Uranium Mining free essay sample

Uranium mining and its effects on the environment is a major concern today. Although uranium can be helpful, there are risks that have a negative impact on the health of humans, animals; as well as effects on air, soil and water. Uranium is a hard, dense, malleable, silver-white, radioactive metal which can be used as an abundant source of concentrated energy. Uranium is a naturally occurring element found in low levels within rock, soil, air and water. It is the highest numbered element to be found naturally in significant quantities on earth and is always found combined with other elements. Uranium can also be found in plants because plants absorb the uranium that is found in soil. There are many sources and uses of uranium. During mining of uranium ore and its processing, some releases of uranium occur. Depleted uranium is useful because of its very high density. Depleted uranium is used in aircrafts, radiation shielding in medical radiation therapy and radiography equipment and containers used to transport radioactive materials. Certain studies of depleted uranium aerosol exposure propose that uranium combustion product particles, which can be found in military ammunition, can be found and inhaled in the air, but will quickly settle out of the air, not affecting populations more than a few kilometers from target areas. Used uranium oxide fuel is insoluble in water, which is likely to release uranium when in contact with water, thus creating nuclear waste. These sources of uranium can be harmful to the environment as well as cause health problems to both humans as well as animals. A person can be exposed to uranium by inhaling dust in the air or by ingesting contaminated water and food. The amount of uranium in the air is usually small; however, people who work in factories that process phosphate fertilizers, live near government facilities that made or tested nuclear weapons live or work near a nuclear power plant, or live or work at facilities that mine or process uranium ore, may have increased exposure to uranium. Most ingested uranium compounds, tend to pass quickly through the body during digestion whereas insoluble uranium compounds pose a more serious exposure hazard. This can lead to long-term health effects, affecting the normal function of the kidney, brain, heart, liver and other systems within the body because uranium is not only a radioactive material, it is a toxic metal. This toxic metal can also hinder the body’s reproductive system. Chronic inhalation and ingestion of uranium can also lead to mutation of cells and cancer. Most scientific studies have found no link between uranium and birth defects, but some claim static associations between soldiers exposed to depleted uranium, and those who were not, concerning reproductive abnormalities. One study showed that epidemiological evidence is consistent with an increased risk of birth defects in their offspring exposed to depleted uranium. Environmental groups and others have expressed concern about the health effects of depleted uranium, and there is some debate over the matter. Studies have also found that people exposed to depleted uranium inhalation for long periods of time, such as Gulf War veterans, had and increase in the rate of birth defects of their children. It has also been reported that uranium has caused reproductive defects and other health problems in animals. Uranium has been shown to have toxic effects on the cells and genes of animal, which may lead to a reduction in the number of offspring in uranium exposed animals. It may also cause birth defects, such as skeletal malformations or a reduction in body fetal body weight. When being exposed to uranium for long periods of time, animals develop mutations within cells which can also lead to cancer. Uranium in air exists as dust that falls into surface water, on plants or soils through settling or rainfall. Chronic inhalation of uranium may lead to lung cancer, acute leukopenia, while oral exposure has resulted in anemia, necrosis of the jaw, abscess of the brain as well as many other diseases. Uranium is found in soils in different concentrations that are usually very low, but is found to be higher in phosphate-rich soil. This might not be a problem because concentrations often do not exceed normal ranges for uncontaminated soil. Plants absorb uranium from the soil through the roots. Studies have shown that root vegetables, such as radishes, contain a higher concentration of uranium, which can lead to potential problems within the body of consumed in large quantities, but certain types of bacteria can be distributed within the soil to lower the concentration of uranium. The greatest potential for human exposure to uranium is through drinking water, but water containing low amounts of uranium is usually safe to drink, but the chronic consumption of uranium in water can be hazardous to a person’s health. Although uranium is found within water, it is unlike for uranium to accumulate in fish because uranium compounds usually dissolve in water. Uranium mining has positive and negative effects on the world today. Uranium can be used for many things that can benefit people today, but it can lead to hazardous effect consequences environmentally. Although it can be found naturally, other sources of uranium can result in negative health effects in humans and animals. Overall, uranium mining has a negative impact on the environment.

Business Practice Argumentative Essay Topics

Business Practice Argumentative Essay TopicsA business practice argumentative essay topic is as important as the most professional written essay. If the topic is missing from your assignment, it may affect your grade and can be detrimental to your future employment prospects. Your topic is an important part of your business.You are expected to provide information on any current business practice arguments that you have identified in your professional experience. If you are unable to supply information that can support these arguments, then it is more than likely that you are not good enough to continue in your current position. You will need to find some additional methods of supporting your business practice arguments.There are a number of types of business practice, argumentative essay topics to choose from. These include those that require you to provide factual data or reasoning behind your ideas, those that focus on your experiences in your field, and those that ask for ideas fr om the audience.If you need to offer information on the current business practice arguments that you are supporting, you can do so by providing data, writing a thesis statement that supports your reasoning, or writing a brief description of your profession. The key to this type of essay is that you need to provide clear and concise information that allows the reader to understand exactly what your argument is based on.If you need to support your presentation with facts, you can use your own professional knowledge as well as those you found in your studies. This will allow the reader to identify how you came to your conclusions. As well, you can draw upon your experiences to help the reader understand the way that you think.In the case of an argument based on your own experiences, you should provide information that proves how you have used your professional relationships to deal with difficult clients. You may also want to relate how you handled a difficult situation, as well as the way you used your understanding of your professional responsibilities to create opportunities.Finally, the final objective of your business practice argumentative essay is to convince the reader that you have the knowledge and skills to be successful in your current position. By providing both factual and relevant information, you can increase your confidence and your ability to support your arguments.

Sustainable and Unsustainable Development Essay Example

Sustainable and Unsustainable Development Paper Sustainable Development Concept Sustainable development is a pattern of social and structured economic transformations (i. e. development) which optimizes the economic and societal benefits available in the present, without jeopardizing the likely potential for similar benefits in the future. A primary goal of sustainable development is to achieve a reasonable and equitably distributed level of economic well-being that can be perpetuated continually for many human generations. Sustainable development implies using renewable natural resources in a manner which does not eliminate or degrade them, or otherwise diminish their usefulness for future generations. It further implies using non-renewable (exhaustible) mineral resources in a manner which does not unnecessarily preclude easy access to them by future generations. Sustainable development also requires depleting non-renewable energy resources at a slow enough rate so as to ensure the high probability of an orderly society transition to renewable energy sources. Sustainable development is a broad concept covering the way in which human activities impact on economic development, the environment and social well-being. It is generally accepted that both governments and industry should promote development that is sustainable in all three dimensions, but practical application of the concept is complex because its objective assessment is elusive. While the concept can be readily and widely accepted in general terms, a consensus viewpoint on the value of individual actions is more difficult to achieve because of the absence of criteria permitting objective assessment of their â€Å"sustainable† qualities. We will write a custom essay sample on Sustainable and Unsustainable Development specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sustainable and Unsustainable Development specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sustainable and Unsustainable Development specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Some of the areas that come under the scope of sustainable development are : Agriculture Biotechnology Energy Forests Water etc. Sustainable development is said to set limits on the developing world. While current first world countries polluted significantly during their development, the same countries encourage third world countries to reduce pollution, which sometimes impedes growth. Some consider that the implementation of sustainable development would mean a reversion to pre-modern lifestyles. Sustainability in Construction Industry Sustainable Construction is the application of sustainable development to the construction industry. There is an increasing demand, in both the private and public sectors, to understand sustainable construction practices. This demand is driven by a realisation that sustainable practices make sense to both owners and operators. The practices not only help the environment but can also improve economic profitability and improve relationships with stakeholder groups. The diagram below explains how sustainable development is implemented within the construction industrys private and public sectors. Many construction companies are involved in implementing sustainable development practices and have made sustainability a key part of the design and construction process; many companies in India have successfully constructed â€Å"Green Buildings†. Green buildings are constructions in which resources like energy, water, and materials are used efficiently, through better design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal of waste, reducing negative impacts on human health and the environment. The reason for going green or adopting sustainable development practices is literally a no brainer, as a green building constructed using sustainable development practices provides many benefits both tangible and intangible, starting from the immediate cost savings in terms of energy and water consumption to a healthy and productive environment for work. Some of the initiatives by construction companies are listed below: ITC Green Centre is the worlds largest green building with space of 170,000 square feet, and also the first non-commercial complex in the country to be awarded the USGBC-LEED platinum rating the highest in the order. In collaboration with Canadian plastics major Nova Chemicals, Reliance Industries will be designing and constructing energy-efficient buildings in India. Indias first internationally certified green building that houses the Confederation of Indian Industry-Sohrabji Godrej Business Centre spread over 16,000 square feet was set up in Hyderabad in 2003. Today, the public and private construction companies in India have applied sustainable development practices prevalent in the industry to construct over 25 million square feet of registered green building expanse, which is all set to touch a 100 million square feet by 2010–12. Unsustainable development in the Energy sector Unsustainability can be defined as a practice or process that cant go on indefinitely because it is destroying the very conditions on which it depends. Agriculture development is at crossroads today. Despite an agricultural revolution in the developing world over the course of a single generation that has produced enormous benefits for farmers, consumers and economies, a number of second generation challenges in agricultural transformation have emerged. Issues such as disparities in agricultural growth, problem of food insecurity and decreasing diversity, plateauing productivity in certain crops, growing ecological imbalance and unsustainable agricultural practices have come to fore. Ironically, a large proportion of the rural community continues to live in regions with poor quality soils and unpredictable rainfall, and remote from agricultural services and markets, deprived of the gains of agricultural revolution. Water harvesting is defined as the process of collecting and concentrating runoff water from a runoff area into a run-on area, where the collected water is either directly applied to the cropping area and stored in the soil profile for immediate use by the crop, i. e. runoff farming, or stored in an on-farm water reservoir for future productive uses, i. . domestic use, livestock watering, aquaculture irrigation. The collected water can also be used for groundwater recharge and storage into the aquifer, i. e. recharge enhancement. Source FAO, 2003. Rainfall failure occurs once every 3 to 5 years and is usually below 50% of the average annual rainfall of the region. During periods of rainfall failure, the groundwater level lowers since fluctuations in the water table levels depend on the rainfall when both surface and groundwater availability becomes critical. Drought begins to prevail and there is a difficulty to cope up with the water demand during this period. Similarly, in some locations or areas water shortage is observed just before the rainy season commences. These two situations can be managed if suitable soil and moisture conservation measures are systematically implemented on a small watershed basis. Watershed development and management implies an integration of technologies within the natural boundary of a drainage area for optimum development of land, water and plant resources, to meet the peoples basic needs in a sustained manner. A watershed is an area from which runoff resulting from precipitation flows past a single point into a large stream, river, lake or pond. Each watershed is an independent hydrological unit. It has become an acceptable unit of planning for optimum use and conservation of soil and water resources. The concept of integrated watershed development refers to the development and management of the resources in the watershed to achieve higher sustainable production without deterioration in the resource base and any ecological imbalances. This concept requires the formulation and implementation of a package of programs with activities for optimum resource use in the watershed without adversely affecting the soil and water base or life supporting system. The concept assumes more importance in the context of planning for sustained development. Watershed development aims at preventing watershed degradation resulting from the interaction of physiographic features. It eliminates unscientific land use, inappropriate cropping patterns and soil erosion, thereby improving and sustaining productivity of resources leading to higher income and living standards for the inhabitants in the watershed area. It, therefore, involves restoration of the ecosystem, protecting and utilizing the locally available resources within a watershed to achieve sustainable development. Water harvesting is a proven technology to increase food security in drought prone areas and helps to erosion control and recharge of ground water for future demand.

The Divorce Effects

The Divorce Effects Introduction Divorce involves restructuring of the family where parents separate. When people get married, they get children in the union and who are under the care of both parents. Divorce causes emotional and psychological strain among the parents. The process of divorce is very involving and parents end up as opponents and seek to be independent (Roderick 6). Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Divorce Effects specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More After divorce the parents reside in different houses and have to settle with the other about the custody of children. In most cases the children remain in custody of the mother. Although some people believe that parents absorb the major effects of divorce, I believe that divorce has a big effect on children than parents. Discussion on how effects of divorce on children are more than effects on the parents Emotional effects According to Friedman (17), when parents di vorce the family members are affected. The children as well as the parents have to adjust to changes and may take up to two years to settle down. They often have emotions that are triggered by the divorce. In cases where children exposed and saw the parents engage in conflict, children find it more comfortable to live with a single parent and be not see the parents engage in quarrels. On the other hand, some parents keep their differences secret from the children. When they divorce, such children usually have a harder time to cope with the change than children who knew their parents differences. Therefore parents can live in a marriage for the sake of the children. Children encounter difficulty Children from divorced families portray differences from those who grow up in stable families. Divorce affects children’s social life because some have difficulties relating with other members of society when compared with the others. Roderick (pg 8), argues that some children from t he divorced families may learn skill of copping with difficulties and therefore may end with less problems than those from non divorced families.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The recovery from divorce of the children is depended on the pace of the parent to pull through the difficult times. As Wilson (pg 10) argues, in cases where parents recover quickly, the children were able to cope with changes while those parents who took long to overcome challenges posed by divorce, their children continued manifesting problems like regression. Unprepared to deal with change Young children find it unbearable to deal with divorce of the parents because at their age they have not learnt how to muddle through changes and are thereby not fully ready to handle separation of one of the parents. Most often, boys have a harder time than girls when parents divorce. When they devel op problems, the divorced wife poorly manages the son’s problems and may liken him with the father besides having her own problems. The problem may include the fact that they had a relationship with the father which is no longer present. Children are affected by the separation of parents. ONeill (Para 2) reveals that the father figure or the mother figure is important to children. They lose the connection and some support they got from the parent. Loss of one parent Children end up spending limited time with parents. The divorce makes the children live with one parent and may see the other parent at another time. This makes them fail to experience the love and care of the parent who is away. The parents may enter into other relationships where they have to spend some time with the new found partner. The child does not fully enjoy the company of both parents as the parents may be committed to other relationships. Failure in effective parenting Some parents change their style o f parenting after divorce as Hughes (Para11) mentions. They abandon some practices that would have benefited the child positively. For instance parents may fail to assist in home work since they relocated due to the divorce. The abandonment of the practices affects the child more than the parent because the child needs quality parenting which they are denied. Children are largely affected by the process of divorce where both parents are adverse enemies. They are affected more than the parent when the two parents extend the fights in court about who is to provide care for the children. The child changes in the way they handle situations and may become irritated easily. Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Divorce Effects specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They may become criminals and at times attempt to take their life. They may also deliberately neglect authority and at time run away from their home. In some cases children feel insecure and uncertainty about their future. Children suffer when the parents involve them in the divorce cases. Because parents need someone to confide in, some parents end up discussing their problems with the child. The child gets hurt when they become awre of their parents antagonism towards each other. They get feeling of helplessness since they both parents are important to them. Roderick (Pg 14) supports the claim then process of divorce is traumatizing to the children. For this reason single parents living without divorce are viewed as healthier than families that are conflicting. Moreover, children love to live in a peaceful family rather than a family with violence. Economic effects Children have more problems than parents when affected by changes in economic support. Divorced parents may have economic challenges as suggested by most of the authors. Due to inadequate finances following divorce, the single mother of father may relocate and the children change the school they attend as a consequence (ONeill 16). Children lose relationships and friendships that are already and may be required have difficulties copping in the new environment. They may also change their lifestyle due to economic constrains. Psychological effects Children are psychologically affected by divorce. The memories of a good family, when the conflict began and became worse, the divorce process and later the experiences after the divorce remain in the child brain. Another experience that remains to distress children with divorced parents is the movement from one parent’s residence to the other. Such children suffer because they consider that if the situation would change they would have one home (Friedman 27)Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Divorce is stressful and not pleasant. The parents may understand and be willing to go through some changes as a result of the divorce. Children suffer more than the parents because they are neither prepared nor do they understand why they should put up with some changes. The encounter is more unbearable when the parent marries again and divorces again. Change in organization of family Some divorces causes greater loses of relationship with extended family members as well as the organization of a family (Wilson pg 9). The child may lose conduct with the other parents kinsmen like lovely grandparents and only meet them less frequently. During annual parties like a birthday, the child may feel the loss of important members of the extended family and the absence of one parent. Recommendations Children are affected by divorce more than parents because it has negative impact on the child’s maturity. Considerations made when parents choose to divorce do not include the feelings and opinions of the children. Thus children are forced into separating without being involved. Tension increases when one parent influences the child to side with one parent. Friedman (Pg 15) notes that both parents should be committed to follow the progress of their child both in education and in social life. Additionally, parents can make efforts to see their children most often as the children need the figure and emotional support from both parents. Furthermore, parents can also consider staying in the marriage for the sake of the children. This is because children suffer even more than the parents for due to the divorce. Conclusion The effects of divorce cannot be under estimated because children are affected more than their parents. Based on the words of Wilson (pg 1) we can learn that children of divorced parents are affected by the loss of one parent, financial changes that cause change of lifestyle and relocation. They are affected emotionally and psychologically and may end u p with low self esteem and a feeling of helplessness. In addition, stress and memories concerning the divorce remain high among the children and hence they are affected more than the parents. Friedman, Debra. Towards a structure of indifference: the social origins of maternal Custody. New York: A. de Gruyter, c1994. ONeill, William. Divorce in the progressive era. New York, New Viewpoints, 1973 Roderick, Phillips. Putting asunder: a history of divorce in western society. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Wilson, Mike. Divorce. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, c2009

Guinness International Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Guinness International - Essay Example Alcohol is a dependence-producing drug that causes detrimental societal and physical effects. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it leads to diseases, early mortality, accidents, and violent crimes (Camerra-Rowe, 11-12, 17). No doubt, the technologies in the beer industry are the brewing facilities and the bottling and packaging technology. However, technology is not the critical success factor for brewing fine beer, more important are the brewer's marketing image and the recipe (Alan Moen). Beer brewing contributes to global warming by emitting carbon dioxide. The use and disposal of bottles and packaging also contribute to environmental pollution (Brewers Association of Japan). Hence, beer brewing is a cause of concern for much environmentalists (Camerra-Rowe, 8, 24). The beer industry operates within a tight legal environment. Numerous legislation exist in various nations to curb the advertising and excessive consumption of alcohol (Camerra-Rowe, 5, 14-15). Examples include control on drunk driving, operation hours of pubs, advertising, distribution, and even import controls, such as in Sweden (Camerra-Rowe, 13-15; Diageo, 9). Strong marketing and advertising (Asia Pacific Breweries Limited, 2). ... SWOT ANALYSIS Having analysed the external environment, let us perform an internal analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats specific to the company. Strengths Sales volume increases in Asia in recent years (Asia Pacific Breweries Limited, 2). Strong marketing and advertising (Asia Pacific Breweries Limited, 2). Its main forms of advertising are magazine, newspaper, point of sale, poster and billboard advertising, and radio, cinema, and television advertising where appropriate. It also uses consumer promotional programmes in the on trade, such as bars and restaurants (Diageo, 8). Strong in human resources. Guinness International Learning Centre was set up for the purpose of training and development (Diageo, 8; Guinness Storehouse). Besides, the building of a pool of talented human resources is its core strategic imperative (Diageo, 8). Hence, it provides a competitive compensation package (Diageo, 8). Established and strong in the Africa market (Diageo, 7). Its parent company, Diageo is "the world's leading premium drinks business with a collection of international brand" (Diageo, 1). Weaknesses Not the leader in market share in Asia (Asia Pacific Breweries Limited, 15). No emphasis on research and development (Diageo, 9) Opportunities Alcohol consumption in eastern Europe, Asia, Indochina (Vietnam and Cambodia), and America is rising (Asia Pacific Breweries Limited, 1; Camerra-Rowe, 8). Europe, with the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the world (Camerra-Rowe, 12), is a mature market. The market is fragmented due to differences in taste around the world, as well as national barriers to trade that stipulate the allowable ingredients, alcoholic content level, and size of containers of beer (Camerra-Rowe, 5). For example,

Reflective paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Reflective paper - Essay Example My view on organizational atmosphere of participation has also changed and I now see them as supportive and open to participate in community development. The concept of community has nurtured self determination and community mobilization in me. This has enabled me to gain influence and control and partners and a player in community action and decision making. By participating in community development, one can weigh on the costs involved and know if the activity is viable. With the knowledge of cost in mind, one can use it in the development of appropriate incentives. The community concept has sharpened my relation skills and I can now easily interact with members of the community which has made me have a broader knowledge of my environment. As a facilitator, I have been in a position to guide and model dialogue processes proving information when needed and intervene in case of breakdown in the process of communication. Besides, I have learnt not to be neutral and engage myself fully in processes of dialogue. Such facilitation catalyzes community participation and engagement (Butcher et.al, pp58) The community development and community practices have always been at the core of social work concept in towns. The reasons why community in social work is important are: community work aims at uniting people who were previously not organized into coalitions and effective groups that work as a group with an aim of pursuing a common social agenda, secondly, community work aims at strengthening traditional neighborhood, kinship and friendship ties and developing new structures in the society which are important for the daily operation of a society and lastly, community based activities provides the best structure that is efficient and cost effective for the service of the poor (Butcher et al, 1994) Community is very crucial in social work because the community is their objective. Social work

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.