UnitedHealthcare Group Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

UnitedHealthcare Group - Assignment Example The purpose of the essay is to measure the readiness of the organization and to observe the strategic plans that would be required to be incorporated by the organization for satisfying the healthcare requirements of the citizens in the next decade. The citizens of next decade will have several additional healthcare requirements in comparison to people of present generation. As a consequence, the staffing requirement for specialized workers in several medical occupations (such as nurse) will also rise in the next decade. In present days, people largely neglect the personal healthcare aspects such as diet, exercise and sleeping requirements and significantly engage in several unhealthy activities such as smoking and drinking among others. Besides, increasing level of stress and obesity issues has also become prevalent for people. Several studies depicted that in the United States (US), 50% of deaths are attributed to preventable actions and negligence of people to several manageable as pects. Thus, in the next decade there will be requirement for better health programs along with providing awareness education which can lead to change in behavior of people. Furthermore, in the next decade, citizens are expected to gradually undertake higher responsibilities for healthcare. This, in turn it will increase the requirement of tailored healthcare delivery in terms of better healthcare products and services. As citizens would require bearing the financial stress of handling healthcare issues, they will require effective direction through better healthcare plans. For instance, according to the statistics of ‘America’s Health Insurance Plans’ in 2007, almost 4.5 million Americans were covered with effective healthcare plans.

Use of Dollar Coins as Opposed to Dollar Bills in the US Essay

Use of Dollar Coins as Opposed to Dollar Bills in the US - Essay Example As the paper outlines. with the US budget deficit expected to reach the $1.5 trillion mark this year, the government is under immense pressure to initiate sustainable cost-cutting measures. Eliminating the dollar bill and replacing it with dollar coins should be one of the measures because the government will save the taxpayer more than $5 billion in the next 3 decades among other benefits. Cutting on spending is the biggest priority that the US government has so as to set the economy back in motion. The government currently spends a great deal of money printing and circulating the dollar bills. It will actually take 31 cents less to produce a dollar coin as opposed to a dollar bill according to Fiegerman. A coin will definitely last longer than a bill, therefore, saving on reprinting cost. The dollar bill is made of low-quality materials which tend to wear out within 3 years. This will not be the case with a dollar coin which can last for 34 years. It is also estimated that the doll ar bill will become more expensive to make owing to the fact that cotton prices are increasing steadily. This has shot up the cost of making paper by up to 50% as compared to the same time back in 2007. The EU and countries like Canada and Japan have relied on coins for their low denominations. Canada actually found that it saved more than 10 times their earlier estimated figures. Another issue relates to jamming of machines when producing the dollar bills. The Week states that more than $1 billion gets lost after vending machines jam thereby requiring repairs and companies losing on revenue from sales.  There are arguments that the dollar bill is one of the distinctive features of the United States economy and eliminating it will erode this uniqueness. There is also the belief that change to dollar coins will hurt the economy, especially in the current state.  

Peter Singer and Garrett Hardin On Helping the Poor Essay

Peter Singer and Garrett Hardin On Helping the Poor - Essay Example I find that both articles are very well written, and as previously stated, both make their point on their issues, though Singer does so in a more antagonistic, provoking manner, while Hardin seems to remain impartial while giving concrete examples to support his position. After reading these two articles, I find myself disagreeing wholeheartedly with Mr. Singer, on the basis that a nation should look within its own borders and fix the problems that plague it from within before even beginning to give aid to any other countries that may be in need. While I agree that there may be a moral obligation to provide aid and assistance, it should first be provided to those that reside within the borders of a given nation, before being provided elsewhere. Mr. Singer is fixated on a situation occurring in Bengal, while providing general evidence that nations capable of sending aid have not done enough to help. However, he fails to provide concrete, quantitative statistics on the nations that he is citing as able to provide aid to Bengal. There is no concrete evidence given to suggest what is happening within the nations that are able to provide aid, and no other examples other than criticism of those nations who choose to build luxury items rather than send aid. For example, Mr. Singer states that â€Å"Australia’s aid amounts to less than one-twelfth the cost of the Sydney’s new opera house.† He further states that Britain, another country able to give aid to Bengal, has â€Å"non-recoverable costs of the Anglo-French Concorde Project already in excess of ?275,000,000.† Yet he does not mention the per capita statistics of these two countries specifically, citing only that â€Å"they are able to give aid†. Mr. Singer also fails to mention that most large projects such as the opera house and transport systems are, inevitably, taxpayer funded over a long period of time. This in and of itself creates a vicious cycle which, again, Mr. Singer does not mention: higher taxes means less money in the pockets of the citizens, which means less to give to others. It seems as though Mr. Singer is trying to make people feel guilty for having luxuries while there are others that do not, which is hardly the basis for any moral argument that one should give money. Mr. Hardin, in fact, says this in another, perhaps more realistic way by stating â€Å"Some say they feel guilty about their good luck. My reply is simple: Get out and yield your place to others.† Just because one has the resources to share, does not mean that they should. It should be the choice of each and every person and/or country if they choose to share, or if they choose to use that money where it is most needed, which may well be within the borders of their own country. Another issue to look at is the fund that is being donated to. Mr. Singer mentions the Bengal Relief Fund. What proof do people have that the Bengal Relief Fund will actually get the money to actually assist others? In 2001, the World Food Program received notice that one million people in Zimbabwe would be â€Å"in urgent need of food aid within a month†; however, the government, after â€Å"holding out the begging bowl†, refused to allow anyone but themselves to distribute that food (LoBaido). The World Food Program would have no way of knowing if the goods that were donated actually made it to the people in need of aid, or

The Carbonated Soft Drink Industry Essay Example for Free

The Carbonated Soft Drink Industry Essay The first drinkable â€Å"man-made† carbonated water was created by â€Å"British chemist, Dr. Joseph Priestley, in 1767. † â€Å"German-Swiss jeweler, Jacob Schweppe, was the first large-scale commercial producer of carbonated waters, and is often referred to as the father of the soft drink industry. The first known US manufacturer of soda water, as it was then known, was Yale University chemist Benjamin Silliman in 1807, though Joseph Hawkins of Baltimore secured the first US patent for the equipment to produce the drink two years later. † Pharmacies nationwide around the 1820s provided the beverage as â€Å"a remedy for the various ailments, especially digestive. †1 As sugar and flavorings were added customers increasingly consumed them for refreshments, although they were still being sold for their therapeutic value. In the late 1800s, several brands emerged that are still popular to this day. â€Å"Pharmacists experimenting at local soda fountains invented Hires Root Beer in Philadelphia in 1876, Dr. Pepper in Waco, Texas, in 1885, Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1886, and Pepsi-Cola in New Bern, North Carolina, in 1893, among others. † Analysis of the Soft Drink Industry. â€Å"The carbonated soft drinks market includes standard and diet colas, fruit-flavored carbonates, mixers, energy drinks, and other carbonated soft drinks. † The global carbonated soft drinks â€Å"market grew by 0. 4% and generated total revenues of $146. 4 billion in 2006. Market consumption volumes increased with compound annual growth of 1. 3% to reach a total of 155. 4 billion liters in 2006. The performance of the market is forecast to accelerate slightly, with an anticipated compound annual growth of 0. 7% for the five-year period 2006-2011 expected to drive the market to a value of $151. 4 billion by the end of 2011. †4 â€Å"The global carbonated soft drinks market was close to stagnation during the 2002-2006 period, as poor revenue performance in lucrative but mature markets, such as the US and Japan, were only partially outweighed by dynamic growth in markets such as China. Similar behavior is expected going forward to 2011. †4 Of all the various carbonated drinks offered in the market today, â€Å"the standard cola segment was the largest in 2006, with total sales of 67. 6 billion liters, equivalent to 43. 5% of the market’s overall volume. The fruit flavored carbonates segment contributed to a further 34 billion liters in 2006, equating to 21.9% of the market’s aggregate volume. Brazil Canada, Mexico and the US form the most lucrative market for carbonated soft drinks, generating 58. 5% of the global revenues; Europe accounts for 31% of the global market value. †4 â€Å"Players in this market may opt for an integrated business, in which they sell ready-to-consume drinks to retailers, or they may adopt a business model in which they sell raw materials, syrups, to a network of bottling companies, which may be independent or owned to some extent by the players. †4 A Five-Forces Analysis of the Soft Drinks Industry Revenues are extremely concentrated in this industry. The main players in this industry are the Coca-Cola Co. , PepsiCo Inc. and Cadbury-Schweppes. â€Å"The Coca-Cola Company is the global market leader, with sales equating 47. 1% of the market volume. PepsiCo. Inc. is a significant competitor, with a 22% market share by volume [and Cadbury-Schweppes accounts for 8. 8% of the total market share by volume. ]†4 There is a tough competition between the existing companies in the industry and a moderate degree of rivalry. The inputs for the soft drink industry are primarily sugar and packaging. These can be purchased from many sources on the open market. Aspartame, an important ingredient, â€Å"[is] available from only one or two viable companies upstream. † However, there are substitutes, like saccharine, available in case the price for aspartame goes high. In case sugar becomes too expensive, the firms could easily switch to corn syrup, as they did in the early 1980s. Hence, supplier power is moderate. For more than a decade the soft drink industry has sold their products to their consumers through five principal channels: supermarkets/hypermarkets, mass merchandiser, fountain, vending machines and convenient stores/gas stations. Supermarkets/Hypermarkets are principal customers for the soft drink industry. They do not have much bargaining power due to their tremendous degree of fragmentation. Their only power is control over shelf space that can be allocated to the various products; this power does give them some control over profitability. However, consumers expect to pay less through this channel, as a result of which prices are usually lower, resulting in a somewhat lower profitability. National mass merchandising chains such as Wal Mart have a higher bargaining power. Due to their scale and the magnitude of their contracts they can negotiate more effectively. As a result of which they are not very profitable for the players of the soft drink industry. The least profitable channel for soft drinks is fountain sales. Profitability at these locations are so abysmal that they are considered to be â€Å"paid sampling† by the soft drinks industry. However, these channels are considered to be important as an avenue to build brand recognition and loyalty. â€Å"While fast food chains make 75% gross margin on fountain drinks, the soft drink industry only makes 5% margin. † Vending machines are considered to be the most profitable channel for the soft drink industry. There are no buyers to bargain with at these locations, players of the soft drink industry directly sell their products to consumers through machines owned by bottlers. Prices at vending machines are usually high. The final channel to consider is convenience stores/gas stations. The players of the soft drink industry directly negotiate with the owners of these channels. Profitability for players is relatively high and the â€Å"retailers at these channels vary proportionately. Consumers are likely to be strongly influenced by brand, and this weakens buyer power: retailers need to stock brands popular with consumers, even if these are more expensive. †6 The only buyers with dominant power are fast food outlets. Despite this, they only account for about 20% of the total soft drink sales. Overall, the buyer power is moderate. Through the early 1960s, soft drinks were synonymous with â€Å"colas† in the mind of consumers. Over time, however, other beverages, from bottled water to teas, have become more popular. There are also other substitutes for soft drinks, like alcoholic beverages, fruit juices, energy drinks, vitamin waters and coffee. Leading players like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have responded by expanding their product offerings through alliances (e. g. Coca-Cola and Nestea), acquisitions (e. g. Coca-Cola and Minute Maid), and internal product innovation (e. g. PepsiCo created Orange Slice), thus capturing the value of increasingly popular substitutes internally. Despite all this, â€Å"in several countries consumer health concerns over the high-sugar content of many soft drinks is causing a decline in sale. † In order to tackle this problem, â€Å"leading manufacturers are developing their product ranges accordingly. † For example, Coca-Cola responded by introducing Coke Zero, which is â€Å"sugar-free. † The demand for the product has grown steadily since it was introduced in 2005. Overall, the threat from substitutes is moderate. It is possible for a new player to enter the soft drink industry as â€Å"an entirely new start-up, or as an existing company diversifying into carbonated soft drinks manufacturing. However, the new player would have to overcome the tremendous marketing muscle and market presence†4 of leading players like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and few others who have established brand names that are as much as a century old. These players have maintained strong relationships with their retail channels and would be able to defend their positions effectively through discounting or other tactics. Overall, there is a weak likelihood of new entrants. The Coca-Cola Company There are few companies, if any, across the world with more recognizable brand names than Coca Cola. The name in itself is likely worth far more than the total assets held by Coca Cola, Inc. Coca-Cola Company is involved in marketing, manufacturing, and distributing nonalcoholic beverages as well as their syrups and concentrates across the world. They offer a vast array of bottled and canned beverages. The company is mainly involved in carbonated beverages, known as soda as well as a myriad of other names, but also produces noncarbonated beverages such as juice, energy drinks, ready-to-drink coffee and tea, water, and flavored water. Completed beverage products are sold mainly to distributors, while their concentrates and syrups may be sold to bottling and canning operations, and fountain wholesalers and retailers as well as distributors. Coca-Cola Company, which is headquartered in Atlanta, GA, was founded in 1886. They have 90,500 employees world-wide. Coca-Cola’s Business Strategies Ever since its advent, Coca-Cola’s strategies have been winning ones. The history of Coca-Cola reveals how national markets in soft-drink brands developed. â€Å"Asa Candler, [founder of Coca-Cola,] underestimated the importance of the bottling side of the business and in 1899 sold the national rights to bottle Coke for a fairly small sum to Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead, who then started a national network of bottlers, creating the basic franchising format by which the industry is still run. †3 One of the main reasons Coca-Cola licensed bottlers to mix the product, package, and distribute it within a specific territory, was to limit the cost of transportation. Today, this model of selling syrups to bottlers who then mix the product, package, and distribute it, is widely used by almost every soft drink industry in the world. In the long run, this complete alignment of Coca Cola and its bottlers has proved to be a winning strategy. Coca-Cola is a brand name that’s known widely throughout the globe. The company has a competitive advantage based on differentiation over other soft drink industries. They are able to set prices at the industry average and gain market share since their customers are willing to choose their products over their competitors. Coca-Cola has been successful at retaining their differentiation position by satisfying their customers’ needs, although this resulted in some higher costs in some of their value chain activities. For example, when Coca-Cola realized that their customers were looking for drinks other than just â€Å"cola† they responded by expanding their product offerings by introducing several different types of carbonated drinks, fruit juices, energy drinks and bottled water, tea and coffee. Some of these were organically started while others were started via acquisitions and alliances. Today, Coca-Cola sells more than 400 brands in 200 countries. The strategy has greatly improved Coke’s competitive position. The other factors that help them retain their differentiation position are: their premium brand image, their products are considered to be of high quality and they are easily accessible. In the 1980s and early 1990s, then CEO Roberto Goizueta built an international expansion strategy around the central brand—Coca-Cola. Today the company is well positioned in key emerging markets such as China, Brazil, Russia, Turkey and Argentina. In 2007, these emerging markets recorded strong double digit growth in volumes. It looks like Coca-Cola will continue to benefit from the underlying growth in the consumption of soft drinks in these markets. Coca-Cola’s strategies have definitely helped them achieve their goals in being the leading beverage company in the world. They were ranked number 1 in the â€Å"Ranking for the Food Beverage Industry categories of Best EthicalQuote Progress and Best Reported Performance in Geneva-based Covalence’s Ethical Ranking 2007. † They also ranked number one in sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks, and ready-to-drink coffees and teas. Coca-Colas strategies, besides helping them achieve the number 1 rank in the beverage industry has also helped them achieve their financial goals, despite cut-throat rivalry with other beverage companies, as we can see from the table below. Their most competitive competitor is Pepsico, Inc. Pepsico, Inc. ’s beverage division is involved in more or less the same activities as Coca-Cola Company—manufacturing, marketing, and selling beverage concentrates, syrups, and finished products including carbonated beverages, energy drinks, water, and juices. The major difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsico is that Pepsico also has a huge snack division. Despite Pepsi’s strong portfolio, Business-Week and Interbrand, a bran ding consultancy, recognizes Coca-Cola as the leading brands in their top 100 global brands ranking in 2006. They valued Coca-Cola at $67,000 which was well ahead of Pepsi which has a ranking of 22 having a brand value of $12,690 million. Coca-Cola’s strategies have helped the company hold the title as the leading beverage company in the world and also maintain a very strong financial portfolio. According to the 2007 annual report for Coca-Cola, obtained from their website, the company’s earnings per share growth for the year alone was 19%. Other impressive growth rates include their net operating income and revenue growth of 20% and 15%. Source: www. coca-cola. com From the above table we can see that Coca-Cola’s revenues, net income and assets have grown over the years. Their profit margin for 2007 however is lower than that of 2006. A profit margin of 20. 7% means that, Coca-Cola has a net income of $0. 207 for each dollar of sales. This also means that Coca-Cola has increased its net income in 2007 by diminishing profit margins. Although the difference in profit margins for 2006 and 2007 may appear to be small, it affects the company’s financial portfolio significantly. So, why is the leading company in the beverage industry, despite having a stellar performance facing a decrease in their profit margin? To help us answer this we will look closely at the company’s various resources and capabilities with the help of a SWOT Analysis. SWOT Analysis Although Coca-Cola’s â€Å"strong band value facilitates customer recall and allows Coca-Cola to penetrate markets, the company is threatened by intense competition which could have an adverse impact on the company’s market share. †8 SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that helps in evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of a company. The SWOT analysis deals with the firm’s internal characteristics: strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats presented by the external environment. StrengthsWeaknesses Leading brand in the beverage industry Increase in revenueNegative performance in North America Decline in profit margin OpportunitiesThreats Room to grow Aging of baby boomersFierce competition Slow growth of carbonated beverages Strengths. Leading brand in the beverage industry Coca-cola is the world’s leading brand in the beverage industry. There are not many products that have a recognizable brand name as Coca-Cola. â€Å"The company has a leading brand value and a strong brand portfolio. †8 They have been recognized as the leading industry by many national magazines and have been honored with awards in different categories. â€Å"Furthermore, Coca-Cola owns a large portfolio of product brand. The company owns four of the top five soft drink brands in the world: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta. †8 Coca-Cola’s brand name is their key differentiator from that of the company’s competitors; this has helped the company beat their competitors in the market place. Their strong brand image has helped them introduce new products in the market like, Vanilla Coke, Cherry Coke, etc. The company has also been able to â€Å"make large investments in brand promotions. The company’s strong brand value facilitates customer recall and allows Coca-Cola to penetrate new markets and consolidate existing ones. † 8 Increase in revenue In 2007, Coca-Cola recorded total revenues of $28. 86 billion, an increase of 20% from 2006. Three segments (Latin America, Eurasia and Bottling Investments) of the company experienced double digit growths in their revenues from 2006. Both Latin American and Eurasia grew by 24% each during fiscal 2007, over 2006. During the same period, revenues for bottling investments grew by 53%. Together, the three segments of Latin America, Eurasia and bottling investments, accounted for more than 35% of the total revenues during fiscal 2007. â€Å"Revenues growth in [these three sections] contributed to top-line growth for Coca-Cola during 2007. † 8 Weaknesses Negative performance in North America While Coca-Cola had robust revenue growth in some of their business sections they had a negative 1% unit case volume growth in one of their business section—North America. The performance overall in this section was not as expected, they had a 1% increase in their operating income and a moderate 11% increase in their revenues. North America is one of Coca-Cola’s core markets generating 25% of total revenues during fiscal 2007. Hence, â€Å"a strong performance in North America is important for the company. † 8 This slow and negative performance in North America can â€Å"impact the company’s future growth prospects and prevent Coca-Cola from recording a more robust top-line growth. † 8 Decline in profit margin Despite having an overall increase in revenue of 20% for fiscal 2007, from 2006, Coca-Cola’s profit margin for the period was 20. 7%, a decrease of 3. 4% from 2006. We can tell from this that looking at the earnings of a company often doesnt tell the entire story. Increased earnings are good, but an increase does not necessarily mean that the profit margin of a company is improving. We can see in this case, that Coca-Cola had a lower profit margin from 2006 despite having higher revenues and income for 2007. This only means that Coca-Cola had costs that have increased at a greater rate than their sales; thus leading to a lower profit margin. This is an indication that costs need to be under better control. Opportunities Room to grow According to Muhtar Kent, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Coca-Cola Company, â€Å"Consumer spending for nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages is growing at 6-plus percent per year—the highest among consumer packaged goods. †7 Coca-Cola’s international market is thriving, led by double digit growth in developed markets like Brazil, Russia, India and China. Latin America was the second most profitable operating group for Coca-Cola in 2007. The company is looking forward â€Å"to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games; [they] are strategically investing in [their] infrastructure and route to market to connect [their] brands with consumers in the Pacific operating group. [The company’s] balanced portfolio, geographic diversity and changing global demographics position [them] well to continue growing [their] business. †7 Aging of baby boomers The aging of the baby boomers, which includes US citizens born between 1946 and 1964, began crossing the 60-years mark in 2007. â€Å"Most of the 78. 2 million strong baby boomer generations will turn 60 in the next two decades. †9 This is likely to increase the sales of â€Å"health-related goods and services on a US-wide basis. †7 This generation of baby boomers will provide Coca-Cola the opportunity to market its Minute Maid rage of fruit juices and juice drinks, particularly those rich in vitamins.

Canterbury Tales :: essays research papers

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of accounts about a journey pilgrims made to and from the Canterbury Cathedral, composed by British writer Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 1300’s. â€Å"Chaucer greatly increased the prestige of English as a literary language and extended the range of its poetic vocabulary and meters† (Encarta 1). In the tales, the host offers a contest to the pilgrims which requires them to tell four stories during their trip . Chaucer ingeniously integrates the episodes with one another and also resplendently describes the personality, behavior, and general way of life of a variety of aspects of society in the Medieval Ages. The Canterbury Tales consists of twenty-four tales, two of which are unfinished. One of these unfinished accounts is the Tale of Sir Thopas. The Tale of Sir Thopas begins with the narrator describing a fair and gallant knight who is from the far country of Flanders. It continues on characterizing this knight, Sir Thopas, as a handsome man who was skilled at hunting, horse riding, wrestling, and archery. All of the woman of the land longed for him, but Sir Thopas forsake all of them. Then one day, riding through the forest, the knight hears beautiful birds singing songs of love. Upon hearing this, Sir Thopas hurries to ride away because his heart is sore as there is no woman in the world to his make.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The knight then recalls a dream he had where his darling would be an elf-queen. He continued riding until he found a secret place called the Land of Faery. There he met a great giant whose name was Sir Oliphant. The giant threatened Sir Thopas to leave the land where the Queen of Faery resides or he would be killed. After hearing this Sir Thopas answered that when he has his armor both of them would fight to the death. This scene is an example of how Chaucer â€Å" Gives the Tale of Sir Thopas a hilarious send-up as opposed to other more serious tales that indirectly disparage English literature† (Payne 33).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sir Thopas returned to his kingdom where he prepared himself for his battle against the giant. His merry men cheered him with tales of old romances, they brought him sweet wine, a royal spicery of ginger bread, and fine linen to cover himself. Then he dressed himself in ornate armor. He had a spear of fine cypress wood, a saddle of rewel bone, and a shield of solid gold.

Reservation

Republic of the Philippines Batangas State University Governor Pablo Borbon, Main Campus II College of Engineering, Architecture, Fine Arts and Computing Sciences PASSENGER RESERVATON SYSTEM Presented by: Atienza, Zarah Jane C. Caringal, Clariza Jane R. Castor, Chiara R. Fondevilla, Rolan A. Mendoza, Ana Marie P. BSIT- 3102 Presented to: Ms. Amy U. Aclan nstrctor Executive Summary The ABC Bus Corporation has approached a new way in reserving their accommodating their passenger by creating a computerize bus reservation systems that aims to provide user excellent services.Bus reservation system deals with maintenance of records of details of each passenger who had reserved a seat for a journey for various places in Bangalore. The said bus reservation company has 60 routes operating from Bangalore among those are the regular or ordinary, semi-luxury and super-deluxe buses. These systems should contain information about its passenger like date of reservation, their destination, and numbe r of seats and cancellation of their reservation. The system should meet the requirements of the business to make it interactive and user friendly.Our project is to computerize traveling company to manage data, so that all the transactions become fast and lessen any possibly error in transaction like calculation mistake, bill generation and other things. It replaces all the paper work. It keeps records of all bills also, giving to ensure 100% successful implementation of the computerized Bus reservation system. It also shows reports of the transaction done by the company to monitor their daily operation. Objective/s Main Objective: To develop an effective and functional passenger reservation system. Specific Objectives: a.To record data of various routes originating from Bangalore b. To verify that the total distance travelled by each passenger does not exceeded 3000km. c. To provide a facility for cancellation. Analysis Traveling is a large growing business in or country. Bus reser vation system deals with maintenance of records of details of each passenger who had reserved a seat for a journey. It also includes maintenance of information like schedule and details of each bus. We observed the working of the Bus reservation system and after going through it, we get to know that there are many operations, which they have to do manually.It takes a lot of time and causes many errors. Due to this, sometimes a lot of problems occur and they were facing many disputes with customers. To solve the above problem, and further maintaining records of items, seat availability for customers, price of per seat, bill generation and other things, we are offering this proposal of reservation system. Our reservation system has two modules. First module helps him to reserve a ticket. Using second module he can cancel a reserved ticket. Requirements Definition Functional Requirements a. Should be able to create a new login for accessing the reservation facility. . See current reser vations on different buses along with the details. c. The system should automatically show amount of money needs to be pay for selected seats. Non- Functional Requirements a. The administrator shall usually do anything on the system in all forms. Administrator is responsible for updating and maintenance of the systems content such as adding/ removing information about the system. b. Customers are people who shall use the Passenger Reservation System. To use this service the customer should have the basic computer using ability. Process Model Data Model E- R Diagram Use Case Input/Output design

Describe the different forms of disguise and deception that feature in the Twelfth Night

Disguise and deception play significant roles in Shakespeare's romantic comedy Twelfth Night. Shakespeare places emphasis on these somewhat â€Å"wickedness† (A2 S2 L26) traits to somehow create a traditional romantic comedy; where despite the negative ideas of disguise and deceit play a prominent role, love blossoms and a happy ending prevails. The tireless use of these ideas in different forms and guises, which endure throughout the whole play highlights the themes of love, madness and appearance versus reality; where disguise and deceit both take credit for possessing a major responsibility in providing twists, turns and humor in the main and sub-plots. Orsino is the first character introduced to the play. He is the Duke of Illyria and therefore the most powerful character implemented into Shakespeare's play. Upon his arrival to the story, he immediately disguises his ignorance of love by speaking in poetics form to deceive the audience and the characters around him. If music be the food of love, play on† (A1 S1 L1) is promptly contrasted in line 7 â€Å"Enough, no more; ‘Tis not so sweet as it was before†. This contradiction implicates his ignorance of what love is really about. His vocabulary and figurative language, both influenced by poetic speech does well to fool everyone that he is not what he se ems. People would see Orsino as a likeable character that carries the aura that he can achieve anything; he is a self-absorbed man who thinks very highly of himself.What is the difference between a figurative and a literal analogy? But this is obviously not the case as Orsino has been shown to be just like everyone else, even with his power in Illyria, Orsino has his flaws too. Feste also uses his language to disguise aspects of his character. However, contrasting the stance of Orsino, Feste shows his wit and intelligent by smugly playing on words and with the medium of music. An example of Feste's clever play on words was during the conversation he had with Viola who was at the time disguised as Cesario; â€Å"†¦ send thee a beard† (A3 S1 L45). Although everyone had been fooled by Viola in convincing them that the Cesario character is real, Feste (who is the fool) hints that he may know Cesario's true identity. Feste himself does not describe himself as Olivia's fool â€Å"but her corruptor of words† (A3 S1 L37). Indeed it can be viewed that he is only paid to be the fool, to act like a madman with wit; and in actual fact he is the most sane character and intelligent in the play. He shows his intelligent by irrelevantly expressing his words in another language, â€Å"cucus, non facit monachum:† (A1 S5 L53). Feste is the only character wrapped up in all the plots yet keeps an outside perspective of each by showing no emotion in his speech or actions. But in light of this, his emotions are brought to the surface when he entertains people with his music. The realization that Feste is has the most knowledge of love, or what real love is, begin to seep through as he sings. â€Å"What is love? ‘Tis not hereafter, Present mirth hath present laughter:† (A2 S3 L48). Unlike Orsino who believes that everything will work out okay when you fall in love, Feste believes that the future is always uncertain â€Å"What's to come is still unsure† (A2 S3 L50). He also concretes his perspective that love should not wait as we will not be young forever; â€Å"Youth's a stuff will not endure† (A2 S3 L53). Although his character does not show emotions whilst playing his role in each plot; his music, which varies from melancholy ballads to contemplative, express that there is much more to Feste than meets the eye. Feste's past is shrouded in mystery, and elements of his past still live in his music. â€Å"And we'll strive to please you everyday† (A5 S1 L 407) ends the play. Regardless of his past that he disguises through music, Feste feels that his duty now is to make people laugh. He expresses with this idea that our duty in life is to be happy and to make others happy, something he harassed Olivia about in Act1 as she mourned her brother's death. Despite many features of Feste's character that show his has much more depth than what we are led to believe; he also uses disguise and deceit to concrete his role as a fool, a clown who provides humor and entertainment for the audience. â€Å"Sir Topas the curate, who comes to visit Malvolio the lunatic† (A4 S2 L22). Upon learning of Sir Toby and Maria's gulling of Malvolio, Feste decides to join in the fun. He does this by pretending to be someone else when visiting Malvolio, to further his torture and suffering. Malvolio and Feste's turbulent past had been briefly documented when in Act 1 Malvolio says â€Å"I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal† (A1 S5 L81). It's interesting to take into account that Feste is supposed to be the fool of the play, but he doesn't setup the humorous gulling of Malvolio and fails to provide the entertainment and humor Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek bring to the play. Instead Feste takes part of the humor only with revenge on his mind and not to provide humor, and relies only on quick plays on words to supply humor. This could be Feste disguising that he is not comfortable with his role in life as the fool. Viola's role in the play is purely based on the ideas of disguise and deceit. She initially deceives everyone by disguising herself as a man, Cesario, in order to serve Orsino, â€Å"For such disguise as haply shall become: The form of my intent† (A1 S3 L54). In doing so she deceives everyone else in the play, with the exception of Feste, and as a result causes confusion among and between the characters and mayhem in the overall play. As a result of her disguise, Olivia and her brother Seabastian, get married as she thought that Sebastian was Cesario, â€Å"would thou'dst be rul'd by me! † (A4 S2 L63). That's an example of confusion resulting from Viola's disguise. Mayhem is caused when the jealous Sir Andrew Aguecheek attacks the tough and skilled Sebastian, assuming he was the soft and timid Cesario. As a result of this attack, Sebastian beats down Sir Andrew Aguecheek and causes mayhem and tension between characters like Olivia and Sir Toby Belch, â€Å"Where manners ne'er were preach'd! Out of my sight! † (A4 S1 48). These are just two examples of confusion and mayhem instigated by Viola's disguise. Other examples include the conversation between Sebastian and Feste, when the latter thought Sebastian was Cesario, â€Å"†¦ ungrid thy strangeness† (A4 S1 L15); and when Antonio thought he was backstabbed by Sebastian, but was in reality talking to a clues Viola, â€Å"Thou hast, Sebastian, done good feature shame† (A3 S4 L375). The many outcomes of Viola's disguise bring entertainment and humor to the audience to add comedy to the romance. In disguising herself as Cesario, Viola falls in love with Orsino to bring the romance aspect to the play, â€Å"Whoo'er I woo, myself would be his wife† (A1 S5 L42). This deceit also intertwines humor and romance, with Olivia falling in love with Cesario causing the humor, and the unspoken love from Viola to Orsino bringing out the romance. Viola is like Feste in the sense that they both play on words; both doing so as a way of showing that there is more to them than what meets the eye. She almost cries out to Orsino by telling giving hints as to her true identity, â€Å"I am all the daughters of my father's house,: And all the brothers too† (A2 S5 L121), often speaking in riddle. She also has an encounter with Feste where she counters his play on words that he may know her identity by saying, â€Å"I am sick for once, [Aside] thought I would not have it grow on my chin† (A3 S1 L47). In countering in a war of wits, she riddles to Feste that she is in fact a woman. Viola's brother Sebastian also manages to have a role in the deceit over his short period of time in the play. His only relationship that occurs throughout the play is with Antonio, the man who saved his life. There are suggestions that Antonio has repressed homosexual feelings for Sebastian that he disguises by pretending to only be his close friend, â€Å"If you will not murder me for your love, let me be your servant† (A2 S1 L34). Sebastian himself lives part of the play in deceit by pretending to know what is going on when he enters the plot when he has no idea. He asks â€Å"Are all the people mad? † (A4 S1 L26). Nevertheless, even though he believes everyone to be mad, he plays along with Olivia who believes he is Cesario, and living in this dream, Sabastian marries her. This serves of the purpose of enhancing the romantic conclusion to the play. Olivia herself is in self-deceit. The mourning over her brother's death is very dramatic, but she just lives the idea of mourning as she feels that this would do the death of her brother justice. However, this mourning does not last long. Feste manages to entertain a mourning Olivia, much to Malvolio's chagrin, â€Å"I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal† (A1 S5 L81). She attempts to disguise all this under a veil, but to no avail as her real personality shone through. Olivia as part of her mourning, promised that no man would see her face â€Å"till seven years' heat† (A1 S1 L26). But regardless of this, falls in love with Cesario, â€Å"Unless, perchance, you come to me again,:To tell me how he takes it† (A1 S5 L285). Olivia is disguising her flirtatious movements towards Cesario by pretending that she only wants her to come back to bear news of Orsino's reaction to her rejection. To further disguise her feelings, and deceive her promise and herself even more, she tells a blatant lie to Malvolio, â€Å": he left this ring behind him,† (A1 S5 L305). Her deceit shows that an esteemed â€Å"virtuous maid† like herself also has flaws. It also provides a lot of humor for the audience, as a woman falling in love with another woman dressed as a man provides entertainment for the audience. â€Å"I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal† (A1 S5 L81). This quote has a lot of deceit attached to it. Malvolio is jealous that Feste can entertain Olivia even when she is mourning. This is because he has feelings for Olivia which is later exposed in the play, â€Å"‘Tis but fortune, all is fortune† (A2 S5 L23), this being his initial belief that Olivia loves him, even before reading the letter from Maria. Malvolio disguises his true colours by being the unlikable Puritan character in the play. In fact, Malvolio's true colours show him to be an arrogant, hypocrite who is even more unlikable than his initial Puritan personality. His arrogance provides humor for the audience as he thinks, â€Å"that all that look on him love him† (A2 S3 L151) and makes him looks stupid. He deceives everyone to believing that he is a Puritan character and deceives Olivia into thinking he is a nice person. However in actuality, Feste is the fool who in reality is the most intelligent and sane character of the play, after mocking Feste, we learn that Malvolio is the opposite. He acts as if he is the most intelligent and sane character of the play when he's really the fool of the play, the character who provides the most humor. He believes Olivia is playing along with his game, when he speaks to her at her level and with added sexual connotations, â€Å"To bed? Ay, sweetheart, and I'll come to thee† (A3 S4 L31). This provides the most humor, as he believes that they are disguising their love and deceiving all the other character when in reality, he is the only person being deceived. He looks like the fool, and the gulling of Malvolio in particular gives the audience added satisfaction because he is such an unlikable character. The mastermind behind the gulling of Malvolio has also disguised aspects of her personality. The others see Maria as jus the maid of Olivia, but as the play moves on we as an audience, and the characters of the play learn that Maria is cunning and more intelligent than what she lets everyone believe. She deceives everyone by masterminding the gulling of Malvolio. She also has self-deceit along with Sir Toby Belch as both have hidden feelings for each other, which they refuse to acknowledge. We know of this because by the end of the play, the two get married. Looking at their relationship throughout the play, Maria is the mother figure who takes care and guides Sir Toby Belch, â€Å"Ay, but you must confine yourself with the modest limits of order† (A1 S3 L8). But we gain knowledge that she is not fulfilling the mother role, but more the role of a wife. Sir Toby Belch is also a scheming character within the play as he deceives Sir Andrew Aguecheek into challenging Cesario to a fight for his own personal entertainment, as both Aguecheek and Cesario are seen as cowards; thus Sir Tovy creating his own sub-plot. Sir Andrew Aguecheek is as a clumsy coward of a knight. However Aguecheek's past is a mystery to the audience, and we have a sense that there is much more depth to Aguecheek than what meets the eye when he says, â€Å"Someone loved me once too†. This shows that Aguecheek has disguised himself to be a clumsy and immature man when in reality he has feelings too, and has a more sensitive side to his character. He also disguises himself to be a brave knight by challenging Cesario to a fight as he feels this would win Olivia's heart. However, as seen through his letter, Aguecheek is a coward who couldn't hurt anyone. â€Å"and God have mercy on one of our souls! He may have mercy on mine,† (A3 S4 L167), Aguecheek provides humor by his supposedly threatening letter. The fact he ends this letter by calling Cesario â€Å"Thu friend† (A3 S4 L 169), shows him to be a nice but gullible man. He is gullible to Sir Toby's instructions and the direction Sir Toby leads him into. The play as a whole is one big disguise. â€Å"An improbable fiction† (A3 S4 L127) is what Fabien describes the play to be. He acts as if the real life situation is like a play, and in essence makes it all a play within a play. The characters share dialogue that expresses what they are trying to say but also has a double meaning, which tells the audience that the play is not real life and is essentially just a play. â€Å"You are now out of your text: but we will draw the curtain and show you the picture† (A1 S5 L235). This is an example of subtly letting the audience realize that they should not be fully wrapped up in the play as it is just a play. This idea coincides with what Olivia is saying in the context of the play as she is letting Viola see her face. The play contains a number of little subtexts to regularly remind the audience that the play is fictional. All these subtexts are disguised within the context in which the character is talking about. There is obviously an inextricable link between both the ideas of deceit and disguise, as when one of the ideas is created, the other promptly follows; as is seen in throughout the play. Twelfth Night is situated in the genre of â€Å"romantic comedy†, and both of which have been built upon from the foundations disguise and deceit have created. The two roles define what the play is all about; because of the â€Å"wickedness† (A2 S2 L26) behind disguise and deceit, the outcome is both the themes of romance and comedy, which is what the play effectively revolves around. Shakespeare uses both ideas as the foundation to create the whole of the story, emphasizing both the drama and comedy involved.