Influence of Visual Media

Decades have gone by and in that time culture and visual entertainment media has change tremendously. The interrelationship between culture and visual entertainment media has had an impact on both film and television. Television and film have more violence and more inappropriate words but also captures examples of everyday concerns and provides positive feedback. Since the 1950s the primary source of entertainment has been television ,and has developed an impact on books. Most author’s books have been made into movies providing a more entertaining and visual view of the plot in our most favorite stories.Millions of families gather in front of the television daily and weekly to view their favorite television shows. Shows such as The Brady Bunch and The Cosby show began models of what the perfect family should be like. These shows not only brought us laughs but they also taught us lessons of parenting and the challenges that children face growing up. Visual entertainment has als o shaped American culture by creating improvements to television and film. Impacts like high definition television provides us with a better quality when watching the biggest sports events on television.For an example the Super bowl which is one of the largest sports events and those that not able to attention the game usually tune in from home or have Super bowl parties. These parties are usually thrown by those that have the newest and biggest television model. Visual entertainment has allowed us to be able to actually see the news and sports instead of only having the option of listening on a radio. Before television was invented the radio was one of the only sources of entertainment.Although there has been some positive forms that visual entertainment media has shaped visual entertainment media over the years there have been some negative changes to its value. Years ago the content allowed on television was appropriate for all ages but now it is very risky to even allow children to watch their favorite cartoons. Due to the amount of violence and profanity on television American culture now has concerns with bad influences. Children are being exposed to words and behavior that parents of try every day to teach theirs kids what is right and what is wrong but visual entertainment is showing them things that are negative.When you are teaching your children to not use inappropriate language and are being sure that they are not being exposed to specific words and behavior then some they watch on television is shows kids using inappropriate language or behavior it confused children and influence them to try it. The social influences of visual entertainment media are mostly negative. Social media is now a type of visual entertainment media and creates a negative impact to society because on social networks such as Facebook and Instagram where there are constant post of videos and status.The videos posted on these sights contain violence people fighting one another and their friends or family member recording the fights urging them on. They are also videos posted men and women degrading themselves in sexual ways as well as inappropriate dance videos. All of these things are providing negative influences for youth and adults it seems that American culture is being worsen by these things. Social media should ban those that post inappropriate post of status and videos automatically without it having to be reported. Truth is some of it won’t be reported because this is a form of entertainment for so many.The interrelationship between culture and visual entertainment media has many impacts to television and film. Some of these impacts are positive and some are negative either way they have shaped American culture into what it is today. The positive and negative impacts all us to be visually entertained. Visual entertainment media provides the ability to TV and movies based on your favorite books and sports. It also provides negativity throu gh social influences. However, these are all changes that have impact visual entertainment whether good or bad it is still considered visual entertainment.

Netflix Case Analysis

Case Analysis: Netflix. com, Inc k JAVK Consulting Company 6/14/2011 600 Civic Center Dr Detroit, MI 48226 Dear Mr. Hastings, Our company JAVK Consulting has examined the Netflix customer model and looked into the company’s five year financial future. We have analyzed Netflix with a scope of entering a rocky internet based company marketplace and seeing success in the future. The company currently is pumping lots of money into marketing strategy in order to growth their customer base and is in turn facing financial troubles while they approach their initial public offering stage.As you read through our analysis of Netflix you will find our company’s thought on your financial performance so far, look into a subscriber model and correlated cash flows, and develop an idea of financing solutions to manage growth. While more users are using mainstream technology such as DVD players, video game consoles, laptops, combined along with high-speed internet the creates a growing e nvironment for a consumers wanting entertainment at their joysticks and fingertips. Our aspiration is for Netflix to have a successful run at an IPO if chosen and manage their customer growth along the way for long term success.Thank you for the chance to help your business thrive. We hope you agree with our financial outlook of Netflix and make a decision that catapults your company into financial success. Sincerely, JAVK Consulting Group Problem Statement: Based on Initial discussion and evaluation, we understand that the launch of Initial Public Offering (IPO) is critical and needs to be evaluated if the company should go forward with the offering, as a result of number of internet companies have been forced to withdraw their IPOs due to market down turn.Secondly the need to show positive cash flows within a twelve month horizon in order to have a successful offering. Third to suggest modifications that would improve the company’s projected cash flows given the fact that t he revenues were doubling every six months. One of the most critical points of success for Netflix depended on the company’s ability to manage and sustain their triple-digit growth into the foreseeable future. Analysis: Technology is continuously facing rapid change which gives a company such as Netflix an exclusive opportunity for a first mover advantage in a new market.The Netflix product is one that can ship easily and cost effectively or be received directly to internet connections worldwide. The definite increase in internet and console users is creating a consumer demand for entertainment that Netflix can fill. This versatile product paired with emerging technology has led to rapid growth for the Netflix Company. The basic elements of Netflix core products give them an advantage over brick and mortar stores such as Blockbuster as Netflix offers a more personalized movie experience, the same new titles, all along with no time restrictions or late fees.As part of this lon g term objective Netflix’s goal is to grow its customer base and retain users of free trial software. The goal of the free software is to have a positive acquisition rate of free trial users after a month of free service and retain them into the long run future. After retention, the goal of Netflix is to withhold those customers into the long term future by tailoring the Netflix product in a unique way to each customer. Netflix does this by adapting their website interactions for each customer based off of their viewing history and preferences using a unique personal movie finder service.By offering this personalized service video users can find movies they would enjoy and possibly use the Netflix mail service. Theoretically speaking, Netflix performance to date has been positive (although the company has been incurring loss year over year) considering the high operating expenses for the initial years of a new business is common as most businesses make it or break it in their first 2-3 years which seems to be a normal trend considering this industry where the fixed assets increase year over year and the revenue generated on the fixed assets could drastically diminish based on user preference.Netflix has an extremely high growth rate for their revenues as they are doubling every six months. While revenues are doubling in the last year sales and marketing expenses have gone up more than three times. The main objective now is to make sure that after an initial public offering Netflix will continue to create positive cash flows. We believe that Netflix has chosen the subscriber model to forecast its cash flow requirements because it is the most precise representation of how the company receives cash on a monthly basis.Netflix at its core is in the movie rental industry, the only cash inflows received are from subscribers that pay monthly subscription fees. The basic elements of the subscriber model are monthly subscribers, subscription fees, and movie usage including movies rented and shipping costs. Based on these elements costs and revenues can be narrowed down and correlated to individual aspects of the model and accurate cash flows can be formed in order to predict future profitability. The subscriber model is fitting for Netflix for these reasons as subscribers are essentially their only cash inflows.Exhibit A, illustrates the subscribe model premise. In our analysis, we used the subscriber model to forecast future cash flows. This allows us to see potential revenues month to month based on the initial subscriber rate and percentage, while incorporating the cost to your company for each additional subscriber. We have forecasted potential cash flows as well as revenues for the next five years (Exhibit D & Exhibit E). This gives us an idea of where we are going and how we will get there. Currently it costs your company $106. 58(Exhibit B) for the first month of a free trial customer.This cost is offset by paid subscribers and can b e considered a marketing expense. Every month each paid subscriber earns you on average $5. 82 (Exhibit B) in revenue. Netflix should continue trying to obtain new subscribers since there is a positive cash inflow for those customers after a weighted average is formed. Based on the weighted average of customers who stay with Netflix and those that leave there is a positive NPV based on the retention percentages. There are three basic types of customers for Netflix, one month trail exiting users, six month exiting users, and over five year users.Based off the retention ratios after one month 70% of customers from the free trail stay with Netflix, after that first month 42% of the original 70% stay for six months and 28% stay longer than six months (we have assumed it to be of at least 5 years and above). If a customer leaves after one month of free service your company would suffer a loss of $19. 26 (Exhibit B) given the fact that the initial purchase ($98. 28) of DVD(s) can be reuse d ($88. 45) for the other new subscribers by purchasing an incremental of 2 DVD(s) which move to the back catalogue as they become obsolete.Netflix can convert and retain those customers for six months they generate $1. 21(Exhibit B) of cash inflow for each customer. If the cash flow from acquiring new subscribers was negative we would advise your company to take an alternate route for generating cash flows. If your company continues with current business, retaining 28% of initial customers at least 5 years and above, the net present value of your corporation will be $65,851,642 (Exhibit E) based on certain assumption listed in Exhibit E.This NPV of your company after 5 years is based on the weighted average NPV percentages that we determined for each of the three customer categories; one month subscribers, six month subscribers and five year subscribers. Over sixty five million as a NPV is a glamorous number to project but it requires your company to retain the current customer ret ention ratios over the three timeline increments (Exhibit C). If these retention ratios are held strong then we have determined the weighted NPV per subscriber would be $34. 34 (Exhibit C).While this number is far from over sixty five million dollars over the five year time retention span it grows to be exactly that. Conclusion/Recommendation: Based on our analysis we have come up with some solutions to improve your overall cash flows and strengthen the financial health of your company. These solutions are not far from the product that Netflix currently offers so making the changes would not place a large burden on costs. Also, the changes will offer a more customer focused and interactive experience with the Netflix product.Initially your first goal should be to increase the retention rate of potential new trial subscribers. Given that internet users are increasing year over year, we recommend that your company consider online video streaming (video on demand) which will be an out of the box approach. Using the online media streaming can help your company to cut down on sales and advertising cost. Secondly with introduction of online streaming reduce the membership fees to 75% of the current rates which will help you increase customer retention rates.Third, promote revenue sharing which can help increase you marketing base while cutting your expenses. Forth is to promote referral bonus (can vary based on number of referrals provided) which can help you boost your sales through you existing customer base and in return reduce your operational expenses. Lastly to reduce the trial period to 2 weeks (if done by Mail only) and this will result in increase of NPV of Netflix by $25. 8 million (increase of NPV/subscriber from 34. 34 to 44. 10). Netflix is becoming even more personalized and may cut undesired costs such as unnecessary shipping costs.By doing this you will increase your profitability and decrease your cost to acquire a new customer. Another recommendati on is to continue to encourage all online subscribers to rate films. This will encourage other subscribers to rent more movies and help with the automatic marquee queue available to online subscribers. By encouraging this interactive use with the Netflix website the company will have an idea of which DVD’s to spend money purchasing and will be able to keep an updated DVD library that meets the growing demand of new subscribers.To conclude, your company should delay the IPO until the economic condition improves and use this additional time to evaluate some of our recommendation to attain positive cash flows which can play in your favor. Appendix: Exhibit A – Subscriber Model Premises| Cost/New DVD| $ 17. 55 | Shipping Cost/DVD| $ 1. 00 | Number of DVD Initial Marque Queue| $ 4. 00 | Number of DVD Shipped /Month| $ 4. 30 | New DVD 1st Month| $ 5. 60 | Number of new DVD(s) subsequent Month| $ 0. 56 | Revenue /Month| $ 19. 95 | Free trial| $ 1. 00 |Discount Rate| 20%| Exhi bit B -New Subscriber Model| | Free| Paid| Paid| Paid| Paid| Paid| Paid| Paid| Paid| Paid| Paid| Paid|   | M1| M2| M3| M4| M5| M6| M7| M8| M9| M10| M11| M12| Revenue|   | $19. 95 | $19. 95 | $19. 95 | $19. 95 | $19. 95 | $19. 95 | $19. 95 | $19. 95 | $19. 95 | $19. 95 | $19. 95 | Cost of DVD/ initial (one time)| $ (98. 28)|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | Cost of DVD/ releases|   | $ (9. 83)| $ (9. 83)| $ (9. 83)| $ (9. 83)| $ (9. 83)| $ (9. 83)| $ (9. 83)| $ (9. 83)| $ (9. 83)| $ (9. 83)| $ (9. 83)| Shipping initial DVD's| $ (4. 0)|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | Shipping new DVD's| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| $ (4. 30)| Net Revenue| $(106. 58)| $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 | Exhibit C – Calculation of Net Present Value per new subs criber|   | *assumes that if a subscriber stays with Netflix longer than 6 months will stay 5 years| Subscribers | 1 Mon| 6 Mon| 5 Yrs. *|   | Probability| 30%| 42%| 28%|   |Weighted NPV per Subscriber| ($19. 26)| $1. 21 | $141. 46 | $34. 34 |   |   |   |   |   | C1| $ (106. 58)| $ (106. 58)| $ (106. 58)|   | C2| $ 88. 45 | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 |   | C3|   | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 |   | C4|   | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 |   | C5|   | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 |   | C6|   | $ 5. 82 | $ 5. 82 |   | C7|   | $ 88. 45 | $ 5. 82 |   | †¦|   |   | †¦ |   | C8|   |   | $ 5. 82 |   | C60|   |   | $ 5. 82 |   | C61|   |   | $ 88. 45 |   | CF By Month|   |   |   |   |Exhibit D – Projection of new subscribers 2000| |   | Revenue Growth rate 1998 –> 1999 | 274%| Existing subscribers| 110,724 | New Subscribers paid status| 303,231 | 30% free| 90,969 | New Subscribers 2000| 394,201 | Exhibit E – Value of Netflix|    | 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| 2004|   | | | | | |   | NPV per Subscriber| $34. 34 |   |   |   |   |   | Discounted Rate| 20%|   |   |   |   |   | Growth rate per new subscriber|   |   | 49%| 49%| 49%| 49%|   | | | | | |   | Existing subscribers| | 110,724 |   |   |   |   | Value of existing subscribers| | 3,802,273 |   |   |   |   |   | |   |   |   |   |   |New Subscribers| | 394,201 | 587,359 | 875,165 | 1,303,995 | 1,942,953 | Value of new subscribers| | 13,536,829 | 20,169,875 | 30,053,114 | 44,779,140 | 66,720,918 |   | |   |   |   |   |   | Total subscriber value|   | 17,339,102 | 20,169,875 | 30,053,114 | 44,779,140 | 66,720,918 |   | |   |   |   |   |   | Product development| | 7,413,000 | 7,413,000 | 7,413,000 | 7,413,000 | 7,413,000 | General and administrative| | 2,085,000 | 2,085,000 | 2,085,000 | 2,085,000 | 2,085,000 | Total Cost|   | 9,498,000 | 9,498,000 | 9,498,000 | 9,498,000 | 9,498 ,000 |   | |   |   |   |   |   |Total Subscriber value minus cost|   | 7,841,102 | 10,671,875 | 20,555,114 | 35,281,140 | 57,222,918 | NPV of Netflix|   | 65,851,642 |   |   |   |   | Assumptions:| Existing customers pay 19. 95 per month (same as new customers)| Additional cost projected at the same level as 1999NPV of Netflix only includes cash inflow and outflows and have not considered any liquidation value|

Compare the Presentation of Change in Yeats”Sailing to Byzantium’

Compare the presentation of change in Yeats’ ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ and ‘The Second Coming’ Both of Yeats’ poems express his opinions and viewpoint of the changes in society and people’s beliefs. Through the poem ‘The Second Coming’ Yeats highlights his belief that the twentieth century had seen the beginning of a new darker era, full of violence and struggles for independence and the effects of the Great War. The second poem ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ expresses Yeats’ observations of old age and the comforting idea of travelling to Byzantium.Through the poem ‘The Second Coming’ reflects more than just society and politics within Ireland, but expresses Yeats’ turn of attention towards larger scale graphical and spiritual events such as The Great War in 1919. The Christian idea of the ‘Second coming’ that Christ would return is featured as the centre pin to Yeats’ poem a s questions what has become of his present day society, and how it had mutated and evolved from the more traditional, biblical times featured in religious stories and beliefs.The poem showcases Yeats’ acute understanding that a potentially dark time is ahead. The poem ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ features the theme of aging, a popular writing topic of Yeats’ also used in other poems such as ‘Wild Swans at Coole’. The idea of escaping the unaccommodating world and society of youth, and journeying to a calm Island of Byzantium appears a comforting thought. The poem written in when Yeats was around 60 years old provides insight into his thoughts of what it means to be old. The Second Coming’ contains links between how Yeats views society and the birth of Christ and the belief he would return. The first stanza of the poem contains imagery of violence and a lack of order. The phrase ‘mere anarchy’ highlights the main subject of the po em, the loss of a culture or civilisation, this dark imagery is used throughout the poem, ‘ Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold’ implies that the things at the heart of Yeats’ modern culture are literary and metaphorically broken.This change is described using natural imager of water; ‘the blood-dimmed tide’ and ‘the ceremony of innocence is drowned’ create a sense of fear as the natural power of water is uncontrollable, like the change Yeats is experiencing in the society of his time. This idea that the current society is not appropriate is shared in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ as it is explained that it is ‘no country for old men’ and that ‘an aged man is but a paltry thing’, both phrases express the feeling of being out of place and unwanted ue to aging. Through the development of imagery such as ‘ the salmon- fall’ evoke the energy of youth whilst later ‘ a dying animalâ€⠄¢ contrast youth with age allowing Yeats to highlight the change from youth to experience with age. In the poem ‘The Second Coming’ Yeats uses the line ‘ the falcon cannot hear the falconer’ to give the worrying sense that nature is inverted and things are not as they should be, triggered by the coming change at the birth of a new era.The lines ‘The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity’, built on opposites ‘best and worst’ again support the theme that the change has inverted life for the worst. The religious imagery of the birth of the ‘rough beast’, as it ‘slouches towards Bethlehem’ lacks an hint of human qualities, making it a stark contrast to the biblical, gentle saviour of Christ, but as a dehumanised monster. The use of stark contrast is also used within ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ between the differences of being young and old, ‘the young in one another’s arms’ carefree and ‘sick with desire’ of an aged man jealous of the youthful.The word ‘gyre’ in both poems is used as a common link to highlight to the reader that the changes occurring in both ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ and ‘The Second Coming’ are unavoidable and uncontrollable. While the technique of alliteration, ‘Bethlehem to be born’ in ‘The Second Coming’ supports the momentum and inevitability of change and the new era. Also ‘Fish, flesh, or fowl’ in ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ has a powerful effect as it recaptures all fish, youth and birds and brings them once again to the attention of the reader, as these three species are examples of youth and support the change experienced by the old.In conclusion through both poems Yeats expresses different types of change and the extent they have on people and society. While in ‘The Second Coming’ Yeats fo cuses on the worrying and almost threatening change in society through the twentieth century he highlights the also worrying, for different reason, inevitability of aging and the want to escape from the struggles of modern, youth controlled society.

Evidence based analysis of an area of professional interest and Essay

Evidence based analysis of an area of professional interest and implications for improving practice - Essay Example This is considered a relevant step since information on this can assist specific authorities, especially the health workers, in providing aid to child bearing and rearing families in every possible aspect to promote the integrity of the basic unit of the community, the family as a whole, especially the children, while practicing their profession. According to research, children who grow up with less attachment with their parents, are neglected, or even abused tend to have negative attitudes toward self, others and life, in general. These suggest the considerable influence of the parents in the current and future conduct of their children (Serketich & Dumas, 1996). Several theorists (e.g., Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget, among others), in fact, proposed that proper development in children are attained if parents or their primary caregivers are able to realize their needs in specific stages. Meaning, they are able to keep their children â€Å"safe, secure, and protected† with the right mix of â€Å"disciplining, entertaining, and teaching† and which can only be achieved once proper or good attachment with the child is maintained (Benoit, 2004, p. 541). ... d’s later social and emotional outcome.† Despite these, many question the validity of the existing claims since, according to them, the experience of child bearing and rearing is â€Å"highly individualized† and complicated to create a common ground regarding the concepts surrounding parent and child attachment (Goulet, et al., 1998). Nevertheless, the government continues to use these researches as supporting evidences to public policies such as â€Å"Every Child Matters,† the â€Å"Healthy Child Programme,† as well as the NICE Postnatal Care Guidelines. These policies provide standard procedures for related agencies to implement interventions in the provision of health care and alike to prevent the theory of the Cycle of Deprivation and promote the overall health and well-being of every member of the family, especially the children, to help them reach their full potentials and maximize these for the benefit of the general public. This paper will ex amine five research studies which tackle the importance of parent and child attachment to provide an evidence-based practice in health care. Data Collection As a review of related literature, recent research studies on parent and child attachment were searched to complete the five articles that will be subjected for analysis and examine whether findings can aid in improving practice of health care providers that will pave way to having healthier families with children reaching their fullest potentials. Using the search engines PubMed and MedlinePlus, the articles by Haight, et al., (2003) and Benoit (2004) were chosen with the titles â€Å"Understanding and Supporting Parent -- Child Relationships During Foster Care Visits: Attachment Theory and Research† and â€Å"Infant-Parent Attachment: Definition, Types, Antecedent,

Summary of the Adventure in the human Spirit Essay

Summary of the Adventure in the human Spirit - Essay Example The book further clarifies the correlation in western cultural and music and how the society portrays the women who participate in music and other work of arts. Adventure in the human Spirit is a book that was written with a view of assisting students or scholars with insufficient knowledge and background in the arts and humanities. Adventure in the human spirit provides a sensible introduction to the major arts, religion and philosophy in the arena of visual arts and film studies. The author tries to integrate the knowledge of arts in the concept of humanities to help students become more conversant with the ways of acquiring knowledge in the arts and humanities. This implies that the students will be well-informed and hence will have the capacity to blend critically and properly with their society, culture and history. The focal point of on core ideas and issues with respect to human experience promotes appreciation of the function of the knowledge and values in curving and appreci ating human behavior and conduct. The study on humanity also emphasize on the duties and opportunities of any democratic citizenry , underscoring the importance of the creative arts of any literature material, music, theater and arts and inform us to essential issues that take place within the society in a progressively interconnected and interdependent world. Based on humanities, this text handles the concept of humanity by centering on the principles styles, events, figures and movements as it chronologies these aspects of life from the past life to the present date. It brings the early life by entailing valid and authentic records or documents of events, figures or movement as they take place in day to day activities. The concept of humanities is also underscored in this text via relative global approach, through instances of existing literature on philosophies and music. In fact on the basis of music, it highlights how women and other minority artists contribute to the music ind ustry in their effort to find out the wealth of humanities imbedded in their lives. The book also clarifies the spirit of decoration through the spirit of Baroque illustrating how the western culture embraced the concept of beauty through decoration and beautification of their work of arts. In essence, this books tries to be more readable and understandableamong the scholars particularly among the students who wish to gather more knowledge and concept on humanity. Given that it summarizes the historical advancement in the field of religion, arts, science and philosophy, basing its coverage on the western world, with focus on the relationship between the ideas and the cultural creation, the conciseness and coherence of this text compared to other existing literature proves that this book is determined to invite readers into a thoughtful and lifelong conversation with the humanities. According to Bishop The most pronouncing advancement of this text is the incorporation of color photog raphs nearly in every page which actually is a benefit to students and readers who have a specific interest on the concept of visual arts in depth. In Chapter 2, through the spirit of enlightenment, this text highlights the civilizations and progress as it considers our perspective of human progress and development with respect to the invention of skepticismand empiricism. These concepts also underscore proper understanding of the philosophical roots of the contemporary scientific approach or attitude. Based on Chapter (12) and chapter (13)the Bishop introduce scholars and students to philosophical concepts

Answer quetions and summarizes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Answer quetions and summarizes - Assignment Example The primary causes of the financial crisis are as follows: A substitute to the surge in the housing bubble was cited to be the global financial imbalances. It was clear that from the time of Bretton-Wood agreement of the year 1944, the United of America and Europe has governed the global financial market. When the Asian financial crisis developed due to lack of intervention by the global financial organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, they had no effective and efficient access to credit that could draw them out of the crisis. The Asian countries opted for stabilizing their currency by increasing the amount of foreign reserve they own. Through this method, they invested in the United States thus increasing the distribution of credits facilitating the mortgage crisis that happened in the United States. The glass-steagall act was one of the greatest post depression elements of administrations, investment banks, and dividing commercial banks. This act did not repeal a paramount section that delineates the functions of investment banks and commercial banks. This resulted to a series of occurrences where the commercial banks were involved in very risky investments. Analysis indicates that most of the damage within the financial crisis was facilitated by the pure investment banks but the repeal made the financial crisis more terrible. When this act was implemented, it created room for the various investment banks to create many different financial instruments. This act had two implications in the financial sector. The first was a raise in the supremacy of the Federal Reserve above the monetary marketplace and the second one was eliminating the administration obligatory interest rate maximum in deposits. There was facilitation of the surge demand for mortgages that reduced transparency in the financial sector. There was a decline in the quality of loans creating mortgages of low quality thus a closure for the commercial and

A Family business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Family business - Essay Example urse, I plan to become an entrepreneur with the best possible amount I can invest in a Middle Eastern style restaurant with the help of my family members. I am imbued with the ‘push factor’ (Preston, Fryer & Watson, 2006) that is the involvement of my own people will encourage me during my hardships and with their joint effort; I will prove my potential business skills. Having clearly studied all the possibilities and constraints of the business, I am rather determined to set up the restaurant named â€Å"GulfGate† after due consultation with experienced people from my relatives and well-wishers. A positive side of the restaurant is the balanced nature of ‘pay for quality’; the equation to be practiced during the operation for best result of business. The choice of this stream was supported with the expectation of increased number of customers from countries like India, China, Singapore and Malaysia. Since the location of the business is expected to be in the suburbs of Dubai, it is easy to gather a huge number of customers very easily. Quality food is the major concern I emphasize for the regular update of the restaurant for which I have plans to post people at different parts of the city for distinguished purchase. A greater part of my burden to find a cook is eased with the inclusion of my cousin, who is an experienced graduate in food design and hotel management. Since this is a family unit, less implication of mistrust can be witnessed. Depending on the religious aspects, our family stands better in the society; therefore, we can claim easy access with people and their support. This is a business intended to service and trade, therefore, expert opinions from elders would also support us in the long run. As Preston, Fryer & Watson (2006) state, Small business has other advantages like the better knowledge about the local business environment and can sub-contract the projects of big businesses. However, I don’t deny the possibilities of disparities

Research design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Research design - Essay Example The non-numeric definition of qualitative research identifies use of narrations to describe observations. Types of qualitative research include â€Å"field interviewing,† â€Å"focus groups,† â€Å"field observations,† and ethnography (Dantzker and Hunter 2011, p. 57- 62). Qualitative research, according to Wimmer and Dominick (2013, p. 120), can also be defined as a research method that applies a â€Å"flexible questioning approach† data collection and analysis. Quantitative research, however, is a research method in which data collection and analysis involve numeric values. This identifies an objective approach to research in which data is measured on a scale. The objective scope of the research method also identify reliability and validity concepts, features of which qualitative research is devoid, for analysis of relationships between variables and description of variables (Dantzker and Hunter 2011, p. 68). Application of â€Å"static or standardized set of questions† for data collection and data analysis also defines quantitative research (Wimmer and Dominick 2013, 120). Primary research is a research in which original data is collected and analyzed and its scope identifies knowledge development with such aims as bridging knowledge gap or solving an identified problem (Gratton and Jones 2010, p. 8). Examples of primary research therefore include research through interviews, focus groups, observation, and quantitative research methods such as tests and experiments and surveys. Secondary research, however, defines a research approach in which data is collected from existing sources such as periodicals and journals. The research explores existing knowledge and suitable for identifying and understanding existing knowledge and for identifying knowledge gaps of social problems (Collins 2010, p. 120). Application of secondary research, then survey, and lastly focus group, in a sequential order is the most

Child WelfareTrends in the Educational Setting Essay

Child WelfareTrends in the Educational Setting - Essay Example These are provisions established mainly for the children in the minorities, immigrants and poor groups in society. Additionally, many people at the time stigmatized these child welfare provisions as being charitable and custodial. This pattern created a weak foundation for establishing better social services in the twentieth century. However, as the Progressive Era picked in the twentieth century, the reform efforts of women picked also, paving the way for the reforming and modernization of the childcare services. To draw attention and demonstrate the need for approved methods of nurturing children from infancy, Josephine Dodge led a group of New York philanthropists to establish a Model Day Nursery in 2893, and exhibited it at the Worlds Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. After the exhibition, hey worked forward, founding the National Federation of Day Nursery (NFDN) the first nationwide organization designated to handle the child welfare issue. The establishment of these Day Nurseries created a dilemma for poor mothers as it compelled them to seek employment to support the children. Activist, Jane Addams established that children suffered inadequate attention and care from mothers as they sought employment, hence established the basis for mothers’ pensions. Thu, Jane Addams, Julia Lathrop and the Hull Hou se colleagues would rise to become the leaders of the U.S. Children Bureau, founded in 1912 (In Isenberg, In Jalongo, & Bredekamp, 2008). The pattern of development continued in the 1920s with the U.S. Children Bureau established a series of studies on maternal and child labor issues in the agricultural and mining industries, in the country. The investigators found serious instances of injuries, illness and fatalities resulting from the children, left alone at home, or brought into hazardous workplaces and even working in such dangerous places. The Children Bureau continued to support

Presentation for the Global marketing into CVs and Wallgreen PowerPoint

For the Global marketing into CVs and Wallgreen - PowerPoint Presentation Example The company has stores in more than 32 states and is expanding gradually in Florida. The expectations of the Florida market have been beyond anticipations due to customer acceptance and better sales figures in the new areas of expansion. Another marketing strategy used is altering the format of the stores, which has generated high margins of profit. CVS has moved from a 9600 square feet prototype convention to bigger and better free standing facilities, which has seen $22 billion in sales and ranked second among competitors in 2012 (Callegarri, 2003). On the other hand, Walgreens has based its marketing strategies on customers. This has resulted into a huge shift in direction. The strategies used include: identifying the customer need; building relationships internally between customer service, IT and operations and marketing departments; a clear outcome and goal and marketing communication; and making the company system simpler. This has seen Walgreens open more stores to cater for customer need as a marketing strategy. Another marketing strategy used by Walgreens is customer initiatives such as the launch of Customer Centric Retailing initiative in 2008, which brought huge profit margins (Nulman,

Advantages of Group Decision-Making Essay Example for Free

Advantages of Group Decision-Making Essay Firstly, group decision making from experts in different areas is beneficial to solve complicate problems. For instance, in a small company, boss often makes suggestions by himself; the result of his behavior relies on the ability of the boss. So there are cases when he can’t make things right, which may be serious fault to the operation of a company. However, people with different backgrounds consider the problems more carefully and comprehensively, as a result, running the company will be in less risk. Secondly, people making decisions in groups are eager to bear more risks individually. Decisions come with risks. People who make the wrong decision will take the responsibility. A contradiction rises up when they attempt to avoid being wrong and at the same time, solve problems correctly. As a result, people will somewhat not dare to make the final decision. Nevertheless, group decision makers can share the risks because each of them has responsibility for the suggestions to the problem. Moreover, individual risks are decreased when some others rectify the suggestion for him or her. 2.Disadvantages of group decision-making Firstly, low efficiency in decision-making, everyone has his own opinions and under certain circumstances such as brainstorming, it costs more time to decide what to do by group decision-making than by personal decision-making. If things go well, the results will come out quickly. But if each of them in a group can’t comprise in the end, nothing will be achieved. For example, there is news from CCTV about the 2012 DOHA Climate Change Conference, †Nearly 200 countries haggling over how to stop climate change and how to pay for it failed to reach a deal on schedule Friday. That sets the stage for the wrangling to continue late into the night.† Things like these are usually occurred when a large number of people attend. Finally, the conference extended until they arrive at an agreement. Secondly, group decision-making will lose effectiveness when people are not likely to put up with suggestions out of some reasons. In such cases, the leader of the group will be the only one who does decision-making, which has no diffidence with personal decision-making. All the members of the group should have equal opportunities and are willing to speak out. Then, group decision-making functions better in dealing with problems.

Harley Davidson Supply Chain Improvements Essay Example for Free

Harley Davidson Supply Chain Improvements Essay In the early 1980’s Wisconsin-based Harley-Davidson Motor Company, the country’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles, was struggling to survive. Faced with an onslaught of sever competition from Japan and failing new products, †¦ Harley-Davidson was challenged to remain profitable. However, not only did Harley-Davidson survive, it became a huge success story, with sales increasing from 36,735 motorcycles in 1986 to 291,417 in 2003 to over 350,000 motorcycles in 2006. It has also expanded globally into Europe, China and India. A significant factor in its turnaround was the strategic changes it made in managing its supply chain during the next decade. †¦ In the mid-1990’s Harley-Davidson initiated sophisticated supply chain strategies to reduce inventory and purchasing costs while improving product quality and delivery times from suppliers. Harley-Davidson now expects suppliers to focus strategically on cost, delivery, and quality improvement and to hit established cost and quality targets. Suppliers are expected to meet â€Å"twice the level of quality† and to develop a written strategic plan to achieve goals for quality improvement. Suppliers are graded according to defective â€Å"parts-per-million† and it has a target goal of 48 defective parts-per-million that suppliers are expected to achieve. Harley-Davison sends suppliers a monthly report showing their quality and delivery performance, and if the supplier receives a bad report Harley-Davidson sends their people to the supplier to determine the problems and help them resolve them. If the supplier does not improve its performance, it is replaced. In 1995 defective parts-per-million for suppliers were generally around 10,000; however, by 2001 approximately 75% of Harley-Davidson’s supplier base was performing at 48 defective parts-per-million or better, and 36 suppliers were performing at zero defective parts-per-million. †¦ These objectives consciously reduced Harley-Davidson’s supplier base that could not meet expectations for cost, quality, and delivery by 80%, from 4,000 suppliers to 800. In some cases Harley-Davidson has moved toward single-source relationships with suppliers. In these instances, the company partners with one supplier for a part, system, or component – for example, lighting systems, instrumentation gauges, or ignition systems – and works closely with the supplier to develop technology that the company needs to remain competitive. Approximately 80 on-site (resident) suppliers take part in new product design, creating an interface between the company and its suppliers that helps Harley-Davidson improve quality and cut costs. In return, Harley-Davidson remains loyal to the supplier and reduces supplier uncertainty, provided of course that the supplier continues to meet the company’s objectives for improvement. In order for Harley-Davidson suppliers to remain competitive they must enforce similar exacting goals and standards on their own suppliers, thus creating efficiency and cost effectiveness along the entire length of the supply chain from Harley-Davidson’s suppliers to its suppliers’ suppliers, and so on. Harley –Davidson is using the Internet to further improve its supply chain performance. The company launched an interactive Internet-based supply chain management strategy that placed a large portion of the company’s supply chain management only to the Internet. It provided all suppliers with information they need to conduct online financial transactions and reduce the time spent chasing invoices. Suppliers are linked by a web portal to critical business transaction information, including data on delivery and quality performance and the status of financial transactions. In-house software reports defect rates that provides quick feedback to suppliers about bad components. Suppliers can look at production schedules and delivery requirements and assess their ability to meet those schedules. Documents and information previously sent using an EDI format are now sent more cheaply through the Internet, which is also more universally available to supply companies, particularly smaller ones. What has been the effect of these changes in supply chain management at Harley-Davidson? They reduced operating expenses by $161 million; the company now manages its inventory according to a JIT system, and it runs on 6. 5 to 10 days’ worth of inventory compared to 8 to 15 days of inventory before its supply chain initiatives; its logistics and distribution center costs as a percentage of sales decreased by 59%. By any measure Harley-Davidson’s supply chain management strategy has been a success.

System Thinking In Healthcare Nursing Essay

System Thinking In Healthcare Nursing Essay The health care system can be defined as a set of interrelated parts or agents, which include caregivers and patients, bound by a common purpose and acting on their knowledge. This great number of interconnections within and among makes the healthcare organisation complex (IOM, 2009). Such complexity brings problems and opportunities and requires organisations to adjust to the changes. The ability to understand and respond to both the external and internal environments might require a holistic thinking approach of the system (Lebcir, 2006). Systems consist of interrelated, interacting and interdependent parts configured in a manner that produces a unified whole. System thinking studies these components parts, their interrelationship and the way they function as a whole. According to Senge (1993), system thinking is a conceptual framework, a body of knowledge and tools that has been developed to make the full patterns of systems clearer, and to help see how they can be changed effectively. There are various system thinking approaches and the essay will review some methodologies that were used in managing the case study of Ashford hospital. 1.1 Case Study- Ashford Hospital Earlier in the year, Ashford hospital which serves quite a large population experienced severe pressure on service. The hospital had 67 ward beds. Patients had to wait for long in chairs or trolleys at accident and emergency unit (A E) before they could be admitted into the wards. This led to overcrowding of AE unit. Patients were asked to stay away from the hospitals AE unless absolutely necessary. The healthcare providers were put under pressure and resulted in trading of blames amongst them. Patients were no longer satisfied with the quality of care. The management of the hospital was disturbed and wanted a way out of the messy situation. 2 Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) SSM is an action oriented approach for tackling perceived real world problematic (social) situations ( Checkland and Poulter, 2006). Appendix A shows the SSM process steps that were followed in the course of investigation. 2.1 Finding out An investigation team was invited by Chief Executive (CE) and introduced to some health workers. Using the SSM the first stage was to identify and provide a brief description of the situation. Due to the workload the clinicians were encountering, getting them round a discussion table wasnt easy. However, the investigation team moved around asking questions and observing proceedings. A rich picture was developed to help capture the main entities, structures and view points in the problem situation of Ashton hospital (Figure1, Appendix B). As part of the finding out, the team had to identify key roles that were affected in this situation (Analysis 1). The team already knew who the client was because it was the CE who requested for intervention. The nurses and doctors (some with specialisation) in A E provided treatment to patients with various illnesses and injuries.. Where necessary, patients were moved to the ward. The bed manger allocated beds to patient, while the ward manager supervised the ward. Table1 shows the outcome of Analysis 1 while table 2 shows the worldviews of the issue owners. Having known the key issue owners, the social texture (Analysis 2) of the issue owners in term of their role in the hospital, the norms (expected behaviour associated with such role) and the values (standard by which behaviours are judged) were identified. This is illustrated in table 1 of Appendix B. A political analysis (analysis 3) which enriched the cultural appreciation previously obtained through Analyses 1and II was done. The essence was to find out the disposition of power associated with the roles within the hospital thereby buttressing our cultural understanding of the situation. The CE, being the head of the hospital, had positioned power over other roles while the doctors enjoyed expert power across the hospital. The details of the analysis 3 are shown in figure 2 of Appendix B. The culture analysis provided a basic for identifying the relevant issues, actors and conflict in the hospital. The Client- person(s) who caused the intervention to happen The Chief Executive of Ashford hospital The Practitioner- people performing the investigation The Investigation team (Us) The issue owners-people who are concerned about or affected by the situation. Doctors, Bed managers, nurses, patients, ward managers, Chief Executive Table 1: Analysis 1 (the Intervention Itself) in Ashford hospital case study Issue owners World views Chief Executive Targets must be met with the available budget Doctors Patients need to be given effective treatment before they are discharged Bed manager Doctors do not discharge patients on time and are always bed blocking Patients We need better healthcare service; we Need to get well before we are discharged Ward managers High standards must be maintained in the ward Nurse To many patients to cope with Table 2: Worldviews of the issue owners in Ashford hospital case study. 2.2 Making Purposeful Activity Models. According to Checkland and Poulter (2006), every human situation reveals people trying to act purposefully. The models of purposeful activity system viewed through the world view of the doctors and the bed manager were considered very relevant. This was because the doctors made decisions on patients that needed admission while the bed manager was involved in allocation of beds. In order to model the purposeful activities, root definitions describing the primary activity processes and functions were developed using a mnemonic CATWOE analysis. Appropriate root definitions for the primary functions performed by doctors and bed manager were formulated as follows: A doctor system to provide quality and effective treatment care, through the use of appropriate acquired knowledge and hospital resources in, order to improve patients condition. A bed manager system that provides timely placement of patients in wards, by optimizing the use of available hospital beds, in order to contribute to quality and effective patient care. Tables 3 and 4 show the purposeful activity models for the Bed Manager and Doctor respectively. The conceptual purposeful activity models are illustrated in figure 2 and 3 of Appendix B. Purposeful Activity model 1 Root definition A bed manager system that provides timely placement of patients in wards, by optimizing the use of available hospital beds, in order to contribute to quality and effective of patient care. Activity name Admission of patients Task Primary task Customer Patients, doctors Actors Bed manager Transformation process Patients are admitted in hospital ward beds Worldview Doctors do not discharge patients on time and they contribute to bed blocking Owners Bed managers, doctors, ward managers, nurses Environment Number of beds, bed management and ward policies Efficacy Are beds available for patients? Are beds data correct? Efficiency How long do patient wait before being admitted? Do patients over stay on ward bed? Optimal bed usage, waiting time Effectiveness Have all patients been admitted on time? Table 3: Purposeful Activity model of Bed Manager. Purposeful Activity Model 2 Root definition A doctor system to provide quality and effective treatment care, through the use of appropriate acquired knowledge and hospital resources in order to improve patients condition. Activity name Treatment and admission of patients Task Primary task Customer Patients Actors Doctors Transformation process Patients are admitted and treated in the hospital Worldview Patients need to be given effective treatment before they are discharged Owners Nurses, doctors, bed managers, ward managers Environment Bed management and ward policies, availability of beds Efficacy Have patients been treated and admitted Efficiency Are patients getting better?, cost of drugs, time Effectiveness Have all patients been treated and admitted on time? Table 4: Purposeful Activity model of Doctors 2.3 Discussion and Outcomes. Activities in conceptual models developed were used for the discussion. The most significant finding that resulted from the investigation was in the area of discharge. The actual problem which was assumed to be limited to the AE was actually as a result of failure to adequately plan discharge in the wards. When the rate of patients needing admission increased, there was a need to change discharge plans. However, it was realised that the doctors did not change discharge behaviour and created waiting lists for patients that needed admission. Facilitated brainstorming sessions resulted in identifying number of contributing causes of delayed discharge. Discharge was done after ward round which took place in morning during week days alone. Insignificant numbers of discharge were done over the weekend because there was no major ward round. This meant that most patients needing admission in A E over weekend had to wait till following week before beds could be arranged for them. This also compounded the bed crises. A discharge project team was immediately set up. The main function of the discharge team was to carry out additional ward rounds in the evenings and on weekends so as to discharge patients and free up more beds. They were able to indentify other causes of delayed discharge and resolved them. This ensured timely discharge fashion which then freed up beds for patients in AE. 2.4 Strength and weakness of SSM The methodology provided guidelines that were flexible to apply. The use of models provoked debate and learning among the issue owners. Through discussion and debates, the hospital was able to realise that there was a need to amend patient discharge policy. However, this methodology could not satisfy everybody. Some of the discharge decisions were not favourable to the ward patients. Also members of the discharge team had extra work to do and ways of compensating them were not discussed. This could be seen from Jackson (2000) arguments that SSM tends to favour the more powerful people in the system while genuine participative debate could be severely constrained. 3.0 Thinking Differently Most of the inventions in our society today, such as electricity, telephone, automated teller machine and many more, are the results of some people who decided to think differently. Thinking differently involves using innovative and creative approaches to transform healthcare delivery service (NHS, 2007) The first stage was to stop and think of the whole situation and identify areas where creative thinking could improve matters. It was observed that there was poor co-ordination of patients and beds management while poor communication existed between the bed manager and other clinicians, in the wards and A E, about bed availability. A tool called Others Point of View (OPV) was then selected to describe the issue from others peoples perspective. The aim was to generate some alternative ways of framing the problem and to think about what other people might say about bed management of the hospital. Hotel manager Despite their poor hospitality, they still have more clients.poor service in hotel industry will make you to be out of business Service Consultant Poor customer service in the hospitalno regards for patientscustomers are kings ..so are the patients Journalist Taking the sick to a sick hospital. Patient -This is disgustingwhere else do they want us to go to? The second phase allowed clinicians to brainstorm and come up with ideas. At this stage no idea was good or bad. It allowed for people to speaking out their imaginations. The Fresh eyes tool was picked to see how similar issues were managed in other industries and the possibility of adopting the solutions into the hospital. Hotels- Hotels manage rooms, checks customers in and out using software systems designed to help administrator to track all rooms availability. University- students can book their accommodation online while a system assists in organising and allocating rooms to students Airline Airline Reservations Systems that manages airline schedules, fare tariffs, passenger reservations and ticket records. This gave us insight to how clients and resources were being managed in other industries. The stake holders then agreed to try out a bed management information system. The hospital implemented bed management information system on a small scale and some of the benefits were highlighted (Table 5). Real time online monitoring of bed position, bed manager did not have to go round wards again It improved communication between units for patient admissions Saved time searching for available beds in the hospital It provided an overview of bed occupancy rate in hospital It was user friendly and easy to use. Enabled more accurate allocation of beds for emergency patients Table 5: Realised benefits of Bed management information system after implementation. 3.1 Strength and weakness The thinking differently methodology was a powerful tool in stimulating thinking and lots of ideas were suggested. However, this took time and caused arguments as feasibility, advantages disadvantages and risk of each idea were all argued out. Also, traces of people trying to impose their ideas on others were noticed while others brought up ideas that would satisfy their own interest. 4 System dynamics System dynamics is an approach and simulation technique for studying and managing complex feedback systems, that are seen in business and other social systems (SDS, 2009). According to Jun el at (1999), there has been increased use of simulation in healthcare. This could be attributed to numerous success reports of using simulation to address health care system problems and availability of simulation software packages. The methodology was used to estimate and manage the aggregate flow of patient through the hospital and its environment. As the number of people visiting AE increased, it in turn increased the number of people who needed hospital admission. Also, as patients waiting for bed increased, it caused an increase in number of patients that were discharged home early. This is illustrated in Figure 1. There was the need to control the number of patients coming through A E. The availability and use of other healthcare facilities such as GP practice, community care and nearby hospitals would have a negative feedback on the inflow of patients into aE. This would directly affect the number of patients needing admission. Most of the patients that were discharged home might not have to return to AE as community care could assist carter. This methodology helped the hospital to forecast inflow of patients and ways that could be adopted to control it. Community care services around were informed about the situation of things in the hospital. In addition, ambulance bringing patients were informed ahead to make use of other hospitals or GP practices if condition of patient was not too severe. Figure 1: A model to show the flow of patients through the hospital 5. Conclusion The complex nature of healthcare system makes system thinking well-suited to tackle problems in this sector. The various methodology approaches used assisted in better understanding of the relationship between the various units in Ashford hospital and its environment. This showed that like any other system, no unit in the hospital is an island. The different methodologies applied in Ashford hospital situation yielded various positive outcomes that helped improved the problematic situation. While some of the methodologies used have their roots in action research, further participatory research will be carried out to investigate occupational work stress among the clinicians. This may help identify majors causes of stress associated with their workflow, how it affects their relationships with others and with the patients in particular. Word count -2034

An Unsuccessful India :: essays research papers

India is one of the worlds oldest and richest civilizations, the treasure chest of the Far East, and the desire of all the great powers of Europe. After years of battle it ended up under the control of Britain, making it "the most precious jewel in the crown of the Empire". Yet for India, the rule of the British did not bring promises of rebuilding a nation. Rather, it brought new dilemmas to face the Indian people. The British constantly exploited the nation for its prime resources and yet India had no gain from them. As the British Empire expanded, the wealth, resources and power of India attenuated. Slowly the suffering of the people of India grew. Meanwhile, Britain concentrated on increasing profits for its share-holders and officials, neglecting the suffering people of India and not to mention draining the wealth out of a great nation. Furthermore, new British laws destroyed the Indian industries that the British actually helped create in the first place. Their new British laws were also responsible for an enormous unemployment rate. Finally, India was ruled by a country that knew nothing about them and could not sympathize with them or rule them properly. India, at the time, had previously supported the Roman Empire under its rule with jewelry, spices and even clothing. It also was one of the oldest, and at the same time, richest places in the world. A huge number of people lived in India making it one of the biggest colonies in the world. After being dominated by the Roman Empire, India was ruled by the Portuguese. However, the Portuguese were only interested in India's trade so they monopolized on it. Europeans' began to see the true value of India. The Dutch then attacked the Portuguese in India and took over the country. Soon the Dutch were defeated by the French and, finally, in 1757 the British defeated the French decisively and then conquered India by using the method of "divide and rule". Before the British victory over France, in the sixteenth century, India was conquered by the Moslems from the north. In India the majority of the people supported the Hindu religion and the Moslems were supporters of the prophet Mohammed. This caused great tension between the Hindu people and Moslem leaders which contributed to the downfall of the Moslem Empire. Shortly after the crash of the empire, local rulers began to fight amongst themselves for land and power.

Essay --

This paper analyses the causes and challenges that the South African agricultural sector faces regarding the increasing unemployment in the sector and how it has an overall affect on the total unemployment rate in South Africa. The following statistics have been taken from the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The analysis of these statistics shows that unemployment in the agricultural sector has been increasing over the years, which has contributed to the overall unemployment rate increasing in South Africa. This research shows that there is a direct link between the overall unemployment rate increasing throughout the country and the unemployment in the agricultural sector. This is due to undeveloped rural areas and the policies directed at the agricultural sector. Introduction: The agricultural sector is made up of two sectors, being the commercial farming sector, which is mainly in the commercial areas of the country and subsistent farming, which is mainly in the rural areas. Most of the agricultural income comes from commercial farming, but due to the low amount of commercial farmers in South Africa the potential for improving the employment rate lies with the subsistent farming. The agricultural sector of South Africa plays a main role in creating a strong and stable economy. With improvements to the agricultural sector, the sector has the ability to stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty and improve the divide between the rich and poor. With improvements to the agricultural sector the come for the lower class citizen would be increased and greater employment opportunities would be created, which will in turn improve the total unemployment rate in... ...pments can play is a great one. The government started the New Growth Plan, in which they hope to create 5 million new jobs by 2020, focusing on the agricultural sector and its potential to create jobs. Conclusion: South Africa has an agricultural economy made up of two sectors, commercial farming and subsistent farming. Most of the income comes from commercial farming however the potential for most of the employment lies within the rural or subsistent farming. The agricultural sector of South Africa has an important role in creating a strong economy and creating one that is more stable. With the right handling of the sector it can provide the basis for this economic growth and help reduce poverty and the growing divide between rich and poor. Income for the lower class would be increased and greater employment opportunities created in the agricultural sector.

A Rock n Roll Ulysses :: Free Essays Online

A Rock n' Roll Ulysses In a letter to Carlo Linati, James Joyce wrote, "Each adventure [in Ulysses]. . . should not only condition but even create its own technique" (Dettmar, from Joyce, 143). Written nearly three decades before "long players" (phonograph record albums) were to invade the marketplace, Ulysses stylistically resembles a pop album (or the other way around). Ulysses was composed of eighteen "adventures" that created their own technique. The same principle applies to pop albums, which contain separate and distinct tracks that musically reflect the lyrical content (or parody that content). One album that is as stylistically challenging to the conventions of pop music as Ulysses was to the novel is The Beatles' eponymous 1968 album (commonly referred to as The White Album). Albums are generally composed of a group of songs from one recorded group of sessions (anywhere from one day to years) that carry separate narratives within each. Across an entire album, the songs can change singers, styles, points of view (first, second and third person voices), and even include songs written by other songwriters. The first album to sell a million copies was Elvis Presley's self-titled debut album in 1956, over a decade after the end of World War II. In both date and concept, the album is a postmodern invention and artifact. Many theorists assume postmodernism was initiated at the conclusion of World War II, after the introduction of the atomic bomb by the United States to the rest of world. Just as "the bomb" erased one hundred thousand living "narratives" with one plausibly fictive hot flash of light that was indeed real, postmodernism claims that "'history' and 'reality' [are] no longer possible, since both have been 'textualised'" (Selden and Widdowson, 174). Some of the stylistics of postmodernism include hybridity, non-linearity, the questioning of identity, self-reflexivity, excess, and the telling of the unspeakable. These stylistic modes, however, are not exclusive to postmodernism, and combinations of some of these styles exist in numerous books written prior the end of the second World War. Notable texts before this period using "postmodern" techniques include Sterne's Tristram Shandy (1767), Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Joyce's Ulysses (1922), and Woolf's Th e Waves (1934).

From Discussions and Material Presented Essay

From discussions and material presented during lectures, write an essay to demonstrate your theoretical understanding and practical application of Marketing. Each student is to select one of the essay topics below and write an essay of 1500 words, to be submitted in Week 5. The essay must be referenced with relevant up-to-date sources. Choose one of the topics mentioned below: 1. Segmentation, targeting and positioning are interrelated activities which are important to achieving a successful Marketing Mix. Discuss these concepts in theory and give practical examples of how they can be applied to one industry of your choice. Examples of an industry you might choose: fashion for men, or personal care products (shampoo, shavers etc), or pet products, or toys, or vehicles, or furniture, or fashion for women, or financial services, or beverages, or baby products, or snack foods or another industry. 2. Marketing is all about delighting the customers. Discuss the theory and then give practical, real examples of how various products or services are delighting their customers today. Also provide your own ideas of how these products or services could further improve in the future. 3. Discuss the concept of perceived value and its importance to consumer behaviour and marketing. Discuss the theory and then give practical examples of how customers perceive various brands and how this impacts on their behaviour. 4. Good market research and environmental scanning forms the basis of success for other related marketing activities. Discuss the theory and then give practical examples of what types of market research and environmental scanning a company like Domino’s Pizza should do and explain why. . Why is it important to do market research and adjust the marketing mix when entering into a foreign market? Explain the theory and then give practical examples of how some companies have already adjusted their marketing mix in foreign markets. Also, explain what advice you would give the marketing team of â€Å"Vegemite† – if they wanted to launch this pr oduct in a foreign market such as South Africa (or a market of your choice), where people do not know the product/brand.

Hitler vs. Napoleon

Historians have noted the similarities between Napoleon and Hitler for years.   Both were charismatic dictators who established regimes in times of war and had ambitions of European domination.   Both were enormously successful but short-lived in their enterprises.   For these and other reasons, Napoleon is easily comparable to Hitler.   This essay will explore this comparability in terms of their national achievements, conquests, nationalism, origins, legacy and military/political maneuvers. Though now popularly viewed as a despot, Napoleon, like Hitler, contributed many positive elements to his native country.   He codified French law, particularly the Civil Code, replacing the Ancient Regime’s 360 local codes.   He also implemented lycees, secondary schools that were meant to instruct future leaders of France.   Hitler, by comparison, instigated in Germany one of the largest booms in civil advancement and industrial expansion the country has ever witnessed.   Like Napoleon, military growth accounted for much of the economical improvement. Napoleon’s strategy of conquest is also very similar to Hitler’s.   Both had aims to one day bring all of Europe under their control, and just as Napoleon abandoned campaigns in Britain and ended his career in the Russian wastes, so too did Hitler.   Napoleon attacked Russia from an almost impregnable position of advantage in 1812, assaulting a country that posed no overt threat.   Hitler did the same in 1941.   It is possible both were suffering from the hubris, or excessive pride, of their successes. Whatever the case, Napoleon was definitely known for his nationalistic pride of Corsica (and France), much like Hitler for his German heritage.   The Bonapartists saw themselves as inheritors of the French revolution, and Napoleon’s efforts to expand the empire were tireless.   He forbade his conquered countries from expressing their own national heritage, which may have later led to a rise in nationalism in those territories.   Most notable of these territories was Germany, whose nationalistic rise Hitler augmented to preclude the inclusion of Jews or any non-Ango ethnicities. Both Napoleon and Hitler came from relatively humble origins.   Napoleon was born in Corsica, a possession of France.   The son of a moderately successful attorney, Napoleon received a fair education but carried an Italian accent that would set him apart from the higher tiers of French society.   He began his military career as an artillery officer, not considered a desirable command at the time.   Hitler, similarly, was not wealthy in his youth.   He lived a bohemian life on minimal wages, never completed his high school education, and scratched by a living as a failing artist.   But like Napoleon, Hitler would transcend his unspectacular origins, leaving behind a considerable mark on their cultures and the world. Napoleon’s legacy is evident in his Code, his invention of the modern military conscript, and his innovations on warfare.   Under Napoleon, corps took the place of divisions as the largest military unit, cavalry increased in importance, battles became more decisive with broader attack fronts, and armies focused on the annihilation of enemy armies as opposed to out-maneuvering them.   He is thought to have spread the Revolutionary philosophy throughout Europe, manifested in the nation states that rose in Italy and Germany. His Napoleonic Code, however, is the innovation for which even Napoleon knew he would be most known.   Hitler’s contributions are, by contrast, negative.   He is responsible for taking anti-Semitism to a national scale, implementing the Nazi Party (which still exists today in various forms), and propagating fascism and intolerance as natural products of his military and political strategy. Indeed, Napoleon was very similar to Hitler in regard to political/military strategy, as well.   Both leaders used aggressive strategies in the acquisition of land and both suppressed revolts of the peoples their regimes oppressed.   Napoleon was known for his efforts to put down a major Haitian slave revolt and, in 1801 France, to re-establish slavery after its post-Revolution ban. Likewise, Hitler is notorious for his persecution of the Jews, his anti-Semitic tirades that won him enormous favor among vast demographics of the German population, and his supreme execution of suppression and extermination, the Holocaust.   While their strategies show similarity, Napoleon’s do not equal Hitler’s in terms of sheer ferocity and nationalistic fervor.   

Chris Character Essay

â€Å"All My Sons† is considered Miller’s most famous play. The play is an assertion of the need for the individual to accept full responsibility for his actions, to acknowledge the reality of a world in which the idea of brotherhood is an active principle rather than simple piety. It is to be regarded as a sever attack on materialism which stands at odds with human values, on a war-profiteer’s drive for profits based on an ethic that Familial obligations should come first, even at the expense of his social responsibilities and obligations. The title of the play is very significant; since it indicate one of the most important subsidiary themes of the play, namely â€Å"the father-son relationship†. As we have said before the main theme of the play has to deal with the importance of a Man’s social responsibility as compared to his responsibility towards his family. This main theme is very related, even interwoven, with the conflict that might arise between a son’s duty towards his father and his own moral duty towards his society. Perhaps, a close examination of the character of Chris Keller and his relation to his father would make this point even clearer. As the play opens, we are immediately made to realize how Chris highly regards his father and the depth of his affection for him that he comes to believe that he (his father) is a perfect and ideal person. This fact has been affirmed when his mother-Kate- expresses her worries about George’s – Steve Deveer’s son- purpose in paying a visit to their house. She is quite sure that the later -being a lawyer now- intends to open the case of his father again. Chris affirms her † you’re silly; what’s there to be afraid of†; which clearly indicate his high regard of his father and his complete awareness of his innocence. And when his mother affirms that â€Å"to his last day in court Steve never gave up the idea that Dad made him do it† and that â€Å"if they are going to open the case again† she â€Å"won’t live through it† Chris assures her that he would stand by her and his father in a very determinant manner: â€Å"George is just a damn fool, Mother, how can you take him seriously†. Later on, as George tries to convince Chris that the later’s father is the real culprit, Chris refuses to believe his accusations against his father: Chris: on his [Steve Deveer] own. And because he is a frightened mouse this is another thing he’d done through the blame on somebody else because he’s not man enough to take it himself. He tried it in the court, but it did not work, but with fools like you [George] it works. Matter-of-fact, Chris idealistic streak is indeed the key feature towards a clear-cut revelation of his character. This idealism has been manifested in more than one occasion. First, as he was explaining to Ann the reason why he has delayed his confession of Love for her, he attribute it to his own feeling of guilt at the thought that all the men under his command had died when he himself survived. He even feels even guiltier when he finds that the world has not changed as a consequence of the War, as it retains its very selfish and callous attitudes as it used to be before the War: Chris: †¦ they [the young soldiers under his command] didn’t die; they killed themselves for each other. I mean that exactly; a little more selfish and they’d’ve been here today†¦ And then I came home and it was incredible. I – there was no meaning in it here; the whole thing to them [the American society] was a kind of a-bus accident†¦ Because no body was changed at all†¦ I felt wrong to be alive, to open a bank-book, to drive the new car†¦ † Elsewhere, Chris idealism finds expression in his feeling surprised and shocked by the revelation that his father was the real culprit in the matter of supplying defective cylinder heads to the air force, after his confrontation with his mother about Ann’s stay in their house, which has developed to its peak that Kate affirms him that his father had really been guilty: Kate: †¦ your brother is alive, darling, because if he’s dead, your father killed him. Do you understand me now? As long as you live, that boy is alive. God does not let a son be killed by his father. As his father tries to defend himself, affirming that Larry â€Å"never flew a P-40† Chris idealism has been asserted once more. He affirms his father that he seems to be living in an altogether different world from the one in which other people are living. Even when his father affirms that he had supplied defective equipment to the air forces for his (Chris) sake: â€Å"Chris†¦ Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you. I’m sixty-one years old, when would I have another chance to make something for you? Sixty-one years old you don’t get another chance, do ya? Chris condemn his father’s causes and his complete lake of social responsibility; saying; â€Å"For me! Where do you live, where have you come from? For me! I was dying everyday and you were killing my boys and you did it for me? What the hell do you think I was thinking of, the goddam business?†¦ Don’t you have a country? Don’t you live in a world? Elsewhere, Chris’s idealism has been manifested as he tells Ann that during the fight there used to be a sense of honor between all soldiers, which forced them to behave in an honorable manner. But now he comes to realize that: â€Å"this is the land of the great big dogs, you do not love a man here, you eat him! That’s the principle, the only one we live by- it just happened to kill few people this time that’s all. The world’s that’s way, how can I take it out on him†. That’s to say he believes that the main principle governing life is to pursue self-interest, even at the expense of others. Chris’s shock, as he himself explain it later, results from the fact that he is really convinced that his father â€Å"is no worse than most men, but [he had] thought [his father] to be a better man than most†. This shock caused a sever kind of internal conflict inside him between his Idealism and Practicality, to the extend that towards the end of the play he admits to his mother and Ann that his idealism had left him and that he has now become a practical man who does not have the courage to force his father to face the consequences of his guilt. He further affirms them that he is no longer â€Å"human† and that his now like every body else. Referring to his father, Chris tells his mother â€Å"I could jail him, if I were human any more†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"I’m practical now. You made me practical†. As his mother tries to convince him that there is nothing wrong in being practical; Chris replies that even cats in the streets are practical, and the cowards who ran away from the battlefield during the war were practical. That’s to say for Chris practicality is the word which unworthy people use to justify their own selfish attitudes: † But I’m practical and I spit on myself†. It is worthy of note that â€Å"much of the success of â€Å"All My Sons† has been due to Miller’s complex vision of Keller’s shared guilt and each’s contribution to this family collapse. That’s to say Miller was keen to affirm that Joe Keller is not solely responsible for his family troubles, and ultimate disaster†. Chris, also, is responsible for his family’s dilemma. Though he adopts a highly moral tone, he was only trying to escape his own sense of guilt. Having watching the heroic young men under his command die selflessly in the battle to save their comrades, Chris feels guilty for failing them and surviving the war. So when he was given a chance to escape his anguish, he tries to find relief out of his sense of guilt; in the form of contempt for his father’s criminal act, on the hope that by destroying his father he can some how escape his own sins and his own personal torment. His father, thus, becomes his scapegoat. It is hard, therefore, not to see and condemn the hypocrisy behind the zeal that leads to Keller’s Suicide. His motives are purely selfish. We all know that his words ring hollow because he has long suspected his father’s guilt, but deliberately avoided confronting the truth-again for purely selfish motives: at some level Chris fears that if he allows himself to see his father’s human imperfection, he will also have to realize his own limitations- and his experience in the war make him dread that confrontation.

Leontief Input-Output Model in the Real World

IntroductionWassily Leontief's name is associated with a particular type of quantitative economics: input-output analysis (The New School, Profile of Wassily Leontief). The application of the dynamic input-output analysis serves as a guide in reviewing Leontief s contributions in two of the most important aspects of economic development and structural change: the raising of standards of living and the effects of the mechanization of production processes on labor. The purpose of this work is to familiarize the reader with the theoretical framework, construction and use of regional input-output models in the real world.The description of the analytical framework of an input-output model includes a discussion of the components of the model, an analytic measures derived from the model, and the assumptions of the model. The work presents the phases of model planning, construction and use, including some of the inherent limitations and problems. Finally, some suggestions for effective use of the model will be provided.Leontief went to Harvard in 1937, where, with the help of a few graduate student assistants, he completed the construction of the first input/output model for the 1939 U.S. economy, which, despite its primitive nature, proved to be an important planning tool during World War II. For example, it showed that President Roosevelt's rash promise to deliver 50,000 planes to the Allied forces was unrealistic, and the model indicated the bottleneck obstacles that must be first overcome.The Leontief input-output systems takes the form 3.1-1 (I – A) X = F where F is the vector of final demand by sector, I is an identity matrix, A is the matrix of technical coefficients, and X is the vector of gross output by sector. The main purpose of the input-output model is to explain the magnitudes of the interindustry flows in terms of the levels of production in each sector. The Leontief input-output model also makes several special assumptions which are not necessa rily made in other interindustry models. The most important of these are (1) that a given product is only supplied by one sector; (2) that there are no joint products; and (3) that the quantity of each input used in production by any sector is determined entirely by the level of output of that sector (Leontief Input Output Model 2000).The integration of the input-output model based on equation 3.1-1 with the final demand model based on national income accounting poses three problems immediately. First, the input-output accounting involves gross output concepts, while the national account data published for most developing countries deals with value added concepts. The second problem in the transformation, is the lack of time series data on final demand deliveries by each sector unless input-output tables exist for all years. Third, it is not to be expected that such a simple system will prove useful for all kinds of problems. A given aggregation into sectors may be valid for one pur pose but not for another.The dynamic input-output analysis allows economists to develop a general equilibrium system that, moving from the known economic conditions of the base year, traces different possible development paths of the economy, depending on the assumptions made on the proportions in which the national product is divided into consumption and investment, and on the investment coefficients in each sector. In his Nobel lecture, Leontief asserted: â€Å"The subject of this lecture is the elucidation of a particular input-output view of the world economy.This formulation should provide a framework for assembling and organizing the mass of factual data needed to describe the world economy. Such a system is essential for a concrete understanding of the world economy as well as for a systematic mapping of the alternative paths along which it could move in the future† (Leontief1973). Leontief s analysis focused on the consistency between the targets and the distribution of resources around the world. Among the most important conclusions and policy implications of the analysis are the necessity to increase the target rates of growth of gross products in the less developed countries, if the objective of increasingly closing the gap between North and South has to be fulfilled; the identification of political, social and institutional, more than physical, limits to sustained growth for the developing world; and the important indication that the costs of pollution abatement do not necessarily represent a threat for economic development.Input-output analysis is a useful and productive tool for regional analysis. It can provide important and timely information on the interrelationships in a regional economy and the impacts of changes on that economy. Thus, it can provide pertinent information about the impacts of economic growth and/or decline and the relative benefits and costs of alternative development strategies. Recently, the combination of a wealth of economic development issues to which input-output analysis can be applied and increased availability of computerized input-output models have led to an increased interest in this technique. The major contribution that input-output concepts and data have made to the analysis of economic development was reflected both in the large number of Conference participants from developing countries and in the generous sponsorship provided by UNIDO. Jacob Kol considers the probable effects on employment in the European Community and a group of (relatively industrialized) developing countries of a balanced increase in trade in manufactures (McKinley 2000).ConclusionLeontief is one of the first economists who was deeply concerned about the impact of unabated economic activities on the global environment. In his Nobel lecture, he outlined a simple input-output model where pollution was treated explicitly as a separate sector. His input-output analysis has become a classic technique of economic behavior, and some go as far as comparing him with John Maynard Keynes. One would never want to conclude a review of the contributions that Leontief offered to economic science, any possible list would always fall short of the overall message to the reader, a message of search, even more than research, for some pattern, some code hidden behind the surface of social and economic appearances, able to explain what happened and why, and what to expect, a message that springs from the synthesis of an immense and reasoned background which melts history, anthropology, philosophy, and certainly all the possible economic knowledge at the service of the humanity.Works Cited â€Å"Leontief Input Output Model† 17 January 2006. 19 September 2000 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/aw/aw_lay_linearalg_3/cs_apps/leontief.pdf â€Å"Leontief Input-Output Model† 18 January 2006 http://math.carleton.ca/~vdabbagh/leontief.pdf McKinley, Turi. â€Å"Wassily Leontief.† 17 January 2006. August 21-25, 2000 http://www.iioa.org/leontief/links.html â€Å"The New School, Profile of Wassily Leontief.† 18 January 2006 http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/leontief.htm Wassily Leontief â€Å"Structure of the World Economy: Outline of the Simple Input-Output Formulation.† 17 January 2006. 11 December 1973 http://nobelprize.org/economics/laureates/1973/leontief-lecture.pdf

Critical overview of the role of fashion management in relation to the Essay

Critical overview of the role of fashion management in relation to the different market subdivision in the fashion industry - Essay Example To add on, fashion managers execute and create and execute good marketing strategies that aim to keep their retailers relevant. This is through positioning them as being stylish and better than their competitors. Through fashion managers, brands are able to meet and satisfy the customers’ needs. Everybody is a consumer of either a product or a service and has a behavior. Blackwell defines consumer behavior as the things that people do when they consume, obtain, and dispose goods. There are three major factors than can affect a consumer behavior when purchasing an item. Personal is one factor where the customer will purchase something based on things like sex, age or race. Young people will be seen to purchase something for a different reason than an older person (Yang and Peterson, 2004). Psychological factors contribute in a consumer making a decision to purchase a particular item. Motive, perception and knowledge are some psychological factors that a customer will use when deciding to buy a particular product (Blackwell et al, 2003). A consumer that follows a healthy lifestyle will tend to purchase items based on this factor. Personal traits of a consumer such as friendliness, introversion, ambitiousness and compulsiveness will influence the choice of product they will pick in a store. Social factors will also contribute to which item a customer will pick from a shelf. Opinion leaders, roles in family and social class are things an individual identifies with making them to buy clothes or shoes based on that. If a particular leader is viewed as a role model by money and he associates himself with a particular brand then the people that view him as a role model will pick the brand associated with him (Yang & Peterson, 2004). In 2006, the Chief Executive Officer of Abercrombie and Fitch was invited to an interview by Salon Magazine in the opening of the company’s flagship store. The CEO made insensitive statements such as, only the young, beautiful and

Critically examine why financial liberalisation brought financial Essay

Critically examine why financial liberalisation brought financial crisis in most of the Asian countries (for example South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thaila - Essay Example Transactions in financial markets are affected by the efficiency of intermediaries such as brokers who put buyers and sellers together and professionals who keep the market in operation, ranging from clerks who keep records and financial analysts who allow information to flow within, to, and from the market (Howell et al., 2002). Historically, financial markets evolved under the close supervision, regulation, and protection of governments for the good of market agents (the suppliers and users of funds). Through laws, suppliers of funds such as depositors or lenders were protected from swindlers who ran away with the money, whilst users or funds borrowers had to be protected from usurious lenders. Whilst the government also made it difficult for a small number of market agents to establish an oligopoly, it also saw the need to create monopolies mainly for legitimate reasons such as the regulation of prices, public protection, and to stimulate market competition. However, when governments become too complacent, these legitimate reasons become intertwined with political factors and became illegitimate and burdensome, and instead of improving market efficiency it had the opposite effect: markets became too costly, prices were too high, artificial, and not competitive, and therefore highly inefficient. Inefficiency is tantamount to a lack of freedom in the operations of markets, so the call for market liberalisation is in effect a strategy to "free" the market from government regulations. Liberalisation is the removal of government interference in economic markets and barriers to trade (Stiglitz 2002: 59) and is supposed to improve a nation's economy by forcing resources to move from less to more productive uses, thereby raising efficiency in the use of resources. Liberalisation is not necessarily a bad thing because in fact and intention, it is for the benefit of market agents. However, like most other realities of life, if it is not done well it can end in disaster. Just to give some examples easy to understand: you don't ask a young man who just received his driver's license to race against David Coulthard or expect the Manchester school district's soccer champions to play well against Manchester United. Yet, this is what liberalisation attempts to do: the best way to improve the efficiency of financial markets is to let it free, which usually means allowing competitors both local and foreign to slug it out in open competition. The good ones will adjust, learn, and survive, whilst the poor ones will disappear. The financial markets of Southeast Asia before the crisis shared the characteristics of a market that was not free and of being under the influence of government regulations that stifled competition. The foreign exchange market was protected by a government that intervened in transactions to keep the local currencies artificially high. Bank interest rates were kept artificially low to favour local borrowers, which included local governments and favoured conglomerates. Awash with cheap funds, wanton borrowing and wild lending happened side by side to construct golf courses and buildings and purchase Porsches. How Inefficiency breeds Crisis The Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 has been one of the well-studied