Can you control the competition Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Can you control the competition - Assignment Example The firms progress in this race of competition. However, competition has been observed to be unethical at times. Firms resort to the most down trodden ways and methods to knock out their competitors. For example, the telecommunications industry today is highly competitive. Each firm knows what it needs to sell. From advertisements to deals and offers, everything by each of the firms, is highly organized and planned. However, these firms have a factor of unhealthy competition existing between them. Instead of welcoming the competition and struggling harder, they prefer demeaning their competitors through aggressive advertisements. The media has been a large shareholder of the unethical competition that firms receive. However, it cannot be criticized too much since it is also a source of healthy competition. As long as the telecommunications industry is concerned, competition cannot be avoided since a lot of profits lie with these firms. These extra profits attract new firms. The food industry has long been a competitive market. There are lots of firms making cereals but cornflakes have been a trademark of Kellogg’s alone. This is purely due to healthy competition. If this competition was controlled and other firms were disallowed from entering the cereal market, maybe Kellogg’s products wouldn’t have been this flawless (Dranove, David). Maybe it would have sit back and enjoyed its monopoly and never even tried the flavored cornflakes and those with resins and nuts. It is just competition that keeps on driving the firms to experiment. Thus competition is needed for the firm to grow. As far as the question of whether competition can be controlled is concerned, it is pretty simple to answer that in the food industry. As long as there would be demand for food, which there would be forever, there would be providers of food. As long as the providers will gain, new providers will continue to enter the market and thus there would be no way to control

Business communication Essay Example for Free

Business communication Essay Student Name: ID: 1-:learning Outcome being assessed: 1. Choose the appropriate communication channel for a business communication event. 2. Present material in context and support claims with evidence, reasoning and professional quality. 3. Design and produce a message that is responsive and appropriate within a business context. 4. Produce clear and concise memos, letters, faxes and emails. 2-Handing in format instructions Sign this page and put it as a cover for your assignment Submit a copy of your work Work must be neat and readable. Use blue ink only (or pencil when permitted). Number all pages etc†¦ 3- Marks Problem/question Marks allotted Marks obtained Feedback to students Layout Formulation (ideas/ Content) English 3 5 2 Total 10 [Lecturer should give feedback to the student for all questions with awarded marks around 60%] Program Manager Approval: Course: Business Communication Semester: Fall 13/14 Code: GEM202 Lecturer: Handout date: 29/9/13 Due date: 10/10/13 Assignment # :1 Home Assignment Maximum Mark: 10 Choose one of the following Tasks TASK1: You work for X company (you decide what kind) as a (you decide what position). You want to take a course on (you decide what topic) and have the company cover the cost. Your supervisor is basically supportive but will need to get the OK from his boss. For this you will need to make the case persuasively and in writing. Write an email proposal to your supervisor requesting the company cover the cost of the course. Convince the decision maker that the course is worth the money. Try to tie to your current and future responsibilities and explain how the company will benefit. To ensure that your proposal has sufficient level of detail, you may want to do some research on the internet on courses and choose one that might be useful to your current job. TASK2: You have been using the e-Text book for certain courses offered by McGraw Hill/KUC over the last semester. Draft a letter to the KUC management expressing your opinion on introducing the new digital books as study materials for the students. Explain for which courses you have used the e-book. How beneficial was it? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the e-book and what are your recommendations for the future. Would you like to pursue its usages, would you prefer using a print copy rather than the digital copy, or do you have any other suggestion? Use persuasive suggestion? Use persuasive arguments to support your opinion. can you please help me doing any of these tasks?

An Analysis of the Epic Poem, Beowulf - The Character of Beowulf :: Epic Beowulf essays

The Character of Beowulf When he arrived at the Danish land, Beowulf was a young man seeking adventure and glory. Beowulf was distinguished among his people, the Geats, for his bravery. As a young man Beowulf fought in many battles and as a result showed his great character to others. Beowulf had many characteristics which helped him to succeed in battle. As a young man, Beowulf was known as the strongest man alive. His strength allowed him to dominate in battle. If it were not for his pure strength, he would not have been able to defeat Grendel, for weapons would not work. By fighting Grendel without weapons, he opened himself up to greater glorification. Beowulf's strength could not be seen as a disadvantage, while the results of his strength could. Beowulf's strength allowed him dominance in battle, but it also made him cocky. While his cockiness allowed Beowulf to be sure of himself in battle, some of his peers found it to be a character flaw. Ecglaf, in particular, saw Beowulf as cocky and vain, questioning, "Are you the Beowulf who competed with Breca...swollen with vanity..." So, while his cockiness was a flaw in the eyes of others, Beowulf saw it as self assurance and used it to his advantage. Beowulf also had a strong spirit of adventure. His spirit of adventure was part of the reason that Beowulf went to fight Grendel. Beowulf's strength and spirit of adventure had also led him to glory in many battles, including that with Grendel. Beowulf used his glory in previous battles to justify himself when coming to help Hrothgar. In addition, his self assurance, and known bravery probably guided his decision. Beowulf's spirit of adventure gained him a lot of glory, however, it could have gotten him into trouble, if he were to have taken an adventure too far. While in his young age, Beowulf used his strength for glory and recognition. As he became older his great strength was taken away from him, and Beowulf found himself without one of his greatest abilities. Beowulf then was king of the Geats, and when a dragon attacked his land, it was his responsibility to protect his people.

Chinese language and literature Essay

Chinese is a unique language. Anyone who learns it will find it difficult to really understand and master the language if he/she does not completely cast away the habits and concepts acquired from his/her mother tongue or other foreign languages. Chinese is a language of great international importance in the present world of globalization. Modern Chinese (also known as Mandarin, Pu Tonghua or Guoyu) is spoken in the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, and increasingly so in Hong Kong. It is one of the four official languages in Singapore. There are significant communities of Mandarin speakers in Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, the USA, Mongolia, Vietnam, Brunei, South Africa, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, the UK and Mauritius. Mandarin is spoken by about 1 billion of people all over the world. It is also one of the five official languages of the United Nations. The communicative unit of Chinese is the sentence. Sentences in Chinese are quite different from those in other languages. During communication, certain parts of a sentence may often be omitted. This is one of the differences between Chinese and other languages. The language and script of the Chinese language belongs to the ‘Sino-Tibetan’ family. Chinese is also described as a tonal language, which means that a syllable generally is pronounced with a characteristic tone. On the whole Chinese lacks the inflections (suffixes, prefixes) that are characteristic of many other languages. While foreigners are under the impression that Chinese characters are countless, the fact remains that even China does not have anyone capable of mastering all the characters. The Kangxi dictionary of 1716 contains 47,000 characters whereas the Chinese dictionary of 1986-90 contains 56,000 characters. In fact there are only 3,000 characters which are often used. Other than being a language it is used for writing and keeping records. Chinese also has a great value in the field of calligraphy and is greatly appreciated as a work of art. Over the vast area throughout which Chinese is spoken, there are many different dialects. Some of which are mutually unintelligible. Chinese characters are the symbols used to write Chinese. Chinese characters developed more than 3000 years ago out of ideographs. Some of these are still in use today. Every Chinese written character represents a one-syllable word. Many Chinese words, however, are compounds composed of two or more characters. In these compounds each character contributes a meaning to the total concept. Modern Chinese characters fall into two categories: One with a phonetic component, the other without it. Majority of those without a phonetic component developed from pictographs. Characters of this type which do not contain phonetic components account for only a small proportion of all Chinese characters, but many of them are in common use. Most of the Chinese characters contain a phonetic component that tells the pronunciation and an idea component that indicates something of the meaning. These idea components are also called radicals and are often written on the left-hand side of the character. There are more than 250 radicals. The phonetic component is often a character in itself. If one knows the pronunciation of the character it is based on, one can know the pronunciation of many characters in which that component is used. One of the unsolved problems of â€Å"pinyin† is that some characters, though written differently and with different meaning, sound the same. However, usually one can tell from the context which one to use. The tone of a Chinese word is just as important as it s pronunciation. This aspect of speaking Chinese is the most difficult for English speaking people to learn. In English, the tone of a word varies with the mood of the sentence; in Chinese, the tone stays the same whether the sentence is a question, exclamation or a simple statement. The Chinese written language is an ancient and unique writing system with a history of 6000 years. There are a total of 60,000 characters, of which only 3000-4500 are frequently used. Ancient Chinese characters evolved from pictures. Each Chinese character is composed of various strokes. These strokes are basically straight lines. From top to bottom and left to right are the main directions. There are eight basic strokes used for writing Chinese characters. These strokes are used in a certain order to write Chinese characters. In the past few decades standard language has gradually been formed based on the language of the norm with Beijing as the norm and a grammar modeled on modern vernacular writing. This language is called ‘Pu Tonghua’ and is gradually being popularized. It will eventually become the form of spoken and written Chinese in universal use. b) Discuss the ways in which Chinas language and literature reflect other aspects of Chinas culture such as kinship, art, politics, religion, economics, and the Chinese world view in general. A Chinese name is composed of two parts – a surname and a given name. The surname comes first, followed by the given name. Most surnames are monosyllabic. The most common surnames are Zhang, Wang, Li, Zhao and Liu. There are a few disyllabic surnames such as Zhuge, Ouyang and Shangguan. Given names can be either monosyllabic or disyllabic.

Organisational Business Practices Essay

Organization is a principle of life. We seek the help of organizations to meet our day to day requirements such as to feeding, clothing, educating entertaining, protecting etc. However, organizations are not contemporary creations. Modern society has more organizations which are fulfilling a larger category of societal and personal needs. Organizations are so encompassing in the modern life that it is sometimes easy to overlook that each may be regarded as an entity with a specific contribution and specific goals. Organization is a system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more persons in order to achieve a common goal. It is a system of four major internal interacting components such as: task, people, technology and structure. Organizations are said to be open systems. A number of metaphors can be used to think and explain about the nature of organization. There are eight archetypical metaphors of organization: Machines, Organisms, Brains, Cultures, Political Systems, Psychic Prisons, Flux and Transformation, Instruments of Domination. General Discussion Document: Director of Marketing is proposing to introduce a new process of sales at Superior Sales Corporation for which there will be changes as per the present set up. Staff are likely to resist the change hence some suggestions are placed to reduce the resistance. Organization Structure: Functional superiority can only be achieved if there is enough reliability and focus within each business unit. Elites are those specialized organizational units with closeness to power and having superior capability. Their functions signify a particular organization’s typical capability. It is, important that more than one such elite function exist. They need to be complementary so as to make sure that they serve as a check on another. Pluralist are those essential forces that play a important role in decision making. The tension that is created amongst these forces stimulates thoughts and lead to self-improvement and competitiveness, Elite functions bring main strengths to an organization, but must assist with the whole to attain shared results. The stronger and more competent the elites are, the more difficult it is to achieve cross-functional teamwork. The organization’s challenge is therefore to ensure that these functions are on a par with that of competition, but at the same time they need to ensure that they respond to market demands by cutting across these functional compartments. Organization Cultures: Organizations are mini-societies that have their own distinctive patterns of culture. Culture is a modern concept used in a social sense to refer broadly to civilization and social system. Its increasing use within the social sciences has led to definitions of varying generality, which develop in a host of ways. Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. There is a growing literature of relevance how organization can be understood as a cultural phenomenon. It is valuable to understand the relationship between culture and industrialization. The greatest strength of this metaphor is that it shows how organizations rests in shared systems of meaning, values, ideologies, beliefs and other social practices that ultimately shape and guide organized action. Reactive and Proactive Changes: Forces for change arise out of an organization’s interaction with elements in its external or internal environment. The action of competitors, suppliers, government units or public groups may have substantial impacts on change. Social and cultural factors such as life styles, values or beliefs also lead to important changes. Forces of change may also arise from within an organization depending upon different phases of growth or demands made by different interest groups. Reactive changes occur when these forces make it necessary for a change to be implemented. Proactive change takes place when some forces to change lead an organization to conclude that a particular change is desirable and goes about in initiating the change in a planned manner. The difference between reactive and proactive changes corresponds to that between reflexive behavior and purposive behavior. Reactive change, like reflexive behavior, involves a limited part of the system whereas proactive change and purposive behavior coordinate the parts of the system as a whole. Organizational change has noted that many participants respond with dogged resistance to altering the status quo. In the industrial phenomenon workers have at times sought, in extremely violent fashion, to block the introduction of new technology. Supervisors and lower level managers have balked at large scale projects in job redesign and job enrichment; even low level employees, the presumed beneficiaries of such projects, have fought such changes. Senior managers have fought pitched battles against realignment of corporate structure. Even the proposal by a course coordinator to adopt a different style of presenting the report is capable of touching off a frenzy of defensive tactics to resist change. Such behavior may be either overt or covert. Overt resistance may take the form of employees deliberately failing to do the things necessary for successful change or simply being unenthusiastic about the change. The absence of overt resistance does not mean that resistance is not present, as resistance may be hidden from direct observation. Covert resistance can be more detrimental to change than open resistance because it is harder to identify and eliminate. There are at least two sets of factors which explain the process of resistance. One set relates to the personality and the other relates to the social system. Decreasing the Resistance: Managers who have been responsible for implementation have developed personal perspective consisting of assumption and strong feelings about how change should be introduced. These philosophies fall into two camps, either tops-down or bottoms-up. The Tops-down Strategy: The advocates of this strategy believe that, in general, people resist changes and require direction and structure for their well being as well as to work efficiently and effectively. The basic psychological contract between employees and management, it is assumed, is one in which the employee provides work, effort and commitment and expects in return pay, benefits, and a clear definition of what is expected to be done. It follows that it is the management’s responsibility to design the changes it deems appropriate and to implement these thoroughly but quickly by directives from the top. The Bottoms-up Strategy The advocates of this approach profess what to them is a more enlightened view of human nature. They argue that people welcome change and the opportunity to contribute to their own productivity, especially if the change gives them more variety in their work and more autonomy. These managers assume people have a psychological contract which includes an expectation that they be involved in designing change as well as in implementing it. Commitment to change, they say, follows from involvement in the total change process and is essential to successful implementation.

Meursault vs MLK Jr essays

Meursault vs MLK Jr essays Martin Luther King Jr. was a man who was deeply committed to bringing justice to the Negroes of America. He expressed this commitment in his Letter from Birmingham Jail. This letter tells us a lot about the way in which King saw the world and the power relationships within it. It painted the picture of a determined man who saw his place in the grand scheme of things and knew how to use his power to achieve his goals. The character Meursault from the Albert Camus novel The Stranger also manipulates power to his advantage. Meursault on the other hand seems to be completely indifferent to what is going on around him. These two men have opposite personalities and yet they both come to the same end... power. How is this possible and what does this say about the typical power theory? To answer this question I will examine the ways in which both King and Meursault understand love, justice, religion and law. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail King expresses his love for the church, his love for freedom and his love for America. He follows the words of Jesus, who said, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and persecute you (479.) This approach to ones enemies is an interesting one. Rather than gaining power in the relationship by pushing others down it aims to gain power by lifting them up. Say person X hates person Y. Kings approach was that Y should return that hate with love. The desired result was that X would not be able to hate someone who loves him/her without feeling guilty and instead give the love back thus making the two equal. Meursault definitely does not share Kings opinion on love. Whereas King goes by the principle that love will be returned with love and leave nothing but equality Meursault does not see the importance in the whole thing. Marie obviously loves him but he does not love her (5...

desert fox essays

desert fox essays Erwin Rommel was born in 1891. As field marshal he was known best for his capture of 9,000 allied forces during World War I. On the Germans invasion of France in 1940, Rommel commanded the well-known Ghost Division or otherwise known as the German 7th Panzer Division. Pushing every machine and every man to extreme limits, Rommels forces moved 350 miles in six weeks. Never had tanks moved so far in such little time. Rommel joined the German army in 1910. He won awards for his bravery in WWI. After he pushed to the English Channel in 1940, and received the many victories in the Ghost Division he was made lieutenant general and placed in command of the Africa Corps in North Africa, where he earned worldwide recognition. Rommel was a popular military leader even though his tactics were unconventional to other leaders. Other than sit in command rooms located far from the battle field to direct the troops, he instead lead his troops from the front lines. He was also known to help the soldiers build a bridge or if the convoy was in trouble was there to give a helping hand. In 1944 the Western front was the only area that hasnt had full allied assault. Hitler put Rommel in command of the defense of the western front. He then went to survey the coastal defense from the north to the Mediterranean, and was discouraged at the sight. The defense was widely scattered, none of which could withstand a full scaled allied attack. The infantry were in the worst condition. They included POWs and German soldiers exhausted from fighting with the Russians. The men were poorly trained, had hardly any artillery, and some even lacked the physical strength to endure military action. Although the situation seemed bleak, Rommel set out to bring order to the western front. Just the sight of Germanys great hero raised the spirits of the poorly trained forces. He organized the troops and set them ...

Formula for Ammonium Hydroxide

Formula for Ammonium Hydroxide Ammonium hydroxide is the name given to any aqueous (water-based) solution of ammonia. In pure form, it is a clear liquid that smells strongly of ammonia. Household ammonia usually is 5-10% ammonium hydroxide solution. Other names for ammonium hydroxide are: Ammonia (e.g., household ammonia) [versus anhydrous ammonia]Aqueous ammoniaAmmonia solutionAmmonia waterAmmonia liquorAmmonical liquorSpirit of Hartshorn Chemical Formula of Ammonium Hydroxide The chemical formula of ammonium hydroxide is  NH4OH, but in practice, ammonia deprotonates some of the water, so the species found in solution are a combination of NH3,  NH4,, and OH− in water. Ammonium Hydroxide Uses Household ammonia, which is ammonium hydroxide, is a common cleaner. Its also used as a disinfectant, food leavening agent, to treat straw for cattle feed, to enhance tobacco flavor, to cycle an aquarium without fish, and as a chemical precursor for hexamethylenetetramine and ethylenediamine. In the chemistry lab, it is used for qualitative inorganic analysis and to dissolve silver oxide. Concentration of Saturated Solution Its important for chemists to realize the concentration of a saturated ammonium hydroxide solution decreases as temperature increases. If a saturated solution of ammonium hydroxide is prepared at a cool temperature and the sealed container is heated, the concentration of the solution decreases and ammonia gas can build up in the container, potentially leading it to rupture. At a minimum, unsealing the warm container releases toxic ammonia vapors. Safety Ammonia in any form is toxic, whether it is inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested. Like most other bases, its also corrosive, which means it can burn skin or damage mucous membranes, such as eyes and the nasal cavity. Its also important to refrain from mixing ammonia with other household chemicals because they may react to release additional toxic fumes.

Montaigne's Apology for Raymond Sebond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Montaigne's Apology for Raymond Sebond - Essay Example They are founded on ones capability to provide sufficient testimony to sustain such claims. He argues that anything can appear truthful or not depending on one’s interpretation and the amount of backing provided to support the claims. In Montaigne’s view, it is a person’s ability to provide irrefutable evidence, which determines if he or she appears stupid or clever, obscure or inconsistent. However, there is always the likelihood that someone else will dispute any idea, agree with it, or be at a tangent to it. In his opinion, Montagne argues that the different perceptions or considerations are what have given value to many things worth nothing. In this essay, the problematic issue is on the question of whether honey is sweet, or bitter. The discussion revolves around Heraclitus, Protagoras, and Democritus and Pyrrhonists opinions regarding the taste of honey. According to Heraclitus and Protagoras, honey has both qualities of being sweet and bitter. On the other hand, Democritus argues that honey is neither sweet nor bitter while Pyrrhonists claims not to know whether honey is sweet or bitter. This is an analysis of the different views regarding the reliability of senses as trackers of truth. Each of the four philosophers tries to support their own opinion. From the fact that honey was sweet to one and bitter to another Democritus and Protagoras drew their conclusion that it is neither sweet not bitter. In their opinion, sweetness or bitterness exists by convention. Sweetness or bitterness is thus not a quality of honey. Additionally they felt that attribution of traits or qualities are subjective affection that depicts our own perceptions regarding different things. In their view, honey is neither sweet nor bitter, the sweetness and the bitterness is an idea belonging to mind of the person tasting it. Bitterness and sweetness are two different things and thus it is not possible for something to have both qualities. Consequently, it is not possible for two conflicting opinions to be correct. The perception that something can be both sweet and bitter demonstrates that the language we use to describe things does not relate to anything in actuality. Qualities associated with different things are thus a mere depiction of our discernments and not the truth. Democritus and Protagoras opinion was different from that of Heraclitus who concluded that honey is both sweet and bitter. Heraclitus proposition was that â€Å"all things have in them features we discern† (Montaigne 147). By this, he meant that the attributes or traits associated with anything could vary depending on the person viewing it. Therefore, the qualities of bitterness and sweetness are in the honey but different people will perceive and describe them differently. For that reason, the opinions regarding anything depend on what the person wants to propose. There is thus no specific or constant outlook into anything. Heraclitus message was that our perce ption tends to be partial and thus the conclusion depends on one’s discernment but does not necessary mean it is the truth of the matter. Our senses are thus inadequate since they perceive whatever we want them to or want we want to advocate but not the reality. Pyrrhonian claimed not to know if honey is sweet, bitter, neither, or both. This opinion demonstrates doubts on whether any of the above quality exists or not. The

STEWARTSHCES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

STEWARTSHCES - Essay Example Within 1 day, personnel within the relevant departments must participate optimally in establishing the relationship between existing promotional techniques and corresponding sales revenue generated. Upon linking promotional technique with resultant sales revenue, the next step involves evaluating cost of each promotion strategy. Each technique possesses unique advantages and disadvantages. On the second day, cost of direct mailing or in-store signs must be harmonized with budgeted resources. A meeting with all store managers should be held within 2 weeks. After analyzing effectiveness of promotional techniques and their corresponding costs, information gained will be useful in making objective marketing decisions. The president will use this information in influencing the manager’s perspective on advertisement. Upon completion of the meeting, each manager will present his or her opinion on challenges likely to emanate from the new marketing policies. Opinions from individual managers will be analyzed and addressed accordingly, like by increasing monetary allocation to a certain manager’s area. Some managers and buyers may become uncomfortable with adopted promotional measures. For example, disparity in consumers’ age characteristics may not allow implementation of social media marketing in all markets. Therefore, appropriate adjustments will be made in order to optimize promotional technique used in every market segment. Stewart Shoes is currently doing well in terms of sales. Since its establishment in 1953, this company has expanded because it adopted effective business models. However, business environments keep changing; hence necessitating adjustment of operation protocols. Adjustment of traditional business framework usually creates conflict between stakeholders. Currently, managers from various departments have diverse opinions on the value of money used in advertisement and

The Simultaneous Repression of CCR and CAD, TWO Enzymes of the Lignin Essay

The Simultaneous Repression of CCR and CAD, TWO Enzymes of the Lignin Biosynthetic Pathway, Results in Sterility and Dwarfism i - Essay Example Later on, understanding pathways may be used in the laboratory synthesis of these compounds. Moreover, the induction, as well as repression, of their production in plants through anthropogenic intervention to promote optimal plant growth and/or fruit bearing may be conducted. This is important as many secondary metabolites are already used by humans. In the case of lignins, genes CCR and CAD have been identified as the encoders for the last and specific steps for monolignol biosynthesis, the first part of lignin pathway. Because of the complex nature of biochemical production, regulation of a certain pathway may affect other pathways as well. Such effects may be great enough to cause changes in phenotype. In the case of monolignol biosynthesis in tobacco, the silencing of both CCR and CAD genes resulted not only to a reduction of lignin production but to a decrease in plant size as well. The recent study by Thevenin et al. (2011) looked into the effects of silencing monolignol-specif ic CAD and CCR genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. The plant contains two CCR genes, but only one, CCR 1, is specific for lignification. The mutant lines for this gene, irx4, ccr1s and ccr1g, are dwarves, have a reduced amount of lignin (25-35%), and have a modified set of phenolic metabolites. On the other hand, A. thaliana contains nine CAD genes, two of which, CAD C and CAD D, are involved in lignin biosynthesis. CAD C and CAD D double mutants, unlike CCR 1 mutants, has a normal size and 40% amount of lignin. The effects on leaf and flower morphology, lignin structure and content, amount of sugar, and other metabolites were observed. RESULTS Identification and Phenotyping of the ccc Triple Mutant After crossing ccr 1 g mutant with cad c and cad d double mutant, and producing ccc mutant, the absence of CCR 1, CAD C, and CAD D expression in ccc mutants was verified using RT-PCR. 1. Leaf Morphology The growth of wild type, ccc, cad c, cad d, and ccr 1 g from plantlets to senescence were observed at greenhouse conditions. At 30 days, the absence of CCR 1 caused the leaves to change its morphology from rosette to pointed and rolled. The decrease in leaf size was also noted most noticeably among ccc plantlets (5-fold shorter), and less prominently in ccr 1 g (3-fold shorter. On the other hand, the absence of both cad c and cad d expression did not cause any decrease in leaf size. 2. Flower Morphology More changes were observed in the flowers. Similar to leaves, the mature floral stem is smaller in ccc than in ccr 1 g mutants. However, when compared to the wild type, the triple mutant senesced later, despite its first inflorescence being prematurely shriveled. In addition, male flowers are sterile. Despite possessing normal pollens, the anthers were unable to release them. As a result, more than 50% of ccc mutants were not able to undergo seed germination. The ccc triple mutant possesses non-dehiscent anthers Initial flower development and stamen filament elongation we re similar in ccc and wild-type A. thaliana. However, ccc anthers, despite containing pollens whose sizes germinating capability (through Alexander and aniline blue staining) were similar to that of wild-type, did not dehisce as what normally happens. Probably, the absence of lignified secondary thickening observed among ccc plants may have caused the non-dehiscent of anthers. The ccr 1 g plants, on the other hand, have few

Virtual Training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Virtual Training - Essay Example According to the discussion virtual training emulates a traditional operating theatre, including surgical lighting and a microscope. During training, surgeons receive prompt, realistic and immediate feedback regarding their sense of force and touch in using various instruments. Significant financial resources are required to implement a virtual training program, and this makes it very expensive (Lee 2003, p.268). Apart from this, since technology changes every day, it would be expensive to keep up with such changes. For example, acquisition and implementation of the latest technologies would be very costly. Another disadvantage is that virtual training essentially depends on the character, ability and attitude of the student/trainee to the technology. Students or trainees who have a negative attitude towards technology or are not confident in their technological skills may perform poorly. Through positive and extensive collaboration in areas of information technology and training, vi rtual training may become much more effective in the future. Apart from this, there is the possibility of integrating good learning principles and management support into the virtual training that program; these supplement and complement a particular organization’s infrastructure and technological capabilities. In addition to this, it has been established that needs assessment, evaluation, design and transfer will be very critical in the future of virtual training.

Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Project - Assignment Example The technological as well as development research course produces a quality level that the business gets competitiveness and differentiation in the structure, even though this demands, noteworthy but essential investments. 3 To study the system the analyst needs to do collect facts and all relevant information. The facts when expressed in quantitative form are termed as data. The success of this project is depended upon the accuracy of available data. Accurate information can be collected with help of certain methods/ techniques. These specific methods for finding information of the this system are; Interviews, Questionnaires, Record View and Observations. We shall use interviews since the information collected is quite accurate and reliable as we will clear and cross check the doubts there itself. This method also will help gap the areas of misunderstandings and help to discuss about the future problems. 5 Tactical planning and innovation are at present, essential elements of the aggressive and sustainability of a business. Conversely, framework situations demand the business to be structured to approval to a more and more complicated demand in an open structure, where the idea of quality is to be realized in all their dimensions as well as in continuous assessment. The transformation must be planned, according to the exhaustive investigation of the circumstances and the external and internal conditions that the organization functions. The innovation produces effectiveness and efficiency in the processes of business production; the information handling is essential. The technological as well as development research course produces a quality level that the business gets competitiveness and differentiation in the structure, even though this demands, noteworthy but essential investments. Currently, the system used is manual. It requires a lot of

Virtual Training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Virtual Training - Essay Example According to the discussion virtual training emulates a traditional operating theatre, including surgical lighting and a microscope. During training, surgeons receive prompt, realistic and immediate feedback regarding their sense of force and touch in using various instruments. Significant financial resources are required to implement a virtual training program, and this makes it very expensive (Lee 2003, p.268). Apart from this, since technology changes every day, it would be expensive to keep up with such changes. For example, acquisition and implementation of the latest technologies would be very costly. Another disadvantage is that virtual training essentially depends on the character, ability and attitude of the student/trainee to the technology. Students or trainees who have a negative attitude towards technology or are not confident in their technological skills may perform poorly. Through positive and extensive collaboration in areas of information technology and training, vi rtual training may become much more effective in the future. Apart from this, there is the possibility of integrating good learning principles and management support into the virtual training that program; these supplement and complement a particular organization’s infrastructure and technological capabilities. In addition to this, it has been established that needs assessment, evaluation, design and transfer will be very critical in the future of virtual training.

4 essay questions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

4 questions - Essay Example Labor force globally is aging. In Canada, the average age of labor force was 32 in 1972, which has arisen to 39 in 2000 (Career Sense). The age pattern of the population affects the education level, which in return directly affects the labor market. With baby-boomers due to retire soon, there will be a dramatic shift in the work force. Richard Freeman of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Washington states that changes in the global job market for science and engineering workers will diminish the comparative advantage of the United States in high-tech production (AllBusiness, 2005). Gender too plays a contributory role. About two-thirds of the total labour force growth resulted from increased participation from women. Women prefer part-time jobs and they contribute to increase in absenteeism depending on individual family culture. Immigration is another critical area due to which the culture and education level of the labor makes the role of human resource management challenging. IBM’s diversity strategy includes creating a work/life balance, advancement of women and integration of people with disability (Nicolson, 2006). Organizations today recognize the need to attract the right brains to thrive in the competitive market and retain the employees as work force is ageing and skilled force is in short supply. Changing composition in the global work force brings a shift in the human resource management. Canada used to have highly skilled migrants mainly from European countries but now has to rely heavily on those who do not possess language proficiency or the technical skills. Science and American graduates in America is gradually dropping, which signals a warning to the sourcing of work force. One of the key roles of the human resource management is to find new ways to motivate and reward the employees. Employee productivity and organization performance is directly linked with the compensation schemes that an

Administrative Ethics Paper Grading Criteria Essay Example for Free

Administrative Ethics Paper Grading Criteria Essay Resource: Administrative Ethics Paper Grading Criteria on your student website Find a current administrative issue in a newspaper, magazine, or journal article relating to topics such as patient privacy, confidentiality, or HIPAA. Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper that includes the following: †¢ Describe the issue and its impact on the population it affects most. †¢ What arguments or facts are used in the article to support the proposed solution? †¢ What are the ethical and legal issues reported for your administrative issue? †¢ Explain the managerial responsibilities related to administrative ethical issues. If none were stated, what should have been done? †¢ Identify any proposed solutions. See more: Strategic Management Process Essay Include at least three sources in your paper. Resource: Administrative Ethics Paper Grading Criteria on your student website Find a current administrative issue in a newspaper, magazine, or journal article relating to topics such as patient privacy, confidentiality, or HIPAA. Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper that includes the following: †¢ Describe the issue and its impact on the population it affects most. †¢ What arguments or facts are used in the article to support the proposed solution? †¢ What are the ethical and legal issues reported for your administrative issue? †¢ Explain the managerial responsibilities related to administrative ethical issues. If none were stated, what should have been done? †¢ Identify any proposed solutions.

The Principle Of Duality States Computer Science Essay

The Principle Of Duality States Computer Science Essay To simplify a SOP for a Boolean expression using a K map, first identify all the input combinations that produce an output of logic level 1 and place them in their appropriate K map cell. Consequently, all other cells must contain zero (0). Second, group the adjacent cells that contain 1 in a manner that maximizes the size of the groups but also minimizes the total number of groups. All 1s in the output must be included in a group even if the group is only one cell. Third, as each SOP term represents an AND expression, each (AND) grouping is written with only the input variables that are common to the group. Finally, the simplified expression is formed by ORing each of the (AND) groups. To illustrate let us consider the function X =ABC+ABC+ABC whose truth table and K map are illustrated below: Truth table specifications for a logic function may not to include all possible combinations of the input binary digits for the input variables, yet they may still be complete specifications of the logic function for the prescribed application. In these situations certain input combinations will not occur due to the nature of the application. When the input combinations are irrelevant or cannot occur, the output states are in the Truth table and the K map are filled with an X and are referred to as dont care states. When simplifying K maps with dont care states, the contents of the undefined cells (1 or 0) are chosen according to preference. The aim is to enlarge group sizes thereby eliminating as many input variables from the simplified expression as possible. Only those Xs that assist in simplifying the function should be included in the groupings. No additional Xs should be added that would result in additional terms in the expression. THE TABULATION METHOD The K-map method is convenient as long as the number of variables does not exceed five or six, but when the number increases it becomes difficult to use this method. The tabulation method overcomes this difficulty, besides it is suitable for computer mechanisation. It was first formulated by Quine and later improved by McCluskey. It is also known as the Quine-McCluskey method. The tabular method of simplification consits of two parts: Determination of Prime Implicants. Selection of Essential Prime Implicants. The first part is covered in the software provided, the second part is not. Each minterm and its combined cells are included in the Minterm record, and linked lists techniques are used. Linked lists are the best way to manage unknown amount of data at run time instead of using a large array which is a waste of memory. The record used is: Pminterm = ^Minterm; Minterm = Record Number : Word; {This is to hold the decimal equivalent of the minterm} NumberOfOnes : Byte; {This is to hold the no. of 1s in the field Number} Selected : Boolean; {used as a tick when this term is selected} CellStr : String; { a string to hold all minterms that form a cell with this term } DashPlaceStr : String {a string to hold the place of the dash } Next : Pminterm { a pointer to the next record to form a linked list} End; The software procedure summarise as follows: The user enters the minterms in decimal equivalent. The program sorts minterms in the number of ones included in the binary equivalent (SortMinTerms). Any two minterms that differ from each other by only one variable are combined (done in FirstTabulation procedure), two minterms fit into this category if the number in the lower group is greater than that in the upper one, and the two numbers differ by a power of 2 e.g. ( 2d = 0010b and 10d = 1010b the difference is 8d which is a power of 2). Then the two numbers are copied to the second linked list ( First, Second, Vertex : Pminterm;). This procedure is carried for all the minterms. Matching groups are copied to second linked list while first one deleted. Then a second tabulation is carried in the SecondTabulation procedure, here each cell contained in the CellStr field of the Minterm record are compared together, a matching is found if the numbers in one cell are greater than the other one and they differs by a power of 2 e.g. (0,2 and 8,10 differs by 8 which is a power of two) . This procedure is carried for all the records in the second linked list and matching cells are copied to the first linked list, and any incomparable cells are copied to the Vertex linked list. Then the second linked list is deleted. The step 4 is repeated m 1 time where m is the number of inputs, transferring cells between first and second linked lists. The last linked list and the vertex linked list prime implicants are printed in the ABC equivalent using the WMterm procedure. My program architecture can be used to simplify any number of inputs, but practical limitations are in the Number field in the Minterm record which is a word i.e. 16 bits (16 inputs). Bearing in mind as well the simplified expression is contained in a string which is only 255 characters. Some inputs and corresponding outputs to try on the program: Boolean Expression Simplified Boolean Expression F(A,B,C) = S(0,6,7) ABC + AB F(A,B,C) = S(0,4,6,7) BC + AB + AC F(A,B,C,D,E,F) = S(4,5,6,7,36,37,38,39) BCD F(A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H) = S(16,17 up to 31,144,145 up to 159) BCD VARIABLE ENTERED METHOD (VEM) The conventional logic minimization is time consuming easy only for 4-5 variables. It becomes difficult to solve using conventional K-map method when number of variables goes on increasing. In that case Variable Entered Method will be good idea to use. It represents values of functions in terms of its variables called map entered variables. A new method for obtaining a compact subsumptive general solution of a system of Boolean equations is presented. The method relies on the use of the variable-entered Karnaugh map (VEKM) to achieve successive elimination through successive map folding. It is superior in efficiency and simplicity to methods employing Marquand diagrams or Conventional Karnaugh maps; it requires the construction of significantly smaller maps and produces such maps in a minimization-ready form. Moreover, the method is applicable to general Boolean equations and is not restricted to the two-valued case. Combinational Sequential Circuits Combinational logic circuits implement Boolean functions. Boolean functions are mappings of input bitstrings to output bitstrings. These circuits are functions of input only. What does that mean? It means that if you feed in an input to a circuit, say, 000, then look at its output, and discover it is, say, 10, then the output will always be 10 for that circuit, if 000 is the input. 000 is mapped to 10. If that value were not the same every single time, then the output must not completely depend on 000. Something else must be affecting the output. Combinational logic circuits always depend on input. Another way to define something that is a function of input is to imagine that you are only allowed to use input variables xk-1,,x0, i.e. data inputs, cm-1,,c0, i.e., control inputs, to write the function. This function can not depend on global variables or other variables. Like combinational logic circuits, a sequential logic circuit has inputs (labelled with x with subscripts) and outputs (labelled with z with subscripts). Unike combinational logic circuits, a sequential logic circuit uses a clock. Also, there is a box inside the circuit called State. This box contains flip flops. Assume it has k flip flops. The flip flops basically store a k-bit number representing the current state. The output z is computed based on the inputs (x with subscripts) and the state coming out of the state box (q with subscripts). The state may be updated at each positive clock edge. When theres not a positive clock edge, the state remains unchanged. The information needed to update to the state (called the next state) comes from the current state (the current value of q) and the input, which is fed through combinational logic, and fed back into the state box, telling the state box how to update itself. A sequential circuit uses flip flops. Unlike combinational logic, sequential circuits have state, which means basically, sequential circuits have memory. The main difference between sequential circuits and combinational circuits is that sequential circuits compute their output based on input and state, and that the state is updated based on a clock. Combinational logic circuits implement Boolean functions, so they are functions only of their inputs, and are not based on clocks. The S-R Latch A bistable multivibrator has two stable states, as indicated by the prefix bi in its name. Typically, one state is referred to as set and the other as reset. The simplest bistable device, therefore, is known as a set-reset, or S-R, latch. To create an S-R latch, we can wire two NOR gates in such a way that the output of one feeds back to the input of another, and vice versa, like this: http://sub.allaboutcircuits.com/images/04173.png The Q and not-Q outputs are supposed to be in opposite states. I say supposed to because making both the S and R inputs equal to 1 results in both Q and not-Q being 0. For this reason, having both S and R equal to 1 is called an invalid or illegal state for the S-R multivibrator. Otherwise, making S=1 and R=0 sets the multivibrator so that Q=1 and not-Q=0. Conversely, making R=1 and S=0 resets the multivibrator in the opposite state. When S and R are both equal to 0, the multivibrators outputs latch in their prior states. The Clocked D-Latch Since the enable input on a gated S-R latch provides a way to latch the Q and not-Q outputs without regard to the status of S or R, we can eliminate one of those inputs to create a multivibrator latch circuit with no illegal input states. Such a circuit is called a D latch, and its internal logic looks like this: http://sub.allaboutcircuits.com/images/04181.png Note that the R input has been replaced with the complement (inversion) of the old S input, and the S input has been renamed to D. As with the gated S-R latch, the D latch will not respond to a signal input if the enable input is 0 it simply stays latched in its last state. When the enable input is 1, however, the Q output follows the D input. Since the R input of the S-R circuitry has been done away with, this latch has no invalid or illegal state. Q and not-Q are always opposite of one another. Master-Slave Flip-Flops A master-slave flip-flop is constructed from two seperate flip-flops. One circuit serves as a master and the other as a slave. The logic diagram of an SR flip-flop is shown in figure below. The master flip-flop is enabled on the positive edge of the clock pulse CP and the slave flip-flop is disabled by the inverter. The information at the external R and S inputs is transmitted to the master flip-flop. When the pulse returns to 0, the master flip-flop is disabled and the slave flip-flop is enabled. The slave flip-flop then goes to the same state as the master flip-flop. http://wearcam.org/ece385/lectureflipflops/flipflops/fig9.gif Logic diagram of a master-slave flip-flop The timing relationship is shown in Figure below and is assumed that the flip-flop is in the clear state prior to the occurrence of the clock pulse. The output state of the master-slave flip-flop occurs on the negative transition of the clock pulse. Some master-slave flip-flops change output state on the positive transition of the clock pulse by having an additional inverter between the CP terminal and the input of the master. http://wearcam.org/ece385/lectureflipflops/flipflops/fig10.gif Timing relationship in a master slave flip-flop Edge Triggered Devices Another type of flip-flop that synchronizes the state changes during a clock pulse transition is the edge-triggered flip-flop. When the clock pulse input exceeds a specific threshold level, the inputs are locked out and the flip-flop is not affected by further changes in the inputs until the clock pulse returns to 0 and another pulse occurs. Some edge-triggered flip-flops cause a transition on the positive edge of the clock pulse (positive-edge-triggered), and others on the negative edge of the pulse (negative-edge-triggered). The logic diagram of a D-type positive-edge-triggered flip-flop is shown in figure below: http://wearcam.org/ece385/lectureflipflops/flipflops/fig11.gif D-type positive-edge triggered flip-flop When using different types of flip-flops in the same circuit, one must ensure that all flip-flop outputs make their transitions at the same time, ie., during either the negative edge or the positive edge of the clock pulse.

Our Young Folks - An Ethical Guide for Children :: Our Young Folks

Our Young Folks - An Ethical Guide for Children Our Young Folks was a children’s magazine that ran from 1865 until 1873. Although the magazine didn’t last long, it was widely read by children across the country and even abroad, and circulation eventually exceeded 75,000 (Kelly 345). The magazine began publication just four months before the end of the Civil War, and during this time of upheaval Our Young Folks was an ethical guide for the nation’s children. Nearly every story offers the reader a moral, and children were continually urged to put others before themselves. Selfless Models One of the ways Our Young Folks gave its readers moral instructions was by setting examples. The magazine was packed with stories of selfless children who lived and died for others. Such characters were held up as models for how the young readers of the magazine should behave. One of these selfless stories is â€Å"My Heroine,† which is a poem about a young girl who dies while protecting her baby. Stanzas six and seven clearly outline the child’s heroism: Her mother gave the piteous tale: â€Å"How that child’s courage did not fail, Or else poor baby-† She stopped, pale, And shed tears without number; Then told how at the fireside warm, Lizzie, with baby on her arm, Slipped- threw him from her- safe from harm, Then fell- here in her slumber.    Lizzie shrieked, â€Å"Take him!† and uptossed Her poor burnt hands, and seemed half lost, Until a smile her features crossed, As sweet as angels’ may be. â€Å"Yes, ma’am,† she said, in feeble tone, Our Young Folks - An Ethical Guide for Children :: Our Young Folks Our Young Folks - An Ethical Guide for Children Our Young Folks was a children’s magazine that ran from 1865 until 1873. Although the magazine didn’t last long, it was widely read by children across the country and even abroad, and circulation eventually exceeded 75,000 (Kelly 345). The magazine began publication just four months before the end of the Civil War, and during this time of upheaval Our Young Folks was an ethical guide for the nation’s children. Nearly every story offers the reader a moral, and children were continually urged to put others before themselves. Selfless Models One of the ways Our Young Folks gave its readers moral instructions was by setting examples. The magazine was packed with stories of selfless children who lived and died for others. Such characters were held up as models for how the young readers of the magazine should behave. One of these selfless stories is â€Å"My Heroine,† which is a poem about a young girl who dies while protecting her baby. Stanzas six and seven clearly outline the child’s heroism: Her mother gave the piteous tale: â€Å"How that child’s courage did not fail, Or else poor baby-† She stopped, pale, And shed tears without number; Then told how at the fireside warm, Lizzie, with baby on her arm, Slipped- threw him from her- safe from harm, Then fell- here in her slumber.    Lizzie shrieked, â€Å"Take him!† and uptossed Her poor burnt hands, and seemed half lost, Until a smile her features crossed, As sweet as angels’ may be. â€Å"Yes, ma’am,† she said, in feeble tone,

Insy 3270 Week 2 Chapter 2 Case on Case Essay

1. Describe the global economy forces that pushed creativity to move up the value chain. Creativity is one of the top five wholesale suppliers to national craft chains in the United States with 500 employees and for office and warehouse locations in California and one in Hong Kong. Studies are showing that the company creativity has proven to outsource the manufacturing across Asia. Creativity is also found strong business models that are capable of dealing with the current growing globalization and economy hardships. This model helps creativity save money, downsize, and purchase crafting material directly from the Asian manufacturers. The company creativity uses a software from IBM called Cognos eight business intelligence suit. This software identifies high-value products that cannot be manufactured by low-cost overseas competitors. Cognos also determines which customers segments are most profitable. 2. What information did creativity use to boost his profits and remain solvent? Creativity use the Cognos software and smarter software, smart forecast programs, to determine the need for more design oriented, fashion oriented products. With this software creativity set for two shift his focus to fashion-based craft products. Creativity learn that if they shift its focus to fashion-based crafts the company can make up for the business that they loss in dealing with low costs crafting material market. Critical thinking question 1. what role does communication play in creating saving for a multi-brand company like creative? Communication was a strong factor in building a company like creative. Communication Further the company in their futuristic goals. The communication improvements that creativity set for their company helps safeguard against duplications of efforts. Strong communication decreases accounting errors. Strong communication help decrease call center, weblogs, external sources, and sales rep errors. 2. What lesson does creative story provide for U.S. businesses? What does this forecast for the global marketplace in general? The story that the company creative really demonstrates how a business can transcend into a corporation. The short goals that creative set, the strategy plan that the company used are really strong tactics that any entrepreneur should take into consideration of using. Downsizing and shifting their focus on low costs, fashion-based, and high demand customer consumer product products really gave created a strong leverage nationally. Case 2 Discussion questions 1. What social and economic forces are causing the media industry to redefine its business model? Social economy factors in today’s networking systems are being redefined because of short end transitions. Lots of advertising companies has accredited the Internet to be a powerful marketing tool. The Internet has proven to be a powerful marketing force that many small businesses are now turning to for digital media. 2. What changes are those in the media industry making to adapt to their financial challenges? A few companies has resulted to layoffs, and replacing those employees with outsourced services from other companies. Critical thinking questions 1. What risk to quality, if any, do media companies face when outsourcing editing and content creation to overseas countries? Cuts, are the acute risks to quality. Layoffs can cause quality towards the organization. Cutting expenses downsizing on ingredients and material is another form of quality reduction. Media companies are now Outsourcing editorial services and content creation. This form of outsourcing helps distinguish themselves from other companies. 2. How does the centralized and outsourcing services and the media industry compared to centralizing and outsourcing and other businesses? Outsourcing involves contracting with outside professional services to meet specific business needs. Studies have shown that simple solutions like centralizing and outsourcing operations to make up for lost revenue helps media industries as well as other small businesses. Centralizing and outsourcing services in the media industry involves a transition between advertising from public marketing to the Internet. Other small businesses are also using the same transition from newspaper, television advertisement to digital media. .

Effects of Commercialization Essay

Effects of Commercialization Commercialization is often confused with sales, marketing, or business development. â€Å"The rise of commercialization is an artifact of the growth of corporate power† (Gray Ruskin and Juliet Schor 487). Ruskin and Schor states that â€Å"corporations fostered the anti-tax movement and support for corporate welfare, which helped create funding crises in state and local governments and schools, and made them more willing to carry commercial adverting (487). Open-source communities have learned over time to integrate commercial interests into their development ranks without capitulating to those commercial interests. â€Å"Economists often assume that markets are inert, they do not affect the goods being exchange (Michael J. Sandel 492). Commercialization process has three key aspects: The Funnel it is essential to look at many ideas to get one or two products or businesses that can be sustained long-term, stage-wise process, and each stage has it s own key goals and milestones, and vital to involve key stakeholders early, including customers. There are so many outlooks of commercialization. The effects of commercialization are black Friday, attack on family values, and environment. The rise of commercialization is an artifact of the growth of corporate power† (Ruskin and Schor 487). Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Black Friday is the following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Black Friday is not a holiday. Black Friday has become popular. Better than last minute Christmas sales. Retailers put their items on sale on Thanksgiving Morning. We realize the importance of Black Friday to retailers. It’s the day that the yearly sales finally move from the red deficit column into black profit. But its impetus, the blood sport of bargaining hunting, overshadows the meaning and the reason for Thanksgiving. Instead of giving thanks for what we have, too many salivate over what can be acquired. â€Å"Economics was becoming an imperial domain. Today, the logical of buying and selling no longer applies to material goods alone† (Michael J. Sandel 494). The family is the most  fundamental of society’s institutions, for it is within the family setting that lifetime behaviors and beliefs are established and values nurtured best in children including adolescent behavior. â€Å"The mother of the household says having less means her family appreciates p ossessions more† (Anna Quindlen 502). One key form of capitalist attack on the family lies in a process called commodification, in which capital seeks to undermine the natural forms of human interaction in all spheres of life and exchange them with commercial relations. In particular, capital strives to turn loving family relations. Healthy families are a challenge to capitalism. Family values and family ties are important institutions which, among others, affect numerous economic decisions. An historical perspective reveals that the conflict over the family may only be beginning and that we may be on the verge of a wider confrontation that will decide not only the survival of the family but fundamental questions about the scope and nature of the modern state. Political attacks on our families involve so many issues, there are many ways you can begin to talk to your child about them. â€Å"We did not arrive at this condition through any deliberate choice. It is almost as if it came upon us† (492). There is a massive environmental impact just in the sheer activity level of the community. The commercialization environment, the microeconomic and strategic conditions facing a firm that is translating an idea to a product, determines the most effective commercialization strategy, the process for bringing innov ation to the marketplace. â€Å"As corporations consolidate their control over governments and culture, we don’t expect an outright reversal of commercialization in the near future† (491). The crucial element of a firm’s commercialization strategy is whether it competes or cooperates with established firms. Commercialization strategy is thus one of the most crucial decisions a firm makes in terms of its ability to profit from technologies developed within the firm. Effective commercialization strategy results from careful analysis of the commercialization environment. Considering the benefits and costs of other strategies for securing profits and competitive advantage through innovation. â€Å"We live in a time when almost everything can be bought and sold (492). In conclusion, commercialization is often tangled with sales, marketing, or business development. Black Friday is one of the largest shopping days of the year. Black Friday is the following Thanksgiving Day in  the United States. The family is the most fundamental of society’s institutions, for it is within the family setting that lifetime behaviors and beliefs. There is a considerable environ mental impact just in the complete activity level of the community. Many technologies begin in the laboratory and are not practical for commercial use in their infancy. Works Cited Quindlen, Anna. â€Å"Stuff is Not Salvation.† Perspective on Contemporary Issues: Reading Across the Disciplines. Rd. Katherine Anne Ackley 7th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. 2015 502-04. Print. Ruskin, Gray, and Schor, Juliet. Every Nook and Cranny: â€Å"The Dangerous Spread of Commercialized Culture.† Perspective on Contemporary Issues: Reading Across the Disciplines. Rd. Katherine Anne Ackley 7th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. 2015 487-91. Print. Sandel, Michael. â€Å"What Isn’t for Sale?† Perspective on Contemporary Issues: Reading Across the Disciplines. Rd. Katherine Anne Ackley 7th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. 2015 492-97. Print.

Blown to Bits Essay

Technology has rapidly advanced, affecting standards on privacy, telecommunications, and criminal law. Every day, we encounter unexpected consequences of data flows that could not have happened a few years ago. Due to the bits explosion, the world changed very suddenly. Almost everything is stored in a computer somewhere. Court records, grocery purchases, precious family photos, radio programs†¦ It is all being reduced to zeroes and ones – â€Å"bits.† The bits are stashed on disks of home computers and in the data centers of big corporations and government agencies. The disks can hold so many bits that there is no need to pick and choose what gets remembered. So much disk storage is being produced every year that it could be used to record a page of information, every minute or two, about you and every other human being on earth. Once something is on a computer, it can replicate and move around the world in a heartbeat. Making a million perfect copies takes but an instant – copy of things we want everyone in the world to see, and also copies of things that weren’t meant to be copied at all. Due to instantaneous transfers, some data leak. Credit card records are supposed to stay locked up in a data warehouse, but escape into the hands of identity thieves. And we sometimes give information away just because we get something back for doing so. A company will give you free phone calls to anywhere in the world—if you don’t mind watching ads for the products its computers hear you talking about. The book presents 7 ‘koans’ or principles regarding the bits and the effect of it on humanity. Koan 1: Even though your computer seems to present pictures, texts, songs, and videos, they are all composed of bits. Everything that’s digital are ruled by bits. Even as we speak, bits are flying through the airwaves by our phones. Koan 2: Every copy made by a computer is perfect. The era of books  being handwritten oftentimes resulting to mistakes, has now been closed by digital explosion. And even though these machines do fail as long as the bits have been communicated, the probability of error of the bits is so slim. Koan 3: Vast as world-wide data storage is today, five years from now it will be ten times as large. Yet the information explosion means, paradoxically, the loss of information that is not online. Outdated software and information not stored in the computer are usually assumed as inexistent. Koan 4: The speed of a computer is usually measured by the number of basic operations, such as additions, that can be performed in one second. The fastest computers available in the early 1940s could perform about five operations per second. The fastest today can perform about a trillion. Koan 5: Exponential growth is actually smooth and steady; it just takes very little time to pass from unnoticeable change to highly visible. In the rapidly changing world of bits, it pays to notice even small changes, and to do something about them. Koan 6: Data stored will all be kept forever, unless there are policies to get rid of it. The Internet consists of millions of interconnected computers; once data gets out, there is no getting it back. Victims of identity theft experience daily the distress of having to remove misinformation from the record. It seems never to go away. Koan 7: In the bits world, in which messages flow instantaneously, it sometimes seems that distance doesn’t matter at all. The instantaneous communication of massive amounts of information has created the misimpression that there is a place called â€Å"Cyberspace,† a land without frontiers where all the world’s people can be interconnected as though they were residents of the same small town. The book introduces two basic morals. The first is that information technology is inherently neither good nor bad—it can be used for good or ill, to free us or to shackle us. Second, new technology brings social change, and change comes with both risks and opportunities. Any technology can be used for good or ill. Nuclear reactions create electric power and weapons of mass destruction. The same encryption technology that makes it possible for you to email your friends with confidence that no eavesdropper will be able to decipher your message also makes it possible for terrorists to plan their attacks undiscovered. The key to managing the ethical and moral consequences of technology while nourishing economic growth is to regulate the use of technology without  banning or restricting its creation.

Comprehensive Examination Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Comprehensive Examination - Research Paper Example This is achieved through good leadership which is aimed at promoting a positive culture within a learning institution. Being elected as a leader of a school that is experiencing a problem of a negative culture and rigidity to change, there is dire need to develop actions for change. This paper presents a report on ways through which the problems faced by the school can be dealt with through cultivation of positive change among teachers, students, administrators, parents and the community. The report includes supporting literature, a research approach and recommendations for change upon which actions for change are based. Objectives 1. To provide supporting literature on problems in learning institutions, the underlying theories and effective measures for change 2. To investigate the actual problem within the institution as a basis for designing relevant measures for change 3. To develop a school improvement program that will develop a change of culture within the institution 4. ... Resistance to change in schools is effectively dealt with through proper leadership. Additionally, all stakeholders of an educational institution must be involved in implementing the change. Rigidity to change, toxic environments and negative culture are the major problems that schools face (Taj & Iqbal, 2012; Ansell, Reckhow & Kelly, 2009). Therefore change can only be achieved if these problems are solved. More specifically problems such as lack of proper communication, poor student behaviors and lack of support from parents and the community are more challenging to schools because they derail the achievement of objectives and goals. For this reason it is argued that parents and the community at large should be involved in promoting good behavior among learners so that they would be more focused on their educational goals. The cultivation of good behavior among students is achieved through guidance and support from the family, teachers and the community (Rhodes & Brundrett, 2009). This prevents problems among students such as early pregnancy, drug use and abuse and school dropouts. When such problems are characteristic of a learning institution they must be addressed as top priority because they are major contributors of a toxic environment within the institution. It is through change that problems within schools such as lack of effective and well-designed student programs can be solved (Caldwell, 2008). Positive change within schools also contributes to the prevention of low performance among learners (Payne, 2007; Law, Walker & Dimmock, 2007). Moreover, it is argued that the ability of teachers, students, parents and school administrators to implement change and a positive culture determines the overall performance of

The German Creation of Colonies in Africa and the British Expansion of Term Paper

The German Creation of Colonies in Africa and the British Expansion of Its Colonial Empire in India and South Asia - Term Paper Example Nevertheless, it was involved in hard campaigns against the countries it was trying to possess. The Chancellor of Germany of that period Otto von Bismarck was not interested in the colonial expansion, but under the influence of German society and leadership that claimed that Germany needed colonies to maintain its economic domination in Europe, he agreed to take this step. After the unification of Germany in 1871 it was obvious that this action should happen because the pressure was too great. The main groups that were lobbying for the colonial expansion were the West German Society for Colonization and Export (1881) and the Central Association for Commercial Geography and the Promotion of German Interests Abroad (1878). Bismarck thought that the future German colonies would be stabilizing power that will influence domestic politics of the country. The colonies were to emphasize nationalism and to raise the prestige and greatness of Germany on the international level. In 1884-1885 Ge rmany was the host of the international Berlin Conference, where European claims in Africa were sanctioned. The requirement was that the claims of possession in Africa must be manifested by the physical occupation of the territories. In 1873 African Society in Germany (Afrikanische Gesellschaft in Deutschland) was organized. The goal of the society was geographical exploration of Africa. In 1882 German Colonial Society (Deutscher Kolonialverein) appeared. More than 15000 supporters of the colonial politics united in this society. In 1887 it joined the Society for German Colonization (Gesellschaft fur Deutsche Kolonisation), which goal was the practical realization of the colonial plans.2 Desiring to strengthen his political position, and counting upon the support of the National Liberal Party at the elections to Reichstag in 1884, Bismarck announced that the German government will take under its guardianship all the international possessions of the German businessmen. Besides that, he thought that this action will weaken the flow of German emigrants to America and will direct this flow to the German colonies. During that period of time the following territories were moved under the protection of the German government: The land purchased by the Bremen businessman Adolf Luderitz at the territory of the modern Namibia. In April 1884 German Southwest Africa was formed here. The lands of Adolph Woermann – German Cameroon in July of 1884. German Togo in July of 1884 German East Africa (Tanzania) that previously belonged to Carl Peters and The Society for German Colonization, in February of 1885. Protectorate of Witu (modern Kenia) that belonged to brothers Denhardt. German New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago In 1885 Bismarck abandoned the idea of the consistent colonial politics, and concentrated his efforts on the relationship with England and France. Colonies were used only as a bargaining chip in negotiations. At the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 years, A frica was divided among the European powers, and according to Helgoland-Zanzibar agreement of 1890 African protectorate Witu was traded for the strategically important for Germany island of Helgoland in the North Sea. Under Wilhelm II Germany tried to enlarge the sphere of its colonial influence by increasing the number of commercial representatives.

Basketball requires as much skill, strength and effort as football Research Paper

Basketball requires as much skill, strength and effort as football - Research Paper Example Basketball game requires a lot of energy during the game. Just, like football, the time span for the game is long enough to require a sufficient amount of strength, to keep along. Therefore, the athletes take strength-building sections, which include hitting the gym. There are many benefits of strength training to athletic performance. Apart from being the integral component for power for athletes, it also improves performance in the case of pure endurance. Endurance is a key thing in basketball because of the many intense rounds that they have to play in a single match. Therefore, explosive power is not the major goal of strength training in athletes but endurance is (Ivey & Stoner 56). Basketball is majorly a game of wits and skills. Strength and body size are not enough to win a basketball game. In addition, the rules set to play a basket ball game are so intense that they require the players to be very skilled and high mastery of the game. For example, ball handling requires many skills since it is the major part of the game. An effective ball handler should keep the ball out of the opponent’s hand. However, the player in possessing of the ball cannot take more than two steps without dribbling the ball. The player will have to make some critical decisions, which determine the person and when to pass the ball during offensive attack. Thus, the game requires a lot of concentration and a clear mind that can make informed decisions at critical moments. Another critical area is in shooting at the basket. The basket is small enough thus requiring skills to enter the ball from near it or from a three-point range. This requires a keen eye coordination (Leboutilli er 5). Basketball is an effort work. The whole team needs to stick together through out the game and produce their best. The game requires hard work in the pitch to achieve their target. This is also the same in football where they have to

Current Events Summary Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Current Events Summary - Article Example The API reported a fall in gasoline and distillates supplies. In the weekly supply data reports of the Energy Information Administration of the Energy Department, some analysts predict that record crude inventories will weigh on oil prices, as low demand persists in developed countries. In the fourth quarter, National Australia Bank (NAB) lowered its crude prices’ forecast from 84 dollars a barrel to an average of 82 dollars. The bank reports that world oil production remains robust, even as growth in the demand in crude oil continues to fade in many developed economies, a situation that has continuously created abundant global supply of oil, particularly in countries where economic activity is still most languid. In another Nymex trading in contracts for October 2010, at 2.121 dollars, heating oil was down 0.76 cent a gallon while gasoline dropped 0.97 cents to 1.959 dollars a gallon. For every 1,000 cubic feet, natural gas dropped 1.4 cents to 3.952 dollars. Additionally, on the ICE Futures exchange, Brent crude dropped 43 cents to 78.84 dollars a barrel in London. The author of this article demonstrates a wavering of oil prices in a relatively tight range. I concur with him that world oil production remains robust despite the fact that growth in the demand for crude oil continues to languish in many developed economies. The article therefore accounts for the constant surplus in oil supply globally. In my view, Kennedy has succeeded in making explicit the factors behind the fall in oil

The effects of weather and terrain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The effects of weather and terrain - Essay Example The nature of a given terrain is likely to affect the visibility of certain areas. For instance, highly mountainous areas may not be easily to view. As a result, commanders may need to apply technology to enable viewing of such areas and make their operations possible. Similarly, some areas tend to have very tall trees and thick vegetations which are likely to hinder the visibility of a given region1. Due to the challenges presented by this type of topography the commanders should invest in technology that enables them to avoid such challenges, for instance, satellite. Invisible regions of electromagnetic continuum, magnetic forces as well as radiations affect the means of communication in the context of war. For instance mountainous areas may affect the issue of communication network. In such a case, military commanders are likely to face challenges when giving orders to their forces. As a result, the concept of airmobile has been introduced to overcome the challenge of such terrain s. The transportation of war materials and troops is highly affected by the topography of an area. For instance, areas surrounded by oceans, that is, islands will not favor on-ground transport such as trains. Similarly, landlocked regions do not allow movement of troops by the sea or ocean. Moreover, mountainous areas require physically fit soldiers who can operate in such areas. This is because; the challenge lies in transporting the soldiers up and down in such steep and varied terrains areas as suggested by Keating2. During the civil war, maps on the topography were regularly supplied in order to make operations of the war possible. This is because the presence of inaccurate maps would proof a challenge in planning and coordinating the operations of the war. However, knowledge of topography ensured the union blockade of ports, control of the Mississippi river and control of higher grounds.

Human Resource Outsourcing in India Essay Example for Free

Human Resource Outsourcing in India Essay This article attempts to discuss HRO in Indian context and the possible future of HRO in the Indian business scenario. Certain preparatory actions are also prescribed to effectively used HRO as a strategic business tool. HRO – HRM Architecture: Today, as we have moved into service – economy, dealing with knowledge and knowledge workers is very important as human capital has become a critical success factor for organizations. HRM is seen as a distinct identity, separate from Administration and Facilities section of the establishment. This can be clearly seen from the importance being given to HRM Architecture. In addition to the traditional roles for HR, over the years, in the IT and ITes sectors, distinct roles have emerged such as corporate HR, business HR, generalist HR, techno – functional HR, etc. The job holders in these roles are expected to give different â€Å"deliverables† as related to their functional aspects. It is pertinent to note that a 1998 survey by center for effective organization at university of southern California’s Marshal School of business shown that 79% of HRM managers describe themselves as â€Å"business partners† and 53% of line managers agreed that HR managers are now performing the roles of business partners. Thus, today HRM is getting well embodied into business functions such as marketing, finance or operations. This can be, in a way, considered as a starting point of HRO, because, from this, emerges the need for HR function to work smart for business results – whether by doing functions and activities all on their own, or by getting some of them done through outsourcing. Additionally, it also puts pressure on HR function to find â€Å"partners† who can â€Å"take over† specific transactions and processes at a lower cost. In this way, HR will get focused on â€Å"tangible† results (which was one of the complains against HR in the past). Thus, to some extent, it will help free up time for core-HR activities that result in improvements which positively influence the bottom line. A word of caution though that it may not â€Å"free up† time, and should not free up too much time. After all, HR is essentially a personal touch button of the organization and too much outsourcing might result in lack of personal touch and decreased human interaction which may frustrate the employees. HRO Evolution: HRO is always an evolutionary exercise for the organization. Initially, companies are reluctant to outsource, they prefer to do every act in the own backyard. As the organization grows in terms of its life cycle, slowly, â€Å"experimentation† phase will begin when they start outsourcing certain simple transactions or processes. Sometimes, they may even take a parallel run with the vendor. When the experience is positive and as they make progress, companies may make decisions to penetrate further into the HRO space. According to Everest Research institute’s annual HRO study, the most commonly outsourced HR functions include: †¢Pay roll †¢Benefits †¢Employee data management †¢Info systems †¢Contact centers. As the companies find that there are substantial benefits from outsourcing, they feel attracted to go in for deeper penetration. Thus, it is possible to categorize companies adopting different levels of HRO in their organization. (See Table 1) Table 1 LevelActivities OutsourcedType of HROBenefits 1Admin services, pay – roll, pension, PF mgt. , etc, temporary staffingTransactionCost efficiency 2L1 + training, new employee induction and executive searchProcess†¢Standardization †¢Cost †¢Replication of good practices 3L1 + L2 + campus hiring, online assessments, HR audits, employee surveys etc. Function†¢Quality †¢Cost, benchmarking etc. HRO in Indian Business The debate on HRO in India still hovers around the following questions: ‘Has HRO really arrived in India? ’ ‘Are we missing the HR outsourcing bus? ’ ‘Should companies outsource their HR functions? ’ We also seem to be aware that â€Å"The New Mantra is HR Outsourcing† In this maze of debates and arguments, some facts need to be cleared. â€Å"HR outsourcing in India has not seen the required momentum and is limited to trickle effect, with companies outsourcing a few selected, low end HR processes† – Says Anil Mahajan in an interview for an article on HRM. In India, most common outsource processes are related to training, pay – roll processing, benchmarks studies and legal compliance. Some HR consultants feel that in Indian HRO scene, quality is an issue. It is reported that some MNC’s wanted to outsource end to end HR solutions, but could find a suitable vendor and hence decided to set up its own outsourcing centre. While many experts in the field believe that there is a good scope for HRO in India, it is a fact that our present share in the global market of US $ 80 bn. is only a minuscule. Estimates show that size of HR outsourcing in India is about US $ 2. 5 – 3. 5 bn. But another study shows flat markets in HRO world wide between 2005 – 2007 but 2008 promises to be different! In the flat world of today, as India becomes more and more global in business and economy it will be a compelling need for companies to resort to outsourcing in the interest of survival and growth. Thus, even though, as of now, HRO in India has not caught up sufficiently time is right for making rapid strides to catch up and make best use of the opportunities presented by the wave of HR outsourcing. HRO as Double – edged Weapon: In India, we are fortunate to have the double advantage of HRO as we all know, HRO operates in an environment where there are abundant takers and abundant givers. HRO activities have two edges one as the service provider and another as a client who is outsourcing the process / transaction. At present many Indian companies are acting as service providers as a natural step, India with its vast millions of English speaking, trainable youth who are willing to learn and serve clients as and idle platform to take on the HRO wave. Thus, India may finally become the outsourcing centre for HR services. The growth in the HRO itself may trigger further developments. Any HRO companies may, in turn, begin to outsource some of their process to another service provider. Thus, a virtuous HRO business cycle may get activated. After all, â€Å"We Are All in Services Now† (Prof. James Teboul). According to him, the process, people and credibility are 3 key elements in the making of value proposition. People interaction may place a sort of limitation on HRO spreading without a human face! The basic tenet of HR philosophy should be that HRO must be implemented with utmost regard to â€Å"Human face† of activities being outsourced. This is because of the uniqueness of the HR issues. There cannot be a straightjacket solution for all human issues hence human interaction element needs to be always kept in mind and given a priority. We need to get over certain drawbacks as a community of employers in order to benefit from the HRO wave. If we have to shape up, good future we need to know aht we should to and what we should not so that our progress is never stalled. Hence, it is necessary to appreciate the barriers identified for the spread of HRO in our country. The following are some of the barriers identified in literature on the subject: †¢Cultural shift and top management thinking †¢Confidentiality and cost factors †¢Lack of awareness on cost-to-benefit equation of HRO †¢Quality of end results. A word or two about each of these barriers will clear the aspect. Cultural shift requires us to trust and be trusted. The two parties’ involved, namely service provider and client, need to trust each other not only about confidentiality but also about the capability to delay it. Many employers and top management feel that it is better to have own HR persons dealing with all the issues instead of outsourcing. Reasons may be many for such outlook, but there is a need to change in order to think professionally and ethically. If we can trust an advocate or a doctor or the tax consultant, why not HR service provider? Confidentiality and cost factors relate to the ability of HR service provider to handle information professionally and confidentially. Ethics both personal and corporate – play a great role. If we think proper work ethics can be created through good leadership, we need to develop and nurture such leaders appropriately. Lack of awareness among persons about cost / benefit equation needs to be overcome by education right from the top level to look at HRO as a hard core business option and to quantify the benefits correctly. Lastly, quality issues need to be addressed again through building a quality culture by following the total quality management (TQM) practices. Internal and external customer orientation among all and education and training for all on TQ practices and bring about improvement in quality. The Indian experience of TQM is quite satisfactory in this regard and there is a bright chance of success for improving the quality aspects of HRO. Preparatory Activities: While is it necessary to be clear about changes that we need to make on an individual or a company basis, it is equally important to focus on the preparations needed by us a community of service economy. For any service economy to grow, especially in the network era of today, there is a need for adequate preparation so that ultimately, the environment of business responds favorably to the needs of the market. In this regard, certain preparatory activities have to be undertaken immediately. The various activities for this purpose can be broadly classified as: †¢Infrastructural †¢Educational †¢Business/ operational †¢Social Under each of these, there are various elements that have to be taken under consideration. The following matrix will show these points clearly. As most of these items are self explanatory in nature, a detailed description of individual items is not done in this article. However, it has to be emphasized that these sub elements are very important contributions to the climate of HRO in a microeconomic sense. The elements given in the matrix are only illustrative and are not exhaustive. Preparatory activities needed for HRO Infrastructural / Technical †¢Telecommunications and network accessibility †¢Roads †¢TransportEducational – Training Related †¢Curriculum in colleges †¢HRO training centers †¢E Learning transactions / process Counseling centers Business Related †¢Performance parameters †¢Quality measures †¢Feedback †¢Relationships / Cultural sensitivitySocial †¢Quality of the work – Life balance †¢Stress management †¢Time management †¢Security at workplace Conclusion: In conclusion, it may be said that HRO is going to slowly but steadily beco me a part of business strategy. HR professionals will drive the initiatives of HRO, of course with support from top management. The time is now ripe for HRO to succeed in view of HRM being seen and treated as an important element of business resources in the service economy of today. Certain new roles have emerged which confirm this position. Though the Indian share of the revenue pie today is very small, there is a very good possibility of our riding high on the HRO wave that is round the corner. As a community, it is necessary to identify barriers and identify the changes or adjustments we need to make as individuals and companies. As HRO operates as a subset of BPO and overall business environment, certain preparatory steps need to be taken as a community in general. With all this, it is possible to ride high on HRO wave in the next few years.

An Over View Of The Restaurant Industry Marketing Essay

An Over View Of The Restaurant Industry Marketing Essay A food catering establishment known as a Restaurant offer food and drinks to the customer in return for money. Restaurants also offer take-out and delivery options. There are large variety of restaurants and restaurant chains in the world that specialize on the main chefs cuisines or specific service models. Modern age restaurants were established during the 18th century in Europe where the business is mainly serving of food as per the order given by the customer. The first restaurant was established in France in 1765 by the name Restaurant that offered soups to customers. It was opened by A. Boulanger, a soup vendor. The first luxury restaurant was opened in France by name La Grande Taverne de Londres in 1782. Paris was the cultural and commercial hub during the time of evolution of restaurants. There was demand from customers for individual tables, individual orders and flexible lunching times and payment based on the item ordered. The kind of menus also segmented the restaurant bu siness. The main advantage of restaurant pattern is that the restaurants can serve the customers what they want. Restaurants as we see in the present form have supposed to be originated during the time of French revolution. Both revolutionaries and counter revolutionaries were attracted to the restaurants. Revolutionaries claimed restaurants as a means for breaking the traditional common meals, while counter revolutionaries called restaurant lunching to be an uncivilized way of living. The system of printed menu appeared in 1770. Penalty was levied for guests stealing food from the hosts of the restaurants or hosts stealing food from the guests. The penalty for theft from a restaurant was 8 years of forced labor. The most famous restaurant in Paris during the 19 the century was Cafà © Anglais which served classic dishes like sole Duglere and potage Germiny. Many of the worlds finest chefs were from France including Georges Auguste Escoffier who organized kitchen teams consisting of trained experts. One of the worlds finest restaurants was established during the 20th century called Resturant de la Pyramide in Vienna. French restaurants today are usually in one among the three categories, the bistro and inexpensive establishment, a medium-priced restaurant and the classy and elegant ones. In other European countries, also restaurants emerged during the same time. IN Italy Botteghe originated in the 16 th century for serving coffee. Many Austrians had their own steady restaurants called Stambeissi. The casarda in Hungary limits to meat dishes and fish stews. The Weinstube in Germany had a large wine selection and weinhauss offered food and wine to the customers. The economic reasons for the development of restaurants were those associated with income growth, population and commerce. There are a large number of events throughout the year that can influence the business of the restaurants. Seasonal food and that made from local produce has a big trend in the restaurant business in Europe. Another trend is offering special food on special days for example, Mothers day, Valentines Day, etc. There has been special food offered even during the time of events like Wimbledon, Rugby or school holidays. Sundays are often the busiest days and Mondays and Tuesdays find very low business. There is an increase of 40% annual revenue during Christmas and New Year. Restaurants range from simple lunching spaces to costly establishments serving classy food and beverages served in a formal setting. Usually the orders are taken at the tables by the waiter where the customer sits and when the food is brought to the table when it is ready and customers pay the bill while leaving. There are restaurants which offer specific type of food such as seafood restaurants, vegetarian restaurants, etc. Restaurant guides help to rate the restaurant which provide information on customer opinions on the restaurants. The Michelin series of guides are used for rating the culinary skills of restaurants in Western Europe. A rating of 1 to 3 stars is provided and more the number of stars, higher are the price of the food. Another rating guide is the Gault Millau where the restaurants are ranked based on the quality of food, rather than the dà ©cor and the service. Here the restaurants are rated in a scale of 1 to 20 with 20 being the highest. These days, internet sites are available where the restaurant reviews are put up by customers. Chain restaurants offer a familiar menu and dà ©cor irrespective of its location. Earliest chain restaurants originated in Germany called automats. Restaurant chains account for nearly 14% of UKs total catering expenditures. According to Technonomics 2010, Leading 100 U.K Chain Restaurants report fast casual restaurants are growing at a faster rate than limited service restaurants. Food service industry continues to be growing with revenues on a fast growth track. LITERATURE REVIEW. Restaurants in Europe According to the Market Research firm Mintel UK restaurant market is more than  £ 25b a year. Standalone restaurants contribute around  £ 5.4b a year where as the fast-food restaurant sector accounts to  £ 6.7b a year. The U.K restaurant industry employees more than 5, 00,000 staff with over 5, 00,000 restaurants spread across Europe. According to the British Hospitality Association, 70% of the restaurants in Europe are owner operated contributing to a great share in Britains economy. Mc Donalds has the biggest presence in UK market with more than 1250 outlets in Europe. This is followed by Burger King, White Bread, and TGI Fridays. Further players include Garfunkels, Caffe UNO, Frankie Bennies brands. Food sales out-of home has grown to 84% since the last decade. In 2005, the out of home food consumption was 10.6% ahead of 2002 statistics. Statistics show that the leisure spending in eating out is more than in-home grocery bill in U.K. TOP  20 UK RESTAURANT  GROUPS IN  2009  (by number of outlets) Owner 2009 outlets 2008 outlets Selected brands 1   Mitchells   Butlers   775   728   Harvester,  Toby, All  Bar One, Vintage  Inns 2   Gondola 585 575 PizzaExpress, Ask, Zizzi   3 Whitbread 372 398 Beefeater, Brewers  Fayre, Table  Table 4 Punch  Taverns   362 344 (Spirit)   Chef Brewer, Two For One, Millers 5 The  Restaurant Group   350   336   Frankie   Bennys, Garfunkels, Chiquito 6 Tragus   270   267   Cafà ©Ã‚  Rouge, Bella  Italia, Strada 7 Nandos     213   190   Nandos 8   Bay  Restaurant Group 190   381   La  Tasca, Slug   Lettuce, haha  Grill 9 Little  Chef   180   179   Little Chef 10 Famous  Brands     176   178 Wimpy 11 Greene  King 155   238   Hungry  Horse, Loch  Fyne 12   Prezzo 141 135   Prezzo, Ultimate  Burger, iMMO 13 Clapham  House 79     74   Gourmet  Burger  Kitchen, The  Real Greek 14 Paramount  Restaurants 75 75   Chez  Gerard,  Caffà ¨Ã‚  Uno  Ã‚   15 Town  Centre Restaurants 57 58 Auberge, Cafà ©Ã‚  Giardino, Azzurro 16 Wagamama 56 59 Wagamama 17 Ispani Family 55 Pontis, Caffe  Alba 18 Carluccios   42   39   Carluccios 19   YO!  Sushi   41   33   YO! Sushi   20 Orchid  Pubs 40 44   Oriental  Restaurant  Group,   Contemporary  Carvery 21 Individual  Restaurant Group 34 30 Piccolino, Zinc, Bank 22   Regent Inns*   31   Old Orleans Note: UK outlets only. Includes pubs whose food sales exceed 50% of turnover * Regent Inns went into administration in October 2009 Source: Horizon FS Restaurant Brands Branded restaurant chains are now on an increasing demand with more and more people enjoying the experience. The growth of branded food service and restaurant chains have been a significant feature of the growing market. Along with international brand names like subway and Mc Donalds there have been new home grown brands also such as Cafà © Rouge, Wagamama, Nandos, Cafà © Nero, Loch Fyne,La Tasca, etc. All these businesses continue to expand with increase in external funding from both private equity and public markets. According to the Peach Factory research in 2007, casual dining restaurants are top choice in London, where 72% of Londoners visit a casual dining restaurant at least once in every three months and 31% going atleast two times in a month. According to MC Report of February 2010, Pizz Express tops the top 20 brands in UK. The drivers of the brand value are three fold: estimate of the current and future earning of a specific brand, based on publicly available revenue, capital and profit numbers. The remaining top 10 included Frankie Bennys, Wagamama, Zizi, Ask, Bella Italia, Cafà © Rouge and Loch Fyne. Greater consumer demands are putting much pressure on chain restaurants to distinguish their products from others. Restaurant brands have a clear brand strageywhich requires attention, consistency and respect once executed. Brands are usually born from a single persons vision with the only motive to provide new experiences to the customers. For a restaurant brand to succeed its products and services should keep up the promises made through ads and communications. Once the trust of customers has been established existing customers will return to the same brand. Strongest performing restaurants generate more than 70% from repeat business. Restaurant executives use satisfaction and loyalty measures to assess the brand image. Other use brand awareness scores. Another approach is creating a perpetual map of a particular vertical market. The consumers may also be asked the restaurant usage habits like frequency, occasion and brand selection. The may also be asked to evaluate both physical and attitudinal characteristics like lighting, food quality, pricing, etc. It is also important to gather a lot of attributes rather than focusing on very few. The customers should then evaluate the attributes. Consumers can be given an option to choose between two restaurant brands, which is good when the attributes do not capture all aspects. According to Aaker (1997), brand personality can be defined as the set of human characteristics associated with a brand. Branding helps in creating a difference. It differentiates the product from just being one commodity against many identical commodities. People are generally willing to pay more for a branded product than for a largely unbranded product. It helps in creating a connection with people. Brand Challenges for 2010 Discount Vouchers: there will be an increase of 50% in the use of promotional vouchers by diners. This can affect the brand equity and pricing resulting in a lower shareholder value. Inconsistent Delivery: Rapid growth of brands has caused inconsistent delivery. National Local: Brands need to adapt to the local demands Healthy tasty: The consumers are more health conscious which forces brands to create healthy foods. Characteristics of Leading U.K. brands Following are the characteristics of the leading brands that contribute to the current and Future Success. Embedded strategy: A clearly defined strategy, well communicated, understood and performed by all employees, partners, suppliers and investors with main motive being the customer benefit. Consistency throughout all operations: 70% of the profit is contributed through repeat customers. This can be ensured by ensuring the promised services. Culture: A unique and strong organizational culture that holds all the stakeholders together and work towards a common goal Commitment to innovation: Consistently offering new services and products motivates the customer for more purchase. True people organization: An organization which takes care of the employees always gains customer satisfaction and loyalty Ongoing measurement: Measuring the performance through a balanced scorecard approach help analyze the drawbacks and make improvements Changing consumer interests Travelling and eating out are going to be the two leisure-spending activities by the British. Richest 20% spend significantly by eating out. The biggest spenders in eating out are adults in no children households. There is increased consumer emphasis on health, freshness, provenness, authencity and environmental friendly products. Food retailing and out of home market are definitely to benefit. Over half of the Britons want locally produced food and 53% feel that there should be more UK production. There has been a rise in New Puritans interested in health and lifestyle who advise others what to be done and what not to be done. Consumers want better quality, better service and less expensive items which has been reflected in UK casual dining scenario. People under 24 are the heaviest users of casual dining restaurants. The change in the demographics, economic growth, have-it-all society and experience economy all influence the casual dining out market. According to Peach factory repo rt 66% of the adults felt that the restaurants should be doing more to improve eating out experience. The quality of food, the type of service, food and the value for money are the main factors influencing the eating-out market. Women feel healthier eating options are more important. Food, service and value remain the key market drivers to the demanding consumers. Consumers say that most of them want cleaner restaurants efficient service, low prices and friendlier service. Younger customers are more interested in lower prices. Healthy food options and environmental concerns though not vital, but cannot be ignored. Public generally likes and understands branded chains General Classification of Restaurants Bistros -Bistros are relaxed and informal restaurants with 60 seats or less offering French food. Brasseries- These are large bustling restaurants with flexible dining experience. They often serve French food. Chinese food- In Chinese restaurants one can get dishes such as Beijing duck, Shanghai noodles, Sichuan soup and Guangdong dumplings. Country House hotels- Restaurants in British country side where ancestral homes are converted to restaurants. Fine Dining-restaurants with fine luxurious surroundings with linen covered tables and high quality tableware. Gastropubs- Restaurants in public house or coaching inn. They display huge British accent to the menu, but will also serve French cuisine Greek restaurants- Food is prepared using olive oil, grains and bread, wine fish and various meats. These are all complemented by wines or anise flavored liquors. Indian restaurant- Here food is characterized by herbs, spices and vegetables from India. International restaurant- Serves a wide variety of dishes representing different cultures. Italian restaurants -Serves Italian cuisine Japanese cuisines- The Japanese food is recognized as worlds healthiest food, low in cholesterol fat and high in fibre Malaysian Restaurants- Offer culinary diversity with fresh aromatic herbs and roots, lemon grass, ginger, garlic, shallots, kaffirlime and chilies. Modern British- Services quality dishes using local produce. Modern European- Seasonal style of cooking incorporating Mediterranean influences and ingredients Modern Scottish- Has both traditional and Scottish dishes along with international food. Seafood restaurants- Restaurants servicing fish and sea food Thai- the cuisine is spicy and served with strong aromatic ingredients Vegetarian restaurants- Food served without meat and fish Some of the brands in U.K are classified based on the brands owned by celebrity chefs and brands that propagate certain ideas. Jamies Italian by Chef Jamie Oliver, Rick Steins Padstow, Delia Smiths Delias Restaurant and Bar, Chef Heston Blumenthals Fat Duck, Antony Worall Thompsons The Grey Hound, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, Gary Rhodes W1 restaurant are some of the restaurant brands opened by celebrity chefs. Gordon Ramsay Brand Gordon Ramsay brands are one of the most celebrated restaurant brands throughout the globe. Most of the Gordon Ramsay brands are in United Kingdom, a few in America, Tokyo and Dubai. Gordon Ramsays restaurants are well known for its services and the great food. His restaurants have been awarded 3 Michelin stars and he himself has been awarded 10 Michelin stars. The Gordon Ramsay restaurants in U.K are Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Petrus, Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, Angella Hartnet at the Connaught, The Savoy grill, Banquet, Boxwood cafà ©, Maze, La Noisette. Gordon Ramsay restaurants offer a mix of French, European, American and Asian cuisines. In 1998 Ramsay quit Aubergine restaurant which he co-owned with A-Z restaurants. He won Aubergine restaurant three Michelin stars. In 1991 he opened the Petrus restaurant in London which later won a Michelin star. Amaryllis in Glasgows One Devonshire Gardens hotel was opened by Gordon Ramsay Holdings in April 2001, which was awarded a Michelin star in January 2002. In October 2001 the group opened Gordon Ramsay at Claridge and won a Michlen star in 2001 for London restaurant. In October 2002, the food and beverages operation at Londons Connaught hotel was taken over by Gordon Ramsay Holdings. In May 2003, Wareing took over Savoy Grill. Ramsay opened the Boxwood Cafà © in Berkeley Hotel. In December 2003 Wareing moves Petrus into the Berkeley. In December 2003, Wareing opened theBaquette above Savoy Grill. In May 2005, Gordon Ramsay Holding has opened Maze at the London Mariott Hotel Grosvenor Square in London. The total number of staff in Gordon Holdings is more than 900. Tragus Holdings Tragus Holdings is one of UKs largest independent restaurant operators. It serves more than 12 million meals each year with 160 mid- market restaurants. The company was formed in 2002, through the  £25m acquisition of the Pelican Group and Bright Reasons Group from Whitbread. The key brands are Cafà © Rouge, Strada and Bella Italia. Other brands include Mama Amalfi, Amalfi, Abbaye, Oriel, Leadenhall Wine and Tapas bar. The company rolled out Huxleys Bar and Kitchen at Heathrow. The company is backed by Blackstone Group private firm. In May 2010, the group opened 15 new sites across three key brands and plans to open around 20 new sites in the current financial year. The group considers the expansion of the brands as the key to profitability. Tragus wants to ensure the quality of the sites to ensure its brand image. Tragus found the recession period challenging due to the poor economic conditions and the poor consumer spend. There have been a strong promotional activity along with the quality of service which contributed to the growth of the brand. Tragus employs 7300 people and has an equal opportunities policy. Tragus invests a considerable amount in training and they have their own in-house training department. Trags encourages feedback on the menus from customers as well as from nutrition experts. The organization promotes healthy eating habits in joint with other industry players which cover procurement kitchen practices, menu planning and information. They provide nutritional information including calorific content to the customers. Trends A key trend for restaurateurs is the availability of external funding in the shape of venture capital firms resulting in large number of mergers and acquisitions, but at the same time there are plenty of opportunities for independent operators. The industry has to satisfy the increasing demand due to dual income households, increased number of working women, rise in the number of old consumers. London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol are the some of the hubs of the UK market scene. Future Prospects The restaurateurs are forced at increasing the levels of service, especially outside London. There is a prospect for increased market segmentation because of mergers and acquisitions. The main challenges going forward will be satisfying the changing consumer tastes and expectations. Consumers want cleaner restaurants, efficient and friendlier service, and low prices. Women opt for cleaner restaurants than men do. For the UK restaurant industry, understanding what the consumer wants and then delivering it is the biggest challenge with more attraction towards branded chains. Methodology The two brands Gordon Ramsay and Tragus have been considered for our analysis here. A questionnaire was created to estimate the brand awareness, the brand personality affecting the customer perception, major factors affecting the brand personality and the impact of these brands as a marketing tool for business. A simple random sample of customers of both brands was selected to whom the questionnaire was circulated. The various factors have been discussed in the analysis given below. ANALYSIS. (The below analysis of the comparison of the Gordon Ramsay brand and the Tragus group based on customer feedback. The questions and the feedback of the customers are discussed below.) What is the main problem you faced at a) Gordon Ramsay b) Tragus? For Gordon Ramsay Holdings 45% of the respondents mentioned, other problems that they faced while using the services. 43% of the respondents found no problems with the service of Tragus. Which area do you think needs most improvement? The responses are as shown above. Majority of the customers have demanded for more variety for Gordon Ramsay brand. For Tragus, most customers demanded for low prices. What do you think the Unique selling Proposition of a) Gordon Ramsay b) Tragus? 26% of the respondents chose food as the Unique selling Proposition of Tragus Brand and for Gordon Ramsay; majority has chosen others, which is the chef himself as the brand image. How do you compare the services at Gordon Ramsay with Tragus? The respondents were asked to compare the services at Tragus and Gordon Ramsay. It can be seen that quality of food almost tops for both the groups. What in Gordon Ramsay brand attracts you more? The respondents were asked to choose the service that attracted more in the Gordon Ramsay brand. 6Which brand of Tragus attracts you more? The respondents were asked to choose the popular brands within the Tragus brand. It was found that Bella Italia was most popular among the customers. Do you think Gordon Ramsays personality has an impact on Gordon Ramsay restaurant brand? 68% of the respondents feel that the chef Gordon Ramsay has a direct influence on the brands image. Do you think brand name prompts you to go to Tragus? 54% of the respondents feel that the name Tragus prompts them to go to the restaurant. It is evident that the brand name has a direct impact on the minds of people. DISCUSSION Gordon Ramsay- The brand value Chef Gordon Ramsay is the force behind the 28 restaurants belonging to Gordon Ramsay Holdings. The Gordon Ramsay Holdings reported a pre-tax loss of  £4.3 million in 2008. He has published a vast array of cookery books and owns a catering school. Though the company has suffered in the recession hit economic climate and by the negative publicity about Ramsays public affairs Gordon Ramsay Holdings appear to be resilient and has reinforced a successful risk mitigation strategy. GRH had diversified the risk and helped to secure income streams through the opening of three pubs and several mid-priced maze grills. The organization forged strong partnership with a private equity firm in the global hotel and catering industry called Blackstone group. The critical element of GRHs internationalization is Ramsays television career since 2004 that has popularized the chef and the brand throughout the world. The passionate and aggressive leadership style in these shows gives the Gordon Ramsay br and a competitive advantage which represents the over all DNA of the group. Ramsay has been quick to find and nurture talent throughout his shows and this skill has proved to be the core capability of GRH. The sense of teambuilding and promoting from within has fostered a high level of loyalty among the staff. 85% of the staff from 1993 is still employed in the business. He has been able to inspire and engage with his tough but lovable approach to management. GRH recognizes the dream of its ambitious chefs by allowing them to open subsidiaries. The company lost  £850,000 when it closed the pengelley restaurant in Londons Knight bridge in 2005. The failure was aggravated when he employed a executive chef from outside GRH. In 2006, the GRHs London Hotel in New York suffered late opening due to delays, it received poor reviews and the head chef had to be replaced. Soon it was transformed and gained two Michlen stars. In 2008, Ramsay opened his first Parisian restaurant, Versailles at the Trianon Palace Hotel but suffered a loss of of  £1.78 million and was soon closed down. Ramsay is the face of the organization without doubt, and his actions in restaurant and televisions have impacted GRH. There has been nothing like Brand Ramsay in the world of cooking before. Ramsays position rest on two bases, the restaurant and as a media person. Tragus The brand value Tragus adopts a strategy of organic growth by opening new restaurants. It also aims at continually improving the existing brands through menu development and more investment into the group. It sees improved profitability through disciplined management and use of technology in its business. Tragus aims at providing more training and development programmes to its people and excellent customer service. It aims at acquiring groups of sites, which can enhance the portfolio. It looks at new opportunities and style of eating. The menu content has been regularly reviewed and has controlled the cost increases through regular retendering of the contracts. The company had adopted a good labour management system that can leverage the efficiencies. A new commercial and marketing structure was implemented in 2010 to improve the marketing activities of the group. The group also focuses on investing in the estate so that the best standards of presentation are meet. They have focused more on the Strada brand to maintain the contemporary image and the best quality of food. The group finds the brands, the pricing points and the value for money offerings as their competitive advantage. The group sees a growth potential for all the three brands Bella Italia, Strata and Cafà © Rouge. Tragus considers its people as the most important ingredient to its success. Tragus considers its corporate social responsibility as a priority. The group in relation with its suppliers tries to reduce the impact on the environment. They have promoted initiatives in mainly three areas -waste and recycling, energy saving, and food and drink. The company tries to find additional ways of recycling. The company has a central distribution center giving a single drop-off point for recyclable material. The trucks, which deliver food and drinks, while returning collect, used cooking oil, plastics and cardboard. The company tries to reduce their dependency on paper by using voice recognition technology. The company is working on a 100% recycling scheme for their restaurants. The company aims at energy saving by reducing the electricity use by 10% in the restaurants. All the Tragus brands run smart meters to view accurate usage of electricity. The company has undertaken multi disciplinary project to review the energy consumption across all the restaurants. The company supplies filtered tap water to all customers at Strada. The company uses Belu, UKs first carbon neutral water. The company also has served the community by working with organizations like Great Ormond street, Marie curie, children in need, etc. The company sees a brand risk through food scarce or a slow decline in a brands appeal to its customers, which can be met through efficient operations. The risk on the brands appeal can be met through continuous menu innovation, marketing campaigns and brand development. The company finds the market to be highly competitive especially in service offering, product quality and price. The marketing teams monitor the market offering and pricing on an ongoing basis. The group undertakes a regular mystery diner visits to all restaurants to ensure that the standards of the menu and customer service are met. There is a rolling renovation programme to all the present estates. Tragus has laid out the following aims as a part of its Brand building Creating a standout differentiation Establishing and delivering a compelling idea Focus and direction A clear proposition Tone of voice Compelling brand levers Defining customer segments Tragus wants its customers to keep dining, repeat business, try new dishes and menu items, trade up, and spread the message to others. Tragus wants to know more about consumers, wants to convert them to customers, Drive brand loyalty, not just voucher loyalty. Tragus believes that Brand development gives conversation rationale, but service execution is all. RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the analysis and the market study done for the both the brands of restaurants, the following suggestions can be recommended. Looking to the future the GRHs focus should be survival and selective growth due to the economic slowdown. Both Gordon Ramsay and Tragus groups should focus on the standard of goods supplied by third parties. Any suppliers who do not satisfy the minimum standards should be delisted. Both companies should try to retain the best talent at both restaurant and head office level The organizations should keep a check on the price of key raw materials and wages There should be strong financial and operational review and financial reviews There should be essential funding available for the operational purposes hence essential contracts needs to be maintained. The organizations should be careful about the risk of fraud existing in the misappropriation of assets, including cash banking. This should be mitigated through management structure, regular financial review and extensive use of business reviews. There should be regular financial audits carried out in the organizations There should be continuous monitoring of the marketing, brand strategies and pricing. The groups should regularly review the products and involve the customers in improving the value for money offering me