Health care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health care - Essay Example Although the coverage changes will largely take effect after 2014, yet the changes made so far are likely to benefit the rural people by improving their coverage rates. Children in the family plans would be qualifying for coverage up to 26 years of age as dependents. The implementation of changes would develop high-risk pools which would be particularly meant for those whose health conditions have existed for quite a while in the past. Owners of petty businesses as well as their workers would benefit from the subsidies and the addition of tax credits. People in rural frontier and nonadjacent areas conventionally have very low rates of health care insurance as compared to those in the urban regions. Therefore, effects of the provisions of ACA will generally be much more profound in the rural areas as compared to the urban areas. Rural people happily accept to work for little compensation. Volume of business does not matter much for them. It is important to note that the effect of ACA in rural regions will be the aggregate of appreciable advancements in coverage, which would be steadied by the imposed limitations on payments to the health care providers in rural areas particularly through such programs as the Medicare program.

How has the financial crisis impacted the agriculture sector in Research Paper

How has the financial crisis impacted the agriculture sector in Albania - Research Paper Example As a result it is more subject to the exogenous fluctuations originating in the macro-economy. This implies that the impact of the crisis on the specific agricultural food sectors and countries heavily rely on the strength of the interconnection to the financial system and the world wide economy. Prior to the impacts of the global economic and financial crisis intensified in the late quarter of 2008, Albania had enjoyed an average Gross domestic product of 6.0%. This had been attributed to the then continued macroeconomic stability and a strong influx of migrant remittances. As pointed out in the report (Swinnen, & Van, 2009.), 60% of the Albania population works in the agricultural sector which implies that most of its economic activities revolve around agribusiness. A similar research carried by (Agra Europe, 2009) indicates that 23% percent of Albania’s gross domestic product relies on agriculture. This is very imperative sector in economic growth and development of the reg ion. However, the economic downturn of the early 2009 reduced Albania’s GDP to 0.7%. ... y the weak competitive capacity, their limited access to credit facilities and unfavorable business environment that has been created by unfair competition with superior foreign products and inconsistent application of both fiscal laws and regulations. Therefore, order and sanity in the business has failed due to lack of a sound macroeconomic structures that will enable the region to compete favorable with other nations and states. In addition, there have been cases of deprived infrastructure (energy, communication and transport lines) dubious assets term rights and weak laws that dampen foreign and domestic investments. A recent research by World Bank,( 2009b) that focused on the effects of the economic downturns, credit constraints, trade deficits and their impacts on the production, allocation and consumption of resources in Albania. For instance, different stakeholders throughout the supply chain have suffered due to lack of confidence in the trade. This has necessitated them to cut costs and reduce dependence on the credit facilities. They have had negative impacts on the investment functions which in turn have grave impacts on the aggregate demand of the region. This in turn has driven firm to operate at loses causing loss of jobs. For example as farmers have reduced the use of fertilizers, crop production product and demand for machinery also dropped. This has had negative consequences on the contracts that sustain business in society (Swinnen & Van, 2009). This implies that some lease and hold contracts were terminated leading to lose of business operation that could be profitable. Farmers have also adopted home-made feeds that have reduced the yields such as the quality of meat, the quality and quantity of milk produced. Second financial crisis has made it

Alexander II Domestic Policies

Alexander II Domestic Policies Alexander II of Russia was in many ways one the most important tsar in the History of the Russian Empire. He took over the throne from his Father, Nicholas I, in 1955. When he first came into power his first task was to end the Crimean war in which his father had been involved. After the Crimean war, many other countries saw Russia as weak. The army was outdated and despite its magnitude, not strong enough. People also saw Russia as underdeveloped and behind because of the weakness of its industry. Alexander wanted to change this. He not only wanted to show the rest of the world what Russia could achieve, but he also wanted to show Russia what it could achieve. Encouraged by public opinion he began a period of radical reforms, including trying to make Russia less dependant on a landed aristocracy controlling the poor. He also wanted to develop the natural resources of Russia reform the government to make it less like an autocracy. Until his assassination in 1881, how far did Alexande r II succeed in changing his domestic policy? Alexander initiated substantial reforms in the government, the judiciary and the military. But before he started these reforms, his first radical act was in 1861 when he proclaimed the emancipation of around 20 million privately held serfs. Serfdom was how the Upper classes and the Nobles controlled the peasants and the lower classes. In 1959, there were 23 million serfs in Russia. And the total population of Russia was 67.1 Million. The serfs lived under harsh conditions that were often worse than the conditions Peasants lived in during the Middle Ages. Alexander decided to abolish serfdom from above rather than wait for it to be abolished from below by revolution. The emancipation was effected by local commissions, which were dominated by landlords, who gave land and limited freedom to serfs. The former serfs remained stayed in the village commune, but they were required to make redemption payments to the government over a period of almost 50 years. The government compensated forme r owners of serfs by issuing them bonds. The regime had envisioned that the 50,000 landlords who possessed estates of more than 110 hectares would thrive without serfs and would continue to provide loyal political and administrative leadership in the countryside. The government also had expected that peasants would produce sufficient crops for their own consumption and for export sales, thereby helping to finance most of the governments expenses, imports, and foreign debt. However, Both of these assumptions were unrealistic. Emancipation left both former serf and their former owners unsatisfied. The new peasants soon fell behind in their payments to the government because the land they had received was poor and because Russian agricultural methods were inadequate. The former owners often had to sell their lands to remain solvent because most of them could neither farm nor manage estates without their former serfs. In addition, the value of their government bonds fell as the peasants failed to make their redemption payments. Reforms of local government closely followed emancipation. In 1864 most local governments in the European part of Russia were organized into provincial and district zemstva which were made up of representatives of all classes and were responsible for local schools, public health, roads, prisons, food supply, and other concerns. In 1870 elected city councils were formed. Dominated by property owners and constrained by provincial governors and the police, the zemstva and the city councils raised taxes to support their activities. In 1864 the regime implemented judicial reforms. In major towns, Western-style courts with juries were established. In general, the judicial system functioned effectively, but the government lacked the finances and cultural influence to extend the court system to the villages, where traditional peasant justice continued to operate with minimal interference from provincial officials. In addition, the regime instructed judges to decide each case on its merits and not to use precedents, which would have enabled them to construct a body of law independent of state authority. The regime also proposed to reform the military. One of the main reasons for the emancipation of the serfs was to facilitate the transition from a large standing army to a reserve army by instituting territorial levies and mobilization in times of need. Before emancipation, serfs could not receive military training and then return to their owners. However, there was no military reform until the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) demonstrated the necessity of building a modern army. The levy system introduced in 1874 gave the army a role in teaching many peasants to read and in pioneering medical education for women. But the army remained backward despite these military reforms. Officers often preferred bayonets to bullets, expressing worry that long-range sights on rifles would induce cowardice. In spite of some notable achievements, Russia did not keep pace with Western technological developments in the construction of rifles, machine guns, artillery, ships, and naval ordnance. Russia al so failed to use naval modernisation as a means of developing its industrial base in the 1860s. Although Alexander II was in many ways the first tsar to attempt change the Russian political and social system and modernise it, he did not succeed as well as he set out to. His main focus of he reforms was the emancipation of the slaves. However, in many ways this did not succeed as well as his other reforms. Alexander wanted to improve living conditions for the serfs and at the same time keep the landlords happy. However, he did neither of these things well. His reforms were also not supported by a lot of people. And especially the Nobles believed that the new laws were ruining the country. Despite Alexander trying to revolutionise the Autocratic system, a radical revolutionary group assassinated him in March 1881. Although Alexander II set out with high goals, which he in some ways for filled, in the end he failed.

Llandudno Urban Study :: Papers

Llandudno Urban Study Introduction Aim: 1. To study the land use pattern of Llandudno 2. To establish Llandudno's sphere of influence 3. To see the size of the CBD in Llandudno 4. To study Llandudno as a retail and tourism centre Hypotheses The hypotheses that I am going to use in this project are the following: 1. Llandudno has sphere of influence and this serves the hole of Conwy County; 2. The CBD can be found by the number of pedestrians; 3. Mostyn Champneys' retail park will have an impact on the shoppers and the CBD; 4. The main land use on Mostyn Street is shops Background information Until 1843 Llandudno was just a small fishing village at the foot of the Great Orme. A man called M.E.Mostyn M.P realised that an opportunity was available to turn Llandudno into seaside resort. This area had everything he needed for example low rainfall, high sunshine and ancient buildings. In 1843 he bought 955 acres Llandudno and about half of it was on the sea front. He became the owner and development controller for most of the towns. In 1854 there were 21 commissioners which set strict rules on what people can and cannot built. Saps, hydros and hotels were built on the land. In 1891 Llandudno boomed as tourist resort after the railway along the N.Wales coast was completed. This made the town to attract people from Liverpool, Manchester and the North Wales. In the first half of the 20th century the development of Llandudno continued quickly as people's spending money and leisure time increased. The number of shops and houses increased because of this. But the cheap package tours to Spain started in the 1960's meant holidays for the masses were spent abroad and as a result Llandudno decline as a resort. In the late 1970's as the response to the decline the council and business owners combined forces to try to entice people back.

LVMH: Managing the Multi-Brand Conglomerate Essay

1. LVMH’s diversification represents the group’s strong presence in the luxury goods market as a whole with products from the fashion and leather range, wines and spirits range, watches and jewelry range, perfumes and cosmetics range, and finally the selective retailing range. This strategy aims to claim market share in market segments that are interrelated with the specific customer segment as the common denominator. LVMH is a market leader in some markets and has a decent market share in others and aims to be the leader in the luxury market as a whole where the elite customers can recognize its brands from all of its product ranges and the company plans to build brand loyalty within those customers so that a customer who chooses LVMH for watches for instance, is also inclined to choose an LVMH product for wine and spirits. Diversification also spreads the company’s costs over a number of brands and the revenues as well so that it can always insure good rate of return for investors. 2. For a company like LVMH to compete on a scope that includes champagne, jewelry, fashion, cosmetics, and retailing is logical and even necessary for it to keep a competitive edge because its competitors have implemented the same strategy to fight for market share in the luxury market in all of its segments. The company’s policy aims to build the idea in their customers’ heads that they can always expect the same consistent high-end quality when choosing any brand that is owned or associated by LVMH and since elite customers, or simply customers looking for some products for luxury living, usually want to wear high quality jewelry to match their high quality fashion wear or even enjoy the consumption of high quality spirits, they can always have the brand image of LVMH in their heads because they expect that the quality of the jewelry or the wine will match the quality of the fashion wear they are wearing. 3. LVMH adds value to its different businesses by passing down the know-how that made its original products timeless to the brands that are relatively newer so that quality is consistent throughout its different brands. The company does this through human resources departments that have  an eye for talents for design as well as the right people to learn the company’s policies and to implement them so that the functioning of the group remains consistent. The value chain for LVMH begins with purchasing raw materials for them to create their product, which of course, they have gained expertise and leadership even in some segments. In operations, handled extensively in France and Spain, they strive to compete for cost leadership. Next comes logistics, which is mainly sea routes and they strive to have their products delivered in timely fashion so they can meet customer demands which sometimes exceeds supply knowing that creating high-end luxury products is time consuming. Next is marketing, where they always depend on their brands’ historic qualities to promote themselves to already-loyal customers and to newer customers seeking luxury goods. Finally, in service, human resources can always insure the best retail outlet partnerships and good sales and after-sales services. 4. In general, LVMH have their value chain synergized whether purchasing, operations, technology, sales and marketing, distribution, and services but since their multi-brand strategy is highly decentralized (this is due to the belief of keeping the independent identity of the brand and its creative process), but technology can be best synergized in this sense only to control quality and oversee the creative process while at the same time assuring the creative processes remain independent and well-backed. 5. LVMH’s core competence begins in its product and service quality which is history timeless and is already infiltrated the luxury market as a whole either as a market leader or a strong competitor for market leadership. This alone gives the brands a strong competitive advantage and attractiveness. Another core competence is innovation. LVMH’s brands and smart brand acquisition strategy has seen it house some very important fashion labels that are historically known for innovation (Luis Vuitton, Givenchy, Tag Heuer etc†¦) as well as hiring some of the most world-renown designers (example: Marc Jacobs). With this in customers’ minds, they can always expect innovation from the company’s already established brands as well as their newly acquired or marketed brands. LVMH organizes training and skills development seminars that ensure they always remain competitive and leaders in innovation, creativity, and luxury appeal. Their controlled distribution  networks, extensive marketing activity, and their presence in all the luxury markets also gives the company as a whole a competitive edge. 6. LVMH has exploited its core competence in its various diversification moves and strategic acquisitions in a very reasonable and logical manner. The diversification moves have remained consistent with the company’s image because it has diversified only into markets and products which the company viewed as â€Å"luxury† in the eyes of the customer. The company has enough knowledge of the market and they know customer tastes and behavior and it also uses the existing infrastructure to promote their diversified products. The same can be said about the strategic acquisitions as they usually acquire a brand based on its fit with LVMH’s existing product lines or if that is not the case, they may acquire a brand for a certain characteristic or asset they think they need to gain more competitive advantage which may be used either in the newly acquired brand or their existing brands. It is also important to note that newly acquired businesses have greatly contributed to the company’s revenues over the recent years and shareholders have, as well, benefited from the diversification strategy of LVMH. 7. LVMH manages its diversified empire by implementing a decentralized management strategy to manage its many diverse brands. Most of them enjoy a great deal of autonomy because in the fashion business, which depends on creativity and innovation, the creative people must be given freedom for their work to become a hit and not a miss. Headquarters ensure quality control and financial backing for newly acquired brands that have near future potential. LVMH manages a very diversified product portfolio with star brands in the fashion and leather goods and to some extent the watches and jewelry brands. They have cash cows in the wine and spirits brands and in selective retailing. They have however question marks in the perfumes and cosmetics lines. The cash cows look to remain that way and not become poor dogs due to the timelessness of LVMH’s products in history and their portfolio of star products are diversified and positioned in the market in a way that capitalizes on the industry’s growth. As previously mentioned, LVMH manages people with a human resources department that organizes skill developing seminars as well as inter-product seminars to strengthen the  brand’s philosophy in its people and to motivate them to work always in that manner. 8. As previously noted, LVMH has a strength in its synergies due to its existing infrastructure regardless of its diversified brands, newly-acquired brands, and global presence where it is normal to form synergies in the value chain in order to have consistent quality and timely delivery of products as well as maintaining the same level of excellence in sales, marketing, and after sales services. Their selective retailing of course, is the main reason for delays in case of unexpected high demands and in high costs, but since it does not sacrifice its core competency in delivering always high quality luxury products. 9. Some synergies that can be identified and exploited by LVMH include overlapping technology across all its diverse businesses including e-commerce and to implement technology developments into some of its brands which have long been run in a traditional way. Operations are normally overlapping due to the nature of luxury goods and this can be further exploited to include wine and spirits product lines to include better synergy in marketing and sales for this product line. Luxury products are normally sold in similar markets therefore they can always demand a premium price since they target premium customers and this will always be to the company’s advantage and it should not back down from this pricing policy. This product placement and premium price it demands makes it easy for LVMH’s different diverse businesses to overlap and cross-sell its diverse luxury brands. 10. Bernard Arnault’s diversified strategy and his acquisitions under LVMH have been, in general, fruitful and this is evident from the fact the new acquisitions are contributing significantly to the revenues of the company and the growth is sustained in existing markets and is positive in new markets. It is normal, when implementing such a strategy, that some strategic moves may not always be fruitful but the company can afford to pull the plug on brands that are not performing as expected due to the large diversification in all departments that the company enjoys and the existing  infrastructure and operations chain which won’t be harmed in this case. The company’s image is still regarded by the customer as it was historically and the elite customer can still relate to its fresh acquisitions and above all the shareholders are satisfied with the financials of the company so, all in all, as long the management is remains overlooking the creative processes and the company satisfies its strong creative people, the strategy looks to be sustained. 11. LVMH is recommended to continue adding to its already impressive product portfolio by keeping sight on appealing brands that fits its brand image. However, luxury businesses that are not core to its image should be divested from such as the mass retailing and media businesses and it should focus on its core product lines. Also, management should be patient with brands that are initially underperforming because over time, they may build their own reputation and become hot sellers and this move is in line with the company’s philosophy of timelessness. LVMH should also have back-up options in creativity in the form of protà ©gà © designers in the case of head designers leaving or disagreeing with management policies because at the end of the day, in the luxury business it is the combination of innovative design as well as high quality that affects the bottom line sales and revenue. 12. SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Diverse and powerful product portfolio in the luxury market – historical significance of the brand image – Strong distribution channels and strong relations with retailers due to the brands’ influence – Consistency in launching new products and acquiring new businesses – High-end quality control Weaknesses: Selective retailing business questionable with underperforming returns – Competitiveness within its own brands weakens some of them against competitors Opportunities: Entering new markets and expanding into new countries –  Marketing and advertising more aggressively Threat: External economic impacts (price deflation, decrease in consumer purchasing power†¦) – Imitator brands and cheap knock-off products – Focusing on one brand and neglecting other brands with big potential

Project Management on World Trade Organization ministerial Conference of 2005

Executive Summary The aim of this report is to investigate the project management aspects relating to the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) ministerial conference in 2005. This report details the issues relating to project management and the impact of the project management practices on the outcome of the event. It identifies the key stakeholders in the project and the role they had in determining the success/failure of the project. This report further discusses the role of the leadership and the effective team building and management skills and how much of an impact these had in the successful project delivery. Introduction The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Sixth Ministerial Conference which is abbreviated as MC6 and popularly known as the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference was held between the 13th and 18th December, 2005 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The total turn around expected for the conference was representatives from around 148 countries across the globe. The Hong Kong People’s Alliance led a protest on the WTO which mainly consisted of farmers from South Korea. The three main designated protest zones included Wan Chai Sports ground and the region around Wan Chai Cargo Handling Basin. The total budget for the ministerial conference was Hong Kong $250 million (WTO, 2005).BackgroundThe highest decision making body of the World Trade Organisation is the Ministerial Conference that meets a minimum of once every two years. This ministerial conference provides the organisation with the direction and helps in the decision making process (HKPA, 2006). The conference held from 13th – 18th December 2005 is the sixth ministerial conference and was aimed at making a decision about the liberalisation of farm trade and reaching an agreement relating to farm subsidies . It also aimed at successfully concluding the 2006 Doha Round (Target WTO, 2005).The role of the project managerThe project manager of the WTO conference 2005 is responsible for the success of the project and also ensuring that the stakeholders relationships are well maintained and that all the stakeholders are able to effectively communicate and share their ideas about agricultural issues (Heydon, 2006). Given that the WTO ministerial conferences play a major role in the decision making process and ensuring that multilateral trade agreements are smoothly implemented, the role of the project manager cannot be underestimated (Alam, 2008). This report discusses the role of the project manager in establishing good stakeholder relationships and his role in the success of the project.Project Objectives and ScopeThe objectives and scope of the 2005 HK WTO conference was to establish: Market access – reduction in the tariff of goods Domestic support – direct payments to be made to the farmers and local producers Export Subsidies Services – remove restrictions internationally in various service sectors and Singapore Issues – demand for transparency in laws, fair competition etc. (UN, 2005) The scope of the project management planning activities included arrangement of venue, security and emergency, organisation of logistics, managing media, budgeting and risk and contingency planning (Alam, 2008). Stakeholder Analysis This section of the report discusses the key stakeholders in the HK WWTO 2005 meeting, stakeholder analysis methods to effectively communicate with these stakeholders in order to ensure smooth communication. Stakeholder Analysis is defined as the activity which analyses in depth the attitudes of all the key stakeholders towards a project (Goodpaster, 1991). Other definitions by researchers (Freeman, 1984) include ‘a group of individuals who can affect or be affected by the achievement of the organization objectives’.Key StakeholdersThe key stakeholders of the WTO include the member nations, the vendors, tradesmen, farmers and other categories of trade associations, the media, the public, governing bodies, the international trade community. It also includes the general population and public that are affected directly or indirectly as a result of the agreements and arrangements made by the WTO Ministerial conference committee (Alam, 2008).High Power , High InterestOne of the member nations that holds high power as well as high interest in the World Trade Organisation. There are a total of 153 nations in the WTO and the USA engages with various other nations and takes a leadership role in the WTO ministerial. For instance, USA played a key role in the Doha Conference and was blamed both directly and indirectly for holding up t he talks and the progress of the sessions. Given the high power and interest it holds in the WTO, USA aims to boost its exports. It plays a major role in the WTO negotiations to enhance its stance in the WTO as a ‘leader’ and also to use the opportunity to initiate talks with its trading partners like Japan and India. Given its power, most decisions of the trade-rounds are highly influenced by the United States (BBC, 2013).High Power, Low InterestHong Kong as one of the key members of the WTO was the host to the fifth ministerial conference in the year 2005. Though being a key member, Hong Kong has not shown much interest in the activities of the WTO and has not taken any proactive steps in issue resolution of the ongoing issues of the WTO. Be it agriculture or environmental issues,Hong Kong remains to be a silent spectator in most cases which clearly indicates the lack of interest in influencing the member states or steering them to decision making on specific issues (BBC, 2013).Low Power, High InterestThe farmers and the agriculture community worldwide have high interest in the activities of the WTO as the trade agreements that are negotiated and agreed upon have a serious bearing on their livelihood and concerns. There is a growing concern relating to fairer trade markets, food security and farming subsidies. Though there is a lot of interest shown by the farming community, they do not have the power to speak and hence do not have the influencing capability. The increase in the suicide rates of farmers is also attributed to the failure of WTO to understand their concerns and the lack of transparency and inequality in dealings of the WTO (Long, 2007; Shiva, 2014). Researchers also suggest that there is a lack of understanding from the WTO committee members on the needs of the farmers and the decisions made are not in line with their demands (Anderson and Martin, 2005).Low Power, Low InterestThe last type of stakeholders have the least power an d are also not very much interested in the activities of the WTO. The citizens of Hong Kong for example, belong to this stakeholder group. Given that the multilateral agreements are huge and complex, the authorities do not have the capacity and capability to scrutinise the details of all contracts. Also, the authorities of a country are not held accountable for the negotiations and agreements signed. This makes them lose interest given that they neither have the power nor the capacity to influence the decision making. Also there are restrictions that prohibit them from questioning the authority (Keohane and Nye, 2001; Scharpf, 2000). Stakeholder Management Stakeholder management is essential for the smooth communication and functioning of an organisation and also to ensure that the objectives of the organisation are achieved. Stakeholder management should be in line with the strategic management objectives of the organisation and the type of the stakeholder that needs to be satisfied should be taken into account depending on the organisation type in order to ensure that these expectations are met. It is essential to first identify the various stakeholders, their role in the organisation, the decision making authority they have in the organisation and how much their ideas or ideals would affect the success of the organisation. Once these are identified, it is essential to develop a stakeholder management strategy that is aimed at not only satisfying these stakeholders but also helps achieve the overall objective of the organisation (Freeman, 2001). In a multicultural organisation or where the organisation is huge and spans across different continents and cultures, the stakeholder management strategy becomes inevitable. It defines the communication methods and helps understanding the do’s and don’ts in each geographic location. It also helps achieve transparency in operations and facilitates better participation of the stakeholders in the decision making process. Stronger business decisions that are sustainable, long term and ethical are facilitated by a good stakeholder management approach (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2014).Communication ManagementResearchers believe that not all stakeholders of an organisation have equal importance. For example, in a non-governmental organisation which is aimed at helping people, the pubic might be the key stakeholder as opposed to a business organisation which aims at satisfying the primary needs of the shareholders. Hence, in a diverse world where the needs of the organisations diff er, it is essential to understand the primary stakeholders who needs to be satisfied and devise a communication management plan to ensure that the communication to these stakeholders are made in near real-time and in an effective manner (Podnar and Jancic, 2006; Jacobson et al, 2009).Tuckman’s Communication ModelBruce Tuckman devised a five step communication model in the year 1975. These five steps includes: Forming Storming Norming Performing and Adjourning Forming: This is where the leader gives the guidance to the team and the initial stage in the communication process. This is a stage where the roles and responsibilities are unclear Storming: Brainstorming activities take place, compromises happen, clarity increases and the team members get a basic understanding of what is required of them Norming: The team members agree by consensus. The leader facilitates the decision making but the team members are now in a position to agree. The roles and responsibilities defined by the leader in the forming stage are now very clear and evident. Performing: The team members are strategically aware and are able to execute their responsibilities and perform better in order to achieve the goals. They work on their own and there is very little interference from the leader. The leader is called for when there is guidance required both in terms of personal and interpersonal development Adjourning: Also known as Deforming or Mourning, refers to the breaking up of the group after the successful completion of the task. This stage involves identification of good performers, the well-being of the team and also measuring the performance. (Tuckman, 1977) Conclusion This report gave a brief about the role of the project manager in the HK 2005 WTO ministerial conference and the various stakeholders, the level of interest and the power to influence the decision making of the WTO. Furthermore, this report also discussed effective stakeholder management techniques and methods, communication strategy in relation to the WTO. References Freeman (1984) Strategic Management, A Stakeholder Approach, Pitman, Boston Podnar, K., & Jancic, Z. (2006). Towards a categorization of stakeholder groups: An empirical verification of a three?level model. Journal of Marketing Communications, 12(4), 297-308. Jacobson, S. K., & McDuff, M. D. (2009). Communication as an effective management strategy in a diverse world. Wildlife and Society: The Science of Human Dimensions. Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977). Stages of small-group development revisited. Group & Organization Management, 2(4), 419-427. Carroll, A., & Buchholtz, A. (2014). Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Cengage Learning. Freeman, R. E., & McVea, J. (2001). A stakeholder approach to strategic management. Scharpf, F. W., & Schmidt, V. A. (Eds.). (2000). Welfare and work in the open economy: volume ii: diverse responses to common challenges in twelve countries (Vol. 2). Oxford University Press. Keohane, R. O., & Nye, J. S. (2001). Power and interdependence (Vol. 3). New York: Longman. Shiva, Vandana (2014) Of food, farmers and WTO’s doublespeak, Available at: http://www.asianage.com/columnists/food-farmers-and-wto-s-doublespeak-972 accessed on 06/12/14 Long, Jessica (2007):â€Å"WTO Kills Farmers†: India Free Market Reforms Trigger Farmers’ Suicides, Global Research Anderson, K. and Martin, W. (2005), Agricultural Trade Reform and the Doha Development Agenda. World Economy, 28: 1301–1327. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9701.2005.00735.x BBC (2013): Profile: World Trade Organization, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/2429503.stm accessed on 05/12/14 WTO (2005): Hong Kong WTO Ministerial 2005: Briefing Notes, The â€Å"Win-Win† Potential for trade and environment, Available at: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min05_e/brief_e/brief11_e.htm accessed on 05/12/14 HKPA (2006): Hong Kong People’s Alliance on WTO, Wayback Machine, Available at: Accessed on 05/12/14 Target WTO (2005): Target World Trade Organisation, Available at: http://www.targetwto.revolt.org/ Accessed on 05/12/14 Alam S (2008): Sustainable Development and Free Trade, Institutional Approaches, Routledge, UK Heydon K (2006): After the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting: What is at stake?, OECD, France United Nations(2005): Perspectives from the ESCAP Region after the Fifth WTO Ministerial Meeting: Ideas and Actions Following Cancun (Studies in Trade and Investment), United Nations

Definition of Horticultural Society in Sociology

Definition of Horticultural Society in Sociology A horticultural society is one in which people subsist through the cultivation of plants for food consumption without the use of mechanized tools or the use of animals to pull plows. This makes horticultural societies distinct from agrarian societies, which do use these tools, and from pastoral societies, which rely on the cultivate of herd animals for subsistence. Overview of Horticultural Societies Horticultural societies developed around 7000 BCE in the Middle East and gradually spread west through Europe and Africa and east through Asia. They were the first type of society in which people grew their own food, rather than relying strictly on the hunter-gather technique. This means that they were also the first type of society in which settlements were permanent or at least semi-permanent. As a result, the accumulation of food and goods was possible, and with it, a more complex division of labor, more substantial dwellings, and a small amount of trade. There are both simple and more advanced forms of cultivation used in horticultural societies. The most simple use tools such as axes (to clear forest) and wooden sticks and metal spades for digging. More advanced forms may use foot-plows and manure, terracing and irrigation, and rest plots of land in fallow periods. In some cases, people combine horticulture with hunting or fishing, or with the keeping of a few domesticated farm animals. The number of different kinds of crops featured in gardens of horticultural societies can number as high 100  and are often a combination of both wild and domesticated plants. Because the tools of cultivation used are rudimentary and non-mechanic, this form of agriculture is not particularly productive. Because of this, the number of people composing a horticultural society is typically rather low, though can be relatively high, depending on the conditions and technology. Social and Political Structures of Horticultural Societies Horticultural societies were documented by anthropologists all over the world, using various types of tools and technologies, in many different climatic and ecological conditions. Because of these variables, there was also variety in the social and political structures of these societies in history, and in those that exist today. Horticultural societies can have a matrilineal or patrilineal social organization. In either, ties focused on kinship are common, though larger horticultural societies will have more complex forms of social organization. Throughout history, many were matrilineal because the social ties and structure were organized around the feminized work of crop cultivation. (Conversely, hunter-gatherer societies were typically patrilineal because their social ties and structure were organized around the masculinized work of hunting.) Because women are at the center of work and survival in horticultural societies, they are highly valuable to men. For this reason, polygyny- when a husband has multiple wives- is common. Meanwhile, it is common in horticultural societies that men take on political or militaristic roles. Politics in horticultural societies is often centered on the redistribution of food and resources within the community. Evolution of Horticultural Societies The kind of agriculture practiced by horticultural societies is considered a pre-industrial subsistence method. In most places around the world, as technology was developed and where animals were available for plowing, agrarian societies developed. However, this is not exclusively true. Horticultural societies exist to this day  and can be found primarily in wet, tropical climates in Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa. Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

Haskell Indian Nations University Admissions Data

Haskell Indian Nations University Admissions Data Haskell Indian Nations University Admissions Overview: Students interested in attending HINU will need to submit an application, along with SAT or ACT scores, an essay, and high school transcripts. With an acceptance rate of 86%, the school is not highly selective, and students with solid grades and test scores are likely to be admitted, provided they meet all requirements. Admissions Data (2016): Percent of Applicants Admitted: 86%Test Scores 25th / 75th PercentileSAT Critical Reading: 400  / 500SAT Math: 400  / 500SAT Writing: - / -What these SAT numbers meanSAT comparison for Kansas collegesACT Composite: 16 / 20ACT English: 14  / 20ACT Math: 16  / 19What these ACT numbers meanACT comparison for Kansas colleges Haskell Indian Nations University Description: Haskell Indian Nations University first opened its doors in 1884 as the United States Indian Industrial Training School, an institution that taught trade skills to elementary school aged American Indian children. Today, this public university offers a range of Associate and Bachelor degree programs to American Indian and Alaska Native people. The school is located in Lawrence, Kansas, and all students hail from federally recognized tribes in the United States. The university offers more two-year associate than four-year baccalaureate programs, but students can earn BA or BS degrees in environmental science, teacher education, American Indian studies, or business administration. HINU has a cooperative program with the nearby  University of Kansas. Academics at HINU are supported by a 16  to 1 student / faculty ratio. The university has a range of student clubs and activities, many focused on Native American cultures. On the athletic front, the Haskell Indians compete in the NAIA M idlands Collegiate Athletic Conference for all sports except football. The university fields five mens and five womens intercollegiate sports. Enrollment (2016): Total Enrollment: 820  (all undergraduates)Gender Breakdown: 46% Male / 54% Female96% Full-time Costs (2016- 17): Tuition and Fees: $480Books: $1,500 (why so much?)Room and Board: $950Other Expenses: $5,620Total Cost: $8,550 Haskell Indian Nations University Financial Aid (2015- 16): Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 74%Percentage of New Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 73%Loans: 0%Average Amount of AidGrants: $4,774Loans: - Academic Programs: Most Popular Majors:  American Indian Studies, Business Administration, Environmental Science Retention and Graduation Rates: First Year Student Retention (full-time students): -6-Year Graduation Rate: 29% Intercollegiate Athletic Programs: Mens Sports:  Basketball, Football, Golf, Track and Field, Cross CountryWomens Sports:  Track and Field, Volleyball, Basketball, Cross Country, Softball Data Source: National Center for Educational Statistics If You Like HINU, You May Also Like These Schools: Dine College: ProfileBacone College: ProfileUniversity of Oklahoma: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphRogers State University: ProfileUniversity of New Mexico: ProfileKansas State University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphOklahoma State University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphArizona State University - Tempe: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphNortheastern State University: ProfileUniversity of Kansas: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphFort Lewis College: Profile

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) - The History of Domestication

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) - The History of Domestication Barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare) was one of the first and earliest crops domesticated by humans. Currently, archaeological and genetic evidence indicates barley is a mosaic crop, developed from several populations in at least five regions: Mesopotamia, the northern and southern Levant, the Syrian desert and, 1,500-3,000 kilometers (900-1,800 miles) to the east, in the vast Tibetan Plateau. The first was long though to be that of southwest Asia during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A about 10,500 calendar years ago: but the mosaic status of barley has thrown a wrench into our understanding of this process. In the Fertile Crescent, barley is considered one of the classic eight founder crops. A Single Wild Progenitor Species The wild progenitor of all of the barleys is thought to be Hordeum spontaneum (L.), a winter-germinating species which is native to a very wide region of Eurasia, from the Tigris and Euphrates river system in Iraq to the western reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Based on evidence from Upper Paleolithic sites such as Ohalo II in Israel, wild barley was harvested for at least 10,000 years before it was domesticated. Today, barley is the fourth most important crop in the world after wheat, rice and maize. Barley as a whole is well-adapted to marginal and stress-prone environments, and a more reliable plant than wheat or rice in regions which are colder or higher in altitude. The Hulled and the Naked Wild barley has several characteristics useful to a wild plant that arent so useful to humans. There is a brittle rachis (the part that holds the seed to the plant) that breaks when the seeds are ripe, scattering them to the winds; and the seeds are arranged on the spike in a sparsely seeded two rows. The wild barley always has a tough hull protecting its seed; the hull-less form (called naked barley) is only found on domestic varieties. The domestic form has a non-brittle rachis and more seeds, arranged in  a six-rowed spike. Both hulled and naked seed forms are found in domesticated barley: during the Neolithic period, both forms were grown, but in the Near East, naked barley cultivation declined beginning in the Chalcolithic/Bronze Ages about 5000 years ago. Naked barleys, while easier to harvest and process, are more susceptible to insect attack and parasitic disease. Hulled barleys have higher yields; so within the Near East anyway, keeping the hull was a selected-for trait. Today hulled barleys dominate in the west, and naked barleys in the east. Because of the ease of processing, the naked form is used primarily as a whole-grain human food source. The hulled variety is used mainly for animal feed and the production of malt for brewing. In Europe, the production of barley beer dates at least as long ago as 600 B.C. Barley and DNA A recent (Jones and colleagues 2012) phylogeographic analysis of barley in the northern fringes of Europe and in the Alpine region found that cold adaptive gene mutations were identifiable in modern barley landraces. The adaptations included one type that was non-responsive to day length (that is, the flowering was not delayed until the plant got a certain number of hours of sunlight during the day): and that form is found in northeast Europe and high altitude locations. Alternatively, landraces in the Mediterranean region were predominantly responsive to day length. In central Europe, however, day length is not a trait which (apparently) had been selected for. Jones and colleagues were unwilling to rule out the actions of possible bottlenecks, but suggested that temporary climate changes might have affected the selection of traits for various regions, delaying the spread of barley or speeding it, depending on the adaptability of the crop to the region. How Many Domestication Events!? Evidence exists for at least five different loci of domestication: at least three locations in the Fertile Crescent, one in the Syrian desert and one in the Tibetan Plateau. Jones et al. 2013 report additional evidence that in the region of the Fertile Crescent, there may have been up to four different domestication events of Asian wild barley. The differences within groups A-D are based on the presence of alleles which are differently adapted to day length; and the adaptive ability of barley to grow in a wide variety of locations. It could be that the combination of barley types from different regions created increased drought resistance and other beneficial attributes. The DNA analysis reported in 2015 (Poets et al.) identified a genome segment from the Syrian desert variety in Asian and Fertile Crescent barleys; and a segment in northern Mesopotamia in Western and Asian barleys. We do not know, says Allaby in an accompanying essay, how our ancestors produced such genetically diverse crops: but the study should kick off an interesting period towards a better understanding domestication processes in general. Evidence for barley beer making as early as Yangshao Neolithic (ca 5000 years ago) in China was reported in 2016; it seems most likely to have been from the Tibetan Plateau, but that has yet to be determined.   Sites Greece: Dikili TashIsrael: Ohalo IIIran: Ali Kosh, Chogha GolanIraq: JarmoJordan: Ain GhazalCyprus: Klimonas, Kissonerga-MylouthkiaPakistan: MehrgarhPalestine: JerichoSwitzerland: Arbon Bleiche 3Syria: Abu HureyraTurkey: Çatalhà ¶yà ¼kTurkmenistan: Jeitun Sources This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Plant Domestication, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.Allaby RG. 2015. Barley domestication: the end of a central dogma? Genome Biology 16(1):176.Badr A, Muller K, Schafer-Pregl R, El Rabey H, Effgen S, Ibrahim HH, Pozzi C, Rohde W, and Salamini F. 2000. On the origin and domestication history of Barley (Hordeum vulgare). Molecular Biology and Evolution 17(4):499-510.Dai F, Chen Z-H, Wang X, Li Z, Jin G, Wu D, Cai S, Wang N, Wu F, Nevo E et al. 2014. Transcriptome profiling reveals mosaic genomic origins of modern cultivated barley. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(37):13403-13408.Jones G, Charles MP, Jones MK, Colledge S, Leigh FJ, Lister DA, Smith LMJ, Powell W, Brown TA, and Jones HL. 2013. DNA evidence for multiple introductions of barley into Europe following dispersed domestications in Western Asia. Antiquity 87(337):701-713.Jones G, Jones H, Charles MP, Jones MK, Colledge S, Leigh FJ, Lister DA, Smith LMJ , Powell W, and Brown TA. 2012. Phylogeographic analysis of barley DNA as evidence for the spread of Neolithic agriculture through Europe. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(10):3230-3238. Komatsuda T, Pourkheirandish M, He C, Azhaguvel P, Kanamori H, Perovic D, Stein N, Graner A, Wicker T, Tagiri A et al. 2007. Six-rowed barley originated from a mutation in a homeodomain-leucine zipper I-class homeobox gene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(4):1424-1429. doi:10.1073/pnas.0608580104Lister DL, and Jones MK. 2013. Is naked barley an eastern or a western crop? The combined evidence of archaeobotany and genetics. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 22(5):439-446. doi: 10.1007/s00334-012-0376-9Morrell PL, and Clegg MT. 2007. Genetic evidence for a second domestication of barley (Hordeum vulgare) east of the Fertile Crescent. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104:3289-3294.Poets AM, Fang Z, Clegg MT, and Morrell PL. 2015. Barley landraces are characterized by geographically heterogeneous genomic origins. Genome Biology 16(1):1-11.Riehl S, Zeidi M, and Conard NJ. 2013. Emergence of agriculture in the foothills of the Zagros mountains of Iran. Science 341:65-67. Riehl S, Pustovoytov K, Weippert H, Klett S, and Hole F. 2014. Drought stress variability in ancient Near Eastern agricultural systems evidenced by delta13C in barley grain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(34):12348-12353.Wang J, Liu L, Ball T, Yu L, Li Y, and Xing F. 2016. Revealing a 4,000-y-old beer recipe in China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.Zhao Z. 2011. New Archaeobotanic Data for the Study of the Origins of Agriculture in China. Current Anthropology 52(S4):S295-S306.

Do male Bulgarian citizens travel further and more frequently abroad Essay

Do male Bulgarian citizens travel further and more frequently abroad then female citizens - Essay Example The present study would focus on tourism as an important economic activity in the contemporary society with various social, cultural, and environmental impacts on the visited regions. It is among the developing sectors of economic activities in the contemporary world. The countries in Europe have different characteristics that can be advantageous in respect to tourism. Most of the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe experienced communist rule up to the late 1980s and early 1990s when they transitioned into the Western models. Bulgaria is one of the countries in Southeast Europe. In 2010, Bulgaria was ranked position 27 in Europe and position 48 in the world in terms of Tourism Competitiveness Index (TCI). The country recognizes its beaches, countryside, nature parks, mountain resorts, and wines as some of the tourist attractions. It also has cheap transport systems that are favorable for tourism. Bulgaria is rapidly opening into the international scene since the fall of commu nist era in 1989 and with the emergence of socialist rule that promote a socially active tourism in the country. The Bulgarians have increasingly shown interest in the other attractive features that are not within their borders was well as experience for other cultures. International departures from Bulgaria have shown an increasing trend (rising by 16.8% in 2002) and about 25% could be attributed to tourism by 2002. (Bulgaria: Market Profile, 62). Tourism to a given region can be determined by the endowment of the region and the financial abilities of the different individuals as well as their tastes and preferences. Thus, the males may have the ability to make frequent visits to several destinations across the globe as compared to the females. The main question to be addressed in the research is â€Å"Do male Bulgarian citizens travel further and more frequently abroad then female citizens?† The investigation is expected to reveal that males travel more frequently and to fu rther regions than the females. As hypotheses to the study, it is initially assumed that the male Bulgarian citizens travel further abroad than the female citizens do and that they make frequent visits abroad than the female citizens. Method(s) of investigation The study was conducted in Bulgaria, a country in southeast Europe that borders other European countries like Romania, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia as well as Turkey from West Asia as shown in Figure.1. Figure.1. Map of Bulgaria Source: http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/bulgaria.html The information that was appropriate in answering these particular questions was to be sought from the Native Bulgarians. Research was carried out at three distinct locations Sofia, Burgas, and Sunny Beach along the coastal Burgas-Varna road. The information on non-nationals of Bulgaria would not be appropriate and hence these were ignored whenever they were encountered. The information to be sought was whether the Bulgarians (bein g interviewed) had left the country at least at a certain point for a holiday trip. In the event that the individuals had been out of the country for holiday purposes, he or she would specify the country of destination and the frequency of such visits. Together with the sexes, these would suffice to determine whether males traveled to further regions and more frequently than females or not. Besides, only data collected from Sofia was used in determining the validity of the initial assumption. This is because as the capital city, it is likely that more city dwellers who are natives will be approached and interviewed. The groups developed a questionnaire that was be used for the interview. The participants had to provide details of their nationality and other demographic information like sex age group. The data collection materials were issued in English and Bulgarian, as these were

Principles of Entrepreneurship Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Principles of Entrepreneurship - Coursework Example As the report declares  smart TV which is also known as connected TV is incorporated with internet features that provide the users a better experience. The features of Smart TV’s include video streaming, video on demand along with web browsing. Smart TV’s enables the users to share music, movies, photos and other multimedia files. These TV’s have entered the market since two years which provides a complete package of entertainment to the users like Youtube, Netflix, iPlayer along with various other applications that add up to the features of the smart TV’s. Besides, along with smart TV’s it has been observed that there has been a growth in the smart TV devices like PVR’s, TV adapters and Blu Ray players, that provide accessibility to internet services through TV. There are some Smart TV’s which are wireless enabled for using the internet services.This study stresses that TV viewers often do not find enough time or interest to watch s hows provided by the broadcasters anymore as there has been an emergence of a wide range of solutions pertaining to entertainment which enables the users to watch those shows that they desire to watch. The objective of the report involves determining the prevailing market scenario in the United Kingdom for a new smart TV manufacturing firm and developing a set of strategies to enter into the market. In addition, it has been observed that there is downward trend regarding the sales of TV’s in the UK.

How Should We Help Our Organizations to Use Internet-Based Essay

How Should We Help Our Organizations to Use Internet-Based Conferencing Safely and Effectively - Essay Example Additionally, internet supported communication offers a lot of advantages such as members can get together when and where they want. Also, the use of computers as a collaboration tool can also augment the amount of information obtainable to a team and increase the pace and authority with which team members get, process, and distribute their individual and combined efforts (Thompson & Coovert, 2003) Computer conferencing can be used when two or more users are able to meet using two or more computers. In computer conference, one member is responsible for controlling what is on the computer screen on the other hand for all others to see. In this scenario, that member is acknowledged as a host or moderator. Though, all the participants can fully take part in a conference call at the same time as looking at one presentation on the computer but they can also exchange a few words by instant messaging. In addition, some computer conferences can take place at the same time with a telephone co nference. In this scenario, members can chat by means of the telephone at the same time as they look at what is taking place on the screen (Ayers, 2012). One of the biggest benefits of computer conferencing which attracts the business organizations to use computer conferences is that people all over the world can take an equal part in the conference. In fact, they only need a computer with an Internet connection. In this scenario, a host distributes an email to team members and provides them a link to the conference room or web room and the meeting and time of the conference. Hence, if someone is unable to attend the conference, he can reject the request right from the email and let them know the reason. Along with numerous advantages especially the team members’ location, there are other pros to making use of computer conferencing. For instance, if someone wants to take part in a web based training session; they can get in touch with a number of people from a variety of doma ins straight away. In this scenario, moderator or host can launch the computer conference with the intention that other people can each independently do a workout or otherwise actively take part in the conference appearing on their screen. In addition, the host can also provide authority of what is on the screen to other participants in order that he can weigh up their ideas and thoughts (Ayers, 2012; ReferencesForBusiness, 2012).

Critical Communication Event in the Press Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Critical Communication Event in the Press - Essay Example It did not challenge the authorities or acted just like a watchdog. It fulfilled its purpose of bringing the news to the public and letting people know about the issue which spread more awareness about the customer of size policy of the Southwest Airlines. This also points to the freedom of press. The incident was covered by many reporters, and many journalists happened to interview Emery Orto to take his views about the event. Reporters also gave their judgments in their online articles about Orto’s irrational behavior and his communication with the authorities which was not based on sound arguments. They stated in their articles that it was not Orto’s size that kept him from flying; instead, it was his rude behavior that made the authorities angry enough not to let him board the plane. When press enjoys freedom, then everybody has the right to give his views and opinions, just like what happened in this event. Kathryn. (2009). Southwest says Emery Orto’s behavior, not his size, got him booted from flight. The Kathryn Report. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from http://kathrynreport.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/southwest-says-emery-ortos-behavior-not-his-size-got-him-booted-from-flight/ Netter, S. (2009). Was southwest passenger too fat to fly? ABC News. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from

Write an essay in which you agree or disagree with the author's

Write an in which you agree or disagree with the author's position. Use your own ideas and experiences - Essay Example e facts in the article, it is absolutely necessary to put a muzzle on credit card companies that give away free gifts to lure young students into â€Å"plastic bondage†. Credit card marketing in colleges needs restrictions The first reason I agree with the writer’s idea that students don’t need extra credit is that the data shows that there are only 21% people (students) that pay their credit payment each month and only 11% pay even less than the minimum payment. The rest of the student lot (including 11%) rolls over their debt to next month and that’s what puts a big smile on credit card companies. That is exactly what they want to see, credit being rolled over swelling up into more credit. It is no surprise that financial analysts call accumulating debt or credit the eighth wonder of the world. The debt just keeps building up and the credit card holder becomes a financial slave to the credit card company. The second aspect of the article that makes me agree with the writer is the probe that why credit card companies that set up their tables and their ‘poison lemon stands’ in colleges always give away gifts for signing up for a credit card not a debit card. It is obvious that they will get their spending on the gifts back with interests later on. It is hard to imagine that all people holding credit cards would be paying their minimum credit payments regularly, it is simply impossible, that is why credit card companies are ready with their big open mouths waiting for this to happen and they could feed off of the credit chunks. Compare the credit card to debit card, there is no difference in spending principle, the only difference comes when it’s time to pay off. For a debit card, one has to have that amount of money in the bank account thus he can’t in any case spend more than he can afford. On the other hand, it is the credit card that begs the credit card holder to spend more than he can afford. This is where banks cash in tons of money. Once the

Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Technology - Essay Example Ideas such as the "bigger is better" now became meaningless. And this transform paved the way for the development of smaller, faster and more reliable machines. In its initial stages, the computer was distant from the American public. Most of the American thought that computers were a sort of alien systems for which they had no use in daily life. Computer developers tried to change that idea by making their systems smaller and easy to find. As a result of this approach, computer technology became well attached to the roots of the American lifestyle by the early eighties of the 21st century. Computers were now sufficiently developed and available to satisfy customer's requirements. Ideas for computer applications were also developed and introduced new banking, entertainment and shopping practices. The development of the integrated circuit in the early 1960's made possible the design and construction of affordable computers that were very accurate and were also small enough to be deployed in an office or a classroom. The video display terminal and the multi-tasking abilities of those new computers made them a popular choice. As a result, ATM machines were introduced for the first time. The early ATM machines were not dependent on a centralized computer network; however, their popularity was on the rise. By the early 1980's, the ATM security was increased, and the machine became a public necessity in the United States. The ATM machine began to appear in different shops and stores. And by the mid eighties, 40 percent of the customers completed about 50 percent of their banking transactions using ATMs. The video game development serves as the best example of how the American entertainment routine was transformed. Steve Russell's "space war" was the first such game developed in 1962. At that time, Russell was MIT graduate student. In his game, a spacecraft was represented by two dots. The dots were controlled by two separate switches. This game became very popular all over the United States, especially among students, and it makes the beginning of the video game industry. In early 1968, "Odyssey", the first home video game system was introduced by Ralph Baer. Crude graphic lines were created by deploying 40 diodes in the system. In 1972, The Odyssey system appeared in the market and thus opened the way for competition in the field. In the same year, Nolan Bushnell announced the foundation of Atari that created the first commercially flourishing coin-based "pong". This was a simple ping-pong video game where large number scores are possible. It was first displayed in California at a club in Sunnyvale. The public was amazed. In 1977, Atari decided to enter the video entertainment market after pong's astonishing success. Their experience was not initially successful, however, the VCS or video computer system designed by Atari sold about 15 million units and thus Atari was now one of the building blocks of the American home entertainment industry. In addition to the home systems, other public consoles were designed by the company and by early 1980's over a million such systems were spread over the entire country. The American lifestyle and video games were now integrated. Computer technology also transformed the music industry. Robert Moog, a Cornell University PhD student, created the first

Write an essay in which you agree or disagree with the author's

Write an in which you agree or disagree with the author's position. Use your own ideas and experiences - Essay Example e facts in the article, it is absolutely necessary to put a muzzle on credit card companies that give away free gifts to lure young students into â€Å"plastic bondage†. Credit card marketing in colleges needs restrictions The first reason I agree with the writer’s idea that students don’t need extra credit is that the data shows that there are only 21% people (students) that pay their credit payment each month and only 11% pay even less than the minimum payment. The rest of the student lot (including 11%) rolls over their debt to next month and that’s what puts a big smile on credit card companies. That is exactly what they want to see, credit being rolled over swelling up into more credit. It is no surprise that financial analysts call accumulating debt or credit the eighth wonder of the world. The debt just keeps building up and the credit card holder becomes a financial slave to the credit card company. The second aspect of the article that makes me agree with the writer is the probe that why credit card companies that set up their tables and their ‘poison lemon stands’ in colleges always give away gifts for signing up for a credit card not a debit card. It is obvious that they will get their spending on the gifts back with interests later on. It is hard to imagine that all people holding credit cards would be paying their minimum credit payments regularly, it is simply impossible, that is why credit card companies are ready with their big open mouths waiting for this to happen and they could feed off of the credit chunks. Compare the credit card to debit card, there is no difference in spending principle, the only difference comes when it’s time to pay off. For a debit card, one has to have that amount of money in the bank account thus he can’t in any case spend more than he can afford. On the other hand, it is the credit card that begs the credit card holder to spend more than he can afford. This is where banks cash in tons of money. Once the

Marketing Assignment Essay Example for Free

Marketing Assignment Essay My chosen retailer is Pick n’ Pay which is a company owned by South African entrepreneur Raymond Ackerman in 1967. Pick n’ Pay was able to gain a large share of the market because Raymond Ackerman’s policy of putting offering customers the best value for their money before profit maximisation and various social responsibility programmes have made them a household in South Africa. Question 1 Pick n Pay bridges the following gaps: * Space. * Time. * Information. The space and time, value gaps are bridged by pick n’ pay, by establishing what the market really wants and providing consumer what they want at the right price in the right environment. -Information on products is readily available in stores during promotions and generally accessible in store. -Pick n’ Pay offers financial services like credit on large purchases like appliances. -Through bridging these gaps Pick n’ Pay has been able to establish long term relationship with consumers. Question 2 An organisation has to perform its primary amp; auxiliary marketing activities efficiently and in a timely manner to ensure that the needs/ of the customer are met. Pick n’ Pay also owns its own transportation fleet so they have more control over meeting demand on time. * Pick n Pay conducted detailed market research in order to properly serve its market as all store formats are as diverse as the geographic area they operate in, from the large hypermarkets to the express stores in petrol stations, they cater to all different market segments. Pick n’ Pay also own Boxer supermarkets which cater to low income groups such as rural areas. * They form of standardisation and grading is their policy of giving consumers double their money back on Pick n’ Pay products if they not satisfied with the quality, This policy enabled Pick n’Pay to gain the trust of consumer which translates into Customer loyalty. All other products offered by Pick n’ Pay have to follow certain regulations before being offered to the public. Pay has to take the necessary steps to ensure that products like fruits are available all year round which means such products need to be stored in fridges and other products have to be stored properly so they don’t get damage before getting to the actual store so they don’t incur any losses. * The risk of loss or damage is to be mitigated by the form of having insurance policy to cover the business. * Pick n’ Pay borrows money from banks to cover the day-to-day operations; Raymond Ackerman says many businesses that were destined for greatness failed because they didn’t have enough cash to run their daily operations. I would say Pick n’ Pay uses the societal marketing-oriented concept because of their environmental initiatives which have even gained the organisation a Sunday Times Top Brand Grand Prix award for the company that did the most to promote â€Å"green† issues and social upliftment of communities. Raymond Ackerman stresses the importance of doing â€Å"good† business which means implementing sustainable practices in the work environment and doing what the business is obligated to do in terms of social responsibility. Here are some environmental initiatives have introduced: * Green Products- Products that are 100% recyclable with active ingredients that are made from sustainable,natural ingredients. * Introduced limited edition eco-friendly bags to limit the use of plastic bags * Pick n’ Pay vehicles use a low sulphur content diesel and ozone-friendly lubrication oils. * Setting up recycling points at Pick n’ Pay stores * In 2009 they opened up 3 Pick n’ Pay express stores, starting a new era of green retailing. These type strategies will gain the business long term customers because of its awareness of contributing positively to the environment. Question 4 I would say my chosen retailer has evolved to this level because they the good relationship it has with its stakeholder that’s why they have been able to offer the market such good prices and within any business you need to maintain good relationship with your suppliers for example, this would ensure that everything is delivered in a timely time and with your employees to ensure that their product are product and know what’s expected of them. Pick n Pay has a number of policies and guidelines to govern relationships with its stakeholders so every interaction with its stakeholders is morally sound and is in line with the correct practices so that customers are satisfied and customers are retained. Question 5 5. 1 The micro environment of Pick n’ Pay is its internal stakeholders which would be: * Employees * Investors * Management The business has full control over this environment. The market environment is the outside of the business and the business can only control this environment to a certain degree. The market environment comprises of: * Suppliers * Competitors- Checkers,Spar,Woolworths. * Customers * General Public – Brand Perception and Brand awareness. 5. 2 Pick n Pay is a company that focuses a lot on physical environment and socio economic issues as it recognises the importance of sustainability practices in its business due to the fact that natural resources are not available in infinite quantities and the damage us humans are doing to the environment. Pick n’ Pay has also implemented programmes that challenge socio economic issues such as unemployment. Here some the changes and programmes implemented to adapt to changes/trends in the macro environment: * Setting up recycling points at Pick n’ pay which in turn provides employment. * â€Å"Green† products – 100% recyclable products with natural active ingredients that don’t harm the environment. * BEE programmes which allows people from disadvantaged backgrounds to own a Pick n’ Pay franchise store. * Pick n’ Pay company also recently extended its ‘Green Range’ of household products to include garbage bags made from 100% recycled material, 70% of which is post-consumer recycled materials.

Scientific Management Theory Analysis

Scientific Management Theory Analysis The emphasis on increasing productivity from individual worker impels the emergence of F. W. Taylors scientific management at the beginning of 20th century. His philosophy of rationalizing work and organization to achieve maximum productivity, cooperation and prosperity has influenced the production and management model of his age profoundly. Despite the past 100 years, the shadow of Taylors philosophy in terms of production approach and management practice is still alive at the times of information technology, flexibility of production and the industrial restructuring. As Stern has written, The scientific management of Fredrick Taylor shaped the first coherent school of thought with its twin goal of productivity and efficiency- still influences management thinking 100 years on. This essay will assess the influence of scientific management on contemporary organization. Before assessing the influence, it is also important to introduce what scientific management is. It is a set of systematic theory of the correlation between labour and tasks for the purpose of increasing productivity by redesigning the work process. Based on the famous time-motion-study, Taylor developed four principles to increase efficiency: Study the way workers perform their tasks, develop a science for each element of a mans work, which replaces the old rule- of-thumb method. Codify the new methods of performing tasks into written rules and standard operating procedures Carefully select workers who posses skills and abilities that match the needs of the task, and train them to perform the task according to the established rules and procedures Establish a fair or acceptable level of performance for a task, and then develop a pay system that provide a reward for performance above the acceptable level Scientific management is a complete and interrelated system, but this essay will examine Taylors four principle separately to simply the analysis. One best way and division of labour Generally, Taylor believes that there is a one best way of each task to achieve maximum productivity and during his age, He firmly believes the division of labour is the best way to achieve this. Though nowadays, due to the diversification of the market and the organization, the simple one best way can hardly be defined, such as business adopt mass-production strategy can have a completely different optimal method of production than those focus on niche marketing, his spirit of pursuing the best way is still vivid presented. Just as the quality circle pioneered by Japanese car manufacturing, modification is being discussed continuously to make the work process more streamlined, more efficient and not wasteful in its activity, which is essentially the goal of Taylors system.(Stoney, 2001:p27) Especially when information technology has become the means of analyzing the underlying flow of material and information, it is more convenient and prevalent for contemporary organization to deci de the best redesign of business process to pursuing productivity, quality and competitive posture. Incorporated in his spirit, division of labour is the specific outcome of scientific management, the best way Taylor advocates to minimize skills required, and assembly-line, the creation of his age, are also still utilized successfully in contemporary fast-food industry. Such as MacDonald, the unskilled tasks from broken-down cooking procedure and sophisticated time record make it a completely modern duplication of Taylorism. The assembly lined production mode underpins the repetitive work cycle on the line by setting standard times. By doing this, efficiency improves dramatically as unnecessary tasks are eliminated, physical layouts improved, and work speeded up. (Fincham Rhodes, 2005: p678) Despite that deskilling () will de-motivate employees significantly on a general scale, which may result in absenteeism and high staff turnover, its ability of integrating new workers in production processes and dismissing workers without losing knowledge form the organization can successfully overcome it. Besides, the emphasis on quantity rather than quality (Ritzer, 2004) of the fast food industry also highlights the need of efficiency. Taylors influence goes beyond the bounds of manufacturing, the growing army of clerks in the rising service sector are automatically divided into departments and specialized in function. (Fincham Rhodes, 2005: p608) This means the philosophy of division of labour apply to most clerical works to rationalize the working procedure. A merging characteristics of clerical and production labour () becomes one remarkable feature of modern society. However, the anomie and alienation brought by the absolute division of labour limit its further application. The knock-on effect of de-motivate employees on quality and service can have more significant negative impact on contemporary organization than ever when they become the key to profitability at modern times. Despite the limitation of his method, this principle has a considerable profound and lasting influence because of Taylors preoccupation with the efficient use of resources. This philosophy can almost apply to every organization because whichever the work structure is taken, such as the prevalent team work and job enrichment; one of its ultimate goals should be improve efficiency. It can be proved by xxs argument that ()quality circles, rather than being a transformation of labor relations toward democratic participation, are managerial strategy to facilitate workers cooperation with managements goals for efficiency and productivity improvements. Standardization and direct control Taylor proposes standard rules to capture the best practice and direct control of workers to maintain efficiency. As Braverman (1974, p. 47) recognised, Taylorism never was a science, but a control system. Due to separate conception and execution, managers should design, allocate tasks and supervise workers performance without consulting employees opinions.(McGeorge Thoery X) Actually the appliance of Taylors efficiency through rationalization (Stoney, 2001: p.27) builds a mechanistic organizations, with strict rules, standardized defined tasks and top-down communication. Contemporarily, there are still cases where mechanistic organization proves to be optimal. A classic example is call centre where standard script must be followed, number of calls per hour is strictly monitored, as well as managers can listen in calls momentarily. Though it is argued that this complete control will alienate employees as it erodes the sense of freedom and self-determination, only this mechanic struct ure, where all tasks are designed to be consistent and coordinated, rigid rules are followed and instructions are obeyed immediately, can achieve the speedy service and uniform quality. Besides, despite its formalized and hierarchy nature causes inflexibility, organizations, such as call centre, which exist in a relatively stable environment where not much innovation and adjustment are required, has proved to be more effective because of the systematically rationalize procedures. (Burns Stalker, 1961) Thus, it still exists where efficiency dominates effectiveness. More commonly, only element of direct control can be seen in most contemporary organization. For instance, in public accounting firms, supervisor accountants supervise lower-rank accountants assigned with them to each audit. Junior accountants should work under the direct guidance of a senior accountant.(Hall, 1968) This is still due to Taylors inherent advantage, direct control can boost efficiency by rationalizing complex accounting procedure and adopting tasks efficiently and accurately. A further reason is that when meticulousness it the first requirement and errors may cause serious consequence, it is direct control that can maintain efficiency at the same time safeguard the quality. Efficient as it is, the reasons for not being fully adopted is that the drawbacks of direct control largely limit its influence. As Friedman (1977) points out, it neglects the positive aspects of labour. That means know-how and practical experience cannot be reflected and diffused. And the formalized system develops passive organization culture which undermines innovation, commitment and flexibility. This contradicts to the requirement of contemporary organization, especially for manufacturing. At modern times, in manufacturing sphere, the key to profitability lies in innovation.(Ackroyd, 2002) It means how to improve application for existing technology, how to create market advantage by good design and exclusivity become the very crucial issues. This is why most of contemporary organizations only retain elements of direct control and tend to be decentralized to emphases on democratic participation. To a broader extent, Taylors standardization philosophy is more widely used, and the new globalized era makes it an urgent requirement for business. Due to the great advantage of diffuse best practice, standardization becomes the key to facilitate the diffusion of businesss know-how to a new area for achieving a competitive advantage. Meanwhile, it is necessary for coordinating activities on a world wide scale and maintaining strict quality to safeguard firms reputation. However, exposed to a greater level of external complexity, the drawback of rigidity brought by standardization must be overcome, thus standardization is a continuous improvement process nowadays, just as the standard operation in Japanese car manufacturing where work is performed according to standard work sequence to insure quality, meanwhile standard if frequently updated to standardize improvement.(Edwards et al, 1993) To achieve this, standardization tends to be combined with a flatter and organic organization s tructure highlighting integration and decentralization to keep innovative and flexible. Scientific selection and training This is perhaps the most relevant principle today because these processes, selection, performance, as well as appraisal and development have been highly formalized in many organizations today (Cole, 2004). In the knowledge-based economy, talent has become the very valuable asset of business to achieve competitiveness. Much effort is devoted by contemporary organizations on selecting the right person. The contribution of Taylor is that he introduced the importance of selection criteria by management, such as the common competencies (i.e. communication skill, initiative) listed by recruitment department. In line with his emphasis on scientific approach to selection, Taylor advocates scientific training as he argues that it is only when business systematically cooperating to train the competent manà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦that it shall be on the road to national efficiency. (Taylor, 1911: p 98)In the context of the knowledge society, companies are generally encouraged to develop employees skills and knowledge (Hansson, 2007) Such as Nissan UK believes the key way for being the most productive car plant in Europe is its ambitious training scheme involving its entire manufacturing workforce.(Lydon, 2007) Costly as it seems, the long-term benefits of quality, safety performance and manufacturing costs overweight it. Moreover, training is usually positively related to promotion (Bayo-Moriones OrtÄ ±Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ´n-Angel 2006) it means it can motivate employees by satisfying their growth, achievement needs. Overstepping Taylors efficiency idea, nowadays the meaning of training is also related to be flexible and acuity enough for competing in a more complex global market, such as the widely-used management trainee schemes in multinationals to cultivate managers with practical experience and global perspective. Money as a motivator Taylor advocates piece-rate payment scheme based on his assumption that human nature is essentially self-interest, workers would be motivated by obtaining the highest possible wage by working in the most efficient and productive way. (Mullins, 2001: p23) In modern age, despite his method can rarely be seen due to the decadence of manufacturing, Based on his philosophy, money motivation still play a crucial role in other form, such as the incentive-based pay system. One common example is sales bonus. The rush of a sales force to place orders before month end reflects highly targeted performance. Thus there is little doubt that this system will work if designed appropriately. In the new context, when various approaches (i.e. job enrichment, team work) are applied to improve personal commitment, money motivator is not narrowed for efficiency as well. For instance, bonuses assessed on cooperation can represent up to 50% of wage packet in Japanese system and group bonuses are also given. (cf. Dohse et al., 1985, pp. 137-8) It means money motivator is now used flexibly according to organizations strategy. Ryness study of pay motivation in contemporary organization also support Taylors assumption, as there is overwhelming evidence that money is an important motivator for most people. Furthermore, he found that for high academic achievers, high performing employees and individuals with high self-efficiency and high needs for achievement, pay are the most important motivator.(Rynes et al, 2004) It means nowadays pay maybe more crucial than ever as those kinds of person are just the valuable human resources that organizations compete for. However, it is undoubted that Taylors idea of motivation is narrow minded and not suit as an extrinsic motivator, the emphasis on money will decrease staffs intrinsic motivator. Despite that, contemporary organizations usually adopt compromising approach as nowadays, the satisfaction of social needs and achievement needs are regarded as almost equality important motivator. Thus, multiple motivators, money in conjunction with other intrinsic motivator are more prevalent. For instance, performance-based pay and challenging work are used in such successful firms as Microsoft. Conclusion remark It should be admitted that there is almost no other management theory can overstep the influence of scientific management. As Braverman says, the principle of scientific management is not a failed system, but a set of guiding principles which continue to inform and influence the role and function of modern management. Some of the methods he advocates, such as division of labour, scientific selection and training, have become the features of modern society. More primarily, as efficiency is one of the enduring needs of all organizations, his preoccupation with the efficient use of resources thus becomes the driving force behind the evolution of subsequent management theories () and the root of management practice. Due to its extensive and deep influence, it is institutionalized not only in contemporary corporation, but also ideologically embraced in other institutions, modelling the modern world with the character of efficiency, calculability, predictability and control through technol ogy. (Ritzer) However, its inherent drawbacks of inflexibility, dehumanization require modification in current situation. Therefore, it can be argued that management of contemporary organization is based on a modification of Taylorism and a combination with more sophisticated management theories.

Teaching Writing Philosophy :: Education Teacher Educating Essays

Teaching Writing Philosophy Assessments are easily one of the most frustrating elements of school life for both teachers and students. The argument that there is no way to tell how much a student is learning without assessments should prove false for a skilled teacher. An involved, interactive classroom should result in a keen awareness by the teacher of how much each student is learning. That being said, I still believe in assessment as a useful tool within teaching if it is done well and fairly. The principles of this nation are based on competition, whether that is something we like about our schools or not. There needs to be something to differentiate students based on ablility and work ethic. Yes, a skilled teacher should be able to attract student’s interest in a subject without the threat of a grade looming, but isn’t there something special about that perfect grade for a job well done? Even a devoted student may find him or herself willing to let assignments slide if th ere are no consequences for their actions. Ultimately I feel that the problem within schools is not that there are tests; it is just the way that these tests are formatted. Too often student’s face monstrous tests that are vaguely worded, seem to have numerous correct answers, or have unclear directions. Different students think about things in different ways and no one should be punished for that. My philosophy is fairly simple: I am on the student’s side, I want them to do well, and I intend to provide ample opportunity to do so. Hopefully my teaching style will attract them to the materials that I appreciate so much within literature and writing. If a student can honestly say that he or she worked hard in my class and took the options available to them, their grade should always be fair. Grading essays or stories is a long process. Some students may produce a great final product that took less effort than another student who worked feverishly but is just not as skilled of a writer. There should be a way to reward both a great final piece and a strong effort within the writing process.

Free Richard III Essays: The Power of Seduction :: Richard II Richard III Essays

Richard III: The Power of Seduction The word "seduce" according to Webster's Dictionary means to "tempt and draw away from proper conduct." This is exactly what Richard, Duke of Gloucester/King Richard III accomplishes in Richard III. In Richard's life he does not only move from deformed "hedgehog" to husband, but from "beast" to King. One may ask how such deeds were performed. However, a second look may make the deeds look simple. Richard demonstrated a strong power of seduction throughout the play that not only seduced Lady Anne, but many others. Richard's first conquest by seduction was Lady Anne. In the passage where Anne accused Gloucter of being the cause of her husband's death (I.ii.120-21), Gloucter replies not denying that he was the agent that caused the death. However, he follows by saying to Anne, "Your beauty was the cause of that effect" (I.ii.121). He continues using the excuse that her beauty caused everything. Finally, he actually admits that he killed Anne's husband, but in the same breath he says she caused it. "I did kill King Henry--/[b]ut 'twas thy beauty that provoked me" (I.ii.179-80). This seemingly sick and twisted style of persuasion works in seducing the spitting Lady Anne into becoming his wife. Obviously, by Anne taking the same hand in marriage that killed her former husband; one can see that she was "drawn away from proper conduct." Rhe citizens were also seduced by Richard. However, in Act III.vii. his wits alone did not work the persuasion. He had help from the Bishops, props and Buchingham. The Mayor exclaims to the citizens,"See where his Grace stands, 'tween two clergymen!" (III.vii.95). This is all part of Richard's goodly act. He wants to win the people by being a noble and good man. He wants them to believe that he is not only a moral man, but a modest one. Buchingham proceeds in supporting Richard in this attempt. Buchingham observes Richard and states to the people: Two props of virtue for a Christian prince, To stay him from the fall o vanity; And see, a book of prayer in his hands- True ornaments to know a holy man. (III.vii.96-99). Richard sways the citizens much differently than he persuaded Anne. He persuaded Anne by reminding her that his fault was caused by her beauty. One may say he was playing with her emotions.

Gardian Angel Essay

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.