Imagery and Metaphor as Resistance in Miguel Asturias...

Imagery and Metaphor as Resistance in Miguel Asturias The President In The President, Miguel Angel Asturias uses madness as his initial tool to launch a social examination of evil versus good under the strains of a terrifying dictatorship. To paint a vivid picture of the political and social atmosphere under the regime of The President, Asturias wields rich and abstract imagery, repetition and metaphors throughout his novel to punctuate, foreshadow, and illuminate. Wind is one of these recurring metaphors, and is used as a representation of a storm brewing, a constant reminder (premonition of) that what is to come. Like the weather, acts of political tyranny cannot be foreseen with much clarity. The underlying corruption of†¦show more content†¦le golpeaban y arrancaban las ropas a pedazaos. (p9). After such subjugation, and in a state of utter exhaustion, el Pelele can finally withstand no more and falls asleep at the Portal de Seà ±or. When he was rudely startled from his sleep by someone yelling mother, the lunatic viciously attacked his tormentor, Colonel Josà © Parrales Sonriente (known as the man with the little mule), to death (p11). This incident occurred `just before dawn, and is in fact the dawn of all of the events that followed. As the catalyst of gigantic storms brewing, el Pelele fled from the attack on Colonel Sonriente, and found respite in a rubbish pile outside the city. There, in keeping with the misfortune that was his life, he was viciously attacked by turkey buzzards and while trying to fight the birds off, he fell down an escarpment of garbage and broke his leg (p 22). Injured, el Pelele is rescued by a wood-cutter, and between the wood-cutters dog and el Pelele palpitaciones formaban grà ¡ficas de angutia a travà ©s de sus gritos y los ladridos del can, como el viento cuando entretela la lluvia. (p29- my emphasis). Wind as metaphor of a storm brewing, hints at what lies ahead for el Pelele. The wood-cutter is joined by Miguel Angel Face to help el Pelele off the rubbish pile, Angel Face puts some money in the madmans pocket, and both men leave the injured man to fend for himself. Terrorized and hurt, el PeleleShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pageswhich they labored to expand the career opportunities available to them at different times and in diverse settings. She places special emphasis on the important but often overlooked roles they played in politics, particularly those associated with resistance movements, and their contributions to arts and letters worldwide. Drawing on the essay collections and series on women in world history that she has edited over the past decade, Smith’s fully global perspectives make clear that even though gender

The Physics Of Mathematics And Mathematics Essay - 1236 Words

Introduction There are reasons to doubt the physical nature of reality, tenets taught by society through heredity and ones’ own consciousness, simply because of the fallacies and imperfections of the human condition. Thus, it is reasonable that any human thought can be questionable. However, Mathematics is not to be doubted. Although, limitations, paradoxes and problems exist in mathematics and is a product of human intelligence, Nevertheless, Mathematics is a continuum of understanding of the universe and possible universes. This is because the symbols, signs and patterns of math exist in the universe, and Therefore, in order to unravel intricate of math mankind needs to discover the missing principals. CONCEPTS OF MATH EXISTED BEFORE HUMANS Firstly, math is the language of the universe because, its fundamental principles existed before humanity. For instance, whole numbers are brought upon the physical observation of the quantity of objects, which was born before humans walked upon the earth. Mankind association and understanding of math is developed with observations, symbols, patterns, classifications and conclusions. Meditations on First Philosophy, Rene Descartes states â€Å"For whether I am waking or sleeping, two plus three equals five, and a square has no more than four sides; nor does it seem possible that such obvious truths could be affected by any suspicion that they are false.† Thus, in this way, logic statements can exist forever. For example, the statement 1 +Show MoreRelatedQuestions On Mathematics And Physics1331 Words   |  6 PagesLiu 1 Hilary Liu Dr. Goldader Honors Physics September 8, 2014 Chapter 1 Homework Answers 1) Why is mathematics important to science, and especially to physics? 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New Revelations of Pre-Columbian America Free Essays

In his breakthrough book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Charles C. Mann changes myths about the Pre-Columbian America into scientific facts that nobody would deny.   The book is a discussion about the scientific reality of Native American life before Columbus set foot in America. We will write a custom essay sample on New Revelations of Pre-Columbian America or any similar topic only for you Order Now    As it turns out, this view of reality based on scientific details is completely different from what we had previously thought about Pre-Columbian America.   The thesis of Mann’s book may be summed up in his own words thus: When I went to high school, in the 1970s, I was taught that Indians came to the Americas across the Bering Strait about thirteen thousand yars ago, that they lived for the most part in small, isolated groups, and that they had so little impact on their environment that even after millennia of habitation the continents remained mostly wilderness.   Schools still impart the same ideas today.   One way to summarize the views of people like Erickson and Balà ©e would be to say that they regard this picture of Indian life as wrong in almost every aspect.   Indians were here far longer than previously thought, these researchers believe, and in much greater numbers.   And they were so successful at imposing their will on the landscape that in 1492 Columbus set foot in a hemisphere thoroughly marked by humankind. NEW REVELATIONS OF PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA After introducing the main thesis of his book – that, in fact, Native Americans were far more civilized than we had previously imagined – Mann begins â€Å"Part One: Numbers from Nowhere† by dealing with New England in the 1600s, and the myth that European technology was far superior to American Indian technologies.   This myth was based on the fact that the Indians did not appreciate guns.   However, the reality is that the Indian moccasins were far more comfortable than the boots of the European; and the canoes built by the Native Americans were speedier and more maneuverable than the small boats made by Europeans. Next, the author gets into a discussion about the reasons for the fall of the Inca Empire.   During this discussion we learn that while the Europeans used metal to make tools, the Indians used it for tokens.   Moreover, the Europeans had used horses while invading the Inca Empire, and the Indians did not have the technology to beat the intruders on horses.   Still, the Inca Empire collapsed mainly because of disease in addition to factionalism.   There had been a civil war after the Native Americans had clashed with the Spanish.   Smallpox and various other epidemics were also responsible for the fall of the Inca Empire. The first part of Mann’s book also tackles the controversy surrounding the number of Native Americans in Pre-Columbian America.   Scholars have disagreed on the population of the Indians.   Whereas Dobyns believed that there were around one hundred million Native Americans living before the fall of the Inca Empire; Henige argued that the population was much less.   Yet, as Mann points out, there is virtually no evidence to suggest that the population of Native Americans was little. NEW REVELATIONS OF PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA In addition to the above, the first part of the book deals with the Aztecs.   According to scientific evidence, the Aztecs were more sophisticated than we had previously believed them to be.   The Greek â€Å"thinker-teacher† model prevailed among them as â€Å"tlamatini.† â€Å"Part Two: Very Old Bones† provides scientific evidence linked to the skeletons of Lagoa Santa that were found in Brazil’s caves to conclude that the Indians and the Siberians share common ancestry.   Agriculture, too, is a focus of this part of Mann’s book.   According to the author, the Indians began breeding maize right from scratch given that the crop had no â€Å"wild ancestor.†Ã‚   With the development of maize, the Mesoamerican life was further advanced.   The Olmec civilization is mentioned as an example of the high culture that was promoted due to advancement in agriculture. Mann also provides evidence that the Mesoamerican cultures made use of calendars, in addition to wheels.   However, the wheels were used only for small toys.   This is because the Mesoamericans were geographically isolated, and therefore did not have access to other people’s ideas on wheels. â€Å"Part Three: Landscape with Figures† is where Mann brings all of his evidence together to conclude that there are things we have to learn from the Indians.   He discusses the Maya, and points out that the civilization was active in transforming land.   Additionally, the author describes the unique use of fire by the Indians in this part of the book.   Apparently, the Indians used fire to benefit the plants as well as encourage the abundance of some animals. Mann points to the mistake of holding racist views about the Indians in understanding their unique culture given that such views cloud our receptiveness to reality.   As a matter of fact, the NEW REVELATIONS OF PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA Indians had reached their optimal level of environment.   Before Christopher Columbus arrived on the continent, however, the Europeans had changed the landscape created by the Indians. Analysis Indeed, Charles C. Mann is correct in his belief that we have been collectively fed in with the myth that the Native Americans were culturally backward.   In point of fact, this myth does not surround the Indians alone.   Rather, we are made to believe that all civilizations before the major ones as we know them – the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Muslims, and the United States – were culturally backward. We further tend to believe that it was almost impossible for the civilizations of old to perform the kinds of amazing deeds that we perform today, with respect to our technology.   And so, scholars struggled for a long time trying to understand how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids without our present technology.   This struggle to understand was led by speculation.   However, speculation is unnecessary when scientific facts are before us.   So, we are aware that the ancient Egyptians had their own technology to build the pyramids.   We do not understand the exact nature of that technology.   We may only know from the evidence we have gathered thus far that some of the civilizations of old were far more sophisticated than we had previously imagined them to be.   This is the case with the Indian civilization.   Perhaps, this was also the case with the people of the Stone Age, who might have developed themselves in terms of NEW REVELATIONS OF PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA philosophical thinking if nothing else.   The fact that we do not possess tomes written by people of the Stone Age or the Indians, does not necessarily lead us to the conclusion that the civilizations in question were less developed or evolved than we are.   Rather, those civilizations used their intellectual capacity in a different way.   Believers in the scriptures which recount the story of Adam and Eve would all agree that the essential human being has not changed through the ages.   Based on this view, only that which civilizations focus upon in their own time is likely to vary from civilization to civilization, and the human being is the same as he was in the beginning, that is, a being that is curious and would like to see change. The main strengths of Mann’s book are its lucid language, and the vast amount of evidence collected by the author.   Mann makes his book extremely interesting by addressing old myths, and describing the facts that must replace the myths.   The book describes unique fruits, for example, that we had previously supposed to be wild.   Even so, the unique fruits consumed by Indians were as nutritious as today’s fruits.   Mann describes interesting fruits with flavors like vanilla ice cream, for instance, and others that contained high levels of vitamin C and protein. The discussion that this book is made up of is very valuable in helping us understand faulty perceptions.   According to the author, â€Å"Given the charged relations between white societies and native peoples, inquiry into Indian culture and history is inevitably contentious.†Ã‚   To put it another way, white societies may have deliberately kept us away from understanding the significance of the Indian culture.   I believe that this is untrue, given the white societies’ emphasis on knowledge.   Moreover, I trust that the mention of racism should not have been a part of this book.   After all, the book was published in a white society to uncover the reality of NEW REVELATIONS OF PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA the Indian civilization.   As a matter of fact, given the importance of the scientific evidence in the book, it is expected that this book will be studied in white societies for a long time to come. NEW REVELATIONS OF PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA Works Cited Mann, Charles C. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. New York: Vintage Books, 2006. How to cite New Revelations of Pre-Columbian America, Essay examples New Revelations of Pre-Columbian America Free Essays In his breakthrough book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Charles C. Mann changes myths about the Pre-Columbian America into scientific facts that nobody would deny.   The book is a discussion about the scientific reality of Native American life before Columbus set foot in America. We will write a custom essay sample on New Revelations of Pre-Columbian America or any similar topic only for you Order Now    As it turns out, this view of reality based on scientific details is completely different from what we had previously thought about Pre-Columbian America.   The thesis of Mann’s book may be summed up in his own words thus: When I went to high school, in the 1970s, I was taught that Indians came to the Americas  across the Bering Strait about thirteen thousand years ago, that they lived for the most part in  small, isolated groups, and that they had so little impact on their environment that even after  millennia of habitation the continents remained mostly wilderness.   Schools still impart the  same ideas today.   One way to summarize the views of people like Erickson and Balà ©e would  be to say that they regard this picture of Indian life as wrong in almost every aspect.   Indians  were here far longer than previously thought, these researchers believe, and in much greater  numbers.   And they were so successful at imposing their will on the landscape that in 1492   Columbus set foot in a hemisphere thoroughly marked by humankind. After introducing the main thesis of his book – that, in fact, Native Americans were far more civilized than we had previously imagined – Mann begins â€Å"Part One: Numbers from Nowhere† by dealing with New England in the 1600s, and the myth that European technology was far superior to American Indian technologies.   This myth was based on the fact that the Indians did not appreciate guns.   However, the reality is that the Indian moccasins were far more comfortable than the boots of the European; and the canoes built by the Native Americans were speedier and more maneuverable than the small boats made by Europeans. Next, the author gets into a discussion about the reasons for the fall of the Inca Empire.   During this discussion we learn that while the Europeans used metal to make tools, the Indians used it for tokens.   Moreover, the Europeans had used horses while invading the Inca Empire, and the Indians did not have the technology to beat the intruders on horses.   Still, the Inca Empire collapsed mainly because of disease in addition to factionalism.   There had been a civil war after the Native Americans had clashed with the Spanish.   Smallpox and various other epidemics were also responsible for the fall of the Inca Empire. The first part of Mann’s book also tackles the controversy surrounding the number of Native Americans in Pre-Columbian America.   Scholars have disagreed on the population of the Indians.   Whereas Dobyns believed that there were around one hundred million Native Americans living before the fall of the Inca Empire; Henige argued that the population was much less.   Yet, as Mann points out, there is virtually no evidence to suggest that the population of Native Americans was little. In addition to the above, the first part of the book deals with the Aztecs.   According to scientific evidence, the Aztecs were more sophisticated than we had previously believed them to be.   The Greek â€Å"thinker-teacher† model prevailed among them as â€Å"tlamatini.† â€Å"Part Two: Very Old Bones† provides scientific evidence linked to the skeletons of Lagoa Santa that were found in Brazil’s caves to conclude that the Indians and the Siberians share common ancestry.   Agriculture, too, is a focus of this part of Mann’s book.   According to the author, the Indians began breeding maize right from scratch given that the crop had no â€Å"wild ancestor.†Ã‚   With the development of maize, the Mesoamerican life was further advanced.   The Olmec civilization is mentioned as an example of the high culture that was promoted due to advancement in agriculture. Mann also provides evidence that the Mesoamerican cultures made use of calendars, in addition to wheels.   However, the wheels were used only for small toys.   This is because the Mesoamericans were geographically isolated, and therefore did not have access to other people’s ideas on wheels. â€Å"Part Three: Landscape with Figures† is where Mann brings all of his evidence together to conclude that there are things we have to learn from the Indians.   He discusses the Maya, and points out that the civilization was active in transforming land.   Additionally, the author describes the unique use of fire by the Indians in this part of the book.   Apparently, the Indians used fire to benefit the plants as well as encourage the abundance of some animals. Mann points to the mistake of holding racist views about the Indians in understanding their unique culture given that such views cloud our receptiveness to reality.   As a matter of fact, the  Indians had reached their optimal level of environment.   Before Christopher Columbus arrived on the continent, however, the Europeans had changed the landscape created by the Indians. Analysis Indeed, Charles C. Mann is correct in his belief that we have been collectively fed in with the myth that the Native Americans were culturally backward.   In point of fact, this myth does not surround the Indians alone.   Rather, we are made to believe that all civilizations before the major ones as we know them – the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Muslims, and the United States – were culturally backward. We further tend to believe that it was almost impossible for the civilizations of old to perform the kinds of amazing deeds that we perform today, with respect to our technology.   And so, scholars struggled for a long time trying to understand how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids without our present technology.   This struggle to understand was led by speculation. However, speculation is unnecessary when scientific facts are before us.   So, we are aware that the ancient Egyptians had their own technology to build the pyramids.   We do not understand the exact nature of that technology.   We may only know from the evidence we have gathered thus far that some of the civilizations of old were far more sophisticated than we had previously imagined them to be.   This is the case with the Indian civilization.   Perhaps, this was also the case with the people of the Stone Age, who might have developed themselves in terms of  philosophical thinking if nothing else. The fact that we do not possess tomes written by people of the Stone Age or the Indians, does not necessarily lead us to the conclusion that the civilizations in question were less developed or evolved than we are.   Rather, those civilizations used their intellectual capacity in a different way.   Believers in the scriptures which recount the story of Adam and Eve would all agree that the essential human being has not changed through the ages.   Based on this view, only that which civilizations focus upon in their own time is likely to vary from civilization to civilization, and the human being is the same as he was in the beginning, that is, a being that is curious and would like to see change. The main strengths of Mann’s book are its lucid language, and the vast amount of evidence collected by the author.   Mann makes his book extremely interesting by addressing old myths, and describing the facts that must replace the myths.   The book describes unique fruits, for example, that we had previously supposed to be wild.   Even so, the unique fruits consumed by Indians were as nutritious as today’s fruits.   Mann describes interesting fruits with flavors like vanilla ice cream, for instance, and others that contained high levels of vitamin C and protein. The discussion that this book is made up of is very valuable in helping us understand faulty perceptions.   According to the author, â€Å"Given the charged relations between white societies and native peoples, inquiry into Indian culture and history is inevitably contentious.†Ã‚   To put it another way, white societies may have deliberately kept us away from understanding the significance of the Indian culture.   I believe that this is untrue, given the white societies’ emphasis on knowledge.   Moreover, I trust that the mention of racism should not have been a part of this book.   After all, the book was published in a white society to uncover the reality of  the Indian civilization.   As a matter of fact, given the importance of the scientific evidence in the book, it is expected that this book will be studied in white societies for a long time to come. Works Cited Mann, Charles C. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. New York: Vintage Books, 2006. How to cite New Revelations of Pre-Columbian America, Essay examples

Complementary Strategies Turnaround Situations - MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Complementary Strategies Turnaround Situations. Answer: Introduction: Apple Company is a manufacturing company that focuses mainly in consumer electronic based products. Being a worldwide known company for various electronics products, it faces a great competition from other companies like Samsung, LG, Nokia and Microsoft. However, Apple stands out in the market against its competitors through focusing more on broad product differentiation. The firm also produces user friendly and well-designed products that enables it cover a wider market. In this way, the company is able to maintain market leadership as high-value business and high-end company. (Pretorius, 2008) According to the case study, Apple company adopted various strategies in order to penetrate and survive in the competitive market of consumer electronics. First, the company built a good reputation with its customers by making personal computers that were easy to use compared to what their competitors produced though they priced it higher than their competitors price, however this did not made the company not to sell since most customers mainly look at the quality of the product and not only the price. This strategy was as a result of visiting Xerox company research laboratories by founders of Apple where they observed that Xerox had developed an early version of computer interface screen with drop-down screen widely used by personal computer users today. They decided to adapt this strategy in order to make personal computers that are easy to use compared to their competitors computers that still have complicated technical interface features.(Kotorov, 2001) Secondly, Apple manufactured innovative computers and other products that are more competitive like the Mac2, Powerbooks and Pagemaker, a worlds firstclass desktop publishing programs. Page maker has remained to be the leading publishing program of its own unique kind widely used around the world in publishing and fashion houses. This strategy has made the company to remain exclusive because most consumers nowadays need technological advanced products which they believe they are the most effective to use .the strategy have also enable the company to have a specialist market where it has a great competitive advantage. In 2000, Apple adopted another new strategy that enabled the company in penetrating the competitive market and exploit the growing world market of personal electronic devices including the mp3 music players, CD players and digital cameras. They launch their own version of the three products and changed them to user friendly software and of high value in order to make their product unique and highly competitive. This innovative idea helps the company grow as well as developing its market hence making it more competent. This is as a result of a good reputation that the company created by manufacturing the unique products that when sold to customers they feel special as they believe no other company had produced such unique product. The fourth strategy the company adopted was the launch of iPods in 2001. This is a personal music player that stores hundreds of CDs, later in 2003 and 2004, they launched an iTune music store in USA and Europe respectively which was rated as most innovatory development because iTune was used widely around the world for downloading music tracks at a cheaper charge of 99 cents. This also made Apple more competitive since there was no other company manufacturing such innovative products. Later in 2007, Apple launched iPhone, a mobile phone which has the same characteristics like iPod. This strategy helped the company penetrate the competitive market as many consumers opted for this type of phone because it is designed with characteristics that are user friendly and the mobile phone is widely available hence rated the most effective. In addition the company reduced the mobile phone price to enable it to gain a large target volume and it also expanded the companys global market reach whe re competition was massive for the past many years.The iPhone mobile device however achieved a significant technical breakthrough with its touch screen feature that was highly preferred by users as compared to its competitor Nokia, which has handsets designed with fixed buttons and small screen. Moreover, Apple launched another iPhone model in 2010 the iPhone 4 which was designed with a further technology advances. This is another strategy that has enabled Apple company remain more competitive in consumer electronic market since everyone is moving to an advanced technology world that Apple too is moving towards. Innovative products being the major point of making a company competitive in this case, it always go in hand with technology and embracing technology advancement place a company at a great opportunity of surviving in a competitive market. Therefore, Apple strategy of designing the iPhone 4 with advanced technologicalfeatures helps the company survive in the competitive market. Lastly, Apple hit back and negotiated on supply contract of flashmemory for its iPod that were cheaper than its rivals, this strategy has eventually helped the company survive in the competitive market as the reduction in price enables the company reduce its prices of the product thus attractin g more customers. However, for Apple company to survive in the competitive electronic consumer market,it should focus more on product differentiation whereby it emphasis on manufacturing innovative products with different unique features and design compared to those of its competitors.The company should also focus on penetrating markets especially on areas where it is limited to reach and expand on its market coverage for it to survive in the competitive market environment and increase growth and company development. (Chesnokova, Radina and Serdyuk, 2014) In order for Nokia to sustain its initial dominance in the technology industry, the firm could have done the following; first, the firm could enforce strategies that ensuresit remains competitive in the industry. The main strategy it could have put in place is competitive strategy. This is a strategy that should greatly evolve in the firm which is high technology Company where industries, market and technology changes rapidly. The strategy helps a company to be competent in the industry in order to gain competitive advantage over other firms. In this case, Nokia could set have set a strategy whereby the firm set a long term direction of the products it intends to produce and the technology to use. After setting the direction, the firm then determine the market of the product to enable the firm determine what price to use for the product and still remaining competitive.The company could also put in place technology strategy which could have guided the firm in developing and acquire ne w technological advances to enable it make advanced device design and stand out over its competitors. Nokia could also set a good market strategy to help differentiate its products from that of its competitors, the market segments of the products and the customers needs. Producing its own unique product without an imitation of its competitors products could have enabled the firm dominate the market.this strategy could help Nokia succeed by manufacturing unique mobile products with advanced technology features which will make customers feel they are offered something unique and special that other firms do not offer, in the long run building a good reputation that will help Nokia sustain its dominance in the technology industry. In addition, for the firm to sustain its initial dominance, it could have made sure to be the first to market any new product identified in technology field. This is because, being first to market any new innovative product enables a firm built a good reputation as a market leader that in the long run attracts more customers and increases its marketing effectiv eness. The reputation will also make the company to remain top competitor once it has become a consistent market leader. (Burgelman, Christensen and Wheelwright, 2009) Lastly, the firm could also engage in producing well designed products which are user friendly that leads the company to cover a broader market.By doing that, the company could have been able to maintain market leadership as high-value business and high-end company just like what its competitor Apple does. Nokia could also employ strategic planning to help identify potential problem the firm faces in the technology industry that hinders the company from dominating the market. This will in turn enable the firm create a framework to help achieve its goals of dominating the technology industry.(Berman and Hagan, 2006) References Burgelman, R., Christensen, C. and Wheelwright, S. (2009).Strategic management of technology and innovation. 1st ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Berman, S. and Hagan, J. (2006). How technology?driven business strategy can spur innovation and growth.Strategy Leadership, 34(2), pp.28-34. Chesnokova, A., Radina, O. and Serdyuk, R. (2014).Consumer Loyalty as a Factor of Establishing the Competitive Advantages in a Company under the Market Conditions.Asian Social Science, 10(23) Kotorov, R. (2001). The strategy wheel: A method for analysis and benchmarking for competitive strategy.Competitive Intelligence Review, 12(3), pp.21-30 Pretorius, M. (2008).When Porter's generic strategies are not enough: complementary strategies for turnaround situations.Journal of Business Strategy, 29(6), pp.19-28

The History Of The American Mafia Essays - Organized Crime

The History of the American Mafia Throughout history, crime has existed in many different forms and has been committed by not only individuals, but by groups as well. Crime is something that knows no boundries; it exists in all cultures, is committed by all races, and has existed in all time periods. Crime exists as a part of the economic institution and is a lifestyle for many people. Crime also exists in both organized and un organized forms. Since the early 1900's, "organized" crime has existed in the United States. The following will show where, when, and why the mafia came to the United States, who organized it in the United States, and how it differed from its origins in the European mafia. In the ninth century, Sicily was occupied by Arab forces. The native Sicilians were oppressed and took refuge in the surrounding hills. The Sicilians formed a secret society to unite the natives against the Arab and Norman invaders. This secret society was called Mafia after the Arabic word for refuge. The society's intentions were to create a sense of family based on ancestry and Sicilian heritage. In the 1700's, pictures of a black hand were distributed to the wealthy. This was an unspoken request for an amount of money in return for protection. If the money wasn't paid, the recipients could expect violence such as kidnappings, bombings, and murder. By the nineteenth century, this society grew larger and more criminally oriented. In 1876, Mafia Don Rafael Palizzolo, ran for political office in Sicily. He forced the voters to vote for him under gunpoint. After being elected into office, he promoted Mafia Don Crispi as Prime Minister. Together the two put Sicily under government cont rol and funnelled government funds to the society known as the Mafia. In the 1800's, New Orleans was the largest Mafia site in the United States. It was while investigating the murder of an Italian immigrant that the current Police Chief, David Hennessey discovered the existence of this secret society. Police Chief Hennessey was assassinated before this murder case could go to trial. Twelve men were charged with this assassination but were lynched by a newly formed vigilante group. The Italian Ambassador demanded that the vigilantes be tried. President Harrison who disproved of the vigilantes and gave a large cash settlement to the families of the lynched men. This was a widely publicized case because of its' foreign ramifications and the involvement of the President of the United States. Don Vito, Vito Cascio Ferro, was the first Sicilian Capo de Tutti Capi. He fled to the United States in 1901 to escape arrest and formed a group of the Black Hand. Its' members were hardened criminals currently fugitives from Sicily. He is known as the Father of the A merican Mafia. In 1924, Mussolini was determined to rid Italy of the Mafia so many members fled to the United States to avoid persecution . This increased the numbers of members in the organization. These fleeing Italians were well aware there was money to be made in the United States through extortion, prostitution, gambling and bootlegging. Every large city soon had its own Mafia chapter. Prohibition which was a legal ban on the manufacturer and sale of intoxicating drinks generated a wave of illegal activity since there was big money to be made. During this time, gangsters openly flaunted their wealth and power. This period established many young men as leaders in the New Age American Mafia. Charles Luciano, born in 1897 in Sicily, came to New York in 1906. He trained in the Five Points Gang, a Mafia crew, under John Torrio. In this gang, he became friends with Al Capone and other prominent gangsters. Luciano started his own prostitution racket in the early 1920's and was in total control of prostitution in Manhattan by 1925. In 1929 he was kidnapped, beaten and stabbed severally with an icepick. He miraculously survived but maintained "omerta", which is a vow never to reveal any Mafia secrets or members under penalty of death or torture. By 1935, Luciano was known as The Boss of Bosses. He had previously established Murder Inc. with Bugsy Siegel and Myer Lansky, two other well

buy custom Easy Jet Case Study essay

buy custom Easy Jet Case Study essay Easy Jet Airline Company was founded in 1995 by Stelios Haji-loannou, a graduate from London Business School. The development of Easy Jet Airline was to compete with traditional airline carriers by undercutting the cost. The company was one of the first low cost airlines in the UK, with flights from Luton to Scotland. The company had two Boeing aircrafts with a capacity of 148 passengers each and the cost of one seat was $28.5 one way. In 1998 the company launched their website to improve their market. However, Haji-loannou denounced the use of internet in the company, as he suggested it did not improve the overall development of the business. In August 1999, the site had a turnover of 38 % from the sale of tickets, an equivalent to the sale of more than 136 000 seats. Currently, Easy Jet website provides 98 percent of its bookings (Boru, 2007). To ensure growth of the online market, the company increased its online discount to $2.51 for one trip, which was higher than any other airline. By the month of September 2000, the internet sales of the company reached 85 percent of the total sales made by the company. In 2003 the company had managed to capture 90% of online sales. Additionally, in 2002, Easy Jet expanded its routes and fleet by obtaining British Airways low-cost subsidiary. Easy Jet Company has reduced Boeing fleet from 73 to 30 and has acquired 106 aircraft Airbuses. The Company operates 137 aircrafts with 289 routes in 21 countries. During the establishment of Easy Jet a lean operation was required to cut the cost. Haji-loannou established a single sales channel to achieve and survive. Likewise, he was encouraged by different companies like Direct Line insurance that worked in collaboration with the airlines, thus enabling it to meet its short and long-term plans. The basic trial was established in 1997, where Haji-loannou observed closely on its popularity. The company had telephone reservation system for selling the seats. The number of callers rose daily from the call reservation system. This led to lack of space in the call centre, due to its growth. This called for a transaction site of $10 million to either build a call centre or sell over the internet. The company decided to sell tickets over the internet due to high demand of passengers. Easy Jet success was achieved by the founder vision and adaptability as well as market business model. The company had direct sales operations, which boosted the market. In addition, it was easy to integrate the call centre into a central booking system. Some of the low cost propositions for Easy Jet were no in-flight meals, no network tie-ups, no travel agents and no tickets. The customers were given personal identification numbers, a factor that significantly customized the products and services offe red by the firm (Denton, 1998). Strategic Evaluation - Situation Analysis Environmental Analysis Easy Jet Airline success was substantially influenced by environment around the organization. Easy Jet concentrates on keeping its prices down to be ahead of competitors. The customer expectation on low cost carriers is flying cheaper. Low income people are given opportunity to travel to and from the UK at an affordable price. The firm has expanded its routes to North African region, therefore expanding their markets. The customers require more convenient ways of flying and booking. This has resulted to Easy Jet increasing the fares if booking is not done in advance, which is at times higher than their competitors. This encourages the customers to book in advance using internet since it is cheaper (Desiraju and Shugan, 1999). To gain competitive advantage, Easy Jet has to keep track of technological developments in aircraft manufacture and e-commerce. The company uses Airbuses, which are lighter and fuel efficient. Likewise, the firm innovated Easy Jet holidays, thus offering hotel and flight packages to the customers booked directly on easyjet.com (Gale and Holmes, 1992). There are several factors, which influence the economy of the Easy Jet and its operational costs. These factors include congestion of customers and increasing fuel prices among other notable environmental factors. To respond to high fuel prices, Easy Jet can stock large amounts of fuel to avoid short term price effect increase. To ease congestion of customers, Easy Jet should expand their routes and increase their fleets. The company vision is to have 120 airbuses by 2015 in the market domination. Easy Jet contributes to the environment through production of friendly planes, which do not emit carbon to the environment. This is due to the fact that carbon emission in to the air pollutes the environment, thus affecting the flora and fauna. Likewise, the customers contribute to the environment by paying small amount of money to Easy Jet which they invest in environmental projects. Easy Jet airline is affected by competitive forces, which affect its market. One of the competitive forces is threat from other substitutes of travel. Other modes of transport such as cars and trains threaten low cost airlines since they are flexible and comfortable. Another threat is from new entrants. To enter in the market, high capital is required to buy aircrafts. Easy Jet does better in the UK than in the rest of Europe region, since there are few market entrants in the UK. Expansion of new market in European countries for Easy Jet is difficult due to companies such as TUI, which are setting up low cost operations. Similarly, it is difficult for new carriers to find suitable airports due to lack of landing slots and takeoffs. Power suppliers are another competitive force, which affects the airline. There are many airplane manufactures in the airline industry. Easy Jet depends on one particular manufacturer of aircraft, a factor that may significantly poses a threat to the airli ne if the company fails. The high price of fuels in the international markets is another factor that affects the profitability of the firm. For instance, in the last five years, price of fuel has increased by almost 300% to $147.6 per barrel globally. The other competitive force is the power of buyers. Easy Jet is a low cost airline hence the buyers shop around for better prices on the internet. This forces the company to review its prices regularly to be ahead. Consequently, rivalry among existing firms is another competitive force affecting Easy Jet. Major competitors of Easy Jet in the UK are MyTravelLite, BMI and Ryan Air. In European countries the competitors are Air Berlin, German Wings and Virgin Express. These competitors affect Easy Jet market and target different segments (Gallego and van Ryzen, 1994). SWOT Analysis To review the marketing strategy of Easy Jet, strengths, weaknesses, threats and all the possible opportunities need to be reviewed. Strengths Easy Jet has different strengths which makes it stay ahead of the competitors. One of its strengths is strong e-business. Use of internet to reserve booking has improved the market of the airline. Flexibility and innovation is another Easy Jet strength (Done, 2004). Use of internet to book seats has increased convenience and flexibility to the customers. Differentiation on pricing is another strength which boosts Easy Jet. Easy Jet has different prices depending in the season. The company charges slightly high during high seasons and low during low seasons. Similarly, the company has strong financial position. Likewise, the company has a powerful branding of their services and products. Easy Jet has several products which improve the image of the company. These products include easy hotel, easy van, easy bus, easy cinema and easy gym among others. These products are available on their website hence boosting their market. Weaknesses Despite the success of Easy Jet both in the domestic and international markets, it has several weaknesses. First, the company has no customer retention policy. Secondly, Easy Jet lacks service and business focus, thus making the low cost model unappealing. Thirdly, focus on convenience and focus on price are reaching to their limit hence expanding becomes difficult. Opportunities Easy Jet airline has various opportunities. One of Easy Jets opportunities is future growth for the company. Ful service airlines are withdrawing from regional market to focus on profitable routes, hence leaving the market for low cost operators. This is a great opportunity for Easy Jet to invest. Another opportunity for Easy Jet is short break market. This market is providing growth for Easy Jet rapidly (Gallego and van Ryzen, 1997). Threats There are several threats facing Easy Jet airline market. First, it is difficult to expand new routes from London. Secondly, the airline market is saturated; hence stiff competition from other airlines. Thirdly, there is high competition in demanding incentives from communities. Fourthly, economic downturn affects business travel times, hence time consuming. Fifthly, the company faces threats from terrorists which affect their market. Likewise, political instability, as currently witnessed in most of the Arabic countries, such as Syria, Egypt, Libya among other, affects their market since they cannot effectively offer their services. PEST analysis PEST analysis describes macro-environmental factors which influence organizational environment. They include Political, Economic, Social, and Technological (Jones, 2007). Political Factors Easy jet organization is likely to be influenced by war in the Middle East. Likewise, there is a threat from European parliament which is forcing low cost airlines to pay three times higher the current price. Economic Factors One of the economic factors likely to affect easy jet is rise in fuel cost, environmental restrictions, and congestion, since it may outlook higher insurance and security costs. Secondly, globalization will boost air traffic. Thirdly, introduction of Europe currency will increase easy jet business. Social Cultural Factors Firstly, use of promotions will be friendly to the customers thou may affect customers if they find that is not the actual price. Secondly, it may be difficult to win German and French cultures since they use credit cards on the internet and phones. Technological Factors First, easy jet will be required to keep technological developments in order to gain competitive advantage. Secondly, use of cost synergies and distribution on the internet will affect costs and prices. Resources and Company Capabilities For an organization to be successful, the success key factors must be determined and evaluated. There are different key success factors that have led to the success of Easy Jet Airlines Company. These factors include baggage delivery, punctuality, safety and low prices. These factors are threshold of customer expectation in any airline company. Likewise, possibility of one-way tickets enhanced Easy Jet success, since other airlines did not offer it. In addition, use of internet to book flights direct improves the market share of the company, due to the fact that it saves time and is convenient. Easy Jet success factors evolved from the company low-cost business model. The model has different characteristics. One of the characteristics is selling ticket directly via internet as well as deducting travel agents commission. This saved time and was convenient to customers. Dynamic seat pricing is the second characteristic of the model. Easy Jet charges high during peak season and low during less busy periods. This has improved the market as well as maintaining the customers. The third characteristic is that the model has low cost prepositions which are used as revenue generating opportunities. Point to point is another characteristic offered by the model. The company has one type of aircraft to reduce the cost of maintenance and staff and crew training. Similarly, this has created economy scale for purchasing spare parts and aircrafts as well as increasing operational flexibility. Another characteristic of the model is that it offers short destination routes with single class ca bin. Easy Jet Resources Easy Jet airline has different tangible and intangible resources, which boost its markets. Tangible resources include financial and physical resources. Easy Jet has 137 aircrafts which are fuel efficient. The airline has strong competitive advantage from new entrants barrier. Easy Jet has dedicated airport slots which are important assets for the company. Likewise, it forms a competitive advantage for the airline. Easy Jet stocks fuel in advance to beat the oil price fluctuations, thus ensuring that the company does not occur loses due to fuel prices. The firm responds to opportunities fast due to financial reserves. Intangible resources include cultural, reputational and technological resources. E-Marketing Strategies for Easy Jet E-Marketing for Easy Jet has led to the rapid growth of the company. E-Marketing is a process of achieving marketing objectives by the use of electronic communication technology. E-Market tool used by Easy Jet is the use of website to sell tickets. E-Tools support marketing in several ways. First, it assists in identifying ways of using internet for marketing research to find out customer wants and needs. Secondly, they help in anticipating demand for digital services. Thirdly, they improve customer satisfaction through electronic channels. They also improve profit margins of a company (Grant, 2005). Setting up e-market for Easy Jet was to reduce manual labor and booking centers cost. The use of internet reduces cost of issuing tickets, reduces tasks, reconciliation, processing and distribution of tickets yearly. This improved administration and management purposes in the business. However, e-market needs logic to be useful to the company. Easy Jets e-strategy scaled down call centre operations as most of the tickets were sold online. The use of internet has also made flights cheaper as compared to that of competitors, thus benefiting the customers (Johnson and et al, 2006). One of the benefits to the customers is that they receive discounts when they book online for each journey. Easy Jet did put all cheap flight online to attract more customers, hence beating their competitors. Customers are able to make bookings, transfer flights, as well as requesting email confirmation duplicates. In addition, customers are able to reschedule their flight bookings and online check for its customers. The website offers an option to the customers to select speed boarding, which enables passengers to board flights before other customers (www.easyjet.com). Easy Jet uses pricing strategy to improve its markets. Pricing approaches used including good value pricing and value added pricing. Easy Jet offers quality services which are of low cost and exceed customers expectations. Easy Jet makes savings through eliminating travel agents from the chain and reducing administrative costs. The company does not offer in-flight refreshments to the passengers. Likewise, the check-in luggage is charged, hence reducing basic air fares. To guarantee good services, Easy Jet ensures the records match with that of major carriers and the passengers are in the plane on time. Value-added pricing includes in-flights and pre-flights. The preflight area has lounges, which are accessible to business passengers. The area has television sets and food stations accessible to the passengers. The in-flight area has comfortable seats, dining and entertainment areas, which are for the passengers who board the first class and business class. E-marketing moulds the passengers according to specifications (Porter, 2004). Another marketing strategy is through promotions. The company runs its promotions online and sometimes in the newspapers. The use of internet has helped in beating the demand of rising number of customers. Promotions are offered online to passengers who book online. This eases congestion in the telephone reservation system as well as in the call centre. Easy Jet uses subcontractors to assist them in their operations. Innovative programs are put up by the management to improve relationships between suppliers and subcontractors. Some of these innovative programs include performaance rating programs and workshops (Desiraju and Shugan, 1999). Value Chain Analysis Easy Jet guarantees long terms contract to ensure delivery in location, time and amount of the aircraft. The operations are carried out by handling reservation staff. The use of online reservation system enabled the firm to cut cost on travel agents and commissions. Further, the use of subcontractors to handle flight services ensures that activities are carried in a convenient way. Outbound logistics ensures final distribution of services and products to the customers. These activities include safe, comfortable and punctual flight trips to the customers. Easy Jet planes are efficient due to large number of customers. Sales and marketing department creates awareness to the audience of its services and products. However, the firm has one weakness of not offering incentives. For instance, there are no refunds if the customers miss their flights. This puts off customers, hence low frequent fliers. The supporting activities for the firm include procurement, technology development, human r esource management and firm infrastructure (Jones, 2007). To outperform other firms in an industry, there are different generic approaches used. One of the generic strategies is overall cost leadership. This strategy ensures low costs to the customers, which increases the profits in return. There are three success criteria used to ensure effective use of this strategy. They include feasibility, acceptability and suitability. Suitability is the strategic position of an organization in terms of expectation of the stakeholders, strategic capabilities of the firm and strategic position of the environment. The strategic position of environment of Easy Jet indicates that this strategy is suitable to environmental factors. The factors of setting up, growing and availability of business model determine the market position of this company. The strong financial background and basic knowledge in transport business made it possible for Easy Jet success. Customers expectations of low market cost made it possible for Easy Jet to venture into the business (Kretsch, 1995). Acceptability is concerned with expected performance of the strategy. To determine Easy Jet strategy, stakeholder reactions, risks, and returns should be verified. Non-financial and financial returns are verified to determine the profit margins in terms of cash flow, pay backs and capital returns. Continuous improvement in profit growth indicates good choice of strategies. Feasibility, access competences and resources of a company are used in accessing the strategy. There are two ways to determine feasibility. They include break even analysis and financial feasibility which help in identifying competences and resources for the strategy (Desiraju and Shugan, 1999). Legal and Ethical Issues Businesses that are using e-commerce system are faced by a lot of ethical challenges. Legal and ethical issues facing e-commerce include consumer protection, computer crimes, taxation, free speech, intellectual property and privacy. Information collected from customers should be protected from hackers. There are different ways private information is collected. They include internal directory, emails, web browsers and user groups. To book flights on Easy Jet website, the customer is required to register by filling in registration form. This information is stored in the database and can be viewed by third parties. Easy Jet should introduce security measures to protect the customer information from hackers, which may destroy their market. The website contains cookies that help the users to maintain user status. Likewise, these cookies improve online services as well as customizing sites. To protect the information, cookies should be deleted from the website. In addition, anti-cookie sof tware can be used to protect cookies from hackers (Rhoades and Waguespack, 2006). There are several principles which protect privacy. One of the principles is to register with the government on legal remedies. Secondly, individual accessing the information should have authentication information to ensure that only individuals with the right have access to the information. Booking confirmation copies should have Easy Jet trade marks to ensure they are genuine. One of the ethical issues is misleading and false advertisements. The use of these advertisements may make the organization to lose its market to its competitors. Another ethical issue facing internet business is the use of obfuscating language. This destroys the market of the company hence there is a drop in profits. Another ethical issue is lack of clear requirements and procedures in the website. This may mislead the customers while booking tickets therefore this may bring about conflicts. Likewise, information may not be linked properly in the website where information is collected in the database. This m ay lead to vital information being left out during registration or ticket purchasing (Desiraju and Shugan, 1999). Future Suggestions and Improvements Easy Jet Company matches well with environment and strategies. Easy Jet has considered competing on services, routes and prices aggressively to drive entrants out of the market. In addition, Easy Jet has strategic decisions of reviewing the cost and routes offered by its competitors. Easy Jet Company targets travelers on leisure since business individuals travel to wide spectrum of destinations. The company needs to review its fleet and ventures into all cities to expand its market. However, the operating costs should not increase. Further, more emphasis should be put on direct marketing such as customer retention scheme. Easy Jet can start selling shares in environmental programs in the website to collect money for charity work. This will promote its market, since the customers will be giving back to the community. Further, the airline should venture into the use of green form of energies in all its branches. This will significantly reduce the firms carbon printing, a factor that wi ll substantially enhance long-term sustainability of our environment. In conclusion, Easy Jet is one of the most successful low cost airlines in the world. This has been contributed by introduction of internet booking to passengers who uses their routes. Factors which influence the economy of the firm and its operational costs include congestion of customers and increasing fuel prices among other environmental factors. Easy Jet airlines competitive forces include threat from other substitutes travel, this threat from new entrants and competitive force is the power of buyers. The strengths of the firm include strong e-business, differentiation on pricing, financial position and powerful branding of their services and products. Easy Jets weaknesses include no customer retention policy, lack of service and business, high focus on convenience and price. They are reaching to their limit hence expanding becomes difficult. Easy Jets threats to its business include difficulties in expanding new routes from London, stiff competition from other airlines, high co mpetition in demanding incentives from communities, economic downturn affects business travel times, hence time consuming and political instability in the countries. Low-cost business model characteristics include selling ticket directly via internet as well as deducting travel agents commission; dynamic seat pricing, low cost prepositions, point to point and short destination routes with single class cabin. Easy Jet responds to opportunities fast due to financial reserves. Intangible resources include cultural, reputational and technological resources. Tangible resources include financial and physical resources. E-Tools support marketing in several ways. First, it assists in identifying ways of using internet for marketing research to find out customer wants and needs. Secondly, they help in anticipating demand for digital services. Thirdly, they improve customer satisfaction through electronic channels. Fourthly, they improve profit margins of the company (Desiraju and Shugan, 1999). It is notable that the website offers to the customers an option to select speed boarding which enables passengers to board flights before other customers. Legal a nd ethical issues facing e-commerce include consumer protection, computer crimes, taxation, free speech, intellectual property and privacy. Buy custom Easy Jet Case Study essay

BASEL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

BASEL - Essay Example The Accord outlines a set of standards for establishing minimum capital requirements for banking organizations. It encouraged banks to classify their experiences into broad categories reflecting similar types of borrowers. As an example, all exposures to corporate borrowers are subject to all capital requirements. However, with the advances in risk management practices, technology and banking markets, the 1998 Accord’s approach to measuring capital requirements has become less meaningful. This is why the BASEL have been updated into BASEL II, a consultative document that is believed to provide improved sensitivity to the risks that banks actually face and accommodate improvements in internal processes, more advanced risk measurement techniques and increasing use of sophisticated risk management practices. (Saidenberg, M. and Schuermann, 2005) More accommodating as it appears, the New Accord still has factors which have been pointed out by organizations such as the JCIF (2006) and the BIS (2001) itself that must be considered for determining requirements for market risks and capital standards. The most prominent issue is the improvements of the credit rating process. According to BASEL II, banks are encouraged to implement the internal ratings approach to determine credit capital requirements by using probability of default for borrower rating and loss given default for facility rating. This becomes problematic considering that banks have historically attributed ratings to transactions without separating the two risk factors. Compounding the problem is that banks have tended to rate customers using one or two ratings alone but the Accord specifies that borrowers should be evenly distributed across a minimum number of grades. Banks will find it necessary to re-engineer their internal credit rating system. The Internal Ratings Based approach specifies that credit risk measurement involves

High Oil and Gas Prices Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

High Oil and Gas Prices - Research Paper Example Global oil consumption has been another main reason (Millender-McDonald 1). China being one of the leading oil importing countries has added to the global oil demand by its continuous progress. The automobile industry in the United States has also added to the global oil consumption as it consumes around one-fourth of the total global oil. So is the case with US chemical industry (Liveris 1). The surge in oil demand has resulted because of low interest rates all over the world. Moreover, investors invest in oil business so as to minimize the risk of devaluation of their other businesses because when oil prices rise, the cost of all investments and businesses also rise (crack spread) which results in greater revenues and profits, and this makes the oil prices go up (Overdahl 3). Unfortunate events, like Hurrican Katrina and Rita, also caused oil prices to rise (Matthews 1). Jeffords, James M. â€Å"Clean Air Regulations and Natural Gas Prices.† Congressional Testimony,. MAS Ultra - School Edition, 2006. Web. 16 Sep 2011. . Liveris, Andrew. â€Å"Natural Gas Supply and Prices.† FDCH Congressional Testimony. MAS Ultra - School Edition, 2005. Web. 16 Sep 2011. . Matthews, Dan. â€Å"Mitigating Impact of High Gas Prices.† FDCH Congressional Testimony. MAS Ultra - School Edition, 2005. Web. 16 Sep 2011. . Millender-McDonald, Juanita. â€Å"Effect of High Natural Gas Prices on Small Businesses.† FDCH Congressional Testimony. MAS Ultra - School Edition, 2006. Web. 16 Sep 2011. . Overdahl, James A. (2005). â€Å"Rising gasoline Prices.† FDCH Congressional

What is Education Policy Policymaking, Policy Implementation, the Essay

What is Education Policy Policymaking, Policy Implementation, the State, Ideology and Interest Groups - Essay Example While this articulation of the experiences learners are expected to undergo is quite vital to learning, it would not pay without a proper educational policy making and implementation by all stakeholders in the education sector (Ball, 2009a). The role of education policy in the realization of academic and professional growth for learners cannot thus be overemphasised. In its general sense, an education policy refers to the various systemic and structural arrangements by which the expected experiences and outcomes in an educational system can be achieved (Ball, 2009a). Importantly, these arrangements must maximize the attainment of these outcomes for students. However, in most cases, the policy structures and arrangements designed and implemented do not translate into the expected learning experience and outcomes. Unfortunately, the pressure piled upon schools, colleges, universities and their administrators, managers and teachers by stakeholders such as government authorities, school boards and parents for improved performance and experiences are partly responsible for the failed educational policies (Ball, 2009b). As a result of this kind of pressure, school managers and administrators end up having incoherent and mixed up policies that are not only hard to design but also to implement to fruition. Hence, instead of supporting learning institutions to achieve what is expected of them by the government and parents, schools end up failing due to excessive pressure and interest from the many stakeholders in the education system. Research has shown that there is not a single system of education and educational policy that would be best for all the stakeholders, including learners, teachers, parents, local communities, school boards and the regulatory bodies such as the central government. In education, just like other social issues, policies depend on various aspects of life in the target population (Les, 2006). In other words, education policy solutions are more based on case-to-case scenario instead of universal standards. Hence, discrepancies on education standards must be addressed based on th e immediate situation, which obviously has its complex and intertwined social, cultural and economic issues. Nonetheless, solving educational policy issues in whatever setting is never a complex task; all stakeholders are expected to do is to step aside and let education policy experts to design, develop, implement, evaluate, monitor, and reform education policy. These experts are also expected to incorporate the input of all educational stakeholders in executing their mandate. State and local skills and knowledge, educators, communities, parents are some of the stakeholders who must be involved in these exercises to design educational systems that function to achieve the expected experiences and objectives. This paper explores the concept of education policy with regards to policy making, implementation, ideology and interest groups or stakeholders. The Ideology and the Making of Education Policy Many an education policy is based on a market-based education system and reforms chara cterised by programs and strategies that promote choices and ready solutions to social, economic, political and cultural problems (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2008). However, some oppose this ideology for education, arguing that such an approach misperceives the function and objectives of education. In addition, the market-based approach to education is considered to weaken and threaten the democratic philosophies of education. However, both ideologies have been shown to have strengths and weakness and each jurisdiction may weight its options before adopting the ideology on which to base their

A Study On Business Forecasting Statistics Essay

A Study On Business Forecasting Statistics Essay The aim of this report is to show my understanding of business forecasting using data which was drawn from the UK national statistics. It is a quarterly series of total consumer credit gross lending in the UK from the second quarter 1993 to the second quarter 2009. The report answers four key questions that are relevant to the coursework. In this section the data will be examined, looking for seasonal effects, trends and cycles. Each time period represents a single piece of data, which must be split into trend-cycle and seasonal effect. The line graph in Figure 1 identifies a clear upward trend-cycle, which must be removed so that the seasonal effect can be predicted. Figure 1 displays long-term credit lending in the UK, which has recently been hit by an economic crisis. Figure 2 also proves there is evidence of a trend because the ACF values do not come down to zero. Even though the trend is clear in Figure 1 and 2 the seasonal pattern is not. Therefore, it is important the trend-cycle is removed so the seasonal effect can be estimated clearly. Using a process called differencing will remove the trend whilst keeping the pattern. Drawing scattering plots and calculating correlation coefficients on the differenced data will reveal the pattern repeat. Scatter Plot correlation The following diagram (Figure 3) represents the correlation between the original credit lending data and four lags (quarters). A strong correlation is represented by is showed by a straight-line relationship. As depicted in Figure 3, the scatter plot diagrams show that the credit lending data against lag 4 represents the best straight line. Even though the last diagram represents the straightest line, the seasonal pattern is still unclear. Therefore differencing must be used to resolve this issue. Differencing Differencing is used to remove a trend-cycle component. Figure 4 results display an ACF graph, which indicates a four-point pattern repeat. Moreover, figure 5 shows a line graph of the first difference. The graph displays a four-point repeat but the trend is still clearly apparent. To remove the trend completely the data must differenced a second time. First differencing is a useful tool for removing non-stationary. However, first differencing does not always eliminate non-stationary and the data may have to be differenced a second time. In practice, it is not essential to go beyond second differencing, because real data generally involve non-stationary of only the first or second level. Figure 6 and 7 displays the second difference data. Figure 6 displays an ACF graph of the second difference, which reinforces the idea of a four-point repeat. Suffice to say, figure 7 proves the trend-cycle component has been completely removed and that there is in fact a four-point pattern repeat. Question 2 Multiple regression involves fitting a linear expression by minimising the sum of squared deviations between the sample data and the fitted model. There are several models that regression can fit. Multiple regression can be implemented using linear and nonlinear regression. The following section explains multiple regression using dummy variables. Dummy variables are used in a multiple regression to fit trends and pattern repeats in a holistic way. As the credit lending data is now seasonal, a common method used to handle the seasonality in a regression framework is to use dummy variables. The following section will include dummy variables to indicate the quarters, which will be used to indicate if there are any quarterly influences on sales. The three new variables can be defined: Q1 = first quarter Q2 = second quarter Q3 = third quarter Trend and seasonal models using model variables The following equations are used by SPSS to create different outputs. Each model is judged in terms of its adjusted R2. Linear trend + seasonal model Data = a + c time + b1 x Q1 + b2 x Q2 + b3 x Q3 + error Quadratic trend + seasonal model Data = a + c time + b1 x Q1 + b2 x Q2 + b3 x Q3 + error Cubic trend + seasonal model Data = a + c time + b1 x Q1 + b2 x Q2 + b3 x Q3 + error Initially, data and time columns were inputted that displayed the trends. Moreover, the sales data was regressed against time and the dummy variables. Due to multi-collinearity (i.e. at least one of the variables being completely determined by the others) there was no need for all four variables, just Q1, Q2 and Q3. Linear regression Linear regression is used to define a line that comes closest to the original credit lending data. Moreover, linear regression finds values for the slope and intercept that find the line that minimizes the sum of the square of the vertical distances between the points and the lines. Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .971a .943 .939 3236.90933 Figure 8. SPSS output displaying the adjusted coefficient of determination R squared Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 17115.816 1149.166 14.894 .000 time 767.068 26.084 .972 29.408 .000 Q1 -1627.354 1223.715 -.054 -1.330 .189 Q2 -838.519 1202.873 -.028 -.697 .489 Q3 163.782 1223.715 .005 .134 .894 Figure 9 The adjusted coefficient of determination R squared is 0.939, which is an excellent fit (Figure 8). The coefficient of variable ‘time, 767.068, is positive, indicating an upward trend. All the coefficients are not significant at the 5% level (0.05). Hence, variables must be removed. Initially, Q3 is removed because it is the least significant variable (Figure 9). Once Q3 is removed it is still apparent Q2 is the least significant value. Although Q3 and Q2 is removed, Q1 is still not significant. All the quarterly variables must be removed, therefore, leaving time as the only variable, which is significant. Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 16582.815 866.879 19.129 .000 time 765.443 26.000 .970 29.440 .000 Figure 10 The following table (Table 1) analyses the original forecast against the holdback data using data in Figure 10. The following equation is used to calculate the predicted values. Predictedvalues = 16582.815+765.443*time Original Data Predicted Values 50878.00 60978.51 52199.00 61743.95 50261.00 62509.40 49615.00 63274.84 47995.00 64040.28 45273.00 64805.72 42836.00 65571.17 43321.00 66336.61 Table 1 Suffice to say, this model is ineffective at predicting future values. As the original holdback data decreases for each quarter, the predicted values increase during time, showing no significant correlation. Non-Linear regression Non-linear regression aims to find a relationship between a response variable and one or more explanatory variables in a non-linear fashion. (Quadratic) Model Summaryb Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .986a .972 .969 2305.35222 Figure 11 Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 11840.996 1099.980 10.765 .000 time 1293.642 75.681 1.639 17.093 .000 time2 -9.079 1.265 -.688 -7.177 .000 Q1 -1618.275 871.540 -.054 -1.857 .069 Q2 -487.470 858.091 -.017 -.568 .572 Q3 172.861 871.540 .006 .198 .844 Figure 12 The quadratic non-linear adjusted coefficient of determination R squared is 0.972 (Figure 11), which is a slight improvement on the linear coefficient (Figure 8). The coefficient of variable ‘time, 1293.642, is positive, indicating an upward trend, whereas, ‘time2, is -9.079, which is negative. Overall, the positive and negative values indicate a curve in the trend. All the coefficients are not significant at the 5% level. Hence, variables must also be removed. Initially, Q3 is removed because it is the least significant variable (Figure 9). Once Q3 is removed it is still apparent Q2 is the least significant value. Once Q2 and Q3 have been removed it is obvious Q1 is under the 5% level, meaning it is significant (Figure 13). Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 11698.512 946.957 12.354 .000 time 1297.080 74.568 1.643 17.395 .000 time2 -9.143 1.246 -.693 -7.338 .000 Q1 -1504.980 700.832 -.050 -2.147 .036 Figure 13 Table 2 displays analysis of the original forecast against the holdback data using data in Figure 13. The following equation is used to calculate the predicted values: QuadPredictedvalues = 11698.512+1297.080*time+(-9.143)*time2+(-1504.980)*Q1 Original Data Predicted Values 50878.00 56172.10 52199.00 56399.45 50261.00 55103.53 49615.00 56799.29 47995.00 56971.78 45273.00 57125.98 42836.00 55756.92 43321.00 57379.54 Table 2 Compared to Table 1, Table 2 presents predicted data values that are closer in range, but are not accurate enough. Non-Linear model (Cubic) Model Summaryb Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .997a .993 .992 1151.70013 Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 17430.277 710.197 24.543 .000 time 186.531 96.802 .236 1.927 .060 time2 38.217 3.859 2.897 9.903 .000 time3 -.544 .044 -2.257 -12.424 .000 Q1 -1458.158 435.592 -.048 -3.348 .002 Q2 -487.470 428.682 -.017 -1.137 .261 Q3 12.745 435.592 .000 .029 .977 Figure 15 The adjusted coefficient of determination R squared is 0.992, which is the best fit (Figure 14). The coefficient of variable ‘time, 186.531, and time2, 38.217, is positive, indicating an upward trend. The coefficient of ‘time3 is -.544, which indicates a curve in trend. All the coefficients are not significant at the 5% level. Hence, variables must be removed. Initially, Q3 is removed because it is the least significant variable (Figure 15). Once Q3 is removed it is still apparent Q2 is the least significant value. Once Q3 and Q2 have been removed Q1 is now significant but the ‘time variable is not so it must also be removed. Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 18354.735 327.059 56.120 .000 time2 45.502 .956 3.449 47.572 .000 time3 -.623 .017 -2.586 -35.661 .000 Q1 -1253.682 362.939 -.042 -3.454 .001 Figure 16 Table 3 displays analysis of the original forecast against the holdback data using data in Figure 16. The following equation is used to calculate the predicted values: CubPredictedvalues = 18354.735+45.502*time2+(-.623)*time3+(-1253.682)*Q1 Original Data Predicted Values 50878.00 49868.69 52199.00 48796.08 50261.00 46340.25 49615.00 46258.51 47995.00 44786.08 45273.00 43172.89 42836.00 40161.53 43321.00 39509.31 Table 3 Suffice to say, the cubic model displays the most accurate predicted values compared to the linear and quadratic models. Table 3 shows that the original data and predicted values gradually decrease. Question 3 Box Jenkins is used to find a suitable formula so that the residuals are as small as possible and exhibit no pattern. The model is built only involving a few steps, which may be repeated as necessary, resulting with a specific formula that replicates the patterns in the series as closely as possible and also produces accurate forecasts. The following section will show a combination of decomposition and Box-Jenkins ARIMA approaches. For each of the original variables analysed by the procedure, the Seasonal Decomposition procedure creates four new variables for the modelling data: SAF: Seasonal factors SAS: Seasonally adjusted series, i.e. de-seasonalised data, representing the original series with seasonal variations removed. STC: Smoothed trend-cycle component, which is smoothed version of the seasonally adjusted series that shows both trend and cyclic components. ERR: The residual component of the series for a particular observation Autoregressive (AR) models can be effectively coupled with moving average (MA) models to form a general and useful class of time series models called autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models,. However, they can only be used when the data is stationary. This class of models can be extended to non-stationary series by allowing differencing of the data series. These are called autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models. The variable SAS will be used in the ARIMA models because the original credit lending data is de-seasonalised. As the data in Figure 19 is de-seasonalised it is important the trend is removed, which results in seasonalised data. Therefore, as mentioned before, the data must be differenced to remove the trend and create a stationary model. Model Statistics Model Number of Predictors Model Fit statistics Ljung-Box Q(18) Number of Outliers Stationary R-squared Normalized BIC Statistics DF Sig. Seasonal adjusted series for creditlending from SEASON, MOD_2, MUL EQU 4-Model_1 0 .485 14.040 18.693 15 .228 0 Model Statistics Model Number of Predictors Model Fit statistics Ljung-Box Q(18) Number of Outliers Stationary R-squared Normalized BIC Statistics DF Sig. Seasonal adjusted series for creditlending from SEASON, MOD_2, MUL EQU 4-Model_1 0 .476 13.872 16.572 17 .484 0 ARMA (3,2,0) Original Data Predicted Values 50878.00 50335.29843 52199.00 50252.00595 50261.00 50310.44277 49615.00 49629.75233 47995.00

Husbands Gender Ideology Essay -- Gender Roles, Women

In response to why women remain investing significantly more time in unpaid housework than men (see Shelton and John, 1996; Coltrane, 2000 for a thorough review) and specialised in types of housework, empirical work done by researchers in economics background focuses on relative resource approach that builds on Becker’s model of exchange. Nevertheless, the economic approach is far from satisfactory in explaining why married women who are financially independent perform more housework than their spouses. This brings the argument of gender ideology from the perspective of sociologists. The allocation of time among family members in the work that needs to be done, both in the market and in the household, has important implications for the household’s consumption possibilities. Extending the benefits of labour specialisation that documented in the standard economics textbook, Becker (1985, 1991) suggests that multiperson household often find it beneficial to specialise to some extent in the activities that they undertake, based on comparative advantage. A salient example of such intrahousehold specialisation is married men specialised in market work and married women in household production. This historically division of labour within households is arranged on the basis that women accumulate less human capital. Given women’s relatively lower opportunity cost in work outside the home as compared to men, household members would arrange spouses’ labour in a manner that women should allocate more time to household labour and less to market work in or der to yield a maximum utility for the family. However, women nowadays have acquired as much human capital as men be it in education, labour market experience, occupational attainme... ...economic dependence in housework performed between husband and wife, Greenstein (2000) also found a ‘U’ shaped pattern for women, in which breadwinner wives undertake a greater share of housework than their husbands and a reversed ‘U’ shaped for economically dependent husbands. However, Greenstein emphasise the process of deviance neutralisation instead of gender display in the division of housework. The author suggests that to neutralise a nonnormative provider role of women in the family, both husband and wife may restore to a traditional attitude to make up for gender deviance even if the relative resource approach suggests that the husband should share far more housework. With these theories and fact of the past as the backgorund, we turn our attention to the married couples in Kuching city to account for the asymmetrical distribution of household labour.

Philosophers skepticism Essay

Skepticism, which derives from the Greek word skeptesthai, is the philosophical outlook that declares knowing anything with assurance is impossible. This term can also signify an unwillingness to accept anything without sufficient proof. Skepticism originated in the 5th century BC in Greece when certain philosophers began to express their doubts about how certain they could be about the knowledge they obtained and lived by. These philosophers include Protagoras of Abdera (480-411 BC) and Gorgias (485-380 BC), whom both showed skepticism about the world and how it is perceived. Protagoras is reported to have said that, â€Å"man is the measure of all things† Moore and Bruder (2005). He meant that each person’s opinions are different, so what is true for one person may not be for another person. Gorgias has said â€Å"nothing exists; if anything does exist, it cannot be known; if anything exists and can be known, it cannot be communicated† Moore and Bruder (2005). Gorgias’s theory was self explanatory; nothing exists and even if it did, it cannot be communicated. Therefore, there is no real proof that something exists at all. The history of Skepticism has three predominate periods: the pre-Academic, the Academic and the post Academic. The pre Academic period started with Pyrrho, who was from the western side of the Greek Pelopnnesus, Elis. He believed that true reality is unknown so judgments should not be made by anyone. Pyrrho was like Socrates because he never kept a record of his philosophy in writing. For that reason, most information regarding Pyrrho comes from his pupil’s writings, Timon. Pyrrho preferred to provide his followers with tools to live a commendable life, which included peaceful living according to the laws during his time. Pyrrho also believed that the five senses are contradictory of one another when referred to nature and essence. For example, when a person tastes honey, is the sweetness in the honey or in that person? This question is raised because what tastes good to one person may be tasteless to another. Certain foods may also look tasty but have a bitter taste (diCarlo, 2009). In these particular instances, the five senses are contradictory of one another. Pyrrho and Timon both believed that the conflicting suppositions regarding nature are impossible to decide since valid arguments can be made for each side. The Academic period began after the death of Socrates, when Plato started The Academy, a school of philosophy located in Athens. Academic skeptics introduced two important elements to skepticism: the first included developing an organized attack toward doctrinaire positions, including the metaphysics of Plato; the second included the development of rules and vocabulary to cope and interact with their experiences. One of the first Academic skeptics was Arcesilaus (315 BCE-240 BCE), who was the leader of Plato’s Academy. He channeled his energy toward the Stoics, who believed certain views are self evidently true, therefore, they cannot be doubted. The Post-Academic Skeptics included Aenesidemus and Sextus Empiricus. Aenesidemus developed the tropoi (10 modes of skepticism), â€Å"a set of skeptical argument forms, or modes, to show that judgment must be withheld on any issue. † These 10 modes of skepticism ranged from perception differences to cultural differences, and allowed a skeptic to criticize any metaphysical doctrine (diCarlo, 2009). Sextus created Empiricus’s Outlines of Pyrrhonism, which, described a school of thought which was named after the philosopher Pyrrho of Elis (c. 365-275 B. C. )†( Sextus Empiricus’s Outlines of Pyrrhonism, 2006). In the world today, skepticism is a part of human nature. Most people raise doubt because of inexperience or bad experiences from their past. Some individuals, like law enforcement officers and judges, are forced to be skeptical everyday due to their occupations. Critical decisions have a lasting effect on their lives, and the lives of those they are associated with during work. Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line everyday so skepticism is necessary to survive. Police officers are required to be doubtful because they could become vulnerable or naive if they allow others to fool them. Simply pulling someone over for a traffic violation could turn fatal if the officers do not think critically and take certain safety measures. Although the officer may have intentions on just writing the person a citation, they might feel threatened and become violent. Judges are also faced with skepticism on a daily basis because there are two sides of the story, and the judge makes the decisions. The judge has to make the right choice and determine who is being honest based on evidence and their experience. Skepticism plays a major role because the judges are usually familiar with the body language and gestures made by someone who is guilty, so they become skeptical of their behavior. Overall, society displays skepticism about the smallest things because bad experiences or gullibility. References Moore, Brooke N. , & Bruder, Kenneth. (2005). Philosophy: The Power of Ideas (6th ed. ). McGraw-Hill Companies. PhilosophyOnline (2009). A Brief History of Scepticism. PhilosophyOnline. co. uk. Retrieved July 24, 2009, from http://www. philosophyonline. co. uk/tok/scepticism8. htm Sextus Empiricus’s Outlines of Pyrrhonism (2006). Alex Scott. Retrieved July 24, 2009, from http://www. angelfire. com/md2/timewarp/skepticism. html The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2006). Aenesidemus (1st Cn. CE). The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved July 24, 2009, from http://www. iep. utm. edu/a/aeneside. htm

Human Relations Movement Essay

Human Relations Movement refers to those researchers of organizational development who study the behavior of people in groups, in particular workplace groups. It originated in the 1930s’ Hawthorne studies, which examined the effects of social relations, motivation and employee satisfaction on factory productivity. The movement viewed workers in terms of their psychology and fit with companies, rather than as interchangeable parts. â€Å"The hallmark of human-relation theories is the primacy given to organizations as human cooperative systems rather than mechanical contraptions. George Elton Mayo stressed the following: Natural groups, in which social aspects take precedence over functional organizational structures Upwards communication, by which communication is two way, from worker to chief executive, as well as vice versa. Cohesive and good leadership is needed to communicate goals and to ensure effective and coherent decision making (Wilson & Rosenfeld, Managing Organizations, McGraw Hill Book Company, London, p. 9. ) It has become a concern of many companies to improve the job-oriented interpersonal skills of employees. The teaching of these skills to employees is referred to as â€Å"soft skills† training. Companies need their employees to be able to successfully communicate and convey information, to be able to interpret others’ emotions, to be open to others’ feelings, and to be able to solve conflicts and arrive at resolutions. By acquiring these skills, the employees, those in management positions, and the customer can maintain more compatible relationships. (DuBrin, A. J. (2007). Human Relations Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills, Pearson Prentice Hall, 9th. ed. , New Jersey, p. 2. ) Institutes where human relations are studied include: The Tavistock Institute, co-publishers of the Human Relations journal; the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science; The Oasis School of Human Relations, Masters Degree in Globally Responsible Leadership (Oasis Press publishes human relations books and manuals); Trevecca Nazarene University, Bachelors Degree in Management and Human Relations for working adults; the University of Oklahoma offers a Bachelor of Arts in Human Relations, as well as a Master of Human Relations; Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) offers a Bachelor of Arts in Human Relations, as well as a Master of Human Systems Intervention.