Fashion in the 17th Century

Fashion in the early 17th century followed up on the trends from previous centuries. However, later on styles began to change fairly and the overall trend through the midcentury targeted softness and comfort to allow for easier movement. People still valued rich materials, but they set aside the rigid formality of earlier years. These changes in fashion reflected the rising influence of France, with its free sense of style.French King Louis XIV helped make France the leading fashion influence of the century as he built it into an economic power by refusing to import luxury goods and by encouraging French industries to become Europe's biggest producers of these. Soon France was the leading exporter of silk, ribbons, lace and wigs. Louis surrounded himself with a huge court, who competed to wear the most tasteful and elegant clothes at lavish balls hosted by the King.Louis himself was renowned for his style, which tended towards extravagant laces and velvets. His predecessor Louis XIII contributed to the introduction of wigs among men, which became fashionable for the first time since the Egyptians. Though preferred styles were simpler, French fashion was still quite ornamental. Religion played an important role in the English conflict and in Europe as a whole. Those who favored the new ornamental and lavish clothing styles came to be known as Cavaliers, who fought in support of King Charles I.Their style soon was associated with a political position that favored the Catholic religion and a strong king. Another group was known as the Roundheads, who fought in support of the Parliament and favored Protestant religions. They avoided ornamentation and excess associated with Cavaliers and instead turned to sober colors and less decorated fabrics. The most extreme Roundheads were the Puritans, who favored black clothes, simple fasteners, and clean lines.

Profile Essay on a Friend Named Matt

Matthew Mcfadden As he shouted across the soft spoken restaurant everyone stared at him, he then started doing a ridiculous dance and caught my undivided attention as my odd co worker. My fellow co-workers have told me so much about this man being lazy and annoying, so I pretended I had no interest. However, he caught my attention as to why he was the way he was. His name is Matt McFadden, and as of today we are close friends. Without even knowing he taught me through his actions never to judge a book by its cover.He ended up being one of the easiest people to get along with from the company. Everyone who loves him or hate him cannot help but to laugh or smile when he speaks to them. This new friendship between him and I impacted the way I judge people. Matt was born November 1st 1989 in the lovely city of North Royalton. He has one older sister exceptionally loving parents. As a young child, his idol was Jim Carrey. For those who do not know Jim Carrey, he is one of the funniest act ors who started his career as a comedian. Matt, at age three, would watch his movies and reenact his funniest moments.He would entertain his family and their friends every Friday night acting just like Jim Carrey. He has the natural ability to make anyone laugh at anytime. Twenty years later Jim Carrey still has an impact on him and taught him that life doesn’t always have to be serious; now making people smile is what Matt loves doing. Whenever situations get tough, he is always the one to step in and brighten up the moment. Not many people can do that, but Matt has that truly unique gift. When he was younger and got into trouble with his parents his goofy ways always seemed to save him.When he is in trouble at work, he continues to get away with it because of his silly personality. I cannot understand how he does it. It is his natural gift to laugh his way out of situations. While Matt is always making people laugh there is one thing that makes him happy. It is something I would never have imagined. About four years ago he was visiting his sister in Las Vegas, and the day they were leaving the Bellagio hotel was hosting a show with the water fountain. The song playing was called â€Å"Time to Say Goodbye† sung by opera singer Andre Bacilli.It was the most beautiful sight he has seen in his whole life. The water would dance with the song beat by beat; every beat had a pulse of water with beautiful lights shooting into the sunset skies. It brought tears to a 19 year old man’s eyes. Till this day that song brings him the most visual memory that makes him smile uncontrollably. The song not only makes him happy, it gives him a soft side that no one would ever believe he has. He is one of the most caring men I have come across in my life. However, when anyone first meets him no one would ever think this about him.He comes off extremely strong, loud, and to strangers, annoying. In order to know the real Matt McFadden, time must be well spent wi th him. Golf is another way to make this young man happy and relaxed. He loves this sport as if it were his own life. He plays every week at least one day, sometimes more. It calms him down and challenges him all at the same time. Golf is a sport of relaxation and silence. Even as a golfer he makes people laugh as they get frustrated with this sport. He is the happiest person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.He impacts people into creating contagious smiles wherever he goes. He can turn the angriest man happy by cracking one of his corny jokes. The golfers enjoy his company at the course, and will always welcome him with open arms due to the joy he brings. Matt will be pursuing a career choice that is going to fit his personality exceptionally well. He wants to be a paramedic, and I believe it is a fantastic choice because he can make the sick people laugh and get the pain off their minds. This past week I had Matt over for some research.My father is terribly sick and just ou t of surgery. Five minutes spent with Matt, and he was rolling on the floor laughing. I had never seen my father so happy before. As of today my father continues to talk about how much he wants Matt to come over and hang out with him. My father is not a people person so that caught me off guard, and just proves how right I am about Matt. He will always be a friend forever because he never has reasons to fight nor have problems. To Matt, his mission as a man is to make the people around him happy.

International Trade and Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International Trade and Globalisation - Essay Example Overall levels of trade barriers have declined in recent decades, largely due to international negotiations (Reinert 2012). 11 This paper labors to discuss the concept of international trade among trading countries and how such countries benefit from the Principle of absolute advantage and comparative advantage, intra-industry which arises when the country simultaneously imports and exports similar types of goods or services has also been highlighted. A detailed discussion of the trade policy analysis has been shown in this paper mainly on the impact of imposing and removal of trade tariffs on the welfare of producer, consumer, and the government, who benefits and who loses. International trade is a term used to refer to the exchange of goods and services among the countries of the world (Reinert 2012, P. 30). International trade does not only involve exchange of goods such as steel, automobiles among others it also include exchange of services for example financial services, and engineering services among other services. International trade in goods and services is playing contributes a lot in development of the world economy. International trade is one of the four realms of the world economies the other three include international production, international finance, and international development (Reinert 2012, p 30). Thus to develop the worlds economies and to improve welfare and living standards of everyone, students and professionals must have a good understanding of the international trade. According to Giddens (1999) globalization can be defined as conceptualized in social, cultural, and political, not just economy. Globalization is the integration of economy activities such as international trade, development in financial and currency system, and labor outsourcing, which were supported by technological changes (Valacich &

Writing for the Web Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Writing for the Web - Essay Example Our video and sound equipment is state of the art and of the highest professional quality. The videotaping and editing of each video is produced digitally. We offer a wide variety of video transfer services to our customers, including the following: You can ship your videos to us from anywhere in the United States or internationally and will put them on DVDs and/or encode them into computer files. We can transfer 16mm, 8mm, and Super8 home movies to DVD and video. We can also transfer video to various formats including VHS to MPEG, Quicktime to AVI, MPEG to Quicktime, AVI to Betacam, PAL to NTSC (foreign video conversions), and many more! Additionally, we can convert videos to web based video such as Windows Media and Flash so you can publish your videos to the web. Our duplication and replication services provide a professional look by including color-printed cases and labels. We will even instruct you on how to keep your DVDs from damaging your DVD players as well as your clients or friend’s DVD players. Need 100 copies with cases and sleeves in within 48 hours? Give us a call and we can help you with that as well! Sunray also offers video services for special events in your personal or business settings. We have produced a wide variety of videos for our clients such as marketing and demo videos, TV commercials, instructional videos and seminars, web site videos, videos for tradeshows, biographical tribute videos, and informational products for professional speakers. We have also videotaped and digitally captured live events including dance recitals and other stage performances. For more information on how we can â€Å"wow† you with our video and photo montages, please visit our montage web page. Also, if you need a big projection screen at your event we can provide one for you. We have tried to give you an extensive idea

Huxley on Happiness and Comfort Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Huxley on Happiness and Comfort - Essay Example Soma is a very one-dimensional euphoriant. It gives rise to only a shallow, unempathetic and intellectually uninteresting well-being. Apparently, taking soma doesn't give Bernard Marx, the disaffected sleep-learning specialist, more than a cheap thrill. The drug is said to be better than promiscuous sex - the only sex brave new worlders practice. Huxley implies that by abolishing nastiness and mental pain, the brave new worlders have got rid of the most profound and sublime experiences that life can offer as well. The clear implication of Brave New World is that any kind of drug-delivered happiness is "false" or inauthentic. Brave New World is a utopia conceived on the basis of species-self-interest masquerading as a universal paradise. Social stratification is institutionalized in a five-way genetic split. There is no social mobility. Alphas invariably rule, Epsilons invariably toil. Huxley' Brave New World does not encourage romantic love whereas they are conditioned to be sexually promiscuous; as such everyone belongs to everyone else. [www.huxley.net] In Current Issues and Enduring Questions, Sylvan Barnet in his Chapter 31 has presented a brief overview about happiness and thoughts of various experts relating to happiness. Happiness, anciently termed as "eudaimonia" by the Greeks was subscribed to a particular type of eudaimonism in which the notion of virtue is central despite the difference between Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics. [Juha Sihvola, 1] Epictetus has stressed to win happiness by wishing for the good things among those that are truly our own, i.e., in our power, and not to wish for things that are not truly in our power. Compared to the good things in our power, things that most people take to be good but are not in their power are indifferent. The most succinct statement on Epictetus view of the best possible condition for a human being to be in is: "Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well." [www.echeat.com] S. B arnet has stressed to live a happy and solitary, natural life and die alone, as mentioned in the last stanza of Ode on Solitude by Alexander Pope. Further he has also stated the strong message taken from Rubaiyat of Oman Khayyam which tells that every boy who read the Koran or studies the traditions in his presence would assuredly attain to honor and happiness.[Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau] Bertrand Russell belief that the success of a journey depends on knowledge of the destination, that happiness is not a figment of the mind, that there is no such thing as perfect happiness, that happiness is dependent on a combination of internal and external causes, that fear hinders the good life and that benevolence is a disposition towards helping other people.[www.findarticles.in] From the Alice James point of view, even wealth or being born in a highly intellectually family or even the best luxurious living can't give guaranteed happiness. In From the Diary of Alice James, Alice James wrote that she found her only happiness in form of affection received from Katherine, her constant companion and her brother Henry who visited daily. [Frank Albrecht] The Dalai Lama quoted that there is a definite, commensurate

REWARDS AND BENEFITS IN VOLVO CAR COMPANY - HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Essay

REWARDS AND BENEFITS IN VOLVO CAR COMPANY - HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - Essay Example In this regard, experts (Arnold & Silvester, pp. 12-19, 2005) have identified major change in the perspective and attitude of employers towards their employees, and this indicates creation of different innovative policies and strategies to ensure motivational workplace environment for the workers. Specifically, performance and reward management is one significant component of HRM that plays a crucial role in every organisation, and analysis has indicated that organisations are nowadays relying heavily on the factors of benefits and rewards as modes and tools of ensuring organisational success by guaranteeing efficient and productive performance of the employees. Particularly, this paper is an attempt in the same series of efforts that will focus on identification of various types of benefits and pay systems existing globally, as well as, reward strategies of Volvo Car Corporation that will allow understanding of the topic in realistic manner. Different Forms of Rewards Rewards play a crucial role in every human life, and particularly, it is an understanding that reward is one of the components that drive the society to develop and grow in different aspects. This works in the organisational setting as well; however, before identifying different forms of rewards and pay, experts (Robbins et al., pp. 39-47, 2009) have suggested that it is very important that employers should put efforts to ensure integration of rewards’ methodology with organisational objectives and mission, as non-integration often have resulted in failure of the strategies. For instance, if organisational mission is to become a market leader, Corporation will have to keep a higher-paying reward system to retain best talent from the market, and if mission is to survive and go with flow of the market, and then a lower-reward system will work as well. Following are some of the common forms of pay and rewards: Fixed Pay This is the most common and conventional form of compensation that includ es payment to employees on a fix-pay methodology, usually on monthly basis (Rothwell et al., pp. 23-25, 2009). In this kind of method, employees get fix monthly payment despite of any change in performance or productivity. It is an observation that organisations are now moving away from the fixed pay methodology due to dominance of other modern reward and performance management systems. Variable Pay Method â€Å"Why should I make an extra effort for this job? Why should I try to contribute and think more about the organisational goals and success† (Langton, pp. 46-76, 2000)? Abovementioned is one of the common statements that one can hear from employees in a fix-pay system that resulted in the creation of variable pay method system that â€Å"bases a portion or all of the employees’ earnings on some individual or organisational formula or measure of productivity† (Torrington, Hall, & Taylor, pp. 365-348, 2005). Analysis has indicated that 60% of the organisation s in the United Kingdom are depending on the variable pay system to compensate and motivate their workers. One of the major benefits of using this system is reduction of fixed labor costs, and this system enables the organisations to focus more on the level of productivity and performance that is often not possible or not workable in fixed pay method. Besides these pay systems,

Judaism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Judaism - Research Paper Example Judaism is the foremost among the three Abrahamic faiths including Christianity and Islam. Most of the Jews around the world reside in Israel or USA according to The Jewish People Polcy Planning Institute. Back in 2001 half of UK’s population claimed to be Jewish as well. What concerns the scholars of religion and theology the most is the original teachings of the religion founded by Moses. For the Jews, however, their history begins from Abraham (BBC 2012). Jews believe in one God and Torah as their Holy Scripture. Theirs is an oral law by tradition and the interpretation of the laws is called â€Å"halakhah†. Their spiritual mentors are known as Rabbis and their place of worship is the Synagogue. One of the most tragic events in the Jewish history took place at the time of the Holocaust in which nearly six million Jews were killed by Nazis on Hitler’s command. This gave rise to a lot of hatred and grudge against the Christians and many Jews fought to live for t heir rights dying on the way. Addressed as â€Å"Children of Israel† in the Holy Scriptures who traveled from Sumer (near Babylon) to Egypt with Prophet Abraham in around 1700 BC and from there to Canaan with Prophet Moses around 1200 BC, united under Saul then David then Solomon around 900 BC, fell captive to Assyrians in 722 BC and later to Chaldeans in 587 BC only to fall victim of the enchanting Hellenistic culture during Alexander’s reign along with the Greco-Roman civilization (Miller et al 136). The Scriptures refer to them as the superior race, fallen in the hands of Satan despite all the privileges it received from their God, Yahweh. The Kabbala, according to a Jewish historian, Faber d’Olivet, has its roots in the Ancient Egypt (d’Olivet 28). History tells that during 1200 BC and 1000 BC people living in the Western end of the Fertile Crescent and in Western Asia, called the northern portion Phoenicia and Lydia, while the southern section was kn own as Canaan and later Israel and then Palestine. Today, the region that is along and near the Mediterranean Sea forms the nations of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and portion of Egypt and Turkey. The early writing system had started and evolved from Egypt and Mesopotamia. However the Phoenicians worked on developing the alphabets for future model of Western alphabets. They were the first great sea traders of the world. During the same time Greek City-States were flourishing. While the Phoenicians did not believe in after life and sometimes sacrificed their own children to win favor from the many Gods they worshiped, Egyptians worshiped the Sun as well as the Moon, attributing to their Gods the characteristics of animals and humans. They thought Pharaoh was the representative of these Gods. On the other hand the Greeks attributed to their Gods and Goddesses the attributes of humans because they considered them superior beings and practiced rituals to win favor from them. They als o believed that the priests and priestesses were mediums of communication of the Gods at oracles which were sanctuaries especially meant for them. This was done in the form of question and answer pertaining to the future. They were later conquered by Romans, who like Greeks were very particular about the ritual performance. Early Romans believed that spirits inhabited everything. Some of these were attached to the home which included the ancestral spirits called the â€Å"

Critical Literature Review (50%) - each student will choose a Essay

Critical Literature Review (50%) - each student will choose a particular International Marketing topic from the syllabus (severa - Essay Example The marketing mix commonly referred to as the 4Ps includes product, price, place, and promotion. It is noted that for a company to satisfy the needs of its customers, it must ensure that products of the right quality and quantity are developed, charged reasonable prices, found at the right place, as well as ensuring that the existence of the goods is made known to customers through promotion. This paper will discuss the marketing mix (4Ps) as well as the importance of the augmented product model with reference to the real world examples (Gitman and McDaniel 2008, p.13). Product The 4Ps of the marketing mix consist of the product, price, place, and promotion. The poduct is one of the most fundamental elements of the marketing mix that managers must take into consideration when making marketing decisions. The product in this case is the physical service or good that a company offers to customers. The basic elements of a product include function, packaging, appearance, and warranty amon g others. Therefore, the product that a company intends to deal with should satisfy the customer’s requirements in terms of quality, quantity, and appearance. Ensuring that these basic elements of a product are met will make a company competitive because of the fact that many customers will prefer the company’s products to those of other competitors in the market (Lamb, Hair, and MacDaniel 2008, p.56). Samsung is one of the electronic companies that operate in a very competitive environment. As such, the company understands that to remain competitive, it must offer products that compete favorable with other companies. To achieve this, Samsung has focused on manufacturing high quality products that satisfy the needs of its customers. Most of Samsung’s products are said to be of high quality with regards to proper functionality and appearance. In addition, the company provides a warranty of not less than one year for all its products. For example, one of the compa ny’s latest iPhone 5 is just amazing in terms of quality and functionally. The company reveals that the iPhone 5 started receiving orders even before its launch because of its quality and functionality (Page, 2013). General Motors is another company that performs very well in the automobile industry due to the high performance of its products. General Motors operates in a very competitive environment. As such, the only way to remain relevant is to concentrate on the manufacture of cars of high quality that satisfies the need of customers. According to Tehrani (2008 p. 8) a product is best described in three concentric circles namely the core product, augmented product and the Uber product. He observed that the core product is found at the center of the concentric circle and is meant to satisfy the pressing needs for which the product in developed. Then there is the augmented product consisting of the core product and other features that ensure that the product become more fun ctional. Finally, there is the Uber product, which consists of all other intangible features added to the product such as the brand promise. The concentric model of a product can be illustrated using the mobile phone marketing. In this regard, the mobile phone becomes the core product while the augmented products will include other features such as the product warranty and after sales services. The Uber product in this case could include the customization of the

Sociology Functionalist Essay Example for Free

Sociology Functionalist Essay â€Å"Assess the Functionalist view that religion benefits both society as a whole and it’s individual members. † According to research carried out by sociologists, almost 90% of the world population follow a religion. There are numerous theories that attempt to explain the role of religion in our lives. The Functionalist outlook is a consensus perspective that sees religion performing positive functions for society as a whole and on an individual level. On the other hand, Marxism and Feminism offer conflicting perspectives that highlight the ideological function of religion. Marxists see religion as exploiting the proletariats and creating false consciousness. Feminists see religion as an instrument of patriarchy. This paper will attempt to assess the Functionalist claim that religion benefits both society and the individual. In any attempt to reach a considered view the arguments proposed by each theory will be reviewed. The approach will therefore remain analytical, critical and at all times engaged. Functionalists believe that society is a system of interrelated parts or social institutions, such as religion, the family and the economy. According to them society functions because of the existence of value consensus, that is, sets of norms and values by which society’s members live. Functionalists emphasise the social nature of religion and the positive functions it performs. For functionalists, religious institutions play a central part in creating and maintaining the value consensus, social order and solidarity. Emile Durkheim was the first functionalist to develop this idea. For Durkheim the key feature of religion was not a belief in God, spirits or the metaphysical, but he argues that religion provides a distinction between the sacred and the profane. Religion is more than just simply a set of beliefs; it involves rituals in relation to the sacred. These sacred things evoke such powerful feelings, which lead Durkheim to believe that something this powerful can only be society itself, which clearly suggests that religion is in fact less valuable than society. Durkheim believed that the essence of all religion could be found by studying its simplest form, in the simplest type of society. For this reason he used studies of an Australian Aboriginal tribe, with a clan system. For Durkheim when clan members worship their totemic animal, they are in fact worshipping society. He states that the totem inspires feelings of awe in the clan members precisely because it represents the power of the group on which the individual is dependent. Malinowski agrees with Durkheim that religion provides solidarity, however in his view it does so by performing psychological functions for the individuals. Malinowski identifies two situations in which religion performs its role. These are; when the outcome is important but is uncontrollable and therefore uncertain, and secondly at times of life crises. He uses his study of the Trobriand islanders to explain how religion performs its role. In his study he contrasts fishing in the lagoon and ocean fishing. Fishing in the lagoon involves no rituals because the method is easy and the outcome is predictable. However, ocean fishing is dangerous and the outcome is uncertain, this uncertainty promotes rituals, which are performed to ensure a safe a successful expedition. In this context, rituals provide the people with a sense of control which eases the psychological tensions and gives them confidence. Similarly, Talcott Parsons sees religion as a means to allow individuals to cope with unforeseen events and uncontrollable outcomes. However he puts forward two essential functions performed in modern society. This includes creating and legitimising society’s central values and making of the primary source of meaning. Quintessentially, for Parsons then, the function of religion is an instrument of law making. Karl Marx brings forth a differing perspective to the abovementioned. For Marx religion operates as an ideological weapon used by the bourgeoisie (that is the upper class in society) to legitimate the suffering of the poor as something inevitable and God-given. Religion misleads the poor into believing that their suffering is virtuous and that they will be favoured in the afterlife. Marxists believe that religion acts as an opiate to dull the pain of exploitation by masking its pain rather than treating its cause. Therefore, religion masks the underlying problem of exploitation that creates the need for it. However he ignores the positive functions of religion as functionalists suggest such as, psychological adjustment to misfortune. Unlike functionalists who see society as based on harmonious consensus, Marxists see all societies as divided into two classes. In modern capitalist societies, the upper classes that own the means of production exploit the proletariats. Whereas functionalists see religion as a unifying force that strengthens the value consensus. Marx predicts that the proletariats would become conscious of their exploitation and unite to overthrow capitalism. As such there will be no need for religion in a classless society and it will disappear. This view is a direct contrast with functionalists, as they believe that religion is a crucial part in society in terms of maintaining social solidarity and social integration. While, Marxists see religion as playing a crucial part in maintaining the status quo. On the other hand, Feminists take a totally different perspective on the function of religion in terms of benefiting both societies and individual members. For Feminists religion is patriarchal and an ideology that legitimises female subordination. Although the formal teachings of religion often stress the equality between sexes, there is still a considerable amount of patriarchy within many of them, such as women’s participation being restricted, for example not being allowed to preach or to read from sacred texts. In the same way, taboos that regard menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth as polluting may also prevent participation. Furthermore, religious laws and customs may give women fewer rights than men for example in access to divorce, how many spouses they can marry, decision making, dress codes et cetera. Religious influences on cultural norms can also lead to unequal treatment such as, genital mutilation or punishments for sexual transgressions. This contrasts with the functionalist definition that defines religion in terms of the contribution it makes to social integration. This definition proves problematic for feminists who argue the restrictions imposed on women’s participation in religious organisations, do not consent with such functionalist claims. In effect, divisions in society based on gender, for example regarding menstruation or pregnant women as taboos, break social integration. According to Durkheim the fact that sacred things evoke such powerful feelings in believers indicate to Durkheim that this is because they are symbols representing something of great power. However, feminists argue that sacred texts largely feature the doing of male prophets and are usually written and interpreted by men. This has the effect of dividing society by gender and causing conflict between the two. In conclusion, functionalism is a consensus perspective that sees religion performing positive functions for society and individuals, providing a moral framework for society, providing identity as well as providing individuals with buoyancy in times of uncertainty and misfortune. In contrast to functionalist theory, Marxism and feminism offer conflicting perspectives, which highlight the ideological functions of religion. Marxists see religion as exploiting the proletariat and creating false consciousness. Feminists see religion as an instrument of patriarchy. Each theory posits valuable arguments and insight into the role of religion.

Dealing with various types of emergency procedures Essay Example for Free

Dealing with various types of emergency procedures Essay The following sets out the principles for dealing with various types of emergency procedures within schools is given as guidance only. Fire other emergencies In the event of fire other emergencies (such as gas leak, flood bomb scare) buildings need to be evacuated quickly but safely. In all schools there should be clear, detailed procedures on evacuation which must be displayed in each area of the school. These procedures should give information on: How to raise the alarm in the event of an emergency. What to do if you hear the fire alarm. The nearest assembly point – this may be a playground, sports field or even a nearby evacuation centre/safety perimeter following instructions from police. Registers should be available so staff can account for the safety whereabouts of all the children. The route you should take – this should include a plan of the route from each room or area of the school, detailing the nearest fire exits. No staff or children should be allowed to stop to collect personal belongings or put on coats. Must not re-enter the building until you have been informed it is safe to do so. Security There should be security in place in schools to minimise the risks to children. As a teaching assistant, you must know what these are follow the procedures at all times. These procedures should include: Security locks on doors. Signing in procedures/visitor badges (you should be able to identify all visitors to the school by badges. If unsure about someone you see on the school grounds, always report your concern to someone higher). Procedures for collection of younger children. Registration. Missing children While security measures should minimise the risk of children going missing, it is vitally important that you follow the school guidelines. As a teaching assistant, you may be asked to accompany children on school visits to supervise a group of children. All staff present on such visits should make regular checks that all children are present. Some schools may require all the children to wear hi-visibility vests or other items which make them easily identifiable during school outings. On discovering children are missing, you must take the following immediate action: Report to the teacher responsible. Ensure the presence safety of the other children by checking the register. Check all surrounding areas from where the child/Children have gone missing, whether it is in the school grounds or during an outing. Inform the child/children’s parents.

Analysing Gap Model On Burger King Commerce Essay

Analysing Gap Model On Burger King Commerce Essay The purpose of this assignment is to partially fulfil the requirements for MBA program and address the tasks as stipulated by the assignment brief for unit 19- quality and system Management. It shows understanding and application of key concepts of quality management in relation to its process, models and techniques by applying on Burger King. The assignment produced in a form of a business report. The report first outlines the using of theories, tools and techniques such as: gap analysis, time lines, and expectations on. This report devotes to various quality management theories and their application on Burger King. The contents of this assignment have been prepared after through research carried out by the author of the report on different organization using the guidelines and solutions offered by reputed authors on the subject of quality and system management. The report concludes on the issue of analysing gap model on Burger King to constantly evaluate its current marketing situation by using options available in line with theoretical framework. A full list of reference used is provided in the end of the report. 1.2 Research methodology: Two paradigms related with research methodology that are positivism and interpretive. Positivism is an epistemological position that advocates the applications of the methods of the natural sciences to the study of the social reality and beyond. But the term stretches beyond these principles, though the constituent elements vary between authors. However, positivism is also taken to entail some principles such as: only phenomena and hence knowledge confirmed by the senses can genuinely be warranted as knowledge. The purpose of theory is to generate hypothesis that can be tested and that will thereby allow explanation of laws to be assessed. In Positivism, knowledge is arrived at through the gathering of facts that provides the basis for laws. Positivism includes observation and experiments. It normally dominates business studies and does not require thorough justification. In positivism, experimental studies investigate relationship between variables where independent variable is mani pulated to observe the effect of dependent variable. Experimental studies confounding variable to obscure the effect of another variable. . Interpretive focuses on interpretation and understanding of text in the context of underlying historical or social forces. It makes a relationship which exists between direct description of experience and underlying dynamics or structures. This report is a descriptive one where interpretive methodology is used. Because by using this methodology the author is trying to describe social world and analyze the culture and behaviour of people from his own point of view. This report was basically contained on qualitative data by taking different employees interview, using computers and studying books related with topics. The report was administered by collecting secondary data. Task 2: 2.1 Research analysis and result: Company description: Company: Burger king Address: City: London Post code: E-mail: Fax: Mission statement of Burger King Companys vision is to be the worlds best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile. Burger king will meet customer expectations of: Highest quality Leading technology Competitive pricing Individual and company accountability Best-in-class service and support Flexible customization capability Superior corporate citizenship Financial stability About company: The name of my company is Burger king. It was founded by 2001 for the purpose of meeting customer expectations. Basically, the company serves hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. With related to obesity condition in western nations and in the face of criticism over the healthiness of its products, the company has change its menu to include such healthier alternatives as salads, wraps and fruit. The companys business model is slightly unsimilar from that of most other fast-food chains. In addition to ordinary franchise fees and marketing fees, which are calculated as a percentage of sales? Customer expectation from: The company has a aim to continually build its brand by listening to its customers. It also determines the various stages in the marketing process. Customer expects consistent quality from the company. Its product is not high-quality because it is assumed a premium product, but because it consistently meets customer expectations. If a customer expects a quick, tasty meal in 3 minutes for about 5 bucks, then they know thats exactly what theyll get at Burger King. For the purposes of playing out the analogy, in Burger king: Value is served by meeting or exceeding a customers expectations for a price they are willing to pay. Quality is providing value consistently over time. But the customers of are not the same. Different customer expects different things from. Such as: Customer type Service Parents with two children to give the Children a treat they visits s Children They considered it as a funny place. A business customers Quick service and great taste. Teenagers Affordable saver menu. 2.2 Data Management: PEST Analysis: Product and marketing strategy: Burger king considered three elements in marketing strategy to be the worlds best quick service restaurant: People (being the best employer), Customers (providing them excellence) and System Growth (for owners/operators, suppliers and company. Burger King is bringing new products, usually for a limited period of time. Because management find that consumers like different things and different taste as well as a continuation of good products such as big Macs and Cheeseburgers. Also, they are well aware that if has too many products running at the same time then the speed of customer service will deteriorate. Alongside, doesnt give emphasis on healthier products in response to growing concerns about obesity. Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate the extent to which fulfils customers demands. According to 2001 consumer survey which is conducted by Sandelman Associates, was ranked as last out of 60 chains for taste. Statistics that explain cleanliness are not available and therefore the achievement of this objective is difficult to examine. Customer service quality is impossible to assess but it is renowned for being quick. So, there we can find a gap between product variety and customer demands. Ethical stance: The company thinks that their ethical stance is a way of considering, caring, and responding to issues within society, illustrating that they are a socially responsive organisation. Their main aim is to utilise and leverage every opportunity to develop the level of awareness and depth of understanding of various social responsibility issues, policies and practices so that they can increase their roles to society Burger King helps to many charities to achieve and show their commitment to being a good neighbour and partner within society. Despite of this, Youngster sue for Burger king for failing to warn that fast food can lead to obesity), heart disease, and diabetes, which customers are not warned about. This action stress on Burger king goal of doing what is right. Burger king apply strategy to overcome this problem is to serve nutritional information about every product it sells, while also putting fruit, salads, and pasta meals onto its menu. This is helping Burger king to transform into its junk food image. Although nutritional information is now accessible, more customers need to be made aware that this information is available. Environmental policies: Burger king is now wholly give emphasis to sustainable environmental practices believing in considering for the future generation and not misusing the facilities of today. Burger kings cleanliness is not available and therefore the achievement of this objective is difficult to examine. Wastage is another considerable factor where many companies fail in terms of utilising the available. Burger king is comprehensively environmentally friendly and does reach most of the stated aims and objectives. The goal in terms of encouraging environmental values and practices needs to be addressed more spontaneously to employees and managers similarly as opposed to the specialised Burger king Environmental Management System so that all employees of this organisation can give concentration on its environmental roles. Using this correctly could help the company to develop on environmental friendliness. Also, there needs to be a way of quantifying all necessary environmental data in order to ensure th at all employees are accepting an environmental responsibility resource. Financial performance: Return on capital of Burger kings stands at 9%, 23% less than Diageos and 11% less than that of the Yum Brands. Return on shareholders funds of its stands at 21%, 14% less than Diageos and 836% less than that of the Yum Brands. The reason the Stock Holders equity is so low because the fact that YUM has accumulated deficit and loss of income. The main comparison between Burger king and Diageo, its closest rival, is that their Sales per employee and profits per employee are significantly less at - £233,405 and - £45,791 respectively. This is largely due to them having six times more employees. Burger king hopes to close these gaps by a heightened focus on restaurant level execution and marketing. It can be argued that a reduction in significant item costs and an improvement in worldwide economic conditions will both also help to close the gaps. In fact, Burger kings success will be depend on continuation of their product consistency, better location choices and improved retail business model execution, particularly with regard to the training of employees. Service blue printing: They can links on: physical evidence, customer responses, service contact actions, support processes. Burger king can apply some processes for developing the standards: Identify the existing or desired encounter sequence. Translate expectation into behaviours or actions. Select behaviours or actions for standardization. Set as soft or hard standards. Develop feedback mechanism. Set target levels. Track performance against standards. Feedback to employees. Update target levels. Seven marketing mix of Burger king Product: When offering menu items, the important thing is to remember to customers is that they have a choice. They have a huge number of options of spending their money and places to spend it. However, Burger kings places considerable importance on developing a menu which customers want. Market research establishes exactly what this is. However, customers demands change time to time. What is fashionable and attractive today may be discarded tomorrow. Marketing continuously monitors customers preferences. For meeting these changes, Burger king should introduced new products and phased out old ones, and will continue to do so. Therefore, Care is not only taken to affect adversely the sales of one choice by introducing a new choice, which will cannibalise sales from the old one (trade off). Burger kings knows that items on its menu will vary in popularity. Their capacity is to generate profits will vary at different points in their life cycle. Action of marketing undertaken and the resources invested will be different depending on the stage a product as reached. For example, a new product launch will typically relate to television and other advertising support. In any time a company will have a products portfolio, where each in a different stage of its cycle. Some of Burger kings options are growing in popularity while arguably the Big Mac is at the maturity stage. Price: Value of customers perception is an important factors of the price charged. What a product is worth customers draw the picture of product on their mind. A product is a physical item and it has psychological connotations for the customer. There are some difficulties of using products low price as a marketing tool is that the customer may feel that a low price is symptom of compromised quality. It is very much important when deciding on the price to be fully aware of the brand and its integrity. Promotions: It includes marketing communication such as advertising which is conducted on TV, radio, in cinema, online, using poster sites and in the press. Other promotional sectors are sales promotions, point of sale display, merchandising, direct mail, telemarketing, exhibitions, seminars, loyalty schemes, door drops, demonstrations, etc. Marketing communications skill is to develop a campaign which applies several of these methods in a way that provides the most effective results. Place: The most important element of the marketing mix i.e. price is not just about the physical location or distribution points for products. Price gives emphasis on the management of a range of processes involved in bringing products to the end consumer. People: Burger kings employees have a standard uniform and McDonalds specially focuses on friendly and prompt and effective service to its customers from their employees. Process: Burger kings food manufacturing process is completely transparent where the whole process is visible to the customers. Physical evidence: Burger king s concentrates on clean and hygienic interiors of is outlets and at the same time the interiors are attractive and the fast food joint maintains a proper etiquette at its joints. The marketing strategy is in place various responsibilities are given to different individuals so that the plan can be implemented. Systems can be put in place to obtain marketing feedback which measure success against short-term targets. Burger kings has to ensure that this is done within the confines of a tightly controlled, finite marketing budget. 2.3 Resource and support: SWOT analysis of Burger King: Strength: Detailed market research and the brand to create the right marketing mix. Weaknesses: They have to keep innovating on their service because they are already existed in market during long time. Opportunities: By serving in a quickly and friendly way, number of customer can be increased. Threat: Number of competitors is increased which change customer styles and their taste and demand. Porters generic strategies: At the heart of the Porters generic strategies is the assumption that the organization will seek to dominate a segment of the market, seeing off all competitors by the excellence with which they serve those segments. Porter recommends gaining and maintaining competitive advantage. Porters generic strategies are best represented by a triangle which is shown in the following figure: Porters Generic Strategies Target Scope Advantage Low Cost Product Uniqueness Broad (Industry Wide) Cost Leadership Strategy Differentiation Strategy Narrow (Market Segment) Focus Strategy (low cost) Focus Source: Quick MBA Differentiation: This implies that the organization purses a strategy where it offers a product or service which is uniquely different from those of its competitors. It also must be known at least as a segment of the market, valued above the offer of others. Cost leadership: This is a strategy where the organization enables itself to provide the product or service at a cost less than any other competitive organization. Focus: Actually this is the combination of the differentiation and cost leadership strategy and Burger king follow the focusing strategy. Their strategies are: Aggressively restructuring to operate profitably at the current demand and changing model mix. Accelerating the development of new products that their customer want and value. Evaluating to a new level of performance. Strong marketing abilities. Product standards. Long tradition in the industry Products making skills Low cost distribution system Intense supervision of labour. Combination of these above policies directed Ford Company to focus on their target product or services at a given market. . Financial statement: Trading account of Burger king for the year ended 31.12.2010  £  £ Sales revenue 8, 30,000 Less: cost of sales Opening stock 1, 55,000 Purchases 4, 30,000 __________ 5, 85,000 Less: closing stock 1, 68, 000 4, 17,000 __________ Gross profit 4, 13,000 The profit and loss account of Windsor gifts Ltd. For the year ended 31.12.1996  £  £ Gross profit 4,13,000 Less: expenses Wages and salaries 1, 45,000 Rent and rates 50,000 Heating and lighting 25,000 Telephone and postage 12,000 Advertising 15,000 Insurance 23,000 Other miscellaneous 35,000 _________ 3, 05,000  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­________ Profit before tax 1, 08000 Less: corporation tax 32,000 __________ Profit after tax 76,000 The profit and loss account of Windsor gifts Ltd. For the year ended 31.12.1996  £  £ Sales revenue 8,30,000 Less: cost of sales 4,17,000  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­________ Gross profit 4,13,000 Less: expenses 3,05,000 ________ Profit before tax 1,08,000 Less: corporation tax 32,000 ________ Profit after tax 76,000 Dividends paid 46,000 ________ Retained profit 30,000 Burger king Ltd. Balance sheet as at 31, December 1996  £000  £000  £000 Fixed assets: Premises 350 Fixtures and fitting 80 Vehicles 75 ______ 505 Current assets: Stock 168 Debtors 120 Cash at bank 45 _________ 333 Less: current liabilities: Trade creditors 140 Taxation owed 32 Dividends owed 46  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­ ________ 218 Working capital 115 Net asset employed _______ 620 Financed by: Shareholders funds Ordinary share capital (300,000 shares at  £1) 300 Reserves 100 Retained profit 30 Less: corporation tax _______ 430 Long term liabilities: Bank loan 190 Capital employed ____ 620 Task 3: 3.1 Conclusion: To survive in such a competitive market place, any company must continue to build a strong relationship between quality standards and customer expectations. And the authority should also concentrate on customer demand. The report comprises of different tasks which outline the application of different methods and techniques such as Porters generic strategy on Burger king and in last part it shows the SWOT analysis and seven marketing mix of Burger king. In task 1, it can be concluded that, Burger king must continue to create strong customer service strategies and give concentration on quality standards and customer expectations. In task 2, the report shows that Burger king should give concentration to increasing the market share in compare to yum brands and Diageo. In task 2, the report gives conclusion of downsizing business system of Burger king. Burger king should attract customer with a credible value proposition and to constantly engage them in ways to that endeavour them to the company. An extensive situational review is required to address these issues and be kept up-to-date with the market developments as well as assess risks to plan business accordingly. 3.2 Recommendations: Though there are many difficulties of Burger king in their service operation and quality standards, that and customers of this organizations can face it, but the author can recommend some solution of it. Such as: in task 1, the author find that Burger king can make their service different, improve total quality in service management, identify gap of their service and can give concentration on customer expectations and try to retain their customer.. In task 2, Burger king can provide training to improve its employees efficiencies but they should more concentrate on customer expectations and standards of quality. In the end of the report, Burger king aim can be utilising and leverage every opportunity to develop the level of awareness and depth of understanding of various social responsibility issues, policies and practices so that they can increase their roles to society but the author recommends that they should give emphasis on their variety of products because more competitor and m ore imitators are entered into the market. Not only this, Burger king apply strategy to overcome the problem of youngster sue, is to serve nutritional information about every product it sells, while also putting fruit, salads, and pasta meals onto its menu. This is helping Burger king to transform into its junk food image. Although nutritional information is now accessible, more customers need to be made aware that this information is available. Burger kings success will be depend on continuation of their product consistency, better location choices and improved retail business model execution, particularly with regard to the training of employees. Marketing continuously monitors customers preferences. For meeting these changes, Burger king should introduced new products and phased out old ones, and will continue to do so. Limitations of the report: The study is not free from some practical limitations. Following limitations have faced during the study and the time of working and data collection: The author could not collect all the necessary data due to the workload of the employees. Some desired information could not be collected due to confidentiality of the organizations. Due to lack of practical experience, some errors might be occurred during the study. Therefore, maximum efforts have given to avoid mistakes. The time frame of the report was very limited. The report was done within three months.

B/M Ratio Essay -- Research Analysis

We can see from regression I of Panel A and B that B/M is highly significant relative to the future returns, which are consistent with the B/M effect theory. The B/M effect for NOA/P^NOAï ¹ ¤1 data also cannot be rejected for the ambiguous t-statistic. Similarly, the enterprise B/M ratio is confirmed by regression II. The testing results for one factor model of financial leverage (ND/M) presents that the financial leverage is not significantly relative to future returns, or even negatively relative to future returns. It is an anomalous phenomenon that the leverage (financial risk) reduces the expected returns, but it may be explained by the negative association between leverage and operating risk. Actually, these results are also consistent with also correlation analysis in Table 2. When NOA/P^NOA≠§1, leverage is positively and insignificantly relative to the NOA/P^NOA. However, when NOA/P^NOAï ¹ ¤1, leverage is negatively relative to NOA/P^NOA. Regression V shows the leverage coefficient under controlling for operating risk (enterprise B/M ratio). For full sample tests, the coefficient is insignificant which means we cannot get any reliable conclusions from this result. And for NOA/P^NOA ≠§1, the coefficient is insignificantly positive, for NOA/P^NOAï ¹ ¤1, the coefficient is significantly negative. If we split the ND/M ratio into financial liabilities/market value and financial assets/ market value like in regression VII, FA/P coefficients are significantly positive in all of three panels, but the FL/P negatively or insignificantly relative to future returns. It indicates that the high future return premium is awarded for the high operating risk rather than financial risk. As the financial leverage is insignificant in some regressions, we u... ...returns, and this association is even insignificant for most NOA/P^NOA portfolios. The only exception is in the highest two NOA/P^NOA portfolios, highest ND/M portfolios give higher returns than lowest ND/M portfolios. Similarly with US evidence, the findings in UK evidence suggest that the UK FTSE 350 stock returns are inconsistent with PRT’s equation 2. In Panel B of table 4, we use similar methods with Panel A to spilt the year-firm observations into 10 portfolios, and sort these observations into five groups by B/M ratio rather than leverage ratio. According to PRT equation 1, if NOA/P^NOA >1, a higher leverage ratio will lead to a higher B/M ratio; if (NOA )/P^NOA 1, a higher return the higher B/M ratio.

Witness :: essays research papers

Communication is more than just words   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When one sense is diminished, another is magnified, but can it ever truly be compensated? In some instances, yes however, when addressing the ability to communicate, there are two senses, that when absent hinders the communication process: sight and touch. Communication is more than just words. In an effort to explore this idea further, we will look at the movie â€Å"Witness†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The movie, starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, takes place in New England. After losing her husband, Rachel Lapp (McGillis) and her son, Samuel, travel via railway to Baltimore, Maryland to celebrate the birth of Samuel’s cousin. When Samuel goes to the restroom during a delay in Philadelphia, he witnesses the murder of a Narcotics Officer. During the investigation, Detective John Book (Ford), discovers that the murderers are two fellow officers in conspiracy with the Chief of Police. In an effort to protect Samuel Lapp, John finds himself living in the Amish community with Rachel, Samuel, and Eli Lapp, Rachel’s father-in-law.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When two worlds such as an Amish community and a 20th century metropolis collide, they give textbook examples of different aspects of communication.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the first half of the movie, when Rachel and Samuel enter into this unknown society, their reactions are mirrored by society’s reactions to them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Rachel and Samuels board the train, we see Eli Lapp, and friend of the family, Daniel; express their discontentment of Rachel’s decision to venture out into a world filled with â€Å"evil†. While Eli’s expressions are of concern and care, we notice, as Daniel gives Samuel a small wooden toy, his countenance pouring with an alterative motive as he smiles flirtatiously at Rachel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next, lets discuss Rachel’s insinuations towards the foreign society. When we see Rachel on Eli’s farm, she seems to be a very devoted Amish woman. This implication remains unchanged, as we see her at the train station in Philadelphia. She is very introverted, as she sits alone on a bench, sewing. She is stiff and apathetic to the world revolving around her and in making no attempt to commune with it, only speaks German to Samuel while in public, succeeding in isolating themselves. She demonstrates great lethargy towards any issue that exists outside her â€Å"realm†. She demonstrates this several times when, while someone talks to her, she stares out the window, making no eye contact and sending a loud and clear message that she does not want to hear what he or she are saying.

Napoleon Bonaparte Essay

During Napoleon’s reign as Emperor of the French Empire he made laws, or a set of codes, that applied to all of France. He enacted laws that protected the people, promoted religious tolerance and took away the serfdom and feudalism systems, all of which gave people more freedom over their land to support themselves and their families. The well-being of the people was compromised since the workers lacked many rights, this being evident by the fact that trade unions and strikes were illegal, which encouraged employer abuse. One aspect of Napoleons opening up government positions other than the nobility class was that it would have provided officials who could sympathize with the commoners, and therefore would have brought fresh ideas to the French political scene. A downside to his rule was that he limited the freeness of speech and press by closely monitoring the press and prohibited any ideas that seemed to be against the French Emperor in his eyes; and also the French Police read peoples mail. Napoleon showed a keen interest in learning early on in life. It was primarily based on the desire to learn about new military strategies. On the contrary, he suppressed new ideas and learning from coming into the empire by quieting anybody who spoke or thought differently than himself. For example, Mme. Stael was a writer who had established a salon where European people with influence could come together and share new ideas with one another. Napoleon saw this as a threat to his power, so he shut down the salon and exiled Mme. Stael to Germany where she could no longer write and spread new ideas in his French domain. Napoleon promoted equality by allowing people from all social backgrounds to obtain government careers by based upon ability only as opposed to whose family you were born in, or what rank you had. Another way was by his changing the standards of aristocracy that was based upon ones merit in state service. He contradicted himself by claiming he had when equality for all citizens. Women were considered â€Å"less than equal† in the empire and  lacked many of the rights that men had, and was considered as a minor in court cases. RECOMMENDATIONS 1.If I were to grade Napoleon’s leader based on the principles of the Enlightenment I would give him a C. Because even though he did secure some freedom for the people, he still failed at equality for all people being taking so many freedoms away that the Revolution had made. 2.I would tell Napoleon to change his laws limiting women so much, otherwise he should stop saying â€Å"freedom for all!† 3.Should follow the philosopher Diderot and apply his ideas of social equality that would make a better society.

AT&T Wireless Case Essay

1. [10 points] Describe the cost behavior in the wireless industry. What are the implications of this cost behavior for cost-volume-profit (CVP) relationships? Cost behavior is how a company’s costs change given a change in that company’s activities. Variable costs are costs that change proportionately with the changes in a company’s activities. In contrast, the costs that do not change with a change in a company’s activities are known as fixed costs. In the case of AT&T, costs are focused primarily into the fixed category. This means that as the company’s activities shift, its costs remain relatively unchanged. This combination of high fixed costs and low cost variable costs gives AT&T and the rest of the industry a large amount of operating leverage. The high operating leverage of AT&T means that the company utilizes a higher risk strategy which leads to higher profits as volumes increase. Essentially, as long as AT&T maintains a volume that covers at least its fixed costs, any additional volume translates into profit. This works both ways however, if volume decreases below the threshold for covering fix ed costs then every decrease in volume yields proportionately equal losses. According to the case, there is little cost associated with text messaging. The case states that text messaging has an incredibly low variable cost, estimated at only a few cents per text. So basically, once AT&T has covered the cost of the required infrastructure to facilitate text messages, any revenues garnered from text message and virtually pure profit. 2. [5 points] What are the key cost drivers? Can a cost driver be used to continually raise prices? A cost driver is the root cause of why a cost occurs. For AT&T and the wireless industry there are several cost drivers. The most obvious ones in this case would be the number of texts sent per minute and the number of customers handled by the carrier. However, there are many more. These include the number of cell towers in the area and the amount of database  storage needed for handle the messages. In addition, individual cell phone plans and how many devices that are currently handled by a carrier in a given area are cost drivers. The primary cost driver used for the purpose of determining costs in this case is the amount of texts per minute. In this case, with its high fixed costs and low variable costs, any given change in volume will have little effect on costs. So, for AT&T, the cost drivers are unlikely to raise prices. However, this is not the case for all industries. If a company has high variable prices and low fixed prices we would expect the opposite. 3. [15 points] What does it cost AT&T to send a text message?[Consider costs of the channel, billing cost, storage cost] Based on this cost, what is AT&T’s profit margin as a percentage of its short message service (SMS) text messaging business? [Consider per-use pricing and package pricing] The case states that the average cost per voice minute is $0.07. From this the case determines that the equivalent amount of texts that can be sent, given the data transmission rates, is eighty-one. Thus the cost per text can be calculated as: $0.07 / 81 = $0.0008641 per text This, however, is not the total cost of a text. We must also factor in the costs of billing, databases, and storage. The case estimates the cost of billing at twice that of the wireless costs. Therefore we calculate the cost of billing as: $0.0008641 x 2 = $0.0017283 per text Database costs are estimated to be $10 million and AT&T is expected to carry 1% of the 3.5 trillion in world traffic. Knowing this we calculate the cost of storage as: $10 million / ( 3.5 trillion x .01) = $10 million / 35 billion = $.0002857  per text The cost of storage is assumed to be negligible in the case. However, I felt that it would still be interesting to calculate the cost. The case states the cost of storage to be $1,000 per terabyte and that worldwide traffic requires 1,343 terabytes of storage. Given that AT&T carries only 1% of the traffic storage costs can be calculated as: ($1,000 x (1343 Tb x .01) / 35 billion = $13,430 / 35 billion = $0.0000003837 The combined cost of sending a text is thus: $0.0008641 + $0.0017283 + $0.0002857 + $0.0000003737 = $0.002878 To calculate the profit margin, we simply divide gross profit by total revenue. We will take into account the profit margins for three of AT&T’s data plans. The per message plan which charge $0.20 per text, the $5.00 for 200 messages plan, and the $15 for 1500 messages plan. Per message plan: ($0.20 – $0.002878) / $0.20 = 98.56% $5 plan: (($5.00 / 200) – $0.002878) / ($5.00 / 200) = 88.49% $15 plan: (($15.00 / 1500) – $0.002878) / ($15.00 / 1500) = 71.22% 4. [5 points] How strong a relationship should exist between the price charged to a customer for a good or service and the cost of providing that good or service? Explain. It depends largely on the profit goals of any given company and can vary wildly depending on a number of factors such as whether a company is nonprofit or not. In the case of AT&T, the price should at least cover the cost of the product in order for the company to break even. Any amount greater than that will translate into profits. AT&T should price their products based on the supply and demand of the given products. For text messaging, the demand is massive and AT&T gauges their prices accordingly. However, I feel that a degree of morality should be taken into account. I know that in the business world morality is generally ignored in search of profits. But with text messaging, they are metaphorically printing money for themselves. The cost of sending a text message is infinitesimal compared to what they charge their customers. The sad truth is that as long as we remain willing to pay their price for the service they will continue to charge it. 5. [5 points] Why is the price that AT&T charges to transmit a kilobyte of data via text message so much higher than the price charged to transmit a kilobyte of data via a Smartphone? The price of text messaging is higher than simply transmitting data by smartphone largely because of supply and demand. The wireless industry prices their products based on demand. Currently, the demand for text messaging is high and still growing. Because of this prices remain high. Perhaps if the average consumer was more aware of the cost of texting this would change their preferences and cause the price to ultimately drop. Texts are not the only source of revenue for the wireless industry. For example, the industry also experiences revenues from sales of devices such as cell phones. The industry prices their devices in order to compete with others in the industry and this leads to low prices in the device market. The revenue from texts is used to offset the loss of potential revenues in the device market. 6. [10 points] What should the management of wireless firms seek to do now? Wireless firms should seek to improve their infrastructure to increase the capacity and efficiency of their networks. This would allow the firms to handle a larger amount of data and improved rates. This would, in turn, increase the amount of customers that the firms could service and would increase the firm’s revenues. In the case of the wireless industry, an increase in revenues would likely lead to proportionately large increases in profits. The most efficient ways to improve the wireless infrastructure is to add additional towers and storage capabilities. According to the PCIA, revisions in networking policies would also help to achieve this goal. By  allowing the wireless industry access to existing support structures such as towers, buildings, water tanks, and utility poles, the need for constructing expensive cell towers could be eliminated. In fact, the new generation of antenna systems no longer require the construction of older cell towers and are designed to be at tached to the previously mentioned pre-existing support structures.

Chemical Aspects of Life and Spit Lab Formal Report

Chemical Aspects of Life and Spit Lab Formal Report 1. Abstract The objective of the Reducing Sugar Test was to test if the substance has a reducing sugar in it by adding Benedict’s solution and heating it, there would be a color change if a reducing sugar is present, or it will remain blue (no reducing sugar). The objective of the Starch test was to test for starch in substances by using Iodine. The iodine will cause a substance to turn to a dark blue color if it is positive for starch. The objective for the Grease Spot Test was to test if the substance had a lipid.A positive reaction would make a translucent grease mark on a brown paper bag. The objective for the Dye test was to test for lipids. When mixed with water and the tested substance, a positive result will occur in it being separated from the water. The objective of the Protein Test was to test for proteins present in a substance using the Biuret Solution. The substance should produce a violet color within 10 drops of Biuret. The objectives of the Spit Lab were to test for starch, a reducing sugar, and effect of amylase on a cracker that is positive for starch and negative for a reducing sugar.Iodine would test if starch was present if the cracker solution changes to a dark black/blue color. Benedict’s Solution mixed with the cracker and heated would test for a reducing sugar (if reducing sugar, it will turn from a green to an orange to a dark brownish color). The amylase was tested on a Triscuit cracker by heating it in Benedict’s Solution, the amount would make it either a green, or orange, and the most amounts would make it brown as mine and my partner’s results. 1. Introduction The chemical aspects lab was done to detect and identify the presence of reducing sugars, starches, lipids, and proteins in various substances.A reducing sugar is a monosaccharide or disaccharide that has the ability of giving electrons to other molecules and acts as reducing agent. A reducing a gent has an aldehyde or ketone group in it that can reduce the ions of some metals, such as sodium citrate, copper sulfate, sodium bicarbonate (Benedict’s solution). In order to be a reducing sugar, the sugar must have a beta-beta bond, which is the bond that can be broken by heat. If they have an alpha-beta bond, like sucrose, then the test material does not have reducing sugars present, it will remain blue.If there are reducing sugars present in the substance, the color will change from a green to orange to dark brown state. Starch is a carbohydrate that is found in potatoes and other grains. It is made of a large number of units of glucose. When starch is consumed, the body's enzymes break it down into glucose, a monosaccharide. Starch can be identified in a test material by adding drops of iodine to it. The iodine should go into the polysaccharide chain, so the color changes to a black color, or precipitate will form. A lipid is a hydrophobic polymer made of two monomers. Since they are hydrophobic it differentiates lipids into a separate group of polymers. The monomers that make up lipids are glycerol and three fatty acids. Lipids store energy and are in hormones. There are two ways to be able to detect a lipid in a test material, a grease spot test or a dye test. The grease spot test is used to test for only lipids that are highly concentrated. Lipids are known to be translucent when on paper. So you add a drop of the substance onto a brown sheet of paper and add a drop of water next to it then let them evaporate.After observing the drops through light by holding it up and trying to look through the paper, if it is translucent, it is a lipid. A more accurate test for lipids is the dye test. If water is combined with Sudan III (Sudan IV was replaced by this), and mixed with the test material, the test material can be considered a lipid if the solution forms a pink color. This is because Sudan III (Sudan IV was replaced by this) is only soluble in li pids. The lipid will be distributed on top of the dyed water, because lipids are hydrophobic. A protein is a polymer made of amino acid monomers.The amino acids bond together in bonds called peptide bonds. A chain of amino acids is called a polypeptide chain. The structure in which the amino acids are bonded determines the function of the protein. There are about twenty different amino acids, but there is a wide variety of possible combinations that amino acids can bond, therefore proteins have quite a lot of functions. Some things proteins are used for are the building of the muscles, tendons, organs, glands, nails, and hair. There are many more different functions for proteins.To detect proteins in test materials, there is an identifying agent called Biuret Solution which when mixed with the test material. It turns purple if it contains a protein. The darker the violet color, the more concentrated it is with protein. The spit lab was done in order to determine the effect of amylas e on starch since starch is a long chain of glucose which serves as a main source of nutrients; the amylase breaks it into a simple monosaccharide. Amylase is an enzyme in the human saliva used to break starch into reducing sugars for energy. An enzyme is a protein, and enzymes speed chemical reactions.Benedict’s Solution was mixed with chewed up Triscuit (which was positive for starch only before), and heated for 2 minutes. This was done in order to create a reaction between the enzymes and starches in the cracker. The darker the color, the more amylase your body had at that time, if it does change color. 3. Experimental Section/Procedure Changes: – In the protein test, a cracker solution was used as opposed to cereal. – Sudan IV was replaced by Sudan III – In the lipid test, a cracker solution replaced buttermilk Procedure: (See attached lab sheet) 4. Data SectionTest Material| Starch| Result| Reducing Sugar | Result| Lipid Grease| Result| Lipid Dye| Re sult| Protein| Result| 1% Starch| Black| +| Blue| -| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Clear| -| Potato Juice| Black| +| Not tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Water| none| -| Blue| -| Not translucent| -| No pink| -| Clear| -| Milk| none| -| Orange| +| Not Translucent| -| Pink| +| Not Tested| N/A| Cracker Solution| Black| +| Not tested| N/A| Not Translucent| -| Pink| +| Clear| -| Cereal| Precipitate| +| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| 5% Glucose| Not tested| N/A| Orange| +| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| 5% Fructose| Not Tested| N/A| Orange| +| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| 5% Sucrose| Not Tested| N/A| Blue| -| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| 5% Lactose| Not Tested| N/A| Orange| +| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Egg Albumin| Not Tested| N/A| Not tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| 2 drops violet| +| Gelatin| Not Tested| N/A| Not tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| Not Tested| N/A| 3 dropsviolet| +| Salad Oil| Not Tested| N/A| Not tested| N/A| Translucent| +| Pink| +| Not Tested| N/A| Spit Lab Cracker| Starch Test| Result| Reducing Sugar test before amylase| Result| Reducing Sugar test after amylase| Result| Triscuit| Black| -| Blue| -| Brown| +| Saltine| Black| +| Orange| +| Not Tested| N/A| 5. AnalysisThe labs were done to test for starch, lipids, proteins, and reducing sugars. The test for starch was done by adding up to 3 drops of iodine into the substance which should be on the porcelain spot plate. The result of a positive starch reaction would be a dark blue/ black color and/or precipitate formed. The substances that had starch were: cracker solution, Triscuit cracker, cereal, saltine cracker, potato juice and 1%starch. These results were expected because of the type of food involved. There were two lipid tests done. The first one was the Grease Spot test, where a drop of the substance and water were placed on a piece of brown paper bag.After it evaporated, and if the brown paper became translucent then it meant that it was a highly concentrated lipid. The only material that showed this was salad oil and it was expected due to the fact that it’s an oil, milk was also expected but did not show up. The second test was the Dye test with Sudan III. Due to the properties of Sudan III, making it only soluble in lipids, it is added to 3ml of water and 1ml of each test material, and then shaken. There was a color change; it changed to pink so the lipid absorbed it causing it to change. Positive substances included: Salad oil, milk, and crackers. The expected ones were salad oil and milk, but the crackers weren’t expected.The Reducing Sugar test was done by placing 5ml of Benedict’s solution into a test tube then adding 10 drops of the test substance, and then heated for 2minutes. If the substance was positive for a reducing sugar, the color would vary from green to orange to dark brown, the beta-beta bond is broken and the color change shows this. The substances that showed positive were: 5% glucose, 5% fructose, 5% lactose, milk, and Saltine crackers, Triscuit crackers (after amylase). The spit lab showed how starch before amylase was negative for a reducing sugar and then after the amylase was added, the alpha-beta bond broke. These were all expected except the saltine cracker that had a reducing sugar.The Protein Test was done by taking 5ml of the test material and putting it in a test tube, then adding 1 drop of Biuret solution up to 10 times to see if a violet color appears. The Biuret solution (made of potassium hydroxide and hydrated copper (II) sulfate) reacts to peptide bonds. Amino acids are monomers of protein and amino acids are linked to peptide bonds so they will react to the Biuret. The substances that were positive for protein were only egg albumin and gelatin. Egg albumin was expected, but gelatin wasn’t. Possible Errors -Cro ss contamination between substances through pipettes, test tubes. – Misread/misinterpreted data results. -Possibly followed procedure wrong. – Wrong measurements of substances. 6. Conclusion Starch Test 1. The positive control was 1% starch. 2. The negative control was water. 3.If there was a color change (black or dark blue), or precipitate formed, starch was present when iodine was added. 4. The 1% starch showed the most amount of starch because it hard a really dark shade of blue and because it is starch. 5. The material that showed the least amount of starch was the cracker solution because it had a lighter shade of blue when iodine was added. Reducing Sugar Test 1. The positive control was both fructose and glucose because they are both reducing sugars. 2. The negative control was water. 3. A reducing sugar was present in the test material if it had a color change from green to orange to dark brown after being heated for 2 minutes. 4.The materials that had reducin g sugars present were: 5% glucose, 5% fructose, 5% lactose, and milk. 5. The materials that tested negative for reducing sugars were: 1% starch, water, and 5% sucrose. 6. The materials that showed positive for reducing sugars all had beta-beta bonds. 7. The materials that showed negative for reducing sugars all had alpha-beta bonds. (Water has only hydrogen bonds not beta-beta or alpha-beta. ) 8. The purpose of heat is to be the energy source to break the beta-beta bonds. 9. If there was no heat, the milk, lactose, sucrose, wouldn’t break. The beta-beta bonds would remain intact since there isn’t an energy source. 10.Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions. Their purpose is to help break things down. For example, the enzyme amylase is in the saliva of a human and helps break starch (polysaccharide) down into Glucose, a monosaccharide. Lipid Test 1. The positive control is salad oil. 2. The negative control is water. 3. The two ways to observe the presence of a lipid are to put a drop of the material onto brown paper and see if it leaves a translucent grease mark, or add Sudan III to the material with water, and then shake it all up in a test tube to see if a pink color will show. Protein Test 1. The positive control is the egg albumin. 2. The negative control is water. 3.The amount of protein in the test material can be estimated through the number of drops the Biuret Solution took; the less drops the more protein. Spit Lab 1. The starch test was done in order to see if the crackers had starch, or else amylase wouldn’t do anything to it. 2. The Saltine and Triscuit crackers showed positive for the starch test. 3. The purpose of the reducing sugar test was so that if the cracker did have a reducing sugar, the heat could have broken the bond, not the amylase. The cracker had to not have a reducing sugar so we know it was the amylase breaking the starch alpha-beta bond. 4. I chewed the Triscuit cracker because it was a starch an d it wasn’t a reducing sugar, perfect for the amylase test. 5.The reaction changed after I chewed the cracker and did the reducing sugar test. The alpha-beta bond broke due to the amylase and it turned dark brown, before it wouldn’t break and stayed blue. 6. The amount of amylase can be estimated but the color of the solution after the reducing sugar test. For example, green means little, orange means medium, and dark brown means there is a plethora. 7. I liked how we got to test how much amylase we had at the given moment. 8. If I were to do this lab again, I really wouldn’t change anything, the procedure is simple as it could be. The chewing the cracker part wasn’t fun, but it was necessary for your own result.

Karma in Bhagavad-Gita and Shakuntala Essay

In _Bhagavad- Gita_, dharma and karma are two controlling forces of the ultimate destinies of the people to preserve and conserve the Hindu social order. Arjuna, the protagonist, is torn between two choices, either to perform his dharma for the emancipation of the spirit or to fight against his kin that would probably result to evil karma. He belongs to a compelling position in the Hindu social order because of his birth and occupation, making him locked up from the supposed ultimate freedom (Mack, 1995). The dharma of Arjuna complicates his status in the social hierarchy thus makes him doubtful in performing his duties and responsibilities both as a Hindu warrior and a kin. He may have the control over his spirit and he may choose to receive a good karma, but his dharma contradicts and requires him to somehow disobey his self. In addition, according to Krishna, if he will withdraw from action, it is thus an act of self-delusion and the renunciation of moral and social responsibility. Krishna said that he [Arjuna] ‘†¦must learn to endure fleeting things- they come and go!† (2nd teaching: 14). He is convincing him to â€Å"fight the battle† (2nd: 18) and so if â€Å"he has courage, he is fit for immortality† (2nd: 15). He is always reminding him that his dharma requires him to fight. He adds, â€Å"No one exists for even an instant without performing action; however unwilling, every being is forced to act by the qualities of nature† (3rd: 5). Arjuna’s hesitation may be valid in some points but it is orderly since it is human nature. He is overcome by doubts because he does not wish to be guilty of the death of his kin, but Krishna tell him that â€Å"actions imprisons the world unless it is done as sacrifice; freed from attachment, Arjuna, perform action as sacrifice!† (3rd: 9). From the philosophies of Krishna mentioned above, it can be scrutinized that an individual in the Indian society must not think that performing dharma can be immoral once it may result to evil karma, but rather internalize that when performing deeds, â€Å"always perform with detachment any action you must  do; performing action with detachment, one achieves supreme good † (3rd: 19). They are not ruling dharma and karma, but they govern â€Å"to preserve the world† (3rd: 25). _Shakuntala_ also portrays a strong Hindu society and Hinduism. There is sadness and melancholy due to dharma and karma but the ultimate destinies are well-controlled. Hinduism may provide sufficient free will to man but it does not permit him grappling from the moral ambiguities that may lead to tragedy (Yohannan, 1994). Shakunta was punished because she did not able to perform her religious duties. As what Priyamvada told the King, Shakuntala â€Å"†¦has been engaged in the practiced of religious duties†; but because of her fascination and attachment to the King, she forgot her dharma for the first time, leading her to suffer evil consequences (karma). Priyamvada told her assumption to Anasuya when they were in the garden of the hermitage and said â€Å"I fear a terrible misfortune has occurred. Sakoontala, from absence of mind, must have offended some guest whom she was bound to treat with respect†. Shakuntala is the daughter of the hermit leader and a Brahman so she really has to perform her religious duties otherwise she will disobey the norm. Nevertheless, she is not destined to be forever shattered and helpless; she must gain back what and who she deserves to have, and that is to be united with the King. Through the presentation of the fate of the characters, we can say that Hinduism still favors people as long as they keep their faith and deeds according to it. For the question _how can be both paradoxical and at the same time complementary, Shakuntala_ and _Bhagavad- Gita_ have their own ways of portraying an Indian society and its religion. In _Bhagavad- Gita,_ Krishna is really the personal and true-existing (though appeared in a different form) adviser who keeps on reminding and convincing Arjuna to perform his dharma otherwise a great consequence might happen. Arjuna tends to remain in his humanness nature but his dharma tries to desolate him from his morality,  so there is his friend charioteer (Krishna) who keeps on warning him by teaching philosophies. He is overcome by his morality by killing his own kin. On the other hand, Shakuntala has not been warned before she committed such sacred crime. She was more overcome by the humanness nature that she tends to forget her dharma. Her emotions desolate her, so as punishment, her own fault kills the chance to be loved by the King. Because of their social status in the society, their dharma becomes more demanding and regulating. Both show a pleasurable sense of life and their religion guides them not to end up tragically. Both value knowledge as means to salvation and liberation. In _Shakuntala,_ the trial which she brings upon herself matures her in the knowledge of love and prepares her for the life which she is destined to live (Yohannan, 1994). In _Bhagavad- Gita_, â€Å"knowledge is obscured† (3rd: 39), therefore Krishna tells Arjuna that â€Å"kill this evil that wins knowledge and judgment† (3rd: 41) because â€Å"knowing the self beyond understanding sustain the self with the self† (3rd:43)

Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove Essay Example for Free (#22)

Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove Essay Bureaucracy (53) , Joseph Heller (9) , Yossarian (8) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints \In Joseph Heller’s novel, Catch-22, and Stanley Kubrick’s film, Dr. Strangelove, the bureaucrats are illustrated as illogical and untrustworthy. Heller’s attention to administrations such as the hospital and the military-establishment are recognized for their unreliable rationality and logic. Similarly, in Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick mocks the absurdities of the nuclear arms race and of the officials of the United States and The Soviet Union as he conveys the malfunction of highly placed government bureaucrats. Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove, are two satirical and somewhat historical works that effectively comment on the corrupt and perhaps insane bureaucrats. The lives of Yossarian and the men in his squadron in Catch-22 are not determined by their own decisions but instead, by the decisions of the impersonal bureaucracy. The bureaucrats are absolutely oblivious to any attempt the men make to reason with them logically. Major Major, for example, will only see people in his office if he is not there and sends them away when he returns. Doc Daneeka refuses to ground Yossarian for his â€Å"insanity† because Yossarian’s desire to be grounded reveals that he is sane. Doc Daneeka elaborates in his discussion of Orr, Yossarian’s tent-mate. â€Å"Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to.† (46) Yossarian and the others in his squadron find that what they say and do has little effect on their fate when the bureaucracy controls them. Their only option is to follow the illogical rules and use what is expected of them to their own advantage. Yossarian’s superiors are more concerned with getting a promotion than they are about winning the war. Colonel Cathcart, the colonel in command of Yossarian’s squadron, tries to impress his superiors by â€Å"bravely† volunteering his men for dangerous combat. Cathcart’s only concern is being promoted to general. Cathcart continually raises the number of combat missions required of the men before they can be sent home. Yossarian argues with Doc Daneeka who explains, â€Å"†¦regulations do say you have to obey every order. That’s the catch. Even if the colonel were disobeying a Twenty-seventh Air Force order by making you fly more missions, you’d still have to fly them, or you’d be guilt y of disobeying an order of his.† (58) Similarly, Dr. Strangelove also criticizes the malfunctions of bureaucracy and the inadequacy of officials. General Jack Ripper gives the command to attack the Soviet Union without permission from his superiors or the president. Instead of discussing the idea of an attack with is supervisors, Ripper orders the attack because, according to him; Clemenceau†¦ said war was too important to be left to the generals. When he said that, 50 years ago, he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids. -Criticizes the malfunction of bureaucracy. (Dr. Strangelove) Mr. President’s embarrassment about the issue demonstrates bureaucracy does not function appropriately because those lower in command should not determine the launch of nuclear powers. Further exemplifying the inadequacy of the bureaucrats, the Joint Chiefs in the war room show their unprofessional and blatant prejudice, especially toward the Russians. General Buck Turgidson clearly states, â€Å"I’m beginning to smell a big fat Commie rat,† and later refers to them as â€Å"a bunch of ignorant peons.† The Germans are also referred to when Turgidson, upon learning Dr. Strangelove’s original German name, passes it off as â€Å"†¦a Kraut by any other name.† Dr. Strangelove, the character, also calls into question the reliability of people in power. Strangelove is clearly the Presidents scientific adviser in the war room whose appearance copies the mad scientist stereotype with his wild hair, black gloved hand, and his clearly brilliant yet insane mind. Through their presentation of bureaucracy, Heller and Kubrick display why officials and politicians are unfit to make important decisions concerning the safety of the country. Catch-22 conveys this notion through the bureaucracy’s enforcement of impractical rules and Catch-22’s on the eccentric men in Yossarian’s squadron. Kubrick suggests the same concept in Dr. Strangelove by frequently demonstrating the disorder, madness and prejudice of the officials. In either piece, the reader carries away the certainty of the instability of the men in control of important military and national decisions. Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove. (2016, Nov 12). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

The Inside Truth of Avis Europe PLC(UK) planned failed(this may vary) Essay

The Inside Truth of Avis Europe PLC(UK) planned failed(this may vary) - Essay Example Avis Europe had planned to implement this same system for their enterprise but the implementation of the project was cancelled after a $54.5 million investment. The lack of planning and inability to indentify requirements led to the failure of the ERP system even before it was officially implemented. By remaining focused on the objectives and careful planning the failure at avis Europe could have been avoided. The information technology industry has seen rapid growth over a period of time. Organizations are continuously looking for excellent quality software to enhance their productivity and profits. Despite the millions of dollars invested in implementing various information systems, organizations still encounter serious problems and failures during as well as following the implementation. Management Information System (MIS) failures occur all around the world in all kinds of organizations ranging from retailers to government organizations. There is a list of such failures which occurred in history and cost organizations millions of dollars in losses. some of the most notable IT failures in history include Hudson Bay Co. (Canada) which faced inventory problems which led to losses of over $33.3 million; Hewlett-Packard Co. (UK) which suffered $160 million loss as a result of a faulty ERP system; McDonald’s Corp. spent $170 million on information system purchase but later cancelled the project, Hershey’s faced an ERP failure which cost the company heavily, and the list goes on. Another such company to face information technology implementation failure for the Enterprise Resource Planning system is Avis Europe. This project aims to analyses the need for the implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning system at Avis Europe and to study the problems faced by the company in the implementation which eventually