Computer Buying Essays - Home Computer, Computer, Homework

Computer Buying Today, computers are common. Even the most conservative analysts suggest that over forty percent of Canadian homes have one, and this figure rises dramatically to well over sixty percent in urban centers, particularly in homes when there are school-aged children or adults with professional or managerial jobs. Buying a computer can be a daunting task, particularly if you're new to the high technology marketplace. You will be spending anywhere from one to several thousand dollars on the computer equipment alone, so you'll need to do homework first. According to one old IBM advertisement, the average person spends fifteen weeks, five days, twenty- three hours and fifty-eight minutes searching for a new computer. If you're like most consumers, you'll spend that time checking with a number of sources for the information you need to make decisions. In order to save time and energy for buying a computer, you must following the three steps: setting you up to doing your homework, focusing on the homework itself to help you make decisions, and nailing your decision down to closing the sale. These three steps will not only saving your time and energy, it will also provide you the guidance you'll need to buy your computer. Your fist step along the way to purchase your computer is to do your homework. Homework might include the following: learning the lingo, doing some research, visiting a few stores and dealing with salespeople. First, you should learn the lingo. Knowing the Lingo will save you a lot of times toward buying computer because you will face many opportunities to use it. For example, without knowing these jargon, you might have difficulty understanding when you read the computer materials; you might have difficulty understanding the conversation with computer salespeople. As a result, it is worth of spending sometime to understand the meaning of lingo. For example: Hardware, Software, Chip, CPU, PC, ROM, RAM. Second, you should do some research to getting more information about computer. You can research through local daily newspaper. Local daily newspaper may have a computer section. There are also monthly computer newspapers. In Canada, there are a number of free Canadian publications such as the Computer Paper, Our Computer Player (Vancouver), Toronto Computes, Ottawa Monitor, Winnipeg Computer Post are some of the examples you can search from. If you have access to the Internet, it might also be a good place for doing some research. Furthermore, the Internet also has various newsgroups that specialize in the subject. There are also a variety of independent sites on the Web hosted by individual with a mission to provide analysis. Finally, we come to visiting the computer stores and dealing with the salespeople. Shopping around three to five different computer stores is also helpful toward buying a computer. Many computer stores offer similar computer products with different price and warranty. It is wise to talk to the salespeople, asking as many question as you have. Don't fret if you think your expertise is not the state of the art. In fact, if you are willing to learn as you shop and take your time, you will end up making an informed choice. The second step is focuses on the homework itself by providing distinctions among the basic hardware options that will help you to make some fundamental choices. As a result, there are several points that you should know: the type, the feature, and the location of buying computer. First point, you have to consider what type of the computer do you need. It is usually the first choice every computer shopper has to make is between an IBM -compatible, which is also known simply as a PC (for personal computer), and an Apple Macintosh. The two rivals are built with different operating systems, which until recently meant that software made for one of them couldn't run on the other. In other ward, if you want the lowest price and the widest possible choice of software, go with a PC. If ease of use matters most to you, then you should pick a Macintosh. The second point you should consider is the feature of the computer. You should ask yourself " How much computer power do you need? " Whether you commit to a Mac or a PC, you want computing power adequate to your personal needs plus some room to grow- without spending for features you'll never use. It's important getting to know the three essential computer components: the microprocessor, Random-access memory, and Hard drive capacity. Understanding just those three components might have been

Hydroponic Vegetable production Essays

Hydroponic Vegetable production Essays Hydroponic Vegetable production Essay Hydroponic Vegetable production Essay Hydroponico Vegetable OProduction0 BY CYF Hydroponics has often been thought of as the future of growing, what many people do not realize is that the concept has been around for a very long time and already has been applied to agriculture. Hydroponics is not Just for flowers; in fact with its growing popularity in the past decade hydroponics has begun to be used for commercial vegetable production around the world. It is attracting to farmers because it presents them with a way to grow in areas and times they might not have been able to otherwise. This can mean that soil quality is not a factor and that the armers can have more control over their own microclimate within a greenhouse. Hydroponics suggests that anyone anywhere can grow his or her own high quality produce under limited conditions. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil. It is the fastest growing sector of agriculture, and it could very well dominate food production in the future. Hydroponics id defined as the science of growing or the production of plants in nutrient rich solutions or moist inert material instead of soil. Hydroponics comes from Latin, the word hydro meaning water, and ponos meaning labor, hydroponics s water working. It is important to know that water alone is not enough to support plants growth. Traditionally soil gives plants anchorage for their root systems and supports vertical growth, it is a source of nutrients, fresh organic matter, and has water holding capabilities. Hydroponics must use fertilizers in their ionic form and supply plants with their essential minerals and nutrients through a nutrient solution. Artificial anchorage is used such as stakes or trellising. One benefit is that it is a more sterile environment than the soil. Soil can contain many toxins and pollutants as well s undesirable insect life and disease pathogens. With hydroponics it is likely that a recall, like the one we had a few years back on spinach that became contaminated with e-coli, would be entirely avoided. Farmers growing hydroponic crops and researchers see many benefits to this method. Higher yields are common and a higher yield per square foot is a given because plants can be grown densely and in vertical or upright ways. Produce from a hydroponic greenhouse is often of very high quality because it has not been subject to the stresses brought on by outside weather conditions and does not bear scars of amage cause by outside factors. It is easier to protect crops from pests and supplement the sun and increase production. Universities and research facilities for medicine and even NASA study hydroponic methods and use them for control experiments. Facilities can have a fully controlled indoor environment where they can research different affects by introducing variables, or like NASA study possibilities for one day growing plants in outer space or even on the moon. Hydroponics has been around for a long time but has began to take a strong foothold only in this past decade or so. It is a common misconception that NASA invented hydroponics; this is false. The first record of anything resembling hydroponics is by Sir Francis Bacon back in 1627 in his book Sylva sylvarum printed the year after his death in which he introduces a concept he called water culture. Water culture became a popular research technique. In 1699 John Woodward published his water culture experiments on spearmint in which he made the conclusion that plants grew better in unfiltered water. By the 1800s we knew that the reason for this is that there are essential nutrients that plants require for growth and ome are found in minerals present in unfiltered water. 1859-65 German botanists Julius von Sachs and Wilhelm Knop developed techniques of soil-less cultivation using nutrient solutions. The growth of plants without soil became known as solution culture, which is a technique that we still use today. In 1929, at the University of California in Berkeley, professor William Frederick Gericke began to publicly promote what he first termed aquaculture. Gericke created a stir by growing vine tomatoes twenty-five feet high in his backyard without the use of soil. William Gericke coined he modern day term Hydroponics in 1937 because aquaculture was already used to refer to aquatic organisms. He was reluctant at first to share his secrets and did not publish any details on his experiments until after he retired from UC Berkeley in 1940. During WWII in a place called Wake Island vegetables were grown hydroponically to feed to passengers on Pan American Airlines when they stopped at this refueling station. Wake Island is a rocky atoll; which has no soil on it in which to grow and it would have been too expensive to airlift in fresh vegetables. Disney orld opened an exhibit called The Land Pavilion in 1982 in their famous EPCOT center, which features a variety of hydroponic growing techniques. Nowadays hydroponics is not Just limited to researchers it has become available to the average citizen and is only beginning to be applied to agriculture in a much broader spectrum this past decade. The benefits of greenhouse hydroponic production are many. In controlled environment the farmer can have control over temperature, humidity, water, nutrients, C02 levels, and even light periods. One main benefit is that no soil is equired, that means there is nothing to till and much labor is eliminated from the growing process. Growing can be done regardless of soil quality and composition. A huge benefit is that water can stay in the system and be reused. Even though water is the main carrier of nutrients hydro systems are able to deliver Just the right amount of water and can reduce waste. Water can be re-circulated in the system and water use is typically 50-90% less than that used for soil crops which are subject to leaching and drainage capabilities. Plant roots can drown hydro takes this into ccount by using highly oxygenated water and preventing anaerobic conditions. So has complete control over nutrition and nutrition costs are lower and applications are more effective and efficient. Plants can absorb the nutrients much faster when they are suspended in water instead of clinging to soil particles. Yields are usually higher and of better quality with more stable results. Because hydro can be grown very densely and even vertically on shelves farmers are able to grow a larger number of plants in a much smaller area. Land use is reduced greatly and allows for farms to e closer to urban areas where they have a shorter distance to travel from harvest to local markets and kitchens. Many hydroponic researchers boast that produce harvested is of higher nutritional value and considered fresher because some crops, like lettuce, can be harvested with roots and remain fresh longer. Pests and disease are easier to contain and get rid of in controlled environments and the sterile environment allows for use of Integrated Pests Management programs that focus on biological controls and reduce the use of harmful pesticides. Disadvantages of hydroponic farming can be the loss ofa buffer, soil, any failure n the system , equipment failure, power outage, can lead to very quick death or damage of an entire crop. Pathogens can breed in these high moisture environments and young plants are susceptible to verticillium wilt and can die from dampening-off. In extreme environments water temperatures must be monitored and controlled so that you dont have any freezing or cooking of your roots. It is much easier and less expensive to heat or warm water in the system than to keep it cool. In desert regions enclosed systems are preferred to prevent loss of water through evaporation. The most common disadvantage is the extremely high cost of start-up and equipment. Since hydroponics is a growing technology the USDA and other organizations often have grants available for farmers working in hydroponics. In 2012 Living Water Farms was the recipient of one of the USDAs Value Added Producer Grants which are awarded to sustainable business ideas. Crop choice is taken into consideration because of the costs involved and certain limitation. Commonly lettuce is probably the vegetable most often grown hydroponically because it is quick and easy. Farmers can go from planting to arvesting a lettuce crop in as little as 30-45 days that allows them to get about 10 harvests out in one year. Tomatoes are another huge hydro crop, some of the largest North American Hydroponic farms focus on tomatoes production, from beefsteak, to vine ripe and cherry. Euro Fresh Farms in Arizona harvest approximately 250,000 tomatoes daily in mid summer. Euro Fresh Farms are also certified pesticide residue free and practice land and water conservation, solar panels are integrated into the design of the greenhouses to further reduce energy costs and the companys carbon footprint. After harvest, excess plant material is composted and waste is reduced. Euro Fresh Farms are not organic but they boast a ten plus year history of contamination free produce and claim to be better than organic because they dont use animal fertilizers which can contain food borne illness like e-coli and salmonella. The other crop they grow besides tomatoes are cucumbers. They are certified by the North American Greenhouse Hothouse Vegetable Growers, and dont use any GMOs. Locally Kennys Strawberry Farm is a great place to visit to see hydroponics working to produce fresh strawberries. The Temecula Valley farm has a u-pick hydro ground away from the reach of rodents and soil borne pathogens. They claim to be all natural and have heartier and healthier strawberries which are not picked until they reach ideal ripeness and redness. Their motto is we grow em You pick em where you can have a family outing and pick strawberries without ever getting dirty. Hydroponic farms in general tend to be smaller, because of costs and provide local markets and restaurants. Most are family businesses that practice sustainability and conservation. They produce a variety of vegetables and herbs, even feed for ivestock. Around the world hydroponics are already being used. There are huge hydro-lettuce fields in Japan, Germany, Pakistan, Australia, and places like the Philippines. Countries like Pakistan are reducing their need for imported produce and are actually beginning to export produce themselves. In the past their soil was considered useless for cultivation, but with hydroponics they are a growing success. In Conclusion, hydroponics is indeed a growing industry and I suspect that as our land gets more populated and developed we will see a rise in this industry. It can be sustainable and health conscience. You can grow more in a small area so it is welcoming to smaller property owners and perfect for urban areas. With each technological advance we get more precision out of every crop. REFERENCES All Season Greens I Easily Produce Your Own Low Cost, Highly Nutritious, Living Feed, 365 Days a Year! All Season Greens I Easily Produce Your Own Low Cost, Highly Nutritious, Living Feed, 365 Days a Year! N. p. , n. d. Web. 3 May 2013.. Beyond Sustainability. Windset Farms. N. p. , n. d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.. Certified, Greenhouse, Vegetables, Growers. Certified Greenhouse/Hothouse Vegetable Producers Association of North America. , n. d. Web. 01 May 2013.. Drought and Heat? Some Farmers Try Hydroponics. NET. N. p. , n. d. Web. 29 May 2013.. Hydroponics in Action Organic Basil, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Herbs and Other Tasty Produce Year Round. N. p. , n. d. Web. 01 May 2013.. Rana, Imran. High-tech Agriculture: The Extraordinary Profits of Hydroponic Vegetable Farming. The Express Tribune High-tech Agriculture The Extraordinary Profits of Hydroponic Vegetable Farming Comments. N. p. , 23 Mar. 2012. Web. 1 May 2013.. Strawberry Farm. Kennys Strawberry Farm. N. p. , n. d. web. 2 May 2013..

How Managerial Changes Influence Organisational Behaviour Issues Research Paper

How Managerial Changes Influence Organisational Behaviour Issues - Research Paper Example One of the main obstacles to the smooth implementation of the change management process is the lack of awareness of the context of change by the workmen and unions. While the top management team is aware of the context in which these changes are being talked about, the workmen and unions are not well informed in this respect. A change seeking management has to overcome the stresses to which the system and the people have to undergo. Leadership is, therefore, required to create the necessary confidence to overcome the stresses and challenges in the change process. A successful leadership has to keep open the channels of communications within the organization and with the outside world. The leader must recognize authority and power system changes in the attitudes, behaviors, and interpersonal relationship of people (Tennenbam, 1999, p.177). As such organization problems can be overcome by four factors, namely, structural, technical, task and people. However, the capacity of individuals and groups in some organizations are underestimated. This is due to a variety of causes emerging from the organization structure, procedures and the traditions of a group of people working within the organization. Human Resource Management is, perhaps, the oldest and most widely researched subject in management. Yet, as technologies change, cultural diversities occur and people's expectations undergo fundamental shifts towards newer and newer dimensions. For instance, professionals are gaining more say in the running of organizations. Even where governance is by people who own the majority stakes, their own positions and the respect they command are contingent upon their competence rather than ownership. " Management is the art of getting things done through other people. Management is the dynamic, life-giving element in every business. Without it, the resources of production remain resources and never become production." (Hersey & Blanchard, 2002, p.211) Â  

Formal Reports Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Formal Reports - Assignment Example Encl. Report on Impact of RFID technology 2012 Annual Report Prepared by Ron Moser RFID strategy leader Report Distributed July 19, 2013 Prepared for The Board of Directors Wal-Mart Abstract RFID technology has so far been advantageous for the company in relation to inventory management and supply chain management. Since implementation of this technology required high investment, therefore in initial years the returns were below expectations, but in long run it can prove to be profitable because through improved inventory management it can enhance sales thus leading to higher revenues for the company. RFID can ensure that goods are always available on the shelves thus catering to customers becomes easy and customer satisfaction which has always been the motto of Wal-Mart becomes ensured. Also, inventory visibility is another advantage of RFID which keeps tracks of the whereabouts of items whether in backroom or shelves. This requires less use of manual orders and workers can devote m ore time to customers. RFID has also reduced inaccuracy in inventory record. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract †¦..................................†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦. 3 Introduction †¦..................................†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ... .................................8 Impact on sales values ..................................................................................9 Impact on the profit structure ......................................................................10 Conclusion and recommendations †¦........†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦... †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦11 References ...............................................................................................................12 Introduction The main area of Wal-Mart that is benefitted by RFID is the improvement of supply chain management. RFID can be extremely beneficial for retailers and production aspect of the supply chain. RFID is an electronic substitue of barcodes. In combination with mobile computing and online technologies, RFID can help the company to efficiently manage and upkeep its stocks. This technology can eliminate manual labour for identification of products and their storage. I t helps the company to manage its stocks and assets from anywhere in the world and helps management to make appropriate decisions (Bhatta, 1-2). The reason of this paper is to see the benefits of RFID on Wal-Mart, to see how its product functions have changed for the better after implementation of this technology. RFID helps in keeping accurate track of stocks thus leading to positive replacement of stocks, and can bring improvement in gross margins and unit volumes. Impact of RFID technology Principle advantages of RFID technology It was in 2005 that Wal-Mart implemented RFID for the first time in its supply chain in order to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance satisfaction level of consumers (Chen, 13). These are the standard goals for which RFID is used in supply chain management industry. There are numerous benefits of RFID. It has

Total Reward - Findings, Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations Essay

Total Reward - Findings, Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations - Essay Example The study is developed on the basis of a mixed approach where both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used. In order to undertake the analysis, the opinions of respondents have been collected through questionnaire method. From the research analysis, it has been found that total rewards which comprise both the elements of tangible and non-tangible rewards can effectively impact on the job satisfaction of the employees. As different employees have different needs, thus their motivational aspects can also differ. Nowadays, only better pay is not sufficient for employees to stay in an organisation. They also desire for other forms of motivation along with tangible rewards. In this context, the total reward package enables organisations to balance organisational objectives with the requirement of individual employees from organisations which in turn lead to enhanced productivity. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 4 Findings 6 Discussion 21 Conclusion 26 Recomm endations 28 References 30 Introduction Reward is a set of approaches which is intended for managing the human resources in an organisation. The major purpose of reward is to motivate employees to accomplish higher performance. ... The fundamental idea of reward is to motivate greater performance through certain activities and to emphasise their reoccurrence. The consequence of reward can result in a sense of achievement which in turn can lead towards higher performance. Rewards are of two kinds which are tangible/monetary rewards and non-tangible/non-monetary rewards. Tangible rewards are pay, incentives and compensation among others which are the basic conditions for employees to work in an organisation. On the other hand, intangible rewards are those which can lead to motivation of employees towards high performance such as recognition, better work culture and training and development among others. Together tangible and intangible rewards can generate job satisfaction for the employees. Job satisfaction occurs when an employee receives those facilities which he/she expects from an organisation. There is significant relationship that exists between job satisfaction and reward provided by an organisation. Rewa rds act as a basis for job satisfaction of employees. However, significant differences exist among the employees about expectations from an organisation. Thus, the aspect of job satisfaction within the employees can also be differing according to demographic factors such as age, gender and psychographics variables. Due to this reason, the term total reward has gained much acceptance among organisations in order to ensure better job satisfaction and enhance productivity (Flamholtz, 1996). The total reward includes all elements of rewards which are useful for enticing, encouraging and retaining employees. It is aimed at providing all employees a positive work environment where they can put much effort towards accomplishment of organisational objectives. In present days, total

Conflicts Between Modern And Traditional Culture Cultural Studies Essay

Conflicts Between Modern And Traditional Culture Cultural Studies Essay Probably the most noticeable change towards society in the last few years has been the manifestation of the word change. We talk of changing our processes and ways of doing things, how to introduce new methods, products, and practices into a fast developing world, that can sometimes be resistant to change whether it is good or bad. However when we refuse to give in to this impending storm of modernity which is set out to change our well-established practices conflict arises. This conflict is being fought but countries all over the world who are on the verge of losing their deep rooted principles, its culture to modernity or westernization. Change or modernity can be used interchangeably they are be presented in two forms its either positive or negative. As a result of globalization some cultures and traditions are been lost. When change emerges in such a way that it condemns your own traditions viewing them as old and stale, such situations give rise to conflicts like in the case of Michael Obi. The fact that both modern methods and traditional ways are both important and valuable for our community cannot be over emphasized. What is it about tradition that makes it so important to people, that even as the respond to change they still dont want to part with it? We usually think of traditions as something that is passed down through the generations, they can also be started again by doing the same thing for three years in a row to positive emotions and feelings of love. Traditions today are our most prized possessions that stay the same it reminds and links us to our past, our roots, and our family. Eventually as we yiel d to change we can only come to the realization that modern methods and traditions are both important to us, and with the help of our knowledge and experience we have gained over the years we can confidently say that a common ground can be established on which modernity and tradition can coexist in such a way that it benefits the parties involved. Chinua Achebes Dead Mens Path is a short story, where the writer embellished the conflicts between modern and traditional culture of a society. For someone to understand this short story you have to dig deeper into the plot, the conflict, the characters, and the whole setting itself in order to fully understand what the writer is trying to convey to the readers. This story tries to highlight some aspects of human nature through the character of Michael Obi. Michael appears to have adopted the ways of the western world or the modern society. He has a very ambitious dream to modernize the school where he has been deployed. Mr. Michael Obi is a reflection of how blind the human mind can be at times. His aspirations have gotten into his head too much that he loses respect of other cultures which he himself is from by virtue of his name Obi which is an Ibo name. Obis high aspirations have certainly infiltrated his mind in such a way that in his conversation with the priest of Ani he conde mns the traditions of the village when he says: The whole purpose of our school, he said finally, is to eradicate just such beliefs as that. Dead men do not require footpaths. The whole idea is just fantastic. Our duty is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas. Obi feels appalled at how their traditions blot the splendor of the school that he runs. He is too engrossed over creating a good image of himself and the inspectors, that he feels the inhabitants and their petty customs are a big obstacle to attaining his goal. Although the belief of the village people appears to be illogical and futile, any agent of change should be open-minded and respectful to their beliefs and practices. Michael Obi fails to accept the varieties of cultures existing in his community, and by imposing what he thought is right he gets his reward: a bad report from the government inspector. A man who couldnt think of a more civilized way of achieving his dreams, thus, yielded to the bad influences of modernization and affecting the peaceful spiritual beliefs of the occupants in the village. In the character of Nancy, Michael Obis wife we are able to see that she has fully adopted modern ways of doing thing. He character symbolizes the western influence. The school r epresents the attempt to separate tradition from modernity, and on a greater extent eradicate superstitious belief completely from the future. The school is where young minds are molded and is a perfect place to begin inserting ideas of change.   One of such similar situations was an incident that happened many years ago in my own native land. The name of my village is amokwe which means in our community which is called ibuzor there were many villagers who were pagans. This traditional worship had been in existence even after the missionary came in and built a church. Most of these traditionalists subsequently became parishioners at St Patricks Catholic Church. Some of the villagers denounced their beliefs and accepted Christianity and some swung both ways they still stick to their traditional beliefs and Christianity. During a certain period the parish had a new priest who openly preached about how diabolical the traditional beliefs were and how they hindered the progress of the people. The teachings of this priest infuriated some parishioners. They held a meeting with other members of the community and came up with a solution. The decided to strip him of his cloths and make him walk with his boxers round the village. Usuall y public disgrace was the highest form of punishment you could face. It basically entailed that you had to walk around the village with no cloths and palm fronds were tied on your waist and head while people followed you at your back and sang songs and flogged you occasionally. This happened to be the punishment that the meeting concluded. Some days later early in morning the villagers set out to the residence of the priest and subjected him to the above explained punishment. This went on for some hours till they reached the local government head quarters called UDI were through the advert of some policemen the priest was speared and released. The case was reported to the bishop of Enugu diocese. The bishop came in and took the priest along with the Blessed Sacrament. The act of taking the Blessed Sacrament meant that masses could not be celebrated at that parish. For one year the community was without Sunday service. After a while some elders came to an agreement and decided to go back and plead with the bishop to reinstate a priest to celebrate Sunday services and have the Blessed Sacrament retuned. Though the bishop agreed a meeting was held with the entire community was a conclusion was drawn. This solution was exactly what the priest of Ani said. Let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch which basically means lets let everyone live. This meant that whoever chose to stick to their traditional belief was left to do what they wanted as long as they didnt cross or condemn each others practices. They basically had to learn to coexist in peace and harmony. This coexistence was finally achieved with time and things gradually returned back to normal. Although today I can say 90% of the villagers are now Christians but there are still the remaining 10% that still practice these traditional religions.   Traditions are very important but when these traditions start to affect us negatively its best we do away with the bad aspect of it or make an effort to modify it into something positive. In our lives today we can only posses maturity when were able respect the various beliefs of people around us; even if, we think it is absurd. These stories explained above re basically reminding us that tradition and modernity should not exist as exclusive entities; rather they should complement each other. It is necessary for Traditions to progress with modernity, yet it should not be destroy the past as was portrayed by Michael Obi when he said, Our duty is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas. Well indeed must look at the past with reverence than with disgust because no matter how modern one maybe our tradition makes us complete. There should always be an ideal blend of modernity and belief each person posses. The plot however is somewhat unfinished for full understanding it will depend on what the readers imagination may perceive. Every now and then human beings become overwhelmed with joy that we forget that there are people around us who may be affected by our careless actions. Michael Obi is a foreigner to that place just like the priest but as a head principal or public figure he should have observed their culture and not impose his own way. Given the wrong education, the students may be detrimental to society, in the same way that Mr. Obi has been detrimental to the village people. In our world today, the younger generations are too busy trying to advance their everyday life by having everything explained scientifically. They tend to neglect the beliefs of their ancestors. However, the destruction of the school created a turning point for the people to accept that the beliefs of the ancestors are as powerful as the innovations of the western world. No matter how powerful a structure may appear to be if its components are empty on the inside, there is practically no doubt that it will disintegrate. The obstruction of this path could mean that education in Africa becomes not a real education of impartial learning but a shrouded way of reaping of the people of their heritage and wealth. The schools purpose becomes not to teach but to create wealth for the colonial masters. The school is a symbol of oppression to the people of Africa where they are mocked in the face by being referred to as some crude, backward and illiterate people, simply because they lack the op timism and contemporary thoughts of their colonial masters or the western world. Sources   Gusfield, Joseph R. Tradition and Modernity: misplaced Polarities in the Study of Social Change.American Journal of Psychology  72.4 (1967): 351-62.  Jstor, Web. . Liscombe, Rhodri Windsor. Modernism in Late Imperial British West Africa: The Work of Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, 1946-56.  Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians  65.2 (June 2006): 188-215.  JSTOR. Web. .

Grief and Bereavement Essay -- essays research papers fc

Grief and Bereavement CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION â€Å"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.† Matthew 5:4 Crisis involved with loss of other human being is the intensive of all types of crises. This paper I will be talking mainly about grief through people loss, as it is something, which happens suddenly, and which can also lead into intense grief. In this paper I want to also talk about how we as a Christian and especially as a pastor will be able to cope with or help a person that is undergoing this grief situation. This is because many of the times when we see someone undergoing this kind of crisis of grief, we tend to ignore it or we try to take over the grief to ourselves. Worst of all this when we try to convince the person that is in this crisis that it is not there at all. Grieving is an overall response to a number of different kinds of problems. Grief is not something that people is bound to experience but something that has consistently occurred in the lives of many. A loss may not necessarily initiate an experience of grief. But if there is an attachment emotionally to that loss then there might be grief. Grief is a part of human life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   CHAPTER II TERMINOLOGY What is Grief? According to Webster’s Dictionary Grief is mentioned as intense emotional suffering caused by loss, misfortune, injury or evils of any kind, sorrow, and regret. Grief is considered to be a normal response to loss of any significant thing or person. Grief brings about a lack of meaning in the life of the person he, or she feels empty and sadness fills in. There are two kinds of grief and these are Normal grief and Morbid grief. Normal Grief It is seen as when individuals or family members who have been deeply affected by a death or anticipated death, who are able to openly grieve with each other and accept help from others as they experience the various stages of the grief process. Some of the symptoms seen in this kind of grief, empty feelings, sighing deeply, lack of appetite, overeating out of tension, unable to sleep. Sometimes there is a struggle with the way one feels about his or her relationship with the Lord. Some of them feel like God is has gone away from them. Most of them have trouble rejoicing in the Lord. Sometimes they over spiritualise the loss and hold back the question of God’s involvement in the loss. Morbid Gr... ... his way of normal living. Pastors needs to understand these three stages or phases of grief and should be able to help the griever with the knowledge of these. And along side all this we should be able to pray for the griever at all time, asking God to give him comfort. Most of all I would suggest that we should be able to Love and Care for the grieving person and help him to cope to a new way of life. BIBLIOGRAPHY Crick, Robert, D. Min., Grief, death, dying, and Bereavement: A general overview of the Dynamics of Grief: Helping People in Crisis, ed. Donald S. Aultman. Cleveland: Church of God School of Ministry, 2003. McMahan, Oliver, Scriptural Counselling, A God-centered Method. Cleveland: Pathway Press, 1995. Simpson, Carl Dr., Professor for European Theological Seminary, Lecture from Pastoral Counselling, 07. April 2005, Freundenstadt-Kniebis, Germany. Switzer, David K., The Minister as Crisis Counsellor, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1974. The New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984 Webster, Noah L.L.D, Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language. Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1966.

Filipino food for thought Essay

Food is a very important part of a Filipino’s life. No gathering would be complete without the lechon and so many other Filipino delicacies that we so enjoy. In my personal observation, it can be said that Filipinos seem to live simply for the pleasure of eating. You can’t visit a home without being offered a drink and food from the people there. It seems that food and the Filipino have been deeply rooted together. It may be that through food that brings the Filipino family close together. Indeed, we have come a long way from simply catching our prey and eating it raw and bloody. We have turned cooking and baking into an art form. Of course, through the help of modern inventions, cooking has evolved so much that it doesn’t even take you the whole day to prepare a meal that tastes like a feast! Microwaves and electric stoves replace all those clay pots and stone oven used a long time ago. Everything we need comes in neat little packages that just need to be opened, reheated and, Voila! Dinner is served. It wasn’t this easy during the time of our grandmothers although there were many improvements in the culinary arts. Women still had to slave over hot stoves, go to the market each morning to buy fresh ingredients and transform it to the sumptuous meals we all enjoy. Hard as it was to prepare food, this was the daily chores women did together that has bound them into one close-knit family. Yes, modern equipment have made lives so much easier, but some things in life that can’t be replaced by machines. In addition, some very important things are completely lost thanks to the modernization. Just imagine this quaint little scene in the lives of our grandmothers in the provinces. Come the day of the feast of whoever their patron saint, all of the women would gather in houses to start the preparations for the feast. Congregating in a specific spot (most usually the house of the wealthiest neighbor), they would formulate their game plan. Who would cook this and that, who would be in-charge of doing every little thing imaginable. For almost a week every year, they would busily go about their cooking with the other women in their village. This secret ritual is somewhat like the essay of straightening hair as a secret society. These cooking pros are in fact secret societies of the village women where children and men aren’t allowed, secret recipes kept within themselves and only when a girl reaches the right age would she be assimilated into the group. One would never think of this at this particular angle. With the dawn of technological advance, traditions are being replaced with the convenience of modern living. Nowadays, food preparation has become something too bothersome to worry over. Microwavables and ready-to-eat meals are the way to go especially in the busy lifestyle of the people, like some who hold two jobs to keep up with the expenses. Gone are the days when food preparation was a tradition. It has become a meaningless process most especially for the people in the cities. It is true that modernization is God’s gift to mankind. Everything has become so simple and effortless. Food cooked in minutes rather than hours, people can communicate to each other all over the world with just a press of a button and so many more. The advantages of improvement are undeniable. Yet, when it comes down to the basics, we must think; is it really worth it? Does this so-called improvement really improve the people I am with as well as myself? Is what we are giving up or paying for the price of modernization worth it? Personally, I find that some things are meant to be forever. There may be changes and yet the basic essence can remain the same. People who dwell in the modern world, living a modern life have forgotten what really matters. Custom and traditions make a country what who they are. The personality of each and everyone is molded by the way they are brought up or according to what belief the parents have reflects on their children. Modernization takes away the tradition that has been passed on from parent to child. Tradition is not the only thing that can describe what kind of people we are. What we eat also shows us the people we have become or have been. Take for example dinuguan, which is made of pork meat, blood and heart. It sounds kind of disgusting but it is simply divine! Tastes aside, it tells the people of what kind of people we were. It shows us that long before, we were not the stiff and super-civilized people we think we want to be now. Dinuguan seems like dish made by savages, according to the standard set by foreigners, but who is to judge us? Many of our creme ala creme of society have flatly refuse to eat any more of this delicacy. Why? Honestly, I think they are afraid to let the real Filipino inside them shine through lest it would ruin their high-class standards they have set for themselves. Another delicacy that tells so much of us Filipinos is the native bagoong. This is a pungent Filipino sauce made out of tiny shrimps and salt. The process of making bagoong is quite simple. All the ingredients are mixed together and stirred in a special way, by means of the feet. The makers of the bagoong would go up on a stone â€Å"bowl† where all the ingredients and secret spices are put together, then the fun begins. There is no special style on how to make this, but if you look at it seems so much like the grapes that are turned into the greatest wine. Who knows, maybe this is the best way to make bagoong? I think that this lowly sauce captures the true essence of the Filipino people. You see, we were conquered so many times, first were the Spaniards, then Americans and the Japanese. The longest being the Spaniards, we have experienced so much pain and suffering from them, the Friars and the government officials, who neither cared for the country or the people. They just wanted to get a piece of the wealth and resources of this poor native country down there. Time and time again, we were stepped upon and crushed by these so-called leaders of the church and state, and yet we survived only to become stronger and more powerful than before. It did take a long time before we reached our goals, but we did get there. Just like bagoong, its stepped on, everything is mashed into tiny pieces, and it seemed that everything (shrimps and spices) were lost in this gooey mess. Ironically, the longer they stepped on the bagoong, the tastier it got, the better the sauce. Some even say the feet had something to do with it. Yes, we Pinoys did get crushed, we were stepped on but then we have managed to make the most out of our situation. All those oppressors left a mark on us, which we accepted and turned to our advantage, very much like the effect of stomping does on the bagoong. What we eat makes us what we are. It sounds kind of funny to think of eating this way. If France can eat steak that makes them feel their power, or drink wine, Filipinos must also have something that shows the world what they are. The bagoong, mashed shrimp that doesn’t really look appealing, tells the world of its history. The many culinary dishes made up of so many different things show that even if we are all have diverse cultures and have so many differences, we Filipinos can still make something great together as one country. We may have Muslims in the South and Christians in Manila and Aborigines up in the north, but one thing is for sure. We are all Filipinos and no matter what, we are united as one people. How we prepare our food reflects our culture and tradition, even if modern technology is taking the place of so many things, our basic core is still the same. We should be proud of what we have achieved.

Learn About Wine Legs or Tears

Learn About Wine Legs or Tears What does it mean when a wine is said to have legs or someone refers to tears of wine? Wine legs or tears of wine are the droplets that form in a ring on the glass above the surface of a glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage. The drops continuously form and fall in rivulets back into the liquid. You can see the effect in the shadow of this glass of wine. Cause of Wine Legs While some people think wine legs are related to the quality, sweetness or viscosity of wine, they are really indicative of the alcoholic content of the wine and are caused by the interplay between adhesion, evaporation and surface tension of water and alcohol. How Wine Legs Work Capillary action draws a small amount of wine up the surface of the wine glass above the liquid. Both alcohol and water evaporate, but the alcohol has a higher vapor pressure and evaporates faster, producing a region of liquid that has a lower concentration of alcohol than the rest of the wine.  Alcohol has a lower surface tension than water, so lowering the concentration of alcohol raises the surface tension of the liquid. The water molecules are cohesive and stick together, forming droplets that eventually become heavy enough to fall back down the glass in streams into the wine. History of the Explanation of Wine Legs The effect is called the Marangoni or Gibbs-Marangoni Effect, in reference to Carlo Marangonis investigations into the effect in the 1870s. However, James Thomson explained the phenomenon in his 1855 paper, On certain curious Motions observable at the Surfaces of Wine and other Alcoholic Liquors. Test It Yourself The Marangoni effect more generally refers to the flow of liquid caused by surface tension gradients. You can see this effect if you spread a thin film of water over a smooth surface and add a drop of alcohol to the center of the film. The liquid will move away from the alcohol drop. Swirl a glass of wine or liquor and observe the wine legs or tears of wine on the glass. If you cover the glass and swirl it, wine legs eventually will stop forming because the alcohol will be unable to evaporate.

Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 Essay Example

Isys104 Tutorial Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 Essay Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 Essay ISYS104 Tutorial – week 4 Review Questions 1. Which features of organizations do managers need to know about to build and use information systems successfully? What is the impact of information systems on organizations? Define an organization and compare the technical definition of organizations with the behavioral definition. Students can make use of Figures 3–2 and Figure 3–3 in answering this question. The technical definition for an organization defines an organization as a stable, formal social structure that takes resources from the environment and processes them to produce outputs. This definition of an organization focuses on three elements: capital, labor, and production and products for consumption. The technical definition also implies that organizations are more stable than an informal group, are formal legal entities, and are social structures. The behavioral definition states that an organization is a collection of rights, privileges, obligations, and responsibilities that are delicately balanced over a period of time through conflict and conflict resolution. This definition highlights the people within the organization, their ways of working, and their relationships. The technical definition shows us how a firm combines capital, labor, and information technology. The behavioral definition examines how information technology impacts the inner workings of the organization. Identify and describe the features of organizations that help explain differences in organizations’ use of information systems. Common features for organizations include formal structure, standard operating procedures, politics, and culture. Organizations can differ in their organizational type, environment, goals, power, constituencies, function, leadership, tasks, technology, and business processes. Describe the major economic theories that help explain how information systems affect organizations. The two economic theories discussed in the book are transaction cost theory and agency theory. The transaction cost theory is based on the notion that a firm incurs transaction costs when it buys goods in the marketplace rather than making products for itself. Traditionally, firms sought to reduce transaction costs by getting bigger, hiring more employees, vertical and horizontal integration, and small-company takeovers. Information technology helps firms lower the cost of market participation (transaction costs) and helps firms shrink in size while producing the same or greater amount of output. The agency theory views the firm as a nexus of contracts among interested individuals. The owner employs agents (employees) to perform work on his or her behalf and delegates some decision-making authority to the agents. Agents need constant supervision and management, which introduces management costs. As firms grow, management costs rise. Information technology reduces agency costs by providing information more easily so that managers can supervise a larger number of people with fewer resources. Describe the major behavioral theories that help explain how information systems affect organizations. Behavioral theories, from sociology, psychology, and political science, are useful for describing the behavior of individual firms. Behavioral researchers theorize that information technology could change the decision-making hierarchy by lowering the costs of information acquisition and distribution. IT could eliminate middle managers and their clerical support by sending information from operating units directly to senior management and by enabling information to be sent directly to lower-level operating units. It even enables some organizations to act as virtual organizations because they are no longer limited by geographic locations. One behavioral approach views information systems as the outcome of political competition between organizational subgroups. IT becomes very involved with this competition because it controls who has access to what information, and information systems can control who does what, when, where, and how. Explain why there is considerable organizational resistance to the introduction of information systems. There is considerable organizational resistance to new information systems because they change many important organizational dimensions, such as culture, structure, politics, and work. Leavitt puts forth a model that says that changes in technology are absorbed, deflected, and defeated by organizational task arrangements, structures, and people. In this model the only way to bring about change is to change the technology, tasks, structure, and people simultaneously. In a second model, the authors speak of the need to unfreeze organizations before introducing an innovation, quickly implementing the new system, and then refreezing or institutionalizing the change. Describe the impact of the Internet and disruptive technologies on organizations. The Internet increases the accessibility, storage, and distribution of information and knowledge for organizations; nearly any information can be available anywhere at any time. The Internet increases the scope, depth, and range of information and knowledge storage. It lowers the cost and raises the quality of information and knowledge distribution. That is, it lowers transaction costs and information acquisition costs. By using the Internet, organizations may reduce several levels of management, enabling closer and quicker communication between upper levels of management and the lower levels. The Internet also lowers agency costs. Disruptive technologies caused by technological changes can have different effects on different companies depending on how they handle the changes. Some companies create the disruptions and succeed very well. Other companies learn about the disruption and successfully adopt it. Other companies are obliterated by the changes because they are very efficient at doing what no longer needs to be done. Some disruptions mostly benefit the firm. Other disruptions mostly benefit consumers. 2. How does Porter’s competitive forces model help companies develop competitive strategies using information systems? Define Porter’s competitive forces model and explain how it works. This model provides a general view of the firm, its competitors, and the firm’s environment. Porter’s model is all about the firm’s general business environment. In this model, five competitive forces shape the fate of the firm: traditional competitors new market entrants substitute products and services customers suppliers Describe what the competitive forces model explains about competitive advantage. Some firms do better than other because they either have access to special resources that others do not, or they are able to use commonly available resource more efficiently. It could be because of superior knowledge and information assets. Regardless, they excel in revenue growth, profitability, or productivity growth, ultimately increasing their stock market valuations compared to their competitors. List and describe four competitive strategies enabled by information systems that firms can pursue. Table 3. 2 can be used to help answer this question. The four generic strategies, each of which often is enabled by using information technology and systems include: Low-cost leadership: lowest operational costs and the lowest prices. Product differentiation: enable new products and services, or greatly change the customer convenience in using existing products and services. Focus on market niche: enable a specific market focus and serve this narrow target market better than competitors. Strengthen customer and suppliers: tighten linkages with suppliers and develop intimacy with customers. Describe how information systems can support each of these competitive strategies and give examples. Low-cost leadership: use informa tion systems to improve inventory management, supply management, and create efficient customer response systems. Example: Wal: Google, eBay, Apple, Lands’ End. Focus on market niche: use information systems to produce and analyze data for finely tuned sales and marketing techniques. Analyze customer buying patterns, tastes, and preferences closely in order to efficiently pitch advertising and marketing campaigns to smaller target markets. Example: Hilton Hotels, Harrah’s. Strengthen customer and supplier intimacies: use information systems to facilitate direct access from suppliers to information within the company. Increase switching costs and loyalty to the company. Example: IBM, Amazon. com Explain why aligning IT with business objectives is essential for strategic use of systems. The basic principle of IT strategy for a business is to ensure the technology serves the business and not the other way around. The more successfully a firm can align its IT with its business goals, the more profitable it will be. Business people must take an active role in shaping IT to the enterpri se. They cannot ignore IT issues. They cannot tolerate failure in the IT area as just a nuisance to work around. They must understand what IT can do, how it works, and measure its impact on revenues and profits. 3. How do the value chain and value web models help businesses identify opportunities for strategic information system applications? Define and describe the value chain model. The value chain model highlights specific activities in the business where competitive strategies can best be applied and where information systems will most likely have a strategic impact. The model identifies specific, critical leverage points where a firm can use information technology most effectively to enhance its competitive position. The value chain model views the firm as a series of basic activities that add a margin of value to a firm’s products or services. The activities are categorized as either primary or support activities. Primary activities are most directly related to production and distribution of the firm’s products and services, which create value for the customer. Support activities make the delivery of primary activities possible and consist of organization infrastructure. A firm’s value chain can be linked to the value chains of its suppliers, distributors, and customers. Explain how the value chain model can be used to identify opportunities for information systems. Information systems can be used at each stage of the value chain to improve operational efficiency, lower costs, improve profit margins, and forge a closer relationship with customers and suppliers. Define the value web and show how it is related to the value chain. A value web is a collection of independent firms that use information technology to coordinate their value chains to collectively produce a product or service. It is more customer driven and operates in a less linear fashion than the traditional value chain. The value web is a networked system that can synchronize the business processes of customers, suppliers, and trading partners among different companies in an industry or in related industries. Explain how the value web helps businesses identify opportunities for strategic information systems. Information systems enable value webs that are flexible and adaptive to changes in supply and demand. Relationships can be bundled or unbundled in response to changing market conditions. Firms will accelerate time to market and to customers by optimizing their value web relationships to make quick decisions on who can deliver the required products or services at the right price and location. Information systems make it possible for companies to establish and operate value webs. Describe how the Internet has changed competitive forces and competitive advantage. The Internet has nearly destroyed some industries and severely threatened others. The Internet has also created entirely new markets and formed the basis of thousands of new businesses. The Internet has enabled new products and services, new business models, and new industries to rapidly develop. Because of the Internet, competitive rivalry has become much more intense. Internet technology is based on universal standards that any company can use, making it easy for rivals to compete on price alone and for new competitors to enter the market. Because information is available to everyone, the Internet raises the bargaining power of customers, who can quickly find the lowest-cost provider on the Web. 4. How do information systems help businesses use synergies, core competencies and network-based strategies to achieve competitive advantage? Explain how information systems promote synergies and core competencies. A large corporation is typically a collection of businesses that are organized as a collection of strategic business units. Information systems can improve the overall performance of these business units by promoting synergies and core competencies. Describe how promoting synergies and core competencies enhances competitive advantages. The concept of synergy is that when the output of some units can be used as inputs to other units, or two organizations can pool markets and expertise, these relationships lower costs and generate profits. In applying synergy to situations, information systems are used to tie together the operations of disparate business units so that they can act as a whole. A core competency is an activity for which a firm is a world-class leader. In general, a core competency relies on knowledge that is gained over many years of experience and a first-class research organization or simply key people who stay abreast of new external knowledge. Any information system that encourages the sharing of knowledge across business units enhances competency. Explain how businesses benefit by using network economics. In a network, the marginal costs of adding another participant are almost zero, whereas the marginal gain is much larger. The larger the number of participants in a network, the greater the value to all participants because each user can interact with more people. The availability of Internet and networking technology has inspired strategies that take advantage of the abilities of the firm to create networks or network with each other. In a network economy, information systems facilitate business models based on large networks of users or subscribers that take advantage of network economies. Internet sites can be used by firms to build communities of users that can result in building customer loyalty and enjoyment and build unique ties to customers, suppliers, and business partners. Define and describe a virtual company and the benefits of pursuing a virtual company strategy. A virtual company uses networks to link people, assets, and ideas, enabling it to ally with other companies to create and distribute products and services without being limited by traditional organizational boundaries or physical locations. One company can use the capabilities of another company without being physically tied to that company. The virtual company model is useful when a company finds it cheaper to acquire products, services, or capabilities from an external vendor or when it needs to move quickly to exploit new market opportunities and lacks the time and resources to respond on its own. . What are the challenges posed by strategic information systems and how should they be addressed? List and describe the management challenges posed by strategic information systems. Information systems are closely intertwined with an organization’s structure, culture, and business processes. New systems disrupt established patterns of work and power relationships, so there is oft en considerable resistance to them when they are introduced. Implementing strategic systems often requires extensive organizational change and a transition from one sociotechnical level to another. Such changes are called strategic transitions and are often difficult and painful to achieve. Moreover, not all strategic systems are profitable. They are expensive and difficult to build because they entail massive sociotechnical changes within the organization. Many strategic information systems are easily copied by other firms so that strategic advantage is not always sustainable. The complex relationship between information systems, organizational performance, and decision making must be carefully managed. Explain how to perform a strategic systems analysis. Managers should ask the following questions to help them identify the types of systems that may provide them with a strategic advantage. 1. What is the structure of the industry in which the firm is located? Analyze the competitive forces at work in the industry; determine the basis of competition; determine the direction and nature of change within the industry; and analyze how the industry is currently using information technology. 2. What are the business, firm, and industry value chains for this particular firm? Decide how the company creates value for its customers; determine how the firm uses best practices to manage its business processes; analyze how the firm leverages its core competencies; verify how the industry supply chain and customer base are changing; establish the benefit of strategic partnerships and value webs; clarify where information systems will provide the greatest value in the firm’s value chain. 3. Have we aligned IT with our business strategy and goals? Articulate the firm’s business strategy and goals; decide if IT is improving the right business processes and activities in accordance with the firm’s strategy; agree on the right metrics to measure progress toward the goals. Discussion Questions 1. It has been said that there is no such thing as a sustainable competitive advantage. Do you agree? Why or why not? Students will argue both sides, and there is no definite answer to the question. There is little that a company can do that cannot be duplicated over time. Citibank and its ATM machines and American Airlines and its reservation systems are good examples. Think about companies that had strategic advantages in the 1920s or 1940s that no longer exist. In contrast, some companies, such as Wal-Mart, maintain a strategic advantage for a long time. Wal-Mart maintains its lead by striving to advance even further. Gary Hamel, whom some call the leading strategy expert in business today, says there is no such thing as sustainable strategic advantage. Hamel is founder and chairman of Strategos and a research fellow at Harvard Business School. He believes that, in the past, most companies were built to do one thing exceedingly well for an exceedingly long period of time. In today’s marketplace, companies built for scale, replication, diligence, and exactitude must learn to change, adapt, and experiment at the speed that you see in the new economy. New economy companies must master some virtues of the old economy. These companies are learning that scale, operational excellence, and global infrastructure are important. They can constitute hard-to-duplicate competitive advantages that allow them to capture the rents on their innovation. Many have been trained to think that there is no such a thing as sustainable competitive advantage. They have been trained to think about innovation in products and technology, not innovation in business models. They assume that being radical is risky and being incremental is safe. We have to rewire people with new thinking skills. 2. It has been said that the advantage that leading-edge retailers such as Dell and Wal-Mart have over their competition isn’t technology; it’s their management. Do you agree? Why or why not? Student answers will vary but here are some points their answers should include: How well has each company, Dell and Wal-Mart, used information systems to reduce transaction costs and agency costs? How well has each company used information systems to take advantage of Porter’s Competitive Forces model: o Keeping new market entrants out o Either preventing substitute products and services that may compete with their own, or introducing substitute products and services that pull customers away from their competitors o Holding onto customers by c ompeting on prices alone when there is very little product differentiation o Exercising more control over suppliers How well has each company’s management used information systems to enhance o Low-cost leadership – Wal-Mart is the king at this; Dell sometimes uses this strategy o Product differentiation – Dell uses this strategy against Apple and HP (the two leading computer sellers) o Focusing on market niche – neither company uses this much o Strengthening customer and supplier intimacy – Wal-Mart wrote the book on this one; Dell uses this strategy extensively. Business Problem-Solving Case: YouTube, the Internet, and the Future of Movies 1. What competitive forces have challenged the movie industry? What problems have these forces created? What changes have these problems caused the movie and television studios to make? New market entrants and substitute products are the two main competitive forces challenging the movie industry. The traditional outlets for viewing movies – theatres, cable television, and movie rental businesses – are all challenged by new ways for customers to obtain products. The traditional outlets were very easy to control and ensured that the movie producers received compensation for their products. The distribution system was created, not necessarily for the customer’s convenience, but to provide an orderly process for all the players to make money. With the advent of downloadable movies, the system is changing to more of a viewer-centric process. The main problem is that movie studios and producers, outlets for selling the movies, and the myriad of people involved in the old system, have no way of controlling downloads from all the different Web sites that make them available. With no controls in place, the industry cannot ensure its receiving just payments and rewards for the work they produce. Several distributors have tried to squelch the download outlets but its virtually impossible to monitor all the Web sites and all their content. As NBC Universal’s general counsel, Rick Cotton admitted, â€Å"There is only so much we can do. † Some of the major studios entered into negotiations with YouTube and established licensing agreements. Other solutions follow the music industry trends of taking advantage of movie downloads and view them as another source of revenue. YouTube is helping build a revenue-sharing model with content creators and developing a filtering and digital fingerprinting technology that will help it control the unauthorized use of copyright protected material. 2. Describe the impact of disruptive technology on the companies discussed in this case? YouTube is to the motion picture industry what Napster was to the music industry. That is, it’s a conduit to new processes that are more customer-driven than the old ones. YouTube has become the most popular video-sharing Web site because it gives users what they want when they want it. People wanted an outlet for the creative video diaries and amateur films that they created using inexpensive digital video equipment. Disruptive technologies continually displace old technologies that, while they are still good products, no longer serve a customer base. That explains what is causing the changes in how customers want to receive motion pictures. Basically, once the cat is out of the bag, it’s very difficult to get it back in. 3. How have the movie studios responded to YouTube? What is the goal of the response? What can the movie studios learn from music industry’s dealings with online digital music and copyright infringement? If you want to lay blame for all that’s happening in the movie industry you could almost point your finger at hardware and software video-related manufacturers who provided cheap, easy-to-use tools for the average person. Originally the movie industry tried to fight the thousands of illegal uses of their copyrighted material- much as the music industry tried to fight their battle years ago. It was and is a losing battle- both in protecting their copyrighted content and in the public relations fight for loyal customers. Many producers have chosen to not fight their customers but are trying to find ways to meet the needs and demands of both sides- the producers and the customers. It’s a wise decision. 4. Should motion picture companies continue to use YouTube to promote their new films? Why or why not? The answers obviously will vary. It’s important to understand that YouTube continues to be the most popular video sharing Web site. With Google’s clout behind it, it will continue to be a force to reckon with. The movie industry should continue to work with YouTube to find ways to use the site, if for nothing else than promotional reasons. By putting their own short videos and film clips on the site, before others do, movie studios can thwart some of the illegal use of their films. The average person would rather see a well-produced video than a second- or third-rate clip. By taking proactive measures rather than being reactive, the industry can control (to a greater extent) what appears on YouTube’s site. 5. Go to YouTube. com and search for videos from your favorite movie or television show. What do you find on the site? Do you see any advertisements attached to the video? Do you feel this way of advertising is effective? Why or why not? Answers will vary to most of this question but it should provoke some good classroom discussions or discussions in a chat forum. Key elements students should understand is that all artists, producers, and distributors deserve some compensation for their talent, time, investments, and labor. Illegally using copyrighted material is an act of theft. Both users and video- and audio-sharing Web sites are equally and legally responsible for properly using someone else’s property. Advertising is becoming a major source of revenue for many Web sites and YouTube is no different. That’s especially true since Google, a company very dependent on advertising dollars, purchased YouTube. It’s probably true that YouTube ads help get customers excited about seeing the actual movie. Note: Demonstrating the use of Michael Porter’s competitive forces model would be a good exercise in this discussion.

Discussion Questions and Participation Questions Essay - 1

Discussion Questions and Participation Questions - Essay Example The energy usage of the company should be reduced by 15% by the year 2012. The company is going to have to develop its renewable energy program further to achieve this goal. The CO2 should be reduced by another 10% by the year 2012. A popular product at Coca Cola is its 20z bottles soft drinks. These bottles are used for the classic coca cola and for other soft drinks the company sponsors. The product is currently in its mature phase of its product life cycle. An environmental lifecycle assessment of this product shows that the packaging material utilized by the company is causing great harm to the environment. The company sells every year over 2 billion bottles of these products. That is lot of plastic that is being wasted to package the bottle. The company recognized the existence of this problem which is contributing to the depletion of the crude oil natural resource. Coca Cola invested $60 million to create the world largest recycled bottling plant. The end state goal of the company is to achieve 100% usage of plastic recycled material. This plant will enable the company to come closer to the goal. Water scarcity is major problem the world is facing. There are regions in the planet that are facing major issues due the lack of water. One of the most affected regions in the world is Sub-Saharan Africa. The water stewardship program at Cola-Cola goes beyond setting operation agendas on how to reduce water consumption and improve the quality of water. The program also raises awareness worldwide about water scarcity in poor communities. You mentioned the importance of reducing green house emissions. This goal is essential in order to reduce air pollution. CO2 emissions are the top contributor that is causing global warming. You also mentioned that the company is using hybrid technology in its selection of its truck fleet. The ground transportation vehicle fleet of the company is an area in which the company could improve by replacing all of its

Evaluation of a New Curriculum Initiative Essay

Evaluation of a New Curriculum Initiative - Essay Example ng, is limited in that it can only assess certain types of knowledge.   For example, you can't test students' reasoning skills very far with giving them multiple choice items on a standardized test other than to know that they gave you the right answer. That doesn't help you very much.   But with a performance assessment of some type, such as an essay question or other assessment where students must create a product or a report of some type (where instructors don't have to "teach to the test"), a lot can be gained about what we call a student's "deep understanding" of the material.   So that is one reason why I think No Child Left Behind is a bad policy; it focuses on high-stakes testing and has left children behind when they really need it, in my opinion.   Unfortunately, standardized test scores are what drive AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) and keep schools open.   AYP is reached depending on test scores' improvement from last year, from what I understand.   If schools are not making AYP they can be put on Academic Watch Status (AWS), or Academic Early Watch Status (AEWS).   If these schools do not make AYP for a certain number of years, the schools can be restructured or even closed depending upon the number of years your school has or has not made AYP.   So testing is important in this regard.   Currently, the school which is being studied for this curriculum case study, made AYP this past school year but is on Academic Watch Status, for example, so they have to be careful.   Apparently, they have missed making AYP in one of their past years and have to make sure they make it in the future.   2. Socioeconomic and/or Political Factors [405]? Education reform (which turned into NCLB) was a campaign point for Governor Bush in 2000. This law mandates 100% achievement;... Curriculum should follow a philosophy of diversity. Celebrating diversity, according to Ornstein and Hunkins (2008), is very important (pp. 194). My philosophy of diversity encapsulates three key concepts which will serve to make my classroom a welcoming environment for all students to learn and to express themselves accordingly. These concepts which will make my classroom a successful learning environment for diverse learners are the following: promoting inclusivity; celebrating diversity; and, as the teacher, using caretaker language to make students feel comfortable. It is a keystone of my philosophy of diversity that the classroom be a place of inclusiveness—whether my students be Black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, or of mixed race(s) or races not named here, and be of whatever socioeconomic status, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or cultural affiliation—that my students feel that they are equals in my classroom regardle ss of my particular cultural lens. An inclusive philosophy dictates that each student should have the same opportunity to learn the target subject. This includes being cognizant of striving against favoritism, especially based on gender or race. Students who are from lower levels socioeconomically should be given a fair chance to succeed by providing them with the tools they need to succeed in an environment which has typically favored the dominant culture’s hegemonic social strata. A level playing field is key. Stategies include having class materials available such as extra paper and pens. I want students of various national origins and religions to feel comfortable enough to express themselves within the dynamic of their own backgrounds.