Background and justification of affecting customers loyalty

Background and justification of affecting customers loyalty In todays competitive markets services and service companies within the same industry are becoming increasingly similar. Differentiation through the delivery channel (i.e. delivery of services against payment) is difficult. A growing number of service companies have embarked on a journey of positioning through the communication channel (i.e. advertising and personal selling) (Andreassen, T.   1995), with the objective of building strong corporate images in order to create relative attractiveness. This development is in line with Lovelock (1984) who claims that  «(images).. . are likely to play only a secondary role in customer choice decisions unless competing services are perceived as virtually identical on performance, price, and availability ». Recent years have shown a growing interest in customer loyalty. The globalisation of competition, saturation of markets, and development of information technology have changed customer behavior and perception and created a situation where success is no longer achieved through product price and qualities. Instead, companies build their success on a long-term customer relationship. According to former studies, it can cost as much as 6 times more to win a new customer than it does to keep an existing one. (Rosenberg L. et al. 1984: 45) Depending on the particular industry, it is possible to increase profit by up to 60% after reducing potential migration by 5%. (Reichheld F. 1993) It follows then, that the increase and holding of loyal customers has become a key factor for long-term success of the companies. The main emphasis in marketing has changed from winning new customers to the keeping of existing ones. Traditionally there are two approaches to treat customer loyalty. Some researchers have investigated the nature of different levels of loyalty, others have explored the influence of individual factors on loyalty. In this article both treatments are combined. The starting point of the paper is to test whether the list of most important factors affecting customer loyalty is dependant on the levels of loyalty of costumers. The potential for establishing loyalty depends on the object (i.e. product or vendor), on the subject (customer) or on the environment (market, other suppliers etc.). This work might be rather helpful for both students, interested in developing this field of research and people, who are working in the sphere of marketing, because it may provide with interesting information worth dwelling upon. This topic interests me personally, because to my mind, customers are the turning point of the market. They decide whether to buy a product or to use a service or not, changing the whole picture of market. That is why, I suppose it is rather necessary for industries to pay much attention to the topic of customers loyalty and satisfaction in order to be a success. Chapter 2. Statement of Objectives and Hypothesis to be Examined. This paper aims to test if the importance of each factor affecting loyalty varies in different loyalty segments described in Figure 1, presenting segmentation of customers loyalty. One possibility to investigate it is to compare the customers of different loyalty levels and examine what kind of factors influence the probability of the customers to remain on that level or to move to another loyalty level. Customer loyalty expresses an intended behavior related to the service or the company. This includes the likelihood of future renewal of service contracts, how likely it is that the customer changes his preferences, how likely the customer is to provide positive word-of-mouth opinion. If real alternatives exist or switching barriers are low management discovers the organizations inability to satisfy its customers through two feedback mechanisms: exit and voice (Hirschman A. 1970). Exit implies that the customers stop buying the companys services while voice is customer complaints expressing the consumers dissatisfaction directly to the company. Customers exit or change of patronage will have an impact on the long-term revenue of the company. Customers may be loyal due to high switching barriers or lack of real alternatives. Customers may also be loyal because they are satisfied and thus want to continue the relationship. History has proven that most barriers to exit are limited with regard to durability; companies tend to consider customer satisfaction the only viable strategy in order to keep existing customers. Several authors have found a positive correlation between customer satisfaction and loyalty (Bearden and Teel   1980;Bolton and Drew 1991; Fornell 1992; Anderson and Sullivan 1993). Based on the future discussion, the following two hypotheses are proposed: Hypothesis 1: Factors such as satisfaction, trustworthiness, importance of relationship and image have a positive influence on loyalty. Objective 1: To indicate any relationship between loyalty and such pshycological factors as satisfaction, importance of relationship and others. Hypothesis 2: The relevance of factors affecting loyalty depends on the levels of loyalty of customers. Objective 2: Define and dwell upon the levels of loyalty of customers, examin them. The limitations of my hypothesis questions were shortage of time, because I had to provide results in a relatively short period of time, and money, because true and reliable information was hard and costly to get. Chapter 3. Details of Information/ Data Collection Methods. Research on customer loyalty has a long history and has been studied using a large variety of methods. Although the study of relationship between satisfaction and loyalty of customers is a newer field of research, various methods have been applied to study this   phenomenon as well. Some studies have also been purely conceptual (Stewart 1998; Hocutt 1998). Although qualitative methods seem to dominate in studies of relationship, quantitative methods have also been used. The data used for the analysis is a secondary source. A secondary source usually contains commentary on or discussion about a primary source. The most important feature of secondary sources is that they offer an interpretation of information gathered from primary sources.   I did not use the primary source as it is an original material. It is from the time period involved, was not filtered through interpretation and need much time and knowledge to process it. Demographically, the study had some limitations. Firstly, only urban customers were targeted in the study. This group was chosen due to the fact that urban customers have more available alternativetives and are therefore potentially more active in their telecommunication choices. Methodologically a certain limitation of the study was that some of the interviews were conducted on the telephone. Despite the fact that the interviews were considered to provide a deep and accurate enough picture of the relationships and the factors affecting customer loyalty, it is obvious that interviews face-to-face have the potential to reach greater depth. The data used in our analysis originates from PacoNet Customer Satisfaction Survey carried out in November 2003 by professional market research company. PacoNet is the one of the leading telecommunication provider in Ukraine and was providing telephone and internet services for private customers at that time. There were three kinds of competitors for PacoNet: firms providing telephone services on PacoNet network; cable-TV companies providing internet services on their own networks, and mobile telephone companies. The satisfaction survey contained information about 1000 private customers. Data was collected by phone interviews. During the survey the customers were asked how important various factors were for them. The importance was measured on a 5-point scale, where â€Å"1† is â€Å"not important at all† and â€Å"5† is â€Å"very important†. Every factor listed above was divided into 3 to 7 subcategories (e.g. accounting had subcategories like the accuracy and understandability of bills, dept management, availability of different payment methods). Satisfaction with the factors reveals from the satisfaction with those subcategories. Additionally customers answered about their general satisfaction with the firm PacoNet. The satisfaction was also measured on a 5-point scale, where â€Å"1† is â€Å"not satisfied at all† and â€Å"5† is â€Å"very satisfied†. Customer loyalty was measured by following questions: What operators are the customers using right now? What operators will the customers use in 2 years? Does the customer recommend or is the customer ready to recommend PacoNet to others? Chapter 4. Details of Data Analysis Methods In the current analysis only the raw data of mentioned survey was used. Software packages MS Excel 2000 and Stata 9.2 have been used by PacoNet for data processing, because Microsoft Excel is a deep program rich in features and functionality. One of the most powerful features of Excel is the ability to write programs that run behind the worksheets to turn Excel into a calculation-oriented development tool for creating special purpose spreadsheets which can function as applications in their own right. Chapter 5. Literature Review There are multiple approaches to customer loyalty. Theories of behavioral loyalty were dominating until 1970 considering loyalty as the function of the share of total purchases (Cunningham R. 1956; Farley J. 1964), function of buying frequency or buying pattern (Tucker 1964; Sheth 1968) or function of buying probability (Harary F. et al. 1962; McConnell D. 1968; Wernerfelt B. 1991). These approaches looked at brand loyalty in terms of outcomes   rather than reasons, until Day G. (1969) introduced the two-dimensional concept of brand loyalty, which stated that loyalty should be evaluated with both behavioral and attitudinal criteria. Contemporary researches consider and accent the psychological (mostly attitudinal and emotional) factor of loyalty (Jacoby J. et al. 1973; Oliver R. 1999; Chaudury A. 1995). These different approaches allow distinguishing customers as whether behaviorally or emotionally loyal. Behaviorally loyal customers act loyal but have no emotional bond with the brand or the supplier when emotionally loyal customers do. Jones T. and Sasser W. call these two kind of loyalty accordingly false or true long-term loyalty (Jones T. et al. 1995). Hofmeyr J. and Rice B. (2000) divide customers to loyal (behavioral) or committed (emotional). Emotional loyalty is much stronger and longer lasting than behavioral loyalty. Its a lasting desire to maintain a valued relationship. The relationship is so important for the customer that he or she makes maximum efforts to keep it (Reichheld F. 2003; Moorman C. et al. 1992). Highly bonded customers will buy repeatedly from a provider to which they are bonded, recommend that provider to others, and strongly defend these choices to others insisting that they have chosen the â€Å"best† product or service. (Butz H. et al. 1996) Behaviorally loyal customers could be divided to sub-segments by the reason of acting: forced to be loyal, loyal due to passivity or functionally loyal. Customers are forced to be loyal when they have to be clients even if they do not want to. Customers may be forced to consume certain products or products/services offered by certain vendor e.g. when the company acts as a monopoly or the poor financial status of the customer is limiting his selection of goods. Gronholdt L. has found that companies with low price strategy had a much higher loyalty than expected from their customer satisfaction. On the other hand, companies that had used a lot of energy on branding indeed had a high customer satisfaction but they did not have a correspondingly high loyalty (Gronholdt L. et al. 2000). Forced loyalty could be established through creating exit barriers as well. Loyal behaviour may also result from passivity customer does not move to another vendor due to comfort or relatively low importance of operation if the choice has low importance, there is no point to spend time and effort on searching for alternatives. Thus, based on his faith in the suitability of the current product, the customer continues to use it without checking alternatives. Hofmeyr J. and Rice B. (2000) say that one of the reasons that customers dont switch brands when they are dissatisfied is that they feel that the alternatives are just as bad as the brand they are using or even worse. Passivity may be caused also by lack of information about attractive characteristics of the brands (Wernerfelt B. 1991). Functionally loyal customers are loyal because they have an objective reason to be. Wernerfelt B. (1991) points out â€Å"cost-based brand loyalty† where brand utilities have a positive influence on brand choice. Functional loyalty can be created by functional values using price, quality, distribution, usage convenience of a product or through different loyalty programs (points, coupons, games, draws etc.) giving a concrete reason to prefer certain supplier. Unfortunately competitors can most easily copy functional values. Thus, creating functional value offers a fleeting competitive advantage: functional loyalty cant be very long lasting (Barnes J. 2003). Jones T. and Sasser W. (1995) propose three measures of loyalty that could be used in segmentation by loyalty: Customers primary behavior regency, frequency and amount of purchase; Customers secondary behavior customer referrals, approval and spreading the word; Customers intent to repurchase is the customer ready to repurchase in the future. Based on the theoretical literature presented above, the customers of a certain telecommunication provider could be segmented by their loyalty as follows: Committed or emotionally loyal customers active customers who use only the certain providers services and declare that they will use only this provider in the future and recommend this provider to others; Behaviorally loyal customers active customers who use only the certain providers services and declare that they will use only this provider in the future but do not agree to recommend this provider to others (inert or functionally loyal); Contradictory or dubious customers active customers who use only the certain providers services but dont know which provider they will use in the future; Disloyal reducers- customers who have reduced or will reduce the percentage of the providers services in their usage; Leavers customers who declare, that they will certainly leave this provider. The impact of satisfaction on loyalty has been the most popular subject of studies. Several studies have revealed that there exists a direct connection between satisfaction and loyalty: satisfied customers become loyal and dissatisfied customers move to another vendor (Heskett J. et al. 1993). The primary objective of creating ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) in 1984 was to explain the development of customer loyalty. In ACSI model customer satisfaction has three antecedents: perceived quality, perceived value and customer expectations (Anderson E. et al. 2000). In the ECSI (European Customer Satisfaction Index) model perceived quality is divided into two elements: â€Å"hard ware†, which consists of the quality of the product or service attributes, and â€Å"human ware†, which represents the associated customer interactive elements in service, i.e. the personal behaviour and atmosphere of the service environment (Gronholdt L. et al. 2000). In both model increased satisfaction should increase customer loyalty. When the satisfaction is low customers have the option to exit (e.g. going to a competitor) or express their complaints. Researches have shown that 60-80% of customers who turned to a competitor said they were satisfied or very satisfied on t he survey just prior to their defection (Reichheld F. et al. 2000). So its clear that there must be also other factors beside satisfaction that have a certain impact on customer loyalty. Image of brand or supplier is one of the most complex factors. It affects loyalty at least in two ways. Firstly, customer may use his preferences to present his own image. That may occur both in conscious and subconscious level. According to the Belks theory of extended self, people define themselves by the possessions they have, manage or create (Belk R. 1988). Aaker J. has shown how consumers prefer brands with personality traits that are corresponding with the personality traits that constitute their selfschemas (Aaker J. 1999). Kim C., Han D. and Park S. have researched the link between brand personality and loyalty. They did get positive support to hypothesis that the attractiveness of the brand personality indirectly affects brand loyalty (Kim C. et al. 2001). Tidwell P. and Horgan D. (1993) have showed that people use products to enhance self-image. Secondly, according to social identity theory, people tend to classify themselves into different social categories. That leads to evaluation of objectives and values in various groups and organisations in comparison with the customers own values and objectives. They prefer partners who share similar objectives and values (Ashforth B. et al. 2001). Fournier S. (1998) states that consumer-brand relationships are more a matter of perceived goal compatibility. Brands cohere into systems that consumers create not only to aid living but also to give meanings to their lives. Oliver R. (1999) argues that for fully bonded loyalty the consumable must be part of the consumers self-identity and his or her social-identity. Trustworthiness of the partner is a factor that has certain impact on the establishment of loyalty nobody expects a long-term relation with a partner that cannot be trusted. Trustworthiness is one criterion for measuring the value of the partner (Doney P. et al. 1997). Spekman R. (1988) calls trust a cornerstone of the strategic partnership. Morgan R. and Hunt S. (1994) posit that trust is a major determinant of relationship commitment: brand trust leads to brand loyalty because trust creates exchange relationships that are highly valued. Chauduri A. and Holbrook M. (2001) have showed that brand trust is directly related to both purchase and attitudinal loyalty. Many authors have accented that trust is important in conditions of uncertainty (Moorman C. et al. 1992; Doney P. et al. 1997; Morgan R. et al. 1994). Uncertainty may be caused by dependence or large choice: people tend then to prefer popular or familiar brands or partners. Many definitions describe loyalty as a desire to retain a valuable or important relationship (Morgan R. et al 1994; Moorman C. et al. 1992). That way the establishment of loyalty is predetermined by the importance of relevant relationship or selection. Weiss A. (2001) points out three aspects that may increase the importance of the relationship: strategic importance of a product; high risks involved in the transaction or costs incurred by cancellation of contracts. Hofmeyr J. and Rice B. point out that the more important the relationship is to a person, the more willing that person is to tolerate dissatisfaction in favour of trying to fix it. By contrast, when a relationship doesnt matter, then even the perfectly satisfied consumer can switch on to another product (Hofmeyr J. et al. 2000). A relationship can also be made important by personal approach. Various authors have compared loyalty with marriage (Lewitt T. . 1983; Dwyer F. et al. 1987; Gummeson E. 1998; Hofmeyr J. et al. 2000). Marriage is one of the most personal and important relationships. That means that intimacy is one determinant for importance of relationship. Lewitt T. (1983) has considered a role of salesman in making relationship more personal. Summarising the discussion above following figure   is presenting the major groups of factors affecting customer loyalty. The present study focused purely on customer perception of the relationship and the factors that have affected it and their loyalty or disloyalty. A useful extension of the study would be to couple such a study of how the service provider perceives the relationship and factors affecting customer loyalty or disloyalty. This would add factors such as customer profitability to the study, making it possible to focus on factors affecting customers that are most attractive to the company. In such a study, the customers and providers views on the relationship would be combined. As a result, one would identify potential gaps in the companys knowledge of the customer and also be able to eliminate potential misconceptions. Chapter 6. Chapter Outline. Presented work is built up of 8 chapters, dwelling upon the customers loyalty. Each chapter gives clear information on subtopics, which are logically combined to provide the reader with sufficient facts to understand the flow of the research. The first chapter is dealing with the background and justification for selection of the topic. Since customer loyalty is something more of what an enterprise must get from the customer, it is a very productive research product for the companies. As opposed to what the name suggests, is not just something that the customer has to build towards the enterprise. It is not just the customer who is being loyal to the company in the progress but also the company that has to maintain its loyalty to the customer The second chapter presents the hypothesis questions, which are being examined through the whole work. I come out with two hypothesis, which are as follows: Hypothesis 1: Factors such as satisfaction, trustworthiness, importance of relationship and image have a positive influence on loyalty; and Hypothesis 2: The relevance of factors affecting loyalty depends on the levels of loyalty of customers. The third and forth chapters puts light on the research methodology I have used to process the data and come to conclusions. I took into consideration secondary data, which originates from PacoNet Customer Satisfaction Survey carried out in November 2003 by professional market research company. Two software packages MS Excel 2000 and Stata 9.2 have been used for data processing and presenting the results of the research. In this chapter I also dwell upon the limitations of the research, which consists of time limitation, budget limitation, as well as demographical and methodological. The fifth chapter gives perception of the theory used for the thesis. It informs us, that theories of behavioral loyalty were dominating until 1970 considering loyalty as the function of the share of total purchases (Cunningham R. 1956; Farley J. 1964), function of buying frequency or buying pattern (Tucker W. 1964) or function of buying probability (Harary F. et al. 1962;). Contemporary researches consider and accent the psychological (mostly attitudinal and emotional) factor of loyalty (Jacoby J. et al. 1973; Oliver R. 1999; Chaudury A. 1995). These and other researches were used as a base for my own research proposal. And the last, sixth chapter provides with a brief outline of the research proposal stages. Having developed the hypothesis questions, and done a literature review we come to the conclusion that the findings of the present study reveal that it is not accurate to treat all customers equally in terms of methods of increasing their loyalty. The research supports the research proposition that the list of most important factors affecting loyalty is dependant on the level of loyalty of consumers. The overall satisfaction and importance of products build the foundation of any kind of loyalty. It shows also that reliability of products or trustworthiness of the supplier is most critical for behavioral loyalists and the image creation is the main tool for getting loyal customers. Therefore many factors were derived indirectly and with certain limitations, and they may lack some qualities considered in the theoretical part. There are multiple ways for further development of the model, but first there is need to elaborate reliable questionnaires for collecting the source data. There are several factors for building a customers loyalty which I could recommend. It is very important to communicate. Whether it is an email newsletter, monthly flier, a reminder card for a tune up, or a holiday greeting card, it is nice to reach out to a steady customers.   Another pleasant way is to provide customer service, to go the extra distance and meet customer needs, because customers remember being treated well. It is also very important to provide with employee loyalty. Loyalty works from the top down. If a boss is loyal to his employees, they will feel positively about their jobs and pass that loyalty along to the customers. Employee training should also be used, training them in the manner that to interact with customers. It is also of great advice to give customers a reason to return to the industrys business. For example, because children outgrow shoes quickly, the owner of a childrens shoe store might offer a card that makes the tenth pair of shoes half price. Likewise, a dentist may give a free cleaning to anyone who has seen him regularly for five years. It is also important to have products awareness, knowing what a steady customer purchase and keep these items in stock. It is possible to add other products and/or services that accompany or compliment the products that regular customers buy regularly. The reliability of the vendor is highly appreciated. If they say a purchase will arrive on Wednesday, they should deliver it on Wednesday. If something goes wrong, they should let customers know immediately and compensate them for their inconvenience. Vendors should be flexible, trying to solve customers problems or complaints to the best of their ability.

Napoleon Bonaparte Essay -- European History Corsica Essays

Napoleone Buonaparte Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica, and was given the name Napoleone Buonaparte. He was the second of eight children of Carlo and Letizia Buonaperte, both of the Corsican-Italian gentry. Before Napoleone, no Buonaparte had ever been a professional soldier. His father Carlo, was a lawyer who had fought for Corsican independence, but after the French occupied the island in 1768, he served as a prosecutor and a judge and entered the French aristocracy as a count. Through his father's influence, Napoleone was educated at the expense of King Louis XVI, at Brienne and the Ecole Militaire, in Paris. Napoleone graduated in 1785, at the age of 16, and joined the artillery as a second lieutenant. After the revolution began in France, he became a lieutenant colonel (1791) in the Corsican National Guard. However, when Corsica declared independence in 1793, Buonaperte, a Republican, and a French patriot, fled to France with his family. He was assigned, as captain, to an army besieging Toulon, a naval base that was aided by a British fleet, while in revolt against the republic. It was here that Napoleone Buonaperte officially changed his name to Napoleon Bonaparte, feeling that it looked "more French". It was here too that Napoleon replaced a wounded artillery general, and seized ground where his guns could drive the British fleet from the harbor, and Toulon fell. As a result of his accomplishments, Bonapatre was promoted to brigadier general at the age of 24. In 1795, he saved the revolutionary government by dispersing an insurgent mob in Paris. Then in 1796 he married Josephine de Beauharnais, the mother of two children and the widow of an aristocrat guillotined in the Revolution. Early in his life Napoleon was showing signs of militaristic geniuses and knowledge for formidable strategy. It was through the application of his skills, and a revolutionary style of spontaneous fighting styles than gave Napoleon the opportunities, which he jumped at, making his the great military leader he is known as today. Latter in1796, Napoleon became commander of the French army in Italy. He defeated four Austrian generals in succession, each at impossible odds, and forced Austria and it's allies to make peace. The Treaty of Campo Formio provided that France keep most of its conquests. In northern Italy he f... ...ropean countries. Napoleon was a driven man, never secure, never satisfied. "Power is my mistress" (VI pg. 176), he said. His life was work-centered; even his social activities had a purpose. He could bear amusements or vacations only briefly. His tastes were for coarse food, bad wine, and for cheap tobacco. He could be hypnotically charming for a needed purpose of course. He had intense loyalties to his family and old associates. Even so, nothing or nobody, were allowed to interfere with his work. Napoleon was sometimes a tyrant and always an authorian. But one who believed, however in ruling by mandate of the people, expressed on plebiscites. He was also a great enlightened monarch-a civil executive of enormous capacity who changed French institutions and tried to reform the intuitions of Europe and give the Continent a common law. Few historians deny that he was a military genius. At St. Helena, he said "Waterloo will erase the memory of all my victories." (VII pg.345) he was wrong; for better or worse, he is best remembered as a general, not for his enlightened government, but surely the latter must be counted if he is justly to be called "Napoleon the Great".

Summary and Response to “A Story of an Hour”

Summary and Response The desire of freedom definitely comes with an immense price. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† Kate Chopin describes her main character, Louise Mallard, as a freedom seeking housewife, trapped in an unwanted marriage with her husband Brently Mallard. She soon after gets granted the gift of freedom when she finds out her husband had been in a train accident, which ironically Kate Chopin’s father died of the same tragic death. With Kate Chopin’s unique writing style, she has been a major influence in literature for decades.According to Feminist Writers, â€Å"she opened her 19th-century female readers’ eyes to a familiar world [they] had never know. † Authors S. Selina Jamil and Daniel P. Deneau both analyzed the story and gave their opinions on how the emotions of Louise affected internally and externally. With two different viewpoints on the short story, both authors provide valid points when scrutinizing the direct variation whe n it came to Louise’s motives. When reading â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† one is drawn into the troubling tale of Louise Ballard and how she reacts to her trying times as a thought to be widow.The ending throws the reader for a loop and is completely unexpected, but that’s Kate Chopin’s writing style. The story is unpredictable, enjoyable, and controversial, and definitely leaves the reader satisfied. S. Selina Jamil responds to the piece of work, â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† completely different than Daniel P. Deneau. Deneau describes the story as a sensual experiences internally occurring within Louise in his critical essay called â€Å"Chopin’s The Story of an Hour. † Deneau places much emphasis on the passage that concludes that Louise has become â€Å"free† (Chopin 247).Then he concludes that she forms a sexual unity with the supernatural. â€Å"With no male aggressor-partner named in the text, only a â€Å"something,â₠¬  readers naturally will speculate. For me, two possibilities exist—both supernatural†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Deneau). From then on Daniel P. Deneau infers that when Chopin uses phrases like â€Å"Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body† (Chopin 247), â€Å"slightly parted lips†, and â€Å"keen and bright eyes†(Chopin 247) that she was hinting at a sexual innuendo.Seeing that Chopin does have a background that consists of stories that consist of controversial sexual topics, I can see how someone would mistakenly think â€Å"The Story of an Hour† would be yet another provocative piece. Contemporary Authors Online said that â€Å"She is best known for her 1899 novel, The Awakening, a once-scandalous account of one woman’s growing sexuality in the American South during the Victorian Era. † Kate Chopin mainly wrote about compelling stories, with a dose of sexual controversy.Yes, what Louise went thr ough was a life altering, pivotal time, but a sexual experience seems far-fetched. She begins mourning over her deceased husband, but soon after she begins to grasp that she is no longer oppressed by the male dominant figure in her life. Deneau states that â€Å"In a limited space, and without the assistance of a psychological vocabulary, Chopin may have been forced to rely on the indefinite, the unidentified, which, as best we can judge, is some powerful force, something supernatural, something beyond the realm of mundane experience or the rule of logic. I oppose his views on the â€Å"supernatural† force compelling Louise to prosper in her feelings and begin to move forward in her life. According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, the â€Å"supernatural† is relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe; especially: of or relating to God or a god, demigod, spirit, or devil. All Louise did was begin to pay attention and react joy ously to the new season that had begun to blossom. The views of S. Selina Jamil are polar opposite.Providing valid structure and content, Jamil begins her critical essay â€Å"Emotion in The Story of an Hour,† with strong overview of the emotions that Louise seems to be going through. A weak mind and meek hearted woman by the name Louise Mallard begins to fall prey of society’s cookie cutter views on how men and woman are treated. In her feminist studies, Norma Basch clearly concludes that women have the right to prosper just as men do, but during the time in which the short story occurred; woman became more complacent in their everyday roles as just a housewife.Norma describes a marriage that is male dominant is somewhat a â€Å"form of slavery† (Basch 355). Trapped and suffocating in her daily routines as a silenced housewife, Louise receives the news about her husband. Emotions overwhelmed the blushing bride, and she soon found herself to be a widow. †U ntil her moment of illumination, Mrs. Mallard’s emotions have been stifled and suppressed to fit into the mold of hollow social conventions,† say Jamil in her critical essay.Emotional pain hits Louise and all she could do is bask in her sorrow, but soon enough an overwhelming feeling of â€Å"freedom† washes over her as the new life of the old Louise Mallard was beginning to unravel. Feminist Writers states that in The Awakening â€Å"Edna commits suicide by walking out, naked, into the ocean†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and then proceeds to say that â€Å"The act of suicide is a positive embracing of freedom, and act of re-birth. Kate Chopin shows in her writings that empowerment of being free is so strong that it can lead to death. In the hour that Louise sits and collects her thoughts she becomes more self-aware than many do in a lifetime. Completely agreeing with Jamil, she states that â€Å"For one hour of emotion, Louise does glimpse meaning and fulfillment. † Th e irony of the story is that her success of actually becoming a free woman was not long lived but cut short all because of heart trouble. The growth of emotional awareness informs mechanisms that that underwrite the emergence of self-identity and social competence,† (Dolan 1194) Dolan describes that once someone becomes confident in their self-awareness that they will have reached the peak of satisfaction. What does it actually mean to be happy? Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary state that it can be defined as enjoying or characterized by well-being and contentment. Clearly Mrs. Mallard got her dying wish of happiness and even though it was short lived, the feeling to her could last a lifetime.Between â€Å"Emotions in The Story of an Hour† and â€Å"Chopin’s The Story of an Hour,† S. Selina Jamil was the powerhouse when it came to providing and incorporating importance of the entire story, instead of just a section Daniel P. Deneau did. Jamil bro ke down â€Å"The Story of an Hour† into the perfect guideline in following how Mrs. Mallard emotions played out throughout the hour she experienced a mix of emotions. Jamil gave more examples that used the whole story instead of just a cluster of the short story, making it harder to follow.The context of â€Å"Chopin’s the Story of an Hour,† by Daniel P. Deneau was completely off set compared to S. Selina Jamil. All in all each essay from both of the authors were good; one surpassed the other by using certain specifics. Mixing both emotions and surrounding features, S. Selina Jamil got the upper advantage of the group because of how much information she covered, and how she described Mrs. Mallard’s ever changing emotions. Works Cited Basch, Norma. â€Å"Invisible Women: The Legal Fiction of Martial Unity in Nineteenth-Century America. † Feminist Studies 5. (1979): 346-66. JSTOR. Web. 15 March 2012. Chopin, Kate. â€Å"The Story of an Hour†. Literature and the Writing Process. Ed Elizabeth McMahan et al. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2011. 246-247. Print. Deneau, Daniel P. â€Å"Chopin’s The Story of an Hour. † The Explicator 61. 4 (2003): 210+. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 March 2012. Dolan, R. J. â€Å"Emotion, Cognition, and Behavior. † Science 298. 5596 (2002): 1191-94. JSTOR. Web. 15 March 2012 Jamil, S. Selina. â€Å"Emotions in The Story of an Hour. † The Explicator 67. 3(2009): 215+. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 March 2012.

Article Review Telecommunications and Networking

Article Review: Telecommunications and Networking Introduction The ease of use and flexibility presented by wireless technologies, there is a certain potential for the expansion of the access protocol in the near future, if governments, scholars and engineers in the related fields redouble their efforts in realizing the potential of wireless data communication. These technologies have been in existence for a considerable period of time, during which they have undergone multiple innovations and development to enhance their efficacy and efficiency; efforts and developments that have aptly prepared the access protocols for a take-off. Partridge (2011) examines the potential presented by these technologies, and perhaps most crucially, explores areas of further development to exploit the technologies to ensure the entire planet’s connectivity to be able to realize the fullest benefits of information technology. The key areas included in the article’s path of wireless development include the following: The Shift from Hardware to Programmable Software Radios While Craig Partridge realizes the difficulties facing the transition to software radios, not least because of the discord between the policy makers, the software engineers and the radio engineers, which has in turn resulted into similar differences in the direction and priorities of related research, tremendous progress has been made. To begin with, there is an urgent need to obtain the proper mix of programmable hardware to cope with high performing software radios, which has largely gone without attention by the government, scholars and engineers in the field. By the close of the year 2020, the article envisages the replacement of hardware radios by software radios for both the military as well as civilian purposes. The technology, which has already made inroads in the US military and the growing efficiency, has led to the reduction in the packaging to render them suitable for civilian purposes, in contrast to a decade ago, when the software radios were bulky, expensive and cumber some. Programmable Software chips present an even greater potential for the contraction in size and cost, while at once boosting efficiency and relevance in the modern world (Patridge, 2011, 63). These technologies promises increased flexibility across different access protocols, which is already manifest in products such as Microsoft’s Research Software Radios (Sora), Wireless Network After Next (WNAN) as well as in Universal Software Peripheral (USRP). Understanding the Software Radio Reality With the replacement of hardware radios, it will be unnecessary to purchase wireless protocols along with devices, while at once providing support for Bluetooth and WIFI connectivity, with the emphasis shifting to cover Digital Signal Processing (DSP), radio processing powers and programmable gate array capabilities. Additionally, these technologies will increase the efficient usage of bandwidth, with the possibility of dynamic allocation of broadband, according to the needs of the applications and the consumers’ needs, coupled with the fact that it will no longer be necessary to limit wireless communication to particular data communications and protocols determined at the time of the device’s purchase. These will allow unlimited compatibility of access protocols, which will not only add to the ease of use and flexibility for the consumers, but will ultimately, translate into increased relevance of these devices to the consumers and their needs. Design Possibilities There are two possible paths involving: A set programmable components that mix DSPs, FPGAs as well as possible embedded processors, where software engineers can develop suites for every programmable component. There is a wide difference in the way of combining different DSPs, embedded processors and FPGAs to attain the most efficient processing power. Further, this path is burdened by even more threatening system problems such as the choice of frequency filters, which are critical in the reduction of the processing power needs, which can however, only be attained at increased development costs. The second approach involves the reliance on highly configurable chips, which involve inbuilt frequency, media access and coding protocol configurations. While there are clear design and practical advantages between the two extremes, there is need for increased research to develop both options to their best possible efficiency, as against opting for one of the alternative. Engineers should boost the energy efficiency, flexibility and applicability of both the designs through research in order to ensure the world gets the better of the either world. Achieving the Software Radio Reality The article points out the practical difficulties presented by increased flexibility as well as complexity of wireless communication protocols. The possibility of softwares getting in the way of each other, disrupting communication or coming under attack is multiply increased, effectively necessitating even more research effort to allow devices discriminate between different PDA specific transmissions. Further, there is a possibility of differentiating between the radio frequencies, as well as a third option where standard body would register all possible protocols, according to the equally varied software configurations. The article envisages the possibility of approval of, and possible reconfiguration across the three different solutions to limit possibilities of conflict or deliberate external attacks if any. It is equally possible to determine independently determine the suitable radio configurations, through the evaluation of all options facilitated through research, which parti cularly suits programmable radios. However, even this option is faced with multiple difficulties, not least because of the possible different languages of configuration tables and whether tables should be broken up depending on the different ranges of the spectrum (Partridge, 2011, 67). Regulation the way Forward The most obvious solution lies in government controls, and the critical role played by the policy makers in ensuring that a software radio reality is realized. Creation of new, or mandating the existing regulatory bodies to license and effectively regulate different would be critical in cutting back possible external attacks or internal conflicts that may result from design or configuration flaws. There is a further possibility in rendering the trusted module to create a trusted reasoner, or better still to create both an untrusted reasoned and a validator, allow it scan different spectrum rules as determined by different regulatory authorities, then subsequently adapting them to suit the needs of the users (partridge, 2011, 66). These solutions would most possibly be backed by a central spectrum manager, with the capacity to designate different spectrum segments to be specifically used by radios with cognitive reasoning abilities. The article recommends a collective effort by all s takeholders (Partridge, 2011, 62), coupled by an exploration of all possible solutions as against favoring any one way forward. A policy and regulatory framework is undoubtedly critical in ensuring that the limitations of technology are not exploited by external forces, while at once ensuring smooth, non disruptive systems. Transformation of Wireless Protocols into Radio Applets As against the current situation where consumers must buy wireless protocols when purchasing their Portable Digital Assistants, which effectively results into the users being restricted to one or a few protocols, determined at the time of purchase. This has multiple advantages, not least because it fails to anticipate the users’ future needs and instead, seeks to determine their possible future needs on the basis of their current needs and their own assessment of those needs, which is often uniformed and inaccurate. Users could change their geographical locations and or purchase other equipments that could be incompatible with the protocols, resulting into an enormous inconvenience and inefficiency. While today it is possible for PDA manufacturing to rake in profits on account of WIFI and Bluetooth support, the realization of software radios would render these different wireless data access protocols into applets that would be easily supported by all PDAs (Partridge, 2011, 64) . This would not only boost convenience, but perhaps most crucially, will shift the focus of research and innovation resources, towards boosting radio processing power. This way, changing and or migrating across different wireless data access protocols would trigger an automatic change in the PDA’s protocols, by downloading newer or different protocols to allow a user to communication, without any further cost of effort on their part. Additionally, as against the current protocols which used fixed bandwidth’s which doubly breeds inefficiency on account of excess capacity or shortages. These will be transformed into increased adaptability to available bandwidth in relation to the equally varied bandwidth needs of the users. As such, there will be little jams in one area, coupled with unused capacity on another end (Partridge, 2011, 64). Applications that require excess bandwidth will automatically scan the existing spectrum for availability of unused bandwidth frequencies, which will result into the application being, apportioned more bandwidth, as against the reduction in transmission speeds that is characteristic of the modern Bluetooth, wireless and other protocols. As such, by the close of 2020, it will be no longer necessary to attempt anticipate one’s bandwidth or data communication protocols at when purchasing different communication devices, nor will the existing devices force users to purcha se similar or compatible products to fit in with their prior purchases. With the introduction of software radio, there will be even greater scope for increased usage and compatibility of the existing data communication protocols, which will even be further enhanced by better licensing regimes and improved use of spectrums to manage the new reality. The possibility of software radio multiply changing spectrums throws regulatory challenges, not least because it renders it difficult for the regulatory bodies, relying on the existent technologies and laws to effectively control the new data communication environment. (Partridge, 2011, 66) recognizes the need to identify and approve different spectrums as a basis of regulation. This would only be possible, on the back of the currently existing data communication protocols such as WIFI and Bluetooth. Approval or licensing of spectrums, facilitated by the current data access protocols, will proof critical in reducing the possibility, however remote, of malicious development of software devices that would disrup t the existing, approved frequencies. Besides the critical role played by these protocols in regulation, the safety of the networks will as well remain dependent on the currently available protocols. This is not least because there are no new options that have been developed, but because Bluetooth and data access protocols have relatively well developed security infrastructures, that could be easily be used by the new technologies. Assessment of partridge’s Contribution Regulation the Way Forward Partridge alludes to the poor preparation demonstrated by the software and radio engineers and the policy advocates in preparation for the arrival of the new software radios. It is difficult to over-emphasize the role played by each of these, as well as other stakeholders in ensuring that software radio is a successful reality, and even more, the need for a collaborative effort to ensure this (partridge, 2011, 62). A lack of a collective effort has, and will only give yield to a diversion or resources as well as research issues to opposing needs, effectively resulting into reduced productivity that will in turn hurt the speed and efficiency with which software radios will ultimately be realized. Channeling of resources to a single objective is critical, just as it is equally critical for the computer and radio engineers to have shared objectives in the development of the new data access protocols (Hussain Hussain, 2007). The choice and direction of research, on the basis of the two software radio types is a particularly instructive illustration, of how short term considerations, based on what is currently feasible could potentially lead to the withdrawal of attention from one radio type that may prove critical in the future (partridge, 2011, 64). The preference of highly configurable chip based software radios, as against the radio type founded on set of independently programmable components, runs the risk of discarding a solution that may in fact, help the plane cut back on its energy consumption and boost efficiency not only by using less energy, but perhaps most significantly, through the replacement of even more energy inefficient radios (Grant, 2001, 152). This check can only be offered by the policy makers as against being solely reliant on hard hearted engineers. In addition, partridge (2011) raises an important issue that would prove critical in the success of software radios, regulation. This would only be possible with the efficient use of the research evaluating the available options, development of technological solutions, coupled with the establishment of laws and regulatory bodies to enforce these solutions (Hussain Hussain, 2007). This will help prevent malicious attacks by rogue software devices and configura tion conflicts among others, which will collectively contribute to the successful realization of software radio reality. Achieving the Software Radio Reality Software radio is not unlike any new technology, and it is bound to be beset by multiple difficulties. Flexibility and intricacy are doubly unhelpful to regulation, which is even more worsened by the fact that there is little theoretical or research work that has been directed understanding software radio behaviors (Khosrowpour, 2006). There is a potential of standard channels possibly broadcasting softwares to given geographical locations for specific device models, which would make it easier for the regulators and ensure safety, but would not change much of the hardware radio realities (Grant, 2001, 64). Efforts to change this have centered on the possibility of software engineers employing one language for different PDAs, which will increase compatibility, but faces multiple practical challenges. For a start, deciding on one programming language would be a challenge, just as it is equally difficult to find a programming abstraction to would suit FPGAs, DSPs and configurable chips ets equally (Partridge, 2011, 66). A further solution, which involve protocol specifications broadcast, which is followed by the subsequent conversion of those specifications into configurations promises great practical results, but there is little known about the feasibility of this option. In common, with the initial tenets of Partridge’s article, the most practical solution, and one that is relatively more feasible that the preceding alternatives, lies in regulation. This comprises of the registration of different protocols by regulatory bodies, which will subsequently help control them and prevent malicious devices and softwares form disrupting the infrastructure. Approval and licensing of spectrums is as yet, the most practicable solution that has made the software revolution draw closer (Partridge, 2011, 66). Critical Assessment of the Article Review This article review presents important elements of Partridge (2011), presenting not just the important elements of the article, but perhaps most critically, highlighting those elements that are critical to the understanding of the hardware and software radio. The review begins with the description of the current hardware radio, followed by an examination of the anticipated shift towards software radio, anticipated by the close 2020. This paper does as well as recognize the difficulties faced by the software radio revolution, as well as the efforts that have been put into meeting the emerging challenges, through the section assessing the achievement of software radio reality (Grant, 2001, 183). This section effectively serves to recognize that while the new data access protocols promises great practical and efficiency benefits, difficulties remain, and the success of the revolution is solely dependent on whether the technologies meet the needs of the users. This is critical since the decisions of the final consumers are not dependent on the academic benefits and facts as is commonly asserted in the marketing pitches (Hussain Hussain, 2007). Partridge lays emphasis on, and this paper has not sought to de-emphasize the important role served by collaborative efforts by all stakeholders, which is particularly critical in the regulation of the new technologies. Further, this paper places particular weight on the role that will be played by the current protocols in ensuring both regulation and success of the software radio. While the article presents varied views from different perspectives, it suffers from a weakness since many of the sources obtained and included in the exploration of different issues highlighted in Partridge (2011) were either in agreement with, or different only slightly from the premises in Partridge (20110. This is not unexpected in technical matters, but it is serves to limit the critical perspective that would otherwise, highly supplement the contribution of the paper. Further, the prediction of the possible software revolution is theoretically possible, or even when applied to a smaller scale (e.g. the US military), but it is the view of this paper that the 2020 prediction is a bit rich, as are many of the major promises of the new technology. It may proof successful in the long term, especially with the improvement in technology as well as regulatory mechanisms, but this soon, it remain a theoretical possibility with a great promise. References List Grant, G. ,2001, Managing Telecommunications and Networking Technologies in the 21st Century: Issues and Trends. New York: Idea Group. Hussain, K. M., Hussain, D., 2007, Telecommunications Networks. London: Focal Press. Khosrowpour, M., 2006, Cases on Telecommunications and Networking. New York: Idea Inc. Partridge, C., 2011, Realizing the Future of Wireless Data Communications. Communications of the ACM , 62-69.