Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 83

Essay Example Knowledge of organizational behavior empowers managers to understand employees’ emotions as well as reasons for employees’ behaviors for appropriate managerial decisions and practices that can control the behaviors and attitudes to achieve positive results. The knowledge can for example help a manager to understand reasons for employees’ rebellion towards development of a forum for identifying root cause of the problem for reconciliation. The knowledge of organizational behavior also facilitates understanding among employees by promoting tolerance to cultural and behavioral diversity. This is because it explains existence of such diversities and offers approaches for avoiding and managing diversity based conflicts. Employees’ understanding of an organization’s constructs also aligns their personal values and behavior to the organization’s policies, values, and expectations. Employees of an organization with established ethical values, for ins tance, adhere to the stipulated standards. Similarly, understanding an organization’s fundamental values and objectives identifies the organization’s appropriate structure for achieving the values and objective. An organization with diversified objectives such as provision of specialized but differentiated products would for example require a structure with line managers (Phillips and Gully 6). Knowledge of organizational behavior in an organization therefore aligns management practices, employees’ relations, and organizations’ structures to the organization’s environment and

The Early Explorers Journals Essay Example for Free

The Early Explorers Journals Essay Christopher Columbus and Samuel de Champlain were two of the most influential explorers in the history of the Americas. Columbus discovered the area near Caribbean Islands while Champlain explored the St. Lawrence Seaway. Their journals were very similar in the way they described what the two explorers saw. Yet they have some differences as well. There are some small differences that these two works carry. Columbus starts out each entry with the day that it began on. Like in the following passage, Monday Nov. 12th. They sailed from the port of the river (114). Champlain did not do it this way he simply stated facts from day to day. The way he writes it is like he is telling a story while Columbus is giving detailed information. The reason this was done may have something to do with the rulers that these two men were under. Columbus had to keep a detailed record for the ruler of Spain at the time. Champlain may not have had to do this being as Jacques Cartier had led an expedition through the same area for the French a few years earlier. The background of these two explorers definitely showed up in these journals. The two different time periods that Columbus and Champlain lived in also had an effect on their style of writing. Columbus expedition was around the time of 1492-1493, while Champlains was almost two hundred years later in 1608-1612. Columbus had to deal with a lot of natives in the West Indies that could not speak their native language. These natives also looked as the men of Columbus crew as gods sent from heaven. Champlain did not have it so easy. He had to deal with the Native American tribes of the great lakes area. These tribes, such as the Iroquois and the Huron, were sometimes not the best people to have to deal with. The Iroquois especially were not very friendly to the members of Champlains group. They were enemies of the Huron and the Huron were allies of the French. Before Champlain had to do battle with the Iroquois Columbus was worshiped by the natives of what is now present-day Cuba. He was able to give them glass beads in exchange for some very important items for his expedition. He was  able to get water and spices for the small glass beads. He was of course looking for what every Spanish explorer who sought out the natives of present day South America was looking for, gold. These two different journals were not all different however. They did have some similarities. In fact they have more in common than they have different from each other. The way nature is described in each journal is very similar. Columbus uses a very poetic style to describe the flora and fauna that he saw on his travels. Columbus describes the birds and trees that he sees in the tropical region very eloquently. Champlain uses this style as well to describe the nature that he saw along the St. Lawrence. He uses the same style in describing the forests and the deer that he encountered on his trip. This is just one of the many similarities that each journal has though. Besides the obvious comparison of sharing chronological time they share a same purpose. They were both meant to tell of their journeys. They tell them in a different way, but regardless they still tell of them. Columbus tells of his journeys through the Americas so that we may have an understanding of what he and his crew did during 1492. Champlain kept his for basically the same reason. These stories obviously became and vital piece of history. These stories also had another aspect in common; each man shared in some kind of a hardship. Columbus, in the Narrative of the Third Voyage talks about having a hard time getting to America. Champlain had an even rougher time in his second story. Champlain talks about being lost in the woods after hunting a bird that he followed. He gets lost and has to go through quite an ordeal to get back. Columbus also had many hardships to go through. He describes being stuck in a terrible place to be caught while sailing. The place he describes has not very much wind, it was very hot, and full of seaweed. These two definitely went through some tough times. Samuel de Champlain and Christopher Columbus wrote two very spectacular journals. They kept them perfectly and help the world see what exactly they  went through in their travels. Each of these men was an obviously very important figure, without Columbus who knows what would have happened in the Americas. Champlain also helped chart the area around the great lakes that was dominated by Native Americans at the time. Their journals should obviously be considered a vital piece of American Literature.

The Physics of the Human Voice Essay -- Biology Science Essays

The Physics of the Human Voice The voice is our primary mean of communication and expression. We rarely last more than a few minutes without its use whether it is talking to someone else or humming quietly to ourselves. We can use the voice artistically in many ways. For example, singing carries the rhythm and melody of speech. It creates patterns of pitch, loudness, and duration that tie together syllables, phrases and sentences. We use the voice for survival, emotion, expression, and to reflect our personality. The loss of the voice is a severe curtailment to many professions. It is affected by general body condition which is why we need to consider the location of the larynx and how that organ produces voice. Surprisingly, this complex biological design is mechanical in function. It is mechanical to the point that when it has been excised from a cadaver and mounted on a laboratory bench, the larynx produces sounds resembling normal phonation. (Titze, Principles) The larynx, known as the voice box, consists of an outer casing of nine cartilages that are connected to one another by muscles and ligaments. There are three unpaired cartilages and six paired. The unpaired cartilages include the thyroid, cricoid, and epiglottis. The thyroid cartilage is the largest and better known as the Adam’s apple. The cricoid cartilage is the most inferior cartilage of the larynx which forms the base of the larynx on which the other cartilages rest. Together, the thyroid and cricoid cartilages maintain an open passageway for air movement. The epiglottis and vestibular folds, or false vocal chords, prevent swallowed material from moving into the larynx. The paired cartilages, accounting for the remaining six, include the arytenoid (ladl... ...rynx for speech. Anatomy is very important when considering the physics of the voice. Much of the head, neck, and chest play an important role in sound production. Although the larynx is biological it is very mechanical in function. Mechanical means that we study objects in motion and the associated forces that produce that motion. The same three universal laws made famous by Sir Isaac Newton apply to the voice. The larynx can then become a nonbiological sound source. When compared to other instrument made by human hands the voice is not ideal in structure. Tissues found in the human body do not vibrate as easily or as predictably as the strings of a piano or the reed of a clarinet. One can speculate that our bodies are still evolving to create a sound more conducive in structure. Considering all that we can do with our voices, I doubt we will hear much complaining.

Impact of Social Media Essay

What is the media? The media is â€Å"the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people widely. † (Media, Dictionary. com). In other words the media is every thing that communicates something. TV shows, commercials, ads, and movies are all part of the media. Once the internet got more accessible, the birth of another kind of media happened: Social media. Social media is â€Å"Web sites and other online means of communication that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts. Anything that can be used to connect with others to hear or state opinion will fall under the social media category. Anything from a blog with fascist and racist views to club penguin account is social media. Everywhere you look there is a form of media around you. Nowadays the media has gained lots of power over peoples thoughts and ideas. Especially the thoughts of young pre teens who haven’t had a chance to form opinions of their own. Now if the media uses the hold it has for good or for bad, it all depends on how you look at it. There are particular kinds of media that certainly wouldn’t be considered â€Å"quality media†. For example trashy tabloid magazines covering Lindsay Lohan’s newest scandal. That’s definitely something that would have a negative impact on a young developing mind. The media can have a great negative impact on children under the age of 14 if they aren’t being exposed to â€Å"quality media or good role models†. Turn on the TV. Bright white teeth, expensive cars, revealing clothes, skinny girls, buff guys lathered in the best of the best. All engaged in promiscuous taboo behaviors. Those are the usual images that you’ll be exposed to within the first few minutes. Not just on the shows, but the commercials as well. â€Å"According to the Center for a New American Dream, children and teens are exposed to over 25,000 ads in a year, and companies spend over $17 billion a year on marketing toward children and teens. † (S. Zeiger 1). 25,000 ads containing what? Chances are, nothing educational. The media promotes â€Å" attractiveness† but what is attractiveness?. To the media its skinny. â€Å"The Media, Body Image and Eating Disorders paper by the National Eating Disorders Association says that over 70 percent of articles on weight loss in teen magazines claimed attractiveness as a reason for needing to lose weight. The association also notes that at least one out of every four advertisements sends a message about attractiveness. † This negatively impacts young female minds because they grow up having a media created view on beauty. They think that to be considered attractive they must be skinny and when they are not at the media’s ideal weight they begin to feel ugly and put themselves down. If women feel bigger than they are, they are more likely to want to lose weight or develop an If women feel bigger than they are, they are more likely to want to lose weight or develop an eating disorder. The same discussion argues that, in addition to giving females a reason or desire to be smaller the media has other effects on females: Ads persuade females that wrong eating habits are right. Girls feel as if they don’t have what everyone else has. The media makes girls think that those with ideal body images have perfect lives. (S. Zieger 2) Young girls growing up thinking that they’re not good enough because of the media. The media also impacts young boys too. Big abs and clear skin if you don’t have it then you’re not living up the the medias standards. That leads many boys to have low confidence and a bad body image. â€Å"The media does not affect females alone. According to the Center on Media and Child Health, boys can also face lower self-esteem if they feel their bodies do not measure up to the idea of perfection presented by the media†. (S. Zeiger 3). The media also influences the way the pre teens dress. Plus, children begin to think that they have to wear the clothes and outfits that they see on television in order to fit in†(McGuire 1) This lowers the child’s self worth. If the child does not own what’s being shown on TV they begin to feel like they aren’t good enough, thus creating low self esteem. The media has a way of exposing brands and letting every one know what’s in and out and if you don’t have it well you’re out too. â€Å"The amount of advertising and number of impressions are a carefully orchestrated attempt to get your child hooked on their brand. What’s more, your child gets the message that they just can’t live without the product being pitched. † (McGuire 2). This also causes problems between the parent and the child. The child will constantly want and think it needs new things because of the media. Some parents less likely to give into the childs wants, creating animosity between the child and parent. The media also puts out a lot of stereotypes. A big stereotype that’s show a lot is the cookie cutter family. A mom, a dad, a brother, a sister, and a pet. According to the national kids count program 35% of kids live in a single parent household. When the â€Å"normal† family is presented to be something very far from a lot of childrens realities, it causes problems for the child’s self image. The media also portrays sex as something cool and fun. Sex, lots of it. That’s what you should be doing. That’s basically what the media says. â€Å"Plus, sexuality is glorified on television, in movies, and on the internet, and these impressions are indelibly imprinted on our child’s brain. † (McGuire 3). The media also has young teen depict the police as something negative. They often view the law as an enemy and think its cool to break it. This leads them to have a bad relationship with the law enforcement at an older age. â€Å"Violence and respect for the law. Much like sexuality, the amount of violence on television, video games, and movies is at an all-time high. This dangerous media influence can desensitize a child to the tragic outcomes often associated with this type of violence. Children can begin to see law enforcement officials as â€Å"the enemy† and treat them as such into their teenage years. † (McGuire 4). The media also messes with education. Surfing twitter in class and posting statuses during a test. All normal behavior in todays youth. This behavior badly impacting children and their grades. It is very common to see kids spit their homework and studying time with social media. All these bad habits take away from the child’s attention thus impacting the amount the child would learn or produce negatively. Social media also has affected relationships between peers. Social media puts the world at your fingertips. It gives you the power to say whatever you want. Sometimes even things you wouldn’t post in person. Social media gives you some sort of false protection, like you’re hiding behind your keyboard. Facilitating cyberbullying. â€Å"43% of teens aged 13 to 17 report that they have experienced some sort of cyberbullying in the past year. †(Internet Safety 101). Pornography has also come into very close reach for young teens. â€Å"7 out of 10 teens have come across pornography†(Internet Safety 101). This also distorts sexuality for young teens. Social media also stunts social development. If young teens are learning how to communicate through social media rather than in person this creates a social barrier of not knowing how to communicate in person. Then we get socially awkward youth glued to their phones. Also social media is a very different form of communication, it often leaves space for breaches and miscommunications. When you’re communicating with someone through social media you have no hints like body language and tone to guide you. Leading to more breaches in our relationships. All of these things can be socially deadly for a kid without any maternal or paternal guidance. However in the right hands social media can be more than a blessing, Social media can be used for so many things. It can be used to expand knowledge. There are various blogs, articles, chat rooms and websites all focused on providing knowledge. Young teens can look at all these various things in order to form an opinion on it. Take politics, a teen can surf through various blogs, chat with various people in order to form their opinion on it. They can visit the old forms of media as well like magazines, papers, radios, and books. Social media is also there for a teen to leave their opinions, or their mark on the generation. â€Å"â€Å"Certain technical skills in the coming years are not going to be just about consuming media,† she says. â€Å"It is also going to be about producing media. It is not just about writing a blog, but also how to leave comments that say something. Learning to communicate like this is contributing to the general circulation of culture. †Ã¢â‚¬ (L. Tripp). Social media provides grounds for youth to learn the new norms of communication. Social media also provides people that because of distance normally would never be able to communicate a way to share ideas. Take the london riots for example. Thousands of british people gathered in london boroughs in order to riot. How did they manage to get the word around? BBM. Blackberry messenger. A form of social media that is like text messaging but instead of a number its a pin. BBM impacted this so much that they dubbed the riots BBM riots. The london riots are only one example of the many ways social media has aided in people this fast paced world. For younger kids however social media still provides access to information. â€Å"How media can benefit children: social benefits – for example, joining online clubs such as Club Penguin or Skoodle which teach children strategies for effectively and safely using social networking sites, or playing computer games with friends and family. †(Raising Children 1) On sites like Club penguin young teens can learn how to communicate and work together all in a controlled environment. Skooville is another site like Club penguin. It allows young minds to flourish and learn new things but in a safe monitored environment. Sites like those are a good way for a young teen to expand their social skills without having to fear being exposed to things they or their parents want them to see. You can use the media to follow a good role model. There are many role models who are very active in social media. Seeing what they’re up too is a great way to learn and be engaged without any consequences. You can follow them on twitter or research them or read about them in the paper or magazine. Its a great way to be involved. Many young teens are influenced by a role model â€Å"Teenagers can develop their: values through observing good role models in the media†(Raising children 2) Role models are a great way to get new ideas or to look at for inspiration. But what is a good models â€Å"Good role models are people or characters who are doing things or behaving in ways that you wouldn’t mind your child copying or that you would like your child to copy. †(Raising children 3). So if a TV network or show has things that you want your child to copy they are a good influence. Good programs and tv networks can be beneficial in more than one way. Good programing can influence children to practice good behaviors. †Deciding what is â€Å"good† : Movies and TV programs can also be a good way to expose your child to diversity, especially ethnic diversity. It will provide them with knowledge without the constant fear of crude explicit things. A sheltered explanation of things. The world is constantly evolving and social media is a great way for teens to stay up to date with the various changes in the world. Social media is also great for following big news it gives teens a chance to feel connected and in the know with one touch of a button. Social media also helps a lot of shy teens who need support from online communities. It allows kids with unique interests to find each other in this humongous world and share their thoughts and ideas. Sites like Edmodo give teachers the power to communicate with their students easily through social media. sites like that facilitate the student teacher relationship expanding the classroom. With all its pros and cons social networking will continue to impact young teens daily. A lot of it is inevitable in this day and age because the media is literally everywhere. But it depends alot on how the media is used. If it is used for good then it will have a positive influence and a good impact. But if its misused or without the pooper guides or without strong support it can create a irreversible impact. The media will impact young teens in both ways but its up to them to discern what information is good and what isn’t. what habits are good and what habits they should probably trash. When you try to shelter kids too much you don’t let them learn for themselves and become their own person it can hurt them more than any scheme the media can pull.

Banned Books Essay

Throughout history, books have been the target of censorship. At times, these books are even banned from schools and public libraries because the content in them is thought to be too offensive. For this assignment, you will be reading one of these banned books. Which book you read is your decision, however you should keep in mind the appropriateness of your choice- make sure it is a book that your parents would not find objectionable. After you have read the book, you will be writing a persuasive essay defending whether or not the book should or should not be banned from a middle school library. Your essay should include a paragraph that summarizes the book as well as three logical, defendable reasons why the book should or should not be banned from a middle school library. While you may look up the reasons why the book has been challenged in the past, the thoughts expressed in the paper must be your own. You are expected to use the information about persuasive essays learned in class to format this paper. A rubric outlining the expectations will be posted on my Teacher Page. Your essay must be typed and follow the standard requirements for an essay: double-spaced, Times New Roman, one-inch margins. Any secondary sources or research that you use must be documented with in-text citations and included on a Works Cited page. If, at any time, you have questions regarding the book you are reading or the essay you are writing, please ask me.

Cherry orchard vs. endgame essays

Cherry orchard vs. endgame essays Three men: a Greek philosopher, a Russian playwright, and an Irish man who speaks English but writes in French (kind of absurd isnt it?) are standing in line at a vending machine. The Greek philosopher, upon realizing that he doesnt have any quarters, turns to the others in line and asks, Can either of you change a five? The Russian playwright and the native Irishman, who now lives in Paris where he writes in French and then painstakingly translates his works into English by himself (what is this guys deal?), look at each other pensively for a moment and then say, No. Get it? In both Anton Chekhovs The Cherry Orchard and Samuel Becketts Endgame there is a complete lack of change in any of the characters lives. Under normal circumstances this lack of one of the most important elements of theatre would result in two plays that are utterly worthless and simply not deserving of the effort that one would expend while reading them. However, these are not normal circumstances, and these are certainly not your everyday, average playwrights. In both plays, the absence of any change is a deliberate choice that each author has made. In The Cherry Orchard the characters simply refuse to accept that the world around them is changing, and therefore never undergo any changes themselves while in Endgame Beckett uses numerous ambiguous elements to simply prevent any change from being achievable. Chekhovs manifests the absence of change in The Cherry Orchard through the characters simple refusal to change. The dialogue in the beginning of the play informs the reader that the Cherry Orchard and the estate must be sold because of Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskayas and the rest of the familys inability to pay their debts. From this simple circumstance the reader can infer that Ranevskaya was once wealthy but no longer is. This leads to another important factor of the p...

guernica essays

guernica essays On April 27th, 1937, unprecedented atrocities are perpetrated on behalf of Franco against the civilian population of a little Basque village of Guernica in northern Spain. Chosen for bombing practice by Hitler's new war machine, the little city is pounded with high explosives and incendiary bombs for over three hours. Townspeople are cut down as they run from the crumbling buildings. Guernica burns for three days. Sixteen hundred civilians are killed or wounded. This powerful painting captures Picasso's horror at the brutal destruction that man commits against man. This monumental work tells the story. Guernica, painted by Pablo Picasso in 1937, is a cubist work depicting the evils of war. It is clear that Picasso abhorred war, and all its aggregates. The mural stands eleven feet tall and is twenty-six feet in length. The immense size of this painting aids in portraying the monumental effect of war on the people of Spain. Using a monochromatic template, Picasso adds to this effect by creating an eerie and dark mood to reflect the tragedy of war. He uses only grays in his painting, and includes areas of only black and white. Picasso deliberately distorts the proportion of the animals and figures he has created. They look almost like something from a nightmare. When I see this painting I look from left to right, seeing first an image of a woman mourning the loss of her newborn baby. Above her is the head of a bull, representing Spain. As I pan across the work, a horse trampling the body of a fallen warrior is shown. A ghost it seems holds a candle to light the scene, but light only shines to the right. Following the light is a woman struggling to walk. To the far right is a person screaming at the end of a dark hall. Picasso has drawn teeth-like figures on the hall to give it the appearance of a mouth. As I look at this painting, I feel I get a real sense of war. It seems that you could look for hours and still have more to see. ...

Writing a Research Paper Using Color-Coded Index Cards

Writing a Research Paper Using Color-Coded Index Cards A research paper is primarily a discussion or argument based on a thesis, which includes evidence from several collected sources. While it may seem like a monumental project to write a research paper, it is really a straightforward process that you can follow, step by step. Before you get started, make sure you have plenty of note paper, several multi-colored highlighters, and a pack of multi-colored index cards. You should also read over the checklist for research ethics  before you begin, so you dont head down the wrong path! Organizing your Research Paper Youll use the following steps to complete your assignment. 1. Select a topic2. Find sources3. Take notes on colored index cards4. Arrange your notes by topic5. Write an outline6. Write a first draft7. Revise and re-write8. Proofread Library Research Become familiar with the services and layout of the library. There will be a card catalog and computers for database searches, but you dont need to tackle those alone. There will be library personnel on hand to show you how to use these resources. Dont be afraid to ask! Select a Research Paper Topic Once you narrow your choices to a specific subject area, find three specific questions to answer about your topic. A common mistake by students is to choose a final topic that is too general. Try to be specific: What is tornado alley? Are certain states really more likely to suffer from tornadoes? Why? One of your questions will turn into a thesis statement, after you do a little preliminary research to find theories to answer to your questions. Remember, a thesis is a statement, not a question. Find Sources Use the card catalog or computer database in the library to locate books. (See Sources to Avoid.) Find several books that seem to be relevant to your topic. There will also be a periodical guide in the library. Periodicals are publications issued on a regular basis, like magazines, journals, and newspapers. Use a search engine to find a list of articles relating to your topic. Make sure to find articles in periodicals that are located in your library. (See How to Find an Article.) Sit at your work table and scan through your sources. Some titles can be misleading, so you’ll have some sources that don’t pan out. You can do a quick read over the materials to determine which ones contain useful information. Taking Notes As you scan your sources, you will begin to zero in on a thesis. Several sub-topics will also begin to emerge. Using our tornado topic as an example, a sub-topic would be the Fujita Tornado Scale. Start taking notes from your sources, using color coding for the sub-topics. For instance, all information referring to the Fujita Scale would go on orange note cards. You may find it necessary to photocopy articles or encyclopedia entries so you can take them home. If you do this, use the highlighters to mark the useful passages in the relevant colors. Every time you take a note, be sure to write down all bibliographical information to include author, book title, article title, page numbers, volume number, publisher name and dates. Write this information on each and every index card and photocopy. This is absolutely critical! Arrange Your Notes by Topics Once you have taken color-coded notes, you will be able to sort your notes more easily. Sort the cards by colors. Then, arrange by relevance. These will become your paragraphs. You may have several paragraphs for each sub-topic. Outline Your Research Paper Write an outline, according to your sorted cards. You may find that some of the cards fit better with different â€Å"colors† or sub-topics, so simply re-arrange your cards. That’s a normal part of the process. Your paper is taking shape and becoming a logical argument or position statement. Write a First Draft Develop a strong thesis statement and introductory paragraph. Follow through with your sub-topics. You may find that you don’t have enough material, and you may need to supplement your paper with additional research. Your paper may not flow very well on the first try. (This is why we have first drafts!) Read it over and re-arrange paragraphs, add paragraphs, and omit information that doesn’t seem to belong. Keep editing and re-writing until you’re happy. Create a bibliography from your note cards. (See citation makers.) Proofread When you think you are happy with your paper, proof read! Make sure it is free of spelling, grammatical, or typographical errors. Also, check to make sure you’ve included every source in your bibliography. Finally, check the original instructions from your teacher to make sure you are following all assigned preferences, like title page directions and placement of page numbers.

Summarize William Paley's argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summarize William Paley's argument - Essay Example He illustrates this through an examination of a watch. While taking a leisurely walk and one finds a stone and a watch on the ground, an examiner may be curious about those objects. He may think that the stone had been there forever because it was nature’s design, but the watch may have been there due to human intervention. This may get him to focus on the watch, which is a far more valuable thing than the insignificant stone. The watch, so carefully designed, had been created with a specific purpose, and being found on the ground may seem to be an unlikely circumstance since it does not belong there. Paley so meticulously describes each part of the watch to show that its interconnection with the other parts was intended, so that the whole system could work. Had one part stop working, then the whole thing would be worthless. In examining the watch, so many questions may come to mind, such as why it was created, who was behind the creation and for whom and for what purpose it w as created other than the obvious reason of telling time. Paley first argues that so much more can come out of one’s examination of the watch that it brings about more appreciation to the examiner. He may marvel at the genius behind its creation, taking notice that the creator is one of a kind to have crafted such a machine. He may even be humbled to know that he himself is unable to come up with a fraction of the idea of a watch! The existence whoever or whatever created that watch whether he is still living or have died in the distant past now becomes more concrete to Paley. On his second argument, he admits to the fallibility of the watch, that even with the best intentions of the creator to make it work efficiently at all times, it may still be vulnerable to defects. However, it does not lessen the examiner’s appreciation of such a gadget. He also argued that because of the intricate design of the watch there may be parts that could be missed in the examination, or parts that may still be in need of clarification as to its role in making the watch work. Not knowing about these details does not invalidate the examiner’s belief that all parts, including the unknown ones, work together harmoniously in contributing to the efficiency of the watch. Another argument Paley made was that the existence of the watch in the place found must have followed an order that caused it to land where it is which the watchmaker may not even be aware of. All the thinking that the examination of the watch entails can make the examiner wonder if it was placed there on purpose for him to think deeply, but Paley argues that it would be realized that there was no contrivance on that matter, but the curious nature of the watch’s existence in the particular situation was inherently bound to make one think deeply about it. Paley goes on to explain the â€Å"metallic nature† of the watch. No matter how overwhelming the watch and its inner workings is, i ts existence should just be accepted as a usual occurrence. Confident as the examiner may be with his knowledge of the world, examination of the watch may make him conclude that he does not and cannot know everything. Paley concludes that there are things in this world that the examiner will never know nor understand no matter how hard he tries, and he

Philosophy Compare Derrida and J.L. Austin's views on langauge Essay

Philosophy Compare Derrida and J.L. Austin's views on langauge - Essay Example Austin's ideas precede those of Derrida, and in many ways may be seen as the foundation that Derrida and his fellow post-structuralists seek to dismantle. The basis of Austin's ideas is that language can be divided between two broad categories. These are performative acts and performative utterances. Take the example that I have just stood on your toe. Two possible verbal reactions are possible. One, I say "I apologize for stepping on your toe". Alternatively, I might say "I am sorry for stepping on your toe". The first sentence is an example of a performative act: I have performed the 'act' of apologizing for stepping on your toe. The second sentence is not an act however - as I am just stating what I feel about stepping on your toe. I may be apologizing, but on the other hand I may not be - it may be just what I feel on the inside. This appears to be a very simple distinction, but from this basic premise, Austin moves into increasingly complex examinations of the structure of language in the form of acts/utterances. Essentially, the words that we use rely upon a whole series of other facts, realities, possibilities and assumptions in order for them to have meaning. For example, I say to you, "I am going to marry you tomorrow". In some ways this is a performative act - it is a direct statement of what I will do, as opposed to a feeling. However, the act definition depends upon a number of outside factors. It remains an act if we are both unmarried, if you the opposite gender from me, if we are both of age, if we live in a place where you can get a marriage license within 24 hours . . . . etc. But if either of us is already married, or perhaps we are already married, if we are the same gender etc. then the act becomes an utterance because there is no way of the act really occurring. From this start, Austin moves through a detailed examination of performance acts and utterances, and eventually uses his analysis to counter some of the very bases of all philosophy. One of his most important arguments is that the obsession of philosophy with whether something is "true" or "false" is in fact what he calls a "tyranny" (Austin, 1976). Because any statement depends upon the hierarchy of facts, realities, feelings that was outlined above, the idea that it can be easily categorized as "true" or false" is absurd. It all depends upon the overall environment within which the statement exists. Austin calls this "a dimension of assessment" (1976). While eventually Austin rejects the idea that all language can be divided between performative acts and utterances, the basic structure remains in place. A particular sentence is either an act or it is an utterance. This is what can be referred to as a Cartesian worldview of opposites. Derrida comes from a very different viewpoint. As the very title of his famous book suggests, he seeks to understand the world from the "margins" of philosophy. He seeks to philosophize from the point of view of what he calls both/and (Derrida, 1985). For Derrida the attempt to divide language into either/or reduces the situation through simplifying it. He finds it much more interesting if a word or sentence can be both an act and an utterance. Derrida works through a system of paradox in which the speaker, far from using words that reflect his intention, in fact has his intention determined by the words that he is using. This is the direct attack that Derrida lays against the ideas of

The Effect of Play on Early Literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Effect of Play on Early Literacy - Essay Example Research on the relationship between play and literacy emerged as early as 1974, and increased with new insights into the foundations of literacy in the preschool years. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of play in preschool children on early literacy. Further, the theoretical framework provided by Vygotsky and Piaget, and the importance of symbolic play, free play and guided play reinforced by reading from resources rich in vocabulary will be examined. Theoretical Framework for the Play-Literacy Relationship The classic theories of developmental psychologists Piaget and Vygotsky provide strong theoretical frameworks for examining the relationship between play and literacy in early childhood. Piaget’s perspective emphasizes on the value of repeated social pretend play for the acquisition of broad cognitive skills such as symbolic representations and the initiation of literacy skills such as print awareness. Pellegrini and Van Ryzin (2007) state that this approach is based on interactions between individuals and the objects in the physical environment; and has led to the establishment of literacy-enriched play centers as an interventional strategy. Vygotsian theory is based on the role of adults and peers in the acquisition of social literacy practices through play activities. This theory argues that children form literacy concepts and skills through everyday experiences with others including pretend play and bedtime storybook reading. Thus, the young child’s acquisition of literacy is a social, constructive process that begins from early childhood. These classic theories identify behavioral categories apparently shared by play and literacy, including â€Å"pretend transformations, narrative thinking, meta-play talk, and social interaction† (Christie & Roskos, 2009, p.1). On the other hand, they do not explain the dynamics between play and literacy, or the means by which play activity impacts the develo pment of literacy. Learning Through Engagement in Play Activities From birth, children love to learn through play and exploration, which form their primary teachers. In early childhood, mental and physical actions support each other, and learning is a process which engages both the mind and body. It is essential for children to experience life kinesthetically, thereby learning through experiences that utilize all the senses (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001). According to Leong, Bodrova, Hensen & Henninger (1999), play promotes four major skills that are vital for the development of literacy. They include increased ability to learn deliberately with enhancement in cognitive skills, development of symbolic representation, improved oral language, and the introduction of content related literacy skills for play to prepare the way. A valuable aspect of early literacy development is pretend play, which provides extensive opportunities to develop language skills. The amount of time spent by child ren in pretend play corresponds to their performance on language and literacy assessments. Their conversations in the preschool classroom are based on several skills using oral language and print; and the development of these skills is evident by the end of kindergarten (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001). It is clear that play has a great potential for practicing and experimenting

Commodities Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Commodities Marketing - Essay Example Commodity products such as metals, fuel, and agricultural products have a much higher risk in this regard (Damodaran 2008). This is why any manager running an agricultural business should be able to manage these risk in order to help he business to navigate all the seasons in a year without being brought done by the changing prices. Nature of risks for an agriculture business The kind of risk that an agribusiness faces is not just tied to the prices of the commodity it sells. It is also related to the price changes in the farm inputs (Damodaran 2008). If the farm inputs increase in price in a dramatically short time, the business will have to receive this shock and may not be able to sell its products at a price that will return its costs of production and give the business a profit margin. One thing that is most necessary to understand about agriculture products is that they have at least two main characteristic that expose them to the risk of price change. These are as follows; Aff ected by weather and seasons The seasonal nature of agricultural commodities is something that affects the way the products navigate through the market during the calendar year. For instance, during the time when there are too many tomatoes in the market, prices of the tomatoes will go down and this can affect the farmer because the famer (agribusiness man) may not be able to recover their cost of production. ... If the farmer is farming vegetables and fruits, the farmer can use green houses and be able to deliver the goods to the market during the time those particular goods are out of the season and thus be able to have an upper hand in demand and supply equation. There are on the other hand various issues in regard to this. To begin with, not all the agribusiness products can be cushioned from risk in this way. Secondly, even for those products which can be headed in this way, they would still need more hedging because this does not guarantee that the markets will be stable. This therefore means that the farmer may still need to hedge their business farther using more formidable means of risk management tools. Perishable goods Most agricultural goods are perishable and therefore have no long shelf life in which to wait for the products to wait for the price shock to pass. For instance, once vegetables reach their time to be harvested, they have to be harvested as soon as possible, or they will go bad. At the same time, once they are harvested, they have to be moved immediately before they expire. This leaves the farmer at a disadvantage and may make them to be vulnerable to the forces of demand and supply. Substitute products To add to the risk of the perish-ability, most of the agricultural goods have substitute products in the market and agricultural products can be replaced by so many other products. This leaves the consumers with a choice to choose the substitute product with the lowest price tag on it. From the side of the farmer, though this is not ideal because it leaves the farmer in a position where they are not able to negotiate for a better price. This makes

Analyzing Gender Differences in Spontaneous Speech Research Proposal

Analyzing Gender Differences in Spontaneous Speech - Research Proposal Example From the time they are born, baby girls are considered fragile and they are exposed to delicate language and handled very gently. Boys, on the other hand, are exposed to strong tones and power-filled language and are handled less gently as they are tossed in the air and held upright from a younger age to demonstrate their power and strength (Rasquinha & Mouly, 2005) This study attempts to investigate gender differences in choice of topics to talk about and linguistic differences in verbal expressions. Its significance lies in the fact that understanding gender differences and accepting them as natural to the person will help others understand where the speaker is coming from. To understand gender differences in communication better, it is important to actively analyze how men and women express themselves linguistically and explain the differences between the two if any. Background of the Research Problem Most miscommunication problems between men and women stem from the fact that they are wired differently. According to Rasquinha and Mouly (2005), women are more prone to communicating verbally with a language of connection and intimacy. This means that they use more of their emotions when speaking. On the other hand, men are more prone to communicating with a language of status and independence. This means they use more of their logical reasoning and less of their emotions. Sometimes, conflicts arise when issues pertaining to interpretations of certain topics and gender differences come into play.

Commodities Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Commodities Marketing - Essay Example Commodity products such as metals, fuel, and agricultural products have a much higher risk in this regard (Damodaran 2008). This is why any manager running an agricultural business should be able to manage these risk in order to help he business to navigate all the seasons in a year without being brought done by the changing prices. Nature of risks for an agriculture business The kind of risk that an agribusiness faces is not just tied to the prices of the commodity it sells. It is also related to the price changes in the farm inputs (Damodaran 2008). If the farm inputs increase in price in a dramatically short time, the business will have to receive this shock and may not be able to sell its products at a price that will return its costs of production and give the business a profit margin. One thing that is most necessary to understand about agriculture products is that they have at least two main characteristic that expose them to the risk of price change. These are as follows; Aff ected by weather and seasons The seasonal nature of agricultural commodities is something that affects the way the products navigate through the market during the calendar year. For instance, during the time when there are too many tomatoes in the market, prices of the tomatoes will go down and this can affect the farmer because the famer (agribusiness man) may not be able to recover their cost of production. ... If the farmer is farming vegetables and fruits, the farmer can use green houses and be able to deliver the goods to the market during the time those particular goods are out of the season and thus be able to have an upper hand in demand and supply equation. There are on the other hand various issues in regard to this. To begin with, not all the agribusiness products can be cushioned from risk in this way. Secondly, even for those products which can be headed in this way, they would still need more hedging because this does not guarantee that the markets will be stable. This therefore means that the farmer may still need to hedge their business farther using more formidable means of risk management tools. Perishable goods Most agricultural goods are perishable and therefore have no long shelf life in which to wait for the products to wait for the price shock to pass. For instance, once vegetables reach their time to be harvested, they have to be harvested as soon as possible, or they will go bad. At the same time, once they are harvested, they have to be moved immediately before they expire. This leaves the farmer at a disadvantage and may make them to be vulnerable to the forces of demand and supply. Substitute products To add to the risk of the perish-ability, most of the agricultural goods have substitute products in the market and agricultural products can be replaced by so many other products. This leaves the consumers with a choice to choose the substitute product with the lowest price tag on it. From the side of the farmer, though this is not ideal because it leaves the farmer in a position where they are not able to negotiate for a better price. This makes

Identify the environmental factors that affect global and domestic Essay

Identify the environmental factors that affect global and domestic marketing decisions - Essay Example Due to the effective and competent marketing research and development of Coca-Cola it was able to manufacture and distribute worldwide. Coca-Cola is evidently a transnational organization. Even though the main office of Coca-Cola is in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the beverage magnate is greater than merely an American firm with several branches abroad (Gillespie & Hennesy 2010). It is genuinely an international business. Almost 80% of the operating income of Coca-Cola (Ferrell 2007) originates from its operations overseas. Influence of Global Economic Interdependence and Trade Practices and Agreements Trade agreements smooth the progress of joint enterprises, franchising, distribution systems, and other global transactions between and among companies. Products of Coca-Cola are manufactured and distributed in a large number of countries all over the world. National governments curb barriers to trade like tariffs cutback and funding that took place specifically a decade (Gillespie & Henness y 2010). This has been one of the major reasons compelling Coca-Cola to spread out globally. In the meantime, there has been an increasing financial market deregulation since 1980s. This has involved abolishing floating of currencies and exchange regulations (Ferrell 2008). This aids Coca-Cola in identifying financial deal globally. Lifting regulations on interest rate permits the company to take advantage of overseas lending effortlessly, with the intention of reaching the global market (Gillespie & Hennessy 2010). The financial market deregulation has significantly enhanced competition and promotes remarkable escalation in worldwide financial movement (Gillespie & Hennessy 2010). In sum, Coca-Cola has effectively reached the global market in reaction to the motivators of globalization. Importance of Demographics and Physical Infrastructure Coca-Cola has become successful through market segmentation and differentiation. For instance, the company recognizes that individuals with dyn amic or hectic lifestyle will prefer beverages that have high contents of caffeine or glucose, like energy or sports drinks (Ferrell 2008). Likewise, the company is aware that children, teenagers, and young adults want sweet beverages (Ferrell 2008). This is how Coca-Cola uses the importance of demographics. For example, the company determined through market research that Coca-Cola Lite was considered a ‘female drink’ by males. Consequently, the company introduced a fresh product, named Coke Zero, which is intended for the male consumers (Gillespie & Hennessy 2010). In the meantime, the company is affected by physical infrastructure in terms of its response to the fast growing beverage market. Coca-Cola takes into consideration the capacity for expansion of its current factories, acquisition or building of other facilities, and acquisition of goods from other producer (Gillespie & Hennessy 2010). As an outcome of this consideration the company is able to choose the best sites or places at which to broaden or enlarge their production capacity. Influence of Cultural Differences Promotional campaigns of Coca-Cola have been in agreement with the local culture. An adjusted or localized marketing mix implies modifying the mix with the dominant economic, physical, and cultural differences in various countries. Diverse cultures and languages

Walt Whitman Essay Example for Free

Walt Whitman Essay Walt Whitman is one of America’s most popular and most influential poets. The first edition of Whitman’s well-known Leaves of Grass first appeared in July of the poet’s thirty-sixth year. A subsequent edition of Leaves of Grass (of which there were many) incorporated a collection of Whitman’s poems that had been offered readers in 1865. The sequence added for the 1867 edition was Drum-Taps, which poetically recounts the author’s experiences of the American Civil War. Walt Whitman was born May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island. His early years included much contact with words and writing; he worked as an office boy as a pre-teen, then later as a printer, journalist, and, briefly, a teacher, returning eventually to his first love and life’s work—writing. Despite the lack of extensive formal education, Whitman experienced literature, reading voraciously from the literary classics and the Bible, and was deeply influenced by Goethe, Carlyle, Emerson, and Sir Walter Scott (Introduction vii). Whitman was drawn to the nations capital roughly a year after the Civil War began, at the age of forty-three. The wounding of his brother, George Washington Whitman, who served in the Union Army, precipitated his contact with the carnage of the war. Reading the notice of his brother’s injury in the New York Herald, Whitman went immediately to Falmouth, Virginia, where he found his brotherly only slightly wounded. Perpetually short-handed, Army officials asked the poet to help transport injured soldiers to field hospitals in Washington. Whitman agreed, and began a mission of mercy that would occupy him from 1862 until the war’s end in 1865 (Murray). Drum-Taps is the personal-historical record of Whitman’s wartime occupation. Drum-Taps’ early poems were written prior to Whitman’s contact with wounded soldiers, and betray a starkly different attitude toward the war than one finds later in the sequence. The chronologically earlier poems celebrate the coming hostilities, expressing Whitman’s early near-mindless jingoism (Norton 2130). As one progresses through the work, he finds a less energetic, sorrowful, jaded narrator who seems little like the exuberant youth who began. Understandable so, [Whitman] estimated that over the  course of the war, he had made ‘over 600 visits or tours, and went †¦ among from some 80,000 to 100,000 of the wounded and sick, as sustainer of spirit and body in some degree, in time of need’ (Murray). What follows is a contemporaneous review of his work that speaks of the esteem that much of the world extended Whitman as patriot and poet of Drum-Taps: New York Times, 22 November 1865, p. 4. Mr. Whitman has strong aspirations toward poetry, but he is wanting entirely in the qualities that Praed possessed in such large measure. He has no ear, no sense of the melody of verse. His poems only differ from prose in the lines being cut into length, instead of continuously pointed. As prose, they must be gauged by the sense they contain, the mechanism of verse being either despised by, or out of the reach of the writer. Considered as prose, then, we find in them a poverty of thought, paraded forth with a hubbub of stray words, and accompanied with a vehement self-assertion in the author that betrays an absence of true and calm confidence in himself and his impulses. Mr. Whitman has fortunately better claims on the gratitude of his countrymen than any he will ever derive from his vocation as a poet. What a man does, is of far greater consequence than what he says or prints, and his devotion to the most painful of duties in the hospitals at Washington during the war, will confer h onor on his memory when Leaves of Grass are withered and Drum Taps have ceased to vibrate. (New York) Timely assessments of Whitman’s Drum-Taps largely concur with the Times. Whitman shared their outlooks; Whitman himself thought not of Drum-Taps as particularly literary, but human, [poetry with] no dress put on anywhere to complicate or beautify it (Lowenfels x). The most celebrated poem of the sequence comes near the end, in what is a sequel to the original collection of war poems and the events that provoked them. That sequel, Memories of President Lincoln, delayed the publication of Drum-Taps, and includes his masterpiece of the 1860s, When Lilacs Last on  the Dooryard Bloomed (Walt 2130), as well as the much celebrated and anthologized, O Captain, My Captain (Price). Whitman’s feelings toward Lincoln ran deep; his sense of sadness over the death of Lincoln was profound (Price). After the war Whitman worked in the Office of Indian Affairs. Upon his supervisor’s discovering that he was the author of Leaves of Grass, he was summarily released. Friends [then] secured for Whitman a post at the attorney general’s office, where he remained until suffering the first of a series of strokes in 1873, which left him a partial invalid (Introduction). In March of 1892, Walt Whitman died in Camden, New Jersey. As Whitman’s life was nearing its end, his esteemed positions in literature and society were rising to the heights one finds them today: American public opinion was gradually swayed by new evidences that the invalid at Camden could command the respect of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the poet Laureate, and many other famous British writers (Walt 2131).

The History Of Zara Information Technology Essay

The History Of Zara Information Technology Essay Zara is the most successful brand of Spanish company Grupo Inditex. Its owner, Amancio Ortega, opened first retail store in 1975 in La Coruna, a small port in Spain. Zara became the worlds largest fashion retailer by 2008 end. By this time it had stores in over 70 countries, out performing its rivals like Gap of USA and Sweden based HM (Hennes Maurits) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/12/retail.spain). Zaras Innovative Operations: Daniel Piette, director of fashion, LVMH has described Zara as possibly the most devastating and innovating retailer in the world http://tbmdb.blogspot.com/2009/12/business-model-example-zara-devastating.html, owing to the companys innovative and unique approach in fashion retail. Zara follows the concept of a vertically integrated supply chain, in which the company has a tight control over most of the design phase, production phase and distribution system to its chain of retail outlets. The rest of these processes is handled by its sister concerns with nearby locations. Unlike its competitors Zara does not outsource its production to Asian developing countries; the proximity of production units helps Zara by giving flexibility in production so that the company can meet the ever-changing demands of the consumers more efficiently than its competitors. Zara has integrated the system of POS (Point Of Sales) and has formed a unique method that helps in the production of new designs. POS helps in monitoring what designs are bringing in maximum sales at the retail shops. The store managers are allowed freedom to decide which designs to display and which ones to keep back in the store, depending on the sales of those designs. Zaras employees at the retail outlets gather feedbacks from the customers and convey the information to the headquarters with the help of hand-held PDAs that each employee is required to carry. At the headquarters, the design teams immediately respond to feedbacks sent via PDAs and begin designing new clothes accordingly. The clothes are manufactured and distributed to the retail stores within a short period of 2 to 4 weeks owing to the vertical integration of its supply chain. While its rivals are busy finding and identifying what the latest trends might be and finally take 4 to 9 months to distribute new designs to their respective stores, Zara manages to design, manufacture and distribute new designs in a matter of just of 30 days. Taking advantage of the fast turn around time, Zara eschews the concept of producing just one collection per season, like its rivals do. Instead the designs keep on changing frequently so that Zara manages to deliver new designs twice a week to its retail shops. Zara only produces small quantities of each style so that there is continuous demand of popular designs. It cuts down on manufacturing costs as well. Thus Zara manages to deliver around 12000 different styles in a year whereas its competitors can produce only 4000-5000 per year. Hence, the company-coined phrase, fast fashion http://www.3isite.com/articles/ImagesFashion_Zara_Part_I.pdf. Current Technology in Information Communication Zaras use of technology in information technology is unique from its competitors. Firstly Zara uses much less technology, in terms of expenditure and work-force, than its competitors just 0.5% of its work force compared to 2.5% of employees that its rivals utilise. Similarly Zara spends only 0.5% of its revenue on information technology compared to expenditure of 2% by its competitors. Secondly Zara employs a unique combination of human and IT intelligence. Managers at the stores and the market survey done by the employees, form the human intelligence while IT intelligence consists of the PDA devices used to send information collected by the managers and other employees carrying the PDAs. An order form is transmitted to each managers PDA asking for information such as availability of garments and patterns of garment sales. The managers of each retail outlets then divide this order form into sections and these sections are transmitted to the PDAs of each employee to fill up, based o n customers feedback and the kind of designs sold. Employees then transmit back their respective sections to the managers PDA, after entering the customers requirements. The managers of each store are given total authority to determine and identify which sections are to be retained in the order form. The edited order form is then sent back to headquarters where the designing teams start working on the basis of the order forms. This unique hybrid of humans technology helps in managing the inventories efficiently and quick and efficient link between demand and supply, thus successfully helping in their own doctrine of fast fashion. Summing up Zaras use of technology http://leoborjblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/zara-it-for-fast-fashion/: Gather customer requirements PDAs Logistics and transmission of order form POS terminals and modems. Quickly designing new style CAD (Computer Aided Design) Advantages of such an Innovative System Vertical integration of supply chain and short turn around time lead to High turnover of product. Quick and efficient distribution helps to eliminate warehouse requirement, saving on additional storage costs. Searching the market for latest fashion trends and responding quickly to the consumer requirements with the help of hand-held PDAs. Complete autonomy and flexibility to the employees and managers who are in direct contact with the customers. POS terminals run on DOS operating system, which is cheap and easy to maintain and operate. Perceived limitations of this System http://www.slideshare.net/koffman/zara-case-study-2780928 Zara and its sister concerns have been using DOS as their main operating system in all the processes. It is an outdated operating system. As the POS vendor supplies DOS OS to zara only, it can always stop its supply, while continue to supply other operating systems to its other customers. Store managers are the decision makers. Zara headquarter relies solely on the experience and intuition of the managers. Instead of looking after customers, managers and employees have the time-consuming task of manually entering the garment details in small PDAs. This could result in the employees failing to assist some customers in choosing and might miss out on few garment sales. Inventory is maintained manually as well. Information transmitted is one way only. Managers have no knowledge of the inventories at headquarters and the stores distribution centre. Consequently managers cannot promise a customer if a particular garment that has been sold out, can be replenished and in how many days. Promises made to customers not kept can damage Zaras reputation, so the managers need to know about the garments inventories at headquarters and the distribution centres. There is a great demand for Zaras garments even though new designs are available twice a week. Zara may consider increase in production to meet these ever growing demands. Gathering of information therefore may need to be upgraded in terms of frequency. Its competitors can change to a better OS or software package and increase their turn around time, neutralizing Zaras edge of fast fashion over them. New IT Technology for Sustainability http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=97642 Benefits: New technology may not help Zara in increasing the competitive edge over its competitors but will help in sustaining that edge. A new operating system will help in installing software packages that will help in efficient access of inventory at the stores as well as headquarters and distribution centers. Upgrading to new OS will remove the companys dependency on its current supplier of DOS. Using more than one IT supplier will increase Zaras bargaining power. A Network can be set up between HQ, production centers and retail stores. POS system can be automated so that each sale will automatically update the POS devices. If the POS system of all stores can be interlinked all the store managers can easily know the inventory online and can make and keep their promises to customers demanding a particular garment. POS automation will help reduce overall workload of the employees and managers, as they will not have to manually enter every detail required in the order form. There will not be any need of hand held PDAs. Dedicated POS software will ensure that orders will now be made on the basis of theoretical inventories and will be more accurate. Orders can now placed continually increasing the frequency from twice a week to daily. Ideal software to be used for integration would be ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). Linking all the process in the supply chain, from HQ, design centers to retail stores, will not only help the managers in accessing inventories but will also help HQ to regulate the supplies more accurately according to the orders placed. Production will become even leaner than before. ECQ (Economic Order Quantity) can help in determining quantities of different garments that buyer can order so that there is sufficient stock for the customers. This will reduce inventory cost as well. Knowing reorder levels will streamline managing of the inventory and help in maintaining the autonomy of the managers. Managers can determine from the reorder levels whether a particular garment needs to be ordered before it will go out of stock and can transmit the same to the production centers that are now linked to the retail outlets. Of course manual checks will still be needed occasionally to check a stores real time inventory is same as the theoretical inventory in case of exceptions like garments getting stolen or gone missing. Designers at HQ will now not depend entirely on the managers discretion and can observe themselves sales of new designs due to two-way system integration by ERP. Just in case a store does run out of stock on a particular garment, the manager can easily check the inventories of local nearby stores for availability and suggest the customer to go there. Inter-store connectivity will have added advantage of shipping garments to another store that has more demand of a particular garment. This will further increase the speed-to-market. Besides HQ even managers of different stores will benefit if they know through network what is selling at other stores and what is not. Cost Analysis: Zara will have to upgrade to better OS that will support ERP like Linux, Unix or Windows NT. Implementation cost of Linux is lowest of the three OS. But recurring costs like service-contract is much higher (McAfee et al). Annual cost of using Unix is the lowest and if functionality remains more or less same, Unix will be best suited. If other costs like plans for systems failure are not taken into consideration then implementation cost will relatively much lower than prospective ROI (Return On Investment). Risk Analysis: Changing software and operating system in all retail shops world over is not an easy task. Due to location of Zaras retail outlets all over the world, there will be many extra tangible costs. Cost of replacing current POS system with the new one. Cost of installation of new cables in each store and maybe new infrastructure to support the cables. Cost of external IT support, hiring professional consultants. Cost of internal IT management and technical training of personnel. Time taken to train the personnel till outside assistance is not required cannot be determined as level of training and learning will be different at different locations around the world. Risk Reduction: Both current and new systems should operate together till the personnel of each store can run the new system smoothly; this will not interrupt any service provided to customers. Zara has a huge pilot outlet that is around 1,500 square meters. Zara can use this as training facility from its personnel from all over the world. Zara can use it to test the new system as well. Zara can hire experienced software professionals and open an in-house department for software management and development. Zara can outsource the management and development to experienced software companies. However Zara will have to trade-off between highly efficient and expensive companies. Zara should develop a contingency plan and an exit plan as well in case the company cannot continue with the up gradation for some reason. Robust data backup is required in case the new system crashes due to mishandling by inexperienced staff.

A Room of Ones Own by Virginia Woolf Essay -- Virginia Woolf Essays

Virginia Woolf, a founder of Modernism, is one of the most important woman writers. Her essays and novels provide an insight into her life experiences and those of women of the 20th century. Her most famous works include Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), Orlando: A Biography (1928), The Waves (1931), and A Room of One's Own (1929) (Roseman 11). A Room of One's Own is an based on Woolf's lectures at a women's college at Cambridge University in 1928. Woolf bases her thoughts on "the question of women and fiction". In the essay, Woolf asks herself the question if a woman could create art that compares to the quality of Shakespeare. Therefore, she examines women's historical experience and the struggle of the woman artist. A Room of One's Own explores the history of women in literature through an investigation of the social and material conditions required for writing. Leisure time, privacy, and financial independence, are important to understanding the situation of women in the literary tradition because women, historically, have been deprived of those basics (Roseman 14). The setting of A Room of One's Own is that Woolf has been invited to lecture on the topic of Women and Fiction. Her thesis is that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction (Woolf 4)." She creates the character of an imaginary narrator, "call me Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary Carmichael or by any name you please, it is not a matter of any importance." The "I" who narrates the story is not Woolf, yet her experiences and thoughts provide the background for Woolf's thesis. The narrator begins her search going over the different educational experiences available to men and women and the more material ... ...s, 1882-1942. v.: ill.; 28 cm. Semiannual. Issue no. 33, 32, 1989. Vol. 1, no. 1, 1973; no.2, 1974. California State College, Sonoma, Dept. of English. Roseman, Ellen. A Room of One's Own: Women Writers and the Politics of Creativity. Twayne Publishing, Inc., New York, 1995. Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. Orlando: Harcourt, 2005. Print. Internet Sources Consulted Brooks, Rebecca B. â€Å"Timeline of Virginia Woolf’s Life.† The Virginia Woolf Blog. N.p., 19 Feb. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. . Burt, John. â€Å"Irreconcilable Habits of Thought in A Room of One’s Own and to The Lighthouse.† ELH 49.4 (1982): 889-907. JSTOR. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. Rodriguez, Lara Ma Lojo. â€Å""A New Tradition†: Virginia Woolf and the Personal Essay.â€Å"Atlantis 23.1 (2001): 75-90. JSTOR. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.

The Amazing World of Laughter & it Super Healing Power

Agriculture – the study of producing crops from the land, with an emphasis on practical applications Anatomy – the study of form and function, in plants, animals, and other organisms, or specifically in humans Arachnology – the study of arachnidsAstrobiology – the study of evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe—also known as exobiology, exopaleontology, and bioastronomy Biochemistry – the study of the chemical reactions required for life to exist and function, usually a focus on the cellular level Bioengineering – the study of biology through the means of engineering with an emphasis on applied knowledge and especially related to biotechnology Biogeography – the study of the distribution of species spatially and temporally Bioinformatics – the use of information technology for the study, collection, and storage of genomic and other biological data Biomathematics (or Mathematical biology) – the quantitative or mathematical study of biological processes, with an emphasis on modelingBiomechanics – often considered a branch of medicine, the study of the mechanics of living beings, with an emphasis on applied use through prosthetics or orthotics Biomedical research – the study of the human body in health and disease Biomusicology – study of music from a biological point of view. Biophysics – the study of biological processes through physics, by applying the theories and methods traditionally used in the physical sciences Biotechnology – a new and sometimes controversial branch of biology that studies the manipulation of living matter, including genetic modification and synthetic biology Building biology – the study of the indoor living environment Botany – the study of plantsCell biology – the study of the cell as a complete unit, and the molecular and chemical interactions that occur within a living cell Conservation bio logy – the study of the preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation, and wildlife Cryobiology – the study of the effects of lower than normally preferred temperatures on living beings Developmental biology – the study of the processes through which an organism forms, from zygote to full structure Ecology – the study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with the non-living elements of their environment Embryology – the study of the development of embryo (from fecundation to birth) Entomology – the study of insectsEnvironmental biology – the study of the natural world, as a whole or in a particular area, especially as affected by human activity Epidemiology – a major component of public health research, studying factors affecting the health of populations Epigenetics – the study of heritable changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype caus ed by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence Ethology – the study of animal behavior Evolutionary biology – the study of the origin and descent of species over time Genetics – the study of genes and heredity Hematology ( also known as Haematology ) – the study of blood and blood – forming organs.Herpetology – the study of reptiles and amphibians Histology – the study of cells and tissues, a microscopic branch of anatomy Ichthyology – the study of fish Integrative biology – the study of whole organisms Limnology – the study of inland waters Mammalogy – the study of mammals Marine biology (or Biological oceanography) – the study of ocean ecosystems, plants, animals, and other living beings Microbiology – the study of microscopic organisms (microorganisms) and their interactions with other living things Molecular biology – the study of biology and biological functions at the molecular level, some cross over with biochemistry Mycology – the study of fungiNeurobiology – the study of the nervous system, including anatomy, physiology and pathology Oncology – the study of cancer processes, including virus or mutation oncogenesis, angiogenesis and tissues remoldings Ornithology – the study of birds Population biology – the study of groups of conspecific organisms, including Population ecology – the study of how population dynamics and extinction Population genetics – the study of changes in gene frequencies in populations of organisms Paleontology – the study of fossils and sometimes geographic evidence of prehistoric life Pathobiology or pathology – the study of diseases, and the causes, processes, nature, and development of disease Parasitology – the study of parasites and parasitismPharmacology – the study and practical application of preparation, use, and effects of drugs and synthetic medicines Physiology – the study of the functioning of living organisms and the organs and parts of living organisms Phytopathology – the study of plant diseases (also called Plant Pathology) Psychobiology – the study of the biological bases of psychology Sociobiology – the study of the biological bases of sociology Structural biology – a branch of molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics concerned with the molecular structure of biological macromoleculesSynthetic Biology- research integrating biology and engineering; construction of biological functions not found in nature Virology – the study of viruses and some other virus-like agents Zoology – the study of animals, including classification, physiology, development, and behavior (branches include: Entomology, Ethology, Herpetology, Ichthyology,Mammalogy, and Ornithology) History of Philippine Money Philippine money–multi-colored threads woven into the f abric of our social, political and economic life.From its early bead-like form to the paper notes and coins that we know today, our money has been a constant reminder of our journey through centuries as a people relating with one another and with other peoples of the world. Pre-Hispanic Era Trade among the early Filipinos and with traders from the neighboring islands was conducted through barter. The inconvenience of barter later led to the use of some objects as medium of exchange. Gold, which was plentiful in many parts of the islands, invariably found its way into these objects that included the piloncitos, small bead-likeb gold bits considered by the local numismatists as the earliest coin of the ancient Filipinos, and gold barter rings. Spanish Era (1521-1897) Three hundred years of Spanish rule left many indelible imprints on Philippine numismatics.At the end of the Spanish regime, Philippine money was a multiplicity of currencies that included Mexican pesos, Alfonsino pesos a nd copper coins of other currencies. The cobs or macuquinas of colonial mints were the earliest coins brought in by the galleons from Mexico and other Spanish colonies. The silver dos mundos or pillar dollar is considered one of the world’s most beautiful coins. The barilla, a crude bronze or copper coin worth about one centavo, was the first coin struck in the country. Coins from other Spanish colonies also reached the Philippines and were counterstamped. Gold coins with the portrait of Queen Isabela were minted in Manila. Silver pesos with the profile of young Alfonso XIII were the last coins minted in Spain.The pesos fuertes, issued by the country’s first bank, the El Banco Espanol Filipino de Isabel II, were the first paper money circulated in the country. Revolutionary Period (1898-1899) Asserting its independence, the Philippine Republic of 1898 under General Emilio Aguinaldo issued its own coins and paper currency backed by the country’s natural resources . One peso and five peso notes printed as Republika Filipina Papel Moneda de Un Peso and Cinco Pesos were freely circulated. 2 centimos de peso copper were also issued in 1899. The American Period (1900-1941) The Americans instituted a monetary system for the Philippine based on gold and pegged the Philippine peso to the American dollar at the ratio of 2:1. The US Congress approved the Coinage Act for the Philippines in 1903.The coins issued under the system bore the designs of Filipino engraver and artist, Melecio Figueroa. Coins in denomination of one-half centavo to one peso were minted. The renaming of El Banco Espanol Filipino to Bank of the Philippine Islands in 1912 paved the way for the use of English from Spanish in all notes and coins issued up to 1933. Beginning May 1918, treasury certificates replaced the silver certificates series, and a one-peso note was added. The Japanese Occupation (1942-1945) The outbreak of World War II caused serious disturbances in the Philippin e monetary system. Two kinds of notes circulated in the country during this period. The Japanese Occupation Forces issued war notes in big denominations.Provinces and municipalities, on the other hand, issued their own guerrilla notes or resistance currencies, most of which were sanctioned by the Philippine government in-exile, and partially redeemed after the war. The Philippine Republic A nation in command of its destiny is the message reflected in the evolution of Philippine money under the Philippine Republic. Having gained independence from the United States following the end of World War II, the country used as currency old treasury certificates overprinted with the word â€Å"Victory†. With the establishment of the Central Bank of the Philippines in 1949, the first currencies issued were the English series notes printed by the Thomas de la Rue & Co. , Ltd.in England and the coins minted at the US Bureau of Mint. The Filipinazation of the Republic coins and paper money began in the late 60’s and is carried through to the present. In the 70’s, the Ang Bagong Lipunan (ABL) series notes were circulated, which were printed at the Security Printing Plant starting 1978. A new wave of change swept through the Philippine coinage system with the flora and fauna coins initially issued in 1983. These series featured national heroes and species of flora and fauna. The new design series of banknotes issued in 1985 replaced the ABL series. Ten years later, a new set of coins and notes were issued carrying the logo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

One process theory of motivation Essay

Motivation is great part of today’s management. However, â€Å"most organizations don’t give it much thought until something starts to go wrong. Pain gets people’s attention.† _(Sanjeev Sharma)_ Therefore it is important to motivate because motivation is force behind all human actions _(Sanjeev Sharma)_. Manager must be able to realize and fulfil the most urgent needs of employees as well as other needs to keep than satisfied, free from stress, and highly motivated. Satisfied and motivated employees are value because they will be less likely to quit the job therefore reducing staff turnover and cost of employee training as they will have gained all the necessary skills and experience, so their performance will be good, therefore companies overall performance can rise as well. This essay is focused on the exploration and comparison of Alderfer’s and Adams’ theories. It seeks the answers to what makes them fall in different category and yet what are the similarities between them and, furthermore, how they can be used together to achieve greater efficiency and to leave less for the chance of error or uncertainty when motivating the employee. Many people have studied needs and ways of motivating the employees. Theories on this subject can be very different and are divided into two categories – content and process theories. Content theories stress that every one of us has same set of needs, which must be satisfied. One of the first and most influential content theories is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954). This theory states that human needs are formed similar to pyramid with 5 levels, where bottom level must be completed to move to the next level. Five levels are: 1. Psychological (food, shelter, clothe), 2. Security needs, 3. Social needs, 4. Self-esteem (recognition and self-belief), 5. self-actualization (develop one’s full potential). (R. Fincham, P Rhodes, 2005 p.195) One similar to Maslow’s is ERG (Existence, Relatedness, and Growth) theory  developed by Alderfer (1972). Alderfer’s theory says that everybody has 3 sets of needs. Existence, which includes food, shelter, clothes, need to feel safe and similar (Maslow’s 1st and 2nd levels). Relatedness – social activities, family, friendly working environment, etc (Maslow’s 3rd and 4th levels). Growth – recognition from supervisors and managers, occasional bonuses or rise in salary, promotion, etc (Maslow’s 4th and 5th levels). Although it looks like the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with less and more compact sets of needs, there is one important difference – there is no order specified in which these needs must be satisfied. _(Fincham, Rhodes, 2005)_ However, as Kotler et al 2005, points out if one has unsatisfied need, one will try to find something that satisfies it or tries to get rid of the need. This relates to the Frustration – Regression principle in Alderfer’s theory while when the need has been satisfied it also is strengthen ed (as illustrated in chart below) _(12manage.com_). However, with the passage of time and possible changes in lifestyle or other circumstances can force one to come back to needs that have been satisfied in past and set new, more demanding needs to meet the needs of current situation. Companies has limited influence on Existence set of needs, other than providing rates of pay which enables worker to pay all the bills and supply family with enough food, and still have some extra spending money left (there are cases where ‘worker villages’ have been built in order to provide workers with accommodation and everything necessary, as to provide for existence needs and ultimately have some control of workers lives as well). However, there are many possible ways of satisfying Relatedness and Growth sets of needs. Relatedness could be satisfied by ensuring friendly and open working conditions, possibly non-work related social activities with co-workers, extra holidays to spend with families. Growth is arguably the most important and the most work related one. Growth is almost entirely dependant on supervisors, as for example rise and promotion. Also praise and recognition from supervisor will be much more effective than ones from co-workers, although being rec ognized as unofficial leader by co-workers is strongly motivating and satisfying. Process theories however, admit that we all are different and therefore have different needs. Further more they focus on way employees see themselves in the company, the way they are treated in respect of the other employees in regard of their effort and performance. Adams’ Equity theory explores inputs and outputs of a worker and tries to set the balance between them. Inputs represent the effort and performance worker puts in his job like dedication, long hours, high efficiency and outputs on the other hand, represent all he wants to receive for that like recognition from supervisors in form of praise or rise in salary, promotion, bonuses and similar. Adams stresses that keeping balance between inputs and outputs is very important as in case of imbalance worker can loose self-esteem, motivation or come under pressure to perform better, therefore coming under stress, which will inevitably lead to fall in performance. Although feeling of being overpaid is not widely studied it is believed that the negative effect of the feeling wears of shortly and has little effect on the worker, _(SIOP)_ however has impact on other workers who might feel underpaid or undervalued. Therefore, all extra inputs must be balanced with extra outputs. Nevertheless one must not forget that first of all employees will compare themselves to co-workers. If one employee will have high rewards, for example have a rise, than others will look for justification for that. In case that none is found others will feel neglected therefore their performance will drop or they will ask for the rise, or encourage other (the one who receives higher rewards) to work harder, or convince themselves that they are not worth the higher reward _(SIOP)._ Some of these outcomes are potentially mentally dangerous therefore create stress in the workplace or even worse crate tension between workforce which can lead to different unwanted outcomes even such as strikes out violence outbursts. This inevitably means that overall performance of the company will drop. _(Fincham, Rhodes, 2005)_ The main difference between these theories lies in the fact that Alderfer’s one focuses on satisfaction of needs whereas Adams’ one focuses on creating good and balanced relationship between inputs and outputs of the worker and more importantly good relationship and equality between co-workers, and fairness from the supervisor. It is not specified in Alderfer’s theory  exactly how to determine when is the best time to motivate the employee nor why, while on the other hand Adams’ theory is more concerned about when and why to motivate the employee. This shows clearly that these two theories are completely different in their basis. Furthermore part of Alderfer’s theory is Frustration – Regression principle in which an unsatisfied need is being regressed and made up by satisfying more other needs. In some respects similarly with Adams’ theory – if balance is unfair than employees will feel discomfort. Both of these will take empl oyees mind of the duties of work which will lead in fall of performance. Alderfer’s and Adams’ theories both point out the need of balance between things, however each theory puts stress on different things. Alderfer suggests that needs of employee must be equally satisfied between each of the three sets, therefore no need are neglected. However, as mentioned before, a need can be neglected if it has been recently satisfied. On the other hand if one need or set of needs is recently satisfied, it stands above others in level of satisfaction, which therefore makes it reasonable for it to be neglected until other needs reach same level of satisfaction. This process can take up some time and does not require immediate levelling of scales, however Adams’ scales should be levelled at all times. Longer the process of the levelling takes, longer the employees feel the discomfort of injustice which will inevitably lead to employee’s satisfaction or motivation dropping or level of stress rising. In fact Alderfer’s theory could easily become a part of Adams’ theory as a way of determining outputs, for example friendly relationships in workplace is part of Relatedness set of needs and output, which management has provided. Alderfer does not relate to inputs in his theory. This fact makes Adams’ theory more sophisticated and better suited for understanding when and why employee should be awarded. Because if manager is looking to improve worker motivation and job satisfaction he/she can see on one scale the inputs worker has done from where in comparison to co-workers inputs and outputs an appropriate output can be made. However in order to do the comparison of employee’s past and co-worker present performances, they have to be constantly monitored and records kept of the of the information. Using  Alderfer’s theory, however, requires manager to understand employee’s needs and situation to see which needs must be satisfied and what wou ld be the best way to satisfy the need, therefore bringing greater understanding of how and why to award or motivate employee. Adams’s theory is good theory to be using for large companies with many users which all have to be motivated. With help of large and detailed database of workers and their inputs, such as working time, are they late for work or not, their performance, etc and outputs their wages, ways of recognition, etc one can compare workers. Special program can be easily made and adjusted to record and analyse data for independent, non favouring, information on workers which would help to make decisions on their extra outputs. On the other hand Alderfer’s theory would more go for managerial level or smaller companies as it requires in-depth understanding of employee and his situation. If one would put these two theories together the outcome could be a theory in which workers activity is constantly monitored and recorded for purposes of comparison with previous performance and performance of co-workers, therefore, determining the inputs as by Adams’ theory. However, the outputs would be determined according to the needs specified in Alderfer’s theory. Alderfer’s theory could also be substituted, for example, by Hertzberg’s two-factor theory. Although content and process theories are different in their basis, they both work for the same goal and in times can be combined or as in this case content theory can be a part of process theory to explain it more fully and efficiently or just to bring the highest level of efficiency. However, besides the fact Alderfer’s theory can be used to compliment the Adams’ theory, one must not forget that most important part of Adams’ theory is far from just motivating the employee but is based on equality among workers and their inputs/outputs, because too much outputs can produce feeling of overpayment therefore creating stress for employee as he/she tries to increase inputs to level the scales. â€Å"Alderfer’s theory explores which need to satisfy and how while Adams’ theory explores when and why to satisfy the  need.† Previous sentence is very good way of explaining the difference between two theories and seeing that in order for each theory t o work in best way possible – both theories must work together. REFERENCES Books: P. Kotler, V. Wong, J. Saunders, G. Armstrong, _Principles of Marketing,_ (2005 4th European Edition) p. 8, published by Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow, England R. Fincham, P. Rhodes, _Principles of Organizational Behaviour,_ (2005, 4th Edition) Published by Oxford University Press, New York, United States Online: Sanjeev Sharma, A right way to motivate an employee, is to win his heart!!! [online] url:http://www.bpoindia.org/research/win-heart.shtml Accessed: 24/11/05 12manage.com _ERG Theory (Alderfer)_[online] url:http://www.12manage.com/methods_alderfer_erg_theory.html Accessed:24/11/05 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology inc. (SIOP), _Justice lecture notes 4,_[online] url: http://siop.org/Instruct/Justice/Justice%20Lecture%20Notes%204.doc Accessed: 26/11/05

Porter Five Forces Assist an Organisation in Their Strategic Planning

How does Porters Five Forces Model assist an organisation in their strategic planning? Before understanding â€Å"how† we must know â€Å"what† Porters Five Forces model really is (Michael E. Porter, 2008). Company strive to secure a competitive advantage over their rivals, I mean who doesn’t want to be the best? Although the intensity of rivalry varies within each industry and these differences can be important in the development of strategy, but rather the five forces (Porter, 2008) being a strategy of any sort, it acts a framework in securing a strategy.The only time where strategy is irrelevant, would be when you have no competitors where ultimately the environment is a monopoly, or when you have a ton of money to throw around and waste. But having said that, it is not likely at all. Without framework, strategy will inevitably collapse, as they both come hand in hand. Thus a chain arises as the five forces (Porter, 2008) acts as a framework in assisting an or ganisation in their strategic planning, where strategic planning leads to a competitive advantage over their competitors which then leads to ultimate success of the company.Before proceeding to the question at hand on how Porters Five Forces can assist an organisation in their strategic planning, first we have to know two things, what are the Five Forces that Porter (2008) proposed, and ultimately what strategy really means? To ease this journey, let’s start with the Five Forces (Porter, 2008).Before any company enters a certain market, one must first analyse the competitive nature of the market, and this is exactly what the Five Forces (2008) aids to do, to provide a framework to determine the intensity of competition within an industry where three of the five competitive forces comes from an external sources, and the remainder coming from an internal sources. These external sources includes: Threat of potential entrants, threat of potential substitutes and rivalry of existi ng firms in the industry.Now these sources are external due to the fact that it is simply impossible to temper with. But what we can control, are the two internal sources: the bargaining power of suppliers, and the bargaining power of buyers. Being aware of the five forces can aid firms into identifying existence and the importance of each of the five forces, as well as the roles that each force plays into the success of the firms. The threat of potential entrants: Although it is possible for any company to enter and exit a market of their choice, each market has their own unique barriers to go in and out of.Therefore the essence of this force deals with the level of difficulty that a company can enter into an industry which will ultimately impact competition within the industry. Whenever a new company enters an industry, the competitive climate changes; it provides more alternatives to consumers, therefore reducing its attractiveness and the competition within the industry increase s as each company is trying to come out on top. As each industry have their own unique characteristics it allows them to build a barrier from other industries protecting them from profitability while restraining additional rivals from entering the market.These restraints and characteristics that industries create are referred to as barriers of entry. Barriers of entry are a characteristic acquired uniquely to each industry. It attempts to reduce the rate of entry of new companies which maintains the level of profitability for all current industry competitors, where if new companies enters the industry, the profit is shared amongst the original and the newly developed companies in the industry, ultimately decreasing overall profits of each company, which isn’t ideal.Conversely when profitability of an industry is high, companies will attempt to come into the industry to get a piece of the action, which then will eventually result in reducing profits due to the fact that it is divided up into more quarters. Where there’s an entry, there’s an exit, barriers to exit limits the ability of a firm to leave the market, meanwhile rivalries can worsen. So when barriers for entry and exits are high, it means that companies have a higher potential to make more profit and the opposite occurs when barriers are low.The threat of substitutes: where it refers to substitute product as those that are available in other industry which can also fulfil the need and want of the consumers. It can affect competition in an industry by placing an invisible ceiling on prices which companies within the industry can charge, due to the fact that if the cost of substitute is low then the consumers will tend to purchase substitutes, therefore limiting the prices that a company can place on certain items to gain maximum profit. For example, lemonade can be substituted for a soft drink.Generally, competitive pressures arising from substitute products increase as the relativ e price of substitute products declines and as consumer's switching costs decrease. The bargaining power of buyers is affected by the concentration and number of consumers, when buyer power is strong, they gain the power to choose between producers and ultimately equip themselves with bargaining power which then the producers will have to conform to in order to produce profit, under these conditions the buyer has the most influence in determining the price of products.Also when buyers have strong bargaining power in the exchange relationship, competition can be affected in several ways. Powerful buyers can bargain for lower prices, better product distribution, higher-quality products, as well as other factors that can create greater competition among companies. To minimise the power of buyers, companies can develop offers in which strong buyers cannot refuse, also, companies can choose to select buyers with less bargaining power.Similarly, the bargaining power of suppliers affects t he intensity of competition in an industry, for a production industry that produces goods, raw materials are needed which creates a buyer and supplier relationship between the industry and companies which produces the raw materials. Suppliers may be able to determine prices especially when there are a large number of suppliers, limited substitute raw materials, or increased switching costs. The bargaining power of suppliers is important to industry competition because suppliers can also affect the quality of exchange relationships.Competition may become more intense as powerful suppliers raise prices, reduce services, or reduce the quality of goods or services. In order to minimise the power of suppliers, industry tend to build win-win relationships with suppliers where both parties benefits from it or arrange to use multiple suppliers so if one supplier chooses to increase their prices, the company doesn’t get affected as much. Competition is also affected by the rivalry amo ng existing firms, which is usually considered as the most powerful of the five competitive forces.In most industries, business organizations are mutually dependent, industries that are concentrated versus fragmented; often display the highest level of rivalry. A competitive move by one company in pursuing an advantage over its rivals can be expected to have a noticeable effect on its competitors, and thus, may cause retaliation of other companies, for example, lowering prices, enhancing quality, adding features, providing services, extending warranties, and increasing advertising, placing themselves in a competitive advantage over the competitors.The nature of competition is often affected by a variety of factors, such as the size and number of competitors, demand changes for the industry's products, the specificity of assets within the industry, the presence of strong exit barriers, and the variety of competitors. These conditions will lead to a more challenging industry where com panies compete in, leading to price wars, advertising battles, and the addition of new products. So after going through the five forces, let’s take a look at what strategic planning really means.If we are going to have a good strategy, we must separate strategy from goals and objectives and other issues that managers often think about. Now most management practitioners make the mistake in defining strategy, a strategy is what unique position that we will be able to achieve, what our advantage is going to be at the end of the day as we take these steps accumulatively over time, how we’re going to be unique? How we’re going to have an advantage? How we’re going to sustain the advantage over time? Schermerhorn, Davidson, Poole, Simon, Woods, Chau, 2011). The steps we take aren’t a strategy, but somehow numerous companies make the mistake of fixating themselves on a particular action that an organisation want to approach, which then inevitably becomes their strategy but that usually leads to the downfall of the company simply because they do not know why they’re doing it and when they should stop doing it. As we all know, every industry is different, therefore, there is no universal strategy that can apply to any business.But before proceeding, a company must understand their position and the industry that they are in and their circumstances in order to find a way of obtaining a competitive advantage over the competitors, where indefinitely delivering a unique value to the consumers which rivals cannot. As the five forces (Porter, 2001) suggests that being at a competitive advantage is the idealistic way of being on top, due to the fact that every industry has their own set of economics, the five forces (Porter, 2001) without a doubt acts as a framework to extract any necessary information needed to develop strategy to gain competitive advantage.The Five forces (Porter, 2001) help you home in on what is really causing prof itability, or in fact what is causing the trends of the significance and change of the industry. This powerful framework can prevent an organisation from getting tricked or trapped into the latest trends like the technological sensation, and really allowing organisations to focus solely on the underlying fundamentals. This can be applied to any industry whether if its production or a service, high tech or low tech, emerging or developed industries (Porter, 2001).With the framework at hand, it acts as a guide or even a tick off criteria sheet into strategic planning, how should we begin? The strategy formulating process will be pretty straight forward from here after deeply understanding the five forces which Porter (2001) proposed. The first step should be the analysis of the industry that a company is trying to get into, looking at the environment to tick off all of the 5 boxes one by one, evaluating what the industry looks like, how it’s been changing over time, and what ar e the drivers of competition (Schermerhorn et al, 2011).After a careful analyse the company is then required to under the dynamics as to where the industry is going, how the buyers and substitute’s entry level are evolving, and lastly how to position the company to gain a good profit. These are all extracted from the framework proposed by Porter (2001), although competition is sometimes looked at too narrowly, with careful analysis of the five forces (Porter, 2001) will ultimately position the company in a competitive advantage.Where a competitive advantage allows an organisation to deal with the market and environmental forces much better than its competitors (Ramon, 2012), to achieve this goal, the company needs to be at its best and better than the competitors who are trying to achieve the same goal in the same industry. Rather than a goal, competitive advantage is a position that a company wants to be in, a goal is to make the competitive advantage sustainable in spite of all the mockery of rivals, although achieving and sustaining it is a challenging task, but it will set concrete roots for the company in years to come.The implementation of strategic planning tools serves a variety of purposes in companies, including the clear definition of an organization's purpose and mission, and the establishment of a standard base from which progress can be measured and future actions can be planned. I-O psychologist Ramon E, Henson (2012) and Robert E, Ployhart (2012) although having disagreements in some parts of their papers, they ultimately come forward in reinforcing the importance of competitive advantage suggesting that I-O and strategy has been â€Å"joined at hips for years† (Ramon, 2012), also suggesting hat I-O psychology should stray from the focus of individuals and start focusing more on the company as a whole as they have â€Å"much to offer† in the understanding of competitive advantage (Ployhart, 2012). Furthermore, the strategic planning tools should communicate those goals and objectives to the organisation as a whole rather than just the ones involved in the strategic planning process (O’Shannassy, 2003) to achieve a more efficient work flow. Throughout the centuries, countless strategic approaches has been formed and used and recycled, so why use Porter’s Five Forces (2008)?For example, strategy as simple rules Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, ; Donald N. Sull, (2001). It illustrates the success story of Yahoo! , along with other successful companies coming from an unattractive market. â€Å"So how they did succeed? More generally, what are the sources of competitive advantage in high-velocity markets? What does strategy mean in the new economy? † (Eisenhardt et al, 2001, p. 108). The key is none-other than strategy as simple rules, it targets market confusion and rides the magic carpet to see where or what it will journey into.Although it is indeed called â€Å"simple rules†, a rule still applies to it, as one Internet executive explained: â€Å"I have a thousand opportunities a day; strategy is deciding which 50 to do. † (Eisenhardt et al, 2001, p. 108). As it summarises and illustrates that simple rules is all about taking risks, its essence is to capture unanticipated opportunities for ultimate success. Although for companies like Yahoo! has gained huge success, simple rules (2001) cannot apply to any industry as the authors suggests (Eisenhardt et al, 2001).If the opportunity presents itself, for anyone to use simple rules (2001) as a stepping stone to success, without a doubt, one should take the opportunity, but an opportunity does not just come without any background knowledge of a particular industry, and this is where Porter’s Five Forces (2008) comes into play, as it provides a framework for careful analysis of the industry, by analysing the industry will allow you to grab hold of the opportunities that might come about. Despite the fact that there are numerous of strategies to obtain competitive advantage, Porters Five Forces (2008) acts as a basis of all these trategies, as it is a tick-off criteria sheet which allows a company to understand their position before even implementing any sort of action. It is important as companies strives for ultimate profitability, thus the importance of a company securing a competitive advantage over their competitors is key, as even I-O psychologists supports the important of competitive advantage and that it should be a â€Å"department on its own† (Ployhart, 2012). How to implement strategy and sustaining it is another question. Although Yahoo! nd some other companies has succeeded without the five forces (Porter, 2008), it is a dangerous and risky step, and for those who doesn’t have the resource to throw around, Porters Five Forces (2008) will not only act as a friend but mentor to the journey of success. Reference John R. Schermerhorn, Paul Davidson, David Poo le, Alan Simon, Peter woods ; So Ling Chau (2011). Management 4th Asia-Pacific Edition. Queensland, Australia: John Wiley ; Sons Australia, Ltd. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, ; Donald N. Sull, (2001). Strategy as Simple Rules. Harvard Business Review,79(1), 106-116.Porter E. Michael. THE FIVE COMPETITIVE FORCES THAT SHAPE STRATEGY. Harvard Business Review, 00178012, Jan2008, Vol. 86, Issue 1. RAMON M. HENSON. Industrial-Organizational and Strategy Are Integrated in Practice! Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 5(2012), pp82-86. Robert E. Ployhart. From Possible to Probable: The Psychology of Competitive Advantage. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 5 (2012), 120–126. Tim O’Shannassy, (2003). Modern Strategic management: Balancing Strategic Thinking and Strategic Planning for Internal and External Stakeholders. Singapore Management Review, 25(1), 53-67.