Market Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Market Research - Essay Example The product being launched is that of a rival company to Microsoft, Apple; therefore the paper entails a detailed analysis of the major areas that can be utilized to overcome the market power of Microsoft and promote the sale of the new product. Marketing Research: Competing Company and Product SWOT Analysis for the Launch of a New Product When a company conducts a SWOT analysis, it does not mean that it is in a state of crisis, but this is only a measure designed to understand whether it is suitable or not. It is usually conducted in the wake of a company’s launch of new major projects and business undertaking the organization wishes to embark on (Cleland & Ireland, 2007). To launch a new product, the organization has to conduct a detailed analysis of its current position so as to determine the means with which the launching of the project can be addressed based on the findings. Microsoft Corporation (SWOT Analysis) Strengths First, Microsoft has the advantage of being popula r as the largest software company usually associated with software and hardware products that are highly innovative. This is displayed by the presence of more than 500 offices in 160 countries (Drucker, 2007). Secondly, the basic operating systems used globally are Windows 7, Vista and XP accompanied by suitable products such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Access among others. These offer the company a competitive advantage via the ease of integrating the products and setting of standard prizes for their standardized products (Hafner & Hibbert, 2001). Another major strength of Microsoft is the nature of rapid development of products and provision of timely updates as well as its strong, flexible and elevated quality of its staff. One of the other strengths of Microsoft PCs is the size. The design of its tablets and laptops makes them easier for portability and they are widely spread globally (Hafner & Hibbert, 2001). Weaknesses One major weakness of Microsoft is its failure to articul ate the growth of its products, thus being overtaken by competitors with respect to productions. Similarly, the products are usually sold with an assumption that the customer is running a Microsoft operating system (OS) for its compatibility which has resulted in declining sales of the OSs and server software (Hafner & Hibbert, 2001). In addition, employee exhaustion is evident owing to intense deadlines for products and their launching. As Drucker (2007) reports, Microsoft is characterized by recurrent restructuring, many rules and regulations with a domineering atmosphere that causes employee morale to reduce and sometimes loss of instrumental employees. This slows down the company’s innovative process. Microsoft has been dormant in the Internet space up to the time MSN was released although it still faces tough competition from Yahoo. With the increased consumer demand of the products, there has been limited human resource to deal with these needs in good time. Opportuniti es Microsoft has the opportunity of having access to cheaper international telecommunication and new markets since many people around the world are connected to the Internet (Drucker, 2007). With the demand for personal computers (PCs) and software components increasing worldwide, despite the market being flooded by attractive handheld devices, Microsoft can still produce more and increase their sales. Finally, Microsoft has

The Perfect Cowboy Birthday Essay Example for Free

The Perfect Cowboy Birthday Essay This party is to welcome this man to adulthood by celebrating it with his favorite theme.   He will enjoy the festivities and appreciate the efforts made by his family and friends.   The strengths of this theme include the readily available props and decorative items for the theme.   There are many places to purchase the items to decorate the bar for this theme.   The weaknesses in this theme include the commonality of it.   It is rather difficult to come up with something new and original in a theme that has been done repeatedly.    The opportunities presented with this idea are to reach back into the days of the cowboy and create a scene from the past.   The threats involved include danger of some guests becoming intoxicated and having accidents after leaving the party.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The party will take place as a surprise party to celebrate Jerry’s twenty-first birthday.   It will be held at the local bar, which h as been reserved by Jerry’s girlfriend for a private party. This avoids issues with other bar patrons who may not like the party atmosphere.   A number of his friends and family will be invited to help Jerry celebrate his birthday.   The party will take place on the Saturday evening following Jerry’s birthday to avoid the need for him to have to go to work the next day.    The bar will be decorated with saddles, blankets, hay, cowboy boots and other items to fulfill the theme.   All of the guests were asked to dress for the part to make Jerry feel like he is part of one of the western movies he greatly enjoys.   In order to maintain a specific budget, a maximum dollar amount was given to the owners of the bar along with a selected menu and estimated number of guests.   The meal of steak, beans, corn bread, hot dogs and other traditional cowboy foods was selected. The food and cowboy themed cake will all be prepared by the staff at the bar within the selected budget.   Games will be included and prepared by planning staff and jerry’s friends.   The activities will include games such as cowboy themed charades and role playing games about Jerry’s favorite cowboy movies and events in his past.   After these a cowboy dance group will come in to do a performance for Jerry and his guests.   The evening will be topped off with a variety of drink selections to end the wine and dine ceremony and officially welcome Jerry to adulthood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The risk assessment team met and expressed a few concerns with the plans.   Originally one of the planned activities was to rent a mechanical bull.   The committee felt this was far too dangerous especially if alcohol was involved with the party.   For this reason this item was removed from the plan.   The committee expressed concern with the younger party guests being present during the alcohol portion of the party and with guests leaving and driving after drinking. Upon taking these suggestions the under-age guests will be taken to Jerry’s home nearby by a friend where they can enjoy activities without concern of drinking or being involved in this activity.   Designated drivers will be present and in charge of all car keys to ensure safety of party guests.   The bar has passed all health and safety inspections and has adequate liability insurance to cover any accidents on the premises.   All applicable copyrights have been applied for.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All care has been taken to make sure that Jerry becomes an adult in the most exciting and enjoyable way possible.   He has always liked cowboys and his girlfriend has gone to great lengths to make sure that his party has all of the elements to make sure it is the most realistic cowboy birthday possible.

A Comparison of Freedom in Beloved and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest :: comparison compare contrast essays

Theme of Freedom in Beloved and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest   Freedom as defined in Websterà ­s dictionary is liberation from the control of another person or arbitrary power, a being able to act or move without hindrance or restraint.   My definition of freedom is altered from this due to the various experiences I have had. These experiences affect my perception of life and influence how I define freedom, just as another person would view freedom differently than me.   Freedom, as I perceive it to be, is the ability to live a life without any restrictions or limitations imposed on you by others.   You must have complete control over every aspect in your life.   Most people think of freedom only in the realm of the physical, but I believe that freedom is emotional as well.   In order to be considered free, you must be separate from your past.   You need to acknowledge your past and realize what has happened, but at the same time you need to move on.   You cannot allow your life to be lived according to what has happened in your past, or a cycle will ensue.   This cycle comes from making choices while à ¬freeà ®.   During a life lived in freedom, inevitably a wrong decision will be made and you will be forced to deal with the repercussions.   Some people become slaves to these choices, which results in an emotional bind.   Therefore, from freedom comes entrapment and enslavement to the choices made while à ¬freeà ®.   People end up being extremely attached and emotionally affected by their past, such as the characters in Beloved and One Flew Over The Cuckooà ­s Nest, that they will never live a à ¬normalà ® life again.   The theme of freedom is evident in both Beloved and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.   Every character in both of these texts is affected by freedom in some way or another.   In Toni Morrisonà ­s Beloved, Schoolteacher acts as the catalyst who takes away his slaveà ­s freedom, where as in One Flew Over The Cuckooà ­s Nest, Nurse Ratchet plays this role by infringing upon all of her patientà ­s freedom.   Sethe, in Beloved, suffers from both kinds of freedom.   As a slave she has physical restraints placed on her as well as emotional ones.   All slaves are confined to the land of their owners, which is an obvious violation of a personà ­s freedom.   Sethe was unable to leave the plantation and go where she desired.

Essay Comparing Candide and Mary Shelleys Frankenstein -- comparison

Comparing Voltaire's Candide and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein  Ã‚   Voltaire's Candide and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein are classics of western literature, in large part, because they both speak about the situation of being human. However, they are also important because they are both representative of the respective cultural movements during which they were written - the Enlightenment and the Romantic Era. As a result of this inheritance, they have different tones and messages, just as the Enlightenment and Romanticism had different tones and messages. But, it is not enough to merely say that they are "different" because they are linked. The intellectual movement from which Frankenstein emerged had its origins in the intellectual movement from which Candide emerged. By examining each of these works from the context of these intellectual movements, the progression in tone from light-hearted optimism in Candide to a heavier brooding doom in Frankenstein can be explained as being an extension of the progression from the Enlightenment to the Era of Roman ticism. The Enlightenment had its roots in the scientific and philosophical movements of the 17th century. It was, in large part, a rejection of the faith-based medieval world view for a way of thought based on structured inquiry and scientific understanding. It stressed individualism, and it rejected the church's control of the secular activities of men. Among the movement's luminaries were Descartes, Newton, and Locke. They, among others, stressed the individual's use of reason to explain and understand the world about himself in all of its aspects. Important principles of the Enlightenment included the use of science to examine all aspects of life (this was labeled "reason"),... ...The need is never satisfied for the reader, for Shelley's perception of society after the Enlightenment is a bleak place where human needs are supplanted by the monolithic focus on reason alone. This stands in sharp contrast to the ending of Candide. While the young man is constantly denied the company of his one true love, Cunegonde, throughout the work, in the end he finds her and finds satisfaction in a life near his friends as a farmer. The Enlightenment found optimistic hope in a dark age through the potential of the progress of human society, but to the Romantics, this improved world was less than optimistic if untouched by human elements such as love and imagination.    Works Cited: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Bantam Books, 1991. Voltaire. Candide. In Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories.Trans. Donald Frame, New York: Penguin Group, 1961.

Marketing challenges

What marketing challenges does McDonald’s face in the future? The market for McDonald’s is going global and has been changed by health concerns, introducing new marketing challenges.   McDonald’s profits are increasingly coming from overseas.   The European market led by France, Germany and Spain enjoys larger revenues than the US already, and the Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa markets are expanding rapidly (McDonald’s 2007). When entering a new market, the marketing department needs to examine the customers, the company as it exists in the new environment, and the competitors.   Additional external considerations include the Economic, technological, political/legal, cultural and social environments (Perreault 2006).   Features such as price points, access to media sources for advertising, laws and regulations, and eating habits and attitudes must all be evaluated for each new region entered.   This market research and monitoring of effective implementation is a big undertaking that requires changes in how headquarters deals with franchises.   Marketing management needs to rely more heavily on outside consultants, and analyze more data before making decisions. In addition, the demand for traditional greasy McDonald’s food is going down as concerns for health increase.   McDonalds has already shown its ability to change by taking the super size option off its menu in the wake of the movie â€Å"Super Size Me.†Ã‚   New menu introductions such as apples and milk cater toward health conscious yet busy parents.   McDonalds has also responded to an emphasis on higher quality, more expensive food by introducing gourmet coffee, the Angus burger, and chicken sandwich options (Bogoslaw 2007).   However, the new climate for fast food has allowed many competitors to threaten McDonald’s top position as McDonalds struggles to revamp its image. Marketing organizations need to be more customer oriented and market driven than they have been. With the rise of technology, mass media has become less effective.   On demand services have lowered exposure to advertising. As a result, marketers need to try harder to put their ads in people’s hands via cell phones, product placement, and other innovative strategies.   This results in greater customer research and approaches tailor- made for consumer demographics.   Unfortunately for many companies, this requires redesigning their entire culture, turning their focus outward to markets rather than internal bureaucracy. What results is an external culture with â€Å"capabilities for market sensing and market relating† (Staying Close 1999).     Ã‚  Market sensing is made possible with tools that understand how people are getting information about products, buying habits, and changes in market trends.   Market Relating involves changing products and marketing strategies to meet the changes identified in the market.   The more customers have access to instant technology, the faster companies need to change their strategies to compete with other companies, and the more fads will change as a result of the volume of information to which consumers have access. Bibliography Bogoslaw, David.   2007.   McDonald’s Sales Jolt Higher.   BusinessWeek, September 11, 2007. (Accessed October 24, 2007 McDonald’s Global Sales and Profit Momentum Continue. 2007.   McDonald’s Press Release October 12, 2007.   McDonalds Corporation.   (Accessed October 24, 2007 from http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/news/fnpr/2007/fpr_101207.html) Perreault, William D and McCarthy, E. Jerome. 2006.   Essentials of Marketing 10th ed.   New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin. Staying Close, but Not Too Close, to the Customer.   1999. [email  protected]   December 10, 1999.   (Accessed October 24, 2007 from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=112)   

Chemical Piranha Solution

Chemical Piranha Solution Chemical piranha solution or piranha etch is a mixture of a strong acid or base with peroxide, mainly used to remove organic residue from glass and other surfaces. Its a useful solution, but hazardous to make, use, and dispose of, so if you need to prepare this chemical, read over the precautions and disposal advice before you get started. Heres what you need to know: How To Make Piranha Solution There are multiple recipes for piranha solution. The 3:1 and 5:1 ratios are probably the most common: 3:1 concentrated sulfuric acid (H2SO4) to 30% hydrogen peroxide (aqueous H2O2) solution4:1  concentrated sulfuric acid to 30% hydrogen peroxide solution5:1  concentrated sulfuric acid to 30% hydrogen peroxide solution 7:1 concentrated sulfuric acid to 30% hydrogen peroxide solution (less common) base piranha: 3:1 ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) to hydrogen peroxide Prepare the solution in a fume hood and be certain you are wearing gloves, a lab coat, and safety goggles. Put the visor down on the hood to minimize the risk of damage or harm.Use a Pyrex or equivalent borosilicate glass container. Do not use a plastic container, as it will react with the solution and eventually fail. Label the container before preparing the solution.Make certain the container used for mixing is clean. If there is excessive organic matter, it may cause a vigorous reaction, possibly leading to a spill, breakage, or an explosion. Slowly add the peroxide to the acid. Do not add acid to peroxide! The reaction will be exothermic, may boil, and may splash out of the container. The risk of boiling or of sufficient flammable gas being released that could lead to an explosion increases as the amount of peroxide increases. Another method used to prepare piranha solution is to pour sulfuric acid over a surface, followed by peroxide solution. After time is allowed for the reaction, the solution is rinsed away with water. Safety Tips   Make piranha solution fresh before each use because the solution decomposes.Activity of the solution is increased by heating it, but dont apply heat until after the reaction to make the solution has completed. Its advisable to let the solution cool slightly after reaction before heating it.Do not leave hot piranha solution unattended on the lab bench.Do not store piranha solution in a sealed container. For that matter, do not store chemical piranha for later use, period.In case of skin or surface contact, rinse affected area immediately with large volumes of water. Continue rinsing at least 15 minutes. Seek appropriate emergency aid.In case of inhaling, remove affected person to fresh air and seek emergency medical aid. Be aware symptoms of exposure may be delayed.In case of suspected ingestion, seek immediate medical attention. How To Use Piranha Solution To Clean Sintered Glass - Piranha solution is used to clean sintered glass or fritted glass because it doesnt damage pores in the glass (which is why you dont use a strong base instead). Soak the glassware overnight in piranha solution before rinsing it with water.To Clean Glassware - Piranha solution can remove contamination on glassware that is untouched by other chemicals. Its important there is not excessive organic contamination. Soak the glassware overnight, then thoroughly rinse it.Apply as a surface treatment to glass to make it hydrophilic. Piranha solution increases the number of silanol groups on the glass surface by hydroxylating the silicon dioxide.Apply to remove residue from surfaces. Make sure you are removing residue and not a significant layer of material! Disposal of Piranha Solution To dispose of piranha solution, allow the solution to cool completely, to allow for it to release oxygen gas. Make sure the gas has dissipated before proceeding.Neutralize piranha solution by diluting it with large amounts of water. Do not neutralize it by adding a base, as the rapid decomposition releases heat and pure oxygen gas. The exception is when the volume of piranha solution is small (~ 100 ml). Then, dilute the piranha by adding it to water until it is less than 10% of the volume. Add sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate solution until the pH is 4 or higher. Expect heat, bubbling, and possibly foaming when the base is added to the acid solution.Usually, its okay to wash diluted piranha solution down the drain. However, some places prefer it be treated as toxic waste. Disposal also depends on the purpose of the solution, since some reactions may leave toxic residue in the container. Do not dispose of piranha solution with organic solvents, as a violent reaction and explosion will occur.

Columbine should they restrict cliques essays

Columbine should they restrict cliques essays Throughout the country, in each and every school there are cliques the development of cliques is inevitable. While some cliques deliberately exclude people, most cliques include a group of friends who are very close. As a result the people who are left out of a clique feel lonely and angry. Many outsiders are taunting them every day, which only makes them angrier. Eventually these people snap and take their anger out innocent people. The Columbine shooting proves that. To prevent this the high schools need to establish rules, though not to the extreme. The two killers of Columbine High School were excluding from almost all groups. Anger built up in them and they took action. As a result, almost all high schools decided to enforce the zero tolerance for crime. For example, one high school expelled a boy because he wrote a story about a boy who went on a rampage in literature class. This course of action was too extreme. The high school should have take in consideration whether the boy was a problem student before expelling him. There is really no way you can prevent cliques, just like there is no way you can force a child to be friends with another child. However, there are ways to diminish their destructiveness. Schools should require that everyone has to be included in a school extra curricular activity like sports, drama or newspaper. A school can develop new extra curricular activities pertaining to what the students want. Teachers should also give group assignments or projects and pre-arrange the partners for everyone. These are just some ways to get the kids on the fringe feel a part of a group. One other problem even bigger than cliques is the students part of the in cliques taunt or make fun of the other students who are not in their group. The school should have a rule that if a person picks on another person, they should either be suspended off a team or sus ...

Free Essays on The Present Reslations Of Science And Religion

The Present Relations of Science and Religion C. D. Broad Published Philosophy 14 (1939): 131-54. Reprinted in Religion, Philosophy and Psychic Research (London: Routledge, 1953). Fifty or sixty years ago anyone fluttering the pages of one of the the many magazines which then catered for the cultivated and intelligent English reader would have been fairly certain to come upon an article bearing somewhat the same title as that of the present paper. The author would probably be an eminent scientist, such as Huxley or Clifford; a distinguished scholar, such as Frederic Harrison or Edmund Gurney; or a politician of cabinet rank, such as Gladstone or Morley. Whichever side he might take, he would write with the moral fervour of which Englishmen at that time had an inexhaustible supply. Nowadays the so-called 'conflict between Religion and Science', which was then appetizingly hot from the oven, has acquired something of the repulsiveness of half-cold mutton in half-congealed gravy. There seems to be a widespread opinion that Sir Arthur Eddington and Sir James Jeans, with some highly technical and not readily intelligible assistance from Professor Whitehead, have enabled the lion to lie down with the lamb. Well, I have no wish to pipe a discordant note in this scene of Messianic harmony. But I cannot help reflecting that psychology, anthropology, and psychical research have made considerable advances as well as mathematical physics; and that they seem prima facie much more likely to be relevant to religion. Even the ordinary common sense of the lawyer and the historian may still have something useful to say on such topics. So, at the risk of being thought a profane disturber of the peace, I propose to raise once more the old questions, a... Free Essays on The Present Reslations Of Science And Religion Free Essays on The Present Reslations Of Science And Religion The Present Relations of Science and Religion C. D. Broad Published Philosophy 14 (1939): 131-54. Reprinted in Religion, Philosophy and Psychic Research (London: Routledge, 1953). Fifty or sixty years ago anyone fluttering the pages of one of the the many magazines which then catered for the cultivated and intelligent English reader would have been fairly certain to come upon an article bearing somewhat the same title as that of the present paper. The author would probably be an eminent scientist, such as Huxley or Clifford; a distinguished scholar, such as Frederic Harrison or Edmund Gurney; or a politician of cabinet rank, such as Gladstone or Morley. Whichever side he might take, he would write with the moral fervour of which Englishmen at that time had an inexhaustible supply. Nowadays the so-called 'conflict between Religion and Science', which was then appetizingly hot from the oven, has acquired something of the repulsiveness of half-cold mutton in half-congealed gravy. There seems to be a widespread opinion that Sir Arthur Eddington and Sir James Jeans, with some highly technical and not readily intelligible assistance from Professor Whitehead, have enabled the lion to lie down with the lamb. Well, I have no wish to pipe a discordant note in this scene of Messianic harmony. But I cannot help reflecting that psychology, anthropology, and psychical research have made considerable advances as well as mathematical physics; and that they seem prima facie much more likely to be relevant to religion. Even the ordinary common sense of the lawyer and the historian may still have something useful to say on such topics. So, at the risk of being thought a profane disturber of the peace, I propose to raise once more the old questions, a...

Managing Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Finance - Essay Example All costs involved in the manufacture of goods needs to be captured by the costing system adopted by a company. The method of such cost capturing depends on the manufacturer’s industry, and the type(s) of products manufactured. The two major methods of costing are (a) Process Costing, and (b) Job Costing (Martin, 2009?). Process costing is the normal method of capturing the cost in most manufacturing industries especially when the products are produced in large numbers using a sequence of repetitive operations. Typically, the products are usually identical and can not be segregated. Under this method, the cost of product is known at the end of any particular manufacturing operation. The cost of each process (or department) is captured using one of the costing techniques. The direct cost attributable to the product is calculated by department, and indirect costs are allocated to the products. Industries typically include textiles, coal, cigarettes, shoes, gasoline, steel, glass, automobiles, gas, water, electricity, etc. Job costing is used for industries where manufacturing takes place against a specific order. This method is useful for tracking the costs of unique products, which are usually manufactured to a specific order. In this costing process, costs are accumulated by jobs, lots, or batches. Industries that use this costing method include shipbuilding, construction projects, large contracts, job printing, etc. Absorption costing is also known as Full Costing. Under this system, all direct manufacturing costs, and all manufacturing overheads (including fixed and variable overheads) are allocated to the products. This costing concept is recommended for external reporting as per Accounting Standards Committee (SSAP 9). The limitation of this system is that the product costs can not be used for internal decision making as they would tend to

Trifles vs Ajury of her peers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Trifles vs Ajury of her peers - Essay Example â€Å"A Jury and Her Peers† on the other hand gives a lot of focus on the characters in the story compared to the objects. It has focused greatly focuses on Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hales character( Gainor, 243 ). The story gives a lot of description that gives the reader deeper access into the minds of the character which would be hard to get by just watching the characters on stage. As such, the readers are able to focus more on the characters in the short stories and not object like in the play. Despite the fact that the male characters have been given less focus in the play and the story, we can see that the story gives greater depth in developing the male characters. This could be attributed to the narrative nature of a story where Susan describes the character in the short story in greater details opening the imagination of the reader (Gainor, 238). The reader also gets to know more about the male characters by reading the short stories compared to watching them act on stage in the

Programming languages Comparison and History Research Paper

Programming languages Comparison and History - Research Paper Example A software program either working on high dimensional vector spaces (finding Eigen vectors) or any kind of information system like airline reservation system, parcel tracking system, bar code reader, point of sale system etc. , the objective is simple â€Å"hiding the complexity†. Different approaches have been taken into account for â€Å"hiding the complexity†, i.e. abstraction on theoretical bases. These different approaches are based upon the need and view point of the analyst i.e. how he looks upon the system. Programming languages basically belong to these approaches or view points to solve the hidden problem or effectively hiding the complexity. In contrast to comparison of programming languages it is more appropriate to compare the programming paradigm. Programming paradigms include procedural languages includes c, pascal etc, object oriented programming languages C++, Java etc and scripting languages includes Python, Perl, Tcl, etc. ... ely with the hardware; however the high level programming languages are more towards application oriented and more focused to build high level application without going into details of Hardware issues. Low level languages plays significant role while developing applications running in a closer contact with the machine and need more freedom, more power, more efficiency, and absolutely direct contact with Hardware, which of course contributed into performance betterment. Indeed, working over low level languages like machine language or assemble demands a higher level of expertise and not every programmer (of high level language) guarantee to write good code on such languages. In contrast to low level languages, high level languages are friendlier to use, they provide several machine security measures, frameworks, GUI builders etc to facilitate a programmer to only concentrate over application development issues rather than got stuck into Hardware management issues. High level languages are easy to use and almost the first choice for the scientific development since the last two decades (Bebo, 1989). In the rest of the paper, only high level languages will be discussed in details and there will be no discussion over Low and High level languages. In the following section, a summary of some major paradigms (within high level languages) is presented with some of their specific features: 1. Procedural Languages 2. Object Oriented Languages 3. Scripting Languages 4. Parallel Languages 1.2 PROCEDURAL LANGUAGES Procedural languages are commonly speaking those languages which only work upon procedural approach. This is basically the way of thinking that makes any program a procedural code. No matter which powerful platform is being used, and whatever strong object oriented

Capitalization requirement and efficiency Essay

Capitalization requirement and efficiency - Essay Example This issue is highlighted in the study of Ahmed et al. (2001) where it is noted that ‘Islamic banks perform both commercial and investment banking services but do not establish firewalls to separate these two services legally, financially, and managerially’ (Ahmed et al., 2001, p.169); in accordance with the above researchers the effectiveness of Islamic banks could be increased if their activities were appropriately categorized and distributed among different organizational departments. On the other hand, Chong et al. (2009, 125) state that the most important characteristic of traditional Islamic banking is the Profit and Loss Share scheme – in Islamic banks there is no interest on transactions, a fact that differentiates these banks from Conventional ones; the daily functions of Islamic banks have to be aligned accordingly. Through the study of Chong et al. (2009) it has been also proved that the use of PLS scheme in Islamic banks worldwide has been limited under the influence of the Conventional-banks practice of offering interest on investments and transactions; through this way, it is proposed by Chong et al. (2009) that the rules regulating the activities of Islamic banks worldwide would be changed and introduce similar principles with those applied on Conventional banks. The need for update of the existing operational principles of Islamic banks has been highlighted by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions; the abo ve organization has proposed the development of ‘accounting standards for Islamic investment vehicles and the conduction of related training and publicity’ (Pomeranz, 1997, p.123); in other words, the weaknesses of the current Islamic banking system are recognized; however, it is noted that the improvement of Islamic banking system should be developed independently from the Conventional banking, i.e. through the establishment of principles and practices that they will

Data Sharing between Airlines and International Airlines for Case Study

Data Sharing between Airlines and International Airlines for Scheduling Purposes - Case Study Example s like distance, choice of aircraft, operating speed, night curfews, taxi-times and prevailing winds are considered during allocation of schedule times. From the above explanations, it can be concluded that data sharing is of high significance in the planning for delays. Since factors that affect arrival time are taken into consideration, it results in the development of a realistic schedule and the final effect of this is on-time performance. The main limitation to achieving effectives from data sharing is that in many cases, flights leaving at their designated times arrive after the scheduled arrival time and this has the potential of creating reactionary delays. A limitation imposed on data sharing is on the period of time that airlines can store this data (Strauss, 2010). Passenger name record (PNR) and the codeshare agreement Apart from sharing data for purposes of scheduling, airlines can also share passenger informationlikepassenger name record (PNR). In the past, terrorists h ave used airplanes as weapons against target places or nations. It has also threatened the prosperity of this important business. The main importance of sharing PNRis the deterrence of terrorist travel because it keeps known terrorists of airplanes. However, this can intrude into the privacy of the passengers due to the exchange sensitive information and could also result in the discriminate use of the data. The limitation of this is the inability to deter unpopular or unknown terrorists. The data can only be held for 30 days (The House Committee on Homeland Security, 2011). Codeshare agreement is another important element of cooperation between airlines. Under codeshare, two airlines share the same flight. For example, a seat can be purchased on one airline but a cooperating airline... This essay stresses that the strengths of American Airlines include the size of the fleet, the number of routes, partnerships, the IT infrastructure, and government relations. These strengths can be harnessed and data sharing between the airline and the other airlines made efficient and effective. An important strength in this case is the IT infrastructure. The company can venture into strengthening and innovation of an IT infrastructure that can assist effective and efficient data sharing between the airline and international airline for the scheduling purposes. Partnership can also assist the airline and international airlines to share data effectively. Partnerships will make it easy for the airline companies to share data effectively and make the scheduling of flights easier. This paper makes a conclusion that American Airlines should engage in data sharing for the purposes of scheduling flights. The company has many unprofitable routes and data sharing will assist the company is reducing these unprofitable routes. Partnership with the Asian Airlines is a great opportunity for the company to schedule its flights internationally and in particular within the Asian region. The partnership will offer a great chance for data sharing. From the SWOT analysis of American Airlines, it is evident there are many chances for data sharing between the airline and international airlines; data sharing will assist American Airlines to schedule flights and avoid any inconveniences that may arise due to partial or full absence of data sharing.

Capitalization requirement and efficiency Essay

Capitalization requirement and efficiency - Essay Example This issue is highlighted in the study of Ahmed et al. (2001) where it is noted that ‘Islamic banks perform both commercial and investment banking services but do not establish firewalls to separate these two services legally, financially, and managerially’ (Ahmed et al., 2001, p.169); in accordance with the above researchers the effectiveness of Islamic banks could be increased if their activities were appropriately categorized and distributed among different organizational departments. On the other hand, Chong et al. (2009, 125) state that the most important characteristic of traditional Islamic banking is the Profit and Loss Share scheme – in Islamic banks there is no interest on transactions, a fact that differentiates these banks from Conventional ones; the daily functions of Islamic banks have to be aligned accordingly. Through the study of Chong et al. (2009) it has been also proved that the use of PLS scheme in Islamic banks worldwide has been limited under the influence of the Conventional-banks practice of offering interest on investments and transactions; through this way, it is proposed by Chong et al. (2009) that the rules regulating the activities of Islamic banks worldwide would be changed and introduce similar principles with those applied on Conventional banks. The need for update of the existing operational principles of Islamic banks has been highlighted by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions; the abo ve organization has proposed the development of ‘accounting standards for Islamic investment vehicles and the conduction of related training and publicity’ (Pomeranz, 1997, p.123); in other words, the weaknesses of the current Islamic banking system are recognized; however, it is noted that the improvement of Islamic banking system should be developed independently from the Conventional banking, i.e. through the establishment of principles and practices that they will

Diversity of Islamic ruling in the Practice of Islamic Finance Essay

Diversity of Islamic ruling in the Practice of Islamic Finance Industry - Essay Example Comparative Analysis on the Sources of Islamic Sharia The Islamic law governs the religious sector, the social aspects, and also the financial as well as economic aspects of the Muslim society. The Sharia is wide and was made on the basis of the life of Prophet Mohammed by the Muslim scholars. The Islamic law influences the legal code in the Muslim communities. This is a set of laws and also regulations that are put to rule the Islamic countries. The sharia law applies in the areas like custody, the personal status including marriages and divorces, inheritances, and the economy of the Islamic society (Letha 2011). The word sharia further means ‘path’ in the Islamic community. It means the set guidelines that rule all the areas of a Muslim individual. This includes the daily routine of an individual, the religious sector, and also the financial aspects of the Muslim society. The laws are from the life experiences and lessons, teachings, and practices of the prophet Mohammed. The past and the current Muslim community apply th ese precedents and the analogy from the book to address issues that affect the Islamic society (Johnson & Vriens 2011). The law developed from the prophet who acted as a role model for the Muslim community. The Muslim scholars developed also the ‘hadith.’ This sharia law is currently used by the population in the north and west parts of Africa and also on the eastern parts of china (Johnson & Vriens 2011).... The sharia law applies in the areas like custody, the personal status including marriages and divorces, inheritances, and the economy of the Islamic society (Letha 2011). The word sharia further means ‘path’ in the Islamic community. It means the set guidelines that rule all the areas of a Muslim individual. This includes the daily routine of an individual, the religious sector, and also the financial aspects of the Muslim society. The laws are from the life experiences and lessons, teachings, and practices of the prophet Mohammed. The past and the current Muslim community apply these precedents and the analogy from the book to address issues that affect the Islamic society (Johnson & Vriens 2011). The law developed from the prophet who acted as a role model for the Muslim community. The Muslim scholars developed also the ‘hadith.’ This sharia law is currently used by the population in the north and west parts of Africa and also on the eastern parts of china (Johnson & Vriens 2011). The Quran contains a compilation of the life and the practices of prophet Mohammed. Islamic law is also referred to as the Sharia in the Arabic and in the Muslim community. It is regarded as a deep and also a rich form of intellectual tradition. The Islamic law is replete with well-developing schools of thought. The tradition encompasses scholarly tomes and detail analysis with principles, texts, and other proofs. The Islamic jurisprudence in Arabic is fiqh, from understanding. It signifies the efforts of legal specialists to interpret the Sharia and apply it to particular human circumstances. A train expiry in jurisprudence is referred to as a faqih and is often when addressing the faqih it goes with the honorific

Education Algebra Essay Example for Free

Education Algebra Essay Coming into mathematics for elementary educators with my classmates, everyone had some type notion of what this course consists of. For most people math is a very hard and complex subject that requires complicated rules that a person would never use again. A person who has not been exposed to math would say math is just numbers, shapes, and some simple arithmetic. To a serious math student, math encompasses much more than just numbers and geometrical shapes, of course. During math 213 I bought into many misconceptions about math. During Week one I learned about no child left behind act and the pro’s and con’s that are associated with this act. We reviewed the order of operations and learned different meanings to some math terminology. The most exciting teaching strategy I learned in week one was called the pinch card. The pinch card allows the teacher to observe the students, while the students pinch different signs when learning the order of operation. It is a piece of paper that consists of the addiction, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponent, and parentheses symbol. Week two we discuss union, intersection, complement, different properties, commutative, associative, and identity. I learned how to use manipulative to teach different teaching strategy while teaching decimals. I found it difficult to understand some questions off the math homework during week two which help me comprehend how students will feel. Math is not hard for me to understand but I realize I have to stay super focus while in math class or I will get lose easily with the different numbers. Math is not a hard subject and many times I made it harder by not using the problem solving steps which are, explore problem, plan, solve, examine, which are very helpful when understood . My philosophy toward teaching math is to look at math from a logical standpoint instead of trying to figure it out; you will see that logically everything will fall into place. I am not a math teacher however, there is one thing I wish all math teachers would focus more on and that is teaching students to view math logically. While it is very important to know how to work, a problem out it is also equally important for students to learn to look at the problem from a logical standpoint. Math in class 213 made perfect sense and when I looked at math from a logical standpoint along with problem solving techniques I discover it is much easier. Common sense goes a long way when dealing with math problems. I also learned that you will need and use math everyday of your life for the rest of your life. Depending on what you do professionally will determine what form of math you use on a regular basis but rest assured everyone on Gods green earth will use some form of math in their everyday life. Taking this math course made me think about becoming a math teacher. Without math, you cannot check your pay stub to make sure your employer is paying you correctly, pulling out the correct amount for deductibles or that you arent paying in to much for insurance or anything else. Without math, you will not be able to budget your income and expenses for the week or the month. Without math, you will have Math is important for our future and it is an important aspect in most jobs. Warehouse workers many times have to take and pass a math test before being hired for job positions. Mechanics use math everyday whether they are pricing parts and adjusting bills or figuring out exact calculations in order to do a job correctly. Construction workers use math to make calculations before beginning and during construction. I have not worked in or heard of a job yet that didnt involve math at some point even if you work at McDonald’s you have to know math to count the money and give the corrected change. Most often, we use basic math skills without even thinking about it. How sad it would be if we didnt have those basic skills. Math skills are very important when planning for our financial future and during our everyday life. Without math, you wouldnt be able to balance your checkbook or many other everyday tasks that are normally taken for granted.

Approaches to Motivation at Work

Approaches to Motivation at Work Motivation is a general term used to describe the process of starting, directing, and maintaining physical and psychological activities. The word motivation comes from the Latin movere to move. It is also an internal state of being, or an internal condition that activates ones behaviour, giving it direction. Motivation is to encourage people to work, individually or in groups in the ways such as to produce best results. It is the will to act and the willingness to exert high levels of effort towards organizational goals, conditioned by the efforts and ability to satisfy some individual need. The managements important task is to motivate others. It comprises the abilities to communicate, to set an example, to challenge, to encourage, obtaining feedback, to involve, to delegate, to develop and train, to inform, to brief and to provide a just reward. There are mainly two kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is internal it occurs when people are bound to do something out of satisfaction, significance or need. Extrinsic motivation occurs when external factors make the person to do something. A work place is the most common place where we can apply need of motivation. Motivation also plays a key role in leadership success at work place. Motivation propels life it plays a major role in nearly everything we do without motivation we would simply not care about outcomes means, accomplishment, education, success, failure, employment etc. Motivation is our group topic and we have covered many sub topics in motivation like Meaning of motivation, Maslow hierarchy of needs theory, Approaches to motivation and influences of motivation, Alderfers modified need hierarchy model, Equity theory of motivation, Vrooms expectancy theory, Herzbergs motivation -hygiene theory. And as a member of group I have covered the topic Approaches to motivation and influences of motivation. APPROACHES TO MOTIVATION AT WORK AND INFLUENCES OF MOTIVATION There are number of different approaches to work motivation, most of which can be broken into either content theories or process theories. Content theories focus on what motivates people to perform and are concerned with identifying the different rewards that people seek in their work. Process theories focus on how rewards control behaviour. These theories are concerned with the dynamics or process aspects of work motivation. The content theory of motivation mainly focuses on the internal factors that energize and direct human behaviour. Maslows hierarchy of needs, Alderfers ERG theory, Herzbergs motivator-hygiene theory (Herzbergs dual factors theory) and McClellands learned needs or three needs theory are some of the major content theories. The most famous content theory is Abraham Maslows hierarchy of human needs. Maslow introduced five levels of basic needs through his theory. Basic needs are categorized as physiological needs, safety and security needs, needs of love, needs for self esteem and needs for self-actualization. Just like Maslows hierarchy of needs, ERG theory explains existence, relatedness, and growth needs. Through dual factors theory, Herzberg describes certain factors in the workplace which result in job satisfaction. McClellands learned needs or three needs theory uses a projective technique called the Thematic Aptitude Test so as to evaluate people based on three needs; power, achievement and affiliation. People with high need of power take action in a way that influences the others behaviour. Process theory is one more type of motivation theory. Process theories of motivation provide an opportunity to understand though processes that influence behaviour. The major process theories of motivation include Adams equity theory, Vrooms expectancy theory, goal setting theory, and reinforcement theory .Goal setting theory suggests that the individuals are motivated to reach set goals. It also requires that the set goals should be specific. Reinforcement theory is concerned with controlling behaviour my manipulating its consequences. There are four different types of approaches to motivation. Economic needs motivation. Social concept of motivation. Self-actualization needs. Complex man concept of motivation. ECONOMIC NEEDS MOTIVATION According to Taylor man is a rational economic animal with maximising his economic gain. Taylor had a simple view about what motivated people at work is money and no other factor motivate as much as money motivate people. In this approach man form of motivation is high wages. In short, the more money you offer the worker, the more motivated they will be to work. And the weakness in this approach is money is an important motivation at work for many people, it isnt for everyone. Taylor overlooked the fact that people work for many reasons other than financial reward. SOCIAL CONCEPT OF MOTIVATION In this type of motivation approach people are believed to be motivated by human needs and achieve their satisfaction through social groups with whom they interact. Encouraging team building, providing supportive practices, and permitting co-workers the opportunity to interact socially on the job, Also people are motivated by giving day off or special bonuses on religious or family festival. By doing this people are more motivate and encouraged to do his best possible thing for the work assigned to them. Difficult to participate and connect with the group cause elevation of turnover of people resulting into lowering of moral, psychological fatigue, reduced levels of performance, SELF-ACTUALIZATION NEEDS According to Maslow: desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything one is capable of becoming It is about the question of reaching ones full potential as a person unlike lower level needs, this need is never fully satisfied as one grows psychologically there are always new opportunities to continue to grow. Organizations can help employees satisfy self actualization needs by encouraging creativity, allowing risk taking decision making and supporting workers in their efforts to develop their skills. Self actualized individuals are often motivated by a strong sense of personal ethics and responsibility. They enjoy solving real world problems and are often concerned with helping other people improve their own life. Also self actualized persons have frequent occurrences of peak experiences, which are energized moments of profound happiness and harmony. According to Maslow only a small percentage of the population reaches the level of self actualization. COMPLEX MAN CONCEPT OF MOTIVATION In this type of motivation approach people are unique, different and their approaches also vary. Complex man is based on the fact that people are variable, they change the ways they seek fulfilment, respond in a variety of ways. There are large numbers of variables which influence organizational performance. It is not limited to social or monetary rewards. In this type of approach sometimes people are motivated by verbal acknowledgement and sometimes people are not satisfied by promoting to higher post. CONCLUSION An understanding of motivation approaches theories can help mangers increase employee performance. Employees generally fall into two types: self motivated, and those that require external motivation to stay motivated. Self motivated employees tend to exhibit good performance even if they are never provided with much external motivation, but their performance increases still more if they are provided with that motivation. Employees that do require external motivation certainly improve in performance when skilfully motivated. Highly motivated employees are highly productive employees and they are superior. Last but not least I would like to tell something about my group we are in group 9 including 6 people. We were divided in a group by college authority we were aware about each other but not so familiar. Initially when we were formed in a group all were working with their own method which resulted into conflict between team members. Due to more interventions of each other we appointed one person as a group leader. Now all the conflicts are settled and all members resist the task with full cooperation. We all have work very hard as team members to give our best and make this topic interesting. All have dedicated their time from busy schedule and gather at one place to prepare for the topic. As a group the level of motivation was very high as our group leader have worked very hard to coordinate with each team member and execute the order to be in the loop with each other so we can solve our difficulty by consulting each other. All team members were very cooperative and dedicative which resulted into good quality of work.

Economies of Scale Essay -- Economics Economy Essays

Economies of Scale Economics Test 1. Define and explain all Internal Economies of Scale:  · Internal Economies of Scale:Are reductions in long-run average cost as the size and output of a firm increases. In other words, they are advantages that large firms have because they are large. As they grow larger in the long-run they manage to raise their output faster than the rise in their total costs. The result is lower long-run average cost. - Marketing economies- Both in buying materials and selling its finished goods a large firm is n a better position than a smaller one. In buying the products it needs, the large firm often pays less for raw materials, machinery and so on because suppliers are sure they are going to get large orders and do not want to lose a big customer. E.g. A producer of shoelaces will sell its products for à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤1 per packet to Nike because it has an order of 1000 packets per week. But for Adidas it will sell them à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤2 because it has only an order of 100 packets per week. So Nike has a lower cost per packet compare to Adidas. In selling its products, Nike can afford to pay for expensive and professionally made advertisements or employ specialist salesmen much easier than Adidas. The large total cost of advertising can be spread over a large output that is sold. Therefore, the average cost of advertising will be low. - Financial economies- If Nike is going to borrow money because it is a well known firm, it is considered more reliable, and less risky is easier to borrow than Adidas. So Nike can borrow a large amount of money with a lower interest rate compared to Adidas. E.g. If Nike borrows à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤1, 000000 it will pay an 8% interest rate while if Adidas borrows à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤1,000 it wil... ...At OQ the firm is enjoying Internal Economies of Scale and its average cost falls. Beyond this point, further growth would make the firm less efficient. Instead of producing with a low average cost, extra production would cause the average cost of each unit of output to rise. 8. Why do small firms still exist? - New firms - Firms do not start large. In other words. Many firms are small because they are new. Those that will be successful are expected to become large over the years. - Desire to remain in control- Sometimes owners of small firms may not want the firm to grow too large in case they lose personal control. - Lack of Finance- Small firms find it difficult to expand because they cannot raise finance. Large companies have huge retained profits and also can sell shares to the general public. Small firms can neither of these.

The Relationship Between Culture and Technology Essay -- Environment E

The Relationship Between Culture and Technology The relationship between technology and culture is cyclical. Logically, a culture will develop technologies based on the needs or desires of the people, because this is where the creative influences lie. As this technology spreads and is absorbed into the people’s lives, it affects their culture and way of life. This change in lifestyle can also occur when a technology developed outside a culture is introduced into the culture, providing an external influence. As Paul Ehrlich explains, there are technological evolutions and associated cultural evolutions, and they do not necessarily occur concurrently. Ehrlich [believes] that, in our modern era, technology is evolving faster than culture, and a major cultural evolution needs to occur to be able to deal with modern technology properly. (NPR, Ehrlich) Throughout history, though, there have also been cultural evolutions that lead to the creation and evolution of technology; hence, the cycle. History often makes it evident that when people desire something that another culture has, they show little hesitation in taking it. In many cases, trade has taken the place of blatant theft and warfare, but there are always exceptions. As technologies evolved and spread to different parts of the world, the interdependence between peoples increased. At this point there are few self-sustaining societies. (Even our interdependent societies are not permanently sustainable on our Earth). This limitation of resources leads to need, which in turn may lead to warfare. It is true that the civilized, even moral – if morality can be an argument in this politically correct world – approach involves trade and does not involve senseless killing. And... ... up world, and how could it be worth having' -Sting, All This Time    Sources Chant, Colin, "Chapter 2: Greece" in "Pre-industrial Cities and Technology," Routledge Press, 1999, pp. 48-80. Econ.: Introductory Economics, taught by Prof. Amanda Bayer at State College, Fall 2001. Ehrlich, Paul R., "Ch.11: Gods, Dive-Bombers, and Bureaucracy" in "Human Natures: Genes Cultures, and the Human Prospect" Island Press, 2000, pp. 253-279. Ehrlich takes the Pope Urban II quote from â€Å"Burns, 1963, p. 358† NPR interview with author Paul Ehrlich on his book "Human Natures, Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect" from October 27, 2000. Teresi, Dick, "Lost Discoveries: The ancient roots of modern science", Simon and Schuster, 2002, ISBN 0-684-83718-8, pp. 325-367. *****I can’t find this source†¦ Ehrlich pulls the Pope Urban II quote from â€Å"Burns, 1963, p. 358†

Essay on Mission, Vision and Strategy

Mission, Vision, Values & Goals David Grusenmeyer Sr. Extension Associate, PRO-DAIRY Introduction Teams and team building efforts are popular buzzwords in today’s work environment. Bringing individuals together in the workplace and getting them to work together as an effective team is a challenge. The sports team analogy is often sighted and sought after in the workplace, but seldom achieved. What is it about successful sports teams that make them function so well as teams? Several observations stand out: 1.The coaches or captains are successful at establishing the same vision in the mind of each team member; that at the end of the season they will be #1 in their league, city, state, or nation. 2. All members share a common team mission or goal; to win each and every game they play. 3. There’s an opponent, or a goal to be bested, and everyone knows clearly who or what it is. 4. Each player has a personal mission and goals that mesh with or complement those of the team; to perform their part of each play during the game to the best of their ability. 5.Each team member knows their position and how their individual efforts contribute to the team’s success. They also know their teammates depend on them. Business owners/managers will experience success in team building and success in their business to the extent they: 1. Have clearly defined organizational mission, vision, values and goals. 2. Clearly articulate the mission, vision, values and goals to everyone involved with the business. 3. Mesh the business’s mission, vision, values and goals tightly into those of each individual so that in achieving individual goals and visions, business goals and visions are also achieved.Think about your business. Is there a clearly identified vision of where the farm is headed? How will the business look or operate in one, two, five or ten years? If you don’t know where you’re going any road will take you there. And, if you can’ t clearly describe where you’re headed how can you expect your family members, employees, or agri-service professionals to help you get there? Do you have a clearly defined mission? Why is your farm in business? What do you hope to achieve? Does everyone on the farm ? family, employees, and agri-service representatives ? know what that mission is?Do they see your commitment to it everyday? Have they accepted the mission as important to them? Does each individual know how their efforts contribute to the mission? 1 Are there specific goals and objectives? Does everyone accept these goals and see how achieving farm goals will help them achieve their own personal goals? Are the goals and objectives translated into work performance standards and expectations for each employee? These are not easy questions, but as we increasingly depend on the talents and efforts of others to make our farm successful, answering them affirmatively becomes ever more important.Core Values Even though we frequently talk about mission and vision first, the basic underlying foundation for both are our core values. Core values are the principles and standards at the very center of our character, and from which we will not budge or stray. Core values are extremely stable and change only very slowly over long periods of time. Core values form the basis for our beliefs about life, ourselves and those around us, and the human potential of ourselves and others. Values and beliefs form our attitudes and guide our behavior.The behaviors we engage in are what people around us see, along with our skills and actions. Our outer or public shell of behaviors and skills can change rapidly and dramatically through our lives, influenced by our environment and guided by our more stable core values and beliefs. 2 For some people identifying and communicating personal core values can be a difficult task. Core values are so close to the center of who we are that they tend to be very protected and not s hared with others until a personal relationship has been established.The fact that these values are so central to what’s important to us individually, makes it all the more important to think about them first as a basis for establishing sound and meaningful mission, vision and goals in both our life and business. Once the values of an individual or organization are identified, it’s frequently useful to rank them from more to less important. Then when questions come up later where one value must be traded off against another the decision will be easier to make and communicate. For example, say the core values of a farm business are efficiency, family, safety and respect for others.If a question comes up about implementing a practice that will improve operational efficiency but may compromise the health and safety of employees, knowing the relative importance of efficiency versus safety will help guide the decision. If an employee’s child is hospitalized are they expected to be at the farm for their shift regardless, or with their child in the hospital? Knowing the relative importance of family versus operational efficiency will help answer that question. It won’t necessarily make these decisions easy or totally objective but it will bring some guidance and consistency to the decision making process.In the high stakes game of professional football Tom Landry coached the Dallas Cowboys for years. Win or loose he always maintained a cool, calm, stoic presence on the sideline. A reporter once asked him how he was able to maintain such a calm focus with all the pressures. Coach Landry replied it’s easy because I have my priorities straight. First is my God, second my wife, third my family and fourth is football, so if I loose on the weekend I have lots of more important things to support me through the week. Defining your core values first will help you get your priorities in order.Mission A personal mission or a farm business miss ion statement deals with questions like, â€Å"Why are we here? †, â€Å"Why do we exist? †, â€Å"Why do we get up each day and do what we do? †, â€Å"What is it that we get paid for? † â€Å"What function does the organization perform? For whom? How? † The mission is a broad statement of personal or business scope, purpose and operation that distinguishes me, or my farm, from others. A farm business cannot have values, beliefs or a mission outside of the people who makeup that business.Therefore, especially for small closely held businesses, it’s important that each principle in the business write their own personal mission statement first, then come together as a group or team to develop a mission statement for the business. 3 A farm business mission statement reflects the core values and beliefs of the individuals who lead the business. To the extent there are large differences between a farm mission and a personal mission, or between f arm business values and personal core values, there will be discord and friction for that individual within the business.Weather you’re an owner, an employee or a consultant, one way to help assure happiness and fulfillment at work is to be certain your values and mission are in alignment with those of the business. People have been known to become physically ill from the stress of working in a business where their core values were at odds with the values and ethics practiced in the business In addition to giving structure and direction to an individual or business, well-written mission statements are excellent tools to inform others about what’s important to you and how you operate your business.Example mission statement 1: â€Å"Our priorities are God, family (people), business. Our goal is to be a place where people (our most valuable asset) have the opportunity to grow spiritually, personally, intellectually, and financially. Through putting God first and people s econd, our success as individuals and as a business is guaranteed. † Example mission statement 2: â€Å"To produce large quantities of high-quality milk as economically as possible, in order to provide an adequate standard of living for both owners and employees. These two mission statements communicate very different notions about what’s important on these two farms and also give some indication that day-to-day business may be conducted differently as a result. Any mission statement that concisely represents truth and reality about the individual or the farm is a good mission statement. Likewise, any statement that doesn’t honestly and accurately represent the values and beliefs of the individual or the farm is a poor mission statement, regardless of what is says or how good it sounds.If excellence is a stated value or the pursuit of excellence a stated mission, yet average, industry standard, or legal requirement is â€Å"good enough†, then what is the real commitment to excellence? Do they really â€Å"live† their stated mission? Mission statements serve to inform employees, friends, neighbors, and agribusiness people about what’s important to you and your business. They also serve as anchors and guideposts for both strategic and operational or tactical decision making on the farm. Vision While a mission is a statement of what is, a vision is a statement of what or how you would like things to be.A picture of the future you’re working to create, what you want to be when you grow up, what you want your business to become. 4 Without a vision of where you’re going how can you develop a plan to get there and how will you know when you’ve arrived? Without a vision of where we would like to be, we can continue hiking various trails through life, climbing mountain after mountain, only to discover each time that we’ve arrived somewhere we really don’t want to be. Nothing was ever created w ithout a vision. It guides us, gives us direction and purpose, and can serve as a powerful motivator for those around us and ourselves.In order to truly guide and motivate a vision must: 1. Be aligned with the core values of both the individuals and the farm business. and 2. Be effectively communicated to and accepted by everyone involved in the farm. The more precise and detailed you can be in writing a description of your vision of the future, the easier it will be to communicate it to others and gain their commitment to it, and the more likely you will be to achieve it. Being able to articulate a clear vision of the future is essential if you expect employees and agri-service consultants to help you get there.Success comes through bringing aboard people ? as partners, employees or consultants ? with core values that fit well with the business, and who understand and accept the business mission and vision as matching closely with their own. Developing visions and missions that are truly shared takes time, effort, energy and commitment. You can’t expect that just because you develop mission and vision statements, read them at a staff meeting and even hand them out in printed form, that everyone will immediately accept and work toward achieving them.You need to walk the talk and be totally committed to them yourself first, and then discuss them with your employees and consultants at least eight or ten times before they will believe you’re really serious and begin to internalize these statements. Goals & Objectives Mission and vision, although frequently short statements, are broad, encompassing and far-reaching. They can often seem overwhelming and perhaps even impossible to achieve. The metaphors, â€Å"How do you eat an elephant? – One bite at a time† and â€Å"A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step†, fit well in regard to achieving a mission and vision.Goals and objectives create the bite size pieces, the road map and manageable stepping stones to achieve the mission, make the vision a reality, and navigate the course we have set for our business, or for ourselves. 5 Reading the business literature is confusing as to what’s a goal and what’s an objective, they’re used interchangeably from one business author to another. The education literature however is consistent and specific. Goals are the bigger fuzzy things and objectives are the small: – S pecific – M easurable – A ttainable – R ewarding – T imed steps through which we achieve our goals.It doesn’t really matter what we call them as long as we keep in mind the principle of, â€Å"start small and break it down to minuscule† in terms of identifying the steps that will move us in the direction we want to go. While it’s possible to get bogged down in minutiae, the reality is, few people error on the side of too much detail when it comes to writing goals a nd objectives. More often than not employees are confused and frustrated by a lack of detail. To be effective goals and objectives must be written. If they aren’t in writing they’re merely ideas with no real power or conviction behind them.Written goals and objectives provide motivation to achieve them and can then be used as a reminder to you and others. Clearly and specifically written, they also eliminate confusion and misunderstanding. Among all the attributes of a well-written objective, the most important are measurable results and a timeframe for completion. Being able to quantify results and evaluate the timeliness of accomplishing goals allows owners or managers to assess the performance and progress of the overall business as well as individuals and teams within the business.Having well developed goals and objectives also helps: Maintain focus and perspective Establish priorities Lead to greater job satisfaction Improve employee performance. Researchers study ing the effects of goals as part of a company’s overall performance management process found that the level of performance is highest when: Goals are clearly stated and contain specific objectives Goals are challenging but not unreasonable Employees accept their goals with a true sense of ownership Employees participate in setting and reviewing their goals.As time goes on and goals are achieved, or conditions and situations change, it’s important to reevaluate and establish new goals and objectives. Failure to periodically 6 set new or more challenging goals can lead to stagnation in the business and boredom among employees. Finally, as goals are achieved or milestones along the way are reached, providing positive feedback and rewards for yourself and employees is critical to maintaining enthusiasm and continued progress. What’s Your Goal Setting Quotient? Yes 1. I work from a comprehensive business plan or a formal long-range strategic plan.My business (team) h as an operational plan that is revised annually. Each of my family members and employees has an individual plan that covers his/her goals for the year. I meet with my family members or employees regularly to review progress toward their goals. I meet with my team regularly to check on progress toward goals. When a goal is set I make sure it’s monitored and doesn’t fall through the cracks. I build my relationships with family members and employees around tasks we mutually identify and pursue. I feel good when I relinquish control and pass responsibility on to others.Business goals are set by all the key people, not just by me. No 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. I praise my family members and employees freely and publicly when they accomplish their goals. A yes to all 10 puts you at the top in management proficiency with regard to goal setting. 7 Summary The following analogy of a group of people carpooling together may help to pull things together. It would be very difficul t for everyone in a carpool to make a decision on whether to turn right, left or go straight at the next intersection if each was headed for a different destination.If they’re all going to the same place, they may have different ideas on which way to turn and exactly how to get to where they’re going. One may like the scenic route, another knows about road construction that should be avoided, a third may want to take a shortcut and arrive early, a fourth may need to run an errand along the way. Since their destination is the same, even though there is diversity in their ideas, they should be able to reach a consensus decision on the route to take based on information provided by each.Likewise in a business it’s difficult or impossible to agree on strategic or even tactical decisions if everyone in the business ? owners, managers, family members, employees ? are not all headed in the same direction, toward the same mission and vision. If a family, a business, or a team doesn’t have a common direction ? mission, vision and core values ? arguments will occur surrounding nearly every decision and agreements may be impossible. Developing shared mission, vision and values is the first step in laying a foundation for making strategic and tactical decisions that will move the business forward.Having them in place won’t eliminate arguments and disagreements, but at least the disagreement will be about how to best get to the same endpoint as opposed to heading in opposite directions. Getting Started Discovering and developing a business’s mission, vision and values is not an easy task. For small and closely held businesses the business mission, vision and values stem from those of the individuals involved, it makes sense that each individual should first identify their personal mission, vision, values and goals and then come together to develop them for the business.The following worksheets are designed to help you work through the process of identifying your personal core values and developing a personal mission statement. Some of them may also be useful in developing your business mission and vision statements. I recommend using all of the worksheet exercises in the sequence in which they appear here. However, these are simply tools to help you through the process so feel free to use any or all of them in whatever sequence you believe will be helpful.The objective is to get you thinking from several different perspectives about what is important to you and what you stand for. 8 Characteristics Survey Below is a list of 20 personal characteristics arranged in alphabetical order. Rank each item according to the importance of that characteristic for YOU. Study the list carefully. Then place a 1 next to the characteristic that is most important for you; place a 2 next to the second most important characteristic, etc. The characteristic that is least important to you, relative to the others, should be ranked 20. Work slowly and think carefully.If you change your mind, feel free to change the ranking. The end results should show how you truly feel. Add characteristics that are important to you but missing from the list. _____Ambitious (hard working, aspiring) _____Broadminded (open-minded, tolerant, accepting) _____Capable (competent, effective) _____Cheerful (lighthearted, joyful, happy) _____Courageous (brave, standing up for your beliefs) _____Dependable (reliable, trustworthy, responsible) _____Forgiving (willing to pardon others) _____Friendly (pleasant, warm, outgoing, good-natured) _____Helpful working for the welfare of others) _____Honest (sincere, truthful) _____Imaginative (daring, creative, original) _____Independent (self-reliant, self-sufficient) _____Intellectual (intelligent, reflective, knowledgeable) _____Logical (consistent, rational, realistic) _____Loving (affectionate, tender) _____Obedient (dutiful, respectful) _____Organized (clean, neat, tidy) _____Polite (courte ous, well-mannered, respectful) _____Self-confident (self-assured, poised, self-aware) _____Self-controlled (restrained, self-disciplined) _____ ____________________________________ 9 Values SurveyBelow is a list of 20 values arranged in alphabetical order. Rank them in order of their importance to YOU as guiding principals in YOUR life. Study the list carefully. Then place a 1 next to the value that is most important for you; place a 2 next to the value that is second most important to you, etc. The value that is least important, relative to the others, should be ranked 20. Work slowly and think carefully. If you change your mind, feel free to change your numbers. The end results should show how you truly feel. Add values that are important to you but missing from the list. ____Achievement (attaining personal and professional goals, accomplishment) _____A comfortable life (a prosperous life, adequate finances) _____Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all, fairness) _____An exciting life (a stimulating, active life) _____Family security (caring for loved ones, being cared for) _____Freedom (independence, free choice, autonomy) _____Happiness (contentedness, fulfillment) _____Inner Harmony (freedom from inner conflict, accord, balance) _____Leaving a legacy (something that endures after you are gone) _____Mature love (sexual and spiritual intimacy) _____National security (protection from attack) _____Pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life) _____Salvation (deliverance from sin, eternal life) _____Self-respect (self-esteem, pride, self-worth) _____A sense of accomplishment (making a lasting contribution) _____Social recognition (respect, admiration, appreciation) _____True friendship (close companionship, love) _____Wisdom (a mature understanding of life, insight, knowledge) _____A world at peace (freedom from war and conflict) _____A world of beauty (beauty of nature and the arts) _____ ______________________________________ 10 What’s Important ? Look back at your ranking of values and personal characteristics. Are there values or personal characteristics that are important to you and are not listed? If so, add them to your list. Now list below, in rank order of importance, your top eight most important values and top eight most important personal characteristics. These are your core values and characteristics that you would not compromise on or stray from regardless of the situation. Values Characteristics 11 My Roles In Life Identify all the roles you play in your life (e. g. aughter, son, student, employee, parent, grandparent, husband, wife, church member, school board member, local charity committee member, etc. ). Then describe the purpose you serve in that role. Why you do it? What’s important about it? Who depends on you? Who benefits? Role Your Purpose In That Role 12 Interacting With People To a great extent getting along in this world means getting along with and interacting with people. List ways that you successfully interact with people. Examples: Advise Teach Encourage Stimulate Help Sell Enthuse Entertain Lead Educate Motivate Study Provide Serve Reassure Manage Love Inspire Plan Excite Support 13 If I Won an Award If I won an award, what would the award be for?What would I want the presenter to say about me? What would my parents, grandparents, spouse, children, siblings be proud to hear about me? 14 What Do I Want In Life ? What do I want people to say about me in 10 years. . . , 20 years. . . , when I die? What do I want to accomplish in my life? What do I want to do (experience) in my life? What do I want to have (posses) in my life? 15 A Perfect World Visualize your perfect world. How does it look? What are people doing? What are people saying? How does it feel? Write a description of this perfect world. Example: My perfect world is a place where people know their destinations and enjoy their life journeys.My perfect world is a world at peace where people are helpful, frien dly and truly care about everyone. My perfect world is a world where I am in close contact with my God, my family, my friends and my environment. My perfect world . . . 16 Personal Mission Statement Combine words and concepts from your values list, characteristics list, roles in your life, interacting with people list, and things you want in life, along with your description of a perfect world, to create your personal mission statement. Example: My life purpose is to use my energy and my people skills to teach and motivate people to know their destination and enjoy their life journey. My life purpose is . . . 17

Act III Scene II Consider the dramatic significance of this episode in the play

As an audience, we can foresee the sinister turn of events which will be marked by the appearance of Don John in the latter part of this scene. Having earlier witnessed the deceitful and slanderous plot conjured up between he and Borachio during their discussion, implementation of the plan seems imminent. And yet the descent from the comedy of Benedick trying to pass off his love-sickness as toothache to the threatened tragedy of Hero's slander is perhaps far more rapid than we might have anticipated. The earlier jovial mockery of Benedick by Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio provides a striking contrast with the underlying malice of the deliberately ambiguous and disparaging remarks from Don John. Yet such ambiguity seduces Claudio and Don Pedro in a remarkably similar way to the double meanings and innuendo which deceived Benedick earlier on. Don John demonstrates an ability to manipulate his language in a successful bid to influence and target the weaknesses of his audience; that is, Claudio and Don Pedro. He has a shrewd understanding of the court and his insinuations about Hero play upon the tensions within it relating to honour and status. Don John opens with a customary courteous greeting before baiting both men with his declaration that he has something of interest to reveal concerning them both: ‘If your leisure served, I would speak with you / yet Count Claudio may hear; for what I would speak of concerns him.' ‘I know not that, when he knows what I know'. With their curiosity secured, Don Pedro conveys a rather convoluted proclamation of regret and remorse for the bad news he is about to impart, ‘You may think I love you not: let that appear hereafter†¦' and when combined with his fallacious self-deprecation, we observe further his dexterity as their sympathy and trust is won. As he continues with his tacit allegations, Don John uses a loose and undefined disparagement ‘disloyal' which would imply a certain reluctance to accuse Hero, yet his following remark; ‘The word is too good to paint out her wickedness' incites the other men to affix their own condemnation of her. A dramatic irony here ensures the audience's perception of this as a further ruse whilst for the seemingly naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve and gullible Claudio and Don John, it makes the hurried offer of immediate visual evidence irresistible; ‘Go but with me tonight, you shall see her chamber-window entered', a crude vaginal symbol is used to further offend the newly enamoured Claudio, who in his youthful inexperience has believed in his betrothed's virginity. Their melodramatic exclamations in response to this, one after another, serve to indicate ironically how they, who tricked Benedick, have been no less suddenly transformed. Claudio asks rhetorically ‘May this be so?' and vows if it is, ‘†¦should not marry her tomorrow in the congregation, where I should wed, there I will shame her'. The marked use of sibilants serves to emphasise his fury, suggesting suspicion and fear to be the other side of Claudio's idealisation and the aggressive denunciation may arise from a personal insecurity urging him to make such a pledge. In Messina sexual relations are complicated by conventions and illusions, Claudio has already tried and found Hero guilty before even witnessing the evidence. Such a rash conviction is reminiscent of his earlier behaviour during the masked ball in Act II Scene I which gave us foresight of Claudio's impulsive and fickle characteristics, a man so easily influenced by the ‘hearsay' from Don John and his own irrationality and mistrust in women. Though it is easy to criticise and condemn Claudio for such tenuous judgements, one must not disregard Messina'a patriarchal society and the sense of superiority to women which regulated masculine loyalties. Such loyalty is evident in Don Pedro, who; when informed of Hero's alleged infidelity, endorses Claudio's vengeance by offering to ‘join with thee to disgrace her'. Such is Don Pedro's influence and arrogance that Claudio offers to accompany his departure from Messina on the wedding day. We must now question Don Pedro's willingness to join Claudio's slandering of Hero which not only seems cowardly but most absurd having himself been the ‘accused' by the same source of indictment – his rebel brother, the bastard Don John. Whilst for an audience of the twenty-first century this continued credulous behaviour might seem somewhat contrived, we must consider that Don John, a melodramatically sketched, stereotypical villain, serves a thematic and narrative function. His role is principally to expose the flaws within others, namely his brother Don Pedro and Claudio and highlight the shared immorality in his companions Conrade and Borachio as well as present themes of slander, noting, jealousy, honour, illusion and reality. Since the major complication of the play arises from Claudio's denunciation of Hero on the basis of Don John's trickery, and in fact therefore ‘nothing' at all, the use of such a villain as a dramatic device is crucial. Whilst only a brief episode in the play; the significance of the latter part of this scene is paramount to future events. The timing of the episode is most significant as Shakespeare distinguishes misunderstanding and misreport from deliberate and malicious deceit. We prepare ourselves for a potentially tragic consequence yet with the benefit of dramatic irony, remain optimistic that as the title suggests, this will again prove to be ‘much ado about nothing'.

Human Resources Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Human Resources Questions - Essay Example Instead of a bell curve, individual performance takes on a â€Å"power-law† – also known as the Paretian distribution wherein there are only few of the best performers can carry out most of the production output and business success (Aguinis; Miller). According to O'Boyle and Aguinis, individual performance should follow a ski jump-shaped Paretian distribution. Since only few employees are responsible for the success of the business, O'Boyle and Aguinis strongly suggest the idea that the modern HR managers should take time to re-evaluate the old strategy used in measuring employee performance (Miller; O'Boyle and Aguinis). In most cases, this can be done by carefully identifying responsible people and compensate them well for their outstanding work performances. A power-law or Paretian distribution is characterized by an â€Å"unstable mean, infinite variance, and a greater number of extreme events† (West and Deering). ... Given that a business organization is very much oriented with regards to each employee’s production output, the company should consider the importance of implementing a pay-for-performance system (McPhie and Sapin). In line with this, the HR manager should be able to tailor its pay-for-performance system based on the company’s desired level of individual work performances. For example, the individual work performance of employee A is represented by â€Å"point A†, therefore, her pay level should be at â€Å"pay A†. Assuming that most employees’ individual work performance is at â€Å"point B†, then, their individual pay level should be at â€Å"pay B†. In case an employee’s individual work performance is at â€Å"point C†, then, her individual pay level should be at â€Å"pay C†, and so on. 2. After a lot of thinking, you decide to take a risk. You quit your job in human resources management after gaining experienc e in life and career planning. You open up your own advisory and coaching practice. Your very first client, Rashid, is a 35 year old engineer who has worked for a construction firm since graduating from college but has discovered, â€Å"I really hate being an engineer now but I am not sure what I want to do. And I know I want more than a job†¦I want a calling and something that really interests me yet I don’t want to waste my skills.†What assessment instruments do you recommend for your very first client, Rashid? Be sure to fully explain why you selected the recommended instruments. The case of Rashid is a good example of a person who does not know what he wants in life. To be able to suggest the type of job suitable for Rashid, the HR manager should be able to assess

Qualitative Study Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Qualitative Study Evaluation - Essay Example The main issue which is discussed by the author is that proper training and preparation is essential for unfamiliar or unexpected teaching assignments. The author used his personal experience in his writing in which he discussed how teachers cope with the situations when they have to teach the subjects in which they are not skilled and qualified properly. The author also investigated how those teachers use their background knowledge and skills. This is a proof of qualitative approach which is done by the author. The author’s action research approach has focused on the effects of action research when the teacher teaches in and out of her fields. In her field means, in which she has a full knowledge while instructing and out of her fields in which her qualification is not applicable as she was given some background knowledge about an action research. There is no different review of the literature. APA style has been used for crediting or reference (Creswell, 2008). Evaluation of the Purpose and Research Questions The author specifies using action research to examine how teachers react, who are asked to instruct out of their fields and how they used their previous knowledge and experience. The main question arises in the mind is that how do that type of teachers prepare their lessons for instruction? The main reason of the research indicates that author is herself a teacher. She has done that action research project with herself and her students are the participants of that research project and the classroom is the foremost site of the research project (Creswell, 2008). Evaluation of Data Collection The author uses several steps of action research for collecting data that are planning, monitoring and reflecting etc. As author was a practicing teacher, the steps to gain assess to the site and students were not listed but would expected be the same steps which are necessary to make qualified in the required field of instructions. The author’s sampling was restricted to the students under her guidance. She did not follow special steps for data sampling; on the contrary she did common methods for data sampling with her students with her students who have their journals for data collection. The data collection does not consist of large scale it only consisted of author herself and her students. For the data collection, she has adopted certain protocols for completing her task like she has taken permission from the guardians of the students and school authorities as well. The data was collected from the four sources that are; her own reflective journal, journals recorded and set aside by the students, consultation from a previous English teacher and the tape recording of the first and last lessons of the studied class period. This is confirmation that from four ways author has collected data which is mentioned above (Dicker, 1990). Evaluation of D

Linear Function Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Linear Function - Essay Example More time you spend on phone, less time the battery last. Again amount of water needed is directly proportional to weather. More water is needed, to drink, in hot weather, as compare to cold weather. Again probability of success is directly proportional to hard work done. There are many activities, in our life, which can be proving as examples of linear functions in our life. 1. Suppose you have a lemonade stand, and when you charge $1 per cup of lemonade you sell 50 cups. But when you raise your price to $2 you only sell 25 cups. Write an equation for the number of cups you sell as a function of the price you charge. Denote "C" for number of cups, and "P" for the price you charge. Assume the function is linear. 3. Which of the following are functions Explain your reasoning for a, b, and c. Keep the definition of a function strongly in mind as you do this problem, it is not nearly as difficult as it may look. Think about whether the relationship between f(x) and x is consistent with being a function or not and explain your reasoning. Time taken by a person is function of speed of driving. How much you increase your driving speed, you take less time to cover the required distance. Now distance between your home and work place is constant provided you use same path for driving daily. So speed of driving is the one of major factor to decide time required to reach to the work.