Monday, September 30, 2019

Is there a midlife crisis Essay

As a man approaches middle age a number of factors converge that tend to disrupt his previous modes of experiencing himself. For some men, this stress may culminate or be expressed in a â€Å"midlife crisis. † This crisis has been variously described as a pervasive sense of alienation from one’s own being in the world, unidentified or misunderstood feelings of anxiety or depression, and/or physical symptoms expressive of psychic distress. In an attempt to bring some order to conflicting reports about the experience of people entering middle age, we reviewed the existing literature. A lack of consensus soon became apparent. Some writers argued that a midlife crisis was a universal experience in male development; others suggested that men reached their peak of self-actualization at this point. Looking at the literature more closely, we saw that the research findings seemed to depend upon which methods were used and in which culture the middle-aged population was being studied. Psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, and other writers working with clinical data often see a middle-age crisis as universal – a developmental inevitability. Levinson proposes, as did Jaques and others, a developmental sequence, with a period of midlife crisis, which â€Å"exists in all societies, throughout the human species, at the present stage of human evolution† (Sifford 1983). More recently, theorists like Slater, Laing, and Henry have focused on the alienating effects of socialization into a culture based on denial, distortion, and repression. Culture, that is, works to deny and distort what is most human in us. Regardless of whether we see midlife crisis as a consequence of social structure or culture, many theorists tell us that midlife crisis is widespread phenomenon. The impact of historical forces on the life course does not stop with one generation. Each generation encounters a set of historical circumstances that shape its subsequent life history and that generation transmits to the next one both the impact that historical events had on its life course and the resulting patterns of timing. Cultural norms governing the timeliness of life transitions (being â€Å"early,† â€Å"late,† or â€Å"on time†) and norms governing familial obligations also shape individual and collective family timing. In all these areas, historical and cultural differences are critical. Particularly significant is the convergence of socioeconomic and cultural forces. For example, â€Å"middle-age crisis† was a relatively recent invention in popular psychology in American society. It was attributed to middle-class women in particular in describing the problems connected to menopause and the â€Å"empty nest† in mid adulthood. â€Å"Middle-age crises† were not widespread, however. They were a product of stereotypes and a social construction rather than of sociobiological or familial realities. Since the 1970s, a considerable volume of feminist psychological literature has placed â€Å"middle-age crisis† in its proper perspective by exposing the cultural and â€Å"scientific† stereotypes that created the concept (Lawrence 1980). For the process to be fully working, then, we would expect to have evidence from lay accounts that the wider public had accepted and normalised the condition. Further evidence was provided by a Gallup poll survey in 1992 which found that over two-thirds of middle-aged men in the UK believed that there was some indefinable phenomenon called the ‘midlife crisis’. Furthermore, it stated that over half of the sample thought they had experienced a midlife crisis, or were actually having one, at some point between the ages of 40 and 60 (Neustatter 1996:80). Second, a further stage occurred in the United States when the midlife crisis started to appear as a legitimate condition in course material designed for the training of nurses. The psychologist Carl Jung believed that in Western cultures, the midlife crisis of males is rooted in a search for deeper spiritual roots (Marin 2001). From the perspective of male and female roles, there is often a reversal of roles away from the closed/traditional paradigm; that is, the husband moves inward to find strength for the future, and the female moves outward to the work world and career (Morris 1995). Thus midlife men experience the self-doubts, malaise, and concern over issues of a failure of adaptation. External economic changes in the opportunity structure affect changes in the timing of entry into the labour force, and, ultimately, retirement. Institutional and legislative changes, such as compulsory school attendance, child-labour laws, and mandatory retirement, shape the work-life transitions of different age groups and eventually influence their family life as well. People who suffer a midlife crisis in this form see the exciting experience of forward movement as ending with youth and the future as repetition and decay. Some people have midlife crises, but most do not. Crises do occur in midlife, but they are usually caused by a variety of factors, certainly not by chronology alone. We conclude that a more adequate theory of human development must take into account both the socio-historical environment, on the one hand, and internal psychological and biological processes on the other. References Lawrence, B. S. (1980). â€Å"The Myth of Midlife Crisis. † Sloan Management Review, 21(4): 35-49. Marin, Rick. (2001). â€Å"Is This the Face of a Midlife Crisis? † N. Y. TIMES, June 24, [section] 9. Morris, B. (1995). â€Å"Executive Women Confront Midlife Crisis. † Fortune (September 18): 60-86. Neustatter, A. (1996). Looking the Demon in the Eye: the challenge of midlife, London: Joseph. Sifford, D. (1983). â€Å"Midlife Crisis: The Nagging Pain of Unfulfilled Dreams,† Philadelphia Inquirer, October 17, p. 4.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Character Profile Of Macbeth Essay

We hear about Macbeth first in the opening scene with the witches. They speak of Macbeth, which suggests that he is linked to evil through these witches. However, we quickly see that this is far from the truth and see that he is quite the opposite. Shakespeare portrays him as a courageous fighter through a bleeding captain speaking of Macbeth, who is at this point fighting for his country. â€Å"For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)† â€Å"Cannons overcharged with double cracks† The delaying of Macbeth’s entrance by Shakespeare is a clever technique used to get the audience thinking all sorts of things about him. Macbeth, a courageous, physically strong, good general is rewarded for his deeds by being named Thane of Cawdor. Just before Macbeth is pronounced Thane of Cawdor, he meets the witches with Banquo. The revolting creatures tell Macbeth that he will be Thane of Glamis, Cawdor and then King. He doesn’t realise that they are only telling him the good parts of the prophecy. He is taken back by the predictions and, naturally, wants to know more. He is single minded and wants to believe them. Macbeth thinks of the witches as a reliable source of information, even though he has only met them once, Banquo however has other ideas, describing them as ‘Devils’. â€Å"If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me without my stir† At this point we are under the impression that Macbeth is going to wait for chance to crown him, he goes on to make a speech and says, â€Å"With things forgotten†. This largely suggests that he has thought of murdering the King before, which shocks his brave, soldier image, he then, to our surprise, starts to plot in his mind the route to the throne. In these thoughts he realises that the Prince of Cumberland, the Kings own son Malcolm, is in the way between him and the King Duncan. He hopes his evil thoughts to be King are not found out and we see this when he says, â€Å"Let not light see my block and deep desires†. We see Lady Macbeth reading a letter from Macbeth, this shows the couples intimacy and proves the strength of their relationship. From the minute she reads the letter she is plotting for Macbeth to become King, although she fears he is too weak. â€Å"Too full o’th’ milk of human kindness† Lady Macbeth’s invisible will starts to grow and she cannot wait for her husband. They talk about murdering Duncan, with lady Macbeth trying to convince her husband to kill the King. â€Å"Look like th’innocent flower† This is Lady Macbeth ordering her partner to behave normally at the banquet, as he is planning to murder Duncan that night and his nerves are starting to get to him. As soon as Duncan enters Shakespeare builds up sympathy for him, â€Å"This castle hath a pleasant seat† Duncan thinks it is very nice, but Macbeth’s heart is certainly not ‘pleasant’. He is now nearly convinced to kill Duncan, but turns slightly into a moral coward. He fears the consequences and can’t act if he allows himself time to think it all through. He believes that if he does something bad then something bad will happen to him; which it sure does! Macbeth also respects the fact that the King is his guest and to be killed by the host is not very fair to say the least, Duncan is highly regarded by everybody and Macbeth’s fear of the crime getting out is too much. As well as all of these reasons not to do it, he hasn’t really got the gut determination and inner strength to kill his King. â€Å"We will proceed no further in this business† He gives in to fear and tells Lady Macbeth ‘no’. She is annoyed and scared her predictions of her husband were true. â€Å"Was the hope drunk?† She suggests that the original hope to be King was a fake and tries to win him around. Soon Macbeth is talked into killing Duncan and realises he will have to put on a face. â€Å"False face must hide what the false face doth know† Macbeth is extremely nervous and has a vision, in which he sees a dagger in front of him, almost as if to say ‘go and kill Duncan while the chance is still there’. â€Å"The handle toward my hand† He is very unstable and already feeling the nerves of a murder digging in. Knowing that Macbeth may fail Lady Macbeth takes the initiative and says, â€Å"Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done it† This line puts it across to Macbeth that he is a coward. I think that the idea of killing your guest, friend and at most your King is appalling and that Macbeth is repulsive. He nervously kills Duncan but makes a mess of it, bringing the daggers back with him. Lady Macbeth shows huge strength in calming him down, and then returns the daggers. Macbeth is a wreck of nerves, he still cares what people think of him and fears getting caught immensely. He is now wrapped up in superstition believing anything that the witches say. After the body is found the nobles close to Macbeth realise that he is behaving very strangely, in a particular occasion the suspicion of Macbeth gets so great that his wife faints as a distraction. This shows the great strength of his wife and her ability to help him become King. Banquo is certainly Macbeth, his own friend, killed Duncan and tries to convince everyone, causing Malcolm and Donalbain to flee for England. â€Å"There’s daggers in men’s smiles† Nobody knows who to trust and as Macbeth is crowned King peoples suspicions grow, as do his nerves. â€Å"I fear thou play’st most foully for’t† Banquo fears the worst from his so called ‘best-friend’ and confirms Macbeth’s fears by not showing at a banquet. There is a clear difference in the two main characters, Macbeth and Banquo. Banquo is a loyal and noble character, who is not swayed into decisions, he was patient for Fleance to become King, not really bothered about the witches’ predictions. Whereas Macbeth was totally obsessed with the predictions and blasted his way to the throne, we can now see how the two characters are totally opposite. Banquo is an annoyance and worry to Macbeth, this is because he is way too suspicious and Macbeth’s trust in the witches predictions that Banquo’s son would be King. I think that Macbeth feels threatened by Banquo and eventually he decides to murder him, and most importantly his son Fleance. â€Å"Whose being I do fear† – Referring to Banquo, â€Å"Whose absence is no less material to me† – Referring to Fleance. Macbeth’s motive for the murder of Banquo and Fleance was also that he needed piece of mind, he can’t relax if people are suspicious. We now see Macbeth being more self-motivated and doesn’t need Lady Macbeth as much any more. In the beginning he shared everything with her and initially valued her guidance, as well as being dramatically influenced by her. But since Duncan’s murder there is a clear breakdown in the relationship. Macbeth has another encounter with the witches and they predict he will be King until Great Birham Wood moves to Dunsinane! This creates a feeling of invincibility for Macbeth, as the thought of a wood moving seems impossible. From now on he decides to do everything without thinking about the consequences, a very different Macbeth than what we saw at the start of the play. â€Å"Be it a thought and done† All sympathy is lost for Macbeth when he murders Madcuff’s wife and child, a totally disgusting measure and the shear horror is unimaginable as well as being extremely sick. He is definitely not how Lady Macbeth described him earlier, â€Å"The milk of human kindness†. There is now a deterioration of character in Macbeth. The Macbeth, the leader, was good and honest, but now the Macbeth who consults with murderers is a traitor and disliked King. This is proven by many people in England discussing their views on Macbeth; â€Å"It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds† This is Malcolm describing Scotland under Macbeth. â€Å"Not in the legions of horrid hell can come a devil more damned in evil to top Macbeth†. This shows the pure hatred of Macbeth, Madcuff then goes on to say, â€Å"It cannot be called our mother, but our grave†. They are decided to go and overturn Macbeth, â€Å"Macbeth is ripe for shaking†. Back in Scotland we see Macbeth experiencing an element of remorse, which is needed if he were to be a ‘tragic’ character. For example he has no feelings for his crying wife! This is due to his involvement in so many murders, he wishes he had these lost feelings. â€Å"I am sick of heart† Macbeth then shows little, if any, sympathy for his wife who committed suicide. This is somewhat typical of Shakespeare (to kill off the lead characters wife via suicide), for example in ‘Julius Caesar’ when Portia (his wife) kills herself. After this Macbeth’s worst nightmare comes true, when a messenger comes to him to say that he saw Burham Wood move. He acquires a very unsteady mind and tries to grasp some of our sympathy. â€Å"I have supped full of horrors† Macbeth knows a rebellion is on its way and says he shall fight till the end, â€Å"They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, but bear like I must fight the course† Madcuff kills Macbeth and gives the crown to Malcolm, who pledges a better reign to Scotland. I think that Scotland would be good under Malcolm as there is a sign of Duncan (rewarding friends for good deeds) and Scotland has a sense of freedom as Macbeth has finally gone.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

General Motors International Operations Research Paper

General Motors International Operations - Research Paper Example The project aimed at improving its performance hence face the world competition of other related companies like China. Some years later, the company announced it wanted to reduce its investment by seventeen Billion US dollars to pat the pension debts as well as tax debts. The pension process required a special legal grant to free itself from tax penalties. In concluding, this paper proves how the company strategies to maintain its market share. This is evidenced the company has expanded marginally maintaining more than thirty vehicle plants in thirty-one countries. Introduction Automobile industry has grown tremendously within the last few decades as a result of technological advancement (Tuman, 2003). General Motors Corporation, a company based in America whose headquarters are in Michigan is a good example. The company is the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of vehicles with many new and competitive brands. The company markets its vehicles under brand names like Bui ck, Chevrolet, Opel, Daewoo, and Vauxhall. The company also sells its products under other brand names based in China like Alpheon, Jiefang, and Wuling. Further, the company has absorbed more than 200,000 people across the globe and has business links with almost all the world countries (Crumm, 2010). In addition, the company also provides financing services through its subsidiary financial contracts. America provides the largest market for light vehicles, commercial vehicles, and the long chases. It roughly consumes about a half of the total production of the General Motors. General Motors was desperate to shed some of its own branches mainly in North America to settle government loans. However, the two successive presidents of the United States, George Bush, and Barrack Obama agreed to fund the company to enable it to retain most of its branches in North America. Through this funding, Davis (1999) argues, General Motors introduced Vauxhall Nova â€Å"the smallest and most fuel-ef ficient gasoline-power car ever offered by General Motors† (pg 113). General Motors has gone through a past positive progressive record since its incision despite the few challenges it might have undergone. As the largest world’s automobile industry, the company has recorded high-profit levels for a notable period of time. This success can be attributed to its slogan stated by Crumm (2010) that, â€Å"What is good for General Motors is good for the country† (pg 1). For the last two years, Toyota Company, General Motors’ main competitor has recorded a higher level. To compete effectively in the market, the company is focusing on the current market demands of their high consumers like Brazil, China, and the United States (Davis, 1999). The company has an expansion plan from which it expects to benefit extensively by investing more in new markets to meet the growing market demands. Diversity in General Motors is quite evident. Through this diversification, th e company comprises of almost all the fields of production, which include manufacturers, dealers, retailers, auto engineers, and body repairers. As a result, a swing in material change would occur automatically. General Motors has undergone economic and political surges, and there is little public criticism over the ever-expanding corporate power and control of the General Motors.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Preventing School Bullying Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Preventing School Bullying - Research Proposal Example The methodology of this study is based on 2 surveys conducted in 50 different high schools in the region. The study is applied to pupils between 6 and 10 grade and it is voluntary. The first survey is organized as a self-reported questions and answers, it is anonymous and tries to estimate the degree of bullying in the given school. The other survey concentrates on the desire of participants to name the reasons why they were bullied and the ways in which this was done. The collected data was statistically processed. The data collection process represented interviews with the pupils and classifications of their answers in the different categories. The study have found that bullies are predisposed to have positive attitude towards aggression, have negative attitudes towards school and education and have behaviour problems. On the bases of the collected data it was estimated that bullying takes two distinct phases - verbal and physical.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Channel Design plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Channel Design plan - Term Paper Example A good channel distribution plan identifies the market segment that the products target, the preferences of the target customers, various market conditions and describes the appropriate structures that ought to be put in place so as to ensure efficient distribution of goods and services (John, 2002). Channel design planning enables products to grow from obscurity to become internationally recognized brands. This has made channel design planning one of the most demanded strategies in marketing in the contemporary world. The main essence of marketing channels is about making products and services available to consumers conveniently when, where and how they need them. A distribution channel entails a lot of strategies, most of which the consumer is not aware about because the consumer is only interested in getting the final product (Louis and David, 2000). The channels consist of very complex and dynamic systems which include distribution centers, technologies and strategies that are al l aimed at ensuring the customers can access the products and service more conveniently. This plan will focus on creating a channel design for my new business dealing in interior design. This is a new business that I have set up by establishing an interior design company. In this company I intend to create decor products for homes and sell the same on the website of my company. I also intend to offer a wide range of services relating to interior design. There is already an existing market for interior design with few companies already existing I the industry. The problem however is that the distribution channel is not well designed. Having my own channel design plan will make my business stand out and benefit more from because it will be much easier for me to get my services and other products to the target customers. I decided to take my company to the internet because this is turning to be one of the easiest ways to get products to consumers. More and more consumers are becoming a ware of buying goods from the internet making e-commerce one of the most popular business transactions. By selling my products on the internet I will be reaching out to consumers directly without the need of going through traditional middle men in the supply chain. This will make my products cheaper and attractive to my target consumers. A detailed analysis of the design plan is as shown below. The Market to be targeted by the new business Interior design is an emerging field that is gaining ground with a few established companies already offering their services to consumers. My new business hopes to grow quickly and become one of the leading businesses in the industry. In order to achieve this, it is important to identify my target consumers so as to be aware of the market segment that the business will be focusing on. The main consumers in the interior design industry include the real estate investors, home owners, event planners among others. There is a huge demand for decor mate rials, interior design advice among other services. Given this huge market the industry has, my business will only focus on events planners as the primary market segment. These events planner include planners of wedding receptions, birthday parties and other gatherings that need decor products. Since most of my products will be sold on the internet, a huge chunk of this segment will

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

FM demodulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

FM demodulation - Essay Example The PLL has a voltage-controlled oscillator, a phase detector, and a low pass filter connected in a feedback loop. The input voltage determines the frequency of oscillation at the output of the VCO (Sedra 1998). This fosc is equal to the intermediate frequency fi required to be 470 kHz in this case. The circuit is built on a proto board according to the block diagram shown fig1 bellow; The components required are; CD 4046 CMOS Phase-Lock Loop (PLL) integrated circuit Resistors of values; 1k, 10k, 18k (2). Capacitors of values; 0.1?F, 0.01?F, 3900pF and, Breadboard. The actual circuit is realized according to the circuit shown in fig 2 bellow. The circuit components in the PLL providing a centre frequency of 470 kHz are determined according to the equation, fosc = 1/2Ð ¿RC. Therefore 470000Hz*2Ð ¿ = 1/RC and taking R = 100K then 1/C =470000* 2Ð ¿*100000= 3.386pF and the preferred value is 3400nf. The capture range is given by 2fc=1/Ð ¿ (2Ð ¿fL/R1)1/2 and for audio the maximum ran ge is 20 kHz and R1 = 1k therefore the frequency of the filter is given by; (2*20000*Ð ¿) 2 = 2Ð ¿fL/R1 fL= (2*2000*Ð ¿)2*1000/2Ð ¿ = 25.136 GHz and so the filter components are obtained as shown bellow; 25.136*109 = 1/2Ð ¿RfCf and with Rf taken as 18K then Cf = 1/ (25.136*109*2Ð ¿*18000) = 35176.4pF The lock in range is given by fmax – fmin and; fmin= 1/R2(C1+32PF) = 1/10000(3900+32)*10^-12 = 25432.35Hz fmax = 1/R1(C1+32PF) + fmin = 1/1000(3900+32)*10^-12 +25432.35 = 279755.85 Hz Hence lock in range = 254323.5 Hz. Also, capture range 2fc = (2K0fpVDD)1/2 K0 =VDD/2= 15/2 =7.5 2fc = (2*7.5*25432.5*15)1/2 = 7564.6Hz Discussion Did the loop demodulate NBFM? The loop demodulates narrow band FM that occupies the frequency range of 0-15kHz as this frequency range lies within the capture range and the lock range of the circuit. Could it be used to demodulate WBFM without any alteration? The loop demodulate the wide band FM as the low pass filter above has a value of 25.136 GHz, which is well above the capture range of WBFM, which is customarily around 10.7 MHz with a system bandwidth of 200 kHz. This bandwidth is within the centre frequency range of 470 kHz (Alencar 2005) What happened to the lock-in and capture range when the loop components were altered? The capture range is low if the cut off frequency of the filter is lower; this is achieved by varying the filter components i.e. using large filter capacitance, and resistor values. On the other hand, the capture range is made large by using lower values of filter components thereby increasing the cut off frequency (Carlson 2002). A wider capture range is desirable as it enables demodulation of WBFM while a small capture range is desirable as it enables the attenuation of high frequency components thereby improving the signal to noise ratio of the system. The lock-in range follows the above relation, as it is also directly proportional to the filter cut off frequency. How would you modify the PLL in ord er to demodulate WBFM? From the relation of WBFM, 2fc = (2K0fpVDD)0.5 it is seen that the capture range 2fc is directly

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Technical Report about Zigbee Network Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Technical Report about Zigbee Network - Essay Example Zigbee is a set of specifications that facilitate a low cost, low consumption power, low data transfer load and non-complex wireless mesh network. Zigbee protocol has been standardized by IEEE. In this paper, the basic attributes of Zigbee networks shall be discussed along with the network topologies, applications and components. The protocol shall also be studied with reference to the OSI model to highlight the layers where it is defined. Table of Contents Abstract ii List of Figures iv 1. Introduction 1 2. Background 1 3. Components of Zigbee Networks 3 4. Applications of Zigbee 5 5. Network Topologies of Zigbee Networks 5 6. Zigbee Specifications in OSI Model 7 7. Conclusion 8 References 9 List of Figures Figure 1: Zigbee comparison with other wireless technologies 2 Figure 2: Zigbee network in a smart home 3 Figure 3: Coordinator, Router and end-devices 4 Figure 4: Types of network topologies of Zigbee standard 6 Figure 5: OSI layers comparison with the definition of Zigbee in th e model 7 Zigbee Networks and Specifications 1. Introduction Technology has intervened to an extensive degree in the lives of humans. The intervention has made man rely on technology for his business, as well as domestic needs. The trend of transforming regular houses into smart homes has been a field of interest for researchers around the world. Gohn (2007) stated that the advancement in the domain of wireless networking and information technology has made an age-old dream come true of automating one’s house with a centralized source of control. The innovative technology that is responsible for leaping wireless technology to another level of automation is known as Zigbee. The report focuses on the components and network topologies that develop the standard and facilitate communication with devices that are placed within a close range. Section 2 discusses the background and overview of the Zigbee standard. Section 3 includes the components of a Zigbee network while Section 4 discusses the applications of the respective standard. Section 5 includes the network topologies that are followed by the standard and Section 6 defines its placement in the OSI model. 2. Background Several technologies have been developed in the past years that are based on different levels of bandwidth, ranges and degrees of power consumption. Some of the common technologies to provide connectivity with different devices around a smart home have been Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and WiMax. Leopold, Dydensborg and Bonnet (2003) provided the information that bluetooth is considered to be the first technology in the domain of Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) that gained extensive recognition and acceptance. Leopold, Dydensborg and Bonnet (2003) stated that Bluetooth offered omni-directional communication that led to the desire for a smarter technology after some years of its common usage. Stevanovic (2007) provided the information that Zigbee Alliance introduced a new standard with the nam e ‘Zigbee’. Zigbee is a standard which is meant for communication between embedded devices placed in a limited range. It was recognized as a standard under IEEE 802.15.4. Gohn (2007) stated that the main aim behind the standard was to facilitate wireless connectivity between devices such that it would possess the following attributes: Low complexity Low cost Low consumption of power Two-way communication Low load of data transfer Lonn and

Monday, September 23, 2019

Enviromental science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Enviromental science - Essay Example Over-population is one of the majors for most of the problems being faced in the world. Population increases with 1.5 people per second around the world, therefore in an hour it increases at the rate of. If we go on to ignoring these statistics and the problems they are creating it is only increasing the human suffering. We human beings are capable of doing many things and so we have accumulated the data of every person who ever lived on earth and it is safely kept in the US. The UN not only preserves the data but it also helps predict the future and these predictions are astounding. It is possible that the total population will increase with the 3.1 billion people till the middle of this century making it 9 billion; we have 6.8 billion people today and it is expected to increase up to 7 billion within the coming 4-5 years this is the most startling fact mentioned in the movie. It means that in 50 years the earth will need to accommodate up to 3 billion more people. Within the next 50 years the people will suffer no matter where they are or how they live. When there is abundance of food, water and right availability of material for shelter, the population thrives and succeeds. But when there is scarcity of the most basic necessities, the world comes under depression. Humans and resources have a very close relationship; the food production cannot increase as fast as the human reproduction can. Therefore, the demand will gradually exceed the supply; if the human population is not controlled at once the life would end miserably. The green revolution was not harmful in fact it was more effective in producing food in abundance through modern farming methods. It helped many countries become self-sufficient in food and alleviate hunger in the world. Out of 70% of water present in the world only 1 % is being provided to the people living in it and the rest is

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Peloponnesian War Essay Example for Free

The Peloponnesian War Essay The Greek empire did not comprise of any center for power ruling over the states, instead it consisted of numerous city-states each having independence and being governed in a manner separate from the rest. Where Athens had a democratic style of government, with everyone from the populace having the right to participate in the government (except for women and slaves), Sparta had a totalitarian form of governance. The populace was divided into 3 distinct classes which included Spartan men (who were all raised to be warriors), Spartan women (who were patriotic, proud, and exhibited more independence then women from other states) and finally Helots, or slaves (Adams). Aside from the political difference between the states, even their culture was vastly different. The lifestyles of Athenian citizens encouraged them to seek artistic and intellectual pursuits whereas Spartan men were trained to be soldiers from birth and led a life by the sword. Athens was the most powerful state amongst the other states in the Greek Empire. After the expulsion of the Persian from the continent by the Greek allies led by Athens, the state became the central power by increasing their forces and converting the ally states into tribute paying states with the money earned going into improving Athens infrastructure and help strengthen its naval fleet. It did not make matters any better when in a Helot uprising in Sparta, when Sparta called for aid from all the other Greek allies, it dismissed the contingent from Athens as they feared the troops would change sides and support the Helots instead, since Athens was a democratic state and Sparta was not. . The Peloponnesian War, which lasted from 431 – 404 BC provided the states a chance to enter into direct confrontation with each other to resolve their issues once and for all. In my opinion, the Peloponnesian War was an outlet for the states to finally destroy the others as each saw the others existence as an affront. The superiority of Athens and their cultural background clashed with the ferocity and dominant attitude of the Spartans and eventually an altercation would have taken place. This paper will identify the strengths of the two city-states, determine which factors gave them an edge over the other and will analyze whether the states where able to maximize the potential of those benefits. Military Background Athens Athens was the most prosperous state on the continent. It had wealth and a large population, being the centre for business and politics. After the Persian invasion, Athens took on the leading role and used its position to build its own state far surpassing the others. When the Persians had been defeated, the allies of Athens were reduced to subservient tribute paying states that were supposed to aid Athens prosper even more. The policies adopted by Athens towards the other states exhibit the superior attitude with which Athens looked upon the other states. Athens had a defensive wall built around its city which made land attacks impractical and futile. Since the Persians had left and Athens had begun work to strengthen the walls, Sparta had seriously been against the measure as they recognize the tactical benefit Athens would obtain as Sparta would have difficulty in defeating Athens with the presence of the wall. Athens also had a strong naval fleet. Its fleets were much superior to the other states’ and it was able to maximize upon its advantage by using said fleets to ravage the Peloponnesus (Hooker, 1999). Sparta Sparta, as mentioned earlier, was a state which trained every one of its inhabitants to become warriors. From birth onwards, Spartan men lived a life of training and fighting to become the ultimate soldiers. Therefore the Spartan army relied on its brute strength and its training superiority. The Spartan infantry was more numerous than the Athenian and in size; the Spartan army far surpassed the other states’. Throughout the course of the Peloponnese War, Sparta used its numbers to ravage the territory around Athens (Attica in general). Historical Events Exhibiting Military Strategies The first war between Sparta and Athens was the Archidamian War, named after the Spartan king, was initiated by the Spartans. The Spartan troops invaded the lands surrounding Athens and were meant to deprive the city-state of its food source and access to its productive land. The strategy employed by the Spartans was a strategy any land based army would adopt. To cut off supplies and eventually force the opponent to surrender is probably the most successful way to gain victory without shedding much blood on the attacker’s side. Spartan troops however were unable to succeed by this strategy as Athens was able to acquire food and material via its ports which it still had access to. The Spartan army itself was unable to stay over long periods of time due to the harvesting of their own crops and the inability to leave the helots unsupervised in the home state. The success of sieges work only if they are meant to last over longer durations, but the Spartans were able to stay at most for 40 days. From the start of the War we can see that the strengths of both the armies were conflicting with each other and an outright battle to rule was out of the question as both sides wished to play by their strengths. Athens adopted the strategy to avoid any land battles with its far more superior opponent due to its numbers and experience in land battles. But in 430 BC an outbreak of plague hit the city and roughly one third of the Athens population died. But the plague had the effect that the Spartan armies did not want to catch the sickness and decided to put the ravaging expeditions on a hold as it would bring them in proximity to the Athenians (B. Strassler, 1996). After recovering from the plague, Athens launched an offensive by sending out its naval troops to ravage the port cities of the Peloponnesus. Athens began stretching its military activities to further reaches and began setting up posts in the Peloponnesus bringing the war closer to the Spartans. Instead of engaging in direct confrontations, the Athenian forces began drawing the Spartan helots to them which crippled Sparta as most of the domestic work was tended to by these slaves. Sparta led an expedition to the Athenian colony of Amphipolis, which was controlled nearby silver mines which basically funded the Athenian troops. A war was fought in Brasidas which eventually led to the two states signing a truce which lasted 6 years (ThinkQuest). The truce was an excuse for both sides to build up their strengths as both had faced economic losses. During the era of peace, the Athenians were able to gather support from the states of Argos, Mantinea and Arcadia. The allied coalition appeared to get early victories but was eventually crushed by the Spartan forces. It can clearly be seen that Sparta had the major advantage in land battles and that Athens was initially wise in avoiding direct clashes as in the battle of Mantinea, which was the largest land battle fought in the Peloponnesian War, Sparta was able to crush its opponents brutally. The deciding battle in the war could probably be the Sicilian expedition. Syracuse (which shared the same race as the Spartans) were attacking Sicily (which shared the race with Athenians). Since Sicily was the second largest state and would have provided much needed resource to Athens, Athens decided to help them. Troops sent for aiding Sicily proved incapable of defeating the Syracusan forces. While the Athenian forces waited to gather more allies in the surrounding vicinity, Syracuse was able to get the support from Sparta which tipped the scale in Sparta’s favor. Around this time Athens was facing harsh times as Spartan forces had made access to their lands difficult and food and other necessities had to be shipped in which cost a lot to the Athens government. The main source of funding for the Athenian forces was the silver mines which had now been taken over by the Spartans. To accommodate for the decrease in capital, Athens began demanding more tribute from its allies. This created friction amongst the coalition and would eventually lead to dissatisfaction in the allies. (Hanson, 2005) Realizing the tactical advantage Athens possessed due to its navy, Sparta contacted the Persians and took their aid in building its own navy. The navy would prove to be the decisive factor as in 405 the critical blow hit Athens when the Spartan commander Lysander took his navy northward to Hellespont and destroyed the Athenian forces existing there. This blow seemed too big to bear and Athens eventually conceded defeat and had to succumb to the humiliating terms laid down by the Spartans (Thucydides Lattimore, 1998). Personal Observations Pertaining to the Peloponnesian War The war was not won due to the number of forces or the number of allies that any side had but it relied on the ability of the army to change to meet the situation. Both sides possessed benefits in separate areas, with Spartans having superiority on land and Athens having the superiority on the seas. But Sparta was constantly reevaluating its approaches and battle plans and would accommodate for the situation at hand. Rather than relying strictly on sieges and confronting on the mainland, Sparta developed its own naval strength and reduced the competitive advantage that the Athens forces had over it. Even though from the beginning Sparta would have been deemed as the military superior, Athens had a number of opportunities to tip the war in their favor. Such as during the Sicilian expedition, it was mismanagement and lethargy which cost the Athens forces defeat. Conclusion The strengths of the two states were clearly exhibited in this research paper but no amount of strength is affective if it does not keep training and does not keep advancing. The Athens forces made this mistake by simply relying on one’s strength and believing it would win them the war where in truth Sparta proved to be the wiser of the two and used the opponent’s strength, incorporated into its own arsenal and eventually won the war. The Spartans were able to not only maximize on their own strength during the war (land based warfare) but created advancements in their weakness as well and had they not done so, the war would have lasted for numerous more years due to an intermittent deadlock as both sides initially had opposing tactical advantages. References Adams, P. (n. d. ). Comparing Athens and Sparta. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from Discovery Education: http://school. discoveryeducation. com/lessonplans/programs/spartans/ B. Strassler, R. (1996). In R. B. Strassler, The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War. New York: The Free Press. Hanson, V. D. (2005). In V. D. Hanson, A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War. New York: Random House. Hooker, R. (1999, June 6). Ancient Greece. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from Ancient Greece: The Peloponnesian War: http://wsu. edu/~dee/GREECE/PELOWARS. HTM ThinkQuest. (n. d. ). Peleponnesian War. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from ThinkQuest. com: http://library. thinkquest. org/17709/wars/peloponn. htm Thucydides, Lattimore, S. (1998). In S. Lattimore, The Peloponnesian War. Hackett Publishing.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Comparing 600-1450 & 1450-1750 Essay Example for Free

Comparing 600-1450 1450-1750 Essay Periods of time have always been changing and evolving. The 600 to 1450 era had some similarities to the following era, the 1450 to the 1750; though as said before, there were the changes also. Many continuities and breaks occurred between both periods. There were the changes in their trading systems, the technology, their global interactions, urbanization, social systems, and their political government development. These events led to various inventions and some that are still used to this day. All the terms involving continuity during both time periods eventually changed and affected the era. Analyzing these ideas will help receive a better understanding of both periods. During the 600s to the 1450s, trading was mostly done by land. There were long-distance trading occurring then, but not as much sea travel and ocean trade routes as in the 1450s to 1750s time period. The post-classical period (600-1450) included the long-distance trade from the European to the African kingdoms. However, there wasn’t any constant trading happening between the eastern and western hemisphere. On the other side, during the time frame after this (1450-1750), trading was constant with the western and eastern hemispheres now connected by sea-based travel. World trade patterns where happening due to the Atlantic Ocean trade eventually crossing of the Pacific Ocean. Trading began with small items and grew to even humans, slaves. Trade routes influenced the cultures and belief systems back then also. Connections between different people brought both positive and negative effects. Technology also improved because of necessary traveling items. The technology during both of these time periods where advancing and improving. During the 1450-1750, these innovations strengthened their political organization and economic growth. Afterwards these two affected and altered the world trade pattern. In these early years, the Scientific Revolution occurred and the methods used by scientists then, are now the basis for science; for example mathematical formulation, empirical evidence, and freedom of inquiry. The Scientific Revolution was a new vision of science relying on the human reason for comprehending the scientific phenomena. This Revolution was brought by the earlier Renaissance and the Reformation. During the 1450-1750, there wasn’t a Scientific Revolution, but there was the forcing of converting to Catholicism from the Spanish and Portuguese towards the Amerindians. In the earlier era, it was optional for people to rely on the Scientific Revolution as their belief, but in the later era, Catholicism was forced into being the belief of all. In navigation technology, the Portuguese made great contributions including the magnetic compass and the astrolabe, helping mariners determine their locations at sea. They also made advancements in the design of ships. Caravel was the name of the newly developed ship by the Portuguese. Its size allowed the exploration of shallow coastal areas and rivers, and was also strong eno0ugh to withstand storms out on the ocean. This navigational technology made history. Socially, there were many important cultural changes. For example in the 600-1450, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment were beliefs that oriented European minds toward science and invention. This allowed them to escape from the social and intellectual boundaries of the Middle Ages. Speaking first of the Renaissance, which was primarily launched in Italy, this was a time of â€Å"rebirth† to the intellectual and artistic creativity of the people. Humanism is the interest of an individual’s capabilities and accomplishments, but in the Italian Renaissance, humanism was reflected through philosophies, portrait painting, and autobiography. The Reformation occurred both in the Protestant group and later on in the Catholic people. The rebellions against the church were the Protestant Reformation, which began in 1517 by Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. The Catholic Church responded forcefully and began the Catholic Reformation. During this time, a Council of Trent rose and Jesuits was founded which traveled all around Europe trying to convince ex-members back. During the time when the Spanish were ruling over the Americas, the forced their way into that land and killed everyone they found. These conquistadors were cruel, slaughtering small children, pregnant women, and even old men. Their political development systems changed slightly and this caused a new turn to the governments’ ruling and its land/sea possession of trade. During the post-classical era, the kingdoms were long lasting overall. In the period after, there was a great expansion of their kingdoms. The Spanish and French kings gained enough power to turn into absolute monarchs, which held complete control over their kingdoms. The French kings also cultivated a belief in the divine right, which was the authority of king with God’s blessing. In other parts of Europe (Britain and the Netherlands) developed constitutionalism as their style of government. Though, the development of capitalism and technological advances was constant on all government types. Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of property and business that produce goods to be sold in a free market. The joint-stock companies, back then, organized commercial ventures on a large scale by allowing investors to buy and sell shares. In the â€Å"putting-out system†, entrepreneurs delivered the raw material to the workers in their home, from where they were transformed into finished products. The Portuguese established viceroyalties, which were the king’s representatives in the New World and wielded a great deal of power over their lands. They later became independent and set up their government in an urban area. Talking more about the time of 1450-1750, the Zhen He’s voyages were very important. I founded interesting that after Yongle’s death, the Ming government decided to stop the voyages, but if they hadn’t, might the Chinese have been the ones to discover the Americas first?!!? Overall, periodization has changed and had made an impact on us today. The era between the 600-1450s and the one of 1450-1750s were both very interesting and had marker events that shape our life today. Analyzing, comparing the continuities and the breaks help us get a better understanding on what really made history.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Development of Fantasy Football Website

Development of Fantasy Football Website Chapter 1. Introduction Project Overview Last year a project was completed for Mr. Starkey (hereinafter referred to as Client) to design a family website. The website was centered on a fantasy football league created for family and friends from around the world. Many other features were involved in the creation of this website including games, events, family news and many more. With all these and an advanced fantasy football competition, more than just a website site was created. In fact a quote from the Client stated â€Å"The website has brought everyone together into a kind of ‘Family Intranet or in other words, a ‘Virtual Community has been created† (Starkey A.J. 2006). Chapter 2. Design Project Aims With the success of the project, the Client has asked for improvements to be made to the fantasy football feature of the website. For next seasons competition the Client would like the entrants to be able to register on-line. The Clients reasons for this are numerous:- To aid in the ease of entering the competition To save on postage for managers in different countries To have one official route for applications, instead of entries coming in from different ways and therefore getting lost and misled To allow alterations to be made by the entrant without contacting the Client To improve the quality of the website and to continuously bring the website forward with new and innovative ideas Project Objectives To fulfil this project and create the on-line fantasy football application I will have to meet several objectives. 1. To enable the entrant to:- Create a user name and password Log in with correct details View fantasy football rules Scroll through the players in different classes i.e. defence, midfield and forwards Pick and list their selected team Process their chosen team E-mail their application to the relevant address Error messages to be given in these circumstances:- Wrong log-in details are supplied Selected team breaks any fantasy football rules Follow the CSS guidelines set in the website structure, and to consider all HCI aspects throughout the design and implementation. To have the new system installed by 11Dec 2006. Project Considerations During all aspects of designing and building this feature the following considerations will be taken into account:- Superstructure Graphics Colour Content Readability Page Layout Links Project Methodology There were several possible methodologies to help with this project. The ones considered were:- 5 STEPS (Steps to Ensure Project Success) where it helps an individual deliver the project on time within budget. The focus is on developing a realistic schedule for a project and then managing it. AIS (Administrative Information System) which uses 7 structured components. PRINCE (Projects IN Controlled Environments) this was produced by the Central Computing and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) for the development and implementation of IS/IT projects. WebE Process â€Å"WebApps are often delivered incrementally. That is, framework activities will occur repeatedly as each increment is engineered and delivered† (Pressman RS 2005, p 507). Using the WebE Process represents an incremental design structure. The project is split up into increments to be tried and tested individually. This process model is adaptable to fit most tasks or implements. The one I have decided to go with is a methodology called PROMPT (Project Resource Organisation Management Planning Techniques) which although is the predecessor to PRINCE, it is the methodology more suited to my project than the others. PROMPT was designed in an attempt to set down guidelines for a computer project to avoid serious over-running of time limits, which I feel is vital in this project to keep me from falling behind. Even though the WebE process is specifically designed for web applications our project is not incremental. The stage flow guidelines are as follows:- Feasibility Study to determine whether the project should be done/can be done/will work if it is done. Initial stage where the project organisation is set up. Specification Stage in which the user specification was detailed. Design Stage where the logical and from this the physical design of the computer system was designed in detail. Development Stage the system is built and tested. Installation stage the user accepts a working system. Operation Stage when the system is tuned for the work in hand. Interface designs The overall design of the interface has to run along the same lines as the original website, while the log-in and selection pages can follow different routes. There are several different ways of approaching the interface. One option is a simple one click system where you click on a player and it appears in your team. Another option, and the one which will be applied to the feature, is a drag and drop system. Both options are simple for the users to work but the drag and drop system brings little extra to the process. It doesnt have to be just the name that is dragged it can be an icon. This will create a real manager feel to the program. Fig 2 shows an example of this drag and drop procedure. The icon being a players face. User Case The two use case diagrams show how the system will function. Diagram 1 shows how the Entrant will create his account, while Diagram 2 shows what option will be available to the registered manager. Storyboard Storyboarding not only improves your site navigation system but also helps design your website properly. Interface html/css design and layouts The majority of the pages in this section of the website will follow the same guidelines, with the slight exception of the team selection, seen below. Database Design There are several pieces of information required on each player for the database. Each subject data needs to be sorted properly to aid in the running of the database. â€Å"Normalisation is part of successful database design. Without normalisation, database systems can be inaccurate, slow and inefficient and they might not produce the data you expect† (databasedev.co.uk). To enable us to follow the normalisation rules to need to find a piece of information that uniquely identifies that player. As team name, player name player position etc can quite easily be duplicate a player ID has been created for each player. The creation of this ID will be automatically created by the database software (mysql) so does not need to be of a concern. The information held an each player are as follows: Field Example ID 1001 Team Name Arsenal Position Goalkeeper Player Name Lehmann Cost 7.5m Further developments The program has been designed so that any future enhancements that are required can be easily implemented. The program is reusable for the fantasy football competition every year. All that needs to be changed each year is the player information. As the database doesnt carry very much data there is plenty of room for extensions or other ideas and new innovations. The program can in future be used for any other fantasy games the client has in mind for future events. Reflection I found that the project, although not impossible to complete in the time limit, the ideas I had to solve the project objectives were over ambitious. The reasons for this soon became clear: My knowledge of PHP was not satisfactory at the start of the project to complete my ambitious objectives. The plan to keep to the main website theme, instead of aiding in the building of the fantasy football section made the project harder to complete. This was that I could not express myself for this project and therefore were limited in the way I could develop it. Considering this, the objectives and aims did not change as I feel that I still completed them moderately. The problem was that the php was very basic in the whole. Although this doesnt help with the time limit available, I can still improve this in the future as I improve my php knowledge. A good example of this is the team selection process. Diagram 6 shows one example of how I would have liked it to have been done. Chapter 3. Project Tracking Project Risks Due to the small size of this project, the risks are few, although I have included a few extra. These need to be considered even though the probability is very low, as they applied to the original project and so also concern the current one. Risk Identity Risk Probability Risk Impact Assessment of risk Risk mitigation management 1. Budget Unlikely Important Domain and monthly web server costs exceed expectations keep within budget where possible 2. Schedule Possible Important Mismanagement of workload Keep with schedule planed in the Gantt chart 3. Design Unlikely Marginal Unable to design to specification and considerations Research thoroughly and seek aid if required 4. Implementation Possible Marginal Software and hardware problems Prepare for this by having a second pc and alternative software available 5. Personnel Unlikely Serious Illness to myself that halts the procedure Seek extensions if required Reflection Project Risks As already reflected on earlier, concerning the objectives that were unfulfilled this also comes under the project risk category. The risk identity here was â€Å"schedule†. Risk Identity Risk Probability Risk Impact Assessment of risk Risk mitigation management 2. Schedule Possible Important Mismanagement of workload Keep with schedule planed in the Gantt chart Here although it says that the assessment of the risk is â€Å"Mismanagement of workload† I would be inclined to say that it was â€Å"Misinterpretation of expectations† Project Methodology The Project Proposal stated that the methodology WebE was going to be used. This was changed when it became clear that that Methodology wasnt completely suited for this project. The WebE is used for incremental applications, while the PROMPT although outdated was more suited this time. Chapter 4. Testing â€Å"Software testing is fundamentally concerned with demonstrating that observed (actual) program behaviour corresponds with specified (expected) program behaviour† (Jorgensen. P. 2002). What this means is that you build your test conditions to match what the expected outcomes of the software are. The best way of doing is to split your software into manageable sections. This is called Unit testing. This does not cover all the testing required, as our software needs to meet accessibility requirements and also pass a validation test. For all these and more we need to decide on a test strategy. Test Strategy The test strategy will include four different types of testing as described below. Sight testing This test will be used throughout the development and implementation of the website, and will be ongoing over short periods. This will spot simple errors before they become bigger. Usability testing This will be used to test every aspect of the website as defined in the website considerations. The tests and results can be seen in the Test plan. The website will then be put through the W3c Mark-up Validation Service test. Accessibility testing Accessibility testing involves measuring the ease with which users with special needs can complete common tasks on your website. The tests and results can be seen in the Test plan. Acceptance testing The Client will then be involved and asked to test all the features of the website to ensure that everything is designed to the clients expectations. This testing may result in further refinements. Usability Testing Using the list from the project consideration, we will test the web site thoroughly. These tests will be completed using different computers, browsers and internet speeds. Below is the test plan, which gives a table of the tests that were carried out, their expected results and their actual results. Test Plan Test No. Test Expected Results Actual Results Superstructure: 1 Is the site layout easy to understand? Yes Yes 2 Is the navigation around the site easy Yes Yes 3 Is the loading time quick and efficient Yes Yes 4 Is the site accessible to users with inferior hardware Yes Yes 5 Is the site accessible to users with inferior software Yes Yes 6 is the site accessible for short-sighted people Yes Yes Graphics: 7 Are they clear and attractive Yes Yes 8 Are they necessary Yes Yes 9 Do they contribute or just a distraction Contribute Contribute 10 Will they unjustifiable add to excessive loading time No Yes 11 Consider alternatives for people with lower spec browsers and software Yes Yes Colour: 12 Is there an attractive mix of colours Yes Yes 13 Do they add to the appearance of the site Yes Yes 14 Do the colours follow web standards Yes Yes 15 Have I considered colour blindness Yes Yes, See Accessibility test. Content: 16 Is the content interesting and of use to the user Yes Yes 17 Is the spelling correct Yes Yes 18 Is interaction possible Yes Yes Readability: 19 Are the pages readable Yes Yes 20 Does the site load correctly using different browsers Yes No! See note 102 Page Layout: 21 Is each page in the site consistent Yes No! See note 101 22 Use of Cascading style sheets Yes Yes Links: 23 Are the links easy to spot Yes Yes 24 Do they work correctly Yes Yes 25 If they follow the links can they return easily Yes Yes 26 Is there a site map, breadcrumbs or similar Yes, example Yes, Site map Program: Registration 27 Accept names and username Yes Yes 28 Accept Correct E-mail Yes Yes 29 Incorrect E-mail Error Error 30 Passwords Encrypt Yes Yes

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Changes in Operations are Needed for Future Threats and Terrorism in th

Threats and terrorism will always exist and are constantly evolving. Even after the dreadful 9/11 attacks, terrorists remain diligent at planning attacks against the United States and its allies. Although not on the same scale as the 9/11 attacks, terrorists have successfully executed plots in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. For example, on April 15, 2013, an attack at the Boston Marathon occurred, killing three people and injuring 264 individuals. In the United Kingdom, on 7 July 2005, the London bombing incidents took place. Fifty-two individuals were killed and 700 were injured. On 7 January 2015, there was a mass shooting at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo office in Paris. On 13 November 2015, terrorists have successfully executed the single deadliest terrorist attack in French history. Multiple shooting and grenade attacks occurred on a Friday night; among the locations targeted were a music venue, sports stadium and an ethnic restaurant. This very s hort list does not take into account the U.S., U.K. and French citizens which fall victim to the endless series of beheadings and bombing in the Middle East. No matter the type of attack or the number of casualties, terrorist activities continue have a great effect on the U.S. and its allies. Transnational crimes are constant issues as well. Transnational crimes can be terrorism, drug, weapon, and human trafficking, smuggling of goods, and cyber crimes. Adversaries in foreign nations also commit corporate espionage and implant computer viruses by infiltrating the nation’s network systems. All of these crimes affect the U.S.; therefore, it is important that law enforcement and intelligence agencies work together to limit the amount of crimes and... ...atu, S., & Fainisi, F. (2011). INTERNATIONAL CYBER SECURITY THROUGH CO-OPERATION. Economics, Management and Financial Markets, 6(2), 438-448. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/884338908?accountid=28180 Rascoff, S. J. (2010). The law of homegrown (counter)terrorism. Texas Law Review, 88(7), 1715-1749. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/722437512?accoun tid=28180 Rosen, N. (2006). Thinking like a jihadist: Iraq's jordanian connection. World Policy Journal, 23(1), 1-16. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/232587503?accountid=28180 Tokatlian, J. G. (2008). A new doctrine of insecurity? U.S. military deployment in South America. NACLA Report on the Americas, 41(5), 6-10. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/202714393?accountid=28180

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper Essay -- William Blake Chimney Sw

William Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Blake’s â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† was mainly about the possibilities of both hope and faith. Although the poem’s connotation is that of a very dark and depressed nature, the religious imagery Blake uses indicates that the sweeps will have a brighter future in eternity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In lines 4 – 8 when Blake writes, â€Å"There’s little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, That curled like a lamb’s back, was shaved: so I said ‘Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head’s bare You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.’ These lines symbolize faith in the biblical sense. Young Tom’s is like that of the sacrificial lamb of God and when the narrator tells Tom to stop crying because he knows that the soot can not longer spoil his white hair he, is saying to Tom, once he makes this sacrifice nothing else can hurt him. Blake is saying that if the children make the sacrifice of living out their lives here on Earth, no matter how dark and dismal their lives may seem at the time, they will be rewarded in heaven as long as they know the glory of God and trust in him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is in lines 10 – 24 that the poem becomes one of hope. For when Blake writes â€Å"As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack, Were all of them locked up in coffins of black. And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he opened the coffins and set them all free;† Blake’s words ring true of hope for the sw... William Blake's The Chimney Sweeper Essay -- William Blake Chimney Sw William Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Blake’s â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† was mainly about the possibilities of both hope and faith. Although the poem’s connotation is that of a very dark and depressed nature, the religious imagery Blake uses indicates that the sweeps will have a brighter future in eternity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In lines 4 – 8 when Blake writes, â€Å"There’s little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, That curled like a lamb’s back, was shaved: so I said ‘Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head’s bare You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.’ These lines symbolize faith in the biblical sense. Young Tom’s is like that of the sacrificial lamb of God and when the narrator tells Tom to stop crying because he knows that the soot can not longer spoil his white hair he, is saying to Tom, once he makes this sacrifice nothing else can hurt him. Blake is saying that if the children make the sacrifice of living out their lives here on Earth, no matter how dark and dismal their lives may seem at the time, they will be rewarded in heaven as long as they know the glory of God and trust in him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is in lines 10 – 24 that the poem becomes one of hope. For when Blake writes â€Å"As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack, Were all of them locked up in coffins of black. And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he opened the coffins and set them all free;† Blake’s words ring true of hope for the sw...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Winning the Fight against Super Bugs

The term ‘antibiotics’ refers to substances that kill bacteria or prevent their growth. Antibiotics are natural substances that are released by bacteria and fungi into their environment to fight other organisms. The use of antibiotics by organisms therefore represents chemical warfare on a microscopic scale. The activity of antibiotics was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928 when he observed that colonies of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus could be destroyed by the mould Penicillium notatum.The significance of the discovery was however not realized at that time, and it was only in the 1940s when Howard Florey and Ernst Chain isolated the active ingredient and developed the substance in its powdery form, that it was realized that penicillin and other antibiotics could be used as very effective medicines to kill certain types of disease-causing bacteria within the human body. Bacterial infections can be fatal, especially for young children and babies who do not have adequate immunity.Labeled as the ‘wonder drug,’ the use of antibiotics to combat bacterial infections resulted in a significant decrease in the deaths due infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. Antibiotics are not only used to used to treat human ailments but also bacterial infections in plants and animals. After having been effectively used for almost half a century, a new challenge loomed up in front of humankind in the form of bacteria that turned resistant to antibiotics. These bacteria are known as the ‘superbugs’. Natural antibiotics have probably existed as long as microorganisms have.Certain types of bacteria have therefore undergone adaptation and mutation to overcome the action of antibiotics. These bacteria have learnt to deal with practically all types of antibiotics that are available. They pose a serious problem in the form of diseases that cannot be treated with any medicines. As antibiotics treatment of bacterial infec tions continues, the number and variety of super bugs are bound to increase. It could eventually come to a pass when bacterial infections become as fatal as they were in the days before the discovery of antibiotics.This could lead to a depicted scenario in which the very existence of humankind could be threatened. There is, however, good news. A research led by Dr Adrian Lloyd of the University of Warwick’s Department of Biological Sciences has succeeded in unraveling how the super bug Streptococcus pneumoniae develops its penicillin immunity (University of Warwick, 2008). This finding opens up many new avenues of disrupting the process of development of resistance to antibiotics by the Streptococcus pneumoniae specifically and other super bugs in general.This could enable scientists to restore penicillin as a weapon against these bacteria, as well as restore the efficacy of other types of antibiotics against their respective bacteria. Essentially the study found that a prote in called the MurM was at the root of the development of resistance to antibiotics by the bacteria. Very simply put, Penicillin normally kills off the S. pneumoniae by inhibiting the formation of Peptidoglycan an essential component of the bacterial cell wall which protects the otherwise fragile bacterial cell.When Peptidoglycan is not produced, the protective cell wall of the bacteria is not formed leading to the death of the organism. It had been observed that the protein MurM was linked to changes in the chemical makeup of the Peptidoglycan that was found in penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. The protein MurM has been found to lead to the formation of particular structures known as the ‘dipeptide bridges’ in the peptidoglycan resulting in the formation of a bacterial cell wall that is resistant to penicillin.â€Å"The Warwick team were able to replicate the activity of MurM in a test tube, allowing them to define the chemistry of the MurM reaction in det ail and understand every key step of how Streptococcus pneumoniae deploys MurM to gain this resistance. † (University of Warwick, 2008). This will enable the Warwick team and any other pharmaceutical researchers to zero in on MurM reaction in the Streptococcus pneumoniae and develop drugs to disrupt the process of development of resistance to penicillin.The result could be designer penicillin antibiotics to be deployed effectively against penicillin resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. Since the same mechanism works in the development of resistance to antibiotics in other bacteria such as MRSA, the findings of the Warwick University research could open up more fronts in the fight against antibiotic resistant bacteria. Moreover, the researchers have been able to readily reproduce every stage of formation of the peptidoglycan required by the Streptococcus pneumoniae to build up its penicillin-resistant cell wall.This provides pharmaceutical companies different levels at which to attack the process of development of antibiotic resistance that could lead to the invention of an array of modified penicillin for penicillin resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. The significance of the new findings can be gauged from the fact that Streptococcus pneumonia causes 5 million fatalities worldwide in children. In the United States, it is the cause of infection in 1 million elderly out of which 7% end in fatalities.In every day life the finding can be related to arming a conventional missile with a nuclear warhead. The enemy in this case are the bacteria, and the war is not for the annihilation for the survival of humanity. References -01 University of Warwick (2008, March 15). How Antibiotic Resistant Bugs Became Resistant To Penicillin, And How Penicillin Could Work Again. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 1, 2003, from http://www. sciencedaily. com ¬ /releases/2008/03/080312100041. htm

Monday, September 16, 2019

Family Health Assessment Questions Essay

1. How would you describe your family’s current state of health? 2. What are you doing to promote health? 3. Are there any habits that can be detrimental to you or your families health? Nutrition and Metabolism: 1. Is there any diseases or medical complications that affect nutritional or metabolic function? 2. What is a typical family meal, and typical daily fluid intake? 3. Are there any physical complications preventing or making obtaining the proper nutrition or daily caloric or fluid intake? Elimination: 1.Explain your normal bowel, bladder patterns. Have there been any changes in these patterns? 2.Do you have any problems with constipation or diarrhea? Activity and Exercise: 1. What do you and your family do for physical activity and exercise? 2. How many days/hours of physical activity a week do you do? Cognitive: 1. How does your family acquire information about health diagnosis? 2. Who makes the decisions regarding health care for you and your family? Sleep and Rest: 1. How many hours of sleep on average per night do you and family members get? 2. Are there any difficulties with falling or staying asleep? Do you feel rested in the morning? Self -Perception- Self-Concept: 1. How does your family feel they integrate into the community? 2. How does the family describe the events that led to a change? Roles and Relationships: 1. How does the family manage daily living and how are household tasks divided? 2. Who is employed in the household and who holds financial responsibility? Is it shared? Sexuality-Reproductive 1. Individually are you comfortable with your partner in discussing sexuality. 2. How do as a married couple view marriage, parenthood and relationship as lovers? Coping-Stress Tolerance: 1. How does your family cope with stressful life events? 2. What resources do you have access to or use already? Values-Beliefs Pattern: 1. Do you as a family identify with any cultural, ethnic, religious, or other organizations? 2. What are your family’s values and beliefs and how do they influence your daily life?

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Net Present Value, Mergers and Acquisitions Essay

One financial goal of financial managers is to maximize the shareholders’ wealth. Therefore, merger and acquisition decisions should be consistent with shareholder wealth maximization, and financial characteristics of the targets to consider in the decision-making process. The net present value method is one of the useful methods that help financial managers to maximize shareholders’ wealth. The capital budgeting decision mergers Acquisitions Net Present Value Financial managers are working for the shareholders and their primary goal is profit maximization in order to maximize the wealth of the company and the shareholders. The Capital budgeting decision focuses on the net present value method, the payback period, and the internal rate of return method. This paper has two parts, where the first aspect relates to the capital budgeting decision. This paper will recommend if Goggle should accept a new project by using the net present value method. Next, the paper will discuss Google’s potential acquisition of Groupon and if it will add value to the shareholders of both corporations. Finally, this paper will make a recommendation to Goggle and Groupon on the best course of action for a merger or acquisition. Part I First, a financial manger has to make optimal decisions they will benefit the company. A financial manger has to know how to make money and smart investments in order to raise capital and put the money back into the company. The net present value is an important concept and useful tool to use to help financial managers make informed financial decisions. For instance, the net present value concept works with the capital budgeting decision to make an informed decision on a project and the potential for profits. In addition, net present value compares the value of a dollar today to the value of that same dollar in the future, taking inflation and returns into account because dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future. The time value of money concept takes into considerations that money has a different buying power in the future because of inflation and changes in interest rates. For example, if the net present value of a project is positive, then the company should accept the project, but if the net present value of the project is negative then the company should not accept the project. Calculations 1) Calculate present value (PV) of cash inflow (CF) Initial Cash Outflow PV of CF = CF1 / (1+r)1 + CF2 / (1+r)2 + CF3 / (1+r)3 + CF4 / (1+r)4 + CF5 / (1+r)5 PV of CF= $1,750,000 (1+ 2) Calculate NPV NPV = Total PV of CF – Initial cash outflow -Initial cash outflow + Total PV of CF r = Discount rate (14%) Part II Rumors about potential mergers and acquisitions are often a hot topic in the business press. Mergers and acquisitions can have advantages and disadvantages for a company because it has both rewards and risks. Companies want to have successful and profitable mergers that would have value to their shareholders. â€Å"One of the most common motives for mergers is growth. There are two broad ways a firm can grow. The first is through internal growth. This can be slow and ineffective if a firm is seeking to take advantage of a window of opportunity in which it has a short-term advantage over competitors. The faster alternative is to merge and acquire the necessary resources to achieve competitive goals† ( Google’s potential acquisition of Groupon would add value to the shareholders of both corporations, especially Groupon. The recent price per share for Google is $1,130. 18 and the recent price per share for Groupon is $11. 56. The Groupon company was a new company that made over one billion dollars in sale their first year in business. In 2010, when Groupon first started it was a new idea and a new site that offered daily deals. Google wanted to buy Groupon for six billion dollars but the deal â€Å"the daily-deals site that became the quickest firm to rack up $1 billion in sales and the second-quickest, behind video behemoth YouTube, to hit a $1 billion valuation. Online acquisitions didn’t get any bigger than this† (Sennett, 2012). The impact on Google shareholders would be a negative impact on their stock. For example, â€Å"there is also a perception in the market that Google would not acquire Groupon as it will have a negative impact on Google’s stock. This might be true for the shorter-term but not for the longer-term period as Groupon grows and delivers better performance† (Seeking Alpha, 2012). In addition, if Google was to acquire Groupon then Google will face tax losses. The impact on Groupon shareholders would add value to the company because Google would back it and the company could come up with more innovative ways to keep and attract new customers. The business concept for Groupon could lead to duplications by other businesses. Groupon stock would increase and the company could have made millions of dollars off a merger with Google, since Google is already a profitable company. The financial conditions of both corporations prior to the merger were outstanding. For example, Groupon had an annual revenue of more than $500 million and the company was estimated at $1. 4 billion. On the other hand, Google was already a successful company with shares of over $600. â€Å"Google Investors, however, seemed focused on Groupon’s valuation, which was estimated at 1. 4 billion during its last fund-raising round in April. Shares in Google fell 4. 5 percent, to $555. 71; the stock was battered by news that European regulators had opened an antitrust investigation† (Rusli, Worthham, 2010). Google and the Groupon Company would be more profitable if they remain separate companies because Google was already very successful. For instance, Groupon business model could be easily copied. In addition, Groupon expanded to fast, and their stock sold for over $20 then dropped to $13 in less than a year. For example, the leaders at Grouon wanted to grow the company as fast as possible, and then cash out on the company. â€Å"This was an outrageous offer for a company that had reported just $30 million in revenue for all of 2009, and any ordinary startup would have taken it. But Groupon’s growth in 2010 was off the charts, and bankers from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were salivating at the prospect of leading its public offering. Goldman chief Lloyd Blankfein made the trip to Chicago personally to woo Groupon. â€Å"The bankers broke out all these charts,† said a source familiar with the meetings. â€Å"They showed Eric a growth matrix that projected Groupon would be worth $25 billion in a few years. When he saw that, Google was toast† (Popper, 2013). Finally, a merger between Groupon and Google could take years because of the antitrust laws. An acquisition is successful when the company has a clear plan with specific objectives and a timeline to complete the deal. In addition, successful acquisitions also include a way to finance the acquisition whether it is equity financing, cash reserves, or debt financing. A merger is successful when there is effective communication, effective leadership, and clear objectives and planning. In addition, successful mergers also involves the elimination of power struggles and Potential pitfalls – might the combined entity actually be less profitable than either company operating independently? What are the risk factors with this potential acquisition? Explain and discuss financing options for financing mergers and acquisitions â€Å"Even though bidding firms will pay a premium to acquire resources through mergers, this total cost is not necessarily more expensive than internal growth, in which the firm has to incur all of the costs that the normal trial and error process may impose. While there are exceptions, in the vast majority of cases growth through mergers and acquisitions is significantly faster than through internal means† Apply principles of risk and valuation analysis to mergers and acquisitions

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Human Resource Management and Siemens Essay

1. How does Siemens seek to provide good career opportunities for employees? The entire article is about Siemens and how they manage its employees. The Culture of the company is high performance which is to encourage people to achieve high results. When you are in a company whose culture is to do the best, you definitely have a chance to improve your career. The Environment of Siemens Is rare whose workforce consists of professional people who believe in teamwork and hard work does not prevent having fun together and party. Dr. Klaus Kleinfield said he â€Å"was able to build large circle of advisors and friends within the company† (qtd in success stories). Most of us would love to work in this kind of company. Siemens also provide you the chance to enter global high technology company because it operates jointly in many countries. There is also flexibility and diversification in the company. More than 500,000 employees work in industries of healthcare, transportation, telecommunication, power generation and electronics (success stories). Their organiz ation structure is not flat; they have broad range of positions like human resource specialists, administrators, researchers, etc (creating†¦). There is good chance of making a career in company like Siemens. They also have some programs inside the company itself that renders employees the opportunities. Siemens have Human Resource Development Program which function is to identify and meet the needs of their workforce. The strategy helps worker to excel at work which is beneficial for the company and its employees. The most important part of program is that Siemens is â€Å"encouraging employees to improve their career and other aspects of life† (qtd in creating).Besides human resource development program, they also have Talent Management Philosophy. It makes sure that each employee is given support to achieve the maximum potential (creating). 2. Describe one of the systems that Siemens has created which provides development opportunities for employees at work. Talent Management- managing People Talent Management is not the only system in Siemens which provide opportunities, they also have Human Resource Development Program and many others which not appear in the study. I am going to describe Talent Management. The system makes sure that each employee is given a support to achieve their maximum potential and works together to achieve the organization’s objective. There are no reasons to prevent the progress of your career, if you work in a company like Siemens. The strategy is for all the employees, not just the high position workers. According to Siemens Everyone has talent and can make the best use (creating). Human Resource is also taken into consideration for Talent Management System. Matching the talent with appropriate task gives them the competitive advantage. You can see how important the strategy is for the company. Talent management provides job enrichment and enlargement. In the first one workers are inspire for additional charge to make the work appealing and in enlargement, extension is given to responsibility range with knowledge and skills. The system is very helpful for managers in a way that it enables them to engage and motivate the employees to accomplish the organization’s goals. Before jumping to Talent Management directly, it is important to take into account Performance Management. According to Siemens, Talent management depends on Performance Management. Siemens has also created a standard process of conducting the performance and development of their workforce (creating).Performance Management is what happens between company’s plans and individual target of the employees. The process creates communication and trust by setting goals, monitoring performance and discussion between managers and subordinates. Honesty is very critical in the entire system. 2. How important is the appraisal system in helping to create shared understandings about the objectives of the organization and personal objectives of individual employees? The appraisal system is extremely important for any company in helping to create shared understandings about organizations objectives. Appraisal is giving reward to an individual or a team for their performance. The reward could be any form like words, promotion, bonus, etc. There are several different appraisal techniques like: self-review, immediate supervisor, peer group, team, and overall assignment, upward and 360 degree (kork). You can’t classify any single techniques the best. It depends on the situation, identifying which type of appraisal system will work better than the other. After all, providing appraisal is more important than the kind of system we choose. From my point of view appraisal is very important in any organization, does not matter if the company is small or large. As a university student will be happy if the professor gives me a reward like â€Å"good job†, it will keep me motivated to do my best the next time. We could say the same thing about the employees working at Siemens. Before appraisal system, knowledge sharing is necessary. Knowledge sharing is â€Å"capturing, organizing, reusing and transferring experience based knowledge that reside within the organization making it available to others†(qtd in kork†¦). Giving appraisal is critical for better communication and management in the organization. For a company like Siemens appraisal system is very essential because their system is all about targets and performance of the employees. Through appraisal employees know their results of the performance. It is very important in fast changing world â€Å"effective appraisal systems act as a primary vehicle for the measurement change† (qtd in kork†¦). 3. How effective do you think the Siemens approach to people management will be in creating great results? Right now Siemens is doing a great job for managing people. Siemens culture is high performance which will keep their employees motivated. Than they have Human Resource development program and Talent Management Philosophy which I mentioned earlier. They says that â€Å"excellent people need to be managed in a excellent way†(qtd in creating†¦). The key point for their management is that they take benefits from employees and also provide them back in different ways. Many companies do not take into consideration the other advantages provided by the company. Giving salary is not all that matters. When Siemens assign a task to the employees they pass the responsibility with trust which leads to engagement, commitment and high performance. By doing what Siemens is doing at the present, they will be success effectively managing the people. If they keep doing the same thing with little changes require with the time, they will have no problem managing workforce.5. How you would apply what you have learned from the case study. Siemens case study is very important for me, in fact I will keep this for future. There are some very important details of management and Human Resources. I will make sure that my subordinates get something more than salary from the company. Every single thing in the article is very essential for manager. I would like to go in a company who offer similar benefits like Siemens and whose culture is high performance. Companies like Siemens offer you the opportunity to make growth in your career. I will like to have programs like Human Resource Development and Talent management in my company which could provide some exceptional talents I could not have figure out. This kind of articles just open up your mind and make you think about what was unknown before. Communication and integration is very essential wherever we work. It will take forward your company or family. Siemens operates in different countries; all this is done because they communicate well from long distance.

Friday, September 13, 2019

A Third Leg In The Strategy Tripod Commerce Essay

A Third Leg In The Strategy Tripod Commerce Essay In recent times strategy has become a major and significant part of international businesses (IB). A strategy is there to help the organisation to achieve its objectives and goals. There are various factors in the industry that multinationals can take to make investment decisions, nevertheless in the international business environment, it has been dominated by both industry and resource base views. A resource base view lies within the company and not on the outside, it also tells us how the company or organisation will deliver a sustainable competitive advantage and how these resources will be controlled and managed in a way that its end results can’t be copied by its competitors and would create a competitive barrier and generate a competitive advantage at a sustainable level Porter 1980).An industry base view is based on a clear understanding of the organisation’s competitive and economic structure, the challenge here is to position the company in a way that it could gain a bigger portion of the profits in the market that the company is operating in and even with new entrants coming into the market place , the organisation should turn its core competencies in an advantage. According to the journal the authors (M.W.Peng, D.Y.L. Wang and Y. Jiang) state that the view of international business strategy emerged through and institution base. They also state that this one of the legs that support and uphold the tripod strategy, and the other two part of the tripod strategy is based on a resource base view and an industry base view. In the journal the authors did a review of four distinct characteristic s or qualities of important research , these four characteristics are :(1)antidumping as entry barriers;(2)competing in and out of India;(3)growing the firm in China and the fourth being governing the corporation in emerging economies. According to the authors they state that there were questions confronting the international business raised by (Peng 2 004a), where he identified emerging nations in Asia to indicate a realistic and intermediate phase during the early and late stages of institution transitions. In the article the authors’ stats two arguments that is based on network strengths and network content. To determine strategy and performance the authors cite (Porters 1980) competitive strategy, which a frame works for industry analysis (Porters Five Force analysis). A third leg in the strategy tripod In the third leg of the strategy tripod the authors state that the industry-base view is rooted in a way the MNE’s strategy is based on certain conditions within the nature of the industry that the company has a focus on. They (authors) also state that with a resource – based view IB concentrate more internally that externally, as most of the value lies within the organisation. With both industry and resource-based views, it still brings up questions to investment locations. In the tripod strategy the autho rs cite (Scot 1995:33) where he define institutions as concrete structures , e.g. buildings and as human capital , including political and social aspects which they state , e.g.corruption,economic liberations and ethical norms , these are a few examples from the article that also affect the stability of markets that MNE’s operate in. Research by (Lawrence & Lorsch , 1969) clearly shows that the dominate part of research is a â€Å"task environment† view , where economic variables were looked at and what the market demand are and a change in technology.(Peng 2008) states that shaping strategies and performance have an impact on both formal and informal institutions.

Organization Theory and Design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Organization Theory and Design - Assignment Example Its free-flowing management style makes it more flexible which encourages entrepreneurship and innovation more than larger organization due. Small organizations could easily act as a large organization with the use of the internet. Putting up a website enable itself to take the position in the global business arena. Full-service global businesses need a strong resource base and sufficient complexity to better serve its global clients. Moreover, financial service companies and multi-product industries are better to act like a big company/small-company hybrids. Due to its complexity of the task and the huge number of employees, a large organization has to install and use rules, procedures, and control system to organize and make things moving smoothly and keep task predictable and routine. In the process, however, the organization becomes too bureaucratic, lacking personalize management similar to that of entrepreneurship which is an essential element for continued innovation. Most college professors need to space to grow and develop their abilities. Each one of them has his own style of teaching. So it is advisable to have an organization that supports and encourages such individual identity and promote innovations. On the other hand, bookkeeping requires predictability, accuracy, and routine therefore, the organization should follow strict procedures and control system. It should opt for optimization of the work rather than focus on innovations. 4. Apply the concept of the life cycle to an organization with which you are familiar, such as a university or a local business. What stage is the organization in now How did the organization handle or pass through its life cycle crises Jollibee Corp. The Philippines began as a small ice cream house run by family members during the 1980s. It was at its entrepreneur stage where the main focus of the business is on customer satisfaction and managed informally by family members. As the business expands into restaurant and branches out, it enters its collectivity stage. Business is growing that family members can no longer handle. Thus the hiring of experienced executives becomes a necessity. As the fast-food chain expands to other parts of the country, the need for a control system is necessary. Thus entered its formalization stage. The company is now experiencing the highest peak of its life cycle. Solution to red tape is not necessary since its branches are run by the franchise. Â