Effect of Ionic Pollution on Aerosol Nucleation

Effect of Ionic Pollution on Aerosol Nucleation EFFECT OF IONIC POLLUTION ON AEROSOL NUCLEATION  AND CLOUD FORMATION ABSTRACT Atmospheric aerosol particles have a strong impact on the global climate and that is the main reason for many observed events of new aerosol formation being not understood. Forwarding, to explain these events one of the theory put is that the presence of ions can enhance the formation of aerosols in the atmosphere. This theory is called ion induced nucleation and in this paper, the state of observations and theory within the field is reviewed. While evidence for ion induced nucleation is accumulating the exact mechanism is still not known and more research is required to understand and quantify the effect. Keywords: Atmospheric aerosols, climate change, ion nucleation, nucleation rate, bulk nucleation Shivani Avasthi Deptt. Of Physics, Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology Ghaziabad U.P. [emailprotected] INTRODUCTION The role of ions in the production of aerosols is among the least understood, but potentially is an important process in the Earth’s atmosphere. Observation has shown that the nucleation of aerosol particles can occur under conditions that cannot be explained by classical nucleation theory [8]. Several ideas have been put forward to solve this nucleation problem, e.g. ion-induced nucleation [11, 13]. However, experimental investigations exploring the role of ions in particle production are scarce and often at conditions far removed from those relevant for the lower part of the atmosphere [1]. Since production rates at the size of 3 nm were observed to be 1–10 cm-3s-1, and numerical simulations yielded nucleation rates of initial stable clusters (approx. 1 nm) around 0.1–1 cm-3s-1, it is suggested that ions are active in continuously generating a reservoir of small thermodynamically stable clusters that can then rapidly grow in the presence of condensable vapours [9, 10, 12]. These results demonstrate that ions probably play an important role in the production of new aerosol particles in the Earth’s atmosphere. The chemical composition of aerosols is widely varied from largest size of fine mineral dust, to soot, to sulphate and nitrate salts. Human activities, especially fossil fuel burning, produce a lot of aerosols. In general, aerosols are more abundant over continents than over the oceans, which have consequences in form of the clouds that form there. Because aerosols interact with radiation and are crucial to cloud formation, they can strongly affect climate. Not all aerosol particles can be used to form a cloud droplet: certain criteria apply. Those aerosols meeting these criteria are called cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). There are 2 types of aerosol which can act as CCN: The aerosol is insoluble but wettable (or hydrophilic), and sufficiently large. A surface is wettable when water collects on it in a thin film rather than bunching into drops (the opposite of a wettable surface is called hydrophobic, the classic example being a well-waxed car). 2. The other way for an aerosol to act as a CCN is for it to be soluble and large enough. Though there is still a size restriction, it is much less stringent than in the previous case. Because there are many more small aerosols than larger ones, this is the most common way for cloud droplets to form. Aerosols are present throughout the atmosphere and affect Earth’s climate directly through backscattering of sunlight and indirectly by altering cloud properties [4]. A ternary nucleating agent such as ammonia has been proposed to enhance the nucleation process by stabilizing early cluster formation [14]. Another possibility is that ions, produced mainly by galactic cosmic rays, can play an important role to give out the observed nucleation rates [13]. In this paper the role of ions in aerosol nucleation is reviewed. Two areas: Theory and Experimental studies are described in separate sections. In theory section, the various theories are mentioned to understand the nucleation. Experimental studies covers all measurements performed in the atmosphere from studies of the general behaviour of ions to particle nucleation observations where the role of ions is considered. This section also describes laboratory measurements from nucleation events to investigations of single reactions. Finally the state of the field is summarized. THEORITICAL APPROACHES A competition between the growth and evaporation of molecular clusters is called as Nucleation. For a stable cluster to be formed an initial energy barrier must be overcome – this barrier is due to the surface tension of the cluster. The height of this barrier is determined by the temperature and concentration of the nucleating species. There are several good introductions to nucleation theory as mentioned by Curtius [2]. This section deals with how the addition of an electrical charge alters the nucleation process. Thermodynamic theory The classical approach to bi- molecular homogeneous nucleation uses thermodynamics for the nucleation rate J is given as J = J0 exp (-à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  G*/kT) (1) where the pre exponential factor J0 = (2 ÏÆ' /Ï€ m)1/2 Ï 2v /Ï l depends upon the kinetics of the system and à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  G* is the free energy of formation of the critical cluster (the required cluster size to overcome the energy barrier), k is the Boltzmann’s constant, T the temperature, Ï v is the density of the supersaturated vapour , m is the mass of monomer molecules, Ï l the bulk liquid density. Kinetic theory One of the first kinetic models was developed by Yu et al. [17] in order to simulate exhaust plumes from aeroplanes. Coagulation processes were so fast that the thermodynamic solution did not apply and the evolution of heat in the plumes resulted in very high ion concentrations. Coagulation, condensation and evaporation were treated, and neutral, positive, and negative clusters were examined from 0.56 nm up to 0.56 ÃŽ ¼m size with individual bins for the first five molecules and bin sizes increasing by 20% per bin. All the parameters used were calculated from theory. It was concluded by the theory that the effect of changing ion concentration is highest when the ion production and Fig. 1- Gibbs free Energy barrier (Curtius, [2]) the pre-existing aerosol surface are low to begin with and when condensable gas concentrations are high. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES Ion nucleation A review of atmospheric ion formation and different mechanisms for nucleation via ions was given by Harrison [6]. Large positive cluster ions (mass 2500 amu) were detected in the upper troposphere for the first time in 2002 using a large ion mass spectrometer [3]. The most common ions measured were composed of water, acetone, and a proton. Two larger modes were also detected. The lesser of these could be explained by the uptake of sulphuric acid but there were insufficient amounts of condensable gases to explain the largest measured particles by any other means than attachment of small aerosols to the ion clusters. The required concentration of these aerosols was 2.5 * 104 cm-3 and their presence could not be explained by homogeneous nucleation, which strongly indicated that the ions participated in the formation of clusters. The particles formed during a nucleation event were overcharged with negative ions indicating the participation of negative ion chemistry in the nucleation process. However little change in the number of small cluster ions (stable ions with a diameter of (~1.5 nm) was observed during the events, contrary to what would be expected from ion-induced nucleation (INU). This was possibly due to mixing of air parcels or a decrease in the ion condensation sink to other particles previous to the events. An instrument to measure the charged fraction of particles in nucleation events has been developed by Laakso et al. [7]. Particles were passed through a charger that could be turned on and off, and the size distribution was then determined by a differential mobility particle size counter with a switchable polarity to measure either positive or negative ions. A charged fraction above the expected equilibrium was detected in many cases indicating a contribution from INU. Negative overcharging was more common than positive. In order to test the theories and understand what to look for in field studies it is necessary to do experiments under controlled conditions. There are three main approaches to experimental investigation of INU. One approach explains the ion nucleation. Second approach operates on a macroscopic level trying to determine the influence of ions on bulk nucleation. The second approach is to investigate the molecular reactions taking place in an attempt to understand each step in the mechanism of particle formation. Bulk nucleation The first of this kind of experiments are the ones conducted by Wilson [16] where an expansion chamber was exposed to various kinds of ionizing radiation, and an increase in density of the resulting fog was reported. With the advent of particle counters more detailed studies became possible, and the relation between generated particles and radiation doses of alpha rays, beta rays, and x-rays were reported [10]. The doses used were from 1 to 15 rads forming ion concentrations orders of magnitude above atmospheric levels, and using this span of doses the particle production rate was increased by more than a factor of 100. Molecular reaction By investigating directly the molecules involved in the nucleation process more information about details of the mechanism may be revealed. It was found that the mole fraction of sulphuric acid approached that of neutral clusters with increasing cluster size [15]. Small negative clusters had more sulphuric acid than neutrals and the small positive clusters had less. The clusters did not grow to the sizes expected from the rate of collision between clusters and sulphuric acid, meaning that detachment of sulphuric acid played an important role. It was also shown that growth was more effective for negative than for positive clusters. A later study using the same setup determined the hydration constants for the clusters and using the obtained data together with data from Froyd et al. [5], the authors simulated the obtained mass spectra. SUMMARY Evidence for the importance of ions in aerosol nucleation is accumulating. We have shown above experimental studies, as well as the theoretical formulations which indicate that INU is a real effect, even under atmospheric conditions. In some studies the effect of ions is seen directly [12]. Some of the studies presented here indicate that the contribution from INU is just a few percent, compared to other nucleation mechanisms [7]. On the other hand there are also studies which point to ions as being a dominant source of new particles [18]. Models also do not agree where in the atmosphere INU can take place [9].The main question being whether it can happen in the boundary layer or not, and more data is required to improve the theories. One major obstacle to overcome in order to quantify the effect of INU is to determine the exact mechanism. It is well established that sulphate species play an important role, however the participation of other compounds cannot be ruled out. However, more investigations under atmospheric conditions are required to confirm and quantify the effect at varying temperatures and pressures. To further elucidate the potential impact on cloud formation, growth from freshly nucleated particles to cloud droplets must be investigated. REFERENCES. [1] Bricard, J., F. Billard, G. Madelaine: Formation and evolution of nuclei of condensation that appear in air initially free of aerosols, J. Geophys. Res. 73(1968) 4487– 4496. [2] Curtius, J.: Nucleation of atmospheric aerosol particles, C. R Phys. 7(2006), 1027-1045. [3] Eichkorn, S., F. Arnold, R. Busen: Massive positive and negative ions in the exhaust of an aircraft jet engine at ground-level: mass distribution measurement and implications for aerosol formation, Atmos. Environ. 36 (2002), 1821–1825. [4] Forster, P., V. Ramaswamy, P. Artaxo: Changes in atmospheric constituents and in radiative forcing in climate change, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007, 171–180. [5] Froyd, K. D. and E. R. Lovejoy: Experimental Thermodynamic of Cluster ions, J. Phys. Chem. A 107(2003 a), 9812–9824. [6] Harrison, R. G.: Cloud Formation and the possible significance of charge for atmospheric condensation and ice nuclei, Space Sci. Rev. 94 (2000), 381–396. [7] Laakso, L., A. Hirsikko, M. Kulmala: Detecting charging state of ultra-fine particles: instrumental development and ambient measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys. 7(2007), 1333– 1345. [8] Lee, S.H., J. M. Reeves, J. C. Wilson: Particle formation by ion nucleation in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, Science 301 (2003), 1886–1889. [9] Lovejoy, E. R., J. Curtius, K. D. Froyd: Atmospheric ion induced nucleation of sulfuric acid and water, J. Geophys. Res. 109 D (2004), 8204–8214. [10] Megaw, W. J. and R. D. Wiffen: The generation of condensation nuclei by ionizing radiation, Pure Appl. Geophys. 50(1961), 118–128. [11] Raes, F., A. Janssens, R. Van Dingenen: The role of ion-induced aerosolformation in the lower atmosphere, J. Aerosol Sci. 17 (1986), 466–470. [12] Svensmark, H., J. Pedersen, M. B. Enghoff: Experimental evidence for the role of ion in particle nucleation under atmospheric conditions, Proc. Roy. Soc. A 463 (2007), 385–396. [13] Turco, R., P. Zhao, F. Yu: A new source of tropospheric aerosols: Ion-ion recombination, Geophys. Res. Lett. 25 (1998), 635– 638. [14] Weber, R. J., P. H. McMurry, L. Mauldin: A study of new particle formation and growth involving biogenic and trace gas species, J. Geophys. Res. 103(1998), 16385–16396. [15] Wilhelm, S. D. and F. Arnold: Ion-induced aerosol formation: new insights from laboratory measurements of mixed cluster ions, Atmos. Environ. 38(2004), 1734–1744 [16] Wilson, C. T. R.: The Effect of R ¨ontgen’s Rays on Cloudy Condensation, Proc. Roy. Soc. 59 (1895), 338–339. [17] Yu, F. and R. P. Turco: The formation of aerosols in stratospheric aircraft plumes: Numerical simulations and comparisons with observations, J. Geophys. Res. 103(2008), 25915– 25934. .

Hamlets Insanity :: essays research papers

Hamlet’s Insanity…is it real?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In William Shakespeare’s Play Hamlet, many issues have been raised about Hamlet’s over all sanity. He has experienced many things that might make one think he has gone crazy, for example, his father’s murder, killing Polonius accidentally, and his mother’s abrupt remarriage. Hamlet begins to act shady towards the middle to the end of the play while talking to others. In several scenes it appears that Hamlet has gone crazy. Many critics have varying opinions of this issue. Joshua Wells wrote an article that comparing Hamlet’s sanity and insanity. Another critic, that did not mention his name, thinks that Hamlet is sane. Hamlet was not actually insane, it was simply a ploy to seek revenge for his father’s murder.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wells, in his article “Was Hamlet Mentally Disturbed?'; stated that Hamlet is truly insane. In the first act Hamlet appears to be crazy when he hears of his father’s murder. He speaks irrationally to Horatio, who comments that Hamlet is speaking “ wild and whirling words';(I.v.149). Also, Hamlet plays with Horatio and will not tell him what the ghost told him. Horatio asks Hamlet about the news he heard and Hamlet replies “O, wonderful!';(I.v.130). The news is actually not good news at all. Hamlet then sees the ghost in his mother’s chambers, but she can not see it. This is strange because earlier in the play Horatio and the other watchmen could see the ghost. When Hamlet starts a conversation with the ghost, his mother says, “Alas, he’s mad!'; (III.iv.122).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hamlet does some other actions throughout the play that give the impression that he has gone crazy. One is that his moods change abruptly for no reason. While he is talking to his mother in her chambers, they are speaking calming to each other and then Hamlet starts acting violently towards her. He also jumps on a pirate ship without a second thought or anyone to protect him. At the same time, he has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed, even though it was not part of his revenge plan. Finally, Hamlet hides Polonius’ body and will not tell anyone where it is. He tells Laertes that he killed Polonius in a fit of madness (Wells).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many good reasons to believe that Hamlet is truly crazy. He acted rashly and many of his thoughts were random. He did not act as though he had just lost a loved one; he acted like the world had come to an end.

759 store Competitive Business Strategy Essay

Introduction Strategic planning is central to management study. It defines the long term direction for the company and all other business functions orbit around their established strategies. This article studies how a company formulates business-level strategies, optimize their competitive positioning and obtain a competitive advantage over their rivals. In order to further illustrate this management issue, this article investigates into the successful competitive positioning of a leading Hong Kong imported food and daily necessity retailer, the 759 Store é˜ ¿Ã¤ ¿ ¡Ã¥ ±â€¹. Despite 759 Store has a diversified range of business, this article focuses on its major business function as an imported packaged-snacks retailer. The chain-store has grown exponentially since its establishment in July 2010. By November 2014, it has 210 stores across Hong Kong and has significantly increased its market share in the industry.1 This achievement should be credited to the unique competitive strategy the company has adopted. Michael Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies analyzes how a company should formulate their business model to give them a specific form of competitive position in the market. The three strategies are low cost strategy, differentiation strategy and focus strategy respectively. Low cost strategy drives company to lower their cost and obtain high efficiency, so they can attract customers with lower prices than their competitors. Differentiation strategy, on the contrary, tries to satisfy customers’ needs in a way that its competitors cannot and it has the competitive advantage by charging premium prices. Focus strategy suggests firms specialize in few segments or target market to attain cost advantage or differentiation advantage in the market.2 759 Store’s competitive strategy, however, has adopted both the differentiation and the low cost strategy simultaneously to attract and retain customers. On one hand, it has successfully challenged the cost-leaders in the industry by providing more differentiated products. On the other hand, it has minimized its costs so it charges differentiated products at a relatively low price. The two sections below could illustrate how 759 Store achieves this distinctive strategy. Differentiation Strategy In the aspect of differentiation strategy, companies offer customers with the unique products which are extraordinary or high quality. The uniqueness of the products is usually highly valued by the customers. Thus, those products are competitive in the market and are difficult to be replaced. This section is going to examine how 759 Store differentiate their products from others snacks retailers. (1) Never selling the products which customers can find in chain supermarkets 759 Store differentiates itself from other competitors by providing uncommon products in the market. 759 Store cannot race their cost to the bottom when compare with ParknShop and Welcome, the two well established cost leaders. In order to survive under the oligopolistic market, the company differentiates itself by avoid selling the same products that the two major supermarkets are already selling. 759 Store would rather search for new products instead of competing directly with those supermarket chains.3 By selling different brands and types of snacks, customers cannot use the retail price to directly compare the products in 759 Store and supermarkets. Also, when compared, customers would find the products in 759 Store more trendy and unique than the products in the two traditional low cost leaders. (2) Exclusive sources of goods 759 Store differentiates its products by securing the exclusive source of goods by all means. The company first made headlines in 2011 when one of the local biggest distributor, Swire Group, refused to supply Coca-Cola to the store, claiming its retail price was too low which would harm supermarkets’ profit . After the incident, packaged-snacks imported directly from Japan accounted for over 60% of the main sales of 759 Store.4 Therefore, Coils Lam Wai-Chun, the CEO of 759 Store, have handled business connections with Japanese suppliers with great care. He has connected the first Japan snacks supplier in HKTDC Food Expo in 2011 by himself.5 In Japan, local products for domestic sales are not allowed to be sold to foreign companies. Thus, Lam even went to Japan in person searching for suppliers and set up shadow companies in Japan sourcing for any popular and fair-price snacks that are  not yet known to the Hong Kong market.6 That is the reason snacks sold in 759 Store always catch up with the trend in Japan. Thus, 759 Store provides exclusive products which cannot be found in its competitors’ stores. Furthermore, 759 Store establishes a stable and strong relationship with its suppliers in Japan, which are mostly small and medium enterprises. Some Japanese suppliers have even promised to supply their products exclusively to 759 Store as a gesture to thank the company’s support during the recovery hardship after the 311 Earthquake in Japan.7 All these business connections helped 759 Store to secure its exclusive sources of goods from Japan. (3) Higher autonomy on goods selection through bypassing local distributors Today, more than 95% of products sold at 759 Store are imported directly bypassing distributors in Hong Kong.8 Therefore, 759 Store enjoys greater autonomy on deciding the variety of products they sell. 759 Store successfully develops a new market segment providing new and popular Japanese snacks to Hong Kong people. The self-reliance nature of 759 Store in terms of product purchasing enables the company to maintain its unique choice of trendy and diversified goods, thus differentiating itself from its competitors. (4) Diversification of goods and fast moving trend 759 Store differentiate itself from others by diversifying its choice of goods and keeping its shopping shelves updated with new goods. Assuming customers from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong all share the same trend and taste, the item selection of 759 Store is based on the seasonal snack sales in Japan. The company only retains its top-500 sales items on its shelves and imports these items again.9 The rest of the products are purchased according to the sales trend of snacks in Japan every week. The sales cycle for each snack product is around 3 months only.10 As a result, customers can always be surprised and refreshed by new snacks while enjoying their preferred snacks. The company has successfully differentiated itself from some traditional differentiators, such as Okashi Landé› ¶Ã© £Å¸Ã§â€° ©Ã¨ ªÅ¾. Both snack stores differentiate themselves from the cost leaders by selling imported snacks from Japan. However, the fast market reaction, diversification and regular replacement of products make 759 Store offers a higher value to  customers than its rivals, as 759 Store’s products are more responsive to customers’ preferences. Low Cost Strategy Though 759 Store uses a lot of tactics to differentiate itself from its competitors, the company still manages to keep their operation at low cost. Hence, the company does not need to charge their customers a premium price for the extra differentiation strategies. This section would explain how 759 Store do everything possible to lower its cost structure and develop its competitive edge against the cost leaders in the market. (1) Economies of scale through rapid horizontal expansion Horizontal expansion is a growth strategy that expands within the same stage of the production process. 759 Store experienced rapid horizontal expansion which it has opened 210 stores in 4 years. Through rapid horizontal expansion, 759 Store benefits from several economies of scale – the reduction of long run per unit cost when the scale of production of a company has expanded. One significant average cost advantage is that the company has increased their bargaining power when purchasing from suppliers. If the scale of the company is small, it cannot enjoy the wholesale price offered by the suppliers.11 After enlarging their scale of operation, 759 stores received a reduction in average input price and transportation cost by more than 10%.12 (2) Cost reduction through backward vertical expansion Backward vertical expansion is another growth strategy 759 Store practices to reduce the cost. By becoming companies’ own supplier, business can control its inputs and help them to provide more secure transaction.13 Due to the exclusive culture of the Japanese snack production industry, Japanese companies only supply their goods to local companies. To address this problem, 759 Store has to set up their shadowing companies in Japan to take up the functions of distributors. As 759 stores purchase the goods directly from the snack manufacturers without passing through any distributors and wholesalers, they could enjoy a lower import price and maintain a steady input supply by themselves. This in turn reduces the overall cost of  production by integrating different business stages of business functions. (3) Effective inventory management The storage and management of inventories could be a huge source of expenditures for retailers. Packaged snacks are perishable and thus requires accurate inventory management In order to reduce inventory cost while diversifying its products, for each new product, 759 Store would first import 2400-3000 pieces of them to Hong Kong. The company then experiments the market reaction to the product and decides whether to import the product in bulk or not.14 This practice has greatly reduced the risks of stocking up unpopular goods in the warehouse, therefore reducing the cost for inventory storage. (4) Less costly shop location choice When it comes to choosing shop location, 759 Store does not chase after prime retailing locations with expensive rent. Instead, it usually opts for large, more remote and less visible shop locations in residential neighborhoods. The per-foot-square rent at these locations is generally cheaper and 759 Store can bargain for a lower rent as the shop’s presence can improve pedestrian flow nearby.15 In fact, most 759 Store’s customers are willing to sacrifice convenience for lower price of products as they usually purchase a lot of goods at once.16 According to the annual report of 2013-14, rent for shops only accounted for about 9.8% of the retail revenue. 759 Store successfully lowers its costs by choosing less popular shop location and turns it to its own advantages. (5) Motivate employee: pay more for employees to work more The 759 Store regards its employees as important assets of the company. It can help reduce the operating cost of the company by successfully motivating its staff to enhance their productivity. It always stresses the provision of a reasonable salary and fringe benefit to its staff. For example, when the existing minimum wage in Hong Kong is $30/hour, 759 Store can pay its staff up to $38/hour. A manager may get an attractive salary up to $30,000 per month. 17 The CEO of 759 Store believes that a reasonable pay will increase working incentive of the staff to provide better service performance and  deliver excellent service to the customers. According to the annual report of 759 Store, one can find that even though the company is renting larger stores, the number of frontline staff is similar as previous year which is approximately 4.1 staff per shop.18 Although the per-labor cost is higher, the overall cost on labor is reduced because the staff is more productive and the company can hire less labor. (6) Inexpensive advertising and communication strategies 759 Stores adopts useful but inexpensive marketing strategies to gain its reputation. Unlike its competitors who promote their brands through traditional advertising channels, like newspaper, radio and television advertisement, 759 Stores uses word of mouth to promote its brand. Since their CEO has a good relationship with the media, he has been repeated interviewed by numerous press and television programs. It has helped 759 Store to gain exposure in the mass media without paying a penny. Also, 759 Store utilizes the technology to communicate with its customers, especially the internet platform like Facebook and blog. These platforms provide channels for 759 Store to communicate and respond to its customer directly. All these measure are cost-minimizing, yet they are very effective. Conclusion In a nutshell, 759 Store has developed its competitive business position by adopting features from both the differentiation strategy and the low-cost strategy. On one hand, 759 Store differentiated itself from traditional cost-leaders by providing exclusive, highly diversified and trendy goods to its customers, through exclusive sources of imported goods and autonomous purchasing practice. It has also avoided direct competition with the cost leaders on identical items. In terms of responsiveness to customers’ taste and catching up with trends, 759 Store’s performance is even superior to the traditional differentiators in the industry. On the other hand, the company has adopted the strategy to lower its cost structure, therefore it does not has to charge products for premium prices even extra values has been added to its products. It has lowered its per-unit cost by economies of scale through rapid horizontal and backward  vertical expansion. Other costs are being lowered by having better inventory control, choosing less costly shop location, using unconventional advertising methods and cutting overall labor cost by incentivizing individuals to achieve higher productivity. Some scholars identify this mixture of strategies as the broad differentiation strategy.19 The competitive advantage of companies adopting this strategy is that the company can offer customers quality products at reasonable prices. As 759 Store has demonstrated, it has chosen a level of differentiation that gives the company on the market segment it has targeted. Besides, they have achieved this in a way that has allowed them to lower their cost structure over time. Though it has higher cost than the cost leader, as well as less differentiated products than the differentiator, 759 Store offers more value than its industry rivals, and therefore threatening both the cost leader and the differentiator. In the case of 759 Store, ParknShop, the traditional cost leader in the industry, has even referred to the business model of 759 Store and opened a subsidiary brand in order to compete with 759 Store.20 It is a proof that 759 Store has successfully weakened the competitive position of its rivals by adopting the right strategy. Insights The successful competitive positioning of 759 Store gives insights to future managers on strategic planning, especially regarding how to enter an oligopolistic market. 759 Store has found its unique competitive position to create a ‘third way† in the oligopolistic packaged-food retailing market, which was dominated by two traditional cost leaders. By adopting the broad differentiation strategy, 759 Store achieved rapid growth rate of stores and increased its market share steadily in a very short period of time. The successful identification of and expansion into a specific market segment has allowed 759 Store to spread out geographically in Hong Kong quickly. Also, this model cannot be imitated quickly by its competitors. Hence, it is a business model which a lot of companies in the growth stage of their business might want to model upon. We can also find the practices for 759 Store to pursue differentiation and low cost strategies are very innovative. The company’s unique understanding of market taste and purchasing culture has enabled it to come up with efficient and effective strategies never  adopted by its competitors. The differentiation by trendiness and the cost minimization through shop location choice are good example of the creative strategies 759 Store has adopted. Moreover, the company’s culture of giving genuine respect to their employees and suppliers has even given 759 Store special competitive advantages in the market. The business model of adopting broad differentiation strategy, however, is not without risks. In order to achieve this distinctive competitive positioning, 759 Store has developed a number of potential risks. The company has an unhealthy amount of debts due to rapid expansion, which makes the company vulnerable to economic downturns. Besides, when compare with the differentiators and the cost leaders, the profit margin of 759 Store is significantly narrower. Profitability could be sacrificed during the growth stage of the company, but we foresee that the company has to adjust its competitive strategy in order to create a sustainable business model in the future. References 759 Store, â€Å"About Us.† Accessed November 2, 2014. http://www.759store.com/aboutus.php?lang=eng. 759 Store Blog. â€Å"759é˜ ¿Ã¤ ¿ ¡Ã¥ ±â€¹- Ã¥ °â€¹Ã¨ ³ ¢Ã¦ ±â€šÃ¦â€° !† Accessed October 24, 2014, http://759store-personnel.blogspot.hk/. CEC International Holdings Limited. â€Å"Annual report 13-14.† Accessed October 24, 2014. http://www.ceccoils.com/doc/art/finance/2014082201/201408220001.pdf. Hill, Charles W. L. and Gareth R. Jones. Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Hong Kong Celebrity Network. â€Å"Lam Wai Chung.† Accessed November 2, 2014. http://www.hongkongprofile.com/2011/10/759.html.

Comparing Jane Eyre, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast

Many themes are brought into the readers attention in Charlotte Brontà «s Jane Eyre and when first reading the novel, we all tend to see it as a work built around the theme of family and Janes continuous search for home and acceptance. The love story seems to fall into second place and I believe that the special relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester needs to be thoroughly discussed and interpreted, because it holds many captivating elements, such as mystery, passion or even betrayal. The aim of this essay is to analyze the love story between the two protagonists and to illustrate how the elements forming their relationship resemble the ones in fairy tales. Jane Eyre has been often compared to fairy tales such as†¦show more content†¦Fairfax, Adele and of course, Edward Rochester, her master. The love relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester is not one to be called at first sight, because at their first encounter, Jane does not seem to feel any kind of attraction to wards the one who in the end will become her husband. Their love grows steady, it is not spoken and it is built with baby-steps, through gestures I believe the two protagonists are not completely aware of. Jane finds Mr. Rochester fascinating in a good and bad way, at the same time: The ease of his manner freed me from painful restraint; the friendly frankness, as correct as cordial, with which he treated me, drew me to him (Chapter 15). A new territory is revealed before Janes eyes and her strict religious beliefs seem to fade in front of her growing passion for her master. The passion I am arguing about is so strong that it eventually makes the heroin think of nothing but her ideal lover. Passion is physically present in the novel through the symbol of fire, first in the night when Rochesters bed is set fire and finally, when the castle of Thornfield burns to the ground. In the first situation the reader surprises an intimate moment between the protagonists, when Jane rescues her master and he speaks to her in a manner which confused and yet gave her wings: Strange energy was in his voice, strange fire in his look. [...] But he still retained my hand, and I could not free it. I bethought myself of anShow MoreRelated Reactions to Patriarchal Oppression by Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason3826 Words   |  16 PagesReactions to Patriarchal Oppression by Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason Missing Works Cited    Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason are both oppressed by the British patriarchal system were men are the makers, interpreters, and enforcers of social and political rules. However, these two women differ greatly in the ways that they accept and cope with the reality of their place in society, and it is these differences that ultimately determine their fate. Jane Eyre follows the rules. Although she initially revolts