How iCloud provides advantages to Apple Inc. Customers Essay

Innovations in Information Technology expanding rapidly and synergistic with the development of modern society that has the characteristics of high mobility, look for a flexible service, easy-paced and satisfying. The need for systems and methods reliably to the individuals or companies are increasing due to globalization where the business movement is growing so fast. Apple included in the top 25 company in forbes magazine The assessment is based on their Rankings for sales, profits, assets and market value. In 2012, Apple posted quarterly revenue of $36.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue. During the quarter, the company sold 26.9 million iPhones, 14 million iPad, 4.9 million Macs and 5.3 million iPods. iCloud is a cloud computing based technology of apple which seamlessly integrated into devices that allows users to synchronize data such as photos, music, and documents into an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac and the computer automatically at the same time. Users can access anywhere and anytime without the need to back up data manually. Furthermore, the system will automatically sync music or applications that have been purchased through Apple’s iTunes on all devices connected to the account. Not only that, iCloud also stores all the data of purchase on iTunes. It allows users to download music or apps back ever purchased using any device without having to buy back. During the fourth-quarter of 2012, Apple announced that iCloud has 190 million users, which increased significantly from 150 million users in July and the 125 million in April. In terms of accessing iCloud, Apple customers just need to register or sign up iCloud with their Apple ID and password, and then a free storage of 5GB will be theirs unconsciously. This storage space can be use for anything that customers want from hottest music’s, latest photograph, articles, and eBooks. Users who need more can purchase $20 per year for 10GB of additional storage (for a total of 15GB), $40 for 20GB and $100 for 50GB. Similarly there are also numerous advantages that are security, easy of access even situated in remote places as long as you have your ID and password, trouble-free development, and most of all friendly to the surroundings or environment. Besides that, iCloud is also eco-friendly which helps you to cutback the operating cost of electrical energy. Based on Porter’s Three Generic Strategies, iCloud system for apple devices adopted differentiation competitive advantage. Apple strong echo-system of cloud sharing and product integration could guarantee success, as apple products is unchallanged by its competitors. Apple Inc. key success is every product that apple release compliments the next with great sinergy, so innovation not only create excitement of long lines at new product launches, but also can become foundations for entire ecosystems. In terms of 5 Forces, Apple Inc. has a power to bargain with suppliers (games and application developers, etc.) and buyers as well. Buyer power influences the price that firms can charge, and also the cost and investment, this is due that powerful buyers demand costly services. As for the RBVF analysis, Apple has position itself as the leader in technology industry by influences a firms demand curve with the loyalty of their customers. Peter and Barney, 2003, said that A firm that has conquered a competitive advantage has created economic value than its competitors which shown by create greater benefit at the same cost compared to competitors (differentiation-based competitive advantage). The competitors for iCloud are Microsoft Windows Azure, Amazon-Aws, and Google Cloud.

Moby Dick Essay

Questions 1.The captain, Ahab wants revenge against the great white whale Moby Dick because he lost his leg to the whale. 2.Ishmael is the narrator. The first line is â€Å"Call me Ishmael.† 3.The two allusions are the names of Captain ahab and Ishmael. Referring to Captain Ahab: Ahab is a wicked king who goes against goes against God’s will, Like how captain Ahab goes against the white whale. Referring to Ishmael: Ishmael means â€Å"outcast† or â€Å"wanderer† like how he seams to be the only person who cares anything of the beauty of nature. 4.To Captain Ahab he all that is evil in the universe. To Starbuck, he is just an animal to be killed for oil. To Ishmael, he is nature and all it’s wonder, both beautiful and terrifing. 5.Melville wrote about whaling to create a cosmic allegory to show the unglamorous a whaling, he had a deep respect for nature and wanted to expose it. The industry was significant because it provided oil for lanterns, streetlamps, and machinery and was the main oil used. 6.Melville set sail for the south pacific when he was 21. 7.Melville befriended Nathaniel Hawthorne while writing Moby Dick. 8.The four harpooners represented different races and ethnic groups of the world bringing the Pequod to be like a symbol for the ship of state, a little democracy. 9.The Pequod is attacked by moby dick and is destroyed. Ahab was caught and shot out of the boat and vanished into the sea. Finally, Ishmael becomes the only survivor of the pequod, he floats around until he is rescued and picked up by another ship, The Rachel. 10.He was unemployed, desperately broke, and took a job as a customs inspector. He was forgotten by the public.Interview Questions to Ahab 1. What exactly did you do on the ship other than plot the death of Moby-Dick? 2. How did you keep up hope that you were actually going to encounter Moby-Dick again?3. How did you recognize and tell Moby Dick apart from all the the other whales in the world?4. Have you wanted to be the captain of a whaling ship your entire life? If not what profession did you aspire before?5. Avoiding sailor colloquial verbiage, can you describe the night of the incident with Moby Dick? Also, do you recommend anyone who is good at making ivory legs if this were to happen to anyone in the future?

Accounting cousework Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Accounting cousework - Coursework Example The company chosen in this report is Google. The two ways to improve the performance of a company is through either effectiveness or efficiency. These two similar sounding words are actually much different in meaning and a business can successfully reach its goal if it does these two things successfully. Efficiency refers to doing things right in the least time possible. Efficiency measures the time it takes to do something (Martin, 2012). While inefficient employees take long time in doing a work, efficient employee and manager do a given task in the least time possible using the least amount of resources using certain time saving strategies. Effectiveness refers to doing things in the right way so that particular results are derived (Lawler, 2012.). Effectiveness actually refers to the level of results that is derived from a company’s workforce. Employees who demonstrate effectiveness produces high quality results. To reach position of higher growth a company goes in for effectiveness and efficiency. A company which goes in for only efficiency or only effectiveness does not reach the goal. For achieving growth and desired objective the employees should be efficient and effective at the same time. If the employees of a company are efficient but effective they will not be able to achieve the desired output. Similar is the case of the employees who are effective but not efficient. The employees who are efficient but not effective will be able to achieve a result first but the result achieved will not be the desired one. Similarly the employees who are effective but not efficient will be able to achieve the result but the time taken by them will be far greater. Thus for the growth of the company it is required that the employees are efficient as well as effective. The asset turnover ratio of a company represents how efficiently the company uses the assets of the company in generating revenue. The numerator of

Remove Uncertainty for Iraqi Translators Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Remove Uncertainty for Iraqi Translators - Essay Example Tariq informed that after withdrawal of the US forces, he prefers to stay at home and spends most of his time in cultivating hobbies such as gardening, until the time he receives his visa to migrate to the US. Tariq is much dismayed at the delay in getting the visa and he feels that senior officers in the command that he worked for are also helpless in speeding up the visa process because of the several formalities and processes that have to be completed. Despite the validity of an American law that provides for expedited visas under provisions of the Special Immigrant Visa Program to almost 20,000 Iraqi citizens that worked for the US in Iraq, not much headway has yet been made in making it possible for these Iraqis to relocate to the US (US Immigration, 2011). Tariq is disappointed because despite having excellent recommendations from the US army officers with whom he worked, the State Department simply takes the plea that it is helpless because a number of security checks have to be carried out by several departments. During the talk on the radio, Marie from Rhode Island was the first to join in. Marie informed she too was in Baghdad for about one year and was required to work with interpreters. She was in agreement that interpreters often received threats and informed that two of them were shot dead while she was in Baghdad. She was aware that there is a great deal of paper work and red tape involved in getting these interpreters to migrate to the US, which is obviously very depressing.

The positive and negative impacts of an IT application within an Essay

The positive and negative impacts of an IT application within an organisation - Essay Example BT Industries is a manufacturer of trendy home appliances such as coffee makers, small microwaves, toasters, and an automatic defroster for frozen food. Market share was expected to increase from 4% to 12% in a highly competitive market. Projections were a direct result of the proven ability of designers to successfully anticipate trends for the BT market segment as well as the ability of the manufacturing sector to translate those designs into easily manufactured items. Location The Head Office is in Boston, with four assembly plants in Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami and Boston. The company accounting function is centralized in Boston with remote terminals at all manufacturing plants. Systems analysis and programming staff are also based in Boston whilst each of the four plants have only a few applications programmers to ‘trouble shoot’ on site. Market Essence of marketing is aimed at the ‘Yuppie’ market where two-income families have made time more precious than money. For this market, the emphasis is on up-to-date styling and perceived quality for traditional appliances. It is the intention of BT Industries to keep the final design of its products as secret as possible especially from Far East Asian competitors. IT Systems 1.4.1 CAD/CAM system in Boston with communications links directly to assembly plants. The purpose of the system is to accelerate the design process of currently sold appliances from the inception idea to the actual manufactured product.

Sociology - Medical Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sociology - Medical Knowledge - Essay Example Fleck's main assertions came through his assessment of the research done on syphilis. He shows that our "thought style" through the ages accounts for the evolution of syphilis studies. The first thinking was from "mystical-ethical" ideas in which syphilis was thought to have come from both fornication and the position of the stars (White, 2002). The second stage of thought was that syphilis was a reaction to heavy metals such as mercury, which was "empirical-therapeutic" thinking. The third stage developed pathogenic thought that caused "perverted blood" to be the main cause of syphilis. And the last, modern, thought style is that of etiological thinking, which arose through the Wasserman reaction that allowed for syphilis testing to be done. Fleck worked on the last stage and notes how the research that discovered this procedure was based upon all the thought styles that had gone before (ibid.). The culture of the first stage relied heavily on the stars for much of their "research". The culture of the third stage may have come from the socio-political influences of the time, a moral outrage of the times, especially as a result of all the reigning kings that came down with syphilis infections. Our current thinking about syphilis is based on the background and training, according to Fleck, of modern day researchers, including his own. Fleck believed that even the study of bacteriology has been a reflection of our social viewpoint, that it is a social product. He points to common metaphors such as "invading microorganisms invading the body" as being aligned with the expansion of imperialism. It has also been a large concern of militaries throughout centuries of warfare that the soldiers have contracted syphilis. The ways that people also describe bacteria as "demons infecting the person" is a reflection of the impact of religion on the sciences. As another example of Fleck's thoughts on constructed medical knowledge, anatomical drawings through history have reflected the thinking of the era. The ancient drawings depicting skeletons, for instance, showed them as death figures and seemed designed to remind people of their mortality. An emotional element was also included in ancient drawings, such as those of the knee that referred to it as the "site of mercy" (White, 2002). By contrast, modern drawings of the human body draw more from the Industrial Revolution (ibid.) by looking mechanized, such as Descartes clockworks. Bernard Stern showed the opposition to medical practices that we take for granted now when they were first used. Dissection was challenged for the prevailing religious views. Vaccinations were thought to be an unskilled practice not useable by practitioners of their time because they could not charge enough of a fee for them. And the spread of infection by doctors was disputed by doctors because it insulted their professional integrity. The modern thinking that medicines are the only thing to impact the body while inert products do not can be shown to be a constructed piece of medical "knowledge". This "thought collective" does not account for the 90% cure rate of ulcers with placebo (Moerman, 1981). Fleck calls this "the result of Cartesianism, a mind/body dichotomy." Health Promoters' Version of Socially Constructed Health Knowledge Constructionists question the validity of objectivity and factuality in medical knowledge because of the impact of

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPRs) AND AWARENESS ON DIGITAL Research Paper

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPRs) AND AWARENESS ON DIGITAL PROTECTION IN DIGITAL LEARNING - Research Paper Example 25). Under the 1976 U.S. copyright law, the owner of copyrighted materials were given the legal right to control the reproduction of their own works and creation, the display of their digital materials, and the distribution of their professional works and masterpieces (Ulius, 2003, p. 62). Demand for digital learning is increasing. By personally seeking permission from the copyright owner(s) before using their published works and ideas, educators and students should respect the existing law behind digital protection. This study will focus on examining the significance of intellectual property rights (IPR) and public awareness of digital protection on digital learning at Botswana College of Open and Distance Learning (BOCODOL). By incorporating the three approaches including the qualitative (interpretive / subjective), quantitative (objective / realism) and critical (analytical / critical / normative) in the research design, whether or not the students at BOCODOL are prone on violating the intellectual property rights of the writers and digital publishers will be The main purpose of this paper is to examine how the combination of qualitative, quantitative and critical approaches in research methods could strengthen the reliability and accuracy of the research study results. To satisfy the use of the quantitative research approach, the research design for this study will make use of research survey approach. For the qualitative and critical approaches, the significance of research interview and the use of a combine quantitative and qualitative research will be tackled in details respectively. Aside from discussing the statement of the problem and research questions for each of the three major research approaches, the conceptual framework of qualitative, quantitative and critical research methods will be thoroughly examined by going through the in-depth analysis and

Learning Theory Annotated Bibilography Research Paper

Learning Theory Annotated Bibilography - Research Paper Example Fourth: Humanist learning theory is a â€Å"new orthodoxy†, a form of social control that keeps nurses from being flexible. It also expresses free market orthodoxy. Fifth, and most importantly: Humanistic learning theory emphasizes individualistic learning and values. But nurses must be socially oriented to be successful. They must coordinate with other nurses, with doctors, with medical practitioners and logistics experts, and with the community. Because humanistic learning, in Purdys view, directly detracts from â€Å"social learning†, it must be rejected for nursing. Instead, Purdy recommends a communalistic value system, ideology and teaching paradigm. He argues that nurses taught in this vein will learn how to coordinate and compromise with others more efficiently, and that this alternate paradigm is more effective for the unique needs of nurses. Hezekiah examines the benefits of feminist pedagogy for nursing education in Pakistan in particular and Muslim countries in general. The concerns are obvious: Feminist ideology in fundamentalist Muslim countries will be controversial. The question is if the benefits outweigh the risks. Hezekiah concludes that they do. Hezekiah claims that feminist pedagogy, when examined through the lens of Schniedewind (1993)s five process goals, have great potential for nurses for two reasons. Feminist pedagogy empowers nurses. It allows them to make decisions quickly without being vetoed or disrespected by patients, essential for delivering optimal care quickly. And it improves the health care system as a whole, because it allows female nurses to participate as equals and thus increases the pool of qualified medical practitioners available to Muslim countries. Social learning theory emphasizes the way that people, such as nurses, learn based on behavioral cues such as role models, superiors, and so forth in their social environment, and focus on making outcomes

Internet Library Research Essay Example for Free

Internet Library Research Essay The library is one of the best places wherein students can gather information for their assignments and researches. Libraries contain thousands of books that vary in subjects such as mathematics, sciences, arts, languages, and literature. In addition, it also provides students with other types of resources including periodicals, maps, CD-ROMs, and even the Internet. To say, therefore, that libraries are important in a student’s life is an understatement. As such, schools should make sure that students have constant access to the libraries even while at home. The North Central University is one of the many schools in the country that offers online access to its library. Students are able to search for resources that they need to complete their works even while not at the campus. They can talk to a librarian if they wish to. They can refer to guides if they encounter difficulty in using the online library or if they are confused in the writing process and cannot finish their research. The best feature of the university’s website is the abundance of resources it can provide for its students because of the numerous databases that it can access. The login page of the university is simple in that it does not require the students to search the page just to be able to log in properly. The login page also has options for first time users who have no account yet, for students who have forgotten their passphrase, and for those who need to reset their passphrases. An option to remember the user is also available on the page. The login button will take the student to the main page of the university’s website, which is the Learner Portal. Here, the student will be able to view his or her messages, announcements, and important events through the calendar. The portal has links to several other features, which include the library, writing center, and university documents. Clicking on the link for the library will direct the student to the main page of the North Central University online library. There are several options available for students in this area. One can ask a librarian about the availability of certain books. Students can search multiple databases for scholarly references. There are also guides in which students can refer themselves to if they have a hard time writing their researches. To perform a search that will yield scholarly references, students must click the NCU databases link and select their choice of database from here. The databases include EBSCOhost, LexisNexis Academic, ProQuest, and Sage. The database chosen for this activity was ProQuest, and the topic that searched was â€Å"ethical leadership in the 21st century. † Before performing the search however, there was an instruction to select the option â€Å"Database selected† so that the students will have the opportunity to select only the databases that are relevant to the search. The pre-determined databases include Career and Technical Education, Dissertations and Theses, ProQuest Computing, ProQuest Education Journals, and Research Library. The results of the search yielded seven documents from which only three were relevant. Among these three, only two was able to give full access to the document. The subjects that these documents fell under include counseling, organization behavior, anthropology, business ethics, psychiatry, and information science. Of these, only two were relevant to the topic being searched. The chosen citation reviewed was the one with the latest date of publication entitled â€Å"The Ethical Grounding to 21st Century Public Leadership. † There was a little difficulty experienced while searching for the author link because the document was full-text PDF format, which does not contain any links to the author. This was resolved by clicking the option to view the abstract of the document where the author’s name was hyperlinked to his other works. This particular document had two authors. Clicking the link for the first author (Niel R. Vance) gave five documents and only one was related to the original document because it discussed applied ethics. The second author (Brett V. Trani) did not have any other work aside from this document. Because there were only three relevant documents related to the search terms, another search was performed. This time, the word â€Å"21st† was replaced with â€Å"twenty first. † This yielded five results, two of which were relevant. The ProQuest database is user oriented in that it provides a Help link for people to find ways to enhance their search process. At the beginning of the search, the Help option allows students to learn how to improve their search. Students will learn how to limit their searches or exclude other options to refine their search. This would lead to better results and would take the students less effort when searching for their resources. Another Help link is also available after a search is completed. This will teach students how to read and mark a document, cite the document properly, and filter or sort the results. The database can also suggest topics and publications that are related to the student’s keywords. Overall, ProQuest excels in trying to provide scholarly and useful resources for the students of North Central University. The results were very relevant and close to the terms that were used to search the database. There were many helpful hints throughout the website for students to use so that they can experience the best while searching. These tips were also significant because the students are able to apply them in their papers, which would mean that they would commit fewer errors in their works. There was also an option for students to email a specific article if they want to share what they have found in their search. The references that the document used can also be viewed by the student to see if there are relevant information that can be used for his or her work. The experience provided new insights in performing searches. Although it was relatively easy, students need to know some tricks to yield better results like changing some keywords or using the suggested topics that the database provides. There is no doubt that technology has a big impact on everyone’s lives nowadays. Educational institutions have to keep up with the changing of times to meet the needs of their students even if it means having to set up websites and online libraries, and acquiring huge databases for their students. Online libraries are important because this would provide students reliable sources for their papers. This is in contrast to Internet articles that are freely available on the World Wide Web but are sometimes misleading and are questionable in terms of the content and the authority of the person who wrote it. While not all that can be found on the Internet is unreliable, it is better for students to not take the risk, especially if it is their grades that are on the line. Only trusted information should be used when doing academic research papers unless otherwise indicated by professors and instructors. It is essential to mention that students need to learn how to distinguish reliable sources from those that cannot be trusted. They should learn how to distinguish if a website has the requirements for it to be considered reliable. References Bahaudin G Mujtaba, Carol Griffin, Cuneyt Oskal. (2004). Emerging Ethical Issues in Technology and Countermeasures for Management and Leadership Consideration in the Twenty First Centurys Competitive Environment of Global Interdependence. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 9(3), 34-55. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1178660741). Kanungo, Rabindra N. (1998). Leadership in organizations: looking ahead to the 21st century. Canadian Psychology, 39(1/2), 71. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ProQuest Psychology Journals database. (Document ID: 390882341). M. Fleckenstein, Mary Maury, S. M. Patrick Primeaux, Patricia Werhane. (2006). Ethical Leadership in 21st Century Corporate America. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(2-3), 145-146. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1113480671). Neil R Vance, Brett V Trani. (2008). THE ETHICAL GROUNDING TO 21st CENTURY PUBLIC LEADERSHIP. International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 11(3), 372-380. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1536919851). Rost, Joseph C. (1995). Leadership: A discussion about ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 5(1), 129. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 4596738). Vivienne Collinson. (2008). Leading by learning: new directions in the twenty-first century. Journal of Educational Administration, 46(4), 443-460. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1506286921).

Use of Imagery in Oliver Parkers Othello Essay Example for Free

Use of Imagery in Oliver Parkers Othello Essay The symbolism with the chess pieces is very relevant to the issues of the play. It is used to symbolize Iagos control over the main characters. Othello, Desdemona and Cassio and represented by a black king, white queen and white knight respectively. When Iago has finished his soliloquy, he drops the pieces into water. This is done to symbolize the inevitable demise of all 3 characters. The first time we see the chess pieces they are alone on the middle of chessboard with Iago looking over them. This symbolizes Iagos control over the situation and how he is the instigator of the tragedy. This is the major event of symbolism in the movie, however, there are some other examples: The scene with Iago and Othello on the beach is another subtler example of symbolism. The camera shot shows Iago in the lead being followed by Othello. This is symbolic of the way that Iago is leading Othello along, only letting him know so much that he desires more so he hangs on every word Iago says. Camera shots are also used effectively in Othellos return to Venice scene, where he is riding on his horse, fully clad in his battle armor. This is when Othello is at his most noble, his most heroic. The camera shot makes him appear higher than everybody else; giving the impression that he is above them. From this scene on, Othello falls further and further into Iagos trap. The director Oliver Parker uses sexual imagery effectively. It is most prevalent in the scene where Othello is imagining Desdemona and Cassio making love. The scene shows Othello looking helpless and then it quickly flashes to Desdemona and Cassio and then back to Othello. The speed at which the pictures change increases to such a point that it symbolizes the madness Othello is slipping into. At the end, the camera focuses on Desdemona and Cassio as they look into the camera and laugh, as if mocking Othello. Othello falls into an epileptic fit soon after. Before Othello begins having his visions, Iago is once again whispering into his ear. Whenever Iago is lying to Othello, he whispers in his ear. This symbolizes Iago as a devil-like being. Colour and lighting imagery also symbolize the issues of the play. Before  Othello begins to go mad, he generally wears black clothing. When he is about to kill Desdemona, he is wearing a white cape. This is imagery symbolizes a death shroud. Lighting is also used in the scene where Othello kills Desdemona. When Othello is walking down the hallway to Desdemonas bedroom, he is standing in the shadows, blowing out the candles along the way. This symbolizes his transition from: light to darkness, good to evil or sanity to insanity.

Operations And Supply Chain Management At Hp Business Essay

Operations And Supply Chain Management At Hp Business Essay The biggest challenge facing the Vancouver manufacturing plant was that for the rest of Hewlett Packard, there was no problem; When it comes to real dollars, inventory costs do not enter into the P L statements, but losses hurt our revenues. Dont talk to us about inventory-service trade-offs. Period. Vancouver was held up as a model of efficiency (Kanban) and the DeskJet printer range was a runaway success. A culture of territorialism and poor communication exacerbated the lack of urgency. Damaging internal rivalry was rife as a result of disjointed an myopic decision-making in the absence of any truly global approach to the supply chain key performance indicators (KPIs); the bullwhip effect was writ large all over the firms supply chain. The problems brewing were real and mounting and we argue that the best solution would require a fundamental overhaul of HPs production and supply chain resulting in the need in the short term to redesign its global supply chain and in the medium te rm to establish new manufacturing plants in Europe. The consumer electronics industry is the very embodiment of [key] aspects of supply chain management and related risks, (Sohdi, 2004), due to the short product lifecycles, tough competition, and global nature of the business. The DeskJet printer business presented a new challenge for HP as the firms expertise was in highly customized, low volume, and long lead-time manufacturing and supply chain. In DeskJet, high volume, short product lifecycles, and high obsolescence risk were the name of the game. Printers were in transition from an innovative product to a functional product but the supply chain did not reflect this. HP used OEMs to source components and then did their own assembly. HP made high margins on the cartridges, and the printer was the conduit. HPs success in Europe was beginning to rival the home market in sales, adding further complications due to the need to modify power sources and languages for local markets. In Europe, product option AB had the highest monthly mean demand, and demand was more dispersed over the options than in North America, where virtually the entire sales were in option A. Monthly standard deviation in demand for the popular options was quite high at +- 30%. Even more importantly, the company was holding large and expensive safety stock due to the long shipping lead times and the prohibitive cost of air freight. The success of HPs DeskJet printer range in spite of an un-optimized supply chain suggests that there were significant potential gains in profitability if the right solution were found. In addition, despite high inventory levels, stock-outs were still occurring, threatening the most precious asset of all in the highly competitive printer market: customer loyalty and sentiment. Questions of internal efficiency and customer fulfilment had to be evaluated against the backdrop of a rapidly growing printer market, which was exploding along with the proliferation of desktop PCs. Despite organizational inertia and competing priorities, a number of avenues were open to HP at the time, including inventory management-the benefits of postponing final assembly-product design, and the improvement and globalization of Just In Time processes. We examine each and delve deeper into the business and customer benefits of launching a production site in Europe to fully capitalize on the surge of the printer market. The market is evolving rapidly and needs a strategic realignment of its supply chain. Creating a European manufacturing facility, plus integrated financial performance and risk management (Hahn Kuhn, 2009) will also improve shareholder returns (by improving inventory management and hence cash flows) and will mitigate risk. Postponement strategy To be successful the DeskJet supply chain must match customer demand. It must be in the zone of strategic fit, with a better match in Europe between responsiveness and uncertainty. It must integrate sales, manufacturing, distribution, and operations. Postponement is a solution to support future DeskJet expansion in Europe and to meet European demand. A successful postponement strategy requires significant degrees of cohesion; departmental barriers will need to be brought down, processes restructured and products redesigned. However, the rewards of implementing a successful postponement strategy are great. HP is not without challenges to implement a successful postponement strategy. Significant organisational change and coordination would be required. As Pagh and Cooper state (1998), The notion of postponement is to maintain the product in a neutral and noncommittal status as long as possible in the manufacturing process. In order to support this, characteristics of the DeskJet that have to be localised should be added at the last moment. Standardising the DeskJet would make inventory management and forecasting easier. It is also a way to allow cost-effective end user customisation. By creating customisation, additional lines can be introduced and consumer needs are met more easily. Customisation will assist HP in differentiating itself and in capturing the market. Based on Cooper (1993), we propose the use of the deferred packaging postponement strategy. The DeskJet peripherals are not common to all markets whilst the formulation is common. Postponement requires tight integration of processes and the formation of a holistic view. In the case of DeskJet printing, redesigning the product to make it more modular will increase manufacturing costs, but would lower the total supply chain costs. A modular design will standardise the design and thus standardise procurement processes. Making the DeskJet design more modular will also limit the inclusion of components that differentiate the product until the latest possible moment. Other benefits of modularity are identified by Feitzinger and Hau (1997), including the ability to manufacture modules separately or in parallel, thereby reducing production time and assisting with problem diagnostics in identifying quality problems. When considering a supply chain strategy, all elements from the design, procurement, manufacture, sales and distribution must be considered in unison. For example, making the DeskJet power supplies universal voltage may be more expensive, but it would provide HP with a more flexible use of inventory and would reduce forecasting errors. Marketing must be involved in the design process to validate that product variety and customisation meet market requirements. Finance must be engaged to provide activity-based costing, (ABC) statistics to support scenario analysis. All stakeholders and their differing viewpoints must be considered in order to build a holistic model of the revised supply chain. Successful postponement requires that organisational boundaries are traversed. HP should work with resellers and distributors to provide some product localisation and customisation tasks. In many cases resellers will require significant support, training, and systems to carry out these tasks. The long term value outweighs the short term investment. In all cases, postponement partnerships must be made on the basis of empirical evidence and having considered the interdependencies of the model. The decision to build European manufacturing capability and interfacing this capability with European distribution is crucial to support DeskJet sales in Europe. We support establishing a European plant as a strategy given European demand. However, in addition to the plant, distribution centres across Europe should be capable of managing product localisation and replenishment of all localisation materials. The before and after supply chain diagrams are shown below. One can see as a result of establishing a European production center. The first step is splitting final assembly and test into two processes in Europe, producing a single standard product without customization at the end of FAT1. In FAT2 we do the customization, localization and packaging. This accommodates product variety in Europe without creating more inventories. We then replicate the manufacturing facility in the U. S. in Europe and we source the supplies as locally as possible in Europe. Opening a new facility in Europe Companies becoming global and enjoying growing revenue and expanding market shares across geographies face an important challenge: inertia. Being agile and being able to react quickly to changing conditions sometimes requires risky decisions in volatile, uncertain environments, and sometimes mandates direct investment in foreign locales. The company must admit that what sustained past success will no longer work and must be adapted. This is the challenge Hewlett Packard faced when the Vancouver facility, which served the U.S. market, at the time HPs largest, could no longer meet the needs of growing overseas markets which were tending to progressively become more important in terms of units sold. (Monthly mean of 23,108 units in Europe vs. 26, 611 units in North America). Hewlett realized that in terms of lead time, inventory optimization, transportation costs, and localization/customization, trying to serve European clients with its U.S. manufacturing facility was not a viable optio n on the medium to long term despite various attempts at technology innovation and optimization, changes in product design, and shifts in its logistic processes; the problem could not be solved. (Transit time by sea takes up to five weeks.) As the European market matured and growth projections were high, it needed first an optimized distribution network in Europe and then ultimately one or more manufacturing locations geographically close to local suppliers and to end customers to compete on a level playing field with local and global competitors. However, selecting the correct locations in which to put one or many distribution centers and manufacturing facilities required performing scenario analysis (Sodhi, 2003) and considering several important criteria in a holistic framework for value-based performance and risk management in [robust] supply chains (Hahn Kuhn, 2009): O Customer and supplier location, concentration and importance: the ideal location is a center of gravity based on weight clustering, transportation cost, the geographical location and relative importance of difference suppliers and customers. Order delivery time is a critical unifying dimension (Tempelmeier, 2001) when selecting a location that serves downstream needs. However, the center of gravity has to be modified by introducing additional constraints as listed below. In other words, optimization under many constraints must be performed. And this has to be done dynamically, including current data and future projections. O Labor: The skills, training, and demographics of the workforce, unemployment trends, productivity, cost of labor, unionization, work regulation, work culture all vary widely across Europe and have to be considered. O Cost and availability of land: The real estate environment of the area under consideration has to be analyzed: sites, building availability, construction cost, regulation, including environmental regulations, the availability and reliability of utilities, local construction companies, and maintenance providers. O Corporate taxes and incentives: taxes are another layer of costs that have to be taken into account. Local authorities and governments may be competing to attract foreign direct investment and job-creating investments, offering tax and other financial incentives which can contribute to returns and lower risks. O Logistical infrastructure: HP needs to evaluate connections to highways, rail transport, and the proximity to airports and seaports, all of which have to be reliable and cost effective. They also have to find credible logistic/transportation partners. O Other criteria include the local climate and exposure to natural disasters. O Finally, the company must provide expatriate personnel to manage the operation and its labor so quality of life issues must factor into the selection of the location. The process of selecting the optimal location is a multi-stage, top-down one, where initial screening produces a short list of countries or regions and then additional and more demanding criteria are added to narrow down the initial list through several iterations until one or two final locations are selected. The benefits of a manufacturing facility in Europe are significant and affect every step in the supply chain which now has a better strategic fit. Physical, financial, and information flows are better aligned. The market is as large as the U.S. but more diverse and will be better served. Raw materials procurement becomes more streamlined. Inventory days fall because one benefit of standardization (with local customization) is that inventory can be moved from one region to another so as to avoid piling up inventory in one region and stock-outs in another (inventory pooling). The chain has moved to more of a push-pull system. Lead times are shorter. Finished product also does not pile up. The cost of manufacturing goes down and since printers were rapidly becoming a commodity product, economies of scale and cost savings are vital since customers choosing between two inkjet printers of equal speed and quality will make their decision based on price and reliability. From a management per spective, handling the supply chain becomes easier since it is optimized to regional needs but still integrated in a global framework that captures the benefits of HPs scale in buying power. The supply chain better serves customer needs and enables the company to grow more effectively in Europe and also is a model for other regions as they develop. The company can better manage its risks; it has reduced its exposure to inventory and transportation risk and improved its ability to manage supply chain supply and demand uncertainties in Europe. (Uncertainty metrics like margins, forecast error, stock-out rates are all lower.) Finally, the improved supply chain should improve shareholder returns since operating margins, asset turns, and cash flow are positively affected. Technology, Data and modelling HP Vancouver division has successfully implemented Kanban, now they need to implement Kaizen. In other terms, they have put in place an effective Just In Time process for a Local supply chain (mainly the U.S.) they need to continuously improve it to cope with what is quickly developing into a global supply chain where clients, distribution centers, manufacturing plants and suppliers are across the globe and have to be optimally interconnected. To that end several opportunities for improvement exist: Cooperating with leading researchers in the field and moving from intuitive/empirical decision making with regard to the supply chain topology to mathematical models, supported by softwares enabling them to model their dynamically changing constraints and find the optimal network of distribution centers, suppliers and manufacturing facilities across the globe. Triggering cooperation along the supply chain by aligning interest of their suppliers, their clients and all internal departments of the company (RD, Sales, finance, human resources, marketing,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) so as to make them an integral part of the extended supply chain and so as to make them actively take part in the redesign of the products, raw material, supply chain and of the bill of material.. This in turn will facilitate data collection, and from there forecasting accuracy. In the light of a supply chain evolving globally, assess other technological tools supporting such an evolution, such as the Implementation of an integrated Enterprise Resource Planning software (ERP). Indeed, this helps in Customer interaction and management including better detailed understanding of customer needs, trends and local preferences, Inventory management and pooling across borders and inventory transparency beyond company frontier (i.e. transparency to customers), optimal supplier selection through a rich, global and continuously updated supplier database, and electronic real-time data exchange with suppliers, thanks to data collected from the extended supply chain stakeholders, surveillance of the competitive environment and the effect it can have on future company product demand by region and finally more accurate measurement of KPIs and performance of the global supply chain. Other Improvement Opportunities As HPs management moves forward, it should take into account the following additional recommendations: O A clear, overarching strategy for Europe needs to be defined and implemented across HPs corporate headquarters. Conflicting and competing corporate interests need to be reconciled with a clearly delineated command and communication structure. A clear company-wide and bottoms-up consensus should be reached about the framework necessary to achieve lasting success in Europe. O HP needs to adopt improved corporate communication and defined spheres of responsibility and accountability across the organization. The case reveals that some of the companys most important technological advancements have been discovered by happenstance. Enhancing its technological advancement process with a more rigorous collaboration and innovation model would render technological and supply chain process improvements less susceptible to chance. For example, common global KPIs on inventory would be a good starting point. O HP should remove organizational barriers to reduce lead time. (Billington Lee, 1992). O The company should establish a dedicated European Localization Management Team to assess current local market trends as well as the viability of the suggestions above. O The company should explore further trade opportunities within the European Union and in Eastern Europe, beyond just the tax and other cost-savings options. O HP should exploit e-commerce, using the internet to take orders and organize distribution. O The company should develop a supply chain risk-management framework to anticipate and mitigate any disruptions. A new or enhanced supply chain is an opportunity to integrate currency risks, cyber attacks, failed communication with suppliersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦terrorismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦non-compliance. (Bosman, 2006). O HP should modify its local marketing strategies based on national and cultural consumer demographics. The marketing and PR teams should also utilize available resources to identify such opportunities and participate within the European supply chain community. O There are green opportunities within the supply chain that could be exploited. Conclusion The HP case is an example of how effective supply chain management requires both a revised management paradigm (strategic change) and more sophisticated tools and techniques (optimization). The postponement strategy is a better strategic fit between the supply chain and HPs product life cycle across the key strategic and competitive variables: innovation, customer service, and cost leadership since printers are rapidly transitioning to maturity. Establishing a manufacturing plant in Europe, a major change in HPs printer supply chain, will improve the companys performance in four critical areas: costs, customer satisfaction, shareholder returns, and risk management. The companys physical flows, financial flows, and information flows will all be more aligned and efficient. After the initial capital cost of establishing the plant, the company should experience substantial cost savings from lower material costs, better predictability, improved supply assurances (no shortages), and lower inventory carrying costs. There is a tight linkage between sales, inventory, and product availability, (Raman et al, 2009), and so customer satisfaction, as measured by lower lead times, reduced variability in demand, fewer stock-outs, and enhanced ability to customize by region, should improve. The company will also position itself for future growth. HP should see the benefit of improved customer satisfaction in rising sales and market share in Europe. Shareholder value will be enhanced by the positive impact the supply chain changes will have on inventory and working capital and hence on operational value drivers like operating margins, asset utilization, and cash flow. Finally, the company will enjoy significant improvements in risk management. (Hahn Kuhn, 2009, referring to others). Certain risks, like being out of stock of a key component or product, will be entirely eliminated. Others can be mitigated through improved ability to contingency-plan and catch problems earlier. Th e company will be able to offload other risks or share them with suppliers and customers. And it will be able to consciously select risks, rather than passively absorbing them. Overall, the revised supply chain and the new manufacturing plant in Europe will be a catalyst for dramatic improvements in HPs operating and financial performance, not just on the Continent, but around the world.

Expertise and Rationality :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Expertise and Rationality ABSTRACT: I explore the connection between expertise and rationality. I first make explicit the philosophically dominant view on this connection, i.e., the ‘expert-consultation’ view. This view captures the rather obvious idea that a rational way of proceeding on a matter of importance when one lacks knowledge is to consult experts. Next, I enumerate the difficulties which beset this view, locating them to some extent in the current philosophical literature on expertise and rationality. I then propose that different lessons should be drawn for rationality from the fact of expertise. One is that some empirical and phenomenological studies of the nature of expertise can be fruitfully applied by analogy to theories of the rational agent. Chicken-sexers exist. It is a fact that there are experts in this and many other domains. It is also a fact that some philosophers, often epistemologists, take the fact of expertise to be bound up somehow or other with rationality. The standard articulation of this connection is that a rational way of proceeding on a matter of importance when one lacks knowledge is to consult experts. But does this view capture the full significance of the fact of expertise for rationality? In this paper I will argue that the fact of expertise has import beyond the standard view for the analysis of rationality. I will proceed by first considering in more detail the standard view, and then jump off from that discussion to draw a different lesson for our understanding of rationality from the fact of expertise. It would seem that the connection between expertise and rationality is so obvious as to be mundane: when one lacks expertise on a given matter of importance, and there are people who have that expertise and who can be consulted without undue cost, then (ceteris paribus) one should consult such people. This prescription links expertise and rationality by means of expert-consultation. When our cars are kaputt, when our tooth aches, when the soufflà © collapses, when our French falls short, and when our business lacks efficiency we consult the appropriate experts in order to believe and behave in ways that are sufficiently non-arbitrary so as to count as rational. Expert consultation is thus a resource for rationality: we have the remarkable cognitive ability to let the outcome of expert consultation affect what we believe. (1) The preceding paragraph captures in a simplified way the powerful idea that the connection between expertise and rationality is that of expert consultation.

Maxwells Demon - Not a Perpetual Motion Machine :: Physics Essays

Maxwell's Demon - Not a Perpetual Motion Machine Entropy is not a difficult concept to just take at face value, but it is a difficult topic to gain a good understanding of. To do this some background must be given such as the first and second law of thermodynamics. The second law of thermodynamics states that any event that occurs spontaneously must result in an increase in the randomness of lhe syslem. This means that as an ice cube melts the water molecules that it is composed of will progress toward a less ordered arrangement. The leaves that fall from the trees do nol arrange themselves in a pile on the ground because the second law of thermodynamics is against it. Entropy is a concept that most high school chemistry and physics students enjoy learning about because the now have an excuse for having a messy room, they are fighting nature. For a better understanding of the theory of entropy it helps to understand the first law of thermodynamics, energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it may only change forms. In other words the energy of the universe is constant. For the universe (the ultimate system) to give up energy to increase ordered is not a likely event. Therefore ,for a system, a persons room for example, to become more ordered, energy must be put into the system, cleaning the room. Everything in the universe is governed by entropy through the Gibbs free energy equation which states; the heat content of the system, minus the temperature of the system times the entropy, or randomness will dictate whether the event will be spontaneous. Entropy is actually centered around the probability of an event occurring. The greater the statistical probability of a particular event occurring, the greater the entropy. A good example of this is an experiment with a new deck of playing cards. When the cards are first unwr apped they are arranged in numerical order and according to suit, if the cards are thrown into the air and allowed to fall to the floor. When they are swept up and restacked, we will almost certainly find that the cards have become disordered. We would expect this disordering to occur because there are millions of ways for the cards to become disordered and only one way for them to come together again in their original sequence. Another result of the second law of thermodynamics is that spontaneous changes are always accompanied by a dispersal of energy into a more disordered form.

Generation Gap Essay

How many times have you felt that your parents don’t understand you, that they have no respect for you as an individual? How often do you shake your head in frustration and blame it on the ‘generation gap’? Parents! They are like aliens from another planet altogether! You and they are in different camps; strangers forced to live under the same roof Right? Wrong! There is a way of bridging what appears to be a yawning chasm. If you genuinely want to improve your relationship with your parents (and give them a big shock in the bargain! ) try listening to them, treating them just like you would listen to a valued friend. Instead of always whining, ‘You don’t understand me†, stop and think. Do we ever try and understand them? Parents are under a lot of stress, too. When we are worrying about our upcoming Math exam, they are worrying about the boss in the office, and just how they are going to pay for our braces. Like us, they have days when someone humiliates them at work. Sometimes, they don’t know where the money for all the applications you send to foreign universities is going to come from. Your mom may seldom have a chance to go out and enjoy herself. Your dad’s colleagues may deride him because he cannot afford membership to a club. Yes, weird though it may sound, parents are human too. They may have dreams they’ve sacrificed because they want you to realize yours. Once you step into their shoes and try to look at things from their point of view, two wonderful things happen; one, you feel a new respect for them, and two, you will find that you can actually get your own way without heated arguments. Today, when you come back from school or college, ask your mom or dad, â€Å"How did your day go today? † or â€Å"Tell me a little more about your job. † or â€Å"Is there anything I can do to help you around in the house? You’ll see the visible difference it makes to the atmosphere at home. And each day, try to keep your promises – to do your homework, to clean your room and to write letters or telephone if you are living away from home. Seventy five per cent of the youngsters claimed that the teenage years were a time of stress and anxiety for them – anxiety about exams, jobs, parental expectations, peer pressure, love lives, the need to look good and dress smartly, and well, even the state of the nation. Generation gap means difference in attitude, or lack of understanding between younger and older generation. This generation gap has always been there but these days it has reached to an explosive stage. The values and patterns of life have changed to a great extent. Today, everybody likes to live and behave in his own way. This attitude has widened the generation gap, which can never be filled. It is now destroying family life completely. The elders look after the children and make all sorts of sacrifices to bring them up. Naturally, they feel they have a right over them. They want their children to follow their instructions as they have certain expectations from them. But the children, when they grow up, want a complete freedom in their thoughts and actions and unfortunately their thoughts and actions are just opposite to those expected by the elders. They revolt when any kind of restrictions are imposed on them. Consequently, the family breaks up and everything gets ruined. In India, we are yet in the initial stages, but the gap has appeared and it is going to grow bigger day by day. So it is not only the responsibility of the younger but also of the elders to fill this gap with their love, affection and trust. The problem, in fact, has grown and intensified due to the rise in complexities of life. These complexities have arisen in the wake of modernism where everything allied to tradition, custom and the world was to be turned upside down. The problem arises mainly when parents forget how did they behave, what problems did they encounter and what feeling did they feel when they were children, especially teenagers. When the children enter the stormy teens the problem of generation gap comes out with greater intensity then ever. Children too fail to see their parents’ point of view and blindly stick to breaking rules. For them, at this age, their friends suddenly become important dislodging the parents from the vantage point. This causes great anxiety to parents and the friction increases between the children and the parents. At this time, grandparents can play a constructive role in order to bridge the gap of thought, attitude, and way of life and approaches to it. Generation gap is not that serious a problem if families can learn to sit over dinner and talk or sit in the living rooms over a cup of hot comforting coffee and talk the things out, ironing the difference and sharing the experiences. When this communication barrier is transcended and the ice broken, the problem does not remain that serious anymore. Talking it out calmly and coolly, with the idea of sorting things out, changing for each other and changing for better can be the most helpful instrument in bridging the generation gap. Family outings, vacations, tours, to picnic-outings, often with the family etc can be effective ways to initiate intimacy between parents and children. Watching movie and discussing them, putting forth the different viewpoints can be a beginning to inculcate the habit of a healthy dialogue between members of the family. Such small things and steps can do wonders in initiating a healthy family atmosphere and reducing friction between two generations that are right in their own respects. Their only fault is that they are viewing the same object from opposite directions. Age, time and experience or the lack of it, forces them to do so. Generation Gap Summary: It is a fact of life that the generation gap or â€Å"clash† is something that has existed and will continue to exist as long as man exists on this earth. It is not restricted to certain parts of the world, to certain times of human history or to certain cultures. That is why this â€Å"clash† is a fact of a life accepted by all generations, all over the world and through all time. Generation gap is a more modern term for the difference between generations, or milder than the extreme definition which calls this difference as the â€Å"clash† between the opinions, the attitudes and the behaviors of the younger and the older generations. The inevitable progress of time and technologies makes the introduction of new ideas, new believes, and new values unavoidable. As a result this difference in the general outlook at life arises which is manifest in the difference of opinions and social values, in addition to the difference mannerism and behavior between young people and older people within the family as well as within the social contexts. Perhaps, the gap generation that exists now between the younger and older generation can best be indicated by the difference of ideas between the young people and the older people in the family, namely the grand parents and the aunts or uncles who might be much older than their nieces and nephews, as is the case in â€Å"such† societies. Where bigamy is legal. The technological advances play a great rule in enlarging the gap as the younger generations are quicker to accept and adopt these technologies so that they consider the conservative and technologically suspicious elders of their families very old fashioned in their, tastes, opinions and out looks toward life. On the other hand, the older people despise the modern values which they call the† internet† and â€Å"globalization† values. They consider the young generation shallow, lacking knowledge and moral depth. This difference can best be seen in the difference of interests and hobbies. The young people of today get their knowledge from the â€Å"internet†, and they hardly read other than light magazines, while the elders of their hard-earned, profound book based knowledge. The difference includes the moral and social values, as the different generations see notions such as marriage, love, happiness, decency, and decorum from different perspectives.

Mythic proportions Essay

Linton Heathcliff is a contradiction in terms. His name signifies the unnatural union between Heathcliff and the Lintons or between passion and convention and his sickly nature demonstrates the impossibility of such a union. In Linton both love and convention emerge as corrupted by each other. He is described as ‘a pet’, a ‘puling chicken’ and a ‘whelp’. Like both his parents, however, Linton’s view of the world is singular, and it is his inability to see it in any way but his own terms which renders him absolutely available for manipulation by Heathcliff. Hareton Of his generation, Hareton’s character is perhaps the most intriguing, reversing the comparative lack of interest we feel for his father, Hindley. Hareton is brutalised by Heathcliff, structurally repeating Heathcliff’s own suffering at the hands of Hindley. Hareton’s relationship with Cathy has similarly been read as mirroring Heathcliff’s with Catherine, in as much as he is desirous of impressing her, and he is proud in her presence. His love of Cathy, however, might be said more closely to resemble Edgar’s love of Catherine in as much as it is moderate yet tender, devoted yet restrained. Hareton also exhibits an unwavering love for Heathcliff, in spite of the ill-treatment he has received at his hands. Like Catherine, Hareton is constant in his initial affections, and when Heathcliff first arrives into his life they form an alliance against Hindley. Although Hareton’s name is inscribed above the door of Wuthering Heights, his inability to read, coupled with the repetitious doubling of names and signatures, means that he fails to inherit his rightful property. Hareton is dispossessed by Heathcliff, but can also be seen as a rewriting of Heathcliff, a surrogate or symbolic Heathcliff. The development of Hareton’s characterisation revolves around his education. He is initially nursed by Nelly, the novel’s surrogate mother, and under her tuition he begins to learn his letters. However, left to the ministrations of his dissolute and unpredictable father Hindley, Hareton grows wild and uncultivated, unable to read, and with no social skills. His attempts at self-improvement are the source of mockery and derision by Linton and Cathy, and it is not until the end of the novel that he is able to acquire the skills necessary for him to achieve social status with Cathy and come into his rightful inheritance. The domestic romance which typifies the final union between Cathy and Hareton may well resolve some of the conflicts that thwart the other relationships in the novel, but their union lacks the grand passion, the wild power of the original love between Catherine and Heathcliff. Cathy Structurally the second Cathy can be seen as revising her mother’s story. She achieves her identity at the price of her mother’s, and Edgar always differentiates her in relation to the first Catherine, whose name he never diminished. Unlike Linton, who has the misfortune of inheriting the worst of both his parents, Cathy appears to have inherited the best from both of hers. Nelly sees Lockwood as a possible escape route for Cathy should he be induced to fall in love with her. We are privy to reports of Cathy’s pride, and her insensitive mockery of Hareton’s lack of formal knowledge. The revolution of the novel in which she and Hareton form their attachment is something of a mythical resolution, a romantic conclusion which transcends the central conflicts of the novel to restore a traditional novelistic plot of courtship and marriage. Cathy and Hareton’s relationship restores to the novel and version of domestic bliss that was the Victorian ideal, but it is well to bear in mind that Bronte’s is a version in which Cathy clearly has the upper hand. Nelly Nelly Dean is the second and dominant narratorial voice in this novel. She takes up the story from Lockwood and gives it both substance and credence. Lockwood’s inability to read the signs of the culture in which he finds himself cannot sustain the story, though it acts to remind us that all narratorial voices, including Nelly’s, are partial. Nelly Dean is a local, and has known each generation of the Earnshaw and Linton families. She is therefore well-placed to offer Lockwood a commentary upon the events she describes. Her position of servant is differentiated from that of that of other servants, both in terms of the fact that she appears to move effortlessly between the two houses, mediating between their differences, and in terms of her voice. Nelly Dean does not share a regional dialect with the other servants but she understands it perfectly. She also emerges as an educated woman, having read most of the books in the library at Thrushcross Grange – the house of culture – and in having experienced the vicissitudes of Wuthering Heights – the house of nature. In keeping with her dual roles, Nelly has two names, Ellen, her given name which is used by those wishing to accord her respect, and Nelly, the name her peers and familiars employ. Nelly is one of the most interesting characters in this novel, not least because of the language she uses. She occupies a unique cultural position in this novel. She has access to a range of discourses that might be considered beyond her ken in terms of her position as a family servant; yet as the central narrator Bronte presents her as a speaking subject, partially excluded from culture but nonetheless positioned so as to be able to comment upon it. Nelly acts as a surrogate mother to many of the motherless characters in this novel: she brings up Hareton for the first five years of his life; she cares for Cathy from birth through to her marriage to Linton; she regrets the brevity of her charge of Linton, which is forced by circumstance; and she acts as confidant and advisor to Catherine and Heathcliff. She also acts as a mother-figure to Lockwood as she nurses him back to health. As surrogate mother Nelly provides food and moral sustenance to her nurslings. Nelly Dean is most carefully, consistently and convincingly created for us as the normal woman, whose truly feminine nature satisfies itself in nurturing all the children of the book in turn. This reading of Nelly as the mother-figure alerts us to another of her roles, for Nelly is a mother goose, the teller of this fairytale, the keeper of its wisdom. The name might also be a corruption of Mother Gossip. Both of these definitions are pertinent to the figure of Nelly, since the knowledge she conveys is at least twofold: it is about women’s experience, and it is about the nature of love. Nelly knows that her story has to entertain and ensnare us. Yet her voice is rooted in the realist narrative. With her love of a well-brushed hearth and gleaming copper pans, Nelly weaves for us a fairy tale of mythic proportions. Given our narrator’s sympathies we are inevitably drawn to the novel’s celebration of passion, and find the strictures of its dominant discourses of marriage and religion as stifling and incomprehensible as do its main protagonists.

Environmental Thoughts in Theravada Buddhism

With 95% of the population in Thailand being followers of Theravada Buddhism, influencing the support for local and global environmental concerns is quite possible. Donald K. Swearer in the article â€Å"The Hermeneutic of Buddhist Ecology in Contemporary Thailand: Buddhadasa and Dhammapitaka† states that the Buddhist lifestyle and the early sangha are contributions to aid in living in a constantly dangerously changing world. Swearer believes that there are distinct ecological lessons that can be drawn from the texts and traditions in Thai Buddhism. In this chapter he shows how Buddhadasa Bhikkhu and Phra Prayudh both represent two very distinctive but complementary views to the environment issues within Theravada Buddhism. Buddhadasa's ontologically oriented view of nature as dhamma and the ethic of caring for nature correlates with the idea of EcoBuddhism, while Phra Prayudh is an approach, which is grounded in the reasoning of texts and the historical traditions of ancient Buddhism. Buddhadasa infers that the destruction of nature implies the destruction of dhamma. Swearer explains that to care for nature in linked to a pervasive feeling of human empathy (Pali, anukampa) for all surroundings, therefore caring is considered the active expression of empathy. Believing that to care for nature derives from a selfless, empathetic response in an ethical perspective. Swearer further explains the empathetic concerns for caring for things in at the core of one's being. The care for all needs to be done in their natural conditions, that is to care for things as they really are rather than as one may see fit or as one would like them to be. Phra Prayudh blames the destruction of the environment on a Western world that is flawed by three main beliefs: wrongful idea of nature, bad attitude towards other humans, and the drive for material goods as stated by Swearer. He also states that Phra believes the bases of environmental values are in katannu (gratitude), metta (loving-kindness), and sukha (happiness). This basically translates that being happy and grateful will fill us with compassion and permeate to the environment around. This concept is dealing with an understanding of how our consequences affect the world around us. Phra tells of how monks use forests for their monasteries and are the ideal place to overcome the difficulties in life. He believes that his ecological hermeneutic is based on the early life of Buddha the early sangha in the Pali scriptures. The main problem with the monks delivering their message and ideas to layman is the local government. Sponsel and Natadecha-Sponsel in the next chapter, † The Monastic Community in Thailand† states that even the sangha and the state are subject to corruption and abuse. It is the politics within the sangha can cause problems and inhibit the ability for everyone to realize the potential it can have within Buddhism and the environment. The basis of the sangha is stated as being hierarchical and with its upper levels are conservative the attitude and position on women is not favorable. But even with these issues and problems Buddhism has survived for over 2500 years and is gaining strength. With further understanding in new perspectives Buddhism will eventually become a momentous force in society.

Race and Ethnicity Essay

?â€Å"ASSESS THE IMPORTANCE OF SCHOOL FACTORS SUCH AS RACISM AND PUPILS RESPONSES TO RACISM IN CREATING ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT†. (20 MARKS) Ethnic differences concerning education achievement arise from numerous factors these including internal and external school factors such as racism, pupil responses, material and cultural deprivation which is faced by some ethnic groups and are the main reasons to explain why certain ethnic groups perform the way in which they do. Within this essay I will look at the previously stated factors and assess the importance of them and how much they actually impact on the educational achievement of these ethnic groups. Labelling and teacher racism is a factor of racism which creates an impact in educational achievement amongst ethnic groups for example teachers label Black and Asian pupils as being far from the ‘ideal’ pupil, as Black pupils are seen to be disruptive and Asian pupils as passive. These negative labels may lead to teachers treating ethnic minority pupils differently, Therefore disadvantages them and resulting to their failure. Gillborn and Youdell found teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same before, this is due to teachers ‘racialised expectations’, found teachers expected black pupils to present more discipline problems and misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening or challenging to authority. They also found that African Caribbean’s as the best starters but became worst during their GCSEs found that attaching negative labels to different ethnic groups had negative effects, this link in with the self-fulfilling prophecy for those who conform to this role and those who reject it and are in turn successful. Pupil responses to racism also determine educational success this supported by Heidi Safia Mirza who studied ambitious black girls who faced teacher racism. Girls in Mirza’s study failed to achieve their ambitions because their coping strategies restricted their opportunities and resulted in under-achievement. Mirza found that racist teachers discouraged black pupils from being ambitious through the kind of advice they gave them about careers and option choices. In contrast to the Mirza’s study, the Fuller and Mac an Ghaill came to the conclusions through their study, that pupils may succeed even when they refuse to conform and that negative labelling does not always lead to failure as the girls from the study were able to reject the labels placed on them and they remained determined to succeed. This suggests that educational achievement is reliant on the pupils response to racism and how it is dealt this either by acceptance and conforming a anti school culture hence creating a self-fulfilling prophecy or by working against the label and achieving to a high standard without attracting the negative aspects of the schooling environment. Other factors such as material and cultural deprivation have been seen to make create ethnic differences in educational achievement. The material deprivation aspect can be explained through statistics showing children entitled to free school meals, by ethnic group. The highest ranking ethnic groups are Bangladeshis and Pakistanis entitled to free school meals, these inequalities parallel those seen in educational achievement. For example Indians and whites generally have a higher social class position than Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, who often face high levels of poverty. The material deprivation explanation argues that such class differences explain why Bangladeshi and Pakistani pupils tend to do worse than Indian and white pupils. Cultural deprivation is also said to cause differences within achievement as intellectual and linguistic skills, attitudes and values and family structure all play key role in determining educational success. Intellectual and linguistic skills are valued to be the most important as without this essential tool children are most likely to under-achieve as they unequipped for the school as they have not been able to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills. Bereiter and Engelmann consider language spoken by low-income black American families as inadequate for educational success. See it as ungrammatical, disjointed and incapable of expressing abstract ideas. There has also been concern that children who do not speak English at home may be held back educationally. Nevertheless, the Swann report found that language was not a major factor in under-achievement, while Gillborn and Mirza note that Indian pupil do very well despite often not having English as their home language. Attitudes and values perceived by black children are seen as unsatisfactory by many cultural deprivation theorists as their lack of motivation is the major cause of their failure as they are socialised into subculture which does not value education and has fatalistic attitude. Most other children are socialised into the mainstream ideology which instils ambition, competiveness and willingness to make the sacrifices for long term goals essentially equips them for success in education. Family structure and parental support, Ken Pryce sees family structure as contributing to the under-achievement of black Caribbean pupils in Britain. From a comparison of black and Asian pupils, he claims that Asians are higher achievers because their culture is more resistant to racism and gives them a greater sense of self-worth. By contrast, he argues, black Caribbean culture is less cohesive and less resistant to racism. As a result, many black pupils have low self-esteem and under-achieve. Argues difference is the result of differing impact of colonialism on the two groups. Experience of slavery was culturally devastating for blacks they lost their language, religion and entire family system. Asian family structure remains intact as, languages and religions were not destroyed by colonial rule. Sociologists argue racism in wider society is a factor which restricts educational achievement of certain ethnic groups this is supported by David Mason who puts it, ‘discrimination is a continuing and persistent feature of the experience of Britain’s citizens of minority ethnic origin’. It is also argued by sociologist John Rex who shows how racial discrimination leads to social exclusion and how this in turn worsens the poverty faced by ethnic minorities in housing for instance. There are links to employment also as on a basis of last names determine ethnicity and from that some are biased towards e. g. when being chosen for a job and the last names ‘Patel’ and ‘Evans’ have the same set of qualifications, the company would be interested in recruiting ‘Evans’ the white candidate more than ‘Patel’ who is from an Indian background. This explains why member of ethnic minorities are more likely to face unemployment and low pay, and this in turn has a negative effect on their children’s educational prospects. The concluded judgement suggests that the ethnic differences which arise within educational achievement are down to a mixture of material and cultural deprivation as these are most influential in determining educational success and addressing ethnic differences. Some pupil responses to racism and racism also have the ability to suggest why ethnic differences arise overall but are mostly dependent on the individual and how he/she perceives the educations system e. g. either negatively or positively due to experience or upbringing. This would then initially give an insight onto how well the pupil would perform. Criticism which occur are of internationalist who argue that you cannot generalise a whole ethnic group as all the different experiences, therefore any suggestions made about the whole ethnic groups education achievements may or may not reflect a true image.

Best War Ever America And World War Ii History Essay

Best War Ever America And World War Ii History Essay The objective of this book is to subject the chief features of the Good War myth to bright analysis in the hope of present an additional realistic picture, one that does not demean the achievement of the United States and of liberal democracy but that at the same time does not diminish the stress, suffering, problems, and failures inevitably faced by a society at war. The war was good for the economy. It was liberating for women. It was a war of tanks and airplanes — a cleaner war than World War I. Americans were united. Soldiers were proud. It was a time of prosperity, sound morality, and power. But according to historian Michael Adams, our memory is distorted, and it has left us with a misleading — even dangerous — legacy. Challenging many of our common assumptions about the period, Adams argues that our experience of World War II was positive but also disturbing, creating problems that continue to plague us today. Michael C Adams has contributed to The Best W ar Ever: America and World War II as an author. Michael C. C. Adams, a professor of history at Northern Kentucky University, is the author of â€Å"The Great Adventure: Male Desire and the Coming of World War I† (1990).   Much of the events of WWII has been mythologized not only by Hollywood and government propaganda, and over the years this mythology has been perpetuated by those who lived through the war themselves. Michael C. C. Adams has sought to expose these stories for what they are, fabrication and oversimplifications, and provide the basic facts that facilitate a truer understanding of WWII and the world wide cultural changes surrounding it, both before and after the war itself. In chapter one, â€Å"Mythmaking and the War†, Adams sets out the myth itself, as defined by Hollywood dramatization, government propaganda, advertisement agencies, and the revised memories of those who stayed home, as well as those who fought in the war itself. The war became  "America’s golden age, a peak in the life of society when everything worked out and the good guys definitely got a happy ending.† (Adams, 2) The WWII era came to serve a purpose; to be the bygone age which America once was, and if worked hard enough for, could be again. It was, in a sense, America’s Garden of Eden, the time and place where all things were right. Of course, this was a manufactured ideal, what Adams calls a â€Å"usable past.† â€Å"In creating a usable past, we seek formulas to apply in solving today’s problems. Americans believe that WWII proved one rule above all others†¦it is usually better to fight than to talk.† (Adams, 4) â€Å"To make WWII into the best war ever, we must leave out the area bombings and other questionable aspects while exaggerating the good things. The war myth is distorted not so much in what it says as in what it doesn’t say.† (Adams, 7) This applies not only to the war itself, but a lso to the home front.

Reflective Cover Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflective Cover Letter - Essay Example It is a great pleasure that you will be convinced of my improvement in the use of rhetoric techniques, structure of essays, brainstorming varied ideas to support claims and communicating with the academic audience, as well as, making use of instructor feedback. It is evidently that writing has always been an idea that I really enjoyed from the first quarter given that English is my first language whether it was informational, essay or creative. It was my pleasure to learn that I had the ability to take English during my first year of college though I knew the assignments would be difficult. However, that was not the case as they appeared to be interesting, as a result of, the engaging topics. The best of work during the semester I have a great feeling were in the pieces assigned as: Shelter problem for cats and identifying situations to help the community. The first essay entailed a persuasive and analytical essay that focused on the identification of the subject matter and persuaded the audience of the problem and the recommended solutions. The latter entailed an informative and creative essay that gauged the writer’s skills in making well-structured arguments supported by valid evidence. I had a hard time in beginning these two tasks, however, with more reading materials from the tutor it was more exciting, and I was unable to stop once started. I felt that with the two essays my voice was evidently able to come through with meeting the requirements of the learning outcomes. The tutor introduced the aspect of drafting the progress of the essays and submitting them for corrections. Such an aspect enabled me to run spell checks and fixing typos. However, this quarter I am much into the understanding of the necessity of drafts. With my first trials during the beginning of the semester regarding these two essays it appears that I had no clear thesis, the paragraphs were

A Critical Exploration of Models of Continuous Personal and Essay

A Critical Exploration of Models of Continuous Personal and Professional Development - Essay Example These models emphasize on improving the standard of teaching in the colleges and also on creating a learning culture in the college. The creation of a culture of support and collaboration extend the possibilities for self improvement of trainee teachers (Rodrigues 2005). The models for continuous personal and professional development make use of a range of information presented in the development plan of the colleges. These models focus on the needs of the college which are identified through self evaluation. The models also take into consideration the feedback they obtain from the staff and other stakeholders like the students and parents. Performance appraisals which were conducted for the teachers also act as a source of information for these models. The national and local priorities are also taken into consideration. The skill development in the teachers through continuous personal and professional development is done on the basis on well recognized competency frameworks like Dfes Teachers Standards Framework, etc (Kumar 2008). The quality assurance departments make sure that the competency framework being used by these models are of high quality and standard. The continuous personal and professional development processes aim to minimize the hierarchical or the bureaucratic nature of working in the colleges and aim to develop a culture of inclusion. The continuous personal and professional development models are implemented by firstly nominating a leader for the college who takes entire responsibility for the implementation of these models (M.) 1978). The leader receives adequate training which is required for him to manage his responsibilities well. It is this leader who identifies the needs of the college trainee teachers and takes into consideration their performance appraisals. He is responsible to annually give a report to the management regarding the priorities which these development models must

The process of globalization and culture in Cape Town Essay

The process of globalization and culture in Cape Town - Essay Example People have forgotten their own culture and their own suffering. Critics take globalization as a factor which is changing their culture and imposing new cultures. What values and cultures did people adapt The high level of interconnectedness among nations, countries and cultures is referred to as globalization. The technological advancement has made the world a small place with almost every thing accessible to mankind (Globalization101, n.p). This high interaction and interdependence causes cultural mix up or cultural hybridization. Some people take consider this as a positive outcome of globalization. According to Rathkopf, globalization is the only way to a better and a more stable world. It is true, that globalization not only reduces cultural barriers but removes the negative aspects of any culture (Rathkopf, n.p). Many other people take globalization as a bargain to their culture and heritage, which is not acceptable to them. These people say that globalization is destroying their roots and their identity i.e. culture (Barlow, n.p). The globalization of products and commodities is considered to be a good thing; however this also has its own negative points. It not only declines the sales of locally made products but also disrupts the local economy. Hence it can be noted that globalization has both positive and negative outcomes. Thi... It not only declines the sales of locally made products but also disrupts the local economy. Hence it can be noted that globalization has both positive and negative outcomes. ABOUT THE REPORT This report will discuss the processes and effects of globalization in Cape Town, South Africa. The first part of the report will discuss the culture of the place and how it is organized. Moreover, how the place runs, will also be discussed. In the second part the effect of globalization on the culture of the place will be discussed. The conclusion will give an overview of what the future holds for the people in Cape Town. THE PLACE Cape Town is the provincial capital of the Western Cape and is probably one of the most beautiful cities of the world. Due to its beautiful beaches and scenery it attracts more tourists than any other place in South Africa. The total population of the city is almost 3.5 million (Statistics of South Africa, n.p). Even though this is a big number, but due to a larger area, the population density of the city is still low. Almost 80% of the households in Cape Town use electricity. Cape Town consists of almost 31% local black Africans. The rest are whites and Asians. This demography clearly states that there are more people from other nations, and hence they have their cultural influence in the area. Moreover, female population in the city is more than male population. Almost 58% of the native blacks are unemployed (Statistics of South Africa, n.p; City of Cape Town, 3-7). Almost 41% of the people in Cape Town speak Afrikaans. The rest speak Xhosa and English. Majority of the population is Christian with almost 10% having no religion at all. Cape Town can be called as the oldest city of South Africa, and it really is. Its oldest building Posthuys

Modern China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Modern China - Essay Example Oftentimes, the economic model of development propagated by China today is described as â€Å"authoritarian capitalism† (Gat, 2007, 33). China has recently taken cautious steps towards the embrace of market-oriented principles and while capitalism and entrepreneurship remain relatively new concepts, these concepts are starting to take hold. How has China developed over the past century? What is the recent history of China and how does this history explain the model of development which it has decided to pursue? How has the Chinese economy grown under globalization and has the ideological underpinnings of socialism in China evolved or simply withered away? These questions, and many more, will be addressed in this exploration of China and its cautious embrace of capitalism and entrepreneurship today. An ancient civilization with an extensive tradition of dynastic and centralized rulers, China was been ruled by the Communist Party of China (CCP) since the successful overthrow of the Nationalist government in 1949. Establishing a socialist form of government through the creation of the People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party of China is avowedly socialist and sought to impart communist teachings throughout this vast country. Accordingly, the communist leaders initially saw capitalism through a skeptic’s lens and implemented profound overhauls of the economic structure of Chinese society. Thus, the implementation of a series of top-down economic initiatives such as a series of Five Year Plans, the Great Leap Forward and the often-times violent Cultural revolution, all paved the way for the establishment of a socialist society in which economic matters were dictated by the state and implemented accordingly. Significantly, socialism provided the ideological impe tus for the Communist Party of China to govern. Thus, while implementing an economic overhaul of the country, the socialist credentials of

HRD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HRD - Essay Example One aspect that has to be considered is the utilization focused evaluation (UFE) approach that seeks to maximize ownership, understanding, and use of findings by the intended user (Stetson, 2). All stakeholders have to be involved in all stages of an evaluation, raging from sensitizing an outsider evaluator about the program context, improving accuracy of reported findings, and finally identifying any feasible recommendation that has to be implemented (Stetson, 3). Below is a case study of an evaluation process in Global Net Inc., a giant IT Organization. After visiting the human resources department for the intended interview, a representative from the department was obligated to answer to our questions and take us through the detailed intervention program. According to the representative, a program that had been reviewed in the last one year was the graduate recruitment program. The graduate recruitment program according to the representative was critical to the company; it is a strategic program through which the company outsourced quality graduates from leading universities to join the organization family. The graduate recruitment program according to the representative was strategically designed such that it included representatives from all departments who responsible for taking the graduates through a detailed and vigorous orientation program in two weeks; the program involves close observation of each graduate’s abilities, knowledge, ease to learn, and assimilate content, effective communication, and attitude, and a re port prepared on each graduate. The graduates who score the highest on both genders are thus selected to join the organization from the training school coordinated by the human resources department. According to the representative, the primary purpose of carrying out the evaluation was a demand by the organization departmental heads to evaluate the recruitment program and determine if it corresponded to the

Is Capital Punishment an Effective Deterrent Essay

Is Capital Punishment an Effective Deterrent - Essay Example 2. Influences on Deterrence The dilemma of accepting or rejecting capital punishment as a deterrent in future rate of murder is driven by the underlying socio-economic circumstances and human psychological influences. Defined as â€Å"an inhabiting mechanism which involves the risk of monitoring or intervention and associated sanction† (Cools et. al. 2010, p.275), deterrence as a function of capital punishment has not proved its worth and the persistent crime rates in societies where capital punishment is adopted proofs the weaknesses of this doctrine. However, deterrence is not an absolute measure and it should be studied relative to individuals and circumstances. Thereby, the effects of a sentence may vary indefinitely on individuals and societies they are applied. This paper will examine various factors that have a direct or indirect impact in deterrence minimization ought to be provided by the death sentence. The paper will presents the underlying logics behind the thesis, the authenticity derived from literature and sentiments attached with the issue. 3. Logics Defying Deterrence a) Role of Intent, Plan and Judicial Intricacies Human murder, despite being a detestable act cannot be studied and investigated without an in-depth cause and effect analysis. Factors and circumstances that led the criminal to commit the murder have a direct influence on the outcome of the death sentence. The punishment would not be a popular decision if it does not have adequate circumstantial evidence and the favors of masses. There are only fewer chances that the death sentence will reduce the murder rate in the society. Another logic that can be presented against the employment of capital punishment as a deterrent to murders is that planned murderers are most likely aware of the ramifications and plan to avoid these apprehension in advance. These efforts not only show the powerful intent behind a murder but also negate the existence of any deterrence. Rather, these crim inals assume that they will never be caught if they can plan carefully. Consequently, the fear of capital punishment may help them to plan even more cautiously and avoid the sentence instead of the crime. Thirdly, the intricacies in criminal law minimize the deterrence offered by the capital punishments. The criminals can bank on delaying tactics maneuvered through attorneys and appeals to final decision. The delay in justice thereby causes an exceptional damage to deterrence. b) Role of Law and Authority Laws in almost every country have defined separate clauses for unintentional and homicides with an intent. However, the intent of a murder is actually a state of mind and it is very hard to prove in most cases, â€Å"Courts have wrestled with the distinctions among such states of mind.† (Homocide n.d.). In such cases the death sentence may be justified as far the course of law is concerned but the deterrence in not defensible. In other words, the judicial procedures and just ifications may be sufficient for the award of a capital punishment