Monday, September 30, 2019
Nyarlathotep
The story Nyarlathotep basically provides the insight about the degree of destabilization with regards to the narratorââ¬â¢s existence. The narrative provides the clear understanding of how chaos can readily impose a certain situation which can destroy the very essence of the fixed arrangements of things especially in the physical and emotional aspect of a community. Nyarlathotep is a fictional character that represents chaotic events which crawls gently buy surely involves dismantling sets of pre-arranged structures of human existence. The story provides the readers how this ââ¬Å"creatureâ⬠sustains long term influence to everything it touches by inducing disorder. Basically, the writer intends to project Nyarlathotep as something which cannot be prevented and that encompasses a great extent of human sanity. In the story, it is personified as a being which induces complexity as well as mystery for it drastically changes everything from a complete orderly situation to turmoil. The writer narrated a story with respect to how Nyarlathotep has influenced his personal life by describing his observations about the changes in the society he was previously immersed in. In this aspect, it seems that he wants to relay to the readers that the same situation may also happen to them and that the story can become a very good reference on what to expect and how the drastic effects can be minimized using the experiences stated by the writer. For further analysis, the overall effect of hearing or reading a particular narrative can be differentiated based on how information is acquired by the person. The effect of hearing a story may provide a direct believable result since there is a third party in reference which relays the information. On the other hand, the effect of reading can provide a definite form of imaginative experience since the information is processed based on how the details are projected to the readerââ¬â¢s mind, therefore increasing its cognitive capability (Weatherston 1). In any case, the same degree effect in capturing the essence of story telling may be developed for both reading and hearing procedures. Works Cited Weatherston, Martin. ââ¬Å"Heidegger's Interpretation of Kant: Categories, Imagination, and Temporality.â⬠University of Notre Dame. 2004. 4 Feb 2008 .
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Investigating Meaningful Teaching Essay
Investigating Meaningful Teaching Daniel Bowen Grand Canyon University Special Education Foundation and Framework SPE-330 May 26, 2011 Investigating Meaningful Teaching Investigating what meaningful teaching is it is having teachers that are willing to teach to the whole student by having patience, compassion and developing a meaningful relationship with their students. Being a positive influence and having effective classroom management. An effective teacher is a teacher that wears many hats such as a coach, actor, cheerleader and friend. Having the ability to read their moods, body language, when and what may cause them to become frustrated. Also having a deep belief in each and every student has the ability to learn and achieve. In an interview with four teachers, two inclusion teachers and two self contain teachers was conducted. All four teachers were asked the same questions this being a summary of the results of that interview. (Grand Canyon University, n. d. ) In their opinions, what is necessary for a meaningful and worthwhile teaching and learning experience? All four teachers refer to having respect for each student and students having respect for them and being consistent in enforcing classroom rules. Maintain a set of routines so the students know what is expected of them each day. Know the laws that deal with Special Education. These laws are appt to change at any time. (Grand Canyon University, n. d. ) How is a meaningful learning experience for students related to the teacherââ¬â¢s philosophy of education? The teachers all feel in general that a meaningful education is synonymous with their philosophy. A student must be made to feel respected, valued, and to feel safe in the classroom. Discipline is as necessary as the text without it the learning process cannot be achieved. Each teacher believed that having the understanding that each student will learn on deferent levels and different ways. It was part of their philosophy to discover the uniqueness of every student. (Grand Canyon University, n. d. ) Why did you want to become teachers? Why do you continue teaching? The first part of this question is generic. They all were influence by a teacher or more than one teacher as they were growing up. The second part was a little different with each teacher. In general the challenge they face every day. Having a child all of a sodden come alive. They begin to grasp the math or reading at their level seeing the excitement in their eyes when a door opens for them that once was closed. The small rewards everyday is what kept them in the classroom. (Grand Canyon University, n. d. ) What are two or three of their most rewarding teaching experiences? Their most challenging? Two of the teachers stated that their most rewarding experience was in having a past student call them up with an invitation to their graduation. These students stating that they would not have made it through school if these two teachers did not believe in them from the start. The others where when they observed there student achieve the understanding of basic math without a calculator and one learning how to write their name for the first time at the age of thirteen. (Grand Canyon University, n. d. ) What changes would they like to make in teaching? Why? They all agreed that the change they would make would be Standardize testing the F-cat (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test). The teachers have to teach the test and not what the student truly need to be successful in the classroom. They state the biggest problem with this test is that the government is trying to outsmart the student. It is believed that they design the test to make the students to fail. One example was given were a student was a straight ââ¬Å"Aâ⬠students her whole life all through elementary, middle and high school. She took the F-cat so she could graduate and failed. She could not graduate with her class. They feel the test is not fare to student with or without learning disabilities. The changes they all agreed with was to completely do away with the F-cat and much of the paper work and go back to letting teachers teach. (Grand Canyon University, n. d. ) The reason I want to become a teacher is the total opposite of the teachers interviewed. I never had a teacher that left a lasting impression on my life. I had no on to mentor me as I chose to become a teacher. I became a teacher because after a few industrial accidents left me unable do anything physical for a very long time. While I was looking for something I could do. A bus driving passion came open. So I became a bus driver. As I was driving the position of a substitute teacher open I became a substitute teacher because it paid two dollars more an hour. That was as a substitute teacher that and working with the student that made me decided to become a teacher full time. Watching students struggle with their work, being able to show them how to do it correctly, and having the opportunity to see the ââ¬Å"ahhâ⬠factor. Being able to help students learn and see them as they learned is one of the greatest experiences I had in my life time. The decision to become a Special education teacher came a little later. It was the same as when I decided to become a teacher. It was having that one on one with the student. Being able to teach a class with children that were diagnose with Downs, Autistics, Mental Retardation and the list grows. I feel in love with these children and discovered the real need for teacher in this area. This is the reason I decided to join the ranks of Special Education teachers. Through the interview I discovered an even stronger desire to become a Special Education teacher. Through these teachers interview help to enforce what I already knew. Each student is a unique individual. Having different personalities, weakness, strengths, and learning styles. This becoming one of the greatest challenges is unlocking each student mind helping them to discover knowledge. References Grand Canyon University. Syllabus module 2 (n. d. ). http://angel103. gcu. edu/section/default. asp? id=835810
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Methods of Analysis in Health Care Research Paper
Methods of Analysis in Health Care - Research Paper Example Horizontal analysis informs about how different items in the balance sheet and income statement behave in many years. This particular type of analysis reveals how the performance of the firm has been affected over the years due to environmental factors. This analysis is also important information regarding cyclical demand trends and helps understand fluctuations of demand for a firm. This particular analysis can be used in health care industry to understand reasons of increasing costs over many years. Through this analysis one can know the main areas due to which health care costs is increasing. Horizontal analysis will tell which elements have contributed to the increase in costs and which have remained fairly constant over many years or accounting periods. Vertical analysis is a form of financial analysis in which elements of financial statements are presented in a percentage form of total elements (Haber, 2004). This type of analysis presents all information of a particular account, for example liabilities, in percentage form of the total value of that particular account or element. Vertical analysis focuses on proportions and attempts to guide decision making based on how much weight or proportion a particular element in the balance sheet has. Through this analysis, firms can know easily what proportion of a particular asset, like cash or receivables, is present in the total assets of the company. This analysis can guide decision making by highlighting which areas have are important for the firm and which are not. Vertical analysis can be used in health care by managers to understand the nature of their debt. This analysis can tell managers regarding how much debt is due in the short term and how much is due later. Ratio analysis involves analyzing different aspects of a business including efficiency, leverage, debt, profitability etc (Siddiqui, 2006). This type of analysis focuses on the relationships between different factors
Friday, September 27, 2019
Housing and Benefits for Asylum Seekers in UK Essay
Housing and Benefits for Asylum Seekers in UK - Essay Example Housing is at the very cornerstone of reception and resettlement (BRC 1987, 96-99; Carey-Wood etal. 1995, 66-72; Majke 1991, 267- 283; Refugee Council 1997; Robinson 1993, 170-186) and controlling access to housing has become an increasingly important part of the government's asylum and immigration strategy. Without adequate shelter, few other opportunities exist for those unfortunate enough to be destitute. With no permanent address, there is little chance of establishing the minimum rights of citizenship, which offer inclusion into the host society. Social exclusion has been a reality for many thousands of asylum seekers over a prolonged period of time. This was true even before the more draconian measures introduced in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The prevailing environment of competition, performance review and value for money has had the effect of increasingly marginalising the most vulnerable groups in British society. In all but a few notable exceptions, the needs of asylum seekers have been inadequately addressed by either public or private sectors (Zetter and Pearl 1999a, 24-27). This has been due to a combination of institutional inertia and political sensitivity - both cock-up and conspiracy. The most recent legislative measures have further exacerbated the process of exclusion, generating additional hardship for an already overburdened group by extending uncertainty and increasing dependency. In reality, the rights and entitlements of refugees are little changed by the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. They remain eligible to receive support and assistance in terms of both benefits and housing from the public sector. This is an important distinction from asylum seekers. Refugees are individuals or households whose status under the 1951 Geneva Convention has been approved by the UK government: that is, their 'well founded fear of persecution' has been accepted. They are likely to have either permanent or long-term status of residence in the UK and generally share in the usual rights of citizenship. (Duke, 1995, 12-18) Those with refugee status are eligible for assistance under the homelessness legislation and qualify for the housing register. To a large extent, such households have fewer institutional barriers to overcome than asylum seekers. Asylum seekers have no such clarity of outcome, for which they depend on the result of their pending application. While in this state of limbo, they are disqualified from access to employment, benefits or permanent housing, and are thus placed at the very margins of society. Indeed, at certain times within the mid-1990s, large numbers of single asylum seekers were actually destitute. (Joly, 1996, 121-128) The political reality behind the asylum legislation appears, therefore, to indicate a reliance on two cardinal principles above all other considerations: 1. the control and limitation of public expenditure, particularly personal benefits 2. the maintenance of an image of political toughness. (Robinson, 1985, 305- 330) It seems likely that excessive zeal in investigating applications and a
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Motivation at Workplace Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Motivation at Workplace - Assignment Example This paper illustrates that motivational scholars consider that for every last thing we do (actions and behavior) there is an essential cause or reason; as such it impacts our conduct', our decision of conduct and its perpetual quality, and the measure of exertion put into it. They additionally accept that energy about the reasons will empower forecast and hence take into account impact on those practices or activity. Contemporary exploration and hypotheses have developed and progressed subsequent to those of Skinner who considered execution taking into account inspirations from a behavioral perspective, while Maslow extended his needs pecking order to oblige inspiration regarding individuals trying to fulfill needs inside an orderly request that advances from physiological needs, to security, to social, to regard lastly acknowledgment toward oneself. His needs order represented the essentialness of fulfilling the needs of representatives if inspiration somehow happened to be affecte d and cultivated. Motivational research at the moment concentrates essentially on the determination of what great inspiration- what boost is obliged to expand inspiration - and takes both natural and outward inspiration into thought.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 5
International Business - Essay Example Not all promises of financial market globalization have been fulfilled. Theoretically, one of the principal advantages of globalization is the enhancement of efficient international risk sharing, a theory tested by Kose, Prasad, and Terrones (2009). However, despite using different statistical tests, the study could only find evidence of a moderate level of international risk sharing, nowhere similar to the degree anticipated by the theory. Empirical proof points to the fact that only industrial countries improve their risk sharing outcomes in financial market globalization. Developing countries and emerging markets which, in the course of globalization, have lowered capital controls, despite witnessing large increases in cross-border capital flows, have hardly improved in risk-sharing, being instead exposed to contagion shocks and extreme volatility caused by the substantial inflow and outflow of portfolio funds. Another major concern is the financial contagion that wreaks periodic havoc on our capital markets. A phenomenon of emerging markets is the Sudden Stop, characterized by (1) sudden reversals of capital inflows and current account deficits; (2) collapses in output and private absorption; and (3) large relative price corrections in domestic good prices and asset prices. The occurrence of Sudden Stops highlights the peculiar risks assumed by capital from abroad, particularly developed markets, that get invested in an emerging market. This spawned a theory by Calvo (2002) dubbed the ââ¬Å"globalization hazardâ⬠.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Marketing plan report for Masafi company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words
Marketing plan report for Masafi company - Essay Example It would examine the trends and choices for marketing and running the business. The report goes on to examine some important trends in the markets and deduce the competitor positions. It would identify the marketing potential and from there, the paper would formulate and recommend a marketing plan after identifying the marketing gaps that exist in Masafi. Background Analysis Masafi is focuses on mineral water and other food products that they produce in their factory and sell to customers in the Middle East, Persian Gulf and different parts of the world. Their products are unique and are tapped from the rich oases and mountains of Masafi, a region in the north-east of the United Arab Emirates. Masafi's competitive strength is in the fact that it produces world class water and consumer goods with a high degree of natural freshness and health potentials. Masafi is also reputed for being environmental-friendly in its approach of doing things. Past History The Masafi mountains and region is a vegetated mountainous region in the United Arab Emirates. The region contrasts the area in the vast west of the region which is mainly a sandy desert area. Masafi has a reputation of being an area with numerous springs and oases which were documented in Roman times. The locals of Masafi have always made use of the water and natural resources and sent them to different parts of the country for generations. However, in 1976, Masafi was officially incorporated with the view of commercializing the sale of water from the springs of the Masafi geographic area (Masafi Corporate, 2013). Masafi started with a small portfolio of just producing bottled water to consumers around the local area. It used traditional systems and methods of collecting water and sending it out to nearby communities. In 1990, Masafi expanded to different parts of the UAE. They sold their mineral water to large cities of the United Arab Emirates. In 1995, Masafi expanded to different portfolios. They produced ju ices from natural fruits, flavoured water, potato chips, and Basmati rice. The biggest product, the 4G (Four Gallon) water was added in 2000. In 2008, Masfai gained a reputation as a natural, organic and health product when they entered the beverage market. This quest was to make the company a fast-moving consumer goods company (FMCG) by 2011. They continued to produce 100% pure and natural products for consumers in different parts of the Persian Gulf Region. Export increased with the growth of the Emirati economy. This led to the sale of Masafi products to Africa, the Middle East and different zones around the region. Organizational Setup Masafi has a capital base of $5.5 million . This capital enables it to continue to produce and fund its operations and expansion drives. The company is involved in different projects in different parts of the country. Masafi has over 1,000 employees. The primary plants are located in the Masafi regions. However, the company has different warehousi ng networks around the country which enables it to distribute the products to the various cities and the ports of UAE. Masafi maintains a major recycling system on its site which allows it to recycle the plastics and other containers that are used to carry out the activities of the company. Masafi is one of the most profitable entities in the industry. In 2008, they increased their profits by 36% from 2007 records (Zawya, 2009). This represents a revenue of $26
Monday, September 23, 2019
The prevention of Obesity in Childhood Term Paper
The prevention of Obesity in Childhood - Term Paper Example Obese children tend to suffer from some symptom of attention deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD). Childhood obesity is a major worldwide concern especially in the developed countries and now are reaching epidemic proportions (Dehghan et al,2005). The prevalence rate is increasing worldwide and has been growing rapidly in the recent years(Procter , 2007). Therefore, this increase is considered a very critical issue by global public health authorities(Jones et al ,2008: North Ireland centre for diet and health,2001). In US the prevalence of obesity among children increased between year 1973 to 1994 by 11%. While, between 1999 and 2000 obesity increased by just 4%(Dehghan et al,2005).On the other hand 27.6% of American children and adolescents aged 2 through 19 years were overweight or obese between 2003 and 2006(Maryer, 2009). Similarly the UK saw a rise in the rate of childhood obesity from 8% to 20% between the years 1984 to 1993(Dehghan et al,2005). So, childhood obesity has been observed in the developed countries and developing countries as well. Moreover, childhood obesity i s high in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. According to Dehghan et al (2005), one in every six children aged between 6 and 18 years old is obese in Saudi Arabia. Obesity is defined as "an excess of body fat The World Health Organization (WHO) defines "overweight" as a BMI more than 25 or equal , and "obesity" as a BMI more than 30 or equal. The exact reason for obesity is not fully understood and it is believed to be a disorder with multiple causes. For instance environmental factors, lifestyle favorites, and cultural environment play crucial roles. In general obesity is assumed to be the results of an increase in caloric and fat intake. It is known many food favorites responsible for these caloric and fat intakes. Such as excessive sugar intake by soft drinks, increased portion size, fast foods, and steady decline in physical activity have been playing major roles in the rising rates of obesity all around the world. Thus, both over-consumption of calories and reduced physical activity are involved in childhood obesity. Knowing a child's BMI (Body Mass Index) can help you find the kids who are at risk of becoming overweight. 2. Analysis Childhood obesity can be defined as a condition where excessive body fat negatively affected on a children's health and wellbeing. Thus due to the increasingly rising prevalence of obesity in children and its many adverse effects on healthy life, it is being identified as one of the growing and major public health issues in the world. In fact strong evidence on the subject suggests that over the billions of children are overweight and obesity. The evidence clarifies and argues the importance of prevention of childhood obesity. The overall aim of this review is to investigate and examine the effectiveness of varying interventions to prevent childhood obesity in terms of either from healthy lifestyle education, or by combining the effects of both dietary education interventions and physical activity interventions to prevent obesity in childhood. This aim will be achieved through two specific clear targets. The first one is to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary education interventio ns versus control. The second one is intended to assess the action of the combined impact for both of dietary educat
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Econ Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Econ - Assignment Example Additionally, with a gold standard, the central bank could not apply monetary policy in order to stabilize the economy. More to this, the central bank could not raise the interest rates during inflation and lower them during recession, to stabilize the economy. There was a great deal of disagreements between the modern day Main Street and Wall Street over the central bank representation. There was a feeling among those in the Main Street, that the central bank would not be representative of the whole country, and would thus be a preserve of the moneyed few in New York and Philadelphia. For that reason, both the first and second attempts of creating a central bank failed. Thus, to address these failures, Woodrow Wilson advocated for the creation of 12 Federal Reserve banks located at major cities in the country, making the country end up with 12 regional banks (27). Paul Volckerââ¬â¢s method of fighting inflation in the 1970s involved the introduction of high interest rates, to slow the economy and fight inflation (46). According to him, to break the inflation cycle, then a credible and disciplined monetary policy had to be put in place. With such introduction of a credible monetary policy, the inflation rate fell significantly to 3-4%. The failures in regulations addressed in this lecture include the banks and other financial institutions failing to monitor and manage the risks they were taking under the issuance of house mortgages. Another failure in regulations was the dependency of the firms on short tern funding, such as the commercial paper. There were failures in regulations including supervision, such as the consumer protection. The stability of the financial system as a whole was not granted adequate attention. Prior to the crisis, the quality home loans were financed through the packaging of exotic and subprime mortgages into securities, by the financial institutions. Many of these securities were sold to investors,
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Online Education vs Traditional Education Essay Example for Free
Online Education vs Traditional Education Essay Have you ever enrolled in an online class and a traditional class at the same time? Kaleb has tried both unfortunately one was more successful than the other. Kaleb is taking Anatomy and English, Anatomy is an online class and English is a traditional class. He excels in his English class due the face-to-face interaction and swift feedback from the instructor and his peers. The online class on the other hand was the total opposite; here he is sitting in front of the computer dazed and confused trying to figure what to do next. Kaleb is an auditory and tactile learner so he needs physical contact and interaction. The online class did not provide that physical contact and feedback he needed so he was not very successful in it. Although online and traditional educations are both forms of learning, traditional education is more informative due to the availability, discussion/communication, and structure. Traditional courses have availability to its advantage considering that some students often fail online courses because of lack in availability. In a traditional course you have that face to face interaction and physical contact. Your professors are available on hand for you to ask questions about things you do not understand. Your classmates are physically available for you all to interact with each other questions. Online courses lack the swift feedback you receive in a traditional classroom. When learning something new you need that immediate availability that the traditional classroom provides. Class communication and discussions are very helpful when taking any type of class. Online courses do have discussions, because the communications for online courses are not definite. Online communication is somewhat unreliable; communicating with a peer online will not always receive a response. Traditional classââ¬â¢s communication and discussion are beneficial; if you have information or responses for one of your peers you will immediately receive a response. Unlike online classes, in a traditional course you have class discussion where you are graded to participate. Having discussions during class gives you an opportunity to give your input on the discussion taking place, it also gives you a chance to voice and concerns you have. Also when you have the face to face interaction that I mentioned in the last paragraph you are able to get a response right away without having to wait on an electronic response. Structure in the classroom is very important. In order to have a successful class you have to orchestrate some type of order. Traditional courses have rules that you must follow if you would like to continue the course that you are enrolled in. Traditional courses have rules such as attendance policies and assignment due dates. Unlike online courses, traditional classes have required participation and presentation you have to perform in every course. Whenever you have these rules and requirements you perform better and excel in your class. Last, even though online and traditional educations are both forms of learning traditional education is more beneficial and informative due to availability, discussion/communication, and structure. Online courses may be preferred by some students, but when enrolled in such a course you have to be prepared and able to teach yourself and learn accordingly. Although, Kaleb tried both online and traditional courses, he realized that traditional courses are more informative especially for him considering that he is a hand on learner. Now Kaleb will think twice before he enrolls into another online class.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Dells Generic Strategy Business Essay
Dells Generic Strategy Business Essay Introduction Dell Computer Corporation was started in 1984 by Michael Dell, who had the simplistic view that personal computers could be built and sold directly to customers (Suite 101, 2009) alongside this ideology that Dell, could best understand consumer needs and efficiently provide the most effective computing solution to tailor those needs (Information Systems Management, unknown date). So Dells mission is to be The most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve (Dell, 2010(a)).In doing so, Dell aim to meet customer expectations of: Highest quality Leading technology Competitive pricing Individual and company accountability Best-in-class service and support Flexible customization capability Superior corporate citizenship Financial stability (About, 2010) So, Dell, since the last 26 years, has become a mass producer of standardised products and has evolved dramatically since they were first formed in 1984. The company, at first, merely took orders on the phone to help fulfil their policy of building custom built personal computers (PCs) (Dell,2010, (b)).However, the company then gained first-mover advantage in the mid 1990s, when it became one of the first companies to offer PCs online (Chaffey, 2007, p.239).In 2008, Dell was one of the market leaders in the worldwide PC market with sales around US$41 billion (lynch, 2009, p.789) and since their evolution, Dell, have diversified their product range and scope from small desktop computers to large server computers-to individuals, businesses and other organisations (Schneider, 2006, p.108). In 2009 in they owned a global market share of 12.4% in the number of PCs shipped worldwide, with only Hewlett Packard (21%)and Acer (13.4%) preceding them during this period (Bloomberg, 2010). Notably, this was the first time Dell had fell behind Acer in the second spot as the worlds largest computer-maker and this was primarily due to Acer producing low-cost net books and other inexpensive home computers at a reduced operating margin (Bloomberg, 2010).However, recently, in 2010,they did move back into second place in the global PC manufacturing market ahead of Acer but only slightly as they had a 12.8% market share compared to Acers 12.4% (Afterdawn, 2010).So this level of competition has been intense since 2006 as companies such as HP and Acer were vastly reducing the cost of their global network suppliers, which forced Dell to enter into new global markets such as in China ( George and Jones, 2009,p.195). However, Dell, see their strengths in the commercial and corporate market ( Techeye, 2010), as this is still their dominant market, even though home consumers are an ever growing element of their strategy. So, Dells competitors now include both, domestic manufacturers of PCs such as Apple and HP as well as, overseas competitors such as Sony, Acer and Lenovo in Asia (Jones George, 2009, p.195). This essay will therefore explore Dells generic hybrid strategy and the activities which constitute this strategy. This will then lead to a value chain analysis of the company, which can be used as a tool to emphasise the linkage between the primary and support activities which are used to create value within Dell. This will then pave show how these added values create a distinctive competence within Dell, which, overall, have lead to competitive advantage since the company began to aggressively cut its costs and prices to increase their global market share in the 2000s (Jones and George, 2009,p.195). Dells Generic Strategy Michael Porters Generic Strategy Model (1980) was created to specify how companies use generic business strategies, to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. This encompasses how companies use cost reduction and/or differentiation within their product and services to appeal to a particular broad or narrow segment of the market, in order to gain this competitive advantage. Overall Dell, operate a hybrid broad focus strategy and this can derived be from Porters Generic Strategy Model obtained from the Mind Tools website (2010): In order to understand Dells generic strategy we must explain the different segments of this model Firstly, cost leadership occurs when a company achieves lower costs than its rivals and competes across a broad range of segment (Ogden and Wersun, 2007, p.282). On the other hand, differentiation is when a company has a range of clearly differentiated products which appeal to different segments of the market (Ogden and Wersun, 2007, p.282). However, Dell, appear to operate on a hybrid strategy, similarly to the car manufacturing industry, which incorporates both the cost leadership and differentiation elements of Porters model. A hybrid strategy, overall, seeks simultaneously to achieve differentiation and a price lower than that of competitors (Johnson et al, 2008, p.230). So, Dell, use both of these aspects, but in a broad focus since they offer their products on a wide scale, as explained earlier, as they offer both corporate and commercial solutions to small, medium and large sized enterprises but also satisfy the needs of users within different spectrums such as within the public sector right down to the home user. This is explained by on their homepage when they state: For more than 26 years, Dell has empowered countries, communities, customers and people everywhere to use technology to realize their dreams. Customers trust us to deliver technology solutions that help them do and achieve more, whether theyre at home, work, school or anywhere in their world (Dell, 2010(c)). So the focus is very much broad, but Dell has this direct business model which involves gathering customer needs and tailoring that solution to meet their requirements For instance, Premier Dell.com offers technological solutions to businesses which helps them manage all phases of computer ownership such as purchasing, asset management and product support(Chaffey, 2007, p.97) So their broad direct focus helps simultaneously create both cost leadership and differentiation strategies and helps explain why, perhaps they have been one of the most successful PC manufacturing corporations in the world. So how does Dell use both of these strategic elements of Porters model? Firstly, with cost leadership, Dells direct business model involves purchasing standardised components which ultimately minimises the need for expensive research and development and sales are then made direct over the Internet to customers (Ogden Wersun, 2007) thus eliminating retailers that add necessary time and cost, or/who can diminish Dells understanding of customer expectations. (Information Systems Management, unknown date). So this results in low costs and is a very aggressive pricing policy which helps gain market share from any competitor whom has taken their eye of the ball and has let their costs increase (Ogden Wersun, 2007, p.60). Consequently, Dell have lower manufacturing and distribution costs than most of their competitors, thus they have achieved a cost leadership strategy over their rivals. However, another school of though can equally argue that within Dells generic strategy lies a differentiation strategy. This also exists within their direct business model as consumers can design their own computers which tailor their own unique needs and specifications. This is differentiation as Dell not only offers differentiated products to specific users, but also to specific markets(small, medium, large-sized, public sector, businesses, etc), thus reinstating this concept of the company having a broad focus. Hence, Dells direct sales model has allowed it to differentiate its PC products by allowing customers to design their own computer system and offering complementary services such as online customer support, three-year-on-site warranty, web hosting, installation and configuration of customers hardware and software (Grant, R.M, 2005, p272).Furthermore, Timmers (1999, p.227) stated how Dell, on their website, dont merely offer the best PC offer of the month approach but rather an approach which offers discounts for large purchases which are tailored to that particular individual or company, as well as having support which is customised to users needs (Dell, 2010 (c)). However this whole concept could be challenged as many people would be reluctant to buy a Dell PC without testing it in store first, however this argument becomes less relevant as more and more of us know people who have bought a Dell computer, since we can inspect theirs (Ogden Wersun, 2007, p.61). Notably, Schneider (2005,p.305) also argued that because Dell made most of their sales online, they often unintentionally left themselves exposed to the laws and ethics of the banking industry and in this case, in1999, they had offered monthly payment setups to customers without disclosing the full details of the lease plan associated with this payment scheme. So, this pinpoints how despite Dell having a successful online strategy, they could be left vulnerable to changes in the legal environment, which could clash with their online customisation policy. Nevertheless, Dells hybrid strategy was a clever one; not only did it conjunctively produce cost effective manufacturing policies and customised products, but it also overcame the barrier of having access to new suppliers or distributers which can be arduous for companies gaining and sustaining success within an online market. This factor can be analysed in more depth from the companys value chain activities. The Value Chain of Dell Overall, the following value chain model by Michael Porter helps analyse the type of activities within Dells value chain and how they interlink with one another, to fulfil their generic strategy. Dells customisation policy of tailoring technological solutions to satisfy individual or company needs, has provided the company with the two main advantages of being able to reduce marketing and sales costs by eliminating their intermediaries and building to order which, overall, reduces inventory costs (suite 101, 2009). This originally led to soaring profits, as the internet has, ultimately, allowed Dell to extend the scope of their sales at a reasonably low marginal cost This following diagram allows a more definitive insight into how Dells value chain operates: (Dedrick and Kraemer, 2001) Dell, unlike their competitors, actually eliminates the need for distributors and retailers to sell their product, which as mentioned earlier creates cost leadership. Hence, this direct PC value chain, works around this built to order (BTO) strategy. The BTO process begins with the customer placing an order through the internet, phone or email and then it takes approximately one day to process the order (Turban et al, 2006, p.506). This then corresponds to this concept of just-in-time management as here Dell, only purchase the necessary parts which are needed for that particular order with the result being that inventories are kept to a minimum. Michael Dell emphasised this whole idea when he stated: We tell our suppliers exactly what our daily production requirements are. So its not, well every two week deliver 5,000 to this warehouse and well put them on the shelf, and then well take them off the shelf. Its tomorrow morning we need 8.562 and deliver them to door number seven by 7am. (Mhhe,1997). So, in the Dell manufacturing process, parts come into their factory to fulfil actual customer orders hence no PCs are made for stock, so there is no cost of hiding stock (Lynch, 2009, p.789). This also has the advantage that if a supplier such as Intel, launches a new computer chip, then Dell is not caught with high stocks of the old chip (Lynch, 2009, p.789), allowing the company to efficiently keep up with changes in technology. Therefore Dells procurement support activities i.e. purchasing of stock, play a pivotal role in executing these strategies of BTO and JIT, both, before and after the product has been sold. So what are the exact support and primary activities that Dell has used, in conjunction with one another, which has lead to them adding value to their activities? A traditional firm usually incorporates a make-to-forecast strategy in which products are produced from long-term demands of consumers. Hence, when considering Porters value chain activities, here the primary activities of the value chain move from inbound logistics to operations to outbound logistics and then to marketing and sales (Turban et al, 2006, p.506). However, since Dell manufactures the product only after an order has been given, then the marketing and sales support activity is moved to the front of the value chain (Turban et al, 2006, p506). Notably the inbound logistics element is important since the correct parts have to be delivered but since the holding of stock isnt necessary with Dell due to their JIT system, then it becomes less meaningful. Therefore the operations segment which transfers the supplies into the finished customised product and the service segment which Dell exemplifies to help the end-user(s) maintain their products i.e. the PCs value after the PC ha s been delivered, are the key primary elements of Porters Value Chain in which Dell uses. However, without the marketing and sales aspect these primary activities couldnt be executed since customised orders wouldnt be known and this has a direct link to the support activities of technology and procurement, as technology i.e. the internet allows Dell to sell their products to their customers and without it, it would be arduous to establish their hybrid strategy and procurement mechanisms are pivotal in maintaining their BTO and JIT policies since this deals with the acquisition of supplies in the more efficient way. There are though some criticisms of Dells value chain activities. Such as, the BTO strategy is sensitive to short term changes in demand. For example if a particular computer component suddenly becomes wildly popular or temporary unavailable, the standard supply in inventory may diminish fast, and customer orders will not be completed on time (Turban et al, 2006, p.507). Also, in terms of their service function. Orman (2007) argued that despite Dell providing one of the most effective support systems to its customers the company, fails to provide comparisons to the products of other vendors such as HP and also fails to compare products from one class to another such as desktops in relation to notebooks., Nevertheless though, Turban et al (2006, p.507) highlighted that by using key value chain activities such as operations and technology, Dell showed the world that when these are used effectively and efficiently, they can be used to gain a competitive advantage creates a distinctive c ompetence and therefore leads to competitive advantage. Competitive Advantage of Dell By orchestrating a SWOT analysis of Dell, we can clearly see the key components which
Thursday, September 19, 2019
A Report on Esther Essay -- Bible, The Book of Esther, God, Jews
Introduction Throughout time, people have attempted to destroy the nation of Israel, the ââ¬Å"apple of Godââ¬â¢s eye.â⬠It was because from the Jews, came the covenants, promises, the law, and the messiahââ¬âthe savior of the world. Godââ¬â¢s chosen people are the enemy of Satan, the prince of this world, and the conflict started back in Genesis 3:15. While a remnant from Judah returned to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, other Jews remained in the cities of their captivity. Some were welcomed as valued members of their communities, but others were despised and hated. Some were even targeted for extermination. The book of Esther tells a story of an attempted extermination. It records a ten-year span during the 58-60 year interlude in the book of Ezra (ch.6-7) between the first return headed by Zerubbabel and the second return headed by Ezra. It also tells of the inauguration of a feast (Purim), which has endured over 2,000 years because of one woman, whose name the book is titled, said, ââ¬Å"If I perishâ⬠¦ I perish.â⬠Moreover, Esther is a story of courage and communication displayed in the life of two people: Esther and Mordecai. Author and Date The author of this book remains unknown. However, the author was probably a Jew, both from the purpose of the book in accounting for the origin of the Jewish festival Purim and from the Jewish nationalism, that permeates the story. Also, the author was acquainted with Persian culture. This is indicated by the extensive descriptions of the palace complex in Susa filtered throughout the book and the domestic reign of King Ahasuerus. Based on these observations, some have ascribed the author to Mordecai. However, modern scholars reject this idea because Mordecai is referred to in... ...ther realization of the sovereignty and providential care of our almighty God. What stood out to me above all in this study was the relationship of Mordecai and Esther. The communication and courage that these two had throughout the book was, in my opinion, phenomenal. These two cousins recognized their positions in relation to each other during the different dispensations of their lives, and thus submitted to one another; and because of this, they triumphed (2:10, 20; 4:17). What I gleamed from them was an example of how Christians ought to relate to each other (Eph 5:21). A Brief Outline of the Book of Esther I. The Fall of Queen Vasthi and the Rise of Queen Esther (Ch. 1-2) II. Hamanââ¬â¢s Plot to Exterminate the Jews: His Rise and His Fall (Ch. 3-8) III. Mordecaiââ¬â¢s Rise and the Deliverance of the Jews (Ch. 9-10)
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
The Philippine Party-List System: Absence of a Clear Seat Allocation Fo
The Party-List System of proportional representation is a relatively new addition to Philippine politics and specifically in the electoral system of the country. It was only introduced in 1987, by then, the new constitution and formalized by R.A. 7941 (The Party-list System Act) in 1995, to open the legislature to marginalized and underrepresented sectors or groups without a well-defined political constituencies but who could contribute to policy formulation beneficial to the nation. (R.A. 7941 1995, Sec. 2) Since then there had been various problems in implementing the statutory law and the principles of the constitutional provision on the party-list system. Rodriguez and Velasco (1998, 36-48) and Tangkia and Habaradas (2001) enumerated some of them: low voter turnout, COMELEC inefficiency in public information dissemination, and confusing instructions in explaining a new ballot structure. However, one of its longest standing issues is the seat allocation since R.A. 7941 does not provide a clear formula for translating votes into seats. (Rodriguez 2002, 25 and Rodriguez and Velasco 1998, 39) An allocation formula is one of the basic and most fundamental requisites of a party-list system. Yet ironically, the authors of the governing law seemed to have forgotten to include a clear allocation formula even though it was tackled during the deliberations of R.A. 7941ââ¬â¢s origin bills. The effects of its absence were most evident during the 1998 and 2007 elections. In 1998, 14 party-list seats were already filled with finality using the ââ¬Å"2-4-6 COMELEC formula.â⬠The said formula apportioned a seat for every 2% a party garnered in the party-list votes. For example, APEC was given two seats with its 5.5% but ABA (second... .... 2007. ââ¬Å"The Party-List System in the Philippines: Proportional Representation and Seat Allocation Errors.â⬠Discussion Paper. QC: Center for People Empowerment in Governance/University of the Philippines. Republic Act 7941. 1995. ââ¬Å"The Party-list System Act.â⬠Rodriguez, Agustin Martin G. and Djorina Velasco. 1998. Democracy Rising? The Trials and Triumphs of the 1998 Party-List Elections. QC: Institute of Politics and Governance and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Rodriguez, Agustin Martin G. 2002. The Winding Road to Representation: The Philippine Party-List Experience. Makati: Ateneo School of Government and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Tangkia, Fritzie Palma and Ma.AraceliBascoHabaradas. 2001.ââ¬Å"Party-List System: The Philippine Experience. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Philippines.http://www.library.fes.de/pdffiles/bueros/philippinen/50076.pdf. (November 27, 2011).
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
How a Friend Change My Life
Friends Really Do Change Your Life I believe friends can impact your life. Whether negatively or positively, the people you surround yourself with have a significant impact on where your life takes you. Specifically, I believe my best friend got me to where I am today. I am now and have been on a path to success since she entered my life. Four years ago, I was a trouble maker, rule breaker and all out rebel. The girls that I surrounded myself were known for their bad attitudes and party habits.I have watched their lives get destroyed because of the decisions they made. I believe by stepping away from them, I have become a more structured and overall better person. During my friendship with my former group of friends, I had no rules. I stayed out hours past midnight, threw parties without my parentââ¬â¢s permission or knowledge, and didnââ¬â¢t care who I associated myself with. Thankfully, I was level-headed enough to never give in to the pressure of trying drugs or alcohol. I w as only in it for the fun.Four of these girls, however, lacked the better judgment I was lucky enough to have. They drank constantly, smoked pot, and ditched school almost every day. After several years of this, I had had enough. Unfortunately, by associating myself with this group I had somewhat ruined my reputation. Even though I stayed away from drugs, people at school assumed I was just as crazy as the rest of the girls. The girls eventually dropped out of school and I was left trying to find people that would accept me.I knew of another girl at school that I hadnââ¬â¢t talked to in a few years. She was in Honors classes and theater, so we rarely crossed paths. Our parents, however, were best friends and always encouraged her and I to hang out but we never found much in common. After separating myself from my former group, she and I became friends. I quickly found myself realizing what true friendship really was and was surprised to have found it with someone I had once thoug ht to be so different from me. Four years later, we are best friends and closer than anyone could imagine.Through the lives of my former friends, I have seen what my path could have been. I could have been without a high school education, without a job, without my dignity and without a true friend. I have learned that who you associate yourself with can have a strong impact on your future. By becoming friends with someone I thought was on the right path, I, myself, can see a bright future ahead of me. I am extremely thankful to have found someone who helped me get on this path. I believe that without her, I would not be who I am today.
Monday, September 16, 2019
The Media in Britain current debates and developments
Communication is a vital element in almost anything that society does. Through communication, ideas and feelings are expressed, actions are taken. The role of communication is essential in everyday living. As different communication models suggests like theorists Berlo, Kincaid, Laswell, Schramm and several others, the process is diverse and involves such elements such as the communicator, the message, the channel, and the receiver. In other communication models, several other elements and factors are included.Communication utilizes different channels and mediums for its purpose in bringing and carrying messages. Related to this is the use of media. Whether it may be print, radio, or television broadcasting, communication as a process went through these channels. Communication can be seen as an aid to social change. Communication used purposively and effectively can bring about many benefits for the society. Communication, as a distinct means in bringing not only information, also ca n change beliefs and attitudes. This essay aims to discern the role of public service broadcasting in the country today.To begin, the channel used in this term is implied as broadcasting mediums. Radio and television can be considered as subjects to this statement. Information technology and the development of technology through the years had great contributions in the society. Probably one of the most important contributions in which broadcasting media became an effective channel is its ways to instigate information dissemination. With the emergence and development of broadcasting mediums, society has immediate although ephemeral access to information from almost all vital aspects in the society.The society has gained much from the information shared in this manner as more and more information are shared to the people. This had brought new knowledge and understanding of how society works, how it is and the important matters in which people need to know what is happening around them . With the development of technology comes the greater access to broadcast media. Broadcasting media had influenced the society, even the world for many years now. The emergence of the use of information technology and effective communication through this media has influenced almost all sectors in the society.From politics, business, agriculture, religion and other sectors, the broadcast media has impact in bringing the sectors to the peoplesââ¬â¢ understanding. The paper evaluates the role of public service broadcasting in London. If the role exist or not, the paper will lay its perspective on how public service broadcasting molded the European societies. Public broadcasting is also referred to as public service broadcasting. The intention of this medium is to serve and direct the diverse needs and desires of the public which is very much well informed.Public service broadcasting had become one of the leading broadcasting type and medium all over the world. This can be attribute d to the human interest of the mediums used in communication. People are interested with other people. Public service broadcasting answers this event with a response to what people needs. To define public service broadcasting, we situate the media employed in Europe nations in which public service broadcasting had became a great influence in its society. Public service broadcasting is a system in which radio, television and other electronic media channels to receive and disseminate information to the public.The funding of this system is from the public. Whether through donations, license fees, state subsidies are generally included as taxes paid by the society to the state. To further gather funds for the systemââ¬â¢s advantage and use, the public broadcasters solicits help from private corporations and firms to gather more funding fro their projects and administration of works in the system. As employed in any broadcasting system is placing advertisements of the private corporat ions and firms in the broadcasting program.This method creates publicity for those firms. The Broadcasting Research Unit listed several major goals or characteristics of a public broadcaster. Public broadcasting creates geographic universality as different stations broadcast and is available worldwide. Several station in the UK failed in this category because as this criterion can be satisfied with either having broadcasting affiliations worldwide. The BBC or the British Broadcasting Channel caters for all interest and taste and this led to its affectivity in broadcasting worldwide.Public broadcasting caters to minorities and has an essential concern for national identity and community. Public service broadcasting also aims to detach itself from any vested interest of prominent individual and situations, even the government. This follows the rule in media being unbiased and impartiality. The broadcasting system and stations should not subject itself from any control of private corpo rate firms that they advertise, politicians and other influential nature that can cause one-sidedness in their reports. Public service broadcasting is directly funded by the body of users.Another important goal public service broadcasting stations must aim is achieving a healthy competition through quality programming and true service to others, rather than relying on numbers and ratings. Lastly, guidelines must be implemented to liberate programs of public service broadcasting. These guidelines should not restrict them. As done in the United Kingdom, guidelines serve as the basis of the programs but they are not seen as laws. In European nations, public service broadcasting is funded through a mix of taxes, state license fees and advertising contributions.As UNESCO states it, the fundamental principle of public service broadcasting is the realization that their purpose is for the people and their needs and benefits. These needs are addressed with the combination of the systemââ¬â ¢s diversity, skills and resources. The broadcasting media should be noted answerable by the mandate of the people and service to them. As dependent as they may be from private organizations and marketing frims resources, they must remain committed to their services for the people.This can be done by eliminating necessary influence brought about by the politicians, the government and the firms that gives them their funding. This will yield and must result to the independency the broadcasting media must own. As independence of the broadcasting media is theoretically and somehow evidently applied, the broadcasting sectors must take on the public service role. This role includes the ââ¬Å"neutralâ⬠nature of the broadcasting sector and its role as watchdogs of the people in the government. In the United Kingdom, the freedom of expression brought in the media is recognized.Along with several states like Canada and South Africa, media organization in these countries have a say on their managerial decision-making processes, the content and context of their programs, without interference or limited censorship from the state. But independence practiced by these countries also entails their responsibility on the news and reports they broadcast. They serve these obligations with the publicââ¬â¢s interest. These measures are done with a number of mechanisms employed by the broadcasting companies REFERENCE: 1. ) Briggs, A. & Cobley, P. eds. (2002) The Media: an introduction (2nd edn.) Harlow: Longman 2. ) Burton, G. (2005) Media and Society- Critical Perspectives Open University Press 3. ) Curran, J. ed. (2000) Media Organizations in Society London: Arnold 4. ) Curran, J. and Gurevitch, M. (eds. ) (1996) Mass Media and Society London: Arnold 5. ) Scannell, P. (1989) Public Service Broadcasting and Modem Public Life' Media, Culture and Society 11:135-166 6. ) Stokes, J. & Reading A. eds. (1999) The Media in Britain current debates and developments London:Palgrave 7. ) Watson, J. (2003) Media Communication: an Introduction to theory and practice London: Palgrave
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Education â⬠teacher Essay
Education Many people in the world think that education is an absolutely wonderful thing and that its necessary by all means. Yes it is a good thing and is needed to be more successful but it is not necessary by all means. Education can set you up to be more success and in the long run make more money but also it can take away from the importance of outside experiences and street smarts. As school goes on it even becomes less enjoyable because its more of the things that they believe is what needs to be taught and not what the student is interested in. In many studentsââ¬â¢ opinions, most classes they take in college and even high school provide them with no type of worthy knowledge or experience for the real world. It is there to just suck money from you and act as almost like a filler. Throughout high school, the material learned often looks past fiscal obligations and real life challenges. In high school, most courses tend to deal with complex mathematics and scientific equations that the average American citizen wouldnââ¬â¢t dream of using in their daily routine. Most intellect that is used is often the simple knowledge that we acquired in elementary. Who has gone to the supermarket and whipped out a calculus equation? Who needed a scientific formula to mow their lawn? Usually the common individual doesnââ¬â¢t think about mnemonic devices, hominems, or other mnemonic devices that supposedly help us speak the english language. We just think what we want to say and in a matter of milliseconds what our brain has processed is out of our mouths. Personally, education began to become uninteresting as soon as Freshman year started. They started to give us all the unnecessary formulas and equations that mean nothing in the real world around this time. This is more of the systemââ¬â¢s fault, not even as much as the teachers as you may think. The system comes up with all of these special requirements and expectations that we must achieve to graduate or move on to the next grade level. For example, you needed to take a public speaking class which some people might not need at all in life, or already might be a great speaker and then the class will just be another filler wasting your time. In this time you could be learning something useful to you or your overall well being. Another problem is the teachers. Not every teacher, but a good portion. Especially the teachers that donââ¬â¢t care about their students and you can tell they donââ¬â¢t. Theyââ¬â¢re just there for the money and nothing else. Theyââ¬â¢ll go through slide after slide of information and you sit there and write it all down in your notebook. That is not the way to teach because yes, there might be some students that like to learn that way and understand. But there are also at least a couple others in the class that donââ¬â¢t really know whatââ¬â¢s going on and are just basically writing down words on the paper that almost mean nothing. Another thing that can be a problem is when teachers donââ¬â¢t connect with their students or try to mix in a little fun here and there. Thatââ¬â¢s what you need to keep the interest of a student on point. Throw a curveball in there every so often. Instead of taking notes one day, conduct a whole class activity or show some videos that pertain to the lesson or information youââ¬â¢ve been reviewing. Donââ¬â¢t think that itââ¬â¢s completely the teacherââ¬â¢s fault that students arenââ¬â¢t interested or involved. Some of the blame is to be put on students themselves! Most students donââ¬â¢t even bother to try to get involved or learn the material. You need to at least put forth some effort in whatever you do to be successful in it. So you cannot say that you are failing a class purely off the teacher or because the material. Because if you tried to learn and understand or talk to the teacher about it, half the the time youââ¬â¢d find yourself in a much better position than were you previously started. As stated before most think that education is a necessity in life by any means, it is not. It is still important and can affect how the outcome of your life will play out though. You will find that most young adults and individuals who do not attend school will end up in bad situations with not as good jobs, cars, houses, etc. But this is not all because they didnââ¬â¢t have a good education. Yes it may have helped but there are so many other factors that play into a persons life that you canââ¬â¢t go and say just because the education wasnt there is the sole reason that they ended up how they did. At most you could say that it played a major role. Overall education is still a very important thing but is not completely needed to be success by any means. There are a good amount of things that are wrong with the education these days, but then again there are also a plentiful amount of things that are very good about it. In conclusion education has things wrong with it at every level from the highest ranked individual in the system, to the teachers who teach and lecture, and even to the students who are there to learn and try to comprehend it all. Everyone along the line needs to try a little harder and rethink how to approach education altogether!
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Creative Retention Strategies That Are Used by Organization Today
With the fast changing economic & market conditions, companies are facing very high pressure to perform which require them to have the best people to work with, to retain their experience minds; they want to be the most preferred employer in the eyes of their prospects (future employee). To retain their best talent companies are adopting various creative strategies. According to DQ-IDC recent survey on the reasons that make people change the job, the most important reason was salary & compensation but apart from that Career Development, Location, Flexibility of office hours, Job Security, Organization Culture & Welfare policies emerged as the main reason of changing job. There is not much change on the attrition front we have seen even after following many strategies; the biggest attrition rate is still in IT industry which is 18%, followed by banking & financial companies. The average retention rate has dropped from 82% in 2007 to 79% in 2008. Now when we look what companies are doing to retain their employees, we can find many interesting thing. Some of the creative retention strategies/practices followed by companies are 1. Flexi timing: ââ¬â Many Companies are following this technique like Aditi technologies, Sap Labs etc. It seems these companies have got the right software of flexible timing. 2. Fun @ Work:- Many companies have made fun an integral part of the working & their companies values, some of them have linked the fun with their performance appraisal system like Wipro BPO, Acclairis Business solution pvt. Ltd., VCustomer Corp. etc. 3. Training & Development opportunity: ââ¬â Many companies have understood that their people are the most important assets thatââ¬â¢s why they want a continuous up gradation of their employee through short term training & development programmes. 4. Respect Your Employee: ââ¬â When we look at the recent survey on ââ¬Å"Employee retentionâ⬠we can find respect & recognition at the work place has emerged as the one of the main reason of changing job. Almost every company is trying hard to pay due respect to their employee by many programme. On the spot award, Self Appraisal, Foreign trips, ââ¬Å"Get well soonâ⬠Flower bouquets for ill employee or family members are such programmes to show the respect towards the employees. 5. Empower Your employee: ââ¬â It is not a matter of surprise that Marriott Hotel India every employee is called ââ¬Å"Associatesâ⬠and the ââ¬Å"Sirâ⬠culture is absent there, Associates are empowered enough to take decision, the same way RMSI who have freed his employee to calculate their own performance bonus, at any time on the internet. 6. Bridge the Gap:- Programmes such as ââ¬Å"Coffee with GMâ⬠in Marriott Hotel, ââ¬Å"Good Morning Qualcommâ⬠in Qualcomm, Breakfast meeting by CEO etc Are tool to improve the communication & fill the communication gap between Manager & their subordinate & also to bring fairness in the system. 7. Work with Friends: ââ¬â Many companies like Perot System hires 40% of the employee through employee referral channel to create a friendly college like environment & to bring a sense of belongingness among the employee. 8. Best Reward System:- Many organization started self chosen reward system in which an employee could decide his/her own target & reward, organization are adopting 3600 performance appraisal system to bring the fairness in appraisal system. Apart from above example I have seen many interesting example like Mind Tree consultingââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"Babyââ¬â¢s Day Outâ⬠programmes, Antakshri programme, Departmental Day Outs, Annual Spring party, Sabbatical for social services, Cadbury day, Dhoom machale etc. are some example followed in different organization to control the attrition. After looking all the above aspects in nut shell companies should keep in mind the most widely accepted HR definition which is the best mantra to retain the employee & that isââ¬â- ââ¬Å"The genuine concern of peopleâ⬠.
Coffee Crisis Essay
Introduction Stephen Quinlan and Jose Gomez-Ibanez describes, in ââ¬Å"The Coffee Crisisâ⬠, that in 2004 the governments of coffee producing countries were considering how to respond to rapid decline to coffee prices. In 2001, coffee prices hit a forty-year low, which resulted in extreme hardships for the local farming communities. On that note, this decline in coffee prices was considered ââ¬Å"the coffee crisis. â⬠The coffee crisis came to be thanks in part to coffees: overproduction, under-consumption and oligopoly market structure. International Nature and Structure. At best, coffee should be grown in an area with a warm climate and an abundance of rain. Coffee is centrally grown near the equator; however, it is primarily consumed in the northern hemisphere. It is traded in 60-kilo bags and the annual crop exceeded 100 million bags in recent years. ââ¬Å"In 2003, for example, 101 million bags were produced of which roughly 95 million bags were consumed and the remaining 6 million added to storage in the hopes of fetching higher prices in later yearsâ⬠(Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 1, 2004). Coffee is comes in two types: Arabica, which is milder in flavor, and Robusta, which is acidic. Robusta, which is grown in Asia and some countries in Africa, is easier to grow and is primarily used to make instant coffee, espresso and local consumption in the producing countries (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 2, 2004). Arabica, which is grown primarily Latin America makes up, historically, two-thirds of the coffee produced and is the longest to produce. The long production time begins with a two year period before the coffee seedling can bear fruit followed by several more years before reaching full production (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 2, 2004). Supply and Demand Analysis There was a rapid decrease in coffee consumption due to an increase in soft drink consumption. In the U. S. , it is estimated that coffee consumption fell from 36 gallons to 17 gallons per person and soft drinks increased from 23 to 53 gallons per person (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 2, 2004). As U. S. coffee consumption began to slow down in the 1990s, due in part to the increased liking to premium coffees thanks to Starbucks, Peteââ¬â¢s and other coffee chains, European coffee consumption increased along with other countries helping offset the U. S decline. Beginning in 1962, the International Coffee Organization (ICO), an association of coffee exporting and importing countries, managed the coffee market by negotiating exporting and import quotas to support target prices (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 3, 2004). The ICA collapsed in 1989 and this opened the door for non-traditional suppliers like Vietnam and traditional supplier Brazil. During this period, Brazil had always been the worldââ¬â¢s largest coffee producer, growing Arabica by traditional labor-intensive methods in frost-prone areas (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 3, 2004). Since most Arabica coffee is grown on steep slopes, Brazilians utilized new plantations on leveled ground; developed new large-scale coffee plantations in less frost-prone areas, mechanical harvesters along with other cost-cutting devices to replace donkeys in how they produce coffee. Vietnam, who had never exported coffee before through government assistance, was able to build irrigation systems to help in the production of Robusta coffee beans (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 3, 2004). These beans produced in Vietnam had a poor quality, less flavorful and were processed at lower quality standards than traditional Arabica. Within a couple of years Vietnam had become a top supplier and was setting the price in which all other Robusta producers would have to compete. By the end of the decade, Vietnam had become the largest Robusta producer in the world, although its costs were rising as the rapid growth in the Vietnamese economy was increasing local income and wages (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 3, 2004). Market Structure The overall coffee market resembled that of an oligopoly, which is defined as ââ¬Å"a market dominated by a few large producers of homogeneous or differentiated product. Because of how few exist, oligopolies had considerable control over their prices, but each must consider the possible reaction of rivals to its own pricing, output, and advertising decisionsâ⬠(McConnell, Brue & Flynn, 2012, p. 223). Oligopolies are also characterized by barriers to market entry (McConnell, Brue & Flynn, 2012). Although there were many countries producing and exporting coffee, the market was largely dominated by a few countries (i. e. , Brazil, Colombia, and later on, Vietnam). Oligopoly, by its very nature, limits transparency in the market place. Within ten years this country grew from a relatively insignificant producer to the world second largest ââ¬â ahead of Colombia (producing ~11 million bags accounting for 10% world export) but behind Brazil (producing ~35 million bags accounting for 35% world export) ââ¬â producing well over 11 million bags annually and accounting for approximately 12% of world exports (CRB, 2006). Factor Markets From the ICA collapse bringing forth Vietnamââ¬â¢s entrance into the coffee market to the quality degradation, the coffee crisis affected more than just the market. With a drop in coffee prices, the farmers not being able to cover all of their costs so growerââ¬â¢s families many had to remove their kids in order to help out at the farm (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, 2004). There was the merging of coffee blends and the experimentation of new ways of creating low quality coffee beans in an effort to meet demands. As a result many of the beans were of poor quality, which caused the coffees to taste cheap. Furthermore, such an increase in low-quality beans causes the price to drop in order to remain competitive (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p.3, 2004). Many major roasters experimented with technical advances in finding new ways to mask the bitterness of the acidic bean. They even went as far as combining Robusta and Arabica beans together. This line of production caused the price of coffee to decrease, which hurt many producers because the profits werenââ¬â¢t enough to cover most of their overhead (roughly 65-90 US cents per pound) (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, Exhibit 6, 2004). This caused the quality of coffee to diminish because many roasters were using beans that should have been discarded. It also caused countries whose costs were high (Central America, Colombia and Mexico) with average or lower quality coffee to be in trouble (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, 2004). Reference: Commodity Research Bureau (CRB). (2006). The CRB Commodity Yearbook 2006. [eBook] Retrieved from http://books. google. com/books? id=GmzxkvNhxnIC&printsec=frontcover McConnell, C. R. , Brue, S. L. , & Flynn, S. M. (2012). Wage Determination. Economics (19th ed. ), (pp92-114). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Quinlan, S. & Gomez-Ibanez, J. (2004). The Coffee Crisis. Capella University. McGraw-Hill.
Friday, September 13, 2019
Evaluation of Safety-Critical Software Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words
Evaluation of Safety-Critical Software - Essay Example To that end, there were several attempts to measure the dependability of safety-critical software. Similarly, Harlan Mills and his colleagues had developed a process called ââ¬Å"clean roomâ⬠that utilized independent testing groups to act as end users of programmable devices and were said to generate reliable results than the common practice of software professionals who performed a series of carefully planned tests to measure the reliability of their owned inventions. All things considered, an exhaustive mathematical test, not only based on intuitive reasoning, must be conducted to ensure the trustworthiness of safety-critical software. Programmable computers are tools that provide convenience to the end users, however, devices that are controlled by safety-critical software can threaten lives of people, as well. To that end, an extreme discipline in design in the making is needed. Data and related information should be laid out in a way that it could be easily comprehended by an independent group of testers. That is to say that ââ¬Å"clean roomâ⬠as developed by Harlan Mills and company must be applied to prevent unbiased results. Human errors often occurred, especially when software professionals would try to self-assist their own works. With this in mind, why engineers had chosen software instead of hardware? In the first place, software components were less expensive than hard-wired logic. These components were massed produced. Secondly, logic, in theory, that was implemented on software could be easily changed than of the one implemented on the hard-wired device. Lastly, software is more flexible than of non-computerized system. For instance, the modern computer technology could provide more information to the end users in a more convenient manner. Less space and power were needed to produce this information.
Thursday, September 12, 2019
The Action Series Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
The Action Series - Essay Example Further, this essay will zone in on the similarities and the differences between the themes and ideological presentation in the action series. In essence, The Transporter is a sequential action series created by Luc Besson and Robert Kamen Mark that stars Jason Statham. The initial concept behind the film is French, but also has elements of Canadian influence. Ideally, the film revolves around Frank Martin who is a courier driver with expert freelancing style (Griep and Marjorie 40). Frank Martin is a driver who does not ask questions about the package for delivery, will deliver anything and anywhere as long as the price is good meaning that Frank follows all the rules to the latter. Moreover, Frank is a mercenary with excellent driving skills, combat experience and great survival skills (Ebert 70). Frank also sets few ground rules that include the client should not change the deal, no name exchange, not to make promises that are hard to keep, and never to open the package in questio n. Frank also adheres strictly to the time schedule set by the client. Plot difference for the series The transporter is a four part action series that began in 2002 with 2013 playing host to the launch of fourth part of the series. The plot summary for the initial part of the series involves Frank transporting a package for an American gangster when he notices an anomaly as he was changing a flat tire (Gross 38). He notices movement in the package, but refuses to open the package as per rule number three. His curiosity makes him to break his rules where he opens the package to find a gagged woman (Minai and Yaneer 44). However, Frank sticks to the initial plan and delvers the package as required by the American gangster that asks him to deliver a briefcase. Frank is adamant to make the delivery, but instead takes the briefcase that becomes a bomb that destroys his customized car (Kiley 69). Furious, Frank returns to the gangster to seek revenge for the loss of his car, where he cau ses a commotion and makes away with one of the cars belonging to the gangster (Segal 47). Unfortunately, it turns that the gagged woman he was transporting initially was in his getaway vehicle. He feels that it is a safer hideout in his house (Griep and Marjorie 58). Meanwhile, Tarconi a local French law enforcer arrives at Frankââ¬â¢s residence as he had been trailing him due to his suspicions of Frankââ¬â¢s criminal involvement. Therefore, the plot captures a story of illegal shipping of Chinese natives by the American with intent of recruiting them in to modern day slavery (Ebert 78). In the second part of the series, Frank seeks employment as a chauffeur for a USA top brass official in Miami after quitting illegal transportation of packages in France. The transporter (2005) shows Frank going into legitimate chauffeuring as a favor to a friend with his reason being reformation. He chauffeurs Jack Billings where his job involves him taking the child to school and to any plac e that the child would want (Kiley 80). Ironically, Jack and Frank grow fond of each other to an extent that Frank feels an attachment to the boy. However, when unknown individuals kidnap the boy, Fyrank becomes the immediate suspect to the crime. He fights to bring the boy safely to his family despite the father having trust issues. The risks involved in the recovery include a virus that the kidnappers intend to unleash in order to destroy
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Properties of social media Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Properties of social media - Assignment Example One of the key moments in the history occurred in 1971 when the first email was sent. Since the discovery of this important function, individuals and business entities have ever used it to communicate and collaborate. Likewise, e-mails form a core component of the collaborative projects and are used by the participants to communicate and interact freely. E-mail messaging is not important to businesses, but also networking communities who use it in communicating and sharing of ideas. The second moment in the history of social media occurred in 1979 with the launch of the usernets and bulletin board systems which allowed users to exchange information over phone lines. According to Cane bulletin boards form an important component of the computer mediated communication system and social interaction (78). The system has revolutionized text-based communication while elintaing the need for visual contact. Another key moment is the discovery of the World Wide Web in 1989 by the British Engin eer Tim Berners Lee. The World Wide Web has brought people together while facilitating the formation of virtual communication. The World Wide Web is very important as it supports all the forms of social media and without it, the sharing of information between users would be impossible. At the same time, World Wide Web facilitates sharing of information between businesses, suppliers and increasing efficiency in an organization. The expansion of the social media sphere would not have been without earlier attempts by the Globe.com, classmates.com, Geocities and the Sixdegrees to create platforms where users can develop their own profiles and exchange important information with their friends and other users. The social media sphere thereafter exploded with the launch of the Friendster.com, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. The fifth key component of the social media is the content communities which have become prevalent in the modern society. A perfect example of a content community is the You Tube which was launched in 2005. YouTube allows the users to share videos, has become phenomenal and it could even be used in the promotion of e-commerce. In this regard, by uploading YouTube video content, business entities can be able to popularize their offerings. Use of viral marketing using social media tools has become a common method that is quickly replacing the traditional forms of marketing. All the above five moments have impacted positively on the way people communicate and are credited with expanding the social media sphere. Question 2: Properties of social media It is very important to make a distinction between industry and social media, to ensure organization choose the most appropriate integrated communication mix. In this regard, an organization should be able to compare and contrasts the benefits and the shortcomings of using the two forms of media. On one hand, social media could be advantageous since it only requires limited sources and creates an immediate impact while on the other hand, industry media could have a more long-lasting impact besides producing high quality advertisements. The differentiating properties also allow organizations to determine the tradeoffs they are willing to make in order to maximize the benefits of their resources. However, the properties of quality and reach do not well differentiate social and the industry media. This is because the quality of both industrial and social media ranges from high to low and there is no clear distinction. Likewise, just like industrial media, social media has become a serious tool and its distribution
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
US Department of Defense moves to Cloud Computing Research Paper
US Department of Defense moves to Cloud Computing - Research Paper Example In each era, many researchers have carried out a lot of research to discover latest technologies that can facilitate humans in their daily tasks however in this age we can see this idea as a real implementation in the form of cloud computing. Basically, cloud computing is the latest technology model offering on-demand ICT network access to more reliable and efficient information technology services and devices (for example storage, servers and a wide variety of software applications). Cloud computing technology based arrangement puts together a network of computing resources that can be accessed anywhere, being shared between its clients. In view of the fact that in the present always changing financial, political and technological landscape, IT is predictable to offer widespread and ever growing potentials by making use of minimum resources. In this scenario, by keeping in mind the growth of both cyber threats and state sponsored, the DoD (Department of Defense) has started identifying the rising significance of leading safe and powerful adoption of cyberspace. In the same way, worldwide economic events are driving the need for sustained budgetary restrictions and stricter economical oversight. Hence, the Department of Defense has to change the method and approach through which it performs its operations and manages its information technology department in an attempt to identify augmented competence, efficiency, and safety. Ã The US Department of Defense has decided to move to Cloud Computing. This paper outlines some of the major reasons and strategies behind the adoption of cloud computing architecture. This research will also assess some of the major causes those derived DoD to adopt cloud computing. Introduction Cloud computing technology based arrangement is currently delivering computing arrangement, software on-demand and services with the network. This technology based arrangement also presents smart benefits to the private and public sector organizations. For instance, it has the power to minimize ICT costs by virtualizing economic assets similar to disk storage and processing cycles into a voluntarily accessible, reasonable functional expenditure. Additionally, a large number of private and public sector organizations have made initial progresses with the cloud computing technology application. For instance, in US Washington, DC, all the 38,000 city administrative staff members have limitle ss access to Google services and documents for example Gmail. The United States General Services Administration recently publicized that they are moving the nationwide portal usa.gov to the cloud and offered an RFI for cloud technology based structure services (Craig, et al., 2009; Chandrasekaran & Kapoor, 2010). In addition, cloud computing definitely appears to be the expression du-jour in the computing world nowadays. In fact, the majority of researchers and IT experts believe that cloud computing will be turned
Monday, September 9, 2019
Anna Pavlova Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Anna Pavlova - Research Paper Example On graduation, she began to perform at the Maryinksy Theatre, debuting on September 19, 1899. 1In early 20th century, Pavlova was a transnational celebrity. She had her first tour to Moscow in 1907 and by 1910; she made an appearance at the Metropolitan Opera House in America. In 1912, she settled in England. Her ties to Russia were broken in 1914 when she was travelling through Germany to Russia, when Germany declared war on Russia. Based in London, she toured the world with the help of her manager, Victor Dandre who may have been her husband. She kept her private life highly confidential. Her final tour was between 1928-29 and her final performance in England took place in 19302. It is not what she did that brought her to the limelight, it is how she did it that made her phenomenal. She expressed her thoughts through dance, which was complemented by her remarkable body that added flavor to her dance. She played a big role as the pioneer of dance theatre and that role has helped shape what modern ballet is. She was almost entirely committed to the classic style based on ballet tradition. Her fame was mostly credited to her wittiness, frailness, daintiness and lightness. She enabled the world realize the influence of dance in society. Driven by the desire to achieve recognition for her talent, she was able to influence her community. She became a spokesman for her art, attracting audiences to her and to ballet. Her willingness to perform across the globe popularized ballet and helped shape what it is today. Her tours established ballet as a highly popular art that brings people together. Her stage performances were exceptional. She made unique entrances and exits on stage such that no one could predict where she was emerging from or where she would disappear to. She was an embodiment of choreography. Her image left the audience wanting more and her art in dancing remained a mystery. She
Sunday, September 8, 2019
Writing to Learn 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Writing to Learn 2 - Assignment Example However, these recommendations vary. They are given in consideration of the function, dietary intake patterns, requirement levels, metabolism and toxicity. The recommended level of dietary energy intake for an individual is the mean energy requirement of well-nourished and healthy individual. The human energy requirement is estimated from measures of energy needs plus the additional energy expenditure. The main determinants of total energy expenditure include; gender, age and body weight (Tukuitonga et al., 44). Thus, energy requirements vary for each gender and various age groups, and are both expressed as energy per kilogram of body weight and energy units per day. Human beings need energy for; basal metabolism, metabolic response to food, physical activity, pregnancy, lactation and for growth. The energy requirements are used to predict the energy intake recommended levels for different individuals with similar characteristics but no exact measurements have been made. There is no implication on the exact amount of energy that must be consumed on a daily basis but there are averages of the amount of energy that an individual needs in a day, which depends on their age, gender, state of health and the work that one does in a day. The average daily energy requirement for an adult is 8,700 kilojoules (Tukuitonga et al.,49).The daily intake may be higher or lower than 8700 KJ depending on an individualââ¬â¢s energy needs. Macronutrients are the three main food components, which include proteins, carbohydrates and fats. The average recommended daily macronutrient levels for an adult are; 50 grams protein, 70grams fat and 310 grams carbohydrates. All these recommendations also vary depending on individual characteristics such as age, gender and health status. All these individual characteristics determine the individual needs of each person; therefore, there is no exact recommended amount for each specific individual. Any excessive intake or deficient intake of
Saturday, September 7, 2019
The New Testament in the Modern Church Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words
The New Testament in the Modern Church - Essay Example t times and contexts have approached the subject from many different angles but they all have the same aim of reflecting on the subject systematically. Christology aims to ââ¬Å"clarify the essential truths about him, it investigates his person and being and workâ⬠. (Oââ¬â¢Collins, 1994, p. 1), It is accepted by all that humans can never fully comprehend the mystery of God, but equally it has always been a key mission of the Church to study, and to teach key elements of the faith in a way which is at least partially evident to believers, and as far as possible relevant to each successive historical period and social context. Johnsonââ¬â¢s work is a good example of a contemporary theologianââ¬â¢s earnest attempts to get to grips with major issues like oppression of the poor and gender inequality, showing how and where the Church could and should evolve its mission to deal with these difficult challenges in the modern world. She identifies Christology as a starting poin t for discussion of these themes, arguing that hidden aspects of his being should be brought forward and that this process will prove especially relevant to the modern world. This paper will explore the strategies of interpretation that Johnson uses to present Jesus as ââ¬Å"Sophiaââ¬â¢s child, who communicates her gracious goodness by befriending the outcast, who communicates her prophetic message, and who proves her right or justifies her though he is severely criticized by others.â⬠(Fox, 2001, p. 127) It will look first at Johnsonââ¬â¢s starting point for this line of study, and then her use of Jewish traditions and Hellenistic influences, followed by her use of Patristic authorities through the ages. Finally Johnsonââ¬â¢s use of modern social sciences will be outlined, including historical and and socio-political techniques so that a full picture of her methods of interpretation can be gained, as well as an appreciation of how effective she is in sustaining these claims about Jesus. Elizabeth A. Johnson is
Friday, September 6, 2019
Oxford Don and Half Caste Essay Example for Free
Oxford Don and Half Caste Essay The poems, Listen Mr. Oxford Don and Half Caste were both written by John Agard, and in both of these poems, Agard challenges the status quo. In Listen Mr. Oxford Don, he challenges the use of language and in Half Caste, he challenges views of ethnicity. In the poem Listen Mr. Oxford Don, Agard characterizes Mr. Oxford Don as the Guardian of English, and the idea of a person who uses the correct form of English. In this poem, Agard challenges the view that Standard English is the correct form of English, and other forms of English are of a lesser status. In the poem Half Caste, Agard challenges the reader prejudices towards people of mixed ethnicity. In Listen Mr. Oxford Don, Agard uses repetition of particular words and imagery to help him convey his ideas. He uses the phrase, is a dangerous one twice in the poem. He also uses sentence like, I ent have no gun to create the image of violence. Words such as, bashing and slashing are also used by Agard which suggest him being very threatening. The reason that Agard creates all these violent images is because he wants us to know that hes a peaceful man, but he can be very dangerous if people think that English has to be spoken in a particular way. Unlike Listen Mr. Oxford Don, in Half Caste Agard concentrates more on using imagery to make his point. An example of imagery used by Agard, when yu say half-caste yu mean tchaikovsky mix a black key wid a white key? Here, Agard is saying to the reader that Tchaikovsky uses both white and black notes, but no one calls him half caste because hes respected by others. Agard is asking the reader that if you can mix a black and white key, then why cant you be of mixed race? As the poem goes on, Agard carries on using examples to make his point, but this time it relates to his body. He says, why I offer yu half-a-hand an when I sleep at night I close half-a-eye. Hes saying this in a way that he can only have half a hand and half an eye because hes half caste or half made. When people call him half caste, hes offended because its like saying that hes not a complete human being, hes only half made. He wants these people to review the term half caste, and think about it before using as its the wrong term to use. Agard uses non-standard English in Listen Mr. Oxford Don. He uses a lot of double negatives for example, Me not no Oxford Don. Many of his spellings also comes from the Caribbean dialect: de, dont, ent, etc. Both double negatives and Caribbean dialect spellings are informal and non-standard. The purpose of him using these words is to show that hes against the academics because he knows that the academics would never write in a non-standard way like this. Agard also uses colloquial language, Im not a violent man Mr. Oxford Don. This type of language is used to speak not to write so its informal and non-standard. Agard uses non-standard English throughout the poem; this shows that hes unashamed to use it, and shows that hes challenging Standard English which is the accepted form of English. Alternatively, in Half Caste, non-standard English is used for different reasons. In this poem, Agard also uses words from the Caribbean dialect, for example, dem, yu, etc, but the effect of this is to show that hes not fully English and hes of a mixed race. Agard also uses the direct address; he refers to himself as I and refers to the reader as you as shown in this quotation, but yu must come back tomorrow wid de whole of yu eye an I will tell yu de other half of my story. Agard makes the reader feel as though the point is being made directly to them, and makes them feel more challenged that if they want to hear another half of his story, they need to be more open minded. Most importantly, they must not judge people because of their race. In Listen Mr. Oxford Don, theres no clear structure to the poem. There is not the same number of lines in each stanza, and theres no fixed number of syllables in each line like there would be in a Standard English poem. He also doesnt use any form of punctuation, and he even adds a slash in the middle of the line: to split/ up yu syntax. This makes it even more non-standard because slash breaks the rhythm of the poem. All of these things shows the fact that he doesnt believe Standard English is the only form of English; there are other forms of English which are equally legitimate. In Half Caste, the lines throughout the poem are generally quite short, the effect of this is to make the poem go faster, and make us receive short quick messages. Agard also uses many commands, for example, Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste. The effect of this is to grab peoples attention, but its also asking the reader what do we mean when we say half caste. Do we say it because we feel prejudiced towards people of mixed ethnicity? In Listen Mr. Oxford Don, the tone starts off lightly; this is when hes talking about who he is and where hes from. As the poem goes on, he begins to talk about violence, I ent have no gun, I ent have no knife. This is when his tone starts to become quite aggressive and threatening. After this he says, I dont need no hammer to mash up your grammar, his tone becomes even more threatening because he says that he will speak whatever he wants. The word mash up implies violence, Agard is threatening to destroy the English language. Unlike Listen Mr. Oxford Don, the tone of Half Caste is lighthearted, only towards the end of the poem that the tone starts to get serious. This is when he says that we need to give people full respect if we want to understand them completely as human beings. If were categorizing them into groups, were not giving them respect. In both of the poems, Agard uses clever humor to grab our attention, but at the same to provoke our preconceptions. Both of these poems are very political, and have a social impact. In Listen Mr. Oxford Don, Agard is challenging the traditional institutions to say that theres no such thing as the correct form of English anymore. Society has moved on, and now we need to embrace other forms of English language as well because we all have different dialects, but each dialect is as valid as the other. The traditional form of English doesnt mean its more superior or more acceptable in society. In Half Caste, Agard not only wants to address the reader, hes challenging the reader into questioning their own preconceptions and prejudices. Hes also getting them to think about the implications of the words they use, because most people do not know the full meaning of it, and do not realize the weight of what theyre saying. For example, the word half caste can seriously offend the people who are of mixed ethnicity.
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