5000 words report for a business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

5000 words report for a business plan - Essay Example This includes both a secondary as well as primary research of the markets. Based on this, the plan has been set out. A through plan including the finances, human resources, operations and also the management has been developed. The appendix includes the forecasted financial statements of the company as well. Galleries and art exhibitions have a wide appeal to all age groups and especially to those in the 35-44 age groups, in Australia. There are a total of 160 art galleries in Australia as of June 2004. Most of these are located in New South Wales. The distribution of galleries is as follows, a) New South Wales – 31.1%, b) Victoria – 21.5%, c) Queensland – 17.5%. These form the most famous states in Australia in terms of the art market. Australia has become a dynamic country in today’s art market and stands just behind UK and it is one of the dominant forces in the worlds contemporary art market. With financial objectivity fast replacing the anecdotal concerns of art, major Australian banks and pension funds are gearing up to invest between one percent and three percent of their value in artworks as a hedging measure. For all the above, our company has decided to take the challenge and penetrate the art market and establish a strong foothold in the industry and gain a major market share of this highly profitable sector. â€Å"Our mission is to maintain our reputation as an energetic, outgoing and accessible art gallery in Australia that inspire, interest and sell art work to an increasingly diverse audience and collectors. Not only do we have classified ourselves as a gallery but also as a brand in selling out artwork and products. We aim to acquire, collect and present to our customer the finest works of art available on the market scene in a variety of media and concepts as well as supplying art materials to our customers.† â€Å"Our vision is to expand our business into promoting a

A&E Home Video Essay Example for Free

AE Home Video Essay Of course, in the19th Century urban setting of Wilde’s English play, this upward push of class identity would not come without an enormous price, and in many ways this can be said to be what his play is actually all about. In order to enter the upper-class, one must display all the refinement that this newfound status was meant to betray. Jack, the protagonist of Wilde’s play seems altogether contemptuous of all the pomposity that London and modern life has to offer. But this is not at all lost on Gwendolyn, the woman that he intends to marry. It is to her for whom this new modern idealism is all just a part of what makes him such an attractive suitor. She seems to express this right away. â€Å"We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals. The fact is constantly mentioned in the more expensive monthly magazines, and has reached the provincial pulpits† (Wilde, 1895) Thus at times Jack steals away to the countryside where he can be more of himself; even as he has convinced others that he is Earnest. When his best friend Algernon asks him why he goes away he tells him â€Å"When one is in town, one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people. † (Wilde, 1895) It is almost as if he means to say that poverty or better, the remoteness of the country setting offers him a more realistic outlook upon life than the smugness of London. For a time, almost effortlessly he uses one identity to escape one world and another identity to escape the other. Soon, we discover that Algernon has incorporated the same manner of fantasy into his own life. In Sure Thing culture, class, and status are triggers which appear to deliver attributes to strangers meeting each other for the very first time. Betty sits in the coffee shop reading a book as Bill attempts to approach her. Here, the affirmation of what is good or bad worthy or unworthy is often elicited from the audience’s response to the dialogue, as if post modern urban Americans have all but learned to pimp a bogus sense of idealism no different from Great Brittan more than a century ago. This is a world where a first impression maybe all that you have, and thus win or loose you only get once chance at failure, as Ives takes us through a drama that often resembles several rounds of speed dating. We hear his instant desire for acceptance when Bill makes several attempts to correct his earlier mistakes, as in this exchange: â€Å"Where was college? † â€Å"Oral Roberts College† (Bell) â€Å"Tech† (Bell) â€Å"Metro† (Bell) â€Å"Harvard† â€Å"Do you like Faulkner? † (Ives, 1988) This is a play meant to involve the audience as a part of the cast as well. As we look on, it is the judgment of the bell that gets our approval one pick up line after another. Ives does not have to bring the cynicism; we all know that this is all simply about sex and nothing more. What else could it be? He leaves the rest up to us to decide. It is the familiar game of boy meets girl and predictably she holds all the cards. Still, we are intrigued by the scenario, because in a sense it forces us to take a cynical look at ourselves and just what governs what we consider to be proper in our own lives. There is really no escaping it. While Bill has to spend the entire play going through the motions in order to discover just what it will take to get next to Betty, Jack ultimately comes to realize in the end that he actually is. There is no shortage of symbolism in either of these plays. Indeed, perhaps the saturation of metaphor is put immediately on notice with the title of Wilde’s play; The Importance of Being Earnest. In the end, we discover that this has much more meaning that we may have been led to believe. Although they wrote one hundred years apart, both of these writers attempt to place male-female relationships in a number of ‘what if’ situation, and both in their very own brilliant way force us to look squarely into the mirror of our own lives. You just have to ask yourself at some point: What motivated my own relationships? What was I searching for? Have I gone about this in the right way? They make us question the world and they make us think; sometimes they do a good job of making us laugh as well. Isn’t this what any good literature is supposed to do? Both of these plays take pains to provide us a view of the sometimes agonizing acrobatics that can often attend an encounter of boy meets girl. They are bold statements about the weight that outside social forces often have on intimate relationships. We have seen how the rise of the middle class in 19th Century London society had a strong effect upon human relationships. In a sense, we have discovered just how The Importance of Being Earnest was actually a response to the pretentious neurosis of the landed gentry of the UK during that time. So too, in Sure Thing, we were made to examine what we have learned about relationships in the aftermath of the sexual revolution. Here, we saw just how the fast-paced exchange of two strangers encountering one another for the very first time, forced the issue of the social and class perceptions during the waning years of the 20th Century. Even though these two playwrights wrote a century apart from one another, through our analysis of the plot and the motivations that undergirded both of these masterpieces of the stage, we were able to see just how much they actually had in common. Bibliography AE Home Video (Release Date: July 26, 2005) Biography: Oscar Wilde Ives, David, (1994) All in the timing: Six on-act comedies. Dramatist’s Play Service. (2008) (Director) Jason Salazar. Sure Thing as performed by the pigeon player’s theatre company. Retrieved at: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=XliV9M7-If4 Wilde, Oscar (2004) The importance of being earnest. Ist World Library

Analysis of Singapore Airlines Limited

Analysis of Singapore Airlines Limited Air travel remains a large and rapidly growing industry. It promotes the world trade, enhances economic growth, international investment, tourism and this perhaps makes it key to the globalisation process in other industries. The airline industry has been weighed down by numerous macro-level socio-economic factors which include rise in oil price, the Tsunami case, increase in terrorism, SARS epidemic and these have been of negative influence to the profit level of the industry (Journal of Air Transport management, 2010). Singapore Airline Limited which is the worlds second biggest airline by market capitalization with its headquarters in Singapore was formed in 1947 by British interests as the Malayan Airways but became SIA in 1972 after it split from the Malaysian airline. The company along with its subsidiaries is engaged in airlines operations, airport terminal services, engineering services and other related activities with more than 30,088 employees as at March 31, 2010. The group operates in East Asia, south west pacific, Europe, the Americas, west Asia and Africa, with 66 destinations in 36 countries on 726 weekly flights with about 106 fleets (DATAMONITOR, 2010). The group which is owned by the Singapore Government through its parent company Temasek Group owns 54.5% of the company shares. The group recorded revenues of S$12,707.3 million during the financial year ended, as on march 31, 2010 with a 20.56% decrease from the previous year. Its operating profit was S$63.2 million during the 2010 fiscal year ended which was represents a 93.0% change from the previous year also. Profit attributable to equity share holders of the company was at S$216 million with a 79.7% decrease from the 2009 financial year ended.(Singapore airlines, 2010). The decrease was as a result of low demand for airline and cargo operations as a result of the economic crisis. The primary objective of this report is to analyse the airline industry, its major market players, and alliances, examine the key driving forces of change and assess the present state of the sector in relation with Singapore airline limited. Finally this report will also concentrate on the analysis of Singapore airline limited financial statements and compare its records with one of its main competitors. 1. BACKGROUND TO THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY The airline industry had total revenue of $1380.5 in 2009 which represents an annual growth rate of 2.5% between 2005 and 2009. The airline industry volume also increased its growth between 2005 and 2009 by 2.56% to get a total of $2,002.9 million passengers in 2009(DATAMONITOR, online). The global airline industry reduced in 2009 due to the global recession but from forecasts it will develop strong growth by 5% before 2014(DATAMONITOR, online). Some of the major passenger airlines include Cathay pacific, the emirates, U.S airways, Japan airlines; air France-Klm and south west airlines e.t.c. Cathay pacific won the 2009 airline of the year title in the famous world awards replacing Singapore airlines. 1.1 AIRLINE INDUSTRY MERGERS AND ALLIANCES Deresky (2006), defined strategic alliances as partnership between two or more firms that decide they can better pursue their mutual goals by combining their resources as well as their existing distinctive competitive advantages. Airline industry mergers are formed in response to the dynamic economic conditions of the aviation industry and determine cooperate aims of competitive ratios (ECONOMIC WATCH, online). This involves leasing of airplanes and purchasing airplanes as well. For instance the case of Air France takeover of Klm in 2004 by acquiring 89% of its shares has enhanced the number of flights and offers various flight options to select from. In addition to mergers, airlines are forming alliances with one another in order to achieve network size economies through code sharing as well as scale economies in the purchase of fuel and aircraft, combining forces to make purchases serves to increase the industry players bargaining power and therefore reduce supplier power. There are 3 major passenger alliances in the airline industry which are SKY TEAM founded in 2000, ONE WORLD founded in 1999 and STAR ALLIANCE founded in 1997 with 27 members and a market share of 29.3% of whom Singapore airlines joined the group in 2000 in order to broaden its flights network and to increase its competitive advantage. Thus, this has increased SIAs global presence through code sharing as their star alliance network covers 1,160 destinations in 181 countries. 2. DRIVING FORCES FOR CHANGE/ LIMITATION Key driving forces for change within an industry are external factors which cause change to the system of interest to stakeholders in that they are considered to be beyond the control of these stakeholders. Driving forces can include changes in social, technological, environmental, economic and political factors. An examination of the factors influencing an industry is a general way to begin the industry analysis and such a study is used to develop the competitive advantage of the organization to enable it defeat its rivals. (lynch, 2006:93). This is always done by the porters five forces framework analysis. The external environment has an enormous impact on the airline industry. There has been unstable time for the airline industry. It has been confronted with a market decline in international tourism in the aftermath of September 2011 terrorist attack in the united states and more recently traffic loss attributable to the war in Iraq and several terrorist activities. 2.1 Porters 5 Forces frame work on Airline industry Threat of New Entrants. Youll need to look at whether there are substantial costs to access bank loans and credit. If borrowing is cheap, then the likelihood of more airliners entering the industry is higher. The more new airlines that enter the market, the more saturated it becomes for everyone. Brand name recognition and frequent fliers point also play a role in the airline industry. An airline with a strong brand name and incentives can often lure a customer even if its prices are higher. Distribution is not easy for new entrants as there is need for establishment of online booking system, and relationships with the sales intermediaries. Power of Suppliers. The airline supply business is mainly dominated by Boeing and Airbus which has high power. Supplier power in this industry is so much that airlines have to go into contract with the suppliers of the aircraft. Constant increase in oil price also tends to boost the supplier power of the industry. In 2010 year ended, Singapore airlines reported that 33% of its cost was fuel (DATAMONITOR 2010). Another factor that boosts the supplier power has to do with the maintenance of the aircraft as a result of cost of funding staffs, mechanics for routine check on aircraft. Power of Buyers. The bargaining power of buyers in the airline industry is on the high side. There are over a hundred of airlines companies which operate in the Asian region and as a result of this, there are numerous choices for the individual to choose from and at most times would go for the low carriers. Availability of Substitutes. For regional airlines, the threat might be a little higher than international carriers. When determining this you should consider time, money, personal preference and convenience in the air travel industry. Competitive Rivalry. Highly competitive industries generally earn low returns because the cost of competition is high. This can spell disaster when times get tough in the economy. 3. SINGAPORE AIRLINES STRATEGIC POSITION. As Porter (1986, cited in Philips and Fox, 2003) stressed that, Competing internationally is a necessity rather than a matter of discretion for many firms, this states that the success of almost every international company will depend on how effectively they can compete on an international scale. This section aims to identify the current strategic posture used by Singapore airlines limited successfully, within the era of globalisation. In the airline environment, Singapore airline has always outperformed its competitors. It has never posted a loss on annual basis, has achieved substantial and superior returns compared to its industry and has received hundreds of achievements awards for its service quality. This success has been achieved by the company through the dual process of differentiation through service excellence and innovation coupled with cost leadership among its peers. Singapore airline has achieved sustainable competitive advantage and has consistently out performed its competitors through out its three and half decade history. The key success to this may be said to be the fact that it manages to navigate through two poles which most companies think are distinct. At cooperate level, Singapore airlines works with diversification. The airline group has 36 direct subsidiaries and associated companies which includes Singapore airline terminal, Singapore engineering company and Singapore airlines cargo.(Singapore airlines,2008). Its airline subsidiaries which include 100% ownership of Silk air, 49% of Tiger airways and 49% of Virgin Atlantic is said to cover the customer areas within the industry in terms of domestic and international distance. As part of its international strategy, SIA in 2000 joined the star alliance which has been noted earlier in the report. Strategies of differentiation and cost leadership have necessitated different and incompatible investments and organizational models. A strategy of differentiation implies high quality offering and significant investment in innovation, staff development and branding which results to high cost. SIA achieves these but with a low cost. The table below outlines many of elements in relation to the dual strategy of integrating elements of differentiation and cost leadership in SIA. Table 1 Elements of differentiation and cost leadership strategies at SIA Differentiation Positioning of service excellence and superior quality, brad equity(marketing strategy) Developing the Singapore girl( hr development policies) In-flight experience(young fleet, entertainment system, gourmet cuisine-operations strategy) Cultural values and practice of constant innovation and learning. Changi airport one of the worlds best(related infrastructure) Premium pricing in Singapore and in business/first class and higher load factor as differentiation indicators. Cost Leadership Young fleet (fuel efficiency, lower maintenance costs, effective fuel hedging, paying cash for planes. Labour costs compared to major competitors (16.6% vs. 30%); continuous drive for productivity, cost reduction programmes. Related diversification through efficient subsidiaries that contribute to bottom line. Cultural values; cost consciousness, obsession with reducing wastage. Innovations not only to increase differentiation but also efficiency. Changi airport as one of the most efficient(related infrastructure) L.heracleous, J.Witz. Journal of air transport management (2009) Singapore Airlines Ltd maintained its leading position in air through stellar marketing campaigns, cutting capacity while increasing passenger load and by constantly innovating in offering the latest technology for its new products and services in-flight 4. SINGAPORE AIRLINES FINANCIAL ANALYSIS IN THE LAST 5 YEARS. Singapore airline over the past 5 years has experienced growth until the 2008 economic crisis which decreased its revenue growth by 20.56%. In terms of return on assets, the airline company experienced a downturn last year. Despite this they still show a decent ability to generate profit from each asset controlled. The 2010 ROA figure which is 1.13 is lower due to the previous years economic crisis. This is also the case of ROIC which stood at 1.71 at the end of the FY 2010(Thomson one banker), showing that the allocation of resources and investments has justified Singapore airlines. From the view point of last five years; the company has experienced growth. From the gross profit margin point-of-view the company has experienced a slight increase to 14.75 over last years 12.83. 4.1 QUICK AND CURRENT RATIO OF SIA OVER THE PAST 5 YEARS SIA over the past 5 years has made an increase in its acid ration other than in 2009 when it dropped due to the global economic crisis. in the year ended march 2010, they were able to operate a ration of 1:33 which makes it able to meet current obligations using liquid assets. on the other hand, the current ratio of 1.45 as at march 2010, is acceptable. From the financial analysis it is clear to see that even though the Singapore airlines enjoyed constant growth almost in every aspect in the analysis, the year 2009 was very difficult as earlier noted due to the financial crisis but records from the FY ended march 2010 shows its on the recovery. 4.2 COMPARISON OF SIA FINANCIALS TO CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS Following the financial analysis of Singapore airlines highlighted above, a brief comparison of its finances with Cathay pacific Airways with regards to Sales, Return on Assets and Return on invested capital. SIA recorded a net sale increase of 0.15% in 2009 and 20.56% decline in 2010 where as Cathay Pacific Airways recorded a net sales decline of 22.63% in 2009 financial year. On Returns on Invested Capital, SIA recorded a 1.71% growth rate in 2010 over the 6.69% growth rate in 2009 whereas Cathay Pacific recorded 7.31% growth on Return on Invested Capital. (Thomson One Banker, 2010). This record perhaps shows the effect of SIAs business strategy and its effects on competitive advantage in the airline industry. 5 SINGAPORE AIRLINES AND ITS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY This is concerned with company ethics and social responsibility. Singapore airlines took many activities to maintain company ethics. For instance it is the first airline in the world to fly the new Airbus A380 which is preparing for the first commercial flight of the double Decker jumbo jet from Singapore to Sidney and return. It took place in October 2007 and in a first time move, all proceeds from the sale of tickets on the first flight was donated to charity organisations. Singapore Airlines Ltd considers environmental awareness to be very important, and in 2009 introduced initiatives to reduce 550, 000 tons of carbon emissions (Singapore Airlines,2010) The companys efforts included studies on the effectiveness of carbon offsets, the maintenance of a young and modern fleet of aircraft which was environmentally efficient and the establishment of a Fuel Conservation Committee that looked into fuel efficiency, waste management and water-saving devices. SIA also took delivery of 12 new aircraft which are quieter and boast substantially lower fuel burn per-seat-kilometre and lower carbon emissions. CONCLUSION In response to the adverse business conditions within airlines, SIA planned to reduce capacity by 11% to match demand, translating to suspensions of flights on a range of routes such as to Amritsar, and use of smaller aircraft on others. Secondly, it reduced fuel surcharges on short and medium-haul segments by around 5% to 21%, with highest reduction for short haul segments in economy class, which was the most active segment in the downturn. Thirdly, it negotiated a delay of delivery for eight A380 aircraft on firm order with Airbus. Fourthly, it drastically reduced airfares and engaged in various promotional activities. This has continually kept it in top priority among its peers in the airline industry and perhaps there has been a positive forecast of the companys growth in few years time.

Analysis of Americas Longest War: The United States in Vietnam :: Vietnam War Essays

Analysis of America's Longest War: The United States in Vietnam The reports in this novel are prefaced with a quote by Robert Shaplen, which sums up the feelings of those Americans involved in the Vietnam conflict. He states, "Vietnam, Vietnam . . .. There are no sure answers." In this novel, the author gives a detailed historical account of the happenings in Vietnam between 1950 and 1975. He successfully reports the confusing nature, proximity to the present and the emotions that still surround the conflict in Vietnam. In his journey through the years that America was involved in the Vietnam conflict, Herring "seeks to integrate military, diplomatic, and political factors in such a way as to clarify America's involvement and ultimate failure in Vietnam." Herring begins his account with a summary of the First Indochina War. He reports that the Vietnamese resisted French imperialism as persistently as they had Chinese. French colonial policies had transformed the Vietnamese economic and social systems, giving rise to an urban middle class, however; the exploitation of the country and its people stimulated more radical revolutionary activity. Herring states that the revolution of 1945 was almost entirely the personal creation of the charismatic leader Ho Chi Minh. Minh is described as a frail and gentle man who radiated warmth and serenity, however; beneath this mild exterior existed a determined revolutionary who was willing to employ the most cold- blooded methods in the cause to which he dedicated his life. With the guidance of Minh, the Vietminh launched as a response to the favorable circumstances of World War II. By the spring of 1945, Minh mobilized a base of great support. When Japan surrendered in 1945, the Vietminh filled the vacuum. France and the Vietminh attempted to negotiate an agreement, but their goals were irreconcilable. With all of this occurring in Vietnam, it was bound to draw attention from the United States. Herring reports that President Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized that colonialism was doomed and that the US should identify with the Vietminh. In 1945, however, Roosevelt retreated from that earlier stance and endorsed a program in which colonies would be placed in trusteeship only with the approval of the mother country. After Roosevelt's death in April 1945, the US adopted a stance even more favorable to the French under the rule of the new president Harry S. Truman. Herring states that the "Truman administration had no interest in championing schemes of international trusteeship that would weaken and alienate the European states whose help we need to balance Soviet power in Europe"(10).

Fresh Direct Business Intelligence

Case Summary FreshDirect is the largest online grocery firm in the New York market, and one of the largest in the country. With more than 250,000 customers ordering over 8,500 products every day, the company faced severe logistics and management decision making issues. To solve these issues, FreshDirect adopted a comprehensive enterprise data base system from SAP which utilized a number of business intelligence applications to track orders and customers. SAP AG is a German  multinational  software  corporation that makes  enterprise software  to manage business operations and customer relations.Headquartered in  Walldorf, Baden-Wurttemberg, with regional offices around the world, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software. The company's best-known software products are its enterprise resource planning application (SAP ERP), its enterprise data warehouse solution – SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW), SAP BusinessObjects software, and most recently, Syb ase mobile products and in-memory computing appliance  SAP HANA. SAP is one of the  largest software companies  in the world. 1.How is it possible, as Braddock noted, to have a great deal of data but little information? How does the SAP data base and business intelligence component change this? Answer: ‘To have a great deal of data but little information’ is only possible when there is a lot of data but none of it is sorted or organized properly. If we distinguish between ‘data’ and ‘information then we’ll see that; Data is raw, unorganized facts that need to be processed. Data can be something simple and seemingly random and useless until it is organized.Whereas when data is processed, organized, structured  or presented in a given context so as to make it useful, it is called Information. FreshDirect has to deal with thousands of customers, their order, delivery time and place and the required human resource for the business to run. B ut this required huge amount of data collection in a very organized way, which they lacked. While the end goal was to deliver fresh food to thousands of customers everyday on schedule, the exact location of orders at any moment was not understood, or who was in charge of them.Mistakes were happening routinely, but there was no record of how orders were moving through the logistics chain. Mr. Braddock knew that FreshDirect needed a system of continuous feedback, a real-time database that would follow every step and misstep of each business day, so that minor gaffes could be resolved before they turned into big problems. SAP ERP  is the corporation's  Enterprise Resource Planning, an integrated software solution that incorporates the key business functions of the organization.Enterprise resource planning  (ERP) systems integrate internal and external  management information  across an entire organization, embracing  finance/accounting,  manufacturing, sales and service,à ‚  customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated  software  application. The purpose of ERP is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders.Today, if a truck goes out 15 minutes late or if a container of jalapeno hummus is left off an order, the problem can be traced to its source. Also, the real-time data reports allow FreshDirect to shift its resources to areas of customer demand, beefing up capacity based on the popularity of delivery zones and time slots, anticipating which products might sell out and stocking up on them in advance. Thus by using SAP’s business intelligence software ERP FreshDirect changed their weakness into strength. . What is meant by â€Å"visibility into the workflow† and why is it important to FreshDirect’s success? What are exception screens and how are they used? Answe r: Business process is the set of activities that run the business. Business process visibility allows end users to gather business information to improve non-IT related issues, helps enable fast determination to see if business issues are truly IT-related, ensures that IT is aligned with the business and helps improve overall business efficiency.Business process visibility plays very important role in FreshDirect’s success. It is such type of business organization which required highly efficient workflow with rapid response ensuring best quality. It has to deliver fresh food to thousands of customers daily on a pre-fixed schedule and in different location. As there was no visibility of workflow before lots of mistakes were happening, the exact location of orders at any moment was not understood, or who was in charge of them.Mistakes were happening routinely, but there was no record of how orders were moving through the logistics chain. But after installing a business intelli gence software FreshDirect ensured its visibility in business process. FreshDirect was profitable for the first time in 2008. The key to profitability has been improving their execution of the initial concept. In recent years, they have introduced the following â€Å"customer centric† ideas: 1 Produce: Employed experts to rate the freshness of all produce and set prices accordingly.This reduces customer concerns about not being able to feel the product. 2 Packaging: Eliminated the use of foam, and reduced the number of cardboard boxes by 1. 5 million in response to customer complaints. 3 Favorites: Developed a customer relationship management system that tracks each customer’s past purchases, and presents them on-screen for re-ordering. Increased order size by 10%. 4 Recommender system: Added a YMAL (You-Might-Also-Like) cross-selling tool, which recommends products that other customers purchased. Added 5% to total revenue.Now in control of its logistics, and with powe rful business intelligence tools, FreshDirect increased customer loyalty and reduced its churn rate (the number of customers who leave the service). Currently, 65% of its total customer base are repeat, loyal customers, whose average order size is over $100, and who contribute 80% of FreshDirect revenues. According to a recent SEC filing, in 2011 FreshDirect has raised $50 million in additional equity from outside investors. FreshDirect now has almost 2,000 employees, 250,000 customers, and has delivered more than 6,000,000 orders.

Rudolf Laban

Rudolf Laban (1879-1958) is considered to be one of the founders of European Modern Dance. He was a dancer, choreographer and movement theoretician. In his new ideas on dance notation and strong belief that dance should be available for everyone; he has transformed modern dance and dance education. After refusing to Join the army, as his father had planned for him, aged 33 he moved to Munich as an artist. His previous study of architecture in Paris led to him to develop an interest for the moving body and its spaces.It was in Germany he furthered this interest by spending his summer trying to redesign Bewegungskunst (the art of movement). In 1919 Rudolf Laban set up two Dance Theatre Company's, a movement class for armatures, opened a main dance school, wrote articles and books, performed himself and also choreographed. In 1927 he moved to Berlin and opened the Choreographisches Institut and 3 years later he was appointed director of movement and choreographer of the Prussian State T heatres in Berlin.After failing to Join the ‘Nazi way of life' in 1936, his name and work was destroyed by the Government Propaganda Ministry whilst at the height of his career. So in 1938 he took refuge in Britain. When Rudolf Laban was sixty he began to introduce dance study methods such as Laban's analysis (splitting the analysis of dance into 4 simple categories: action, space, dynamic, relationship) with the help of Lisa Ullmann. Then finally in 1946 he opened the Movement Studio in Manchester.Rudolf Laban (1879-1958) is considered to be one of the founders of European Modern Dance. He was a dancer, choreographer and movement theoretician. In his new ideas on dance notation and strong belief that dance should be available for everyone; he has transformed modern dance and dance education. opened the Movement Studio in Manchester. and also choreographed. In 1927 ne moved to Berlin and opened t turtnered this interest by spending his summer trying to redesign egungskunst