SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY-CASE STUDIES IN POLICY PowerPoint Presentation - 1

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY-CASE STUDIES IN POLICY DECISION - PowerPoint Presentation Example However, an analysis of the economic and implications to the industry indicate that the project was a worthy venture. In addition, international pressure, technological and issues pertaining to foreign policy indicated that the project was worthwhile. In looking at the procedures followed in estimating the cost of producing the TSR-2 planes there is the realization that budgeting was a major problem. The budgeting process might have been a bad note to begin a project of this caliber, but one still needs to understand that the project was fairly new and the details were still hazy. The BAC Company gave the government a fairly good deal of  £ 625 million but the government’s final offer stood at  £ 620 million. The general realization is that there were many problems that had already been associated with the project other than the cost that influenced its final cancellation. The over-politicization and concentration on the problems overshadowed the long term economic benefits of the project. For instance, the fact that the Australians opted for the America F111 did not imply that they were not ready to buy the TSR-2. TSR-2 was superior technologically and maybe the Australians wanted a better deal with better terms. For instance, the Australians could have been allowed to test the TSR-2 using their own pilots in British Soil. The TSR-2 project also happened at a time when the government had placed strict regulations governing military expenditure. In addition, the bureaucracy created by the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Supplies presented numerous challenges for the project at different stages; these factors only magnified the already evident skeptism surrounding the project. The government was looking at the amount of revenue that would be immediately saved and perhaps channeled in other areas instead of concentrating on the long term benefits of the project. However, the number of jobs

Issues And Assumptions Of Hotel Mangement

Issues And Assumptions Of Hotel Mangement The following report is a thorough analysis of the outrigger Hotels and Resorts case that describe the current Information Technology (IT) being used by this firm and the Information System resources that are being employed by Outrigger Hotels and Resorts. We will first start by giving a brief background history of the company and then analyze the current business structure and the Information System currently being employed. Key Issues and assumptions are identified from the case and thoroughly analyzed. Additional SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis questions are answered and finally, additional recommendation on how Outrigger can improve their current IS and IT infrastructure are provided to improve the future outcome of Outrigger Hotels Resorts. INTRODUCTION: Outrigger Hotels and Resorts is a management company that is owned by its holding corporation, Outrigger Enterprises. It is one of the largest, privately-held leisure lodging and hospitality firm in the Asia Pacific and Oceania. With rapid growth, Outrigger is expanding its presence throughout the Hawaiian Islands and the south pacific. By the dawn of the 21st century, the industry was estimated to have exceeded $295 billion in sales (Outrigger, 2010). With more than 60 years of hospitality experience, Outrigger has a diverse product portfolio that include highly successful, multi-branded line of hotels, condominiums and vacation resort properties, including Outrigger Hotels resorts, OHANA Hotels Resorts and Outrigger Condominium Collection (Outrigger, 2010). It is considered as one of the leading destination and vacation spots in the Hawaiian market with above average performance levels of the global industry (Piccoli, G., 2005, p. 106). KEY ISSUES AND ASSUMPTIONS: Main focus is to gain competitive advantage. Currently in waves 1 and 2 of the Waves of Innovation development of its electronic interfaces with their wholesalers. But not all wholesalers were interested in automating The firms integrated CRS/PMS (Central Reservation System/Property Management System) IT infrastructure Stellex, failed to migrate with a modern platform that was thought to simplify connectivity with the other off-the-shelf computer systems Having a Central Reservation Office (CRO) operating in Denver, Colorado. Reservations were centralized for all properties in Hawaii and beyond Hawaii, reservations was taken at each property. Issues with distance, high telecommunication costs and unacceptable reliability of international network led to a decentralized structure. Competitive pressures raising the importance of integration as larger branded hospitality and resort companies are entering the market. travel agents and wholesalers were finding the condominiums hard to sell advancements in technology and the overall internet boom proving a challenge for outrigger to keep up with and jeopardizing Outriggers future stability Detailed description: The main concern that Outrigger had was to analyze the current outriggers business strategy and to come up with an appropriate IS vision, IS architecture, and a strategic IS plan for outrigger hotels and resorts that not only gives Outrigger competitive advantage but also ensures future stability and success of the firm. When looking at IT and how it is used by industries and enterprises, waves of innovation chart is used (provided in the appendix, figure 4) that identifies the current evolution of IT within a firm (McNurlin, Sprague, Bui, 2009, p. 46). Currently, it is our assumption that Outrigger Hotels and Resorts are in Wave 1 and Wave 2. Their main goals are to reduce costs (Wave 1) and in leveraging investments (Wave 2) that focus on cutting cost through organizational effectiveness while increasing corporate assets and profitability (McNurlin, Sprague, Bui, 2009, p. 47). Outrigger achieved in reducing costs by automating manual processes to wholesalers such as billing and invoicing generating organizational effectiveness. They gained competitive advantage by implementing the electronic interface to be used by wholesalers. As shown in Figure 4, both Wave 1 and Wave 2 are below the line as this identifies that systems were developed mainly for administration, finance, and manufacturing (McNur lin, Sprague, Bui, 2009, p. 47). Furthermore, with the outsourcing of their website and web services, they introduced online chat to better help their customers and provide more information to them. Although this can be regarded as Wave 5 under the Waves of Innovation as it shows how IT is used to communicate directly with consumers, thereby leading to new marketing, distribution and service strategies (McNurlin, Sprague, Bui, 2009, p 47). Also what can be considered under Wave 5 is the adoption of a dynamic package that Outrigger serves that appeals to travellers, suppliers, even travel agencies. It provides the option and flexibility to choose air, hotel, car rental and even activities, ticketed independently and then priced out as a bundle to the buyer. This is another example of how Outrigger is reaching consumers and creating opportunities (Wave 5 in Waves of Innovation) by directly communicating with their prospective clients, making use of internet and e-commerce (McNurlin, Sprague, Bui, 2009, p. 47). Outrigger Hotels and Resorts historically maintained a highly centralized organization structure. As the firm grew in size from Hawaii locations and expanded internationally such as Australia, Outrigger remained consolidated and offered centralized services where possible such as in accounting, IT, finance, engineering, purchasing etc. The challenge that was presented with their Australian resorts was of distance and real-time coordination of the reservation system with the central reservation service. Within the IT infrastructure, the firm felt that its current centralized IT infrastructure was the source of competitive advantage. Their software Stellex was an integrated Central Reservation System/Property Management System (CRS/PMS) which was upgraded to Stellex 2.0 in 1992 to provide revenue management functionality and reservation center support. But with the expansion of the firm internationally, they ran into issues such as high telecommunication costs to and from Hawaii and the unacceptable reliability of international networks. Therefore, they did not extend their centralized model to their operations in Australia and the Pacific. Outriggers IT professionals did minimal application development wrote customized reports, and configured and interfaced with off-the-shelf applications. Even their website development and web services were outsourced and hosted by a third party in Portland, Oregon. Their main competitive advantage that outrigger had was the development of real-time electronic interfaces with wholesalers as mentioned above. Outrigger felt that with the use of technology, electronic interfaces will generate substantial efficiencies, including automatic billing and invoicing without human handling and thus lowering costs. But not all wholesalers were interested in automating reservation processing. The lack of interest was generated from those doing small operations or those for whom Hawaii and the Pacific represented a small percentage of business. Not only that, but the electronic interfaces proved to be expensive to maintain and replace and didnt provide the expected goals that Outrigger envisioned to gain to get beyond their competitors (Piccoli, G. 2005, P 113). System integration is the trend that allows different departments to have communication and information flow amongst each department and thus making technologies and systems co-exist with one another to work together. This is usually accomplished by implementing and ERP system that provides the accessibility of working from a single computing platform integrating different departments and functions across an organization (McNurlin, Sprague, Bui, 2009, p. 333). With stellex software though, it failed to migrate with the modern platform that integrated other off-the-shelf application prompting outrigger to re-evaluate Stellexs role. Additionally, Stellex also failed to interface with outriggers Point of Sales (POS) system which were old and needed to be upgraded first. Therefore, the whole project was aborted. Outriggers management is also in need of change management. They had this misconception that they did not want to extend their centralized model in operations because of high telecommunications cost and the unacceptable reliability of international networks. They had no central servers, stand alone systems and their use of outsourcing was limited to website development and hosting. Their data management systems consisted of data marts setup to hold detailed information for a maximum of three years, and later they would consolidate this data for aggregate analysis. Overall, Outriggers management felt that their IT function was enabling them complete success and that their IT function would be able to operate more efficiently than its competitors. QUESTIONS: What are Outriggers most important internal business strengths and weaknesses, as well as, the external opportunities and threats to their competitive environment? Strengths: Through Partnerships and management agreements with third party owners, Outrigger added properties on Maui and Kauai and grew to 26 locations in the Hawaiian Islands. Furthermore, through partnerships, joint ventures, acquisitions, and new developments the firm grew internationally adding properties in Guam, Fiji, Tahiti, Australia, and New Zealand thus becoming geographically dispersed. They also begain to diversify their product portfolio by adding condominium resorts The changing of their name from Outrigger Hotels Hawaii to Outrigger Hotels and Resorts and rebranding their off beach hotels in Waikiki to launch a new hotel brand name OHANA Hotels of Hawaii. OHANA became the largest Hawaii-owned operator in Waikiki catering to budget travelers looking for value on off-beach properties. Even though they were expanding their firm and buying properties (both on-beach properties/condominiums and off-beach budgeted properties) their commitment in their identity remained the same. Providing hospitality and sense of place to their guests visiting and a leisure experience that is rich in culture and the characteristics of their destination. 2004 data showed outrigger as being the stronghold in the Hawaiian market with performance levels above the average of the global industry. By 2005, Outrigger had a portfolio exceeding US $1.4 billion and approximate revenues of US $45 million. It awarded their success of their destination markets and to the well-being of airlines serving its destinations. Being quite isolated from any large population pool, Hawaii is a classic destination market with an exclusive fly-in customer base. Their Stellex software proved to be an anchor from which all operational systems connected, including telephone switches, call accounting, and in-room entertainment. All the Hawaiian islands had access to Outriggers centralized IT system which was served from the Honolulu-based data center, through the firms Wide Area Network. Their management of their multicultural and multilingual employees and guests in a multicultural environment adding to the richness and culture of their organization. Also, engaging in a non-unionized business in a heavy unionized Hawaiian labor market. Operating properties that have good location, strong travel distribution network and employees who provide hospitality from the heart adds value and creates a differentiated product. David Carey Use of outsourcing was limited to website development and hosting. Weaknesses: Even though condominiums represented an increasingly important share of the total portfolio of properties, travel agents and wholesalers found them hard to sell. Not only are condominiums expensive, but they were also complex and proved to be a non-standard product from what Outrigger offered. It appealed to independent travelers and are built to serve as primary or vacation homes for the tenants offering little office or staging space for management companies to operate in. They also lacked typical hotel services and departments such as food and beverage, room service, laundry, and daily maid services. Thus, there was a lack of reasoning involved on Outriggers behalf when they decided to expand their firm into condominium market and acquiring expensive properties. As Outrigger started to diversity their product portfolio, the profile of their customers and competitors also changed. Traditionally targeting to middle class travelers and families with income below $100k a year, they became to target towards leisure travelers. A typical guest staying at their premium brand was often a multigenerational customer with a sense of loyalty to the brand and an income exceeding $75,000. Their guests became exclusive leisure travelers. Outrigger still relied on the traditional system of faxing. Reservations were taken at each location and almost all the reservations were faxed to the property. Although Outrigger was expanding rapidly, they had yet to find an integrated solution for international properties namely for operations in Australia and Pacific. Having centralized stand alone systems or legacy systems. It created high telecommunication costs to and from Hawaii, as well as international networks proved to be unreliable. Their Stellex software failed to migrate to a more modern platform that was thought to simplify connectivity with the other off-the-shelf computer systems. Point of Sales (POS) systems were not centralized and couldnt be interfaced with Stellex software as they were old and needed to be upgraded first. This resulted in inefficiency as a manual charge voucher had to be manually written. Data marts were setup to hold detailed customer information for three years, but later this data would be consolidated and it would only provide aggregate analysis. Outsourcing was done to website only. Opportunities: Investments in condominiums provided a way for expansion to expensive properties. It created value to on-beach property location spots Condominiums also appealed to independent travelers and couples who desired privacy. Hawaii is a classic destination market Competitive pressures will raise the importance of integrated system and the benefits that come along with it within Outriggers IT infrastructure. Better integrating of its international properties is a crucial stepping stone to the firms continued success. With the increasing competition in its key markets, outrigger should also look towards strengthening their electronic presence and relationships with their distributers, improve their trademark hospitality and customer service. Threats: More competition from larger brand competitors entering into the market. Hawaii is the classic destination spot and many competitors are entering into the Hawaiian market. More larger branded hospitalities and resorts are entering into the Hawaiian market Not all the wholesalers were interested in automating the service of billing and invoicing for small operations IT infrastructure needs to be upgraded and changed to keep up with modern platforms. Competitive pressures will raise the importance of integration systems within Outriggers IT infrastructure The change in the overall hospitality distribution is also rapidly changing. Historically, travel agents would provide significant amounts of information, counseling, and reassurance to leisure travelers, but more and more consumers are turning to the internet for this information. Thus, Outrigger should challenge populating the new electronic world and create a powerful presence. The emergence of online agencies such as Expedia has created significant opportunities and threats. Explain the strengths and/or weaknesses of Outriggers existing infrastructure i.e. Information Systems Technology, People (users and IS staff), and Data. Include your assessment of its performance today as well as how well equipped it is to support future needs. Outrigger existing infrastructure includes the overall establishment with their Stellex software. It was introduced in 1987 as a COBOL application and guaranteed complete redundancy and 24/7 uptime. Later in 1992, and update to stellex, Stellex 2.0 was introduced by Outrigger which ran on Sun Microsystems UNIX platform and provided revenue management functionality and reservation center support. They also implemented JD Edwards ERP system as a foundation for their back-office operations. This led to Outrigger having a competitive advantage by having centralized IT infrastructure (Piccoli, G., 2005, p. 111). All of the properties in the Hawaiian Islands had access to the Outriggers centralized IT systems and was served through their Wide Area Network based in Honolulu. Stellex provided the anchor to which all other operational systems connected, including telephone switches, call accounting, and in-room entertainment. Due to the high telecommunication costs to and from Hawaii and the unreliability on the international networks, Outrigger did not extend this centralized model to its operations in Australia and Pacific. The properties in Australia and New Zealand which were all condominiums, used standalone Property Management Systems (PMS). None of the properties in Hawaii had a server on property and these other regions used standalone PMSs and on-property reservations. Additionally, Outriggers IT professional engaged in interfacing off-the-shelf applications and writing customized reports with minimal application development. The use of outsourcing was limited to the Web site that was developed and hosted by a third party in Portland, Oregon. But to maintain the integration of the direct channels, Stellex served as the booking engine behind Outriggers Web site. The development of electronic interfaces with wholesalers was considered a key initiative and was custom-developed by the firms IT group using XML (Piccoli, G., 2005, p. 113). This provided real-time electronic interfaces for wholesalers allowing them to check availability, to get reservations instantaneously, to provide automate billing and invoices, and ultimately lowering any estimated costs. However, not all wholesalers were interested because of Outriggers small percentage of business. In 2001, business intelligence software, a data mart and analytical tools, were acquired from E.piphany and the application ran on Windows 2000 platform. Their data management system could hold data for up to three years, and then it would get consolidated for aggregate analyses (Piccoli, G., 2005, p. 118). Being able to harness the analytical power of E.piphany to do forecasts and generate business intelligence, outrigger could better use the data for marketing and operational analysis as well as incorporate information into their daily operations with improved efficiency and service to their customers. With regards to their IT staffing and organization as a whole, an organization chart has been provided in the appendix section detailing the distribution of duties and responsibilities among Outriggers IT staff. The overall IT function was organized along user needs one IT professional in charge of Australian properties application needs. The hardware support was contracted out to local vendors. Outriggers senior executives found technology a great asset to enable communication and felt confident that the IT function was enabling the firm to compete effectively and that they were operating more efficiently than their competition (Piccoli, G., 2005, p. 116). As the firm was expanding aggressively, they still had yet to find an integrated solution for their international properties. Some even questioned the viability of reinvesting in Stellex. The IS group felt that their legacy system namely their ERP, integrated PMS/CRS, and electronic interfaces with distribution partners was serving the firm quite well. They were prompted to re-evaluate the role of Stellex after a failed attempt to migrate a more modern platform thought to simplify connectivity with the other off-the-shelf computer systems in the portfolio. Outrigger engaged in limited formal technology training and relied mainly on on-the-job training when it came to software applications. This approach however created difficulties for people who were hired from outside the firm. With the latest advancements in technology, even the guests who arrive to resorts expect to have access to their technological needs. Eg wireless access and thus outrigger should look into future to provide that feasibility to their guests. Additionally, it would be best to strengthen their internet presence and populate the electronic world strengthening their electronic relationships with their distributers, improving their own trademark hospitality and customer service. Although currently their firm is doing well, but for the future, a better integrated system that connects all the international properties is a crucial step in enabling the firms continued success. Developing a right kind of information strategy and developing a clear vision for the role of IS and a solid IS architecture are a crucial step in enabling these goals. Based on your assessment of the case, state your key recommendations and rationale to Outriggers senior management to ensure that it competes successfully. To compete successfully in the future, a key recommendation for Outrigger is to implement a change in their overall current IT and IS systems and strategy and look towards the advantages that are offered by a complete ERP system. An ERP system aims to integrate corporate systems by providing a single set of applications from a single application (McNurlin, Sprague, Bui, 2009, p332). Although Outrigger has already implemented the JD Edwards ERP as their back-office operations, its more advantageous to have the ERP system integrating the whole overall different departments and properties together with one module and have information flows in real time. These days, an ERP system is used extensively in almost every major organization whether it be in manufacturing or distributing services, an integrated ERP system allows a firm to gain competitive advantage. Not only that but competitive pressures have raised the importance of integrating business processes and thus, the underlying info rmation system. Additional motivations for ERP implementations are provided in Figure 4 outlining the advantages of an ERP system implementations. To realize the benefits of ERP, Outrigger must therefore change its organizational structure and culture. APPENDIX CASE 1: OUTRIGGER HOTEL RESORTS Outrigger Organization: Figure : Organization Chart Outriggers Infrastructure: Figure : Timeline of Major Infrastructure Developments at Outrigger Waves of Innovation: Picture2.jpg Figure : Waves of Innovation Motivations for ERP implementations: Figure : Motivations for ERP implementations

Zoecon Corporation - Strike Roach Ender :: Case Study, solution

To:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Executive, Zoecon Corporation From:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Date:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thursday, February 17, 2005 Subject:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strike Roach Ender Introduction Projected Industry Consumers  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Professional Projected Growth Rate of 10% annually  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Projected growth rate of 8% annually Projected sales of $4.4 million   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Projected sales of $2.7 billion Flea IGR Introduction – Similar Scenario †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Great success of introduction of flea IGR PRECOR into PCO, veterinary and pet store markets. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1980 Zoecon broke into the supermarket segment by selling the PRECOR ingredient to it’s competitor dCon †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In early 1983 Flea Ender (using PRECOR) was introduced to supermarkets by Zoecon – 11 % of the market was captured by late 1983 †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Flea Ender’s success attributed to a second 3rd party competitor S.C. Johnson †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By 1985 Strike Flea Ender had captured 18% of the flea pesticide market and continues to achieve it’s profit objective Consumer Test Market Analysis Zoecon’s introduction of the Strike Roach Ender has captured a substantial portion of the test area household market segment. As seen in Table A the brand was recognized by over half of the households in the market and 6 %,( 70,200 households) of those households purchased the brand, resulting in a profit of $ 247,180.40. Though repeat purchases were also high at 30% (21,060 households) the profit generated was not enough to sustain a revenue in the trial market. Zoecon ended the market in a net loss of $$1,230,819.40. Figures are further broken down in Table A. Contribution margins were also high for Strike Roach Ender. Aerosol Strike had a contribution margin of 55.1% and fogger had an even higher margin of 57% as seen in Table B. Table C projects the break even analysis in both units and dollars as a basis for further projections. As seen in Table C substantially larger sales are required to break even. Industry Market Analysis Using the techniques from the test market estimates of market share and projected sales for the 19 city (80% of trial insecticide volume) are made for the introduction of Strike Roach Ender into the household market. I also chose to increase the advertising budget by 20% which increased costs to upwards of $12 million. This further drove the net loss to a final projection of $6,844,476 as seen in Table D. Much like the test market Contribution margins were also high for Strike Roach Ender. Aerosol and fogger Strike had a contribution margin exceeding 50% as seen in Table E. Table F projects the break even analysis in both units and dollars as a basis for further projections.

Advertising: the Magazine Game Informer

Informer an advertisement for Old Spice caught my eye. The reason for this was because it was large scale, in your face, and took up two pages. The way that this ad established and reinforced the brand name was very clever. The ad used very neutral, warm welcoming colors such as dark orange, and blue with bold white text. This seems to be a typical old spice ad in my eyes. I say this because the way old spice portrays its self is humorous but at the same time, without a doubt seriously manly.This is an obvious point, because in the add the man is covered in the old spice foaming body wash while riding a giant crow away from the sunset while being struck by lighting. This makes a very bold point that it is the manly of manliest body washes. This is apparent because not any average man could tackle riding a giant crow as well as a substantial lightning strike all while covered in a foamy blanket of body wash. When it comes to the question of what I think they are trying to create, I be lieve they are trying to portray this superior man of men image.I am able to link this ad with others that I have seen for old spice in the same manner. Such as a commercial I remember about â€Å"the man that your man could smell like† the slogan of the ad is that â€Å"We're not saying this body wash will make your man into a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it. † This reinforces my point that the company Old Spice is trying to create a superior image that their body wash represents. Back to the magazine ad, I feel that creating this superior image targets young as well as older men.They appear cool to a younger age group while also targeting a more middle age group that represents everything they could have been in their lives, but can be by using their body wash so as insinuated in the commercial I talked about previously. The placement of this ad in the magazine is more towards the end. The ad itself is outlined by a white border, whi ch complements the bold large white text. The man riding the massive bird takes up one page while a close up of the mans face takes up the other half.This is important because I believe that they are trying to show what the man is capable of by showing him riding the bird while holding the body wash, while on the other half of the ad they show a close up of his face, which displays confidence. You can tell this by his facial expression. He seems sympathetic but also sincere at the same time. While on the other hand he is riding the bird with a yelling face, such as athletes do when they are getting â€Å"pumped† up. This is relevant because this is an NFL endorsed ad.I believe that this can also portray two sides to the body wash, such as confident and outgoing but also compassionate. This may also have to do with the scent â€Å"showtime† that they are advertising. Which probably has to do with meaning business. This ad influences me, and attracts me to their product because I feel that this scent will make me feel as if I am more confident and ready for business, or â€Å"showtime. † This is something that is important to many people as well as me.If I am feeling good about myself and how I smell, I may be more apt to be more outgoing and in a better mood throughout my day or night. I feel like people are looking for products that give them more drive. I say this because that is something that I look for, such as more appeal and confidence. Overall, I believe that this ad is trying to impose the â€Å"coolness† that everyone wants. They are able to do this by showing two different sides of a person through this two page-spanning ad designed around the scent â€Å"showtime. This is represented through the warm subtle colors surrounding the ad, with the popping lightning bolt striking the man and the body wash bottle in the background. Which is displaying the more confident outgoing side of the scent. These are important characteri stics, because when it comes to smelling right it is very important. People do not want over dominating scents, they want scents that attract others, and give them a new sense of achievement and accomplishment like old spice portrays this scent to be.

Concept and Value of Entrepreneurship

Question: What is entrepreneurship? Illustrate your answer with suitable examples from your home country. Nowadays, entrepreneurship places an important determinant of development in the society and regarded as the â€Å"rock stars† in the business world. According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), entrepreneurship is defined as: ‘any attempt to create a new business enterprise or to expand an existing business by an individual, a team of individuals or an established business’. It means that the individuals or an established business are able to make a unique, innovative and creative contribution whether in employment or self-employment.At the same time, entrepreneurship represents people who are driven to act on opportunities and environmental catalysts in the face of limited resources. At its core, entrepreneurship is starting a business from idea conception to managing the company for the long term. There is no doubt that entrepreneurship deserves the reputation for the reason that it has the level of freedom of which traditional managers can only dream. ( Morrison, 2000) In order to inquire entrepreneurship deeply, this article illustrates two essential parts to analysis entrepreneurship.The first aspect is giving the concept of entrepreneurship including the explanation of entrepreneurship and discussing whether entrepreneurship is aroused from nature or nurture. The second part is considering the value of entrepreneurship. Part one: the concept of entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship can be explained into various approaches, including economic approach, personality approach and other approaches. In this part, the article put emphasis on the economic dimension and personality dimension to analyze the features distinguished entrepreneurs.The role of entrepreneurship is embedded in the mainstream economic models. Considering the direction of causality between entrepreneurship and economy, it can be proved that economic development g enerates many opportunities which can transform new ideas and create the new enterprises. On the contrary, the creation of new industries and the innovation of existed firms which stimulated by entrepreneurship may stimulate the economic growth. Therefore, entrepreneurship can be regarded as both the cause and effect of economic development.From an economic perspective, the measure of entrepreneurship is the contribution of new firm formation. Entrepreneurs are more than a business man, they are the speculative trader which is skilled to put forward new ideas, grasp the opportunities and combine the effective management with innovation in the risk and uncertainty background. When starting up a new enterprise, there are a number of jobs available can be generated. When facing with the economic slump and financial crisis, entrepreneurs can drive the company get out of the trouble by seizing opportunities and making innovation.There comes a conclusion that the entrepreneurs as the agen t of economic change so that it makes huge contributions to economic growth. ( Oscar, Javier & Pablo, 2009) It is far from enough for explaining the entrepreneurship in economic rationale. Economic perspective ignores the special human abilities and differences in human values, capabilities and power of human will result in different practical solutions. Therefore, it is essential to take the personality into account. Personality traits aim to using the characteristics of individual to explain the differences of individual actions when facing the similar conditions.Personality traits also explain the behaviors of entrepreneurs. There is no doubt that the individual personality of entrepreneurs stimulates their passions, social interactions and creativeness. In order to give a deep understanding of entrepreneurship, there are several traits which have a close relationship with entrepreneurship. ( Littunen, 2000) Innovation is the soul of entrepreneurship. Hampered by uncertainty and limited resources, entrepreneurs should to reply the variety agile efficiently and become creative in facing the challenges.Since the essence of entrepreneurship is doing the different things rather than making something better, the lack of innovation will result in the decline of enterprise, even perishing. In the point of view of CEO Zhang Ruimin, entrepreneurship is the creative destruction, if the enterprise attempts to make great achievements, there is a need for enterprise to destroy themselves, and otherwise they will be destroyed by other firms. Thus, recently, Haier put forward an idea that enterprises should be adapt to the demand of epoch development other than willing to success.Haier relies on the pursuit of innovation perseverance by the means of setting up an independent operation mode of the win-win body successfully become a leader in the industry. ( Okpara, 2007) Adventure is the nature of the entrepreneurial spirit. Facing with the potential risks and uncertainty, it is impossible to possess entrepreneurship if lacking of adventure. It is said that you must kiss a large number of frog to find the princess. It means that entrepreneurs should have to experience setbacks and failures in order to be success. Liu chuanzhi is the representative of entrepreneur in china.Although he has been relieved from this office, he still keens to start new businesses. Regardless of facing risks and many challenges, he intends to transform Lenovo into an enterprise which produces enterprises. It can be drawn that entrepreneurs have the spirit of adventure and dare to be the first one. (Hadji, Cocks & Mueller, 2007) Social vision is the key to entrepreneurship. Social vision can be regarded as a strong sense of obligation and destiny to satisfy human needs. Possessing social vision promotes entrepreneurs to find the opportunities and act as an agent of social age.Li kaifu, the CEO of Innovation Works, stress that entrepreneurs should spare no effort to produce m ore social returns. He proves himself through actions. September 4, 2009, Kaifu Lee resigned from Google to run his Innovation Works as an angel investor and create new models for society by his huge influence. Li kaifu has the sense of obligation and aspiration to make contribution to social and economic development by creating new business and innovation. What’s more, there are many other characteristics which are associated with entrepreneurship such as locus of control, determination, and trusting and trustworthy.When entrepreneurship attracts public’s attention, there is a heated debate aroused about whether entrepreneurship is caused by nature or nurture. Some groups believed that genetic factors existed to drive people to engage in entrepreneurial activity. There is no doubt that some kinds of specialities are people born with, such as the innovativeness, adventurous and locus of control. These characteristics are determined by genetic factors rather than traini ng or other environmental factors. It is insisted that genes may have an influence on chemical mechanisms in the brain so that people maybe more willing to pursue entrepreneurial activity.Genes also affect individual characteristics which can make entrepreneurs different from others, such as people who possess characteristics of innovativeness and locus of control are more likely to throw themselves to the entrepreneurial activity. ( Kroeck, Bullough & Reynolds, 2010) Genes entrust people the ability to be more sensitive than others to environmental stimuli, it means that entrepreneurs are easier than others to master the social change in order to prepare in advance. What’s more, genes may make people to good at find favourable factors and opportunities to ensure the company development.Therefore, it is nearly impossible to find a simple formula or entrepreneurship that can be trained, the specific characteristics and habits possessed by the successful entrepreneurs was inher ent. ( Kenney & Mujtaba, 2007) However, some groups take the opposite view that entrepreneurial leaders are made rather than born. They consider that there is hardly existed entrepreneurship gene for the reason that the majority of entrepreneurial leaders start at a young age. According to the survey, about 33% of the entrepreneurial leader said that working in the corporate environment makes essential contribution to the success of their business.At the same time, 45% of entrepreneurs establish their own businesses after the age of thirty. Although there still have young entrepreneurial leader, it is no doubt that the knowledge they acquire in the college and the personal experiences through the corporate and social environment are essential to their success. In spite of the young age, over a half of entrepreneurs regarded themselves as the â€Å"transitioned leader† for the reason that they have spent a much time in the traditional employment before starting their own busin ess. The education and experiences lay great foundation on the entrepreneurs.It can be concluded that entrepreneurs are aroused from both nature and nurture. Some unique characteristics of entrepreneurship which include creativeness, locus of control and risk-takers are born with and can not be taught, these characteristics make the entrepreneurial leaders apart from the traditional managers. Nevertheless, becoming successful entrepreneurs and running the business successfully in the long term are not simply requiring the specialties, but also depending on the combination of internal and external factors, consisting of education, timing, culture, social environment and sometimes luck.Part two: the value of entrepreneurship Almost without exception, entrepreneurship brings a lot benefits to individual, companies and society. Most importantly, entrepreneurship indeed generates great economic benefits so that it should be attach importance to. Actually, entrepreneurship is regarded as a challenge for people. It requires people to break the traditional thinking of managers and become the risk-taker and create a new business. Although it may be difficulty for people due to the lower median incomes and more volatile and less secure, entrepreneurs could earn self satisfaction and rewards which is an opportunity for them.At the same time, developing the entrepreneurship can generate self sufficiency which can create the wealth. According to the top ten popular entrepreneurs in china which is ranked by Forbes, consisting of CEO Ma huateng in Tencent, CEO Ma yun and other entrepreneurs, the aim of ranking is to make entrepreneurship internationally respected and admitted. Therefore, facing uncertainty risks and challenges, entrepreneurs are still willing to create their own business and achieve their values. Firth & Mcelwee, 2009) Entrepreneurship also plays the dominant role in the enterprise development; it is the major source of the enterprise core competitiveness. T he core competitiveness of enterprise is regarded as the extension of entrepreneurship and it can be reflected by the visionary and vigorous leader. As being the unique position in company, it is important for entrepreneurs to take responsibility of risk activities such as the organization innovation, management innovation and value innovation.For example, in 2002, Huawei was facing the challenge of lacking of technology advantages and entering the cyclical downturn, CEO Ren zhengfei carried out the deep reform which includes industrial restructuring and internal restructuring and finally enterprise met the success. It proved that entrepreneurship does not simply constitute the internal driving force of development, but also become the external development opportunities. Entrepreneurship makes huge contribution to the social development, especially in economy.Entrepreneurship generates a large number of employment opportunities by the establishment of new business which is treated a s a significant input to economy. It is also improving the level of productivity by boosting the GDP rates or tax contributions. Moreover, entrepreneurs are able to create many innovations which promote the boom of inventions the world would have been a much dry place to live in. Especially in recent years, China is experiencing the economic downturn influenced by the global economic crisis; it is in urgent need of entrepreneurship to promote the economic recovery.Sun mingnan is the represent of the generation of 80s, which was the most attractive young entrepreneur in Summer Davos, his successful experience proved that young entrepreneurs attach importance to the economic development in China. ( Santo, 2012) Above all, entrepreneurship has substantial value, it is increasingly treated as a vital driver of economic, productivity, innovation and employment development, and it is believed to be a key aspect of economic dynamism and a key factor to determine the birth and death of firm s and their growth and downsizing.It is also promoting the self satisfaction and sufficiency. Since creating a new business and participating in self-employment has become a common activity in the world, entrepreneurship is widely recognized as the major drive in economic growth. After the basic analysis of entrepreneurship among the economic and political ways, as well as whether entrepreneurship is caused from nature or nurture, it can be concluded that entrepreneurs indeed have some kinds of characteristics which are born with, also need the knowledge and experiences. Combined with both nature and raining, entrepreneurs have the ability to make contribution to individual, enterprises and the society. In a conclusion, entrepreneurship is deserved for both people and government to pay attention to. References: Firth, K & Mcelwee, G(2009), â€Å"Value-adding and Value-extracting Entrepreneurship at the Margins†, Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, vol. 22, pp39-53 Hadji, M, Cocks, G & Mueller, J(2007), â€Å"Toolkit for leaders: entrepreneurship and leadership prerequisites for a winning performance†, Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, vol. , pp1-13 Kenney, M & Mujtaba, BG(2007), Understanding Corporate Entrepreneurship and Development: A Practitioner View of Organizational Entrepreneurship, Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, vol. 12, pp73-88 Kroeck, KG, Bullough, AM & Reynolds, PD(2010), â€Å"Entrepreneurship and Differences in Locus of Control†, Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, vol. 15, pp21-49 Littunen, H(2000), â€Å"Entrepreneurship and the characteristics of the entrepreneurial personality†, International Journal of Entrepreneurship Bhaviour & Research, vol. , pp295 Morrison, A(2000), â€Å"Entrepreneurship: what triggers it? †, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 6. 2, pp 59-72 Okpara, FO(2007), â€Å"The Value of Creativ ity and Innovation in Entrepreneurship†, Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, vol. 3, pp1-14 Oscar, GB, Javier, GB & Pablo, MG(2009), â€Å"Role of entrepreneurship and market orientation in firms’ success,† European Journal of Marketing, vol. 43, pp500-522 Santo, FM(2012), â€Å"A Positive Theory of Social

Buying Local Organic Foods and the Environment Essay Example

Buying Local Organic Foods and the Environment Essay Example Buying Local Organic Foods and the Environment Paper Buying Local Organic Foods and the Environment Paper Does Buying Local Organic Grown Foods Help the Environment? Does Buying Local Organic Grown Foods Help the Environment? Buying locally grown organic foods helps us have a cleaner and healthier environment. Getting local organic foods rather than conventional foods reduces the carbon footprint that conventional foods bring about. This means that your food travels a lot less distance than other foods would. It has been said, that on average, a fresh food item travels about 1,500 miles just to get to our plate. That is just one item; imagine how many miles it takes for a whole plate of food. When we buy these foods we support local organic farmers; this means that we support local businesses. Over time this greatly benefits our environment, especially since a majority of local organic farmers don’t use harmful pesticides. Today’s pesticides have been designed to kill living organisms; this is why the persistent ones can be very harmful to the environment and our health. These pesticides can even contaminate our food, air, and water. In addition, synthetic fertilizers require large amounts of fossil fuel to produce. They can even contribute to air quality, such as acid rain when pesticides evaporate, and soil degradation. Local organic grown foods typically have a lot less or even no pesticides compared to conventional foods. As a last resort, organic farmers may apply certain botanical or other non-synthetic pesticides, such as rotenone and pyrethrins which are both from plants (Parnes). This leads to many great influences to the environment, such as without the use of harmful pesticides, plants are able to reach their full potential and have a higher natural nutrient level. Some people even find that organic foods have a higher potential of tasting much better and lasting longer than conventional foods. The most important foods to buy organic have been termed, The Dirty Dozen. The Dirty Dozen consists of fruits and vegetables that are more fragile and more prone to bugs and rotting, therefore they require more pesticides when grown commercially. When they are grown and bought organically, they are a lot cleaner and healthier. The Dirty Dozen are comprised of apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, ettuce, cherries, and kale and collard greens (Shapley). Since most of these foods are seasonal here in Minnesota, we have to get them from somewhere else. In addition, seasonal food tastes better when you haven’t had it during the offseason. Now of course that may be an opinion but think about it, are strawberries just as good in the winter as they are in the summer? Do we still buy a lot of sweet corn in the winter? There really aren’t a lot of people that buy these foods during the winter because they just aren’t as good then. If we were to treat the least preferable offseason foods like this, we could reduce our neediness on them and therefore we can reduce the amount of gas that it would take to get the food here. This would lead to a reduction in carbon emissions and in effect we would lessen our carbon footprint. Also, without pesticides the soil and nearby bodies of water are much healthier. The runoffs of the farms are cleaner and the ground water is a great deal healthier without the use of pesticides. When pesticides run off into a little stream, that stream may run into a river, which would then run into a bigger body of water such as a lake or ocean. This may not seem so bad since it’s just a little bit in a big system of water, but if it is happening all over and multiple times then there’s a big problem. By supporting local organic growers and reducing our dependency on commercial growers, we can reduce the amount of pesticides that get into our water systems. This concludes that there would be fewer pollutants in the water and soil, which would amount to a healthier environment. Most local organic farms take much better care of their land than commercial farmers do. In a commercial farm, soil degradation happens a lot, this is because industrial farms disregard the need for balance. They will often use the land continuously or as many times as they can before the soil has enough time to recuperate. With this happening and the use of pesticides, erosion is a great deal more likely to happen at commercial farms. Another worthy reason to buy local organic foods is that most of these farmers are better to their animals than commercial farmers are to theirs. They tend to treat their animals as animals and not just another moneymaking machine. The animals aren’t in a cramped space like commercial animals are, they get to roam more often and have a healthier life-schedule. Take cows for an example: their life schedule would include a specific time when they eat, certain times they are outside or inside, and when they are to be milked for the day. Local organic farmers are less likely to give their cows growth hormones or other enhancers. One of the main reasons is because when a cow is fed enhancers and or growth hormones the cow doesn’t live as long. Cows tend to live to be seven years old, but with enhancers they live to only about five years. It has been proven that seven-year cows produce the same amount of milk as five-year cows that have been given enhancers and or hormones. A large number of local organic farmers also feed their animals better, healthier food so that the animals can grow up to be healthier. However, commercial farmers almost always give their animals a great deal of antibiotics. When animals are given large amounts of various antibiotics, this leads to the development of dangerous antibiotic-resistant infections. Local organic farmers tend to rely more on natural measures to maintain their animal’s health. Having naturally healthy animals leads to healthier produce and a healthier environment. When we support local organic farms, they are able to thrive and keep more green spaces closer to home. In many areas, they help stop the spread of urban sprawl (Watson). Buying their food helps lessen our dependence on gas, since the food tends to travel less to get to the store or a nearby roadside stand. With buying these local organic foods and reducing our need on conventional foods we would decrease our dependence on gas, soil degradation, and the amount of pesticides in our water, soil, and air. Buying locally organic grown foods may not be in everyone’s budget, but every little bit helps. If a person were to buy at least one of these food items regularly, over time that would help out the environment since you are helping local people out and you are promoting a healthier environment. By going to a local organic farmers market or to a local store that sells these foods, you are reducing the amount of gas that would be needed to get that food to your area. If food is grown locally, it does not need to be shipped as far. But, why are local organic grown foods so expensive you ask? According to Robin Brett Parnes, the organic food supply is limited as compared to demand; production costs for organic foods are usually higher because of greater labor input and because farmers don’t produce enough of a single product to lower the overall cost. Also, there’s a range of other factors that aren’t captured in the price of conventional food such as higher standards for animal welfare and environmental enhancement and protection (Parnes). When talking about the environment these higher prices are worth it, especially at this time when we need to start improving our environment. With all of this in mind, buying local organically grown food would help the environment even if you can afford just one item, because every little bit helps. : How Does Eating Locally Grown Food Help the Environment?. About. com Environmental Issues. N. p. ,. d. Web. http://environment. about. com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/locally_grown. htm. Parnes, Robin Brett. How Organic Food Works . HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks, Inc, n. d. Web. 1 Oct 2011. http://science. howstuffworks. com/environmental/green-science/organic-food6. tm. Shapley, Dan. The New Dirty Dozen: 12 Foods to Eat Organic. The Daily Green. N. p. , n. d. Web. thedailygreen. com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods#fbIndex1. Watson, Molly . Eight Reasons to Eat Local Foods. About. com Local Foods. N. p. , n. d. Web. http://localfoods. about. com/od/finduselocalfoods/tp/5-Reasons-to-Eat-Local-Foods. htm. What is Local. Sustainable Table serving up healty food choices. N. p. , January 2009. Web. sustainabletable. org /issues/eatlocal/.

A College Essay Coachs Take on the College Admissions Scandal

A College Essay Coachs Take on the College Admissions Scandal The college admissions scandal that has been all over the news has inspired me to break my recent blogging silence. The greed and lack of integrity exhibited by employees of top universities disturb me greatly. Since I am a Yale graduate, I have received a couple of apologetic letters from President Salovey; I hope that the school’s promise to be more vigilant in its admissions process holds true. Since I am a college admissions essay coach, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by the media. Both USA Today and Rob Hart of WBBM talked to me about ethics in college admissions. Here are the article and radio clip for your reading and listening pleasure: USA Today:  Do all students cheat on their college applications? No, consultants say, but there are plenty of problems. I get calls from people who want me to write essays for them, and I won’t do that, said Brenda Bernstein, who runs The Essay Expert. This student is being judged on their own ability. But there are services that do that. And some sell academic essays as well. WBBM Newsradio Show: Essay Coach Talks Best Practices For College Applications The Dual Life of a Resume Writer and College Essay Coach What strikes me, in particular, is that many people conflate the ethics of writing a professional’s resume with the ethics of writing a student’s college essay. I keep explaining to reporters and others why they are not the same. One of my resume writer colleagues posted this comment about the college admissions scandal to my Facebook page: Just to be devils advocate here, I dont see the difference between writing essays with information students have given about THEIR story and writing a resume for someone who tells you his / her story about his / her career. We dont put on the bottom of their resumes that it was written by us. Most executives have their executive assistants write their letters for them. Is that cheating by the executive (we have all seen where an executive calls his assistant into the office to take a memo)? Like I said, just playing devils advocate.  :-) My response: There is no assumption or requirement that resumes be written by the job applicant. In fact, many hiring managers say they *prefer* a professionally written resume. Theres also no rule that a student cant get some coaching and editing help on their essay. English teachers and guidance counselors have been doing this for years. Whats important to me is that the essay is truthful, at the level the student is capable of writing, and in the students voice. What I would add to the above is that there is most definitely a rule that students must write their own application essays. Admissions committees judge them for the quality of their writing and how they express themselves, because they are going to be required to use those skills in their college careers. By contrast, an executive wont be expected to write a good resume as part of his or her job. Moving Toward Truth Integrity My job as a college essay coach is to help a student tell the truth – not the version of the truth they think an admissions committee wants to hear. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked an applicant, â€Å"Is that really true?† and gotten the response, â€Å"Well not completely. But it seems like that’s what I should have gotten out of it.† Again and again, I point the writer to the truth, which is always more interesting than the picture perfect story they thought they should tell. As a resume writer, too, my job is to tell the truth. The facts speak louder than any flowery language we could write to make something sound better than it is. We stick with the facts. The cheating uncovered in the recent college admissions scandal goes far beyond helping students think through the best way to tell their story. It goes way past the level of supporting an executive by presenting her accomplishments powerfully in writing. I hope the world recognizes this difference. More important, I fervently wish that parents, college admissions advisors, university administrators and sports coaches choose to act with integrity as they shepherd young adults into what could be the most important four years of their lives.

Metonymy

Metonymy Metonymy Metonymy By Maeve Maddox Metonymy [meh-TAHN-uh-mee] is a figure of speech that substitutes a word or phrase that stands for an object, action, institution or the like for the object itself. For example, in the phrase â€Å"surf and turf†- in the context of restaurant fare- surf is a metonymy for seafood and turf is a metonymy for beef. In a different context, the word turf is a common metonymy for the institution of thoroughbred horseracing: One of the  most famous jockeys  in the  history  of the  turf  a century ago was Sam Chipney, who was â€Å"jockey for life† to the Prince of Wales, at a salary of $1,000, and retired from the turf with his royal master in 1791. Home and Country, Volume 9, Monthly Illustrator Publishing Company, 1894. Here are some more examples of metonymy from various sources: Tories were American colonists who  remained loyal to the Crown during the American Revolutionary War. Crown = â€Å"the British government.† Suits  stars Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter and Patrick J. Adams  as Mike Ross- lawyers at a high-powered New York law firm.  (Suits is the title of a television series.) Suit = an authority figure such as a lawyer or FBI agent. Ready for another cup? cup = a cup or mug filled with coffee The pen is mightier than the sword. pen = written form of persuasion sword = military action Friends, Romans, countrymen: Lend me your ears. ears = attention Lamb and potatoes: a dish fit for a king dish = a meal France, less favoured on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill, making paper money and spending it. This quotation from A Tale of Two Cities contains more than one layer of figurative language. France = the people of France. France is also being personified as a woman with a sister. sister of the shield and trident = Britannia, ergo, Britain. A common symbol of the nation of Britain is the image of Britannia- a seated woman holding a shield and trident. The shield she holds represents military might, and the trident represents sea power. The trident is associated with the sea because it was the emblem of Poseidon, the god of the sea in Greek mythology. Reading fluency requires background knowledge that enables readers to interpret the use of metonymy and other figurative language. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial ExpressionsGrammar Quiz #21: Restrictive and Nonrestrictive ClausesTestimony vs. Testimonial

A full case study analysis of Facebook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A full case study analysis of Facebook - Essay Example The website has made itself available in more than 70 vernacular languages and massive expansion was achieved as most of the users were outside the U.S.A. and Canada. In 2012, the company made its first public offering and has ambitious plans for the future. Political: Government actions can have significant negative impact on the profitability of facebook’s future expansion. For instance, the Chinese government has banned the website from China and the governments of multiple nations like Germany has raised a concern that collecting user information by the company is a breach of security. Economic: Facebook has been able to maintain strong growth even during the period of recession and its revenue has increased significantly from $731 million in 2010 to $1,584 million in 2012 (Rothaermel and Taylor, 2014). Additionally the rising level of internet penetration in developing countries is contributing to its active users regularly. Social: Social tastes and preferences of consumers regarding the usage of social media are changing drastically which is largely visible from the rising popularity of other social websites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. In the U.K. particularly it has been noted that facebook had lost around 2 million users mainly belonging in the teenage group. Technological: As of now, Facebook does not have the technological expertise of Google which is in a better position to generate revenues from the online advertisement market. Google+, another social networking site is technologically more advanced than Facebook (Rothaermel and Taylor, 2014). Threat from buyers: Customers for facebook are the advertisers who pay the company to post their ads on the website. Current estimates of facebook show that $7.64 billion is expected to be earned from the advertising revenues even by charging higher price to them (Rothaermel and Taylor, 2014). This implies that the current customer

Research Findings, Statistical Analysis and interpretation for Essay - 2

Research Findings, Statistical Analysis and interpretation for Etisalat Telecom Corporation - Essay Example Next is the presentation of results of reliability analysis are presented for all the items used in the questionnaire and for each item used in the questionnaire. The third section presents the results of correlation analysis using graphs where the performance data is graphically presented on their associations. The last section presents the results of hypotheses tests using one-sample t-tests. Table 1 shows the age distribution of the respondents. As shown, the results show that 34% of the respondents were aged 21-25 years, 11% were aged 26-30 years, 13% were aged 31-35 years, 16% were aged 36-40 years, and 28% were aged 41 years or above. Thus most of the respondents were aged 21-25 and above 40 years. These results are also presented in Figure 1. The graphical presentation of ratio analysis is provided in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5. As shown there has been a decline in performance of Etisat in all the ratios. It can be noted that since 2006, the gross profit margin, pre (ITDA) profit margin, operating profit margin, and net profit margin has been falling to the lowest in 2012. Figure 2 shows that the gross profit margin was 79.21% and declined to 75.94 in 2007, 68.63% in 2008, 68% in 2009, 67.25% in 2010, 64.2% in 2011 and in 2012. This clearly shows a decline in the gross profit margin for Etisalat Company. Figure 3 show that pre (ITDA) profit margin was highest in 2006 at 76.82% and lowest in 2012 at 61.65% having declined over the period of analysis. Figure 4 also shows a decline in operating profit margin as it was the highest in 2006 at 68.25% and lowest in 2012 at 51.69% having also declined over the years. Figure 5 shows that the net profit margin was highest in 2006 at 35.97% and lowest in 2012 at 26.92%. This shows a decline of operating profit margin over the period of analysis. Table 2 shows the descriptive results for all the 30 items used in the study. As shown, the results are

Article review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Article review - Essay Example Students with different forms of disabilities present similar characteristics on the factors explored. According to the findings of the article, children with special needs have lesser and poorer social relations as compared to those with no special needs. The option of regular education for students with special needs is in this case beneficial. In essence, these students can interrelate with those without special needs to enhance positive social interrelations. However, it does not automatically mean a fruitful social interaction, since it always depends on how naturally social a person is, and the way they settle into their class setting. The information from the article is applicable in a class setting. From the article, I learned that it is necessary to instruct students with special needs in an inclusive classroom and provide opportunities for social interactions. They should not be secluded and taught or treated differently. There are increased social opportunities for special needs students in an inclusive class setting, but there is always a need to understand the individual characteristics of each student so that negative outcomes from introverts, such as loneliness, do not

IBook Neurology Clerkship Thesis Project (Introduction)

IBook Neurology Clerkship Project (Introduction) - Thesis Example There is a lot of sensitivity within the healthcare industry where clinicians deal with matters of life and death and thus students in the medical schools and other related fields should be well equipped with both theoretical and practical knowledge that will be achieved through this project. The project will utilize the iPad through its iBook software to deliver instruction to students. Since all students in the clerkship are provided iPads, the iPads will also insure that students get 24-hour access to comprehensive learning tools and student support services. As a learning tool inside and outside of the classroom, the iBook will blend the theories of problem-based learning in interactive-simulated style to help these medical students practice their critical thinking while fostering intrinsic motivation to learn and collaborate with others. Not only will the iBook aid students with their own learning, but it will also give instructors a way to measure the progress of their students by gathering data about their student’s advancement through iBook simulations and iBook assessment exams. Overall, the project will help all medical students in the Neurology clerkship to better succeed in the program and become better critically thinking medical professionals in the process. Medical students, at the University of California Irvine, must complete numerous clerkships as they complete their medical training. The Neurology Clerkship is one of the last that students must complete. In an effort to increase student success rates, UC Irvine has provided all medical students with iPads. The iPads introduce students with a transformative mode of learning by connecting students with the same advancements in seen in the medical profession in the classroom. Even though iPads provide both students and instructors with the technological tools necessary for success, not all programs

Personal perspective paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal perspective paper - Essay Example Being a female and the first born, I have understood the different responsibilities that life brings with itself. If I am given a chance to study in the business school and do my MBA, I would be better able to understand the world markets as I already have an idea about the mannerisms in which the different markets already exist within and the methodologies they have adopted towards the foreign traders, marketers and the like. The undergraduate degree in management that I have attained is something that I can look up to when I pursue my MBA degree program. This MBA would eventually make me stand in a league of professionals who are on the go and want to achieve more and more out of life. I will get a better paying job and the ease of mind that I have so much wished and yearned for, with the passage of time. All said and done, I wish to see myself getting established in a financial institution and see progress happening for me left, right and center. I want to make money, more and mor e of it, so that I could make my career strong and a better living is bestowed upon me nonetheless. Thus I decided to pursue my MBA because I felt I was lagging behind in life and I needed to do much more than I had already done. I needed to understand myself a whole lot more and for that, I must study further and an MBA is the key to know more about things, more about the world in general. A better and more comforting life is what I dream of, in the long run and for it to happen; it is pertinent to attain the education that I am longing to have. Having said all that and after the details that I have given about myself and my personality, I would request the said authorities to consider me for admission to the business school so that it could polish my personality as well as fulfill my dream to gain more and more about the big world of corporate giants and all that comes along with that. I would be

Personal Worldview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Worldview - Essay Example This essay discusses that since we used to attend that camp with our church I know that most of the kids from various churches only get to go because it is free to those in need. I used to see firsthand the excitement on the children’s faces as they heard stories from the Bible for the first time. God placed that upon my heart to donate monthly and I know my small donation might plant a seed in a heart that otherwise would not have been planted. By following God’s will to live a life of obedience and to serve others, I can live freely as God intended me to live (Smith, 1999).Other ways I am called as a Christian is to respond with openness and honesty, but also with grace towards those, I differ with (Smith, 1999). Living in a secular world requires me to deal with people who may not feel the same way I feel about different topics or choices. It is always important for me to treat them with respect even though I may disagree. Without being judgmental I can make my own p osition known. Knowing that there may not be a meeting of the minds on some issues, grace and respect should always be apparent. The Jesus in me that people see will hopefully plant a seed of a life they wish to have.If we share the world of the Gospel, it will become evident that to worship the One God, love the Christ, obey parents, show kindness toward our fellow beings, escape from debauchery and strictly observing chastity, honesty and integrity, that these are essential to make the world a peaceful and prosperous world (Smith, 1999).

Personal perspective paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal perspective paper - Essay Example Being a female and the first born, I have understood the different responsibilities that life brings with itself. If I am given a chance to study in the business school and do my MBA, I would be better able to understand the world markets as I already have an idea about the mannerisms in which the different markets already exist within and the methodologies they have adopted towards the foreign traders, marketers and the like. The undergraduate degree in management that I have attained is something that I can look up to when I pursue my MBA degree program. This MBA would eventually make me stand in a league of professionals who are on the go and want to achieve more and more out of life. I will get a better paying job and the ease of mind that I have so much wished and yearned for, with the passage of time. All said and done, I wish to see myself getting established in a financial institution and see progress happening for me left, right and center. I want to make money, more and mor e of it, so that I could make my career strong and a better living is bestowed upon me nonetheless. Thus I decided to pursue my MBA because I felt I was lagging behind in life and I needed to do much more than I had already done. I needed to understand myself a whole lot more and for that, I must study further and an MBA is the key to know more about things, more about the world in general. A better and more comforting life is what I dream of, in the long run and for it to happen; it is pertinent to attain the education that I am longing to have. Having said all that and after the details that I have given about myself and my personality, I would request the said authorities to consider me for admission to the business school so that it could polish my personality as well as fulfill my dream to gain more and more about the big world of corporate giants and all that comes along with that. I would be

Response to articles (to state in the documents uploaded) Essay

Response to articles (to state in the documents uploaded) - Essay Example The two articles dwell on the African American cultures and their influence in decision making. Hughes displays a scenario in which the whites are considered to be superior and of higher class than the African American. He also states the existing social classes within the African Americans. The social standards determine the life style and the child’s development (Marable & Mullings, 2009). The internal composting of families and individuals in an African American set up are determined by the existing stereotypes. These notions associate many negative occurrences to the African American populating (Huggins, 47). The two authors indicate the origin of an individual to be the main reason behind their beliefs and practice. The two authors disagree with each other on matters cross- cultural solidarity. Hughes acknowledges the solidarity. He uses the boys desire to compose poems to show the cultural interchange with the boy aspiring to be a white poet. The initial institution for each individual is the social with background information and practices being blamed to social class. They all agree on how society shapes behaviors with social background determine the nature of person people end up being. The stereotype aspect is enhanced by the family with parents giving their children negative attitude towards a given ethnic group. The authors indicate two relationships between the whites and African American. The ancient relationship in which many associated the blacks and lack formal cultural compositions with many wishing to b born in white. Hughes indicates social differences between the two groups to be the reason behind the negative beliefs existing between the two. The other aspect by the author is the existence of positive beliefs and a change of heart with both cultures showing a sense of appreciation in both the educational ground and social lives. The authors indicate friendship growing between

Prevalence of Low Virulent Footrot in Murry Region of NSW

Prevalence of Low Virulent Footrot in Murry Region of NSW Project Title:[G1]Pilot study on the prevalence of low virulent footrot in Murry region of NSW.[G2] Hypothesis Low virulent footrot has production, economic and social impacts on affected properties Objectives of the study[G3][G4][G5] The primary objective of this pilot study is to find out if low virulent footrot is seen as a problem by the farmers in the Murray Area of NSW and to what extent the disease impacts the farms economically and socially. The study also aims to determine if the affected farmers have been able to deal with the impacts of the disease, and the cost of implementing treatment and control methods.[G8] Importance of the study Ovine footrot is a clinically significant disease known to have negative welfare impacts and economic consequences (Marshall et al., 1991, Rather et al., 2011). Virulent footrot causes severe underrunning of the hoof resulting in severe lameness in affected sheep and subsequent social and economic impacts (Stewart et al., 1986, Dhungyel et al., 1013). The low virulent strains, however, do not tend to progress as far and therefore the impacts of this form are less apparent (Stewart et al., 1986). It appears that because these less severe low virulent forms do not have as significant of an impact on the production levels of a farm or the related social and economic aspects, there has been very little research conducted on this form. The majority of literature available on footrot focuses on the virulent strains, and therefore the social and economic impacts of the low virulent forms are largely unknown.[G9][G10][G11][G12][G13] This project aims to address this gap in the literature and determine if low virulent footrot is a common problem faced by farmers in the area and the exact impact it has on them. Surveying farmers that have had a history of footrot on their properties will give more insight on the costs of preventing and controlling the disease. The study will show the impacts this disease has had on the sheep industry and whether the farmers feel that implementing treatment and control methods or undertaking an eradication scheme is worth the cost. The study will also determine a link between footrot prevention and control methods used on different properties to the prevalence of the disease. These results will be important to the sheep industry by determining which methods have the highest level of success in controlling the disease. This information can be utilised by farmers when implementing control schemes on their properties. Experimental design The study will involve surveying sheep farmers in the Murray area of NSW. As this is a pilot study, participating farmers will be selected based on contact with local district veterinarians and animal health officials as well as their individual willingness to participate in the survey. 10 to 15 participants will be interviewed during an on-farm visit. Questions will involve the history of footrot on the property, past and present [G14][G15][G16]prevention, treatment control methods and eradication schemes, the quarantine protocols in place and the cost of implementing these strategies. In order to determine the social and economic impacts of the disease and also individual attitudes towards footrot, questions will also be asked about [G17]each farmers experience with the disease on their property.[G18][G19] Statistical Evaluation As the study involves surveying the participants experiences with footrot much of the data collected will be qualitative rather than quantitative. Where possible the data will be analysed for basic [G20]summary statistics and, depending on the data collected, basic linear regression analysis may be required. Timetable Date Task February 20 March 2017 Work with district vets to find participants for the study[G21][G22] Schedule on-farm visits to conduct the survey[G23][G24] 15 March 2017 Research Proposal 18 March 2017 Finalise Survey 20 March 7 April 2017 Data Collection 28-31 March Holbrook-Albury-Deniliquin farm visits 1-7 April Telephone surveys if necessary 10 April 20 April 2017 Statistical evaluation 20 March 18 May 2017 Conference Paper Draft complete by May 18 1 June 2017 Final Conference Paper submission 5 9 June 2017 Oral Presentation of study findings Budget The main costs associated with the study are those involved with travelling to the farms to conduct on-farm visits. $500 Travel and accommodation charges for conducting the field survey Human Ethics approval for conducting the survey Approval No: 2016/557 References DHUNGYEL, O. P., HILL, A. E., DHAND, N. K. WHITTINGTON, R. J. 2013. Comparative study of the commonly used virulence tests for laboratory diagnosis of ovine footrot caused by Dichelobacter nodosus in Australia. Veterinary Microbiology, 162, 756-760. MARSHALL, D. J., WALKER, R. I., CULLIS, B. R. LUFF, M. F. 1991. The effect of footrot on body weight and wool growth of sheep. Australian Veterinary Journal, 68, 45-49. RATHER, M. A., WANI, S. A., HUSSAIN, I., BHAT, M. A., KABLI, Z. A. MAGRAY, S. N. 2011. Determination of prevalence and economic impact of ovine footrot in central Kashmir India with isolation and molecular characterization of Dichelobacter nodosus. Anaerobe, 17, 73-77. STEWART, D. J., PETERSON, J. E., VAUGHAN, J. A., CLARK, B. L., EMERY, D. L., CALDWELL, J. N. KORTT, A. A. 1986. The pathogenicity and cultural characteristics of virulent, intermediate and benign strains of Bacteroides nodosus causing ovine foot-rot. Australian Veterinary Journal, 63, 317-2 [G1]Inserted: T [G2]Deleted:t [G3]Inserted: f [G4]Deleted:f [G5]Deleted:r [G6]Inserted: ry [G7]Inserted: pri [G8]Deleted:in [G9]Inserted: a [G10]Inserted: , [G11]Inserted: r [G12]Deleted:r [G13]Deleted:mains [G14]Inserted: w [G15]Inserted: i [G16]Inserted: inte [G17]Inserted: , [G18]Deleted:su [G19]Deleted:y [G20]Inserted: [G21]Inserted: the [G22]Deleted:. [G23]Inserted: the [G24]Deleted:.

the pigman/short plot Essay -- essays research papers

The Pigman They're all dead: Pigman's wife, Lorraine's father, John's Aunt Ahra, the Master sons, Lorraine's mother's patients, Bobo, and the Pigman himself. All the while, the living move about like baboons in cages they've made for themselves. Why? That's the big question. The answer is central to understanding Paul Zindel'sThe Pigman. We and our students can address this problem, all the while gaining insight into literature and the makeup of the novel. This article provides activities to acquaint students with literary elements, while building up to a dramatic presentation. During this process, the students can experience the dilemmas presented in The Pigman and come to an understanding of the main characters and themselves. The Story The Pigman is a story about John and Lorraine, high school sophomores who, not getting what they need from their families, must surreptitiously seek love, reassurance, and meaning on the outside. In each other and Mr. Pignati (the Pigman), owner of a porcelain pig collection, they find love and reassurance; the meaning they find in themselves, in the unfolding of their relationship with Mr. Pignati and the drama leading to his death. John, a handsome and wild boy, drinks and smokes excessively; and, as Lorraine points out, only his good looks have kept him out of reform school. Lorraine, a shy girl John's own age, has low self-esteem and mild paranoia. John becomes attracted to her because he sees in her the same spontaneous, crazy quality...

Vietnam Essay -- essays research papers

The trials and tribulations the soldiers faced at home were far worse than any battle they fought while in Vietnam. No one seemed to fully understand what these men had went through. They came home looking for love and comfort; little did they know that they had not yet experienced the worst of the war. A numerous amount of people were for the war, but the reality was, many were against it. " During 1967 public support for the war dropped sharply. By October approval of Johnson’s handling of the war dropped to 28%. A number of major metropolitan newspapers shifted from supporting the war to opposing it" (Wexler 145 ). Once the public realized that the war wasn’t all glory, they regretted the country’s involvement. The government wasn’t exactly the most reliable source of information during the war. They couldn’t be counted on when they were needed most. The government’s handling of aid for veteran’s seemed to be carelessly handled. Veterans were treated poorly and promises were broken frequently. The majority of the American population had no clue that the government was hiding information about POWs. " From September 1973 to March 1974, a series of unrelated witnesses reported the movement of nine POWs between two Laotian prison camps" ( Sauter 189 ). Similar accounts of American prisoners’ sightings were hidden from the public. Ron Kovic was not a prisoner of war. Instead he was sent home after being wounded. His return home was originally fine; everything he thought it would be. Yet he did not receive the welcome he had hoped for. Many resented him. He received blank stares and vicious glares. even his own brother was against the war. His family was baffled by the pessimistic view towards life that he had picked up along the way. In Born on the Fourth of July, Ron Kovic often mentioned that the veterans’ hospitals were torture chambers. " It is easy to lose it all here. The whole place functions smoothly, but somewhere along the way I am losing, and the rest of the people whom I can’t see in the rooms around me are losing too. Even if I heal this leg, I will lose. No one ever leaves this place without losing" ( Kovic 129 ). He felt this way, because he had seen the reality of the war, and he was appalled by the treatment the men received. Even after they had fought fo... ...attitude toward the war was bitter and aggressive. He resented the government and all people who supported the war. What had Ron become? He used to be an All-American boy. Characterized by his intense love for his country; his patriotism exuded in everything he did. However, once he realized how naive he’d been about war in general, he learned to hate it. He’d lecture to families and children not to enlist for the war, because they might not come back how they had dreamed. They might come back like him, or not even come back at all. A few choice veterans overcame the adversity, but despite the few gains made by Vietnam vets, in many situations, public perspectives toward the veterans had taken up the enemy’s bullets left off. Instead, they had bullets of hatred and rancor shot at them. Their lives were never the same. Kovic, Ron. Born on the Fourth of July. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1976. Mason, Patience H. C. Recovering from the War. New York: Penguin Books, 1990. Saunders, Jim, and Mark Sauter. The Men We Left Behind. Bethesda: Saunders and Sauter, 1993. Wexler, Sanford. An Eyewitness History: The Vietnam War. New York: Wexler, 1992 Vietnam Essay -- essays research papers The trials and tribulations the soldiers faced at home were far worse than any battle they fought while in Vietnam. No one seemed to fully understand what these men had went through. They came home looking for love and comfort; little did they know that they had not yet experienced the worst of the war. A numerous amount of people were for the war, but the reality was, many were against it. " During 1967 public support for the war dropped sharply. By October approval of Johnson’s handling of the war dropped to 28%. A number of major metropolitan newspapers shifted from supporting the war to opposing it" (Wexler 145 ). Once the public realized that the war wasn’t all glory, they regretted the country’s involvement. The government wasn’t exactly the most reliable source of information during the war. They couldn’t be counted on when they were needed most. The government’s handling of aid for veteran’s seemed to be carelessly handled. Veterans were treated poorly and promises were broken frequently. The majority of the American population had no clue that the government was hiding information about POWs. " From September 1973 to March 1974, a series of unrelated witnesses reported the movement of nine POWs between two Laotian prison camps" ( Sauter 189 ). Similar accounts of American prisoners’ sightings were hidden from the public. Ron Kovic was not a prisoner of war. Instead he was sent home after being wounded. His return home was originally fine; everything he thought it would be. Yet he did not receive the welcome he had hoped for. Many resented him. He received blank stares and vicious glares. even his own brother was against the war. His family was baffled by the pessimistic view towards life that he had picked up along the way. In Born on the Fourth of July, Ron Kovic often mentioned that the veterans’ hospitals were torture chambers. " It is easy to lose it all here. The whole place functions smoothly, but somewhere along the way I am losing, and the rest of the people whom I can’t see in the rooms around me are losing too. Even if I heal this leg, I will lose. No one ever leaves this place without losing" ( Kovic 129 ). He felt this way, because he had seen the reality of the war, and he was appalled by the treatment the men received. Even after they had fought fo... ...attitude toward the war was bitter and aggressive. He resented the government and all people who supported the war. What had Ron become? He used to be an All-American boy. Characterized by his intense love for his country; his patriotism exuded in everything he did. However, once he realized how naive he’d been about war in general, he learned to hate it. He’d lecture to families and children not to enlist for the war, because they might not come back how they had dreamed. They might come back like him, or not even come back at all. A few choice veterans overcame the adversity, but despite the few gains made by Vietnam vets, in many situations, public perspectives toward the veterans had taken up the enemy’s bullets left off. Instead, they had bullets of hatred and rancor shot at them. Their lives were never the same. Kovic, Ron. Born on the Fourth of July. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1976. Mason, Patience H. C. Recovering from the War. New York: Penguin Books, 1990. Saunders, Jim, and Mark Sauter. The Men We Left Behind. Bethesda: Saunders and Sauter, 1993. Wexler, Sanford. An Eyewitness History: The Vietnam War. New York: Wexler, 1992

Inherent Evil: Lord of the Flies

Many say human kind is inherently evil, that there is evil in all of us. William Golding strongly confirms this point in his novel The Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies expresses what can happen to man when there is not structure and little mean of survival. The boys prove man to be inherently evil through control, mistreatment, and murder. The boys in the Lord of the Flies illustrate that human kind is inherently evil through excessive control. Firstly, Jack starts to control his choir to become more savage. Jack says to Ralph, â€Å"I’ll split up the choir-my hunters that it, â€Å" (Golding 42). Here Jack tries to make his choir seem to be more savage, calling them hunters. Secondly, Jack again exercises the need for control by going against the rules. Jack speaks out, â€Å" Bollocks to the rules! Were strong- we hunt†¦we’ll close in and beat and beat and beat,† (99). Jack breaks the rules wanting to have his own control. Thirdly, by brutally beating Wilfred, Jack demonstrates excessive control. Ralph told, â€Å" He’s going to beat Wilfred†¦. he didn’t say what for. He got angry and made us tie him up,† (176). This Young 2 uotes shows how Jack has taken control making the boys tie up and help beat Wilfred. The excessive control used by the boys in the novel supports the idea that man is inherently evil, although it is also shown through other ways such as how the boys treat each other. The novel proves the point man is evil through the mistreatment the boys have for each other. To start, mistreatment is shown through the disresp ect the boys have for each other. Jack tell Piggy, â€Å"Shut up, Fatty,† (17). Jack is insulting Piggy as many of the boys insult and hurt each other, mistreating others. Next, Samneric show evidence of mistreatment by betraying Ralph. Samneric tell Ralph of Jack’s plan for him. However, later they betray Ralph by telling Jack where he is hiding (207). In this section Samneric mistreat Ralph when they betray him this way. Last, Jack performs mistreatment when he steals Piggy’s glasses. Ralph confronts Jack, â€Å"You came sneaking up like a thief and stole Piggy’s glasses,† (196). Even though the boys in The Lord of the Flies mistreat each other proving man is inherently evil, killing plays a major part as well. Golding confirms that man is inherently evil by the murders displayed by the boys. The first point is the intentional; murder of Piggy. Golding describes the murder, â€Å" The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (200). This vicious murder of Piggy strongly suggests evil. In addition, is the unintentional, but denied murder of Simon. Ralph is honest with Piggy, â€Å"That was Simon†¦. That was murder,†(172). In this quote Ralph explains to Piggy that they all killed Simon and that it was murder. Finally, there is the in-humane killing of the pig which the boys participated in. The author describes it, â€Å" The first blow had paralyzed its hind quarters so then the circle could close Young 3 in and beat and beat,’(79). The savage killing of the pig shows the boys blood lust for murder. Murder strongly demonstrates that human kind is in fact inherently evil. In The Lord of the Flies the author affirms man is inherently evil through the boys control, mistreatment, and murders. Deep down without rules and society and the instinct to survive savagery evil may take over. Everyone has the capacity to be evil. Golding has strongly supported and proves this to be corrects in the novel.

A Hardball Leadership Essay

Politics is a battlefield for power. Throughout history, politics play an important role in shaping leaders and forming powerful states. Wars are even conducted to be able to get the advantage of politics. However nowadays, to get ahead into politics warfare is not necessary; it all depends on how an individual handles it. It is more than just the leadership skills, the charisma and the motivation to serve. It is the usage of the smartest strategies to get acquainted with the ‘who’ and to get the ‘what’. â€Å"The end justifies the means. Machiavelli famously imprinted these words in the world of politics. For Machiavelli, politics is more than just a career, it is an art that should be mastered and should be maintained. For Chris Matthews, politics is a game that should be learned by playing according to a set of rules. Both authors have goals in mind: to be on top of the power. Their works serve as guidelines on handling politics. Machiavelli and Matthews provide strategies on how to be an influential and effective political figure. These rules were patterned in the context of their current society. Though Machiavelli’s attack on The Prince is more aggressive than Matthews, this is mainly because of the political turmoil that has occurred during his time. Matthews on the other hand, wrote practical approaches that can be applied not just in government but as well as in business, job promotion or other aspects of life. This is to convey that politics is everywhere. Nonetheless, despite the differences between Matthews and Machiavelli, their works are cohesively direct to the path of power. To be the best player in the field of politics, one must maximize everything – including flaws and opponents – to his or her advantage. While Machiavelli focused more on state affairs, Matthews applied strategies not just to politics but to general ways of life. Like Machiavelli, Matthews related in his book on how to rise to power and maintaining it the moment it is achieved. The spread of influence and the utilization of wits will be able to bring someone to the top. Matthews enumerated his practical strategies that people within the Washington circle used. The ability to appear powerful is one of the tactics which Machiavelli has also cited. The embodiment of power is important to acquire power itself. From the famous saying of ‘what the mind conceive the body will achieve,’ people and competitors will believe a person portraying as a powerful individual. It creates a strong impression. To convince others that one has a power; it should reflect the outer attributes and incorporate the attitudes of a powerful entity. The Politician will have to utilize everything to be able to reach the top and at the top, his resources should be exhausted even more to maintain his or her stature. The Prince has the same aim. Machiavelli described most of his tactics with the likes of being a fox and to be a lion at the same time. On the other hand, Matthews associated it with a term of aggressive sports. In the field of sports, an athlete needs to play hard and it is necessary to lay out the strategies to be able to win the game. The aspects of deception and manipulation clearly reflect a Machiavellian theme situated in the White House. The politician works closely with the enemies rather than shunning them away. It gives the politician an opportunity to watch the actions of the enemy directly. Their capabilities can be used in favor of the politician’s gain. Both authors have stated the importance of alliances to strengthen influence and gain trust. Machiavelli stressed the importance of taking sides rather than going neutral. Win or lose, the Prince still has allies to aid him when crisis comes. Matthews mentioned having alliances to gain loyal supporters. He was able to portray in Washington, that people who actually do favors for the politician become great allies. The work of Chris Matthews is often compared with Machiavelli. Both of them preached the same aim of acquiring power, though their subjects are different. It can be viewed that Machiavelli’s The Prince is solely based on an individualistic approach since he focused on monarchies as a source of power. On the contrary, Matthews’ approach is more inter-personal. By the title of his book Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told By One Who Knows The Game, it gives the impression of sports which is composed of individuals and teams. To be on top means to be the captain of the game. Hardball can be a useful reference for people who want to get ahead with life. As mentioned earlier, Matthews’ approach is not as aggressive as Machiavelli. This can be applied in other aspects of life because as what Matthews mentioned in his introduction, â€Å"there are enduring human truths in the rules that politicians play by† (Matthews 17). Matthews depicts politics as an exciting and thrilling environment where the most amusing personalities are passionately involved. Machiavelli, on the other hand, gave a cruel and ruthless picture. Since politics is compared with sports, the major player from Matthews’ book is a prominent figure in world politics. The United States is one of the most influential countries, economic-wise and political wise. As a state, the U. S. is good at keeping their alliances. The long years of friendship with other countries (i. e. Great Britain) contributed to numerous gains which helped the US to be a super power in the international community. Behind its status is the most powerful political figure in the United States. For the upcoming 2008 US Presidential election, it is notable to mention a candidate that created a name for him as the first colored American to be nominated for presidency. Barack Obama can be a perfect example of a major player in Matthews’ political field. Being raised in a multi-racial background, this became an asset for him to reach different minorities in the country. This particular asset of Obama became one of his forefronts of his campaign which focused on thriving for change. Modern United States is a diverse country made up of various racial origins and Obama thought that his colored skin can be an advantage. Obama revealed in his memoir Dreams from my Father about his previous lifestyle of smoking and drinking. Relating this particular detail of his life, it can be seen as a target for his opponent to dwell on. However, this can also be viewed as a method derived from Matthews’ book. Before the other party can even use it against him, he does the broadcasting himself. Admitting one’s flaw can lessen the negative impact of it, and the rivals will have to search for a new attack to use against the politician. Citing this example, it is seen how Chris Matthews’ strategies are put to use. This kind of political play inside the White House reflects how the United States moves in the arena of world politics. Taking that into account, Chris Matthews gives the readers a clear picture of the inner workings of America’s political center. Washington is portrayed as the battlefield, wherein politics is the game, and the athletes are the politicians who play hardball.