What were Apple’s competitive advantages

During the end 70’s and beginning of the 80’s, Apple’s competitive advantages assured high profitability to the firm. Apple II and Macintosh were premium (priced) products that were very easy-to-use computers with appealing design and technical elegance. Despite the slow processor speed and the lack of compatible software, the combination of superior software and peripherals, giving â€Å"unmatched capabilities in desktop publishing†, allowed Apple to reach 8% of the world market and more than 50% of the education market in the US by the mid 80’s. Also one other factor important for the high success of Apple in its early days is the fact that the operating system (OS) was a closed system, being therefore very difficult to clone. After some ups and downs during the 90’s decade, the strategy of Apple continued to base on differentiation. They offer high-quality, an exceptional design, the ease of use of their products, security, high-quality bundled software and in-store personalized service. At the same time, the incorporation of some standard interfaces (like USB ports) made Apple computers less closed systems, allowing the Mac customer to use non Mac peripherals with his OS. In terms of technical features, the total Mac sales increased about 40% from 2006 to 2007 thanks to Intel’s dual-core technology for Apple’s laptops. This specification allowed Apple to build laptops that were faster and less-power consuming, and at the same time could also easily run Windows and other third-party OS. One of the main problems of Apple, the lack of Macintosh software, was now solved. As it was mentioned above, one of Apple’s recent competitive advantages is the in-store personalized service. This, of course, is directly related to the introduction of stores, important not only because those stores are sales locations, but also because it allows Apple to control the image of the brand and provide an excellent customer service. The success of Apple stores is also due to the â€Å"halo effect† of iPod and iPhone that attracted many people to the stores. The iTunes Music and App online store, together with the iPod and iPhone products, are also one of the main reasons for the increasing of sales of Mac computers. Analyze the dynamics of the PC industry. Are these dynamics favorable or problematic for Apple? In our days computers are in most people everyday life and business and therefore computers are becoming even more a commoditized product. It is estimated that 1 billion of PCs are in use around the world! The PC industry has its origins in the mid-70s and it was dominated by IBM during its first decade of existence. By the early 90’s Wintels (Windows OS with Intel processors) replaced IBM computers as the industry standard. The market in those years already suffered some (fast) changes, as there were thousands of manufacturers (HP, Dell, Acer, Apple, and clone makers) building computers. In terms of buyers, also some several changes were observed: the US was no longer the main customer of this industry. The main share of the average 15% growth of PCs goes to the emerging markets, to countries like India and China. At the same time, revenue growth didn’t grow, mainly due to the decreasing of prices of these products. The main suppliers in this industry are the component manufacturers, the OS software programmers and the Application software developers. In what component manufacturers is concerned, the industry is dominated by two players, Intel and AMD, to produce microprocessors. These microprocessors are totally different in terms requirements and motherboard design, so if a PC manufacturer would think on changing the microprocessors of its products, it would also have to support high switching costs. The OS software programmers are resumed to one player, Microsoft Windows (about 90% of world computers run through Window platform). The Application software developers are mainly ISV’s, or Independent Software Vendors. In what buyers are concerned, we can divide them into 5 categories: home, small and medium business, corporate, education and government. In the past years we have been assisting to several changes: the home segment is nowadays the most important of the segments (42% of computers were acquired by this segment in 2007), followed by the business customers. In order to respond to the many needs of these customers, PC manufacturers react offering broad products. At the same time, it also must be taken into consideration that these segments meet different requirements when acquiring a PC: the home segment is very price sensitive and has recently started to value the product design, the mobility and wireless capability. The business customer makes his decision based on a combination of price an service. In terms of barriers of new entries, brands like Dell, Apple or HP are brand recognized and in a general way their clients are loyal to them, creating therefore difficulties for a potential new player in this market. Also the fact that most of these companies have good relationships with OEM allows them to benefit from economies of scale. The threat of substitution is high. Taking in consideration that the home buyer is the â€Å"best client†, there are several products that might be an alternative to computers, in particular laptops. PDA’s, smartphones, or game consoles allow the consumer to run video, watch DVD’s, play games, or even surf the web. In terms of competitive rivalry, the market is dominated by 4 players, Dell, HP, Acer and Lenovo. Together, these companies are responsible for more than 50% PC shipments (2007 data). In a general way, these companies are adopting a strategy of improving design, R&D spending, and aggressive consumer marketing. According to this industry analysis, Apple’s position in the market might be of some concern. One of the good and positive aspects of Apple’s strategy is the launching of complementary products to the Macs, like the Apple TV or home data centers. The strategy of differentiation and innovation has to continue to be adopted, as well as to build exclusive agreements and partnerships and OEM. Has Steve Jobs finally solved Apple’s long-standing problems with respect to the Macintosh business? In 1997, when Steve Jobs became the CEO of Apple, the firm was going through some problems with the Mac business. These problems weren’t solved with Spindler and Amelio strategies, which were mainly the cost reduction (cutting of 16% Apple workforce and reducing R&D spending), and several deep payroll cuts. Apple was already incurring in several losses and something had to be done! Steve Jobs started to restructure the company: partnerships with Microsoft, development of core products such as Microsoft Office, end of licensing agreements (to avoid cannibalization of Apple’s computers), consolidation of the product range, outsourcing, changing of distribution system, and promoting the brand as â€Å"a hip alternative† to other brands. But one of the most important changes was during 2006, four years after the launch of Mac OS X, when Apple’s computers also started to be equipped with Intel technology, allowing not only to reduce the technical specifications gaps between Macs and Wintel computers (Mac were slower in speed and more energy consuming) but also to use third-party applications (until then, Apple had to produce their own software because of its small market share). These measures, together with the synergies of iPod, iTunes and iPhone are responsible for the 33% increasing of Total Macintosh sales from 2006 to 2007. However, Apple still remains in the 2-3% range worldwide PC market. As its products are premium priced, I think that some measures might have to be taken in consideration, such as to continue developing and improving the brand image in order to continue practicing premium prices in its products, to improve relationship with 3rd parties (for example, with music labels for iTunes, with NBC for the Apple TV or with 3rd party software developers) or to continue producing complementary products to Macs. The iPod-iTunes business has been a spectacular success. Has Jobs found a new formula to create a sustainable competitive advantage for Apple? In fact, the iPod and iTunes and their synergies with Apple’s computers are one of the key drivers for the success of Apple. The launch of the iPod in 2001 and specially the introduction of iPod for Windows in 2002 simply boosted Apple’s sales. In 2003 the sales of iPods more than doubled in respect to the previous year. Its design, the easy to use system, its high margins (thanks to the use of flash memories instead of hard disks) and its reasonable selling price are some of the factors responsible for being such a hit. But it is in this very same year that the iTunes system is born. This online service is the main factor for iPod’s success (in 2004, after the first year of iTunes launch, iPods sales almost increased 300% as of 2003; in 2007 the iPod accounts for 35% of Apple’s total revenue). This reveals the synergy between iPod and iTunes (and also iPhone). This competitive advantage is not difficult to maintain as Apple has in fact the best product in the market, in terms of hardware and an efficient easy to use online store. The only problem that might exist is in terms of relationships with the music companies. In order to maintain the market size, Apple has to improve on this subject.

A Household’s Decision on Child Labor

Respitory systek This dissertation seeks to understand the mechanism of a household's decision on child labor and educational investment by proposing a theoretical framework, examining the empirical evidence, and providing policy evaluation and recommendations. In the theoretical framework, it addresses the factors related to the educational investment and child labor such as living below the subsistence level of consumption (poverty), the opportunity cost of education (the child's wage), and the return to education.The first chapter focuses on the household's educational investment decision over the life cycle and addresses the effect of birth order on the educational attainment and child labor supply under binding budget and credit constraints. The empirical evidence from Tanzania suggests there are ‘delays' in schooling for the latter-born children and ‘school dropout' for the earlier-born children. In the second chapter, it empirically estimates the labor supply for c hildren in the family farm in Tanzania.The supply curve is downward sloping, suggesting that poverty is the main cause of child labor. The third chapter focuses on the evaluation of specific policies designed to encourage the educational investment for girls — the reduction of tuition and the provision of a stipend in Bangladesh. This program is intended to promote the female education by lowering the cost of schooling. It evaluates the long-term effect of the program by estimating the effect on completed years of schooling, age of marriage, and labor force participation of married women.This dissertation seeks to understand the mechanism of a household's decision on child labor and educational investment by proposing a theoretical framework, examining the empirical evidence, and providing policy evaluation and recommendations. In the theoretical framework, it addresses the factors related to the educational investment and child labor such as living below the subsistence leve l of consumption (poverty), the opportunity cost of education (the child's wage), and the return to education.The first chapter focuses on the household's educational investment decision over the life cycle and addresses the effect of birth order on the educational attainment and child labor supply under binding budget and credit constraints. The empirical evidence from Tanzania suggests there are ‘delays' in schooling for the latter-born children and ‘school dropout' for the earlier-born children. In the second chapter, it empirically estimates the labor supply for children in the family farm in Tanzania.The supply curve is downward sloping, suggesting that poverty is the main cause of child labor. The third chapter focuses on the evaluation of specific policies designed to encourage the educational investment for girls — the reduction of tuition and the provision of a stipend in Bangladesh. This program is intended to promote the female education by lowering the cost of schooling. It evaluates the long-term effect of the program by estimating the effect on completed years of schooling, age of marriage, and labor force participation of married women.This dissertation seeks to understand the mechanism of a household's decision on child labor and educational investment by proposing a theoretical framework, examining the empirical evidence, and providing policy evaluation and recommendations. In the theoretical framework, it addresses the factors related to the educational investment and child labor such as living below the subsistence level of consumption (poverty), the opportunity cost of education (the child's wage), and the return to education.The first chapter focuses on the household's educational investment decision over the life cycle and addresses the effect of birth order on the educational attainment and child labor supply under binding budget and credit constraints. The empirical evidence from Tanzania suggests there are ‘del ays' in schooling for the latter-born children and ‘school dropout' for the earlier-born children. In the second chapter, it empirically estimates the labor supply for children in the family farm in Tanzania.The supply curve is downward sloping, suggesting that poverty is the main cause of child labor. The third chapter focuses on the evaluation of specific policies designed to encourage the educational investment for girls — the reduction of tuition and the provision of a stipend in Bangladesh. This program is intended to promote the female education by lowering the cost of schooling. It evaluates the long-term effect of the program by estimating the effect on completed years of schooling, age of marriage, and labor force participation of married women.This dissertation seeks to understand the mechanism of a household's decision on child labor and educational investment by proposing a theoretical framework, examining the empirical evidence, and providing policy evaluat ion and recommendations. In the theoretical framework, it addresses the factors related to the educational investment and child labor such as living below the subsistence level of consumption (poverty), the opportunity cost of education (the child's wage), and the return to education.The first chapter focuses on the household's educational investment decision over the life cycle and addresses the effect of birth order on the educational attainment and child labor supply under binding budget and credit constraints. The empirical evidence from Tanzania suggests there are ‘delays' in schooling for the latter-born children and ‘school dropout' for the earlier-born children. In the second chapter, it empirically estimates the labor supply for children in the family farm in Tanzania.The supply curve is downward sloping, suggesting that poverty is the main cause of child labor. The third chapter focuses on the evaluation of specific policies designed to encourage the educationa l investment for girls — the reduction of tuition and the provision of a stipend in Bangladesh. This program is intended to promote the female education by lowering the cost of schooling. It evaluates the long-term effect of the program by estimating the effect on completed years of schooling, age of marriage, and labor force participation of married women.This dissertation seeks to understand the mechanism of a household's decision on child labor and educational investment by proposing a theoretical framework, examining the empirical evidence, and providing policy evaluation and recommendations. In the theoretical framework, it addresses the factors related to the educational investment and child labor such as living below the subsistence level of consumption (poverty), the opportunity cost of education (the child's wage), and the return to education.The first chapter focuses on the household's educational investment decision over the life cycle and addresses the effect of b irth order on the educational attainment and child labor supply under binding budget and credit constraints. The empirical evidence from Tanzania suggests there are ‘delays' in schooling for the latter-born children and ‘school dropout' for the earlier-born children. In the second chapter, it empirically estimates the labor supply for children in the family farm in Tanzania.The supply curve is downward sloping, suggesting that poverty is the main cause of child labor. The third chapter focuses on the evaluation of specific policies designed to encourage the educational investment for girls — the reduction of tuition and the provision of a stipend in Bangladesh. This program is intended to promote the female education by lowering the cost of schooling. It evaluates the long-term effect of the program by estimating the effect on completed years of schooling, age of marriage, and labor force participation of married women. A Household’s Decision on Child Labor This dissertation seeks to understand the mechanism of a household's decision on child labor and educational investment by proposing a theoretical framework, examining the empirical evidence, and providing policy evaluation and recommendations. In the theoretical framework, it addresses the factors related to the educational investment and child labor such as living below the subsistence level of consumption (poverty), the opportunity cost of education (the child's wage), and the return to education.The first chapter focuses on the household's educational investment decision over the life cycle and addresses the effect of birth order on the educational attainment and child labor supply under binding budget and credit constraints. The empirical evidence from Tanzania suggests there are ‘delays' in schooling for the latter-born children and ‘school dropout' for the earlier-born children. In the second chapter, it empirically estimates the labor supply for children in the fa mily farm in Tanzania.The supply curve is downward sloping, suggesting that poverty is the main cause of child labor. The third chapter focuses on the evaluation of specific policies designed to encourage the educational investment for girls — the reduction of tuition and the provision of a stipend in Bangladesh. This program is intended to promote the female education by lowering the cost of schooling. It evaluates the long-term effect of the program by estimating the effect on completed years of schooling, age of marriage, and labor force participation of married women.This dissertation seeks to understand the mechanism of a household's decision on child labor and educational investment by proposing a theoretical framework, examining the empirical evidence, and providing policy evaluation and recommendations. In the theoretical framework, it addresses the factors related to the educational investment and child labor such as living below the subsistence level of consumption (poverty), the opportunity cost of education (the child's wage), and the return to education.The first chapter focuses on the household's educational investment decision over the life cycle and addresses the effect of birth order on the educational attainment and child labor supply under binding budget and credit constraints. The empirical evidence from Tanzania suggests there are ‘delays' in schooling for the latter-born children and ‘school dropout' for the earlier-born children. In the second chapter, it empirically estimates the labor supply for children in the family farm in Tanzania.The supply curve is downward sloping, suggesting that poverty is the main cause of child labor. The third chapter focuses on the evaluation of specific policies designed to encourage the educational investment for girls — the reduction of tuition and the provision of a stipend in Bangladesh. This program is intended to promote the female education by lowering the cost of schoolin g. It evaluates the long-term effect of the program by estimating the effect on completed years of schooling, age of marriage, and labor force participation of married women.This dissertation seeks to understand the mechanism of a household's decision on child labor and educational investment by proposing a theoretical framework, examining the empirical evidence, and providing policy evaluation and recommendations. In the theoretical framework, it addresses the factors related to the educational investment and child labor such as living below the subsistence level of consumption (poverty), the opportunity cost of education (the child's wage), and the return to education.The first chapter focuses on the household's educational investment decision over the life cycle and addresses the effect of birth order on the educational attainment and child labor supply under binding budget and credit constraints. The empirical evidence from Tanzania suggests there are ‘delays' in schooling for the latter-born children and ‘school dropout' for the earlier-born children. In the second chapter, it empirically estimates the labor supply for children in the family farm in Tanzania.The supply curve is downward sloping, suggesting that poverty is the main cause of child labor. The third chapter focuses on the evaluation of specific policies designed to encourage the educational investment for girls — the reduction of tuition and the provision of a stipend in Bangladesh. This program is intended to promote the female education by lowering the cost of schooling. It evaluates the long-term effect of the program by estimating the effect on completed years of schooling, age of marriage, and labor force participation of married women.This dissertation seeks to understand the mechanism of a household's decision on child labor and educational investment by proposing a theoretical framework, examining the empirical evidence, and providing policy evaluation and recommend ations. In the theoretical framework, it addresses the factors related to the educational investment and child labor such as living below the subsistence level of consumption (poverty), the opportunity cost of education (the child's wage), and the return to education.The first chapter focuses on the household's educational investment decision over the life cycle and addresses the effect of birth order on the educational attainment and child labor supply under binding budget and credit constraints. The empirical evidence from Tanzania suggests there are ‘delays' in schooling for the latter-born children and ‘school dropout' for the earlier-born children. In the second chapter, it empirically estimates the labor supply for children in the family farm in Tanzania.The supply curve is downward sloping, suggesting that poverty is the main cause of child labor. The third chapter focuses on the evaluation of specific policies designed to encourage the educational investment for girls — the reduction of tuition and the provision of a stipend in Bangladesh. This program is intended to promote the female education by lowering the cost of schooling. It evaluates the long-term effect of the program by estimating the effect on completed years of schooling, age of marriage, and labor force participation of married women.This dissertation seeks to understand the mechanism of a household's decision on child labor and educational investment by proposing a theoretical framework, examining the empirical evidence, and providing policy evaluation and recommendations. In the theoretical framework, it addresses the factors related to the educational investment and child labor such as living below the subsistence level of consumption (poverty), the opportunity cost of education (the child's wage), and the return to education.The first chapter focuses on the household's educational investment decision over the life cycle and addresses the effect of birth order on the educational attainment and child labor supply under binding budget and credit constraints. The empirical evidence from Tanzania suggests there are ‘delays' in schooling for the latter-born children and ‘school dropout' for the earlier-born children. In the second chapter, it empirically estimates the labor supply for children in the family farm in Tanzania.The supply curve is downward sloping, suggesting that poverty is the main cause of child labor. The third chapter focuses on the evaluation of specific policies designed to encourage the educational investment for girls — the reduction of tuition and the provision of a stipend in Bangladesh. This program is intended to promote the female education by lowering the cost of schooling. It evaluates the long-term effect of the program by estimating the effect on completed years of schooling, age of marriage, and labor force participation of married women.

Final exam case study's answers Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Final exam 's answers - Case Study Example The marine project is likely to boost tourism by transforming Queensland into a home of Australia’s largest tourism infrastructure development that will lure both tourists and international investment. Therefore, the research problem in this case study is the feasibility of the Queensland Government Multibillion Marine project, its allied socio-economic benefits, and impacts, especially to the environment and the residents. Purpose statement The purpose of this research is to establish the viability of the Broadwater Marine Project proposed by the Queensland Government and its potential impacts on the tourism and construction sectors, the environment and the livelihoods of the residents adjacent to the Broadwater. Significance of the Research This research is significant because these findings will provide justifiable evidence concerning the viability of the Broadwater Marine project, and its potential impacts on the environment and the residents of the Spit. This information will be useful for all the stakeholders in the Broadway Marine project because it will provide a formidable foundation for planning to maximise the benefits while limiting the impacts on the environment and the residents of the Spit. ... What are some of the socio-economic benefits of the Broadwater Marine Project to both the government and the residents of the Spit? d. What are some of the potential environmental and social impacts of the Broadwater Marine Project? e. How can the social and environmental negative impacts of the Broadwater Marine Project be reduced, and where possible eliminated all together? Q.2 1) The Research Philosophy The research philosophy that best fits the research questions and objectives is Positivism, an ideology that is characterised by hypothesis/theory testing through measurement of observable social realities. According to the positivists, the social world exists objectively and independently, knowledge is viable only is it is based on the observable reality and that universal theoretical models explaining cause-effect relationships are generalizable and can be used to predict outcomes. The research objectives can be best achieved if the research is guided by values of the positivism philosophy such as reason, truth and validity; the research will focus purely on observable facts. The research data will be gathered through direct observation and experience, measured empirically using quantitative methods such as statistical analysis, surveys and experiments. The viability of the Broadwater Marine project, its perceived socio-economic benefits to the Queensland Government and the Spit residents, and its potential environmental and social impacts can be measured empirically. Positivism provides the relevant tools for data gathering i.e. through observation and experience, measuring using quantitative methods- surveys and experiments, and statistical analysis; given the vast scope of this research, it must be

Bulimia Nervosa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bulimia Nervosa - Essay Example Social compulsions of trying to maintain a slim body have resulted in abnormal diet patterns. These abnormal diets have found acceptance in modern societies and this has led to bulimic behavior in the sub-clinical form. There can be no denying that the desire to remain thin, by attempting to restrict weight, is the trigger for the disorder. Bulimia has an effect on the emotions of the individual with the disorder and prevents the experiencing of uneasy feelings owing to the bulimic behavior. This is a paradox, as bulimia is the cause of their out of control behavior, and yet, is the only means for feeling that they are in control of the situation. The inherent dread of remaining without this protection is the reason that the bulimic behavior is maintained and gradually increases in severity to hold sway over all other emotional experiences. Diagnosis of bulimia nervous is not an easy task, as the bulimic individual tends to hide the disorder. All the same, there are several symptoms that indicate the disorder. Recurrently occurring binge eating is the first. Binge eating may be considered as the consuming of an amount of food, during a specific period of time that is definitely larger than is normal for most people during the same period given, given that the circumstances are similar. The next symptom is that during the binge-eating episode, the individual displays a lack of control on what or how much is being consumed. (McGilley, M.B., and Pryor, L.T. (1998). Assessment and Treatment of Bulimia Nervosa).

Pfizer Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pfizer - Research Paper Example The company was an instant success and by the start of the 20th century, the sales had peaked more than 3 billion dollars (Rodengen, 1999). The drugs of the company reach to almost every country of the world. Currently, the company employs more than 0.1 million people worldwide (Mennen, 2010). During the First World War, the company played an important role in supplying drugs, specially, penicillin for the Allied forces. However, towards the 1940s, penicillin, which was the prime product of the company, became a common drug and its prices went down, therefore, Pfizer decided to search for alternative drugs. During this time, the company decided to maintain a harmony between its manufacturing and research operations. It was during the 1950s and beyond that, the company focused on international expansions quickly moving to attractive markets such as Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Turkey, United Kingdom, and others (Rodengen, 1999). Feldene (piroxicam) became the first medicine of Pfizer, which was able to hit the 1 billion sales mark in the United States. Despite the fact that the company has suffered from four legal claims from the US Department of Justice, which have created fines, which remain largest for any health care company in the United States, the company still appears to be in good financial shape and sufficient liquidity as well (Mennen, 2010). â€Å"Lipitor Lyrica, Celebrex, Norvasc, Viagra, Xalatan/Xalacom, Detrol/Detrol LA, Zyvox, Geodon/Zeldox, Sutent, and Genotropin are the highest revenue generating drugs for the company† (Pfizer, 2011). Currently, Ian Read, who serves as the President and the Chief Executive Officer of the company at the same time, is leading the company. For the last year of 2010, Pfizer has a gross profit margin of 76.81 percent and a net profit margin of 12.56 percent. With more than 7.9 billion shares outstanding, it has a market capitalization of 165.29 billion US dollars (Pfizer, 2011). Currently, as of the last financial r eports of 2010, the company appears to be in good financial shape when the market place is suffering from a financial crunch. Towards the end of the year 2010, the company declared that it would pay a dividend of 20 cent per common stock for the first quarter of 2011 (Msn Money, 2011). This is an 11 percent increase from last year and would be the 289th consecutive dividend payout, which is a manifestation of the company’s commitment with its shareholders and earning them a decent return on their investment (Sander, 2010). Another poof of company’s good financial health is the recent wave of merges and acquisitions, which would definitely improve the industry structure by decreasing the rivalry and making the company an even bigger giant. In January 2009, Pfizer acquired Wyeth, a strong rival for around sixty-eight billion US dollars (Sander, 2010). This remains the second biggest merger in the corporate history and makes Pfizer the largest pharmaceutical company on th e globe. Pfizer also agreed to buy â€Å"King Pharmaceuticals in the fall of 2010 for 3.6 billion US dollars, which is nearly 40 percent premium considering the last share price† (Pfizer, 2011). Pfizer was the only company in the year 2009 to introduce 14 new blockbuster products and according to the reports of 2010,

A Systematic Comparison Between Traditional and Agile Methods Essay

A Systematic Comparison Between Traditional and Agile Methods - Essay Example Project management is a methodical technique to managing and scheduling project resources and tasks from inauguration to completion. However, these tasks and resources are separated into five stages, i.e. initiation, planning, executing, controlling, and completion or termination of the project. In fact, this standard format of the project management can be used for almost every kind of project, in view of the fact that its basic purpose is to systematize the different processes of project development (Kerzner, 2006; Haughey, 2009; TechTarget, 2008). Normally, the project management techniques are classified into two categories: traditional project management and agile project management. In traditional project management, project plans and cost estimates are normally developed once, in a front-loaded mode, and the remaining activities of a project involve adjusting to reality. On the other hand, in agile project management, every iteration is an opportunity to go back over the plan and adjust to reality for the next iteration (Freedman, 2010). Traditional project management approaches Traditional project management works fine for a lot of projects and environments. Actually, traditional project management makes use of the traditional tools and techniques for management and solving problems. In simple words, â€Å"the traditional project management is 'a collection of tools and techniques that can be used to perform an operation that seeks an end product, outcome, or a service†. These traditional tools and techniques can include the use of PERT chart and Gantt chart to estimate the schedule or plan the project (TutorialsPoint, 2012). The major advantage of the traditional project management methods is that they are plan driven and they follow a sequence and management approach to project development. Thus, the use of the traditional project management methods allows completing a complex project in a sequential phase wise manner where all the requirements are collected and approved at the beginning. And on the basis of these requirements software design is completed next and finally master design is executed to build high quality software. Another advantage of the traditional software development methods is they are very well-organized and purposeful planning and control methods. These methods allow us to recognize the distinct project life cycles (Rehman et al., 2010; Szalvay, 2004; Serena, 2007). Despite a lot of advantages associated with these methods, they have certain drawbacks as well. According to these methods, all the project requirements must be completed and approved before the project is initialized. On the other hand, in case of a large size and complex projects it is not possible to collect all the requirements before beginning the project. Hence, we will need to make some changes to the project requirements which will change design and as a result the entire project development will be affected (Rehman et al., 2010; Szalvay, 2004; Serena, 2007). In addition, the traditional project management methods are aimed at dealing with large size development projects, and the issues and challenges in determining and handling these endeavours to effectively carry results. Additionally, these methods were a great deal

Findlay University Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Findlay University Education - Research Paper Example The main reason as to why they choose this type of classes was because of time flexibility. More than 18 students agreed that online classes were very flexible, in regard to time management. The need to allocate time for family is another reason as to why these people chose online classes. 5 students who participated in this research gave it as their main motivating factor. Another interesting statistics whereby two students agreed that time for work is a factor in choosing to attend online classes. Another two students agreed that transportation costs were a motivator in choosing online classes. Figure four explains the factors that made students to choose blended classes. Time flexibility was also the main factor chosen by students. This reason was advanced by 19 students. Family time and need of interacting with an instructor were other motivating reasons, and each stood at 4 students each. By looking at this study, I can denote that the results support my hypotheses. It is clear that students would prefer to attend face to face classes, as opposed to other modes of learning. The figures contained in this study give reasons as to why this preference. The main motivating factor is interactions with the instructor, and classroom discussions. In my own opinion, students gave these reasons because they are eager to learn in class, and to them, the best method of understanding the various concepts in class is to interact with the instructors and their fellow students.... From these results, group work is the list motivating factor that made students to choose face to face mode of learning. Figure 3 on the other hand gives an explanation on the various motivating factors that affects students who choose to attend online classes. The main reason as to why they choose this type of classes was because of time flexibility. More than 18 students agreed that online classes were very flexible, in regard to time management. The need to allocate time for family is another reason as to why these people chose online classes. 5 students who participated in this research gave it as their main motivating factor. Another interesting statistics whereby two students agreed that time for work is a factor in choosing to attend online classes. Another two students agreed that transportation costs were a motivator in choosing online classes. Figure four explains the factors that made students to choose blended classes. Time flexibility was also the main factor chosen by s tudents. This reason was advanced by 19 students. Family time, and need of interacting with an instructor were other motivating reasons, and each stood at 4 students each. By looking at this study, I can denote that the results support my hypotheses. It is clear that students would prefer to attend face to face classes, as opposed to other modes of learning. The figures contained in this study give reasons as to why these preference. The main motivating factor is interactions with the instructor, and classroom discussions. In my own opinion, students gave these reasons because they are eager to learn in class, and to them, the best method of understanding the various concepts in class, is to interact with the instructors and their fellow students.

Educational goals and rationale for those goals plus short annottated Essay

Educational goals and rationale for those goals plus short annottated bibliography - Essay Example Moreover, it is not necessary that two person who got the same training may have similar knowledge on a particular topic. This is purely because of the differences intelligence and learning styles. Entwistle (1986) has classified learning into three major categories; deep, surface, and strategic (Entwistle, 1986). In other words, some people may acquire only the surface level knowledge whereas others may acquire in depth knowledge. A third segment of people may consider their learning as a strategy to obtain some professional excellence or career goals. In any case, learning or education will never be a waste for anybody in their life. This paper briefly analyses the goals and rationale of education. â€Å"The best way for a person to learn depends on the person, of course† (Understanding Different Learning Styles, n. d) One of the major goals of education is to assist the students in their learning styles and to improve their skills in all areas, specifically in science. Diff erent students may have different intelligence levels and learning styles. In such situations, the teacher should try to provide individualized learning atmosphere for the students. Teachers should assess the learning styles of their students and make necessary changes in their teaching styles. For example, some students may find it easy to grasp when the teacher was able to connect the topic with familiar life situations. In some other cases, students develop curiosity when the teacher was able to develop a particular topic from a known situation to unknown situation. Many students like the problem solving method of learning. In any case, the teacher should be able flexible in his teaching methods to cater the needs of all the students in the class. Scientific knowledge is essential for rational thinking or critical thinking. Critical thinking is the much needed quality to enhance learning. In the absence of critical thinking, students will get only the surface level knowledge abou t a particular topic. As the name implies, surface learning helps a person to learn a topic only at the surface level. The learner may not penetrate deep into the roots of the knowledge in such cases. For example, the knowledge â€Å"Atom is the smallest element of matter† is only a surface level knowledge. On the other hand, if the student was able to analyze why atom became the smallest element, what are the constituents of atom, structure of atom, various internal and external forces which bind atoms together in the molecule etc, the student will get in-depth knowledge about the particular topic atom. The goals of education are to provoke such critical thinking abilities in the minds of the students. The third major goal of education is to improve the academic skills of the students. This can be done through a variety of methods. Technology is developing rapidly and these technological developments can help students to improve their academic skills. For example, earlier, s tudents relied on published books for getting more details about a particular topic. However, the introduction of internet has changed the whole scenario. Now students look into the internet first to get specialized knowledge about any topics. The students should be given adequate training in using modern technologies to enhance their learning potentials. Another goal of education

Examination the differences between the ethical and conventional Research Paper

Examination the differences between the ethical and conventional investment mutual funds - Research Paper Example This led to investors’ social awareness; thus, the concept was to make sure that any form of investment followed ethical criteria. This led to the creation of ethically managed investment funds that have been steadily increasing and represent a large amount of money invested in a country like the United States. About 12% of funds that are being professionally managed are part of a socially responsible mutual fund or of other private portfolios. The fact that there is a very large amount of money invested in this manner has led researchers to attempt to answer the question whether these ethical investment mutual funds are more expensive to run and perform better than the other conventional investment mutual funds. Initial research shows that the ethical investment mutual funds do not invest as widely as the conventional ones. However, there is no major difference between the amounts of money earned by the ethical investment mutual funds when compared to the conventional ones (D iltz, 1995). Statistics also showed that there is no difference in the areas that the two types of investment mutual funds tend to invest in (Sauer, 1997). Most of the evidence necessary to make the important comparisons between the two types of investment mutual funds is mostly found in the United States and the United Kingdom. Additionally, there is no pattern of investment that can conclusively determine the differences between the two types of investment mutual funds. However, when the ethical investment mutual funds are compared according to investment in small companies with the other non-ethical ones, a bias is found (Luther & Matatko, 1994). It showed that the ethical funds were the better performing and earned more than the conventional ones in these small companies. A different study that was conducted by Mallin et al. (1995) attempted to erase the problem of the benchmark that was set on the small companies and the investment by the ethical investment mutual funds. In thi s study, they considered the size of the ethical fund and the date that it was created. A method of statistics referred to as the Jensen’s alpha was used to analyze their findings. They concluded that ethical funds outperform the other funds using this criterion. The small cap bias that was cited by Luther and Matatko (1994) and that Mallin et al. (1995) attempted to correct led to further research by Luther and Matatko which concluded that using the size of the fund and applying the 2-factor Jensen’s alpha method; there was no conclusive evidence that reflected a difference in the financial performance of both investment mutual funds and that the small cap bias still existed. The study of the differences between the two types of investment mutual funds was complicated at this point. It was further complicated when Dibartolomeo (1996) and Kurtz (1997) claimed that the better performance of the ethical investment mutual funds was due to â€Å"large-cap growth exposures † and not due to the social factors essentially considered. This presented further biases attributed to sector and style. The purpose of this paper is to examine subsequent research in order to uncover the differences between the ethical investment mutual funds and the conventional investment mutual funds in order to determine whether the former performs better than the latter. This paper will not aim to discredit any research conducted, nor will it seek to be investigative but it will simply

Strategies and Business Models Essay Example for Free

Strategies and Business Models Essay The article which is associated with strategic business model is titled Portal Economics and Business Models. The article asserts that strategic business model is all about the nature in which a business works. Business model is normally used in the explanation of the modus operandi. The option will be used in the explanation of marketing, supply, finance, strategies and the operations of the business, which will work together to a cohesive success plan. The company will use this as a way of fitting into the market and continuing to thrive within the set standards of the region. The external and Internal Environment The article to be reviewed in relation to internal and external environment is titled Multimodality and Environment Semantics. The article indicates that the importance of having an internal and external business environment is to understand the nature in which things are running in the business from all directions. Internal business environment is all about understanding the factors within the organization, which interfere with the success and the approach of the operations. The external factors usually come into play when understanding the nature in which tings run outside the organization and sometimes one does not have control over them. The company can deal with this through managing the internal operations and understanding the threats and opportunities that are outside the operations of the business. Product Differentiation The article on Product differentiation titled Handbook of Industrial Organization indicates that an organization would have to deal with product differentiation through distinguishing the products that have the same capabilities in the market. The strategy is normally used to gain advantage of the market that is being dominated by large companies. References Wall Street Journal (Firm), Langdon, C. S., Bau, A. S. (January 01, 2007). Portal Economics and Business Models. New York, NY: Simon Schuster. Pg 5 Wall Street Journal (Firm), Pittarello, F., Cementano, A. (January 01, 2009). Multimodality and Environment Semantics. New York, NY: Simon Schuster. Pg 23 Wall Street Journal, Eaton, B. C., Lipsey, R. G. (n.d.). Product differentiation. Handbook of Industrial Organization, 1 / Edited by Richard Schmalensee and Robert D. Willig. Pg 3 Source document

Costing a Building Construction Project

Costing a Building Construction Project SALUM NASSOR MOHAMED Task 1 Identify and further describe any five (3) components of cost in the building construction? Cost is a calculation which can be calculated by evaluating the actual cost which is paid by the client or the contraction industries. The cost of building construction is the process of adding structure to real property. All building construction projects include some elements in common – design, financial, estimating and legal considerations. However, the commercial of building construction is procured privately by various delivery methodologies, including cost estimating, profit, price and management contracting, In addition, there are some components of cost in the building construction. These are; Cost of profit. Cost of overheard. Cost of material. COST OF PROFIT. Profit is the amount of financial reward which base on the contractor aim that achieves the risk which take during the meeting of construction work. Example, Profit = Total sales – Total cost. Perhaps, cost of profit can be define as the major component of cost which variable change during in work or in discussion of the cost between the client and contractor. However, this component of cost is important source of finance for business like; construction work, which earned amount of financial in a company. This is known as retained profit. For example, the higher the risk the more profit is needed, this profit is varies according to the types of construction risk and the time of construction, therefore when the contractor take a more risk in the work and time the cost of profit will be needed to the construction work. COST OF OVERHEAD. One among the component of cost in a building construction are cost of overhear, which can be define as the cost of resources which is used by an organization just to maintain its existence. Although, the awareness of cost overhead is important for more than just knowing how much profit is being made. Usually, cost of overhead is measured in monetary terms, but non-monetary overhead is possible in the form of time required to accomplish tasks. For examples, salaries, maintenance, utility, rent and production expenses. In addition, the total overhead is calculated by % basic and as lump sum between 5 – 10% of total component of cost. Furthermore, the cost of overhead is divided into two categories. These are Fixed cost. Variable cost. Fixed cost. Fixed cost is the one among the categories of overhead cost which deals in a salary of administrative staff which is include the contribution and allowance, rent and taxes on the office. This is usually occurring in short period time. Variable cost. This variable cost is the categories of overhead cost that change according to a crease or decrease in the work. For example, interest, rate, loans, and director’s salary which is based on rate of profit. COST OF MATERIAL. Cost of material is the amount of money invested in the production of a product. Also it can be define as the cost of materials which can be easily identified with the unit of production. A contractor must submit his own material cost in the measured rate analysis. For example, the cost of glass is a pure materials cost in light bulb manufacturing. This manufacturing’s of products are good required material as the prime element. In general, these materials are divided into two categories. These categories are; Direct materials. Indirect materials. In addition, material cost includes this cost; Basic cost of material which is bought by manufacturer or supplier. Transportation, which deals about the cost of transport material to site, and some time it’s depend on how long will take to there (distance and time). Unloading and storage of material, the cost must be taken into consideration in overall cost. For example, if the site is inaccessible, the contractor will incur additional cost of material and send to the site. (b) There are many sources of cost data in construction industry. Do some research and identify the main sources of cost data that available in Malaysia. Cost data is every important in control construction activities, this is critical data which is used to establish whether the estimate is reasonable or not. The main sources of cost data are; Cost planning during design. Contract estimating for tendering purpose. Cost planning during design. Cost planning is mostly referred to the designing to a cost or target cost planning since a cost limit is fixed for the scheme and the architect must then prepare a design not to exceed this cost. ‘’Is a typically for buildings, which enables the cost of a scheme to be monitored during design development’’ this known as cost planning during design. Cost planning ensures the amount of money which including the requirement for the building and construction industry. During the design cost planning is allow the options to be analysed and may be required to determine best value for money by assessing recurrent costs. The cost planning and analysis may include a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis or cost-effectiveness analysis for the contractor and client requirements. For example, when the contractor and architect are determine the total cost of the project and design that ensure the estimated cost produce are close. Contract estimating for tendering purpose. Contract estimating for tendering purpose are the one of the purposes of cost data in construction industry which is control a contract operation especially in the interim payment and final accounting procedure. A full Estimating and Tendering solutions to all of the client in a construction industry including Main Contractors, Sub-Contractors and Private Clients, can be provide by Quantity Surveyors. For example, a cost reconciliation and speed up tender submission. In addition the purpose of producing a contract estimating tendering for the client can be classified into two (2) categories. These are; Budgeting This decides whether the project should proceed as envisaged. Controlling This uses the estimate as a control mechanism throughout (c) Discuss on the precautions should be adopted before attempting to use existing Cost Data and applying that to the new projects. Cost data are needed in the construction industries at different stages of sophistication for the theory and practice of building economics. For example, a contractor’s are required during the inception levels of the design process, so that they can provide clients with an indication of possible cost associated with a correct proposed construction project. These are precautions of cost data. These are; Prediction of cost. The prediction of cost can show both time and hourly rate that would be supplied to the other side at the first opportunity. Thus it would be sent with the letter of claim or with the defendant’s response to the letter of claim. Also this use of cost data (Prediction of cost) can be used to predict cost of information for example, cost of various buildings, element unit rate, equipment and schedule of rate in the bill of quantities. In this case the contractor can be use this form in order to estimate the whole cost of the project in a construction industries and he can also save in word excel. Comparison of cost. Comparison of cost is the ways which help a contractor and engineer to identify the correct cost of the project in construction industries. Also, this use of cost data is used to compare the cost of different building. In addition, the aim of the constructors when they applied this use of cost data is to make the best and beneficial comparison of a various item, element, tools and equipment of the building in different design. For example, this use of cost data, occur when the contractor is calculate the total cost of the building includes all the function, element, design and payment of all engineering, Architect, survey and etc. in last year and total cost of the building in this year, in order to compare the cost of the building. In this case the contractor can save the money in the next building. TASK 2 MR Ahmed is a project manager at GEDS Developer Sdn Bhd just realizes about the construction cost database is an importance sources of information for those who are directly or indirectly involved in the building industry. It is not only important to quality surveyors but also other disciplines such as architects, engineers, accountants, administrators, amongst other. He is seeking for your help to construct their own construction cost database. Define Gross Floor Area (GFA) and explain how the GFA is used to organize the construction cost database. Gross Floor Area (GFA) is the total amount of floor space in a building, â€Å"Gross Floor Area (GFA) is a real estate term referring to the total floor area inside the building envelope. Including the external walls and excluding the roof†. In the construction work Gross Floor Area is very important for determining rent and advertising with real estate companies and the acquiring building permits. For example, the area within the perimeter of the outside walls of a building can be measured from the inside surface of the exterior walls, with no designed for hallways, stairs, closets, thickness of walls, columns, or other interior features. Gross Floor Area (GFA) is a real estate term referring to the total floor area inside the building envelope. Including the external walls and excluding the roof. In addition, databases may exist in the form of physical files folders, documents, or formatted automated data processing system data files. According to the above scenario the main uses of Gross Floor Area (GFA) in a construction of cost database are shown as follow; Gross Floor Area (GFA) can be used as GLA, even though GLA usually excludes corridors and other public areas inside the development, while both figures include areas occupied by structure, like walls and columns. Gross Floor Area (GFA) in a construction of cost database is used to measure the length of the surface area or wall area, for example Balconies, this are intended to be covered semi-outdoor spaces. Covered balconies constitute gross floor area (GFA). Also the provision of balconies is encouraged to achieve the planning objective of enhancing the garden city ambience and promote greenery in the sky. The GFA of the balconies is allowed to be computed over and above the Master Plan control, However, this would not apply to existing developments whose building form, height or use are not in accordance with the planning intention as indicated in the Master Plan, Building Height Plan or Special and Detailed Control Plan. Suggest and display the format and the construction cost database. Cost database is an organization or collection of cost data. In addition, database means a collection of data fields that make up a record. This information is easily updated and edited. A contractor can create charts for the construction work using the records of a database. The term database is correctly applied to the data and their supporting data structures, and not to the database management system (DBMS). The database data collection with DBMS is called a database system. Although, a database can provide the ITS professional community with quick and easy access to costs data to be used in developing cost estimates of ITS deployments. For example; entries of unit cost components have been compiled from available sources and provided in table format. Perhaps, when you base the above scenario there are so many format of cost database in a construction industry. One among those is; Bill of Quantities (BOQ). Bill of quantities (BOQ) is a document which is used in tendering in the construction industry in which materials, parts, and labour and their costs are itemized. Also it (BOQ) can be define as â€Å"the major source of cost information that must be used with the great care as the rates between 2 BQ for the same project that will show a considerable variation for may item†. This bill of quantities can be proceed and prepare by the quantity surveyors and is the one among the source of development of Quantities surveyor’s as a separate profession. Bills of quantities may prevent contractors from developing effective cost control systems. However bill of quantities can be prepare by a taking of process in which the cost of building and the structure of the building are estimated for measurement in the structural engineer drawing, this form can be used to create a cost estimate, for example in regard to the square are in meter of wall and roofs. TASK 3 Define Price Analysis Cost Analysis Elemental cost analysis Price Analysis Price analysis is an evaluation of a proposed price without analysing any of the separation of the cost element. Also this is essentially price comparison. In addition this price analysis is used or applied whenever the estimator comparing lump sum price. Example of price analysis, comparisons of prospective bidders in the current procurement. Cost Analysis Cost analysis is an evaluation of a separate material that make up a contractor’s total cost proposal or price to determine if they are allowable, directed related to the requirement and ultimately, reasonable. For example, labour and material cost. This cost analysis is needed by using a competitive proposal method of contracting like Survey, Engineering or Architect services, also this method are required to submit a cost proposal that identify all element of cost, example, material, labour, profit and overheard cost. Elemental cost analysis: is an arrangement of Cost analysis and Cost control, commonly for structures, which empowers the expense of a plan to be checked throughout outline improvement. Describe the FIVE (5) principle of cost analysis The main aim of cost analysis is to provide cost centers for the work under examination. The Standard Form of Cost Analysis for building projects is used throughout the UK to provide data which allows comparisons to be made between the costs of achieving various building functions in one project with that of achieving equivalent functions in other projects. In addition the standard forms of cost analysis to identify the major cost items for the project cost manager to address himself. There are 5 principles of cost analysis Building within a project shall be analyzed separately. Analysis should be in stages with each stage giving progressively more details; the total detailed costs in each stage should equally the cost the relevant group in the proceeding stage. Information shall be provided to facilitate the preparation of estimates based on abbreviated. Preliminaries shall be dealt with as a separate item (not apportioned amongst elements). Lump sum adjustment shall be spread pro-rate amongst all elements if the buildings and external works, excluding prime cost sum and the provisional sum contained within the elements. In addition the principle of cost analysis is; â€Å"if the material increase also the cost will be increase†. This show that cost is increase when the material are high quality. Also â€Å"An element should be easy definable and capable of having the appropriate costs allocated against it with a minimum of effort on the part of the user†. However the analysis of cost should bring out those features in different building which bear most heavily upon cost, also the qualitative aspect of the project should be expressed by means of reference to accompanying specification notes. For example, after soliciting competitive sealed bids, one receives only on bid, and it differs substantially from one independent estimate of the contract price. In that case, one must obtain a cost breakdown of the single bid price and use cost principle to determine if that price is reasonable. (C) Describe the contents of cost analysis. (i) Complete contract document: in order for the cost to be analysed it must be prepared in the form of full document. (ii) Quantity factors and other working drawings and specification to calculate the quantity: if we want to make this cost analysis we in order for it to be done we must sketch first and we must calculate Tender report- in the cost analysis we must have a special report we it can show the information regarding the market, and the numbers of tenders etc. Manual for preparing cost analysis. Cost analysis if its prepared by manually it will be good because someone concentrate on doing it Standard form of cost analysis: in making the cost analysis everything in the project must be standard. References Ashworth, A. (2004).Cost studies of buildings. 1st ed. Harlow, England: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Hillebrandt, P. (1974).Economic theory and the construction industry. 1st ed. [London]: Macmillan [Distributed in the U.S. by Halsted Press, New York. Langston, C. (2005).Life-cost approach to building evaluation. 1st ed. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. Myers, D. (2004).Construction economics. 1st ed. New York: Spon Press. Smith, J. and Jaggar, D. (2007).Building cost planning for the design team. 1st ed. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Essay --

The main objective of this study is to clarify the impact of the over expressing protein p7. Cells used had completed the amitotic stage but not the cytokinesis. Since the protein was previously shown to bind GFP and myosin of Tetrahymena thermophila, it was immunostained with anti-myo1 to acquire immunofluoresence images. Macronucleous undergoes amitosis where the intramacronulcear microtubules form lines. It is common in MYO1 and in overexpression of GFP-tagged MYO1 that these lines don't work properly in macronuclear elongation which lead to unequal division of macronucleus. Although, there is co localization of GFP-p7 with antitubulin to intramacronuclear microtubules, it is not regulated enough. At the beginning of GFP-P7 over expression the cells are directed randomly on the intramacronuclear microtubules, they don’t form the parallel array since the macronuclei did not achieve full elongation. Then the macronuclear division in overexpressiong cells was either unequal o r inhibited. Introduction The experiment is based on Myo1 which has a MyTH4 and a FERM domain. Myo1 knockout strain affects both mitosis and amitosis which occurs in Tetrahymena in the same cell but different nuclei. Some micronucleus divide with spindles fibers while others divide without spindle fibers. The intramacronuclear microtubules shape array directed parallel to the axis of macronuclear elongation in amitosis (Williams & Williams, 1976). Macronuclear elongates along with the elongation intramacronuclear microtubules. The elongated macronucleus can enlarge the length of the cell borders through cytoplamic microtubules. Subnuclei are formed due to constriction of nucleus at its midpoint. Although these parallel arrays work as a spindle, nu... ...peron is a major factor that determine normal or abnormal functioning of the protein upon its formation even though other processes referred to as post translational modification plays a necessary process (Aufderhide, 1979). From the observation below, the GFP tagged p7 colocalize within the live cells. Production of an intense GFP means that the protein aggregated more to the cell body. This means that the protein has an increased potential for the cell membrane. Analysis of the cells was based on Leitz wetzlar epifluoresence using LAS as software that gave the images shown below. A protein has a feature like cyclin-like, binds to GFP and myosin of Tetrahymena Thermophila. This study also compliments previous studies that in fact the molecular mass is 7 kDa, which has the ability of processing cyclin-like protein can bind to Myo1 and GFP (Ejercito & Wolfe, 2003).

Emerson And Thoreau Essay -- essays research papers

“Dance to the beat of your own drummer:'; A piece of advice that I have been told my whole life, and have tried my hardest to follow. The words were taken from Thoreau’s quote, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.';   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau changed our lives. How? Well, the answer is not so simple as the statement. To understand fully how they affected our lives, we have to understand the philosophy of Emerson and Thoreau, and the relationship between the two. So let’s begin with the relationship between Emerson and Thoreau.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emerson was born in 1803, into a family of ministers. He went to Harvard where he studied theology and philosophy, among other subjects. It was at Harvard where Emerson discovered transendentalism, and his career shifted paths. He started to give lectures on his philosophy of life and the human spirit. It was at one of these lectures that a young, influential man by the name Thoreau first was introduced to Emerson.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thoreau, born in 1817, was the son of a pencil maker. His mother ran a boarding house where she hosted many of the intellectuals of their time. Thoreau attended Harvard as well, and that was where he was introduced to Emerson. He became fascinated with Emerson’s philosophy while sitting in o...

AI :: essays research papers

INTRODUCTION Ever since I have read turing test, AI and robotics have always fascinated me. I always wondered how a computer can compete human intelligence. When the first robot, its name, was commercially launched my fascination turned into the passion to take up research in the subject. Thus, I took up AI & Robotics as my research topic. AI is a branch of computer science, which deals with the study, and creation of computer systems that exhibit some kind of intelligence. Intelligent behaviour involves perception, reasoning, learning, communicating, and acting in complex environments. Ai makes use of the human responses, facts and the data from the real world in different situations to make intelligent systems known as Knowledge Based Systems. The field of cognitive science overlaps AI. Cognitive scientists study the nature of intelligence from a psychological point of view, mostly building computer models that help elucidate what happens in our brains during problem solving, remembering, perceiving, and other psychological processes. One major contribution of AI and cognitive science to psychology has been the information processing model of human thinking in which the metaphor of brain-as-computer is taken quite literally. One of major branch of Ai is robotics. A robot is a mechanical device that is programmed to perform using the knowledge, facts and results from either its past experiences or its environment (i-robots). EVOLUTION OF ROBOTS We humans tend to make errors with increasing fatigue. Humans are not capable of working for prolonged hours without taking breaks and hence are not flexible. The idea behind the creation of robots was to create a machine that will do what we tell it. The machine which could perform work with accuracy, and in no time. Also a machine which could do the repetitive jobs of humans without getting tired. Robots were developed keeping in mind that they wont be having any emotions. It would be a simple machine that could move like humans, have arms and legs, grasp things and do work. A machine that works by remote control, like a machine that can be programmed to do. Robots, are as flexible as they can be. One can program them to work 24X7 without taking breaks. HOW AI AND ROBOTICS IS RELATED Robot is a complex structure of different mechanical parts, each part performing a specified function. These parts work in accordance to achieve some predefined goals – construction and manufacturing process in industries, helping humans in daily lives etc.

Ap Euro Review Packet

Ap Packet page 6 D. English Civil War 1. Political- One of the causes was Charles’s I unsuccessful attempt to arrest five members of Parliament, known as the Grand Remonstrance, on January 4, 1642. Another cause was who should have the power in the country and inflation forced up prices in all parts of Europe. An effect would be that England became a Commonwealth and a Protectorate. Parliamentary supremacy was another effect. 2. Religious-One of the causes was that the Puritans, sought to do away with bishops and revise the Prayer book; Charles fought against them. The main cause was over religion in which the puritans accused Charles and Laud of leaning towards Roman Catholicism. Effects are the protestant church established and religious toleration. E. Glorious Revolution 1. Social- The Glorious Revolution changed England socially because Mary and William allow the people to have a say in politics and religious toleration with the Toleration Act. 2. Political- It changed England by having William and Mary sign the Bill of Rights. This made England a Constitutional Monarchy. A constitutional monarchy acknowledges the monarch as the official head of state but the real power is in the hands of the parliament. F. 1. Stuarts The House of Stuart is a European royal house. It was founded by Robert II of Scotland, and the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland. Their patrilineal ancestors had held the title High Steward of Scotland since the 12th century, after arriving by way of Norman England. The dynasty inherited further territory by the 17th century which covered the entire British Isles, including the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Ireland, also upholding a claim to the Kingdom of France. The significance of the Stuarts is that they were the first kings of the United Kingdom and that they brought disaster to England. 2. Whigs The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule. Both parties began as loose groupings or tendencies, but became quite formal by 1784, with the ascension of Charles James Fox as the leader of a reconstituted â€Å"Whig† party ranged against the governing party of the new â€Å"Tories† under William Pitt the Younger. Both parties were founded on rich politicians, more than on popular votes; there were elections to the House of Commons, but a small number of men controlled most of the voters. The significance of the Whigs is that the Whigs political program came to encompass not only the supremacy of parliament over the monarch and support for free trade, but Catholic emancipation, the abolition of slavery and expansion of the franchise. 3. Tories In the 17th century it had become a term applied to monarchists in the House of Commons. By the 18th century the Tories were politicians who favored royal authority, the established church and who sought to preserve the traditional political structure and opposed parliamentary reform. After 1834 this political group in the House of Commons preferred to use the term Conservative. The significance of the Tories was that they emerged to uphold the legitimist rights of James, Duke of York to succeed his brother Charles II to the British throne. G. 1. Politique is a term that was used during the sixteenth and seventeenth century Wars of Religion, to describe moderates of both religious faiths (Huguenots and Catholics) who held that only the restoration of a strong monarchy could save France from total collapse. It frequently included a pejorative connotation of moral or religious indifference. The term gained great currency after 1568 with the appearance of radical Catholic Leagues calling for the eradication of Protestantism in France, and by 1588 the politique were seen by detractors as an organized group, and treated as worse than heretics. 2. Henry IV was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France. As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the Wars of Religion before ascending the throne in 1589. Before his coronation as King of France at Chartres, he changed his faith from Calvinism to Catholicism and, in 1598, he enacted the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious liberties to the Protestants, thereby effectively ending the civil war. One of the most popular French kings, both during and after his reign, Henry showed great care for the welfare of his subjects and displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the time. By him granting religious liberties to the Protestants he was helping establishing a modern state in France. 3. Cardinal Richelieu was consecrated as a bishop in 1608, he later entered politics, becoming a Secretary of State in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a Cardinal in 1622, and King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. The Cardinal de Richelieu was often known by the title of the King's â€Å"Chief Minister† or â€Å"First Minister†. As a result, he is considered to be the world's first Prime Minister, in the modern sense of the term. He sought to consolidate royal power and crush domestic factions. By restraining the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strong, centralized state. His chief foreign policy objective was to check the power of the Austro-Spanish Habsburg dynasty, and to ensure French dominance in the Thirty Years' War that engulfed Europe. Although he was a cardinal, he did not hesitate to make alliances with Protestant rulers in attempting to achieve his goals. By doing all of this he was helping establish a modern state. 4. Cardinal Mazarin was a French-Italian cardinal, diplomat, and politician, who served as the chief minister of France from 1642 until his death. Mazarin succeeded his mentor, Cardinal Richelieu. He was a noted collector of art and jewels, particularly diamonds, and he bequeathed the â€Å"Mazarin diamonds† to Louis XIV in 1661, some of which remain in the collection of the Louvre museum in Paris. His personal library was the origin of the Bibliotheque Mazarine in Paris. He helps establish the basis for a modern state in France by following in Richelieu policies. . The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The Fronde was divided into two campaigns, the Fronde of the parliaments and the Fronde of the nobles. The timing of the outbreak of the Fronde des parliaments, directly after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) that ended the Thirty Years War, was significant. The nuclei of armed bands under aristocratic leader s that terrorized parts of France had been hardened in a generation of war in Germany where troops still tended to operate autonomously. Louis XIV, impressed as a young ruler with the experience of the Fronde, came to reorganize French fighting forces under a stricter hierarchy whose leaders ultimately could be made or unmade by the King. Thus the Fronde finally resulted in the disempowerment of the territorial aristocracy and the emergence of absolute monarchy. They help establish the basis for a modern state in France by strength the crown since it made people realized that it was better to be ruled by a strong king then to be dominated by competing and contentious noblemen. . Louis XIV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. He ruled France as an absolute monarch by declaring that â€Å"I am the state†. The experience of the Fronde taught him to distrust the nobles. He believed in the divine right of king provided the justification for absolute monarchy. He was smart enough to create Versailles in order to keep a track of the nobles. He help establish the basis for a modern state by pr oviding a method on how to keep the nobles content and thus make them not revolt against the king. 7. Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing and bringing the economy back from the brink of bankruptcy. Historians note that, despite Colbert's efforts, France actually became increasingly impoverished because of the King's excessive spending on wars. Colbert worked to create a favorable balance of trade and increase France's colonial holdings. Colbert's plan was to build a general academy. Colbert's market reforms included the foundation of the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs in 1665 to supplant the importation of Venetian glass and to encourage the technical expertise of Flemish cloth manufacturing in France. He also founded royal tapestry works at Gobelins and supported those at Beauvais. Colbert worked to develop the domestic economy by raising tariffs and by encouraging major public works projects. Colbert also worked to ensure that the French East India Company had access to foreign markets, so that they could always obtain coffee, cotton, dyewoods, fur, pepper, and sugar. In addition, Colbert founded the French merchant marine. Colbert issued more than 150 edicts to regulate the guilds. One such law had the intention of improving the quality of cloth. The edict declared that if the authorities found a merchant's cloth unsatisfactory on three separate occasions, they were to tie him to a post with the cloth attached to him. He establishes the basis for a way to improve economy so that the people can get jobs thus helping reducing the unemployment rate in France.

Footwear Industry Analysis Essay

When you wake up and get dressed every morning, one of the first decisions you make is what shoes you will wear that day. Depending on the weather and the level of professionalism you are perceived to demonstrate, you make your decision. The footwear industry is a large and ever changing industry that caters to the needs of everyone. Although in some parts of the world people are lucky to have one pair of shoes, many people, including myself, have somewhere around 50-100 pairs, each serving a unique purpose. Recently, market trends have shown that the global footwear industry has grown at an average rate of 4.4%, and is expected to continue this growth well into the future. The footwear industry is segmented into four different geographic regions, Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. The Americas account for 38.2% of the industry, Europe 38.1%, Asia-Pacific 19.7, and Middle East & Africa only 4% combined. This shows that the majority of the revenue for the market is generated in the Americas and Europe combined. The market distribution ranges from clothing, footwear and sportswear retailers, department stores, hypermarket, supermarket and discounters as well as other channels. The five forces driving competition in the global footwear industry are buyer power, supplier power, new entrants, substitutes, and the degree of rivalry. Although the industry is very large, it is dominated by intense rivalry between large retail groups. Since footwear is considered a necessity among most humans, the overall sales volumes are generally high, reducing buyer power. The majority of the footwear industry is manufactured in low-cost areas (usually South-East Asia); many other manufacturers can compete effectively within the market. Since the fixed costs for retail operations are low, the threat of new entrants are rather high, however many existing firms have significant economies of scale therefore threatening the growth of any new entrants. An important driving force of the footwear industry is buyer power. Although the high volume of sales in the footwear industry reduce buyer power by a large volume, buyers still have some power. Mainly buyer independence, low-cost s witching, price sensitivity, and tendency to switch, product dispensability, and undifferentiated products drive buyer power. There is a  high degree of differentiation within the market since footwear ranges from fashion, athletic, and fully functional industries. This allows each sub-industry to target each individual on a different level, which therefore reduces buyer-switching power between brands, since each brand holds different features from one another. Altogether, buyer power is considered moderate in the footwear industry. On the other hand, supplier power of the footwear industry is a major driving force as well. Major factors of the supplier power include differentiated input, importance of quality/cost, no substitute inputs, player independence, supplier size and switching costs. Since the majority of the footwear industry is manufactured in low-cost locations, many other locations are unable to compete in the market. Therefore causing these locations to offer highly differentiated products (high end designers and specialty products). Due to the high number of low-cost manufacturers, switchin g is increased and therefore supplier power decreases. Forward integration is also diminished since there are many well established brands within the industry. Altogether supplier power is also considered moderate in the footwear industry as well. Since fixed costs are low, the threat of new entrants is fairly high. However, since there are many well-established retail groups that have significant economies of scale, new entrants can rarely expand. The expansion of the online selling community can serve as a threat to new entrants due to the lack of knowledge the customer has about the company or product, on the other hand this is a great opportunity for growth and expansion of larger more well known companies. Other than a few specialty products, brand recognition in the overall industry is relatively low, which enhances the strength of new entrants. Combined with the low cost of manufacturing, the threat of new entrants in the footwear industry is considered strong. Another force that drives the footwear industry is the threat of subst itutes. A few factors that influence the threat of substitutes in the industry are beneficial alternatives, cheap alternatives and most importantly the low cost switching rate. Since footwear is considered a necessity, the threat of substitutes is relatively low. In less developed regions, such as the Middle East & Africa, consumers are likely to wear secondhand shoes and repair ones that they already own, therefore restrict sales in certain areas. Between the sub-industries there is a fair amount of substitutions, but the overall  industry cannot necessarily be substituted. The final driving force considered in the footwear industry is the degree of rivalry. Rivalry amongst competitors in the industry is driven by competitor size, ease of expansion, high exit barriers, lack of diversity, low switching costs, low fixed costs, the number of players as well as the similarity of these players, storage costs, undifferentiated products and zero sum game. Once again, the footwear industry is mainly composed of large retail groups of which posses a strong sense of rivalry. The low fixed costs allow smaller companies to exists within the industry and allows for expansion of output. In general, the rivalry between footwear retailers is considered mo derate. In conclusion, the five driving forces of the footwear industry do not have a significant power to overtake the industry itself, since in the end the industry is considered a necessity. The footwear industry is showing upwards trends of growth and expansion in the global perspective, and does not show signs of slowing down anytime soon. Although the threat of new entrants is fairly high, the expansion of the online community has supported the growth of established and well-known brands that exist today. There is not a real threat of substitutes for the industry since it is in fact a necessity, so the industry will always be there. Since many consumers have different preferences, the industry will continue to differentiate itself to better fit each target market. There will always be room for growth in this industry and overall it is a well-established and important industry to the global economy. Works Cited â€Å"Global Footwear Industry Profile.† Footwear Industry Profile: Global (2014): 1-29. Business Source Complete. Web. 29 Sept. 2014. Schmitz, Hubert. â€Å"Learning And Earning In Global Garment And Footwear Chains.† European Journal Of Development Research 18.4 (2006): 546-571. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

Taunted to Death and Bullied Girl Kills Herself †Compare and sontrast Essay

The two articles, ‘Taunted to Death’ and ‘Bullied Girl Kills Herself’, both report the same incident, which happened on Sunday 28th September 1997. The incident involved a young girl called Kelly Yeoman who killed herself. ‘Taunted to Death’ is the report from a tabloid newspaper, ‘The Daily Star’, and ‘Bullied Girl Kills Herself’ is from a broadsheet newspaper, ‘The Guardian’. Despite both articles reporting the same story, there are numerous important differences in layout, content and style. There is an enormous difference in the presentational features of the articles. The headline of the tabloid newspaper is bold and large. Compared to the article, the headline is twice the size. It is written in a white font on a black background to draw the reader’s attention to the paper; the effect of this is that they are reversed out, whereas the Guardian headline is small in comparison to the article although it is still in bold type. The headlines reflect the styles of the newspapers; they both have bold, plain lettering to create a greater impact on the reader. The difference between the two headlines is that the Daily Star headline ‘Taunted to Death’ is placing the blame on someone and the Guardian headline ‘Bullied Girl Kills Herself’ is mutual. The Daily Star has a greater impact because tabloid newspapers are approached differently in order to sensationalise the story, here ‘Taunted to Death’ is ‘headline grabbing’. The first two paragraphs of these articles summarise the contents of the article. The Daily Star tabloid ‘Taunted to Death’ uses an ample amount of emotive words to make the reader read on, ‘hate campaign’, whereas the Guardian is straight forward, telling the reader facts. Such as, Kelly was bullied about her weight, her parents were unemployed and she had reported to the school that she was being bullied. Such facts aren’t in the Daily Star. They are designed to evoke sympathy. The Guardian article is more factual but does use some emotive language, ‘terrorised’. The word ‘terrorised’ suggests that Kelly was being intimidated through violence. You can learn from the Guardian the gender and the age of the victim, ’13 year-old girl’, how she killed herself, ‘found dead yesterday in her bedroom after taking an overdose’, a possible reason why she took this course of action, ‘bullied at school and terrorised at home’ and the probable offenders responsible for the bullying, ‘a mob of youths’. Also, the Guardian shows the bigger picture as they raise social issues. The newspapers contain photographs of both Kelly and her mother, Julie. In the Daily Star, one of the photographs of Kelly is in juxtaposition with the headline; it is in a block and is as large as the text. This has causes great effect and impact because she looks like a vulnerable victim and it shows who the article is about which induces empathy from the reader. The two photographs of Kelly, one in each newspaper, are visibly presenting her at different ages. In the Daily Star Kelly looks younger, she is also wearing her Salvation Army uniform, this is to illustrate that she was an innocent young girl who looks very vulnerable. The Daily Star used this photograph because it is more personal. Also, Julie, Kelly’s mother, looks distraught in both articles; this demonstrates the impact of her daughter’s premature death. In the Guardian there is a picture of Kelly’s mother, Julie, standing outside their home, it is much larger than the one in the Daily Star and is larger than the text. This photograph is used to illustrate their family home and show that they were just an average family. Julie looks distressed in this photograph but not as much as the one in the Daily Star. They live in a council house and people associate council houses with rough neighbourhoods. In the Guardian the photo of Kelly’s mother is less dramatic than the one in the Daily Star. This is because the Daily Star is a sensational newspaper, they would have had a range of photographs to choose from and they decided to choose these specific ones to match the style of the paper. The Guardian takes a less emotive approach because it is impersonal and wants to remain neutral. The captions are longer in the Guardian whereas in the Daily Star they are shorter and the word ‘tearful’ is used to emphasise her mother’s intense grief. The fonts are different in both articles, the Guardian is written in the same font throughout, with no sub-headings, whereas the Daily Star has one sub-heading, ‘Hounded’, which is written in bold and in a different font to make it stand out and separate the quotations. The word ‘Hounded’ implies a chase and is metaphorical in the respect that it shows that she was bullied. Only two conversations are in bold and italic in the Daily Star. These two quotes’ are in bold because they are the most dramatic this is due to the fact that the newspaper wanted to highlight these quotations because they were from Kelly’s family, so they are focusing on the family’s emotions in order to create a sensational approach to the story. The Daily Star mainly consists of quotations and conversations to be evidence for the reader to how people are feeling to gain their sympathy. The quotations in the Daily Star are heart felt. â€Å"My daughter has been hounded to death. I don’t know why they did such things†. By using the word ‘hounded’, Kelly’s father is implying that his daughter was pursued and harassed. The article is comprised of mainly quotations from family members, so the reader can see how they have had to cope with the loss of their daughter, and so they are sympathetic. The quotes are melodramatic. â€Å"I’ve had enough of this. I’m going to take an overdose†. Kelly said this to her mother. The Daily Star concentrates on the attack and the suicide and has used these quotations from family members to create a sensational account. The Guardian only has a few quotes of family members and a great deal from outside agencies. Also, they are not as sympathetic but more forthright. â€Å"This is unacceptable. They should make sure children are safe-how many more must we lose as a result [of bullying]? † This is a quotation from Pauline Hasler, director of the Anti-Bullying Campaign. This is included in the article because the Guardian is impersonal as it just wants to remain mutual. Although in the Guardian, one quotation from Kelly’s father Ivan, shows strong emotion. â€Å"She was a bubbly, charming little angel who would do anything for anybody and I have lost her†. This serves to remind the reader that she was only a little girl whose life was curtailed. The Guardian has included this quotation to show the seriousness of this issue and they have done so by using an emotive quotation. The Guardian tends to concentrate on the broader issues such as why Kelly was being bullied and what was being done by various agencies to resolve it leading up to her death. This is because the Guardian is unprejudiced and more formal. Derby City Council was due to meet the family and the police had been called out on several occasions. â€Å"We were made aware of one incident that occurred on Friday and were intending to go round and see members of the family today†. The Daily Star revolves more around the issue that she was ‘driven to kill herself’, and not what was going on in Kelly’s life before she ended it. In this case the journalist of the Daily Star focuses on the attack of the house and the suicide, which are both dramatic events. The Daily Star concentrates more on the opinions of the family, which is shown in the use of quotations. The quotations are used to have an impact on the reader. The Guardian takes a more factual approach, telling the reader the events of Kelly’s life which may help to understand why she may have killed herself and raising issues for debate concerning the circumstances of her suicide such as whether or not she really was driven to kill herself and whether that can be classed as murder. The language used in both papers differs extremely. In the Guardian the sentences are longer and the language is complicated. Some emotive words, such as, ‘terrorised and ‘taunted’ are used to gain sympathy from the reader, as it shows how she was separated out and that it was persistent. â€Å"In the latest incident eggs, flour and butter were hurled at the house and abuse shouted at Kelly as she watched from an upstairs window†. The emotive word in this sentence is ‘hurled’. It emphasises the malicious intention behind the attack and is more effective than using the word ‘throwing’. It suggests it was thrown with force and purpose. The preposition in this quote ‘at’ stresses violence as opposed to being gentle. They also interview Kelly’s head teacher and the re-housing council in the Guardian. Their words speak of Kelly as a person and her ability. The Daily Star is full of emotive words; this is because it is an opinionative article. â€Å"Her distraught dad found the tragic 13 year-old dead in her bedroom when he went to wake her for school at 7. 50am†. ‘Distraught’ shows the father’s pain and suffering; ‘tragic’ conveys a terrible image and has a severe impact on the reader. These are just a few examples but the Daily Star has plenty more. The sentence structure in the Guardian is complex. â€Å"Pauline Hasler, director of the Anti-Bullying Campaign, which was formed in 1985, said many schools did not take a hard enough line against bullying†. This is classified as a complex sentence. The subject throughout this sentence is Anti-Bullying; there are two objects, Pauline Hasler and schools in general. Punctuation joins three short statements together to form this complex sentence, whereas, the Daily Star tends to rely on simple sentences. â€Å"My daughter has been hounded to death. † It is simple but striking. It is simple because it contains a subject a verb and an object. Another example of a simple sentence is â€Å"Manslaughter charges could be brought if it is believed she was driven to kill herself†. The Guardian appeals to the more educated person with a better command of the English language, as it is a broadsheet newspaper. The vocabulary and style of language is more complex than a tabloid newspaper. The two newspapers are to suit different audiences and that is shown in the amount of fact and opinion in each article. The Daily Star is based on opinion whereas the Guardian takes a more factual approach. Although, they both try to grab the attention and sympathy from the reader. The Daily Star does this more successfully than the Guardian, the qualities of which lie in it’s broader range of facts and interviews with outside agencies which raise important issues beyond the immediate story of the suicide. Overall there is an element of class distinction which is related to the reader and their intellectual capability.