Digital Technology and Business Operating Systems

It is often noted that two major worldwide events are responsible for changes not only to the lives of ordinary people who make up the target markets of business organizations, but also to the operations of the said business themselves. These events are namely: The advent of globalized trade and recent technological advances. Globalization of human activities including trade has meant that business are constantly being exposed to new environments, new markets with unique and often discerning preferences and on the loop-side, the ever present threat of competition vying for a similar market slice as the said businesses (Kehal & Singh, 2008).It is not surprising therefore, when the need to gain a competitive advantage over rivals has been the dominating theme in the board rooms of a majority of companies; with technology increasingly being seen as key to achieving success in this task (Kehal & Singh, 2008). Dependent on the industry, technology could imply many different things.For com panies in the manufacturing sector, technology could mean the acquisition of a new machine that eases the manufacturing task at hand; while for others like those in horticulture industry, technology could mean adoption of a new way to inter-crop plants in order to eradicate disease thus improve on yields. However, digital technologies have found a place in a multitude of businesses as they offer various advantages that cut across the board such as fastening communication and the retrieval of data (Kehal & Singh, 2008).Digital technologies refers to what is conventionally refereed to as Information communication technology (Watkins, 2010). This encompasses computers and related internet based media such as email and social networking platforms (Watkins, 2010). Digital technologies also includes any form of networks in an organization including those restricted to operate within the organization, the intranet, and connections between a company and outside affiliated organizations such as suppliers and distributors termedDigital Technology in Business 2 as the extrenet (Watkins, 2010). To define the operations of a company: These refer to the set systems, procedures and the information that guides them, that enable an organization to integrate, organize and normalize its primary processes in order to achieve its set goals (Daft & Marcic, 2008). For integration to be considered optimum, data in the company's domain should be accessible to all involved in both a timely and eased manner (Weil, 2010).On the other hand, normalization in this context involves the standardization of an organization's business processes by getting rid of variations in business procedures among employees and departments (Weil, 2010). Different organizations have different operating systems, with each system suited to the organization in question (Weil, 2010). For instance, Cisco, a network solutions provider has made it possible for small businesses to acquire information communication te chnology based solutions by developing them and making them available through their partners worldwide.Procter & Gamble on the other hand, has established local marketing arms which are allowed the leeway to strategize on how best they would exploit their immediate markets with other core services like human resource management and informational technology services centralized and standardized by the parent company (Weil, 2010). Though these models differ, that is of importance is not their apparent schism, but whether the chosen operating model has a chance at achieving success in the organization ( Watkins, 2010).The success of an operating system, is dependent on the organization's staff and management's uptake of the operating system, their willingness to follow it through and whether they are well equipped to make it work for the organization (Watkins, 2010). However, as noted above, the motivation for any operating business is to achieve success in the midst of competing inter ests and changing business environment ( Kehal & Singh, 2008). This need by organizations has lead to wide scale adaptation of new organization forms Digital Technology in Business 3 heavily influenced by digital technologies (Kehal & Singh, 2008).This is because mounting evidence suggests that digital technologies enable the core activities in any business operating model, integration and normalization, to take place more smoothly when compared to any other strategy (Weil, 2010). This paper by use of examples drawn from various industries, elaborates on these points, taking special note of how digital technologies have shaped the operating models of companies, influenced the workings of the human resource aspect of a business, including both the benefits and challenges of digital technologies in organizations (Malecki & Moriset, 2008).Starting with the a look at the processes involved in the sensitive service industry such as the airline industry quite often the supports to an airl ine, namely those involved with maintainance, overhaul and repair of aircraft required to fill in detailed reports of the process such as the tools involved and the spare parts used during maintenance for the airline's documentation purposes( SITA, 2008).This process may turn out to be tideious and riddled with inefficiencies as it may involve filling in of similar details like the type of aircraft and the organization owning repeatedly (SITA, 2008). Such tasks can be eased by adoption of digital technologies such as the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) hand held readers that would capture information from RFID enabled aircraft parts and simultaneously share them with interested parties along the supply chain (SITA, 2008).The automation described above confers the airline company with several competitive advantages such as improvement of relations with suppliers by facilitating their work therefore improving on its business operations (SITA, 2008). Through this automated system, it becomes easier for the company to trace the parts used on their planes thus giving them the advantage of authenticating their reliability and quality; a factor that may go a long way in vouching for their Digital Technology in Business 4Â  safety record while at the same time, reducing on the operating costs of the airline (SITA, 2008).The centralized data received from the readers may help in streamlining of the procurement process of the airline leading to a decrease in resource wastefulness and also gives the airline stability in terms of delivery of their core services, air transport, by ensuring that flight cancellations due to delays in maintenance or unnecessary unscheduled maintenance problems do not disrupt operations leading to flight delays and cancellations ( SITA, 2008).However, such centralized systems of data collection may pose some challenges to those involved. For instance, the ownership of the data may turn out to be a point of friction among the part ies as the shared nature of collection and storage of the data may lead to challenges in the access and security of the data (SITA, 2008). In addition, for such a system to operate effectively, the participation of a wide group of corporations is necessary (SITA, 2008).This may be a challenge for the corporations as issues such as who will finance the initial part of the adoption of digital technology may arise while later on as alluded above, disputes over the ownership of this system may arise while during operation, the costs involved in maintaining the digital technology may be problematic in terms of who will bear the burden of the cost especially if the problem is arising from one end of the system leading to problems at the nether end (SITA, 2008). Digital technologies also offer ways in which employee productivity can be improved thus improving on the outcome of the corporation.Several areas in which digital technology can be of use in the development of internet based emplo yee induction platforms which will enable the company introduce new employees into the company operating culture in a more engaging and interactive manner (Murphy, 2003). The costs involved in such a venture also tend to be less costly in the ;long run as the initial resources, human resource and capital, needed to set up the program can be minimized and even eventually eliminated once the system had been set up Digital Technology in Business 5Â  without any losses in quality of the process (Murphy, 2003)Training process that is critical in human resource development and management in a corporation can also be aided by use of digital materials such as compact disks (CD). This not only provides a format of presenting the information in a easier to understand media forms such as videos and graphic illustrations, it also provides a reference library to the employee who in need and at will can reference back to aspects of the training program (Murphy, 2003).Use of such media such as CD and internet will allow training of employees who are based in areas other than where the actual training is occurring especially in corporations with branches in far flung markets as is the case I the globalized economy (Murphy, 2003). The employee also benefits from the opportunity of going through the training at their own pace and time , therefore improving on the likelihood of uptake of the information (Murphy, 2003). The other area where digital technologies offer advantages to corporations is in the area of employee incentives (Murphy, 2003).Through the platform of the internet, a company can offer employees opportunities of enrolling into affiliate programs earning them income, or they could be privy to discounts and offers from third party suppliers who deal with their employers (Murphy, 2003). for instance special mortgage rates may be offered to employees of a certain company via the mortgaging subsidiary of the bank that their employer's use to transact their business o perations (Murphy, 2003).These strategies may go along way mot only in motivating employees but also in enabling the company retain its talented and trained employees by ensuring their their loyally to the company thus reducing on a company's recruitment and training bill (Murphy, 2003). The benefits of digital technology enables a company reorganize its marketing strategy in order for exploit their niche as effectively as possible (Rust & Espinoza, 2006).This is made Digital Technology in Business 6Â  possible by the room afforded in matters of gauging customer preference, dislikes and other characteristics during the process of market segmentation (Rust & Espinoza, 2006). Through portals like social media and internet based survey's a company may gain useful insights about their consumers as these digital technologies offer a cost effective, non – intrusive and consumer friendly means of interaction; therefore bridging the gap between a company's management and its the cus tomers (Rust & Espinoza, 2006).These benefits spill over as they contribute to customer loyalty making the customer feel that their opinion is valued and by providing them with the rare opportunity of being involved in the development of their favorite product or service ( Rust & Espinoza, 2006). Quality control management is a critical part of a company's operations as it provides the means by which a company can keep the promises exhaulted by its brand to the market (Malecki, & Moriset, 2008).failure in the quality management system may lead to not only costly changes in the brand image, but also to enormous costs involved in product recalls and in brushes with regulatory authorities (Malecki, & Moriset, 2008). Many problems in the quality control management occur when there are variations in the execution of processes or in the material used in producing a good or service (Malecki, & Moriset, 2008).The use of digital technologies may shield a company from such eventualities by pe riodically and automatically surveying the production process for deviations in the norm and alerting the management of possible shortfalls in the system (Malecki, & Moriset, 2008). Digital technology based quality assurance systems are more reliable as they are not dependent on human schedules and shielded from human borne errors during production (Malecki, & Moriset, 2008). Internet based systems also allow fro the survey of the intricate details of different aspects of the production process even for companies that have outsourcedDigital Technology in Business 7 production either as a whole or in bits across geographically dispersed areas (Malecki, & Moriset, 2008). An example of this is in the manufacture of airplanes by the Boeing and airbus whose different parts are assembled in different regions of the world. The reporting is also made easier especially in the event of a breach in the quality of the product, with the source of error pinpointed and dealt with saving on costs a nd time ( Malecki, & Moriset, 2008). Recently, a new form of trade has arisen where transactions in both goods and services are carried out via the internet (Burgess, 2002).The producer of the good may be on one end of the world while the consumer may be at the other (Burgess, 2002). Digital technologies provide for ways in which the buyer and seller can meet irrespective of the distances and time zones involved (Burgess, 2002). The seller benefits by finding a market fir their goods while the buyer benefits by having the leeway to ‘window shop' through out the internet searching for their ideal product at the ideal price without the hustle of dealing with salesmen (Burgess, 2002).In addition the direct contact between the buyer and seller enables for customization of the process to suit either party (Burgess, 2002). This is especially advantageous for small businesses who lack the machinery, resource and human investment needed to carry out an effective marketing campaign as large corporations (Burgess, 2002). Quite effectively backed by a single personal computer connected onto the internet and a a ‘one-man-army' sales team an entrepreneur can achieve their business goals (Burgess, 2002).This trade termed as e-commerce, has enabled individuals like authors sell their services even without an established local network of suppliers and distributors (Burgess, 2002). Large corporations are also increasingly joining this bandwagon by providing portals like ‘e- shops' on their websites where special offers of their products can be viewed, purchased and ordered right to the customer's doorstep (Burgess, 2002).By use of sophisticated but easily accessible forms of Digital Technology in Business 8forms of digital technologies the process of market segmentation described above are at the reach of entrepreneurs who otherwise would not have been able to exploit such advantages (Burgess, 2002). The small business owner is able to make up for his lower e mployee base and human resource pool by automating a majority of their business processes such as the installation of electronic tax register teller machines may ease the process of filling for tax returns (Burgess, 2002).The operations of small businesses may also be expanded by collaboration with partners following research on the internet without the huge costs involved in expansion such as the hiring of additional staff, the payment for new business premises and the sometimes bureaucratic processes involved in meeting local regulatory standards and licensing issues (Burgess, 2002).Through digital technologies, owners of small businesses are offered tools by which they can advertise their businesses effectively but with minimal costs such as the use of promotional CD for a musician or a recording company, easy to use software that enable the design of eye catching and effective banners, posters and fliers and through the setting up of a website where additional information about the company's services is accessible to the market ( Burgess, 2002).Despite these advantages of the use of digital technologies in business operations, the process in usually fraught by many difficulties as alluded in some of the examples above. Some of the challenges are secondary to inadequate knowledge on the scope by which digital technologies can affect the operations of a company thus leading to the wrong choice made in the technology that would be of use to the organization ( Andriole, 2008).It should be remembered at this juncture that the key notion about operating systems is that they have to be well designed to suit the business they are intended for, thus borrowing examples from other companies is encouraged but it should not be done in a ‘cut- and- paste manner' ( Andriole, 2008). For instance, Digital Technology in Business 9 a server, which is a computer with high processing capability, would be more suitable fore a small company with few employees while a singl e personal computer may suffice for a single proprietorship.Conversely a larger organization with several departments and more employees, would benefit more from several interconnected severs ( Andriole, 2008). However other challenges to digital technology arise from the human aspect of the process (Andriole, 2008). Sometimes employees, through their unions, may resist the adoption of digital technology influenced operating systems due to fears arising about the likelihood of loss of employment and income via automation of processes (Daft & Marcic, 2008).In a large manufacturing plant, the quality of goods produced may be checked by a string of employees stationed along the conveyor belts, automation of this process by use of specialized robots run by sophisticated computers, may render a large group of people jobless. This may hinder the newly instituted operating system to problems (Daft,& Marcic, 2008).The challenges of operating in digital technology may arise from difficulties in operating in the new environment due to inadequacy in skills and expertise to utilize the the digital l technology (Murphy, 2003). This is a problem as the new technology instead of complimenting the employees and mangement, it serves to slow down the working of the organization as both groups may view digital technology as a stumbling block thus preferring to ignore or under utilize it by doing things the old way (Murphy, 2003).This scenario is more pronounced in situations where the technology being introduced has been imported and is new to the business environment of the company (Murphy, 2003). This is because of the lack of adequate local support to smoothen the process of adoption by providing technical support (Murphy, 2003). The main challenge with digital technologies, lies in the costs involved in setting up and maintaining them (Andriole, 2008). The machinery involved may be costly especially for smallDigital Technology in Business 10 businesses and very large corpora tions, software to run computer's is also costly and the maintenance of such systems often requires specialized manpower which may come at a premium (Andriole, 2008). When this is coupled with the rapid evolutionary tendency of digital technologies which render recently developed technologies as obsolete, it is easy to see why cost is frequently mentioned as a major stumbling block (Andriole, 2008).In some situations, there might be the need of hiring additional staff just to maintain the system, training staff to know how to use the system every time the system is upgraded and this may turn into a demoralizing process (Andriole, 2008) .. In conclusion, this essay has highlighted the influence of digital technologies on the operations of organizations be they be simple small businesses or large multinationals dealing in several products and services (Malecki & Moriset, 2008).The challenges though apparent can be overcome by understanding digital technologies and keeping the goals an d objectives of the organization in mind as the solution appears to lie in crafting an operating system that is in tandem with the organization's goals and vision (Daft & Marcic, 2008). The management of an organization should desists from taking a one-size-fits -all approach and should also consider the impact that their employees may have on the success of the digital technologies in thee organization's operations (Kehal & Singh, 2005).

How is tension created in ‘The tell tale hearts’ and ‘The black cat’? Essay

In this essay I am going to study the short stories ‘the black cat’ and ‘the tell tale heart’ written by famous writer Edgar Allen Poe and see how tension is created in the two tales. Both tales are written in a gothic horror genre and Poe’s intention for this was to chill and unsettle the reader, to make them anticipate what was going to happen next, as if it was really happening. Poe succeeds in doing this by the content of the tales, partly being the supernatural and the tension he creates, which plays a major role in both. He creates this tension by using several different techniques including plot, characterisation and many stylistic devices. One way that Poe creates tension is the plot of the story and where is it set. ‘The tell tale heart’ is set in the middle of nowhere and late at night, when it is dark outside. This automatically makes the reader uneasy, as nighttime and darkness is symbolic of dark and bad deeds. Poe mentions more than once that it is set ‘about midnight’ and that it is dark, ‘black as pitch’, he keeps reminding the reader of this, as he knows it is symbolic and the reader will be wary of this. Criminals will often act upon this time, as they are more likely to get away with the crime, as they cannot be seen as easily. People are most wary of little things, sounds and sights like shadows in the dark and will be on edge. Darkness and nighttime are famously scary and unsafe, portrayed in novels and films as when everything bad happens and now is the stereotypical view. The darkness seems like a disability, vision is not fully available, and the brain starts so wander as to if anything could be round the corner, lurking, waiting because almost certainly people will feel that something bad is going to happen. The stories are written in first person narrative, which makes the reader feel as though they are in the story, involved personally, and is made to feel what the narrator feels. From the very beginning of the tales the reader gets an idea of what kind of stories they are going to be and may feel uneasy as Poe makes it clear that the narrator is mad. The narrator speaks informally and repeatedly says things that make it obvious he is not sane. Firstly, they start by telling you that they are not mad, no matter what we may think. In ‘The tell tale heart’ Poe writes ‘You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing’ and in ‘The black cat’, ‘Mad indeed would I be to expect it†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ ‘Yet mad I am not’ this is affective, as it seems as though the narrator doesn’t quite believe it himself, and is trying to convince himself that he is not mad, and will put the reader on edge as they don’t know what to expect from this kind of character. Also, in ‘The black cat’ it says ‘yes, even in this felon’s cell’ which means that he is in jail, awaiting trial and prosecution. This will reinforce the reader’s doubts about the man as it informs them once again that he has done wrong. ‘The black cat’ is the story of the murder of a defenceless animal, which was killed by the person who once loved it more than anything. The cat was the narrators ‘favourite pet and playmate’ he says and he loved having pets, ‘never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them’. So it comes as a shock to the reader when he starts to mis-treat them, ‘not only neglected, but ill-used them’ spurred on by his irrational behaviour and mood swings, caused by his addiction to alcohol ‘for what disease is like Alcohol!’. ‘deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket!’ shows the extent of how the alcohol has affected him, and the reader will feel as though they cannot trust his actions because of this which causes tension and they will be on edge as they don’t know what to expect next. Just before he kills his cat he says ‘And then came, as if to my final and irrevocable overthrow, the spirit of PERVERSENESS.’ This shows that he is aware that he is not himself, which adds more tension to the story, as he did nothing to stop it. Poe wrote the word perverseness in bold, capital letters on purpose, to show the reader that it is important in the story, he is doing all these bad things because he isn’t completely sane, so the reader will anticipate the mans every move. ‘The tell tale heart’ is the story of how a man murders another, and the only motive we are given for this is the old mans eye. The narrator describes this eye as ‘the eye of a vulture’, which is not normal and projects an image into the readers mind. He keeps referring to the eye, ‘Evil Eye’ so the reader is aware how much it troubles him, like he is obsessed with it, which is not the sign of a sane man. The narrator then continues to say how he carefully planned the man’s murder, all the precision involved, ‘I opened it- you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily- until, at length a simple dim ray’, yet again this shows the reader that he is not normal, and will cause the reader to feel not trust his actions and to see that he is unpredictable. Most tension is built towards the end of the tale, when the police arrive and the man seems surprisingly calm. ‘I smiled, – for what had I to fear?’ shows us that he is mad, any normal person would be very nervous and on edge when the police came. Tension is built here, as the reader doesn’t know what is going to happen, whether he will continue his act and get away with the murder, or he will trip up somehow and all will be revealed, whatever happens the reader will anxiously await. Once again we are reminded that the narrator is mad when he starts hearing a noise, ‘a low, dull, quick sound’ which only he could hear. Clearly he was imagining it, perhaps spurred on by a secret guilty conscience, the reader knows that he is struggling with mental instability and may feel tense as they don’t know what his next actions will be, he is unpredictable, but also the reader may feel sorry for him. In both tales tension is built because of the killing of the vulnerable, ‘The black cat’ looks at the killing of a cat and ‘The tell tale heart’ is the murder of a man. Neither of them did anything wrong to deserve what they got so it seems inhumane and unfair for the narrator to have done it. It shows that the killer is not a nice person, as no normal person would kill innocent animals/people so the reader doesn’t have many expectations of the man and would wonder what else could possibly happen in the two tales. I think however, that Poe’s stylistic devices add the most tension to the tales, the combination of punctuation and sentence length. He uses dashes in the middle of sentences in his work to add tension, to make them moment’s stand out from the rest of the text. ‘There was noting to wash out- no stain of any kind -no blood spot whatever’ is an example of this in ‘The tell tale heart’, where Poe is trying to emphasise the point, so the reader will take more notice of it. ‘It was a black cat -a very large one -fully as large as Pluto’ is an example of this from ‘The black cat’; yet again it shows that Poe is trying to get the reader to notice the point he is making. Poe also uses explanation marks to describe the tone and when the narrator in ‘The black cat’ says, ‘so much of insufferable wo! Alas!’ it shows clearly that he is hysterical and is in growing discomfort. The pace of the tales change. Poe uses short sentences to speed up the pace, which adds a considerable amount of tension. ‘There was no pulsation, he was stone dead his eye would trouble me no more.’ Poe writes in ‘The tell tale hearts’ which is very affective to the reader. They stand out from the long descriptive ones and therefore make more of a mark on the reader. They are also easier to take in as they are very short, and more then two short sentences in a row makes the pace increase which, yet again builds more tension. Poe’s use of dashes and commas also break up the long sentences, which makes it easier to digest what is written and readers await what is going to happen, as it is building up a picture gradually. ‘In the black cat’ Poe writes ‘from within the tomb!- by a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ which is very effective. When reading, the reader will have read it faster and faster rushing to get to the end of the sentence, to reach its climax. In conclusion, Poe succeeds in his aim, to chill and unsettle the reader, by building tension in different aspects. He does this by writing the tales in first person narrative, where the man is obviously mad, therefore untrustworthy, although the reader is inclined to feel what he feels. Also the content of the stories creates tension, the killing of defenceless and vulnerable mammals is clearly a bad thing to do so the reader know the narrator isn’t very nice. It is also discomforting to the reader to know that a human is capable of doing such things. Setting ‘The tell tale hearts’ in the nighttimes is stereotypical for bad things happening so the reader will automatically be aware that something bad is going to happen and introducing witchcraft in ‘The black cat’ adds to the tension as witchcraft is very mysterious and un natural. Poe’s use of short sentences, commas and dashes also build up tension as they break up the story, make it easier to take in and build up the pace in which the story is read. I think that Poe’s unique writing style make both the stories very affective and compliment the genre he writes to. I think that if his work were ever transferred onto screen then it wouldn’t be as effective, as stories leave more to the imagination and I don’t think that anyone would be able to create the same tense atmosphere as Poe does in his stories, which would discredit his name. Both the stories were written more than 100 years ago, in 1843. They are so old that when they were written no other genre of story like it was around at the time. They were original for the time they were written and set the standard for future writers. Poe invented this new genre and his writing skills and techniques form scratch and were the first chilling, gothic horror stories ever written, which adds to the reason of why they are so effective. Because no one had ever read anything like it before, and in a scense the stories were ahead of the time because of the effect they had. Poe’s work is popular worldwide and still his stories of this genre appear chilling as they are written in a old style that is not used as much today, but this is effective and one knows that they would have had even more impact at the time they were written.

Mao Study Guide

Mao’s Rise To Power I. Mao first got into radical issues in his home  province  of  Hunan, because there were large spheres of influences there II. In 1920, Mao stumbled upon Professor Chen Tu-hsiu,  China’s foremost Marxist. He gave Mao a position selling party literature in a bookshop III. Mao rose in status to provincial party leader soon afterward IV. In 1923, the Nationalist Party sought help and money from another source, so they joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP was being given money from the Soviets V. Soon after the Nationalist Party leader’s (Sun Yat-sen) death, Chiang Kai-shek took leadership of the Nationalists and separated themselves from the CCP because they didn’t want  China  to turn into a Soviet satellite state VI. Chiang began killing off the CCP. Mao and the CCP went on a Long March, or retreat using guerilla tactics, to Yan’an to flee from the Nationalists. They set up their base there because it was in the north, closer to the  Soviet Union, where they could get help VII. Chiang was very violent and killed many of his political opponents in the cities. This was more visible to the people than Mao’s violence in the countryside VIII. Most people knew that Chiang’s regime was corrupt, inefficient, and could not deal with inflation and famine IX. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident led to the full-scale invasion of the Japanese in 1937. This would last until the end of WWII in 1945. During this time: a. A truce was called between the Nationalists and CCP b. The Nationalists did the brunt of the fighting against the Japanese c. The Nationalists and CCP were given weapons from the  U. S. to fight the Japanese d. The Red Army was built up and members of the CCP were built up by the â€Å"mass line†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  i. Trained communists were sent in groups into the communities, where they said they had come to listen to the desires and ideas of the people   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ii. On their return, the party would then learn what measures would appeal and adapt to their own policies which would be presented to the people e. To brainwash newcomers, Mao did the Yenan Terror during WWII: i. Used a Chinese KGB   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ii. Held denunciation rallies (you were forced to stand in front of peers and admit guilt (things that you did against the Communist ideology) even though you didn’t do them)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  iii. Singing, dancing, and humor were stopped   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  iv. All types of torture were u sed 1. Whipping 2. Hanging 3. Sleep deprivation v. No press   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  vi. Thought examination (you were forced to write down thoughts against the Communist ideology and accuse others of the same) f. After the Yenan Terror, Mao had gotten rid of enough opponents to claim himself supreme leader of the CCP X. After WWII, the Nationalists didn’t have enough manpower because  China  was so large in territory: a. Manchuria  (rich in mineral and coal deposits) was turned over from the Soviets to the CCP b. CCP took over many areas that the Japanese formerly held XI. The Marshall Mission led to a cease-fire between the Nationalists and CCP, so the Nationalists demilitarized over a million troops: a. Many troops did not have strong ties to the Nationalists (because they were former warlord troops) b. They were not helped to integrate into society, so they joined the CCP c. These troops located former Japanese weapons depots and showed the CCP how to work the weapons XII. The civil war started up again in 1946 and by October 1949, Mao proclaimed the People’s Republic of  China Rise/Consolidation of Power I. Eliminated political parties and churches II. Land was seized from landlords and many were executed III. Sanfan, Wufan, and Sufan campaigns were purges against ntelligentsia and CCP IV. Hundred Flowers Campaign was sneaky way to seek out political opponents by allowing them temporarily to speak out. The Anti-Rightist Campaign got rid of anyone who had spoken out against Mao V. Cultural Revolution called for students (called Red Guards) to safeguard Mao by getting rid of art, teachers, members of the CCP, or anything counter to the revolution VI. Laogoi were forced labo r camps VII. A compilation of Mao’s essays were put together in the â€Å"Little Red Book† and taught in all schools VIII. Rectification movements† served to eliminate intellectuals who Mao thought were dangerous by sending them to the countryside or killing them IX. Used speeches, propaganda posters, media, poets, film, etc. to prop up Mao’s â€Å"cult of personality† Previous Conditions I. China  was dominated by spheres of influence – places of foreign domination where the Chinese were looked upon as inferiors II. The country was not unified and had many provinces run by warlords, who were people not subservient to the government III. Previous governments were unstable and corrupt – the Manchu Dynasty had recently fallen – 1911, Yuan Shikai (a military general) ran the country for the next four years – 1912-1916, the warlord era was a period of chaos and great disunity – 1916-1925 IV. There were many economic problems: a. Widespread poverty b. Heavy taxes c. Large disparity between rich and poor d. Backward industry e. Few owned land V. Chiang was totalitarian and used violence to suppress political opponents; his government was also corrupt and took money from the peasants Successes I. Built up a following through charm and manipulation, allowing him to rise up in the CCP II. Escaped the Nationalist army and set up base in the north during the Long March III. Built up the CCP army and following during WWII through the â€Å"mass line† IV. Used the Yenan Terror to instill the ideology, brainwash and instill fear in his followers. All were loyal to Mao after the terror V. Yenan Terror was also used to brainwash people into thinking that Chiang was the enemy so that Mao would garner more support VI. Used the end of WWII to grab former Japanese occupied territory in  China VII. Acquired and successfully used demilitarized, former Nationalist troops in the Civil War after the Marshall Mission VIII. Won the Chinese Civil War because of the weakened Nationalist army and became dictator of the People’s Republic of  China IX. Ousted all political parties so that his CCP was the only one X. Churches were closed; Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism were denounced – this allowed less potential sources of opposition XI. Marriage Law gave more rights to women, such as the right to own property, no more foot binding, and consensual marriage XII. Health reforms were made to take the nation off it’s opium addiction, such as harsher penalties, rehabilitation, and education campaigns XIII. Under the Agrarian Reform Law, peasants were given land from rich landlords XIV. Ousted foreigners, so he got rid of all possible spheres of influence and any semblance of outside control XV. Hundred Flowers Campaign revealed those who opposed the regime, enabling Mao to get rid of them later on through the Anti-Rightist Campaign XVI. Mao regained power (after his Great Leap Forward failure) through the Cultural Revolution, a purge of teachers, art, and party officials XVII. Used the Little Red Book, speeches, posters, badges, etc. to successfully build up his â€Å"cult of personality†. His face was everywhere Failures I. Didn’t have the amphibious forces to pursue the Nationalists in  Taiwan II. First Five Year Plan built up industry, but failed to reach the target goals and lagged behind the industry of large industrial countries III. Mao also wanted to raise output in factories, so common sense and rules went to the wayside in the name of speed. Accidents frequently caused tens of thousands of deaths IV. Anything that peasants could melt down into steel was put in backyard furnaces. Much of the steel was unusable for industry V. Forests were stripped of trees to be used as fuel, so deforestation was widespread VI. Mao ordered huge drives to build irrigation systems using poor equipment. Some of these projects are still unstable today VII. In the Great Leap Forward, collectivization failed, as food was forcefully taken from the peasants because Mao wanted to export the food for industry/weapons (he wanted to be a superpower). 38 million died of famine and disease. Agriculture continued to lag. Mao temporarily fell from power VIII. Sanfan, Wufan, Sufan, Anti-Rightist, and Cultural Revolution terror campaigns were against intellectuals (as well as others), but this got rid of most of the educated people in the country who could’ve helped the economy grow IX. One of the Cultural Revolution’s objectives was to wipe out anything cultural, so a generation of culture was wiped out X. The people responsible for carrying out the Cultural Revolution were students, so schools were closed during this time. Education was stopped completely during this period

To what extent can Marketing Mix be successfully Standardised Essay

To what extent can Marketing Mix be successfully Standardised - Essay Example More importantly than the basics of the marketing mix for an organization is the ability to use innovative tools and concepts that will help a business brand identity to stand out from others. The ability to use creativity is one that has to balance with the foundational principles of a marketing mix to build an effective campaign. The marketing mix began to be incorporated into businesses at the beginning of the industrial revolution, specifically to reach different types of customers and the needs that were a part of this. As the marketing mix developed, it was able to create a specific appeal to business brand products and services. More importantly, it was able to help customers recognize the different brands that were used through the use of communication of the product and different levels of implementation for an advertising campaign. To do this effectively, marketers began to use a basic structure that was able to define exactly what a consumer was looking for in terms of advertising. The company, competitors, collaborators, customers and context are the five elements that are often considered with marketing and provide a stronger basis for creating value. From the different elements, marketers are able to create a stronger set of tactics and opportunities for the correct type of advertising and market ing (Chernev, 8, 2007). From the basic concept of the marketing mix, are several marketers that have developed the specific elements that are used to ensure that communication is provided through a set of formulas. The different levels of implementation that are used are divided specifically by the main and foundational principles that create a specific marketing plan. The most standardized option that is used for those that are using the marketing mix is known as the 4 Ps. The first â€Å"p† stands for

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New York Trip - Case Study Example New York is one of the towns in the world that is highly populated and most visited places in the world makes it expensive to visits for vacation in comparison to other cities. An estimated $10000 was spent on the day trip to New York for my family of four. This included all the flights, accommodation, food, drinks and every other expense. The Flight from Miami to New York via Delta Airways cost $400 per person, and it took 3hours for a non-stop trip. At New York City, we booked the Avalon hotel for the bed and breakfast option the hotel had an executive accommodation and at this particular time of the year the management was giving its customers a 10% discount. For the three nights we spent at Avalon, and we incurred an estimated cost of $3000. During the second day of the travel to New York City, we decided to watch a family friendly show at one of the theatres. At Gershwin Theatre, we decided to watch the show wicked. The reason we choose this show is that it is filled with fun, it’s kid-friendly since we were in the company of my 10-year brother, and most importantly my parents were interested in watching a comedy show. The Entertainment Weekly characterized the wicked show as the â€Å"The best musical of the decade.† The ticket for the wicked show was being sold at $70 per head. This show was family friendly, the only disadvantage is that my younger brother found it too long for his age, he was enjoying it but at his age any show that lasts for more than one hour is too much. The second show in my trip to New York City was â€Å"live of the saints†, this is a short story that we selected since it was getting late, we were tired and for this reason we preferred to watch a show that was short, brief and family-friendly as well. The show was at Gershwin Theatre as well. My little brother was already exhausted from the last show, but he seemed to enjoy this show that the previous

GFP Mutants with Altered Mass Spectra Research Proposal - 1

GFP Mutants with Altered Mass Spectra - Research Proposal Example The green fluorescent protein (GFP), was discovered and isolated from the from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria (1). The native protein contains 238 amino acids which fold into six alpha helices and eleven beta strands forming a classical cylindrical beta sheet with anti-parallel strands. The GFP protein owes its fluorescence to the derived chromophore that is buried deep in the beta-barrel which protects interactions with the solvent. Due to its stable fluorescence, GFP has been used in biological studies as an important marker for processes like protein trafficking. Sequence data for GFP has led to the development of recombinant GFP proteins with modifications to increase the fluorescence intensity and longevity. There are many mutant GFPs with differences in absorption and emission spectra. There are enhanced GFP (EGFP) that has higher-intensity emission after blue-light excitation compared to wild-type GFP (4) (3). Another is GFPuv, a recombinant GFP with maximum emission spectra is 509nm, similar to that of wild-type GFP. GFPuv has a molecular weight of 29 kDa with three amino acid substitutions (Phe-99 to Ser, Met-153 to Thr, and Val-163 to Ala resulting in 18 times more brightness under ultra-violet (UV) light at 395nm. GFPuv is 18 times brighter than wild-type GFP. The large fluorescence of GFPuv making it suitable for experiments that require detection of changes in fluorescence. GFPuv expressed in highly expressed in E. coli is a soluble, fluorescent protein in contrast to wild-type GFP, which may be expressed in inclusion bodies as a nonfluorescent protein.

Sustainable Concrete Environmental Studies Coursework

Sustainable Concrete Environmental Studies - Coursework Example This industry has been identified as causing massive environmental damages within the production area. The materials used like cement produce a lot of dust and, therefore, contribute greatly to this pollution. Gore & Steffen (2008) states that with the current issues of climate change and global warming, this industry are faced with a surmountable task of alienating itself from the effects of climate change. This raises the issue of ‘going green’ – manufacturing using eco-friendly procedures and operations. Challenges Industrialization in the recent years shows an immense impact on the environment. There have been some positive effects as well as negative ones. The negative effects of industrialization on the environment continue to cause the players within the industry acclaimed nightmares. In the manufacturing industry, top among the environmental concerns has been the emission of greenhouse gases. These gases have been identified as a leading cause of pollution to the ozone layer. The effects of these emissions have become evident around the globe with adverse effects of global warming becoming a reality as time progresses (Edward, 2006). Immense pressure continues to pile for manufacturers to adopt manufacturing methods showing low levels of carbon emissions. Concrete manufacturing industry also faces the challenge of dust which causes chest infections while contributing to environmental degradation. The adoption of sustainable manufacturing processes seems to be an invention in the right direction. A relative pollution reduction level has been achieved by the industry players who have adopted the culture of sustainable manufacturing. Sustainable manufacturing can be defined as the new way of doing business in the manufacturing industry (Frank-Martin and Peattie, 2009). It ensures that, while organizations adopt new environment friendly sources of energy, competitiveness is maintained by the business. Most manufacturers do this by improv ing their processes and products as well. The process of production poses a bigger challenge to the environment than the product. The method most manufactures have adopted to achieve sustainable manufacturing has been the use of 3Rs (reduce, recycle reuse). This method aims at reducing emission of wastes, finding uses for the waste products and recycling any manufactured item which can be recycled. The challenges posed by this approach are still enormous. The company would make a shift into manufacturing using sustainable production methods. It aims at reducing the amount of emission it delivers to the environment. Dust produced by concrete manufacturing plant needs to be controlled. Through the control of the amount of dust emitted, the company shall be able to achieve environmentally sustainable production level. This level can be marked by reduced emissions and pollution from a single plant. The company can install air compression facilities on the machines used for production. T hese facilities shall ensure the machine produces smaller amounts of air into the environment. The air produced by machines has been identified as what blows dust into the environment. Through compression, the level of dust emission shall be reduced leading to reduced dust pollution from the plant as a whole. In the UK construction and demolitions, have been identified as the two biggest waste streams. The impact of this has a direct impact on the concrete production industry. Managing this waste would significantly

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IKEA's global sourcing challenge - Essay Example During the video program the company representative will come prepare with information about the good deeds of the company to demonstrate the high level of corporate socially responsibility the company applies. Social corporate responsibility can be defined as the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations and its members (Referenceforbusiness). b. What actions should she take regarding the IKEA supply contract with Rangan Exports? IKEA has to take a strong stance against Rangan Exports. A simple yet effective solution is to cancel the contract of the supplier. This decision would push away the critics that claim that IKEA supported suppliers that used child labor. The strategy behind such a move is to deny knowledge of the existence and child labor. The business move is a reactive strategy. One of the cons with this alternative solution is that the exploited children are not benefiting from the move. A second alternative for IKEA is to fine Rangan exports and to implement a process improvement plan to eliminate child labor and to find other ways to reduce costs. Rangan Exports would agree to immediately eliminate all child laborers and would accept termination of contract if a future violation occurs. IKEA would negotiate a deal in which Rangan Exports would publicly apologize for their actions and they would certify that IKEA had no knowledge of their actions. To compensate the exploited children IKEA will pay a full scholarship to the children to be effective from the grade the student is enrolled until college graduation. The scholarship will pay the child $300 a month, books, educational materials, and tuition to private school. The company should also invest money in hiring a law firm to consult on the possible collateral damage associated with continuing the relations with Rangan Exports. IKEA should also implement an audit system that would mandate four yearly visits to the facilities of Rangan Exports. c. What long-term strategy would you suggest she take regarding IKEA’s continued operation in India? Should the company stay or should it exit? (Be prepared to describe the impact of such a decision and how you would manage it) Leaving India would be a simply way to push away a problematic region and minimize the risk to the reputation of the company of doing business with contractors that rely on child labor. IKEA should attack the problem head on and leaving India is the coward’s way out. IKEA should stay in India to take advantage of the low labor costs available in the Indian marketplace. By staying the company can continue to offer low cost items particularly rugs imported from India. The company must hire an Indian accounting consulting firm. This firm will be responsible of performing audits in all IKEA Indian suppliers. The company must perform at least two audits per supplier yearly. Staying in India will help IKEA keep its cost structure low which can help the company pass off the savings to its customers to continue to offer very low prices. IKEA would decrease its sales in the rugs marketplace in the short term if it exited the Indian marketplace. The labor cost advantage in India should be further exploited by IKEA by expanding its supply chain operations in India. IKEA also has to improve its relations with the governmental agencies and non-profit organizations in

European Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

European Business - Essay Example The most important institutions of EU are the Council of the European Union, European Commission, and the Court of Justice of the European Union, European Council and the European Central bank. These institutions play a vital role in ensuring that the policies and matters affecting the EU member states are taken care of (Nelson et al. 2012 P.1-5). Apart from the growth of EU member states, the Union has also undergone a number of significant changes since its formation in 1957. The most important changes, which have been witnessed, are the Single European Act of February 1986 and the Maastricht Treaty of February 1992, which led to the establishment of the Euro. The objective of this paper is to explore the importance of the Single European Act of February 1986 and the Maastricht Treaty of February 1992 and their impacts on the UK economy and business. The Current Problems in the Eurozone and the Response of EU Institutions The Eurozone has faced a lot of challenges over the recent y ears. For instance, what begun as a debt crisis in Greece towards the end of 2009 has evolved as a big economic crisis in Eurozone, which has threatened the economic stability in Europe and the world at large. In fact, some economic analyst views the Eurozone as the biggest threat to the economy of the United States according to Nelson et al. (2012 p.1). At least four major problems related to economic challenges have been identified with the Eurozone. These include weakness in the European banking system, high levels of debts and public deficit in Eurozone nations, persistent trade imbalances within Eurozone and the economic recession as well as high rates of unemployment in Eurozone countries. High level of public debts in Eurozone countries (periphery) The problem of high level of debts in some Eurozone countries has raised a lot of concerns as to whether these countries will default on these debts. These concerns arose after high debt levels in some countries in Eurozone periphe ry increased immediately after joining the eurozone over the past decade followed by the global financial meltdown of 2008-2009, which further strained the public finance. As a result, the worst affected countries such as Ireland, Greece and Portugal had to be bailed out by the Eurozone governments and IMF in order to pay off these debts. However, even after the bailout, a country like Greece is still seeking for ‘haicuts’(losses on bonds held by private creditors. Portugal is also argued to be considering restructuring its debt. Italy and Spain are also grappling with the problems of debts, which have seen many investors becoming increasingly nervous (Nelson et al. 2012 p.2-4). Secondly, weakness in the Eurozone banking system is raising a lot of concerns about the levels of public debts. The ongoing concerns regarding the crisis have triggered capital flight from banks among some Eurozone nations, and some banks are now reported to be experiencing a lot of difficultie s to borrow in capital markets. Furthermore, analysts argue that European banks have insufficient capital to absorb losses on their holdings of autonomous bonds in case any of the Eurozone country defaults (Nelson et al. 2012 p.2-4). The third problem experienced by the Eurozone concerns lack of growth and high unemployment in Eurozone member states. For instance, A survey conducted by the IMF in January 2012 downgraded the

Sustainable Tourism Practice & Planning Assignment

Sustainable Tourism Practice & Planning - Assignment Example 67, the central bank of Mexico identified Cancun as a potential and immensely profitable site for a purpose built resort in order to cater the demands of a nearby potential market, the US. "Due to the reluctance of investors to bet on an unknown area, the Mexican government had to finance the first nine hotels." (Siegel J., 2006). And thus, the first hotel started operations in Cancun which today goes by the name of Temptation Resort. By 1975, Cancun had 1769 rooms in service; by 2008 it boasted about 150 hotels with around 27,000 rooms in service. Apart from the hotels, the basic infrastructure also developed leaps and bounds. An airport, highways, potable water, electricity, telephone lines, convention center and harbors were built to jump start the tourism industry in Cancun. Second only to New Mexico, the Cancun airport handles almost 200 flights a day. Ultimately, the city has had to cope up with the immense population boost from 30,000 in 1980 to over 600,000 today (Rhoda R. & Burton T., 2010). Thus, it is not a surprising fact that Cancun contributes majorly to the Mexican economy. But this silver cloud has a dark lining to it as well. In a city that’s bustling with over 600,000 residents and visitors, socials ills come as a package deal. Crime and poverty, drugs and gangs, political unrest and prostitution reign the back alleys of the glamorous hotel strips. The core reason for this is the asymmetry in the socio economic population of Cancun. A worker working in one of the posh hotels at the Hotel Zone actually lives in the poorest of conditions in the downtown area. Mirroring this fact, is the rate of inflation that is constantly rising. Taking an general example of a hotel worker who earns an average of 50 pesos or $5 per day finds it almost impossible to... Sustainable Tourism Practice & Planning Cancun was nothing but an uninhabited barrier island in the Yucatan peninsula. In 1967, the central bank of Mexico identified Cancun as a potential and immensely profitable site for a purpose built the resort in order to cater the demands of a nearby potential market, the US. "Due to the reluctance of investors to bet on an unknown area, the Mexican government had to finance the first nine hotels". And thus, the first hotel started operations in Cancun which today goes by the name of Temptation Resort. By 1975, Cancun had 1769 rooms in service; by 2008 it boasted about 150 hotels with around 27,000 rooms in service. Apart from the hotels, the basic infrastructure also developed leaps and bounds. An airport, highways, potable water, electricity, telephone lines, convention center and harbors were built to jump-start the tourism industry in Cancun. The second only to New Mexico, the Cancun airport handles almost 200 flights a day. It seems that the life cycle of Cancun is about to complete its 360 degree turn. It was born as a virgin island which had never felt the feet of man. It was desolate and untouched. And then man realized its true potential and turned it from a sleepy isolated piece of land into a hustling bustling elite tourist destination filled with lights, colors, technology and fun. But then there is only so much potential that one can exploit before the entire venture starts caving in on itself. That is what happened at Cancun.

How can violence be used as a media spectacle and why Essay

How can violence be used as a media spectacle and why - Essay Example Media spectacle is itself becoming the key organising principle in modern economy, politics, and in other critical asocial activities (Sturken & Cartwright, 2007, p. 76). The internet-based economy has also modified and developed hit-tech spectacle useful as a mean of reproduction, promotion, in selling and in circulation of commodities. Although modern technology is with time becoming a complicated technology among a good number of modern consumers, contemporary business entrepreneurs are relying on their services to improve their productivity and effectiveness. The media has also be of essence in influencing social and political life in modern integrate society. Political and social conflicts are with time being played out on the screens of media culture that display spectacles such as political sex scandal, the explosive violence of every days activities, terrorist bombing, celebrity sex scandal and the sensational murder case that are apparent in modern modernised society (Polloc k, 2006, p.51). Apart from offering expanding moments in modern experiences, media culture also presents additional materials for modelling thoughts, dreaming fantasy, and for constructing identity. Studies have further affirmed that, popular traditional entertainment has its roots in media spectacles (Beardsell, 2000, p. 97). Theorist Jacques Lacan Jacques Lacan, in his theory â€Å"gaze theory,† states that media has played a detrimental role in shaping violence in modern society. The gaze theory is useful in describing the way violence can be used as a media spectacle. The concept gaze is a technical term that was used in film theory in the late 1970s (Pollock, 2009, p. 27). So far, the concept has become a popular concept used by media theorist. The theory is used to define the influence of gazing on individual perceptions and the way people look at subjects alongside media presentations. The theory is applicable in defining how audience views people that are presented in media. The concept gaze is extended to the theory of feminist to address how men look at women, the way women look at themselves, and other women and the effects that surrounds these observations. In the theory, male gaze is used in defining how male view their fellow women (Zehner, 2012, P. 67). On the other hand, female gaze describes the way in which females view their fellow men in the society. Other social activities such as dominant public life, religion war, and sports were fertile and useful field for propagation of spectacles for many centuries. With the emergence of new information and multimedia technologies, techno spectacle has been shaping the trajectories and contours of modern society and culture. In developed and advanced capitalist nations such as United Kingdom and United States f America, media spectacles has turned out to be a defining feature not only for globalization but also for defining modern social conflict and violence (Fourie, 2008, p. 51). As observed in â€Å"The cinema of David Cronenberg† culture has played critical role in increasing criminal activities and violence in modern society. In reporting domestic violence, journalists refer to some of the cultural concepts in justifying domestic violence. As observed in â€Å"The cinema of David Cronenberg† it is impossible and challenging to discuss any film without mentioning cultural beliefs and practices. All films revolve around a

Taslima Nasreen Essay Example for Free

Taslima Nasreen Essay Taslima Nasrin is a Bengali writer from Mymensingh, Bangladesh, who’s faced many struggles as a human rights activist. She is also a feminist, secular humanist and a physician who has worked in different hospitals for about eight years. She’s very passionate about literature and she also has a strong desire of learning science, which is why she later became a physician. She’s a highly educated woman and comes from a very conservative background. She started to get more involved in poetry and her second book became very popular in 1989 that lead her to start writing in regular columns of newspapers and magazines. She wrote about many different things, but she always had a strong opinion on discrimination against women. The fact that she wanted women to take a stand led men to criticize her work. She did not like the dominating power men had over women and she wanted to make that clear to the society. Living in a country like Bangladesh, where the Muslim religion comes first above everything else, women are always looked down upon. When society sees that women like her are fighting for their rights, they (men) feel threatened because they don’t want to be stooped down. She has fought hard for herself and many other women to come out of their shells and show the society their true worth. Her supporters and opponents will always remember her bravery and courage. Taslima has been around the world and has received many awards due to her wonderful works. She has received awards in France, Germany, USA, India, Sweden, Great Britain, and Belgium. She was brought up as a Muslim but became atheist overtime and was married three times. She has been through many troubles and tribulations because of her work. Many people in Bangladesh were against her work and it became to a point where she was denied of having a Bangladeshi passport. Her life was not only jeopardized in Bangladesh but India as well. She had fled to North America and Western Europe due to her harassment in both places. She has written more than thirty books of poetry, essays, novels, short stories, and memoirs, and her books have been translated into 20 different languages. Taslima has followed her father’s footsteps; he was a physician so she decided to become a gynecologist. She was sexually abused during her adolescence life and her being a gynecologist in influenced her a great deal in writing about the treatment of women in Islam and against religion in general. She also made a scholarship program named â€Å"Edulwara† that gave 50,000- 1000,000 to twenty female students from seventh grade through tenth in Mymenshing, Bangladesh. In conclusion, we have to say that she was one courageous woman. Even after all the threats she received from the Bangladeshi and Indian government, she did not give up her works and what she believed in. Especially living in a Muslim country is not easy, your life can be threatened every easily in places like this. She was banned from entering her own homeland, but her works kept publishing. She is a great example to our country and to the rest of the world. She gave hope to countries like Bangladesh because of its weak government and unjust ruling. She stood up for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves, and most of all she was not afraid in herself which showed her true power and love for her country and every women.

On Outdoor Play Children And Young People Essay

On Outdoor Play Children And Young People Essay The following research is to be related to outdoor play and its benefits for children and why outdoor play is not what it used to be. Research done on children stated that it is a myth that children enjoy staying indoors playing computer games and indoor games, a greater number of children prefer to play outside eighty eight per cent would prefer to play at the beach or by a river, seventy nine per cent like to play in the park, seventy nine per cent enjoy riding their bike and seventy six children playing ball games. However parents would prefer that their child stays indoors as they feel it is safer one in four would rather their child play on the computer than climb trees and one in five computer- based games play than letting their children play on fields. (Play England 2011) Children missing out on the great outdoors http://www.playengland.org. Methodology To help with this research project the literature research will be conducted on secondary research from books and articles on the subject and through the internet. It will also examine a range of quantitative and qualitative research. Literature review Research by the Department of the Environment (1973) on children that play outdoors and in the local area of where they live have declined over the past thirty years, a report done on outdoor play in 1973 showed that seventy five per cent of children played in the street as this was found to be the most popular. The study showed that children were more involved in physical activities like walking, running, made their own go-karts and ball games (Department of the Environment 1973). Another Study that was done by Play Board in 1995 had a similar outcome regarding childrens play this was done on two samples of over eight hundred children aged five to fourteen, these children were asked where they would play if they were not at home twenty four per cent of children said playing in the street, eighteen per cent said the play park and seventeen per cent said the garden (Parkinson 1985) Information obtained from a survey done in 2005 stated that only fifteen per cent of children aged between five and fifteen play outside in the street this is due to the quantity of obstacles put in their way of outdoor play (Department of transport 2006). Transport has a big influence on how children play. An ESRC sponsored study in 2000 showed that children thought that traffic is one of the biggest dangers of outdoor play along with gangs, bullies, and strangers (Matthews and Limb 2000). Research done by Savlone and playengland (2011) showed that most parents ventured outdoors as a child, however they now have concerns their children do not have the same opportunities as they did then. Research done with children showed that forty two per cent of children said that they have never made a daisy chain; thirty per cent of children have not attempted to climb trees. Children are aware of barriers to outdoor play as their parents are telling them to keep safe a report done by Young Voice and The Childrens Society in preparation for Playday 2003 stated that parents are always warning their children of stranger danger (Stockdale,Katz and Brook 2003a) Public attitudes toward children spending more time playing outdoors is positive and believe this as being an important part of a childs life it has social benefits play with other children has an impact on how children relate to one another, from being part of a group or part of the local community (Casey 2010) In the street, particularly in the nooks and crannies of the public space not under the watchful gaze of adults, children may thus begin forming a public identity and establish their own selfhood and independence(Spilsbury 2005, p 81). For years research findings has shown the importance of outdoor play and childrens well- being this was recognised in the 1960s when Mead (1966) stated that the neighbourhoods give children the opportunity to discover their environment and learn life lessons. Worpole and Knox (2007) believed that play is important for children; it can build some good friendships and understand the rules of social life. Outdoor play can benefit children in natural surroundings; free play and exposure to nature are vastly recognised as part of a childs healthy development (Moore and Cosco 2009). Studies of research show that daily connections with exposures to the outdoors can improve fitness attention and can lower sickness rates it is also believed that this can give children a sense of freedom. Children that play outdoors learn to navigate their immediate environment and build their self-confidence (Open university 2011). Those children that do not play outdoors will have less confidence and will unlikely be involved in the community (Gleave 2010). When children play out in the natural environment they are likely to enjoy nature as they grow up. Adrian Voce, Co-Director of Play England Said: Most parents know that children are curious about, and love to play outdoors. This is a deeply instinctive part of human nature and a vital part of healthy childhoods. We need to ensure that all children can access local green spaces to play, enabling them to have everyday adventures outside. To do this we need to support parents to help them feel confident to let children play out. (Adrian Voce, Co-Director of Play England) Children missing out on the great outdoors (wwwplayengland.org.uk). A UK survey found that ninety one per cent of adults understood the importance of outdoor play, sixty per cent said that they were worried about the safety of their children play in public places (Mc Neish Roberts, cited in Valentine McKenrick,1997). Beunderman (2010) found evidence that child learn life skills through outdoor play in their communities for example looking out for each other, asking for help. It is argued that having these abilities can offer them a positive outlook on the community gaining trust, feeling welcome and getting to know people in the community and being able to respect and have better relationships with other adults. According to the working paper by Lester and Russell (2010) on the importance of play: Adults should be aware of the importance of play and take action to promote and protect the conditions that support it. The guiding principle is that any intervention to promote play acknowledges its characteristics and allows sufficient flexibility, unpredictability and security for children to play freely. (Lester and Russell 2010: 46) Bishop (2012) stated that 25 per cent of toddlers are lacking vitamin D. The importance of outdoor play is essential for vitamin D as this comes from the sun and is one of the most important vitamins you need for your immune system and bones. Bristol University exposed some new research from the children of the nineties study recording the health of fourteen thousand five hundred children from birth in the 1990s, it shows that the connection among low levels of vitamin D and depression this happens in childhood so children that play outdoor reduce the risk of getting vitamin D deficiency and have a healthy body If you spend your time playing Nintendo or computer games instead of running about outside, riding in a car instead of on a bike, taking the tube / bus instead of walking through the park, thinking you look cool always wearing dark glasses or if you have dark skin to genetically protect you from a hot equatorial sun and you live in northern Europe or north America then you are going to benefit from a vitamin D supplement. A vitamin D deficiency leaves you with a greater risk of a number of different diseases not just bone problems such as rickets. (Yvonne Bishop-Weston 2012) Conclusion It is evident that there is a shortage of outdoor space for children to play with the ever increase of built up areas. Fewer play parks and not enough affordable places for parents to take children so that they can have the freedom to be able playing outdoors. It is also evident that children achieve much better when they are playing outdoors such as physical development, social skills, problem solving and creativity. (http://www.npt.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=1639). References Casey, T (2010) Inclusive Play: Practical strategies for children from birth to eight. London: Sage. Beunderman, J (2010) People Make Play: The impact of staffed play provision on children, families and communities. London: Play England. Department of the Environment. (1973). Children at Play: Design Bulletin 27. London: HMSO. Department for Transport (2006). National Travel Survey 2005. Transport Statistics. www.dft.gov.uk Gleave, J (2010) Community Play: A literature review. London: Play England. Available online at: http://www.playday.org.uk/PDF/Community-play-a-literature-review.pdf (Accessed Jan. 2013). Lester, S and Russell, W (2010) Childrens right to play: An examination of the importance of play in the lives of children worldwide. Working Paper No. 57, The Hague, The Netherland: Bernard van Leer Foundation Matthews, H. and Limb, M. (2000). Exploring the fourth environment: young peoples use of place and views on their environment. Stirling: University of Stirling. ESRC. Mead, M (1966) Neighbourhood and human needs, Ekistics, 21, 124-126, in Blakely, K S (1994) Parents Conceptions of Social Danger to Children in the Urban Environment, Childrens Environment, 1, 1, 16-25. Moore, R and Cosco, N (2009) The re-emerging importance of outdoor play in nature, Playrights Magazine, 1, 4-6. Parkinson, C. E. (1985). Where Children Play: an analysis of interviews about where children aged 5 14 normally play and their preferences for out of school activities. Play Board. Open University (2011) Play, learning and the brain. Available online at: http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=397465printable=1 (Accessed Jan. 2013). Spilsbury, JC (2005) We Dont Really Get to Go Out in the Front Yard: Childrens home range and neighbourhood violence, Childrens Geographies, 3, 1, 79-99. Stockdale,D. Katz,A.and Brook,L (2003a) You cant keep me in. London: The Childrens Society, Young Voice Voce, A. (2013). Co-Director of Play England (2013) Children missing out on the great outdoors http://www.playengland.org.uk/news/2011/08/children-missing-out-on-the-great-outdoors.aspx (Accessed Jan. 2013) Yvonne Bishop-Weston (2012) http://nutrition-news.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/uk-children-and-adults-lack-vitamin-d.html (Accessed Jan 2013) Worpole, K and Knox, K (2007) The Social Value of Public Spaces. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Communication Skills for Teamwork: Reflective Summary

Communication Skills for Teamwork: Reflective Summary Social, Legal and Ethical Issues Reflective report This report is going to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the module â€Å"Legal methods and Ethical issues†. The aim of this report is to evaluate and describe the research that has been used for the group presentation and the performance of the group during the presentation. Also, another one point that will be presented in this report is the group work and the cooperation among the members of the group. Finally, throughout this report it will be demonstrated the aims of the module, the experience the students had from the module, how they were influenced and affected through this procedure and the knowledge learned and how is going to assist the students in the future. The modules aims include the awareness development of students, but also enhancing students’ knowledge and ability to critically analyze a numerous of social behaviors, ethical dilemmas and legal issues. Furthermore, by the end of the module, students will be able to make rational discussion and critical thinking about ethical issues. All of the above aims will help students to be ready to encounter any difficulties or specific circumstances of their working life in the context of social networks and digital communication. This module is very helpful and necessary for students, in order to gain knowledge on how all the above issues covered are related to their future, personal life and job. Additionally, students had to explore the knowledge gained through the module and apply it in practice, which means that students had to make their own research in a certain topic, analyze it and then present it. In our group was assigned the topic â€Å"Protecting you and your organisation from malicious digital attacks† which was a very interesting topic, including the legislation part. Furthermore, it was a very recent theme of the 21th century, since technology and internet are integral and crucial parts of our lives. Specifically, â€Å"malicious digital attacks† is a term of computing, which is any physical or electronic action taken with the intent of acquiring, destroying, modifying, or accessing a user’s data without permission. As has been stated before, the definition of malicious digital attacks is a very general topic and includes a lot of issues, thus we split it into part and each group member made their research on a specific part. My part was to find the companies which had been hacked, the security PR disasters and digital attacks that damaged the trustworthiness and reputation of the companies. The following paragraphs will analyze the research about malicious digital attacks and will describe the process of the research and my own path before the presentation. My initial search for articles gave me a lot of general and irrelevant information and it seemed very difficult and slightly confusing. Although, when I correctly understood the topic, I found helpful and relevant information, which made it extremely interesting. Additionally, my research was based on articles, so I used the Google Scholar to find information, since BBC news provided me with a variety of knowledge and examples of companies being hacked. In the appendix, you will find some of the sites that I used and two articles of BBC news with some of my comments on them. These days, the social media, internet and numerous of online organizations come first on people’s preferences for several reasons. The social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, are being used throughout the day by people, as a way of communication, promotion of products, companies and organizations, as a mode of entertainment and the most important are free. Furthermore, another company which has large number of users is Sony, which has online games (FIFA, PRO) and people can be entertained through that site very easy. There are lots of organizations and companies that people are using, but in my research I focused on the most frequently used, such as Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox and Sony. All of these companies have something in common, because they are the most popular, they were more easily hacked and more users were affected. People who use the social media every day have not only advantages, but also several disadvantages. Although Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox and Sony are free services, in order to have access to this applications is necessary for a user to provide all personal details, such as name and surname, email address, gender, birth date, phone number, username and password. Additionally in some cases, is necessary to provide credit card and bank account numbers in order to have access to online games like FiFA. Throughout my research I found that people’s personal details are not safe, because it is very easy for someone to hack a company and steal personal information of the users. Moreover, through my research I found that all of these online services have been hacked more than one time in the last two years, but also hackers have stolen numerous people’s personal details and passwords. In some cases, users lost a significant amount of money from their bank accounts due to online hacking. Therefore, people should be very careful, when they create accounts and also is recommended to change their passwords approximately every ninety days. As for our group work, according to Levin (2005), face-to-face meetings are necessary for direct and active communication among group members, instead of communicating through emails or Facebook, were people are unable to understand a person’s feelings and mood. For example, in our team students communicated through emails and meetings, as a result were had excellent communication without misunderstandings and conflicts. Furthermore, according to Hargie (2004) â€Å"team is a number of interdependent people bound together by a collective aim. An essential feature of a team is that the members co-operate to achieve jointly agreed goals†. Furthermore, there are several advantages from teamwork. As Levin (2005) mentioned, teamwork is an opportunity for students to learn more efficiently about the concept of a course, in relation to regular learning methods (i.e. lectures, textbooks). Also, they can develop a different way of thinking, adopt common goals and try to achieve them through teamwork, which is one of the most important facilitators in achieving positive, cost-effective outcomes in various organizational settings (Procter Currie, 2004). In addition, teamwork can be an enjoyable and useful experience, because from my perspective, teamwork helped me improve my communication and cooperation skills, since I had to work and achieve a common goal with different kind of people. A group can succeed in doing great things which one person cannot do it alone (Levin, 2005). In our case, if we weren’t a team, each one of us alone couldn’t effectively carry out all the duties and responsibilities of the project. According to Levin (2005), respect between the team members is the basic rule for a successful and efficient outcome, so we tried to respect each other by giving the opportunity and possibility to each member of the group member, to share their ideas and express their opinion about the project. This helped our team to better organize and successfully execute our mission, because we implemented the most original and innovating ideas and methods. Furthermore, the aim of the group work was to create a good and interactive presentation. Through group work, we found a lot of different and interesting resources to cover our topic and we were perfectly prepared for the execution of the presentation. The day of presentation was slightly stressful for our team members, because we had worked very hard and we wanted to succeed. Moreover, in my opinion, the presentation was good and interesting for the audience, who successfully participated in the quiz that our team created. The game included many questions which were presented during the presentation. The audience was broken in two teams and the team who answered more quickly and correctly the questions, won a price. In my point of view, the presentation was very interactive and entertaining for the audience. The feedback from the audience was really good, specifically for the quiz, because people laughed a lot and there was a very friendly atmosphere. The feedback forms were quite satisfactory, because most of the forms, as seen in the appendix, focus on the interactive quiz, which the audience liked the most. Generally, through people’s comments appears that the presentation was interactive and enjoyable, but also provided the audience with many useful information about the subject. On the other hand, there were some negative comments about the presentation. For example, the fact that the presenters read through their notes made the presentation less interactive and communicative with the audience. In my overview, this project was a very good and helpful experience for me, due to the excellent teamwork and team spirit. Throughout the preparation, our team had weekly meetings through which all of our group’s members took joint decisions about the tasks and duties of our project. Also, my group was very helpful for me, since they gave me good guidelines and there was an excellent communication and cooperation between us. The day of the presentation, was stressful, but I tried to be more relaxed and managed to properly present my part, because I worked hard and I did not want to disappoint both my team and me. In conclusion, I am very satisfied with myself and my performance before and during the presentation, since I worked hard with our group and I have tried to be as best as I could. Unfortunately, due to my stress and anxiety during the presentation I spoke very quickly and it might create some misunderstandings as to what I was saying. In conclusion, the semester one was very useful and interesting for the students. The knowledge and the experience gained will helped them in their future career for several reasons. Firstly, students succeed in creating a different way of thinking, in understanding the legal methods and ethical issues and to gather information and details for dissimilar topics. Furthermore, all the presentations were very good and students worked very hard to accomplish that, although there were some more interactive and interesting presentations, compared to others. This module helped students to understand how to analyze a big topic and how to execute a correct research. In this case, the group work was essentially for this project, because the subject was very large and each member of the group worked for a particular part and the results were certainly much better, compared to an individual work. References list: Hargie, O. (2004). Communication Skills for Effective Management. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Levin, P. (2005). Successful teamwork for undergraduates and taught postgraduates working on group projects. England: Open University Press. Procter, S., Currie, G. (2004). Target-based team working: Groups, work and interdependence in the UK civil service.Human Relations,57(12), 1547-1572. My research (links) Articles of my research: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13636704 http://www.criticalgamer.co.uk/2011/06/24/have-sony-turned-a-pr-disaster-into-a-pr-triumph-part-two/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13537128 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386378,00.asp http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13206687 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21160818 http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/05/sony-online-entertainment-hack/ http://www.heavy.com/tech/2013/03/a-timeline-ofcompanies-that-have-been-hacked-in-2013/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/02/twitter-hacked/ http://xbox.about.com/od/news/a/Xbox-Live-Fifa-12-Hack-Explained.htm

Traveling Women Ministers - Pushing Gender Boundaries :: British History

Traveling Women Ministers - Pushing Gender Boundaries Quaker women led lives that were very different than those of their contemporaries. These women had the opportunity to act as vigorous participants in their faith, not being driven from the supposed domain of men. George Fox, considered to be the founder of the Society of Friends, saw the ministry as a holy calling instead of a trade—making it naturally open to all. (Trueblood 31). Many women, including Barbara Blaugdone, heeded their call to the Ministry. Some of these women pushed the limits even farther than most, following their call to preach, wherever it led. These traveling ministers pushed even the limits of fellow Friends, often experiencing great oppression and ill regard by those outside of the faith. These women also chose to press other gender boundaries of the time. For this devoted group to be fully understood by the modern reader, they must be seen for what they were, radicals of their time. The behaviors exhibited by women like Blaugdone could easily have been, and often were, misconstrued. Acts like sleeping in a hog trough, sneaking onto someone’s property, and barging into the office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, all outlined in Blaugdone’s own narrative, were quite out of the ordinary. Often compared with the actions of a vagrant or a prostitute, these dealings were not seen for their religious affiliation but instead for their shocking deviance from the norm. So flustered by great differences between Quakers and others groups of the period, some individuals reacted violently. In one such instance Blaugdone along with Mary Prince were attacked by a knife yielding man, who did, in fact, succeed in sticking Blaugdone in the side (Blaugdone 10). On her mission to Dublin, Blaugdone was blamed for storms affecting their ship and was almost thrown overboard by her shipmates (Blaugdone 21). Katharine Evans and Sarah Chevers, fellow Quaker travelers, were thrown in prison during their mission to Alexandria, and were tortured psychologically by their captors (Davies 262). True, even stationary Quakers felt many assaults, but traveling women received the worst of it. Traveling female Quakers tested gender norms even more so than by preaching alone. Their ability to ignore the role of men as protectors, as well as owners, had no context in the minds of their contemporaries. Evans and Chevers greatly distressed their captors when they refused to give their affiliation to fathers or husbands.

A Different Life :: essays research papers

A Different Life Silence came in seventh grade. It was in seventh grade that I began the first of six years at a private school. In those six years I realized that it was not only I who had lost their voice; I was one among many who were denied the opportunity to speak. I distinctly remember the first time they betrayed me and informed me that my voice was invalid. A close friend of mine from elementary school wanted to attend and I was telling others about him- telling them how neat he was. The three people whom I had felt I could trust- the headmaster, academic dean, and dean of students- cornered me and attacked me for things that I had supposedly said. They did not believe me when I pleaded my case, saying, "He is my friend. Why would I say such horrible things?" They three looked at each other, stuck their noses in the air and simply explained that it sounded like the kind of thing I would do. They did not know me. They had accepted a rumor as truth. They attacked me and disregarded my testimony. Unfortunately, this moment was merely the beginning of the silencing. It continued until the day I graduated. They condemned me for being curious and outspoken and lively. They shut me down for every brilliant idea I proposed, telling me that it was against the rules. I lived, quite literally, in this silence. I could not win by being myself, so I engulfed myself in obtaining their approval through silence and obedience. And I remember exactly what he said to me when I left. On June 4, 1999 my headmaster said to me, "Saint James has really changed you. You've really calmed down a lot. You've become a real lady." I finally gained his approval, but at what cost? Even then, when I was leaving, I could not find the voice to scream at him and tell him how deeply he had hurt me. I did not have the voice to tell him about all the pain he had brought me. I did not have the voice to tell him that I would have forfeited all of the "ladiness" I had gained over six years if I could have my voice back. Saint James taught me to bottle my emotions, because whenever I was open with them I would get in trouble.

Hafford furniture Essay

A Crisis at Hafford Furniture: Cloud Computing Case study MMBA 507 Student ID: 300333323 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION Hafford Furniture was a furniture manufacturer since 1970, supplying to furniture retailers, wholesalers and occasionally one-time bulk purchasers across the United States. Hafford relied on a Business Information System (BIS) to handle all the internal business processes. The BIS was seamlessly connected to a VAN-based EDI system, which served as the customer’s interface for making orders. In 2008, Hafford’s entire IT infrastructure and data storage were destroyed by a massive hurricane. Hafford was able to restore the company data with its disaster recovery plan, but not all its IT function. In March 2009, VP of IT proposed in a management meeting to adopt SaaS cloud solution to restore the IT function. Hafford could access to the same BIS without having to worry about the cost to rebuild another IT data centre. He projected that the IT staff strength could be halved, as the cloud vendor would take care of the management of the software’s platform and its infrastructure. The next day, the president of Hafford ignored the internal decision-making protocol and contracted their disaster recovery vendor, PFI Services for that same cloud service. In January 2010, Hafford was faced with appalling sales report for the year before, mostly caused by bottlenecks in the ordering system supported by PFI. Not only was the cloud capability insufficient, PFI was also filing for bankruptcy and undergoing liquidation. Hafford once again fell into a desperate situation. REVIEW OF KEY ISSUES Management issues Lack of Corporate governance The weak corporate governance in Hafford is especially notable in the fundamental change process. While there was an internal policy for creating a fundamental change in Hafford (Fig 1), Feckle, the President, had ignored it by entering into a cloud contract without consulting any of his top management, just one day after the premature proposal was shared with him. It was extremely risky to make such a significant business decision without sufficient knowledge in the service that he engaged. To make a well-informed decision, Feckle should have adhered to the corporate policy and trusted the IT professionals to evaluate and recommend a suitable vendor. Figure 1 Fundamental change policy 2. Failure to think critically during decision-making It is understood that Hafford used to adopt a VAN-based EDI-system specifically due to its security, despite it being slower and more costly. In Norris’ proposal for using cloud, he altered the company’s priority by pushing for an internet-based EDI-system, without providing solid justification. Questions like â€Å"will the internet-based EDI change the business in any way?† or â€Å"will it compromise customers’ security? † were not asked. The management seemed to have accepted this change too easily, without understanding its impacts. This concern should have been analysed more thoroughly before concluding to transit to an internet-based EDI-system. 3. Poor understanding of business needs The IT obj ective was not fully aligned with the business objectives. For example, in 2009, while the company was expecting a 30-35% increase in sales due to the efforts in a series of product improvements, the IT team was preparing a cloud proposal to the company basing only on the old IT functions. It had missed out on considering how it could support an explosive sales surge. Furthermore, Hafford was switching its VAN-based EDI to an internet-based EDI, which could potentially allow Hafford to widen its reach to attract a new group of SME customers. This could play a part in increasing their sales. However, Hafford did not foresee these changes, likely due to lack of communication between departments within Hafford. IT issues 1. Lack of thorough analysis in cloud computing The IT team failed to conduct due diligence in exploring all possible solutions that could meet its needs. While cloud offered great advantages for the company, it might have been too hasty to consider only private cloud as the final solution. In fact, public, private or hybrid cloud offered different potentials and could achieve the goal within competitive cost as well. The IT team should also have analysed each cloud model against its business needs before determining if software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS) or a combination of services would work best. 2. Lack of on-going management While cloud is said to be flexible, it demands some level of active management to harness the most of it after implementation. The IT team should be able to react quickly to resolve problems like the order bottleneck or a data lock-in. Besides, the IT team should have been more vigilant in ensuring business continuity for the company. RECOMMENDATION The key failure observed in the case was the lack of understanding in cloud computing and the lack of communication in the company. Like any other business decisions, the management should have exercised prudence by developing clear objectives and analysing the opportunities and threats before arriving at its conclusion. In this section, a recommended methodology to approach Hafford’s IT restoral problem is presented. Step 1. To develop business objectives The most important step is to approach a business problem with a clear business objective. It will be necessary for the management to look at the restoral of the IT centre as a collaborative business problem. Communication within the organisation is crucial in aligning all the stakeholders’ goals. With effective teamwork, the IT will appreciate the business values better and be able to analyse the suitability of various options. Step 2. To compare various viable options The IT team should research on what the available solutions are, before zeroing into a particular infrastructure option. While the restoral of a physical data centre may be expensive, there may be payment structures that could help reduce the impact. On the other hand, cloud computing may appear cheaper but it inextricably exposes users to a range of risks, especially in the aspect of security. Also, there are hybrid options that can minimise risk while offering cost benefit. In short, the IT team should fully understand the merits and shortcomings of the following options before selecting the IT infrastructure. 1. Public cloud 2. Hybrid cloud 3. Private cloud 4. Public cloud – Physical data centre 5. Physical data centre Step 3. To choose the suitable cloud service model There are three common service models in cloud computing. It is important to evaluate each model’s attributes and determine which cloud model would be more suitable for the business needs. 1. Software as a service (SaaS) To understand threats and opportunities of cloud computing Cloud computing offers the following powerful advantages but also opens a gateway to a wide range of threats. 1. Elasticity – Usage-based pricing model, charging users only for the capacity used – Scalability in terms of network and speed depending on demand 2. Simplicity – Setting up and maintaining a data centre can take significant manpower. Cloud computing offers convenient and economical business solutions to clients, while taking advantage of the economy of scale by taking care of one specialised area in bulk. 3. Cost-efficiency – No capital cost required. Companies benefit from the transference of risk (of over-provisioning and under-provisioning) of investing in a private data centre. While accepting these benefits from cloud, users should also exercise due diligence by being aware of all the possible problems cloud computing brings. Some of the crucial problems are outlined as follows. 1. Business continuity There is always a risk with placing valuable business information with a single third party. As such, the best way to go about is to even out the risk by employing multiple cloud providers and devising a business continuity strategy should any of them fail. Data lock-in It would be risky for a company to be unable to easily extract their data and programmes from one cloud provider to another due to compatibility issues of the programme and data from one cloud provider. In order to mitigate this risk, SaaS developer could use standardised API so that the business can remain flexible and mobile. 3. Data security While most cloud providers invest a considerable amount of attention on managing security, users should assess the security standards adopted by the cloud provider against their requirements before engaging it. 4. Insufficient capacity Although it is said that cloud is scalable, in rare occasions, businesses may experience traffic surges beyond what their contracted cloud can offer. Hence, it is important to strategize carefully before deciding on the cloud service. Step 5. Choosing the cloud vendor After thorough analysis and establishing a clear description for the cloud service needed, the user will have to evaluate the following factors to arrive at the most suitable vendor. 1. Pricing structure While cloud vendors typically follow a pay-as-you-use pricing model, pricing structure varies. For example, Google AppEngine charges users by the cycles used while AWS charges by the hour for the number of instances the user occupied. 2. Security Users need to look at a cloud service’s physical as well as network security. This refers to the physical location the cloud provider houses its equipment and network security measures like firewall and data encryption. Also, a cloud provider should be compliant to government standards specific to your business. In the case of Hafford Furniture, it was an auditing requirement for Hafford to ensure the cloud vendor is compliant with Statement on Auditing Standard No.70. 3. Other factors A clean record does not promise anything, it would be beneficial to also look at the vendor’s track record against available benchmark systems. Also, it would be helpful to have a vendor that can provide reasonably good service. Hence, it is important to know about the extent of customer support services, the setting up process and the ser vicing response and resolution time. Step 6. Engagement of cloud vendor and getting started During cloud rollout, especially from a different sort of data management, it would be common to face various teething problems. Cloud vendor should try to achieve seamless implementation, and companies might need to prepare their staff and/or customers should it affect their routine jobs significantly. Step 7. On-going active management of the cloud service Internal IT team should be continuously vigilant towards possible threats to ensure that the cloud service adopted by the company is safe and secure. Active backups of data must not be neglected. Also, internal feedback reviews could help the IT team understand the possible difficulties faced by the users, and also stay up to date with the company’s business initiatives.