Steps for improvement in future for flipkart Essay Example for Free

Steps for improvement in future for flipkart Essay The e-Commerce market in India has enjoyed phenomenal growth of almost 50% in the last five years. Although the trend of e-Commerce has been making rounds in India for 15 years, the appropriate ecosystem has now started to fall in place. The considerable rise in the number of internet users, growing acceptability of online payments, the more number of internet-enabled devices and favorable circumstances are the key factors driving the growth story of e-Commerce in the country. The number of users making online transactions has been on a rapid growth trajectory, and it is expected to grow from 11 million in 2011 to 38 million in 2015. Flipkart is a leading e-Commerce company which has established itself now as the fastest growing mid-sized company. Backed by a funding of $31 million, the company is set to grow from five warehouses and 35 delivery centers to 35 warehouses and more than 60 delivery centers across the country. But, with wide expansion in various sectors, greater range of challenges also come across. By large, major challenges that the company faces are :- 1. Customer Satisfaction. 2. Market Expansion. 3. Best Economic Use of Funds. Keeping in mind the above challenges, few steps that can be taken by the company to improve upon its brand value in future according to me are :- Making Customer Satisfaction #1 priority In a market where even a single customer plays an important role, it becomes very important to make sure that the customer is treated in the best possible way. But, in practicality, this is very difficult and we have experienced it ourselves. How many times has it happened that you didn’t get your order on time? I guess many!! So, here are 4 key factors that can heavily influence customer satisfaction which need to be taken care of if flipkart wants to keep ahead of its competitors. 1. Accuracy (Right Product): In accordance with Wyatt Earps belief that â€Å"fast is fine, but accuracy is everything†, we can understand the pivotal role that receiving the right product plays in determining customer satisfaction. In a recent survey, approximately one out of every three respondents (29%) said that they would abandon shopping altogether with a retailer if they received one incorrect delivery. This equates not only to one lost customer for life, but combined with the impact of social media and word of mouth, this could seriously impact brand image and performance. Therefore, it is immeasurably important to run multiple accuracy checks, run by multiple employees to reduce the risk of errors. 2. On Time Delivery: According to a survey from Comscore, 42% of shoppers have ABANDONED an online shopping cart because of the delivery date. Communication of the expected delivery date of the order is critical to setting the correct expectation of the consumer. Conversely, 41% of shoppers RECOMMENDED a retailer when they received their product when expected which can lead to increased loyalty and new customers. Speed is crucial to ecommerce operations. The ability to turnaround orders within the same or next day is highly recommended. 3. Order Tracking: has in recent years become a necessity for online retailers with 75% of customers believing it is a service that every retailer should offer. These primarily include email notifications containing a unique tracking number as well as having the ability to check directly on the retailers website for the tracking information whether it is pending, en route or arrived 4. Discounts and Coupons: Many consumers these days come to online shopping sites only because of vast number of discounts and coupons and this can highly influence customer loyalty. According to Comscore, 95% of respondents have recommended a retailer due to the availability of discounts and coupons. Retailers should clearly state their terms and conditions for discounts and coupons on their website so it’s clear to the consumer before they checkout. CHANGING TRENDS IN INTERNET USE The mobile internet user base is growing, aided by the introduction of 3G data plans and declining smartphone prices. Several smartphone models are available at less than Rs. 8000 in the Indian market. Mobile internet users are expected to account for more than 60% of the user base in India, considering that their number is forecast to reach 200 million by 2015. Telecom operators are incentivizing mobile internet usage by reducing tariffs and providing unlimited usage facilities. They are offering unlimited internet browsing plans at a lowly price of Rs. 200 per month to their GSM customers. Within six months of the launch of 3G, the number of connections reached 10 million, closely matching the number of broadband subscribers. UNDERDEVELOPED USER EXPERIENCE The growth of mobile internet is encouraging. However, experience on e-Commerce websites also needs to be improved, since most of these sites are not optimized for use on mobile devices. Furthermore, not all e-Commerce sites have developed mobile apps. Given that an increasing number of people would access internet on their mobile devices, e-Commerce players need to step up and develop mobile websites and apps for major mobile platforms. MAKING YOUR PRESENCE FELT ON 3rd PARTY WEBSITES It is one of the major solutions for your e-Commerce business as you should list your complete range of products on 3rd party sites in order to get more attention and visitors. However, 3rd party shopping sites are highly popular on the web and visited by lots of visitors. Today, there are lots of shoppers, who are visiting these websites in order to compare the products, so it is highly important for you to make your products visible. You always try to make your products as visible as possible so that people come to know about your products and services. When it comes to talk about some popular 3rd party shopping sites, Google shopping, eBay and Buy.com are some most popular sites to increase incremental revenue. ENHANCING PAGE LOAD SPEED Then it comes to enhance page load speed, you should consider pictures and images that you have on your page. However, it is a common problem with e-Commerce websites as the websites have lots of images of products, so this problem is quite difficult to face, but retailers can easily resize their product images and use different formats like .pang that surely help. All the e-Commerce websites try to enhance page load speed so that their customers easily visit their website and load each and every page without nay hassle. Giving what the Indian customers really want and understanding their mindset. ‘Touch and Feel’ factors: Indian customers are more comfortable in buying products physically. They tend to choose the product by touching the product directly. Thereby, Indian buyers are more inclined to do ticketing and booking online in Travel sectors, books and electronics. Companies dealing with products like apparel, handicrafts, jewelry have to face challenges to sell their products as the buyers want to see and touch before they buy these stuffs. Cash On Delivery: Cash on Delivery (COD) has evolved out of less penetration of credit card in India. Most of Indian E-commerce companies are offering COD as one of mode of payment for the buyers. 30%-50% of buyers are also taking advantage of this mode of payment while making purchase of any product and service over internet. COD has been introduced to counter the payment security issues of online transaction, but this mode has been proving to be loss and expensive to the companies. It is seen that majority of the customers denied to make the payment at the time of delivery of the product. Hence, companies tend to lose the sale along with product transit fees. In order to curb the problem of COD, online companies should take some judicial steps; otherwise basic logic behind the ecommerce business will be at risk. Online Transaction: Most of Indian customers do not possess credit card, debit card and net banking system, which is one of the prime reasons to curtail the growth of ecommerce. Nevertheless, in recent years, some of the nationalized banks have started to issue debit cards to all its account holders. Third-party online payment solution China’s leading third-party online payment solution allows individuals and businesses to execute payments online in a secure manner. Its escrow service has made consumers confident about conducting online transactions without being concerned about product delivery and quality. This is because payment is only released to sellers when consumers confirm the delivery of orders. Expansion of market instead of taking market share from the competitors. One more area where flipkart can expand its market is into the Online Travel Market. Some encouraging points of online travel market are :- Indian travel industry among the fastest growing in the world Growth in India’s travel and tourism industry is the second fastest worldwide. According to a Deutsche Bank report, the industry would grow at a CAGR of 10% to reach US$111 billion by 2020. The growth of the services sector (thereby leading to rising household income, an expanding middle class and more inbound and outbound tourism) is responsible for this rapid growth. Decade of air travel The civil aviation sector in India has witnessed favorable developments in the last decade. India is the ninth-largest civil aviation market in the world and is poised to feature among the top five global markets over the next decade. Airline passenger traffic rose rapidly from 59.3 million in 2005 to 162.3 million in 2012. Indians now travelling more†¦ Inbound and outbound travel for both business and leisure has increased. Spending on domestic and international travel by Indian travelers is forecast to touch US$1.4 billion and US$426 million, respectively, by 2013. This has prompted domestic full service carriers and LCCs to expand their networks by offering connectivity to near-shore destinations such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Dubai and Nepal, thus aiding in the growth of online travel.

Astrocyte-Neuron Lactate Shuttle and Hemodynamic Brain Scans Essay

Astrocyte-Neuron Lactate Shuttle and Hemodynamic Brain Scans Hemodynamic brain scans such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) have been of immense utility in the neuroscience fields in illuminating the components and modulation of brain function. However, these hemodynamic brain scans have afforded utility without brain scientists truly understanding the mechanism by which they produce signals. Previously, it had been accepted without verification that the images produced by such techniques were direct results of neuronal activity. However, new techniques in studying brain function have revealed that when astrocyte activity is inhibited, hemodependent brain scans do not function (Halber 2008). Additionally, other studies have demonstrated that astrocytes display finely tuned responses to stimuli (Halber 2008) which are amenable to communication with each other in networks via calcium-wave propagation. In light of these new findings in regards to astrocyte function and communication, their influence on hemodynamic brain scans would offer much lucidity to our current understanding of neuropathology and neuromodulation. General Findings of Astrocytic Influence on Brain Scans Both PET and fMRI scans are hemodependent brain scans. However, the mechanism by which each works do differ from each other by which fundamental principle of blood flow they measure. In fMRI, a BOLD-signal (blood-oxygen-level-dependent) measurement is utilized which is then translated into working images. PET scans require a radioactive labeled tracer which accumulates in areas of activation. These active areas are then expressed in imaging techniques that interpret the level of activation. However,... ...arch 2009. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2008.11.005 Mo. (2008, June 20). Starring role in the brain for astrocytes [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2008/06/astrocytes_starring_role_in_the_brain.php Schummers, J., Yu, H., & Sur, M. (2008). Tuned responses of astrocytes and their influence on hemodynamic signals in the visual cortex. Science, 320, 1638-1643. doi: 10.1126/science.1156120 Segelken, R. (2004). CU laser microscopy technique settles brain chemistry debate, could aid studies of Alzheimer’s, stroke damage. Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.news.cornell.edu/chronicle/04/7.1.04/astrocyte-neuron.html Vaishnavi S.N., Vlassenko A.G., Rundle M.M., Snyder A.Z., Mintun M.A., Raichle, M.E., (2010). Regional aerobic glycolysis in the human brain. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U SA. 107, 17757–17762. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1010459107

Psychological Assessment and Testing Essay

Several websites that discuss psychological assessment and testing are scattered throughout the Internet. These psychological-based sites help students, experts and ordinary people to discern the basic concepts of psychology and recognize its various functions. One of the functions of psychological assessment and testing websites is to determine and somehow predict and pinpoint the possible psychological problem that an individual experienced. In this paper, two peer reviewed articles from two different websites devoted to psychology will be critically evaluated to illustrate the importance and role of psychological assessment and testing. The first website is www. apa. org, the title of the article is ‘How is Psychopathology Assessed in Older Adults? ’ The author of the article is the American Psychological Association. The problem deals specifically to the assessment of ‘older adults’ which are 65 years old and above. The authors list and identify several types of psychopathological assessment for older adults. The identification of the different types of assessment and test regarding the psychopathology in older adults help students, experts and other concerned individual understand the process and the meaning of the said assessments. The group hypothesize that dimensional type (age-based) of analysis is better than categorical type (illness-based) analysis in the case of older adults. The research design they used is a qualitative design. The methodology that they used is historical research wherein they analyze the data from previous works to find a generalization from deduction that can help in understanding the past, present and even future trends regarding the psychopathological assessment in older adults. They conducted their research through a comparison of the different screening measures used for older adults. The authors suggested that the Geriatric Depression Scale is the most useful due to the fact that it is age related, it can assess those who are cognitively impaired since it can either be oral or written and it is not depressive. They compared the BECK Anxiety Scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Cage and Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test-Geriatric version, the MMPI-2 test, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic Apperception Test. The authors decided to find out which assessment is most applicable and helpful since no standard exist regarding the psychopathological assessment of adults. The second website is www. mental-health-matters. com, the article is entitled ‘Personality and Stress? ’ The author was Gillian Darby, a psychologist and affiliated to Get Mental Help, Inc. The research problem was concerned on the possible relationship between personality and stress. It was important to identify the relationship to help caution those people with a personality prone to stress regarding future problems and help them understand themselves better through stress-management activities. Darby hypothesize that those who posses type ‘A’ personality are more prone to stress. Darby further elaborates that hose with type ‘B’ personality were often less aggressive and are therefore less prone to stress. The research design that was used was a qualitative research. Using this research design, Darby tries to explore the connections that exist between type ‘A’ personality and stress. The methodology that the author used is data analysis to be able to formulate the pattern/s and principle/s involve. Darby used literature review and case study review. The author included a personality test in the article to help readers qualify their personality type. Therefore the article showed the possibility that psychological assessment of personality can affect stress levels which might also lead to stress-related illness such as heart diseases. Both websites and articles proved that indeed the use of psychological assessment and test are helpful and educational. Psychological assessments help individuals to evaluate themselves. Thus, the websites and articles can also be considered as self-help materials. Psychological assessments and testing are in themselves important in understanding oneself and promoting good health and healthy living since. Second Part The article ‘How is Psychopathology Assessed in Older Adults? ’ could help medical practitioners or concerned individuals identify the best or most applicable type of assessment for the older adult patient. Most specifically, the group believes that Geriatric Depression Scale is most useful due to its nature which is somehow considerate of the older adult’s psychological state. Nevertheless, whenever these type of assessment might not be applicable, several other test and scales are presented. The article can be helpful in assisting the patient with information regarding the Psychopathology of his illness or problem. The suggestion and study in the article can be treated to be of primary importance to the medical practitioner or attendant upon admission of the patient. In case that the Geriatric Depression Scale is not applicable to the patient, the article mentioned other relevant Psychopathological assessment scales and test. If possible the Geriatric Depression Scale can be use in conjunction with another scale or test to get a better view of the psychopathology of the patient. Particularly, the assessment recommended by the group is ‘most useful’ due to the fact that it tries to focus on the medical cause of the problems by eliminating depressive questions. Geriatric Depression Scale unlike other Psychopathology Scale is not lengthy and can be answered or done orally. This somehow helped the patient minimize the effort and stress that accompanies answering lengthy and technical assessment test. The second article is about ‘Personality and Stress’. In this article, the patient will be asked to answer a questionnaire or personality test which would determine whether he/she has a type â€Å"A† or a type â€Å"B† personality. A person who understands his/her situation and behavior would normally perform better than those who cannot acknowledge or is not aware of his or her behavior and personality. Thus, with the use of the personality test employ in the article, a person is able to check him/her self and the situation. The person might opt to try new types of defense mechanism against stress or the person might want to seek professional advice regarding management of stress. As a common knowledge, stress often times leads to heart diseases. Since the article affirms that people with type â€Å"A† personality are prone to stress, it prompts necessary actions to control or reduce the possibility of heart disease. The person might try low cholesterol diet or engage in regular exercise. According to article, studies revealed that those who has type â€Å"A† personality are less relaxed than those with type â€Å"B†. This shows that the treatment for stress in the two types of personality should also vary. A medical practitioner, a psychologist or a counselor will find it easier to prescribe treatment if the cause of the illness or the source of the illness is identified. A person who has personality problems may not be treated properly with medication alone if the person still receive the same stressors at work or at home (several work load, weather, pets, traffic, etc). In case that the person already has a heart disease, knowing the personality type can help the family and the patient understands the things that can worsen the situation. For instance, a patient can understand himself better and the reason why he felt stress out. The patient might try to avoid the things that made him lose his temper. The counselor can also administer the necessary advice for the patient, since a type â€Å"A† personality is usually aggressive and critical. References: American Psychological Association. ‘How is Psychopathology Assessed in Older Adults? ’ Retrieved on January 5, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http://www. apa. org/pi/aging/practitioners/assessment05. html Darby, G. 2007. ‘Personality and Stress’ Retrieved on January 6, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http://www. mental-health-matters. com/articles/article. php? artID=1323

Traditional (School) Grammar Definition and Examples

The term traditional grammar  generally refers to the collection of prescriptive rules and concepts about the structure of language that is commonly taught in schools. Traditional English grammar (also known as school grammar) is largely based on the principles of Latin grammar, not on current linguistic research in English. See Examples and Observations below. Also, see: CodificationCorrectnessCurrent-Traditional RhetoricEnglish GrammarMake-Believe Grammar, by Gertrude BuckSentence DiagrammingTen Types of GrammarUsageWhat Are the Parts of Speech?What Is the Difference Between Grammar and Usage? Observations We say that traditional grammar is prescriptive because it focuses on the distinction between what some people do with language and what they ought to do with it, according to a pre-established standard. . . . The chief goal of traditional grammar, therefore, is perpetuating a historical model of what supposedly constitutes proper language.(James D. Williams, The Teachers Grammar Book. Routledge, 2005)[G]rammarians of the 2000s are the inheritors of the distortions and limitations imposed on English by two centuries of a Latinate perspective.(David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge University Press, 2003)From Traditional Grammar to Sentence GrammarThe first English grammars were translations of Latin grammars that had been translations of Greek grammars in a tradition that was already some two-thousand years old. Furthermore, from the seventeenth century through the first half of the nineteenth century, there were no substantial changes made in th e form of English grammar books or in the way English grammar was taught. When people talk about traditional grammar, this is the tradition they mean, or ought to mean. . . .Traditional grammar began to be challenged around the middle of the [nineteenth] century, when the second major development in grammar teaching appeared. There is no very good name for this second development but we might call it sentence grammar. Whereas traditional grammar focused primarily on the word (hence its preoccupation with parts of speech), the new grammar of the 1850s focused on the sentence. . . . It began to emphasize the grammatical importance of word order and function words . . . in addition to the few inflexional endings in English.(John Algeo, Linguistics: Where Do We Go From Here? The English Journal, January 1969)George Hillocks on the Negative Effects of Teaching Traditional GrammarThe study of traditional school grammar (i.e., the definition of parts of speech, the parsing of sentences, et c.) has no effect on raising the quality of student writing. Every other focus of instruction examined in this review is stronger. Taught in certain ways, grammar and mechanics instruction has a deleterious effect on student writing. In some studies a heavy emphasis on mechanics and usage (e.g., marking every error) resulted in significant losses in overall quality. School boards, administrators, and teachers who impose the systematic study of traditional school grammar on their students over lengthy periods of time in the name of teaching writing do them a gross disservice that should not be tolerated by anyone concerned with the effective teaching of good writing. We need to learn how to teach standard usage and mechanics after careful analysis and with minimal grammar.(George Hillocks, Research on Written Composition: New Directions for Teaching. National Council of Teachers, 1986)The Persistence of Traditional GrammarWhy do the media cling to traditional grammar and its sometime s outdated rules? Mainly because they like the prescriptive approach of traditional grammar rather than the descriptive approach of structural and transformational grammar. . . .Why? Inconsistencies in the style of a newspaper, online news site, magazine or book draw attention to themselves when readers should instead be concentrating on the content. . . .Besides, consistencies save time and money. . . . If we agree on conventions, we can avoid wasting each others time . . ..But the prescriptive rules have to be amended occasionally to reflect not only changes in the language but also research that proves traditional advice may have been inaccurate. The work of linguists is essential for making such calls on the best evidence available.(Brian Brooks, James Pinson, and Jean Gaddy Wilson, Working with Words. Macmillan, 2005)