An Academic Narrative

Behind every work there is a story. Often, the story can better explain why a work looks the way it does than can any formal academic argument. The present work started as a Doctoral thesis. So here is its much abbreviated story. Choosing the topic I have been fascinated by what monuments mean to people ever since my Hamburg M. A. thesis of 1993, in which I investigated empirically the contemporaneous meanings of three selected megaliths and menhirs in Germany. Having come to Lampeter later the same year, I wrote a second M. A. thesis also about the various meanings of megaliths, but this time focussing on the theoretical background of Radical Constructivism and Reception Theory as well as on prehistoric and historic case-studies. As I had to make a decision about my Ph. D. research topic early in 1994, this topic seemed to be interesting and promising to pursue further. I chose later prehistory as a time period, since I was mainly interested in working with evidence of material cult ure. In excluding earlier periods as well as the Medieval age, I hoped to avoid dealing with possible continuities of burial traditions and ancestor cults during the Neolithic up until the early Bronze Age on the one hand, and with the quite complex problem of using written sources in arguments about historic periods on the other. Since I started my work in 1994, the basic theme proved feasible and has stayed virtually the same; however, I modified my exact line of argument on several occasions. These changes are reflected in various outlines and abstracts which I wrote at different points in time. Although empirical detail has a certain irresistible attraction to me (as well as a considerable rhetorical power), the theoretical aspects of my work, such as thoughts about past and present, have always (and perhaps over the years increasingly) been more important to me than the details of the archaeology of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern provided an almost ideal study area, not only because of the excellent state of research on megaliths there (largely due to the work of Ewald Schuldt), but also because I felt very attracted to the beautiful coastal landscape. My research in the area was greatly helped by virtually all the local archaeologists, who patiently answered my questions and gave further suggestions. On several occasions, however, one senior archaeologist tried effectively to stop my research (I don't know why). This seemed at first to threaten the entire project, but as time went on, this person's activities proved to be less critical for my work than I had feared. Finding material to work with One of my biggest challenges from the start was to find enough relevant material evidence on which to build a larger argument. I was already confident after having looked at the regional literature in the library of the Institute of Archaeology in London, and undertaking an explorative visit to the sites and monuments record (Ortsaktenarchiv) of the Landesamt fur Bodendenkmalpflege in Lubstorf, both early in 1995. I became entirely convinced of the feasibility of my project during an extended visit of the study area during the summer of 1995. After just over two weeks of concentrated work with the records, I provided the basis for my later analysis by documenting on specially designed forms, the evidence for later prehistoric receptions at almost 1200 megaliths. That summer, I also visited several libraries and photocopied many relevant texts, which were not otherwise available to me at Lampeter. During a second visit to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the late summer of 1996 I visited even more sites, consulted libraries again and discussed various issues with local archaeologists. I closed gaps in my reading by using the very efficient interlibrary loan service at Lampeter, spending two weeks in the libraries of Cambridge and in the British Library in March 1996, and consulting the British Library for another few days in September 1997. Interpreting the evidence in wider terms On the basis of the promising evidence I had collected, and the associated archaeological literature I had read, it was always clear that for interesting interpretations I would need exciting ideas, rather than additional evidence or access to even more archaeological literature. My interest was, after all, first and foremost in the meanings of ancient monuments, and not in any particular archaeological period or area. I decided early on to combine my archaeological work with references to various other related themes and topics. Later prehistory would be supplemented by evidence from later historic periods as well from the present. The actual receptions of megaliths, which I could see in the record, would be put in the context of wider meanings of monuments. Ancient monuments and conceptions of the past in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern would be associated with completely different archaeological and anthropological contexts. All this was to be put into practice by using hypermedia technology. My original application document and further discussions about my plan to submit my work on the Internet, and then on CD-Rom, led me to think more about the characteristics and significance of hypermedia links in the text. As a consequence, the idea of making sense by making connections became more and more important to me, and developed perhaps into one of the most important arguments of my work. Originally, I constructed the thesis on many small cards each representing one ‘page'; they were ordered by a systematic number code but this was more a way of structuring my writing process than a hidden linear structure in my argument! Coming up with results What I now present is colourful, diverse, empirically rich and (hopefully) intellectually stimulating. I have produced a work that takes a decisively interpretive approach and rejects the metaphor of the law court, according to which the task of the archaeologist is to establish the truth about the past, or to construct a story plausible beyond reasonable doubt, in order for the judge or jury to reach a verdict about what actually happened (Shanks 1992: 54–56). What really happened in the past does not matter much to me. This work is not about the past, but rather about certain parts of the present, although it deals with the past and refers to archaeological evidence. I hope to show that there are a great number of possible meanings of ancient monuments, and that we can reach interpretations and make sense of something by making connections. Perhaps more importantly, I hope to demonstrate in my work that past and present are united and cannot be separated from each other. In saying this I do not argue that different archaeological and historical contexts could not be distinguished from one another. My point is much broader: the past is only meaningful within the particular history culture and as a contribution to the cultural memory of each present. I do not know if there could be a present without a past (except perhaps for small babies and some animals as well as in certain medical conditions? ), but there can certainly be no past without a present. Ancient monuments in our landscapes intrigue me. Perhaps this is the beauty of my approach, and of my work: people in later prehistory and today, including myself, find themselves in very much the same situation. They make sense in one way or another of the ancient monuments they come across in the landscape. The object of study in this work is, therefore, also the studying subject, and the results of my study describe its approach too.

There Is Something Disturbing About the World

Perhaps the most disturbing character of all Is the thirteen year old Bryony Tallish, a precocious girl with the habit of traumatizing and romanticizes events that occur in her own life, leading to disastrous consequences. Cecilia and the Tallish parents are also a cause for concern, the former due to her lack of direction and purpose and the latter because of their absence and failure to fulfill their roles as head of house. Finally, the house that the family reside in can be seen to reflect them and their faults.Overall, Mclean presents a family that has deep robbers, which gives rise to many concerns. With absent parents and a sister that does little other than aimlessly smoke cigarettes, Bryony Totals can be viewed as a by- product of the poisonous environment in which she has grown up in. As her mother battles with depression and her father is in a senior position at the war office, she has had to grow up largely on her own, which perhaps contributes to her tendency to dramatist and fantasies everything, as she needs to create her own worlds In order to escape from her truthful lonely reality.Perhaps what concerns us the most forever, is when she dramatists events that she sees, or in the case of the incident at the fountain, which she only sees part of. Also, she links events that happen in the adult world to experiences she has had or read about whilst growing up. Bryony dreams that the Incident will precede a ‘proposal of marriage, which she then relates to her childhood, stating that ‘She herself had written a tale in which a humble woodcutter saved a princess from drowning and ended by marrying her,' a story plausible only in a fairy tale.This Is In stark contrast with what she refers to as her entering an arena of adult emotion and dissembling from which her writing was bound to benefit,' highlighting that even in the strange events she has seen, she feels that she can still profit, which disturbs the reader as she has a sordid sense of w hat Is right and wrong, instead of showing concern for her sister she views herself as a form of gladiator as she has entered an arena, Implicit that she will be her sister's savior. Another disturbing characteristic of Bryony is her flawed idea of what is right and what is wrong, which could be due to her solitary upbringing.She feels that the OFF intrusion into his private life. Her inability to cope with events is perhaps showcased most oddly when Lola coerces her into giving her the part of Rubella and Bryony feels that ‘her only reasonable choice would be to run away, to live under hedges, eat berries and speak to no one, and be found by a bearded woodsman one winter's dawn, curled up at the base of a giant oak,' showing that she deals with what goes on in her life by making into a play and basing her actions on what heroines or people in fairy tales would have done.Overall, Briton's delusions of grandeur coupled with her incessant capability to transform any event in her own life into a work of fiction leads to one being disturbed because of her warped visions of what is real and what transcends reality. The crumbling family can perhaps be attributed to the lack of a strong patriarchal or matriarchal figure in the family. Emily Tallish battles with what she calls her ‘monster' and Jack Tallish holds a senior position in the war office, and thus this family has little unity, as Betty the maid takes the role of surrogate mother for the children, doing what Emily Tallish no longer feels that she can do.Her opening description as being ‘inert' alerts us to how useless she is in this house, and her life is described as ‘invalid nullity highlighting how little she does. However, one must appreciate the fact that she has depression, brought on from Britons birth, and thus she cannot solely be criticizes as being a lazy character, as it is not her fault, however, her lack of desire to change things is a disturbing problem, and she takes a great deal of time Just to find her ‘dark glasses. Emily movements are described as being ‘slow and ‘awkward. Overall, Mclean shows a mother utterly failing to fulfill both her role as career for her children and as leader of the house in Jack Italian's perpetual absence, owing to his busy Job, and he is even late for Loon's homecoming meal, leaving the women to run the show, a disturbing situation in the patriarchal early 20th century society. Despite her privileged background and the chances she has been given, Cecilia Tallish has failed to achieve much at all thus far in her life.She graduated from Gorton with ‘a third' showing that her opportunity for a good start has been squandered. Whilst Cecilia does attempt to do something, she often fails, as her start on a family tree was ‘half-hearted' and she even states that ‘nothing was holding her back from leaving the house, other than the thought of packing a suitcase' which ‘did not excit e her,' showing her reluctance to make any changes to her otherwise boring life.Perhaps her reading of Claries can be seen as an interpretation of her own life, as Richardson novel tells the story of a girl whose attempts at something (virtue in this case) are continually thwarted by her parents, and for Cecilia Tallish, her tempts at starting a relationship with Robbie are thwarted, first by Bryony Tallish naming and thus condemning him as the rapist of Lola Quince, and then due to World War II.However, Cecilia does also have some desire to be independent, shown through her smoking her own cigarettes, which contrasted with the early 20th century that women had to be offered and could not possibly ask or smoke their own, yet she does both of these. She also shows some desire to live independently, as she ‘had a little money in her account' and ‘offers to help her find a Job' yet she labels all f her options as ‘unpleasing. Mclean presents to the reader a flawed pai r of siblings, who have been left to cope, in essence, without parents, and whilst Bryony has the activity and direction her older sister lacks, it is utilized negatively. Overall, despite her chances that other would have craved for is disturbing. Means's setting for the novel reflects the Tallish family, serving only to reinforce and highlight their inherent flaws.From the outside, the house is described as being ‘ugly and condemned as ‘chartless to a fault' and as a tragedy of wasted chances' perhaps ere referencing Cecilia Italian's lack of motivation and direction in life, shown by her failures to achieve much since arriving home from university and this could perhaps also foreshadow the tempestuous and ill-fated love between Cecilia and Robbie.The temple is shown to be in disrepair, as the exposed laths ‘showed through like the ribs of a starving animal,' referencing how the family is falling apart and their flaws are easily visible, also shown through the bu ilding having a ‘mottled, diseased appearance. Cilia's lack of purpose is reflected in the temple which ‘had of course o religious purpose at all' and was meant to enhance the ‘pastoral ideal' meaning that it had an artificial premise, which relates to Cilia's whim of staying home through the feeling that ‘she was needed' even though she does little to look after Bryony and when she does there are selfish motives coursing through her actions, as seen when she strokes Bryony and gets comfort from it.Her other motive that she was required to help her mother is also shown to be false, as she does nothing to aid her other than putting flowers in Uncle Clime's vase, and even that is eventually broken. Means's tendency for his architecture to be flawed can be seen to display the family within the walls, a family in disrepair that is completely and utterly ‘a tragedy of wasted chances,' disturbing when considering all the opportunities the characters have been given which have been ruined by themselves or others.Overall, Mclean presents a disturbing set of characters, all in a toxic environment which serves only to exacerbate their already prominent flaws, leaving the reader disturbed as a collection of flawed individuals in an environment such as this will only lead to catastrophic consequences.

E.J. Computers Case Essay

Introduction The company I am going to be doing my project on is a small firm named E.J Computers. The company have been around for about a year and a half now and have 3 staff. It’s run from a small shop, which they have just recently moved to and they are slowly expanding. Therefore I am going to introduce an Access database to help make the job of keeping the accounts work easier. Statement of problem The problem at the moment is that the company is currently using a paper-based way of doing their accounts. This way is still quite common, but it makes more work for the end-user, as he usually has to go rummaging through bits of paper and filing cabinets etc. Also a problem with doing it this way is that bits of paper etc could go missing and the data would be lost. Its slower, takes up more room and looks unprofessional. I am going to be creating a database for a computer store that sells various things, from computer parts and accessories to fully working systems. The database will consist of many tables, including ones for customer details, products, delivery etc. I will be making the database a relational database so that the tables will interact and it will make it much more easier for the end user to be able to do or get to what they want. A computer database will be a lot safer to keep the records on. If they desire the end user could use some form of data protection so that he viewing of the records are not accessible for anybody (by either pass wording it etc). This way is a lot faster, less hassle, takes up less space and I think it looks more professional. So I am going to be creating a database, which will meet all of these needs. My initial idea is to create a database consisting of 4 tables, one for the customer details, one for the components, one for the ready built computer systems, and one for the orders. Results from questionnaire I wrote a questionnaire, and took it to my end user so that he could fill it in. I got it back, and now I can use the information that he provided to enable me to design my database to suit his needs. Basically he has the appropriate equipment that is required for him to be able to use the database and he also has the knowledge. From the feedback that I got, he basically has left me to my own device on the formatting side, which is good because I can use my imagination a bit and hopefully make a good design. The end user has also said that he would also like a password on the database for data protection. This ensures that the confidential data of his customers remains confidential. He also said that he would like his database to consist of 4 tables, one for customer details, two for product details, and one for order details etc. Information about end user’s computer Fortunately, the end user already has a suitable computer system to enable him to use the database. The current system is an AMD Athlon 1500+ 512mb DDR pc2700 RAM, 40GB HDD, 40x CD re-writer, 3 1/2 † Floppy disk, 17†³ CRT Monitor. He also has sufficient software, which is a bonus. Is current operating system is Windows XP professional and he also has office 2000. Description of the previous system Input of the previous system At the moment the whole system is paper based. If a customer purchases an item, their details are written down on a little white card, this includes their name, address, telephone number etc and then it is stored into a filing case. Eddie then has to write out a receipt by hand and issue it to the customer. If a customer requires delivery, there is an extra fee for postage and packaging and their information gets put into a separate file where at the end of the day it will be processed. Process of the previous system After the information is collected it is left. Hey don’t use it for anything else like advertising or sending special offers. It is just stored in a cupboard and every time a customer phones up or comes into the store and purchases a product it is taken back out and another card is filled in. Output of the previous system Again, the information is not used for output at all, the do not send special offers or print receipts. The receipts are all manually drawn up and written out. All products are paid for up front; no credit is given so there are no fines and no need to use the data for output. Method used for the previous system Data Flow Diagram of the previous system Problems with previous System Main problems with the previous system Problem Solution Time consuming Database will be easy and quick to access and use. Storage All data will be stored on the computer and will be easily accessible and found. Untidy work area Database will be on a computer, which will be neatly stored on the desk. Untidy work All work will be word-processed, therefore the data will all be neat and easy to read. Unsafe Data The database will be pass worded so that no unauthorised access will be possible Requirements of the new system Objectives of the new system Using access 2000 I will be creating a database for the company, this will make the system a lot better for my end user. To enable me to get an idea if what my end user actually wants he has filled in a questionnaire for me. This should help me understand fully what the end-user wants. My database will consist of four tables, each table representing different parts of the company. The first table will be a table for the customer’s details, it will store the details of every customer that comes into the shop and purchases an item. It will store their name, address, telephone number and each one will have their own unique customer ID number. This information can then be used for any marketing schemes that my end-user comes up with and the data will be handy at all times. My second table will contain information about the components that are available for the customers to purchase. It will consist of a list of the products that the shop has on sale and the type of that product. It will have the price, the amount that the business has in stock and a short description. The third table will consist of a list of pre-built fully working systems that are on sale; it will have a field for system ID, the price, number in stock, and a specification of each computer system. I will then have a fourth table consisting of information of the orders that have been placed, it will have the customers ID, the ID of the product that they have ordered, how much it will cost, and whether or not it need to be delivered. How the objectives will be fulfilled Description of the new system Input of the new system As I said above I will be putting the customer and product information details into the database using a mouse and a keyboard. I will be using a mouse to select to appropriate options and applications. I will also be using a VDU so I can actually see the information that I will be putting into the system. Process of the new system The process of the system is going to be pretty simple, I spoke with my end-use and we decided that I will make queries and sorts for the tables so that the information is easier to find and get hold of. We decided that it would be a good idea if I also include a mail merged letter so that things do not have to be written time after time. Output of the new system My end user has out the point across, that the output of the system is not really as vital as the input. The main purpose of creating this database is so that the details are stored safely on the computer. However a printer will probably be needed for the purpose of printing out records, and letters etc. This is not a permanent thing and maybe things will change later but for now this would be the only output. Performance criteria and limitations of the proposed system Qualitative My database solution will enable the end user to be able to sort the customers surnames into alphabetical so that it makes it easier for the end user to be able to find a customers records. My end user will also be able to sort the prices of everything that he sells into price order (for example cheapest to most expensive). This will make it easier for the end user, so that if he gets a customer asking about certain products that are on sale he can easily do a quick sort and be able to tell the customer. Quantitative With the solution I have made my end-user will be able to find the following: * Begin using the database within 30 seconds of opening it. * Find a customer using name or ID within 15 seconds. * Find a certain product with information within 20 seconds. * Find out if there re any deliveries that need to be made within 20 seconds. System flow chart Software and Hardware considerations Hardware The hardware that I will be using to create my database is as follows: Computer system: 1.0Gghz Celeron Processor 256mb SD RAM 20gb HDD Internal AGP SiS 8.0mb GFX card 15†³ Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor – Sufficient size display so I can easily see what I am doing. Keyboard – Standard RM keyboard enabling me to get the job done. Mouse – 3 button Key Mouse to make selecting options easier. Laser Printer – Printout copies of the work I am doing to take to my end-user to make sure it suits his needs accordingly. Some of my project will have to be completed at home in my own time on my own computer; my own computer consists of: AMD Athlon XP 1700+ 768mb DDR PC2700 RAM 40gb HDD NVIDIA Geforce4Ti 4800 SE Creative Sound Blaster 5.1 Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 Optical (USB) Logitech Internet Navigator(tm) Keyboard Special Edition – Black Software The software that I will be using to create my database is as follows: Microsoft Windows 98 SE Operating System Microsoft Windows NT Network Microsoft Office 2000: Word Access – Mainly using access because it enables me to perform complex searches, have a splash screen and create an advanced database system. Excel FrontPage Outlook The software that I have on my computer at home, which will allow me to be able to design the database, is: Microsoft windows XP professional corporate edition Microsoft Office XP: Word Access Excel FrontPage Outlook Data security of the new system Use of passwords I am going to be using a password for my database, as my end user has requested it. My end – user will need a password, to ensure customer confidentiality. The password will be a word requested by the end user and only he and his staff will have access to the password and therefore the database. I have suggested that my end user should change his password on a regular basis, to ensure that if the password is found out it will get changed again. This makes the whole system more secure. Also, to make sure that the system does not get infected by viruses I have also suggested that the end – user invest in some form of anti – virus software. The software I have suggested is Norton Anti – Virus 2003 but it is down to the end – users discretion whether or not he goes ahead with it. Differences and similarities between the current system and the proposed ICT solution Similarities There are not many similarities between the two systems, as the general idea was to change the system to make it a lot better. However there is one similarity between the two systems, the same information is entered into the database as is entered onto cards. This is only a small similarity, as the whole process is completely different now. Specification – Design Possible solutions There were a few other possible solutions to my end-users problem; I came up with a number of alternatives but the database solution just seemed to stand out as being the best. The other solutions that I came up with which were taken into consideration by my end-user were as follows: * Swap the cards for sheets of paper, which could be stored in folder or filing cabinet. We decided that this would not be such a could idea, because its not really much of an improvement and my end-user needs a big improvement. * A spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel. We also decided against because is not a very efficient programme for the type of thing my end-user wants. You cannot perform clear searches or have different tables etc. * A table using Microsoft word. Again, we decided not to use word plainly because this programme is too simple and basic. It does not really include many advanced features like searches and the information cannot be stored neatly, which makes the information difficult to access. Reasons and justifications for final choice of software and hardware We eventually decided to go with the database using Microsoft Access, because overall we thought it was the best piece of software to use. A few of the reasons why we chose Microsoft Access are: * You can perform searches and queries * Data is easily accessed * Modern * You can create tables which are linked together * Create mail merged letters * Password In my hardware section I have already specified what I will be using for hardware. This specification of hardware is suitable for me to create the database because it offers enough speed and memory (both virtual and physical) to enable to be able to work efficiently. This is because the bigger the processor the bigger amount of RAM, all makes the computer a lot faster. Outputs required by the end user The outputs that are required by my end-user are: * Invoices – So that the customer has a proof of purchases. * Splash Screen – This is to improve the presentation of the database and to put information about the creator on. * Reports – To enable the end user to print out hard copies of queries etc * Mail-merged letters – So that the end user can automatically contact customers. Inputs and stored data needed to create the outputs Output What is required? Invoices Customer information, product information and details of purchase (date etc) Splash Screen My 1337 skillz Reports Results from queries from all 4 of my tables will be shown to make the reports, which will then be printed off so that the user has a hard copy Mail merged Letters Customer’s details, which can be automatically accessed. Processes that are required to produce the required outputs Knowledge and ability to use advanced package features Relationships The database that I will be creating will be a â€Å"many-to-many†. I will be in the form of first form normalisation. I will have four different tables, each having its own primary key that will be referentially integrated to a linking table, to make sure all the tables stay up to date.

Organizational behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Organizational behaviour - Essay Example an and Kentridge (2000) define behavioral psychology as a â€Å"subset of psychology that focuses on studying and modifying observable behavior by means of systematic manipulation of environmental factors†. Behaviorists or behavior psychologists affirm that a behavior is to be studied and evaluated without giving any consideration to the inner mental condition of the individual. Classical conditioning. This theory, put forth by Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson, suggests that a behavior can be assessed by watching how an animal or an individual shoes an unconditioned response by associating a neutral stimulus with a naturally occurring (unconditioned) stimulus. Pavlov experimented with dogs and conditioned them so that they salivated on the sound of bell ringing by associating the sound with their food. Operant conditioning is of four types. Positive Reinforcement and Negative Reinforcement tend to support the behavior as under these two conditions, the individual experiences a good ending and thus repeats his experience in future. On the other hand, Punishment and Extinction tend to weaken the chances of future occurrences of a behavior as under these two circumstances, the individual has had a bad or neutral ending. Learning based on behavioral psychology. Behavioral psychologists carry on the process of learning by assuming that a person can be completely understood by observing his behavior. And how a behavior is to be learnt? It is done by learning an individual’s responses to environmental stimuli. This is basically a stimulus-response theory. The boss orders the employee to leave (stimulus) and the employee leaves (response). This means that â€Å"learning in humans and animals can take place through the association of a response with particular stimuli† (Psychologist World, 2009). Strengths. Behaviorism approaches are well designed and focused because of well organized ways of measuring behavioral responses. Classical behaviorism has a great advantage in

The Relationship between Eliezer and his Father. Explain how Eliezer's Essay

The Relationship between Eliezer and his Father. Explain how Eliezer's relations with his father changes throughout the novel - Essay Example The relationship however did not start as strong as it ended. The novel demonstrates the changes in how the two related through various experiences. Their initial relationship is first presented at the beginning of the book. The father is not so much concerned about his son’s education or desires. When Eliezer wishes to study the Cabbala, he requests his father if he could get a master to guide him. Although we know that his father could have done it, he discourages Eliezer saying that "You must first study the basic subjects within your own understanding." (Wiesel 2) This is said without even his father being moved away from his own businesses, an indication that he was not willing to help Eliezer on his desires whether personally or by looking for a master to guide Eliezer. Despite his father’s refusal to help him, Eliezer disobeyed even his advice to first study the basic subjects before undertaking the Cabbala. Eliezer took the matter as a personal initiative and even found himself a master, Moishe the Beadle, to guide him (Wiesel 4). In the first sections of the book, we see a father-son relationship that is cold and filled with mistrust. Eliezer wanted to do so much, but the father did not support him. Many a times, he was forced to disobey and do things on his own especially on realization that his father disapproved of his religious pursuits. As father and son move from their comfortable home into the concentration camps, a sharp turn of events occur. In the new environment, dependence on trusted individuals is a treasure. There is an observable rapid development in their relationship and a closeness that was not originally there is seen. The development starts with a familial separation. The two were separated from Eliezer’s mother and sister and Eliezer, having been relatively independent of his father from the start becomes a strong

Decisions in Paradise- Part I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Decisions in Paradise- Part I - Essay Example This paper discusses the business environment in Kava by analyzing the issues, problems, stakeholders, and environmental factors. Kava has a topography and geographic location that makes it susceptible to natural disasters such as tidal waves, tsunamis, typhoons, hurricanes, floods, fires, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes (Decisions in Paradise: How to Be, or Not to Be, 2009). There are other issues in Kava. The population is at high risk for Avian Flu and the population faces an HIV / AIDS epidemic. The island is susceptible to petroleum skills is an undesirable business risk due to the potential ecological of the entire island. The region is has a high risk for both domestic and foreign terrorist attacks. The costs of importing raw materials into the island are high due to the use of maritime transportation expenses. From a business perspective expand in Kava requires a lot of planning. The company has to invest a lot of money to expand its presence in Kava. Based on the fact that Alex had to perform two jobs which included the receptionist position is an indicator that in the past the company has been reluctant to invest thousands of dollars in Kava. This project is going to be worth millions, thus the firm has to be prepared for a large capital investment commitment. The economy of Kava is struggling. If the company hires locals it should include a medical plan as a fringe benefit. Due to proliferation of infectious diseases and HIV / AIDS the corporate medical plan premiums are going to be high. Also over 50% of the population is below 15 years of age, thus they are ineligible for work. The corporation has plans to expand its operation in Kava. The problem is that Kava has one of the highest overall risks in the world for natural disasters. It also has many environmental, health, and social issues. The firm is receiving political pressure to

Discussion Board 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussion Board 5 - Essay Example The Washington Times, p. 1. Retrieved July 7, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001572892 sexually assaulted her, and the woman offered evidence in the way of a bite mark and DNA from certain articles of clothing. Because of Mr. Albert’s celebrity status, the case was closely followed by the public and much attention was given to the use of the forensic evidence, especially the bite mark left on the victim. Cases involving celebrities are often sensationalized by the media, perhaps giving more credibility to certain forensic evidence than is warranted, when in actuality forensic evidence such as bite marks, fingerprints, palm prints and lip prints should not alone be evidence enough to convict a person of a serious crime, especially a crime involving the death penalty. An article by Molly Burton and Donna Lyons, appearing in State Legislatures (2001), stated â€Å"Back in the 1970s, the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) did proficiency tests of crime lab hair comparisons, bite marks, serology, these types of things. They knew they were getting it wrong like fifty percent of the time. It was terrible. And then that sort of analysis disappeared with the LEAA (p. 1).† What Burton and Lyons are suggesting, is that each of these sources of evidence are, first, subject to lab error and one should not infer from the results of a test using these sources that the information stemming from the tests is infallible. Alone these sources of evidence should not be enough to cause a person to be convicted of a major crime, especially one that carries the penalty of death. â€Å"Fraudulent and junk science is a critical, critical area,† write Burton and Lyons, â€Å"Forensic science has not always been the discipline that the best pe ople in the profession want it to be (p. 1).† One case that brought attention to the infallibility of fingerprint evidence was an

Unknown Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Unknown - Essay Example A villain is the epitome of insanity and cruelty. And there is none crueler or more insane, than the Joker. A villain who has truly made an impact, the Joker has caused a lot of damage in the most inventive ways possible in the movie, game and comic book series. He managed to kill Robin (Jason Todd), he was the one who paralyzed Barbara Gordon and in the animated series we saw how the Joker literally destroys Tim Drake (Levitikuz). In the movies, he is shown to be the one who killed Batman’s parents, he is the one who kills Talia in Arkham City and it is the Joker who turns Gotham’s most loved citizen, Harvey Dent, into the villain we know as Two Face. He has had a major impact in the Batman Universe, more so than any other villain. He is cruel in his ways and his relentless inflictions have caused a lot of damage (Levitikuz). Behind all other villains, lies the motive of power or world domination. So be it Lex Luthor or Thanos, their motivation is known. But when it comes to the Joker, his motivation and his plan of action is simply not known. He could conduct a twisted social experiment like that in the Dark Knight Movie involving bombs on two ships, to either send a message or just for the heck of it. This is truly dangerous because one cannot guess what it is that the Joker wanted to accomplish with his madness. His volatile nature is what makes him so dangerously villainous (Holder). The joker is everything insane, immoral and wrong. He plays dirty and he has no rules or laws. Other villains like Doom have self-imposed rules which they follow or have lines which even they won’t cross. But the Joker has no such limit. There is no rule he will not break, no line that he will not cross and no limit he will not go to. He fights till the very end and he fights with no holds barred. In the movie, we see him making a getaway in the school bus right when the school bells ring, he makes the victims look like a

Theory of change and growth paper, combined with the movie Essay

Theory of change and growth paper, combined with the movie - Essay Example This theory of change and growth is based within an eclectic mix of theories from different paradigms within psychology. The theory works on the idea that cognitive change and emotional growth and understanding, along side support and motivation from an empathetic and compassionate therapist and the involvement of the client’s partner and immediate family members, will create an environment where the client can heal, and move past their problems or difficulties. It is an integration of the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy, emotion focused therapy, and structural family therapy. For the client to be able to effectively move away from their personal and family problems and to understand the problems, its causes and effects, they must firstly be able to admit to the problem in the first place. Denial is not possible if therapy is to be successful. The eclectic theory first focuses on the client, using a theory based in cognitive behavioural therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to an effective treatment for many disorders, including depression, panic disorders, alcoholism and substance abuse (Wakefield, Williams, Yost & Patterson, 1996). Changing behaviour is a complex psychological process. For change to occur therapy and its preceding theory must give the client the ability to become who they really are, and not what they think they are. The therapy needs to enable the client to understand how their cognitive beliefs of themselves and their world, affect their reactions to situations and events. Cognitive behavioural therapy suggests that you can change how you think or change cognitive processing, which in turn will change what you do - or your behavior. Within an eclectic theory of change, if the therapist firstly helps the client to start to change their cognitive malfunctions, thereby changing their sense of self, by taking the client from the emotional

File Sharing is Controlled or Controllable by the Law of Copyright Coursework

File Sharing is Controlled or Controllable by the Law of Copyright - Coursework Example The negative side of this picture is that the file sharing technology has destabilized the inducements of the authors, producers, manufacturers, entertainment companies, publishers, and recording firms to make and distribute new works (Harrison, 2006). The empirical studies on the impacts of the incentives for the authors and publishers reveal that the file sharing of music is responsible for the decline in the sales of the industry. However, the reduction in the sales is not solely responsible for the reduced incentives for the authors, producers and entertainment companies to come up with novel efforts (Zentner, 2006). File sharing is has also become an enigma for the markets for concerts, communication infrastructure and electronics industry, for instance the file sharing technology has caused the augmentation of the concert prices. This in turn induces the artists across the world to organize concerts and tour different destinations frequently thereby raising the overall income o f the artists (Borland, 2003). Copyright and P2P File Sharing The file sharing technology described above has such a nature that the implication of the copyright law becomes inevitable. It is worth mentioning that each digital file, text, video or audio, is fixed with the purpose of protecting intellectual property rights no matter it is present on a hard drive, DVD, CD or only present in the RAM (Hall, 2006). The files shared between the two or more users mostly come under the category of copyrighted sharing. The result of file sharing from an end user to another person is categorized as the imitation, redistribution, or a public performance. In terms of copyright law, the word ‘public performance’ refers to the representation of a work to public which is protected by copyright law. According to copyright law, every activity in P2P file sharing involves some type of reproduction, public performance or distribution, thus file sharing technology is suspicious from its be ginning (Boorstin, 2004). Copyright Law and Control over File Sharing It has been more than two centuries that many countries developed unidirectional copyright laws. The intellectual property rights of the authors, publishers, producers and inventors were strengthened over and over again. This trend led towards the increased prices of these commodities for the general public, it also discouraged the consumption of these commodities on the end user level (Varian, 2000). The unidirectional development of copyright laws across the globe widened the gap between the protection of the intellectual property rights and advancement in the technology. Keeping in view the above discussed background, the advent of file sharing has weakened the protection of the copyright laws. Although it is claimed that file sharing has disturbed several creative industries including the music industry yet the empirical studies show little evidence on the disruption of these industries due to file sharing, in stead it seems that the weakness in the copyright laws have benefited the music as well as other creative industries (Zentner, 2006). In order to understand the limitations of the copyright law to control the file sharing, it is essential to know the nuts and bolts of the file sharing. The technology has experienced revolutionary changes in the recent past and this has led the manufacturers of the file sharing software towards the most complicated legal challenges of the date. File sharing is based on computer networks which provide the facility of transfer of data. In these networks, each computer,

The Marketing Environment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Marketing Environment - Assignment Example Brands. Yum which was started by Pepsico Inc. is a major franchise with such names as Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dong Fang Ji Bai and A & W restautrants. Its main operation strategy has been to establish a franchise (Cyrek, 2009). Franchising is using another firm’s successful business strategy to develop one’s business. The brand of one company is therefore used to sell by another according to a business agreement between the two (Anttonen, 2005). Just like Yum, Subway is a franchise. The main deifference is that wherass Yum offers a variety of services, Subway specializes in fast foods, with sandwiches as their main product. This specialization has given Subway an edge since it is easily identified with the sandwich which is its main widely recognized product. In a way it is the swift expansion program that worked to Yum’s advantage, yet presently they don’t seem to have anywhere else to expand to, since their company has saturated its primary US, European and Asian market (Subway, 2008). Subway still enjoys a lot of room for expansion especially to the newly emergent Chinese market. Marketing the sandwich is therefore a process that will keep expanding for subway in the near future. But the biggest key advantage Subway has is in its name, they mainly market their products in subways with passengers who just find the product very convenient to grab on the way to their destinations (Subway, 2008). Products such as sandwiches do well in markets where people have a relatively high disposable income. A busy environment in which people have tight work schedules that does not give them the extra time to cook for themselves also suffices. Subways which serve customers on transit are quite strategic for selling sandwiches too just as explained above. The main trends that affect the business is economic recession such as the one which started in 2007. Sandwiches may be delicious, but they are classified as luxuries and are thus

Hardware analysis Essay Example for Free

Hardware analysis Essay If any mistakes are found, he has assured them more work for less pay by making them enter all data twice, after which the computer will check for errors (Double-entry verification). This will also show who is to blame for mistakes. Output The website should be viewable on the 17inch CRT monitor. A large high spec TFT monitor is not needed, as it will only be used to see the end product of the produced website, and how it will look like to viewers on the internet. This display would be sensible to use, as the majority of internet users will be using a similar output. A standard set of speakers will be needed to test the audio files that shall be put on the website. A top of the range sub-woofer system will not be necessary, as the main purpose of the speakers will be testing. A regular set of 230w speakers should be more than fit for the purpose. A top-quality colour laser printer will not be needed to print out pages from his website. Instead the HP DeskJet 620 printer that will come with the PC he will purchase will be more cost-effective, and is adequate for its purpose as only a few pages are going to be printed on the odd occasion. It will allow him to print out pages in black or in colour from his website when and so he pleases, to see what they would look like to customers if they were to print out the same pages. Backup\Security Strategy The website file containing the final system will be too large to be backed up on disk, as it could be well over a 100MB, due to images and video audio files. Instead, backups shall be made at least once a week onto to as many recordable compact discs (CD-R) as needed. This process will usually take 8 minutes per recordable disc as Mr Murray is lucky enough to be receiving a 32x CD rewriter with his pc. All backup in a different location to where the computer containing the main system is, in case there is a fire, theft or flood. To make sure nobody can manipulate the website design, the computer with the website on it, and the website itself are both going to be password-protected. This will be very useful, as Mr Murray can protect the database from any unwanted intruders, and choose who he wants to have the responsibility of knowing the password. Even so, Mr Murray needs to remember to frequently change his password, in case someone finds out the password and gains access to the database. Most important of all, Mr Murray and whomsoever he chooses to tell the password to, must not write the password anywhere as this increases the risk of an impostor tampering with the design of the website. Although, the software package is quite costly, as mentioned in the identify section cost is not a huge problem for Mr Murray, as he has some family members who are ready to invest in the business. On the other hand, Mr Murray does not want to be paying large amounts of money, for a system which is not 100% guaranteed to work. Therefore Mr Murray has to find a balance, and go with the software package which he thinks is the most likely to work. After some discussion, Mr Murray and I decided that MS Publisher would be the most suitable software package for Mr Murray to use. in relation to the user requirements mentioned in the identify section. Microsoft Word could be used. As mentioned in the Identify section, it can be used to insert pictures video clips, however it cannot be edited with as much ease as a true desktop publishing package. Front page Express would be a good choice, as it is specifically written for producing web sites. However, staff will need training, and the software package does not come cheep. Mr Murrays advertising employees currently use Microsoft Works to produce their material. Microsoft Works is a very simple version of its bigger brother Microsoft Word. This means that staff may not need training. Microsoft Word not only includes graphics and fancy headings, but can also be used to insert video clips. Nevertheless, the cost needed to buy the program will be an issue, as Mr Murray is currently in debt from a bank loan. A desktop Publishing program could also be purchased. This would be a considerable package to consider, as it is specifically written for publishing, and can be used to publish a web site, which is accessible from anywhere in the world. Even So, there is the cost of buying the program to consider (as mentioned earlier), as well as the money and time needed to train staff. include data collection evaluation methods [In each section (e. g. video , dvd etc.. ) the best title will have a video clip of it attached on that section of the website. ]

Modeling CALL programs in EFL Flipped Classrooms

Modeling CALL programs in EFL Flipped Classrooms Modeling CALL programs in EFL Flipped Classrooms  to Enhance Achievement and Language Learning Attitude Abstract Computer software has been widely used for teaching English language in flipped classrooms. The present study supplied a practical example of integrating Computer-Assisted language Learning (CALL) programs in English courses to flip the teaching process. The kind of CALL integration addressed in this study has allowed much more flexibility in delivering instruction to diverse groups of English learners or at best, to implement individualized instruction. Examples of modeling CALL programs in teaching listening, pronunciation, reading, writing, and vocabulary were implemented in this study. Sixty students (30 control group and 30 experimental group) studying at King Marriott Higher Institute for computer participated in this study. The control group studied through the regular non-flipped classroom while the experimental group studied through implementing CALL programs to flip the classroom. Following the Quasi experimental pre-post design the study was conducted during the first seme ster of the academic year 2016-2017. The results of the study showed that CALL programs in flipped classrooms have improved the students language learning attitude and averaged examination scores to a statistically significant extent. Key words: CALL, flipped classroom, attitude, individualized instruction 1. Background Introduction to CALL What is CALL? The acronym CALL represents a term that stands for Computer-Assisted Language Learning. It refers to manipulating computers in language teaching and learning. Traditionally, it is used as a means of teaching and assessing particular language items. Following the traditional CALL process, the learners are first introduced a rule and different examples, then, they practice varied exercises to test their knowledge of the rule and finally, the computer gives appropriate feedback and awards marks in records to be later checked by the teacher. Levy and Hubbard (2005) define CALL as the field that is concerned with how the computer mediates between the language learner and language learning objectives (figure 1). Figure 1. Levy and Hubbards 2005 conceptualization of CALL Levy (1997, p. 1) defines Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) as the search for and the study of computer applications in language teaching and learning. Beatty (2003, p. 7) gives a broad definition of what may go on in computer-assisted language learning (CALL), Beatty gives a definition of CALL that accommodates its changing nature that is any process in which a learner uses a computer and, as a result, improves his or her language. Furthermore, CALL includes issues of material, design, technologies, pedagogical theories and of instruction modes. CALL materials include those which are mainly made for language learning and those which adapt the existing computer-based materials, e.g. video and other materials (Beatty, 2003, pp. 7-8). The History of CALL For more than three decades, computers have been used in language teaching. Three main stages represent the history of CALL: Behaviouristic CALL, Communicative CALL and Integrative CALL (Warschauer Healey, 1998). Each stage corresponds to a certain pedagogical approach. Behaviouristic CALL Influenced by audio-lingual teaching method, Behaviouristic CALL was emerged in the late 1960s and used widely in the 1970s. This stage was characterized by using repetitive language drills, known as drill-and practice. The computer represented a mechanical tutor that never allowed students to work individually, which in turn inhibited motivation. It also implied using extensive drills, grammatical explanations and translation (Warschauer Healey, 1998). Communicative CALL The Communicative CALL initiated in the 1980s after rejecting the behavioristic approach to language teaching theoretically and pedagogically. At this time, personal computers were paving the way for students to work individually at schools. Corresponded to cognitive theories, Communicative CALL considered learning as a process of discovery, expression and development. Advocates of Communicative CALL debated that computer based activities should focus more on using communication forms. Furthermore, software including simulations and text reconstruction program was widely used and developed in this period. Therefore, Communicative CALL focused on what the students did with each other while working at the computer rather than what they did with the computer. Interactive CALL Interactive CALL replaced communicative CALL which began to be criticized by the 1990s. Thus, teachers used more social and learner-centered methods in a response to new second language acquisition theories and socio-cognitive trends. Language learning in authentic social contexts was emphasized at this time. Content-based project-based and task-based approaches were applied to integrate learners in authentic environments, and to integrate and use various skills of language learning. In such integrative approaches, learners try to use a variety of technological tools and progress a continuing process of language learning instead visiting the computer lab once a week for conducting separated exercises. Types of CALL Programs Davies, Hewer, Rendall, and Walker, (2004) divide CALL programs into: Specific CALL software: They are specific language learning programs designed to develop, facilitate the language learning process, like language learning CDs, language learning websites and quizzes. Generic software: They are general computer software designed for general purposes, like word-processors, presentation software, and spreadsheet, that can be used in language learning. Web-based language programs: They are online language learning programs like concordancers, online dictionaries, online encyclopedias, news/magazine sites, etc. Computer-mediated communication (CMC): programs for online oral and written communication like email programs, online asynchronous and synchronous chat, discussion forum, etc. Warschauer (1996) divides CALL programs and applications into two main categories; computer as tutor programs and computer as tool programs. Computer as a tutor refers to CALL programs designed for teaching grammar, listening, pronunciation, reading, text reconstruction, vocabulary and writing. Computer as a tool refers to the most common use of a computer as a tool, and probably the usual use of computer programs for language learning, as word processing programs, grammar checkers, concordancers and collaborative writing. Advantages of computer in language teaching and learning Teaching and learning technologies become one of the most effective areas in the educational system, especially in language learning (Reinders and Thomas, 2012). Today the number of teachers and students using computers and the Internet to teach/learn a second language has increased due to the technology advances (Han, 2008). In order to analyze the advantage of using computer in language learning, Li-Yun Lu and Tang (1996) divide the advantages into three types: the inherent nature of the computer; The benefit of the teacher; the benefit of the learner. The inherent nature of the computer The computer can handle a much wider range of activities, and much more powerfully, than other technological aids. It offers a two-way learning session with the student. The computer can assess the students response. It can also display messages, take the student through subsequent attempts at a question, and even take the student to a different section of package, depending on the nature of the response. The benefit of the teacher The computer presents several aspects of particular promise. Prominent among these is its versatility in handling different kinds of material. For example, the simplest is the one-way presentation of information, in the form of text, graphics, audio and video. Also, the computer can handle question-and-answer routines, simulated dialogues, hypothesis testing, and many other types of exercises. The benefit of the learner The computer also offers many advantages for the learner. Access is one of the benefits. The computer offers the student the choice of when to study particular topics and how long to spend on them. The flexibility makes many educational courses accessible to students who would otherwise have no chance to take them. It is not a dream to make the distance teaching. Many computers can be linked by telephone on special landlines. Alternatively, teachers can send tapes or discs of their materials through the post. Whatever the factors of time and distance, the computer retains its potential for personalized instruction. There is no low attention period as the student waits for his or her turn to come round in class. On the contrary, each student has the computers full attention and can work at the speed best suited to the individual. Flipped Classrooms What is a flipped classroom? The flipped classroom is a recent model of pedagogy in which the regular lecture and assignment elements of a course are reversed. In other words, activities that have traditionally taken place inside the classroom now take place outside the classroom and vice versa. For instance, instead of having lectures during sessions at university, students gather the information largely outside of sessions, by reading, watching videos and listening to podcasts or other audio format (Centre for Academic Development and Quality, 2016). Tucker (2012) adds there is more than one model for flipping the classroom, the core idea is to flip the regular instructional approach: with the help of teacher-created videos and interactive lessons, instruction that used to take place in class is now accessed at home, in advance of class. The classroom becomes a place to deal with problems, advance concepts, and to engage in collaborative and active learning. In contrast to the lecture format, in flipped classrooms the role of the lecturer changes from being a presenter of content to a learning coach. Bergmann, Overmyer and Willie (2011) state that the lecturer is no longer the sage on the stage but the guide on the side. Students become active learners instead of relying on the lecturer as the disseminator of knowledge. Advantages of the flipped classrooms Flipped classrooms have may learning advantages related to sustainable learning, engagement and interaction. Bergmann, Overmeyer and Willie (2011) include several advantages for the Flipped classroom: 1- lifelong learning: learners depend on CALL programs to learn the content before coming to classrooms. Such method of acquiring knowledge, is a lifelong learning skill. 2- Material engagement: in classroom learners complete different active learning exercises that reflect the applications, implications and controversies associated with the material. This engagement highlights the importance of the material in the learners everyday lives and helps them relate to the topics. 3- interaction between learners and faculty: class periods are specified to interactions among the learners. This strategy shifts the focus of learners from the front of the classroom. The flipped classroom moves the faculty teacher from the stage to one-on-one interacting with the students. 2. Method 2.1. Participants and location The study was conducted at the King, Marriott Higher Institute for Computer Science, Alexandria, Egypt during the first semester of the academic year 2016-2017. 60 students (30 control group and 30 experimental group) participated in the study. 2.3. Treatment Two units from CommercialTechnical English Terminology Textbookà ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚  were used in this study (Unit 1: Introduction into Business English and Unit 2: Recruitment). The control group studied the two units through the regular non-flipped classroom. The experimental group studied the units through implementing CALL programs to flip the classroom. The researchers introduced the proposed CALL programs and how to use them during the introductory session. 2.4. Instruments 2.4.1. Achievement Test The researchers conducted an achievement test to assess the participants performance. The test is composed of three parts; the first evaluates communication skills, the second assesses vocabulary acquisition and the third is reading comprehension. (appendix I). 2.4.2. Attitude Survey To assess the participants attitudes toward the flipping classrooms in English language learning, the researchers conducted an attitude survey (appendix II). The researchers followed Lickerts 5 range scale in conducting the survey. 3. Results 3.1. Achievement Hypothesis One There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental group students and that of the control group in the post application the achievement test in favor of the experimental group students. To verify the validity of the previous hypothesis independent samples t-test was used. Table (1) shows the significance of difference between the mean scores of the control and the experimental group students in post-testing. Table 1 Significance of difference between the mean scores of the experimental and the control group students in post- testing Group Mean Std. Deviation Levenes Test df t Sig. Control 13.4 1.79 F Sig. 58 5.35 .001 Experimental 15.7 1.57 .31 .57 The data presented in table (1) reveals that Levenes Test F (Equality of Variances) equals 0.31 which is significant at 0.57, t value is (5.35) and significant at 0.001, and df equals 58 which means that there is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the control and experimental group in post-testing. 3.2. Attitudes Hypothesis two: Participants have positive attitudes toward flipped classrooms in English language learning. Results of attitude survey are presented in the following table. Table 2 Students attitudes toward flipping the classrooms in English language learning Statement Strongly agree Agree Indecisive Disagree Strongly disagree 1. The flipped strategy helped me to study individually according to my pace. No.12 (41.4%) No.13 (44.8%) No.3 (10.3%) No.1 (3.4%) No.0 (0%) 2. The flipped strategy attracted me to study more outside the classroom. No.11 (36.7%) No.14 (46.7%) No.3 (10%) No.2 (6.7%) No.0 (0%) 3. The flipped strategy helped me to get more knowledge and information. No.9 (30%) No.15 (50%) No.5 (16.7%) No.1 (3.3%) No.0 (0%) 4. In-class activities enhanced what I studied outside the classroom. No.9 (30%) No.16 (53.3%) No.5 (16.7%) No.0 (0%) No.0 (0%) 5. In-class activities make the teacher available to answer questions. No.18 (60%) No.11 (36.7%) No.0 (0%) No.1 (3.3%) No.0 (0%) 6.Working with colleagues collaboratively in class makes me more active. No.9 (30%) No.16 (53.3%) No.4 (13.3%) No.1 (3.3%) No.0 (0%) Close inspection of the data presented in the previous table reveals that the participants have positive attitudes toward flipping the classrooms in English language learning. 4. Discussion The researchers implemented different CALL programs in this study like Natural Reader, Corpus concordancing, online listening Lab and PowerPoint presentations. The selected training units were explained and presented through PowerPoint program and were given to the experimental group students to be studied outside the classroom. Also, the experimental group students were trained during the introductory session on a cocordancing program for enhancing vocabulary acquisition and the natural reader program for developing reading skills. Experimental group students were trained to study the proposed units outside the classroom and to practice different activities in the classroom to enhance what they have studied. On the other hand the control group students studied with the regular method, i.e. explanation in the classroom and activities outside the classroom. After finishing the treatment (2 units) both the experimental and the control group students sat for an achievement test and the experimental group students completed an attitude survey related to the flipped classrooms. The mean scores of the control and the experimental group were 13.4 and 15.7. The results of the achievement test highlights the effectiveness of flipping the classrooms. Furthermore, the results of the survey proved that experimental group students agreed upon flipping the classrooms. References Beatty, K. (2003). Teaching and researching computer-assisted language learning. New York: Longman. Bergmann, J., Overmyer, J., and Willie, B. (2011). The flipped class: What it is and What it is not. The Daily Riff. Retrieved from http://www.thedailyriff.com/ articles/the-flipped-class-conversation-689.php. Centre for Academic Development and Quality (2016). CADQ Guide: The flipped classroom. Nottingham Trent University. Retrieved from www.ntu.ac.uk/cadq Davies, G., Hewer, S., Rendall, H., Walker, R. (2004). ICT4LT Module 1.4: Introduction to computer assisted language learning (CALL). http://www. ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-4.html. Han, W. (2008). Benefits and barriers of computer assisted language learning and teaching. US-China Foreign Language, 6(9), 40-43. Levy, M. (1997) CALL: Context and conceptualization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Levy, M. and Hubbard, P. (2005). Why call CALL CALL? Computer Assisted Language Learning. Vol. 18, No. 3. Li-Yun Lu and Tang, F (1996). Computer-Assisted Language Learning. NYU School of Education Department of Teaching and Learning-Multilingual Multicultural Studies TESOL. Reinders, H., Thomas, M. (2012). Contemporary computer assisted language learning. Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com. Tucker, B. (2012). The Flipped Classroom. Education Next. Retrieved from www. educationnext.org. Warschauer M. (1996) Computer Assisted Language Learning: an Introduction.In Fotos S. (ed.) Multimedia language teaching, Tokyo: Logos International: 3-20. Warschauer, M., Healey, D. 1998. Computers and language learning: an overview. Language teaching forum. 31, Pp.57-71. Appendices Appendix I Achievement Test I- Complete the following conversation. (7 pts) Operator: Hello, Frank and Brothers company, ? John: This is John Robert. Can I have extension 3421? Operator: Certainly, . . David: Jack Richardsons office, David speaking. John: John Robert calling, is. ? David: Imsorry hes out at the moment. Can ? John: Yes, Could you ask him to . at 9147 6320. Its urgent. David: Could you the number please? John: Yes, thats 9147 6320, and this is John Robert. David: Thank you Mr Robert, Ill make message. John: Thanks, bye. David: Good bye. II- Insert the following words in the gaps in the text below. (9 pts) Many People looking for work read the . advertised in newspapers by companies and. . To reply to an adevertisment it is to for a job. You fill the companys., and send it along with your CV and You often have to give the names of two.. . If your qualifications match the , you might be. , i.e. selected to attend an.. . III- Read the following extract, then answer the questions. (4 pts) Business is an organized approach to providing customers with different products and services they need. Also word business refers to an organization that provides these products and services. Businesses in general seek to make a profit i.e., they aim to achieve revenues that exceed the costs of operating the business. Prominent examples of for-profit businesses include Mitsubishi Group, General Motors Corporation, and Royal Dutch/Shell Group. However, some businesses only seek to earn enough to cover their operating costs. Commonly called nonprofits, these organizations are primarily nongovernmental service providers. Examples of nonprofit businesses include such organizations as social service agencies, foundations, advocacy groups, and many hospitals. Answer the following questions. 1- Define business and its main aim. 2- Show the difference between profit and nonprofit business. 3- Mention two examples of nonprofit organizations. 4- Propose a suitable title to the extract. Appendix II Attitude Survey Choose the response that best reflects your attitude 1. The flipped strategy helped me to study individually according to my pace. Strongly agree Agree Indecisive Disagree Strongly disagree 2. The flipped strategy attracted me to study more outside the classroom. Strongly agree Agree Indecisive Disagree Strongly disagree 3. The flipped strategy helped me to get more knowledge and information. Strongly agree Agree Indecisive Disagree Strongly disagree 4. In-class activities enhanced what I studied outside the classroom. Strongly agree Agree Indecisive Disagree Strongly disagree 5. In-class activities make the teacher available to answer questions. Strongly agree Agree Indecisive Disagree Strongly disagree 6. Working with colleagues collaboratively in class makes me more active. Strongly agree Agree Indecisive Disagree Strongly disagree à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚  This book is compiled and supplemented by one of the researchers (Dr. ayman Elesery).

Developing MNEs Global Strategy

Developing MNEs Global Strategy How can leaders in today’s MNE formulate and implement  effective global strategy? Mengdi LIU Introduction Multinational enterprises (MNE) are organizations that provide or control goods or services inside and outside the home country. For example, â€Å"when a company has operations in more than one country or is registered in more than one country, it may be assigned as MNE†[1]. Usually, a multinational enterprise is a great corporation which produces or sells goods and services in various countries. Usually, companies are faced with different types of very important strategic decision, when they engage in international marketing operation. First of all, leaders need to make decisions in principle to submit the corporate to a certain extent of internationalization. More and more companies will realize that if they have a strong global logic requires, they must purse the global marketing for several competitive reasons. Once committed, the enterprise will have to determine where to go, and whether it is specific countries or geographic regions. Global strategy defined in business terms is the plans designed and developed by a corporation or an organization to target its sales’ growth on a worldwide scale. In other words, it is the long-term strategy of multinational entreprises that aims to obtain development and its long-term survival in today’s changing international business environment. Academic research on global strategy appeared in the age of 1980s, the work of Michael Porter and Christopher Bartlett Sumantra Ghoshal are most significant. The forces that are perceived to bring the globalization of competition were convergences in technological change and economic systems, particularly in information technology. All of these factors have facilitated and demanded the coordination of an international firms strategy worldwide. In this article, firstly, I will briefly introduce the goals of MNEs’ global strategy. Then why is global strategy important. Finally, I will apply the knowledge we learned in class to analyze how to formulate and implement an effective global strategy. The goal of MNEs’ global strategy The trend of world economy’s globalization has encouraged many organizations, especially these MNEs with abundant resources, to rethink the way they are competing in this ongoing expanding market. Products, markets, and interdependent financial work are growing at different paces towards a globalized system. The objective of the global strategy is to take the allocation of corporate resources into consideration in the increasingly complex global environment, to improve competitiveness, to enhance their competitive position and to maximize the overall benefits. Multinational enterprise will arrange its facilities in the most favorable countries, and will coordinate and link their activities in different countries. Global strategies help the MNEs to timely transfer achievements in technology development to management innovations, in order to enhance the companys core competitiveness. Why global strategy is important for MNEs From a company perspective, international expansion can provide potential opportunities for new sales and profits. For example, because of low profitability in the Chinese domestic market, TCL the Chinese consumer electronics company, decided on a strategy of going global. Lately, it implemented new offices abroad, new plants and acquisitions to expand its market position in United States and the European Union the two main consumer electronics markets. In addition to new sales opportunities, there are other reasons for expansion outside the home market. For instance, some companies going global in order to take advantage of low labor costs in some countries, which is called efficiency seeking. While sometimes the acquisition of foreign companies can be used to enhance the company’s market position versus competitors, which is called strategic asset seeking. From a customer perspective, international trade should lead to lower prices for services and goods due to the economies of scale and scope, which can derive from a greater global base. In addition, some customers like to own products and services that represent a global image. For example, ‘Manchester United’ branded soccer shirts or Disney cartoon characters. How MNEs formulate and implement the global strategy First of all, multinational enterprises have to figure out what its role is in international arena, what their core competencies are, whether international talents are available, and where the target market is, so that it could avoid the detours in the process of formulating and implementing the global strategy. Enterprises must have a clear strategy plan, and then combine their own characteristics to international environment to choose the right way. As a beginning point, it’s better to some basic international data to analyze different countries. Before entering a new market, it’s necessary to collect adequate data about this market, and then choose the best path based on strategic priorities and their own ability. New York Fries is a good example. â€Å"New York Fries Company was founded in 1983. And now in 2011, there were more than 190 NYF stores in six countries, with sales in excess of $64 million. Fifteen of the NYF stores were owned by the Company, the rest by franchisees. The biggest advantage of NYF is their product. NYF fries were made from real, not reconstituted, potatoes. They were hand-cut and fried in non-hydrogenated, trans fat-free, sunflower oil.†[2] Obviously, China could be a huge market for an American fast food restaurant, but NYF hesitate to expand into mainland China. So the company’s president, Jay Gould, chose Hong Kong to open their franchisees. At the time of the requests, Gould had never been to Hong Kong; his first visit was to select the new Hong Kong partners and scout locations for the franchise. Within five years, the pace of expansion in Hong Kong and Macau was slower than expected. Gould recognized that opening a location in China would probably take a great deal of time and effort from his head office staff. If NYF expand directly into mainland instead of locating in Hong Kong at first, maybe they would experience the failure as they did in South Korea. The next step is then to discover and identify the company’s resources and advantages for international expansion. For example, the company may have unique brand or some special patents that can be made use of in international expansion. A company could set its international and global objectives after this. Some people may feel surprising of this point of view, while they believe a company should begin by setting out what it really needs to achieve internationally. Why we leave the objective-setting until now? The reason is that our objectives need to be set in the realistic environment of what resources the company has for its international expansion and what opportunities exist in the market place. A simple example: in the year of 2009, the time of US economy recession, the US car market was under heavy pressure, so there would be little point for a car company in setting a target for major expansion. Equally, a small computer services company may not have enough resources for a global product launch. It is better to set its objectives more realistically. How to build an international talents team is a big problem. In a survey conducted by McKinsey, the three-quarters of respondents believe that the talent shortage is the biggest obstacle to its global expansion plans. To respond to this problem, at first, MNEs should make the enterprise localization, and develop a clear strategy to attract international talent with the multiple resources. And leaders should have an awareness of the cross-cultural issue and enhance communication with international talents. Huawei, for instance, has more than 10,000 overseas employees, and is still in a rapid growth. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, is a Chinese telecommunications equipment and multinational networking and services company, whose headquarter is located in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Huawei is the largest telecommunications equipment maker all over the world. It has overtaken Ericsson in 2012. Huawei uses a localized business strategy on a global scale. In order to be more closely adapted to the customer’s needs, listening to customer’s needs and respond quickly; Huawei has established 20 regional overseas departments, more than 100 branches. Huawei set up 12 RD centers in the US, India, Sweden, Russia and other places. Each R D centers not only focus on different research direction, but also gathers the advanced technologies, experience and talent to carry out product research. So when Huaweis products enter into the market, its technology is up to date. Huawei also set up 28 overse as regional training centers for local technical personnel. Another example is Trend Micro Inc., a global security software company, was founded in 1988 in Los Angeles. Headquarters were moved to Taipei by its founders, shortly after establishing the company, Now Trend Micro is already the worlds leading anti-virus software company, with 30 branch offices all over the world. It adopts a multi-mode operation headquarters financial centers in Japan, marketing centers in the US, R D camp in Taiwan, global customer service centers in the Philippines and the administrative center in Ireland. It has an excellent international management team. The core management team is made up of only 13 people, from China, Japan, India, the United States, Germany, and Argentina. There exist simultaneously diversity and a strong cohesion in its corporate culture. All branches around the world share the same corporate culture and values. There is another important aspect we shouldn’t ignore innovation and learning. In the era of globalization, enterprise innovation cycles are getting shorter. Essentially, globalization is a new form of competing. The one who consistently stand at the forefront of innovators in this game is the ultimate winner. So in my opinion, MNEs ought to build an environment which is conducive to innovation, knowledge creation and sharing. For example, by changing the design of office space, make the office a place for the staff to exchange information and knowledge, a place where different ideas stir. Meanwhile, let employees and customers become an important source of product ideas. A typical case is 3M Company. The 3M Company is an American multinational conglomerate corporation, being known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company at the first stage. 3M headquarters are in the St. Paul suburb of Maplewood, Minnesota. This company is known for providing innovative environment. It regards the innovation as a way of business growth and the products as its enterprise life. 3M Company develop more than 200 kinds of new products a year. The goal is to obtain 30% of annual sales from the new products which were developed in the past four years. One of the secrets of 3M innovation management is to create an enabling innovative internal environment. For example, â€Å"technical forums provided opportunities to share technology, best practices and procedures; the European Management Action Team (EMATs) Forum regularly brought together relevant personnel from the United States and European subsidiaries to share information and make decisions. Lecture and proble m-solving discussions were also held during the forum. These meetings enabled subsidiaries to present their thoughts and facilitated cooperation and accelerated pace in markets in which there were significant growth opportunities.†[3] The company allows all employees put up to 15% of the time on their professional interest, and failures are accepted. Its slogan is: you only kissed a lot of frogs before they can find a prince. In the era of globalization, cooperating with competitors is an important strategy of multinational companies. A delicate relationship that competitions and cooperation are often maintained between enterprises. Business leaders need to think about not only competition and profitability, but also how to embrace a more open business environment. For example, the consumer product giant PG has launched a program called Connect Developed, spending nearly $ 2 billion to look for its scientists, so that the company can get new technologies from outside suppliers. If RD can be solved through collaboration and outsourcing, what areas cannot? Another example, Japanese multinational enterprise Sony formed several strategic alliances with smaller firms who have complementary competences, which would help it to penetrate new markets. So leaders should increase the openness of the enterprise, in order to attract more dynamic ideas and human resource outside the enterprise. Using strategic cooperative manner to deal with the non-core business allows enterprises to quickly grasp the opportunities during the process of globalization. Haier Group is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company, whose headquarter is located in Qingdao, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells home appliance, such as air conditioners, mobile phones, refrigerators, computers, washing machines, and televisions. In 2002, Haier cooperated with the largest appliance manufacturer in Taiwan Taiwans Sampo Group. Their cooperation covers selling each other’s home appliances, and expanding parts procurement and technology sharing. Alliance with Sampo paves the way for Haier to enter the Taiwan market. This strategy, based on trust between partners, requires leaders of MNEs to focus on the long-term benefits, rather than short-term gains. Conclusion In this paper, we discuss how can leaders in today’s MNE formulate and implement effective global strategy. Before entering a new market, it’s necessary to collect adequate data about this market, so that leaders can choose the best path for their companies. The next step is to identify the company’s resources and advantages for international expansion. During this process, an essential element is the use of talents. In addition, both innovation and cooperation are often used by leaders in today’s MNEs. Today’s MNEs use a great diversity of global strategies. In order to acquire the competitive position on today’s global market over a long term, companies have to continually adapt to market conditions, to identify the resources and advantages, and then thus use them efficiently. Therefore they have to come up with the best strategy and redirect it depending on the economic backdrop at the time. A successful strategy is based on the way it makes a difference, on the added value it brings, on the attractiveness of the industry and on the market maturity stage, so that it helps the enterprise achieve a competitive and profitable position. Reference [1] Chya-Yi Liaw, 3M Taiwan: product innovation in the subsidiary. (2012) [2] Ruth Mortimer, â€Å"Customer Innovation: Inspirational Customers,† Brand Strategy, London, July 12, 2005, p.24. [3] Palich, L. E., Gomez-Mejia, L. R. (1999). A theory of global strategy and firm efficiencies: Considering the effects of cultural diversity. Journal of management, 25(4), 587-606. [4] Sharda Prashad, Developing an international growth strategy at New York Fries. (2011 ) [5] Corina Dumitrescu, Francesco Scalera. Strategies of Multinational Enterprises. International Journal of Business and Commerce, Mar 2012(12-26) [6] Sassen, S. (1998). Globalization and its discontents. New York: New Press. [7] How do you build a global strategy? http://www.global-strategy.net/how-do-you-build-a-global-strategy/ [8] Wikipedia 3M http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3M [9] History of the Cellular (Cell/Mobile) Phone Companies Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. http://www.historyofthecellphone.com/companies/huawei-technologies.php [10] Wikipedia Trend Micro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trend_Micro_Incorporated [12] Wikipedia Haier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haier [13] Wikipedia Multination Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation [14] Wikipedia Global Strategy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_strategy [15] What is global strategy? And why is it important? http://www.global-strategy.net/what-is-global-strategy/ [16] Beck, U. (2000). What is globalization?. [17] à ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¦Ã‚ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¦Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ ¦Ã… ¾Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ µÃ‚ ·Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ °Ã¢â‚¬ Ãƒ ©Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¢Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ½Ãƒ ©Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ ¥Ã…’-à ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‹Å"à §Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ¥Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã…  Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ ·Ã‚ ±Ãƒ ¥Ã…’-. à ¥Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ ¦Ã… ¾-à §Ã…“ Ãƒ §Ã‚ »Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ µÃ… ½Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ ²Ãƒ ©Ã†â€™Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ §Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ §Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ©Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¦Ã…  Ã‚ ¥. April,2002, p.66-68 [18] à ©Ã‚ ¡Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¥Ã‚ Ã… ½Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ºÃƒ §Ã… ¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ §Ã‚ Ã†â€™Ãƒ ¥Ã…’-à ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‹Å"à §Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ¥. à ©Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ ±Ã… ¸Online. http://cn.ckgsb.com/Article/Detail.aspx?ColumnId=404ArticleId=5853 1 [1] From Wikipedia Multinational Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation [2] Sharda Prashad, Developing an international growth strategy at New York Fries. (2011 ) [3] Chya-Yi Liaw, 3M Taiwan: product innovation in the subsidiary. (2012)

The Problem of Heartburn for Americans :: essays research papers

Heartburn is a common condition for millions of Americans, which, contrary to popular belief, has absolutely nothing to do with the heart. (Peikin, 2004) For some, it is a pain in the chest that occurs possibly once or twice a month. For others, it could cause them pain weekly or even daily. Heartburn that does not occur very often is referred to as episodic heartburn. (NHBA, 2005) Frequent heartburn, for obvious reasons, describes heartburn occurring daily or weekly to more than fifty million Americans. (NHBA, 2005) Heartburn, as defined in the Webster’s New Encyclopedic Dictionary, is â€Å"a burning discomfort behind the lower end of the esophagus or of the upper part of the stomach.† (Merriam-Webster, 2002) It occurs just behind the chest bone, when digestive juices come up from the stomach and into the esophagus, irritating its lining. (NHBA, 2005) This happens if the lower esophageal sphincter, or LES, is weakened or relaxed by certain foods, or medicines such as heart medications, or those for the treatment of asthma. (Encarta, 2003) Heartburn can occur as a burning pain in the chest that can move up, all the way to the throat. (King, 2004) There are many causes leading to heartburn, many of which are what or how a person eats. Citrus fruits or juices, spicy foods, carbonated beverages, and alcoholic drinks are just some of the food-related causes of heartburn. (Peikin, 2004) When a person lies down or bends over, heartburn could possibly result. (King, 2004) Having a busy lifestyle or even wearing clothes that are too tight can also trigger heartburn. (NHBA) Even though there are many causes for heartburn, there are almost as many treatments for it. Avoiding the foods and drinks which trigger heartburn helps in Heartburn 3 eliminating it. (Encarta, 2003) It also helps to stay away from midnight snacks (Peikin, 2004) and to keep the head of your bed elevated six inches at night. (Encarta, 2003) If the person is overweight, it may help to drop the excess pounds. (Peikin, 2004) A person who smokes should quit in order to help prevent heartburn. (King, 2004) Over-the-counter antacids such as Alka-Seltzer, Pepto-Bismol, and Maalox are also recommended to treat heartburn. (NIH, 2003) Sometimes it just isn’t enough to make dietary and lifestyle changes, or even take over-the-counter medications. Prescription drugs such as Pepcid are useful in treatment. (Peikin, 2004) Home remedies such as baking soda mixed in water, aloe vera juice, and ginger ale have been used by families for decades for the treatment of heartburn.

The Issue of Casinos in South Florida Essay -- Social Issues

Casinos on the 2014 ballot? Political committee lays the groundwork â€Å"After failing to persuade the Florida Legislature to pass a bill to open South Florida to mega resort casinos, gambling interests have taken the first steps to bring the issue directly to voters in 2014. A political committee under the name of â€Å"New Jobs and Revenues for Florida† was created April 10 with the purpose of promoting a â€Å"statewide constitutional initiative re gaming.† The committee chairman is Tallahassee lawyer and lobbyist John French and its treasurer is a political committee consultant and accountant Nancy Watkins of Tampa. The petition process requires that the organization get petitions signed by eight percent of the voters in the last presidential election to put the constitutional amendment on the ballot. The proposal must then be approved by 60 percent of the voters† (Klas, M. E., 2012). â€Å"The third level of inputs is external political actors that significantly shape the purposes, processes and actions of the bureaucracy. Administrative organizations do no exist in a vacuum; that is, without some degree of this external public support or hostility exercised either directly upon the agency or through intermediaries such as lawyers and lobbyists† (Stillman II, R., 2004, pg. 91). â€Å"Malaysia-based Genting Group spent more than $400 million to assemble roughly 30 acres along the Biscayne Bay waterfront here, including spending $238 million to acquire the headquarters of the Miami Herald newspaper. Genting planned to build the $3.8 billion Resorts World Miami, which company officials had boasted would become a dramatic feature along the waterfront of downtown Miami, with 5,200 rooms over four hotels, creating 30,000 permanent jobs, attracting almo... ... Santiago, F. (2012, January 28). Is the Herald Building Historic?. Common Sense Miami. Retrieved from http://www.commonsensemiami.com/ Scott, J. C. (1998). Part.4 The Missing Link - Chapter 9 - Thin Simplifications and Practical Knowledge: Metis. In Seeing Like a State. (Pp. 309-341). Yale Agrarian Studies. Stillman II, R. (2004). The American Bureaucracy: The Core of Modern Government. (3rd ed.). (Pp. 91, 220). Belmont, CA, U.S.: Clark Blaxter. Stutz, H. (2012, February 19). Supporters Of Florida Casino Expansions Promise To Fight On. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved from http://www.lvrj.com/business/supporters-of-florida-casino-expansion-promise-to-fight-on-139622693.html Stutz, H. (2012, February 3). Florida Lawmakers End Casino Push. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved from http://www.lvrj.com/business/florida-lawmakers-end-casino-push-138663869.html

A summary of Amazon’s business Essay

I’ve used Amazon in my books for over 10 years now since many companies, from startups and small businesses to large international businesses, can learn from their focus on the customer and the approach of using technology and analysis to improve results. It consistently outperforms other companies in its ACSI customer satisfaction rating too. I aim to keep the case study up-to-date for readers of the books and Smart Insights readers who may be interested. In it we look at Amazon’s background, revenue model and sources for the latest business results. I recommend anyone studying Amazon checks the latest Amazon revenue and business strategies from their SEC filings / Investor relations. The annual filings to give a great summary of eBay business and revenue models. A good summary of the latest business model initiatives is available in this Amazon annual report summary for 2011. For Q4, 2010: North America segment sales, representing the Company’s U.S. and Canadian sites, were $7.21 billion, up 45% from fourth quarter 2009. International segment sales, representing the Company’s U.K., German, Japanese, French, Chinese and new Italian sites, were $5.74 billion, up 26% from fourth quarter 2009. Excluding the unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 29%. Amazon has come a long way since it launched in 1995: From: and it’s offices†¦ to it’s current Seattle headquarters: Amazon performs exceptionally efficiently measured against revenue per visitor, which is one of the key measures for any commercial website, whether it’s a media site, search engine, social network or a transactional retailer or offers travel or financial services. Of course profit per user would be quite different due to the significantly lower costs of other .coms like Facebook and Google. Note: SEC is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which is a government agency for which companies have to submit an open evaluation of their business models and marketplace conditions. Further Amazon case information This case study created by FaberNovel â€Å"Amazon.com: The Hidden Empire† one of five â€Å"Most Favorited† slideshows and one of the five â€Å"Most Popular Technology Presentations† of 2011. Recommended: Amazon Case Study Context Why a case study on Amazon? Surely everyone knows about who Amazon are and what they do? Yes, well that’s maybe true, but this case goes beyond the surface toreview some of the ‘insider secrets’ of Amazon’s success. Like eBay, Amazon.com was born in 1995. The name reflected the vision of Jeff Bezos, to produce a large scale phenomenon like the Amazon river. This ambition has proved justified since just 8 years later, Amazon passed the $5 billion sales mark – it took Wal-Mart 20 years to achieve this. By 2008 Amazon was a global brand with other 76 million active customers accounts and order fulfillment to more than 200 countries. Despite this volume of sales, at December 31, 2007 Amazon employed approximately 17,000 full-time and part-time employees. In September 2007, it launched Amazon MP3, a la carte DRM-free MP3 music downloads, which now includes over 3.1 million songs from more than 270,000 artists. Amazon Vision & strategy In their 2008 SEC filing, Amazon describe the vision of their business as to: â€Å"Relentlessly focus on customer experience by offering our customers low prices, convenience, and a wide selection of merchandise.† The vision is still to offer â€Å"Earth’s biggest selection and to be Earth’s most customer-centric company. Consider how these core marketing messages summarising the Amazon online value proposition are communicated both on-site and through offline communications. Of course, achieving customer loyalty and repeat purchases has been key to Amazon’s success. Many dot-coms failed because they succeeded in achieving awareness, but not loyalty. Amazon achieved both. In their SEC filing they stress how they seek to achieve this. They say: â€Å"We work to earn repeat purchases by providing easy-to-use functionality, fast and reliable fulfillment, timely customer service, feature rich content, and a trusted transaction environment. Key features of our websites include editorial and customer reviews;  manufacturer product information; Web pages tailored to individual preferences, such as recommendations and notifications; 1-Click ® technology; secure payment systems; image uploads; searching on our websites as well as the Internet; browsing; and the ability to view selected interior pages and citations, and search the entire contents of many of the books we offer with our â€Å"Look Inside the Book† and â€Å"Search Inside the Book† features. Our community of online customers also creates feature-rich content, including product reviews, online recommendation lists, wish lists, buying guides, and wedding and baby registries.† In practice, as is the practice for many online retailers, the lowest prices are for the most popular products, with less popular products commanding higher prices and a greater margin for Amazon. Free shipping offers are used to encourage increase in basket size since customers have to spend over a certain amount to receive free shipping. The level at which free-shipping is set is critical to profitability and Amazon has changed it as competition has changed and for promotional reasons. Amazon communicate the fulfillment promise in several ways including presentation of latest inventory availability information, delivery date estimates, and options for expedited delivery, as well as delivery shipment notifications and update facilities. This focus on customer has translated to excellence in service with the 2004 American Customer Satisfaction Index giving Amazon.com a score of 88 which was at the time, the highest customer satisfaction score ever recorded in any service industry, online or offline. Round (2004) notes that Amazon focuses on customer satisfaction metrics. Each site is closely monitored with standard service availability monitoring (for example, using Keynote or Mercury Interactive) site availability and download speed. Interestingly it also monitors per minute site revenue upper/lower bounds – Round describes an alarm system rather like a power plant where if revenue on a site falls below $10,000 per minute, alarms go off! There are also internal performance service-level-agreements for web services where T% of the time, different pages must return in X seconds. 2011 update on vision and importance of technology According to founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, technology is very important to supporting this focus on the customer. In their 2010 Annual Report (Amazon,  2011) he said: â€Å"Look inside a current textbook on software architecture, and you’ll find few patterns that we don’t apply at Amazon. We use high-performance transactions systems, complex rendering and object caching, workflow and queuing systems, business intelligence and data analytics, machine learning and pattern recognition, neural networks and probabilistic decision making, and a wide variety of other techniques.And while many of our systems are based on the latest in computer science research, this often hasn’t been sufficient: our architects and engineers have had to advance research in directions that no academic had yet taken. Many of the problems we face have no textbook solutions, and so we — happily — invent new approaches†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ All the effort we put into technology might not matter that much if we kept technology off to the side in some sort of R&D department, but we don’t take that approach. Technology infuses all of our teams, all of our processes, our decision-making, and our approach to innovation in each of our businesses. It is deeply integrated into everything we do†. The quote shows how applying new technologies is used to give Amazon a competitive edge. A good recent example of this is providing the infrastructure to deliver the Kindle â€Å"Whispersync† update to ebook readers. Amazon reported in 2011 that Amazon.com is now selling more Kindle books than paperback books. For every 100 paperback books Amazon has sold, the Company sold 115 Kindle books. Kindle apps are now available on Apple iOS, Android devices and on PCs as part of a â€Å"Buy Once, Read Anywhere† proposition which Amazon has developed. Amazon Customers Amazon defines what it refers to as three consumer sets customers, seller customers and developer customers. There are over 76 million customer accounts, but just 1.3 million active seller customers in it’s marketplaces and Amazon is seeking to increase this. Amazon is unusual for a retailer in that it identifies â€Å"developer customers† who use its Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure such as hosting that developers can use to develop their own web services. Members are also encouraged to join a loyalty programme, Amazon Prime, a fee-based membership program in which members receive free or discounted express shipping, in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. Competition In its SEC (2005) filing Amazon describes the environment for our products and services as ‘intensely competitive’. It views its main current and potential competitors as: 1) physical-world retailers, catalog retailers, publishers, vendors, distributors and manufacturers of our products, many of which possess significant brand awareness, sales volume, and customer bases, and some of which currently sell, or may sell, products or services through the Internet, mail order, or direct marketing; (2) Other online E-commerce sites; (3) A number of indirect competitors, including media companies, Web portals, comparison shopping websites, and Web search engines, either directly or in collaboration with other retailers; and (4) Companies that provide e-commerce services, including website development; third-party fulfillment and customer-service. It believes the main competitive factors in its market segments include â€Å"selection, price, availability, convenience, information, discovery, brand recognition, personalized services, accessibility, customer service, reliability, speed of fulfillment, ease of use, and ability to adapt to changing conditions, as well as our customers’ overall experience and trust in transactions with us and facilitated by us on behalf of third-party sellers†. For services offered to business and individual sellers, additional competitive factors include the quality of our services and tools, their ability to generate sales for third parties we serve, and the speed of pe rformance for our services. From Auctions to marketplaces Amazon auctions (known as zShops) were launched in March 1999, in large part as a response to the success of eBay. They were promoted heavily from the home page, category pages and individual product pages. Despite this, a year after its launch it had only achieved a 3.2% share of the online auction compared to 58% for eBay and it only declined from this point. Today, competitive prices of products are available through third-party sellers in the ‘Amazon Marketplace’ which are integrated within the standard product listings. The strategy to offer such an auction facility was initially driven by the need to compete with eBay, but now the strategy has been adjusted such that Amazon describe it as part of the approach of low-pricing. Although it might be thought that Amazon would lose out on  enabling its merchants to sell products at lower prices, in fact Amazon makes greater margin on these sales since merchants are charged a commission on each sale and it is the merchant who bears the cost of storing inventory and fulfilling the product to customers. As with eBay, Amazon is just facilitating the exchange of bits and bytes between buyers and sellers without the need to distribute physical products. Amazon Media sales You may have noticed that unlike some retailers, Amazon displays relevant Google text ads and banner ads from brands. This seems in conflict with the strategy of focus on experience since it leads to a more cluttered store. However in 2011 Amazon revealed that worldwide media sales accounted for approximately 17% of revenue! Amazon marketing Amazon does not reveal much about its marketing approach in its annual reports, but there seems to be a focus on online marketing channels. Amazon (2011) states â€Å"we direct customers to our websites primarily through a number of targeted online marketing channels, such as our Associates program, sponsored search, portal advertising, email marketing campaigns, and other initiatives†. These other initiatives may include outdoor and TV advertising, but they are not mentioned specifically. In this statement they also highlight the importance of customer loyalty tools. They say: â€Å"while costs associated with free shipping are not included in marketing expense, we view free shipping offers and Amazon Prime as effective worldwide marketing tools, and intend to continue offering them indefinitely†. How ‘The Culture of Metrics’ started A common theme in Amazon’s development is the drive to use a measured approach to all aspects of the business, beyond the finance. Marcus (2004) describes an occasion at a corporate ‘boot-camp’ in January 1997 when Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos ‘saw the light’. ‘At Amazon, we will have a Culture of Metrics’, he said while addressing his senior staff. He went on to explain how web-based business gave Amazon an ‘amazing window into human behaviour’. Marcus says: ‘Gone were the fuzzy approximations of focus groups, the anecdotal fudging and smoke blowing from the marketing department. A company  like Amazon could (and did) record every move a visitor made, every last click and twitch of the mouse. As the data piled up into virtual heaps, hummocks and mountain ranges, you could draw all sorts of conclusions about their chimerical nature, the consumer. In this sense, Amazon was not merely a store, but an immense repository of fact s. All we needed were the right equations to plug into them’. James Marcus then goes on to give a fascinating insight into a breakout group discussion of how Amazon could better use measures to improve its performance. Marcus was in the Bezos group, brainstorming customer-centric metrics. Marcus (2004) summarises the dialogue, led by Bezos: â€Å"First, we figure out which things we’d like to measure on the site†, he said. â€Å"For example, let’s say we want a metric for customer enjoyment. How could we calculate that?† â€Å"There was silence. Then somebody ventured: â€Å"How much time each customer spends on the site?† â€Å"Not specific enough†, Jeff said. â€Å"How about the average number of minutes each customer spends on the site per session† someone else suggested. â€Å"If that goes up, they’re having a blast†. â€Å"But how do we factor in purchase?† I [Marcus] said feeling proud of myself. â€Å"Is that a measure of enjoyment†? â€Å"I think we need to consider frequency of visits, too†, said a dark-haired woman I didn’t recognise. â€Å"Lot of folks are still accessing the web with those creepy-crawly modems. Four short visits from them might be just as good as one visit from a guy with a T-1. Maybe better’. â€Å"Good point†, Jeff said. â€Å"And anyway, enjoyment is just the start. In the end, we should be measuring customer ecstasy† It is interesting that Amazon was having this debate in about the elements of RFM analysis (described in Chapter 6 of Internet Marketing), 1997, after already having achieved $16 million of revenue in the previous year. Of course, this is a miniscule amount compared with today’s billions of dollar turnover. The important point was that this was the start of a focus on metrics which can be seen through the description of Matt Pounds work later in this case study. From human to software-based recommendations Amazon has developed internal tools to support this ‘Culture of Metrics’.  Marcus (2004) describes how the ‘Creator Metrics’ tool shows content creators how well their product listings and product copy are working. For each content editor such as Marcus, it retrieves all recently posted documents including articles, interviews, booklists and features. For each one it then gives a conversion rate to sale plus the number of page views, adds (added to basket) and repels (content requested, but the back button then used). In time, the work of editorial reviewers such as Marcus was marginalised since Amazon found that the majority of visitors used the search tools rather than read editorial and they responded to the personalised recommendations as the matching technology improved (Marcus likens early recommendations techniques to ‘going shopping with the village idiot’). Experimentation and testing at Amazon The ‘Culture of Metrics’ also led to a test-driven approach to improving results at Amazon. Matt Round, speaking at E-metrics 2004 when he was director of personalisation at Amazon describes the philosophy as ‘Data Trumps Intuitions’. He explained how Amazon used to have a lot of arguments about which content and promotion should go on the all important home page or category pages. He described how every category VP wanted top-center and how the Friday meetings about placements for next week were getting ‘too long, too loud, and lacked performance data’. But today ‘automation replaces intuitions’ and real-time experimentation tests are always run to answer these questions since actual consumer behaviour is the best way to decide upon tactics. Marcus (2004) also notes that Amazon has a culture of experiments of which A/B tests are key components. Examples where A/B tests are used include new home page design, moving features around the page, different algorithms for recommendations, changing search relevance rankings. These involve testing a new treatment against a previous control for a limited time of a few days or a week. The system will randomly show one or more treatments to visitors and measure a range of parameters such as units sold and revenue by category (and total), session time, session length, etc. The new features will usually be launched if the desired metrics are statistically significantly better. Statistical tests are a challenge though as distributions are not normal (they have a large mass at zero for example of no purchase) There are other challenges since multiple  A/B tests are running every day and A/B tests may overlap and so conflict. There are also longer-term effects where some features are ‘cool’ for the first two weeks and the opposite effect where changing navigation may degrade performance temporarily. Amazon also finds that as its users evolve in their online experience the way they act online has changed. This means that Amazon has to constantly test and evolve its features. Amazon.com Technology It follows that the Amazon technology infrastructure must readily support this culture of experimentation and this can be difficult to achieved with standardised content management. Amazon has achieved its competitive advantage through developing its technology internally and with a significant investment in this which may not be available to other organisations without the right focus on the online channels. As Amazon explains in SEC (2005) ‘using primarily our own proprietary technologies, as well as technology licensed from third parties, we have implemented numerous features and functionality that simplify and improve the customer shopping experience, enable third parties to sell on our platform, and facilitate our fulfillment and customer service operations. Our current strategy is to focus our development efforts on continuous innovation by creating and enhancing the specialized, proprietary software that is unique to our business, and to license or acquire commercially-developed technology for other applications where available and appropriate. We continually invest in several areas of technology, including our seller platform; A9.com, our wholly-owned subsidiary focused on search technology on www.A9.com and other Amazon sites; web services; and digital initiatives.’ Round (2004) describes the technology approach as ‘distributed development and deployment’. Pages such as the home page have a number of content ‘pods’ or ‘slots’ which call web services for features. This makes it relatively easy to change the content in these pods and even change the location of the pods on-screen. Amazon uses a flowable or fluid page design unlike many sites which enables it to make the most of real-estate on-screen. Technology also supports more standard e-retail facilities. SEC (2005) states: ‘We use a set of applications for accepting and validating customer orders, placing and tracking orders with suppliers, managing and assigning inventory to customer  orders, and ensuring proper shipment of products to customers. Our transaction-processing systems handle millions of items, a number of different status inquiries, multiple shipping addresses, gift-wrapping requests, and multiple shipment methods. These systems allow the customer to choose whether to receive single or several shipments based on availability and to track the progress of each order. These applications also manage the process of accepting, authorizing, and charging customer credit cards.’ Data Driven Automation Round (2004) said that ‘Data is king at Amazon’. He gave many examples of data driven automation including customer channel preferences; managing the way content is displayed to different user types such as new releases and top-sellers, merchandising and recommendation (showing related products and promotions) and also advertising through paid search (automatic ad generation and bidding). The automated search advertising and bidding system for paid search has had a big impact at Amazon. Sponsored links initially done by humans, but this was unsustainable due to range of products at Amazon. The automated programme generates keywords, writes ad creative, determines best landing page, manages bids, measure conversion rates, profit per converted visitor and updates bids. Again the problem of volume is there, Matt Round described how the book ‘How to Make Love Like a Porn Star’ by Jenna Jameson received tens of thousands of clicks from pornography-related searches, but few actually purchased the book. So the update cycle must be quick to avoid large losses. There is also an automated email measurement and optimization system. The campaign calendar used to be manually managed with relatively weak measurement and it was costly to schedule and use. A new system: Automatically optimizes content to improve customer experience Avoids sending an e-mail campaign that has low clickthrough or high unsubscribe rate Includes inbox management (avoid sending multiple emails/week) Has growing library of automated email programs covering new releases and recommendations But there are challenges if promotions are too successful if inventory isn’t available. Your Recommendations Customers Who Bought X†¦, also bought Y is Amazon’s signature feature. Round  (2004) describes how Amazon relies on acquiring and then crunching a massive amount of data. Every purchase, every page viewed and every search is recorded. So there are now to new version, customers who shopped for X also shopped for†¦ and Customers who searched for X also bought†¦ They also have a system codenamed ‘Goldbox’ which is a cross-sell and awareness raising tool. Items are discounted to encourage purchases in new categories! I have a more detailed article on Amazon personalisation / recommendation system He also describes the challenge of techniques for sifting patterns from noise (sensitivity filtering) and clothing and toy catalogues change frequently so recommendations become out of date. The main challenges though are the massive data size arising from millions of customers, millions of items and recommendations made in real time. Amazon Partnership strategy As Amazon grew, its share price growth enabled partnership or acquisition with a range of companies in different sectors. Marcus (2004) describes how Amazon partnered with Drugstore.com (pharmacy), Living.com (furniture), Pets.com (pet supplies), Wineshopper.com (wines), HomeGrocer.com (groceries), Sothebys.com (auctions) and Kozmo.com (urban home delivery). In most cases, Amazon purchased an equity stake in these partners, so that it would share in their prosperity. It also charged them fees for placements on the Amazon site to promote and drive traffic to their sites. Similarly, Amazon charged publishers for prime-position to promote books on its site which caused an initial hue-and-cry, but this abated when it was realised that paying for prominent placements was widespread in traditional booksellers and supermarkets. Many of these new online companies failed in 1999 and 2000, but Amazon had covered the potential for growth and was not pulled down by these partners, even though for some such as Pets.com it had an investment of 50%. Analysts sometimes refer to ‘Amazoning a sector’ meaning that one company becomes dominant in an online sector such as book retail such that it becomes very difficult for others to achieve market share. In addition to developing, communicating and delivering a very strong proposition, Amazon has been able to consolidate its strength in different sectors through its partnership arrangements and through using technology to facilitate product promotion and distribution via these partnerships. The Amazon retail platform enables other retailers to sell products online using  the Amazon user interface and infrastructure through their ‘Syndicated Stores’ programme. For example, in the UK, Waterstones (www.waterstones.co.uk) is one of the largest traditional bookstores. It found competition with online so expensive and challenging, that eventually it entered a partnership arrangement where Amazon markets and distributes its books online in return for a commission online. Similarly, in the US, Borders a large book retailer uses the Amazon merchant platform for distributing its products. Toy retailer Toys R’ Us have a similar arrangement. Such partnerships help Amazon extends its reach into the customer-base of other suppliers, and of course, customers who buy in one category such as books can be encouraged to purchase into other areas such as clothing or electronics. Another form of partnership referred to above is the Amazon Marketplace which enables Amazon customers and other retailers to sell their new and used books and other goods alongside the regular retail listings. A similar partnership approach is the Amazon ‘Merchants@’ program which enables third party merchants (typically larger than those who sell via the Amazon Marketplace) to sell their products via Amazon. Amazon earn fees either through fixed fees or sales commissions per-unit. This arrangement can help customers who get a wider choice of products from a range of suppliers with the convenience of purchasing them through a single checkout process. Finally, Amazon has also facilitated formation of partnerships with smaller companies through its affiliates programme. Internet legend records that Jeff Bezos, the creator of Amazon was chatting to someone at a cocktail party who wanted to sell books about divorce via her web site. Subsequently, Amazon.com launched its Associates Program in July 1996 and it is still going strong. Googling http://www.google.com/search?q=www.amazon.com+-site%3Awww.amazon.com for sites that link to the US site, shows over 4 million pages, many of which will be affiliates. Amazon does not use an affiliate network which would take commissions from sale, but thanks to the strength of its brand has developed its own affiliate programme. Amazon has created a tiered performance-based incentives to encourage affiliates to sell more Amazon products. Amazon Marketing communications In their SEC filings Amazon state that the aims of their communications  strategy are (unsurprisingly) to: Increase customer traffic to our websites Create awareness of our products and services Promote repeat purchases Develop incremental product and service revenue opportunities Strengthen and broaden the Amazon.com brand name. Amazon also believe that their most effective marketing communications are a consequence of their focus on continuously improving the customer experience. This then creates word-of-mouth promotion which is effective in acquiring new customers and may also encourage repeat customer visits. As well as this Marcus (2004) describes how Amazon used the personalisation enabled through technology to reach out to a difficult to reach market which Bezos originally called ‘the hard middle’. Bezos’s view was that it was easy to reach 10 people (you called them on the phone) or the ten million people who bought the most popular products (you placed a superbowl ad), but more difficult to reach those in between. The search facilities in the search engine and on the Amazon site, together with its product recommendation features meant that Amazon could connect its products with the interests of these people. Online advertising techniques include paid search marketing, interactive ads on portals, e-mail campaigns and search engine optimisation. These are automated as far as possible as described earlier in the case study. As previously mentioned, the affiliate programme is also important in driving visitors to Amazon and Amazon offers a wide range of methods of linking to its site to help improve conversion. For example, affiliates can use straight text links leading direct to a product page and they also offer a range of dynamic banners which feature different content such as books about Internet marketing or a search box.Amazon also use cooperative advertising arrangements, better known as ‘contra-deals’ with some vendors and other third parties. For example, a print advertisement in 2005 for a particular product such as a wireless router with a free wireless laptop card promotion will feature a specific Amazon URL in the ad. In product fulfilment packs, Amazon may include a leaflet for a non-competing online company such as Figleaves.com (lingerie) or Expedia (travel). In return, Amazon leaflets may be included in customer communications from the partner brands. Our Associates program directs customers to our websites by enabling independent websites to make millions of products available to their  audiences with fulfillment performed by us or third parties. We pay commissions to hundreds of thousands of participants in our Associates program when their customer referrals result in product sales. In addition, we offer everyday free shipping options worldwide and recently announced Amazon.com Prime in the U.S., our first membership program in which members receive free two-day shipping and discounted overnight shipping. Although marketing expenses do not include the costs of our free shipping or promotional offers, we view such offers as effective marketing tools. Marcus, J. (2004) Amazonia. Five years at the epicentre of the dot-com juggernaut, The New Press, New York, NY. Round, M. (2004) Presentation to E-metrics, London, May 2005. www.emetrics.org.