Analysis of Robert Frost and Mending Wall

Analysis of Robert Frost and Mending Wall Robert Frost was born Robert Lee Frost in San Francisco, California to Isabelle Moodie and William Prescott Frost Jr. After his father died, his mother moved them to Salem, New Hampshire. Frosts childhood was filled with literature- his mother read Shakespeare, Bible stories, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and other poets and writers aloud to him. Before long he was memorizing poetry and reading books on his own. Frosts high school years were spent in Lawrence, Massachusetts. During high school, Frost became a writer: his poem La Noche Triste, appeared in the high school newspaper. At the beginning of his senior year he fell in love with Elinor White, who had also published poetry in the school newspaper. After graduation and before the summer ended, they pledged themselves to each other in a secret ritual. That fall, Elinor went to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, and Frost attended Dartmouth on a scholarship. College life proved to not be for him. Isolated and restless, he quit at the end of December. He hoped that when Elinor came home in April that he could persuade her to drop out as well and marry him, but his efforts proved fruitless and she returned to college. Frost began working as a lamp trimmer in a factory in Lawrence, but quit after a few months to teach and write poetry. At the end of the term, good news greeted him: the New York Independent had accepted My Butterfly: An Elegy, with a stipend of $15. This was Frosts first published poem. After this victory, he once again implored Elinor to marry him, and once again she refused. Eventually, however, she said yes and on December 19, 1895, they were married. Nine months later their son Elliot was born. They both kept working as teachers, and Frost kept publishing poems. In the fall of 1897, thanks to his grandfathers loan, Frost, at age twenty-three, entered Harvard in the hope of becoming a high school teacher of Latin and Greek. In March 1899, however, severe chest and stomach pains combined with worries about his ailing mother and pregnant wife forced him to leave Harvard. Frost gave up teaching and rented a poultry farm in Methuen. Two months later, Elliot, now three years old, fell ill with cholera and died. Frost never forgave himself for not having summoned a doctor in time, believing that God was punishing him. Elinor was devastated, but had to continue to care for their year old daughter, Lesley. Afterward, they moved to Derry, New Hampshire. In the fall of 1911 he was teaching again in Plymouth, New Hampshire. In July 1912, he started making plans for a radical change of scene. He suggested to Elinor that they move to England, and she enthusiastically agreed. On 2 September 1912, the Frosts arrived in London. Before long he was finishing the manuscript of A Boys Will. In October the book was accepted for publication. By April 1913, most of the poems that would constitute North of Boston had been written. In May 1915, North of Boston appeared, to be hailed in June by important reviews. By August, Frosts reputation as a leading poet had been firmly established in England, and Henry Holt of New York had agreed to publish his books in America. By the end of 1914, however, financial need forced him to leave Britain. When Frost and his family returned to the United States in February 1915, he was hailed as a leading voice of the new poetry movement.ÂÂ   In the following year he was made Phi Beta Kappa poet at Harvard and elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Mountain Interval, which appeared in November 1916, offered readers some of his finest poems, such as Birches, Out, Out, The Hill Wife, and An Old Mans Winter Night. Frosts move to Amherst in 1917 launched him on the twofold career he would lead for the rest of his life: teaching whatever subjects he pleased at a congenial college (Amherst, 1917-1963, with interruptions; the University of Michigan, 1921-1923, 1925-1926; Harvard, 1939-1943; Dartmouth, 1943-1949)In 1930 Frost won a second Pulitzer Prize for Collected Poemsthe first had been won by New Hampshireand in the next few years, other prizes and honors, including the Charles Eliot Norton Professorship of Poetry at Harvard. on 26 March 1938, Elinor died and his world collapsed. Four years before, in the wake of their daughter Marjories death, they had helped each other bear the grief. Alone now, wracked in misery and guilty over his sometimes insensitive behavior toward Elinor, he hoped to find calm through his children, but Lesleys ragings only deepened his pain. For some time he continued to teach, then resigned his position, sold his Amherst house, and returned to his farm. In July Theodo re Morrison invited him to speak at the Breadloaf Writers Conference in August. Frosts lectures enthralled his listeners, but at times his erratic public behavior drew worried attention. To the great relief of his friends, Kathleen Morrison, the directors wife, stepped in to offer him help with his affairs. He accepted at once and made her his official secretary-manager. Weeks before, however, Kathleen had called at his farm to invite him to visit her at a nearby summer house. Before long he proposed marriage, but she insisted on secrecy, on maintaining appearances During the 1940s Frost published four new books: A Witness Tree (1942), inscribed To K.M./For Her Part in It, containing some of his finest poems. None but his intimates knew of the decades griefs: his son Carols suicide in 1940, his daughter Irmas placement in a mental hospital in 1947. In the last fourteen years of his life Frost was the most highly esteemed American poet of the twentieth century, having received forty-four honorary degrees and a host of government tributes, including birthday greetings from the Senate, a congressional medal, an appointment as honorary consultant to the Library of Congress, and an invitation from John F. Kennedy to recite a poem at his presidential inauguration. Thrice, at the State Departments request, he traveled on good-will missions: to Brazil (1954), to Britain (1957), and to Greece (1961, on his return from Israel, where he had lectured at the Hebrew University). In the Clearing, Frosts ninth and last collection of poems, appeared on 26 March 1962. On 2 December at the Ford Forum Hall in Boston Frost made his last address and, though admitting he felt a bit tired, he stayed the evening through. In the morning he felt much too ill to keep his doctors appointment. After considerable wrangling, he agreed to enter a hospital for observation and tests. He remained in its care until his death in the early hours of 29 January 1963. Tributes poured in from all over the land and from abroad. A small private service on the 31st at Harvards Memorial Church for family members and friends was followed by a public one on 17 February at the Amherst College Chapel, where 700 guests listened to Mark Van Dorens recital of eleven Frost poems he had chosen for the occasion. Eight months later, at the October dedication of the Robert Frost Library at Amherst, President Kennedy paid tribute to the poetry, to its tide that lifts all spirits, and to the poet whose s ense of the human tragedy fortified him against self-deception and easy consolation. Poem: Plea for tearing down barriers that keep us apart The fact that the narrator continues to help build the wall despite his abhorrence of it suggests the weakness of people in their convictions. Even though people want to change, many times they never have to courage to go against what others say. We create these barriers between us to keep the unknown out because deep down it scares us It is not the natural way to be- nature continuously tries to tear down the wall- even the rounded stones didnt want to support each other and keep the wall up. Sources: Meyer, Bruce. Critical Essay on Mending Wall. Poetry for Students, edited by Mary Ruby, vol. 5, Gale, 1999. Literature Resource Center, libraries.state.ma.us/login?gwurl=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRCsw=wu=mlin_n_bishopv=2.1id=GALE%7CH1420042989it=rasid=249423e618b8705c63388bc86683d232. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017. Frost, Robert (Lee). Merriam Websters Encyclopedia of Literature, Merriam-Webster, 1995. Literature Resource Center, libraries.state.ma.us/login?gwurl=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRCsw=wu=mlin_n_bishopv=2.1id=GALE%7CRN1480003591it=rasid=337b87a12c96fb85f72f64f7ad0fafc5. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017. DeFusco, Andrea , Bruno Leone, and Bonnie Szumski, eds. Readings on Robert Frost. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Print. Squires, Radcliffe. The Major Themes of Robert Frost. N.p.: The U of Michigan Press, 1963. Print.

Problems Faced By Chinese Students

Problems Faced By Chinese Students This current research is titled as Problems faced by Chinese students in learning English language: A case study of S.M. Pei Yuan KAMPAR. This chapter consists of nine sections which is background of the study, statement of problem, purpose of study, significance of study, research question, scope of study, methodology, limitation and definition of key words. Background of the study Learning English language as second language (L2) is a big challenge for second language learners. Students still have problems with grammatical functions most of the time, although they have 11 years of English language exposure. Hence, this study focuses on the first language (L1) grammatical functions that interfere with Chinese learners of English as a second language. In Malaysia, there are numerous learners who have Chinese language as their L1. Most of them have problems in learning English language especially the English grammar. Learners are more or less likely to be influenced either positively or negatively by their first language. According to Hassan (2002), learners L1 background knowledge will affect them in learning English language especially in speaking and writing. As a result, the interference of L1 has become the major problem for Chinese ESL learners in the process of learning English especially in writing. Chinese ESL learners will get interference from their L1 when they write. It is because they will get influence by their L1 grammatical structure. Besides, the differences of syntactic between L1 and L2 also will affect them in writing. A few studies have reported that Chinese ESL learners will use their mother tongue to plan an outline before writing (Cumming, 1989; Jones Tetroe, 1987), transfer the writing context to English language by using their mother tongue (Edelsky, 1982; Friedlander, 1990; Lay, 1982). Second language learners will use their mother tongue in such circumstances and the interferences from L1 to L2 can either be positive or negative. Learners L1 will influence In this study, researcher will examines mother tongue influence on Chinese learners 1.2 Statement of Problem To learn English as second language, learners at least have to master four basic skills which are listening, reading, speaking and writing. However, seldom Chinese ESL learners can fully master the skills especially in writing. It is because the L1 interferes of English Language causes grammatical errors in the writing process. According to Nik Safiah (1978), this kind of grammatical error can be obviously found in Chinse ESL learners essay writing. The differences between L1 and L2 grammatical funtions intefere on students English essay writing process. As we know that mastering English Language is not an easy task especially for learners who study in Chinese independent schools. It is because they mostly will get inteferenced from their L1 and affect the way they learn English. As a result, Chinese learners will face difficulty in learning English grammatical functions such as tenses, subject-verb agreement or countable and uncountable nouns. Although Chinese learners have exposed to English language since primary one, the errors still occur. Chinese ESL learner make this kind of grammatical errors because they do not fully utilize the language even though they are able to use it. As the saying goes, practise makes perfect if the learners do not polish their English language even with years of exposure to the language, it will make no different. 1.3 Purpose of Study The purpose of this study is to find out if L1 interference have a significant effect on Chinese ESL learners English essay writing. Besides, this study is also to identify types of errors that Chinese ESL learners commonly make with English grammatical functions in the English essay writing. 1.4 Significance of Study Although learners learn English since the first day enter they school. However, most of them cannot fully master English as their second language. This study can help teachers to understand the problems that learners face when they are learning English. Besides, teachers can identify the influence of learners L1 in learning English and among the errors, they help to correct the grammar. This can help to reduce the inteference of L1 from happening to students learning English. 1.5 Research Questions Based on the problems and purpose mentioned in the earlier sections, this study will focus on two research questions which are: Does L1 interference have a significant effect on Chinese Learners English essay writing? What types of errors do Chinese ESL learners commonly make with English grammatical functions in the English essay writing? 1.6 Scope of Study The aims of this study is to identify the inteference of learners L1 in learning English language. Learner who study in S.M. PEI YUAN (P) KPR would be chosen as participate in the writing test. This study is using purposive sampling because only one class of Chinese ESL learners will be selected as participants. 1.7 Methodology This study will utilize a test to find out why Chinese ESL learners have problems in learning grammar. The learners will be asked to write a short essay. The topic of the essay is My family and learners have to write around 100-120 words each. This test will be distributed to the learners during their classes. Thus, they will take the test seriously and the results of the data collected will be more precise. 1.8 Limitation This study is designed for those whose first language is not English language and have L1 background knowledge. The survey will only be conducted with one class of learners who study in S.M. PEI YUAN (P) KPR. Thus, the result do not represented all Chinese ESL learners. 1.9 Definition of key words Inteference learners make an error in ther L2 which influnced by their L1 (Lott,1983:256).

Comparison and Contrast in The Great Gatsby Essay -- comparison compar

Comparison and Contrast in The Great Gatsby      Ã‚  Ã‚   The success of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is in part due to his successful characterization of the main characters through the comparison and contrast of Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan and George B. Wilson, and Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. The contrast is achieved through two principle means: contrasting opposite qualities held by the characters and contrasting one character's posititve or negative qualities to another's lack thereof. Conflict is generated when the characters sometimes stand as allegorical opposites. On the other hand, comparison of two characters is rather straightforward. This comparison and contrast is prevalent in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. To begin with, Daisy and Myrtle have similarities and differences. The similarities revolve around the characters' marriages. First, both have an affair sometime in the novel. Myrtle's sister, Catherine, whispers to Nick: "Neither of them can stand the person they're married to" (33). Partially as a result of this intolerance, both begin affairs. Daisy says that she loves both her husband, Tom, and illegitimate boyfriend, Gatsby: "I love you [Gatsby] now -- isn't that enough? ... I did love him [Tom] once, but I loved you too" (133). Daisy says that she loves both Tom and Gatsby. Here, Daisy's character must be taken into account. Daisy might just as well love Gatsby's shirts, house, or other status symbols as she loves Gatsby as a person. Similarly, she might also only love Tom's status symbols. Myrtle certainly only loves Tom's status symbols. She tells Nick, "He had on a dress suit and patten leather shoes, and I couldn't keep my eyes off him..." (36). This is the point ... ...ization.    Works Cited Bewley, Marius. "Scott Fizgerald's Criticism of America." Mizener 125-41. Eagleton, Terry. The Function of Criticism. London: Verso, 1984. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Collier Edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1925. "Fitzgerald, F. Scott." Microsoft Encarta 97 Encyclopedia. Redmond, WA: Microsoft, 1996. CD-ROM. 1997. Posnock, Ross. "'A New World, Material Without Being Real': Fitzgerald's Critique of Capitalism in The Great Gatsby." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 201-13. Spindler, Michael. American Literature and Social Change. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1983. Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.         

Arrhythmia :: essays research papers

Arrhythmia   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I am doing my report on Arrhythmia. It affects the cardiac muscle, the heart. Arrhythmia causes three types of problems. It causes the heart to pump too slowly (bradycardia), it causes the heart to pump too fast (tachycardis), and it causes the heart to skip beats (palipations).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bradycardia can be very serious. Some of the symptoms are loss of consciousness, heart failure, or death. Slow heart rates are caused by heart block. The hearts natural pace-maker fails to be conducted to the ventricles, the hearts main pumping chambers. Some treatments can be used. An electronic pace-maker can be inserted and it will send electronic impulse to the heart stimulating it to beat at a normal rhythm. Pace-makers are only inserted when the heart beats too slow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tachycardis can also be very serious. It can lead to disabling symptoms and even death. When you have Tachycardis your heart rate is above 100 beats per minute. Tachycardis is caused by heart injuries from past times. Tachycardis usually occurs months or years after a heart attack. A treatment for Tachycardis can be inserting a device called a defibrillator. A defibrillator will detect and treat abnormally fast heart rhythms. The defibrillator monitors the heart and automatically gives electric shocks before Arrhythmia causes permanent damage. If the person does not have a defibrillator a strong electric shock will be given. The cause of Tachycardis is by something not functioning properly in the atria. They are sometimes stimulated by anxiety. Too much caffeine or alcohol and certain drugs can also be the cause. Attacks might last a few minutes or several days. They can be serious and sometimes not serious.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Palpitations happen when your heart skips beats. Palpitations have many different symptoms. Some of these symptoms are dizziness, fatigue or fainting as a result of the brain not getting enough oxygen rich blood, chest pain, shortness of breath, and death (which occurs rarely). Palpitations are caused by high blood pressure, mistral valve prolapse, Hyperthyroidism, Anemia, coronary artery disease, or stress, Anxiety, panic attacks, stimulants such as caffine, nicotine, and alcohol, heavy excursus, high consumption of nutmeg. There some treatments which you can do. You could try to hold your breath briefly, take a slow drink of cold water, wash your face in cold water, cough several times, and hold your nose and blow (it will pop

Essay on Social Networking Sites

Essay on Social Networking Sites Social networking sites peaked the year 2007. These sites encouraged online social connections. Early sites such as SixDegrees. com and Friendster allowed people to manage a list of friends. One drawback to these sites was that they did not offer users the ability to publish content like blogs. Social networking sites begin with a group of founders sending out messages to friends to join the network. In turn the friends send out messages to their friends, and the network grows. When members join the network, they create a profile.Depending on the site, users can customize their profile to reflect their interests. They also begin to have contact with friends, acquaintances, and strangers. Founded in 2002, Friendster used the model of friends inviting friends to join in order to grow its network. It quickly signed on millions of users. Unfortunately, as the site grew larger, technical issues surfaced. Painfully slow servers made it difficult for users t o move around the site. Additionally, management enforced strict policies on fake profiles. These false profiles, or â€Å"fakesters,† as they were known, were deleted by the site.This approach turned off users. Eventually, Friendster began to lose members in the United States. Fellow networking site SixDegrees. com closed its doors after the dot-com bust in 2000. Within a few years, these early social networking sites found their popularity declining. At the same time, a new social networking site called MySpace was beginning to take off. THE RISE OF MYSPACE MySpace brought together the social features of networking sites and the publishing capabilities of blogs. The combination of the two tools struck a home run with teens. Young people were looking for a more social way to blog.MySpace provided the solution. In 2003 Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe launched MySpace in Santa Monica, California. As music fans, the pair designed the site as a place to promote local music acts. They also wanted to be able to connect with other fans and friends. On MySpace, users created a Web page with a personal profile. Then they invited other users to become their friends. According to DeWolfe, the bands were a great marketing tool in the beginning. He said: â€Å"All these creative people became ambassadors for MySpace by using us as their de facto promotional platform.People like to talk about music, so the bands set up a natural environment to communicate. â€Å"1 Anderson and DeWolfe were determined to keep MySpace an open site. Anyone could join the community, browse profiles, and post whatever they wanted. User control was one of their founding principles. It also made initial financing hard to find. According to Anderson: â€Å"We'd get calls from investor types who wanted to meet us. They would say ‘Your site isn't professional. Why do you let users control the pages? They're so ugly! ‘†2 In the meantime MySpace continued to sign people up. Teens and young adults loved the site.They flocked to create their own profiles. The ability to customize pages, load music, and share videos added to the MySpace appeal. Unlike other early social networking sites, MySpace gave users a media-rich experience. Users could express themselves on their Web page by adding music and video clips. At the same time, they could socialize with friends. MySpace made social contact easier with tools such as e-mail, comment posts, chat rooms, buddy lists, discussion boards, and instant messaging. MySpace brought together the ability to express oneself and to socialize in one place.The timing was perfect. Over the next two years, MySpace grew at a tremendous pace. The site's success brought attention from investors. Rupert Murdoch, famous for his media empire, wanted to buy MySpace. Murdoch had interests in television, film, newspapers, publishing, and the Internet. In 2005 Murdoch purchased MySpace for an amazing $580 million. By early 2008 MySpac e had grown to a mind-blowing 110 million active users. It signed an average of thirty thousand people up every day. One in four Americans was on MySpace. The Web site had become the giant among social networking sites.It was the most trafficked site on the Internet. MySpace's influence traveled outside of the United States. The company built a local presence in over twenty international territories. MySpace could be found in places such as the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, and Latin America. In a few short years, MySpace had become a worldwide cultural phenomenon. SOCIAL NETWORKING BEYOND MYSPACE The success of MySpace in the social networking arena spurred the development and redesign of many other online social networks. Some sites appealed to a general audience.Others, such as Black Planet, LinkedIn, and MyChurch, sought to serve a niche market. Facebook was one site that emerged as an alternative to MySpace. In February 2004 Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook . The site began as a closed network for college students. Closed networks only allow users to join if they meet certain criteria. In contrast, sites such as MySpace and Friendster were open social networking sites. Anyone could sign up for an account. Open and closed social networks have advantages and disadvantages. Open networks foster interaction between adults and teens.Parents can check up on their teen's profile and decide if they are comfortable with their child's online image. On the other hand, open access means that profiles are completely public and can attract unwanted attention. Closed networks are generally smaller. As such, there is a greater chance a user will know other members both online and offline. But a closed network blocks parents from reading their teen or college student's profile. Being closed also limits a social network's ability to grow and attract new users. As a closed college network, Facebook grew by adding more colleges to its network.By the end o f 2004, Facebook had almost 1 million active users. As Facebook's popularity grew, it expanded beyond colleges to high school and international school users. At this point, however, the site was still restricted to a limited pool of student users. In 2006 Facebook made a pivotal decision. It opened the network to the general public, expanding beyond its original student base. By May 2008 Facebook boasted over 70 million active users. At that time, it was the second-most trafficked social networking site behind MySpace and the sixth-most trafficked site on the Web.As an alternative to MySpace, Facebook's social network gained popularity with business professionals and colleagues. Facebook's purpose was to help users connect online with people that they already knew offline. Unlike the wild-looking pages found on MySpace, Facebook promoted a clean, orderly online experience. VIDEO- AND PHOTO-SHARING SITES Online social networking evolved into a full multimedia experience with the arri val of video- and photo-sharing Web sites. Users could upload visual content to share with friends and other users. Photo-sharing sites such as Flickr enabled users to transfer digital photos online to share with others.Users decided whether to share their photos publicly or limit access to private groups. Users could also use the site's features to organize and store pictures and video. One of the most popular video-sharing Web sites was YouTube. The site, founded in 2005, used Adobe Flash technology to display clips from movies and television, music videos, and video blogs. Users could upload, share, and view video clip topics from the latest movies to funny moments captured on film. Not everyone wanted to create a profile, write a blog, or upload pictures and video.Other social networking tools allowed these users to participate online. E-mails sent messages to a friend's electronic mailbox. Instant messaging was a real-time conversation between two people online at the same time . Comment posting allowed users to interact and talk about a friend's blog, profile, or pictures. Even online gaming was a form of social networking, allowing players to meet other people with similar interests online. WHY IS ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING SO POPULAR? The popularity of online social networking has prompted researchers to explore the similarities between online social networks and tribal societies.According to Lance Strate, a communications professor at Fordham University, social networks appeal to people because they feel more like talking than writing. â€Å"Orality is the base of all human experience,† said Strate. â€Å"We evolved with speech. We didn't evolve with writing. â€Å"3 Irwin Chen, an instructor at Parsons design school, is developing a new course to explore oral culture online. He agrees with Strate. â€Å"Orality is participatory, interactive, communal and focused on the present,† he says. â€Å"The Web is all of these things. â€Å"4 Mi chael Wesch teaches cultural anthropology at Kansas State University.He studied how people form social relationships while living with a tribe in Papua New Guinea. He compared the tribe to online social networking. â€Å"In tribal cultures, your identity is completely wrapped up in the question of how people know you,† he said. â€Å"When you look at Facebook, you can see the same pattern at work: people projecting their identities by demonstrating their relationships to each other. You define yourself in terms of who your friends are. â€Å"5 Despite the connections between social networks and tribal cultures, significant differences exist.In tribal societies relationships form through face-to-face contact. Social networks allow users to hide behind a computer screen. Tribal societies embrace formal rituals. Social networks value a casual approach to relationships. Millions of people across the world have joined online social networks. Perhaps their popularity stems from o ur innate desire to be part of a community. According to Strate, social networking â€Å"fulfills our need to be recognized as human beings, and as members of a community. We all want to be told: You exist. â€Å"6

JetBlue Case Analysis Essay

External Environment To evaluate the external environment of JetBlue airways we will use the PESTEL analysis. PESTEL analysis stands for â€Å"Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environment and Legal analysis†. Political Factors How and to what extent the government does intervenes in the economy. Political factors can be tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restrictions, tariffs, and political stability. Political factors that are found in the JetBlue case are: Government monitors the airline industry more scrupulously as a result 60% of airline industry is unionized Heightened sense of consumer information privacy Airport slot/gate allocations Security considerations since 2001 attacks Bankruptcy Economic Factors These factors have major impact on how businesses operate and make decisions. They include economic growth, interest rate, exchange rates, and inflation rates. Economic factors that are found in the case are: 1978 Airline Deregulation Act created intense rivalry between airlines Downturn in airline travel after 9/11 2001 affected most airlines – JetBlue reported 18 consecutive quarterly profits IT Spending continued post 9/11 Fuel costs spiraled, aggressive competition and increased operating costs Availability of venture capital Interest Rates Legacy Airlines exiting bankruptcy and streamlining operations Strategic Alliances Fair Pricing is an important competitive factor JFK Expansion Social Factors Trends in social factors affect the demand for a company’s products and how  the company operates. They include the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Social factors that are found in the case are: 2001 Terrorist attacks in US negatively affected airline industry Anxiety about safety at airports Travel has become inconvenient due to safety precautions Internal Culture at JetBlue – Management is hands on – a great place to work Technological Factors The technological factors determine barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence outsourcing decisions. They include ecological and environmental aspects, such as R&D activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change. Technological factors found in the case are: Aging fleet Diffusion of Technology Digital Revolution – internet does away with ticket agents but allows price comparison Customer service working from home reduces operations costs Environmental Factors These factors include weather, climate, and climate change. Environmental factors that are found in the case are: War, Political Turmoil and Natural Disasters drive fuel prices from $30/bbl. in ‘03 to $60/bbl. in ‘05 Airport slot/gate allocations Security conditions build barriers to ease of travel Legal Factors These factors can affect how a company operates, its costs, and the demand for its products. They include discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, employment law and health and safety law. Legal factors that are found in the case are: 1978 Airline Deregulation Act eliminated government control over fares and routes Airport and FAA density regulations Security laws since 9/11 Porter’s Five Forces In order to understand Jet Blue’s external environment, Porter’s 5 forces are a helpful tool in order to evaluation the company’s competitive environment and the degree of rivalry amongst competitors within the aviation industry. The competitive environment will be evaluated in terms of 4 different aspects, namely the bargaining Power of customers and suppliers, the threat of new entrants and new substitutes. The bargaining power of customers within the aviation industry is rather high as there are standard products and services that are less unique and can be easily imitated by competitors. Furthermore, there are only low switching costs incurred for the buyer in general, meaning that there is usually a lower degree of customer loyalty towards one single company and that customers can compare offers easily especially due to the option to purchase tickets online. Suppliers generally have a moderate to high bargaining power within the industry due to the limited number of suppliers which forces aviation companies to choose from the number available and accordingly to accept their prices. In fact, fuel is the second highest cost for aviation companies. There are highly depended on supplier’s prices and the availability which indicates on a relatively high bargaining power of suppliers. In addition, there are high switching costs which are strongly in favor of the suppliers and means that the company experiences an increase in operating costs when switching to another supplier as flying another type of aircraft leads to additional costs (maintenance, training etc.).Aircrafts are vulnerable to delays due to the location of gate locations which leads to a decrease in utilization and therefore to an increase in costs. In terms of the threat of substitutes there are not a lot serious threats and alternatives to products within the aviation in dustry, therefore the threat can be rated as medium. However, private aircrafts can be seen as a substitutes within the industry. Within the transportation industry there are more alternatives for substitutes such as trains, buses, cars and boats. The threats of new entrants is very low as there are certain barriers to entry such as a high amount of investments that are required and it is rather difficult to build up a reliable and trustworthy from scratch as the industry is already dominated by several  competitors. In conclusion it can be said that there is a medium degree of rivalry within the aviation industry due to a rather high degree of bargaining power of customers and suppliers and a rather low threats of new entrants and substitutes within the industry. One of the remedies to avoid high bargaining power of customers would be to try to differentiate from competitors by building a unique and favorable image on the market. On the other hand companies could use the strategy of backwards integration and acquire their suppliers in order to avoid the bargaining power of suppliers. However, those investment decision are always highly dependable on the company’s financial budget, priorities and goals in general. Financial Analysis The following graph is an evaluation of JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines based on financial information found on the companies’ income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements: Jet Blue As you can see, JetBlue is consistently below Southwest on the ratios. JetBlue’s liquidity ratios have decreased over the last three years and could be considered worrisome. However, we know that the fleet is aging and the company is making investments to replace the old fleet and expand the fleet. This is a very reasonable cause for the decrease in these ratios. JetBlue’s equity multiplier is higher than Southwest. At first, you might think this is better. However, a higher equity multiplier is not a good thing. A high equity multiplier means that a company finances a larger portion of its assets through its debt. Therefore, southwest has a better equity multiplier. While JetBlue’s net profit margin is slightly lower than Southwest’s, it is in line with the industry average of 3.2%. JetBlue’s return on equity is also in line with the industry average of 8%. JetBlue has a high capital intensity ratio which is okay because, as an airline, they require a large amount of capital to operate. Overall, the financial ratios are lower than Southwest’s but they don’t show any problems that don’t make sense. The net profit margin, return on assets, and return on equity have all improved over the last three years. The cash coverage ratio is also improving. The finances seem to show that the company is improving and is stable. Strengths When we look at the case JetBlue shows several strengths. One of the most important is customer satisfaction; they satisfy their customers by being a low-cost airline but at the same time offer excellent experience (the  JetBlue Experience). They have new airplanes (that keep the operational costs low) with inflight entertainment systems, their customers get a drink and a snack and their employers are involved and motivated. JetBlue is an innovative company, for example they were the first North-American airline company that used electronic ticketing and they introduced the first paperless cockpits. Weaknesses When analyzing the company internally we also see several weaknesses. From the case it became clear that the company had problems with facing mass cancellation; a weak reservation system and also no baggage handling systems. The company got high debts because of the rising fuel prices, and also because of the compensations that they gave their customers after making mistakes. Currently the baggage handling system works properly and their online reservation systems are also improved. Another weakness of JetBlue is that is focusses on the middle class of society, therefore they do not have many high class people that are willing to spend more. Opportunities The company is also influenced by external factors, and we will first discuss the opportunities for JetBlue. The case made clear that JetBlue is getting more and more interline agreements with other airline companies. Due to this fact JetBlue will have more destinations to fly to and they can also make reservations under each other’s names. It is therefore wise that JetBlue keeps making new interline agreements with the bigger airline companies. Another opportunity for JetBlue is technological improvements, since JetBlue is an innovative company they like to try new things out such as they did with the paperless cockpit. Also the deregulation of international air travel and loosening laws and regulations are opportunities for JetBlue. There are a lot of regulations around air travel, especially after the terroristic attacks on 9/11 and also the tax laws influence the company. Whenever these will become looser the company will have less expenditures. Threats When we evaluate the external factors that are influencing the company we also find several threats. One of the biggest threats for the airline  industry are fuel prices, since they are the biggest costs for an airline company. Another threat for the airline industry are terroristic attacks, after 9/11 the customers got afraid of travelling by plane. Also all the safety procedures make travelers rather want to use another way of transportation, such as the car or train. Financially the high user taxes and currency changes also influence the airline industry. TOWS Analysis After evaluating the SWOT analysis we can now look at the externally-focused TOWS analysis. The TOWS analysis matches external opportunities and threats with internal strengths and weaknesses. Maxi-Maxi Strategy How can you use your strengths to take advantage of the opportunities? If we compare the strengths and opportunities of JetBlue, some of the strategies they could implement are: Focus on the technology improvements; JetBlue is an innovative company and they like to try out new technologies. They can make the JetBlue experience even better than it already is. Focus on the interline agreements; when JetBlue has more interline agreements with other airline companies their customers will have more choice of countries where they want to go, it will also be easier for them to make a reservation. Lower the operating costs; whenever the law and regulations will be in favor of the airline industry the company can lower its operating costs and therefore also lower their prices. Maxi-Mini Strategy How can you take advantage of your strengths to avoid real and potential threats? The strengths that JetBlue could use to avoid real and potential threats are: Focus on technological developments; again they should focus on this for example they could maybe develop new security check machines that are easier to use and also safer to avoid terroristic attacks Develop the JetBlue experience; there is intense competition in the airline industry, however JetBlue should differentiate itself by improving the JetBlue experience which is already known for excellent customer service, friendly personnel, new planes, entertainment systems etc. If they improve this experience and keep focusing on being a low-budget company they will win  more customers. Mini-Maxi Strategy How can you use your opportunities to overcome the weaknesses you are experiencing? There are several opportunities that JetBlue could use to overcome the weaknesses that they are experiencing, such as: Loosening laws and regulations; whenever the regulations will be looser the turnaround process of the airplanes will be easier and faster. New technology; the new technology could help the company to improve the online presence. The online presence was in the case really bad but currently they already improved this. However E-business and M-business is getting more and more popular so it is always wise for a company to keep on track with this by improving their online systems. Mini-Mini Strategy How can you minimize your weaknesses and avoid threats? The strategies that JetBlue should use to minimize its weaknesses and threats are: Improve the systems; some of the weaknesses are weak baggage handling systems and online presence. Also in the case it became clear that JetBlue faced problems with mass cancellation. This could all be improved by implementing ERP systems so that it is clear what is exactly going on in the company. For online presence they should have an IT department that focusses on that. Improve safety systems: there are a lot of safety procedures because of the fear of terroristic attacks. The airplane industry should invest in have safer and easier systems to improve the safety of its travelers. Differentiate itself from other airline companies; there are a lot of airline companies and this causes intense competition. However if JetBlue makes sure that they offer their product in an exclusive way the company will win customers. Balanced Scorecard In the following we will establish a balanced score card for Jet Blue by collecting and analyzing data on the company’s current performance. The overall goal of the balance scorecard is to analyze the gathered data and compare it to the desired performance and strategic goals. Furthermore it is a helpful tool to align business activities to the company’s current mission and vision. At large, there are 4 major perspectives that are analyzed during the balanced scorecard which are the customer, internal business,  innovation& learning, and financial perspective. In terms of the internal Business Perspective it becomes clear that Jet Blue has one of its major core competencies in quick turnarounds. One of the main reasons for this is the â€Å"paperless cockpit† innovated and introduced by Jet Blue itself. In fact, the paperless cockpit ensures faster takeoffs by reducing paperwork which eventually leads to quicker turnaround rates, as well as higher aircraft util ization. Jet Blue’s high completion rate is another significant competence of the company’s business operation (rate of 99.6 % compared to 98.3% at major airlines). Furthermore, the Jet Blue would keep operating costs low by integrating a less costly plane, the A 320, which is significantly less costly than the Boeing 737. In addition, the A 320 is more fuel-efficient, requires less maintenance costs, and training costs are kept at a lower level which leads to an overall decrease in operating costs and enables the company to offer less costly tickets to the end-customer. However, Jet Blue aims at renewing its fleet expansion in 2012. The airline planes to purchase the A321s and A320neo. Besides, the company had to deal with major system issues in regards to the baggage-handling system, online rebooking system, the sabre airline solution applications which caused significant delays in daily operations and lead to dissatisfaction among customers. Another perspective of the balanced scorecard that needs to be analyzed is the customer perspective. The company markets its service package as the â€Å"Jet Blue experience† which includes the new aircraft, variety of TV channels& movies, leather seats and more leg room. Furthermore, Jet Blue adds value to its customers by offering services such as priority boarding. The company, in fact positions itself as a low-price company, but focuses strongly on customers services (the ‘Jet Blue experience’) as well. This strategy enables the company to differentiate themselves from their competitors and adds unique value to their products. However, after the operations meltdown of 2007, customers lost trust in the company. For the future, significant changes are needed to restore customer’s trust. In terms of the company’s financial perspective it can be said that company’s liquidity ratios have been decreased over the past 3 years and could be considered worrisome, however, as Jet Blue plans to replace its fleet there is a reasonable cause for the decrease. Furthermore, Jet Blue’s equity to debt ratio is still below the average which indicates  on a lower amount of equity financed by banks and is therefore favorable. Jet Blue’s return on equity and net profit margin are in line with the industry average and therefore refer to stability. The net profit margin, and return on equity have all improved over the last three years which indicates on the profitability of the company. The cash coverage ratio has improved as well which refers to Jet Blue’s liquidity. Also the return on assets ratio has been improving and is above the industry’s average (3% compared to 2.46 % in 2013) which refers to a preferable efficiency of the company. The finances seem to show that the company is improving and is stable. Regarding the innovation& learning Perspective it becomes obvious that Jet Blue launched several solutions and systems. The paperless cockpit, for instance, that has been explained in a paragraph above is one of the innovations that Jet Blue launched on the market. In addition, less-congested airports reduced the airline’s turnaround time. Other innovations that facilitated operations and made services more customer-friendly are the tickets and mileage statements that do not require paper anymore. According to the article ‘Jet Blue airlines: getting over the blues ‘, ‘†¦innovation has been everywhere.’ Subsequent to the operations meltdown and the financial breakdown of the company in 2007, Jet Blue attempted to initiated strategic changes within the company by significant capital reduction from 2010 to 2011, a change of the CEO, a renew in flight expansions, partnering up with former competitors, and selling $42.6 of common stock to the German carrier (Lufthansa). Generally, measurable key performance indicators need to be established in order to evaluate the company’s performance. The financial ratios are the means within the balanced scorecard to evaluate the company’s perspective. The customer perspective could be evaluated in terms of market share, customer satisfaction scores, and customer loyalty scores. The internal business perspective can be measured in turnaround rates and completion rates for instance. Number of innovations, an improvement index, or number of employee suggestions can be used to put the innovative& learning perspective into tangible terms. As a result, the company needs to restore customers trust and loyalty, improve on internal operating systems in order to regain former financial strength in the future. Especially, the reliability of the company’s operating system needs to be secured in order to avoid another  major meltdown in the future. Furthermore, the company needs to find adequate strategic changes in order to ensure compliance with Jet Blues current mission, â€Å"Bring humanity back to air travel† which is currently pursued by a low-cost strategy in combination with a strong focus on customer-services and compare current performance to desired performance, however the company’s goals and targets do not become clear from the case.

Importance of Teamwork

Discuss the Importance of Teamwork for the Systems Analyst A systems analyst is in charge of the operating system and associated subsystems. In addition, he is responsible for identifying alternatives for optimizing computer resources. This necessitates a joint action with other persons, whether they are internal clients or external. If the system analyst carries out efficient teamwork, and harmonizes the contributions of all clients towards an agreed objective, his efficiency will be far greater than individual accomplishment. Teamwork refers to the mutual effort by a group of persons for achieving a common goal.On the other hand the system analyst designs new IT systems to ameliorate business efficiency and productivity. The systems analyst need to present their designs to clients and once the design is approved; they work closely with the user team to launch the solution. To achieve this, the systems analyst needs to work closely with the customers, examine the business model bein g currently used by the business and the flow of information in the organization. His findings are discussed again with the customer team and he devises an apposite improved IT based solution.During his work, the system analyst also draws up the outline of the new system, finds out and estimates the cost and specifies how the client will use the information. At each of these steps the systems analyst is required to team up with the potential users and use such a teamwork behavior that will lead to better performance (U. S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006). The systems analyst usually has to evaluate and study the organizational culture of the client, he has to assess and understand the preferences of the team members of the client and review the current circumstances of the client organization.This is important for the systems analyst to liaison widely with the external or internal clients. For example, the systems analyst may have to liaison with the systems de alers to get the cost estimate correct and he has to liaison with the company managers to assess their needs correctly. The systems analyst has to translate client requirements into highly complex and detailed project briefs. This effort would not be possible unless he collaborated extensively with the users. This requires teamwork. Teamwork is also important because the systems analyst is often required to draw up proposals for modified or replacement systems.In addition, he is required to create logical and innovative solutions to complex problems. What the systems analyst is required to do is to identify options for potential solutions and evaluating them for both technical and business suitability. To draw up proposals for modified or replacement systems, teamwork is required to ascertain the preferences of the user team members. Further, to come up with logical and innovative solutions, the systems analyst must be able to get feedback from people outside the team.In short the s ystems analyst must be able to join forces with outside and inside people to successfully complete his project. While dealing with the client, the systems analyst must be able to get a wide range of views from the staff, peer groups, customers and senior management of the client organization, He must be able to take a wide outlook when he is setting behavioral goals for themselves. The systems analyst should improve the quality of these goals by joining forces the users and developers so that there is technical compatibility as well as client satisfaction.This co-ordination role of the systems analyst requires a high degree of teamwork. It is the responsibility of the systems analyst to ensure that the budgets are not exceeded and the deadlines are adhered to. In order to achieve these goals the systems analyst needs to identify and manage conflicting expectations of different person and even groups. For instance, he must be able to manage the conflict between the user requirements and budgetary constraints. In addition, he must be able to initiate and harmonize the dialogues between different groups, for example the client management and developers (U. S.Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006). In practice the systems analyst needs to research, plan, maintain, troubleshoot, configure, install and upgrade operating systems. In addition, in several organizations he is required to troubleshoot, maintain, install, plan and upgrade hardware and software interfaces with the operating system. For this he needs to analyze and interpret the current or planned business procedures or problems. The system analyst needs to work independently as well as work towards the team goals of maintaining the operating systems as well as the systems in excellent condition.Moreover, he needs to understand the goals of the system users and meet their expectation. The users of the system should feel a sense of ownership towards the systems that they are using. They should feel committed to the systems that they have helped to create. This feeling can only be created if there is teamwork between the systems analyst and the users. The users of the system should collaborate with the systems analyst to use their abilities and knowledge to contribute to the success of the system. There are a number of routine tasks that a systems analyst needs to perform in the due course of his work.For example, he has to work with technical staff, such as networking to put into operation connectivity and compatibility among systems. Even for these tasks teamwork is very important. Moreover, teamwork is required of the systems analyst for assisting personnel of other departments in matters related to information technology, training new recruits in the use of computer resources and providing information technology orientation to new recruits. The systems analyst must gain the trust of all the users he is dealing with; only then will they express their opinion, conflicti ng views and enquiries.A systems analyst must make a sincere effort to be upright, truthful and honest. He should have active listening skills. He should aim towards participative decision-making and resolve problems constructively. Teamwork has become an important part of the job specification of a systems analyst and many organizations evaluate the teamwork skills when recruiting a systems analyst. Most systems analysts realize that teamwork is important because either the system is sufficiently complex that it takes a team with multiple skills to design, and a better system will result when a team approach is adopted.In short it is important that systems analysts learn to work in a team environment so that they will have teamwork skills so important for their jobs. To sum teamwork is very important for the systems analyst. He is required to regularly collect information, examine and evaluate current or planned systems. Each of these actions requires interaction with individuals a nd teaming up with diverse individuals. Even in his regular and mechanical responsibilities he needs to meet with people and get them involved in the IT process. Finally, even in case of multifarious support duties that are assigned to him, collaboration is essential.