Traditional Parenthood An Authoritative Lifestyle

As little children, everyone is brought up believing and aspiring to get married and eventually have children. From having a spectacular, ornate wedding, to picking out baby names; it is such an exciting topic one always dreams about. Traditional parenthood is an authoritative lifestyle that is empowering, as it delivers a gratifying aspect to our liberal, modern day society. The gentleman and woman connect, bringing a wholeness of pure love. That is what marriage is all about. Although it is a great deal for adults to be happy, the traditional way of living leaves a huge impact on the children. Family values mean a significant deal, and they affect how children grow and treat other people. Values of love, faith, respect, and leadership are all attributes that resemble a child of great character. A traditional home brings traditional children, which leads to a traditional, joyful society. Children who grow up in a strong family home will lead by example, raising a traditional family ; therefore, creating a proven overall stronger, chivalrous, and healthy society. Respect by definition is â€Å"having due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of† (Mosher 1). Respect is a quality that is hard to come by these days. More children are becoming more accustomed and too close to adults. Almost in a friend aspect, the traditional home children are mindful of how to handle a situation; have a good time, but treat others, especially adults with reverence. Although one isShow MoreRelatedImportance Of Parenting Essay1519 Words   |  7 Pageswithin the future. In 1967, a woman named Diana Baumrind contributed to the knowledge in socioemotional development by studying and researching parenting styles. She originally stated that there are four types of parenting styles; authoritarian, authoritative, permissive and neglectful. Each of the styles range according to the demandingness upon the children compared to the responsiveness to the childrenâ€⠄¢s needs. This topic particularly intrigues me due to the fact that I am a mother and have to displayRead More TV Families and Real Families Essay3199 Words   |  13 Pagestogether, understood their roles, and did what was expected of them; by the 1960s, there were a few sitcoms that began to undermine the television parent’s authority by privileging the independence of nearly adult or adult children; by the 1970s, the authoritative father began to disappear as they were no longer the central family member since real fathers were usually too busy at the office for the family; by the 1980s, the boomer parents gave their children much more independence as the families ran democraticallyRead MoreEssay about The Results of Children in Fatherless Homes16087 Words   |  65 Pagesare doing the very best they can? After all, the decision to end a marriage or a relationship is wrenching, and few parents are indifferent to the painful burden this decision imposes on their children . Many take the perilous step toward single parenthood as a last resort, after their best efforts to hold a marriage together have failed. Consequently, it can seem particularly cruel and unfeeling to remind parents of the hardships their children might suffer as a result of family breakup. Other peopleRead More65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays 2nd Edition 147256 Words   |  190 Pagespresenting a strategy. I was most effective by leading strongly enough to inspire confidence but not so strongly that I pre.. vented involvement. analysis Stacies experience may look very similar to your experience. Do not fret. Her essay is traditional in both its anecdote and style. Many applicants will discuss lessons learned when effecting change from a consultative role. More still will start their essay with a thesis state... ment, followed by an example, and end with more detailed reflectionRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagescommunism would be inadvisable because this issue is so large and the essay is supposed to be so short. That big issue would not be manageable. The essay would have to discuss every country in the world and its economics, political freedom, military, lifestyles, and so forth. The essay would be improved if the student narrowed the issue to, let us say, whether race relations were better under American capitalism or under Soviet communism during World War II. ────CONCEPT CHECK──── State the issueRead MoreSda Manual Essay101191 Words   |  405 PagesChurch Authority in the Seventh-day Adventist Church The 1946 General Conference Session action that all â€Å"changes or revisions of policy† in the Church Manual shall be â€Å"authorized by the General Conference session† reflects a conception of the authoritative status of General Conference sessions that has long been held. In the 1877 session this action was taken: 1 2 CHURCH MANUAL â€Å"Resolved, that the highest authority under God among Seventh-day Adventists is found in the will of the body

College Students and Suicide Free Essays

College Students and Suicide College Students and Suicide By contrast, only 15. 3 percent of Americans overall have had such thoughts, the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative reported last February. The survey, part of a wider-ranging continuing study on student suicidal behaviors being conducted by David Drum, a professor of education psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, questioned 26,000 undergraduate and graduate students at 70 U. We will write a custom essay sample on College Students and Suicide or any similar topic only for you Order Now S. institutions. The results raise the startling suggestion that suicidal thoughts could be a common experience on par with substance abuse, depression and eating disorders, Drum said. The survey defined considering suicide as having at least one episode of suicidal thinking at some point. Slightly more than half of students said they fit that category, which is known as suicide ideation. When researchers asked about more serious episodes, 15 percent said they had â€Å"seriously considered† attempting suicide. More than 5 percent of students said they had actually attempted suicide, which is the second-leading cause of death for college students, compared to its ranking of ninth among the U. S. population at large, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health. 2 â€Å"Relief from emotional or physical pain† was the top reason students cited for suicidal thinking, followed by problems with romantic relationships. A generalized desire to end their lives was next, followed by problems with school or academics. The study extrapolated that at an average college with 18,000 undergraduate students, 1,080 of them would seriously contemplate taking their lives in any year, numbers that pose troubling issues for college administrators. The survey identified growing levels of distress among college students and diminishing resources to handle the consequences. They found that half of students who had had suicidal thoughts never sought counseling or treatment. We know only a quarter of suicide patients are our clients, which means 75 percent of them never come through our doors,† said Chris Brownson, director of the Counseling and Mental Health Center at the University of Texas. Drum and other researchers said colleges needed a new model, shifting the emphasis from narrowly focused treatments involving suicidal students and a small number of mental health professionals, to one hat involved the entire campus in addressing student stresses. Suicide is a public and mental issue. The focus on dec reasing the numbers needs to be on prevention, building resilience in students and creating supportive communities. In college students, the warning signs of depression which ultimately leads to suicide are, a previous suicide attempt, talking about suicide, and drug or alcohol abuse How to cite College Students and Suicide, Essays

UPS vs. FedEx case Analysis free essay sample

In 2004, the U. S. and China agreed to increase their air transportation flights, which delivered their goods between one another. This agreement represented the most dramatic liberalization of air traffic in the history of the two nations, and therefore FedEx Corporation and United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), the only domestic cargo carriers who were permitted to serve the Chinese market at the time were locked in to being the primary beneficiaries of this opportunity. The stock prices for both companies had rose on steady basis since these talks originally began, but FedEx share price skyrocketed five times the rate UPS has. Exhibit 1 below shows UPS and FedEx Stock price patterns from June 2003 to June 2004 relative to the SP 500 Index. During this time FedEx had the largest foreign presence in China, with 11 weekly flights almost twice as many as UPS. FedEx volumes have grown by more than 50% between 2003 and 2004. Although UPS fell behind FedEx in the Chinese market, it was still the world’s largest package-delivering company and the dominant parcel carrier in the United States. As the U. S. package delivery industry prospered, the international markets and especially China became a battleground for the two package delivery giants. FedEx had eventually developed customer logistical management, and was widely looked upon as innovative, entrepreneurial, and an operational leader. On the other hand UPS was repositioning itself as a leading provider of logistics and supply chain management services. FedEx Corporation FedEx first took form as an undergraduate named Fred Smith developed a term paper for his Yale University economics class. Smith’s strategy proposed that FedEx would purchase the planes that it required to transport packages, where all other competition at the time used cargo space that was available on passenger airlines. On top of using his own purchased planes, Smith’s key innovation was a hub-and-spoke distribution pattern, which allowed cheaper and faster service to more locations than his competitors could offer. In 1971, Fred Smith invested his $4 million inheritance, and raised $91 million in venture capital to launch the firm, which in return became the largest venture capital start up at the time. Initially FedEx, then known as Federal Express Corporation, experienced severe losses, and Smith was nearly let go from his chair position. By 1976, FedEx finally saw a profit of $3.6 million on an average daily volume of 19,000 packages. Through the rest of the 1970’s, FedEx continued to expand services, acquiring more trucks and aircraft, raising capital along the way. The formula proved to be successful, and in 1981, FedEx generated more revenue than any other U. S. air delivery company. During the 1990’s FedEx proved to be an operational leader, receiving the prestigious Mal colm Baldrige National Quality award from the President of the United States. They were the first company to ever win in the service category. Most of this success came from the deregulation and the operation strategy, but credit also must be given to FedEx’s philosophy of â€Å"People-Service-Profit†, which reflected its emphasis on customer focus, total quality management, and employee participation. FedEx can acknowledge that their growth came from the context of fundamental change in the business environment. The deregulation of the domestic airline industry permitted larger planes to replace smaller ones, which allowed FedEx to purchase several Boeings’ 727, which helped reduce its unit costs. The trucking deregulation also allowed FedEx to establish an integrated regional trucking system that lowered its unit costs on short haul trips, which enabled the company to compete more effectively with UPS. With the rising inflation costs and global competition manufacturers were compelled to manage inventories more closely and emulate the (JIT) Just-in-Time supply programs of the Japanese, which created an increased demand for FedEx’s rapid and careful monitoring of their movements of packages. By year’s end of 2003, FedEx nearly had $15. 4 billion in assets and a net income of $830 million on revenues of about $22. 5 billion. United Parcel Service, Inc. United Parcel Service, Inc. also known as UPS was founded in 1907. It was the largest package delivery service company in the world. Consolidating parcel deliveries, both on ground and in the air, was UPS primary business focus of the company. In the industry UPS was known as â€Å"Big Brown† with its roots stemming from Seattle, Washington. Jim Casey at 19 years of age started a bicycle-messenger service called the American Messenger Company, but after merging with rival firm, Motorcycle Delivery Company in 1929, United Parcel Service of America (UPS) was formed. UPS started an air delivery service by putting packages on commercial passenger planes. The company entered its strongest period of growth during the post-World War II economic boom, and by 1975 UPS reached a milestone where it could promise package delivery to every address in the entire U. S. In that same year UPS expanded outside of the country with their first delivery to Ontario, Canada. Following that year UPS trademarked 120 brown delivery vans and began service in West Germany. The key to UPS’s success was their â€Å"efficiency†. According to Business Week â€Å"Every route is timed down to the traffic light. Each vehicle was engineered to exacting specifications, and the drivers endure a daily routine calibrated down to the minute†. UPS had their share of bad times with several major strikes resulting from changes in their labor practices and driver requirements. In the middle of 1997, 190,000 teamsters employed at UPS went on strike for 15 days before agreeing to a 5 years contract. The agreement increased wages and also added 10,000 new full-time jobs and promoting 10,000 part-time workers into full time positions. The strike was relevant because it cost UPS $700 million in lost revenue, resulting in less than 1% sales growth for 1996 and a decline in profits to $909 million from %1. 15 billion. For most of the companies’ existence, UPS stock was owned primarily by UPS’s managers, their families, former employees, or charitable foundations owned by UPS. The company would buy and sell shares at fair market value determined by the board of directors each quarter, but by the end of the 90’s having to deal with the big losses from the strike the company needed to add flexibility by traded their stocks publicly in order to pursue a more aggressive acquisition strategy. In November 1999, UPS initiated a two-for-one stock split; where the company exchanged each existing UPS share for two Class A shares. UPS was able to sell 109. 4 million newly created class B shares on the NYSE in an IPO that raised $5. 266 billion, net of issuance costs. UPS used the bulk of these proceeds to repurchase 68 million shares of the Class A stock. Class A shares were convertible to Class B shares, and could be traded or sold accordingly. Even though both shares of stock had the same economic interest in the company, Class A shares entitled holders to â€Å"ten† votes per share whereas Class B shareholders were only entitled to one vote. UPS was perceived as a slow and plodding until their stock split and IPO in 1999. Although UPS is much larger than FedEx, UPS chose not to compete directly in the overnight delivery market until 1982, largely because of the high cost of building an air fleet. But after going public UPS started an aggressive series of acquisitions, beginning with a Miami-based freight carrier operating in Latin America and a franchise based chain of stores that provided packing, shipping, and mail services called Mail Boxes Etc. later names UPS, with more than 4,300 domestic and international locations. Although the company traditionally has been the industry’s low cost provider, in recent years UPS had been heavily investing in information technology, aircraft, and facilities to support service innovations, maintaining quality and reducing costs. By 2003 UPS offered package delivery services throughout the United States, and in more than 200 countries and territories, and moved more than 13 million packages and such throughout its network daily. Domestic package operations accounted for 76% of revenues in 2002, international (15%), and nonpackage’s being (9%). In the U. S. it was estimated gross GDP was in excess of 6%. The company employed 360,000 people, (64% unionized), and owned 88,000 ground vehicles and 583 aircrafts. At the end of 2003, UPS reported assets, revenues, and profits of $28. 9 billion, $33. 4 billion, and $2. 9 billion, respectively.  UPS vs. FedEx Financial Analysis UPS’ s average days outstanding ratio has been increasing over the years and in 2003 it was 51. 6 days. FedEx’s has been constant over the past 12 years and in 2003 it was at 41. 54. It is extremely important for a company to keep a constant cash flow in a business, and to collect money from sales as quickly as they can, so they can reinvest it or purchase additional products. UPS’s total asset turnover ratio has been decreasing over the years, it was 1. 83 in 1992 and it was 1. 16 in 2003. FedEx’s total asset turnover ratio on the other hand has been increasing, from 1.38 in 1992 to 1. 64 in 1998 then down to 1. 46 in 2003. When comparing the two companies we can see that FedEx has been the best at generating more revenues per dollar of assets. UPS’s current ratio has been increasing over the years and it was at 1. 79 in 2003, similarly FedEx’s has been increasing reaching 1. 18 in 2003. Since both ratios are above 1 it indicated that both companies are capable of meeting their short-term payment obligations. However, UPS has a higher ratio, which indicates that it is the most efficient. UPS’s debt to equity ratio has been stable over the years and was 0.26 in 2003, while FedEx’s has been decreasing and it was 0. 28 in 2003. They are about the same, and the low ratio indicates that both companies are not highly leveraged and they are liquid, which is a positive sign for investors. UPS’s times interest earned ratio is high, 36. 41 in 2003, when compared to FedEx’s, which is 10. 51. This could indicate that UPS is paying down too much debt with earnings that could be used for company growth, or it means that it has undesirable lack of debt. UPS’s net profit margin has increased over the past couple of years, being at its highest in 2002 at 10.18%, and decreasing again to 8. 65% in 2003. FedEx’s net profit margin has been steadily increasing over the years and reaching 3. 69% in 2003. When comparing the two companies we are able to see that UPS has been more successful than FedEx, which could potentially indicate that they have higher share price as well as higher levels of profitability. The return on assets as well as the return on equity have been higher for UPS. ROA was 10. 44%, and ROE was 19. 51% in 2003. FedEx’s ROA and ROE have been increasing over the years; ROA was 6. 30% and ROE 11. 39% in 2003. This indicates that both companies have been efficiently managing their assets to generate earnings, however, when comparing the two, UPS has the higher ratio. UPS’s sales haven’t been constant over the past 12 years (92-03), the ratios showed variations from their highest at 10. 37%% to 0. 40%, and the overall ratio was 7. 32%. FedEx’s sales have been increasing, but also showed variations from 37. 79% to 3. 42%, and the overall sales ratio was 11. 53%. The average net income for the 12 years was 18. 83% for UPS and 35. 51% for FedEx, and the operating income was 12.35% for UPS and 13. 64% for FedEx. These growth ratios show that FedEx has outperformed UPS. The graphs bellow shows the growth comparison between the two companies: Performance Analysis In order to fully determine which company is for which type of investor, we must examine the competitive struggle between these two firms in the same industry. Traditionally the company that tends to have impeccable operational management garners strong financial returns. In line with this FedEx has the goal of producing â€Å"superior financial returns† and UPS follows a more â€Å"long-term competitive return†. If one were to compare the share prices of both companies, one can discern how much value the company has generated which is reflected on the stock prices. For example in 1992 UPS stock price was $9. 25/share but by 2003 the stock price increased tremendously to $74. 55/share. This is a tremendous leap in that cumulatively that is an increase of 706% stock value since 1992. FedEx followed a similar trend in that its stock price in 1992 was $10. 19/share, which by 2003 was $63. 98/share. That is a cumulative increase of 528% over this time span. Another thing to note is that UPS has been giving dividends from 1992 of $0. 25, which increased to $0. 92 by end of 2003. FedEx on the other hand issued no dividends since 1992 and only issued its first dividend in 2003 of $0. 20. When these two companies are indexed against the SP 500, we can see that both have outperformed the index. For comparison purposes the SP 500 returned 155. 20% from the time span of 1992-2003. But this is simply the compounded returns, when all adjustments are made net results of UPS and FedEx’s returns are as follows: United Parcel Services: 550.75% Federal Express: 372. 83% Economic Profit Analysis Economic Value Added is an estimate of a firm’s economic profit. In layman terms, it means the profit earned by a firm minus the cost of financing the cost of capital. For this scenario EVA is a great way to analyze how both UPS and FedEx have done over the time span. For UPS the EVA was -$70 million in 1992, which by the end of 2003 they convert ed to $1,195 million. In terms of cumulative appreciation, UPS accumulated $4,328 million in the 12-year time frame. FedEx on the other hand has had negative EVA every year from 1992 up until 2002. In 2003 FedEx had a positive annual EVA. However, cumulatively FedEx had an EVA of -$2,252 million. The results greatly reflect that UPS has a better EVA than FedEx. Return on Net Assets (RONA) is used to generate a longer-term perspective of a companys ability to create value; extraordinary expenses may be added back into the net income figure in order to determine the RONA. The RONA average for UPS from 1992 to end of 2003 was 13. 785% whereas the RONA for FedEx for the same time, averages 8. 308%. What this reflects is that UPS performs more than 4% greater in terms of returns in comparison to FedEx. MVA or Market Value Added is the difference between the current market value of a firm and the capital invested by investors. The higher the MVA, the better it is. A high MVA indicates the company has created substantial wealth for the shareholders. A negative MVA means that a company has destroyed wealth or value that was invested. UPS’s MVA went from $7,287 million in 1992 to $69,315 million by 2003. FedEx on the other hand went from an MVA of $625 million to $11,816 million from 1992 to end of 2003. This shows that UPS has a very large MVA, which dwarfs FedEx however in terms of percentage growth of MVA FedEx has come a long way. Outlook for the Future In terms of the courier industry the growth potential is present. Courier services will be required now and in the future, especially with a growing population and the higher demand for expedient methods of delivery. UPS and FedEx dominate the global courier services in which they each have their method of expertise. In terms of growth potential both FedEx and UPS compete heavily in the saturated U. S.market and UPS has a large presence in Europe, which it competes with the likes of DHL. However, the next potential for expansive growth is set to be for whichever can acquire the most market share from China. It is estimated by 2039 China will surpass the United States become the largest global economy; therefore, the potential for growth is very important in that geographic location. FedEx has the largest foreign presence in China, with 11 weekly flights and it serves over 220 Chinese cities. This is reflected by the fact that FedEx’s volume in china has grown by over 50% from 2003-2004.UPS, even though has a larger worldwide presence than its counterpart, FedEx, has lagged behind in China. UPS has half the weekly flights then China however, UPS has been active in China since 1988 and was the first carrier to offer non-stop services from China to the U. S. Nevertheless, UPS has been increasing its presence in China, serving nearly 200 cities and it is estimated that peak-season demand in the courier industry for UPS would exceed the capacity that UPS can handle. FedEx pioneered the customer logistical management and is perceived as innovative, entrepreneurial, and an operational l eader. FedEx also utilized COSMOS (Customer, Operations, Service, Master Online System), which transmitted data from package movement, customer pickups, invoices, and deliveries to central databases/hubs. UPS on the other hand was initially perceived as big, bureaucratic, and an industry follower, but they have since attempted to change that image by innovating and changing its whole logistics and supply chain management. UPS utilizes DIADs (Delivery Information Acquisition Device), which are scanners that delivery personnel use to scan barcodes and log signatures. Both companies have their platform being that of Customer-centric. They listen to their customers and adjust themselves to better cater to their customer base. Both companies for the most part are competitive in terms of price; however, UPS tends to be slightly more costly than FedEx. Both companies also focused greatly in reducing price and increasing efficiency. Overall both companies are great and both have generated tremendous wealth for their investors and both are desired by different types of investors. FedEx is a heavy growth company and surprisingly 70% of FedEx’s common shares were held by institutional investors. In terms of an analysis by Morgan Stanley’s J.J. Valentine FedEx mentions the various risks associated with the Chinese market that could stifle growth in China for FedEx; however, these are risks that can be addressed with partnerships between the Chinese government and the local population. Another analysis by the Value Line Investment Survey outlines that FedEx is poised to take advantage of the Chinese market an d the international market. Since FedEx has established a large presence in China along with its infrastructure already existing in the general location, FedEx has the highest growth potential with limited costs.UPS is the market leader in the America’s however; with the saturation of the U. S. and European markets UPS’s growth potential lies on how well it can harness the Far East. UPS is also a relatively an old company existing almost a century. It has an established base and consistent growth with overall growth being larger than its counterpart FedEx. UPS’s financials are also excellent however the question truly lies in how sustainable this is into the future. In terms of recommendation UPS is for investors that wish for steady stream of growth and highly recommended for those that are risk averse. But in terms of long-term growth potential FedEx is an excellent company to invest in. If it weren’t for institutional investors it would not own the majority of FedEx. The main mission of FedEx is to grow internationally by increasing the supply chain capabilities through e-commerce, technology and alliances. Also, the company continues to implement revenue enhancement and cost reduction programs to provide long-term revenue and profit growth and to reduce costs by taking initiatives such as Airport-to-airport transportation of Priority, Express and First-Class Mail for the U. S. Postal Service.

The Scarlet Letter - Punishment And Death Essays - Film,

The Scarlet Letter - Punishment and Death Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter deals with many themes, among those including punishment and death. Utilizing the theme of punishment, the central character, Hester Prynne, was forced to wear an embroidered scarlet letter on "her bosom" for the rest of her life as a sign of her sin of adultery. This object; however, has the opposite affect as a punishment and as people of the community begin to forget the original significance of the letter it comes to bear a new meaning, able. In the thirteenth chapter of this book, Hawthorne comes out and in the third person states "the scarlet letter had not done its office." Hester has gone beyond the letter of the law and done everything asked of her. She becomes quite a popular seamstress, heralded all over the town of Boston for her work. She herself wears only drab clothing of ordinary clothing, punishing herself with humility. There is only one piece of clothing that she is forbidden to make, the wedding vail, it is assumed that she can not possibly represent the values of a marriage. It would be most improper to have one who has committed as sin as she had to be involved in the marital bonds of another couple. Nevertheless, she does her work dutifully and completely. She is emotionately worn out by all the work and penance for her sin. Midway through the novel she no longer appears as a hidden beauty. Hester now wears her hair in a cap, and the only effort of considerable worth is that which she expends in her teachings to Pearl. She has earned the towns people respect. People now regard the letter as representing the word "able." As the Reverend Dimmesdale refers to Pearl in his argument for allowing the child to remain with her mother, "God gave Pearl as a blessing and as a reminder of her sin." The girl herself is a much more considerable punishment to Hester then the letter "A" is. Pearl is the living symbol of her sin. All the evil and hate of this story is embodied in this little girl. Hawthorne raises the question of how Hester actually sees Pearl by referring to that "little, laughing image of a fiend" which appears to peep out of Pearl; "Whether it peeped or no, her mother so imagined it." She is a beautiful charismatic little child and thus a blessing, but the stress of Hester's environment twists and turns the actions of the girl into evil things. In that respect she is more of a punishment to Hester then a piece of cloth she must over her clothing. On her visit to Governor Bellingham's house to plead for Pearl's custody, Hester passes by a suit of armor in which the breast plate so magnifies the letter "A" she wore almost consuming her. In later chapters, after a meteorite appears above Boston, a sexton so wonders if it represented "Angel" coming from above. Ironically so, it was a fallen one coming down so. And so the letter "A" takes on a new meaning once again. In Chapter 13, Hester wonders whether it wouldn't be better if both she and Pearl were both dead. The mere fact that Hester can contemplate suicide indicates that "the scarlet letter had not done it's office", because suicide is an unpardonable sin in the Puritan faith. This fact in conjunction with what the scarlet letter was meant to be and was not as well as Pearl herself being quite a punishment in herself, discussed in the above paragraphs clearly supports my belief in the failure of the scarlet letter to do its work.

Report Essays - Vodafone, Economy, Business, Hutchison 3G

Report Essays - Vodafone, Economy, Business, Hutchison 3G Report To: Marketing Director From: Marketing Manager Date: 24.11.2009 Subject: Market Research and Information needs Introduction As a marketing manager, I have been asked to write a report on market research and information needs for the Vodafone Company. Vodafone is the world's largest mobile telecommunication community, employing over 65,000 staff and with 130 million customers. The business operates in 26 countries worldwide. Vodafone is public limited company with listings on the London and New York stock exchanges. Global recognition of the Vodafone brand is growing as the company rolls out its identity into new markets. However, it retains local names and imagery in markets where this is essential to maintaining the trust of customers. Marketing The world is global market with few barriers to entry, so Vodafone has to be highly visible as "the brand to buy". Effective marketing is the key to this high visibility. Marketing involves anticipating customers' needs and finding the right product or service to meet those needs, thereby encouraging high sales levels. Vodafone goes further by looking at impress on its customers not merely what its products are i.e. features, but also what they increasingly do, benefits for example. This involves effective communication. According to www.vodafone .co.uk there is a slowdown in sales of mobile handsets in the UK market, as the mature part of the product lifecycle is reached. Customers are exposed to a barrage of different images and messages by mobile phones companies, as the competition gets tougher. Some companies merger in order to increase their market share, T-Mobile and Orange example of this. That influences Vodafone to appeal to new customers and aims to keep its existing ones by emphasising the uniqueness of the brand. Vodafone's aim is to grow its revenue and improve its profit margin by adding value to its products and services i.e. earning more form each product sold. The 'Vodafone live!' service enables customers to use picture messaging and to download polyphonic ring tones, colour games, images and information, through an icon-driven menu as well as get an access to Facebook, MSN, Google etc. This service will soon be further enhanced by picture messaging libraries, video clips and video telephony (seeing the person you are calling) and improving download speeds. Another service is the Vodafone Mobile Connect Card, which allows customers to access their normal business applications on a laptop when out of the office. Such services add value to the product, and high profile effective promotion will help sell these services to existing and new customers. A longer term marketing strategy is underpinned by careful planning and successful marketing mix. The marketing mix is a combination of many features that can be represented by the four Ps. . Product - features and benefits of a good or service . Place - where the good or service can be bought . Price - the cost of a good or service . Promotion- how customers are made aware of a good or service. Product A product with many different features provides customers with opportunities to chat, play games, send and receive pictures, internet access, change ringtones, receive information about travel and sporting events, obtain billing information - and soon view video clips and send video messages. Place . Vodafone UK operates over 300 of its own stores. . It also sells through independent retailers e.g. Carphone Warehouse, Phones 4 U . Customers are able to handle products they are considering buying . People are on hand to ensure customers' needs are matched with the right product and to explain the different options available. Price . Vodafone wants to make its services accessible to as many people as possible : from the young, through apprentices and high powered business executives, to the more mature users. . It offers various pricing structures to suit different customer groups. . Monthly price plans are available as well as prepay options. Phone users can top up their phone on line. . Vodafone UK offers service called Family which allows speak free to them if you top up your phone at least 5 pounds monthly. Promotion Vodafone works with icons such as David Beckham to communicate its brand values. Above the line Advertising on TV, on billboards, in magazines and in other media outlets reaches large audiences and spreads the brand image and the message very effectively. This is known as above the line promotion. Below the line promotion Stores have special offers, promotions and point of sale posters to attract those inside the stores to buy. Vodafone's stores, its products and its staff all project the brand image.

How Executive Order 9981 Desegregated the U.S. Military

How Executive Order 9981 Desegregated the U.S. Military The enactment of Executive Order 9981 not only desegregated the U.S. military but paved the way for the civil rights movement as well. Before the order went into effect, African-Americans had a long history of military service. They fought in World War II for what President Franklin Roosevelt called the four essential human freedoms, even though they faced segregation, racial violence and lack of voting rights at home. When the United States and the rest of the world discovered the full extent of Nazi Germanys genocidal plan against Jews, white Americans became more willing to examine their own countrys racism. Meanwhile, returning African-American veterans became determined to root out injustice in the United States. In this context, the desegregation of the military took place in 1948. President Truman's Committee on Civil Rights After World War IIs end, President Harry Truman placed civil rights high on his political agenda. While details of the Nazis Holocaust shocked many Americans, Truman was already looking ahead to the near certain conflict with the Soviet Union. To convince foreign nations to align themselves with Western democracies and reject socialism, the United States needed to rid itself of racism and begin practicing in earnest the ideals of freedom and liberty for all. In 1946, Truman established a Committee on Civil Rights, which reported back to him in 1947. The committee documented civil rights violations and racial violence and urged Truman to take steps to rid the country of the disease of racism. One of the points the report made was that African-Americans who serve their country did so in a racist and discriminatory environment. Executive Order 9981 Black activist and leader A. Philip Randolph told Truman that if he did not end segregation in the armed forces, African-Americans would start refusing to serve in the armed forces. Seeking African-American political support and wanting to bolster U.S. reputation abroad, Truman decided to desegregate the military. Truman did not think it likely that such legislation would make it through Congress, so he used an executive order to end military segregation. Executive Order 9981, signed on July 26, 1948, prohibited discrimination against military personnel because of race, color, religion or national origin. A Civil Rights Victory The desegregation of the armed forces was a major civil rights victory for African-Americans. Though a number of whites in the military resisted the order, and racism continued in the armed forces, Executive Order 9981 was the first major blow to segregation, giving hope to African-American activists that change was possible. Sources Desegregation of the Armed Forces. The Truman Library.   Gardner, Michael R., George M Elsey, Kweisi Mfume. Harry Truman and Civil Rights: Moral Courage and Political Risks. Carbondale, IL: SIU Press, 2003. Sitkoff, Harvard. African-Americans, American Jews, and the Holocaust. In The Achievement of American Liberalism: The New Deal and Its Legacies. Ed. William Henry Chafe. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. 181-203.

Case Study Ethical Practice Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case Study Ethical Practice Paper - Essay Example Social therapists and medical practitioners often face the predicament of having to make critical decisions in their experiential practice. Critical scenarios that pit the practitioner's decision making procedures and systems with other factors extrinsic to the logic of the medical and psychological therapy practice often culminate in ethical dilemmas. This paper presents a case study of one such case featuring an ethical dilemma setting characterised by the dissonance between my socio-cultural values and the subject's predicament. The exploration of the ethical dilemma will take the form of a case study. A case study is naturally a qualitative study. A phenomenological study is "the type of research that examines the human experience (Beauchamp, T, & Childress, J, 1983, pp 43). The emphasis is on "experience and interpretation" (Neil T. Anderson 1998). Parton N (1998) continues "In the conduct of a phenomenological study, the focus would be on the essence or structure of an experience (phenomenon)". As such the case study model is perceived to be an ideal study model to meet the core objectives of this paper which entail illuminating the dynamics of an ethical dilemma scenario in a social therapy professional practice setting. The anticipated scenario culminating in dilemma i... The crux of the scenario stems from the fact that I'm strongly against abortion and the client is very dependent on me as her close associate. What characterizes the ethical dilemma is that I need to spell out my values on abortion to her yet for objectivity reasons I must refer her to some one who can take a neutral stand on the issue and yet she views me as her anchor in the predicament that she is facing. Systems Theory Application The featured scenario has entailed the application of the Systems Social Therapy Theory by a practitioner dealing with substance abuse related case. The core tenet and perspective of the Systems Approach; in close relation to the subject of depression related social therapy dwells on that the problem has to be placed within the broader precincts of the factors (social, political, economic, etc) that characterise the environment of the affected individual. The practical application of the model employs among other aspects the thrust of bolstering the subject's morale and self-concepts and recommending perceived solutions and remedies for the client. The external factors surrounding the subject/client are identified and used to map a framework that constitutes the source of the individual's problems culminating in substance abuse. This perspective argues for the interventions that will focus on reducing the environmental and extrinsic stresses and pressures that push people to making certain decisions that may not suffice for the curtailing of ensuing problems and for the objective of coping with external forces. The systems approach strives for the contextualization of the subject's problems within the broader precincts of

Discuss the rationale behind recent changes in the design and delivery Essay

Discuss the rationale behind recent changes in the design and delivery of labour market programmes in the UK. Consider a range of theory and international experience in your answer - Essay Example The major economic downfall of 2007 to 2009 led to scarcity of jobs for new people in the labor market. Ten years before the major economic crisis, that is, early 2000s many developed countries had steady achievement in terms of economic growth including large growth in job opportunities, but due to the economic crisis all these achievements have stalled. Millions of people have no place to work in the current tough economy. The crises have severely affected the public financial gains. The financial crisis has created many challenges to the European countries in the labor market and especially the issue of unemployment. Another challenge brought by the economic crisis include attempts to meet the European Union targets of economic growth, which may require the countries to retrench people to cope with the economic recession (Pattison, 2012, p. 466). The discussion paper involves the use of existing academic materials to determine the effects of the 2007/2009 financial crisis. It explains the actions that the governments in some countries such as USA, Australia and the UK have taken to reduce the effects of the financial crisis on the labor market. The strategies adopted and their rationales to assist the unemployed population are also discussed in the paper. Performance based contracting, which is a method same as payment by results, was used in the United States. The strategy led to development of new policies that decentralized funding and purchasing power to network of private companies. The policies emphasized on performance outcomes through financial incentives that motivated the staff of the agencies. The Department of Labor set the performance targets to achieve annually and the outcomes determined the funds saved from the investment. The outcomes also included delivery of employment services with contract periods of more than six months. It also emphasized on training the employees on work skills, which helped

Assignment topic Mentoring Essay Example for Free

Assignment topic Mentoring Essay A brief outline of the plan for the assignment including why it is an issue and you likely conclusions. (If you like an abstract) An analysis of the Delivering Great Service strategy that is currently being applied by Sainsburys Supermarkets in relation to mentoring. And how the objectives of the strategy are being achieved. A list of material and people you intend to consult (give proper details) * Torrington,D and Hall,L and Taylor,S (2002), Human Resource Management, Prentice Hall Europe, UK * Marchington,M, Managing the Team * Megginson, D. and D. Clutterbuck, (1999), Mentoring in Action, Kogan Page Limited, UK. * Parsloe, E. (1999), The Manager as Coach and Mentor, (2nd Ed), The Guernsey Press, Channel Islands. * Norton, B. and J. Tivey. (1995), Management Directions, The Institute of Management, UK. * Delivering Great Service, Colleague Briefing Leaflet, 2001 * Business Update, Sainsburys Intranet, 28th January 2002 * The Importance of Service, Delivering Great Service Store Managers Tool Kit 2001 Approved by Date HAYLEY SCARFE (00957807) BAIB II HRM ASSIGNMENT WITH REFERENCE TO SAINSBURYS SUPERMARKETS LTD, ANALYSE THE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES AND EXPLAIN HOW MENTORING WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THESE OBJECTIVES (WITH DIRECT REFERENCE TO DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE FULLY DISCUSS THE IMPLEMENTATION AND RECOMMEND STRATEGIES PRIORITIES AND TIME SCALES FOR IMPLEMENTING YOUR CHOSEN TOPIC. NOTE: 1. BEFORE I COMMENCE THIS ESSAY IT IS IMPORTANT TO STRESS THAT ITS CONTENTS IN RESPECT TO SAINSBURYS SUPERMARKETS ARE STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL AND ONLY MEANT FOR THE PURPOSE OF ANSWERING THE ESSAY QUESTION 2. THE CONTENTS ARE ONLY TO BE READ BY THE ASSESOR FOR THIS PIECE OF WORK Contents Page 1. Introduction 2. Introduction and Development of Delivering Great Service 3. The Service Promise 3.1 Sainsburys Mission Statement 3.2 Easy, Enjoyable and Inspiring 4. Impact on Company Employees 4.1 Store Structures 4.2 Departmental Management 4.2.1 Departmental Management Role 4.3 Mentoring 4.4 Store and Duty Managers 4.5 The relationship between Duty Managers and Departmental Managers 4.6 How the Service Promise is developed through mentoring 5. Implementation of Timescales 5.1 Store implementation Timescales 6. Conclusion 1. INTRODUCTION Sainsburys Supermarkets Ltd like any other business have a number of strategies in place in order to compete against its main competitors in the supermarket industry. Throughout this assignment I am going to concentrate on the companies most recent strategy called Delivering Great Service and how the topic of mentoring will contribute to the achievement of the Delivering Great Service objectives. 2. THE INTRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE Over a period of years Sainsburys lost the dominant market share of the food retail sector to its main competitors. To try and rectify this situation and attempt to once again become the U.Ks top supermarket chain Sainsburys has commissioned research into what their problems were and how to overcome them. The research concentrated on the identification of the wants of Sainsburys customers and how Sainsburys can deliver these wants. With the results collated Sainsburys head office Human Resources staff developed the Delivering Great Service package. The idea behind strategy is to regain the once strong market share Sainsburys enjoyed over Tesco, Asda, Safeway, Waitrose and Morrisons, the companys main competitors through the strategy objective, Service Promise. The commissioned research uncovered Sainsburys customers want Great Service, outstanding quality and competitive prices, all of which are contained within the objectives of Delivering Great Service known as Service Promise. (THE IMPORTANCE OF SERVICE DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE, STORE MANAGERS TOOLKIT 2001) 3. THE SERVICE PROMISE The Service Promise is used as a tool within the Sainsburys Management Team, this is company wide, to improve colleague skills, store knowledge and confidence within the company name. It is through these improved skills that the Sainsburys Management Team and colleagues can work together to improve the customers shopping experience with Sainsburys and successfully deliver great service. 3.1 SAINSBURYS MISSION STATEMENT To clearly demonstrate the aspects of the Service Promise the following diagram is applied: (DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE, COLLEAGUE BRIEFING LEAFLET, 2001) I have devised the following diagram to demonstrate how the aspects of the Service Promise relate to Delivering Great Service 3.2 EASY, ENJOYABLE AND INSPIRING The three categories contained within the Service Promise (outstanding quality, great service and competitive prices) contain guidelines for Sainsburys employees to adopt collectively, thus enabling the delivery of great service. The guidelines are as follows: 1. Easy Make shopping easier by; * Speeding up customer transactions * Acknowledging their problems and accepting responsibility * Actively seeking out customers who need extra help 2. Enjoyable Make shopping more enjoyable by; * Increasing personal efficiency, politeness and friendliness * Treating customers as individuals 3. Inspiring Present inspiring products and ideas to meet customer needs by; * Presenting quality ranges of products that meet and succeed customer needs and expectations * Interacting with customers to advise them of new products, encouraging them to try before they buy (THE IMPORTANCE OF SERVICE, DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE STORE MANAGERS TOOL KIT 2001) 4. IMPACT ON COMPANY EMPLOYEES The company strategy, Delivering Great Service has massive implications on all Sainsburys employees; it requires everyone to take on new responsibilities and new daily working practices if it is to be successful. Im going to focus specifically on the implications Delivering Great Service has on Sainsburys Departmental Managers and how the topic of mentoring can help achieve the strategy (Delivering Great Service) objectives (service promise). 4.1 STORE STRUCTURES Before I do this I have designed and included a very basic store structure diagram to illustrate the structure of a typical Sainsburys Stores. As you can see from the diagram the Store Manager is responsible for the entire store with a team of Duty Mangers and Department Managers on hand to share responsibilities and the running of the store filtering down to the Store Colleagues. 4.2 DEPARTMENTAL MANAGEMENT I have already discussed the implications Delivering Great Service has on all colleagues in respect of what its objectives require from everyone to be successful (making shopping easier, making shopping more enjoyable and presenting inspiring products), but I havent discussed the implications the Department Manager faces. 4.2.1 DEPARTMENT MANAGERS ROLE The Department Managers role within the company is to communicate the importance and relevance of all business decisions and strategies to his or her Department Store Colleagues. Thus the Department Manager is responsible when explaining the Delivering Great Service strategy to his or her Department Store Colleagues and ensuring that they all have a full understanding and appreciation of the importance and the implementation of the Service Promise targets (previously outlined) and what they have to do. Not only does the Department Managers have to do this, they have to achieve it with the support and co-operation of Department Store Colleagues. In essence the Department Manager has: TO MOTIVATE COLLEAGUES TO WANT TO DELIVER THE SERVICE PROMISE TO OUR CUSTOMERS, EQUIPPING THEM WITH SOME OF THE SKILLS TO DO THISi (DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE THROUGH CUSTOMER OBSESSION, MISSION STATEMENT, 2001) But how are they supposed to do this? The Department Manager would need great leadership and motivation skills combined with skilful use of communication to initiate Department team spirit to enable Service Promise targets to be met. They would need a keen eye to identify those within the Department that need extra help or indeed those who arent willing to work towards Delivering Great Service objectives. Necessary skills would include the capacity to deal with targets being missed and the individuals ability to quickly set more achievable targets. But with no formal training how could Department Managers achieve these skills and successfully achieve Delivering Great Service objectives with the full support of their Department? I believe that Department Managers could achieve these skills by turning to mentoring. The mission statement below accurately sums up what Department Managers are expected to achieve in respect to Delivering Great Service: TO INSPIRE OUR PEOPLE TO CONTINUALLY EXCEED OUR CUSTOMERS EXPECTATIONS, TO DELIVER BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT (DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE THROUGH CUSTOMER OBSESSION, MISSION STATEMENT, 2001) 4.3 MENTORING How could mentoring assist Department Managers to achieve the requirements expected? To begin with the definition of mentoring needs to be identified and questions need to be asked as to how Sainsburys can fulfil the Service Promise by achieving the strategic objectives of Delivering Great Service The Little Oxford Dictionary defines Mentor as Mentor advisor, counsellor (THE LITTLE OXFORD DICTIONARY, 1971, 4THED) A separate textbook definition of Mentor is to help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking (MENTORING IN ACTION MEGGINSON, D. AND D. CLUTTERBUCK, (KOGAN PAGE LIMITED, UK (1999))) 4.4 STORE AND DUTY MANAGERS Store Managers and Duty Managers within Sainsburys receive a wide array of continual training sessions and personal development ran by both internal and external bodies. They are constantly assessed by their Manager who is the Regional Business Manager with regards to their Stores performance and satisfaction of their staff, a survey is conducted every six months talkback to check on staff satisfaction levels in all stores. As Managers they are required to posses leadership, motivational and coaching skills and the ability and confidence to use them as well as the privilege of constant feedback from the Regional Business Manager and constant people skill training. Store Managers and Duty Managers are massively invested in within the company resulting in a large value added resource offering an indispensable skill base, the senior store management team is essential to the companys success. Through such investment they hold the essential, crucial skills that Department Managers need to develop if they are to successfully motivate Department Store Colleagues to implement the Delivering Great Service strategy and Service Promise objectives in their daily working practise. To mentor someone is to advise and council a person whilst developing the learners skills to meet business objectives. The mentor is there to listen and suggest ways in which to tackle a situation promoting a culture where the learner isnt being spoon-fed but independently identifying ways in which to personally improve upon current skill base and achieve targets. 4.5 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DUTY MANAGERS AND DEPARTMENT MANAGERS But how will Sainsburys Duty Managers by mentoring Department Managers enable them to contribute to the achievement of Delivering Great Service through Service Promise? Sainsburys Duty Managers are high performers able to implement business objectives and strategies into the daily running of a store in a responsible fashion whilst observing the companys values (which are as follows): 1) We will be HONEST 2) We will demonstrate INTEGRITY 3) We will show our COMMITMENT to each other 4) We will be LOYAL 5) We will take PRIDE in everything we do (REGION 35 BUSINESS PLAN JUNE 2001) Point 3 and 5 are important. When mentoring a Department Manager the companys values would easily ensure the mentor and learner success, by committing to the learner and taking pride in the learners achievement The leadership and motivational skills along with strong communication and a focused approach that are necessary to implement the Delivering Great Service strategy, through mentoring an individual Department Manager could be successfully developed as the Duty Manager already possess and uses the skills the Department Manager needs. Through a series of on the job observations and one on one coaching sessions the Duty Manager can exchange ways of better practice to reflect better results (in Service Promise targets) and encourage the Department Manager to have confidence when communicating with their staff. 4.6 HOW SERVICE PROMISE IS DEVELOPED THROUGH MENTORING. Through the improved skill base the Department Manager will have developed through mentoring and will be able through the Service Promise (objectives if the Delivering Great Service strategy) to achieve stated objectives through actions completed, as seen below: 1) 2) 3) 5.IMPLAMENTATION OF TIMESCALES But what time scale are we looking at? Delivering Great Service is a strategy that is in Stores NOW and Department Managers fully understands its implications NOW, its not planned to reach a Store in 6 months, results are expected to show in 6 months. With such a constraint on time I propose the following timescale strategy: 5.1 STORE IMPLEMENTATION TIME SCALES 6. CONCLUSION In conclusion it can be seen that the implementation of Delivering Great Service has allowed Duty and Departmental Managers to grow in their roles. The mentoring skills of the store management are developed therefore allowing them to implement the strategy outlined and provide the highest level of customer service on the shop floor. As this is what 70% of customers require in order to have a satisfied shopping experience that is easy, enjoyable and inspiring. This will allow them to compete with their market competitors to the highest advantage and regain the market share, which they have lost. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS * Torrington,D and Hall,L and Taylor,S (2002), Human Resource Management, Prentice Hall Europe, UK * Marchington,M, Managing the Team * Megginson, D. and D. Clutterbuck, (1999), Mentoring in Action, Kogan Page Limited, UK. * Parsloe, E. (1999), The Manager as Coach and Mentor, (2nd Ed), The Guernsey Press, Channel Islands. * Norton, B. and J. Tivey. (1995), Management Directions, The Institute of Management, UK. * Parsloe, E. and M. Wray, (2000), Coaching and Mentoring, Kogan Page Limited, UK. * Pegg, M. (1999), The Art of Mentoring, Biddles, UK. * Murrell, A, J. Crosby, F, J. and E, J, Robin, (1999), Mentoring Dilemmas, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, UK * Clarke, D, (1996), Mentoring, Fenman Limited, UK * Ried, M, A. and H, Barrington, (2000), Training Interventions, (6th Ed), The Cromwell Press, UK. * Harrison, H, (2000), Employee Development, (2nd Ed) The Cromwell Press, UK. * Marchington, M. and A, Wilkinson, (2000), Core Personnel and Development, (2nd Ed), The Cromwell Press, UK. * Foot, M. and C, Hook, (1999), Introducing Human Resource Management, (2nd Ed), Longman, Malaysia. SAINSBURYS SOURCES * Annual Report, 2001 * Delivering Great Service, Colleague Briefing Leaflet, 2001 * Business Update, Sainsburys Intranet, 28th January 2002 * The Importance of Service, Delivering Great Service Store Managers Tool Kit 2001

Groupware Essay -- science

Groupware A powerful requirement for businesses to effectively compete in today’s global market place is the ability for collaboration between business units, work teams and individuals. The value of collaboration is its potential to contribute toward increasing productivity, reducing costs, growing profit and improve service or product quality (Alavi, M., 1994). Technology that has been designed to support collaborative group work is referred to as groupware. This impacts on the way people communicate with each other, the way people work and even the structure of an organization. Groupware are technology based tools that facilitate groups of geographically dispersed people to share knowledge and information using computer based resources (Dennis et al., 1996). These tools allow humans to collaborate on projects where members may contribute directly or anonymously (Nunamaker et al., 1991). Groupware includes the ability to send and receive data, emails, share personal calendars, hold video conferencing and workflow management (Kilmer, 1999). Kilmer, (1999 ) states that popular products that fit into this category include Lotus Notes, email, intranet, internet, electronic conferencing and other collaborative tools. Groupware allows for new organizational design and practices. It provides new potential for how work groups or teams can enhance their coordination when performing activities and assigned tasks. Groupware technology addresses the need for collaboration, human to human interaction and builds on the latest advances in information technology. The rapid development of groupware technology means the term is not clearly defined (Lloyd, P. 1994), essentially the term refers to any computer based technology that helps a group work better collaboratively over digital media (Lloyd, P. 1994). According to Ellis et al., (1991) groupware falls into many categories from simple to complex systems. Ellis et al., (1991), distinguish two main categories when viewing groupware; time space and application level categories. Time space groupware are those tools conceived to enhance communication and collaboration within a real time interaction. The scenarios which encompass this include same time/same place, same time/different place, different time/same place and different time/different place (Ellis et al., 1991). Groupware which are classified as s... ...Across Space, Time, and Organization with Technology, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. - Lloyd, P., 1994, Groupware in the 21st Century, Praeger, Westport, CT. - Maier, N, 1967, "Assets and liabilities of group problem solving: the need for an integrative function", Psychological Review, 74, 4, 239-49. - Nunamaker, J., Dennis, A., Valacich, J., Vogel, D., 1991, "Electronic meeting systems to support group work", Communications of the ACM, 34, 7, 40-61. - Pava, C, 1983, Managing New Office Technology, Free Press,, New York, NY. - SAP GLOBAL, 2005, http://www.sap.com/solutions/netweaver/enterpriseportal/featuresfunctions /knowledgemanagement.epx - Shulman, A.D, 1996, "Putting group information technology in its place: communication and good work group performance", Clegg, S.R, Hardy, C., Nord, W.R., Handbook of Organization Studies, Sage Publication,, London, 357-74. - Taylor, J.C, 1998, "Participative design: linking BPR and SAP with the STS approach", Journal of Organizational Management, 11, 13, 233-45. - Yen, D.C, Wen H.J, Binshan, L. and Chou, D.C. 1999, â€Å"Groupware: a strategic analysis and implementation†, Industrial Management & Data Systems 99/2 64–70

Computer Task Group, Inc vs Brotby Essay

In 1995 William Brotby was hired by Computer Task Group, Inc. (CTG) as an information technologies consultant. Upon hiring, Brotby had to sign an agreement stating that he would be restricted to work for any CTG customers if he left the company. No more than two years later, Brotby left CTG and began to work for one of CTG’s customers known as Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. CTG, plaintiff, filed a suit against Brotby, defendant, in a federal district court alleging breach of contract. During the production of discovery, Brotby refused to fully respond to CTG’s interrogatories, never gave truthful answers, filed unwarranted motions, made flimsy objections, and never disclosed all of the information that CTG sought. Brotby was fined twice by the court and was issued five separate orders ordering him to cooperate. Because of Brothby’s continuous refusal to cooperate, CTG eventually filed a motion to enter default judgment against him in 1999. The court granted the motion; however, Brotby appealed to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Is continuous refusal of the defendant to produce discovery enough to warrant a default judgment by a federal district court? The federal district court granted CTG’s motion to enter a default judgment. The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the lower court. Therefore, the appellate court held that â€Å"in light of Brotby’s horrible record of discovery abuses† and his â€Å"abiding contempt and continuing disregard for the court’s orders,† the lower court properly exercised its discretion in entering a default judgment against the defendant. The Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 allows the district court to enter a default judgment against a party who fails to comply with an order demanding discovery. In addition, the district court must weigh five factors in order to appropriately decide if a sanction of default for noncompliance with discovery is grounds for dismissal. These five factors are: â€Å"(1) the public’s interest in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the court’s need to manage its ocket; (3) the risk of prejudice to the opposing party; (4) the public policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic sanctions. † When a court order is violated, the first and second factors will favor sanctions whereas the fourth will challenge the order. With regards to the first factor, Brotby’s actions were deliberate; he intended his actions to be as they were. Moreover, in determining whether abolishing sanctions are appropriate in Brotby’s case is reliant on the third and fifth factors. Brotby violated court orders by failing to produce sufficient and factual documents, and by failing to pay one of the fines. These deceitful tactics delayed the litigation process while burdening the court, and prejudiced CTG. Brotby failed to produce documents ordered by the court, and most of what he did submit came after discovery. The withholding of important information and the time delay is sufficient prejudice towards CTG. There are three factors considered in deciding whether the district court adequately considered lesser sanctions: â€Å"(1) explicitly discussed the alternative of lesser sanctions and explained why it would be inappropriate; (2) implemented lesser sanctions before ordering the case dismissed; and (3) warned the offending party of the possibility of dismissal. † The district court judge appropriately considered the alternative of lesser sanctions by ordering Brotby to comply with CTG’s discovery request five times and imposing two lesser sanctions against him. However, Brotby never responded and therefore it is appropriate to discard lesser sanctions if the court anticipates continuous false misconduct. Brotby also had continuous awareness that his unwillingness to cooperate would eventually result in a default judgment against him; the judge warned him to â€Å"stop playing games† if he wanted to stay in the game. Therefore, the two monetary sanctions, five orders ordering him to cooperate, and repeated warnings proved enough notice that Brotby’s continued failure to comply would result in default.

Walmart in China

Tablet of Contents The Beginning of Walmart Logistic†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 Magic of the stripes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Walmart’s Cross Docking†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 Downfall of Barcode System†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Power to the RIFD†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Walmart’s RFID Influence in China†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 9 The Chinese RFID investment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 Chinese market potential†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 12 The Beginning of Walmart LogisticWal-Mart as we all know it, it is an American multination corporation that operation in a largest chain discount stores in the world. Sam Walton, the successful business man from Arkansas began his retail store in 1940, worked at J. C. Penney and later on started a small retail chain store called â€Å"Ben Franklin†. It wasn’t till 1962; Mr. Walton opened the first Walmart store. In the beginning, Walton had his strategy set to low income families and offered a considerably lower cost than his competitors, the low price strategy allowed Walton to steer forward with his real goal to become the supply chain logistics giant.By 1987, Walton have led the store into a growing rampage, Walmart had 1,198 nationwide, sales in the 15. 9 billion and had 200,000 associates (Walmart, http://walmartstores. com/aboutus/7603. aspx, 2011), In the same year the company also became the largest private satellite net work in the country a nd implemented the first distribution monitoring system, it is a linked satellite system that offers two ways data , voice and one way video communication between Walmart’s driver and distribution center which increases inventory accuracy and ability to quickly restock store inventories (Wailgum, 2007).Magic of the stripes In addition to the satellite system, Walmart has guided the way to other ground-breaking technologies that had other retailers follow. In 1988, Walmart was the first retail company who used the barcode system as the universal labeling system (Walmart, http://walmartstores. com/aboutus/7603. aspx, 2011). The efficiently of the barcode system gave Walmart the capability to reduce store inventories and the cost of keeping items in warehouse.The barcode system also makes it possible for Walmart to record sales of each item for more accurate sales analysis, because the barcode system worked so well, 99 percent of Walmart stores adapted this technology(Walmart, h ttp://walmartstores. com/aboutus/7603. aspx, 2011). But it also created another problem for Walmart suppliers. One of the key pieces of the barcode system is the Universal Product Code (UPC), the UPC is a stamp with black and white stripes and numbers on the bottom that allows a barcode scanner to scan the product.Getting the UPC code isn’t as easy as print it on the box and ships it out to Walmart. First, Walmart requires all their potential suppliers to file an evaluation with Dun & Bradstreet for an evaluation of the company’s financial standing, second, buy a membership from Uniform Code Council's GS1 that cost at least $750 plus an annual fee that bases on the company’s sales plus cost of each UPC on the product (Washingtonpost, 2007).Base on the cost, if you are large company like PepsiCo or Johnson ; Johnson the fees are relatively small, but if you are a small mom and pop business the fees can eat up most of your sales revenue. However, Jon Lehman who wa s a Walmart Manager who managed six stores said during an interview with PBS. org(PBS. org, 2004) â€Å"you can track sales on specific items, specific weeks, specific days, specific hours of the day, when you sell merchandise the most. You can find out what size of toothpaste is your best seller, what times of the year you sell that toothpaste.You can track sales spikes during the year, during certain seasonal periods†. the benefit of the barcode system gives Walmart the leverage power to have all their suppliers include barcode in their products, which was the first time, a retailer have power over the supplier. Walmart’s Cross Docking In the retail race for survival, more and more retailers are finding ways to reduce inventory cost and transportation cost. Then in the 1980s, Walmart began to use a logistic technique call the â€Å"cross-docking†.This is a way for the finished goods to directly be pick up from a supplier’s manufacturing plant, and then transport the goods to the customers without storing it. The cross docking provide tremendous benefit, First, reduce handling and transportation cost, the product will not have to go to another storage location to be wait for pick up. Second, Cut product wait time, the product will spend less time in warehouse and more time on the road to deliver to the customer, it is especially important if the products are time sensitive, such as milk or produces.Walmart stores can decrease the financial lost from having to reduce price of the product because it is close to the expiration day. Third, product now have less chances to be damaged during shipping, in the old days, products often have to be transported though many different locations before it is shipped to the stores, the cross docking eliminates the needs of going to different distribution locations, as figure 1 shows, all products now will only go to a centralized sorting facility before it’s shipped to various Walmart store s.However, the most significant advantage of cross docking is the reduced warehousing, one of the cross docking main benefits is the ability to quickly move products, therefore, increase the turnaround time during warehousing. Walmart stores can carry more products and can stored more in the warehouse. Figure 1 Downfall of Barcode System The barcode system provided undeniable logistical benefit since Sam Walton started the company, but as time move forward and more supplies need to be move across warehouse floor; the time is up for a replacement. The technological constraints of the barcode system are speed, range and durability.The first major shortfall is that the barcode requires the line-of-sight technology(RFID-Journal, 2011), which means for the barcode to be read, there has to be a laser scanner within the line of sight for it to pick up the information in the barcode. According to International Logistics by Richard Stewart and Pierre David â€Å"Transportation is dependent on an infrastructure that allows the movement of goods†. Due to the line-of-sight constraint logisticians have to design the warehouse certain ways to allow barcode system to be read or introduce expensive human labors into the picture.Second, because it requires laser scanner to scan the products, only one item can be read at a time. Third, barcodes labels are vulnerable to daily wear and tear. Allow me to ask, have you experienced a time where you or the store cashier try to scan the barcode and you placed the barcode over the red scanner several times, but the scanner failed to pick up the barcode. That’s an example of damaged barcode. Due to the nature of barcode, once the widths of the black and white lines are damaged, it is impossible for the scanners to pick up.As a result of the limitations in barcode technology, Walmart implemented a new technology call RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) in its logistic system. Power to the RIFD In 2003(Webster, 2008), Walm art had started the preparation to integrate the RFID technology into its supply chain. The RFID united the improvements over barcode system in range, reading rate and durability into a single chip. It is a system of small electronic stickers that can instantly broadcast radio signal to the RFID receiver and consistently update its location.This way, logisticians can link between the digital and physical world without any human communication. The RFID had another advantage it’s able to read the data and know precisely what item it is and the expiration date on the item. For example, the RFID can tell Walmart which orange juices in which refrigerators are going to expire, so the employees can move the soon to expire orange juices in the front row. Walmart then required its 100 suppliers to integrate RFID technology in their packaging and hoping it will solve the issues where items are not ready on the selife. According to Ron Moser, RFID strategy leader at Walmart, Around 2 pe rcent of all lost sales are due to the simple fact a store has run out of an item, but 41 percent of the lost sales are due to inventory problem, If RFID can fix just 10 percent of that problem, then Wal-Mart will gain $287 million per year by avoiding lost sales. † Since 2007, Walmart has benefited a 30 percent reduction of out-of-stocks; reduction of excess inventory in the supply chain says Walmart CIO and Executive Vice President Rollin Ford(Walmart, Wal-Mart Continues RFID Technology Expansion, 2007). And If combine the numbers from Moser and Ford, that is a saving of 861 million a year, since the integration of RFID.The technology has proven itself as the divine money savior for Walmart’s logistic system. On top of that, Walmart has also pushed the RFID into one of their most profitable foreign market, China. Walmart’s RFID Influence in China In speaking of international logistics, if Walmart requires all their suppliers to include RFID chips, then they wil l also need to require international companies to do the same. Started in 2009(ChinaRetailNews. com, 2008), Walmart impacted the Chinese supply chain by forcing all Chinese suppliers to have RFID chips build into their products.Not only so, Walmart also created tougher standards on the Chinese suppliers which created a much stressful time for the Chinese manufactures to adapt. Going back to day one, the Walmart RFID movement started in January 2005 in a distribution center in Dallas says computerworld. com (Songini, 2006). At first, Walmart required about 100 of its suppliers in to have RFID chip installed, then in two years after that, in January 2007, 600 suppliers implemented the technology. Base on the historical review of the U. S. companies, it was easier for U. S. ompanies to put into practice of the RFID chip, upgrade the information system and warehousing technologies. On the other hand, most of the Chinese companies were still using human labors for their supply chain mana gement. It wasn’t that the Chinese manufactures didn’t want to upgrade to RFID. The technology infrastructure just wasn’t there. According the physorg. com, most of the companies in South China â€Å"Don’t understand and are not familiar with the technology† There was a number of problems that Walmart needed to solve before implementing the RFID idea into the mind of Chinese suppliers.First, at what level would it affect China? Civilian standards or government regulations or both? Second, how many of Chinese suppliers are capable of deploying the RFID technology; third, how many of them have heard of RIFD technology. The Chinese RFID investment Two of the very important market entry strategies that an international logistician ought to understand before entering a foreign market are the technology infrastructure and the characteristic of different levels of development. Does the Chinese have it what it takes to upgrade its Infrastructure?And does t he potential trade benefit outweigh cost? Fortunately, the Chinese government had a plan to expand its logistics infrastructure in 2007. The China State Radio Regulation Committee (SRRC) has approved the bandwidths needed to transmit RFID frequency in China, the two UHF bands 840. 25 to 844. 75 MHz and 920. 25 to 924. 75 MHz (Swedberg, 2007). The Chinese government’s intention of this approval is bring itself up to speed with rest of the world. According to Craig K. Harmon, President and CEO of Standards development organization â€Å"can be viewed as good news for U.S. and European companies. China's 920 to 925 MHz band overlaps the 902 to 928 MHz band used in the United States, so U. S. RFID tags will be readable by interrogators approved for use in China†. In other word, The Chinese government did not blindly upgrade its RFID infrastructure; it made sure the radio frequencies are compatible with foreign companies like Walmart. In other to support and keep up with re st of the world, the Chinese government is making an enormous amount of investments in the RFID market.Between 2009 and 2014, the Chinese market will have grown to $1. 4 billion in 2010, and by 2014, the RFID will reach $2. 4 billion, more than double the total form 2009, said by an iSuppli, a China market research firm. The RFID infrastructure is growing, and will dramatically develop to a mature stage that has the same level playing field with the United States. Chinese market potential Since the early 90s, the world has witnessed China’s huge growth economy and the potential to grow more, the logistics in China also have been growing along.Nevertheless, international logistics is a part of international business, the market, supply & demand, and GDP; those elements are the support beams of the logistics infrastructure. In addition, The Chinese and Walmart’s RFID infrastructures are depended on this growth. In 2010, the Chinese GDP growth was 10. 3 percent. In the sa me year, the Chinese domestic logistics grew to $15. 75 Trillion and will have 9% compound annual growth rate between 2011 to 2013, said by (Logistic Industry in China set for Tremendous Growth, 2011).On a general level, rapid market and GDP growth is a perfect business incubator for Walmart to accelerate the RFID adaption among Chinese suppliers. Conclusion The Logistics infrastructure is a key component for Walmart to penetrate Chinese market, in view of the fact that the country’s economy is export oriented. The RFID is one of the most important technologies for both Walmart and China to communicate both in the physical level and software level. But without the physical warehouse planning of Cross Docking, introducing the RFID can only win half of the battle.Ever since, Sam Walton created Walmart, moving products to customers have been the key development for the company, from human labor to barcode system and finally the RFID. With the pushing and help from Walmart, local Chinese manufactures and logistics companies are able to adapt this piece of technology and continue to compete with rest of the world. There are also noticeable evidences that the Chinese government is aware of the problem and taking action on, for example approving the RIFD spectrums. So far, the Chinese logistics information system that can support the RIFD is still smaller than the U.S. , even with that, Walmart should not back down in pushing the RFID technology to rest of the Chinese manufactures. We have to remember, what happen from the 100 supplies in the U. S. will happen to the Chinese suppliers. The adaption rate is slow and painful, but Walmart will get there. Works Cited China faces barriers in RFID adoption. (2005, 12 22). Retrieved 04 25, 2011, from www. physorg. com: http://www. physorg. com/news9312. html ChinaRetailNews. com. (2008, 11 06). Wal-Mart To Adopt Radio Frequency Identification On Chinese Mainland. Retrieved 04 26, 2011, from http://www. chinaretailnew s. om: http://www. chinaretailnews. com/2008/11/06/1730-wal-mart-to-adopt-radio-frequency-identification-on-chinese-mainland/ Geography, D. o. (2011). THE GEOGRAPHY OF TRANSPORT SYSTEMS. Retrieved 04 18, 2011, from Hofstra University: http://people. hofstra. edu/geotrans/eng/ch5en/conc5en/crossdocking. html Gu, V. (2011, 01 03). Press Release. Retrieved 05 01, 2011, from isuppli: http://www. isuppli. com/China-Electronics-Supply-Chain/News/Pages/Chinas-RFID-Market-Set-to-Double-by-2014. aspx Logistic Industry in China set for Tremendous Growth. (2011, 03 09). Retrieved 05 08, 2011, from whattech. com:

Free Essays on “Arm Wrestling With My Father”

No matter how much we all do not want to become our parents, it is bound to happen. The essay â€Å"Arm Wrestling with My Father† by Brad Manning suggests that it is inevitable for a father and son to switch roles as they get older. It is a part of growing old. You are destined to grow older and with growing older comes a point where you can grow weaker. In many father-son relationships it is hard to show affection. As men, they must keep to their â€Å"macho† standards by showing they care in different ways. Manning talks about how his father knew nothing about the sport he was playing but still insisted on showing him how it was played. He says that his father did not try to communicate through simpler forms of love, he would try to show him through sports and â€Å"manly† ways. Even though he showed him the wrong way to play lacrosse, the son knew that this was a way his father was showing him he cared and that he loved him. Pretending to know something that you know nothing about is certainly love. Another way that they showed affection was by arm wrestling. Ever since he was a child he and his father would arm wrestle. In paragraph 1 Manning writes, â€Å"But Dad would always win; I always had to lose.† Throughout his teen years he would always lose. Time goes by quickly and with time people age. His father grew older and weaker, as he grew older and stronger. The inevitable did happen. Manning is switching roles with his father. Becoming now, the stronger man. Although he is stronger Manning knows that he should not take that for granted. The main provider of the family is now weak and unable to show his strength. This is a indeed a role switch. Manning is now becoming his father. The strong and caring person that was once his father is now himself. In paragraph 12 Manning states, â€Å"our roles have begun to switch.† This is becoming more clear when his father offers him a hug before boarding the plane. That love has become more c... Free Essays on â€Å"Arm Wrestling With My Father† Free Essays on â€Å"Arm Wrestling With My Father† No matter how much we all do not want to become our parents, it is bound to happen. The essay â€Å"Arm Wrestling with My Father† by Brad Manning suggests that it is inevitable for a father and son to switch roles as they get older. It is a part of growing old. You are destined to grow older and with growing older comes a point where you can grow weaker. In many father-son relationships it is hard to show affection. As men, they must keep to their â€Å"macho† standards by showing they care in different ways. Manning talks about how his father knew nothing about the sport he was playing but still insisted on showing him how it was played. He says that his father did not try to communicate through simpler forms of love, he would try to show him through sports and â€Å"manly† ways. Even though he showed him the wrong way to play lacrosse, the son knew that this was a way his father was showing him he cared and that he loved him. Pretending to know something that you know nothing about is certainly love. Another way that they showed affection was by arm wrestling. Ever since he was a child he and his father would arm wrestle. In paragraph 1 Manning writes, â€Å"But Dad would always win; I always had to lose.† Throughout his teen years he would always lose. Time goes by quickly and with time people age. His father grew older and weaker, as he grew older and stronger. The inevitable did happen. Manning is switching roles with his father. Becoming now, the stronger man. Although he is stronger Manning knows that he should not take that for granted. The main provider of the family is now weak and unable to show his strength. This is a indeed a role switch. Manning is now becoming his father. The strong and caring person that was once his father is now himself. In paragraph 12 Manning states, â€Å"our roles have begun to switch.† This is becoming more clear when his father offers him a hug before boarding the plane. That love has become more c...

French Expressions Using Soir and Soirée

French Expressions Using Soir and Soirà ©e The French words un soir and une soirà ©e both mean evening (we explain the difference here) and are also used in many expressions. Many of the expressions including soir  and soirà ©e  are idioms - phrases with meanings that cant be derived from a direct translation of the words they use. With this list of expressions using soir  and  soirà ©e,  you can learn how to say frequently used sayings like an  evening meal, a night owl, formal wear and more. Common French Expressions With Soir prendre matin midi et soirto be taken three times a dayau soir de sa vieto be in the evening of his lifeles cours du soirnight classesà ªtre du soirto be a night owlIl est arrivà © un beau soir.He turned up one evening.le repas du soirevening mealune robe du soirevening gownle soir descend / tombeevening is closing inla veille au soirthe previous eveningVoulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir  ?Do you want to sleep with me tonight? Common French Expressions Using Soire bonne soirà ©ehave a nice eveningune soirà ©eparty, evening performanceune soirà ©e dansantedance​la tenue de soirà ©eformal wear, evening dressla tenue de soirà ©e de rigueurblack tie

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

And Discussion - Research Paper Example 86 (95.6%) of these attended class on campus, and 4 (4.4%) studied off campus. 67 (74.4%) students travelled to the campus using a personal vehicle while 23 (25.6%) used public transport. Of the students recruited to the study, 32 (35.5%) belonged to the Christian faith, 23 (25.5%) were Atheists, 20 (22.2%) were Agnostic, 3(3.3%) followed Hinduism, 2 (2.2%) followed Buddhism, 1 (1.1%) was Wiccan and 9 (10%) chose not to respond. 82 (91.1%) students responded that they did enjoy being at the University; while 7 (7.8%) said that they did not. 1 (1.1%) chose not to respond. When asked to respond to how much they enjoyed University, 32 (35.6%) said that they only enjoyed it somewhat; 48 (53.3%) said Quite a lot, and 10 (11.1%) responded that they enjoyed it totally. When asked how important they found having a sense of community 4 (4.4%) found it not important at all, 3 (3.3%) found it not very important; 31 (34.4%) found it somewhat important, 37 (41.1%) found it important, 12 (13.3%) f ound it very important and 3 (3.3%) chose not to respond. The subjects ranged in age from 19 to 57 years, with a mean age of 27.58 years and an SD of 9.3 years. The SES ranking ranged from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 98; the mean ranking was 64.93 with an SD of 24.37. The subjects were found to spend from 3 to 40 hours on campus; the mean time spent on campus being 13.43 hours with an SD of 8.06 hours. The students were found to have a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 50 friends on campus; the mean being 9.16 with an SD of 8.17. Statistical tests were conducted to understand the relationships between these variables. A correlation conducted to test the relationship between the number of friends a person had and the importance they attached to having a sense of community was found to be significant at the 0.01 level [ r (85) = 0.348; p < 0.01 two-tailed]. The relationship between the age of the participants and the extent to which they enjoyed University was also found to be signific ant [p (88) = 0.289; p < 0.01 two tailed]. The correlation computed to test the relationship between the primary location of study and the importance associated with a sense of community was not significant [p (85) = 0.041; NS]. The relationship between the number of friends and the extent to which the subject enjoyed University was also not significant [p (88) = -0.031; NS]. The relationship between the time spent in Australia and the extent to which the subject enjoyed University was also not significant [p (88) = 0.173; NS]. The independent t – test conducted to test if gender did affect the extent to which students enjoyed University was found to be not significant [t (88) = 1.548; NS]. On the other hand, the independent t-test that checked if gender did affect the extent of importance attached to the sense of community was slightly significant, missing the 0.05 level of significance marginally [t (85) = - 1.785; p < 0.07 two tailed]. The t-test conducted to verify if loc ation of study affected the sense of importance of community were insignificant [t (85) = -0.382; NS]; as was the t-test to verify if the location of study affected the extent to which the student enjoyed University [t (88) = 0.018; NS]. The data collected from the focus group interviews was recorded verbatim and then analysed using the Leximancer profile; and the data thus gleaned was interpreted according to the context in which the verbatim reports were collected –