Explanatory essay assignment sheet marijuana and tobaco

Explanatory assignment sheet marijuana and tobaco - Essay Example Most governments in the world set big budgets to fight smoking habits instead of using the funds in other sectors that can improve the general lifestyles of their citizens. This paper analyses the relationship between marijuana and tobacco as well as their respective effects on human health. Smoking marijuana and tobacco have almost similar effects and characteristics in terms of their usage and consequences. The majority of smokers begin smoking at teenage and the addiction intensifies when they become adults and at this stage, it becomes very difficult to quit the habit (Williams and Williams 327). People smoke for different reasons such as the need for adolescent to look mature, peer influence and finally to try out. The fact that most old people such as parents and relatives smoke lures the children also to smoke so that they can also look mature. Children may at times be involved in smoking if they see their friends and their peers smoke perhaps to be accepted. People have the tendency of experimenting prohibited things so that they can actually find out the reason for it being outlawed. Parents and the government normally prohibit smoking among children hence making the children sneak away and smoke (Malmberg et al. 1512-1520). It is however interesting to note that grown-ups smoke for some reasons different from the children such as relieving them from stress and pressures due to economic or personal problems. Adults feel that smoking make them feel relaxed or boost their energy as they undergo difficulties such as family burdens or relationship challenges. Adolescent stage is the right age of ascertaining whether a child will be a heavy smoker or not by paying much attention on their behaviors (Williams and Williams 327). Marital status according to the HSCIC plays a significant role in smoking where most smokers are reported to be divorced, separated, or unmarried. However,

Great Depression Essay Introduction Essay Example for Free

Great Depression Essay Introduction Essay By the beginning of the First World War, the United States was the largest industrial country, accounting for more than 35% of production. Thanks to the developed agriculture, infrastructure, extremely favorable natural and economic conditions, proximity to the inexhaustible markets of the South American continent and a quite advantageous distance from the conflicting Europe, the USA already not only provided itself with all necessary things, but also seriously pressed their competitors by making an application for world leadership. However, in October 1929, a crisis broke out on the New York Stock Exchange went down in history as the Great Depression. It began in the USA and then embraced other areas. The world experienced three waves of inflation. The first embraced households of a number of agrarian nations. The second led England in September 1931 to abolish the gold standard of the pound sterling, and its dominions, India, Brazil, Argentina and Scandinavian territories. In spring of 1933, in connection with the departure from a gold standard of the United States, a third wave rose. As a result, the currencies of 56 states depreciated. Officially crisis ends in 1940, but the US power was able to recover from the Second World War. The Great Depression was synchronous and comprehensive. Its name was due to an emotional condition in which community being. Humans really plunged into a state of depressive numbness. The causes of it remain a subject of ongoing discussions about the role of government policy and activity of a private business. From the view of economic theory, it came about because of an overproduction of commodities and a deficiency of currency for their purchase. Since cash was tied to gold, and the amount of this substance is restricted, there was a deficit of funds as a demand for items. Further along a chain, the â€Å"domino principle† worked: deflation, bankruptcies of enterprises, unemployment, barring duties on imported wares, a decreasing in consumer demand and living standard. By its nature and origin, a world economic crisis of the early 30s was cyclical. However, its exceptional destructive power was thanks to the fact that new long-term factors joined an action of a traditional mechanism. The main one was a common breakdown of capitalistic ideology. Accelerated by the First World War, the establishment of state-monopoly capitalism entailed a rapid enhance in a concentration of production and capital. On this basis, tremendous strengthening of the monopolies and their role in the economic life occurred, which made it impossible to restore pre-war relations even after a liquidation of the military mechanism for state regulation of household. In the midst of a crisis of the early 1930s, negative consequences of anarchy were fully manifested. Essential changes introduced in other areas of life. In the social sphere, it is necessary to note the increased activity of workers who began to fight for better living conditions and social benefits. In the field of international relations, a collapse of the Versailles-Washington system of postwar settlement started. The theoretical and practical search for new means and methods of combating the crisis became more active. A dominant vector of such looking for was strengthening of state intervention in the economy. Thus, the uniqueness of the Great Depression due to the action of all the above factors was expressed in a rare combination of a number of features like its extraordinary depth, duration, and a general nature. This was an original phenomenon impacted all spheres and determined for the next years a lot of world trends.

The Electronics Industry in India :: miscellaneous

The Electronics Industry in India The Electronics industry is one of the fastest growing industries right from its origin. The profit brought out of this is much more compared to other olden industries. India is one among the largest economies in the world and has a good GDP among emerging economies. The birth and growth of this industry in India is quiet interesting. With large population and the potential consumer demand is almost unlimited and hence a strong growth performance could be expected. The base of this industry. Basically Indian market is a consuming market, it grows as people consume more. The liberalization of the economy by 1991 has helped to a rapid growth this helped the electronics industry in India as one of the most important and emerging markets. The start of this industry here dates back to early 1960’s.Electronics was primarily focused to develop in the filed of communication systems for radios, telephony, telegraphy, and television broadcast. A lot of importance was given for the augme ntation of defense capabilities. Till 1980’s the electronic sector was government owned. From there on the growth of the electronic industry took off due to economic changes resulting in the globalization of the economy. The electronic industry recorded a very high growth in subsequent years by 1990’s. Private, foreign investments were encouraged. This was the starting point of forex to pour in. Easing the Norms for the investment, reduction in duties and deli censing of several consumer electronic products marked attraction of foreign investors. The domestic circle response to this was also favorable to the government policies. Allowing this industry for the private sector enabled entrepreneurs build industries to meet suppressed demand. Improvements in this industry have not been only to a particular area but in each and every process right from acquiring the raw materials to the packed product. Long steps have been made in the area of consumer products, communication, biomedical instrumentation, networking and defense. This resulted in significant market growth by late 1990’s. The sales of some basic units increased three-fold .the main area of focus has now turned to design, Compact packing and to provide vale added service. Analyzing the strength of this industry it has a competitive advantage by providing high quality-low price, large trained manpower poll. The key strength being developed infrastructure as compared to the mechanical industry. The software technology parks that have been established are providing the necessary software orientation for this industry.

“Consumer Banking” Compliance Assessment Essay

â€Å"Consumer Banking† Compliance Assessment Introduction Part One            The business entities have evolved tremendously over time. Among the many advancements made in the business industry is the issue of the creation of different operating units. One of the most important operating units is the compliance unit. Each operating unit is accorded its own mandates and terms of references. This way, each unit is made somehow independent to the extent that it operates within the requirements of the entire organization’s goals. In addition, each operating unit is charged with its responsibilities. This is in line with the purpose of the creation of the unit in the first place. The number of the operating units depends on the classes of functions that are identifiable in the entire organization. Furthermore, all the operating units must be able to link with one another. This is because they are all operating in the best interest of the entire organization. If one fails, all the others are affected. Therefore, none can work in solitude. It is also important to note that all the units should have a proper reporting procedure to the management and finally to the board of directors. This is because they are answerable to the board. Understanding the nature of each business unit is therefore very important. Identification of the elements that constitute the business unit is also important. In this way, we can appreciate the role of each business unit, how they link to each other and ultimately how they contribute to the success of the entire business.            Compliance unit is a very special unit in the financial industry. It is special because its functions are not business activities but giving advice to other business units on how to improve compliance with the rules and regulations. Just like any other operating unit, the effectiveness of the compliance unit in discharging its duties is affected by factors such as terms of reference, authority, reporting responsibilities, accountability and the quality of the staff. All these factors together will see that the unit is successful in its operations or it fails. If it is successful then it is relevant to the entire firm because it will provide the much needed assistance. If it fails, the entire firm will likely fail because the compliance risks will ultimately catch up with it while unaware. It is therefore important to look critically at the factors that ensure that the established compliance unit is effective.            First and foremost, the terms of reference for the compliance unit predict the effectiveness of the unit. The terms of reference spell out the specific task that the unit is mandated to carry out. The task should be stated clearly with no ambiguity. For instance, in the case of the compliance unit, the task is to advise the business on how to comply with the set rules, regulations, laws and standards. In addition, the compliance department monitors the business activities to find out whether they are within the regulations set out. The department also monitors the conduct of employees to identify actual violations or potential violations of rules, procedures, policies, regulations and standards that are guidelines in the industry. In a nutshell, the duty of the compliance department is to create programs that support the firm’s compliance. It is the duty of the senior management and the business line supervisors that ensure ultimately that there is firm comp liance with laws and the regulations. Furthermore, in the terms of references, the objectives of the compliance unit must be stated clearly. This way, the department will have the backdrop for measuring its performance just like any other business unit. The objectives of the department may be with regard to how many trainings that will be done at a given time, how often surveillance will be conducted, how often policies will be reviewed among others. Lastly, the purpose of existence of the department must be clearly understood if the department has to be effective in discharging its duties. For instance, the department should be made aware that its main purpose is to assist the management in identifying compliance risks, assessing them and advising on what should be done to avert their repercussions as well as their recurrence. There are set guidelines that dictate the operations of the compliance unit. They stipulate the boundaries of the operations of the department and the limits of its mandate. If these guidelines and the instructions are adhered to, the effectiveness of the compliance unit will be realized in the firm. There will be no conflicts of interest between the compliance unit and the management responsibilities.            The other important factor that influences the effectiveness of the compliance department is the authority. The authority of the compliance department should be clearly stated out. To ensure monitoring of the business activities and the conduct of the employees, the compliance staff should be given unlimited power to access all the information in all the business units in the firm. The compliance staff should be answerable to the board and the senior management alone. For instance, suppose the business unit in a bank in charge of loan processing is about to commit a crime with respect to the regulations that govern the operations. A client comes to the office of the business line manager in this business unit. It happens that the client is a friend of the manager. According to the set regulations governing advancing loans, the client does not meet the criteria. The manager maneuvers and bends the rules in favor of his friend to get the loan. This is an issue that t ouches on compliance. Without enough authority on the part of the compliance staff to investigate the conduct of the manager in this business unit, then it would be impossible to unearth such a misconduct. Perhaps it could end up undetected. To this extent, the compliance department would be deemed to have failed, but only because it had no authority over such circumstances.            How the compliance staff report their findings is also very important if the department is to be effective. In order of hierarchy, the board of directors is at the top. The senior management is the second. The board gives instructions to the senior management staff. The senior management gives instructions to the business line managers who in turn command business unit supervisors. The supervisors give orders to the employees. The compliance department does not play any direct role in the business, it is therefore termed as a non-business department in the firm. The board and the senior management ultimately enforce compliance with the rules and the regulations starting with the business line managers and the business unit supervisors. Then the supervisors ensure that the employees toe the line in matters that regard laws, rules, regulations, procedures and the standards of the firm. The compliance department is involved identification of the possible violations of the compliance. If such violations are identified, they should be communicated to the right person. The head of the compliance department reports directly to the board and senior managers for an appropriate action to be taken. This is because, as we have already mentioned above, it is the responsibility of the board and the senior managers to ensure full compliance in the entire firm. The fact that the compliance department can report directly to the board makes it possible to avert a possible crisis that could result from misconduct of employees.            Another factor that influences the effectiveness of the compliance unit in a firm is the quality of the staff members. The staff should be well educated in matters that regard the state laws that affect the firm. In addition, they should have a good understanding of the rules, regulations, procedures and standards of that firm. This knowledge will help them in making proper decisions when carrying out their duties. This is because it is impossible to tell when a violation has happened or is about to happen if one does not know what was supposed to done in the first place. The issue of quality of staff arises also in business units that are involved selling process. It is important for the compliance officers to know the line of products that are being sold and the suppliers who supply them. This is because some business entities enter into agreements with certain suppliers.For instance, in a certain business entity in Singapore that sells electronics from Samsung C ompany, the following violation of the compliance was committed and went unidentified. In this particular instance, the manager in charge of sales decided that he could order some electronic devices from Sony Company without informing the rest of the management team.. The reason why this manager decided to do such a thing oblivious of its consequences to the entire business was because he thought that Sony products sold more than Samsung products of the same line. One junior compliance officer was inspecting the products in the business stock. He noticed both Sony and Samsung products but did not question. This is because he did not know that there was a deal between the business entity and Samsung Company and that presence of Sony products meant that the manager was not compliant. Part Two            The regulation of the financial services sector requires a delicate balance being maintained between over-regulation on the one hand and under-regulation on the other. This is because financial services are delicate matters that are sensitive to any external changes and the impact of any external force is significant in the survival of the financial industry. Regulation of financial industry emanates from two levels. These levels include external and internal levels. External regulations are the most significant because they essentially target satisfaction of the consumer of the services and not necessarily the well-being of the financial industry. They are meant to make the financial institutions disciplined in terms of their services to their consumers. They are made by external bodies that oversee how the financial institutions operate with respect to the quality of services that the end user receives. For instance, the consumer requires to know the truth about the services that they are about to purchase. Therefore, they require information that is not misleading. If left to the financial institutions, they would not care the truthfulness of the information they give but the quantity of the sales. They would give misleading information that is only aimed at convincing the consumers to like their services. Internal regulation is aimed at maintaining the survival of the business in the world of competition. It ensures that the business shapes its niche and maintains its reputation. This way, it ensures that the business maintains the competitive atmosphere. Too much external regulation would have catastrophic effects in terms of survival of financial institutions. Too little regulation would lead to suffering of the consumers. A balance is therefore paramount to be maintained.            In Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), besides being the Central Bank, itis the institution that is charged with the responsibility of regulating all financial institutions including the banking and insurance sector. The MAS uses many instruments to regulate financial institutions. First and foremost, it uses Acts of Parliament to regulate financial institutions. These Acts constitute the laws that if broken or violated culminate to a severe penalty. Among the most important Acts are the Banking Act 1999, the Financial Advisers Act 2005 and the Insurance Act 2002. Another instrument that the MAS uses is directives. They directives spell out the legal requirements of the financial institution. Notices are also issued to certain class of financial institutions to impose certain requirements that are legally binding. Moreover, the MAS applies guidelines as an instrument to regulate financial institutions. Guidelines dictate the best practice standard s that govern the conduct of the specified institutions. Codes are also applicable because they set out the rules governing the conduct of financial institutions with regard to the performance of certain activities. Examples of codes are those that govern how Takeovers and Mergers can be done. Practice Notes are used to guide the financial institutions on administrative procedures that pertain to the matters of licensing, reporting and compliance. Circulars are also very useful. They are documents sent to specified financial institutions to pass particular information such as changes that can be anticipated in the near future. Finally, the policy statements of the MAS give more information on the expectations of the MAS on the financial institutions.The MAS has immense powers to regulate all the financial institutions. Among its powers is the power to approve financial institutions and to control their operations.            The MAS strives so hard to maintain the balance in the regulation matters to avoid over-regulation and under-regulation. Over-regulation hinders the creativity and innovations of the companies. The insurance personnels would feel restricted in the way they respond to the external demands if the MAS monitors the company’s every move. On the other hand, if the insurance companies were to be left unregulated or under-regulated, the consumers would suffer greatly. This is because the insurance companies would use any means, whether ethical or unethical to gain an advantage over the competitors at the expense of the consumers. According to the Insurance Act 2002, Cap 142 has several provisions that dictate how insurance companies should be created and operated. For instance, it is only a person who has been licensed by the Authority under the Act who can carry out an insurance business in Singapore. This provision ensures that all the insurers are recognized by t he state of Singapore and that there is no chance that a consumer may be conned by a fraudster. According to the Act, anyone who claims to carry out insurance business while unregistered is liable to a criminal offense. The Act also gives guidelines that pertain to how Take-overs should be done in the insurance companies. Without proper Take-over procedures, the consumers may suffer. The authority also dictates how shareholding to the insurance companies is done. This way, the rights of the shareholders are maintained and their confidence in the insurance companies to which they have shares is boosted.            The MAS has also issued circulars to the insurance companies to convey important messages . An example of the circular issued to the insurance companies Chief Executives is that dated 18 November, 2013. It required all the insurers to submit their assets and liability exposures. As already stated, guidelines are another important tool through which the MAS regulates the insurance companies. An example of a guideline that is dated 1st April, 2013. It was a guideline on the use of internal models for liability and capital requirements for life insurance products containing investment guarantees with non-linear payouts. Also, on 17th May 2013, a guideline outlining the criteria for the registration of an insurance broker was issued. It requires that the applicant be a company among many other requirements. On 6th September 2013, a guideline was issued to all the financial institutions guiding them on how to safeguard the integrity of Singapore’s financial syste m. It categorically stated that MAS would not tolerate the use of the financial system to conduct illegitimate and criminal activities. Therefore, all financial institutions were required to uphold the integrity of the financial systems. Notices have also been issued on several occasions by the MAS the insurance companies. An example of the notice is that issued on 29th November 2013 with regard to the unsecured credit facilities to individuals. This notice provided requirements that an insurer has to comply to when granting unsecured credit facility to an individual.            All the above are illustrations where the MAS has regulatory authority over the insurance companies. We have seen that it regulates all the steps of the operations of insurance companies from establishment to matters of takeover and mergers. It is imperative that such a state body like the MAS should have control over financial institutions. The MAS is known to enhance open operations in the financial institutions in order to promote competitiveness and spirit of innovations. This way, the MAS fulfills our argument that financial institutions should not be over-regulated. On the other hand, the MAS ensures that transparency,accountability and integrity principles are upheld in the operations of these financial institutions. It ensures transparency because the consumers need to know what kind of services they are about to purchase from a financial institution. Again, these financial institutions are to be held accountable for their operations when they lead to posit ive or negative results. As already mentioned, all the financial institutions are supposed to uphold the principle of integrity by not carrying out their operations to advance criminal and illegitimate activities. In this manner, the MAS is fulfilling our argument that financial institutions should not be under-regulated. Part Three            The need to escalate â€Å"Non-routine and Complex Matters† to a designated officer would not arise if all the officers are properly trained in dealing with such issues. This statement simply means that escalation of non-routine and complex matters is done because the officer who detects such an issue is not trained adequately to handle it. This also happens when a compliance officer identifies an issue, but then his or her authority is limited to escalating it to a supervisor or manager.            First and foremost, it is important to know which are these non-routine and complex issues that can arise in matters of compliance. According to the Financial Industry Competency Standards for Compliance, the following issues constitute non-routine and complex matters. They include issues such as intentional breaches of regulations, guidelines and policies; insider dealing; misconduct; misrepresentation; sign-off new product; sign-off advertising and promotional materials by the insurance institution among others. These are issues that are not covered by the existing policies on how they should be handled in case they happen.            A compliance officer has no power to reprimand an employee. He or she has no power to fire an employee on the grounds of misconduct. If this is the case then, issues such as intentional breaches of regulations, guidelines and policies need someone who can resolve them so fast to avert any compliance crisis. The power to deal with the complex and non-routine matters is in the hands of the supervisors and the executives of any firm. The compliance officer is left with an option to escalate such matters whenever they arise. This process of escalation takes time because the compliance officer has to document all the steps involved as well as the action taken by the appropriate person to whom the matter has been reported starting with the head of compliance department.            There are certain things that can be done to empower compliance officers to be able to deal with these non-routine and complex matters. First, these compliance officers need proper training to make them aware of possibilities of occurrence of such matters. Moreover,they need to be equipped with adequate skills to cope with such issues when they occur in order for them totake appropriate and rational steps. Although they may not be given powers to demote or fire a disobedient employee, they can be given a means through which they can address such matters to the board as a matter of urgency. In addition,when these compliance officers are trained adequately and are competent, supervisors may delegate some functions to them. Such functions may include the power to demote and to fire misbehaving employees. However, it is the responsibility of these supervisors to conduct a follow-up and review to ensure that the delegated functions are performed properly. Most important is the fact that the supervisor remains responsible for such delegated activities.            In short, if the compliance officers are adequately trained so that they can adequately handle the non-routine and complex matters, the wastage of time in averting possible compliance crisis would not occur. This wastage of time occurs especially if the supervisors don’t take the necessary action to handle such issues. This requires that the matter should be escalated to the board of directors. Before the board sits to discuss the issue, it may be too late to avert the crisis and enough damage would already have occurred. Moreover, the process of escalation is very lengthy. It starts with the Head of Compliance. A complete brief need to be prepared explaining the issue and giving any relevant background information and the impact or the implications for the involved business unit, the personnel and the entire organization. Where possible, possible recommendations and alternative courses of action should be provided and their possible implications. All these steps cause unnecessary delays at could be detrimental to the organization in the long run. Therefore, training compliance officers as well as empowering them can help save the reputation of the firm in time. In addition, this could also help save an imminent collapse of the firm like in cases when employees decide to disregard the set regulations in the operations. References Scanlan, A. and Purdon, C. 2006. Compliance Program Management for Financial Services Institutions in Today’s Environment. Bus. Law., 62 p. 735. MAS Annual Report 2011/20 (www.msa.gov.sg) Source document

Project Proposal for Ministry of Trade Web Portal

COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR MINISTRY OF TRADE WEB PORTAL PRESENTED BY: RAHAB WAMBUI KIARIE REG NO: SP13/20526/08 COURSE CODE: COMP 402 PRESENTED TO: MR. OMWOYO SUBMISSION TIME: OCTOBER 2011 A project proposal submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science of Egerton University. Table of Contents ABSTRACT3 CHAPTER ONE: 1. 0 INTRODUCTION4 1. 1 PROBLEM STATEMENT4 1. 2 OBJECTIVES5 CHAPTER TWO: 2. 0 LITERATURE REVIEW5 2. SCOPE OF THE SYSTEM6 STARNDARD REQUIREMENT6 3. 0 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT6 3. 1) HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS6 3. 1. 1) APPLICATION PROGRAM6 3. 1. 2 Operating System6 CHAPTER FOUR: 4. 0 DEVELOPMENT PROCESS7 4. 1 PROJECT SCHEDULE AND BUDJET8 4. 1. 1 PROJECT SCHEDULE8 4. 1. 2 PROJECT BUDGET9 4. 1. 3 REFERENCES10 ? ABSTRACT As envisaged in Kenya’s vision 2030, trade will be one of the key sectors to drive economic development of our country. The sector is the link between consumption and production within the economy and contributes towards the employment and wealth creation.There are tremendous potentials for trade to play a central role in driving and sustaining growth and poverty reduction in Kenya. The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), cuts across all sectors of the Kenyan economy but face various development challenges like overreliance on agriculture which mainly depends on unpredictable weather, underdevelopment of Information, Communication and Technology and lack of market information of local goods both locally and internationally.This project will provide a solution to investors and MSMEs by providing information on the various investment opportunities available in Kenya apart from agriculture, know about the various trade policies to avoid unfair trade and also provide a platform where local companies can upload their company profiles and the ministry promotes their products at trade fairs at an international level. CHAPTER ONE: 1. 0 INTRODUCTIONThe Ministry of Trade†™s current mandate is: Trade development policy; Development of micro and small business; Fair trade practices and consumer protection; Private sector development and international trade affairs. The ministry will champion the promotion of both domestic and foreign trade through creation of an enabling business and investment environment as highlighted in this project proposal. The purpose of this proposal is to explain in detail the aim of the project, the methods used in the implementation of the system, scope of the system and budget and time schedule for the implementation of the project.It begins with the introduction which introduces the system to be developed. The next part is the problem statement, the literature review, the scope of the system and the requirements for the system. In the scope of the system we have the system functionalities and its limitations. Since the system is to be developed within a located time frame and budget constraint, it is imperative that the proposal also contains the budget and time schedule. This explains the time schedule for the system and also the budget for the system. . 1 PROBLEM STATEMENT Kenya trade industry faces a number of challenges: unsound business regulatory framework leading to multiple licensing and heavy or cumbersome regulations for SMEs which in turn leads to high cost of business transactions; Lack of comprehensive trade information on the existing and emerging markets to investors and SMEs. Lack of sound business managerial skills and exposure to international best business practices has hampered the growth of the MSE sector.To overcome the problem a system needs to be developed with the springboard objective of providing Kenyans with a centralized location where they can get trade information and thus lead to economic growth and realization of vision 2030. 1. 2 OBJECTIVES 1. To develop a successful Ministry of Trade web portal 2. To identify conditions for successful implementation of a new impr oved system. 3. To enhance access of trade information to Kenyans. CHAPTER TWO: 2. 0 LITERATURE REVIEWHaving collected information on the ministry of trade I was able to define the main drawbacks associated with the services of the industry. Information sharing between the ministry and the business people is not easy. Enormous opportunities exist in the domestic, regional and international markets. These opportunities should be fully exploited through the systematic promotion of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and providing information to them.It is crucial to note that as trade becomes free and global, technological innovations will become increasingly important, offering consumers more and more options at cheaper prices in the country and all over the globe. With this system in place all the requests for trade information, will be available to recipients at any given time. Therefore potential users’ are:- oInvestors both local and international. oConsumers. oOt her ministries in the government that work closely with ministry of trade. oOwners of small and medium sized businesses. 2. SCOPE OF THE SYSTEM The web portal will aid in the availing all the details of the trade industry. It will, as its name suggests, be place where the ministry can interact with the general public on matters pertaining its mode of operation. There are several issues about the system’s scope. STARNDARD REQUIREMENT The requirements include the following: 1. Computers 3. 0 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT 3. 1) Hardware requirements ?Processor – Pentium IV with 2. 0 GHz or higher ?Memory – 1GB of RAM or more ?Hard Disk size – 320 GB for host, 20 GB for client 3. 1. ) Application program Programming: PHP and JavaScript, Database design: MySQL, Interface: Macromedia Dream weaver, Macromedia fireworks, Macromedia Flash, Web browsers: Mozilla Firefox, Internet explorer, Web server: Apache, System: Linux and Windows. 3. 1. 2 Operating System ?Windows XP (32 -bit), Vista(32 – 64-bit), or Windows 7 (32 – 64-bit) ? Linux CHAPTER FOUR: 4. 0 DEVELOPMENT PROCESS The program development process will involve a number of steps as shown in the flow diagram below: 4. 1 PROJECT SCHEDULE AND BUDJET 4. 1. 1 Project scheduleMinistry of Trade web portal is a large project that can be accomplished in a period of six months which equates to two semesters. The initial loading of the system with data takes place at the commissioning of the system. A complete schedule is as below. Period/TimeActivityDescription November 2011 Acquisition of use ¬ful Resources. This involves collecting the useful facts from the ministry of Trade November 2011Databases Design Building individual databases, tables and individual record sets and loading with sample test data. December 2011 o January 2012Defining Record setsInvolves defining relations of data within various databases and means of accessing them February 2012Creating a Graphi ¬cal User Interface Involves creating user inter ¬face that users of the system will use to search for information March 2012TestingInvolves testing the system with sample data and correcting any anomalies especially in the database design if any. April 2012Loading DatabasesInvolves clearing databases with test data and loading with actual data. May 2012Commissioning the System This involves deployment of the system, hosting it so that it can be accessed by anybody.Table 1) Project schedule 4. 1. 2 PROJECT BUDGET PARTICULARSQUANTITYUNIT PRICE (Kshs)TOTAL COST(Kshs) 1Transport 5000 2Storage devices flash drive, CDs2 GB Flash Drive 2 Compact Disks 1,000 252,000 50 3Printing expenses1000 4Stationery2 A4 Books 2 pens 100 25200 50 5Computer Machine and softwareAvailable but limited 6Internet costs 2000 7Airtime6000 TOTALKshs 16,300 Table 2) project budget 4. 1. 3 REFERENCES ?Ministry of Trade Strategic Plan 2008-2012. ?Hawryszkiewycz, I. (1998), Introduction to System Analysis and Design, Prentice Hall, A ustralia.

5 Derogatory Adjectives Derived from Words for Medical Conditions

5 Derogatory Adjectives Derived from Words for Medical Conditions 5 Derogatory Adjectives Derived from Words for Medical Conditions 5 Derogatory Adjectives Derived from Words for Medical Conditions By Mark Nichol The five uncomplimentary adjectives discussed in this post have in common their origin in references to diseases and other conditions affecting humans and/or other species. 1. Lousy Lousy, meaning â€Å"contemptible† or â€Å"inferior,† or â€Å"ill,† derives from the name of the parasitic insect known as the louse (plural lice), several species of which infest humans. Thanks to their literally irritating presence, the adjective originally meaning â€Å"infested with lice† came to have other, figurative connotations, including â€Å"replete with,† inspired by the notion of swarming lice. Two other words are associated with lice: Crumb, a nineteenth-century slang word for lice based on their appearance, came to refer to a â€Å"lousy,† or detestable, person. Also, nit, the word for young lice, is the basis of the verb nitpick and the noun and adjective nit-picking (note the differing compound treatments), which refer to the precise grooming behavior of removing lice from the body. By extension, the words came to apply to excessively detailed (and often uncalled-for) criticism. 2. Mangy Mangy, meaning â€Å"bare† or â€Å"worn,† or â€Å"seedy† or â€Å"shabby,† stems from the medical condition known as mange, caused by parasitic mites that lodge themselves in skin or in hair follicles. The conditions afflicting humans are called scabies and demodicosis, depending on the area of infection, but in fur-covered mammals, the disease is popularly known as mange. Because it causes hair loss, animals afflicted with mange have bald spots in their coats and are described as mangy. (This term is therefore often used to refer to a poorly groomed or otherwise neglected dog.) By extension, distressed floor and furniture coverings are described as mangy, and a messy, neglected room or other location might also be referred to as such. 3. Measly The adjective originally associated with the name of the virus-borne disease called measles, which causes a rash on the body as well as other symptoms, came to be used as a scornful term denoting a very small or unacceptably small amount. 4. Rickety Rickety, meaning â€Å"shaky† or â€Å"unstable,† or â€Å"in poor physical condition,† derives from the medical condition known as rickets, which as a result of Vitamin D or calcium deficiency in children and young animals causes deformed, soft bones. By extension, it refers not only to the unsteady movement of an afflicted person or animal but also any such movement or condition, especially in furniture or structures. (Rickettsia, the name of which is derived from the surname Ricketts, is an unrelated affliction.) 5. Scurvy Alone among these terms, scurvy is a noun form as well as an adjective. It began as a variant of scurfy, and literally refers to Vitamin C deficiency resulting in weakness and bleeding and/or swollen gums. (The scientific name for Vitamin C, ascorbic acid, derives from the Latin term scorbuticus, which is based on the Germanic forebear of scurfy and scurvy.) Scurvy began life as an insult among sailors, who, due to lack of access to fresh food containing Vitamin C, were among those most likely to be afflicted. On a related note, the slang word limey originally referred to English sailors and sailing ships because the Royal Navy introduced rations of lime juice to prevent scurvy among its crews; by extension, the mildly derogatory term (originally lime-juicer) was assigned to British immigrants by longtime residents of Australia and other British colonies. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial ExpressionsHow to Punctuate Descriptions of ColorsPersonification vs. Anthropomorphism

Using the Spanish Word Todo

Using the Spanish Word Todo Todo is a common Spanish adjective and pronoun that typically means all or every. Like most other adjectives, todo must match the noun it refers to in number and gender; when used as a pronoun, it also changes with number and gender according to the noun it replaces. Using Todo As an Adjective As an adjective, todo can come either directly before the noun or frequently before the definite article that comes before a noun. In this usage, todo is typically the equivalent of the English all before a plural noun and every before a singular noun. Vamos a tomar todas las medidas apropiadas para eliminar la discriminacià ³n. (We are going to take all appropriate means to eliminate discrimination.)Tenemos zapatos de todos tipos y colores. (We have shoes of all types and colors.)Todo el tiempo estoy pensando en ti. (I am thinking about you all the time.)Todas las personas son iguales, pero unas son ms iguales que otras. (All persons are equal, but some are more equal than others.)Hawi es el estado con mayor porcentaje de gente asitica de todo Estados Unidos. (Hawaii is the state with the highest percentage of Asian people in all of the United States.)El papa ha afirmado que toda persona tiene derecho a emigrar. (The pope has stated that each person has the right to emigrate.) Using Todo As a Pronoun As a pronoun, todo and its variations typically have the meaning of all, although the context can require other translations: Todo es posible. (Everything is possible.)Todos fueron a la playa. (They all went to the beach. Or, everyone went to the beach.)Todas estamos bajo mucha presià ³n. (All of us are under a lot of pressure.)Todo puede cambiar de un segundo. (Everything can change in a second.)Todo est bien. (All is well.)No todos quieren hacer negocio en Internet. (Not everyone wants to do business on the Internet.)A pesar de todo tenemos algo que festejar. (Despite everything, we have something to celebrate.) MiscellaneousUses for Todo Sometimes, todo can be used to add emphasis: El corazà ³n latà ­a a toda velocidad cuando te vi. (My heart was beating at a high speed when I saw you.)Te lo mostramos con todo detalle. (Were showing it to you in great detail.)Visitar Manzanillo es toda una aventura. (Visiting Manzanillo is quite an adventure.) Todo and its variations are used in various phrases and idioms: ante todo - primarily, principally, above everythinga pesar de todo - in spite of everythingasà ­ y todo - nevertheless, in spite of everythinga todo color - in full colora todo meter - at full speed, at full forcea todo pulmà ³n - with all ones might (a pulmà ³n is a lung)casi todo - almost everythingcon todo - nevertheless, in spite of everythingdel todo - entirely, without exceptionde todas todas - with absolute certaintyde todo en todo - absolutelyen todo y por todo - under all circumstancespor todo, por todas - in totalsobre todo - primarily, principally, above everythingtodo el mundo - everyone Using Todo With a Plural Form of Ser It is common in Spanish for a sentence of the form todo conjugated ser plural predicate to use a plural form of ser. The phenomenon, which contrasts with English usage, can be seen in these examples: No todo son millonarios en el bà ©isbol profesional. (Not everyone is a millionaire in professional baseball.)Todo son problemas. (Everything is a problem.)Todo son buenas noticias. (Its all good news.)Todo eran mentiras. (It was all lies.)

5 Points About Parallel Structure

5 Points About Parallel Structure 5 Points About Parallel Structure 5 Points About Parallel Structure By Mark Nichol The following five sentences present various problems with sentence organization. Each is followed by a discussion of the sentence and a revision that addresses the problem. 1. The policy is effective, proportionate, and meets the standards. Effective has the verb is, and standards is supported by meets, but proportionate has no dance partner. It needs the twin of is, or must share the original instance of the verb, as shown here: â€Å"The policy is effective and proportionate and meets the standards.† 2. It was a stated requirement not to further increase but, rather, to reallocate capital. This sentence is not wrong, but it suffers from a delayed keyword. It’s not clear until after the sentence is read that the intention is to counterpoint the idea of increasing capital with the idea of reallocating capital; capital is too far removed from the first word it is intended to be associated with. When capital is located immediately after that first word, the sentence is clearer, and a pronoun can replace the keyword at the end of the sentence: â€Å"It was a stated requirement not to further increase capital but, rather, to reallocate it.† 3. We appreciate your time and contributions to our study. If â€Å"and contributions† is omitted from this sentence, what remains is the ungrammatical â€Å"We appreciate your time to our study.† To clarify that time and contributions are not intended to be strictly parallel, the pronoun your should be repeated in order to produce two distinct clauses, where a repetition of â€Å"we appreciate† is implied after and: â€Å"We appreciate your time and your contributions to our study.† 4. They might be confronted with situations that they may not have experienced before and might test them to their limits. In the simple sentence â€Å"They might be confronted with situations that they may not have experienced before,† that is optional. However, in a more complex statement, it is necessary not once, but twice, to signal that â€Å"they may not have experienced before† and â€Å"might test them to their limits† are parallel phrases: â€Å"They might be confronted with situations that they may not have experienced before and that might test them to their limits.† 5. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a joint statement on the new rules. The phrase â€Å"Board of Governors† applies only to the Federal Reserve System, so the first item in this list needs to be set off from the rest (rather, the list needs to be set off from this item) so that no implication that each of the other entities has a board of governors exists: â€Å"The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as well as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, issued a joint statement on the new rules.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely?â€Å"As Well As† Does Not Mean â€Å"And†75 Synonyms for â€Å"Hard†

Article Critique - Advancement and Equity for Women in the Business

Critique - Advancement and Equity for Women in the Business World - Article Example First, it discusses barriers that limit women from achieving better leadership positions in business entities. The traditional view of a woman distracts her from making the normal advancement to the top position. Traditional norms look down up on women for being good managers or chief executives. Secondly, it is from the article that men are perceived as default leaders while depicting women as typical leaders. This aspect deny capable women leaders the ability to serve in capacities which they fit. They take men to be managers and executive officers in different business corporations (Evans, 2011). Thirdly, the article brings out serious effects of gender disparities to companies that observe and practice the traditional norms. For instance, they deny women their rightful positions in business area. As a result, the companies lose great ideas and collaborative leadership from women. Additionally traditional beliefs deny the businesses better services from experienced women thus unde rutilizing their female top talents. Fourth, the article explains widely to prove that women in leadership can make tremendous changes, which brings valuable leadership skills that can help promote economic status of business firms. There are several reasons why women are sidelined from getting the top positions in business organizations. Gender stereotypic issues give advantages to men over women. For instance, men are biased against promoting women to top management positions within their companies. They really degrade women basing on gender factor failing to realize that women have the capability to make better collaborative decisions in companies. There exist other barriers, which deter women from attaining their full possession of top management positions. They include; inadequate role models for women, inadequate flexibility at their working places and inadequate strategies to develop women as leaders. Mercer provides

The war on terror has contributed to the growing abuse of human rights Essay

The war on terror has contributed to the growing abuse of human rights - Essay Example While the War on Terror has been a global one, in one way or another, the heart of the military battle has been fought in the Middle East, specifically Afghanistan and Iraq, where the death toll of non-combatants- of humans beings and their rights- continues to rise, almost a decade later. It is the position of the author that this paper’s title is incontrovertibly true. By distilling this issue into its simplest details, and comparing it to the procedures of a common self-defence case, it will be demonstrated that the War on Terror has not only contributed to the abuse of human rights, but is in fact, an attack on human rights. The basic central argument to go to war to protect human rights or liberty or security is perhaps not necessarily a flawed one. The first premise is that one’s liberty or security is threatened, which, in the light of 9-11, say, it would seem that this is true. Liberty and safety does seem to be in jeopardy, even at the best of times, from, amon g other things, terrorists. The second premise for the argument proposing war/violence to defeat terrorism is that something can -and should- be done about the problem. This too, all but the most cynical would agree to be true. The dissolution of Apartheid in South Africa is a prime example of the truth of the second premise. Further damage to human rights was stopped in this case without revolutionary war or violence of any kind. The argument that the progenitors of the War on Terrorism propose goes as follows: there is a threat to human rights because of terrorist groups who are attacking innocent people (premise 1), and so something can and must be done to solve the problem (premise 2), and finally, the best possible course of action is to react with violence in turn. Basically, if you are under attack, you should attack in return so as to end the assault, to survive. Self-defence is its own perfectly sound argument. However, when the defender of himself (or human rights) goes be yond self-protection and inflicts more harm than is necessary, he in turn becomes an assailant, a threat to human rights (Allan, Foster and Tredoux 374) In a court of law, self-defence becomes assault when the ‘defendant’s’ actions are not justified for the situation or level of threat, and/or when their act of self-defence invokes collateral harm. Now that one can consider the War on Terror as a kind of self-defence case, what would the jury of this case conclude about the way the defenders of human rights have gone about their defence? Events like 9-11 are despicable acts of violence, of terrorism, against civilians, against human rights. It is a problem that ought to be solved. Any nation or group of nations would be perfectly entitled to defend themselves against such terrorism. But, who are the defenders of the human rights victims of events like 9-11 supposed to return violence to? Who exactly is their assailant? It is not a sovereign country. It is not eve n a military platoon or contingent- not exactly anyway. Who should the assailed people of terrorism exact their justifiable violence on, so as to protect themselves? The answer that is proposed by pioneers of the War on Terrorism is brazen and presumptuous, at best. At worst, it is in turn, an act of terror, an attack on human rights. This is true because, euphemisms aside, the War on Terror has been, for all practical purposes just like any other war, which always involves invasions, civilian casualties, infrastructure damage

Palliative care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Palliative care - Essay Example It is implementable for any age and/or stage with serious illness. This is generally provided with curative treatment which has proven to be even more helpful, however for treatment of last stage cancers curative intent is rationally set aside while providing palliative care alone. The concept care started in 2006 in the United States which late matured into a board certified program having specialties in sub-groups of diseases. It is now a multidisciplinary approach for patient care. The terminology differentiates from Hospice Care in certain respects. Palliative Care is given to chronically ill patients and have serious prognosis whereas Hospice Care is given to patients that have less than six months to live if the illness follows its usual course. World Health Organization states that Palliative Care is an approach which improves quality of living of patients and their ambiance who face problems which are life threatening, their prevention, cure and relief involve early identification, apt assessment and their physical, psychosocial and social treatment (WHO, 2009). Palliative Care refers to care which alleviates symptoms and there cure is not possible through simple procedures. It addresses side effects and involves a careful chemotherapy and other relevant measures. It is pertinent to mention here that the term ‘Palliative Care’ involves administration to diseases like cancer, renal disease, chronic heart failure, HIV/AIDS, progressive pulmonary disorders and progressive neurological problems like complicated Schizophrenia. The treatments in above mentioned cases cause psychological, social, spiritual and physical distress. And Palliative Care causes this aggravated condition complex to mitigate. Like emergency care, Palliative Care has its own significance which is substantial. This section deals with the communication

Invisibility of Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Invisibility of Nursing - Essay Example Focus of development and adoption of standard clinical terminology is to enhance quality in the field of nursing through terminologies that are established using tried and tested methods; reducing effort through avoidance of wheel reinvention; compatibility by integration of data gathered from different source systems, and great coherence and convergent mechanism between terminologies. The American Nurses Association (ANA) is responsible for standardizing nursing terminologies and coordinating various minimum data sets in the United States of America. Nursing Practice Information Infrastructure (CNPII), a committee for ANA, evaluates the data sets in addition to standardized terminologies that are submitted to them, to check whether they are in accordance to certain criteria (ANA, 2012). This criterion includes, terminology development is clinically useful and that the terms are not ambiguous in addition to being clear. The International Health Terminology Standards Development Organ ization (IHTSDO) is an international organization, which in non-profit and it is based in Denmark. The organization owns, acquires, and administers rights to SNOMED CT in addition to other related standards and health terminologies. IHTSDO purpose is to develop, promote, maintain and enable the correct uptake and use of its terminology products around the world. The organization improves health of human kind through nurturing development and use of standardized clinical terminologies. This enables accurate, safe and effective exchange of health related and clinical information. Several advantages of using standardized terminologies arise for direct care nurses. There is better communication among nurses and other health care providers. Using standardized nursing... This paper approves that various challenges arise in using standardized terminologies. Constraints arise on what is achievable and desirable. A lot of communication is health care will be informal. This includes written comments and conversations that are meant for short term purposes. The challenge here is to draw a line where to justify feasibility and desirability of formalization. Granularity is another issue. The level of details to be used in standardized language is a challenge. Relevance of details in the language is arguable on matters of functionality, for current or future use of the standardized terminologies. This essay makes a conclusion that development and adoption of standard clinical terminology, also adds value in healthy policy decision making. NMDS is essential when it comes to Medical Treatment Effectiveness Program. This is a program that is funded by the federal government and its sole purpose is to demonstrate the procedures that are most effective in production of quality client outcomes. This is enabled through a standardized nursing language through NMDS. The federal government is able to make decisions on healthy policy issues such as, effective nursing care, based on nursing data on NMDS. Another area on decision making on healthy issues is, the prospective payment for home healthcare. Through NMDS, data can be retrieved and used for prospective payment systems that can account for variances in the cost of care providence to clients in home stings.

Paraphrase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Paraphrase - Essay Example Even more interesting, mundane tasks like cooking were governed by cultural guidelines, where, for example, yams were said to be manly crops because they were complicated to cultivate and harvest while staple foods like cassava had minimal significance. In this community, breaking of the kola nut was synonymous with receiving visitors at home. The Ibo religion with its reverence of many gods dictated the raising of children, ruling of the society and entertainment and communication with others. The community believed in one’s personal god, chi. According to Achebe, being in agreement with something causes chi to also agree (27). This divinity would therefore ensure the protection and success of such an individual. The Igbo had the belief of god being the ruler over the affairs of people. To support this, Achebe uses the character of Unoka, Okonwko’s father, being told that the greatness of the harvest of man who is at peace with the gods and ancestors would be determined by the strength of his arm (17). In seeking to bond the community together, the Igbo culture upholds hospitality and observes religious principles. Nonetheless, the community is not under the rule of religion interpretation by spiritual or political community leaders. Regardless of gender, everyone makes individual decisions regarding their lives. This has more freedom than was the case with the society where Okonwko lived in. 2-This book depicts Achebe’s criticism of the insensitivity towards the helpless in the traditional Igbo community. Achebe uses various events and characters to show the misgivings of the traditional life of the Igbo. For example, the author uses Obierika, Okonwko’s best friend to appeal to Okonkwo to balance his emotions. Unlike Okonkwo, Obierika is a responsible father, husband, friend and member of the Igbo community. This character appeals to Okonkwo to think of more critical issues such as universal morality and truths. He

Invisibility of Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Invisibility of Nursing - Essay Example Focus of development and adoption of standard clinical terminology is to enhance quality in the field of nursing through terminologies that are established using tried and tested methods; reducing effort through avoidance of wheel reinvention; compatibility by integration of data gathered from different source systems, and great coherence and convergent mechanism between terminologies. The American Nurses Association (ANA) is responsible for standardizing nursing terminologies and coordinating various minimum data sets in the United States of America. Nursing Practice Information Infrastructure (CNPII), a committee for ANA, evaluates the data sets in addition to standardized terminologies that are submitted to them, to check whether they are in accordance to certain criteria (ANA, 2012). This criterion includes, terminology development is clinically useful and that the terms are not ambiguous in addition to being clear. The International Health Terminology Standards Development Organ ization (IHTSDO) is an international organization, which in non-profit and it is based in Denmark. The organization owns, acquires, and administers rights to SNOMED CT in addition to other related standards and health terminologies. IHTSDO purpose is to develop, promote, maintain and enable the correct uptake and use of its terminology products around the world. The organization improves health of human kind through nurturing development and use of standardized clinical terminologies. This enables accurate, safe and effective exchange of health related and clinical information. Several advantages of using standardized terminologies arise for direct care nurses. There is better communication among nurses and other health care providers. Using standardized nursing... This paper approves that various challenges arise in using standardized terminologies. Constraints arise on what is achievable and desirable. A lot of communication is health care will be informal. This includes written comments and conversations that are meant for short term purposes. The challenge here is to draw a line where to justify feasibility and desirability of formalization. Granularity is another issue. The level of details to be used in standardized language is a challenge. Relevance of details in the language is arguable on matters of functionality, for current or future use of the standardized terminologies. This essay makes a conclusion that development and adoption of standard clinical terminology, also adds value in healthy policy decision making. NMDS is essential when it comes to Medical Treatment Effectiveness Program. This is a program that is funded by the federal government and its sole purpose is to demonstrate the procedures that are most effective in production of quality client outcomes. This is enabled through a standardized nursing language through NMDS. The federal government is able to make decisions on healthy policy issues such as, effective nursing care, based on nursing data on NMDS. Another area on decision making on healthy issues is, the prospective payment for home healthcare. Through NMDS, data can be retrieved and used for prospective payment systems that can account for variances in the cost of care providence to clients in home stings.

Interpersonal Negotiation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interpersonal Negotiation - Case Study Example We would appreciate if you allow us to build a road, and we will make sure that you wetlands see the least disturbance. 2. Concerns can be best addressed through the transformative approach only. This approach considers the problem as an opportunity for moral growth and empowerment of all parties involved rather than looking for a solution only. Thus, all parties feel that they are an important part of decision-making process and reach a solution that is acceptable to all involved. This enhances the relationships because the solution reached maximizes the collective gain. 3. To save the relationship from destroying, the three groups should move with the collaborative and transformative approach. A win/lose negotiation will destroy the relationships although a solution is reached much sooner. But it is important for the groups to sit down and discuss the matter with each other rather than letting one party lead the others and making one lose and the other win. It should be a win/win situation for all. 4. If I was a negotiator for the first group, I would go to the second group myself rather than calling them to my office, and would make them understand why the road construction was crucial. I would not impose upon them my plans and order them to move. I would compensate them their loss of scenic beauty through financial support and would make them understand the complexity of the

Old Testament Essay Example for Free

Old Testament Essay Found in the Old Testament of the Bible, Psalms have a certain mythic quality to them. Originally written as songs, Psalms are often used to present morality tales or to provide an acknowledgment of certain moral concepts. It is believed that Psalms were originally written by King David, although there is way to completely verify the actual authorship. Records indicate, however, that the Psalms are several thousands of years old. This brings forth the important question: how is it that Psalms remain relevant in today’s modern world? The answer is that the themes found in the Psalms are timeless because they are based on a â€Å"common sense† approach to moral living that does not fall out of style as the years pass. Specifically, the songs of the Psalms are designed to address God directly. However, this does not mean that those listening to or singing the Psalms are to ignore their content. Actually, it is the opposite that is true as Psalms are also designed for reflection. In other words, a sort of meditation is intended while singing or listening to songs. Again, while the Psalms are directed towards God, those involved in the worship are intended to realize a transformative experience. How is this achieved? There are a number of ways and in order to understand how it occurs one must look closely at certain passages within the Psalms. Consider Psalm 4. This Psalm speaks to God with the intention of asking God to be forgiving of glory that was not directed towards God. Additionally, the Psalm talks about God putting gladness in one’s heart with the end result being a spiritual re-awakening. Understanding and Analyzing the Psalms 2 Now, there are many potential interpretations to this Psalm. On the surface, it is clear that a warning about materialism is present. Forgiving one’s glory can refer to a person seeking penance for looking for the material things in life. When the person realizes that materialism is not what one should seek in life, the person immediately turns to God. As such, one can infer that this Psalm is a wake up call to those who assume they can find happiness through materialism. When they realize that true happiness comes from an embrace of the spiritual, they develop a complete reversal of their outlook on like. In a way, one could say this shares similarities to the concept of nirvana in Zen Buddhism. Once again, there is certain timelessness to the subtext found within this psalm. After all, materialism and all its troubles have been with us since the dawn of time. To free oneself of materialism is to be free of attachments which put the person in charge of his life as opposed to mitigating factors. As such, the timelessness of this Psalm is understandable. Psalm 17 is quite an interesting Psalm since it is a call for help. Specifically, this Psalm asks God’s help in providing protection from the wicked who may seek to oppress the singer as well as protecting the singer from the problematic wickedness that might exist within the person’s own heart. Ultimately, this Psalm reveals that it is not out of the ordinary for people to feel self-doubt and external pressures. That is, they may not always do the right thing and they may find themselves in danger of falling under the influence of those who may do them harm. God understands this and understands people may need help when dealing Understanding and Analyzing the Psalms 3 with difficult situations. Again, this is a timeless concept that has existed all throughout the ages. The third and last illustrative example from the Psalms is Psalm 23 which is possible the most famous Psalm of all. In this Psalm is the famous passage â€Å"though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me. † Within this Psalm is the crux of the worship of God. That is, no matter how bad things may be, God will always be there for you. While his help may not always be overt or obvious, he will never abandon his children. Ultimately, this is a timeless message of positive beliefs that has allowed the Judeo-Christian religion to maintain followers for thousands of years. What these three Psalms display is the notion that sometimes the worshippers need to profess their beliefs out loud in the form of song as a means of absorbing what is taught. Yes, on the surface, the Psalms appear to speak to God directly but it is a common Judeo-Christian belief that God lives in all of us. As a result, it becomes important to verbally affirm one’s belief so in order to remember why people believe. Whether it is disavowing material gain, dealing with internal or external demons, or remembering that God never abandons us, the Psalms provide a clear message of hope that we sometimes forget. Therein is a very important component of the Psalms: the Psalms prevent us from forgetting the reason for the faith. Of course, the Psalms are open to wide interpretation. However, the timelessness of the Psalms is without question and their purpose for existence is clearly understood.

The Convergence of Business and Technology

The Convergence of Business and Technology While technological convergence is no longer a new idea, the fascination with the subject lies with the capabilities and applications of both hybrid and brand new technological platforms and the ways previous stand alone industries, have been reconfigured and thereby mobilised to provide enhanced service delivery. Such convergence pertains to the â€Å"digitisation of communications and the ways discrete media formats have become accessible to other media forms; have been further factors in this process† (Saltzis, 2007). In technical terms, Saltzis (2007) reminds us that â€Å"the new technologies convergence can be attributed to developments in digitization, bandwidth and compression; as well as interactivity. Moreover, the rapidity and pervasiveness of technological convergence has seized the entrepreneurial imagination and arrested the attention of economic rationalists, with respect to â€Å"the devices used by institutions within the communications and media industries, as well as the information they process, distribute, and exchange over and through these devices† (Mosco and McKercher 2008: 37). Such convergence also focuses upon the â€Å"integration of or interface between and among different media systems and organizations, made possible by the development of new technologies† (Mosco and McKercher 2008: 37). With this being said, a more fertile field to explore, derives from the recognition that while technology continues to converge, so does the corporate world. The nub of this issue is the nature and extent of the link between these two types of convergence, and the nuanced ways in which one shapes and is shaped by the other. Corporate convergence, according to Babe (1996:284-285) refers to the â€Å"mergers, amalgamations, and diversifications, whereby media organisations come to operate across previously distinct industry boundaries.† Babe extends this explanation stating that corporate convergence refers to the non-technical features of convergence, which also â€Å"contribute to the blurring of industry boundaries† (Babe 1996: 284-285). Examples he cites in the 1990’s from his Canadian context include â€Å" Time Warner combining book publishing, music recording, and movie making, not to mention cable television, (while) Rogers Communications, Inc. engage in n ewspaper and magazine publishing, long-distance and cellular telephony, cable television, and radio/television broadcasting† (Babe 1996: 284-285). While it is self evident that â€Å"corporate convergence promotes and is promoted by technological convergence† (Mosco and McKercher 2008: 37), closer attention is warranted to examine the nature of the promotion and the ways these two significant convergences influence each other. It is illuminating as we do this to itemise dimensions of technological convergence, to begin to pinpoint the areas of synergy between technology and corporate enterprise. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has been helpful in its examination of convergence, by singling out ‘device convergence,’ ‘network convergence,’ ‘service convergence’ and ‘regulatory convergence’ (ITU 2008). While the ITU cites examples of devices include mobile phone, camera and internet access device, network examples include fixed-mobile convergence and next-generation networks (ITU 2008). Moreover, service convergence is exemplified by voice services over th e internet; not to forget regulatory convergence for broadcasting and telecommunications, citing the example of the Office of Communication (Ofcom) in the United Kingdom (ITU 2008). The view of convergence from the corporate stakeholder, according to Andriole (2005:28), is ideally a â€Å"multi-disciplinary, anticipatory, adaptive and cautious† one, no longer about â€Å"early adoption of unproven technology,† but instead about questions of â€Å"business technology acquisition, deployment and management† (Andriole 2005: 28). The sense that the momentum has changed within the corporate sector, prompting corporate leaders to be ready to have ‘convergence conversations’ is clearly articulated by Andriole (2005). It is advocated that companies will benefit by thinking in terms of â€Å"business technology convergence plans† (Andriole 2005: 28). Instead of technology being a footnote or a discrete department within a corporation, through its own array of convergences, it now occupies a central position in underpinning corporate cultures. As a response to this generational shift in consciousness, business planning now closely consults with technological providers, shaping corporate decisions and goals. This change of thought led spawned a new series of business planning questions, which demonstrate some of the links between technological and corporate convergence. Questions which illustrate this include: â€Å"‘How does technology define and enable profitable transactions?’; ‘What business models and processes are underserved by technology?’; ‘Which are adequately or over-served by technology?’† (Andriole 2005: 29) Now when strategic planning is tabled as an agenda item within companies, the matter of technological capabilities is taken seriously, as corporations realise that sidelining technological innovation, is a stepping stone towards giving away market edge to one’s competitors. Indeed, Andriole (2005: 30) forewarns of the perils of business technology segmentation. Instead of a new business initiative being conceived then asking what technological capability exist to support it, Andriole (2005: 30) argues that technologists must be present as part of the materialisation process of a company’s development goals and strategies. One fundamental area a business model which values efficiency and effectiveness is the calibre of the internal and external communications systems and infrastructure. In the 21st century business context of global interfacing, communications which are â€Å"pervasive, secure and reliable† (Andriole 2005: 30), are a base line issue. The incentive to acquire such state of the art systems is one factor driving further technological convergence, as the market demand fosters technological innovation to bring market edge to communications. The airline industry is a practical case in point, with specific international airlines branding being fostered by the level of their onboard entertainment systems for travelling customers. Some international airlines have invested heavily in this component of their corporate identity to enhance their market niche, displaying convergence through the multi-media, multi-channel video and music on demand, personalised entertainment systems, which now permit replay and play back functions (Yu 2008). We are reminded us that a large area of compatibility and synchronicity between technological and corporate convergence relates to the classical knowledge networks, such as universities, corporations and investors, who derive great benefits from convergence, finding more penetrating ways to exchange information and knowledge, their primary resource Saltzis (2007:2). Additionally, since political, economic and financial power is derived from shared information, the value of corporate convergence to the stock markets and to companies is self evident. In relation to the priming of information flow via the synergy between corporate and technological convergence, some observers are beginning to draw attention to the sociological trend that knowledge, through these processes, has become less of a community resource and increasingly a commodity. As information is commodified, it is packaged to target specific interest groups and economic stakeholders, who prize specific knowledge for specif ic outcomes, in terms of client need and demand. This instance of the knowledge super highway shows that knowledge can be ‘positioned’ within the market with greater precision through convergence, yet , in so doing, may easily lose its original contextual underpinnings that imbued it with richer nuances of meaning in the first place. This phenomenon is perhaps no more evident than in cable television, where networks and individual channels are devoted to specific content delivery 24 hours a day. The downside of course, is that information must be assimilated rapidly on the take up side by the media corporation, just as it is foisted upon the consumer with a ‘forced- feed’ pretext, to make room for the next feed. Information, through such convergent capabilities, that permit ‘bites’ of knowledge to be digitally transferred globally and instantaneously, allows knowledge to be stripped of the framework in which it emerged, just as it is quickly, y et superficially digested by the global consumer. When information held the status of being a community resource, rather than a global commodity, it could be used at the will of the consumer, for their own determined purpose, rather than the commodified purpose preselected by the respective media conglomerates that perpetuate the promulgation of endless information. Further challenges to technological and corporate convergence trends, apart from dilution of meaning due to the multiplicity and potentially splintering of sources, according to ITU (2008) concerns, â€Å"content distribution and management, sustainability and scalability, innovation management, competitive dynamics, tariff policies, network security, regulatory coherence and consumer protection† (ITU 2008). While the broadening of avenues for content distribution has the allure of versatility, the revolutionary distribution of music in the past decade illustrates the potency of convergence, threatening to undermine the very industry it was seeking to promote. I-Tunes and other legal internet based distribution pathways for music radically altered the income and revenue streams derived from popular music providers globally. While the consumer was benefited through the open door of access to music, (just as the educational market was reconfigured once educational corporations b egan to exploit the potentialities of online delivery of educational content at school and university level), the demand for live music globally initially declined, yet has now been buoyed up by the benefits of enhanced global exposure, on account of the global penetration capacity of online music. Another aspect of this link that has pressurised corporations like never before has been how to safeguard the integrity of informational, entertainment or intellectually creative products, once they are so widely available via the world wide web. The proliferation of cloned products has the tendency to diminish the quality, reputation or demand for the original. Corporations have had to weigh the benefits of more universal distribution, against this tendency to have the integrity of a product compromised. This, in one sense has been as much about re-education of the consumer, who remains driven by the desire for quality in many instances, overlooking the detracting influence of You-Tube look alike musical bands renditions of hit singles by either reputable or promising new talent. Patently, issues of security remain paramount, in this race towards virally changing convergences, whether it is the protection of personal data by entertainment companies, the finance sector or an individual relying upon social networking websites to foster their new relationships. Banks reputation for safety once built at the store front only, to remain competitive amid their market rivals, has now shifted to the quality and integrity of their web presence. This same notion extends of course, to an ever growing margin of the retail sector, and the sporting sectors, who realise that within the 21st century era of the new media users, the ‘digital native’ populations will increasingly rely upon web based sources for their interfacing with the world. Ironically, even large scale media conglomerations recognize the technological convergence can allow the operator of a mobile phone with a camera component, to drive world changing conditions, in the event that anybody happen s to be at the right place at the right time, and films an international crisis on the telephone, then posts it on the web, embarrassingly before a major news corporation has the time or the infrastructure to outrun them. This realization has brought a new sense of recognition from major news broadcasters, to the power and penetration of websites like You-Tube, creating in journalists a scrutinizing eye for such alternate culture havens to assist the construction of mainstream breaking news stories. The future looks bright for the ongoing convergence of technologies and corporate agendas. We are reminded of the profound benefits of the digitization revolution, yielding â€Å"enormous gains in transmission speed and flexibility over earlier forms of electronic communication,† (Mosco McKercher 2008: 38) â€Å"extending the range of opportunities to measure and monitor, package and repackage entertainment and knowledge† (Mosco Mckercher 2008: 38). Nonetheless, the need to balance economic welfare and human welfare continues to be of concern, and one of the many implications of the increasing reciprocity, between technological and corporate convergence. In the field of media journalism news production convergence, Klinenburg reiterates that convergence facilitates a more rapid confluence of sources impinging upon an event or a story, yet it also intensifies the pressures upon the journalists time to â€Å"conduct interviews, go out into the field, research and write† (2007: 128). The processing time available at the human level continually diminishes, and when the technical speed is permitted to eclipse the human processes of digestion of knowledge and subsequent reflection, the result may ironically, in spite of a seemingly infinitely greater number of sources, be inferior, less news worthy and more insubstantial, than in would have been if the journalist had to rely upon more traditional methods of crafting a story to be broadcast or published. While we have such warnings of convergence being manifest as a â€Å"concentration of technological ownership, in the form of the global media conglomerates† (Saltzis 2007), occurring in tandem â€Å"at the three levels of networks, production and distribution† (Saltzis 2007), it is prudent to be cogniscent of the fact that such monopolization can create an hegemonic corporate empire, allowing such media outlets to in effect be massive funnels for particular ideological positions. Divergence of ownership, on the other hand, may be a way to democratise control and use of these powerful message delivery mechanisms, yet without inbuilt check and balance systems, the corporate stakeholder will rarely consider that their over- influence in the market place of ideas is detrimental to society. Since convergence researchers are ambivalent about the relative degree to which the â€Å"conglomeration of the global media has been the causal factor of technical convergence, or whether it is its by-product† (Saltzis 2007), there remains much to scrutinize, as we more globally to a yet more convergent means of conducting business; as well as producing, disseminating and consuming information, for diverse purposes. Saltzis’s observations seem pertinent in the final analysis. While the â€Å"benefits of these transitions include the merging of consumer bases; the creation of synergies with shared resources (utilising economies of scope and scale); as well as cross-promotion, the instability of the global media system, with its intense competition, advertising, peer-to-peer file sharing technologies, have established significant challenges for both the music and film industries† (Saltzis 2007). The matter of e-regulation is, as Saltzis asserts, â€Å"in its infa ncy† (2007), with many more competing political, economic and ethical questions to consider, as the global market place continues to converge. Bibliography Mosco, V. McKercher, C. (2008) The Laboring of Communication: Will Knowledge Workers of the World Unite? Rowman Littlefield Saltzis, K. (2007) Corporate and Technological Convergence (Lecture 8): New Media and the Wired World MS2007. International Telecommunications Union (2008) World Telecommunications Policy Forum 2009 ‘Convergence’, accessed December 13, 2008 from http://www.itu.int/osg/csd/wtpf/wtpf2009/convergence.html Yu, R (2008) Airlines Upgrade Entertainment in Economy Cabin USA Today retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-05-05-inflight-entertainment_N.htm December 13, 2008.

The Theme of Community in the Open Boat Essay -- American Literature S

Stephen Crane's Theme of Community Stephen Crane is well known in the literary world for his many underlying themes. In Stephan Crane's "The Open Boat," one of the many themes that can be seen is that of community. He brings to life the importance of the each individual's role in the group setting. Crane uses a dire situation in which men's lives are in the hands of each other to show that without group togetherness no one would make it. He shows the group being given false hopes from outside forces but, how in the end the group must band together for survival and not rely on anything but themselves. "The Open Boat" is one of Crane's best known works. Throughout the story, paralleling an actually event in his life Crane brings the reader inside the minds of his characters. By letting the reader see what each individual character is feeling, the sense of needing a community can be felt. Stephan Crane's life was not long, but with his time he accomplished much. Crane's use of the community theme can easily be linked to his own personal experiences. He was born in Newark New Jersey in 1871 as the 14th child of a Methodist minister. His father died while Crane was still a young child. He attended two years of college. After his short college career Crane lived in a medical boarding house in New York City. There he started his freelance writing. In 1893 he published his first book, Maggie: Girl of the Streets. Throughout these earlier years in his life he also wrote Red Badge of Courage and The Black Rider, along with many other works. In 1879 Crane attempted to do journalistic reporting on the insurrection of Cuba. On his voyage the ship the Commodore sunk, leaving him to float to safety in a lifeboat. It is from this experienc... ...4th, 2003] Available on the World Wide Web: http://www.nagasaki-gaigo.ac.jp/ishikawa/amlit/c/crane_s19re.htm Works Cited Source: ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, American Literature on the Web Stephen Crane (1871-1900), [cited April 24th, 2003] Available on the World Wide Web: http://www.nagasaki-gaigo.ac.jp/ishikawa/amlit/c/crane_s19re.htm Crane, Stephen "The Open Boat" in Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay 4th Ed. Robert Di Yanni (New York, New York, 1998) Stephan Crane's "The Open Boat", [cited April 24th, 2003] Available on the World Wide Web: http://sites.unc.edu/storyforms/openboat/community/index.html

The Day That Wal-Mart Dropped the Smiley Face

Case I The Day That Wal-Mart Dropped the Smiley Face Retail giant wal-mart annually spends close to a half billion dollars on advertising, so the company’s decision in the first month of 2005 to run full-page ads in more than 100 newspapers was not really surprising. What was surprising was the copy in those ads, which said nothing about low-priced toasters or new music CDs. Instead, the ads featured a photo of workers in their blue Wal-Mart smocks and a letter from Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott. Scott’s letter was blunt and to the point: â€Å"When special interest groups and critics spread misinformation about Wal-Mart, the public deserves to hear the truth. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions about our company, but they are not entitled to make up their facts. † Not the sort of message many would expect from a company whose television ads often feature a yellow â€Å"smiley-face† flying around a Wal-Mart store lowering prices. But it is a clear sign that Wal-Mart believes it can no longer afford to ignore several societal trends that threaten the company’s success and profitability. Wal-Mart is the largest and most successful retailer in the world. It employs more people than any other private company in the United States (almost 1. 2 million) and has world-wide sales of over a quarter trillion dollars, more than four times that of its nearest competitor. The foundation of this impressive record is the company’s ability to keep it promise of customer-friendly service and low prices. But with success comes attention and not all of it good. Several lawsuits claim Wal-Mart shorts overtime pay and one lawsuit claimed female employees face discrimination in pay and promotions. Wal-Mart’s expansion plans have also run into trouble, as some cities and states, citing concerns ranging from low wages, inadequate benefits, environmental damage, and harm to local economies, have passed laws to make it difficult or impossible for Wal-Mart to build its giant superstores. In response to past criticisms of its diversity policies, Wal-Mart created company-wide postings of promotional opportunities, created a new position for a director of diversity, and slashed the bonuses of managers who fail to achieve diversity hiring targets. Scott himself stands to lose $600,000 from his annual bonus if Wal-Mart does not meet diversity goals. Recent years have also seen the CEO spend more time meeting with investors, community groups and the media. But in recent years Wal-Mart has begun to use advertising as a way of addressing criticisms that the company is not a good employer. At first, much of this advertising was â€Å"soft-sell† emphasizing happy Wal-Mart employees. The new campaign is clearly more direct: The copy seeks to address misperceptions about employee wages and benefits, noting that full-time company employees are paid an average of $ 9. 8 – substantially higher than what is required by federal law (%5. 15). The copy also notes that a majority of Wal-Mart employees said benefits were important to them when they chose to take a job at the retailer. Complementing the ads is a PR campaign in select cities using employees and press conferences. In Tampa, Florida, for example, employee Michael Mar tin told reporters, â€Å"I’m making more after working four years at Wal-Mart than I did after nine years at Winn-Dixie. † Martin, a department manager, noted, â€Å"I left Winn-Dixie because I couldn’t get a promotion. Here I got one after six months. † Why is the company using a new approach? â€Å"For too long, others have had free rein to say things about our company that just are not true,† said lee Scott, president and chief executive office. â€Å" Our associates [Wal-Mart speak for employees] are tired of it and we’ve decided to draw our own line in the sand. † It is too soon to know if the campaign will succeed, although some are already skeptical. According to retail marketing consultant Jordan Zimmerman, aggressive mage campaigns like Wal-Mart’s are rare and costly. And ads that directly address the company’s critics will not likely replace the company’s regular advertising (including the smiley face), which is not scheduled to change any time soon. But the new ads do constitute a small change in the nature of the dialogue Wal-Mart has with consumers and society. Only tie will tell if they help Wal-Mart to stay on top. Questions: 1. What is Wal-Mart doing with its latest campaign? What are the difficulties involved in such an effort? 2. A recent Advertising Age article noted that Wal-mart customers are less likely to read newspapers and more likely to watch television than the population as a whole. Why, then did Wal-mart choose newspapers for its new campaign? 3. Analyze this Wal-Mart campaign and explain its purpose referring to the discussion in this chapter of the roles and functions of advertising. What is its primary purpose? Do you think it will be effective at accomplishing that purpose? Case II Toyota Goes after Tuners Young people with limited incomes often look for a great deal on a new car. One way to save money is to forgo options and upgrades, like a sunroof or a CD player. But when Toyota introduced its funky â€Å"Scion† brand, it considered offering a version without something most people assume comes standard: paint. Although they ultimately decided against the idea, at one point Toyota’s plan was to sell the brand with just gray primer. Toyota wasn’t really targeting people so cheap they wouldn’t spend money on paint. Just the opposite – the car company was going after a group with money to burn, called tuners. Tuners are young car buyers who live to customize hteir cars. The trend really began among young Asian Americans, who typically bough t inexpensive Asian import cars and then spent thousands of dollars customizing them. The hobby has spread to other young people, so that today Asian Americans are a minority of tuners. But Japanese brands remain the cars of choice among those dedicated to creating a work of art on wheels. Explaining the idea of a â€Å"no paint† option, Jim Farley, Scion general manager, says, â€Å"As much as possible, we want to give them [tuners] a black canvas. † What does a tuner do with his car? He (or she; women make up almost 20 percent of the tuner subculture) might take a basic Honda, add a large and loud exhaust system, paint the intake manifolds, and add ride-lowering springs. Other popular add-ons are technologies that increase vehicle speed, like turbochargers, superchargers, and nitrous kits. And there are some serious bucks involved. The Specialty Equipment Market Association estimates that auto after-market spending (spending on car accessories after the original car purchase) increased from $295 million in 1997 to 2. 3 $billion in 2002. The motivation? â€Å" You build a car for yourself,† says one day install on Acura RSX Type-S engine into his Honda Civic. â€Å" The satisfaction is in making it your own and knowing that nobody will ever have something that’s the same. † The amount of money tuners spend is reason enough to attract the attention of marketers. GM hoped to interest tuners in its Saturn Ion, Chevrolet Cavalier, and Pontiac Sunfire when it when it launched a â€Å" Tuner Tour† of 10 National Hot Rod Association races. GM allowed young car enthusiasts to play games and enter contests for prizes, as it in turn collected names and e-mail addresses. GM’s focus on relationship marketing makes sense because tuners don’t watch a lot of TV. Both Mitsubishi and Ford believe the best way to reach them is with product placements in movies (Mitsubishi bought air time in the popular for (â€Å"2 Fast 2 Furious†). But even companies selling products unrelated to cars are interested in the tuner lifestyle. Pepsi has hired tuners to customize some of its promotional vehicles. Which brings us full circle back to Scion, Toyota’s goal is to make the new car an immediate hit with tuners. So rather than spend a great deal of money on network television, Toyota decided to sponsor a 22-minute movie On the D. L. The movie is a comical docudrama that tells the story of a pair of musicians trying to obtain their first drivers licenses. The stars are musicians trying to obtain their first drivers licenses. The stars are musicians from youth-oriented bands: Ahmir â€Å"Questlove† Thompson, from the Roots, and DJ King Britt, who played for the Digable Planets. The film premiered at the Tribeca film festival, after which segments were shared on peer-to-peer networks such as Kaazaa. Toyota hopes that enthusiasts will download the segments and share them with friends. Questions: 1. Why are tuners so attractive to marketers, even after accounting for their spending power? 2. Evaluate Toyota’s strategy of targeting tuners with the Scion campaign. What are the difficulties for a large company in marketing effectively to a youth-oriented subculture? What techniques do you think companies like Toyota are using to try to understand their market? 3. Explain how â€Å"tuner† campaigns, such as those by GM and Toyota, work. Analyze these campaigns using the Facets Model to identify the effects they are designed to achieve. How would you determine if these campaigns are effective? Case III Starbucks Makes TV Less Intrusive Starbucks coffee is now sold in grocery stores but how many people realize it? To get that message out, the well known coffee house chain needed to reach its customers nationwide with that message. Television commercials would be the obvious way to reach those people, but Starbucks’ management knew that their customers are not big fans of television commercials and resent the interruption of their favorite program. That’s why starbucks has been such an infrequent advertiser on TV. Its on-air promotional activities have been limited primarily to radio and its only previous use of TV had been support announcements on public TV. That was the problem facing Starcom’s MediaVest group. The agency used a creative solution: It recommended a partnership with the Bravo cable network. Bravo would run four Independent Film Channel (IFC) movies on Friday nights for a month and Starbucks would buy all the commercial time surrounding the movie airings. The MediaVest team knew that Bravo’s â€Å"IFC Friday† night films would be a good way to reach the stakeholder audience because research had described that customer base as people who are up on the latest trends, like to attend live performances of the arts, are apt to see a movie during the weekend it opens, and generally are interested in cutting edge things. Mediavest calls this customer â€Å"the attuned explorer. † Even though Starbucks bought all the commercial time, the MediaVest team recommended letting the movies run uninterrupted. Starbucks’ advertising message was delivered in supporting Bravo promotions of the movies during each week leading up to the Friday night telecast. About 40 seconds of each 60-second preview spot showed scenes from the movie and 20 seconds promoted Starbucks s the movie sponsor. Other promotional activities were also used in support of the campaign. One month before the movies aired, a $1 off coupon for a bag of Starbucks Coffee was sent to 3 million targeted consumers around the country, along with a viewer guide introducing the Starbucks-sponsored independent movie festival. Starbucks billboards also appeared during the movie month coinciding with the independent film industry’s annual telecast, which aired on both Bravo and IC. The innovative Bravo partnership wound up not only increasing sales of Starbucks Coffee by 15 percent for the month the campaign ran, but also increased viewership on Bravo by 33 percent. These results led the campaign to be named a Media Plan of the year by Adweek magazine. Questions: 1. What was the problem Starbucks wanted to overcome in order to effectively advertise that its coffee brand was available in supermarkets? 2. How did the partnership work? Is there anything you could recommend that would extend the reach of this campaign? Case IV Wpp’s Owner-a British Knight with Every (Marketing) Weapon at His Disposal To the uniformed, nothing about Martin Sorrell or his company, the WPP group, may be quite what it seems. Although he was awarded a knighthood, Sir Martin is anything but a reserved aristocrat. And while WPP is one of the four largest agency holding companies in the world, the initials actually stand for Wire & Plastic products, the British company Sorrell used to gobble up some of the world’s most famous advertising agencies. The roster of agencies now under the WPP’s wing includes industry leaders Ogivly and Mother, Burson-Marsteller, Hill & knowlton, young & Rubicam, and J. Walter Thompson, to name just a few. Large conglomerates like WPP made frequent headlines in the 1990s, a period of great consolidation in the advertising industry. Faced with harsh economic and business realities, individual advertising agencies chose to give up independent existence in order to become parts of large communication companies that offered clients all the tools for an integrated campaign, including advertising, direct marketing, public relations, and sales promotion. In the new millennium, dealing with one (or several) of the four large holding companies, WPP Group (England), Interpublic(U. S), Publicis Groups (France), and Omnicom (U. S), is the way the world’s biggest advertisers do business. While each of the conglomerates is led by a charismatic and dynamic individual, none appears to have an edge on Sorrell, who was described in a recent Fortune article as â€Å"†¦confident, witty, and a tod arrogant, talking rapidly about the future of advertising and the challenges of keeping fractious clients and ad agencies happy. † Fortune also noted that â€Å"In an industry populated by shameless schmoozers, the 59-year-old Sorrell is in a league of his own. † These characteristics have served Sorrell well, In 2004 he squared off against rival Publicis Groups and its CEO, Maurice Levy, in pursuit of one of the last great independent agencies, Grey Advertising, New York. During the battle Advertising Age opined that Publicis had a big advantage because Levy and Grey chair Edward Meyer were friends and had spoken about merging in the past. In addition, both Grey and Publicis created ads for consumer giant procter & Gamble, while WPP agency Ogilvy & Mather counted P&G’s competitor Unilever among its most important clients. It is customary for agencies not to work for competing accounts. ) A Unilever spokesperson, asked for his thoughts about the possibility of working with an agency that created ads for his most important rival, suggested that â€Å"In the past, we’ve not seen it to be such a good idea. â€Å"But nobody familiar with Martin Sorrell was surprised when at the end of the day he convinced Grey to sign with WPP and persuaded Procter & Gamble to stay as well. Unlike many of his peers, Sorrell has never written a word of copy, nor has he ever penciled a print design or directed a broadcast commercial. Sorrell’s talents are organizational and strategic; although he is an expert in the world of finance, Sir Martin cautions, â€Å"I may be a bean counter, but I’m not an accountant. † To drive home the point he posed for WPP’s annual report surrounded by lima and pinto beans. So how does Martin Sorrell continue to win in the high-stakes agency world? His vision, developed years before most of his rivals caught on, that twenty-first-century clients would want a complete menu of marketing communication services, all of which work synergistically, is one important reason for his success. Tenacity, energy, focus, and a willingness to do whatever is needed to win are also traits that come to mind. All these are illustrated in the story of Sorrell’s drive to land Korean giant Samsung when the company put its advertising up for review in the spring of 2004. Samsung spends almost $400 million each year supporting its brands, which is reason enough for agencies to salivate for the account. Sorrell believes that the company holds even greater appeal because of his forecast that advertising growth in the twenty-first century will come disproportionately from Asia. So Sorrell did whatever he could to attract Samsung’s attention. Like any savvy agency head, he assigned his best people to generate creative ideas to pitch to Samsung executives. But unlike most agency heads, he didn’t stop there. After discovering that a Samsung-financed museum was having a grand opening in Seoul, Sorrell jumped on a plane and ended up being the only agency person there. Samsung executives found themselves receiving emails from Sorrell at all time of the day and night. Peter Stringham, marketing director of HSBC, a company that Sorrell landed after several years of trying, commented, â€Å"Martin can be quite persistent. He was there from the first meeting to the last. He’d pitched to us a couple of times before and not gotten the account, but he’d had his eye on it for years. † Needless to say, in the fall of 2004, Samsung announced it was awarding its account to WPP. In the new millennium, British knights may not wear armor, carry a crest, or rescue damsels in distress. But Sir Martin Sorrell knows how to triumph in the competitive world of advertising agencies. Questions 1. Why do large clients like Samsung wish to work with giant holding companies like WPP instead of with smaller agencies? 2. What qualities help Sorrell to be successful? Why are these qualities so important for his company’s success? 3. Explain how Martin Sorrell wins clients and builds positive agency-client relationships. How does he see the agency’s role in marketing? Case V Boycott This! A recent ad for a Nike hiking shoe used copy that was probably intended to be humorous. The copy suggested that Nike’s shoe could help the use avoid turning into â€Å"†¦a drooling, misshapen non-extreme-trail-running husk of my former self, forced to roam the earth in a motorized wheelchair with my name embossed on one of those cute little license plates you get at carnivals†¦. Marcie Roth, an advocacy director for the National Council on Independent Living, didn’t find it funny. â€Å"Nike is trying to be sensationalist, and they’re doing it on the backs of the disabled,† thundered Roth, adding, â€Å"We won’t tolerate it. † Nike apologized and immediately pulled the ad. But Roth announced that her group was interested in more than just an apology, because the disabled, in Roth’s words, had been â€Å"dissed. † Nike was asked to include disabled actors in its ads and hire a greater number of disabled workers. Otherwise, suggested Roth, Nike could expect a boycott. Boycotts are certainly one way for consumers to let advertisers know when they’ve gone too far. While some advertisers, notably Benetton, delight in creating controversy, that vast majority try to avoid the unwanted attention and possible loss of sales that a boycott might bring. Armed with this knowledge, consumers and interest groups regularly threaten boycotts and there are several Web sites that track the dozens of product boycotts that re occurring at any given time. Recently the Web site â€Å"Ethical Consumer† listed boycott of Adidas (for allegedly using kangaroo skin in the manufacture of some boots), Air France (for allegedly transporting primates), Bayer (for allegedly supporting policies favoring the use of genetically modified crops), and even entire nations (Israel, China, Morocco, and Turkey). Although Ethical Consumer’s rationales for supporting boycotts appear motivated by left-leaning or pr ogressive concerns, conservative groups use them too. The American Family Association, based in Tupelo, Mississippi, has sent tens of thousands of e-mails threatening boycotts to advertisers Geico, Best Buy, Foot Looker, and Finish Line. The AFA is not upset with the ads placed by these companies, but rather with the program in which the ads appear: South Park. The AFA claims its e-mail campaigns caused Lowe’s, Tyson, ConAgra, and Kellogg’s to stop placing ads in ABC’s surprise hit Desperate Housewives. Some companies resist boycott pressures. Proctor & Gamble ignored AFA pressure to stop its support for gay-friendly legislation in Cincinnati. Subway Vice President Chris Carroll said his company ignored threatened boycotts caused by the company’s decision to run ads in a documentary that was unflattering to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. And then there’s Pepsi. In 2003 the brand signed hip-hop artist Ludacris to appear in a â€Å"fun-oriented† campaign, but outspoken cable show host Bill O’Reilly immediately ripped Pepsi and urged â€Å"†¦all responsible Americans to fight back and punish Pepsi for using a man who degrades women, who encourages substance abuse, and does all the things that hurt†¦the poor in our society. I’m calling for all Americans to say, ‘Hey, Pepsi, I’m not drinking your stuff. You want to hang around with Ludacris, you do that, I’m not hanging around with you. † A Pepsi representative appearing on O’Reilly’s show denied that the artist’s provocative lyrics (one album featured a song called â€Å"Move Bitch†) were relevant to the Pepsi campaign. But the following day Pepsi canceled the campaign. For viewers of a certain age, the entire affair was reminiscent of the controversy that erupted several years earlier when Pepsi canceled ads featuring Madonna after she appeared in a controversial music video. But Pepsi’s decision did not mark the end of the controversy. After the announcement, Ludacris and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, an organization run by his producer, Russell Simmons, threatened their own boycott. Following several days of negotiations, the second boycott was called off. Ludacris would not be a spokesperson for Pepsi, but the soft-drink giant agreed to a deal to make a multi-million-dollar donation over several years to the rapper’s foundation. Questions: 1. What do you think about consumer boycotts? Are they unhealthy attempts to infringe on the speech rights of others? Or are they a healthy sign that consumers can take action against the ethical lapses of advertisers? 2. How should a company respond to the threat of a boycott? Consider the different responses of Nike, Subway, Lowe’s, Proctor & Gamble, and Pepsi. How well do you think each of these companies reacted to boycott pressure? Did any of the companies hurt their brand because of the way they reacted to boycotts? 3. How would you review advertising ideas that you suspect are controversial and might generate a backlash? Is it ever justified to â€Å"push the envelope† in the areas of good taste and social responsibility? How would you decide if such approaches are effective? Case VI How Advertising Works If It Walks Like the Aflac Duck You’ve probably never heard of the American Family life Assurance Co. , nor likely to be familiar with its primary service: supplemental workplace medical insurance, a type of insurance that is used by people to help cover the many loopholes and deductibles in their primary insurance coverage. Then again, if you are like 90 percent of U. S. onsumers, maybe you have heard of the company. In its advertising it calls itself â€Å"AFLAC. † The four-year AFLAC campaign is the work of Linda Kaplan Thaler, owner of the New York agency that bears her name. Thaler’s ads are not known for their subtlety. Among her credits are the Toy’s R Us jingle â€Å"I don’t want to grow up,† and the successful campaign for Clairol Herbal Esse nces, featuring on â€Å"orgasmic† hair-washing experience. The Herbal Essences ads strike some as funny, others as quite possibly offensive, but sales of the product have skyrocketed to almost $700 million a year. In many ways Thaler’s ads hearken back to the 1960s, when it was common to feature â€Å"sex, schmaltz, chirpy jingles and ‘talking’ babies and animals,† as the New York Time’s advertising columnist Stewart Elliott puts it. Industry insiders have been known to snipe at Thaler’s work, and few would describe her campaigns as â€Å"edgy. † But as Maurice Levy, CEO of the giant advertising company Publicis, observes, â€Å"There are people who do advertising for what I call the advertising for the consumer. She is doing advertising mush more for the consumer. Thaler herself notes, â€Å"We’re doing our job when we find ways to get people to buy things. † Thaler’s AFLAC ads, by almost any measure, are her best. Almost all feature a white duck desperately screaming â€Å"AFLAC† at people who need supplemental insurance. Unfortunately, the duck’s audience never quite seems to hear him. Most of the ads contai n a fair amount of slapstick, usually at the expense of the duck, whose exasperated-sounding voice originates with former Saturday Night Live cast member Gilbert Gottfried. He’s got the right answer but nobody is listening, and that’s a situation that resonates with people,† says Kathleen Spencer, director of AFLAC’s corporate communications. â€Å"There’s also just something inherently comical about a duck. † The campaign has been enormously successful. Since the ads first began running, brand name awareness has increased from 15 percent to 90 percent. Over the same period year-to-year sales increases have almost doubled. Dan Amos, CEO for AFLAC, believes that â€Å"our name recognition with our advertising campaign to truly help our company. In 2003 Ad Age named the commercial featuring the duck and the Amazing Kreskin (who hypnotizes a man into thinking he is a chicken) the most-recalled spot in America. But what makes the AFLAC campaign truly remarkable is how little it has cost the company. The duck has a higher Q score (a measure of a character’s familiarity and appeal) than both Ronald McDonald and the Energizer Bunny, but whereas Energizer has spent almost a billion dollars over 15 years on advertising, and McDonald’s spends almost $700 million every year, AFLAC’s ad budget is only $45 million a year. There is no denying that Thaler’s work for AFLAC is a triumph of both effectiveness and value. Questions: 1. Some viewers don’t like the AFLAC ads. Can an ad still accomplish its intended purposes if people find it annoying? 2. The AFLAC campaign is more than four years old. In your opinion, will the campaign stay effective for the foreseeable future? 3. What makes AFLAC ads so effective? Is it something more than their entertainment value? If so, what else contributes to their success?