Einsteins Dreams - 2185 Words

Alan Lightmans Einsteins Dreams For those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, however tenacious. Albert Einstein For sure, one of the most important and discussed man of the 20th century is Albert Einstein - may be the most eminent German Jew. And many were the authors trying to describe the life and deeds of this prominent man. But one surely differs from the others in NOT trying to describe Einsteins life but imagine his dreams. His name is Alan Lightman and the book that does deserve this examination is Einsteins Dreams. First I must say a few words about the author. Mr. Lightman was born in United States of America, in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1948†¦show more content†¦Who wants to study and make money if he will not live longer than a few months? A sense of liberation envelops everyone. People pay their bills with smile, because money is losing its value, and they settle their differences with a shrug because there is nothing to worry about anymore. They do not seem to mind that the world will soon end, because everyone shares the same fate. A world with one month is a world of equality. Among the stories, there is an interesting fantasy of a world that has three dimensions instead of one. There every moment branches into three futures. A man stands on his fourth-floor balcony. Should he go to the womans house in Fribourg? Should he visit her? These questions torment his mind. Then the time divides into three. In one of the worlds the man decides not to see her again. He keeps to the company of men. He works hard at the pharmaceutical, where he hardly notices the female assistant manager. In three years he meets another nice woman. She makes love to him very slowly, over a period of months. They marry, they live quietly, grow old and contented. In the second world the man decides to meet the woman. He goes to her house in Fribourg. They sit on the couch and his heart pounds. They make love, loudly and with passion. After some time he moves to her place. She tramples him andShow MoreRelatedDaydreams Essay: Exam Question1127 Words   |  5 PagesDaydreams A day dream is defined as ‘a series of pleasant thoughts that distract one’s attention from the present’. In my opinion, a daydream is not a frivolous activity practiced only by a doe eyed schoolgirl during an unendurable French lesson. A daydream acts as a subconscious portal which allows one to escape from ones everyday life of stress and negative circumstances. One could almost say it is chewing gum for the mind. Of course, some differ in that view. A critically acclaimed authorRead MoreThe Great Albert Einstein Essay1517 Words   |  7 Pagesorganize and formulate the most complex equations and designs, making light of problems previously thought to be impossible. Einstein’s education, life experiences, and â€Å"freethinking ability contributed to his success and ability in his life.† Albert Einstein, to this day is still one of the most accomplished and respected mathematician/ inventor in the world. Einstein’s journey was one filled with challenges, discoveries, and many accomplishments. On March 14, 1879, Albert Einstein was born inRead MoreEssay about einstein524 Words   |  3 Pages He was the embodiment of pure intellect, the bumbling professor with the German accent, a comic clichà © in a thousand films. Instantly recognizable, like Charlie Chaplins Little Tramp, Albert Einsteins shaggy-haired visage was as familiar to ordinary people as to the matrons who fluttered about him in salons from Berlin to Hollywood. Yet he was unfathomably profound — the genius among geniuses who discovered, merely by thinking about it, that the universe was not as it seemed. Even now scientistsRead MoreSalvador Dali and Science Essay1747 Words   |  7 Pages Within the realm of Surrealism, more specifically the surrealist group, they contain works that are overly subjective and involve definite notions to scientific observation of nature, as well as the interpretations of dreams. Encapsulating the former ideas of Albert Einstein, there is a close resemblance to theories that are at the very base of quantum mechanics. Upon further inspection, Salvador Dali’s artistic imagery and methodology, as well as Andrà © Breton’s, could be seen as expressions ofRead MoreThe Time Of Time Traveling1706 Words   |  7 Pagestraveling but thanks to Einstein’s theory of relativity which opened doors to a lot of physicists trying to find ways to travel to the future. Thus, so time travel is a real possibility. For you to believe I must address some issues first. Some people may argue that time doesn’t exist it is just a concept that humans made based on the earth orbiting around the sun so therefore, time travel is impossible. That once was believed to be the case, however, I’d like to point out Einstein’s theory of specialRead MoreSir Isaac Newton And Albert Einstein869 Words   |  4 Pagesdisrespect. At fifteen, he dropped out. After not being able to score high enough on the entrance exam for college, he went to a small Swiss school similar to community college except it lasted for four years. After graduating, he finally went to his dream school, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and fell in love with Physics. For the first time, he graduated with the highest honors. During years of multiple marriages and affairs, Einstein rose to fame in science. During this time, he alsoRead MoreDaydreams Essay: Exam Question1142 Words   |  5 PagesDaydreams A day dream is defined as ‘a series of pleasant thoughts that distract one’s attention from the present’. In my opinion, a daydream is not a frivolous activity practiced only by a doe eyed schoolgirl during an unendurable French lesson. A daydream acts as a subconscious portal which allows one to escape from ones everyday life of stress and negative circumstances. One could almost say it is chewing gum for the mind. Of course, some differ in that view. A critically acclaimed authorRead MoreAlbert Einstein Speech1071 Words   |  5 Pagesreally religious until he read a science book which differed from his beliefs. He was also influenced b67y a guy named Max Talmud who was a medical student who at times had ate with Einsteins family. Talmud tutored him and which at that time he introduced him to a children’s science textbook which started his dream about the nature of light. The book is written by Aaron Bernstein in 1867-1868. When his parents busines s failed a really important contract(also other deals), he had to go to the boardingRead MoreQuantum Theory Of Time Essay1418 Words   |  6 Pagesto be no space between them – and not even time can influence the deep connection. For years physicists have known that Einstein’s equations, and even those of the quantum theory, are â€Å"time-symmetrical† – time plays absolutely no role. There is no forward movement of time. This caused many scientists to question whether time even exists. Indeed, Einstein’s theories of relativity suggest not only that there is no single special present but that all moments are equally real. EinsteinRead MoreMathematical Connection Essay1173 Words   |  5 Pagesuniversities. Hermanns contribution to mathematics involved his addition of a fourth dimension into the three dimensions of space time concept .He worked the concept of the space-time continuum Influenced by Albert Einsteins relativity theory of 1905 and later became the foundation of Einsteins general theory of relativity of 1916. John Von Neumann -(1903-1957) was born in Hungary and studied in Switzerland, Budapest and Berlin. In 1930 he immigrated to the United States to teach at Princeton

Analysis Of George Hemingway s Big Two Hearted River

The Modern Men No two men are exactly alike, not even identical twins. Some attributes, appearance, and ideology may mirror, but no two men are alike. Differences in how the world is perceived will allow this individual to stand together, but appear far apart. The modern method of writing allows for individuals do exactly that, stand together, but appear to be fair. Writers Ernest Hemingway and T.S. Eliot demonstrated such disassociation in living deliberately in time and place of Nick and J. Alfred Prufrock. Ernest Hemingway’s story Big Two-Hearted River tells the story of a young man who returns to his old fishing hole after the war. Nick, is his name and he returns home faced with some of the same feeling and thoughts of war. Although, he did have a home to return to, everything around him appeared demolished, at least in his mind. Nick, did what any other man returning home for war would do. He packed a backpack and set off for a fishing and camping trip, an attempt to esc ape reality, even if it was just to go fishing for a few days. As described in the story â€Å"the trout keeping themselves steady in the current with wavering fins† (Hemingway, 2015) which may resemble control of life and movement, â€Å"Nick’s obsession with controlling small details speaks to a deeply wounded man† (McDavid, 2013). As the trout in the water use its fins to control its’ movement, overcoming obstacles, Nick attempts to do the same. With a fishing pole and a backpack filled with useful tools,Show MoreRelatedEssay Mrs.Mallards character (The story of an hour)2246 Words   |  9 Pages Analysis of Hemingway’s Narrative Technique as a Short- Story Writer For many years, the narrative technique of Hemingway has been under debate. Writers before him had already achieved works that bear the characteristics of the modern short story, and many of their works could stand today, with those of Hemingway and of writers like Faulkner, as representative short stories of modern times. What distinguishes Hemingway both from his predecessors and from his contemporaries, however, is the theoryRead MoreAN ANALYSIS PAPER ON ANTON CHEKHOV’S THE SEAGULL AND THE CHERRY ORCHARD12092 Words   |  49 PagesHigh School Department A.Y. 2013-2014 In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements In English IV AN ANALYSIS PAPER ON ANTON CHEKHOV’S THE SEAGULL AND THE CHERRY ORCHARD Submitted to: Mrs. Joneth D. Vibar Submitted by: Vincent del Castillo IV-St.Francis of Assisi Outline of Analysis 1 Author’s Style 1.1 Anton Chekhov as a Playwright and Author of Short Stories 1.1.1 Russia’s best known Modern Playwright 1.1.1

Developing A Balanced Investment Portfolio

Question: Discuss about the Developing A Balanced Investment Portfolio for a Fund Manager. Answer: Introduction: When it comes to constructing a portfolio, different investors target different portfolio and select the fund manager depending on their requirements and preference. Selection of fund manager is just the initial requirement for the portfolio construction. In the wider sense, building of portfolio is the procedure of selecting the investments, which are best suited as the clients requirement of return with compared to risk tolerance level. Private and professional investors construct their portfolio in different ways. The easiest way to explain these strategies are top down test and bottom up test. Bottom up test: This approach is normally used by the private individual investor and starts from selecting the fund and the fund manager as per their choice. Only after completing this, they go for planning the portfolio with considering the risk and return factor. In addition, the clients behaviour, risk tolerance level and preference should be taken into consideration. The investors always prefers top-performing funds, which results into loss of money for them as they buy the top selling funds at a loss (Reddy et al. 2013) Top-down test: Professional investor, on the other hand, starts the investment plan with investigating the available funds. They apply various steps after generating a framework to select what type of investments is required. Only after analysing these factors, they select other investments or individual funds. Planning the portfolio after considering the investment objectives and risk tolerance level assist in meeting the targets within the acceptable level of risk (Mazzola and Gerace 2015). The top-down test normally goes along the following wide approaches: Deciding about how to distribute money over various categories of investment Select the type of investment where to invest Choose on the stability among index passive fund and actively managed fund Assessment of various fund manager and individual funds Figure 1: Construction methods of portfolio (Source: Han 2013) Steps in planning the portfolio: Allocation of asset: Asset is a thing of value, which includes stocks, bonds, cash, any other securities and physical things like car, house or inventories. One of the major factors of planning a portfolio is the allocation of assets. Allocation ensures that the portfolio has perfect mix of assets to suit the clients situation, expectation of return and risk tolerance level. Before planning for the portfolio, the clients attitude to risk must be evaluated. The fund manager can help the investor in determining their risk tolerance level. The planner must conduct a meeting with the client and decide about the allocation of asset that suits the client best with regard to his requirement (Speelman, Clark-Murphy and Gerrans 2013). Diversification: Diversification is stated as the segregation of money of the client over the various investments to lessen or protect against the unexpected risk in any individual market or particular investment. Investment risk is the risk of difference between the expectation and actual return of the investor. In order to minimise the risk the planner must diversify his risk among the wide mix of assets. The market of investment shifts in various cycles and reflects the potency of economy, sentiment of investors and trends of industry. The assets also shift as per the external aspects. For example, during unfavourable economic periods, people do not wish to buy expensive items and the manufacturing companies face down fall in sales, however, the producers of essential items like food may not experience the same situation. Diversification of portfolio can assist in smoothing out the difficulties in the market. Therefore, returns from well performing assets facilitates in offsetting those, which are not performing well (Gibson 2013). Balancing between return and risk: The perception of risk and return proposes that low level of risk will eventually lead to low level of return. The high level of risk will eventually fetch high level of return. However, no planner can guarantee about the proposition. It may happen that high-level risk involved investment may fetch big loss instead of profit. The fund manager just helps to construct the best possible portfolio for the client with regard to his return expectation and risk tolerance level. Using the strategy for allocation of asset assists in minimising the risk as per the market conditions. However, there are instances when the experience fund managers also get their timing wrong. Using the strategy can assist in assuring that the portfolio is balanced (Han 2013). Figure 2: Relation between risk and return (Source: Han 2013) Correlation: Correlation is a statistical calculation for the degree to which the shifting of various types of assets are correlated. For efficient allocation of assets, the fund manager often tends to combine the assets that are expected to perform well in various times. Generally, construction of portfolio starts with a blank paper and the collection of funds available for investment. However, in actual, most of the investor already has a segregation of asset before they start planning for investment. The fund manager assists in allocation of assets and then re-arranges the investment over time so that the client has best option to meet his expectations from investment (He, Grant and Fabre 2013). Major classes of assets: Investments are categorised into various classes of assets like, bonds, equities, cash and properties. The table shown below pointed out the various types of assets, their main characteristics and for which they are potentially suitable (Brown and Tiu 2013). Classes of assets Main characteristics Potential appropriateness Bonds Can offer a reliable and stable income with possibility of higher growth rate and interest rate; It involves oversees government bonds, corporate bonds and UK government bonds Long, medium or short term investors Equities Useful for monitory growth and are able to generate income through dividend payments and can be invested in oversees companies and UK Medium and Long-term investments, usually 5 years plus Cash Appropriate for short-term requirements such as future down payment on a new house. It generally includes term deposits and securities which pays higher rate of interest Short-term investors usually for up to three years Property Offer the advantages of diversification through right to use the properties in office, retail, tourism, industrial and infrastructure segments. And can be invested in UK as well as international assets Medium and Long-term investments, usually 5 years plus Table 1: Classification of assets (Sources: Created by author) Other potential securities are: Australian fixed interest: The benefits of investing in a spread portfolio of that bears interest can offer regular income. The amount invested with fixed rate of interest and taken from the State Governments, Commonwealth, Banks and any other Australian Ethical Charter that meets the criteria of USB Index for Composite Bond. The risk level is low to medium and the required period is 3 years. Oversees fixed interest: Overseas fixed interest aim to offer regular income and they are perfect for moderate capital growth over medium-term period. Standard risk level for overseas fixed interest are low and are intended to suit investors who are willing to take moderate levels of risk with a modest potential for capital appreciation (Calza, Monacelli and Stracca 2013). There are no arguments that shares are a major part of any portfolio for the investors who want a balanced portfolio with regular return with accepted level of risk. The reason behind this is over time, shares are expected to pay higher level of return than the investment potion like cash and bonds. However, it will not be a wise idea to put all the money in the same area as it is said with relation to investment that Dont put all your eggs in the same basket. Building share portfolio: Before buying the preferable stock from the market, the investor must consider the types of portfolio he is preferred to buy. Speculative trading is only a small element of the strategy to investment, as long-term investment is a strategy that works best for most of the investor, most of the time. Rather than investing in any particular bond or share or asset, diversification of investment over various funds gives best result for most of the investor. Every investor has different preference, however, most of the investors look for a mixture of income and capital gain and a return that is more than the average market return. There are various strategies to construct an index-beating portfolio, but beating the index is not the only major concern. The investor must consider how much he wants to beat it by, and the risk tolerance level to target the objective. Number of stock that should be bought: Assuming the primary objective of the investor to hit the index, the planner needs to evaluate exactly what is his requirement. The major market indexes are the reasonable representative cross-section of various areas of activity in the Australian economy. To create the same return as the index, the investor has buy all 300 or 500 stocks from that index, and he should capture the index return before costs. If the SP/ASX 300 earned 20% for the year, the portfolio would gain 20 per cent, before costs. If it fall, the portfolio will also fall. The fund managers set up quantitative methods for following the alterations in the components of the selected index as companies drop out, drop in, and simply copy the index portfolio. The best technique to hit the index is through the exact style of investing that suits private investors. For example, if the client has a fund of $5000, the value of setting up a investment of 10-stock would assure that the client will face problems earning a profi t even if the market rises. Hold only as many stocks as understood Investors often want to know about how many securities they must have in their portfolios, and the most common answer for that is: "as many as you understand". For the new investors, the number is generally five to 10 securities. On the contrary, for experienced investors the number may be less, in some instances it may be beneficial to put some money into a well-managed fund. Most of the part-time investors cannot control more than 12 portfolios. The investment criteria not only depend on the available time and knowledge of the investor but on the preference of expected return and risk tolerance level. As the fund manager constructs the portfolio based on his experience, he may target for a final holding of around 5 to 10 securities and possibly not more than 15, even if he is an experienced investor. Adjusting with the number of stocks is a confront for most of the private investors. Holding this number of stocks offers the investor some opportunity for diversification of portfolio through company type, company size, industry and so on. Holding various shares with different features means the portfolio should not experience too bad impact if one does the planning poorly and is benefitted with good planning. Allocation of assets for balanced portfolio: Assets Allocation (%) Range (%) Australian Fixed interest 27 10 to 50 Overseas Fixed interest 8 0 to 15 Cash 5 0 to 15 Defensive Assets 40 30 to 50 Australian Equities 30 10 to 30 Property 15 0 to 20 Infrastructure 6 0 to 12 High yield fixed interest 4 0 to 8 Alternatives 5 0 to 10 Growth Assets 60 50 to 70 Table 2: Allocation of Assets (Source: Created by Author) The above table shows the maximum and minimum amount that can be invested in each class of assets and is shown under the heading Range. The allocation of asset can be varied from time to time. The variations must be within the range as shown above (Plumb, Kent and Bishop 2013). The objective of the allocation as above is to invest in a wide category of assets, which have the capability of achieving the target over the long-term period. Probability of capital gains is there, however, chances of capital losses are also there. The strategy of investment included in the table are investment in a portfolio of fixed interest securities, overseas and Australian investment, listed property, cash and Australian equities. The risk measure for the above allocation is medium. The above portfolio is planned to suit the investors who are seeking moderate returns and willing to tale medium level of risk that is the requirement is of a balanced portfolio. The target time period is 5 to 6 years (Martinsuo and Killen 2014). Investment with available fund of $1 billion that is $100 million: Assets Allocation (%) Amount ($ millions) Australian Fixed interest 27 27 Overseas Fixed interest 8 8 Cash 5 5 Defensive Assets 40 40 Australian Equities 30 30 Property 15 15 Infrastructure 6 6 High yield fixed interest 4 4 Alternatives 5 5 Growth Assets 60 60 Table 3: Investment (Source: Created by author) The required return rate of the investor after expenses and taxes is 3% plus inflation. The present inflation rate as per CPI is 1.3%. Therefore the required rate of return is (1.3+3) = 4.3%. From Equity: Return rate is 10% From Fixed interest: Return rate is 5% From Infrastructure and property: Return rate is 4% Let the expenses and tax is 12%. Therefore, the return is (10+5+4-12) = 7%, which is more than the required return of 4.3% Recommendations for structuring the portfolio: Four major levels of diversification, which can be summarised with the wide principles, are as follows: For the total portfolio: The investor must consider holding various types of investments and not only the shares. The investor must consider investing part of his portfolio through managed funds to minimise the risk. For the share portfolio: The investor must hold more than the minimum number of shares in his portfolio, constructing up to 5 to 10 securities over time, and possibly 15 maximum for investors that are more skilled. Based on the energy and time that the client is willing to invest for the investment, if he chooses more than 10 stocks, then it will be problematic for him to keep track of all the investments. However, less than 5 will considerably increase the risk of big variations in value. The investor must hold securities in various sectors, so that his portfolio is revealed to expansion in various areas of the economy and is less susceptible to a downfall in any particular industry. The investor must seek various "categories" of available shares and should diversify his portfolio across the industries; the investor can get returns without taking too much risk if he includes speculative stocks and blue-chip to his portfolio. The investor must look for companies with various features. The investor can meet all types of successful companies right from the fast-growing companies to slow-growing companies or to rotating companies that may be bouncing back from the crucial positions or the companies that somehow managing to develop. The investor must choose the stocks that will fulfil his requirement. It is crucial to construct a portfolio that suits the investors approach of investing. If the investor is required to earn a regular income, he will have to search for at least two or three securities that will fulfil his purpose. Therefore, with considering whether a stock is equity, cash or speculative stock the planner must take into account the type of company and its performance. Diversifying the portfolio among the various stocks involving various level of risk assists to balance the portfolio. Moreover, the investor must understand the strong points and vulnerabilities of each stock of the portfolio. References: Brown, K. and Tiu, C., 2013.The interaction of spending policies, asset allocation strategies, and investment performance at university endowment funds(No. w19517). National Bureau of Economic Research. Calza, A., Monacelli, T. and Stracca, L., 2013. Housing finance and monetary policy.Journal of the European Economic Association,11(s1), pp.101-122 Gibson, R., 2013.Asset Allocation: Balancing Financial Risk: Balancing Financial Risk. McGraw Hill Professional. Han, L., 2013. Understanding the puzzling risk-return relationship for housing.Review of Financial Studies,26(4), pp.877-928. He, P.W., Grant, A. and Fabre, J., 2013. Economic value of analyst recommendations in Australia: an application of the BlackLitterman asset allocation model.Accounting Finance,53(2), pp.441-470. Martinsuo, M. and Killen, C.P., 2014. Value management in project portfolios: Identifying and assessing strategic value.Project Management Journal,45(5), pp.56-70. Mazzola, P. and Gerace, D., 2015. A Comparison Between a Dynamic and Static Approach to Asset Management Using CAPM Models on the Australian Securities Market.Australasian Accounting Business Finance Journal,9(2), p.43. Plumb, M., Kent, C. and Bishop, J., 2013.Implications for the Australian economy of strong growth in Asia. Reserve Bank of Australia. Reddy, W., Higgins, D., Wist, M. and Garimort, J., 2013. Australian industry superannuation funds: investment strategies and property allocation.Journal of Property Investment Finance,31(5), pp.462-480. Speelman, C.P., Clark-Murphy, M. and Gerrans, P., 2013. Decision making clusters in retirement savings: Gender differences dominate.Journal of family and economic issues,34(3), pp.329-339.

Wallingford bowling free essay sample

The Wallingford Bowling Alley Wallingford bowling alley is a 24-hour state of the art bowling alley that is looking for areas to increase their profitability. The Wallingford bowling alley has opportunities to increase their margin as well as drive more daily sales. We see an opportunity for Wallingford because they already have a profitable business. By making the following advancements to achieve more business during slower times of the day they can seize this opportunity. By putting more consideration into using labor hours more effectively, creating community partnerships, and taking advantage of beneficial organizations, Wallingford will see a considerable growth in their bottom line and an expansion of their brand and recognition. Solutions for Growth The Wallingford bowling alley faces the opportunity to increase their profitability and simultaneously attain a larger return on investment. Through a reengineering process Wallingford bowling alley will drastically improve profits through promotions and cost control. There are several opportunities facing Wallingford that we will examine and analyze to determine the most effective course of action needed to achieve our goals. We will write a custom essay sample on Wallingford bowling or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page To help appeal to their consumers, Wallingford needs to enhance their image as well as their accommodations. With the addition of customized bowling balls to fit the needs of their customers, Wallingford would be able to bring in a new market looking for these higher end products. Also, by creating a more appealing menu to offer the residents of Wallingford they could potentially bring more customers that are interested in dining out. This could also create a new customer base for potential marketing. After looking at the times at which they are doing business as well as the reported expenses we were provided, we believe that there is a huge opportunity to cut costs by closing the top half of the bowling alley from the hours of 1am until noon. As you can see, about a third of Wallingford’s expenses come from payroll. By making these cuts in available lanes they can decrease this payroll amount and increase their profits. This will decrease utility costs, employee wages, and make the ally appear busier by having everyone bowling on one level during slower times. Say there are 3 employees needed to staff the upstairs when it is open; the average wage for an employee is $12 an hour. If cut, that’s $72 a day and over 26 thousand dollars a year going straight to increasing the bottom line and decreasing overhead costs. As well as cutting labor to help increase the bottom line we can help eliminate the threat of revenue loss on Sundays due to church services. Wallingford should offer discounted rates during times that church is in session. By focusing on getting these customers in the door they could increase revenue during a slower time of the week.  In order to take advantage of these slow times we saw an opportunity for the bowling alley to make some sales revenue. Wallingford could offer local schools a discounted rate for large groups to use the bowling alley for field trips or for Physical Education classes. This would give the bowling alley sales during slow periods and also gain interest for bowling in younger markets and hopefully a gain in future customers. Another opportunity is to join the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America. The BPAA is an organization focused on enhancing the profitability of their members through grants and a stronger purchasing ability. The costs of becoming a member and loss of some administrative control create an opportunity cost for Wallingford but the long-term ability to be able to create programs with these grants would make up for the short-term costs. This would allow Wallingford to cut down on operation costs through the added buying power supplied by the BPAA, and the savings in money would go to the increased profits. Also, with the opportunity to receive grants from the BPAA, Wallingford would be able to start high school bowling programs to increase interest in the bowling alley. We felt Wallingford was not doing enough promotions to attract value conscious customers to their bowling alley. In order to capture more sales during slower periods we feel that offering special promotions like a free game with the purchase of an entrà ©e from the restaurant, the rental of  shoes would not be included in this promotion. Not only would this get more bowlers in Wallingford, but it would increase revenue for the restaurant located at the alley. This promotion would run from 10am to 2pm Monday through Friday. Other promotions would be happy hour bowling from 4pm to 7pm where bowlers could get a discounted rate for games during this period. So far, we have only focused on capturing sales during slower mid-day hours, but not for late night. The ability to be open 24 hours in a unique characteristic and sets them apart from a lot of other businesses. In order to take advantage of these late hours, we felt like having a late night bowling special. Bowlers who are up late would be able to take advantage of this opportunity. Also, in order to capture sales from bar going groups, partnering with alcohol companies or breweries could capture some of their customers and would increase popularity with an under-utilized group. These partnerships could also give Wallingford a cheaper form of advertisement and low cost or free labor from these partners. Wallingford can really tap into a new market by taking advantage of these promotions and partnerships. Strengths The BPAA allows their members to participate in numerous different buying promotions from office supplies to foods and drink. These discounts could save Wallingford money and increase their bottom line. The money that the BPAA could provide would help promote school partnerships by supporting transportation and other costs associated. This could increase interest with kids 13-18 and create returning customers. Increasing interest with this market influences other markets like parents of students looking for family activities. Weaknesses The cost of the BPAA is a draw-back. Like any premium membership there is a premium cost associated with it. However, with these costs come also numerous benefits and increased profitability. Membership costs would be offset by increased revenue and improved customer base. Another weakness may be loss of some creative or administrative control. Opportunities The partnership with high schools that the BPAA provides would cause an increase in high school tournaments being held at Wallingford. This would bring in hundreds of people on an annual basis and increase profits for food, drink, and merchandise. Threats Like in any business there are always substitutes for your consumers. In this case substitutes for Wallingford would be movie theatres, bars, and community events. 2) Cross Promotions and Partnerships Cross promotions are a low cost form of advertising that gives the company high exposure and strong partnerships with local business and takes advantage of other company’s loyal customers. Strengths The ability for Wallingford to utilize local businesses for co-sponsored events creates a higher exposure by advertising to new customers and creating high exposure. In addition to higher exposure for Wallingford the use of their partners’ labor and products would help with labor cost and product costs. Weaknesses The draw-back of these partnerships would be the conflict of two or more differing opinions from two or more organizations. There is also a certain level of uncertainty with these partnerships through not knowing the  expectations of each others’ business practices. These weaknesses could be harmful to the business practices of Wallingford but the opportunity to bring in a new customer base to the bowling alley is too big to not use this resource. Opportunities One of the opportunities that are involved with these partnerships is sponsorships. We believe that the addition of sponsored lanes would add an increase and draw in customers loyal to our sponsors which would bring in a new customer base. This would be a new market for Wallingford and would bring new customers and profits to the bowling alley. Threats There is a threat of customers who may be opposed to our sponsors and subsequently will not want to support the bowling alley. Paying attention to the opinions of their consumers can give insight on to who Wallingford chooses to do their cross promotions with. By implementing polls or surveys to their customers, they could find out what local business appeal to them and develop partnerships with them to create a more effective promotion and increased sales. The Decision We feel like the best solution for Wallingford would be to focus on cross promotions, partnerships and strategic alliances. We feel that this is an opportunity because they are not currently doing any program like this. By focusing on this option Wallingford is able to penetrate untapped markets, increase marketing, actively engage the community and their business, and ultimately increase profitability. Evaluation Wallingford could evaluate the success of promotions, partnerships and strategic alliances by measuring the increase or decreased customer count that promotions and partnerships supplied. Wallingford could keep track of customer awareness by asking customers how they heard about the bowling alley. After a trial period of six months we could come together with Wallingford management and evaluate the decision and the effect it had on increasing the profitability, customer flow and look for a decrease in slow times. Question 1 The steps in the decision making process are; Identifying and diagnosing problems, generating alternative solutions, evaluating alternatives, making the choice, implementing the decision, and evaluating the decision. In using and applying these concepts to this case, with the first step we identify the major problem with the bowling center which is that the profit pool is too low at the end of the year and that capacity and sales needs to be increased. Five alternative solutions are; more advertising, offering incentives to customers during slow hours to increase sales, use the extra space and rooms to generate income by renting that space, closing the business during slow times, put the business on the market to gauge potential profit from sale. In evaluating the alternatives we determine the adequacy of the alternatives that have been generated. More advertising would provide a larger customer base especially for the slow periods in turn increasing profits, but it may not be an adequate solution because of the company’s position of operating expenses; however it could increase profits by luring in more customers especially during times when capacity is low. Offering incentives to customers is an option that could provide more customers that otherwise would not have visited the business. Using the extra space of the bowling alley as a rental for special events especially during slow hours could provide a potential profit in space that would otherwise go unused. Closing the business during slow hours would be a very viable option because it would save on operating costs and in turn increase the profits. Testing the market with this business could also be an option, although the profit pool has not been desirable, the business seems to be established which could be very attractive to potential buyers. It would at least b e worth a look to see what kind of profit margin could be reached with a sell. Wallingford Bowling Center is facing low profit performance after four years in business. This reduced in profit is due to many factors. As we have seen, wallingford is not operating in full capacity for most days of the week but it is still open for twenty four hours regardless of its operation. The net income is 2.38 percent of he total revenue generated and it shows that operation cost is very high. Having the above mentioned problems and more, wallingford can not have a good future unless there is immediate solution for The major challenge the center faces which is maximizing the capacity and also sales. As it is described in the chapter, the decision making process includes six stages: 1, Identifying and diagnosing the problem * In wallingford’s case the problem is low profit performance. 2,Generating Alternative Solutions * Here in our case we can have as many alternative as we can just to mention some of the alternative solutions: a, closing the business in the time when business is low. b, Advertise the organization more. c, Create effective relationship with employees and customers by empowerig the employees and increasing value to existing and new customers. d, motivate customers to come during slow time by offering incentives such as reduced rate. e, To use those extra rooms to generate income by renting or hosting social events and many more. 3,Evaluating Alternative Solutions * Now it is time to determine the adequacy of the alternatives that were generated. A, To close the business in the time whene business is low :- which helps us reduce the cost of operations , utilities, payroll, supplies and some more account and increase the profit. B, Create effective relationship with employees and customers by empowerig the employes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ (continue)