The Reality Of Reality Television Essay - 1697 Words

Reality television has taken off over the past few years bringing shows to the airwaves such as the Bachelor and Breaking Amish. One of the more successful reality television shows, which is going off the air after this season, is Duck Dynasty. The show features a cast of redneck white males who have created a fortune making handmade duck calls. Their wives are the typical stay at home moms who cook and clean the house, or as Uncle Si would say, wifely duties. The show is shot in West Monroe, Louisiana, a country town. Which is exactly where the â€Å"rural hillbillies† like to be. Somewhere they can hunt ducks, frogs, and any other creature they can eat. The show’s main purpose is to show the viewer how the interworking’s of this unusual multi-million-dollar company. Most multi-million-dollar companies are based in a skyscraper and feature people in business suits and ties walking around an office full of cubicles. The show wants to show these hillbillies who tu rned a hobby into a booming company, trying to remain these down to earth country guys even though they have millions of dollars. They are the real-life version of the Beverly Hill Hillbillies. As mentioned before the show consist of all white males or females. However, Willie and Korie adopted a little boy named â€Å"Lil Will† who is half-black which is very interesting due to the content of the show and some of the scenes and phrases the cast use. The show interviews the main four or five people; Willie, Jese, Si,Show MoreRelatedThe Reality Of Reality Television936 Words   |  4 PagesThe reality show phenomenon Have you ever wondered what attracts millions of Americans each week to watch this cultural phenomenon know as reality television? It first started in 1948 when Allen Funt created a TV series called Candid Camera, this is the first known reality television show series. â€Å"Reality television episodes have increased up to 57% of all television shows that can be found on your TV guides† (Shocking). Big Brother was one of the first successful and most viewed reality televisionRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television882 Words   |  4 Pages What is it about these reality shows such as: Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Bad Girls Club, and The Real Housewives that we cannot stop watching? After watching reality shows like this, it leaves people craving the next episode of the next week. Reality television producers are exploiting people by giving the public a â€Å"sense† of reality but not the real version of it, but rather exploit people and use stereotypes to make money for entertainment. The specific points of this argumentRead MoreThe Reality of Reality Television1699 Words   |  7 PagesThe Reality of Reality Television Jacqueline Knudsen ENG122: English Composition II Jenna Fussell February 2, 2013 The Reality of Reality Television Have you ever set there watching your favorite reality television show and wondered what effects it could have on you, your family or your friends? Truth is most people do not think about the effects television shows can have before watching them or allowing their children to watch them. ThisRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television1499 Words   |  6 PagesAgainst Reality TV For close to a decade, the ethics behind the existence of reality TV have been questioned. While there are ardent viewers of reality TV, researchers and other scholars disapprove them, and claim that the world would have been in a better place. Reality TV shows, especially in America, are extremely profitable to media owners, and this has increased their popularity in the recent years. The main target audience for these shows are teenagers and women, who spend a lot of time discussingRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television927 Words   |  4 PagesBehind the Reality of Reality TV There are many different opinions when the subject of reality television is discussed. Although reality television shows are thought to be negative they really are just mindless entertainment. Many can argue that these shows are misleading and disturbing. On the other side of this, people merely use these shows for entertainment and allow people to forget about stress in their lives. The cause of these different opinions is a result of different age, gender, religionRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television1511 Words   |  7 PagesReality TV is defined as television programs in which real people are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than informative.(Dictionary) As we all know, in today s world we are presented with numerous Reality TV Show such as Keeping up With the Kardashians, Basket wives and The Real Housewives of Miami. These shows give a false message to their viewers of what is reality and what is purely entertainment. Many reality programs create an artificial environment for the show thatRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television991 Words   |  4 PagesWe see content on television every day either to see the news, watch a movie, series or any program we would like to watch. Television give us a different and visually perfect way of entertainment. Reality television is a genre of television which seems to be unscripted showing actions of â€Å"real life†. The viewer sees the reality shows for entertainment but neither the pressure, competitiveness nor loneliness that lives in imagines. To be real -time and people- admiration from viewers, thinking thatRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television Essay1287 Words   |  6 PagesReality television is now one of the most consumed television genres broadcasted to the general public. Reality television has become more about mindless watching and creating the most unrealistic environment possible, rather than creating a show for an important purpose. Today, shows like Beauty and the Geek, Big Brother, and every other reality show fit into this mold, but when viewed critically lessons appear. In the case of TV today, reality shows depict an altered reality because of the unrealisticRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television Essay1973 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction Reality television has turned into a noteworthy piece of our way of life. The shows are described to be fun, engaging and acquaint society with new points of view. In the wake of a monotonous day at work, it s decent to return home and watch something careless on television, while unwinding. While the debate that violence in the media is making for a brutal culture has been made a million times, sometime recently, I am striving to make an alternate relationship. As we are aware, theRead MoreReality Television : Is It Reality?849 Words   |  4 PagesIs it Reality? Pop culture is popular culture that dominates a society at a point in time. Today, reality television is a part of the society’s popular culture (Johnson 289). The question is why? Reality television is a genre of television programming that focuses on members of the public living in conditions made by the creator, and displays how people are intended to behave in everyday life (Johnson 290). Reality television is debasing and should be strictly controlled, if not banned altogether

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain - 1923 Words

1. What have you heard about Mark Twain or this novel? What else have you read by Twain? I have heard that Mark Twain is an incredible writer and that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is actually a really good and interesting book. Although I haven’t read anything by Twain, I am excited to read this novel and for it to be the first I read by him. I hope it is as exciting as it is made to be and want me to read more work by Mark Twain. I will probably be reading more books that Twain has written in the future. 2. What overall impressions do you have of the style, diction, time period, etc.? Do any specific scenes come to mind? My impression of the style in which this novel was written is that it was older times and more â€Å"country talk.† They say words and use slang that we wouldn’t usually say or use now. The way they talk in the novel is just different than how we talk now so it shows that the time period was in a more previous time and it wasn’t written to be in the time period we are in now. They style in which it is written gives the characters, the setting, and even the whole book more character and helps you understand better what the time was like during this time. 3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most frequently challenged and banned books in America. Is there ever a reason that books should be banned from school libraries or school reading lists? Explain your reasoning. I think that in some cases it could be acceptable for a book to beShow MoreRelatedThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain830 Words   |  3 PagesThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is â€Å"A Great American Novel†, because of its complexity and richness. Twain writes dialogue that brings his characters to life. He creates characters with unique voice and helps the reader connect to the book. Anyone who reads it is forced to develop feelings for each character. Even though there is a great amount of controversy over the use of some choices, such as the â€Å"n word†, it makes the book more realistic. In the beginning of the novel Huck,Read MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1103 Words   |  5 PagesDmitri Van Duine Jr English Mr. Nelson November 27th The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Written by Mark Twain filled his stories with many examples of satire as to convey a message while also writing an interesting story. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn revolves around the adventures of a young boy called Huckleberry Finn, who is about thirteen years old. Tom Sawyer is Huck’s best friend and around the same age as Huck. He is onlyRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain Essay1055 Words   |  5 PagesZambrano Mrs. Patmor AP Lit-Period 5 28 September 2016 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1835 Mark Twain embodies realism in almost every aspect of his writing not excluding The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which in he portrays such a lifelike setting that it almost gives you this sense of reality through the point of view of a young man that has an urge for freedom yet struggles to conform to society s norms due to his adolescence. Twain s ability to unmask the true identities of the charactersRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain931 Words   |  4 PagesWolski Mrs. Goska English 2H Period 3 22 October 2014 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mob mentality is the way an individual’s decisions become influenced by the often unprincipled actions of a crowd. Mark Twain penned The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain grew up in America’s southern states during the early 1800’s, a time in which moral confusion erupted within the minds of humans. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn s protagonist is a young boy named Huck who freely travels alongRead MoreMark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1575 Words   |  6 Pages Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Controversy Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, is a highly recognizable figure in American literature. Born in Florida, Missouri Mark Twain and his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri where Twain discovered and fell in love with the mighty Mississippi River. The river and his life in Hannibal became his inspiration and guiding light in most of his writing. Although Twain loved the river and did a great deal of traveling, he eventuallyRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1375 Words   |  6 Pagesmention the years spent growing and maturing physically. Teenagers are stuck in an inbetween state where they must learn who they want to become and what they want to be when they grow older. The same is true for Huckleberry Finn, from the book â€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† by Mark Twain. This is a book that was written in a time of great confusion over moral codes and standards. It was a world split in half by two different worlds of people; those who opp osed, and those who promoted slavery.Read MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain810 Words   |  4 PagesBefore Mark Twain started to write two of his most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark was known to use his characters to display his own thoughts and opinions. â€Å"This device allowed him to say just about anything he wanted, provided he could convincingly claim he was simply reporting what others had said.† (Twain, 1283). Mark Twain used this process to be a foundation of his lectures, by manipulating his popularly with his readers. During the storyRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain2083 Words   |  9 PagesSatire in Huckleberry Finn In the novel â€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† by Mark Twain, we are told a story about a young boy and his slave companion’s journey down the Mississippi River and all of their encounters with other characters. Twain constructed a beautiful narrative on how young Huck Finn, the protagonist in the story, learns about the world and from other adult characters, how he is shaped into his own person. At the time this book was made however, this novel provided serious socialRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1005 Words   |  5 Pages In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain in the 19th century is about a young boy named Huck Finn and Jim, a runaway slave who go on an adventure. The two travel on a raft along the Mississippi river creating a bond and making memories. Mark Twain presents Huckleberry Finn as a dynamic character who at first views Jim as property and eventually considers Jim as a friend, showing a change in maturity. In the beginning of the book, Huck Finn clearly sees Jim as nothing more thanRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1335 Words   |  6 Pagesyear The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is placed in the top ten banned books in America. People find the novel to be oppressing and racially insensitive due to its frequent use of the n-word and the portrayal of blacks as a Sambo caricature. However, this goes against Mark Twain’s intent of bringing awareness to the racism in America. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is classified under the genre of satire and is narrated by a fictional character named Huckleberry Finn. The novel

Descriptive And Inferential Statistical Techniques †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Descriptive And Inferential Statistical Techniques. Answer: Business Problem A firm which is involved in housing construction wants to undertake a major housing development and needs to do analysis of the same for which information about the ongoing pricing and preferences of the customers need to be considered. A sample data has been performed in order to enable the analysis of the prices of houses and units that are located in Wollongong, Sydney and New Castle. Through the analysis, the company can obtain vital information in relation to the various combinations in terms of region, view and type which can fetch higher prices and essentially can also narrow down on the existing prices. Statistical Problem The given sample lists down the price of houses and units. It takes into consideration the region and also whether ocean view is available or not. For this data, descriptive statistics tools need to be applied so as to highlight the key characteristics of the provided sample data. Further, based on the sample data inferences need to be derived based on the population data through the use of inferential statistics techniques such as hypothesis testing. Through this statistical analysis a comparison needs to be facilitated between various parameters which could highlight the prevailing price trends which could be then used by the company (Hair et. al., 2015). Analysis: Descriptive Statistics The descriptive statistics aims to describe the characteristics of the sample data available through the use of various measures of central tendency and dispersion as they provide valuable information about the underlying shape and also helps in highlighting key trends which further can be validated for the population using the inferential statistical tools. Type of Dwelling The descriptive statistics as per the dwelling type are as highlighted below. From the above, it is apparent that the average price of houses seems to be higher in comparison to units. Also, there are certain houses which have quite high price leading to a rightward tail as is apparent from a positive skew. On the contrary, unit prices have a slight negative skew. Neither of the distributions would be normal owing to presence of skew. Dispersion seems to be low to moderate for both the type of dwellings even though it is slightly higher for houses in comparison to the units (Flick, 2015). Region The descriptive statistics as per the underlying region where the underlying dwelling is located are as highlighted below. It seems evident from the above that there seems a significant difference in average prices in the various regions with Sydney having the maximum price and Newcastle having minimum prices. Further, for all the regions there is a positive skew presence which highlights non-normality and also presence of dwellings which have significantly high prices. The dispersion for the prices in various regions seems to be low when viewed in terms of mean which implies that for each region there seems to a different price band with limited overlapping (Hillier, 2006). Ocean View The descriptive statistics based on the presence or absence of the ocean view are as indicated below. From the above, it is apparent that there does not seem any significant difference in the price of dwellings with or without an ocean view. A positive skew is observed for both which implies a tail on the right and hence the underlying distribution would not be normal. The dispersion as captured by standard deviation is quite comparable and remains moderate. However, the range for the dwellings with ocean view seems higher than the dwellings which lack ocean view. Thus, it might be possible that assuming everything else as the same, the ocean view might add a premium to the price (Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman, 2011). Inferential Statistics The inferential statistical techniques are deployed to derive information about the population based on the given sample information. Various claims are made which need to be checked based on the statistical data available from the sample through the application of hypothesis testing. Using this technique, the various claims have been tested as highlighted below. House Prices Unit Prices The requisite hypothesis to be tested is highlighted below. Null Hypothesis (H0): House = unit Alternative Hypothesis (H1): House unit For the comparison of the means of the above two independent samples, the requisite test would be T test since the standard deviation of the population is not known. Considering the sample size is same for both the samples, equal variance option has been chosen in excel for the performance t test. The relevant output obtained from excel is as highlighted below. Considering the alternative hypothesis has a sign, it is apparent that the given hypothesis test is single tail and hence the applicable p value would be one tail. The one tail p value has been computed as 0. Assuming the level of significance as 5% or 0.05, it is evident that the relevant p value is lower than this value which implies that the available evidence is ample for rejecting the null hypothesis and thereby allows for acceptance of the alternative hypothesis. Hence, it may be claimed with 95% confidence that the average house prices are higher than the average unit prices (Flick, 2015). Ocean view houses command premium The requisite hypothesis to be tested is highlighted below. Null Hypothesis (H0): OceanView = NoOceanView Alternative Hypothesis (H1): OceanView NoOceanView For the comparison of the means of the above two independent samples, the requisite test would be T test since the standard deviation of the population is not known. Considering the sample size is not the same for both the samples, unequal variance option has been chosen in excel for the performance t test. The relevant output obtained from excel is as highlighted below. Considering the alternative hypothesis has a sign, it is apparent that the given hypothesis test is single tail and hence the applicable p value would be one tail. The one tail p value has been computed as 0.043. Assuming the level of significance as 5% or 0.05, it is evident that the relevant p value is lower than this value which implies that the available evidence is ample for rejecting the null hypothesis and thereby allows for acceptance of the alternative hypothesis (Hair et. al., 2015). Hence, it may be claimed with 95% confidence that the average house prices with ocean view are higher than the average houses prices without the ocean view. Difference in house prices in different regions The requisite hypothesis to be tested is as highlighted below. Null Hypothesis (H0): Sydney= Wollongong = NewCastle Alternative Hypothesis (H1): The average prices of houses in atleast one region are different from the others. It is apparent that in the given case the average of more than two variables need to be compared and hence t test would not be feasible. Hence, the one column ANOVA is a suitable choice to compare the means (Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman, 2011). The relevant output of this test obtained from Excel is as outlined below. The requisite p value from the above output has come out as 0.00. Assuming the level of significance as 5% or 0.05, it is evident that the relevant p value is lower than this value which implies that the available evidence is ample for rejecting the null hypothesis and thereby allows for acceptance of the alternative hypothesis (Hillier, 2006). Hence, it may be claimed with 95% confidence that the average house prices in Sydney, Wollongong and New Castle are not the same and a statistically significant difference does exist. Units situated in Wollongong with ocean view demand a price premium The requisite hypothesis to be tested is highlighted below. Null Hypothesis (H0): OceanView = NoOceanView Alternative Hypothesis (H1): OceanView NoOceanView For the comparison of the means of the above two independent samples, the requisite test would be T test since the standard deviation of the population is not known. Considering the sample size is not the same for both the samples, unequal variance option has been chosen in excel for the performance t test. The relevant output obtained from excel is as highlighted below. Considering the alternative hypothesis has a sign, it is apparent that the given hypothesis test is single tail and hence the applicable p value would be one tail. The one tail p value has been computed as 0.203. Assuming the level of significance as 5% or 0.05, it is evident that the relevant p value is higher than this value which implies that the available evidence is insufficient for rejecting the null hypothesis and thereby does not allow for acceptance of the alternative hypothesis (Hair et. al., 2015). Hence, it may be claimed with 95% confidence that the average unit prices in Wollongong with ocean view are similar to the average unit prices without the ocean view situated in Wollongong. General Conclusion Based on the results obtained from the statistical analysis carried above, it is apparent that the average price of houses is higher in comparison to the units. Also, evidence from sample data suggests that the houses having ocean view tend to command a price premium in comparison to those which lack the same. Besides, it is also evident that the average prices in the various regions (i.e. Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle) are not comparable as they are significantly different from each other. Finally, it has also been seen that for units situated in Wollongong, the prices do not differ significantly with the presence or absence of an ocean view. However, one limitation of this is that the sample size is very small and hence it would be preferable if a larger sample size was available. The small sample size may be a problem especially for region based preferences in price since the filtered sample tends to become quite small and not very reliable. Implications Based on the above conclusion and the underlying objective of the study, it makes sense for the housing construction company to consider the above trends and implement the same in their choice of site and dwelling type constructed. It makes economic sense for the company to focus more on house construction rather than units since the former demands a price premium over the latter. Also, considering the high regional differences in price, if possible the company should look to undertake the project in Sydney as the price commanded by the project would be the highest amongst the locations considered. Further, if possible, care needs to be taken to provide ocean view considering the underlying financials as the presence of ocean view could potentially bring in a price premium. However, it is essential that the cost considerations of the above suggestions should be considered by the builder and a suitable decision is undertaken by the construction company. References Flick, U. (2015).Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project, 4th ed., New York: Sage Publications. Hair, J. F., Wolfinbarger, M., Money, A. H., Samouel, P., and Page, M. J. (2015).Essentials of business research methods, 2nd ed., New York: Routledge. Hastie, T., Tibshirani, R. and Friedman, J. (2011).The Elements of Statistical Learning, 4th ed., New York: Springer Publications. Hillier, F. (2006), Introduction to Operations Research, 6th ed., New York: McGraw Hill Publications

Website Analysis Travel Agencies

Electronic business (e-business) and electronic commerce (e-commerce) describe the way people buy and sell goods and services through the use of the Internet (Anderson 2007). E-commerce also involves other transactions such as customer’s enquiries and requests about a particular product.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Website Analysis: Travel Agencies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are very many companies, which sell their products through the Internet. However, the most companies which deal in e-business are those which offer travelling services (Chaffey 2007). The traveling agencies include thomascook.com, lastminute.com and thomson.co.uk. This paper seeks to analyze the three websites under different aspects. Some of these aspects include value proposition, market, revenue models, competitive environment, value chain and organizational structure among others (Afuah Tucci 2003). Value Proposit ion Value proposition of the three travel agencies describes what they do in order to attract and retain customers (Chaffey 2007). Lastminute.com is one of the few travel agencies, which only charge fees on tickets and program changes. Lastminute’s customers are not required to pay for any other services. This implies that the services of this travel agency are relatively cheaper. The agency deals in traditional reservations such as cruise, car, hotel and air. The fact that lastminute.com registers customers at the time they book ticket it is quite advantageous to these customers. This gives the customers the easiest time to manage their itinerary programs at any time. This agency also offers a variety of booking options such as multiple air travel destinations (Critic 2012). Just like the lastminute.com, Thomson.co.uk also offers a variety of services to its customers. However, the latter specializes much on travel money services. Its services include traveler’s check , purchase of back guarantee and the most important, Thomson travel money card and Thomson gift card.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thomson gift cards are vital when it comes to special occasions such as birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. The gift cards can also be used for saving purposes. Thomson.co.uk travel agency does not charge commission and offers very attractive exchange rates. The agency operates offline and online and therefore, customers can order currency online or from their nearest Thomson shops (Robertson 2011). Thomascook.com on the other hand offers holiday, tours and hotel accommodation bookings through someone’s stay abroad. It is the way this website promotes its services that attracts customers mostly. Thomas Cook has been in the existence for more than 170 years and therefore has a vast experience in the travel business. It also offers ey e-catching holiday charges online and customer services. The agency provides customers with a tool engine which assists the customers to effectively plan for their holidays. The tool engine is not complex in nature and therefore, any customer can use it (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). Target Market The three travel agencies, lastminute.com, thomson.co.uk and thomascook.com target those individuals that are willing and able to afford their services. For Thomas Cook, young youths, working class single people and working class couples and their families form the bulk of their customers. The online agency also targets retirees who still get pensions and can afford to pay for the agency’s services with ease (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). Lastminute online agency on the hand has been receiving more than 1.65 million customers every week. The online agency targets mostly the aging population under pension’s schemes. Old people form the biggest percentage of the E urope’s population. The lastminute.com experts have predicted that in the next 15 years, their customers aged 55 and above will have grown by about 60% while those under the age of 55 will remain stable. This implies that for lastminute.com management, targeting mostly the old customers is likely to widen the agency’s market (Critic 2012). Thomson travel agency targets young youths as well as middle aged working class couples who are looking forward to spending their holidays in styles. In other words, the agency generally targets people who are seeking to spend summer, winter and cruise holidays, get accommodations in big hotels and individuals who want to fly out of the United Kingdom. It also targets customers with late deals (Robertson 2011).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Website Analysis: Travel Agencies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Revenue Models Revenue models refer to techniques, whi ch a company employs in order to generate income. Most companies obtain their incomes by selling their products and services to people and other organizations (Chaffey 2009). For instance, thomascook.com travel agency majorly generates its revenues from the sales of its services. The website provides customers with different cost options such as charitable donation, travel insurance and the option of choosing the seats which they desire. The booking procedures are not complicated and therefore, quite understandable to most of the customers. Card is the mode of payment in Thomas Cook travel agency (Yerkes 2007, p. 27). Thomson too obtains its income through the sales of its services. The website sells more than one million holidays and flights every year. Thomson.co.uk has been in operation for more than thirty years. The vast experience that it management has, enables the agency to save close to 1.5 million sterling pounds each year. The agency also obtains some money from the excha nge rates it imposes on foreign currencies (Thompson Martin 2010, p. 460). Just like Thomson and Thomas Cook, lastminute.com too obtains most of its incomes from the sales of its services. The website offers a wide range of attractive products. This implies that at least one product has to be purchased each day. Lastminute Company has very few employees, a fact which helps it to reduce its operational costs and other expenses. This is a very effective way that companies use to save (Greenspan 2011, p. 336). Competitive Environment The travel agency is a highly competitive market industry. It has very many website offering almost similar products. Thomas Cook has established a direct link with its customers thereby communicating with the customers directly. The main competitors of thomascook.com are Thompsons, Co-operative Travel and Expedia among others. These competitors provide cheaper prices for flight and hotel accommodation but their products are of lower quality (Yerkes 2007, p. 32). Lastminute.com employs different strategies, which make it survive the competitive travel industry. It is the only vendor offering a wide variety of products. It only deals in products that are unique and accepted not only in the UK. The agency also offers very good customer services (Greenspan 2011, p. 339). Thomson.co.uk operates almost like lastminute.com in the competitive environment. Thomson offers services that other companies do not. For instance, the agency offers services such as weddings, birthdays and anniversaries (Thompson Martin 2010, p. 463).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Value Chain and Marketplace Positioning A well developed supply chain is known to add value to the way a company’s products are delivered to the customers (Chaffey 2007). Lastminute.com was the first to enter travel industry. Lastminute.com was still surviving amidst the stiff competition of 2005. This travel agency offers products, which are suitable for Internet. Lasttminute.com offers a variety of products and is therefore ranked as one of the best e-travel agencies (Critic 2012). Thomson too has well developed supply chain of activities that adds significant amount of value to its products. Its activities range from cruises, taking family holidays to ski holidays to negotiating package holidays of customers to various destinations in the world. According Hitwise, thomson.co.uk takes the highest position in the travel company. In fact, the agency is currently position ten among the top UK e-retailers. The Thomson Company has included a practical social media on Twitter (Th ompson Martin 2010, p. 469). Thomascook.com is one of the most trusted travel agencies and trip operators. This year, Thomas Cook was named as one of the companies with the most attractive brands in UK. This travel agency curries out several activities. For instance, it takes its customers to different destinations such as USA and Dominican Republic. Thomas Cook is currently ranked the second biggest among the leisure travel groups (Yerkes 2007, 27). Representation in the Physical World The main offices of the three travel agencies; lastminute.com, Thomson.co.uk and thomascook.com are located in the United Kingdom (Porter 2010). However, each one of these agencies has spread their operations into other countries. For instance, by the year 2000, lastminute.com had opened its branches in countries such as France, USA, Sweden and Germany. It currently operates in more than ten countries (Critic 2012). Thomas Cook mostly operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The branches of the T homas Cook located in the two areas specialize in taking their flight customers to far countries such as Dominican Republic. The travel agency also operates in Portugal where it offers Portugal package holidays. In Greece, Thomascook.com deals mainly in great Greek getaways (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). Thomson.co.uk on the hand conducts most of its activities in the UK and Mexico. The head office of this travel agency is located in Wigmore House in Luton. Most of the products of this travel agency are contained in Silver Villas in Kissimmee region. Silver Villas has the most attractive facilities that someone would require for relaxation and comfort-ability. Sharm El Sheikh and Bellino Apartments offer the most conducive sites for people seeking to spend their holidays in the best way possible (Robertson 2011). Organizational Structure The three travel agencies have different organizational structures. Lastminute.com is run by a board of directors. The board consists of Pet er Bouw, Linder Fayne, Bob Colliers and Allan Lighton among many others. These individuals have vast experience in the travel industry since they have once in their lives worked in similar industries. Apart from the board, lastminute.com has more than 1200 employees and more than three million registered customers (Critic 2012). Thomascook.com runs more than 815 high street stores and very many travel brands. Unlike lastminute.com, Thomas Cook is managed by Board of Governors. However, the Board delegates some of its responsibilities to its committees. This implies that the board and the committees are the ones directly responsible for the management of Thomas Cook. Other stake holders in the management include the Non-Executive Directors, the Group Executive Board, Disclosure Committees and Finance and Administration Committee. Every decision concerning the well-being of this company has to be approved by all the committees, the Group Executive Board and the Finance and Administrat ion Department before it is reported in the next Board sitting (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). Amongst the three travel agencies, thomson.co.uk has the most complicated organizational structure. Thomson has five major branches. The branches are located in the United Kingdom and Ireland, North America, German Airlines, Continental Europe and Northern Europe. Each branch has its own chief financial officer (CFO). However, the CFO of UK and Ireland is mandated to supervise financial transaction in all the branches. In addition, each branch has its own chief executive officer. Fontenla-Novoa is the general CEO of Thomson Company whereas James Jennings is the director of the group mergers and acquisitions (Robertson 2011). In conclusion, thomson.co.uk, thomascook.com and lastminute.com travel agencies have all made significant achievements (Porter 2010). For instance, thomson.co.uk is currently ranked position ten among the best UK e-retailers. Thomson has made several adjustments such as the adoption of effective online marketing strategies. It has extended its adverts to Twitter. Other improvements on its website include tailored banners, easy user experience and increased speed of loading (Robertson 2011). Lastminute.com too has improved the functionality of its website. The access speed is currently 10 times faster than when it was first established (Critic 2012). Some of the steps that were involved in booking have been reduced hence making the booking process much easier. Thomascook.com has also improved the speed of its website. Thomas Cook website is now designed in such a way that it instantly provides links to thomascook.com partners (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). Even though the three travel agents have made significant improvements on their websites, the websites still have a few shortfalls. Thomson.co.uk website’s major problem is that the sections do not link together. That is, the sections do not have clear connections between the various templates, booking functionality and the navigation being used to access the different range of the products (Robertson 2011). The lastminute.com on the hand has constant failings in the website making the browsing of unspecific stuff a difficult task (Critic 2012). Lastly, thomascook.com website at time looses the speed, making it difficult to access their products. Therefore, the three agencies need to address these problems to enhance the efficiency of their respective websites (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). References Afuah, A Tucci, CL 2003, Internet business models and strategies text and cases, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, Boston, Massachusetts. Anderson, C 2007, The long tail: how endless choice is creating unlimited demand, Random House Business Books, London. Chaffey, D 2007, E-business and e-commerce management, Prentice Hall, London. Conti, G, Caroland, J, Cook, T, Taylor, H 2011, Self development for cyber warriors. Web. Critic, C 2012, Last minute cruise s. Web. Greenspan, E 2011, Frommer’s Ecuador the Galapagos Islands, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Porter, D 2010, Frommer’s London 2011, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Robertson, E 2011, Retail review: Thomson review. Web. Thomson, J, L Martin, F 2010, Strategic management: Awareness change, South-Western Cengage Learning, Andover. Yerkes, L 2007, Fun works: Creating places where people love to work, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, California. 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