Three Quantitive Forecasting

Identify three qualitative forecasting methods and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. 1. Jury of Executive Panel: Executive panel forecasting uses the expertise of experienced upper managers from various aspects of the business to predict forecast. Executives from areas such as sales, financial, operations and production get together to predict trends, sales, and demand estimates for their particular area of expertise. Advantages of Jury of executive include: a. Seasoned professional provides their opinion b.The responses provided are quick since executives are apart of the organization c. Vested interest in the company Disadvantages include: a. Group think (individual managers may go with the group instead of their own opinion) b. Tendency to go along with the #1 man/woman c. 2. Consumer Survey: This forecasting is focused directly to the consumer. A series of questions are presented to the consumer about a particular product or service. I have been asked to participate in numerous consumer surveys about a product or service that I have used.The survey may used to decide if a product should be created, changed or discontinued. It consist of a sampling consumer to determine demand/spending trends. Advantages of Consumer Survey include: a. Information comes directly from the source (the customer) b. Asks the customer their intention. c. Interviews done in person, although they can be time consuming, allows the interviewer to see the respondents body languages. Can probe for deeper questions Disadvantages of consumer survey include: a.Consumers may not be entirely truthful b. Interviews that are done in person can be time consuming. c. Mailing and telephone, although they take less time and money, do not allow for probing questions 3. Delphi Method: Delphi method of forecasting was developed by RAND in 1950 with the original intent to focus on how technology affected warfare. The Delphi method is made up of a panel of experts who answers a series of care fully designed questions. In addition to experts, Delphi method also uses staff and respondents.Delphi method requires anonymity, iteration, controlled feedback and statistical aggregation of respondents (Rowe and Wright, 1999). Because of anonymity, individuals are free to express their opinions without judgment or peer-pressure. Iteration gives them the opportunity to rethink their response after further consideration. Controlled feedback provides respondents with the opinion of the other members of the panel. Advantages of Delphi include: a. Anonymity: It allows respondents to freely give their opinion without fear of the other participants knowing who they are. b.It is conducted in writing so it allows the participants to respond at their convenience within a prescribed period of time. c. Is focused on the current issue only. Disadvantages of Delphi include: a. Anonymity is also a disadvantage. Because the other participants do not know who makes the opinion, there is no ownersh ip for the opinion given. Experts may not be fully committed as they will not receive credit for their opinion. b. Can be time consuming as it requires iterations. c. Requires participants’ time and commitment so some participants may back out before the study is completed.

Achievements of Raja Ram Mohan Roy Essay

Raja Ram Mohan Roy is considered as the pioneer of modern Indian Renaissance for the remarkable reforms he brought in the 18th century India. Among his efforts, the abolition of the sati-prRaja Ram Mohan Roy is considered as the pioneer of modern Indian Renaissance for the remarkable reforms he brought in the 18th century India. Among his efforts, the abolition of the sati-pratha-a practice in which the widow was compelled to sacrifice herself on the funeral pyre of her husband-was the prominent. His efforts were also instrumental in eradicating the purdah system and child marriage. In 1828, Ram Mohan Roy formed the Brahmo Samaj, a group of people, who had no faith in idol-worship and were against the caste restrictions. The title ‘Raja’ was awarded to him by Mughal emperor Akbar, the second in 1831 when Roy visited England as an ambassador of the King to ensure that Bentick’s regulation of banning the practice of Sati was not overturned. atha-a practice in which the widow was compelled to sacrifice herself on the funeral pyre of her husband-was the prominent. His efforts were also instrumental in eradicating the purdah system and child marriage. In 1828, Ram Mohan Roy formed the Brahmo Samaj, a group of people, who had no faith in idol-worship and were against the caste restrictions. The title ‘Raja’ was awarded to him by Mughal emperor Akbar, the second in 1831 when Roy visited England as an ambassador of the King to ensure that Bentick’s regulation of banning the practice of Sati was not overturned.

Tourist Destinations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Tourist Destinations - Case Study Example Here, I will be discussing the appealing factors that attract tourists to Scotland and the type of tourists who visit Scotland. I will also be identifying the motivations of the tourists that cause the tourist flow to Scotland. One of the main appeal of Scotland as a tourist destination is its natural beauty and wilderness. A large proportion of visitors to Scotland have an interest in wildlife and nature (Mike Watson, 2002). It is promoted as an ecotourism destination. The welfare of wildlife and its natural habitat are given importance, and tourists are expected to leave the precious environment they have come to experience untouched. The highlands and islands of Scotland are hugely important to Scotland's international appeal as a tourist destination. Scotland is internationally renowned for its breathtaking scenery (Scottish Executive, 2004) The highlands of Scotland are renowned as one of the pristine areas of Europe. The glens, mountains, lochs, coasts and islands are home to a range of wildlife. Wildlife nature at its best can be enjoyed here. Amazonia, Scotland's largest indoor rainforest is a major appeal for tourists. It is a unique place where you can explore the flora and fauna of tropical rain forests. The fauna includes spiders, reptiles, monkeys, fish and amphibians. It also conserves various butterflies and birds that fly freely around the Amazonia housing. Another major appeal for ecotourists is Barons Haugh, a community nature reserve. It consists of 107.3 hectares of richly varied habitats for nature lovers. Other habitats include marshland, woodland, meadows, parkland, areas of scrub and a section of the river Clyde. It is the perfect place for walkers looking to explore the habitat. This is a natural site and it has been preserved as such. The Meikle Bin peak present in the forest in Lanarkshire, provide the tourists with a panoramic view over the valley and the whole of central Scotland. The possible motivations of tourists visiting Scotland The most important motivation is Scotland's image as a human, enduring landscape matches, increasing consumer desires for escapism, a stress free environment and tranquility. Continued

Internship at children national centerye Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Internship at children national centerye - Essay Example Both homozygous and heterozygous patients can pass their genes onto their children. Sickle cell carriers typically undergo some type of genetic counseling prior to childbearing (Armandola, 2002). Hg SC multiple admitted to the hospital, salmonella sepsis and L humerusosteomyelitis, priapism x1 is pain that can last hour to some days (Kahan et.al. 2009)., post tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, use BiPap at night and chronic lungs disease related to sickle cell anemia. After observing the patient, he showed symptoms of priapism, chronic pain and heavyfluid consumption; both on the IV and through normal drinking. He also had heavy urine output. I also focused on how the pain was managed along with the treatment procedure. With further information obtained from the patient’s chart and past medical history in it, I learnt what type of Sickle Cell he has and the medication that he’s on. The key information on patient reports included his diagnosis, the order of medication and the frequency of how the medication was administered. It also indicated any allergies that the patient may have. This information can be obtained electronically on the Kardex that the hospital uses. My preceptor pointed out the importance of safe dosage of medication per the patient. This is known as medication calculation and it is very important to all patients but it is more critical for children and elderly patients. He also pointed out the importances of knowing when to use SBAR. This is because it increases patient safety by avoiding communication breakdowns between caregiver and the patient (Joint commission resources, 2007) What I have learnt in the school enabled me to make proper assessment of my patient. I learnt the importance of communication, understanding the prescribed medication and how to administer medication by using the‘6 rights Rule’ in administering the medicine. The 6 rights rules means, right patient, right route, right medication, right dose, right time and

Contemporary Supply Chain Management and Consultancy management Essay

Contemporary Supply Chain Management and Consultancy management techniques - Essay Example This helps these businesses to achieve maximum efficiency because they worry less about these aspects of business because they focus more on adding value to their customers. In order for a business to reap the benefits of supply chain management, it is important for a business to identify suppliers that are able to deliver value as intended meaning that the process of seeking suppliers has to be a rigorous one. Many businesses have to come to understand the potential that supply chain management (SCM) has to their operations because when implemented effectively can help them in achieving competitive advantage in the markets that they exist in (Monczka, Handfield, Giunipero & Patterson 2015, 349). The concept of SCM has gained popularity because business entities developed a keen eye on delivering quality to the markets they serve and also based on the need to manage the materials that are used in product developed. Also the need to manage logistics as a way of creating value for the customers being served by a business has further propelled the inclusion of SCM as part of business operations. Based on this overview, this essay will focus on influencing understanding and application of appropriate management frameworks that can be essential in the planning and control of goods and services by having the aspects of quality, quantity and cost analysis in mind. Further, the paper will also seek to create an understanding of the tools and techniques that exists that can help in achieving efficiency in the supply chain managerial decision making under supply chain management. In relation to consultancy management techniques, the essay will identify data and information sources that are relevant to the decision making process and also analyze this information so as to support the decision making process. Further, emphasis will be on communicating the

Human Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy and Aging Essay

Human Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy and Aging - Essay Example in 2001. The scientists state that while the reduction of concentration of somatotropin during aging is documented, there were several problems with previous researches as they did not exclude the various gonadotropic hormones that were also reduced with old age. The study was performed on two groups, a young group, consisting of 8 men and 8 women, and an aging group consisting of 11 women and 10 men. All the subjects had similar body mass indexes and blood samples were taken from each of the test subjects every 10 minutes for 24 hours. The results from the research showed a marked decrease of 32-56% of growth hormone concentration, each according to its sex. 81% of the young group secreted the highest amount of growth hormone during the night period, while 62% of the aging group secreted most of the growth hormone during the day period. The researchers reached the conclusion that there is a decrease in secretion of growth hormone as age increases for both sexes. The reduced concentr ation of growth hormone was, in turn seen as a lack of growth hormone releasing hormone. (Russel-Aulet et al.) Another research focuses on the problem of sarcopenia, which represents a syndrome that manifests itself as a decrease in skeletal muscle mass, as well as in muscle work output. As the natural process of aging involves degradation of skeletal proteins, sarcopenia is expected to appear in most of the elderly, but this condition can be aggravated by the lack of exercise, leading to more frequent physical injuries such as hip fractures. Aware of the low concentration of several hormones that affect protein anabolism in old age, amongst them the growth hormone, the scientists researched the coupled human growth hormone replacement therapy with resistance exercise, which is known to reduce the effects of sarcopenia, in people aged 60 and over. Although the research can be viewed as retrospective, as it presents the various experiments, as well as the results, performed by other researchers, a case-control trial was described that was performed by the authors of the paper. The study invol ved men from 62-75 years of age which were involved in a 16 week exercise program, consisting of modest to high-intensity training in the form of weight lifting exercises with a small repetition. It encompassed muscles from both the upper and lower extremities. One group was given a dose of 12-24 g/kg/d of growth hormone, while the other, control, group performed the same exercises, but was not given anything. The result from their research, as well as results from other researches, led the scientists to conclude that there is not much difference in muscle mass and strength between the control group and the group that received somatotropin. An increase in muscle mass was present, however, but not focused on the skeletal muscles. Furthermore, the scientists concluded that there were significant side effects from the use of somatotropin replacement therapy in aging people, further criticizing the use of somatotropin as a means to prevent sarcopenia. (Zachwieja, Yarasheski). Sarcopenia is but one of the many physiological

Ethical Consumption - attitudes, behavior, ethical consumption Essay

Ethical Consumption - attitudes, behavior, ethical consumption literature - Essay Example Thus due to the growing importance of ethical consumption it has become crucial for marketers to understand the meaning and the relation between ethical attitudes and behaviour. Ethical behaviour denotes the characteristics of honesty, dignity, diversity and equality in interpersonal and professional approaches (Darley & et. at., 2001). On the contrary, ethical attitude suggests the principles or morality of a human being (Cowan, 2006).In the backdrop of this, the essay intends to explain why attitudes may not always help to predict behaviour and why the attitude-behaviour gap might be so prevalent throughout the ethical consumption literature in particular. During the discussion the initial object is to define the theory of reasoned action. It can be asserted as a model of guessing the behavioural aim. In accordance with General liberal arts (2014), it can be asserted as person’s attitude always leads to a particular behaviour for a certain outcome. Theory of reasoned action relates with reflecting relationship between attitude and actual behaviour. According to this theory behaviour and intention for behaviour is the dependent variables, whereas attitude towards the behaviour and subject norms are independent variables (General Liberal Arts, 2014). A person’s intention to perform a particular behaviour is measured by the behavioural intention. It has been observed that attitudes and norms are not measured equally in predicting behaviour. Instead, it depends upon the individual person and the situation (Vallerand & et. at., 1991). These factors can put different effects on behavioural intention. Correspondingly, these fac tors are identified below. According to the theory of reasoned action, attitude is an outcome of collection of beliefs regarding a particular behaviour based on the evaluation of these beliefs. It can be best understand through an example. Correspondingly, it can be asserted

Guidance and Support to Meet Learning Needs Term Paper

Guidance and Support to Meet Learning Needs - Term Paper Example The difficulties that such students experience in learning is normally not associated with mental disability. The students possess a certain degree of intelligence, but their brain may fail to register information in the desired manner, thereby making it difficult for them to grasp information fast especially in learning institutions. Nevertheless, they are capable of studying and succeeding in academics. There are many characteristics that are exhibited by students with learning disability. These can be helpful to the teachers while trying to identify the students with special needs. The students occasionally fail to pay attention for a long period and are easily diverted by external occurrences beyond the classroom. They are normally forgetful and have problems of time consciousness. It is therefore difficult for them to make a proper time plan. The problem can also be exhibited in their inability to write legible handwritings and their reduced capacity to read. They usually omit some words while reading as well as pronouncing some letters incorrectly. This may be attributed to their inadequate coordination of the eyes and the hands. Understanding and adhering to instructions is usually difficult with a poor reasoning capacity, and therefore they fail to make sensible objectives. Such students are irritable and always require to be recognized, while on the other hand, they are quite disorganized and constantly mess up with procedures. There are various types of learning needs. Many are not known because they do not exhibit notable physical characteristics. The most common learning need is dyslexia. It is a problem that is associated with difficulties in understanding. Writing problems occur in some learners, reducing their capacity to spell and write words correctly. It hampers the student’s ability to write a coherent composition or piece of academic writing. This problem is known as dysgraphia.  

The environmental impacts of the cruise industry on Caribbean island Research Paper

The environmental impacts of the cruise industry on Caribbean island nations - Research Paper Example In the Caribbean region tourism has contributed to the growth of the overall economy which had been suffering due to stagnation in tradition economic sectors. Moreover, the Caribbean island nations have been bestowed with natural beauty, decorated with exotic flora and fauna, surrounded by blue seawater and natural breezes. However, the environmental degradation caused by the cruise industry in the Caribbean region far outweighs the economic benefits. Cruising started as preferred mode of travel by the social elite in the 1920s and the latter part of the 20th century has seen tremendous growth in the industry following a decline post World War II (Johnson 2002). Worldwide cruise tourism has catered to 8.5 million customers between 1980 and 1997. The passenger figures are expected to reach 14.2 million by 2010 (Butt 2007). Today the super-mega cruise ships use cutting edge of design and technical innovation, and they offer multifaceted recreational experience on board. In 1998, the Caribbean received 50% of the world’s cruise tourism customers (Johnson 2002). In fact, the Caribbean destinations receive more cruises than stopover tourists. However, while the economy of the island nations has grown, the cruise tourism sector has expanded with sophisticated liners and offering on-board recreation, cruise tourism in the Caribbean has been exerting pressures on the fragile environments and the host communities. This is because t he cruise ships consume significant amount of resources as a result of which great pressure is exerted on the places they visit (Butt 2007). The Caribbean islands have 44% share of the world cruise market. The environmental impact has exerted pressure on the small towns, islands and island groups in the Caribbean. However, the environmental impacts also depend upon the facilities available at the destinations to manage the degradation. Tourism is the major economic activity in the Caribbean

Technology Solution for Promoting E-Banking in Bangladesh Essay Example for Free

Technology Solution for Promoting E-Banking in Bangladesh Essay E-banking has revolutionised the way business istransacted by globalising the business enterprise. E-banking technologies have proliferated in recent years, and the availability of a wide range of products has led to increasing adoption among consumers. These technologies include direct deposit, computer banking, stored value cards, and debit cards. Consumers are attracted to these technologies because of convenience, increasing ease of use, and in some instances cost savings. E-banking, in particular, has grown at impressive rates. Between 1995 and 2003, e-banking increased eightfold. Between late 2002 and early 2005, use of online banking increased 47%, a clear evidence that e-banking is associated with better household financial management. All businesses, including small and medium scale industries, no matter their geographical locations, are all beneficiaries of e-banking. It encompasses all kinds of commercial transaction that is conducted on an electronic medium, mostly through the internet. E-banking links business to customers no matter their geographical location. It allows companies to make new business contacts from different global business alliances, test new products and services, and make market research and other enquiries all at a minimal cost both financial and otherwise. Smaller community banks, among others, are more interested in the application of e-banking to gain certain competitive edges over their larger counterparts. In addition to previous e-banking delivery systems, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and telephone transaction processing centres, online banking provides banks a new and more efficient electronic delivery tool. While ATMs were first introduced in early 1980s and initially an attempt to reduce operating costs, telephone call centres were developed in the 1990s to handle simple transactions and provide added customer services from a remote location. E-banking has been viewed as an upgrading from previous electronic delivery systems to open new business opportunities for the banking induetry. Electronic banking does not mean only 24- hours access to cash through an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) or Direct Deposit of pay checks into checking or savings accounts as many consumers may think. Electronic banking (e-banking) involves many different types of transactions; it is a form of banking where funds are transferred through an exchange of electronic signals between financial institution, rather than exchange of cash, cheques or other negotiable instruments. With the expansion of global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and the internet, e-banking is set to play a pivotal role in the national economic development of any country. But appropriate software, technology, infrastructure, skilled manpower and cyber law are crucial for the implementation of e-banking in the country. This paper reviewed the issues associated with various forms of e-banking accompanied by a field survey and explored the challenges and prospect of e-banking in Bangladesh. Chapter 1 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The primary objective of the report is to find out a technology solution for the banking system of Bangladesh using a nation-wide network. Implementing a nation-wide electronic banking system requires huge investment especially for the establishment of a backbone network. It really matters for a country like ours.

Why Is Desalination Becoming So Important?

Why Is Desalination Becoming So Important? Desalination is a technology which includes several processes that remove salt and other minerals from seawater to produce freshwater. In recent decades, this technology developed rapidly and becoming more and more popular around the world. This essay will focus on the effects of using desalination. It begins with the reason why this technology develop rapidly in the recent years. After that, some economic and environmental benefits and drawbacks of desalination will be analysed. Finally, give a conclusion. Water is a basic and crucial resource for survival and growth of life. We can not live without water. However, there is a research by Fiorenza (2002) shows that nearly one fourth of mankind is suffering from inadequate fresh water supply, both of quality and quantity. Considering water shortage concerns about 80 countries and has caused some serious results in many places, the water shortage phenomenon is becoming a serious global problem that affects peoples daily life and hindered the social development. Because of the increasing number of global population and expansion of both industrial and agricultural activities, the water requirement will increasing rapidly in a very near future. It is obviously that the traditional fresh water supply system can not meet the requirement any more. An alternative water supply option is need to help us deal with this problem. Water is so important for human beings, therefore, we have already developed many kinds of water supply systems. But all of them have a common problem and also the fatal problem is that they all need natural fresh water resources. The research by Khawaji (2007) illustrates that nearly 97% of the earthà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s water is seawater while another 2% is fresh water but locked in icecaps and glaciers. The available fresh water just accounts for about 0.5% of the earthà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s total water supply. Another point should be considered is human activities have polluted a large amount of fresh water resource. It means that all the traditional water supply systems just can use much less than 0.5% water resource. It is obvious that we can not just rely on these traditional water supply systems any more. Comparing with these traditional options, the desalination technology does not need natural fresh water resources, desalination equipment can prod uce fresh water from seawater. This technology give human beings an opportunity that we can use the majority of earthà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s water resource. This is really a revolutionary change that we need not rely on natural fresh water resources any more. Because of this unique advantage, desalination has developed rapidly in recent decades and playing an important role in many countries now. For example, according to research by Zhou (2003), in Saudi Arabia the desalination equipment produces more than 6,000,000 m3 of freshwater per day. This technology has become a reliable fresh water source for human beings. In fourth century BC, Aristotle found that when saltwater turns into vapor, salt and freshwater will separated. This was the first desalination theory and it has already been discoverd more than 2000 years. The previous analysis shows that desalination has a lot of advantages, but it can be questioned just used in recent years. It is because the former desalination technology cost too much and was not reliable enough. This is also the main reason why there are many critics against the use of desalination. However, the desalination technology has advanced a lot in the last 30 years, especially, the invention of multi-stage flash process and reverse osmosis. According to the research by Tsiourtis (2001) shows that 86% desalination factory use these two desalination processes now. In addition, these two methods are the most commercially important desalination technologies. Furthermore technological advances were made on the multi-stage flash (MSF) process (materials and process) and on reverse osmosis (RO), with improvement on the membranes and the energy recovery equipment. (qtd. Tsiourtis, 2001) So these technological advances in the last 30 years have driven down the cost of desalinated water very much. The figure 1 illustrats that the price of desalination shows a decreasing trend from 1988 to 2000. The total cost of desalination decreased from1.7$/m3 in 1998 to 0.7$/m3 in 2000. It is an acceptable price for many countries now and due to the decreasing trend, it can be predicted that the desalination will more cheaper in the future. The decreasing cost trend is just one economic benefit of desalination. Another reason is in some situations, desalination is a cheaper water supply option. For example, Chinas water resources are uneven distributed and many places in northern China are facing the water shortage problem. So, the government decides to build a long pipeline to transfer water from the Yangtze River to area in northern China. Research by Liu and Zheng (2002) shows the main canal would be 1150 km long. From the research by Kally (1993) we already find that the cost of transport is around 0.061$/m3 per 100 km. Therefore, it means that the cost of transferring water will more than 0.07$/m3. It is higher than using desalination, additionally, because of the desalination cost has fallen from 1.7$/m3 to 0.7 $/m3 and still keep an decreasing trend. There is no reason to believe that the trend will not continue in the future. So desalination also has its economic benefits in some situations. Desalination not only has economic benefits, but also has many environmental advantages. Firstly, compares with the water transport, desalination does not need so much pipeline and pumping stations. It means that less land will be occupied and less energy will be wasted in the transferring process. After that, because these traditional water supply options need fresh water supply, the overuse of surface water and groundwater has caused many serious consequences. For instance, the ground surface settlement happened in many places in China just because of the abuse of groundwater. Research by Chai et al. (2004) shows that due to the abuse of groundwater, surface surveys of land subsidence is 2 to 3 meters in the central area of Shanghai. Ground surface settlement is harmful to a buildings foundation and will cause dangerous results. However, desalinations resource is seawater, it will never limited and never will have these troubles. So, compare with some traditional water supply optio ns, the desalination system also has some of its own environmental benefits. From the above analysis we find that a desalination system has its own advantages no matter in economic and environmental aspects. But it is undeniable that this technology still has some drawbacks in both aspects. Firstly, the desalination process has a by-product called brine, What is a kind of water that contents double salt of seawater and also contains membrane cleaning chemicals and other chemicals used for scale and corrosion control(qtd .Tsiourtis, 2001). If we can not treat the brine well, it will cause serious pollution. Then there are some chemicals will be used in the desalination process. It also will cause some pollution. After that, noise pollution is another problem, the noise produced by these machines will trouble people. Furthermore, comparing with other water supply options, desalination still a little expensive than these traditional ones in normal situations, many countries can afford this technology as the option to solve their water shortage problems. Overall, desalination is already becoming a very important water supply option, especially in these energy-rich, dry and lack of freshwater resource areas, such as these Middle East countries. This technology give human beings an new option to solve water shortage problem. Although, this technology still have some problems but because of its own advantages and the trend of desalination technology development, we can believe that desalination will have a bright future. This technology will play an more important role in future. Word count: 1294

Arthurian Romances Essay -- essays research papers

Arthurian Romances   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Middle Ages of Europe were governed by a system which is referred to as feudalist. The people of this system flow together well; society in these times require noble people to set the example for the younger. The ranks of the noble include counts, lords, knights, kings,queens,etc. These noblemen can be compared to as dueling politicians; they watch over their communities, keeping everything orderly, and they fend off any attackers trying to besiege land. The peace keeper of the society is the knight. The knight has been appointed the position of knight by a king because his traits and characteristic best fit the standards of a good warrior and protector of the civilization. A knight is truthful, honest, capable, educated, physically fit, noble, sincere, and subservient to the king.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"Arthurian Romances† the knight has a duty to protect his country. When he approaches a situation he does not attack the other party until he has warned them. His place in the feudalist system involves other workers (vassals) to do his bidding. They suit him up in his armor and ready his horse and weapons. The knight in the first story is named Erec, son of the King Lac. He marries a girl named Enide, who is at his side throughout the story. Together they adventure through the countryside and Erec fights his battles as they go on. The knight will give up on nothing ever, it is his duty to serve his King and God...

Abraham Lincoln Essay -- essays research papers fc

Abraham Lincoln Why I chose to research Abraham Lincoln’s life. Ever since I was a small boy in elementary school, and all throughout my grade school days, there were many great names that were spoken of and taught about. Names such as George Washington, (our first president) John Hancock, John Adams, and Mark Twain were among many others who contributed to the betterment of our great country, the United States of America. Yet there was one name that resounded in my classrooms, and in my ears. That name was Abraham Lincoln. As a child, I had heard of great things this man had done, and wonderful things he had said. Of the many great things said by Abraham Lincoln, I recall most vividly the Gettysburg address, given on November 19, 1863.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Listening to the words of my teachers and reading from my textbooks about this great man who had done great things, made me curious. I wanted to know in more detail exactly what it was that made this man so revered by teachers, political leaders, students, and everyday people. What was it about Abraham Lincoln that made him who he was? And how did this have an affect on how he ran the country? These are some questions that I have, and throughout this research, I hope to answer them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Abraham Lincoln was born in Larue County, which is in Kentucky, February 12, 1809 on a Sunday morning. He, as well as most other people in those days, was born in a log cabin that was not necessarily the most well built. The Lincoln cabin, as stated on page 5 in vol. one of The Life of Abraham Lincoln, by William E. Barton, â€Å"was lacking in all modern conveniences and most modern comforts.† Abraham Lincoln was not born into a rich family who had achieved great social and political power, but instead, a common, rather poor family, who was content with what they had. Thomas Lincoln (Abraham’s father) was a carpenter and a farmer, and he met his wife Nancy through a co-worker. Nancy was the sister of Joseph Hanks, who worked with Thomas Lincoln as a carpenter, and it is believed that through this acquaintance, Thomas and Nancy met, and were married. Nancy and Thomas Lincoln were the parents of Abraham Lincoln, and were both born in Virginia. When Nancy Lincoln got pregnant for the first time, both she and Thomas wanted to have a baby boy, however, their ... ...nd by a very large margin. Lincoln was placed on the Committee of Public Accounts and Expenditures on what was called the Ninth General Assembly. Lincoln made no marked impression on this legislative body.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In May of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was nominated for the republican presidential candidate. Lincoln was nominated by three hundred and sixty four votes, where only two hundred and thirty-four were required.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In his presidency, Lincoln achieved many goals, some preconceived, and some not. He was a great man, and a great president, due to his honesty and integrity. The questions that I had about Abraham Lincoln, (What was it about Abraham Lincoln that made him who he was? And how did this have an affect on how he ran the country?) Were more than answered. Lincoln was a man who rose above his circumstances and chose to do the right thing. I think that this unique president draws so many people’s attention to himself because of his honesty and integrity. Where have all the presidents run off to who will walk in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln? Works Cited 1) The life of Abraham Lincoln, by William E. Barton. vol. One and Two.

Gulf War :: essays research papers

St. Augustine's Just War Theory and the Persion Gulf War On August 2nd, 1990 the first Iraqi tanks crossed into Kuwait, as part of an invasion that marked the start of a six-month conflict between the United States and Iraq. These tanks were ordered to invade Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, the ruthless dictator of Iraq. The Iraqi troops looted Kuwaiti businesses and brutalized Kuwaiti civilians. Saudi Arabia began to fear that they may be invaded as well, and on August 7th they formally asked President Bush for US assistance. The US pledged to defend the Saudis, and to remove the Iraqis from Kuwait. Great masses of troops from many different nations were deployed in the Persian Gulf area. At 4:30 PM EST on January 16, 1991, the first aircraft with orders to attack Iraqi targets were launched from Saudi Arabia, marking the beginning of Operation Desert Storm. Dictators like Mr. Hussein cannot be allowed to take advantage of smaller countries like bullies after lunch money. There has to be someone to stop them, or they will gain more and more power and land, just as Adolf Hitler tried to do in World War II. That someone, in the case of Mr. Hussein, was the United States, along with a multinational coalition. The US had just cause in entering a war against Iraq because of Iraq's invasion of the small and defenseless nation of Kuwait. Actions such as that must be repulsed. Iraq had no just cause in invading Kuwait; their reasons were either obscure or for their benefit. The US had to help Kuwait regain their nation. In protecting the Saudis from invasion and removing the Iraqis from Kuwait the US had the right intention. The real reason the US decided to fight the Iraqis was to restore Kuwait's government and to defend Saudi Arabia. There was no underlying reason, such as to receive better prices on oil or to make the Kuwaitis indebted to the US so as to receive favors. Throughout the war, the US made clear their purpose and intent in fighting the Iraqis, and not once did they stray from it. Legitimate authority was established when the Congress voted to follow United Nations resolution 678, section two of which "Authorizes Member States co-operating with the Government of Kuwait, unless Iraq on or before 15 January 1991 fully implements, as set forth in paragraph 1 above, the foregoing resolutions, to use all necessary means to uphold and implement resolution 660 (1990) and all subsequent relevant resolutions and to restore international peace and security in the area." The vote to follow the resolution was as good as a declaration of war, as far as legitimate authority is Gulf War :: essays research papers St. Augustine's Just War Theory and the Persion Gulf War On August 2nd, 1990 the first Iraqi tanks crossed into Kuwait, as part of an invasion that marked the start of a six-month conflict between the United States and Iraq. These tanks were ordered to invade Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, the ruthless dictator of Iraq. The Iraqi troops looted Kuwaiti businesses and brutalized Kuwaiti civilians. Saudi Arabia began to fear that they may be invaded as well, and on August 7th they formally asked President Bush for US assistance. The US pledged to defend the Saudis, and to remove the Iraqis from Kuwait. Great masses of troops from many different nations were deployed in the Persian Gulf area. At 4:30 PM EST on January 16, 1991, the first aircraft with orders to attack Iraqi targets were launched from Saudi Arabia, marking the beginning of Operation Desert Storm. Dictators like Mr. Hussein cannot be allowed to take advantage of smaller countries like bullies after lunch money. There has to be someone to stop them, or they will gain more and more power and land, just as Adolf Hitler tried to do in World War II. That someone, in the case of Mr. Hussein, was the United States, along with a multinational coalition. The US had just cause in entering a war against Iraq because of Iraq's invasion of the small and defenseless nation of Kuwait. Actions such as that must be repulsed. Iraq had no just cause in invading Kuwait; their reasons were either obscure or for their benefit. The US had to help Kuwait regain their nation. In protecting the Saudis from invasion and removing the Iraqis from Kuwait the US had the right intention. The real reason the US decided to fight the Iraqis was to restore Kuwait's government and to defend Saudi Arabia. There was no underlying reason, such as to receive better prices on oil or to make the Kuwaitis indebted to the US so as to receive favors. Throughout the war, the US made clear their purpose and intent in fighting the Iraqis, and not once did they stray from it. Legitimate authority was established when the Congress voted to follow United Nations resolution 678, section two of which "Authorizes Member States co-operating with the Government of Kuwait, unless Iraq on or before 15 January 1991 fully implements, as set forth in paragraph 1 above, the foregoing resolutions, to use all necessary means to uphold and implement resolution 660 (1990) and all subsequent relevant resolutions and to restore international peace and security in the area." The vote to follow the resolution was as good as a declaration of war, as far as legitimate authority is

Diversity in Survey Methods Essay

Introduction Before describing the implication of diversity in doing research, it is important to note that any research should be as specific as possible. For example, suppose the researcher intends to evaluate or find out whether women experience more automobile accidents than men, then the researcher should specify the variables to be used. Too many variables may make the study too general and invalid. One researcher may opt to approach this research by comparing women and men in terms of how easily they get distracted   and the number of accidents they face either gender. Another researcher may opt to just approach this research by analyzing accident   cases and counting which of the cases is caused by women and which is caused by men. The two researchers would have different survey questions. The first researcher will have a relatively diverse survey questions because he or she is considering two variables, whereas the latter researcher will have homogenous survey questions (Jackson, 2012).   When the variable survey questions are diverse, the significance and mean of the variables may be skewed to the right or left depending on the degree of diversity. If some of the values in the variables are extremely low, then the mean would be lower than the median and hence the results will be skewed to the right. Alternatively, if the diversity is made up of variables that are extremely high in value, then the mean will be more than the median and the results will be skewed to the left. Skewness may distort the true meaning of the results (Jackson, 2012). Consequently, the researcher needs to take into account a number of aspects. The first aspect is outliers. The researcher should remove any outlier as possible because it is the outliers that are responsible for the shift of the results (Jackson, 2012). In addition, the researcher should make the survey questions relatively specific. References Jackson, S. L. (2012).  Research methods and statistics: A critical thinking approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Harlem’s darkness and hardships

Baldwin’s â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† is a story of the two brothers living in Harlem. Harlem is the place where the two brothers experienced the darkness of the society. This darkness points out racism and drug abuse as one of the major problems experiencing by many African-American in Harlem. Even though racism was felt by the two brothers and drug abuse hunted Sonny, one of the two brothers, they still managed to adopt and survive through the help of each other. At the beginning of the story, the older brother is on his way to work as a schoolteacher.As he travels down the road, he also reads the newspaper and found out that his brother was caught dealing with heroine. Even before, Sonny was suspected by his older brother of using illegal drugs but the older brother does nothing. Before the drug related incident happens, the older brother who is also the narrator of the story always talks about Sonny as being a good brother. He says â€Å"When Sonny was young, his f ace was bright and open†. Sonny’s brother worries about the involvement of Sonny in illegal drugs.Sonny is being dependent on drugs and uses it as a way to escape his problems. This problem makes his brother think of the things he did wrong to make Sonny involved in drug addiction. As a result of that, the brother misinterprets all the acts Sonny is doing. He does not listen to Sonny even if it has to be about the explanation and reasons of why Sonny engaged to drug related activities. Sonny finds himself neglected by his brother. This makes him think that no one could help him but his own self. Realizing this, he diverts his attention to music.This involvement to music makes him finds the relief he is searching for. With the music playing, Sonny is able to escape the problems he is encountering. The improvement of Sonny is hardly noticed by his brother. At first, his involvement to music disappoints his brother not until his brother realizes the changes music has done to Sonny. His brother accepts the truth and realizes that music has done a good job to Sonny’s development. It all happened in the part of the story where his brother is listening to Sonny as he plays the piano.As Sonny plays the piano, his brother feels that Sonny need his guidance and love. The unconditional love by the brother to Sonny was depicted in the story. Listening to the Jazz music played by Sonny, the attitude of the brother towards life, himself and Sonny changes. The estrangement of the two brothers hurt them both. Sonny’s dedication to music and his determination to stay away from any form of illegal drugs move the older brother to change. The love and passion of both brothers are shown in the story.Their fight against the darkness in Harlem made them realize that to win is to accept the weakness of each one of them and to be able to survive is to help each other. As a final point, to be able to survive in a society where you are not the main character, you must learn to adapt and to help others that are also adapting. The challenges of Black American brothers in the time of racism and its fight against illegal drugs can be solve if trust, acceptance and love is within the family ties.

Kohlbergs Theory Essay

PSYCHOLOGY 112 Table of contents: * Introduction * Definition of Kohlberg’s Theory * Advantage in Kohlberg’s Theory * Disadvantage in Kohlberg’s Theory * Opinion * Recommendation Introduction Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development constitute an adaptation of a psychological theory originally conceived by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. The theory holds that moral reasoning, the basis for ethical behavior, has six identifiable developmental stages, each more adequate at responding to moral dilemmas than its predecessor. Kohlberg determined that the process of moral development was principally concerned with justice, and that it continued throughout the individual’s lifetime, a notion that spawned dialogue on the philosophical implications of such research. For his studies, Kohlberg relied on stories such as the Heinz dilemma, and was interested in how individuals would justify their actions if placed in similar moral dilemmas. He then analyzed the form of moral reasoning displayed, rather than its conclusion, and classified it as belonging to one of six distinct stages Kohlberg’s six stages can be more generally grouped into three levels of two stages each: pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional. Following Piaget’s constructivist requirements for a stage model, as described in his theory of cognitive development, it is extremely rare to regress in stages—to lose the use of higher stage abilities. Stages cannot be skipped; each provides a new and necessary perspective, more comprehensive and differentiated than its predecessors but integrated with them. Kohlberg’s Theory The stage of Moral Development/Moral Reasoning 1. Pre-conventional level 2. Conventional level 3. Post-conventional level ..Psychologist, studied the reasoning ability & recognizing where a child is at according to stages can help identify how child may feel about illness ,moral reasoning & cognitive stages of development. LEVEL| STAGE/YEARS| CHARACTERISTICS| Pre conventional| Stage 1(2 to 3 y/o)Stage 2(4 to 7 y/o)| Obedience and punishment orientation(How can I avoid punishment?) A child tell him the right thing because he was told to do so to avoid punishment.–Self-interest orientation(Paying for a benefit)Child caries out actions to satisfy his own needs rather than the society’s.The child does something for another if he gets something in return.| Conventional| Stage 3(7/10 y/o)Stage 4(10/12 y/o)| Interpersonal accord and conformity(The good boy/good girl attitude)A child follows rules because of a need to be good person in own eyes & in the eyes of the others†¦Authority and social-order maintaining orientation(Law and order morality)A child follows rules of authority figures as well as parents to keep the system working.| Post conventional| Stage 5(older than 12y/o)Stage 6(older than 12 y/o)| Social contract orientation(Utilitarian Law Making Perspective)A child follow standards of society for the good of people†¦Universal ethical principles(Principled conscience)A child follows internalized standards of conduct.| Advantages of the Kohlberg’s theory The ability to empirically test the individual for where they are in their moral development, along with offering a basic structure for creating â€Å"just communities† applicable both within and outside student affairs. Moreover, Kohlberg’s model offers insight as to why an individual may be seeking out justice based on what stage they are in. 2. Kohlberg’s theory essentially provides a roadmap for moral thinking that otherwise did not exist. 3. It inadvertently offers benchmarks for where one might be in their moral development based on their life situation. 4. Offering a structure for â€Å"just  communities.† It was Kohlberg’s hope that he would employ his theory to create communities that were collaborative, held each other accountable, and had philosophical and educational discussions to further both the individual and the group in their moral development (Kohlberg, 1971, 1972). It offers a venue for individuals to discuss a number of hypoth etical or moral dilemmas while simultaneously furthering development through cognitive dissonance. Disadvantages in Kohlberg’s theory Gender differences that affect moral reasoning; cultural differences in regards to the Western cultures versus the non-Western cultures; the model being a hard stage model; the focus of justice over care and finally the use of hypothetical decision making over real life dilemmas in the assessments. 2. Gender differences in moral reasoning. Carol Gilligan (1982/1983) was strongly opposed to Kohlberg’s model mainly on the basis of gender. As stated, Kohlberg originally based his theory on a study of young male individuals excluding women. Gilligan (1982/1983) argued that Kohlberg’s theory incorporated a gender bias directly into the theory as well as the assessment tools. Moreover, she argued Kohlberg ignored a women’s moral orientation to a response of care. Some studies have shown that looking at responses to the Rest’s Defining Issues Test (DIT) (Rest, 1986a) and Moral Judgment Interview (MJI) (Colby, et al, 1987), men tend to be more justice oriented and women more care oriented, and especially so when they take on the traditional gender roles (Rest, 1986b; Walker, 1984). This is concerning since Kohlberg’s theory is truly justice oriented. It may be more difficult to get an accurate answer about where a woman is in moral development in regards to Kohlberg’s stage model than a male. 3. Cultural and Religious. Religion can play a major factor in an individual’s personal and moral development. Both Rest (1986) and Dirks (1988) found that a number that religion was a factor in moral decision making. Rest (1986) found that those coming from a liberal perspective tended to score higher in moral development than others. Dirks (1988) found that those with an evangelical belief system are less likely to enter into the post conventional stage. In terms of cultural differences there is likely a difference in moral reasoning in Western cultures versus non Western cultures. The value systems  often differ vastly and as such may not be able to fit in to one particular stage in Kohlberg’s theory. Western cultures tend to be more indivi dualistic (Miller & Bersoff, 1992). While this problem may seem minute, the validity of a theory must be tested across gender and culture. In this regard, Kohlberg’s theory is not as applicable to other cultures because it is based off a values system that is very much Americanized. Ironically, a theory that seeks to promote universality is not as universal as it should be. Opinion Kohlberg’s Theory covers the moral development stages of an individual and I think this theory is a huge help for a person, especially those who have children. Kohlberg’s theory may serve as guide on how a parent would treat their child’s behaviour. Parents would understand why their child is behaving in such manner and they can make disciplinary action or decision on how to correct or improve unpleasant behaviour. And guide them in developing their sense of morality. And make them an honest and morally mature person. By knowing this theory we can also examine ourselves. Reflect and think of situation we encountered in our life and how we reacted to it. By doing so, we will know what level of morality we fit in. I think morality depends on a person’s point of view. We can only say it’s wrong if it’s against the law but the morality issue of the person really depends on what his conscience tell him. Recommendation Lawrence Kohlberg theory of Moral Development gives a detailed explanation on how a child develops morally. This theory is remarkable because we now have an overview about morality and we now have guidance if we are on the right track or not. We can now assess our level of morality. And we can now choose what level we want to be. Report by: Mr.Dennies Dela Cruz Ms.Iris Vi P.De Jesus BSC â€Å"Morality is the ability to see an issue from points of view other than just your own.† — Lawrence Kohlberg—

Petroleum and Shell

Shell Company Analysis Dr. Scruton Methodist University Management and Organization Abstract Shell Oil is a global company in the oil industry. This long established company has withstood the test of time in this competitive market. Management practices have established the resources necessary to overcome the obstacles of a global company. This detailed analysis of Shell Oil focuses on management in order to provide an understanding of how the company is able to succeed. The organizational analysis provides insight into Shell's goals, culture, and resources.An example of a specific roblem that Shell faced, oil spills in Nigeria, continues off of the company analysis. Nigeria is a major extraction location for shell, but sabotage and oil leaks grew to be a major concern. Shell faced court cases in search of relief in Nigeria, but the majority of the oil leaks were a result of sabotage; therefore, shell was not responsible. However, people believed that it was shell's responsibility to safeguard the oil lines and prevent sabotage in the first place.Shell funded the cleanup of previous oil spill sites along with a major advertising campaign to avoid a negative impact on its usiness. Some people still believe that Shell should be taking more responsibility for the oil spill crisis in Nigeria. Oil is a resource that has been in great demand since the production of combustion engines, as well as other industrial machines. Royal Dutch Shell, commonly referred to as Shell, has been a dominant force in the oil industry for over 100 years. Shell management has enabled success and allowed the company to overcome any obstacles.An in-depth analysis of Royal Dutch Shell's management techniques provides information on how it can conquer the challenges of change. A ecent challenge that Shell faced in Nigeria indicates that Shell has the necessary resources to prevail. Shell continues to be a driving force in the oil industry from the business aspect, but Just now prosperous is this global company. A man named Marcus Samuel founded an antique business in London. Seashells were among the products that he sold, which is how Shell acquired its name. Marcus grew fond of the oil exportation business during a trip to Japan.Before the invention of the combustion engine, oil was merely used for lighting and lubricating small components. Marcus and his brother Sam transformed the oil transportation ndustry with their company, Shell Transport. Expanding the business lead to a merger with Royal Dutch Petroleum in 1907. Royal Dutch Shell rapidly expanded production throughout the world, included places like Russia, Romania, Venezuela, Mexico and the United States. Today, Royal Dutch Shell operates in more than 70 countries. Shell is able to produce 3. 3 million barrels of oil in a single day generating $467. billion dollars revenue annually. Organizational Overview: Shell Corporation has a website that addresses all the publicly known information about the organizati onal operations in the United States and throughout the global conomy. The Shell website does not specify a specific mission statement. According to Mission Statement (2013), â€Å"The mission statement should be a clear and succinct representation of the enterprise's purpose for existence. † While Shell. com does not specifically list anything labeled as a mission statement, it does identify a purpose to the organization.The corporate website under Our Purpose (n. d. ) states: The objectives of the Shell group are to engage efficiently, responsibly and profitably in oil, oil products, gas, chemicals and other selected businesses and to participate in he search for and development of other sources of energy to meet evolving customer needs and the world's growing demand for energy. The planning methodologies utilized by Royal Dutch Shell include: a vision, the mission, the strategy, the goals/tactics, and metrics (â€Å"Strategic Planning,† 2009). The vision leads to th e mission.The mission in turn enables the creation of the strategy. Strategy gives a guideline for the goals/tactics and metrics. The vision is to provide for the future energy needs of the people while preserving the environmental health of the planet (Shell. com). The mission, or purpose, is identified and explained in the above paragraph. Shell states that their strategy is innovative and competitive. As recently as 13 January 2013, Shell released its strategy as innovative and competitive to the news and media. Shell CEO directly states, â€Å"Shell is competitive and innovative.We are delivering a strategy that others can't easily repeat, with unique skills in technology and integration and a worldwide set of opportunities for new investment† (â€Å"Shell Delivering,† 2013). Robbins and Couter (2012) define competitive strategy as, â€Å"an organizational strategy for how an organization will compete in its usiness (es)† (p. 231) and innovative strategy, â €Å"aren't necessarily focused on Just radical, breakthrough products. They can include applying existing technology to new uses† (p. 238). Shell is not new to using both these strategies to survive the challenges with the very competitive oil market.Arie de Geus (1988) was head of planning for the Royal Dutch/Shell Group companies and employed with corporation for 30 plus years; identifies that out of survival for the Shell Transport and Trading Company in 1907 to compete with the Rockefeller's Standard Oil it had to Join with Royal Dutch Petroleum. This innovative idea of Joining the two companies allowed the company the ability to continue to compete competitively and still going strong more than 1 00 years later. The customers ot Snell are those people that purchase or use the products produced or shop the store locations around the world.Shareholders are those that have investments or hold shares in the corporation and either profit or lose from the businesses operations . The competitors to Shell are other major oil companies; this includes companies such as BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and many more throughout the globe competing for the oil market. Stakeholders are a much broader range of people or groups. All activities of the corporation that influence or affect those in or around it can be considered a stakeholder. The employees, shareholders, and competitors are all affected by the happenings and success of the company.

Health and Health Behaviour Workbook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health and Health Behaviour Workbook - Essay Example Ethnicity, to a large extent is related to the genetic makeup of individuals. Individuals having identical ethnic origins are likely to possess similar genetic codes and it is for this reason that the pattern of disease in an ethnically similar population is characteristic of that ethnicity. Genetic information to a large extent determines the susceptibility of an ethnic group to certain diseases. The underlying mechanism may relate to over or under-production of certain factors (e.g. proteins or antibodies), absence of formation of certain chemical mediators, defects in immunity resulting in heightened vulnerability to certain infectious agents or anatomical differences arising due to genetic differences. Age is perhaps one of the most well-known factors that influence an individual’s health. Newborns with a naà ¯ve immune system are more prone to infectious disease. As the age advances, the various systems of the body start to function in an improved manner due to continuous development and exposure to external environment. Individuals of young age are less prone to the development of disease; however this is not a rule and it is likely that individuals develop certain conditions which are characteristic of young age, e.g. Acne is more common in the young age than at the extremes of ages. In the terminal part of the age, the waning function of the various systems of the body, render the individuals more prone to the development of disease. Gender has profound impact on the development or aggravation of disease. This complex effect is compounded by genetic factors, ultimately resulting in development of disease due to a complex interplay of the various factors that may include hormonal factors, immune status, dietary factors, ethnicity and various others. Physiological differences are closely related to genetic differences; for this reason the range of diseases that occur due to physiological difference are often closely related to

American literature of the Vietnam war is essentially colonial in form Essay

American literature of the Vietnam war is essentially colonial in form and focus. You may use examples from poetry, science fiction and other forms (such as mus - Essay Example rsonal aims declared a few months after his election for President: â€Å"I do not want to be the President who built empires, or sought grandeur, or extended dominion. I want to be the President who educated young children to the wonders of the world. I want to be the President who helped to feed the hungry †¦ the poor to find their own way†¦ who helped to end hatred among his fellowmen and who prompted love among the people of all races and all religions and all parties. I want to be the President who helped to end war among the brothers of this earth† (â€Å"An Outline of American History†, United States Information Agency, 87-203 (165), p.173, 174). As to many writers who have been writing about the American war in Vietnam, it seems to me President Johnson’s words have nothing in common with reality. It is not up to me to criticize US politics; however, it is the politics that is responsible for the writings of these writers, in both positive and ne gative terms, since many of the writers have actually fought in this war. And their works seem to be colonial in form and focus? If I had fought the Vietnamese War and wrote my poetry in the trenches, would my poetry have been colonial in form and focus? One thing is certain, though: I would have put all my prayers in my poetry, and aren’t prayers among the many things that characterize the American colonial period literature? Speaking of prayers, we must highlight the influence of Puritanism on literature. Although American literature begins with the Native Americans’ oral narratives, myths, legends, songs, during the colonial period it is strongly influenced by the Puritans, considered the most educated and religious people who worshipped God and praised Him and Christian religion in their writings. Puritans wrote mainly of the spiritual dangers of the soul in the form of complex metaphysical poetry, religious history, lyrics, sermons, theological tracts, etc., but always about the constant battle between

Direct and indirect messages Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Direct and indirect messages - Assignment Example We felt fortunate for your company to install an iron gate for one of our business tenants at 921NW 23rd Ave., Portland OR 97210 six months ago; your workers were prompt and fast. Enclosed is a copy of the invoice for the said installation. However, we received a complaint on the said gate from our business tenant who complained of it struggling to open and close. Upon inspection by our management, we found out that the two doors of the gate have settled and do not march in height. The gate gets stuck, and takes too much force to open, close, and lock it.We were glad to transact with your company as it had provided us with a one year warranty for the gate should we encounter a problem with its operation. It is upon this backdrop that we kindly ask you to send your team to inspect the gate and remedy the problem as soon as possible. I would like to inquire for your rates on a retreat package for our staff on either of the following periods; January 12-16. We are a team of 55 marketing and media professionals who are interested in conference/retreat/vacation facilities for four days. They will be accompanied with their partners or significant others and thus he would like to find out if they can provide them with approximately 50 rooms. Kindly provide me with information regarding all the stated requests by September 15th and if you could offer us a discounted group rate since we might be visiting during peak times. Further, could you let me know if your hotel operates a shuttle to and from Jackson Hole airport?  

'At the end of the day, competition is the only thing that motivates Essay

'At the end of the day, competition is the only thing that motivates the theories revisited' - Essay Example t to entice the new customers, build partnerships with stakeholders and remain steadfast in lobbying for the sake of their respective business enterprises. All of this adds up to the smooth working mechanisms which an organization undertakes within the midst of ever-growing and ever-present ‘competition.’ The manner in which this competition is given a new twist is dependent a great deal on the ways adopted by the individual employees – in solitude as well as in the form of groups and teams. At the end of the day, competition is the real instigator for change, and a true motivator. Nothing else can beat the hype created by a competitive environment and the users are, rest assured, quite wary of this very tussle. As a matter of fact, motivation comes about within the thick of things when there is competition to bring about the value which the customers are looking towards at having. This motivation is exponentially increased when the organizations understand the very quotient of change happening within the dynamics of business undertakings and processes. Quite rightly so, competition brings in the metaphor of change – a change which eventually promises to motivate the organizational players into giving in their very best. Whether or not this motivation is enough to reap results, and that too of an effective level, this remains highly dependent on the motivation which is being brought about by the realms of competition and competitive activities. The different theories of motivation thus take into account the element of competition coming into their domains. This means that motivation comes about when there are competitive levels doing their very best and thus bringing about a solid ch ange within the dynamics of processes and norms which are relevant with respect to business regimes. Organizational philosophies have long banked on the premise of motivation and if its instigation is happening from the competitive levels, one can be sure that this is not a

Wimm-Bill-Dann in Russian Market Research Paper

Wimm-Bill-Dann in Russian Market - Research Paper Example By the end of 1999 the wages of common people tumbled by 30% and their pensions by 45% in value. These factors had a cascading effect on the economy resulting in high fuel and grain prices, which coupled with inefficient agricultural production that almost halved livestock rendered supply of raw milk the weakest link in the supply chain for the dairy industry. While it was estimated that 35%-80% of a family budget was spent on food, the economic situation in the country demanded that producers keep their prices low. The other factors that had a bearing on competitive rivalry were access to financial resources, wider product range and efficient distribution. This in turn meant tight management controls on production and distribution costs especially to reach produce to regions where the purchasing power was lower than in cities like Moscow. Sources of competition (Five forces): Before WBD arrived on the scene the Russian dairy sector was either regional or city-centred. They were making packaged milk, kefir (a fermented dairy drink), soured cream, butter, cream, and cottage cheese. The packaging technologies available to the small players were not able to provide long shelf life and limited their geographical reach. As the regional dairies were catering to markets as far away as 500 miles, under utilisation of production facilities, high logistics and distribution costs pushed up the prices. The economic crash of 1998 and the erosion of the rouble made the consumer highly price sensitive. WBD spotted a business opportunity in the situation. By expanding its product range and longer storage facilities the company felt that it could reach wider markets, offer low prices and utilise business opportunities offered by a liberalised economy. WBD actively pursued the policy of regional expansion, expanded its product portfolio and continuous advertising helped the company capture 30% each in the national dairy and juices markets. The situation also prompted western companies to relocate their production facilities to Russia in order to trim costs and be able to compete there. Therefore during this period the company had to contend with the entry of new international players such as Campina, Danone, Erhmann and Parmalat. WBD relied on branding, quality control, expanding product range and continued diversification as the strategy for fighting competition. The recovery of the economy in the new millennium saw changing trends in consumers becoming wealthier, more westernised, inclined to spend more and demanding high end products. Consumers began demanding healthy diets, more products with biologically active ingredients, special product lines for children with various multi-vitamin and other supplements. SWOT: As WBD set its sights on becoming the nation's leading food producer early on the company had a head start on competition. The company began implementing the idea by a multi-pronged strategy: product development, distribution, quality control, packaging, marketing and geographical expansion beyond Russia's borders into other CIS countries like Kyrgyzstan and

Russian revolution Papers Assignement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Russian revolution Papers Assignement - Essay Example Kaiser entitled, â€Å"The workers revolution in Russia, 1917†, the article â€Å"The rise and Fall of the soviet Union† by Laurie Stoff and the academic website, â€Å"Seventeen moments in Soviet History, primary and secondary sources covering 1917 through 1936†, the paper gives also greater insights into the advantages and disadvantages that came with the revolution. In the year 1917, the workers in Russia who were angry, hungry and tired of war carried out a revolution against the government of the then Tsar, Nicholas II 1. The revolution was fuelled by the antagonism of the lower class workers against the high class members of their society. Metalworkers involved in the revolution had radical perceptions in the struggle and called for the creation of a soviet power while the unskilled laborers in the country were fighting for better pays2. The revolution brought forth the birth of the communist state in the year 1922 that eventually collapsed in the early 199 0’s3. Before the formation of the communist state there were various other previous attempts to harmonize all the ethnic communities living within the country. The seizing of power after the revolution was done by the Bolsheviks. They empowered the poor and ethnic minorities with the power to rule the country along with the guaranteeing of greater women rights within their society4. The Bolsheviks also gave the people the opportunity to access universal education and self-improvement alternatives5. The ruling Bolsheviks have also been deemed responsible for the bloodiest crimes against the state that the world has witnessed6. Their crimes were committed through the imprisonments of their political rivals, nonconformist thinkers, the killing of many revolting people and the exiling of whole communities. In spite of all the bloody crimes that the Bolsheviks are responsible for instigating, their economic systems have been accredited with making the country the economic giant it currently is7. However, this was done at the expense of the citizens of the country who were greatly impoverished. The Bolsheviks had seized power from the Mensheviks who had gotten to power through their revolution in the month of February 1917 and created an interim government8. The seizing of power by the Bolsheviks took place in the month of October and was referred to as the Bolsheviks Revolution. The entry of the Bolsheviks into power saw the suppression of all politics along with beliefs that were not communist9. This is because the Bolsheviks claimed that they represented the voice of the workers in the country. In the years between 1917 to 1923, the country was involved in world war I and the Russian civilian war which pitted the Bolsheviks against the opposing white army along with foreign armies from France, the US and the UK (United Kingdom). The Bolsheviks won the civil war and rapidly established itself while spreading its policies throughout the rest of the country10 . The Bolsheviks fought under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin who passed away in the year 1924 only to be succeeded by Joseph Stalin who carried the leadership of the country to the 1950’s11. Previous reports indicate that the country had suffered from famine and a collapse of the economy during the Tsar’s regime in the World War I period12. The communist republic of Russia fought against the Polish Republic whose leader wanted

MRIs and Other Issues in Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MRIs and Other Issues in Medicine - Essay Example An X-Ray is also used to image internal structures of the body, but opposed to an MRI, an X-Ray is a type of high-energy radiation. X-Rays are made of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between ultraviolet and gamma rays, and are most often used in low doses for making images of internal body structures and in higher doses for treating cancer. A CT Scan (CAT Scan) is again, another form of viewing the internal structures of a person's body. CT Scans are in fact a computerized series of X-Rays, which can reveal tumors and small strokes in the brain. A computer is used to generate a three dimensional image, which are then analyzed and displayed for diagnostic purposes. An MRI is most often used for studying nerves, muscles, ligaments, bones, and other tissues in the body. Problems such as a disc herniation in the spine or masses or tumors within soft tissues are seen well on an MRI image. MRIs are most helpful and most commonly used by orthopedic surgeons; an MRI is particularly helpful at diagnosing many common orthopedic problems. Therefore the most probable explanation as to why and MRI would be ordered is if orthopedic problems are perceived to exist in a patient. What Would it be an Appropriate Situation for an MRI not to be Done There are several proper explanations for why an MRI would not be ordered for a patient. Firstly, an MRI is not the most accurate test. Although an MRI is useful in the diagnosis of many conditions, it is not 100% accurate in all cases, which means sometimes the problem will not show up in the MRI. Another primary reason as to why an MRI might not be ordered is because an MRI is usually "not the first step." (Cluett, 2006). In other words, there are other steps which should be taken in an attempt to figure out the problem, rather than immediately ordering an MRI. Lastly but certainly no less importantly, is the fact that an MRI is only a diagnostic test, and not a treatment. "An MRI gives some people peace of mind, but will do nothing to change the symptoms of your condition." (Cluett, 2006). Are There any Limitations on an MRI Although MRIs have major technological advantages when compared to other imaging modalities, there are also certain limitations which are present. Disadvantages are there, such as the fact that because of the small bore of the magnet, some patients experience claustrophobia and often have difficulty cooperating in the study. As well, some obese patients cannot be studied by an MRI. Patient throughput is also slower than comparative imaging

History of AIDS Essay Example for Free

History of AIDS Essay AIDS is a disease that destroys a person’s immune system. AIDS is a blood born pathogen. It was originally only found in gay men. This led to people calling it the â€Å"gay men disease. † They use to think that this was punishment from God for their being gay. Then researchers found out some drug users were also getting the HIV virus, which leads to AIDS, from sharing needles. After that, it was referred to as the â€Å"gay man and druggy disease. † All of the labels AIDS has been given are completely wrong; even heterosexual, sober people can get AIDS. Considering the many ways of contracting HIV/AIDS it seems foolish to limit the causes to sex and drug use. Jonathan Mann wrote: We do not know how many people developed AIDS in the 1970s, or indeed in the years before. We do now know that the origin of AIDS and the virus HIV was probably in Africa. What we also know is: â€Å"The dominant feature of this first period was silence for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was unknown and transmission was not accompanied by signs or symptoms salient enough to be noticed. While rare, sporadic case reports of AIDS and sero-archaeological studies have documented human infections with HIV prior to 1970, available data suggest that the current pandemic started in the mid- to late 1970s. By 1980, HIV has spread to at least five continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia). During this period of silence, spread was unchecked by awareness or any preventive action and approximately 100,000-300,000 persons may have been infected. (qtd in â€Å"History†) The first awareness of AIDS was in June of 1981, when they found traces of PCP in five men in Los Angeles, California. This event occured when they believed only gay men could get the disease, so they were not worried about it spreading to heterosexual people. This was all also before the method of transmission was known; they thought a person could catch it if he or she were standing to close to someone who had the disease. In December of 1981 the first cases of AIDS were reported in intravenous drug users. In 1982 AIDS was still nameless. People started calling it numerous names, such as â€Å"Gay Compromise Syndrome,† â€Å"GRID (gay-related immune deficiency),† â€Å"AID (acquired immunodeficiency disease),† â€Å"gay cancer† and â€Å"community-acquired immune dysfunction. (â€Å"History†) Later that year, reports emerged of children and transfusion recipients getting AIDS. Everyone knew this was no longer a gay related disease. Persons who may be considered at increased risk of AIDS include those with symptoms and signs suggestive of AIDS; sexual partners of AIDS patients; sexually active homosexual or bisexual men with multiple partners; Haitian entrants to the United States; present or past abusers of IV drugs; patients with hemophilia; and sexual partners of individuals at increased risk for AIDS. qtd in â€Å"History†) This was the message that CDC (Center for Disease Control) sent out when researchers discovered that AIDS was spread through body fluids. It was not until March 1983 that researchers discovered this. Between 1987 and 1992 there were many prevention groups created. ACT-UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) was founded to attempt to end the AIDS crisis. â€Å"On April 2, 1989, Hans Verhoef, a Dutch man with AIDS, was jailed in Minnesota under the federal law banning travelers with HIV from entering the USA. †(â€Å"History†) In July of 1990, Kimberly Bergalis was infected with HIV by her dentist, David Acer. The CDC would not believe Kimberly, they didn’t think this type of infection was possible. Her father kept telling the CDC that Kimberly would not back down, thus by the end of it all the CDC supported her conclusion. Early in 1991, the CDC confirmed that the same dentist infected two other patients. In the fall of 1991 Kimberly requested mandatory HIV testing for all health care workers, so that â€Å"others don’t have to go through the hell that I have. (â€Å"History†) A few years after the CDC chose not to do the mandatory testing, Kimberly Bergalis died. In 1991 Earvin (Magic) Johnson announced that he was HIV positive; he then retired from professional sports. He wanted to use his celebrity status to educate kids about the disease. He also said, â€Å"I think sometimes we think, well, only gay people can get it – it is not going to happen to me. And here I am saying that it can happen to anyone, even me Magic Johnson. † (â€Å"History†) In 1992 the FDA(Federal Drug Administration) approved the use of two drugs combined, it was the first combination of drugs that was successful. This new drug is not a cure, but it constitutes an important addition to the expanding group of antiviral drugs currently available, including AZT and DDI, for treating people with AIDS. † stated James Mason. (â€Å"History†) On December 1, 1993, World AIDS Day, Benetton and ACT UP Paris put a giant condom (22m x 3. 5m) in the time square equivalent in Paris to raise awareness of the disease. (â€Å"History†) One of the television ads, entitle Automatic, features a condom making its way from the top drawer of a dresser across the room and into bed with a couple about to make love. The voice-over says, ‘It would be nice if latex condoms were automatics. But since they’re not using them should be. Simply because a latex condom, used consistently and correctly will prevent the spread of HIV. ’ (qtd in â€Å"History†) This was a commercial that attempted to make men wear condoms to keep the HIV virus from spreading. If a man wears a condom it will reduce the chance of the woman contracting the virus. In 1994 scientists found a medication that reduced the spread of HIV from mother to infant by two thirds. This was the first sign that mothers can decrease the spread of HIV to their children, and maybe stop it all together. In 1996, a heavyweight boxer was tested positive for HIV before a fight. This was his reaction: â€Å"I thought AIDS was something that happened to gays and drug addicts. A macho guy like me who loves ladies and super fit – he doesn’t get AIDS! † stated Tommy Morrison. (â€Å"History†) In his State of the Union address on 28th January, US president George Bush proposed spending $15 billion in combating AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean over the next 5 years. He called the scheme a great mission of rescue. This comprehensive plan will prevent 7 million new AIDS infections, treat at least 2 million people with life-extending drugs, and provide humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS, and for children orphaned by AIDS. †-President Bush Just two days later, US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson was elected as the new chairman of the Global Fund for HIV, TB and Malaria. It was hoped this move would prevent a conflict between the Bush administration and the international health community. (qtd in â€Å"History†) Symptoms of AIDS include; heart infections, intestine infections, and other infections that are uncommon. When a person has AIDS he or she gets very uncommon infections that a healthy immune system could fight off. Since his or her immune system slowly gets destroyed he or she can’t fight off infections and viruses that most people can. The most common cause of AIDS is sexual transmission. This can be between two men, two women, or heterosexual intercourse. The second highest cause is being exposed to blood borne pathogens. This can happen from blood donations, or just having open wounds. This however cannot happen from close contact, like some people believe. The least likely way to contract the virus is from mother to child, because we now have drugs that make it so less than one percent of children will get it from their mother. AIDS is a disease that will completely destroy your immune system. It attaches to your white blood cells and keeps them from doing their job. White blood cells would normally fight off any infection that get into your body, but when the HIV virus changes to AIDS it will block the receptors from the message your brain sends saying to attack this bacteria. This means AIDS does not kill you, rather the illness AIDS won’t let your body fight kill you. There are many ways to prevent AIDS, the most effective way is abstinence. If you are not sexually active, you cannot get an STI. However, if you feel you have to have sex use a condom. Not only does it prevent unwanted birth, but it will also reduce the transmission of STIs. (â€Å"CDC†) The importance of condoms in the fight against STDs is readily apparent, whether one focuses on the past, the present or the future. But condoms clearly have not been used as widely as they must be to significantly slow the spread of infection. One solution is the greater promotion of condoms through advertising, education and public-awareness campaigns. We believe another necessary step is to improve condoms – making them more user-friendly, sexy and pleasurable. (qtd in Pinkerton) Another way to prevent the spread of AIDS is to avoid infected blood. So if you are a doctor working on an HIV positive patient, wear rubber gloves. Also, if you are HIV positive, don’t have sexual relations with multiple people, and tell them if you are going to sleep with them. The least you can do is let them know they are risking their lives. William B. Kaliher has investigated cases of venereal disease for more than twenty-five years. In the following viewpoint, Kaliher asserts that while it is mandatory for health departments to find and notify the sexual partners of patients with venereal disease, partner notification in HIV cases is not mandatory. He argues that partner notification is especially important in HIV/AIDS cases, however, as AIDS is always fatal. Without mandatory notification, he contends that those who have HIV can continue to infect other people. If people with HIV/AIDS are notified that they may be infected, they can get tested. qtd in Kaliher) In this society, two things are very clear. The government is not making decisions in the best interest of the public health. The government is also not utilizing every tax payer’s dollar; they are not doing as much to prevent the spreading of AIDS as they can do. Also another way of preventing the spread of AIDS would be to educate the people most likely to spread the disease. The health official could do this by going into the areas where drug users live, and tell them that if they share needles they are at risk of dying earlier than normal people are. They could also talk to the prostitutes in Las Vegas, the women who are with ten, fifteen, or twenty men a night. They could tell them not only are they at higher risk for spreading the disease, but they could also spread it to hundreds of other men. (Kaliher) There is no vaccine against HIV, and no cure for AIDS. The key to decreasing the spread and reducing the impact of this disease is to promote healthy behaviors that prevent infection or minimize the adverse effects of treatment. Health promotion, disease prevention, and symptom management are key components of the research conducted by the biobehavioral scientists supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). The Institute funds both domestic and international HIV/AIDS research programs. (qtd in NINR) There are also many myths about AIDS. First of all AIDS is not just the gay men disease. Anyone can contract AIDS, and not a lot of people try to prevent spreading it. Like the saying â€Å"gay as AIDS† that statement is very inaccurate. AIDS is present in many heterosexual peoples’ lives. Also AIDS is not only in drug addicts who share needles. Someone cannot call AIDS the druggy disease or the gay men disease just because they were some of the first people to have it. The solution to the myths about AIDS is to increase awareness on all of the aspects of AIDS. People need to know that people can get AIDS from more than just sharing needles and having gay sex. People can catch AIDS from their mother when they are born or being breast fed, people can catch it from having heterosexual sex, and people can also catch it when they receive a blood donation from an infected donor.

Human Resources in Riordan Manufacturing Essay Example for Free

Human Resources in Riordan Manufacturing Essay When people think of the responsibilities of a human resources department, they may say they are responsible for the hiring and firing of employees. The truth of the matter is that a human resources management is responsible for much more than just hiring and firing. The human resources management is responsible for hiring qualified people, training employees to do their jobs according to company policies, motivate their employees and be able to support productive employees. Riordan Manufacturing has a good human resources department, which maintains an innovative and team-oriented work environment. Riordan Manufacturing mainly recruits employees outside the company via entry –level positions. There is also an internal job posting for employees to take advantage of new job opportunities. The method Riordan Manufacturing uses to recruit qualified employees is through online advertisements via Monstor.com, local newspapers, employee referrals, temp agencies, and job conferences. The plant in China uses contract workers for engineering, and IT positions. Riordan Manufacturing seeks qualified people for jobs, but the company does not conduct reference test as well as drug testing of potential employees. When concerning training and development, Riordan Manufacturing has a mandatory training program for employees within their 90 days of hire. New employees have to attend orientation on their first day on the job. For production and shipping and quality employees, they have to go through Six Sigma training. New supervisors are required to go through training workshops within 12 months of becoming a supervisor. Such workshops include interviewing guidelines, preventing EEO claims as well as workplace sexual harassment, and finally performance reviews. Riordan Manufacturing also has incentive programs for outstanding employees. There are three types of programs Riordan Manufacturing use to recognize outstanding employees. 1. Outstanding Employee Award 2. Employee Suggestion Program 3. Seniority Awards Riordan Manufacturing HR system Riordan Manufacturing implemented it’s HRIS (Human Resource Information Systems) in 1992. This system manages employee information such as the following: 1. Personal information 2. Pay rate 3. Personal exemptions for tax purposes 4. Hire dates 5. Seniority date 6. Organizational information 7. Vacation hours If an employee has to make any changes to his or her information, he or she has to submit it in writing on a special form. That information is entered later by a payroll clerk. The training and development specialist kept track of training and development records via Excel worksheets. In order for recruiters to maintain applicant’s information, all resumes are filed in a central storage area and are track via an Excel spreadsheet. Riordan Manufacturing employs a third party provider to keep track of workers’ compensation. Individual managers keep track of employee’s files and are also responsible for tacking FMLA absences as well as requests for accommodation. A compensation manager keeps results of job analyses, salary surveys and individual compensation decisions via Excel spreadsheet. Complaints, grievances, harassment complaints, as well as ethical issues are managed and tracked by employee relations specialists. HR Needed Systems Riordan Manufacturing’s current HRIS needs an up-to-date face lift. Instead of having different individuals managing employee’s vital information, Riordan Manufacturing needs to invest in human resources software. Implementing the software would increase the efficiency of their current HRIS. It would ease the burden of keeping track of all the employees’ information. References University of Phoenix (2012). Riordan Manufacturing Virtual Organization. Retrieved from BSA/500 – Business Systems II course website.

Value Chain Process Of Rak Ceramics Commerce Essay

Value Chain Process Of Rak Ceramics Commerce Essay This is an assigned project of the course Business Strategy the aim of which is to enable us to learn about the overall value chain process of an organization. RAK ceramics is fully backward and forward integrated. This study is providing us with valuable practical knowledge about business strategy in respect to the value chain activities of RAK Ceramics as it is the market leader in ceramic business in Bangladesh at present. Reason for choosing RAK Ceramics: The reason for choosing RAK Ceramics is to learn about value chain process of RAK ceramics which can give us a practical overview of the whole value chain process. Objective of the report: The main objective of the report is described below: An over view on RAK Ceramics Overall value chain process of RAK Ceramics Primary activities of RAK Ceramics (like starts from supply chain management to delivering products to the end user) Support activities of RAK Ceramics( like RD, general administration and human resource management) Scope: The report only focuses on RAK ceramics tiles production Limitation: The limitations are given below: Information unavailability due to confidentiality Inconsistent information Methodology: The research methodology is given as followed: Primary Data: Primary data is collected by visiting RAK ceramics production plant, interviewing office personnel. Secondary Data: Secondary data is collected by visiting relevant websites and published journals. Company overview: RAK ceramics UAE: RAK a global ceramic multinational is in the Ras Al Khaimah. It is a public shareholding company with H.H. Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qassimi. He is the Crown Prince Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah as the Chairman and Dr. Khater Massaad as the Chief Executive Officer. It has worldwide sales of over USD one billion. To build a world standard for quality and beauty, the company basically starts manufacturing. They start their first production in 1991. Within 19 years it became a world class organization. 2, 27,000 sq meters of tiles and over 8500 pieces of sanitary ware is producing per day by Ras Al Khaimah alone. It has operation in China, Sudan, Bangladesh, India and Iran. The global production of RAK Ceramics is over 3, 60,000 sq meters of tiles and 11,500 pieces of sanitary ware per day. These huge production of tiles making RAK Ceramics one of the largest multinational ceramic and porcelain tiles and sanitary manufacturing in the world. More than 150 countries across 5 continents, they are now exporting. In the Far East, Australia, USA Canada along with European countries they sells a large quantities of RAK ceramics with regular shipments to all those countries. Among those countries, they have independent agents to fulfill the marketing efforts. With the subsidiaries in Germany, UK, Italy, Belgium, Georgia, Australia, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Bangladesh Iran, RAK Ceramics plant capacity stands as follows- China 11 million square meter per annum, Sudan 6.5 million square meter per annum, Â   India- 7 million square meter per annum 250,000 pieces of sanitary ware per annum, Iran- 3.0 million square meter/annum and Bangladesh 6 million square meter and 250,000 pieces of sanitary ware per annum. In terms of their model, they also have wide range of variation. They regularly add several new designs in almost every week. Not only in production and design, RAK has wide range of size variety in their products from 10 cm x 10 cm up to 125 cm x 185 cm. They also has 125 x 185 slabs which are the largest Gres Porcellanato slabs in the world and used for a variety of internal and external applications. RAK Ceramics is a ISO 9001: 2008 (ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems Requirement is a document of 30 pages which sets standards for organizations management ) ISO 14001: 2004 (ISO 14001 is a standard which is provided by international organization for standardization for reducing the negative impact on environment ) certified organization. RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited: RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) was incorporated in 26 November, 1998. It is a joint venture company with UAE. It was first incorporated as a public limited company. Now it is public limited company and changed its name from RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Private Limited to RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited on 10 June, 2008. They are now manufacturing ceramics tiles, bathroom sets and all types of sanitary ware. They basically came to this position of producing products in some steps which are given below- From 12 November, 2000 they started Commercial production. From 10 January, 2004 they start the production of sanitary ware within their own plant. Further expansion of tiles and sanitary plant ware in the year of 2007. With 90% portion of ownership of RAK Ceramics by RAK Ceramics PSE and its nominees they basically start their business in Bangladesh. Rest 10% is owned by S.A.K. Ekramuzzaman. Within eight years RAK has become one of the leading manufacturing companies with an annual turnover of over BDT 3248 million. They basically produce high quality wall, floor tiles, gres porecellanato and sanitary wares products in Bangladesh. RAK is financed by IFC Bangladesh other than Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd, the only two company financed by IFC. With over 1000 models active ceramics and porcelain they have huge collection of design. Moreover, their R D are adding more new design into their portfolio to meet the preference of the customers. They have more than 40 models of exclusive range of sanitary ware like wash basins, water closets, bathroom sets, bath tubs, shower trays, bathroom cabinets, accessories and decorated sets. . They not only emphasized in the designing part of the RAK Ceramics, but also they emphasized in the size of the tiles. They have different types of tiles from 13 cm * 13 cm to 60 cm * 60 cm. The manufacturing plant has a production capacity of 24,000 square meter tiles and 2,500 pieces of sanitary ware per day. This total production is consumed by local market. RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited is certified by ISO 9001:2008(ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems Requirement is a document of 30 pages which sets standards for organizations management). RAK ceramics also have a future plan to expand their operation by setting a new production plant in Hobigonj to fulfill the rising domestic demand for tiles. For their reputation and good brand image they have been awarded as Superbrands in 2009-2011 Competitors: RAK is the market leader of the ceramics industry in Bangladesh. RAK has approximately 35% market share in the industry. The major competitions of RAK ceramics are: Fu-Wang Ceramic Industry Ltd: Fu-Wang Ceramic Industry is one of the major competitors of RAK ceramics. Fu-Wangs main emphasis is on the quality of the product and also they are focus on designing also. They are also focused on achieving customer satisfaction by providing standard product with innovation. Fu-Wangs market capital is 2025.375 million BDT (http://dsebd.org/displayCompany.php?name=FUWANGCER). The main production plant of Fu-Wang ceramic industry is in Hotapara, Gazipur. China-Bangla Ceramic Industry: Another major competitor is China Bangla Ceramics Industry. They focus mainly in the quality of the product. For these they basically use machine imported from SACMI, Italy and specialized people recruit from china to operate production process, technology and R D. Great Wall Ceramics Industries Ltd: Great Wall Ceramics Industries has a factory in Gilarchala, Sreepur, Gazipur, Bamgladesh. From Italy and China they basically bring their machines which are being used to make their products. Great Wall Ceramics Industries Ltd is also focused to improve their quality of their products. RAK is not facing any major competition from the local producers. RAK ceramics market capital is 46635.898 million taka (http://dsebd.org/displayCompany.php?name=RAKCERAMIC). But they are facing competition from Chinese Tiles. The main Raw material for Tiles is different clays. And among those clays China clay is a major element. China has an advantage over the cheap raw materials which helps them to reduce their production cost and gain advantage over other competitors. Whereas RAK have to purchase raw materials at a high price and also pay tax for those raw materials. However RAK established them as market leader by providing superior quality product and good brand image which enables them to compete with the competitors effectively. SWOT Matrix analysis of RAK Ceramics: RAK Ceramics is the market leader in ceramic industry. They have huge advantages which differentiate them from other competitors ex: advanced production facility, focus on quality, and huge investment in RD, customization option in product designing etc. These are the major strengths which is helping RAK ceramics to be the market leader. They also have a major weakness in control of sub dealers. RAK ceramics have the opportunity to go for exporting after meeting domestic demand and they can also expand their product line by producing ceramic plates, salt and pepper pots. RAK ceramics is facing threat on competition for the growing Chinese ceramic companies. This is the overview of the SWOT analysis of RAK ceramics, brief explanation and SWOT matrix analysis is given in Appendix 3. The Value Chain Process: RAK ceramics value chain process follows the traditional value chain process which starts from supply chain management to delivering its products to the end users and supporting activates like: RD program, general administration and human resource management. RAK ceramics is fully backward and forward integrated. The value chain process of RAK ceramics is described below in details. Primary Activities: Chapter: 01 Supply chain management: RAK ceramics supply chain management is very strong and fully controlled for getting efficient supply for their production process. The basic raw material of ceramics is different types of clay. RAK ceramics select the best quality clay for their quality floor covering. RAK use different types of clay for their tiles production. The types are: Indonesian Clay Malaysian Clay Indian Clay China Clay Bangladeshi Clay Czech Republican Clay For glazing or coloring there are several raw materials that RAK use to give an edge in color of the tiles. This material arrives from Italy and Spain. The materials are: Color Pigment Cerfrit: a company specialized in the manufacture of frits, glazes, serigraphic printing powders and ceramic colors Adhesive and Chemicals for stabilizing color Raw material Suppliers: 90% of raw materials of RAK ceramics is are imported from outside the country. The main raw materials supplier of RAK is Global Business Association (GBA) and the supplies are dealt in ordering process. GBA is a sister concern of RAK and it also supplies raw materials to other companys also. RAK places an order of the list of raw materials and GBA supplies the raw materials. Cerfrit a company from Spain supplies cerfrit for using in colors. Color pigment is supplied by GBA which is collected from Italy. Shipment of Raw materials: After placing the order to GBA, raw materials are sent by ship to Chittagong port and sometimes in Naryanganj from Chittagong port. From there Cargo trucks are used to carry the clay to their production plant. Spare parts for their machineries are collected from SACMI which is a giant of manufacturing machines and completing plants and its an Italian company. These spare parts are sent by air. Packing Raw Materials: The packets which are used to pack the final products are supplied by KEA Printing and Packaging Company which is also a company of RAK. They provide cartoons that are used to package tiles. KEA Printing and Packaging is situated right in front of RAKs manufacturing plant in Sreepur, Gazipur. Therefore its really easy to collect the cartoons from there. Inventory Management: The inventory management job is mainly assigned to Store department and accounts department. Accounts department is in charge of raw materials inventory. Raw materials are purchased and stored in the amount of 6 to 7 months of production. Store department is in charge of the management of finished goods inventory. RAK takes extra precautions for not damaging or wasting raw materials and extra security for preventing the risk of theft. Utilities: They main utility for RAK is production plant is Electricity. RAK ceramics spent over 50 crore taka for planting an electricity plant which produces 6 Mega Watt electricity inside their production plant. RAK uses 4 Mega Watt and 2 Mega Watt of electricity is given to local people for their usage with an exchange of a small amount of money. Chapter: 02 Manufacturing Process: RAK ceramics have the most advanced production facility for producing tiles and sanitary ware. They have one production plant for tiles which covers all the production activities. RAK also have a Design Development Program under RD department which helps to create new design for the customers. In this department, RAK have invested a huge amount to gain advantage over competitors in designing. They are using SACMI technology in their production plant which comes from Italy. SACMI is the most advanced technology used is ceramics production. RAKs production plant is fully automated and computer operated which helps to reduce the chance of error. SACMIs machineries are sensor based in which it is assigned the specific tasks to be performed with minimum error. In every step of production there is a parameter that is being checked for insuring good quality by ensuring size, moisture; pressing power etc. Step1: RAKs tiles manufacturing process starts from Laboratory There is a miniature version of the whole production plant. In lab master sample of tiles with different shapes are made on the basis of moisture, pressing power, density etc. This master sample is the benchmark of tiles which is used to maintain the standard and quality of tiles. This master samples readings are set into Master CPU for quality assurance of tiles. If the quality of any tiles doesnt meet the standard of master sample, it is destroyed by Master CPU by using a hammer. Step2: Quality assurance department composes the composition of raw materials, which means the percentage of different clay will be used to produce the body of tiles. This composition list is given by lab on the basis of the composition used in Master Sample. Step3: Body preparation sector calculates the weight of different clay which will be used to make the tiles. Step4: Raw materials are given input in BOX FREEDER by the help of wheel loader. Driver of wheel loader checks the list and weight of each clay and inputs in the machine. There is an operator who monitors this procedure. Figure: BOX FEEDER Step5: From BOX FREEDER by the use of conveyr belt, raw materials are passed to BALL MILL. Step 6: In BALL MILL the raw materials are mixed with water to create slip, this procedure is called milling. Figure: BALL MILL Step5: From BALL MILL the present form of clay which is also called slip is stored into SLIP TANK. Step6: From SLIP TANK, slip is moved to SPRAY DRYER, which forms the slip into powder or granule. This powder or granule is stored into SILO or vertical tank. Sttep7: This powder will be passed into PRESSING MACHINE through SILO. In PRESSING MACHINE the powder is given five bar pressing which converts the powder or granule in to raw tiles. Figure: SILO Step8: In PRE-FIRING the raw tiles are taken through 200Â ° degree Celsius, to reduce the moisture of the raw tiles. Step9: The raw tiles will now go through the DISC Glazing BOOTH machine, where it will be covered by the first coat of Coloring or Glazing. Figure: DISC Glazing BOOTH Step10: After the DISC Glazing BOOTH process the tiles will go through the PRINTING MACHINE and there it will get the necessary designs on top. Step11: From the PRINTING MACHINE the tiles are loaded into LOADING CAR by a conveyer belt, and then the LOADING CARs take the tiles to BT KILN LOADING MACHINE. Figure: Loading Car Figure: PRINTING MACHINE Step12: BT KILN LOADING MACHINE is basically a firing machine which gives huge heat on the tiles to increase the hardness and reliability. It is a 75 meter long oven also known as Figure: 75 meter BT KILN LOADING MACHINE firing zone. The tiles is taken through a sequence of temperature starting from 400Â ° to 800Â ° to 1200Â ° to 800Â ° to 400Â ° Celsius. The temperature sequence is kept like this because after reaching to 1200Â ° if the temperature suddenly falls then the heated tiles will break down. To ensure continuous supply of power the kiln machine is connected with a generator to avoid any kind of accident. Granite tiles are kept in firing machine for 41 to 42 minutes, Porosa is kept for 39 to 40 minutes and Red Body tiles are kept in firing zone for 35 to 36 minutes. The time kept in firing zone is the determinant of hardness, reliability and water absorption. Granite tiles are used in floor which has high reliability, hardness and water absorption to 0.5%. On the other hand, Red Body tiles which are wall tiles has less reliability and hardness then Granite but have high water absorption up to 10%. Step13: Master CPU plays a major role in the tiles production. Master CPU is provided with the reading of master sample for quality assurance of the tiles production. Master CPU approves those tiles which match with master tile. If not then Master CPU uses a hammer to destroy the tiles with below quality reading. After passing tiles from BT KILN LOADING MACHINE every tile have to pass through Master CPU and it also checks the level of tolerance for error. ISO 10545 is a British Standard for tiles production which gives approval for 5% error. But RAK ceramics accepts 3% level of error for ensuring more quality for their product. Step14: After checking by Master CPU, the tiles which have 0% error are categorized as Class A tiles and those tiles which have 3% error are categorized as Class B tiles. These two types of tiles are sorted differently in different sorting machines where tiles are placed vertically in numbers for packing which starts from: 4 pieces of tiles to 25 pieces of tiles. Step15: Tiles are packed by PACKAGING MACHINE attached with sensors. These sensors detect Class A and B tiles and uses different packages for both. For Class A tiles white box and for Class B brown boxes are used. Then it is tagged by another sensor using OCRCS system. This system is used to track the type, quality, size and other parameters by which they can track the operator who checked the tiles if there is any complain form dealers or customers. The operators main job is to ensure the quality of the tiles by checking them from 3 feet distance to see whether there is any problem with tiles that can be detected from 3 feet distance. If there is any problem likes this, operator is held responsible. The OCRCS refers: Operator: Number of Operator Choice: A grade or B grade Reference: Model Number Caliber: Accurate size Shade: Color of Shades This OCRCS is used to give customers full guarantee of the quality of the product and also helps to prevent fraud attempt by sellers. Step16: After packaging, the finished goods are stored in warehouse by Stock Department and dealers arrive with order papers of tiles to receive the delivery of the tiles for Stock Department. This is the total manufacturing process of RAK ceramics. Chapter: 03 Distribution Process: RAK ceramics follows simple distribution process to get products to end users by minimizing complications. They follow 4 level distribution channels which consist of manufacturer, dealers, sub dealers, consumers. RAK follows selective distribution which means they distribute products only few distributors. They dont have their own distribution channel; they use dealers to distribute their products. Currently RAK has 32 dealers all over Bangladesh. They directly control their dealers through 4 state managers in six divisions. Dealers are allowed to appoint sub dealers to sell RAKs product but RAK does not control them. RAK ceramics distribution process starts from stock department. Stock department stores finished goods in the warehouse. Dealers are informed from the warehouse that their goods are ready for delivery and they arrive to receive the delivery from warehouse for distribution. RAK ceramics have full control over their selective dealers. They pick dealers from location according to their geographical planning of market capturing. RAK ceramics conduct an in depth analysis before selecting dealers. RAK ceramics first analysis their portfolio ex: capabilities, currently which products they are distributing, control, coverage, continuity and also they are given 3 months evaluation period by which RAK tries to find out if they are appropriate or not. These 32 dealers have sub dealers who are directly under control of dealers which they use to capture more market depth and to cover more geographic coverage. Dealers pick the product from RAK ceramics by huge delivery trucks with good protection for not damaging tiles. By the help of dealers and sub dealers RAK ceramics distribute their product to the end user and also they maintain a strict control for reducing error. Chapter: 04 Marketing, sales and service: RAK ceramics is the market leader in ceramics production in Bangladesh.RAK ceramics mainly emphasize on commercial production for meeting domestic demand but they also have industrial production which is not in massive condition due to low demand and huge affordability issue by industries in Bangladesh. But if a company places order for industrial tiles they fulfill their demand. RAK have a good marketing department for marketing which is in the main headquarters in Uttara. RAK ceramics sales force is mainly used to convince owners of industry firms to use RAK ceramics because industry productions of ceramics product have high durability and price. To provide good support to these buyers, the sales force is mainly used for any complaining and ordering and also providing important information. The process mainly starts from industry placing order with specifications to dealers of RAK, sales force contacts with the buyer to provide more specific informatio n and details along with pricing and choice, sales force confirms their specifications and sends it to RAK. RAK ceramics go to the production and send their product via dealer to the desired person. This is the role of sales force which plays a vital role in selling industrial products. RAK ceramic doesnt use any direct selling in marketing, if a customer place order from RAK head office where they have a showroom, then instead of selling directly to them RAK provides reference of nearby dealers to their location for providing convenient support. As it is mentioned before, RAK ceramics uses sales force for industry buyers and dealers reference for normal customers. Marketing Research and Planning: RAK display new design of tiles and sanitary wares in their main head office for getting feedback from customer about the new design. This new design mainly is the reflection of ongoing global trend around the world or the new design of RAK UAE which is a great success worldwide. This new design is placed in the main showroom for 6 months for gathering customer feedback. After getting feedback and doing market analysis they go for production on those new designs. RAK provide huge emphasize on marketing research to identify new style trends on the basis of global trend and customer preference. Because of their advanced marketing research they are able to visualize the demand of customers. For their good market research, analysis and reading, they are able to respond quickly to the changing customer demand and preference which made them the market leader. Advertising and Promoting: RAK ceramics doesnt follow massive advertising technique for promoting because of their superior position in the market and huge demand helps to promote their product itself. But RAK still do some advertising via billboards and some promotional activities in Boishakhi TV by sponsoring some shows, because the Managing Director of RAK ceramics is the 25% owner of Boishakhi TV. Support from Dealer: RAK ceramics have 32 dealers around the country which are handpicked by them after judging their portfolio. These dealers provide great support to RAK for capturing and enabling the product to get available in market. RAK ceramics tries to give full support on their activities for making them more flexible and dealers also provide support for making the product more available in market. From RAKs point of view, by the support, help and loyalty from these dealers have helped them to spread the product in whole country and they also played a huge role for their current market position. Service: RAK ceramics doesnt have a specialized service center for customers because it isnt required in that extend. But they provide full support to the customers by providing information and details of tiles before purchasing to avoid deceptive selling. Supportive Activities: Chapter: 05 Product RD, Technology and Systems Development: RAK makes a huge investment on RD. They are the only ceramic company in Bangladesh to spend 150 crore in RD. To make continuous innovation on design they have a dedicated Laboratory which focuses on designing new tiles and sanitary wares. RAK use SACMI manufacturing machines and complete plants for the Ceramics making which is the best technology for making ceramics. RAK uses Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) to reduce environmental hazard. RAK ceramics factory have computer controlled guided vehicles which transfers semi finished good from station to station, all of the machines are controlled by laser sensors, skilled technician to operate sophisticated operations. RAK ceramics emphasize more on designing on tiles. For this purpose the MD of the company attends different Ceramics fair to get idea of overall new technology innovation and new design trends. These designs are submitted to Design Development Program which falls under RD depa rtment; they conduct in depth research and develop the design. RAK also has soil scientist who conducts research and test on various types of soil to create quality composition of clay for creating quality tiles. Purchase managers visit to Indonesia, Malaysia, India, China and Czech Republic to monitor Class A and B raw material (clay) and check quality report and sent it to laboratory more researching on clay about the quality. An active team of ceramist is dedicated to find more cost effective solution for gaining competitive advantage over competitors. Due RAKs huge investment and dedication on RD, enables them to compete with competitors and gain competitive advantage. Human Resource Management: Recruitment and Hiring: In RAK Ceramics, HR department is fully co-ordinate according to their standard. The whole recruitment process is described below step by step. Step 1: To recruit employee for RAK Ceramics, they basically go through- Newspaper BD jobs