Saturday, September 7, 2019

Criminal Justice Issues in the US Today Assignment

Criminal Justice Issues in the US Today - Assignment Example This is attributed to mandatory sentencing laws that were enacted in the 80s; the post- Rockefeller drug laws where minor offenses are punished with major imprisonment. These laws limited the available options to a judge in determining the final ruling. Originally these laws had been put in place in effort to implement the zero tolerance policy against use of drug. It is a well known fact that drugs use especially among youths and teenagers has been a major issue in the country. Particularly, the rise in the abuse of methamphetamine is thought to be the major contributing factor towards the rise in the incarceration rate. It is the most destructive and addictive drug which is being blamed for the recent rise in suicides, family violence and criminal acts (Howard, 2007). If these statistics and findings are anything to go by, building more prisons and increasing sentences is not the solution to reducing crime, drug use and the alarming rate of incarceration. Legislators need to think along solutions like rehabilitation and deterrence. Rise in crime has mostly been as a result of drug use. That means that putting up measures that will see to it that drug use has been significantly reduced will lead to reduction in criminal acts by a remarkable margin.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Othello †Paper Assignment Essay Example for Free

Othello – Paper Assignment Essay A desire for revenge can overcome a person and have great detrimental effects. This is especially true in the play Othello by William Shakespeare. The play takes place in a time of war between Italy and Turkey. The play begins in Venice, Italy but then shifts to the island of Cyprus for the remainder of the play. In the play, the main antagonist Iago was not chosen for a position of lieutenancy by his general, Othello. Othello had chosen a man named Cassio over Iago. Iago, being very envious of Othello and Cassio, plots a plan for revenge. Early on in the play, we find that Othello has complications in his marriage to Desdemona. Othello and Desdemona are seen as opposites in which Desdemona is an innocent, sweet, high class white woman, while Othello is a tough, ugly, and black war general. Iago, using this knowledge, begins to plot his revenge. Iago says, â€Å"I hate the Moor, and it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets ‘has done my office. I know not if’t be true, but I, for mere suspicion in that kind, will do as if for surety† (Act 1, iii, 429-433). Iago, in this quote, suggests that a rumor about Othello sleeping with his wife may not be true, but he will pretend it is in order to better his plot for revenge. Iago’s first step in the plan was to endanger Othello’s relationship by telling Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, about their marriage. Othello claims he will not hide because he has nothing to be afraid of and ask Iago if he agrees. Iago says, â€Å"By Janus, I think no† (Act 1, ii, 38). Iago alludes to the Greek god Janus that supposedly had two faces. This is an example of dramatic-irony because the audience knows that Iago himself is two-faced since he pretends to be nice but in actuality is trying to get revenge; Othello is also unaware of Iago’s other motives. Iago, in his plot for revenge, often uses psychological means to manipulate people. When Brabantio is talking to Othello, he says â€Å"She has deceived her father, and may thee† (Act 1, iii, 333-334). Brabantio believed that since Desdemona was not loyal to her father, she may also deceive Othello. This is an example of foreshadowing because Othello will be lead on to believe that Desdemona is not loyal to him. Iago, later in the play, alludes to Brabantio’s warning and says, â€Å"She did deceive her father, marrying you, and when she seemed to shake and fear your looks, she loved them most† (Act 3, iii, 237-240). Iago, being very diabolical, enhances Othello’s doubts about his marriage. This doubt in Othello’s mind comes into play later in Iago’s plans for revenge. Iago shows that he will use any means to get his revenge, whether it be lying or manipulating any insecurities in others. Near the end of the play, Iago’s plan has progressed as he had planned: Othello does not trust Desdemona or Cassio, Iago had gotten Cassio fired, and Othello still has complete trust in Iago. Othello had given Desdemona a handkerchief when they had gotten married which symbolized everything holding their relationship together. Iago gets a hold of the handkerchief and plants it on Cassio. This becomes proof for Othello that Desdemona is cheating on Othello with Cassio. Othello becomes so angry he kills Desdemona. Emilia, Iago’s wife, walks in after Othello strangles Desdemona and in shock tries to explain what Iago has done to him. Iago comes in and tries to stop Emilia; he then stabs her because she wouldn’t stop. Iago’s plan had been revealed and Othello is traumatized. Othello exclaims â€Å"But why should honor outlive honesty† (Act 5, ii, 293)? Othello, trying to comprehend what he has done, questions how the reputation of being honorable could outlast honor itself. Iago, so bent on getting revenge for the sake of his reputation, had killed his very own wife. At the beginning of the play, Iago had said that he heard a rumor about Othello sleeping with his wife. He didn’t know if it was true but said he would pretend it was in order to fuel his desire and plot for revenge. Throughout the play, Iago had used any means to complete his goal. For example, Iago used psychological means to manipulate Othello into doubting his relationship with Desdemona. Iago then lied to Othello and tricked him into believing that Desdemona was having an affair with Cassio. If Emilia had not told Othello, he may not have known about Iago’s plan at all. Iago kills Emilia for telling Othello, which is ironic because Iago used the rumor about Othello and his wife to fuel his revenge. Iago’s desire for revenge became so great that when Emilia ruined his plan, he killed her. Instead of killing Iago, Othello says, â€Å"I’d have thee live, for in my sense ‘tis happiness to die† (Act 5, ii, 340-341). Iago will be kept alive and most likely tortured because killing him would be a punishment not worthy of Iago’s actions. Iago’s desire for revenge ultimately overcame him and caused many detrimental effects in his life as well as many others. In conclusion, one should never seek revenge.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Concepts and Theories of Supply, Demand and Price

Concepts and Theories of Supply, Demand and Price Economics Coursework Paper Introduction This essay looks at the fundamental elements of economics. Economics covers the area of human activity that deals with how people provide for their material wellbeing. It looks at the complex sets of transactions that take place around the world every day. These transactions decide on the global allocation of raw materials and capital. It also looks at the decisions individuals make when they decide how to prioritise their needs and wants and how to spend their money. It can vary in scale from how one person or family will organise its activities to how nations and societies should or can be organised. Economics therefore deals with an enormous subject matter; it offers a way of understanding practically all human activity at any level of detail. The way in which it can do all this, and still remain united as a single science, is to adopt various principles which will apply to a school child buying his lunch, multinational companies merging on the stock market, or nations competing f or trade. In this paper I will look at some of these principles and how they relate to various examples.[1] Supply, Demand and Price You would be correct to assume that economics is interested in the price of things. While this is the main issue for most economic actors such as individual consumers, companies or countries, for economists, this is neither where the story begins nor ends. It is in fact just one of many details that will fit in to an overall economic picture. It is a well known fact that house prices usually rise. It is just as well known that computer prices keep falling. Economics explains these price movements by looking at and understanding their respective markets. The methods used to analyse a market are; understanding the motivations of the various participants in the market; the factors that control how much the consumers in the market wish to buy; the factors that control how much sellers wish to sell; how the price is set; and the institutional structures that also influence the price. When looking at markets in this way, the various actors in the market, or agents, are assumed to be rational, that is that they want to maximise their gains or get the best deal possible. This is known as ‘maximizing utility’ in economics. When speaking of demand, we are not concerned with how much of a product is actually bought, but of how much the consumers in the market would like to buy. The amount demanded is expressed as a flow, which means we look at how much of a product is demanded over a particular period, and at a particular price. For example, if milk costs  £1 per litre, there is a demand for 1 litre of milk per day, or 365 litres of milk per year. In basic demand theory, there are a number of factors that can go into increasing or decreasing the amount demanded. For example, if you advertise the health benefits of milk, the consumer may decide to drink more. Also if there was a shortage of orange juice, consumers might drink more milk to make up for the difficulty of getting orange juice. Making milk cheaper will also increase the demand for it. Therefore, demand is something that can altered and, to an extent, controlled by the seller. One of the key functions of economics is to narrow down and explain the various factors that will effect demand, supply and price. Economists wish to be able to measure exactly how these three variables will interact. If they can do this effectively, they will be able to manipulate the three so as to arrive at a level of supply, and a price, that will maximise the profit, or utility, for the producer. And the reason they can do this is because of the one certainty of economics, which is that the consumer will also be seeking to maximise his utility under the options available to him. Demand and Price While it may be impossible to know exactly when and how much a given consumer will feel like drinking with his breakfast each morning, there are things we can no. One of them is that, in general, the lower the price of a product, the more of that product will be demanded, assuming all other things remain equal. This principle is so dependable it is known as the law of demand. This is because all wants can be satisfied by a number of products. For example, if you are hungry at school, you will have a want, namely lunch. This want can be satisfied by a sandwich, an apple, a bag of crisps, a chocolate bar, etc. Even if you look at the sandwich, you can have ham, cheese, salad etc. The chocolate bar can be a Snickers, Mars, Twix etc. If you suddenly double the price of cheese sandwiches while everything else remains the same, the demand for cheese sandwiches will go down. Some people will still buy the same amount of cheese sandwiches, others will buy less cheese sandwiches and opt for o ther types of sandwiches or maybe and apple or chocolate bar, and some will completely stop buying cheese sandwiches. No one will buy more cheese sandwiches than they did before. Therefore, as price increases, demand will continue to decrease.[2] Economists can demonstrate this using a demand schedule. This shows the demand for a product at various prices. Example of a demand schedule The demand schedule will then be used to plot a graph, or demand curve. The price will appear on the Y-axis and the quantity demanded on the X-axis. This curve will show the complete relationship between demand and price. Example of a demand curve This above schedule and demand curve show how demand for milk will vary according to price. As the price increases from  £0.50 per litre to  £3.00 per litre, the consumer decreases the amount they drink each day from 1.4 litres to just 0.2 litres. This example shows a relatively simple relationship between price and demand. In real life, there are many more factors at work that will dictate the demand for a product. While price is certainly one very important variable, the demand will also depend on the price of other alternative products. So if the price of orange juice for example were suddenly to increase, you would probably notice an increase in demand for milk, even though the price of milk did not change. That is because orange juice is an alternative product to milk. Also, if consumers were to get richer, they would be willing to buy more milk, or pay more for the amount they wanted, and again this would have a significant effect on the demand curve. Similarly, if consumer’s tastes were to change this would effect the demand curve. So if the milk producer was to start advertising the health benefits of milk this might increase demand even though there was no change in price. In practice there are actually an infi nite number of variables that will effect the demand for a product, but this does not mean that the basic law will not always hold. No matter how attitudes to a product, for example milk, change over time, it will always be the case, according to the law of demand, that an increase in price will lead to a decrease in demand and vice versa. Supply Simply finding the demand curve for a product is however not enough. You might expect that it would make good business, as well as common sense, to decide your supply based on current market demand. If consumers want 1 litre of milk per day, and they are willing to pay  £1 per litre, and say there are 1,000 consumers in the market, then why not simply produce 1,000 litres of milk per day. Well first of all, we can see that this tells us nothing about the profits of the producer. If you found out milk costs  £1.50 a litre to produce, would you still recommend that the producer try to sell 1,000 litres at  £1 per litre? Obviously not, therefore our picture is incomplete as it takes no account yet of the suppliers side of the bargain. The economic hypothesis that explains supplier behaviour is that if all other things remain equal, the quantity that they are willing to produce is positively related to the product’s own price, or the higher the price, the more they are willing to produce. This is basically because increasing production costs money, and the more you increase production, the more it costs, so firms will only increase production for as long as the price they can get for the product justifies the increased cost of production. Just like when measuring demand, a supply schedule is used to compare different price levels with different levels of production. Example supply schedule The supply curve shows the different amounts the producer would be willing to supply at different prices. As can be seen, the supply increases as price increases. Example of a supply curve Using these two graphs, economists can find the most efficient price for milk in this market. For example, if milk was priced at  £0.50 per litre, consumers would be willing to drink 1.4 litres per day, but the producer would only be willing to supply 0.41 litres per day. Clearly there is waste at this price. Likewise, if the price was set at  £3.00 per litre, the producer would be happy to supply 4.66 litres to each consumer, however they would only be willing to buy 0.2 litres per day. So a balance must be found somewhere in between. To find this point, economists will plot both the supply and demand curves on the same graph and find the point at which they intersect. This is the most profitable and efficient level at which to set production and price. The graph below shows that in this market, the supply and demand curves intersect at the price of  £1 per litre of milk. This is therefore the level at which the price would settle under normal market conditions. Price Elasticity The value of being able to analyse markets in this way, and understand how the price will settle is not solely theoretical. Businesses want to use this information to maximise profits. Therefore, theories on how to manipulate the above graphs are extremely important. One aspect if this is known as price elasticity. This is the theory that will explain how changes in price affect the quantity demanded. In the above example, the consumers would be willing to drink 1.4 litres of milk per day if it cost  £0.50. Imagine if you could get the same consumers to continue demanding this quantity of milk at a cost of  £3.00 per litre. This would mean a huge difference in profits for the producer. While it may not be possible to affect this change, having a greater understanding of the demand curve will allow detection of greater profit potential. Likewise, if you identify the causes for supply variation with changes in price, you may be able to improve the efficiency of your own business an d move the point of intersection of supply and demand curves to a more profitable position. The change in demand with price is known as price elasticity of demand. The change in supply with price is known as price elasticity of supply. Elasticity cannot simply be judged by looking at the curves on graphs. This is because the shape of the curve depends as much on the scale of the graph as on the responsiveness of the demand or supply to changes in price. Therefore, elasticity is measured by a mathematical ratio. This is the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price that caused it. If you get a value for price elasticity of demand of zero this means that the quantity demanded does not change at all as the price changes. Such products are known as perfectly inelastic. There are very few products that would give this result. Even products such as bail to get out of jail pending trial will depend on the consumers ability to pay, and taxes, which supposedly offer no choice to the consumer, are also somewhat elastic as tax evasion has been shown to increase as tax rates rise. If the value is a fraction, between zero and 1, the quantity demanded will change but at a lower rate than the price changes. This is known as inelasticity. So if you were to increase the cost of the good by 50%, demand would decrease, but by less than 50%. This is generally observed in products that are deemed vital or necessary to people, but which are supplied without much competition. It is most typical in monopolies. So for example, if there is only one electricity or phone company, an inc rease in prices will lead to less usage, but people cannot wholly stop using such goods and so the usage will only decrease by a small amount. Likewise, goods such as housing, basic foods, or fuel, even though there may be a variety of providers, will generally be of low elasticity because people are forced to buy a certain amount of these products no matter what the price may be. In these situations, it is common to find government regulation to guarantee fairness of the market. If the elasticity is 1, then the demand and supply change at the same rate as price. This is known as unit elasticity. An elastic good will be one where the value will be greater than one. This means that the quantity demanded will change by more than the price changes. So for example, if there were two identical farms selling identical apples, both located next to each other, and both sell apples for 10p each, you might expect that 50% of customers will go to each farm. However, if one of the farmers was t o increase his price to say 12p per apple, the vast majority of customers will now go to the other farmer. He will lose more than 20% of his customers for a 20% rise in price. This is most likely in markets of high competition. If the value for elasticity is infinity, then the product is perfectly elastic. There is only one acceptable price. Purchasers will buy everything you have at one price, but if you increase it by even the tiniest fraction, they will buy none at all. This exists in theory, and in some highly automated and computerised financial markets. Computers will dictate prices according to precise calculations and then will not deviate from this. Market structures The above explanation for elasticity shows the nature, and ultimate difference in the characters of different markets. One way you can classify various markets is by the price elasticity they will give. It may seem surprising that the huge differences between the New York stock exchange and school children spending their pocket money in a sweet shop, or between modern capitalism, Soviet style communism, and primitive barter based trading systems comes down to the issue of price elasticity, but this is one way of classifying markets and judging the degree to which they are similar or dissimilar. A person shopping for bread in the old Soviet Union, and a person waiting to be granted bail by a judge may appear to be in very different circumstances, but according to this market view, their position economically is very similar, they will accept what they are told, with little regard to price. However, future’s traders in global financial centres, spending billions or ever trillion s of dollars every day, are revealed to have a lot in common with children in a sweet shop, weighing the various combinations of price and utility that different choices will provide them. They will ruthlessly abandon a product that doesn’t pull its weight on their cost/ utility calculation. Conclusion Using these few principles that lie at the foundation of economics, and a few simple examples, we can see how economic principles can explain a huge variety of social situations and human interactions. This is why economics claims to be able to offer an understanding of all human activity and why some criticise its growing influence as painting a false or inappropriate picture of humanity. While economic principles can be applied to children making friends, people acting with kindness or religions offering comfort and guidance, the question is not whether economics can provide answers, but whether the answers it provides are appropriate. Bibliography Lipsey Chrystal, Economics, 10th ed. 2004, Oxford University Press Grant, Stanlake’s Introductory Economics, 7th ed. 2003, Longman Footnotes [1] Lipsey Crystal, p. 40 [2] Grant, p. 77

Racism in the Chesapeake Area Essays -- Chesapeake Area Racism Racist

Racism in the Chesapeake Area The Chesapeake area in the seventeenth century was a unique community that was almost absent of racism. In this community, at this time, property was the central and primary definition of one’s place in society. The color of one’s skin was not a fundamental factor in being a well respected and valued member of the community. Virginia’s Eastern Shore represented a very small fellowship of people that were not typical of the Southern ideals during this time period and gave free blacks owning property a great deal of respect and merit usually equal to that of any white man around. Racism, as a generalization, was a common and mostly unified way of thinking in the Southern states for a very long time and was in its prime during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The first importation of slaves into Virginia was in late August of 1619 and was only briefly recorded by one colonist, John Rolfe. He recorded them as â€Å"20. and odd Negroes† and from this the black population slowly grew to about three hundred by the mid-century. One must understand that the attitudes towards the blacks that came to Virginia were not inevitable. This is a very important point to note when understanding how the free blacks came to be they way they were in Northampton, Virginia. It is not specifically known how Anthony Johnson came to own his â€Å"modest estate† or how he ended up in Northampton. Historians believe that his former master, Rirchard Bennett,...

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

The Mathematics of Bubbles in Beer :: Math Carbonation

Refraction Refraction is what happens to light when it passes from one medium to another. For example, things appear differently from the bottom of a swimming pool than on the top. Simplistically, refraction is the bending of light. The explanation for this phenomenon, however, can be described with light as rays and light as waves. No matter the case, it is important to remember that the speed of light is constant in every homogeneous medium, regardless of shape, size or form. The index of refraction Light travels ( in certain substances ) at a fraction of the velocity if it travelled in a vacuum. The index of refraction is the inverse of this fraction. Thus, this number is greater than or equal to 1. This index is also specific to light, so different light in different mediums have different indices. For example, here is a table of indices: Material Index Vacuum 1.00000 Air at STP 1.00029 Ice 1.31 Water at 20 C 1.33 Acetone 1.36 Ethyl alcohol 1.36 Sugar solution(30%) 1.38 Diamond 2.417 So let's observe the effect of refraction in terms of rays. A ray strikes the surface between substance I and substance R. The angle i between the incoming ray and the normal vector at the boundary is called the angle of incidence, and the angle r between the refracted ray and the normal vector on the opposite side is called the angle of refraction. This is related in the following law, called Snell's Law: ni sin i = nr sin r. For red light in air hitting water this gives sin r = sin i/1.33 Solving for Snell's Law for r gives the relation r = arcsin (sin i/n) Explicit Calculation In simple ray tracing, a ray originates at a point P at a directional vector v, which is of unit length. This is the set of all points P+tv where t is a non-negative scalar. When the ray hits the boundary between two different substances, it will refract, and begin a new ray. The Mathematics of Bubbles in Beer :: Math Carbonation Refraction Refraction is what happens to light when it passes from one medium to another. For example, things appear differently from the bottom of a swimming pool than on the top. Simplistically, refraction is the bending of light. The explanation for this phenomenon, however, can be described with light as rays and light as waves. No matter the case, it is important to remember that the speed of light is constant in every homogeneous medium, regardless of shape, size or form. The index of refraction Light travels ( in certain substances ) at a fraction of the velocity if it travelled in a vacuum. The index of refraction is the inverse of this fraction. Thus, this number is greater than or equal to 1. This index is also specific to light, so different light in different mediums have different indices. For example, here is a table of indices: Material Index Vacuum 1.00000 Air at STP 1.00029 Ice 1.31 Water at 20 C 1.33 Acetone 1.36 Ethyl alcohol 1.36 Sugar solution(30%) 1.38 Diamond 2.417 So let's observe the effect of refraction in terms of rays. A ray strikes the surface between substance I and substance R. The angle i between the incoming ray and the normal vector at the boundary is called the angle of incidence, and the angle r between the refracted ray and the normal vector on the opposite side is called the angle of refraction. This is related in the following law, called Snell's Law: ni sin i = nr sin r. For red light in air hitting water this gives sin r = sin i/1.33 Solving for Snell's Law for r gives the relation r = arcsin (sin i/n) Explicit Calculation In simple ray tracing, a ray originates at a point P at a directional vector v, which is of unit length. This is the set of all points P+tv where t is a non-negative scalar. When the ray hits the boundary between two different substances, it will refract, and begin a new ray.

Monday, September 2, 2019

Hunger Games Review

Action packed adventures, intense, love triangles, suspenseful twists of the plot, and witty remarks are all thrown across the pages of a book titled â€Å"The Hunger Games† by Suzanne Collins. The book was looked upon by many teenagers as if it was a sacred treasure meant to be read by a select few. I was driven by both madness and curiosity to uncover how such a book would deserve this much attention. To my surprise, â€Å"The Hunger Games† demonstrated a well thought plot, conflicting love, triangle and intense life or death matters. The story is set in the post, apocalyptic country of Panem, where America once stood. The country is divided into 12 districts and ruled by a dictating government known as the Capitol. The heroine, 16 year old Katniss Everdeen lives in the Seam, located in the poorest region; District 12. At one point, there was a District 13, but it was consequently destroyed for leading a war against the Capitol. The rest of the districts gave up easily and were forced to follow the cynical Capitol, avoiding the same fate as District 13. Accompanied by Katniss is heartthrob Gale Hawthorne; the leading lady’s best friend. Gale and Katniss have been hunting together at the woods near the outlying district. They’re content using the animals they’ve caught for food for their family or for a trade of money. Suddenly, everything for Katniss changes when she is faced with the decision to take the place of her sister at the Annual Hunger Games; a brutal, televised event that pits 24 teenagers from the ages of 12 to 17 to fight until there is one standing. One boy and girl are picked from each district and are orced to participate as tributes. This is the punishment that all districts must go through. It’s the Capitol’s way of reminding the nation once more that they are in charge and can send children off to combat without anyone’s say in it. Katniss’s decision to join the games leaves her accompanied by an old flame, Peeta Melark; the baker’s son. The way Collins devel oped each character thoroughly with distinct differences leads you to ponder which of the two, Peeta or Gale, is right for Katniss. Both Katniss and Peeta took notice of each other from afar and are connected by a single moment. On a rainy day at the Seam, Katniss is faced with little to no money and doesn’t have any food to offer to her family. She sits hunched over outside the bakery until Peeta walks up to her and offers her bread from his bakery. From that moment on, Peeta is nicknamed the boy with the bread. This act of kindness sets him off as frail and kind; unlike Gale, who is seen as tough and aggressive. By increasing her chance of survival, Katniss and Peeta are publicly announced as star crossed lovers and must defend each other in the arena. All the while, it is evident that Gale has feelings for her yet he must watch the girl he loves the most fall into the arms of someone else. Katniss is torn between the boy she left back home to the boy with the bread. Throughout the book, her thoughts and feelings often clash with one another and she has been reluctant to go to both Peeta and Gale. The games are held at a remote arena filled with many surprises. Katniss is doing whatever it takes to survive the unknown. She somewhat acts like a babysitter to Peeta by protecting him from every little thing. What surprised me the most was just how easily she was willing to kill children for the sake of her life. At this point, she has been made a pawn by the Capitol, and the Capitol is winning. She makes friends, and loses friends. The weather is constantly changing and the tributes slowly start to die off. Katniss must also battle with other tributes for the limited amount of food and water supply left. It is very startling to even imagine myself in her position. Everyone there wants to survive yet not everyone is even lucky enough to get through the first day. The seemingly endless battle drove me insane! I can’t imagine how hard it would be to go to sleep with the thought of not making it out alive the next day. The heart breaking thing to do is ally with a complete stranger. Katniss has been faced with many and must make a choice as the number of survivors left start thinning down. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in a thought provoking story line, romance, and life or death situations. This book will keep you up at night even after finishing it. This fast paced story will keep you reading with excitement. Sources http://www.thehungergames.co.uk/

Sunday, September 1, 2019

759’s Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis The business of 759 store is principally engaged in the sales of confectioneries, beverages and other packed foods imported from Japan and other regions in the world. The origin of its products mainly includes Japan, followed by Korea, Taiwan and Europe. In Hong Kong, OKASHILAND has similar characteristics with 759 store on purchasing practice. It offers various brands’ snacks and beverages from different countries in the world such as â€Å"meiji†, â€Å"Calbee† and â€Å"LOTTLE†. It also provides a series of exclusive products under its own private brand of â€Å"Four Seas†.In term of scale, for the year ended 30 Nov 2012, 759 store owns 98 stores around Hong Kong. However, OKASHILAND’s retail network of 53 outlets placed in Hong Kong. Their stores generally were located at MTR stations and shopping mall. 759 store possesses a greater market segment. Difficulties Since 759 store adopted the policy of high turnover, wide varieties and positioned the general public as our target customers, the number of outlets, products and suppliers have increased greatly from 2011. As the number of suppliers and products increased, more products are required to ship to Hong Kong from various suppliers around the world.The operation of purchasing becomes more complex. The routing system is required to be maintained on a high efficiency level in order to control the transportation costs. The transportation costs would be increased when the 759 store’s logistics in purchase is not well organized. The expansion on retail network rises the difficulty on replenishment. Since the number of outlets increased, more resources are needed to replenish inventory in each store. Also, the capacity of warehouse and logistics equipments becomes a bottleneck of 759 store’s expansion. It is because the inbound and outbound of inventories are increased.