Hand Outs free essay sample

The word literature is derived from the Latin term litera which means letter. It has been defined differently by various writers. †¢Some loosely interpret literature as any printed matter written within a book, a magazine or a pamphlet. Others define literature as a faithful reproduction of man’s manifold experiences blended into one harmonious expression. †¢Because literature deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of man, literature can be said to be the story of man. Man’s loves, griefs, thoughts, dreams and aspirations coached in beautiful language is literature. †¢For Webster, literature is anything that is printed, as long as it is related to the ideas and feelings of people, whether it is true, or just a product of one’s imagination. †¢In PANITIKING PILIPINO written by Atienza, Ramos, Salazar and Nazal, it says that â€Å"true literature is a piece of written work which is undying. It expresses the feelings and emotions of people in response to his everyday efforts to live, to be happy n his environment and, after struggles, to reach his Creator. We will write a custom essay sample on Hand Outs or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page B. Why We Need to Study Philippine Literature †¢We study literature so that we can better appreciate our literary heritage. We cannot appreciate something that we do not understand. Through a study of our literature, we can trace the rich heritage of ideas handed down to us from our forefathers. Then we can understand ourselves better and take pride in being a Filipino. †¢Like other races of the world, we need to understand that we have a great and noble tradition which can serve as the means to assimilate other cultures. Through such a study, we will realize our literary limitations conditioned by certain historical factors and we can take steps to overcome them. †¢Above all, as Filipinos, who truly love and take pride in our own culture, we have to manifest our deep concern for our own literature and this we can do by studying the literature of our country. C. Time Frames of Philippine Literature in English 1. The Period of Re-orientation: 1898-1910 2. Period of Imitation: 1910-1925 3. Period of Self-Discovery: 1925-1941 4. Japanese Period: 1941-1945 5. The Rebirth of Freedom: 1946-1970 6. Period of Activism: 1970-1972 7. Period of the New Society: 1972-1981 8. Period of the Third Republic: 1981-1985 9. Contemporary Period: 1986 D. Literature and History Literature and history are closely interrelated. In discovering the history of a race, the feelings, aspirations, customs and traditions of a people are sure to be included . . . and these feelings, aspirations, customs and traditions that are written is literature. History can also be written and this too, is literature. Events that can be written down are part of true literature. Literature, therefore, is part of history. Literature and history, however, also have differences. Literature may be figments of the imagination or events devoid of truth that have been written down, while history is made up of events that really happened. E. The General Types of Literature PROSE – those written within the common flow of conversation in sentences and paragraphs. 1. Novel – a long narrative divided into chapters. The events are taken from true-to-life stories and a longer period of time. There are many characters involved. Example: Without Seeing the Dawn by Stevan Javellana. 2. Short Story – a narrative involving one or more characters, one plot and one single impression. Example: Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez 3. Plays – presented on stage, is divided into acts having many scenes. Example: Cadaver by Alberto S. Florentino 4. Legends – fictitious narratives, usually about origins. Ex. The Bicol Legend by Pio Duran 5. Fables – also fictitious, deal with animals and inanimate objects who speak and act like people, and their purpose is to enlighten the minds of children to events that can mold their ways and attitudes. Example: The Monkey and the Turtle 6. Anecdotes – merely products of the writers imagination, and its main aim is to bring out lessons to the reader. It can be stories about animals or children. Ex. The Moth and the Lamp 7. Essay – expresses the viewpoints or opinions of the writer about a particular problem or event. 8. Biography – deals with the life of a person which maybe about himself, his autobiography or that of others. 9. News – report of everyday events in society, government, science and industry, and incidents, happening nationally or not. 10. Oration – formal treatment of a subject and is intended to be spoken in public. It appeals to the intellect, to the will or to the emotions of the audience. Narrative Poetry – this form describes events in life either real or imaginary. a. Epic – extended narrative about heroic exploits often under supernatural control. It may deal with heroes and gods. Example: Popular Biag ni Lam-ang Literary – Princess Urduja b. Metrical Tale – narrative written in verse classified as ballad or metrical romance. c. Ballad – of the narrative poems, considered the shortest and simplest 2. Lyric Poetry – originally refers to that kind of poetry meant to be sung to the accompaniment of lyre, but now it applies to any type of poetry that expresses emotions and feelings of the poet. . Folksongs (Awiting Bayan) – short songs intended to be sung. Atin Cu Pung Singsing b. Sonnets – lyric poems of 14 lines dealing with an emotion, a feeling, or an idea. c. Elegy expresses feelings of grief and melancholy, and whose theme is death. d. Ode – a poem of noble feeling, expressed with dignity, with no d efinite number of syllables or lines in a stanza. e. Psalms (Dalit) – songs praising God or the Virgin Mary, and containing a philosophy of life. f. Awit (songs) – these have measures of 12 syllables (do decasyllabic) and slowly sung to the accompaniment of a guitar or banduria. Ex. Florante at Laura by Francisco Balagtas g. Corridos – these have measures of eight syllables and recited to a martial beat. Ex. Ibong Adarna 3. Dramatic Poetry a. Comedy – this form is light and written with the purpose of amusing, and usually has a happy ending. b. Melodrama – used in musical plays with the opera. It arouses immediate and intense emotion and is usually sad but there is a happy ending for the principal character. c. Tragedy – involves the hero struggling mightily against dynamic forces; he meets death and ruin without success and satisfaction obtained by the protagonist in a comedy. . Farce – an exaggerated comedy. It seeks to arouse mirth by laughable lines; situations are too ridiculous to be true; the characters seem to be caricatures and the motive is undignified and absurd F. ELEMENTS OF THE STORY 1. Plot – the sequence of the actions and events in the story to convey a theme. Every story has a plot that can be sketched in a summary or outline. The plot is the skeleton or the blueprint of a story. The following terms explains what happens in a plot: ? Exposition – comes at the beginning of a story. The readers meet the character, learn about the setting, and see the beginning or the conflict or struggle. ?Rising Action (Complication) – the struggle grows stronger. ?Climax – the turning point in the story. ?Falling Action – events move toward the end of the story. ?Resolution (Denouement) – the story is brought to an end. Kinds of Plot ?Man in a Hole- oldest and most popular. ?Man on a Road ?Man in a Tub Devices in Plot ?Chronological Arrangement. It starts from beginning of events. ?Medias Res. This starts at the middle of the story. ?Flashback. Past events are shown to justify the conflict at present. ?Foreshadowing – the author presents insignificant events or details ? Stream of consciousness – a continuous and random flow of ideas feelings, sensation, association and perceptions as they register on the protagonist’s consciousness. 2. Point of View – refers to the angle of narration or from whose viewpoint the incidents of the story are told. ?First Person Point of View – the writer narrates the story using the pronoun â€Å"I† who may be the central character or a minor figure who either observes or participates in the action. Third Person Limited Point of View – the unidentified author refers to his characters in the third person but limits himself by telling only what can be seen heard inside the world of the story. It is otherwise called â€Å"camera-eye technique† as the narrator doesn’t reveal about what the characters think or feel. Third Person Central Point of View – the narrator refers to his characters in the third person but limits himself to narrating only what the central character thinks, feel, does, and what and whom the central character can observe. Omniscient Point of View – the narrator acts as if he knows everything that happens including the thoughts of the characters. 3. Setting – locale and period of which the events occur 4. Character – refers to the make-believe persons that are encountered in fiction. Kinds of characters: ?Protagonist – the admirable character who embodies certain human ideals. ?Antagonist – the character that provides some sort of contest or opposition for the protagonist. ?Static or flat – the characters which do not have flesh and blood qualities. Dynamic (full or round) – they live lives of sorrow and joy, sinking and swimming in the visible tides of life – very much like us. 5. Theme – the writerâ€⠄¢s message. It may be specifically stated in the story or it may be derived from the total effects of all the elements of a story. The author may make the theme explicit by means of exposition or conclusion. 6. Symbol – a word, phrase, scene or an episode that refers directly to one thing but suggests another thing as well.

101 Peer Review and Intros Professor Ramos Blog

101 Peer Review and Intros In-Text Citation Quick Write Who is your audience? Who are you trying to convince with your argument? Who has the power to implement your solution? In-Text Citation Also called parenthetical citations. One Author: (Ramos 1) Two Authors: (Smith and Ramos 2) Three or more Authors: (Ramos et al. 2) Elevator Pitch An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in what you are speaking or writing about. Imagine you have one minute to present yourself and your ideas to someone who can implement your solution or make a change. What would you say in that one minute elevator ride to convince this person that your ideas are worthy of attention. You have ten floors to make a compelling case. Take a few minutes to figure out how to make your proposal professional, succinct, and interesting. Then, write it down. Introductions Writing Effective Introductions Introductions are very important. The link above has some great examples and explanations for writing introductions. Much like an elevator pitch, an introduction has to make a good impression, grab your reader’s interest, and make them want to keep reading. Take the elevator pitch you just wrote and figure out how to work it into your introduction. The elevator pitch can work as the intro, or add to your intro, to make a case for reading the rest of the essay. Using Rhetoric Notes Ethos Research Unbiased Pathos Emotional Storytelling So What? Logos Logical History Facts Statistics Evidence Authority/Pros Background Include the Conversation Peer Review . Argument –  a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong. Remember, an argument uses reasons and evidence to persuade. Have you provided enough reasons and evidence to convince us of your position? Keep these things in mind. Peer edit the same way you revise your own work. Be specific in identifying problems or opportunities. Offer suggestions for improvement. Praise what is genuinely good in the paper. Check for: Is the writer’s tone appropriate? Who is the audience? Looking at the essay as a whole, what is the thesis or main idea? Is each paragraph adequately developed? Are there sufficient details and/or   supporting quotations? For the Proposal, make sure you: Define the problem Recognize an audience Create, explain, and justify a plan of action. Persuade readers of the problem and proposed solution. Sample Problem Measles Outbreak in Madagascar Quick Write What is your plan of action for revising your essay? 101 Peer Review and Intros In-Text Citation Quick Write Who is your audience? Who are you trying to convince with your argument? Who has the power to implement your solution? In-Text Citation Also called parenthetical citations. One Author: (Ramos 1) Two Authors: (Smith and Ramos 2) Three or more Authors: (Ramos et al. 2) Elevator Pitch An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in what you are speaking or writing about. Imagine you have one minute to present yourself and your ideas to someone who can implement your solution or make a change. What would you say in that one minute elevator ride to convince this person that your ideas are worthy of attention. You have ten floors to make a compelling case. Take a few minutes to figure out how to make your proposal professional, succinct, and interesting. Then, write it down. Introductions Introductions are very important. Much like an elevator pitch, an introduction has to make a good impression, grab your reader’s interest, and make them want to keep reading. Take the elevator pitch you just wrote and figure out how to work it into your introduction. The elevator pitch can work as the intro, or add to your intro, to make a case for reading the rest of the essay. Using Rhetoric Notes Ethos Research Unbiased Pathos Emotional Storytelling So What? Logos Logical History Facts Statistics Evidence Authority/Pros Background Include the Conversation Peer Review . Argument –  a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong. Remember, an argument uses reasons and evidence to persuade. Have you provided enough reasons and evidence to convince us of your position? Keep these things in mind. Peer edit the same way you revise your own work. Be specific in identifying problems or opportunities. Offer suggestions for improvement. Praise what is genuinely good in the paper. Check for: Is the writer’s tone appropriate? Who is the audience? Looking at the essay as a whole, what is the thesis or main idea? Is each paragraph adequately developed? Are there sufficient details and/or   supporting quotations? Quick Write What is your plan of action for revising your essay? Exam Review In small groups, come up with 3-4 lessons, readings, activities, etc. that helped you improve the most as a writer. Also, one reading that we should get rid of, if any. Questions to answer for exam review. What was the best lesson? What was the best reading? What was the hardest essay? What lesson helped you learn the most? What reading taught you something new? What was the worst lesson? What was the worst reading? What was the hardest reading? What was your favorite part of the class? What was your least favorite part of the class?

Critical event analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Critical event analysis - Essay Example Description of the Event What was the context surrounding the event? The incident I will write about took place during the first week of my placement at a local hospital and involved a patient known as Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith, who lived in an elder’s home nearby, had been rushed to the hospital when he started to experience breathing difficulties. Mr. Smith has in the past experienced a number of strokes that left him partially paralysed. He also has a lot of difficulty in swallowing and cannot speak clearly. At the care-giving home, Mr. Smith is dependent on his care-givers to perform personal duties such as bathing and eating. My mentor, a registered nurse who was given the responsibility of catering to Mr. Smith’s needs, asked me to accompany her to his ward. In the previous week, she had discussed various ways in which a nurse can feed an elderly patient with swallowing difficulties without harming him or her while ensuring that the patient consumes enough food. I was quite eager to start my placement duties and did not imagine that anything would faze me. I followed my mentor, who was carrying a large bowl of pureed carrots, down the quite corridor and into Mr. Smith’s room. There were many things that I had expected, but Mr. Smith’s visage was deeply alarming to me. What were the consequences of the actions taken for the patient and others involved? The patient started to cough loudly, with streams of what seemed to be phlegm issuing from his mouth and nose. At first, I was quite nauseated; and began to try and focus my attention on other things in the room. My mentor spoke sternly to Mr. Smith and informed him that he would eat the food brought to him even if he did not like it. There was not much struggle, but it was obvious that Mr. Smith was not happy about his meal. Reflection How were others feeling, what were the other perceptions involved? My mentor also appeared to be somewhat frustrated. She fed Mr. Smith calmly; but whe n he turned his face and made throaty noises, she put down the bowl and turned his face before feeding him. She did not speak, but I could sense her annoyance. My mentor was not saying anything to me during the episode of forced feeding- causing me to feel uncertain and somewhat flustered. Remaining calm even when operating under pressure is what contributes towards making good will decisions on how best to handle troubled or anxious patients (Chaloner 2007). I loudly observed to my mentor that Mr. Smith appeared to be coughing a lot possibly because of the forced feeding. Without looking up, my mentor mumbled that there was no other way to get food into Mr. Smith’s body and that coughing was a normal thing for him and should not worry me. Why did I and/ or others respond like they did? Critical reflection can help a student nurse to develop listening skills that will help him or her to become a better clinician (Dye 2006). My initial thoughts when my mentor began to feed Mr. Smith were of fear. I thought that I would be forced to watch him choke into unconsciousness; what with the way he was coughing. Also, I had not thought that I would be given responsibility for such an elderly patient. What values or beliefs were important and underpinned actions or ways of thinking by those involved in the event? I wanted to prove to my mentor that I could handle

Solar Thermal Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Solar Thermal Energy - Essay Example The first component of a solar thermal system is the solar collector. This is usually installed on the rooftop. It represents the major component of the system. It is made up of specially coated tubing that absorbs the solar radiation and converts it into heat. There is a need to minimize thermal losses. This need is addressed by embedding the tubing in a heat-insulated container that is equipped with a transparent cover. Inside this tubing, a heat transfer fluid flows inside and circulates between the collector and the hot water tank. This water is normally a mixture of water and an anti-freeze that is ecologically safe. The key part of the solar collector is the absorber, which comprises of several narrow metal strips. Typically, absorbers are made of aluminum or copper. These are good conductors of heat. These absorbers are often black so as to enable a high degree of light absorption. In order to reduce the loss of heat energy through heat emission, efficient absorbers have selective surface coating which enables the conversion a substantial amount of solar radiation into heat. This also reduces heat emission. The degree of absorption that can be provided by usual coatings is about 90% (Solar-is-Future.com 1). Selective coatings can also be applied using galvanizing, and such coatings include black nickel, black chrome, and aluminum oxide with nickel. As such, there are different types of solar collectors which include flat-plate collectors, parabolic collectors, and evacuated-tube collectors.

An Outline of Performance Anxiety in Female Athletes Essay Example for Free

An Outline of Performance Anxiety in Female Athletes Essay Have you ever felt an overwhelming feeling of fear or nervousness, prior to competing in an important event? Did it affect your ability to perform? If so, you may be familiar with performance anxiety. An athlete suffering from performance anxiety often will perceive competitive situations as threatening, which can result in feelings of apprehension, fearfulness and tension (Patel, Omar, Terry, 2010). Interestingly, studies have found the prevalence of sport-related performance anxiety to be much higher in female athletes than male athletes (Thatcher, Thatcher, Dorling, 2004, Patel et al, 2010). See more: essay apa format Thatcher (2004) found that while examining temporal patterning of anxiety and hormonal responses prior to competition, females exhibited an â€Å"increases in cognitive and somatic anxiety intensity levels.† These symptoms can often result in performance that is well below demonstrated abilities, injury, or avoidance of participation altogether. The goal of this report is to outline symptoms and effects of performance anxiety, discuss factors that influence the phenomenon, and recommend anxiety-management techniques for female athletes. Physical and Psychological Effects Athletes suffering from performance anxiety often exhibit cognitive, behavioural, and physiological signs and symptoms (Patel et al, 2010). Some of the main cognitive symptoms include; indecision, poor concentration, feelings of fear, and loss of self-esteem (Cox, 2007, p. 201). Behavioural signs and symptoms often consist of; demonstration of nervous habits, such as biting nails and fidgeting, withdrawal, aggressive or irritable behaviour, and perceived inability to compete. Physiological symptoms include; heightened blood pressure and heart rate, sweating, dry mouth, trembling, blushing and muscle tension (Patel et all, 2010). Hormonal changes can also play a role, as Thatcher (2004) found in his study, a decrease in adrenaline and nor adrenaline can be present in female athletes prior to competition. Factors and Influences Common factors that can contribute to performance anxiety include; fear of performance failure, negative social evaluation and/or physical harm, as well as disruption of a well learned routine (Cox, p.201, 2007). The effects of these factors can be further heightened in correlation with importance of an event, or the level of competition. These fears and feelings of anxiety may affect the athlete’s perception of their abilities and hinder their self-confidence, which can be detrimental to their performance. Patterns of perfectionism can also lead to sport-related anxiety, mainly involving setting exceptionally high performance standards of oneself (Cox, p.202, 2007). Setting high standards can often be beneficial to a performance, but athletes that succumb to unrealistic thoughts, that nothing but a perfect/ideal performance is good enough, are more likely to experience negative emotions and heightened levels of anxiety due to the discrepancy between ideal and current self/situation (Koivula, Hassmà ©n, Fallby, 2001). Recommendations Management of performance and competitive anxiety can be challenging. The first strategy would be to consult with a clinical psychologist, who will often suggest a behavioural approach. These approaches have been found to be the optimal coping strategy for sport-related anxiety, specifically Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) (Patel et al, 2010). CBT examines how attitudes, beliefs, opinions and behaviours are formed, how they affect success, and how changing them impacts on performance (Joseph, 2010, p.2). The aim of CBT is to target and address negative thoughts and behaviours that underline anxiety symptoms. This is done by enforcing cognitive restructuring such as positive self-talk, modifying negative self talk and challenging negative expectations, as well as implementing relaxation techniques, exposure methods and relapse prevention (Patel et al, 2010). Coaches can also play an influential role in the factors that affect the development of performance anxiety. Athletes who perceive their coaches as supportive of their efforts experience higher levels of sport enjoyment and lower anxiety. (Smith, Smoll, Cumming, 2007) Conclusion Performance anxiety can negatively affect an athlete’s state of mind, hindering their ability to successfully perform competitively, more commonly seen in female athletes. The physical and psychological effects can cause heightened stress in an athlete which can result in complete withdrawal from competition. Behavioural and cognitive interventions are used to teach the athlete coping skills and enforce relapse prevention plans, in hopes to rid the athlete of performance anxiety sign and symptoms.

Edwin S. Porter :: essays research papers

Edwin S. Porter was both a film pioneer and director. He was a film pioneer because he made people come back to the theaters and start watching movies. His movies also were good because they told a story by editing the move. Being a director he made some of the greatest films in 1902 and 1903. In 1902 he directed The Life of an American Fireman and in 1903 The Great Train Robbery. With these two skills he was able to direct great films and use special camera shots not know of at that present time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Porter was born on April 21st 1870 in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. There was not really any information on his parents but they did his parents first named him Edward. Since he was pudgy people use to call him Betty. There was really no information on why they called him Betty but I am sure it meant something. In 1893 he joined United States Navy and changed his name. He changed his name to Edwin Stanton instead of Edward Stanton. He changed it after Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton before he went into the Navy. They did not go into any detail on why he did it but my guess is he did not like his name and changed it. In the resources that I found I could not find much information about the rest of his family. I could not even find any information on what he did in his early years. The earliest I could find was starting in 1893.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1895 he started to work for the Vitascope Marketing Company. He would use his talent of electrical engineering with the company. With Vitascope he was in the project of the first projected movie that was shown in New York. That date was April 23rd 1896. He used his skills in engineering at Edison’s Manufacturing Company’s Laboratory. He let Edison for a while and went to Eden Musee Theatre in New York where he an operator. He was in charge of getting the films and projecting them onto the screen. His duties also were kind of illegal because he took a lot of films and edited them together to make fifteen-minute films. He would also take some of Melies films and put them into the show, since he like some of Melies work. The films would range from historical Wars and news films.

Amazon.Com’s European Distribution Strategy

Amazon Amazon is one of the biggest and most famous online stores in the world. It is divided into several independent organizations like Amazon Europe, Amazon US and Amazon Japan. Amazon was founded in 1995 by Jeff Bezos. At the beginning it was just a platform for selling books at soon it became the world’s biggest bookstore with up to 2,5 million different titles. Their strategy was clear and easy: hold modest inventories and rely on wholesalers. The wholesaler can fulfill the order quickly while Amazon employees pick and pack the order and ship it to the customer.In 1996 Amazon grew really quickly by expansion of their distribution center, increasing number of titles and software development. In 1998 they were not longer a bookshop any more but expanded their product lines to music and videos. However, they had to face tough competition, especially in 1998. So remain the leader of theonline stores Amazon decided to pursue a â€Å"get big fast† strategy to increase t heir revenue. Therefore they added new product lines and adapted its supply chain and distribution network.One big decision was also where they should locate their distribution center and how many they should build. Amazons pick was a distribution center in Nevada, Kansas and Dallas. Soon also three more centers were added to serve the Midwest and the Southeast. The next step was to choose which product types each of the distributions centers should carry. After that they had to make a decision regarding the equipment in the new distribution centers and the technology used in their warehouses.Finally, to maintain high levels of quality and productivity in its distribution centers, Amazon developed key metrics to measure worker performance, including number of items picked per hour, free replacement rate, inventory accuracy, number of hours from order confirmation to shipment, and cost per unit shipped. Performance information was routinely shared with individual workers. In 2000 the new Vice President of Operations Wilke started with teaching the staff to use a special method to reduce variations and defects.This approach was later also used to improve the inventory record accuracy. Moreover, Wilke hired staff to stimulate holiday season conditions and he made arrangements for additional storage capacity. On top of that Wilke also focused on inventory optimization in the fulfillment network. To have the products at the right time available will easily decrease Amazons inventory costs. There were several ideas to improve the inventory management: 1)Refine the software used to forecast customer demand )Establish buying rules to better allocate volumes among wholesalers 3)Integrate its supply management system with its own inventory, warehouse and transportation system 4)Implement buying rules to determine which supplier offers the best price and delivery options 5)Having â€Å"drop ship† orders which means that the product is directly shipped to the custo mer without going through an Amazon distribution center 6)Partner with other companies, with Amazon handling order fulfillment and the partner covers the costs for the inventoryThe last two points were just idea and never realized. Amazon entered Europe through the two countries Germany and the UK. To enter those markets Amazon acquired a leading online store in each country and the two sites were re- launched under the Amazon brand. In 2000 Amazon continued its expansion and entered France. They did not use the same strategy as in Germany and the UK, but build their site from scratch. However, there were several challenges to enter the European market. They had to be aware of the cultural differences in Europe.First, Amazon adapted their website always a little bit to the needs of the country; secondly, they needed to address the selling regulations in each country. Another very important point was the payment options. Because there were not many people in Europe using credit card they had to offer local paying possibilities. On top they recognized that it was impossible to replicate the US procurement strategy in Germany and France because of different supplier market factors. To implement these strategic choices Amazon in Germany, France and the UK were managed as independent Amazon subsidiaries.Each country has its own organizations and was headed by a country manager and every country has its own warehouse. Amazon also was evaluating opportunities to expand in other European countries. Amazon Europe needed to build up its infrastructure to support this ambitious vision. In June 2002, Tom Taylor was transferred from Seattle to London to address some of these issues. In the longer term, Taylor wondered which infrastructure would best support Amazon Europe’s growth potential. Amazon’s decentralized fulfillment model seemed to offer opportunities for rationalization and cost savings.One option was to link all distributions centers. The other opt ion was to keep the three distribution centers. There were also different options about the inventory in these three centers. One could hold the inventory in all three centers or just in selected ones. Another question was regarding the location of the distribution centers. Solution First there was the option of only one distribution center in Europe. This strategy certainly has advantages with regard to lower overhead costs, simplified internal communication, and increased bargaining power due to higher allocation volumes.Considering only the difficulties already encountered in attempting to coordinate national postal carriers for a trustworthy delivery service to international customers, the option to centralize delivery from the UK to all European markets would be a step in the wrong direction. This was a clear difference to the US market; where there was only one postal service serving the entire nation. Express delivery would further complicate matters, as European markets vari ed with regard to provider and service, another problem not encountered in the US.Since delivery time and quality are crucial to success at Amazon, this restructuring option was quickly eliminated from the list of alternatives. The division of Europe into North/South or East/West sectors, to be served by two Distribution Centers, would likely reduce delivery times in many markets and eliminate some of the difficulties associated with the single DC alternative. Compared to the current structure, cost savings could be achieved and activities could be bundled according to regional demands or opportunities (i. e. egal or financial flexibility). This structure would emulate the solution realized in the initial growth period in the US, where a DC was located on each coast, however there would be similar problems as noted above with the coordination of national postal carriers. Another primary difference compared to the US market could be seen with regard to regional consumer preferences a nd tastes. While the US product selection was largely similar, and a common language was used throughout, product selection and language differs from country to country in Europe.Expectations with respect to delivery time, service, payment methods, etc. also vary greatly among European markets and do not compare to the credit card-friendly and on-line purchase-accustomed customers in the US. A two-DC solution may likely not be able to offer the flexibility needed to serve the individual European markets properly. Considering that the three European locations are fully-functional, another alternative would be to simply keep the existing facilities while reallocating services and processes according to cost and service factors.One obvious advantage would be recognized in not needing to relocate or build/acquire new infrastructure. Activities could be spread among the three locations, for example books, media and smaller items in France, Marketplace headquarters in the UK, and bulk or special order items in Germany. This would allow for specialization of services and a clear distinction of functions for management of operations in Europe. In contrast, all services could continue to be provided in all locations, with the addition of products and Marketplace activities in each of the three.Expansion into further markets may be allocated to one of the DC's according to geographic proximity or if applicable, according to financial or logistical aspects. Disadvantages include duplication of activities and infrastructure, increased demand for management and personnel, and the administration/coordination of multiple and varying IT systems (including the integration of manual and automated systems). Our team of analysts proposes a solution which integrates components from each of the aforementioned alternatives.Due to the fact that consumer preferences and expectations vary significantly among markets, and since delivery systems are also not consistent from country to co untry, each market should be served as locally as possible. This does not exclude the option of bundling some functions in specific locations; in fact this should be undertaken. Marketplace activities, for instance, shall be centralized in the UK, since this activity mainly is based on and requires IT functionality.The central functions Customer Service and Procurement also shall be allocated to the UK. With respect to the expansion of product lines, this should be done according to regional/international classification. Items which are non-country or language specific, such as CD's, electronics, hardware, etc. can be allocated and administered at a central European location; in this case France may be selected. Bulk items would be the responsibility of a continental-based facility as well, preferably Germany due to its central location.Any country or language-specific items, i. e. books, fashion apparel, home decor, etc. shall be administered in mini-DC's located within each market . This would assure the â€Å"local touch† required by customers, and would allow for more effective negotiations with local market suppliers. Newly added markets could first be served from the existing three, with the establishment of a mini-DC in the market as soon as the product volume, logistic opportunities and demands, as well as customer buying behaviors are sufficient to justify local investment.Without a doubt, the solution our group has provided leads to higher costs and increased complexity in a number of areas. However, the underlying principle was to devise a way to build the brand and company image in a similar way that was successful in the US market – serving the customer in a quick and simple way. At the same time, the bundling of core functions offers an opportunity to reduce costs and redundancy.