Information Systems and Operations Management

Please read the article: Zara: Fast fashion from savvy systems available for free at http://www. flatworldknowledge. com/pub/gallaugher/41128#pdf-7 This article makes up Chapter 1 of the free, open access book titled, Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology, by John Gallaugher. Please ensure that you read the entire Chapter 1 of the book consisting of 3 parts (Part 1 Introduction; Part 2 Don’t Guess, Gather Data; and Part 3 Moving Forward). Now answer the questions below: Question 1: The Zara case shows how information systems can impact every single management discipline.Which management disciplines were mentioned in this case and how does technology impact each? (50% of the total mark) The case study mentioned management disciplines including information gathering, processing, storing, distributing and use of information. Gather market information One of the successful factors in Zara is they know the market trends. Zara deploys the latest information technology tools to facilitate the information exchange and collect market data through both formal and informal channels – the PDA and POS systems.The Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) system Zara’s store managers were given personal digital assistants (PDAs) so they could gather customer input outside an office setting. The staff in Zara would regularly gather information from customers, such as the trend of fashion customers preferred and feedbacks of garment that they would like to see more in the shop. The range of information collected included colours, length and even small detail of the clothes were collected from customers through front line shop staff.Besides getting information directly from customers, they staff have another channel to gather customers’ preferences. The staff will investigate the unsold items that customers tried on but didn’t buy, to find out their preferences in cloth, color, or styles offered among the products in stock. T he Point-of-sale (POS) system Besides the informal channel to gather customers needs (through conversations), the head office will collect information through a formal channel, the store’s point-of-sale (POS) system.This system is a transaction process that captures customer purchase information, in order to show how garments rank by sales. Since the POS system is linked with the PDA system, in less than an hour, managers can send updates that combine the hard data captured at the cash register with insights on what customers would like to see. Information on customer needs and trend information collected daily are fed into a database at head office regularly. The PDAs support the connection between the retail stores and head office.Each store managers are assigned with market specialists, they will communicate regularly through PDAs to transmit all kinds of information to head office. [1] Zara store management and staff use PDAs and POS systems to gather and analyze customer preference data to plan future designs based on feedback, rather than prediction. Data driven product development The data collected from PDA as well as POS system formed a valuable marketing database and provided data allows the design teams to plan styles and issue re-buy orders based on feedback rather than hunches and guesswork.The goal is to improve the frequency and quality of decisions made by the design and planning teams. The designers from â€Å"The Cube† follow evidence of customer demand. When they deign new garments or decide which kind of fabric, cut and price points to be used or modify existing designs, they will base on information from PDAs and POS rather than create trends by pushing new lines via advertisements or catwalk fashion shows. Vertically integrated value chain Inditex is a vertically integrated group, it owns several layers in its value chain.The distribution center in La Coruna equipped with up-to-date equipment for fabric dyeing and processing , cutting and garment finishing. The vertically integrated ability allows the group to response faster against the latest fashion trend including provide the appropriate for new lines. Zara’s IT expenditures are low by fashion industry standards. The spectacular benefits reaped by Zara from the deployment of technology have resulted from targeting technology investment at the points in the value chain where it has the greatest impact, and not from the sheer magnitude of the investment.This is in stark contrast to Prada’s experience with in-store technology deployment. Inventory control Zara uses Toyota-designed logistics system and overnight parcel services to manipulate items stocked in the five-million-square-foot distribution center in La Coruna, or a similar facility in Zaragoza in the northeast of Spain. About two and a half million items were handled every week and none of them stayed in the warehouses more than 3 days. Before sending to each store, clothes are i roned in advance and packed on hangers, with security and price tags fixed beforehand.This system helps staff in Zara utilize their time efficiently with the inventory during busy periods. Just-in-time manufacturing (JIT) The JIT approach to manufacturing involves timing the delivery of resources so that they arrive just when needed. Inventory optimization models help the firm determine how many of which items in which sizes should be delivered to each specific store during twice-weekly shipments, ensuring that each store is stocked with just what it needs.Trucks serve destinations that can be reached overnight, while chartered cargo flights serve farther destinations within forty-eight hours. And the firm can coordinate outbound shipment of all Inditex brands with return legs loaded with raw materials and half-finished clothes items from locations out-side of Spain thanks to the revised shipping models through Air France–KLM Cargo and Emirates Air. Zara’s products are manufactured for a limited production run. This approach encourages customers to buy right away and at full price.The constant parade of new, limited-run items also encourages customers to visit often. Staff allocation Headquarter of Zara uses software to arrange staff’s roster. The manpower is allocated based on each store’s forecasted sales volume, with locations staffing up at peak times such as lunch or early evening. The firm claims these more flexible schedules have shaved staff work hours by 2 percent. This constant refinement of operations throughout the firm’s value chain has helped reverse a prior trend of costs rising faster than sales.Zara’s combination of vertical integration and technology-orchestrated supplier coordination, just-in-time manufacturing, and logistics allows it to go from design to shelf in days instead of months. [pic] Question 2: Do you think information systems are a strategic liability for Zara? Give reasons. (50% of the total mark) Porter’s five forces analysis To understand the business condition of fashion industry, we need to use Porter’s five forces model. It is shown how the market behaved at the very beginning of the company according to the Porter’s 5 forces analysis.Bargaining Power of Suppliers This is how much pressure suppliers can place on a business. If one supplier has a large enough impact to affect a company’s margins and volumes, then they hold substantial power. †¢ There are many suppliers for raw material †¢ There are many substitutes †¢ Presence of substitute inputs †¢ The nature of the products allow to storage them long time, unless the trends conditions. Bargaining Power of customers This is how much pressure customers can place on a business. †¢ Switching to another (competitive) product is simple The product is not extremely important to the buyer; they can do without it for a period of time. †¢ Customers are price s ensitive †¢ Buyer do not have switching costs †¢ Many availabilities of existing substitute products †¢ Buyer is price and style sensitive †¢ Low purchase volume per customer. †¢ Highly dynamic, customers preference changes frequently in short time Competitive rivalry within an industry This describes the intensity of competition between existing firms in an industry. Garment industry is highly competitive generally earn low returns.For many industries, this is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry. Sometimes rivals compete aggressively and sometimes rivals compete in non-price dimensions such as innovation, marketing, etc. †¢ It is a mature industry with very little growth. Companies can only grow by stealing customers away from competitors. †¢ It has a lot competitors in the industry about the same size †¢ Little differentiation between competitors’ products and services. Key competitors include Gap,, Benetton, H, Forever 21 , etc.Pfeifer, (2008); Rohwedder and Johnson, (2008) H has increased the frequency of new items in stores, Forever 21 and Uniqlo get new looks within 6 weeks and Benetton, a firm that previously closed some 90 percent of US stores, now replenishes stores as fast as once a week †¢ The barriers to get out of the industry are low in distribution and high in manufacture †¢ Since the chances of clothes getting damaged before sold is very little, the storage costs would be low †¢ High manufacture costs because of high raw material cost and manpower cost Threat of new Entrants No distribution barriers to entrance because it only consists on low costs of renting a shop, no administrative restrictions, low initial capital to start †¢ Reduced reaction possibilities in front of new entrants †¢ In production, there are barriers for the existence of economies of scale. †¢ The start up capital needed is high †¢ Need time to build up relationship wi th supply chain and suppliers Threat of substitute products What is the likelihood that someone will switch to a competitive product or service? If the cost of switching is low, then this poses to be a serious threat. Buyer can easily found substitute †¢ Relative price performance of substitutes †¢ Buyer switching costs is low †¢ Perceived level of product differentiation †¢ Fad and fashion †¢ Technology change and product innovation The main issue is the similarity of substitutes. For example, if the price of coffee rises substantially, a coffee drinker is likely to switch over to a beverage like tea because the products are so similar. If substitutes are similar, then it can be viewed in the same light as a new entrant. Zara’s success factorsThe success factors/ competitive advantages include always producing the style that customers are looking for, short production time from design stage and limited quantities. Information system plays strategic l iability in the following: – Collecting Market Data & customer’s needs – Product development – JIT production Considering the information technology investment helping Zara to maintain it’s competitive advantages, it is strategic liability for the firm. ———————– [1] Zara's Secret for Fast Fashion, Kasra Ferdows, Michael A. Lewis and Jose A. D. Machuca (http://hbswk. hbs. edu/archive/4652. html)

The American Revolution Was a Major Turning Point Essays

The American Revolution Was a Major Turning Point Essays The American Revolution Was a Major Turning Point Paper The American Revolution Was a Major Turning Point Paper Alex Griffen P6 9/28/11 The American Revolution was a major turning point in American history and greatly affected Americas future. The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, to become the United States of America. It fundamentally changed the American society politically, socially and economically by the establishments of the Declaration of Independence and conflicts over stronger states rights or stronger central government, paper currency, womens rights and slavery. The American Revolution brought enormous effects on the Americans society polticially by new means of government. One major approach to endure in this change was the Declaration of Independence. George Washington declared a change in the society because he thought it was time to become independent from the Britains crown. If men were angels, no government would be necessary. This statement supports the reason of wanting independence because being under the Britains crown was unfair and Americans did not want that type of government any more. This action also led to the American colonies wanting to self-govern their own society. After the Declaration of Independence the United States of America now had to decide what type of government would watch over this new country. After the Constitution, the writers of the Constitution debated over a strong central government versus strong states. The Federalist Party supported a strong central government and was made up of mostly Northern industrialists. The Southern plantation owners mostly supported the Democratic-Republicans who stood for states rights. The Democratic-Republicans thought that a state had the right to overrule a Federal law if they thought it did agree with the state constitution. The Northern states argued that the Federal government had declared slavery illegal and the Southern states argued that they were independent of the Federal government and could make their own laws. Paper currency in American society of the time period was not established as a reliable currency for the economy. At first, the paper currency was not worth any amount at all. This was not working out because money had no value which led to confusion of the value of money. Some Americans were crying out for paper currency. This quote supports the feeling that the Americans had on paper currency because they believed if they had a printed document that states to be owned and published as their own, it would lean on toward of being independent from Britain. The First Bank of the United States, chartered in 1791, and the Coinage Act of 1792, began the era of a national American currency. The Constitution denied individual states the right to coin and print money. Another problem was that the British successfully waged economic warfare by counterfeiting Continentals on a large scale. Continentals were worth 1/40th of their face value by 1778 and this cause the currency to be worthless. The currency was soon to be taken out of circulation. Being under the Britains crown was compared to slavery and women in American society did not have many rights. Women had not rights in any part of the community unless they were widows. Women in the colonies were compared as being a dog on a leash and demanded not to speak a word unless spoken too. The women were fed up because they felt as if they should not even appear in public since they had no rights. As Molly Wallace clearly explained, ught ever to appear in so public a manner,. This shows how women in the society felt useless and unimportant because they had no roles. Also women wanted the same rights as men. Women in the society was just fed up and wanted equality. Slavery played a big role before the American Revolution in North America for mostly farmers of the south. The Britains always thought of an easier way to con duct tasks. One task they wanted to make easier was labor, which pin pointed to slavery. The British thought if slaves were placed in their society they would be free of labor and money because slaves did not need much. The Americans thought different. They felt as if all men should be created equal and have the same rights. Which this fact supports the meaning of the Declaration of Independence. The Americans exclaimed that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,. This supports the beliefs of the Americans not wanting slavery and the way they wanted to control their lands. The Revolution had contradictory consequences for slavery. In the South, slavery became more entrenched. In the North, every state freed slaves as a result of court decisions or the enactment of gradual emancipation schemes. Yet even in the North, there was strong resistance to emancipation and freeing of slaves was accompanied by the growth of a virulent form of racial prejudice. There were many factors that fundamentally changed the American society during the American Revolution. Having the Declaration of Independence, paper currency, limitation on womens rights and slavery were just a few of those factors that sculpted the American Society. Although America had found shape as an independent nation, many changes were soon to come after the American Revolution.

Latin Translation Resources and Tools

Latin Translation Resources and Tools Whether you want to translate a short English phrase into Latin or a Latin phrase into English, you can not just plug the words into a dictionary and expect an accurate result. You cant with most modern languages, but the lack of a one-to-one correspondence is even greater for Latin and English. If all you want to know is the essence of a Latin phrase, some of the so-called online translation tools for Latin may help. Perhaps you want to know what Marcus in silvam vocat means. The Latin-English translation program I tried translated it as Marcus upon woods vocat. That is obviously not quite right because vocat isnt an English word. Its not a great translation. Since I used that online tool, Google has added its own translator that worked efficiently  enough but has been commented on negatively by many users. If you want a thorough, accurate translation, you will probably need to have a human do it for you, and you may have to pay a fee. Latin translation is a skill that takes a substantial investment in time and money, so translators deserve to be compensated for their efforts. In case youre interested in developing the skill of translating Latin, there are Latin online courses and other self-help methods for beginning Latin as well as Latin degree programs in colleges and universities. Between the two extremes, however, there are some useful tools on the Internet. Parser A parser, like The Latin Parser, tells you basic facts about a word. Depending on what information the parser spits out, you can determine which part of speech the word is and other essentials you need to know in order to translate. You might use a parser if you realize that the Latin phrase you want to understand has 1 (or 2) unknowable word and a bunch of other words you can almost decipher. In the Marcus in silvam vocat example, Marcus looks enough like a name, that you neednt look it up. In looks like the English word of the same spelling, but what about silvam and vocat? If you dont even know what part of speech they are, a parser will help, since its job is to tell you its person, number, tense, mood, etc., if its a verb, and its number, case, and gender  if its a noun. If you do know the words in question are accusative singular and 3d singular, present active indicative, you probably also know that the noun silvam translates as forest/wood and the verb vocat as calls. At any rate, a parser and/or dictionary can help with little bits of Latin like this. Dont use the parser to find the Latin for an English word. For that, you need a dictionary. Assuming you have a vague familiarity with Latin, a parser will tell you the possible forms of a given word. This will help if you cant remember the endings of the paradigms, but understand their purposes. Quick Latin includes a dictionary. Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid This program does not require that you download. You can use it for exploring- trying to figure things out on your own, since you can insert endings (a list of which is on the page) or stems. VISL Pre-analyzed Latin sentences This resource from Syddansk University seems an extremely useful program for people teaching themselves Latin, but it only deals with pre-selected sentences. It doesnt translate the Latin into English at all, but shows the relationships among words by means of tree diagrams. If you have ever tried diagramming a convoluted Latin sentence, you will understand what an imposing task this is. By means of a tree you can see how the words relate to each other; that is, you can tell that one word is part of a phrase begun by another word- like a preposition leading a prepositional phrase. The pre-selected sentences are from standard Latin authors, so you may find the help you need. Translation Service If you need more than a quick approximation of a phrase of Latin, and cant do it yourself, youll need help. There are professional, fee-charging services, like Applied Language Solutions Latin Translation Service - English to Latin Translation. Ive never used them, so I cant tell you how good they are. There are now Latin Translators, with prices spelled out up front. Both claim the lowest prices, so check. A quick look suggests theyre both right- depending on the number of words and direction of Latin language translation: The Latin TranslatorClassical Turns

Read the dis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Read the dis - Essay Example Usually Starbucks like firms have both long term and short term strategies to sustain its business in the market. It is difficult for a firm to rely entirely either on short term or long term policies to compete effectively in the market. Judicious implementation of short term and long term policies will help the firm to achieve its objectives and targets. Short term objectives should be specific, time bounded and accountable in order to become effective. Starbucks concentrated heavily on short term strategies to achieve success. Between 1987 through 1990 Starbucks entered new markets, and continued to grow. At the end of 1987, there were 17 Starbucks locations, and by 1990 there were 84. During this four year growth phase Starbucks entered the markets of Chicago, Vancouver, and Portland. In 1988 the company started a mail order catalog for it's fine dark roasted coffee beans and high quality coffee equipment (Kembell) Starbucks never tried to undertake a comprehensive expansion stra tegy. They focused on establishing few more outlets every year rather than establishing numerous outlets at different countries at the same time. This strategy helped them to give more attention to all the newly opened outlets till such outlets became profitable. The above short term strategy of establishing only few outlets every year helped Starbucks to achieve its long term objective of establishing outlets at different parts of the world and manage all of them with success. In other words, the short term strategies of Starbucks are linked to the long term objectives of the firm. They have given priorities to their short term strategy of establishing few outlets at a time and manage them well in order to achieve their long term strategy of establishing as many units in different countries and manage all of them well. Business strategies and functional tactics of a firm have direct relationships. In fact business strategies are usually implemented using different functional tactic s. For example, coffee lovers always like variety while taking a coffee. They don’t like the same taste every time when they take a coffee. Starbucks know this consumer psychology very well and they have introduced many flavors in their coffee products. Starbucks introduced ‘walnut flavor of Colombia Narino Supremo, the creamy sweet Caf Verona and the smooth, buttery Sulawesi† (Kembell) etc as a result of their realization of the above consumer psychology. Some of the other functional tactics employed by Starbucks are the selling of coffee-related products, Expresso machines, stainless steel coffee filters etc. Through the selling of coffee-related products such as brewing equipment and accessories, many consumers can enjoy high quality coffee at home rather than traveling out of their way. The equipment available includes Expresso machines, stainless steel coffee filters, and Starbucks cleaner and canisters. This is another example of how Starbucks is meeting the needs of current customers as well as increasing its attractiveness to potential customers (Kembell) The above functional tactics helped Starbucks to spread the popularity of Starbucks coffee from its outlets to home. Moreover, these strategies helped Starbucks to polish its face more and to popularize its products more in the market. The name Starbucks is currently fixed firmly in the hearts of the coffee lovers because

GASB and FASB Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

GASB and FASB Accounting - Essay Example Whereas FASB has the objective to establish and improve standards for financial accounting and reporting that will help in guiding and educating public including auditors and other users of financial statements.   GASB was constituted in 1984 to succeed National Council on Government Accounting as a standard-setting body for state and local governmental bodies, whereas FASB issues standards and other pronouncements for entities other than governmental bodies. However, when there are no pronouncements on certain issues from GASB, the pronouncements issued by the FASB shall become applicable to governmental bodies as well. So far as business organizations are concerned, they have to abide by the standards issued by FASB. Non- business organizations, non- government organizations follow FASB and the government organizations come under the domain of GASB.   GASB is very specific to state legislature while issuing pronouncements. FASB, on the other hand, issues pronouncements that are universal and cater the business on a federal basis. In fact â€Å"FASB receives many requests for action on various financial accounting and reporting topics from all segments of its diverse constituency, including investors and the SEC. The auditing profession is sensitive to emerging trends in practice, and consequently, it is a frequent source of requests. Requests for actions include both new topics and suggested review or reconsideration of existing pronouncement.†(Facts about FASB, page 1)   It is believed that governments need not show profits like other financial entities.

Paper three Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Paper three - Essay Example However, as a means of comforting themselves, mourners frequently purchase silk linings, pillows, mattresses and other ‘comfort’ items that the non-living corpse will never enjoy, appreciate or even notice. These are the last gifts the living can ever bestow upon their loved one and allows the survivors to feel they haven't simply disposed of the body without ceremony or proper human respect. Although there would seem to be comfort in the belief in the body as merely a shell for the spirit, this idea simply does not offer the sort of comfort it should. As Lynch relates in his book, one woman mourning the death of her teenage daughter following a battle with leukemia reacted violently to the suggestion that the body before her was simple a ‘shell’, claiming "that is my daughter until I tell you otherwise" (85). Mourners continue to feel that their loved one is present somehow and families spend thousands of dollars on burial rites which would be unwarranted i f the body was just the shell. The increased mystery and horror associated with the corpse through children’s stories and zombie media outlets continues to suggest some element of the individual remains. As a result, the corpse retains a sense of power all its own, earning legal protections and capable of conveying more truths about the individual than the ‘shell’ theory would acknowledge. Much of the expense families suffer as a part of the funeral process is spent trying to preserve the body for eternity. Funeral homes make tremendous profit by selling mourners on the promise that the body will be preserved forever with embalming or high quality sealed caskets. Aiken (2001) points out families in California regularly pay as much as $5000 for a funeral in spite of much lower priced options opening the field to widespread corruption. Journalist investigations have revealed funeral home practices intentionally designed to inflate expenses while clergy members have openly admitted accepting a ten percent commission from funeral homes for their recommendations paid at a later date (Winner, 1999). Despite the promises, the only way to prevent the body from dissolving is to cremate the remains, both the cheaper of the available options and the one which automatically eliminates any hope of preserving the body as it was when living. In so many ways, modern society has continued to distance itself from death in ways that take some of the significance out of the event and make instead a frightening mystery. â€Å"Before the turn of the century, Americans may have been more in touch with death and as a result less fearful of the corpse. Farm accidents and childbirth complications caused many deaths in a more agrarian and pre-medically advanced society. Traditionally, Americans used to keep the deceased in their homes until everyone had a chance to view a body† (Emerick 43). By personally preparing the body for display in the front room and ho lding visitation within the home itself, people were more comfortable working with and around a corpse. As a result of this closer association with the dead body, they were also more comfortable with the related concepts of death and dealing with what was left behind. Children, witnessing these events, grew up without the same sorts of aversions to the dead that children today

Macbeth Analysis Scene Essay Example for Free

Macbeth Analysis Scene Essay ?Macbeth Analyse- 2. a How does Shakespeare make the extract below from Act 2 Scene 2 dramatic and interesting? â€Å"Quenched them, hath given me fire. † Shakespeare’s using opposites and oxymoronic use of language (paradox) therefore making a contrast of Lady Macbeth’s phrase. He has also showed a comparison of guilt between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth because Lady Macbeth obviously shows that she is not guilty for what she has done but Macbeth does. Again, Shakespeare uses oxymoronic use of language for when Lady Macbeth is speaking; â€Å"live, or die,† and he also makes the last words dramatic, adding tension and seriousness towards what Lady Macbeth is saying. Another way to make the scene interesting and dramatic is adding conflict. Shakespeare does this when Lady Macbeth is saying how she can’t kill Duncan: â€Å"Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t. † Lady Macbeth is in conflict with herself because she wants to kill Duncan herself but she can’t because he looks too much like her father, meaning that she has a sentimental heart. Shakespeare uses changes in language in this extract because with the arrival of Macbeth and him holding the bloody daggers, the syntax breaks down suggesting confusion and panic. The theme of Macbeth is death, betrayal and things of that sort. The line â€Å"live, or die,† (what Lady Macbeth says) supports the fact that death is a theme of the story and this scene. Also when Lady Macbeth says: â€Å"that which hath made them drunk,† She orally reminds us of her association with the witches in the heath by using the homonym â€Å"which†. When Lady Macbeth says: â€Å"The fatal bellman which gives the stern’st good-night,† Shakespeare is trying to make us realise that when you are asleep you appear to be dead – you look dead – but Duncan will never wake up, because he is actually dead. Shakespeare uses objective correlative use of language when he writes, â€Å"it was the owl that shrieked,† because owls are nocturnal animals and are associated with darkness and full moons and things of that sort. And all these things suggest evil and mysteriousness. Action is also a way Shakespeare makes the scene seem interesting and dramatic. An example is: â€Å"I have done the deed. † Macbeth is telling Lady Macbeth that he has killed Duncan and Shakespeare has made his phrase mono-syllabic, making every word have an impact on what Macbeth has done. To make the scene more interesting and dramatic Shakespeare has showed Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship in different ways. For example, â€Å"Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t,† this shows that Lady Macbeth has a soft side and that she didn’t have the courage to kill Duncan because he resembled her father. So this is linking with her relationship with Duncan and Macbeth because she wanted to kill Duncan but she couldn’t because of the resemblance and it shows she is not as powerful in her relationship with Macbeth. â€Å"Hark! I laid their daggers ready; he could not miss ‘em,† also shows she carefully planned the plot showing she is in control of her relationship with Macbeth. And she also manipulated and controlled Macbeth into killing Duncan because she physically wasn’t able to; showing her power over Macbeth and their relationship. Also keep in mind that she doesn’t even have Macbeth’s best interests at heart. Shakespeare is uses pretence, â€Å"I am afraid they have awaked My husband? † meaning Lady Macbeth knows inside that she is scared but she always gives off the impression that she is evil so maybe she is not as powerful as she thinks she is concerning her relationship with Macbeth. She also shows she wants comfort from Macbeth which shows the closeness of their relationship and her vulnerability. â€Å"I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Did you not speak,† this is an example of how Shakespeare uses questions to make the scene more interesting because Lady Macbeth sounds panicked and she uses alliteration to add more drama to what she’s saying.