad so excited about struggling and sweating while moving things in the house. I had no idea what was in those boxes, but I became curious and excited as my dad opened the boxes and removed all the packaging, taking everything out piece by piece. Watching my dad fumble around with the instructions and all the wires in anticipation of something big happening made me super excited and I had no idea what this even was. â€Å"You can do almost anything you can imagine with this thing† he said to me in a very animated voice. To me it just looked like a television sitting on a desk, I started to become bored of watching this spaghetti of wires get connected one at a time at a very agonizing pace. My dad was determined and after what seemed like hours of running back and forth between the wires and the instructions, he looked over at me with a huge smile on his face as he powered the computer on. â€Å"I’m finished† he exclaimed, â€Å"now let’s see with this thing can do† he said. He wasn’t kidding, this was amazing, you could send electronic mail that could be opened by the other person instantly, you could listen to music, instant message, play games with someone from another country, it seemed that there was nothing this device could not do. It was limitless with opportunity and could take you anywhere your imagination would allow. So I am not surprised that when this tiny village, that did not have the simple things in life such as a calendars, clocks or even running water, were so influenced by the arrival of the telephone. This gave the people new hopes and dreams, it gave them an opportunity to experience new things and find out what the outside world was doing and could offer. â€Å"Within a year, only the sick, the old, and the maimed were left in the village. Magdaluna became a skeleton of its former self, desolate and forsaken, like the tombs, a place to get away from†. Anwar F. Accawi(p. 7) The calls eventually came in as expected and people started leaving the village for new opportunities, some went into the army while others went to explore new jobs. All of them left looking for a better life than the one they had in the village. With new technology comes new opportunity, I’m not saying that newer is always better, but it can open you up to things you never thought possible. It can pro vide you with choices that you never had before. I believe in the end Accawi was happy with the way his life turned out but reminisced of how he loved his life as a young boy in the village. How to cite The Telephone, Essay examples

Accounting conservatism and cost of capital - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Accounting conservatism and cost of capital. Answer: Detecting the financial viability of old and new loader truck with relevant calculations conducted for Flying Airline Company: Situation 1 (Not replacing Old loader) Particulars Amount Depreciation for old loader $ 25,000.00 Write off for old loader $ 0.00 Proceeds from sale of old loader $ 0.00 Depreciation for new loader $ 0.00 Operating costs involved for old loader $ 80,000.00 Total Operating cost $ 105,000.00 The calculation that is conducted in the above table mainly helps in identifying the overall operating cost incurred by Flying Airline Compony, when old loader truck is used in its operations. The total operating cost mainly amounts to $105,000, which includes depreciation and operating cost involved for the old loader. This relevant calculation of cost incurred from equipment allows the management to take adequate decision for cutting its cost and increase their profitability. Cannon (2014) mentioned that with the evaluation of cost analysis management can detect actual cost incurred by its operations, which helps in making adequate management decision. Situation 1 (Replacing Old loader) Particulars Amount Depreciation for old loader $ 0.00 Write off for old loader $ 25,000.00 Proceeds from sale of old loader $ (5,000.00) Depreciation for new loader $ 20,000.00 Operating costs involved for old loader $ 50,000.00 Total Operating cost $ 90,000.00 The table mainly represent the overall cost if the old loader is replaced with the new loader truck. Relevant reduction in operating cost is detected from operations, which could eventually help the management of Flying Airline Company to take adequate cost decision. The decline operation cost mainly declined from the value of $105,000 to $90,000, which is relevantly a profit of $15,000 identified from the implementation of new loader truck. The company with the help of cost analysis can detect financial enhancement, which is attained from the implementation of the new loader. On the other hand, Collier (2015) argued that viability of cost analysis mainly reduces when adequate research is not conducted by the management on cost. The relevant reduction of cost is detected from the sale proceeds of the old loader, which cannot continue in next year. Hence, from second year the overall operation cost will be at the level of $95,000, which is relatively lower from the current expenses in curred by the company. Situation 1 (Differential cost) Particulars Amount Depreciation for old loader $ 0.00 Write off for old loader $ 0.00 Proceeds from sale of old loader $ 5,000.00 Depreciation for new loader $ (20,000.00) Operating costs involved for old loader $ 30,000.00 Total Operating cost $ 15,000.00 The differential calculation conducted in the above table mainly helps in understanding the overall cost savings, which could be conducted by Flying Airline Company after implementing the new loader truck in its operations. The overall differential cost analysis mainly indicates total difference in operating cost by $15,000, which is obtained by the company if new loader is implemented. The difference in actual operation cost between old and new loader can be detected from the above calculation, which amounts to $30,000. Hence, the implementation of new loader truck could eventually allow the company to attain higher profits, due to reduction in its operating cost. In this context, D'Onza, Greco and Allegrini (2016) mentioned that management with the evaluation of differential cost can detect financial improvement, which could improve their cash inflow and reduce cash outflow. Therefore, Flying Airline Company could adequately use the new loader truck, as it helps in reducing operati ng cost, which in turn improves its profit generation capacity. Detecting non-stop route and one-stop route financial viability by conducting adequate calculation: Situation 2 (Non-Stop Route) Particulars Amount Revenue from passenger $ 240,000.00 Revenue from Cargo $ 80,000.00 San Francisco (landing fees) $ 0.00 Cost (Flight crew) $ (2,000.00) Cost (Fuel) $ (21,000.00) Cost (Meal) $ (4,000.00) Cost (Aircraft maintenance) $ (1,000.00) Net revenue from operations $ 292,000.00 The calculation conducted in the above table mainly represents the revenue that will be generated from nonstop route, which is currently conducted by Flying Airline Company. In addition, the company is mainly able to generate profit of $292,0000 from its operation in nonstop route. The operations conducted by the company Flying Airline Company is mainly helps in generating higher profits. The total revenue of $320,000 is mainly identified from the non-stop route, which could help in improving its profitability. On the other hand, the total cost of $28,000 is conducted by Flying Airline Company in non-stop route. Evaluation of overall cost and revenue incurred from operations could eventually help in detecting financial viability of the operations (Evans and Popova 2016). Situation 2 (With stop route) Particulars Amount Revenue from passenger $ 251,000.00 Revenue from Cargo $ 80,000.00 San Francisco (landing fees) $ (5,000.00) Cost (Flight crew) $ (3,400.00) Cost (Fuel) $ (26,000.00) Cost (Meal) $ (4,900.00) Cost (Aircraft maintenance) $ (1,000.00) Net revenue from operations $ 290,700.00 The financial viability of with stop route can be identified from above calculations conducted in above table. The relevant profit of the company will mainly amount to $290,700, when implementing the with stop route mentioned in situation 2. The evaluation also indicates the increment in passenger revenue, which is achieved by the company when one route stop is adopted. However, the increment in revenue was mainly supported by rising expenses incurred from the new operations. This could eventually lead to rising total cost from operations, which reducing actual profit incurred from the process. The extra cost incurred from lading fees of San Francisco is relatively reducing the profits that is obtained from the new one route operation. Fleischman and Parker (2017) stated that evaluation of financial cost could eventually help the management in identifying the excess expenses conducted on operations, which could help in improving their profitability. Situation 2 (Differential cost) Particulars Amount Revenue from passenger $ (11,000.00) Revenue from Cargo $ 0.00 San Francisco (landing fees) $ 5,000.00 Cost (Flight crew) $ 1,400.00 Cost (Fuel) $ 5,000.00 Cost (Meal) $ 900.00 Cost (Aircraft maintenance) $ 0.00 Net revenue from operations $ 1,300.00 The calculation conducted on differential cost analysis is understood from the operations, which might help in detecting financial viability of one stop route. From the evaluation relevant loss can be identified by Flying Airline Company if one stop route is adopted. This could eventually decline the actual profits obtained by $1,300, as expenses from operations has increased relatively. Therefore, total revenue from implementing the one stop route is could generate profit of $290,700, while the nonstop route could obtain $292,000. Hence, the Flying Airline Company needs to reject the one stop route, as it will reduce the actual revenue generated from operations. Gillion et al. (2016) mentioned that the use of operational cost analysis could eventually help the companies in detecting financial viability of each projects. Evaluating other factors, which needs to be evaluated before conducting any decision for Flying Airline Company: The evaluation of overall condition presented in Situation II could help in detecting other factors before reaching any decision. The economic factor needs to be evaluated by Flying airline company, which could help in understating the purchasing power of consumers. This detection of purchasing power could eventually help in understanding ability of the consumer to pay relevant price for the services provided by Flying Airline Company. In addition, operational increment of the company after implementing one stop route could be identified, which might help in expanding its operations (Grant 2016). This expansion of the operations could eventually help in generating higher revenue in long term. Both economic and operational factor needs to be evaluated by Flying Airline Company before taking any kind of decision based on financial perspective. Stating the calculations needed by Flying Airline Compony to accept the special tourist charter proposal when adequate spare capacity is present: Situation 3 Particulars Amount Revenue from passenger $ 250,000.00 Revenue from Cargo $ 30,000.00 Total revenue from operations $ 280,000.00 Variable expenses $ 90,000.00 Fixed cost $ 80,000.00 Total expenses from operations $ 170,000.00 Profit from operations $ 110,000.00 Profit under normal circumstance generated from the overall operation could be identified from the above calculation. The overall revenue of $280,000 is mainly identified from the operations, which comprises revenue from both passengers and cargo. On the other hand, the total expenses comprise with variable and fixed cost incurred from the operations, which amount of $170,000. Thus, both total expense and revenue mainly allows the organisation to generate the overall profit of $110,000 under normal circumstances. Isard et al. (2017) mentioned that with the evaluation of overall cost and revenue management can detect project viability and make adequate investment decision. Situation 3 Particulars Amount Revenue from passenger $ 160,000.00 Revenue from Cargo $ 0.0 Total revenue from operations $ 160,000.00 Variable expenses $ 85,000.00 Fixed cost $ 0.0 Total expenses from operations $ 85,000.00 Profit from operations $ 75,000.00 The valuation of the overall table helps in identifying the profits that will be generated from the proposed New Special Tourist Charter Flight. In addition, the total revenue is mainly generated from passengers, while no revenue is accumulated from cargo operations. On the other hand, the revenue generated from passengers is relatively low, as compared to revenue generated under normal circumstances. Furthermore, the overall expenses incurred from the New Special Tourist Charter Flight is variable expense on the assumption that space is available to Flying Airline Company to accommodate the charter plane. The accommodation of the charter plane is mainly declining the overall fixed cost incurred by the company. This relevant omission of the fixed cost is mainly reducing the overall total expenses incurred from operations. Moreover, profits from operations is detected to be at the levels of $75,000. The profit level is relatively lower than the profit generated under normal circumstan ces. Joda and Bragger (2015) mentioned that companies by evaluating different cost factors can detect viability of the proposal presented by customers. However, Lanen (2016) argued that management needs to evaluate all the cost factors or else the project would increase expenses and hamper financial stability of the organisation. From the overall evaluation, Flying Airline Company could eventually help in generating higher revenue from its operations, as fixed income will be provided from the touristy company. Hence, accepting the proposal of New Special Tourist Charter Flight could eventually help Flying Airline Company to improves its profitability in long run. However, under normal circumstance the company would attain higher profit, but constant orders would not be provided. Therefore, accepting the proposal for New Special Tourist Charter Flight could help in improving its financial viability. Li (2015) cited that cost analysis allow the company to evaluate performance of its operations in different circumstance and detect the minimum revenue requirement for achieving breakeven. The detection of breakeven value and units allow the management to take operational decision for improving its current financial capability. Mentioning the viability of the new proposal with adequate calculation when there is no space available to Flying Airline Company: Situation 3 Particulars Amount Revenue from passenger $ 160,000.00 Total revenue from operations $ 160,000.00 Variable expenses $ 85,000.00 Fixed cost $ 80,000.00 Total expenses from operations $ 165,000.00 Loss from operations $ (5,000.00) Relevant loss is calculated from the above table, if no spare space is available to Flying Airline Company. The loss of $5,000 can be detected if Flying Airline Company accept the offer for New Special Tourist Charter Flight. The company will incur an extra fixed cost of $80,000 for accommodating the new charter plane for supporting its activities. This could eventually increase loss from operations, which will incur by Flying Airline Company due to the increased total expenses (Marglin 2014). Hence, if no extra space is available then the company needs to reject the proposal for New Special Tourist Charter Flight, as it might hamper its future financial stability. Reference Cannon, J.N., 2014. Determinants of sticky costs: An analysis of cost behavior using United States air transportation industry data.The Accounting Review,89(5), pp.1645-1672. Collier, P.M., 2015.Accounting for managers: Interpreting accounting information for decision making. John Wiley Sons. D'Onza, G., Greco, G. and Allegrini, M., 2016. Full cost accounting in the analysis of separated waste collection efficiency: A methodological proposal.Journal of environmental management,167, pp.59-65. Evans, D.K. and Popova, A., 2016. Cost-effectiveness analysis in development: Accounting for local costs and noisy impacts.World Development,77, pp.262-276. Fleischman, R.K. and Parker, L.D., 2017.What is Past is Prologue: Cost Accounting in the British Industrial Revolution, 1760-1850(Vol. 6). Routledge. Gillion, J.F., Sanders, D., Miserez, M. and Muysoms, F., 2016. The economic burden of incisional ventral hernia repair: a multicentric cost analysis.Hernia,20(6), pp.819-830. Grant, R.M., 2016.Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley Sons. Isard, W., Azis, I.J., Drennan, M.P., Miller, R.E., Saltzman, S. and Thorbecke, E., 2017.Methods of interregional and regional analysis. Taylor Francis. Joda, T. and Brgger, U., 2015. Digital vs. conventional implant prosthetic workflows: a cost/time analysis.Clinical oral implants research,26(12), pp.1430-1435. Lanen, W., 2016.Fundamentals of cost accounting. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Li, X., 2015. Accounting conservatism and the cost of capital: An international analysis.Journal of Business Finance Accounting,42(5-6), pp.555-582. Marglin, S.A., 2014.Public Investment Criteria (Routledge Revivals): Benefit-Cost Analysis for Planned Economic Growth. Routledge. Mishan, E.J., 2015.Elements of Cost-Benefit Analysis (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. Othus, M., Bansal, A., Koepl, L., Wagner, S. and Ramsey, S., 2017. Accounting for Cured Patients in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.Value in Health,20(4), pp.705-709. Patassini, D., 2017.Beyond benefit cost analysis: accounting for non-market values in planning evaluation. Routledge. Zeff, S.A., 2016.Forging accounting principles in five countries: A history and an analysis of trends. Routledge.

Jeanne Lewis at Steples, INC free essay sample

Six months from now, on February 1, 1998, Jeanne Lewis (HBS ’92) would become the senior vice president of marketing at Staples, Inc. (Staples), a nationwide office supplies superstore. After 10 months working side by side with Todd Krasnow, the current executive vice president of marketing, Lewis was becoming familiar with the department. Her initial assessment led her to wonder if the department’s operating style was suited to evolving competitive realities. As Krasnow’s heir apparent, Lewis wanted to be involved in shaping the department’s priorities for the upcoming year. The strategic planning process traditionally began around this time in August, and Lewis wondered if the time to start taking action had arrived. Thus far, 1997 had been a trying year for the company: the Federal Trade Commission had challenged Staples’ proposed merger with Office Depot, and the two companies had recently abandoned 10 months of merger efforts. At that time, Chairman and CEO Tom Stemberg reaffirmed his commitment that Staples would grow from a $5 billion company to a $10 billion company by the turn of the century. We will write a custom essay sample on Jeanne Lewis at Steples, INC or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Staples not only had to grow bigger, it also had to grow better, as analysts had become accustomed to the company’s 14 consecutive quarters of earnings-per-share growth in excess of 30%. The theme of the upcoming year was twofold: strong growth and more effective execution. tC Lewis believed that Stemberg’s pronouncement to look for the â€Å"silver lining† in the failed merger and to take to heart the lessons of the merger could serve as a call to action for the marketing department. Marketing, which served as both an architect and driver of the brand, would play a critical role in Staples’ continued success. Lewis knew that Staples could survive only if it was prepared to get rid of outmoded ideas and replace them with new ones—a philosophy shared by Krasnow. But Lewis also knew that it could be frightening to give up the ideas that had made the company successful. Furthermore, the marketing staff was understandably apprehensive about Krasnow’s planned departure, and many were already mourning his loss. Lewis explained: No While the merger distractions were going on, things that maybe should have been dealt with, weren’t. Now, I wanted to make it clear that a new person was coming on board in this area, and figure out how we could get back to business. We needed to refocus on building our business, because it was as competitive as ever, and we had lost a couple of beats in a few marketing areas while busy with the merger. We were at a turning point in the marketing department, as opposed to being long past it. Because of the confluence of external events as well as our own internal complexity, if we didn’t change, then I was concerned it would start to show eventually in sales. Do Research Associate Jennifer M. Suesse prepared this case under the supervision of Professor Linda A. Hill as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. It is an abridged version of an earlier case, â€Å"Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A),† HBS No. 499-041, prepared by Research Associate Kristin C. Doughty under the supervision of Professor Linda A. Hill. Some names have been disguised. Copyright  © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www. hbsp. harvard. edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. 1 This document is authorized for use only by Harutyun Gevorgyan at HE OTHER until November 2014. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [emailprotected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. 400-065 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged) rP os t Lewis knew the marketing department’s role in ensuring success was twofold: maintaining the delicate balance between meeting short-term financial objectives with appropriate promotional tactics and building customer loyalty and retention with an effective marketing strategy; and investigating ways to leverage Staples’ brand and broaden its franchise. She also had specific questions about some of the department’s structures, systems, and staffing. She was eager to get started, but recognized the risks of doing too much, too fast: op yo My style is that I want things to happen quickly. When I see things—either a new problem someone has never had to figure out before, or where they’ve just had a different sense of timing—I jump in and say, â€Å"here’s the way to do it,† and that makes change happen quickly. But that could limit my ability to work across and with the organization. I could end up spending too much time managing down and not enough time making broader, more expansive impact by managing across the organization as well. Staples’ Background (1985-1991)1 tC In 1985, Tom Stemberg (HBS ’73), known for his marketing savvy and innovations in the staid supermarket industry (as vice president of sales at Star Market, and president of First National Supermarket), pioneered the concept of the office supplies superstore. A â€Å"Toys ‘R’ Us† of office supplies, â€Å"Staples, the Office Superstore† would â€Å"provide completeness, convenience, informed assistance as well as attractive prices†¦ covering everything from coffee to computer software† for the small-business customer. 2 Initial customer research indicated that most small businesses did not track their total expenditures for office products closely, nor were they aware that they were paying on average 40% more for them than large corporations. To communicate the savings and increased convenience of its new way of procuring office supplies, Staples’ management was prepared to invest heavily in marketing. Staples’ message would emphasize discounts and convenience, leaving customers â€Å"free from the hassles† of dealing with long lines, order forms, and multiple suppliers. No For the pivotal role of director of marketing, Stemberg hired Todd Krasnow, a 28-year-old HBS graduate who had worked in marketing at Star Market with Stemberg’s new VP of operations. In the early days, Stemberg’s team of five (himself, Krasnow, CFO, VP of operations, VP of merchandising) each had their own primary spheres of responsibility, but they all worked very closely together, doing whatever it took to get the job done. They began the mornings with a 7:00 o’clock meeting, reconvened for a working lunch, and generally worked through the evening until 10:00 o’clock. They hashed out virtually every decision together, early on developing the discipline to back up their â€Å"intuitions† with hard data. Krasnow’s optimism, exceptional dedication, and â€Å"big picture† perspective often helped keep even the most heated debates substantive, rather than personal. Do The business plan committed the Staples team to opening 26 stores in five years. The first new store opened on May 1, 1986, in Brighton, Massachusetts, and was followed by a second in nearby Woburn in November. The office superstore concept quickly caught on with both customers and other entrepreneurs. The Staples team focused their efforts on building a Northeast franchise to discourage competitors and make it cost-effective to advertise in that very high-cost region; 1 Staples background was compiled from these sources: â€Å"Staples in 1995,† HBS No. 795-158; â€Å"Staples, Inc. ,† HBS No. 593-034; â€Å"Staples (A), (B), and (C),† HBS Nos. 898-157, 898-158, 898-159; Thomas G. Stemberg, Staples for Success: From Business Plan to Billion-Dollar Business in Just a Decade (Santa Monica, CA: Knowledge Exchange, 1996). 2 The â€Å"Staples: the Office Superstore† business plan was published in part as â€Å"Staples (B),† HBS No. 898-158. 2 This document is authorized for use only by Harutyun Gevorgyan at HE OTHER until November 2014. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [emailprotected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged) 400-065 rP os t copycatting was common practice in retailing, and second movers often received better terms from investors and suppliers than leaders. Office Depot opened its first store in Florida in October, and within 18 months, 19 other competitors had emerged. For the next several years, Staples and its two main rivals, Office Depot and Office Max, concentrated their efforts in geographically distinct territories. But soon Staples had to contend with a much wider competitive set, including savvy retailers who were not traditional office suppliers, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and CVS. These competitors often had significantly more capital to invest and some offered lower prices than Staples. op yo Krasnow’s contribution to Staples’ marketing success was universally acknowledged. One executive described it thus: â€Å"With his vast experience, Todd ran the marketing department out of his head and his gut. † On more than one occasion, Krasnow and his team had been able to â€Å"save the company. † For example, when only 20 customers came in to Staples on their first day of business, Krasnow came up with the idea of paying 25 small-business managers $20 to shop in the store and tell him what they thought. A week later, though all had taken the money, none of them had come to the store—undeterred, Krasnow, persisted in contacting them, and those that eventually came in were very impressed with what they saw. This was the beginning of Staples’ inventive marketing style and frequent reliance on direct market outreach. The team later instituted a free Staples membership program that allowed them to measure if they were getting a good return on their promotional efforts. At the time, such database marketing was almost unheard of in retailing. tC Stemberg pushed his team hard, reminding them that they were waging a battle for market dominance. Employees were encouraged to continually reexamine their strategy, to scrutinize other retailers’ activities and â€Å"borrow† their best ideas, and to capitalize on all available opportunities. The corporate and field team from these early years recalled that there was a great deal of â€Å"fire-fighting† and â€Å"band-aiding. † In April 1989, Staples received a much-needed infusion of capital with its initial public offering in which over two million shares sold at an opening price of $19 per share. In coming years, the company further complemented organic growth with a series of acquisitions and joint ventures that allowed it to gain market share, expand into new markets (including the West Coast, Canada, and Europe), and learn from others’ successes. No By the end of 1991, Staples had 123 stores. As Staples grew, the senior management team continued to devote time and attention to recruiting and developing talent. They sought out people with a â€Å"can-do† attitude, competitive drive, and an eagerness to learn and stretch themselves. Staples’ employees had to be flexible and willing to move laterally through the company, as Stemberg contended that these periodic rotations helped the company avoid complacency and maintain its entrepreneurial spirit. They also had to be comfortable taking risks on behalf of the company and being held accountable for them. It was not easy to find people who could thrive in this fast-paced, often stressful environment. As one manager observed, â€Å"Within weeks you could tell if a new hire could withstand the pace and pressure. † Jeanne Lewis (1991-1995) Do Marketing and operations Lewis first came to Staples in 1991 as an MBA summer intern in the marketing department (see Exhibit 1 for a timeline of key events). At the time, Staples was small enough that, as she reflected, â€Å"you could literally fit the entire management team in one room. † As an intern, Lewis evaluated marketing plan effectiveness for the company’s 105 stores in 12 states. She passed Stemberg’s office each day and had the opportunity to sit in on meetings occasionally with the CEO and president. In 1993, one year after her HBS graduation, she returned as a marketing manager responsible for sales forecasting and field marketing. In 1994, she became director of operations for New England with $250 million profit and loss (PL) responsibility for 50 stores. Lewis had 7 direct reports and over 1,000 indirect reports. The stores were underperforming, which she concluded was because of a lack of strong leadership throughout the area: 3 This document is authorized for use only by Harutyun Gevorgyan at HE OTHER until November 2014. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [emailprotected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. 400-065 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged) rP os t Going into operations was a real change. I was put in charge of managing people who had all â€Å"been there, done that† for years. They’d started out as merchandise managers making $18,000 and moved up the silo. And then I came in: I’d never run a store, never rung a register, never done any of the things that they valued expertise in. And yet we had a situation where the stores weren’t performing that well, and I had to tell them to make money and grow sales. Lewis went straight to work, made tough choices, and replaced 25 store associates in a 12month period. Her new team set aggressive store standards, launched training programs, and rejuvenated performance. A year later, Lewis became the director of sales for 150 stores on the East Coast. One of her direct reports described his time working with Lewis as a time of professional growth: â€Å"Jeanne’s charm could be disarming. She worked really hard, and her personality motivated you. She tended to manage tightly at first, then loosened the reins. She challenged us a lot, and invited us to challenge each other. † op yo Merchandising Within a year, Lewis was asked to move again, this time into merchandising as vice president and divisional merchandising manager for furniture and decorative supplies, a potentially profitable category. Merchandising was the department responsible for deciding what product to buy, how much to buy, what price to charge, and how to display it in stores and catalog. She now had product-level PL responsibility for $350 million and both direct (three) and indirect (nine) reports. Again, she was an outsider entering a department of people who had a deep experience base and shared background. As one merchant explained, â€Å"We are a different breed, with our own style of rough and tumble. Because we spend so much time negotiating, we are always a bit distrustful, and wary of being cheated. † Lewis explained: No tC The same thing occurred in merchandising as operations. I came into the department that is the heartbeat of a retailer having never bought product, but suddenly I had to manage a group of buyers, somehow create a merchandising strategy, and make this sick category a winner [the division’s sales had been flat in a company where double-digit growth was both common and expected]. And again, there was a vendor community looking at me saying, â€Å"What do you know about buying and negotiating? † And I had a group of buyers who typically had been led by people who had come up through the ranks, while I had none of the technical expertise they placed a premium on. Often when you move to a new functional area, the onus is on the group you’ve just inherited to teach the new manager the ropes. For me, though, it was â€Å"you’ve got to fix it, and fix it fast. † There was no time for the people who reported to me to teach me. Do In short order, Lewis and her team developed a strategy for turning around the department. They replaced over 75% of the product assortment and tripled direct product profitability (DPP). 3 Lewis soon won the respect of her colleagues thanks to her strategic talents and penetrating mind. Her direct reports and peers learned that to influence her, they had to be prepared to get to the heart of a matter and support their position with relevant analyses. One reported that at first impression, he worried that Lewis might be a micro-manager, but he soon realized that she liked to inspire dialogue and debate to ensure that they dug deeply in their decision making. Many found these exchanges intense and more productive in one-on-one interactions, as opposed to group settings. According to her boss, Richard Gentry, executive vice president of merchandising: 3 Although it was common in food retailing, Staples had only recently adopted DPP. With DPP, Staples used computer modeling to calculate the costs and revenues in the distribution system directly attributable to a given product and could thereby measure each stock-keeping unit’s (SKU) contribution to profit. This information could then be used for new product selection, shelf space allocation, and pricing decisions. 4 This document is authorized for use only by Harutyun Gevorgyan at HE OTHER until November 2014. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [emailprotected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged) 400-065 rP os t Jeanne demonstrated that you can be a good merchant but you could also be strategic and think outside of the four walls. She showed us how to maximize DPP instead of just â€Å"here’s what I sell it at, here’s what I buy it for. † She was the first merchant to look at financials beyond gross margin, to look at what it actually cost to handle a product in the distribution centers, what it cost in terms of the space in the store. I think she was able to influence people and get respect because she had great insight, and she combined it with a great natural personality. Opportunity Knocks (1996) op yo By 1996, Staples was a $3 billion business with over 500 stores (see Exhibit 2 for a partial organizational chart). Although small business remained the core customer, the company had expanded its offerings to meet the needs of mid-sized and large businesses. It was organized into three strategic business units (SBUs): Retail, Contract and Commercial, and International. The Retail Unit consisted of all U. S. stores. The Contract and Commercial Unit consisted of three divisions: Staples Business Advantage, which handled regional mid-sized to large companies; Staples National Advantage, which provided complete, customized solutions for national, multi-location companies; and Staples Direct, a catalog division. The International Division managed all functional areas for all stores in Europe. This structure was designed to encourage ownership and accountability, and each SBU had its own strategic priorities and aggressive quarterly financial objectives. Although each unit relied to greater or lesser extents on the corporate marketing and merchandising departments, they also had their own dedicated marketing and merchandising areas. Newcomers to Staples often found the organizational structure cumbersome and difficult to cope with. As one manager recalled, â€Å"I soon discovered that the many (explicit and implicit) dotted-line reporting relationships were often more important than the solid-line reporting relationships. Thankfully, we are all stockholders, so at the end of the day we are all focused on the same goal. † No tC But it was not easy to maintain the focus across the now over 1,500 corporate and 12,000 store employees. After Staples’ tenth year, Stemberg raised the stakes. If the company was to reach its $10 billion objective by the year 2000, it had to adapt its strategy and culture to transform from being what some executives had called a â€Å"pure operating company†4 to one that was more customer service-oriented with the infrastructure necessary to deliver the scope and scale of services required. A task force was charged to draft a new mission statement to catalyze this transformation, which outlined four areas of continued focus: customers, employees, communication, and execution. In addition, the task force created a Point Team of key managers. Since the top team felt they could no longer rely on proximity to keep up with developments in the company, this Point Team was charged with ensuring the sharing of goals, key information, and alignment on policy issues and decisions. Do Potential merger Then, during the summer of 1996, Staples’ most formidable competitor, Office Depot, stumbled. Office Depot, which had taken under five years to reach $1 billion in sales, was currently out-grossing Staples’ stores by $2. 5 million per store. Until then, Office Depot had been the darling of Wall Street, routinely turning in 30%-40% gains; after a string of a few lesser—but far from bad—quarters, however, analysts began to refer to it as an â€Å"aging growth company. †5 Stemberg seized the opportunity to provide customers with additional savings through economies of scale, and in September 1996, the two companies announced that they would merge. â€Å"Staples, the Office Depot† would be the clear industry leader with $10 billion in annual revenues, 1,100 office supplies superstores, and combined mail-order and contract-stationer divisions. 4 Stemberg, Staples for Success, p. 143. 5 David Altaner, â€Å"Turning the Page on Office Depot; Investors Penciled in Bigger Future for Smaller Staples,† Sun Sentinel, 8 September 1996, p. 1G. 5 This document is authorized for use only by Harutyun Gevorgyan at HE OTHER until November 2014. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [emailprotected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. 400-065 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged) rP os t Krasnow, now the only remaining member of the Staples’ founding team, agreed to lead the marketing effort and to play a pivotal role in working through the complicated companywide implementation that lay ahead. Throughout his tenure, Krasnow had taken many temporary assignments outside marketing. He had led new market entries and troubleshot in high stakes situations. He had always returned to marketing, but this time he announced that he would leave Staples in January 1998 to pursue his dream of creating his own entrepreneurial venture. People wondered aloud, â€Å"Who could fill Krasnow’s big shoes? † The company prided itself on promoting from within, and many speculated that Krasnow’s successor would come from within the marketing department; for instance, someone like Bridget Coles, the current vice president of advertising— another HBS graduate who had been with Staples for over seven years. op yo Promotion After careful deliberations, the Point Team concluded that Jeanne Lewis should be offered the position. Although she had spent only limited time in marketing, they were impressed with her track record in taking charge and mastering varied job assignments. She had demonstrated considerable leadership talents, business acumen, and drive. Lewis weighed the pros and cons of this new opportunity. The move to marketing would represent a very different type of challenge, and she would now be responsible for a budget of several hundred million dollars and a staff of 100 people. Despite its strategic significance to the company, she would now occupy a staff position: In my other positions, I got a report card every day that would say I had screwed up and needed to fix it or, hey, we made a good decision and we executed it well. In this job, the report card would be very different. I wouldn’t have a PL, and while I would feel responsible for sales and creative output, it would be much more subjective, and the sales and performance more diffused. No tC I’m not a good example of how to manage your career—I’ve just been willing to raise my hand several times for new opportunities. I’ve taken a lot of what others would perceive to be career risks, which fortunately have worked out. I think Todd’s feeling was that I had proven myself in several different kinds of functional areas and I brought breadth, if not depth, of experience, coupled with the knowledge that I enjoyed operating in a high stress environment. From my perspective, this was the biggest job I’d had. It would require me to learn to deal with the top levels of the organization and across a broader span. Unlike my other jobs, here I think the challenge was replacing the guy who was here before the first store opened, and who had become a bit of a legend. And, in addition, walking into something that wasn’t totally screwed up, but which had lots of opportunity to be made just a little bit better. I would say my operations and merchandising jobs were bridging â€Å"performance† gaps, while this was going to entail bridging an â€Å"opportunity† gap. I was looking to take it to the next level, although what that exactly meant was not entirely clear at the time. Do In October 1996, Stemberg announced that Lewis would join the marketing department as senior vice president of retail marketing and small business. Stemberg and Krasnow explained to Lewis that she would assist Krasnow in the merger initiative and have a year to â€Å"learn the ropes and prepare to take over the marketing responsibility. † While taking her new responsibilities, she would simultaneously remain in her current position in merchandising until her replacement came from Office Depot. Stemberg also announced Coles’s promotion to senior vice president of advertising. Joining the marketing department Lewis began working with the marketing department in her new capacity immediately. Marketing served as both an architect and driver of Staples’ brand, which meant balancing between short- and long-term objectives. On the one hand, marketing â€Å"existed to optimize the agenda† of the three SBUs, which generally tended toward meeting short-term financial goals using promotional tactics. On the other hand, marketing played a pivotal leadership role as the integrator responsible for establishing a strong brand across Staples’ multiple markets and channels, and for building long-term customer loyalty and retention with effective marketing strategy. The 6 This document is authorized for use only by Harutyun Gevorgyan at HE OTHER until November 2014. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [emailprotected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged) 400-065 rP os t department consisted of two areas: a marketing organization and an in-house advertising agency. The marketing organization developed the marketing strategy to differentiate and build the brand and made the tactical decisions regarding the overall marketing mix (e. g. , television, radio, print, direct mail). The advertising agency was responsible for both the creative and production sides for all of the company’s advertising. The agency also produced the Staples catalog, including creative design. Krasnow, who had brought together a branding review committee to create a brand around the integrated company, asked Lewis to lead the marketing and advertising merger team. Lewis found the work stimulating, but realized she had a steep learning curve to climb, both vis-a-vis her new department and Office Depot, who had what was often described as a â€Å"shoot-‘em-up-cowboy† culture. Lewis decided to take her time to thoroughly assess what she was inheriting: op yo Whenever I go into a leadership role, I want to figure out what is underneath the water I’m swimming in. So I dive down into the details in order to figure out what I’m really dealing with below the surface. I always think of it as kind of a long, slow dive into the detail: control freak, driving everyone crazy, learning about their business, understanding their business, understanding them, and hopefully articulating along the way that I don’t mean to be in the way. And then I come back to the surface which is really where I’m most comfortable. But I only do that when I felt like I know what I’ve got in the way of challenges and opportunities and how strong the team really is. She warned her new staff she would want to â€Å"ride shotgun† with them and ask a lot of questions in order to learn as much as she could from their expertise. She scheduled multiple meetings with each of her direct reports to make sure she understood their particular function and fit within the rest of the department. The director of marketing administration, who had been at Staples since its pre-IPO days, arranged to have her team meet with Lewis on a one-on-one basis as well. No tC As Lewis tried to continually â€Å"take the pulse of the floor,† she began to get some signals that she would need to adapt her style, which had been honed in the more â€Å"rough and tumble,† confrontational worlds of operations and merchandising. She explained, â€Å"The first time I decided to challenge a marketing program, I thought we were going to have some good honest dialogue around it. But the person was just devastated. It was a real eye-opener for me. I realized I needed to shift my style or would have people leaving my office in tears and end up accomplishing nothing. † Wearing two hats and running between the fourth floor (where her office in merchandising was located) and the third floor (where marketing was located) kept life interesting, and Lewis knew her staffs on both floors were finding her less accessible than they would have liked. She did her best to counter this. As one of her direct reports acknowledged, Lewis had â€Å"an open door policy and made an effort to be approachable. Her days were full, but you could pop into her office for anything, even to tell a joke, as long as it was the right time. † One of her new direct reports remarked, â€Å"I saw Jeanne look tired, but I wasn’t surprised, considering the jobs she had to deal with. She always had a smile on her face, and was really positive, even on a bad day. I could go the extra mile for someone like that. † Do By the late spring, it was still unclear when the merger would go through. Krasnow and other executives continued to be embroiled in legal negotiations, which took a toll on the entire organization. As a member of the merger transition team explained: â€Å"An organization of this size— with over 30,000 employees—which is moving this fast, needs clear direction. When you’re driving that race car, you need to know where you’re going, you can’t just be making turns! † Lewis concluded she should no longer juggle two full-time jobs, especially since Krasnow was preoccupied with the merger. In addition, Coles announced that she would be leaving Staples in July for personal reasons. This development further unsettled the department. As one member described, â€Å"Everyone felt a lot of loyalty to the ‘old regime. ’ There was a lot of fear and trepidation around Bridget and Todd both leaving within six months of each other, the fear and insecurity that comes with change. † 7 This document is authorized for use only by Harutyun Gevorgyan at HE OTHER until November 2014. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [emailprotected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. 400-065 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged) rP os t So, Lewis insisted that her replacement in merchandising be appointed, and in May she moved downstairs into a new office in marketing. Beginning to Move op yo Then, in July 1997, a federal judge ruled in favor of the antitrust challenge. Stemberg announced that Staples was abandoning the merger, but he charged his employees, in true Staples’ fashion, to â€Å"see the positive in the sea of bad news†: to learn the lessons and move forward on them. The Point Team had learned that to maintain a competitive edge, Staples had to intensify its efforts to focus on profitability and to build the business. This meant providing more corporate leadership to assist all departments in getting tighter control over their costs, especially salary and administrative costs (SA), and figuring out how to maximize the use of resources across SBUs. Marketing would continue to differentiate and build the brand. Everything the company did should be consistent with the newly articulated brand statement of â€Å"slashing the cost and hassle of running your office. †6 Lewis wondered if her time to seize the moment had arrived. After 10 months assessing the department, she had a clear understanding of marketing as the brand champion and the key support for other departments. She elaborated: It was our job to think strategically—to keep the other departments honest when it came to long-term growth. We had to find the right balance between hitting the numbers in any given quarter and really growing the customer franchise for the long haul. All the brand-level marketing was really making sure that we were creating a personality and a promise that would drive the right customers into the store by talking about who we were and what we offered, and providing whatever incentives necessary to make sure that the product would sell, and that the customer would come back and buy more. tC Yet, Lewis was convinced that there was a â€Å"firewall† between the two marketing areas. Marketing’s strategy was being developed by the marketing side and handed over to advertising to execute, so neither party was benefiting from the extensive experience and expertise of the other. How could they produce an integrated message unless they did their work more collaboratively? Lewis felt that she could not begin to improve the integration of marketing across merchandising, operations, and the SBUs until her own house was integrated. She remarked: Do No I was amazed that while we had this huge marketing budget that everyone shared, no one knew what the other people were doing. You couldn’t even have that conversation. I remember the first staff meeting that I had them all together, there was lots of feedback I was getting on â€Å"Well, I don’t really know what Marci does, or how Lisa looks at this. † No one really knew the marketing mix, how much we spend on each piece, in relation to the other pieces, either in terms of dollars or objectives. I think you need a group that understands the overall strategic objectives and what we do as a department to support these objectives, even if it’s not within their particular area. I also found them terribly disconnected from the strategic objectives of the other areas—merchandising and operations. The thought I would go home with at night was, if they knew more, then they would do a better job. 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Glaucoma Image Processing Technique

Glaucoma Image Processing Technique Team 19 Members 40102434 Andrew Collins 40134357 Connor Cox 40056301 William Craig 40133157 Aaron Devine We have been tasked to develop a system that through image processing techniques would be able to detect glaucoma. This required us to enhance our knowledge in how to apply pre-processing, segmentation, feature extraction and post-processing on a set of given images to be able to produce a classification. Glaucoma is an eye condition where the optic nerve, which is the connector from your brain to your eye becomes damaged.   This can lead to a complete loss of vision if it is not detected and treated early on.   This is caused by when fluid in the eye cannot be drained effectively which builds pressure and then applies excessive pressure on the optic nerve. Detecting glaucoma normally is a very time consuming and expensive process because it requires a trained professional to carry out the research.   The advantages of automating this process is that it frees up that professionals time to carry out other duties. The system is going to be tested methodologically during the creation of the assignment, to help us decide what would be the best parameters to use to help increase the detection rate of glaucoma. System The way we tackled this assignment is we made a system that takes image sets and converts them into data sets which trains and tests them through our classification process.   The system assigns the data set to either being healthy or having glaucoma detected.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Training goes through the following stages in this order: Pre-processing. Segmentation Post-Processing. Feature Extraction Classification. Methodology For us to decide what would be the best choice of techniques for each stage of the system we are going to be using the a set methodology to standardize our selection process.   The aim is to maximise the system to try and get it to yield the maximum correctness it can achieve at each stage so when it reaches the classification stage it would provide the most accurate result. The best way we are going to measure the correctness of the system is running a testing/training cycle for each parameter being changed and put into a table and comparing them to select the best result. Brightness Enhancement In our system, I have implemented Automated Brightness Enhancement (ABE). ABE is used to normalise an image so the images mean gray value is equal to 127 or (255/2). The image below illustrates what the results look like. As you can see in the table above, the accuracy or our system significantly decreases when ABE is enabled. Therefore, for the good of the systems accuracy, we will disable ABE in the system. As for why ABE damages the accuracy, it likely destroys some data within the images that have a more dynamic range than the one shown above. This would result in some gray levels being 0 or 255. Accuracy significantly falls here. The reason for this is that ABE is causing the classifier to return positive for glaucoma for more images than it should, in turn, improving accuracy due to class ratio imbalance. Contrast Enhancement Our system implements three types of contrast enhancement, histogram equalisation, Automated Linear Stretch (ALS) and the Power Law. These three topics are covered extensively in the lecture slides, so in the interest of keeping the report concise, I wont discuss them in depth here. Ultimately, only one of these techniques will be picked. Automated Linear Stretch Histogram Equalisation Power Law This example shows an error. The system doesnt contain an automated way to find the value for (gamma) in each image. So well test every value of gamma from 0.0-2.0 in increments of 0.1 to see if any of our results provide a higher accuracy than when it isnt enabled at all. 0.6, highlighted in green, shows that the accuracy is 88%,the image below shows power law being applied when there is an error. In the image above, the original image is the one on the left, and the processed image is on the right, and their corresponding histograms are underneath each, respectively. It would appear that the power law has actually made the dynamic range of our image worse. Examining the segmented binary image below could explain why the accuracy has risen to 88%. From this image, we can see that reducing contrast at the higher end, which seems to be what the error is doing, is allowing the segmenter, which is set at its default of edge extraction with a = 1 and no post processing, to detect the veins and optic nerve ring within the eye within the image with a higher level of success. But why is this the case? it is due to the images background becoming more uniformed because of the reduction in contrast in the white end while not altering the veins much at all as they are darker/greyer. The reason values of y Summary From my tests, I have come to the conclusion that the best technique of the three is the Power Law. It was the only technique that improved our systems accuracy. My tests also suggest that high levels of accuracy are dependent on the successful extraction of data about the veins, which, as I discussed above, the Power Law is highly effective at. This theory makes even more sense when you consider that the other two methods, which significantly increased the dynamic range, did very poorly in comparison. Our system will benefit from using the Power Law, so from this point on it will be enabled. Noise Reduction Our system incorporates two kinds of noise reduction, those two being, Low Pass Filter and Median Filter. From examining our images, one would conclude that salt pepper and CCD noise is not present. To demonstrate this however, well need to see if the system gains accuracy when each technique is enabled. Low Pass Filter (LPF) As we can see in the table above, accuracy has significantly decreased. To illustrate this, here is what the original and processed histograms look like when the contrast enhancement is applied without the low pass filter. From the histograms, it would appear that low pass filter is actually removing some of the contrast enhancement. Low contrast seems to be mistaken for actual background noise, and when that happens, more distinct light and dark patches are created which in turn increases the dynamic range. Median Filter Similar to the low pass filter, the median filter is also removing some of the improvements made by contrast enhancement. Although it does appear that median pass filter is doing this to a lesser degree, as the accuracy is slightly higher here. Summary From our tests, we can conclude that both low pass filter and median pass filter only damage the accuracy of our system. LPF more so than MPF. It appears that the two actually undo some of the work done in contrast enhancement. As well as that, there isnt actually enough noise in the image used here to warrant the use of a noise reduction filter at all. After performing these tests, I decided to test my hypothesis, I tried applying the noise reduction filters before contrast enhancement to examine the results. The results were actually identical to the results from the earlier test. So what could that mean? Well, it would seem that noise reduction is actually removing some information/data from the images, which then limits the effectiveness of the segmenter. From this point on, noise reduction filters will not be used. Segmentation This is used to separate the image into a foreground and a background with key areas in the foreground being turned white and the rest black.   Our segmentation process involved using edge extraction and then automatic thresholding.   The first thing we do is apply the Sobel mask to the pre-processed image Its very important to use edge extraction because it helps show the boundaries of the eye and make the veins much more defined.   Right after that we apply automatic thresholding on the gradient magnitude image to get a binary segmented image. The class that we use to test which value to use is called SegmenterTest which will test the value of n within a range of -2.0 to 2.0 and increases the increments by 0.1 to see if the improved value increases the compared to a default value of n = 1.   From this we got the following values: The default system where the value of n=1 it produces a good accuracy of 88% so this is the value that we pass into our segmenter. This will allow more generic segmentation than what is possible with setting a manual threshold.   The thresholds that are going to be   in use are derived from the mean brightness of the pixels in the image raster and then adjusted by a standard deviation providing the best optional threshold for each image. To check if Sobels Mask is the best for using to do edge extraction we will now compare the results from using Prewitt mask edge extraction. What we found that using the prewitt mask edge extraction as part of our segmentation process is that it is more effective using the default value on the Sobel Mask n = 1.   The best accuracy that we got using the prewitt mask happens when we have n = 1 just like when we were using the sobel mask.   This allows us to reduce that the sobel mask is the best option for us to use the edge extraction during the segmentation process. Post-processing Through this image processing technique, the image is enhanced and is filtered by a mask. The process uses erosion and dilation to remove isolated noise pixels, fills holes and smooth boundaries. Using brightness based segmentation, post processing is used to clean up the thresholded binary image. However, this can make objects appear smaller or larger than the original size. We added the post processing techniques of closing and opening for our methods of erosion and dilation.   To test which value that we are going to use we tried a variety of combinations and got the following results. From what we gathered is that the best accuracy drops heavily when using any of the other post processing techniques were used. The image above has closing only enabled which produced the best accuracy from the post processing techniques however as you can tell by the image below which has post processing disabled it has much more detail.   It is for this reason we will have post processing disabled because we are then able to receive better accuracy from the images.   Post-processing did not have a positive result in the classification accuracy.   It does make it visually easier to see how the application was processing the images. Feature Extraction The purpose of feature extraction is to gather useful features and details out of segmented images by extracting the feature vectors using a technique called moments. Implementing the use of moments correctly is the foundation for the essential calculations performed during the analysis of an object. In our feature extraction class within our program we have decided that the following features of an object will be taken into consideration- Compactness, Perimeter, Position of Centroid and finally the Area of the object. Before we perform the calculations for these features of said Object we first had to implement the moments formula in Java. Once we have created the moment method in our class we will then be able to use this to calculate the feature vectors needed. Compactness The reason we want to get the area and the perimeter is so that we can use the values to calculate what is needed, that being Compactness, as it is a more uself shape description for our vision system to use.. Compactness can be calculated by squaring the perimeter and then dividing it by the area. private double compactness(BufferedImage image)   {   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   return Math.pow(getPerimeter(image), 2) / getArea(image);   } Above I have included the method that is called to calculate the compactness of the object, as you can see the calculation that was mentioned above is performed within this method. Perimeter We can get the object in questions perimeter is first calculated by first eroding the object and then we perform a calculation to receive the new objects area after erosion, after this we go onto calculating the difference between the new objects area and the initial objects area like so Perimeter = Original Area Eroded Area After this calculation is performed we are left with the perimeter of our object. private double getPerimeter(BufferedImage image)   { return getArea(image) -  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   getArea(PostProcessor.erode(image));   } I have placed the method used to get the perimeter of the object above, as you can see the method is performing the calculation required for the perimeter, Original Area Eroded Area resulting in our perimeter. Centroid Position We can get the X Y coordinates of the centroid in the object by performing the calculation of M01 M10 private double [] position(BufferedImage image)   {   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   //calculate Centroid at M01   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   double i = Math.round((moment(image, 0, 1))/ moment(image, 0, 0));   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   //calculate Centroid at M10   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   double j = Math.round((moment(image, 1, 0))/ moment(image, 0, 0));   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   double [] Cij = {i, j};   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   return Cij;   } Above is the method we have developed to find the position of the centroid for our Object. As you can see in the code above this method is using the moment method to perform the calculations needed to find the centroid position of the object.   Area We must also find the area vector, to do this we must calculate M00, this can be performed using the moment method which was developed earlier. private double getArea(BufferedImage image)   {   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   return Math.round(moment(image, 0, 0));   } Above is a screenshot of the getArea method, this method calls upon the moment method and Math.round function to find the Area of our object. Classification Within our system which we have developed, we included the Nearest Neighbour function that is used to identify and recognise the training images we have supplied our system with. When we implement this feature in our system we get a variation of results depending on the value we set K to, we have included the results outputted by this function below for analysis Nearest Neighbour Function:  ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   K = 1: o  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Accuracy: 62.50%  ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   K = 3: o  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Accuracy: 87.50%  ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   K =5: o  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Accuracy: 56.25% As you can see in the above results from testing this function, the Nearest Neighbour Function provides us with the highest accuracy rate when using the value 3 for the K variable. This is due to the fact it can recognise the training images features. A disadvantage to this approach is that when changing the value of the K variable then this can alter the accuracy of the output as we can see when changing the value of K from 1 to 3, the accuracy increases greatly but once we change the value from 3 to 5 then the accuracy suffers and drops 30 points of accuracy. Summary: For this current group of images, the Nearest Neighbour function with the value K set to 3 is the best method used for classifying the object, this is because it returns the highest possible accuracy rate compared with other values of K such as 1 or 5, the accuracy rates for these values can be seen above.

Avon Case Analysis Essay -- Avon Cosmetics Make Up Essays

Avon As of November 1999, Avon was experiencing economic troubles. Avon’s growth rate of annual sales was less than 1.5 percent during the greatest economic boom in history. This prompted a transfer in leadership which appointed Andrea Jung as CEO. Since that time, Avon has experienced remarkable growth. Under the direction of the new CEO, a new strategy was developed to reinvent Avon’s image, improve customer satisfaction, and to increase profit margins and market share. Avon has gained an outstanding reputation as the best direct seller of beauty products. Through the continued efforts and achievements of its sales representatives, Avon is now known worldwide. Avon’s core competence has mainly been its direct selling busniess model. This led Jung and the management team to implement a Sales Leadership program that provided incentives to acquire, train, motivate, and retain the number of active sales representatives it needs to sustain significant growth. Avon also has a representative development program that focuses on the professional training of representatives. This enables the representatives to provide valuable information on Avon brand products. Avon also keeps its superior customer service in other ways of distribution such as the Internet and in the departmen t store sales by having a timely and correct order delivery, one on one information exchange and personalized professional advice. Forces of Competition Rivalry among competing sellers in the CFT industry is strong. The creation of innovative products is crucial to success. This industry focuses on continually developing cutting edge products using the latest science and technology. Rivalry is stronger when customer’s costs to switch brands are low. Switching costs in the CFT industry are very low, due to the large amount of different brands of similar products. This cost is due to the higher number of competitors in the CFT industry and their tendency to copy new products in order to stay competitive. Another Avon objective that aims to alleviate pressures coming from competing sellers includes consists of reinventing their antiquated image. The organization had been a major player in the CFT industry for decades. However, Avon’s management took a reactive approach and failed to evolve with the changing times. Because the CFT industry centers on mage conscious consumers, Jung d... ...na. Also, because the only sales in China are generated through retail outlets, Avon should further develop their Beauty Advisors training. Europe should also be a continued focus for Avon. Industry leader, L’Oreal’s attributes 50% of their total sales to the European market. Avon has had a successful growth rate in Europe but only 23% of the total 2003 sales came from Europe. There is still room to expand in this market. Based on one of the industry’s key success factors, product innovation, Avon should focus even more resources on R&D especially in the areas of anti-aging products and teen products. Because 23 million teenagers have an average weekly disposable income of $85, Avon should continue with innovative teen marketing such as the current â€Å"mark† brand but also work on products for problem teen skin. Being ahead of the industry in introducing new products combined with the company’s already strong market position could further improve Avon’s brand equity and therefore revenues. In particular, Avon should continue to integrate sales representative into all aspects of sales. This is Avon’s own key success factor and what sets them apart from their competitors.