Physics conclusion page Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Physics conclusion page - Essay Example Additionally, both the graphs T2 = SM + I and F = - Kx have straight lines, though the latter has a y intercept I. Hence, the two constants slightly bear small difference owing to the initial having a deviation of I. The experiment’s deductions depict that, for one motion cycle T2 varies directly with both the mass and the springs constant. That is especially when there is any addition of the mass, which produces a similar quantity both the spring constant and T2. In addition, the T2 varies directly with the mass but inversely proportional to the string constant, K. Velocity does not depend on the mass applied, since the amplitude is constant all throughout, which implies a reduction in both the extension and potential energy (PE), but the Time Period increases. Maintaining all other factors constant except the acceleration, it yields to the increased potential energy, velocity as well as kinetic energy. However, this phenomenon reduces the Time Period (Brazell et al

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY - Assignment Example From both excel, and the formulae, the mean is 50.8, which is different from the mode and the median, which are 58 and 57, respectively. However, the figures are roughly close to each other showing that is spent over 50 minutes everyday in physical fitness activities. The numbers are lower than I expected since I work out for a whole hour every day. This means that I spend a couple of minutes in switching from one activity to another. The time I spend in switching from one activity to another and the time I spend on different physical fitness activities add up to sixty minutes per day. The most effective measure of the central tendency, as far as the mean, median, and mode is the mean. This is because of the fact that it utilizes 100 percent of all the data in the sample (Walpole, 2010). The other measures of central tendencies, including the median and mode do not utilize all the information provided. Mean helps in performing further mathematical calculations thus helping in conducting more statistical tests. For example, it helps in the calculation of standard deviation, variances, as well as, significance tests. Additionally, it has an algebraic definition (Bertsekas, 2002). The mean is applicable in the probability theory to generate probability distributions. Such distributions do not utilize other measures of central tendencies including the median and the mode. Mean as well has some weaknesses, for example, the presence of outliers in the data lowers its accuracy. Its strengths, as a measure of central tendency, outweigh its weaknesses. To draw the box plot, one utilizes the 25th percentile, the 50th percentile, and the 75th percentile. The 25th percentile is the lowest score, which is greater than 25 percent of the scores. Using excel, the 25th percentile is 41. This means that the highest figure of the first 25 percent of the data is 41. The 50th percentile is equal to the median.

Early School Leavers Essay Example for Free

Early School Leavers Essay Why do student dropout of school? Do you know why students drop out of school? Nowadays students usually drop out of school, to get a career. More than before job seekers are looking for people who have finished high school (at least). The fact that students drop out of school is caused for different reasons. There are three main causes why students drop out of school: they cant afford tuition, they prefer to work, and they fail the course. Family problems are one cause. If parents are divorced, no-one may be taking responsibility for the child. If parents are uneducated, there may be little encouragement to do homework or to stay in school. Financial factors are also important. Some students want to work in order to support their families. In contrast, others may have family businesses and not see any benefit in obtaining a high school certificates. Perhaps the main reason why students drop out is for academic reasons. For many students, school is stifling and boring. The curriculum does not challenge them or grab their attention and they are unable to be creative. Others have learning difficulties that need specialist help. New Zealand has the second-worst drop-out rate in the developed world. It shows that 26. 9 per cent of New Zealanders aged 15 to 19 are not in education. More than a quarter of Kiwi teenagers quit school early. Many students fail to complete their basic schooling. This can cause serious problems for the individual, their families and the country. In this opinion, I will examine the reasons why students leave school early, and suggest some possible solutions. I both agree and disagree with the reasons presented here. The paper said one of the main reasons is that students drop out because they PERCEIVE that classes are boring. The truth is that many classes ARE extremely dull, due to poor lesson-planning and unmotivated, apathetic teachers. Demonizing the students’ perception of the classes is nothing more than a tactful yet deceptive approach at the internal shortcomings of the educational bureaucracy. Instead of engaging work and active intellectual discussion/debate, students are forced to jump through the hoops of pointless busy work and futile self-help/self-awareness assignments such as this one. Student disinterest and apathy are products of a stagnant and stifling environment. Dropout rates, I personally believe, would be exponentially lowered if educators took a less bureaucratic approach at student achievement. You can’t have a successful one size fits all plan that will actually end up working. The theories of Dr. Howard Gardner attest to this by outlining the many different ways that people can think. Standards written by left-brain officials cannot work for predominantly right-brain students. For years in this school system my creativity and viewpoints have improve in some classes, but for the most part have been stifled by teachers not willing to either put forth the effort necessary to facilitate such individuality or that are simply opposed to any unorthodox thinking or changes in practice. In an environment where the students are not the â€Å"customers† and when individuality is squelched in the name of following senseless, regimented practices, the students are done a great disservice. I am committed to graduate ONLY because I know that I must do so to get anywhere in life. I am frustrated, dissatisfied, and stifled by MANY of the practices employed in many classes I have this year and have had in the past within the school system. Many who read what I have written here will look down on my views, because they will [see] them as â€Å"rocking the boat,† something that I believe it is safe to say is frowned upon here as a general rule. There is a quote by John Locke that says, â€Å"New opinions are always suspected and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not common. There is such logic in this and the sad thing is that my ideas (in this respect) are neither new nor radical, only despised because they require energetic commitment to be put into practice. It saddens me deeply that the school boasts of a forward-thinking, cutting-edge, technologically-cantered, example-setting school system, when in reality these claims are only partially true. Money is NOT the issue. I am so fed up with the excuse of lack of funding bein g used to excuse time-wasting, needless activities! An engaging, entertaining, worthwhile class can be executed with nothing more than a committed instructor and engaged students . I am not referring to some ideal, yet non-existent classroom setting. My PHYSICS class this year has been absolutely enthralling EVEN THOUGH some of the required, yet frustrating practices have been implemented in her class on a regular basis. At the end of the day, those who come to school with a genuine DESIRE to take something away from the experience do so; and those who have no drive do not do so, REGARDLESSS of the implementation of the practices put into place in hopes of improving student achievement. The problem with these types of measures is that they focus solely on boosting TEST SCORES. THIS IS NOT THE PROPER APPROACH! (Standardized tests are 9 times out of 10 are a very poor representation of student UNDERSTANDING. Simple memorization is not adequate education! I can memorize scores of random information and then ace a test over it, but all that proves is that I have a good memory. Memory is of importance, there is no doubt of this, but equally, it is NOT the main goal. A deep understanding of the material is vastly more instrumental in the students gaining REAL-WORLD understanding. It is no wonder to me why so many graduates/dropouts here go into construction/metalworking, etc. These are the only classes many individuals find worthwhile because they are the few classes offered that provide hands-on experience that guarantee understanding through practice, not simple words. I guarantee you I can read an instructional book on how to do just about ANYTHING, and then write extensively on how to do it, but that writing is no proof whatsoever that I actually understand how to perform said task or that I am physically capable of doing the activity in a real-world setting. I have a lot more that I could say but basically all I’m trying to get across is that the entire focus in this school is wrong and that is one of the main reasons for teenage dropouts here. As can be seen, there is no one solution to the problem of school drop-outs. Educational authorities, parents and schools need to work closely together to find the reason for each student’s decision to leave school, and to try to do as much as possible to encourage them to stay in the system.

Use of Reversed-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC)

Use of Reversed-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) Introduction Reversed-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) is one of the commonly used techniques in separation of a wide ranging of analyte based on differences in their structures. In RP-HPLC, the polar mobile phase and nonpolar stationary phase was practised. In this mode of HPLC, the analyte retains into stationary phase by hydrophobic interaction (Hanai, 1999; Swadesh, 2001). The surface area of nonpolar part of analyte molecules is more readily to bind to the RP-HPLC stationary phase. Thus, the less polar analyte will has longer retention time, whereas polar analyte elute more readily. Stationary phase and Column packing In RP-HPLC, the stationary phase is employing of alkylated silica gel column. In other words, the column is packing of nonpolar hydrophobic organic species (eg. octyl, octadecyl and phenyl groups). These hydrophobic organic species attached by siloxane bonds (-Si-O-Si-) to the silica surface (Corradini, Katz, Eksteen, Schoenmakers, Miller, 1998). C18 and C8 phase are most commonly used in the column of RP-HPLC. C18 phase is more hydrophobic as it has longer alkyl chain length which bonded to silica gel. C8 has shorter alkyl chain length compared to C18. It has less carbon attached on silica gel. Besides, phenyl group that bonded to silica surface develops the interaction of aromatic ring (Waksmundzka-Hajnos Sherma, 2011). Mobile Phase The organic solvent such as methanol and acetonitrile are most widely used as mobile phase in RP-HPLC. It is due to they have the characteristic of free of particles and UV transparency (Swadesh, 2001). In addition, acetonitrile, methanol and tetrahydrofuran also served as organic modifiers in RP-HPLC. According to Hanai(1999), the concentration of organic modifiers could alter the overall retention time of analytes. However, the relative changes in retention time are still depends on the properties of analytes (Hanai, 1999; Waksmundzka-Hajnos Sherma, 2011). Furthermore, isocratic and gradient elution also applied in RP-HPLC. In isocratic elution, mobile phase composition is remained constant throughout the elution. For gradient elution, the mobile phase composition is changed continuously throughout the elution. Gradient elution gives a better separation peaks for early eluters and sharper peaks for late eluters, but it need greater skills for method development (Ahuja Dong, 2005) . Detector There are many different spectrophotometric detectors that can be used in RP-HPLC. The main function of the detector in RP-HPLC is to trace and detect the presence of analyte components in the chromatography medium. These detectors are including ultraviolet-visible(UV-VIS) detector, diode array detector(DAD), chemiluminescence nitrogen detector(CLND), refractive index(RI) detector, mass spectroscopy(MS) and others (Swadesh, 2001). UV-VIS detector is the most popular detector among spectrophotometric detectors. Waksmundzka-Hajnos Sherma (2011) stated that UV-VIS detector is utilized by referring to interaction of electromagnetic radiation with analyte sample at the wavelength in the region of 190nm to 1100nm. A high sensitivity of detector is crucial as it also control the signal noise level and drift of the baseline. Applications RP-HPLC methods mostly used to detect known or unknown substances in sample for the quality control. It is applicable in food chemistry, forensic chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, toxicological analyses, herbal drugs analyses and others. 2.0 Determination of drug samples by RP-HPLC Reversed-phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) has been generally and effectively utilised to determine numerous drugs samples. Dual wavelength detectors have been employed in the simultaneous investigation of two antispasmodic drugs, phloroglucinol (PG) and its methylated derivative tri-O-methylphloroglucinol (TMP), that are established as pain-relieving drugs when used in combination as they manage to suppress the catechol-O-methyl transferase, relax the smooth muscles, and decrease the abdominal pain induced by glycerol. Present method employing RP-HPLC successfully separate and quantify PG and TMP by using isocratic elution and dual wavelength technique. Apart from studying the injectable sample solution, the serum extracted from blood of healthy volunteers and degraded compounds have also been investigated in order to obtain a complete analysis. Plasma was first centrifuged out of the blood, deproteinated and stock sample was added into the serum obtained. Degrading agent and stress conditions of hydrolysis were used in aid to degrade the PG and TMP. It has been investigated that only oxidation degraded the molecule drastically. (Hasan et al., 2013) Cinitapride hydrogen tartarate has been also estimated by RP-HPLC. Cinitapride hydrogen tartarate is a new prokinetic drug, used as antiulcer agent of the benzamide by acting as an agonist of the 5-HT1 and 5-HT4 receptors and antagonist for 5-HT2 receptors. The preparation of sample solution for this work is simple, by just powdered the tablets and mixed with the mobile phase used. The retention time obtained for cinitapride hydrogen tartarate is 3.737 min. Method validation and optimization have been carried out to validate the findings. (Reddy, Shekar Murali, 2012) Simultaneous investigation of lisinopril and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) has been employed in bulk, pharmaceuticals formulations and human serum by RP-HPLC. The major uses of lisinopril are treating hypertension and congestive heart failure, preventing renal complications caused by diabetes while NSAIDs (naproxen, flurbiprofen, diclofenac sodium and mefenamic acid) are primarily used for treatment of acute or chronic pain and inflammation. As there might be interactions between lisinopril and NSAIDs, these two compounds must be detected simultaneously. (Sultana, Arayne, Siddiqui Naveed, 2012) Paracetamol, grouped in non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs has been discovered by colorimetric and spectroflurimetric techniques and being realised that it can combine with other drugs and thus, determined singly by RP-HPLC. It has antipyretic, analgesic and weak anti-inflammatory action, generally administered to suppress violent pains in advanced cancers. It has been found out that as concentration of one of mobile phases, ACN is high, paracetamol undergone improper dissolution. Meanwhile, phenomena such as broadening, fronting and tailing were remarkably lessened as ACN concentration gradually decreases. (Devi et al., 2013) Due to the rapid growth of demanding of NSAIDs, it is essential that to determine not the NSAIDs only, but also their combination drugs. The main function of NSAIDs is said to be inhibited cyclooxygenase in vitro and in vivo, hence decreasing the synthesis of prostaglandins which mediate the inflammation. Fifteen drugs have been simultaneously examined by robustness approach, including aceclofenac (ACF), aspirin (ASP), diclofenac (DCF), etoricoxib (ETC), ketorolac (KTL), paracetamol (PCM), salicylic acid (SA), ibuprofen (IBF) and naproxen (NPX) while the combination drugs being studied are clopidogrel (CLP), thiocolchicoside (THC), dextromethorphan (DXM), moxifloxacin (MXF), chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) and domperidone (DOM). By varying the method parameters, effect on chromatographic separation of all the drugs can be investigated. (Patel, Samanthulam Shrigod, Modh Chaudhari, 2013) Olmesartan medoxomil is an effective antihypertensive reagent, functioned as inhibitor that prevents the angiotensin II from binding to the AT1 receptors in vascular muscle. The validated analytical method for the Olmesartan medoxomil determination in the presence of its degraded product in bulk drug has been established. The degraded products are formed under the conditions suggested by International Conference of Harmonization (ICH), which are acid hydrolysis (0.1M HCL), alkaline hydrolysis (0.1M NaOH), oxidation (30% H2O2), photolysis (UV), and thermal degradation under stress conditions. The sample was found to be highly susceptible to acid and alkaline hydrolysis and oxidation while for other conditions, no degradation was performed. (Hamrapurkar Gadapayale, 2013) Quantitative determination of oseltamivir phosphate (OSP) has been exercised by RP-HPLC. OSP is the drug to treat swine flu, prevents the virus from releasing by infected cells by selectively blocks the viral surface enzyme neuraminidase. Oseltamivir phosphate is also the drug of choice for treatment of avian influenza that diagnosed to be caused by H1N1 virus. This quantitative method was statistically validated for linearity, precision, accuracy, ruggedness, robustness and sensitivity. (Malipatil, Jahan Patil, 2011) 3.0 Determination of food samples by RP-HPLC Reversed-phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) has been widely used to determine the food samples. Honey is a food sources which consists of supersaturated solution of sugars (mostly fructose and sucrose) and other significant amount of minor compounds such as organic acids, furanic aldehydes and acids, enzymes, amino acids and proteins, mineral and water-soluble vitamins. The characterization of these minor compounds have been known to be a reliable tool to determine the botanical an geographical origin as well as the quality of the honey. Many methods have been launched out for the determination the minority organic compounds such as furanic aldehydes and acids but less for vitamins in honey. So, a new analytical method was proposed which utilize RP-HPLC to determine the presence of five water-soluble vitamins in honey that are vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B3 (nicotinic acid), vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), vitamin B9 (folic acid) and vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Variety of validation parameters have been carried out in this proposed method in term of detection and quantificat ion limit, linearity, precision, sensitivity as well as the bias to validate their findings (Ciululu et al., 2011). In fact, due to the higher concentrations of saccharides, slightly acidic condition and water activity as well as the presence of organic acids in honey, it favor the formation of furanic aldehydes especially 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF). Hence, HMF is a good parameter for determine the quality of the honey. Apart from this, 2-furaldehyde, 2-furoic acid, 3-furaldehyde and 3-furoic acid also has been quantified in honey samples. Hence, 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF), 2-furaldehyde (2-F), 3-furaldehyde (3-F), 2-furoic acid (2-FA) and 3-furoic acid (3-FA) has been investigated simultaneously and completely validated on 18 honey samples which different in their age, botanical and geographical origin by RP-HPLC. From the result, HMF was quantified in all samples. 2-F and 2-FA was showed in almost half of the samples whereas 3-F was detected in three honey samples and 3-FA in only one. Validation parameters were performed in term of detection limits, precision, linearity and ac curacy (Spano et al., 2008). Brominated phenols have been known to have strong odor properties and act as key flavor compounds in seafoods. The presence of the bromophenol compounds, their concentration and the marine environments controlled the different in the strength and characteristic of odor and flavor in seafoods. Hence, RP-HPLC was employed to determine the presence of simple bromophenols in marine fishes simultaneously which include 2-bromophenol (2-BP), 4-bromophenol (4-BP), 2,4-dibromophenol (2,4-DBP), 2,6-dibormophenol (2,6-DBP) and 2,4,6-tribromophenol (2,4,6-TBP). All the bromphenols have been extracted from the fish samples by combined steam distillation-solvent extraction (SDE) with 2mL of pentane/diethyl ether (6:4) and identified by RP-HPLC with UV-detection. (Silva et al., 2005) Nowadays, the employment of food additives in the production of processed and fast foods was gradually increasing throughout the world. However, illegal and excess addition of food additives can cause significant health problems were well known by community. For an example, in china, the ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China strongly prohibited the addition of acesulfame, saccharin, neotame, stevioside, benzoic acid, caffeine and dehydroacetic acid as well as regulated the addition level of sorbic acid to 0.2g/kg into red wine. Variety of methods is available to determine the food additives present in food and drinks. However, simultaneous determination of large amount of food additives in red wine which mentioned as above was proposed by using dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE) followed by RP-HPLC with ultraviolet (UV) detection in this study. The red wine samples were undergoes the dSPE methods which considered as most powerful cleanup technologies in re moving various matrix and then analyzed by RP-HPLC with UV detection. Different kinds of validation parameters were utilized to determine the satisfaction and accuracy of the results. Apart from this, amino-functionalized Fe3O4 magnetic polymer (MP) which coupled with tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) also proved that it is an efficient absorbent in dSPE extraction procedure which could eliminate most of the interferences in the red wine. (Zhao et al., 2013) Apart from this, the dosage of additives especially preservatives, is the most strictly controlled by EU law because of their potential risk to human health and safety. Nationally and international authorities have been established the guidelines for the usage of preservatives in food and foodstuff which about the maximum dosage, use conditions and type of food in which they can be used. In our daily life, the most common preservatives are sorbic acid, natamycin and lysozyme. So, analytical method for simultaneous determination of the four preservatives in different kinds of cheeses that are sorbic acid, natamycin, lysozyme and benzoic acid by single RP-HPLC was established. Benzoic acid was also included into the determination step is because it can be synthesized naturally from the microbial metabolism even it’s not added technically to cheese during production. All preservatives were extracted from the samples through a simple extraction step and then separated by RP-HPLC. Finally, the analytes were analyzed by a single wavelength UV detector (280nm) and even a triple wavelength UV detector (227nm, 280nm and 303nm) for a more sensitive determination. (Guarino et al., 2011)

The eye :: essays research papers

How Do We See?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seeing involves more than opening our eyes. Through simple and fun experimentation the class will learn how the interaction of light, the eyes and the brain create the world we see. How Do We See?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Our eyes are constantly feeding information to us. When we are born our eyes need time to get used to seeing and understanding what exactly it is that you are seeing. Given time and experience the eyes learn to take in light, focus it and send information to our brain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All that you have experienced to this point has involved seeing and gaining an understanding of all that goes on around you. Most of what you see involves a knowing of it from previous experiences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We perceive things. We build perception. Perception is not determined simply by looking at something but by our brain searching for the best conclusion of all the available information. When perception is wrong we are confused. Sometimes the eyes and brain come to the wrong conclusion and we get an illusion or hallucinate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When you look at something your eyes are sending information about color, shape, movement, depth and distance to your brain. Then the brain puts it all together so that you can identify the whole object. Seeing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first thing one need understand about seeing is that if there is no light one cannot see. We are all able to see because light is bouncing off just about everything. There is more to seeing than meets the eye. When you look at an object you are seeing light that is bouncing or reflecting off of that object. Our eyes can take in light directly from a source, like looking at a light bulb, or indirectly after light bounces off of things like the moon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When light bounces off of the surface of an object some light is absorbed and some light is reflected. We see only the light that is reflected or bounces off the object, so if you look at something that is blue that something you are looking at is absorbing all of the other colors and bouncing the color blue back at you.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second thing to understand about seeing is the eye and brain connection. The eyes are one of the most important tools we have to gather information for our brain. The Eyes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Light passes through a transparent part of the eye called the cornea. The cornea is a lens which bends light inward.

The Significance of Sacrifice in Buddhist Practice :: Religion

The Significance of Sacrifice in Buddhist Practice The self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc at a busy intersection in Saigon on June 11, 1963 utterly shocked most Americans who could not fathom why a person would commit such a horrific act. Without trying to explore any feasible explanations within this man’s religion, many decided that he was probably just a fanatic who wanted to make a political statement in the most appalling manner possible. Was that the case? Was Quang Duc simply a political activist pushed to the limit, or was he acting with motivation derived from his religion? To answer this question, one must evaluate the function of sacrifice within the Buddhist tradition. As with many religions, Buddhism offers its practitioners the opportunity for different levels of involvement on the spiritual path towards enlightenment. This spectrum of involvement ranges from one who practices with minimal sacrifice primarily to achieve personal spiritual gain to one who sacrifices his or her life with the hope of benefiting all of humanity. Furthermore, as a person moves along this spectrum from little to great sacrifice, one also harbors a growing commitment to the spiritual welfare of all sentient beings. As the kinds of practice and sacrifice are explained for different levels of involvement in the religion, it will become clear that the relative commitment to help others directly correlates to the stage of practice and sacrifice. Additionally, an intriguing comparison will be made between these concepts within Buddhism and very similar concepts with the Jewish tradition of mystical or contemplative death. Basics of Buddhism When exploring the specific function of sacrifice within Buddhism, it will be necessary to understand some of the fundamental beliefs that lay the groundwork for the religion as a whole. The Buddha was an actual historical figure who lived around 350 BCE in northern India. After his own spiritual awakening, he taught four basic lessons about the nature of life. The Four Noble Truths state 1) that life is qualified by suffering 2) that suffering has a cause 3) that there can be an end to suffering 4) that there is a path describing how to end suffering [1] In further explanation, the cause of suffering is attachment to objects or feelings which are ultimately impermanent. If one does not learn how to overcome such attachment, one will forever be limited to the cycle of rebirth, or reincarnation, called samsara.

Export Strategy Information Document

The aim of this assignment is to demonstrate knowledge of the information and data needed to formulate an export strategy. This will be achieved by way of addressing the following: 1. What is meant by the ‘business and market environment’ of a target market? What kind of information would an exporter need to collect? 2. What is meant by the concepts ‘market segmentation’ and distribution channels’? What kind of information would an exporter need to collect? 3. What are the financial issues, export practicalities and technicalities that an exporter would need to know about to in the context of developing an export strategy?Business and market environment of a target market Exporting is a more difficult business task than importing (Weiss 2008). It is a challenge exacerbated by the global economic recession, remarkable growth and emerging economic might of China and India and the increasing pace of globalisation (Albaum and Duerr 2011). Although technol ogical advances such as the Internet have made it possible for even the smallest businesses to sell their products and services around the world with relative ease (Albaum and Duerr 2011), there is still a need for a clearly thought out export strategy.A nucleus of business activity, this master plan is like a satellite navigation system stating the destination of the business and the route it should take to get there. Weiss (2008) believes exporters need to know as much about target export markets as possible before any business transaction takes place. This information, he argues, should be based on a critical evaluation of the target market and tailored to the relevant product to be exported as part of a ‘market-entry plan including an initial marketing mix’ (Weiss 2008, p101).What he is referring to is essentially a blueprint of the business and market environment of the target market. The importance of understanding the business and market environment of the target market, namely, the political, ‘legal, regulatory, financial and institutional systems’ are critical factors in determining success in the export sector (Commander and Svejnar 2011, p309). This can give crucial insights into the levels of corruption, number of regulations, taxation laws, business licensing and macroeconomic policies (Commander and Svejnar 2011).Although target market studies tend to be product dependent, knowledge of local customers’ culture, hopes, language, predilection, buying capability, and the country’s international standards, state of development, infrastructure, transportation and environmental concerns are important considerations when formulating an export strategy. Furthermore, Commander and Svejnar (2011) stress the significance of indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), human capital and social factors such as health care expenditure and tertiary school enrolment.The inference here is that a more highly educated wor kforce may perform better and reduced costs of any necessary training and healthier workers may take less sick leave. In ensuring that a full picture of the target market is obtained, Cadogan et al. (2012) argue that attention should be paid to data other than from the target market and there needs to be more flexibility in export market oriented behaviour. Kalafsky (2009) believes personal relationships can prove influential in some target markets. For example, ‘face-to-face contact is important in the Chinese market’ (Kalafsky 2009, p47).In an adaptation of Porter’s (1979) Five Forces framework, it could be argued that exporters should take into account rivalry among competitors, threat of potential entry into target market, bargaining power of supplier, negotiating capability of buyers and threats of substitutes. Notwithstanding this, factors such as tariffs and non-tariff regulations, quotas, maturity of market, its structure and rival products are also of si gnificance. In this way a heterogeneous range of perspectives of the business and market environment would give impetus to the export strategy. Market segmentationMarket segmentation is where companies establish ‘segments of demand’, ‘target specific segments’ and ‘develop specific marketing ‘mixes’ for each targeted market segment’ (Hunt and Arnett 2004, p7). According to McDonald and Dunbar (2010, p9) it is an ‘alternative to product differentiation’ – the ‘process of splitting customers, or potential customers, in a market into different groups, or segments’. A crucial factor in McDonald and Dunbar’s (2010) definition is the emphasis on customers, who they are argue, are no longer content to play a secondary role, but are more market savvy and experienced enough to specify exactly what they require.Part of the reason for segmentation is that it can be used to divide large markets creating sectors that cater for geographic such as climate, area and location; demographic and socioeconomic like income, education, job, age, gender; family dimensions and house occupier status; behaviour relating to brand loyalty and psychographic in terms of attitude, lifestyle choices and values. Segmenting in such a way can ensure accurate and precise product and service placing. An important dimension of an export market strategy is to determine the segment of the market the company wishes to target.In this way a company will ascertain the potential buyers of its products in the target market, reasons for buying, situatedness of customers and any salient features. Bloom (2005) has argued that ineffective segmentation may lead to strategic marketing opportunities being overlooked and a firm not benefiting from a tactical campaign. Factors such as the proportion of the segment and its profitability are, therefore, crucial features of a marketing plan. Distribution channelsHow to operate distribution channels is of critical significance to the success or failure of an export business (Madsen, Moen and Hammervold 2012). This means making important judgements in utilising options such as the choice of foreign export firm to assume responsibility for the operation abroad. The locally recruited company would be charged with unearthing sales outlets, establishing its own export management, trading by way of local representatives, locating and using storage facilities and handle as decisions and setting up its own sales branch.The level of responsibility assigned to a distributor or agent is dependent on the number of product rights an exporter holds (Madsen, Moen and Hammervold 2012). This may include marketing roles like pricing and delivery strategies, communication and locating customers. However, it is worth noting that overburdening a distributor with too many tasks could make them less effective. Such is the significant role of the distributor that it is essential that good relations are maintained (Zhang, Cavusgil and Roath 2003). ‘Relationships between exporting firms and other members of the international distribution channelcan significantly impede or enhance performance in export markets’ ( Matear, Gray, Irving 2000, p539). With the likelihood of long distances between exporter and their distribution channel trust between parties will be a central feature of this relationship. Financial issues Financial assistance for exporters and investors may be obtained through government schemes, credit export agencies or other financial institutions. According to UK Trade and Investments (2013), such assistance may be available through insurance policies and guarantees on bank loans.This could also be in the form of bond support, overseas investment insurance, credit insurance and loan guarantees (UK Trade and Investment 2013). Notwithstanding this, due to high default risk and the required level of working capital associated with inte rnational trade export, businesses are more sensitive to financial shocks (Amiti and Weinstein 2011). Furthermore, exporters have a greater need for working-capital than those of domestic operating businesses, because of the longer time constraint experienced in international trade, especially when using the sea as the mode of transport (Amiti and Weinstein 2011).The global economic downturn since 2008 has led to export finance being a main casualty of the European Bank retrenchment and having a high dependency on large amounts for long periods has led to limited financial institutions being able to offer monetary assistance (O'Connell 2012). This undoubtedly have had a significant impact on international business operations, limiting trade opportunities and progression. To increase a business' prospect for successful exporting a systematic approach should be employed (Cavusgil, Knight and Riesenberger 2008).The assessment of the potential markets (global market opportunity), organi sing for export, acquiring the necessary skills and competences and executing export strategies are of significant importance (Cavusgil, Knight and Riesenberger 2008). Export practicalities and technicalities A precise understanding of the practicalities for exporting is vital. When exporting within the European Union (EU), for example, these include commercial documents, duties, charging and accounting for VAT, responsibility for trade statistics, sales list and intrastat (Enterprise Europe Network 2013).Even though there may be a slight differentiation when exporting outside the EU, there are necessary considerations such as new export system this permits exporters to make electronic declaration. Export licences is also vital. Johnson and Turner (2010) assert licensing reduces restrictions from the host countries regarding entering foreign markets. Further assistance and information on the practices and technicalities involved in exporting may be obtained from the market access da tabase and International Commerce Terms (Incoterms) (Enterprise Enterprise Network, 2013).