Iwantto Become a Rapper

Name:English 11H Chapter 18-30 Questions Due Monday, March 11! (pages 89-151) 1. What is symbolic about Edna considering the Ratignolles’ life French and foreign? The concept of marriage has become foreign to her. The Ratignolles purpose of life is much different from hers. 2. Why does Edna pity Adele after witnessing this marital bliss? Edna pities Adele because Adele will never know Edna’s true feelings about her desire to be an independent women and her desire to make love with another man. Adele has a different perspective of life than Edna which makes it hard for her to tell her true desire. . Why is it more powerful for Edna to neglect her household than to have temper tantrums? If Edna neglects her household she would get more of a reaction from Lenoce than to have a temper tantrum. 4. Why does it make sense that Adele wouldn’t like Mademoiselle Reisz? Adele is the exact opposite than Mademoiselle Reisz in what Adele believes in. They have different views in life. Adele is more of a house wife who enjoys being around her family while Mademoiselle Reisz is more independent , she is unmarried and also childless, she focuses on herself more than others. 5.Why do Robert’s letters fill Edna with despondency? Most of his letters were not sent to Edna but the ones that were had no emotions to it. 6. What is the centerpiece of Mademoiselle Reisz’s apartment? She has a piano at the centerpiece. 7. What does M. Reisz tell Edna about being an artist? That in order to be an artist , she must possess a courageous soul that dares and defies 8. Why does Leonce go to consult Dr. Mandelet? The change in Edna’s behavior. 9. What does Dr. Mandelet fear is the cause of Edna’s change? That she may like another man. 10. What is Edna and her father’s relationship like?They are not is not affectionate. He believes that husbands should take authority over their wives which Edna oppose. Chapter 18-30 Questions Due Monday, Ma rch 11! (pages 89-151) 11. How does Edna feel and act toward Leonce right before he leaves for a long trip to NY? She actually gets a bit emotional and starts tearing up when Leonce leaves. she feels sad but not for to long. 12. How does Edna feel after Leonce and the children have gone? She feels at peace and free. 13. Who is Alcee Arobin and where did Edna meet him? A man that Edna starts having feeling for.They met at the horse race at Grand Isle. 14. Why is Edna making preparations to move to another house while Leonce is away? So she would think about Leonce possession over her. She want to be able to forget about him and think more about herself. 15. Is Leonce aware of Edna’s plans? Yes but he doesn’t agree with her. 16. Why does Edna say she is a wicked woman? 17. What specifically does Edna not feel for her relationship with Alcee Arobin? She doesn’t feel love for Alcee but lust 18. What does Edna take from the old house to the new? 19. Why is Adele unab le to attend Edna’s dinner party?

Target Financial Analysis

Juan A. Torres Rodriguez D01596038 Mini Case Assignment Target Corp. started in 1902 as Dayton’s Dry Goods company. At 1911, Dayton’s Dry Goods is renames as Dayton Company, and commonly known as Dayton’s Department Store. In 1946 Dayton’s Department Stores started giving the community back 5% of their pretax profits, a practice that Target Corp still maintains. During the 1960’s Dayton’s create a new kind of store to appeal the masses called Target, opening the first Target store in the Twin Cities on May 1, 1962. The industry sector in which Target Corporation competes is in the retail sector reaching the $62. 7 Billion in sales. As mentioned above, Target competes in the retail sector, which makes the operating risks of the company mainly focused on customer’s perceptions, differentiation of brand, and anticipating consumer preferences to boost their sales, gross margin and profitability. If we take a look at Target’s 10K, th e first risk factor they mention is the ability of differentiate the business from other retailers by creating attractive value propositions through a careful combination of price, merchandise assortment, convenience, guest service and marketing efforts.Another risk that all companies in this sector face is the macroeconomic condition of the country and the impact this has in their consumers. This lead us to the financial risk the company might have. One of the financial risks we have to consider in any type of company is the debt to total capitalization ratio. Based on financial information of their 2011 report, we can calculate the debt to total capitalization ratio in the following manner: Total debt: 15,726 million Total stockholder’s equity: 15,487 million, therefore: 15,726 / 31,213= . 50 or 50%Comparing their debt to total capitalization ratio with industry average, Target’s is too high. The industry debt to total capitalization ratio is 0. 36. Comparing the fin ancial information of previous years Target went from 0. 58 in 2009 to 0. 52 in 2010, to 0. 50 in 2011. Overall, Target is improving significantly their debt to capitalization ratio, but still has some work to do. In regards of Target stock, currently they don’t have any preferred stock outstanding, just common stock. Target’s common stock is traded in the NYSE as TGT. The price of it’s common stock as of today is $62. 0, going up 0. 06 points. Target’s cash dividend yield on the Common Stock is 0. 0192 = 1. 92% = 2. 0: Cash dividends declared per share: $1. 20 Current stock price: $62. 50 Cash dividend yield= 1. 15 dividends declared/ 62. 50 stock price = 1. 92 = 2. 0 Target’s market capitalization is: 668. 4 million shares issued and outstanding x $62. 50 of stock prices = 41. 8 Billion Continuing with Target’s capital structure, if we look at Target’s liabilities section: Short portion of Long-Term Debt = $3. 3 Billion Long-term de bt = $15. 2 Billion Therefore the total debt for Target would be: . 3 B + 15. 2 B = 18. 5 Billion Dollars Taking the previous calculation of Targets market capitalization of 41. 8 the total capitalization would be: 18. 5 B + 41. 8 B = 60. 3 Billion, or: 31% Debt 69% Equity As of November 18, 2012, Target’s current beta is . 48. Now if we would like to calculate what would be Target’s new beta without the long-term debt (unlevered beta) we need to use the Hamada formula for the unlevered beta bu= b/ [1 +(1-T)(D/S) bu= . 48 / [ 1 + (1-34. 3%) (18. 5/40. 6)] bu= . 37 If Target would not have any long-term debt, its beta would be of . 7. Moving to Target’s current Marginal Tax Rate, according to the Income Statement found at Target’s annual report, the rate is 34. 3%. In order to calculate Target’s Cost of debt before and after taxes, we need to look for the bonds issued by a corporation. Since Target has not issued bonds, I took the cost of a long-ter m debt due in 2020 as my example. The rate of that long-term debt is 3. 875%. This would be the Cost of debt before any taxes taken. Now to calculate the Cost of Debt after tax, we need to proceed with the following calculation: 3. 875 ( 1 – 34. %) = 2. 545875 As mentioned before, Target doesn’t have any preferred stock. We can calculate the Cost of Equity using the Risk Free Rate of 3. 00% and a Risk Premium of 7. 5% points. Using the new beta of . 48 we can determine what is the Expected Total return by Common Stockholders: rRF = 3. 00 rRP = 7. 5 b= . 48 Cost of Equity = rRF + (rRP x b) =3. 00% + (7. 5% pts x 0. 48) = 0. 066 ? 6. 6% Given the dividend yield of 2. 0 we can also determine the Expected annual appreciation of Target’s Common Stock: 6. 6% Total Return – 2. 0 Dividend Yield = 4. % of E. A. A. With the previous information calculated we could proceed and calculate the Weighted Average Cost of Capital: wd = 31% ws = 69% rs = 6. 6% rd = 3. 875% Tax = 34. 3 WACC = wd ( 1 – T)rd + ws(rs) =31% ( 1 – 34. 3%) 3. 875% + (69% x 6. 6%) = 0. 053432 = 5. 3432% One of the last things used to evaluate in order to consider investing in a company is its Price Earnings Multiple. Target’s Price Earnings Multiple is calculated the following way: Stock Price= $62. 50 Earnings Per Share = $4. 50 P/E = Stock Price / EPS = 62. 50 / 4. 50 = 13. 89If we compare Target’s P/E ratio with Wal-Mart, which is in the same industry, (14. 03 P/E), Target’s P/E is within ndustry. http://finance. yahoo. com/q/bc? s=TGT+Basic+Chart&t=5y This chart was retrieved from Yahoo! Financial. In here we can see the performance of Target’s Stock (TGT) during the past five years. In 2008 Target’s started at approximately $55. 00; looking at 2009, the stock plummeted from the 60’s to the mid 20’s, which reflects the market crash. After this episode in the economy we can see that Target’s stock has re covered significantly.After performing the calculations, Target’s capital structure is optimal. However, the debt to capitalization ratio is high, at 50%. Target needs to lower its Long-Term Debt. Comparing Target’s debt to capital to the industry average, the industry average is 0. 36. However I would invest in Target. I think I would have an advantage over outsiders, because I used to work at Target Corporation. Target is a company that is constantly growing, and their sales demonstrate their market advantage over other retailers. What convinced me to invest into Target mostly was the P/E ratio.Comparing it to a corporation like Wal-Mart, which is really successful, Target’s P/E ratio is acceptable and attractive. References 1. Scovaner, Douglas A. (2011). Target 2011 Annual Report. Retrieved on November 18, 2012: https://corporate. target. com/annual-reports/2011/images/company/annual_report_2011/documents/Target_2011_Annual_Report. pdf 2. Stock Analysis on n et. (2012). Retrieved on November 18, 2012. http://www. stock-analysis-on. net/NYSE/Company/Target-Corp/Ratios/Long-term-Debt-and-Solvency#Debt-to-Capital 3. Retrieved on November 18, 2012 http://ycharts. com/companies/TGT/pe_ratio 4.Yahoo! Finance. (2012). Retrieved on November 18, 2012. http://finance. yahoo. com/q/bc? s=TGT+Basic+Chart&t=5y ——————————————– [ 1 ]. https://corporate. target. com/annual-reports/2011/images/company/annual_report_2011/documents/Target_2011_Annual_Report. pdf, page 5. [ 2 ]. http://www. stock-analysis-on. net/NYSE/Company/Target-Corp/Ratios/Long-term-Debt-and-Solvency#Debt-to-Capital [ 3 ]. https://corporate. target. com/annual-reports/2011/images/company/annual_report_2011/documents/Target_2011_Annual_Report. pdf, [ 4 ]. http://ycharts. com/companies/TGT/pe_ratio

Causes Effects And Solutions To Famine

Causes Effects And Solutions To Famine Famane can be caused for many different reasons, some, like floods, droughts are natural, and others, like lack of food and shortage in food distribution to specific parts of a region. Parts of the world that are difficult to reach. Famine has managed to spread around many parts of the world, from Ireland to sudan to Afghanistan and Ethiopia, and at different times. For every time famine stroke a region it would be as a result of many causes, and these causes differ from a period of time to another, and from a place to another. The main causes of famine as we see it are government policies, natural disasters, and malnutrition. Political issues , Government policies, and Civil Wars Specific governments around the world have put policies that unintentionally caused famine to spread in those regions. Bad government policies have once led China to one of the greatest famine in history, when Mao Zedong has planned to improve China’s industry and agriculture. In order for this to h appen, China was reformed into communes. Chinese citizens have worked for the commune and everything they had was owned by their commune. Workers were assigned to do work they were not capable of doing. A year later, machinery broke down, workers were injured, and buildings fell down because the steal produced and used in the buildings was week. Soon enough hunger was spreed all over china, around 9 million died from starvation in 1960, and other millions of Chineese workers suffered illness for the lack of food. This plan which led china to famine was called the Great Leap Forward. Similarly, unwise government policies has led North Korea to experience famine in the mid-1990s, and Zimbabwe in the early-2000s. in the early 1970s and 1980s,both Ethiopia and Sudan has suffered from famine due to their dictatorship governments, as food was shipped from Wollo in Ethiopia to its capital city in order to be sold with higher prices, Which led famine to strike Wollo. In the 1950s, chinaâ₠¬â„¢s resources depended greatly on government actions, as it was the governments responsibility to distribute food among provinces equally. As well as it is their responsibility to provide education and proper health care during the famine, with more education people the healthier their choices might be, as that might have decreased the resultant death rates in the Chinese famine. P24 Due to unequal distribution of food, as governments usually prefer suppling urban resadants over rural residants. The food accessibility was more devastating in the rural areas, which also led the severity of famine to vary from a region to another, as what happened to china in the 1950s. Natural disasters The reason why natural disasters cause famine is that they temporarily reduce the carrying capacity of the land. (also 2) Many natural disasters tend to hit countries and reduce the carrying capacity of the region sharply but temporarily. The most common natural disasters that encouraged famine to a rise are droughts, earthquakes, and floods. In 1845 to 1850, plague of fungi caused the large population of Ireland to drop down sharply, resulting in 500,000 deaths.

Managing International Business Enterprises Essay

Managing International Business Enterprises - Essay Example According to Wooten (2011) marketing managers need to effectively communicate the unique linguistic preferences up front to the translation companies so that the translation does not dilute the brand. The important thing in translation is to retain the original key brand message and tone as closely as is possible. The article proposes that companies need to work with professional linguistic translators whose native language is the target language. This article’s key message is concise and well-illustrated. Maintaining a brand’s image and meaning once a company decides to go global is both a product management and promotional strategy issue. Central to this move into the international market is the role of marketing managers. Marketing managers need to closely work with language service providers so as to effectively convey their brand messages. This will also call for flexibility and foresight since the translated names should also cater for brand growth. An example o f this is Coca-Cola’s translation â€Å"K’o K’ou K’o Le† was coined several decades ago yet its literal meaning â€Å"happiness in the mouth† is very much applicable to its present day â€Å"Open Happiness† campaign.

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a processes improvement Essay

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a processes improvement - Essay Example Lean encompasses the various just-in-time approaches. (Bryan, 2002) These two methodologies are the best practice because they fit this framework: For many managers, lean manufacturing is something that looks great on paper and sounds wonderful in theory, but they want proof that it really works in their ever-changing manufacturing environment. ( Lau, 1996). Now two years into its lean journey, the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Cascade Engineering (www.cascadeng.com), is trying to avoid the common mistake of just implementing lean on the shop floor. The 1,200-employee plastic components provider in the automotive, home and office, and container industries is implementing lean throughout its enterprise. One thing that becomes clear after you tour Cascade's facilities is that the company is striving to adopt lean as a way of life for the whole company, rather than just in the manufacturing plants. The company's leaders recognize that to reduce waste and create customer value, everyone has to actively take part in the process. Cascade's founder, chairman and CEO Fred P. Keller, sent a message about how important lean was for the c ompany as a whole when he hired G.L. Brown as the company's director of lean manufacturing. Keller is making sure all of the necessary resources are available to make the gains of lean stick. "If this company wants to remain an active leader in the upcoming century, it is crucial that we eliminate waste and dedicate ourselves to becoming a lean enterprise," says Keller. (Klier, 1994, 18). To further demonstrate his dedication to the employees, Keller stressed that some job responsibilities may change but no employees will be laid off as a result of the company's lean initiatives. Their dedication to employees and their superior performance have not gone unnoticed. Cascade has been recognized nationwide for their commitment to people, most notably by recently winning a Ron Brown award and the Michigan Manufacturers Company of the year award. G. L. Brown knew that one of the hardest parts of lean was going to be creating the right environment for Cascade employees. (Lin, 1999) To ease the transition, Brown started a series of training and support sessions. With many years in operations management during his 34-year tenure at General Motors, Brown understood that the employees must have a firm grip on three crucial aspects before initiating the conversion to a lean enterprise: - everyone must understand why the company is dedicated to the lean philosophy and what's in it for them; - the employees must understand the system; - they must understand that there are a number of techniques in the toolbox to implement the system. Cascade's training consists of lean manufacturing orientation, eyes for waste and eyes for flow, takt time, standard worksheets, the 5-S processes, natural work groups, and value stream mapping as well as other aspects of the "lean enterprise system." Cascade also invites customers and suppliers to training events and kaizen events as they relate to their products. This

The risk of cultural issues in written communications Essay

The risk of cultural issues in written communications - Essay Example A good example is given by Tannen & Saville-Troika (1982, p. 41), about an Egyptian pilot called a traffic controller of Greek origin, asking if it was safe for the plane to land in Cyprus. The controller responded with a silence to mean refusal but the Egyptian interpreted that as acceptance and proceeded with the trip to Cyprus, only to be fired at by the Greeks in Cyprus while approaching the run way. Another cause is the complete language barrier between non related languages such as Russian and English, unlike the case between French and English whereby many words and closely related in spelling and pronunciation. Most of the Russians do not understand or speak English at all (Gudykunst 2003, p. 62). Likewise, Many English speakers do not understand Russian. In such a scenario, if a speech is presented in Russian, an English man will lose some important points. As mentioned before, in a miscommunication and misunderstanding in cross-cultural interaction, people lose the exact meaning of the communication and may respond in undesired ways. In cross cultural conversation, participants may decide to deliberately mislead the hearers, and convince them with false information. For example, Reynolds (2004, p. 38) argues that a participant may masquerade as being of greater social status than his or her true position in the society is. In a written communication, this can be more misleading because apart from just hearing wrongly, the reading itself may be wrong from the onset. Once a misunderstanding has occurred from cross-cultural communication, there should be a quick way to resolve and clarify on the specific errors. For example, it is a good practice to apologize and make possible clarification as suggested by Pride (1985, p. 62). With apology, the hearer’s may not be able to take offence. Where possible, the communication between different cultures ought to

Understanding Tort Law Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Understanding Tort Law - Term Paper Example The law defines litter as an item that defaces the environment such as bottles, papers, and other such things. From the given scenario Jamal, Julia, and Juniata are arrested and convicted for littering. Later the three individuals made an appeal basing their argument on the fact that their mistakes were unintentional. Although the offenses were not intentional, the three individuals have a tort to answer before the court. To succeed in the prosecution the judges will apply statutory and law aids in the statutory interpretation to determine the verdict. Statutory interpretation is the process through which judges and magistrate interpret laws and statues in the law before applying them in decision-making. For the court to fulfill its purpose, it needs to interpret or decide the different meaning of the different statues contained in the law. Although the parliament has the responsibility of making laws, the court has the duty of deciding and applying the laws accordingly. In the inter pretation process, UK courts apply some well-known conventions to avoid ambiguities. The court proceedings and operations have great significance on the importance of the different acts passed by the parliament. In the court, preceding the whole act will be read and from its title, the judges can determine the necessary objects. In the first case, Jamal dropped litter from a split shopping bag unintentionally. For the court to arrive at an appropriate decision, it needs to apply rules and other legal aids. The first important rule that the court is most likely to apply is the littering statute. Law against littering is a section of the environmental protection act of 1990 (Harlow, 2005). The law defines littering as an offense that attracts legal punishment. The section defines littering as discarding of litter in unauthorized public places with an exception of places allowed by the law. Jamal, junta, and Julia will be prosecuted under section 87 of the environmental Act if found gu ilty. To determine the verdict the court needs to interpret the act by first defining litter and littering.     

Group characteristics and development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Group characteristics and development - Essay Example Along with it, in the content of selected information some relevant information like the problem related discussion, facts and figures of already occurred problems, reasons for the occurrence of the problem, relevant solutions information to solve the problem were searched. Also, some information was searched on how to force young under aged drivers from not being able to get license so that they can be protected from danger. Some other sources were like the police record related to number of cases that occurred because of alcohol related drunken driving. The sources would be able to tell us the number of such cases occurred because of reasons like under age driving, youths’ returning from after party in a drunken state. Such information is crucial in forming a constructive discussion on the selected topic. The group discussion topic about what can be done to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related automobile accidents is a very relevant topic in the present context. The summa ry form discussion on the topic at the time of group discussion will help the entire group to understand the relevance of the topic. Also, it will create awareness among the listeners about the preventive measures which can be taken to reduce the occurrence of such incidence. Group discussion has its effectiveness in certain areas like a proper collection of information helps to identify and also locate information which relates to the topic. Also, it presents suggestions on the process of reducing the collected information to relevant one for the topic. It also helps in establishing certain questions for testing the acceptability of collected information before placing it in front of the group. All of these aids are of substantial value, mainly in the areas of decision making and problem solving. Effective solutions to problems and also sound assessment require good quality information and also the capability of applying it in a presentable

The Idea Behind All Power to The Soviets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Idea Behind All Power to The Soviets - Essay Example In relation to the viewpoint of Trotsky in ‘Results and Prospects’ identified in the ‘Preface to the Re-Issue of this Work,’ the uprising characters in the Russian Revolution was the most prominent question in terms of forming ideological trends and building a strong movement group upholding the political organizations in the movement. The uprising character in the Russian Revolution had also stirred towards serious contentions from the perspective of social-democratic movement, which further turned into a practical character. Kautsky also realizes that the differences amidst the uprising characters and disagreements of the social-democratic movements had shaped two central movement trends, namely the Menshevism and Bolshevism. In relation to the viewpoint of Menshevism, the revolution was being shaped as a bourgeois movement by transferring adequate power to the bourgeoisie and form conditional aspects for ‘parliamentarism’ of the bourgeois. On the other hand, in a Bolshevism standpoint, the strong establishment of the democratic republic through proletariat and peasantry dictatorship was the prominent object in the form of ‘all power to the Soviets.’ The Bolshevism viewpoint regarding the statement is formed due to the inability of the bourgeois as the uprising character in the revolution.

Assignment 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

2 - Assignment Example uence on children could not meet the case to label the photograph as "obscene", as there is partial display of genital hair and the photograph was pasted in Oncore premises, where children do not go. The most imperative reason to pursue Kathys argument and to conclude that the photographs, the art work are not obscene encompasses its social rationale. The photograph had a purpose, a motive to generate civic awareness about the safe sex with an intention to avert the cases of AIDS, one of the most dreaded and incurable diseases of the present epoch. AIDS has emerged as the leading cause of death under forty in Seattle area, hence display of safety measures cannot be considered obscene, it is also in compliance with the definition of material being obscene as per Blacks Law Dictionary. The art work is aimed at homosexual community. "Community standards" involved are those of the gay community rather than city at large. However, Oncore possess clientele of such communities but awareness is equally imperative among general community as well. Kathy pin-pointed homosexuals as they are the frequent visitors at Oncore, but if the issue is related with generating awareness about the safe sex to combat AIDS, then engendering consciousness in the mass is of greater significance. Kathy has shaped her arguments in the most logical and methodological manner by integrating the facts from basic law dictionary to the Mass Media Laws and also incorporated "Contemporary community standards" to reflect on the trustworthiness of the argument. Katy has meticulously placed each and every fact in a practical and coherent manner which are enough to gain the support of readers and audience to a greater extent. Display of obscene photograph which does not abide by the rules and norms set by the "Washington State Liquor Control Board", is again a violation of rules. The photographs were rejected on the basis of "partially exposed private parts of male anatomy". The photograph could not

Heal hospital Essay Example for Free

Heal hospital Essay The healing hospital paradigm emphasizes the eradication of stress and other health risks in the healthcare environment for patients and visitors. The factors that influence these health risks are inherent to the setting of the hospital, not the illnesses being treated. For instance, patients become stressed because of painful therapeutic procedures, lack of social life, deterioration of financial status because of healthcare expenditures, etc. In order to guarantee that the patients well being is maintained, the amount of stress must be curtailed. Additionally, the all-inclusive care and attention components of the paradigm guarantees that the patients recovery process are utilized to the zenith without infringing upon their dignity and privacy. Instead of just simply curing the disease, the healing hospital paradigm incorporates the healing of the whole patient (Young Koopsen, 2006). This is served from the paradigms focus on healing beyond the physical body. It intends to improve the overall welfare of the individual by not only addressing the patients cognitive, emotional, and spiritual concerns, but also those of the familys (Milstein, 2005). In order to develop a healing environment, certain barrier must be overcome within the context of the hospital setting. This paper will analyze the healing hospital paradigm, recognize its significance in care giving method, portray its aspects, and depict its connections to spirituality. Healing Hospital Aspects A healing hospital goes beyond windows, walls, and mortar. Its strong culture of love and caring is what sets it apart from traditional hospitals (Chapman, 2010). The healing hospital is composed of three essential aspects. Healing Environment Hospitals should be a healing physical environment. This denotes that hospitals should be free of any physical disturbances that could potentially cause stress. These outside factors consist of excessive noise, a morbid or  dull environment, and panic-inducing disorganization. In order to diminish these external environmental factors, employees must meticulously construct an organized hospital setting that complies with the aspects of a physical healing environment. Employees are given the proper training to become successful caregivers who are cognizant in patient and family interaction. This method of interaction will help patients and families cope with their grief and deal with their concerns. By engaging all five senses, the environment is designed to establish a spiritual relationship. Stefanidakis states that by choosing the appropriate colors, human behavior will be influenced to the desired effects and psychological systems will be established (2001). For example, the color green denotes a healing and nurturing environmentone symbolizing unconditional love and growth. This is due to the fact that color has the incredible ability to trigger emotional responses such as peacefulness, irritability, or cheerfulness. Furthermore, designing the hospital interior in a manner that resembles a church or temple promotes spirituality. This can be done by including religious artifacts such as rosary beads. However, the patient must feel in control of the environment in order for stress relief to occur. This control can be achieved with lighting, temperature, etc. Integrating Technology and Work Design Technology plays a large role in the healing hospital paradigm. Its interweaving into the healing hospital structure permits staff members to work with systematic efficiency, routing work in a way that amplified the patients and familys comfort. In this more tranquil environment, patients receive much more sleep and, thus allow their bodies sufficient time to heal. Equipped with technological advancements such as cleaning machines with internal silencers and wireless phones for direct communication with the healthcare team, employees are competent in the effective use of this technology. Thus, they advocate a quiet and healing ambience. Developing a low stress environment, the staff is prone to fewer distractions. The lack of distraction leads to a decrease in common medical errors. The Culture of Loving Care Former executive of the Baptist Healing Hospital Trust Erie Chapman believes that the most important aspect of the healing hospital intertwined treatment with a significant component consisting of love, care, and empathy (Chapman, 2010). Constructing an intriguing culture in which the staff members are cognizant of their duties and are adept at unreservedly executing them through is a fundamental aspect of the healing hospital. All caregivers must advocate unconditional love for patients as well as visitors by incorporating it into their daily actions. Compassionate care through relationships in which the patient is the center is the basis on which the development of the healing hospital rests. Staff members inspire hope by exhibiting unconditional love through the utilization of compassionate care and the minimization of grief and stress levels of the patients and their families. Additionally, prayer strengthens hope and grounds the healing hospital in a spiritual relationship. Challenges of the Healing Hospital Environment As stated by Chapman (2010), there are five challenges that healing hospitals must conquer constantly. First, the growing amount of medical technology such as wires, tubes, and pharmaceuticals has monopolized healthcare to the point that healthcare professionals have forgotten the healing essentials such as the loving care method and the belief in the unification of body, mind, and spirit. Identifying the demand for, and providing balance between loving care and technology results in a raise in patient satisfaction. Next, the progression of technology has resulted in a tremendous focus on profits and market share rather than care. Although much ignored and neglected, the â€Å"Servants’ Heart† are faithful to their duty to provide Radical Loving Care; this is where leaders play an important role in â€Å"taking care of the people who take care of people† (Chapman, 2010). Thirdly, intimacy between patients and employees are often stripped as traditional hospitals and prisons partake in a type of institutionalism that destroys identity. By substituting patients clothes with hospital garments, names with identification numbers, and privacy with sharing rooms with strangers, a common institutionalism is set. Moreover, visiting hours restrictions have  the tendency to make a patient feel as though he or she is a hostage. In contrast, caregivers are often required to perform repetitive tasks with unparalleled precision. This is referred to as a bureaucracy or an organization that resembles a difficult-to-work-with machine (Chapman, 2010). In addition, cynicism is deleterious when it comes to caring for the patient. Believer or not, love should not be seen as a â€Å"nice thing† but as a â€Å"vital part† of patient’s recovery (Chapman, 2010). Healing is multi-faceted and and embodies the physical, emotional, and spiritual concerns of the patients. Lastly, leadership is a dig munificent component in patient healing. Given the opportunity and responsibility to prioritize loving care, leaders are encouraged to make sure their caregivers provide it. Biblical Passage Supporting the Concept of a Healing Hospital James 5:14-15 illustrates Jesus healing of the ill. In particular, Jesus asks if there are any ill people in the crowd. If there are, they should call for the elders of the church for an anointing with the sacred oil. This type if anointment will heal the sick because of their faith through the power of prayer (King James Version). This advocates the healing hospital paradigm since it recognizes a clear relationship between healing and prayer. This passage enforces the same belief, whereby the importance of the spiritual aspect of the healing process is brought to light. Since it is rooted in spirituality, prayer can effectively instill hope in patients and families. Though a relatively new turn in the medical profession, the healing hospital is increasingly gaining in popularity. Not only affecting the body but also the patients and familys overall well being, the patient-centric attention and care facilities provided by the hospital adds to the healing hospital paradigm in a member that highlights radical love and compassionate care. Through spirituality, the healing hospital paradigm draws on hope and coping strategies, and thus forged support for its practices from both secular and religious communities. As in scriptures, a body frees itself of sin through piety and community, and with that community comes hope and solace. References Chapman, E. (2010). Radical loving care: building the healing hospital in America. Nashville, TN: Vaughn Printing. Milstein, J. (2005). A paradigm of integrative care: healing with curing throughout life, â€Å"being with† and â€Å"doing to†. Journal of Perinatology, 25, 563-568. doi: 10.1038/sj.jp.7211358 Stefanidakis, S. (2001). Healing with color and the human aura. Retrieved February 11, 2011 from www.fst.org/aura2.htm Young, C., Koopsen, C. (2006). Spirituality, health, and healing (1 ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

PROJECT ON CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT WITH RELIGARE SECURITIES LTD Essay Example for Free

PROJECT ON CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT WITH RELIGARE SECURITIES LTD Essay The company can then use the information to learn about the behavior of its customers and improve the way it does a business. It can look at recurring complaints from multiple customers to solve a problem which would otherwise go unchecked with a normal formats and management system of the company. The main objective of my project is to find effective solution for the Customer Relationship Management and accordingly increase the credibility and profitability of the company. This study is more related to consumer behavior and perception about the facilities and convenience provided by the company, Customer Satisfaction is emphasized in this management. o Helping an enterprise to enable its marketing departments to identify and target their best customers, manage marketing campaigns with clear goals and objectives, and generate quality leads for the sales team. Assisting the organization to improve telesales, account, and sales management by optimizing information shared by multiple employees, and streamlining existing processes (for example, taking orders using mobile devices) o Allowing the formation of individualized relationships with customers, with the aim of improving customer satisfaction and maximizing profits; identifying the most profitable customers and providing them the highest level of service. o Providing employees with the information and processes necessary to know their customers, understand their needs, and effectively build relationships between the company, its customer base, and distribution partners. CHAPTER 2. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT A. Title of the project: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) with Religare Securities B. Objective of the Study: The objective of the project was to analyze „Effective Customer Relationship Management‟ for Religare Securities Ltd., Pune for that we have to understand current CRM System and Services provided from the company and its effect on Customer Needs, Satisfaction Level, their response and emotions. The objective of this study to analyze existing customer satisfaction as those customers are the key sources to new customers with respect to the performance, sales efforts and sales service. As the company stands second in India in aspect of turnover after Kotak Mahindra Securities, it‟s clear that it has very strong Customer Relationship Management System and perfect people to handle it properly for the benefit of customers and company as well. Actual and personal meeting with existing customers and employees has brought me to the reality of the effectiveness of the system and their success. For analyzing the same factor I staked my whole duration of the project and simultaneously for internal study and market watch and other group assignments. Questionnaire is based on the existing services and the satisfaction level of the existing customers which includes questions like Name, Age, Gender, Income, Investment Frequency, feedback about services which they are provided like conformation, calls, suggestions, solutions on stuck money like dead investment and all. On an average all the customers are happy with the company and look forward to the growth of it. C. Scope of the study: Scope the this study is it will assist Religare to get its own Customer Relationship Management system mirror well and it will get all the important things before eyes to apply all the possible ways to provide a superb service to the customers and accordingly make them loyal and retain them long lasting and also to get new customers to be served. Scopes can be stated in few points as follows. o Maintain current / existing customers. o Achieve new potential customers. o Retain all the customers. o Profitability Increment o Reputation and credibility Increment, etc. The heart of CRM is not being customer centric but rather to use customer profitability as a driver for decision making and action. Before exploring this assertion, it is useful to review the process of resource allocation as it is practiced in most organizations. The budget process largely consists of an extrapolation of the past. Resource constraints pit function against function with back room deals that are based on internal politics versus the marketplace. This decision process has little insight as to what is working and what is not working (as it applies to the marketplace) or for that matter why? Without insight relative to cause and effect, the organization has no choice but to follow intuition and anecdote. It is analogous to the story about the marketing VP who admitted that half the advertising budget was wasted; the problem was he did not know which half. CHAPTER 3. PROFILE OF THE COMPANY Profile of company Religare Enterprises Limited (REL): Religare, a Ranbaxy promoter group company, is one of the leading integrated financial services institutions of India. The company offers a large and diverse bouquet of services ranging from equities, commodities, insurance broking, to wealth advisory, portfolio management services, personal finance services, Investment banking and institutional broking services. The services are broadly clubbed across three key business verticals- Retail, Wealth management and the Institutional spectrum. Religare Enterprises Limited is the holding company for all its businesses, structured and being operated through various subsidiaries. Religare‟s retail network spreads across the length and breadth of the country with its presence through more than 1,217 locations across more than 392 cities and towns. Having spread itself fairly well across the country and with the promise of not resting on its laurels, it has also aggressively started eyeing global geographies Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) is one of the leading integrated financial services groups of India. REL‟s businesses are broadly clubbed across three key verticals, the Retail Institutional and Wealth spectrums, catering to a diverse and wide base of clients. The vision is to build Religare as a globally trusted brand in the financial services domain and present it as the „Inv estment Gateway of India‟. All employees of the group guided by an experienced and professional management team are committed to providing financial care, backed by the core values of diligence and transparency. REL offers a multitude of investment options and a diverse bouquet of financial services with its pan India reach in more than 1800 locations across more than 490 cities and towns. REL operates globally following its acquisition of London‟s oldest brokerage and investment firm, Hichens, Harrison and Co. plc. With a view to expand, diversify and introduce offerings benchmarked against global best practices, Religare operates its Life Insurance business in partnership with the global major- AEGON. For its wealth management business Religare has partnered with Australia based financial services major- Macquarie. Religare has also partnered with Vistaar Entertainment to launch India‟s first SEBI approved Film Fund offering a unique alternative asset class of investments. Religare Securities Limited (RSL), a 100% subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Limited is a leading equity and securities firm in India. The company currently handles sizeable volumes traded on NSE and in the realm of online trading and investments; it currently holds a reasonable share of the market. The major activities and offerings of the company today are Equity Broking, Depository Participant Services, Portfolio Management Services, International Advisory Fund Management Services, Institutional Broking and Research Services. To broaden the gamut of services offered to its investors, the company offers an online investment portal armed with a host of revolutionary features. o RSL is a member of the National Stock Exchange of India, Bombay Stock Exchange of India, Depository Participant with National Securities Depository Limited and Central Depository Services (I) Limited, and is a SEBI approved Portfolio Manager. o Religare has been constantly innovating in terms of product and services and to offer such incisive services to specific user segments it has also started the NRI, FII, HNI and Corporate Servicing groups. These groups take all the portfolio investment decisions depending upon a client‟s risk / return parameter. o Religare has a very credible Research and Analysis division, which not only caters to the need of our Institutional clientele, but also gives their valuable inputs to investment dealers. Trading in Equities with Religare truly empowers you for your investment needs. We ensure you have superlative trading experience through – ï‚ · A highly process driven, delight approach ï‚ · Powerful Research Analytics and ï‚ · One of the „best-class‟ dealing rooms Further, Religare also has one the largest retail networks, with its presence in more than 1800* locations across more than 490* cities and towns. This means, you can walk into any of these branches and connect to our highly skilled and dedicated relationship managers to get the best services. The Religare Edge o Pan India footprint o Powerful research and analytics supported by a pool of highly skilled research analysts o Ethical business practices o Single window for all investment needs through your unique CRN Religare Enterprise Limited, through its subsidiaries, offers a range of integrated financial products and services to retail inventors, high net worth individuals, and corporate and institutional clients in India. It operates in three divisions: Retail Spectrum, Wealth Spectrum, and Institutional Spectrum. The Retail Spectrum division offers equity brokerage, commodities brokerage, personal financial services, including insurance brokerage and mutual fund distribution; internet trading; loans against shares; and personal loans. The Wealth Spectrum division provides portfolio management services, wealth advisory services, and private client equity services, such as international equity services. The company was formerly known as Religare Enterprises Private Limited and changed its name to Religare Enterprises Limited in July 2006. The company was incorporated in 1984 and is based in New Delhi, India. Industry Profile 19 Industry Profile While regulation and reforms have made major improvements in the quality of the equity markets in India, its rapid growth and development are largely due to strong and efficient market intermediation. The robustness of the Indian markets today is attributable to a healthy blend of the quality of market Structure and efficient intermediation. Even as several countries are instituting procedures to commence. Equity derivative markets, India ranks amongst the top five countries globally in this segment, in less than five years of its introduction. This is an example of the proactive and progressive nature of the Indian brokerage industry. In the last decade, the Indian brokerage industry has undergone a dramatic transformation. From being made of close groups, the broking industry today is one of the most transparent and compliance oriented businesses. Long settlement cycles and large scale bad deliveries are a thing of the past with the advent of T+2 (Trading day + 2 days) settlement cycle and dematerialization. Large and fixed commissions have been replaced by wafer thin margins, with competition driving down the brokerage fee, in some cases, to a few basis points. 20 There have also been major changes in the way business is conducted. Technology has emerged as the key driver of business and investment advice has become research based. At the same time, adherence to regulation and compliance has vastly increased. The scope of services have enhanced from being equity products to a wide range of financial services. Investor protection has assumed significance, and so has providing them with education and awareness. Greater need for capitalization has induced several firms to access the capital market; foreign firms are showing increasing interest in taking equity stakes in domestic broking firms. Major developments in equity brokerage industry in India: 1. Corporate memberships There is a growing surge of corporate memberships (92% in NSE and 75% in BSE), and the scope of functioning of the brokerage firms has transformed from that of being a family run business to that of professional organized function that lays greater emphasis on observance of market principles and best practices. With proliferation of new markets and products, corporate nature of the memberships is enabling broking firms to expand the realm of their operations into other exchanges as also other product offerings. Memberships range from cash market to derivatives to commodities and a few broking firms are making forays into obtaining memberships in exchanges outside the country subject to their availability and eligibility. 21 2. Wider product offerings The product offerings of brokerage firms today go much beyond the traditional trading of equities. A typical brokerage firm today offers trading in equities and derivatives, most probably commodities futures, exchange traded funds, distributes mutual funds and insurance and also offers personal loans for housing, consumptions and other related loans, offers portfolio management services, and some even go to the extent of creating niche services such as a brokerage firm offering art advisory services. In the background of growing opportunities for investors to invest in India as also abroad, the range of products and services will widen further. In the offing will be interesting opportunities that might arise in the exchange enabled corporate bond trading, soon after its commencement and futures trading that might be introduced in the near future in the areas of interest rates and Indian currency. 22 3. Greater reliance on research Client advising in India has graduated from personal insights, market tips to becoming extensively research oriented and governed by fundamentals and technical factors. Vast progress has been made in developing company research and refining methods in technical and fundamental analysis. The research and advice are made online giving ready and real time access to market research for investors and clients, thus making research important brand equity for the brokerage firms. 4. Accessing equity capital markets Access to reliable financial resources has been one of the major constraints faced by the equity brokerage industry in India since long. Since the banking system is not fully integrated with the securities markets, brokerage firms face limitations in raising financial resources for business and expansion. With buoyancy of the stock markets and the rising prospects of several well organized broking firms, important opportunity to access capital markets for resource mobilization has become available. The recent past witnessed several leading brokerage firms accessing capital markets for financial resources with success. 23 5. Foreign collaborations and joint ventures The way the brokerage industry is run and the manner in which several of them pursued growth and development attracted foreign financial institutions and investment banks to buy stakes in domestic brokerage firms, paving the way for stronger brokerage entities and possible scope for consolidation in the future. Foreign firms picked up stake in some of the leading brokerage firms, which might lead to creating of greater interest in investing in brokerage firms by entities in India and abroad. 6. Specialized services/niche broking While supermarkets approach are adopted in general by broking firms, there are some which are creating niche services that attract a particular client group such as day traders, arbitrage trading, investing in small cap stocks etc, and providing complete range of research and other support to back up this function. 7. Online broking Several brokers are extending benefits of online trading through creation of separate windows. Some others have dedicated online broking portals. Emergence of online broking enabled reduction in transaction costs and costs of trading. Keen competition has emerged in online broking services, with some of these offering trading services at the cost of a few basis points or costs which are fixed in nature irrespective of the volume of 24 trading conducted. A wide range of incentives are being created and offered by online brokerage firms to attract larger number of clients. 8. Compliance oriented With stringent regulatory norms in operation, broking industry is giving greater emphasis on regulatory compliance and observance of market principles and codes of conduct. Many brokerage firms are investing time, money and resources to create efficient and effective compliance and reporting systems that will help them in avoiding costly mistakes and possible market abuses. Brokerage firms now have a compliance officer who is responsible for all compliance related aspects and for interacting with clients and other stake holders on aspects of regulation and compliance. 9. Focus on training and skill sets Brokerage firms are giving importance and significance to aspects such as training on skill sets that could prove to be beneficial in the long run. With the nature of markets and products becoming more complex, it becomes imperative for the broking firms to keep their staff continuously updated with latest development in practices and procedures. Moreover, it is mandated for certain types of dealers/brokers to seek specific certification and examinations that will make them eligible to carry business or trade. Greater emphasis on aspects such as research and analysis is giving scope 25 for in-depth training and skills sets on topics such as trading programs, valuations, economic and financial forecasting and company research. 10. From owners to traders A fundamental change that has taken place in the equity brokerage industry, which is a global trend as well, is the transformation of broking from owners of the stock exchange to traders of the stock market. Demutualization and corporatization of stock exchanges bifurcated the ownership and trading rights with brokers vested only with the later and ownership being widely distributed. Demutualization is providing balanced welfare gains to both the stock exchanges and the members with the former being able to run as corporations and the latter being able to avoid conflict of interests that sometimes came as a major deterrent for the long term growth of the industry. Emerging challenges and outlook for the brokerage industry .Brokerage firms in India made much progress in pursuing growth and building professionalism in operations. Given the nature of the brokerage industry being very dynamic, changes could be rapid and so as the challenges that emerge from time to time. A brief description on some of the prospects and challenges of the brokerage firms are discussed below. 26 11. Fragmentation Indian brokerage industry is highly fragmented. Numerous small firms operate in this space. Given the growing importance of technology in operations and increasing emphasis on regulatory compliance, smaller firms might find it constrained to make right type of investments that will help in business growth and promotion of investor interests. 12. Capital Adequacy Capital adequacy has emerged as an important determinant that governs the scope of business in the financial sector. Current requirements stipulation capital adequacy in regard to trading exposure, but in future more tighter norms of capital adequacy might come into force as a part of the prudential norms in the financial sector. In this background, it becomes imperative for the brokerage firms to focus on raising capital resources that will enable to give continuous thrust and focus on business growth. 13. Global Opportunities Broking in the future will increasingly become international in character with the stock markets being open for domestic and international investors including institutions and individuals, as also opportunities for investing abroad. Keeping abreast with developments in international markets as also familiarization with global standards in broking operations and assimilating major practices and procedures will become relevant for the domestic brokerage firms. 27 14. Opportunities from regional finance Regional economic integration such as that under the European Union and the ASEAN have greatly benefited businesses in the individual countries with cross border opportunities that helped to expand the scope and significance of the business. Initial measures to promote South Asian economic integration is being made by governments in the region first at the political level to be followed up in regard to financial markets. South Asian economic integration will provide greater opportunities for broking firms in India to pursue cross border business. In view of several of common features prevailing in the markets, it would be easier to make progress in this regard. 15. Product Dynamics As domestic finance matures and greater flow of cross border flows continue, new market segments will come into force, which could benefit the domestic brokerage firms, if they are well prepared. For instance, in the last three to four years, brokerage firms had newer opportunities in the form of commodities futures, distribution of insurance products, wealth management, mutual funds etc, and as the market momentum continues, broking firms will have an opportunity to introduce a wider number of products. 28 16. Competition from foreign firms Surging markets and growing opportunities will attract a number of international firms that will increase the pace of competition. Global firms with higher levels of capital, expertise and market experience will bring dramatic changes in the brokerage industry space which the local firms should be able to absorb and compete. Domestic broking firms should always give due focus to emerging trends in competition and prepare accordingly. 17. Investor Protection Issues of investor interest and protection will assume centre stage. Firms found not having suitable infrastructure and processes to ensure investor safety and protection will encounter constraints from regulation as also class action suits that investors might bring against erring firms. The nature of penalties and punitive damages would become more severe. It is important for brokerage firms to establish strong and streamlined systems and procedures for ensuring investor safety and protection. 29 Chapter 4. Literature Review Literature Review Historical Background: Customer relationship management (CRM), a concept that has been around since the mid 90s, has its roots in the technology of sales automation and call center operations. At that time, it was thought that merging the customer data from the field (sales) with the call center interactions would result in more informed interactions with the customer. The concept resonated with user organizations and soon mergers and acquisitions created a host of software vendors all claiming to have an integrated set of capabilities that became known as CRM. On a parallel track, Internet-based tools such as e-commerce, Internet marketing, personalization, and self-help were evolving. These products competed outside of the CRM sphere due to the newness of the technology, and they were referred to as e-business. When the concepts of CRM and e-business melded together there was a short period of e-madness where vendors talked about eCRM and e-everything. There are still vestiges of this transition in the industry such as essentially using e-business to add value to vendors and referring to it as partner relationship management (PRM) or providing tools for employees and referring to it as employee relationship management (ERM). 31 Similarly, enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors realized that the 360-degree view of the customer has to include transaction data, so they have likewise developed an integrated package with CRM capabilities. Thus from a technology perspective CRM consists of a set of applications that address the needs of customer-facing functions that in turn feed a common database that is supported by business analytics. Each vendor has variations on this theme. On the other hands, CRM can be defined as a process or methodology used to learn more about customers‟ needs and behaviors in order to manage and develop stronger relationships in an organized way with them. 32 Components of CRM: 1. Contact an Account Management: Relevant data for customer profile is captured with the help of the software. Necessary information is captured from prospective customers. CRM system stores data in common customer database. The database integrates customer account information and presents it in desirable format to the company. The data is used for sales, marketing, services and other applications. 33 2. Sales: Sales process management follows a customized sales methodology with specific sales policies and procedures. Sales activities include – Product information, Product configuration, sales prospectus and sales quote generation. CRM also provide the history of customer account so that the sales call can be scheduled accordingly. 3. Marketing and fulfillment: CRM helps the professionals in product marketing, target marketing, relationship marketing and campaign management. By analyzing customer and business value of direct marketing can be estimated. CRM also helps in customer retention, behavior prediction, channel optimization, personalization. Customer response and requests can be quickly scheduled and hence sales contacts. 34 4. Customer Service and support: CRM system provides service representatives with adequate access to customer database. It also helps to create, assign and manage the service requests by customers. Calling format is designed to route customer calls to respective attendants as per the skills and authority to handle special cases. Help desk system is developed to help customer service representative to help customers who face problems with product or service to resolve it. Web-based Self Service means help customer to access personalized information at company website. 5. Retention and loyalty programs: The primary objective of CRM is to enhance and optimize customer retention and loyalty. CRM systems are also useful in determining most loyal and profitable customers and reward. 35 The essential link between Marketing, Sales and Customer Service: Too often, the three key functions that directly affect customers -Marketing, Sales and Customer Service – operate independently of one another. This can create confusion and inconsistency in how you communicate and service your customers. For examples, marketing staff may come up with a price promotion. However, if that is not communicated to the sales team, the result could be incorrect billing, which may take time or resources from the customer to rectify and could create ill will and mistrust, making it seem like your company does not adhere to its word. 36 Similarly, if a salesperson makes a sale and gives certain guarantees to a customer but those are not communicated to the customer service team or even to the other sales team members, then the customer may fees as if the company is not standing behind its assurance. This can be particularly problematic if there is employee turnover and poor communication between or even departments. This „silo effect‟ – where information is between vertically in departments that may or may not communicate with each other- could actually damage your business. With comprehensive CRM system, however, customer communication is captured and housed in an accessible database, making the most current information available to anyone who needs it and has access to the system. By breaking through barriers between various business functions and making communication transparent, your company can act in a more consistent and unified fashion with its customers, instilling a greater level of trust and strengthening customer relationships. Religare Securities Limited (RSL) provides a host of financial services under one roof following a ONE STOP SHOP philosophy. It has a dedicated team of professionals to cater to the variety of services to Individuals, Corporate and Institutions. The team updates its clients with opportunities with a sense of competitive urgency and risk management. What‟s more, their special analysts design customized services for HNI and Institutions. 37 Over the years Religare Securities Ltd. has played a successful role in clients wealth creation. In the process Religare Securities Ltd. also refined itself, as an investment advisor and is poised to provide complete Investment Management Solutions to its valued clientele. The following is the product profile of the company. ï‚ · Equity Broking BSE and NSE ï‚ · Derivatives Futures and Options ï‚ · Internet Broking- Online Trading ï‚ · Commodities Trading NCDEX MCX ï‚ · Institutional Broking ï‚ · Depository Services NSDL CDSL ï‚ · Portfolio Management Services ï‚ · NRI Investments ï‚ · Initial Public Offerings (IPO) ï‚ · Mutual Fund Investment NEWS: Religare Securities bags LIPPER-STARMINE Award for Excellence in Research Mumbai, February 18, 2009: Religare Securities Limited a wholly owned subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Limited has been recently awarded the LIPPER-STARMINE broker award for Earnings Estimates in Midcap Research for 2008. The Lipper| StarMine Awards organized by Thomson Reuters, for Asset Management and sell-side broking Companies in India, were announced last week in Mumbai. The awards recognize analysts who are more accurate than their peers in forecasting earnings, awarding credit to those who demonstrate an ability to make accurate estimates earlier than their peers. On receiving the award, Mr. Amitabh Chakraborty, President (Equity), said, We are extremely proud to receive this award as a validation of our efforts in what was the most difficult and volatile year in stock market and corporate history. It is in these difficult times that the ability of a team to accurately estimate corporate earnings stands its truest test and we have succeeded in enabling our customers to make informed buy or sell recommendations in order to give above average returns to investors. 40 Equities What is equity? Funds brought into a business by its shareholders is called equity. It is a measure of a stake of a person or group of persons starting a business. What does investing in equity mean? When you buy a companys equity, you are in effect financing it, and being compensated with a stake in the business. You become part-owner of the company, entitled to dividends and other benefits that the company may announce, but without any guarantee of a return on your investments. Dematerialization What is Demat? Demat is a commonly used abbreviation of Dematerialisation, which is a process whereby securities like shares, debentures are converted from the material (paper documents) into electronic data and stored in the computers of an electronic Depository (SEE next page). You surrender material securities registered in your name to a Depository Participant (DP). These are then sent to the respective companies 41 who cancel them after dematerialization and credit your Depository Account with the DP. The securities on dematerialization appear as balances in the Depository Account. These balances are transferable like physical shares. If at a later date you wish to have these Demat securities converted back into paper certificates, the Depository can help to revive the paper shares. What is the procedure for the dematerialisation of securities? Check with a DP as to whether the securities you hold can be dematerialised. Then open an account with a DP and surrender the share certificates. What is a Depository? A Depository is a securities bank, where dematerialised physical securities are held in custody, and from where they can be traded. This facilitates faster, risk-free and low cost settlement. A Depository is akin to a bank and performs activities similar in nature. At present, there are two Depositories in India, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and Central Depository Services (CDS). NSDL was the first Indian Depository. It was inaugurated in November 1996. NSDL was set up with an initial capital of Rs 124 crores, promoted by Industrial Development Bank of 42 India (IDBI), Unit Trust of India (UTI), National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSEIL) and the State Bank of India (SBI). Who is a Depository Participant (DP)? NSDL carries out its activities through business partners Depository Participants (DPs), Issuing Corporates and their Registrars and Transfer Agents, Clearing Corporations/Clearing Houses. NSDL is electronically linked to each of these business partners via a satellite link through Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATS). The entire integrated system (including the VSAT linkups and the software at NSDL and at each business partners end) has been named the NEST (National Electronic Settlement Transfer) system. The investor interacts with the Depository through a Depository Participant of NSDL. A DP can be a bank, financial institution, a custodian or a broker. 43 Chapter 5. Research Methodology 44 Research Methodology Research Design: Research design means adopting that type technique of research which is most suited for the research and study of the problem. For the study and the research of the problem proper material has to be selected and collected for the investigation. â€Å"A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure.† Jahoda, deutish. Cook. In order to know about effectiveness of Customer Relationship Management in Religare Securities Ltd., it was necessary to interact with the customer. The sample taken comprised of respondents from Pune city. A questionnaire had to be designed to collect valuable information from the different customer groups. The questionnaire which was designed suitably to meet the objective of research work. 45 Nature of Research: In this project report I have undertaken quantitative type of study. Type of the questions: The questions in the questionnaire asked to the visiting customers of Religare Securities Ltd, Regional office in Pune, are Straight Forward and Limited Probing. Type of the Questionnaire: The questionnaire in this project report is straight forward and formalized. Type of Analysis: The analysis done in this particular project report is statistical. 46 Sources of Data: a. Primary Data: The Primary data are those data which are collected fresh and for the first time and thus happen to be original in character. The primary data that was collected through interview conducted in Regional Branch with daily visiting customers. The primary data sources include copies of questionnaire and data of their respective responses. b. Secondary Data: The secondary data are those which have already been collected by someone else and which have been passed through the statistical process. Secondary data was collected through company websites. Some of the web sites http://www.religaresecurities.com/ and some others like. 47 Chapter 6. Primary Data Collection 48 Primary Data Collection Research Technique: As the researcher, I adopted survey method as a research technique for this particular project report. Contact Method: I as a researcher interviewed the respondents by personal interview. Sampling Plan: a) Population: The population covered in this project report refers to the existing (Office Coming) customers of Regional Office, who have their trading and D‟mat A/c with Religare Securities Ltd. b) Sample Size The sample size undertaken by me for this particular project report is 100 respondents. 49 c) Sample Element The respondents contacted and interviewed in this project report are all from different domain some of them were Businessmen, High Net-worth Investors, Proprietors, even Students also invest in Share Market. d) Sample Extent As a researcher, I conducted this survey only for the customers in Regional Office of Religare Securities, Pune. e) Sample Duration The survey was undertaken from the 01st June, 2009 to 30th July, 2009 i.e. for two months. f) Research Instrument: Questionnaires containing both open ended and close ended questions were used as a research instrument in this particular project report. 50 Chapter 7. Data Analysis Interpretation 51 Data Analysis Interpretation 1. Respondents: Respondents Businessmen HNIs Proprietors Individuals Number of respondents Interpretation: Above pie chart represents that research contains 100 respondents which are Businessmen, HNIs, Proprietors and Individuals and they are 30, 8, 24, 38 respectively in numbers and percentages. 30% 8% 24% 38% Businessmen HNIs Proprietors Individuals 52 2. Income Group(Annual): Income Group (INR) 10000 1 Lakh 1 Lakh 5 Lakh 5 Lakh-10 Lakh 10 Lakh Above Number of respondents Interpretation: Above pie chart represents that the research contained 100 investors and customers of Religare Securities Ltd. All the people were from different different Income group which are in numbers shown above. W e can clearly see sample includes more customers from first income group i.e. INR 10,000 – 1 Lakh 43% 37% 13% 7% 10000 -1 Lakh 1 Lakh -5 Lakh 5 Lakh -10 Lakh 10 Lakh -Above 53 2. Company Interaction via Email and Telephone Calls: Interaction Via Email and Telephone Calls Interpretation: From the above result of Company Interaction via Email and Telephone calls, we can imagine the satisfaction level of customers and accordingly Customer Relationship is managed through electronic media to maximize the wealth of customers. In Religare mostly dealers are in touch of regular traders / customers and customers also get loyal to the company through this practice. Every call is taped by default for the evidence of orders to buy or sell the stocks and Emails too. Excellent Interpretation: When it was asked sudden and on the time answer was the same of maximum people, it means the credibility and trustworthiness of the company is on the height. It‟s nothing but the result of Relationship Management. It is said that Share Market means „Well of Loss‟, nevertheless Religare‟s Customer don‟t have any tension in investing because they believe in Company‟s Researchers and Analysts and their investment tips too. 96% Number of respondents Interpretation: From the above answers Customer Relationship can be very well highlighted because out of 100, 43 people have rated Religare on the scale of 1 to 10 and again in remaining maximum customers say that they rate Religare at on the scale of 1 to 10.Every customer has his own value and consideration about Religare because they invest their Hard Earned money and take risk to earn more cause of Religare‟s Services and Attachment and it is all the output of Customer Relationship Management. 4% 5. Where do you invest/ trade mostly? Where Customers Invest mostly Equity Commodity Currency Number of respondents 66 19 15 Interpretation: One general question was asked in questionnaire to know the investment flow of customers towards Religare Services. When it was asked why they invest in specific area mostly then it was answered by many people that liquidity market is easy to make money out of investment and take money out whenever we feel not to put. And other reason many customers don‟t want to invest for long time.And about currency some people were not interested. 66% 19% 15% Equity Commodity Currency 57 6. Where do you trade mostly? Where Customers Trade mostly Intraday Delivery Both Number of respondents 48 37 15 48% 37% 15% Intraday Delivery Both 58 Interpretation: From the above view of graph we come to know that maximum people, 61% customers trade in Intraday Trading. On this customers say they like to trade in Intraday because of Short term investment and high level of excitement and sometimes they feel their money seems to sink. It‟s like One Day Cricket play for many customers. In Delivery, people say here is „No / Low Risk, More Money‟ , in this people say if scrip goes down like „Satyam‟, then also we get chance to book profit buying current stocks in low price and putting old stock aside temporarily. Here we find people hesitate to invest in Intraday and confident to trade in Delivery trading. Very less traders population do trade in both area, for few people it‟s nothing but fund managing, if one finds difficulty in making money in Intraday, they simultaneously manage their fund for Delivery, but very few people feel do this type of management. Eventually Religare is the Broking firm and it doesnâ₠¬Å¸t lose its attention from making money for its customers and lose its attention from Customer Relationship Management. 59 7. Do you trade in any other broking firm? Trade in other Broking Firm Yes No Number of respondents Interpretation: Above pie chart represents the maximum people have their D‟mat A /c and Trading A/c somewhere else also nevertheless they say they trade from Religare only and few of their other A/cs are put Non-Operating by them. Here we get a fact that Religare‟s Customer Relationship Management really has something very attractive and attachable to emotions cause of services. Few of them were hesitating while answering this question. 8. Are you satisfied with the services provided by Religare? Satisfaction Strongly Yes Slightly Yes No Strongly No Slightly No Number of respondents Interpretation: Above chart represents us the output of Customer Relationship Management with the help of the services and customers satisfaction can show a mirror of the efforts of the company towards making their customers loyal to them. Here 64% customers have selected and stated that they are fully satisfied with the services that they are getting from Religare Securities Ltd. 64% 9. Since last how many years you are in field of trading? Since when customers are trading ? Less than 1 year More than 1year More than 2 years Number of respondents Interpretation: This question was asked intentionally to know the loyalty of customers with Religare Securities Ltd., which is nothing but the back-screen coding of on screen output. These all things are the proud of Religare and its customers are also very proud to be in Religare. 17% Customer Relationship Management Business Drivers and Benefits ï‚ · It empowers management with a real-time pipelines and forecasting so they can build and focus on high profit, sustainable relationships. ï‚ · It empowers staff wit customer intelligence and best practices to increase their likelihood of successful transactions. ï‚ · It increases customer‟s acquisition, retention, loyalty, and profitability by integrating information across the enterprise. ï‚ · It enables executive and management to gain customer insight. 64 Customer Relationship Management Risks ï‚ · Effective internal controls must be in place to prevent customer information from becoming scattered across databases and servers. ï‚ · CRM can be associated with significant revenue cycle. ï‚ · CRM should be kept and handled and carefully kept inside the company only otherwise Customers Database can be misused by rivals. Customer Common Findings while contacting: ï‚ · Generally people whom I have contacted they were from different domains like Business, Proprietors, High Net worth Income Group (HNIs) and students. ï‚ · Their responses may not be proper because of their „Busyness‟ in Dealing Room. ï‚ · This data is called Primary Data, which is considered very genuine but is this case it misrepresents the Reality and Credibility. 65 ï‚ · Some people, its felt that they gave fake response, with impression that this questionnaire is from Religare Securities internal. ï‚ · Some people did not take it serious because this was not important to them as they are busy for trading at dealing Room. ï‚ · Every data interpretation and statistics cannot be think worthy from their results because this study is for only two months altogether. 66 Chapter 8. Limitations 67 Limitations Findings are according to the observations. 1. Many consultants, vendors, and analysts today define CRM in terms of being a customer-centric business strategy that is enabled by a set of applications that support customer-facing functions and management decision making. That may capture the essence of what CRM is, but while it does not concentrate on the extra expenses occurring on Company‟s A/c due to increment in expenses in serving customers all the ways and Return on investment means consideration may not be more than expected. Customer may not give that much business transactions which is estimated or expected. 2. It needs specific staffs to handle all the tasks of Customer Relationship Management because the data that is feed in system cannot be handled merely by Relationship Managers who has to make new customers and take care of their dealings and also to accomplish their additional responsibilities. 68 Suggestions 69 Suggestions 1. Short Duration: o Project research duration was only for two months, in this tenure neither study nor observation can be done properly. For example, we saw sample plan – in that only 100 customers could be contacted and now the problem is- from this samples we cannot think of Macro Level Perception of customers. Many people may be from same point of view and many may not and those 100 people may not contain these type of people. So duration of Research Project should be more than two months. 2. Customer Category: o To find effective Customer Relationship Management, Broking firm can do one more thing which will be very beneficial to them in finding Asset Customers from the bottom level management to top level management. Religare should adopt system of allotting Customer Categories according to their transactions, due payments, exposure, loyalty, frequency of trading and all. 70 o In this system at all the level where CRM is handled and watched by Top class officials of the company, they also get to know the list names and details of the loyal customers and CEO or Board of Directors also get to know total customers and at last their turnover of the total transaction. 3. Affiliated Awareness Programs: o Religare should arrange affiliated programs within its own groups to come to the sense of new people and accordingly to prospecting and acquiring new customers. o With the help of it companies CRM will help it to get height of success and dominate the world of Services. Because CRM affects Marketing, Sales and profitability and these all can be achieved by CRM. o For E.g., Religare Securities can play few awareness documentaries and Advertisement with „Religare Vistaar‟ this will result in getting more and more customers to serve and accordingly Religare can become the first ranker in turnover very soon. 71 Appendix I. Copy of questionnaire II. Bibliography , 72 Questionnaire 1. Name:________________________________________________ 2. Contact No:________________________________________________ 3. Occupation: ï‚ £Businessman ï‚ £Proprietor ï‚ £HNI ï‚ £Individual 4. Income Group(Annual): ï‚ £ 10000 1 Lakh ï‚ £1 Lakh 5 Lakh ï‚ £ 5 Lakh-10 Lakh ï‚ £ 10 Lakh Above 5. How do you find Company Interaction via Email and Telephone Calls ? ï‚ £Poor ï‚ £Fair ï‚ £Good ï‚ £ Very Good 73 6. Do you find company’s investment tips useful and beneficial? ï‚ £Yes ï‚ £No ï‚ £Can’t Say 7. Where do you rate Religare on the scale of 10 in terms of Services? ï‚ £4 ï‚ £6 ï‚ £8 ï‚ £10 8. Where do you invest/ trade mostly? ï‚ £Equity ï‚ £Commodity ï‚ £Currency 9. Where do you trade mostly? ï‚ £Intraday trading ï‚ £Delivery Trading 10. Do you trade in any other broking firm? ï‚ £Yes ï‚ £No If Yes, name of the broking firm__________________________________ 74 11. Are you satisfied with the services provided by Religare? ï‚ £Yes ï‚ £No Since last how many years you are in field of trading? ï‚ £Less than 1 Year ï‚ £More Than 1 Year ï‚ £More than 5 Year 12. What improvement do you want be done in company’s services? ï‚ £__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________ 13. Which service do you like most in Religare? ï‚ £_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 75 Bibliography Websites = http://deadpresident.blogspot.com http://religareonline.com http://www.religaresecurities.com Newspapers = The Hindu Books =

Pulp Fiction By Quentin Tarantino | Analysis

Pulp Fiction By Quentin Tarantino | Analysis If you take no pleasure in popular culture, with all its manic excesses, then you are likely to be bewildered and even offended, by Quentin Tarantinos extraordinary film, Pulp Fiction. Tarantino unapologetically enjoys popular culture at the same time that he satirizes it. Unfortunately, he also seems to specialize in violence. Still, taken on its own terms, Pulp Fiction is a rare accomplishment; it opens a new aesthetic horizon in film. Like Van Goghs sunflowers, the ordinary suddenly takes on a striking vibrancy; from the dazzling title colors on, it is easy to recognize the artist, but almost impossible to imagine how one could imitate him. Tarantino, a one-time video store clerk, now the hottest director in Hollywood, has memory banks packed with movies and he draws on some of the most ordinary to create something brilliantly original. This is no experimental film of intellectual pretensions and high-brow obscurantism. Pulp Fiction has built a cult following, even as its mother-f reaking language and graphic violence offends others. Violence in film is a serious matter, and for some people an inexcusable offense. They can see no justification for the scene in which John Travoltas character accidentally blows a young mans brains out. Even worse for those concerned about film violence, most of the audience laughed despite the spatter of blood and brain tissue and with spontaneous amusement, not the nervous hysteria often heard at horror films. The violence of Pulp Fiction is essential to its aesthetic; though he knew that many would complain, Tarantino meant the audience to laugh. Deliberately violating the conventions of action-violence films, Tarantino re-imagines stylized moments of violence and exaggerates them until they are almost surrealistic. Then he creates dialogue that leads up to the violence and then away from it. When most directors would be building tension and suspense, Tarantino has his killers chatting. When most directors would cut away from the violence, Tarantino stays with the aftermath. And he has achieved something I would have thought impossible; he has made violence humorous by doing it tongue-in-cheek and the tongue has a stud in it. Tarantinos film garnered top honors at the Cannes Film Festival but will probably pay for its punkness at the Oscars. Its box office success, however, should comfort the many aspiring Hollywood directors who dream of doing something different. But they will not find it easy to follow in Tarantinos tracks. His film is put together with touch, spin, and nuance, and then goes off in your face like a letter bomb. What Tarantino has crafted in this film can be best appreciated in the performance he has extracted from John Travolta. In 1977, Travolta gave his unforgettable portrayal of the cock-of-the-walk dancer in Saturday Night Fever. Far from a natural dancer, he nonetheless gave a heart-winning performance. Ever since then, he has been fighting the battle of the bulge and trying with less and less success to prove that he can act. One might have concluded that he was too old, too fat, and too far over the hill for Pulp Fiction. But it turns out that he is brilliantly cast in the film; everything wrong about him is right for this part. In his early-forties he still has a teenagers winning vulnerability. His broad mouth and high cheek bones are now bejowled but there is still a promise of sensuality in that ruined face. His appealing and familiar presence brings just the feel of movie nostalgia Tarantino wanted. Travolta plays a laid back, get-along kind of guy who is living a depraved and drug-addicted life as a paid killer, but has an astonishingly innocent soul, as do most of Tarantinos low-life characters. This innocence in depravity is Pulp Fictions central theme. It keeps the film from being an exercise in sado-masochistic perversity; it is the source of its humor and its creative energy. The film title Pulp Fiction harks back to the 30s and 40s when newsstands featured an array of monthly short story magazines. Among the most popular were those about hard-nosed private investigators. Written by such authors as Dashiell Hammet, Raymond Chandler, and James M. Cain, these stories were the forerunners of dark, city crime movies that became film noir. Pulp fiction stories typically began in the front of the magazine, competing for the readers attention, and were then continued in the back. Tarantino, though not old enough to remember this genre of pulp fiction, has put his film together as if he had that structure in mind. We begin with one short story: a hopped-up British couple (Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth) deciding to rob the coffee shop where they are having breakfast. Before they do, we turn the page a dark screen to the next story of Travolta and Jackson going off to retrieve a mysterious briefcase and to kill some drug dealers who didnt pay off their boss. Then another dark screen to the childhood of the Bruce Willis character who grows up to be the boxer who refuses to throw the fight. Unlike the old pulp fiction magazines, the triptych of stories eventually comes together as the seemingly disparate plots are interwoven by coincidence and by Tarantinos central theme. Because the film is set in Los Angeles, its anthology structure may of course owe much more to Robert Altmans Shortcuts or to his brilliant Nashville than to pulp fiction magazines. But Tarantinos borrowings are no defect. He is winking at his audience; he wants them to be aware of his references. The more they recognize the more they will enjoy the texture of his tapestry. It is because John Travolta carries so much baggage that he is so wonderful in this film. Moreover, everything Tarantino borrows is a clichà © that has been given an original spin. Pulp Fiction takes the dead genre of film noir and gives it new life. Finally, Tarantinos startling humor takes his film beyond anything he has drawn from others. Tarantinos interweaving of his three stories complicates the linear time structure of each plot. The most surprising result is that the Travolta character is killed only to reappear in the final scene of the movie, which took place earlier and is presented out of sequence. Once you figure out the puzzle, it becomes clear that Tarantino is playing with convention rather than rejecting or deconstructing it. Tarantinos entire film is playful, but he is playing with the imaginary world of film, not with reality itself. There can be no doubt that the self-taught Tarantino intends to shock his audience. The many scenes of graphic violence testify to that. European film-makers are concerned that violence in American film is pornography that appeals to the lowest common denominator and, like American fast food, is destroying the taste for better things. Some psychologists believe that film and TV violence teach Americas young people to be violent, or at the very least, inure them to real-life violence. Perhaps most troubling is the idea that graphic violence, like pornography, exploits an appetite in our basest instincts that degrades rather than edifies. Many people are refusing to see this film and a surprising number of my middle-aged friends report that their teenage children love it but have warned them they will hate the film. These reactions to the violence are too important to be dismissed, but I do not believe that Tarantino has dismissed them. His film exploits violence but as the jury at Can nes recognized he is neither lacking in moral sensibility nor, even though he wallows in popular culture, is he a Philistine. If violence is a form of pornography, then like pornography it presents the same problem of line-drawing between exploiting our passions and edifying them. But as our modern courts have recognized, it is necessary to go beyond that simple categorical distinction and ask whether an admittedly exploitive work of art has redeeming social value. When Shakespeare wrote Hamlet and King Lear, he intended to exploit his audiences violent passions as well as to edify them. There is, after all, a great deal of violence, even graphic violence, in Lear remember out vile jelly as Cornwall gouges out Gloucesters eyes on stage. The greatest works of Western Civilization mock those who count graphic violence as ipso facto unredeemable exploitation. This is not to say that Tarantino intends to redeem the violence; if anything, he seems to be mocking the arbiters of good taste with his wicked humor. This is most blatant, not in the scenes of violence, but in the quirky introduction to the Bruce Willis/boxer story. Christopher Walken, an actor who will be remembered for his Oscar-winning performance in Deer Hunter (a Vietnam war-film), makes a brief appearance in Pulp Fiction as a former Vietnam POW. He has come to deliver his dead cellmates gold watch to the young boy who never knew his father. The Walken character begins to tell the boy what happened to his father in standard heroic pulp fiction rhetoric, but then veers perversely into a description of the intestinal orifice where the father hid the watch, and the intestinal disorders that complicated its concealment. It is an account that no sane adult would give a child and a scene right out of a graffiti imagination. Other directors are capable of imagining such graffiti, but Tarantino was brash enough to keep it in his film. Like all toilet graffiti it can be understood as an example of adolescent bad taste and Tarantino knows that. It is gross, it is inappropriate, it is irreverent, and one can understand why the younger generation would be warning off their fuddy-duddy parents. Yet even this heavy-handed moment belongs in the film. The scene begins as a patriotic-die-for-your-country clichà © in which the reality of how the gold watch survived would have been unimagined. Tarantinos script takes up the challenge of an explanation and as he veers into scatology, he gives the finger to the false norm of noble death in all such war clichà ©s. But Tarantino is interested less in making an anti-war gesture than in doing a send-up of a movie clichà ©. Similarly, this is not an anti-violence film . It is a send up of movie violence. One astute teenage critic remarked that Tarantino learned something from his first film, Reservoir Dogs. All the guys in her high school loved the macho violence but there was not much in this male-oriented film for her and her female friends. Despite its violence and male orientation, Pulp Fiction has something for the female gender, particularly the scenes between Travolta and Uma Thurman. This teenage critic and her girl friends especially enjoyed the episode in which the Travolta character is required to entertain the black crime boss white wife (Uma Thurman). The previous man charged with this task had given her a foot massage; the boss took umbrage and had the massager thrown out of a four-story window. The Travolta-Thurman episode quickly turns into an over-the-top parody of a blind date. Travolta prepares himself by going to his drug dealer for a batch of the ultimate hit a mixture of cocaine and heroin that only a seasoned addict could tolerate. Travolta mainlines the stuff the way a nervous guy might take a drink to boost his confidence before a date. Meanwhile, Uma Thurman is sniffing cocaine, not because shes uneasy, but because she is a man-eater whetting her appetite. Thurman takes Travolta to a dance contest where they do the twist, to the delight of Saturday Night Fever fans. Tarantinos elaborate set features vintage 50s convertibles as booths, pop culture look-alikes as servers, top-of-the-charts music, all of it so extravagant in its evocation of nostalgia as to be unreal. The scene is somehow true to the spirit of Pulp Fiction, a film that parodies popular culture without ever condescending to those who take pleasure in it. The Travolta/Thurman blind date has clever dialogue, the twist is a trip, and the sexual tension escalates as they tango back into her home at the end of the evening. But while Travolta is in the toilet (it turns out he is always in the toilet at critical moments) Thurman finds his drug stash, snorts it, and overdoses. Instead of a sexual conclusion, the evening ends with a slapstick resuscitation involving a huge syringe stuck in her sternum. In this funny and surreal scene it becomes clear that Travolta and his low-life friends are playing overaged adolescents. Indeed the whole film has the spirit, energy, and sensibility of adolescence. No wonder teenagers love it. Although Tarantino wants to shock us with violence, his film is politically correct. There is no nudity and no violence directed against women; in fact a man, the crime boss, gets raped and the only essentially evil people in the film are two sadistic honkies straight out of Deliverance who do the raping. The film celebrates interracial friendship and cultural diversity; there are strong women and strong black men, and the director swims against the current of class stereotype. It is the British couple who, out of place in Los Angeles in the very first scene, fill the sound track with British-accented mother fuckers. Amanda Plummer, who was born to play Ophelia, does a crazed Honey Bunny to Tim Roths Pumpkin. They are two waifs holding hands in the storm of their strung-outness on drugs and their hare-brained career of sticking up liquor stores. The juxtaposition of their lost teddy bear attachment to each other with their nervous trigger-finger desperation establishes Tarantinos tone of innocence in depravity. Samuel Jackson, who will best be remembered as the drug-addicted older brother in Spike Lees Jungle Fever, sustains that tone as Travoltas hit-man partner. His presence on the screen is a match for Travolta; he has a face that looks different in every camera angle and he radiates strength. These professional killers engage first in an earnest discussion about the European nomenclature of American fast foods and then a subtle analysis of the sexual si gnificance of the foot massage as they make their way to the apartment where they will kill three men. The Jackson character miraculously eludes a point-blank fusillade of bullets. As they leave, they debate whether he was saved by divine intervention or simple luck. Jackson, who quotes from Ezekiel to spellbinding effect when he kills people, suddenly understands his Biblical text in a quite different way. As it turns out, his life and perhaps if it is possible for a killer his soul will be saved by this epiphany. This theme of redemption is present in each of the three stories. Willis as Butch the boxer rescues his would-be killer, the black crime boss, from the honkey rapists. Butch, who was to be their next victim, has the opportunity to escape, but goes back. Redeemed by this act of solidarity, he is forgiven by the crime boss for not throwing the fight and is sent on his way. The British couple are also saved. They try to rob Jackson who has ended up in the restaurant where the film began. He has drawn his gun under the table and could easily blow them both away. Instead, in the spirit of justice and honor that prevails among the low-lifes in this film, Jackson does the right thing. He stares the amateur criminals down, letting them take his own money but not the mysterious briefcase that he is dutifully returning to the crime boss. We believe that the strung-out British couple are capable of a killing rampage in the restaurant Amanda Plummer is a remarkable sight standing on a restaurant table screaming obscenities and waving a Saturday-night special. We also know that the day before Jackson would have killed them without blinking an eye, and that he will have to kill them today if they try to take the boss briefcase. Instead Jackson sends the couple peacefully out of the restaurant clutching each other and a trash bag filled with stolen money. But the best scenes involve Jackson and Travolta. When they are not killing, they are like college sophomores, one black, one white both amateur philosophers eager to share their ideas and experiences. Tarantinos ingenious dialogue humanizes their homocidal partnership. The improbable juxtaposition of their earnest dialogue and the violence is the stylistic twist that allows us to laugh at the spatter of brains and blood in the backseat of their car. Travolta reacts like a teenager unjustly blamed by his buddy for accidentally spilling the beer. And like children of over-indulgent parents, they have no idea how to clean up the mess. Yes, they seem oblivious to the fact that a person has been killed. In that light their conversation is ludicrous. But this absurd dialogue unexpectedly transforms the meaning of the violence clichà ©. If Tarantino wanted to defend his film, this is where he could make his strongest arguments. Pulp Fiction unmasks the macho myth by making it laughable and deheroicizes the power trip glorified by standard Hollywood violence. But Tarantino is irreverent, not didactic. He goes from Road-Runner cartoon-violence humor in the Bruce Willis segment to whips and chain homosexual rape that silences the laughter. Tarantino will stop at nothing and yet never loses control. He dives into a nightmare and comes up with something funny, taking his audience up and down with him. Though Tarantino thinks his screenplay is funny, and would be disappointed if no one laughed, he doesnt consider Pulp Fiction a comedy. He is quite right; but if you dont get the studded tongue-in-cheek humor, you may not li ke this extraordinary movie.