Governmental Crimes Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Governmental Crimes - Research Paper Example The increasing rates of governmental crimes are often neglected by the policymakers intentionally or unintentionally. It should be noted that governmental crimes do not only involve the national constituencies where nation faces the influences but it also crosses the borders and creates transnational influences (Rothe et al., 2006). This paper focuses on the discussion of governmental crimes, the implications of such crimes and their scope. It also recommends various ways to curb the issue of governmental crimes. The conventional crimes have been widely considered by the scholars, researchers, governments, policymakers, law enforcers, social workers and public representatives. The impact of such exposure and importance given to conventional crimes may be a factor which resulted in huge reduction of those crimes. However, the governmental crimes are often neglected by the authorities as well as the public (Rothe & Mullins, 2006). The reason may be lack of knowledge among general publi c but the impact of governmental crimes is larger and more extensive than conventional crimes. The influence of exposure to conventional crimes and increasing pressure by media, public and other groups influenced the policymakers and regulatory bodies to divert their attention towards resolving the conventional crime issues. ... The 20th century governmental crime incidents are real life examples of the effects this ignorance has caused. The Nazi Germany, Maoist China and many other such events which had devastating impacts on people, society and the states. Genocidal actions (in case of Bosnia and Rwanda) of tribunals were one of the major steps taken to curb the issue of governmental or state crimes in the late 20th century. The matters associated with Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine etc. also gave rise to the objection on the massive usage of mass destruction weapons. There are many opponents of America, Israel and other nations who qualify these states as criminal due to the policies and activities that led to the invasion of less powerful states. All these cases are clearly lack of controlled authority over the actions of nations involved and had transnational effects. However, there are a few criminologists who sought these issues as worth mentioning and debated on them (Mathew & Kauzlarich, 2007). Govern mental Crimes should be debated about and controlled for the reason that Governments are generally believed to enact and impose laws. They are responsible to maintain a sound law and order situation and prevent crimes in the state. The body that is responsible to prevent crimes from occurring should not be involved in that act itself. The history of governmental or state crimes is old enough to associate it with the emergence of states themselves. Chambliss () asserted during the presidential lecture almost twenty years back and claimed that economic and political well being is so important to the states and governments that they often go beyond the borders set by them in the form of laws and regulations. The basic theme was to put forward the idea of violating one’s own laws

Employees are always likely to work harder when their jobs offer them PowerPoint Presentation

Employees are always likely to work harder when their jobs offer them greater discretion and responsibility. Critically assess this generalisation in the light of job redesign theories - PowerPoint Presentation Example Organizational needs include the quality of the work and high productivity, while the requirements of the manager include aspects such as job satisfaction. Job enrichment is a crucial strategy of job design. This strategy attempts to motivate employees through the development of opportunities for the application of their diverse abilities. The vertical aspects of job design require a change of the challenges, in the job. This aims to improve the employee’s job satisfaction, quality, and reduce problems such as grievances (Rothwell & Kazanas, 2003, p. 396). The strategies for job design include turning the employee’s efforts to performance and linking the performance to reward. The last strategy involves compelling the employee to want the rewards. Turning the employee’s effort to performance requires a well definition and comprehension of the objectives of the job, and providing resources for enhancing employee’s performance. In addition, the organization should develop a supportive culture and ensure flow of information (Rothwell & Kazanas, 2003, p. 400). Linking the employee’s performance to reward requires a clear definition of the reward and explanation of the links between reward and performance. Finally, compelling the employee towards the reward can be achieved using

Measuring and Managing Absenteeism in the Workplace

Measuring and Managing Absenteeism in the Workplace Productivity loss due to absenteeism is a serious growing challenge. We live in an absenteeism culture. Talking a day off and calling in sick is supported and encouraged by the society. Many peoples attitude is The time is coming to us (Robert F.Allen and Michael Higgens- the Absenteeism Culture. Becoming attendance oriented.) Unscheduled absenteeism is on the rise and the rates of absenteeism are at their highest since 1999. The major concern is that almost two out of three employees who do not show up arent physically ill or have challenging issues. Absence measurement and management is an increasingly growing body of knowledge and experience that managers apply to control and reduce absenteeism and its accruing costs. To ensure that the issue of absenteeism is effectively addressed, managers and supervisors-armed with the required guidance and training, need to understand the circumstances and factors surrounding absenteeism in the workplace, and thus actively participate in the companys procedures and policies to effective curb absenteeism in the workplace. Employers attempt to cut down excessive employee absenteeism through tighter controls. They demand doctors report or use some other punitive mechanisms that targets symptoms of absenteeism rather than its causes. The problem will not go away unless the underlying root causes are removed. Building an attendance culture! How should absenteeism effectively be managed? Triggers or incentives? / Carrots or sticks? Introduction: Absenteeism from workplace has been on the increase and may be an indicative of poor morale, lack of motivation, sick building syndrome, poor organizational polities or mere indiscipline from the employees. However, many employers have introduced and implemented absence policies which make no distinction between absence for genuine reasons or illness and absence for inappropriate reasons. One of these policies is the calculation of the Bradford Factor, which only factors total number and frequency of individual absence into account, neglecting the kind of absence. 40 million days are lost each year in the UK, due to workplace absenteeism,93% of employees say cold and flu are the reason for being away from work, but research has shown that in reality, half of absenteeism in the workplace has nothing whatsoever to do with health. Workers decide to stay away from work for a host of other reasons relating to work and personal issues, which range from job de-motivation, low pay, lack of work life balance and occasional hangover. Absenteeism has been viewed traditionally as a breach of an implicit contract between employee and employer, as a management problem and has been framed in economic terms. This report will critically discuss the causes and effects of absenteeism in the workplace with the view to derive effective ways to measure and manage absenteeism. It will seek to understand absenteeism as an indicator of psychological, social adjustment to work. 1. What do we mean by Absenteeism? According to dictionary reference.com, Absenteeism can be defined as habitual failure to appear, especially for work and other regular duty. The rate occurrence of habitual absence from work or duty. Absenteeism can be viewed as re-occurring absence from work, duty and obligation, thought to reflect employee demoralization or dissatisfaction. This can also be viewed as a breach of the implicit contract that exists between the employer and the employed. Simply put, Failure to report to or stay at work when scheduled is tagged absenteeism. 1.1 Absenteeism can be grouped into two categories Involuntary/Innocent absenteeism: This is when absences are unavoidable and understandable. For instance Absences due to death in the family Pregnancy or Maternity issues Absences caused by illness or injury Car/ vehicle issues Other family related or personal issues Accidents and natural disasters Disability-related absenteeism- Human rights obligations Voluntary/Culpable Absenteeism: Voluntary absenteeism is an instance where an employee, out of his own freewill or laziness, chooses to stay off work. Absences in this case are avoidable. Missing work without advance notice, to go the cinema or watch football Making excuses for consistent late coming to work Deceitfully/fraudulently applying for sick leave or calling in sick Failure to report to work as scheduled or showing up late for no good reason 1.2 Causes of Absenteeism in the workplace There are various factors that could influence an employee to be absent at work. These factors are as follows Personal Factors: Personal Attitude: individuals posses different attitudes and bring these attitudes forth to the workplace. Employees with strong workplace ethics will respect their work and appreciate their contribution to the organisation and as such, will not take unscheduled off from the workplace. Conversely, employees with low or without work ethics are in- disciplined and have behavioural issues. Because they feel no obligation to the organisation, absenteeism comes easily to them. Age: The age of an employee often affects their attitude to work. The younger the employees are often restless, they want to have fun and be with friends rather than being tied down with responsibilities. This leads to lack of ownership and usually leads to unscheduled and unauthorised time off. Gender: Women are usually challenged with balancing their time between work and home. Their families are always the utmost priority, thus they would rather be absent from work to sort out family issues Workplace Factors: Organizational Culture: Every organisation is a culture with its own norms. An organisation with an embedded absenteeism culture, screen played by its management and supervisors lack of commitment would encourage further employee absenteeism Lack of Motivation and Rewards: The relationship between the organisation and its employees is influenced by what motives them to work and the rewards and fulfilment they derive from it. Inability of managers or employers to motivate employees and meet their extrinsic and intrinsic needs would lead to lack if motivation and commitment hence, absenteeism in the workplace Absence of learning culture: Learning means change, thus can affect organisations effectiveness. Employees love to work in an organisation where they would improve themselves and their career through organisational learning and knowledge management, which could be inculcated through coaching, mentoring, trainings and other explicit methods. In an organisation where a learning culture is absent, employees feel de-motivated, unsatisfied and feel their career growth is threatened. Hence they excuse themselves from work without authorisation in search for greater challenges and organisations where they would gain improve themselves. Stress at work: According to a report cited in Financial Times: Stress at work is the biggest problem in European companies Voluntary absenteeism takes place because employees are dissatisfied with their job; hence they feel stressed doing the work either because of the work load or unsuitable assigned roles. {Egs} wrongly assigning a customer service manager to manage treasury department, without adequate experience and training. Due to lack of adequate experience in the field and fixed timed deliverables and tasks, he feels stressed and harassed in the role and thus breaks down into stress or depression and seeks sick leave and abandons the job. Voluntary Absenteeism also takes place where the employees feel there is a strain on their psychological contract with the employer, this indirectly erupts lack of organizational commitment. This strain could develop to stress and impact on employee attendance to work. Leadership Style: An organizations, team or unit leadership style could impact on employee commitment, job satisfaction with improved or impaired participation and attendance to work. While Democratic and laissez fair leadership style encourages shared decision making, shared responsibility, creativity and participation and can be highly motivational, which enhances teamwork and interpersonal relations. Autocratic and paternalistic leadership styles could de-motivate and alienate employees. Employees might feel less important in the organisation, hence the need to avoid work. Work Routine and lack of Change: doing the same job or task over a long period of time can get monotonous. The employees get bored and thus might choose to take unauthorised time off to do something he considers interesting than going to work. Job Satisfaction: if employees do not find their work interesting, satisfying and challenging, they feel dissatisfied, which leads to increased absenteeism in the workplace Work life balance: Organisation who not factor employees roles and work life such that a balance is stroked with work and the individuals personal life commitments and family would experience increased employee absenteeism. Conflict in the workplace: ultimately increases chances of employee absenteeism. Lack of team spirit: A team that lacks unity, synergy and good interpersonal relationship amongst its members, will be a weak and unproductive. Such team members will lack team spirit-the spirit that bonds individuals in a team. This lack of team spirit can de-motivate team members, make them work in isolation, they would lack the sense of belonging, love and satisfaction. There would exist, fears of the unknown, lack of trust for team members. These feelings will encourage an employee to stay off work. Social Factors: factors such as difficult community circumstances like High crime and intimidation rates which constitutes fear in employees catalyses absenteeism in the workplace. Other social factors are Lack of transportation/transport facilities Poverty levels Malnutrition HIV/AIDS Labour Strikes 1.3 Effects of Absenteeism in the workplace When a company has an absentee problem, it has a profit problem. Absenteeism can take a deep financial toll on any business, whether a small or multinational company. There are also other significant effects associated with excessive absenteeism: Decreased Productivity: in a team of people doing interrelated tasks, if one persistent remains absent or fails to deliver, it creates a domino effect on productivity. It affects employee/team morale: this is due to the fact that additional stress are places on employees who act as replacements or assume additional tasks for absentees Absenteeism causes disruptions in the workplace and impacts on the SLAs It affects customer service levels, turnaround times, customer loyalty and satisfaction. It affect or disrupts effective team formation and operations It may create a perception of unfairness amongst employees It affects the bottom-line 2.0 Measuring Absenteeism 2.1 Why measure absenteeism? It is pertinent to measure the rate of absenteeism in the workplace. Measuring employees absenteeism is a good way to measure Overall Labour Effectiveness (OLE) in the workplace, which is a key performance indicator (KPI) that measures the utilization, performance and quality of the workforce and its impact on productivity. Monitoring staff absence rates helps to trace the pattern of employee attendance. To monitor and check dead times, in the workplace, to derive and measure resources and costs incurred due to employee absenteeism with the aim of devising effective methods to manage absenteeism in the workplace. In measuring absenteeism in the workplace, we derive the ratio of its administrative, financial and productivity cost to the organisation which will enable development of strategies to curb absenteeism while rechanneling resources more effectively to effect the bottom-line positively. Administrative costs of Absenteeism: Time consumed in controlling absenteeism Time consumed in sourcing replacements and re-assigning duties. Supervisors time Financial Costs: this are the costs accruing form Overtime costs Replacement employee costs Training costs Over staffing costs Productivity Costs: Replaced productivity and loss of output costs the costs of supporting replacement employees Costs accrued in training new or replacement staff/hiring temp staff Substandard production 2.2 Ways of Measuring Absenteeism The Total Tim lost: Number of person-days lost through job absence during period X 100 (Average number of employees) x (Number of Work days) This rate also can be based on number of hours instead of number of days. The individual frequency formula: This is calculated as thus : Individual frequency = (Num of Absent Employees/Average Number of Employees) x100 The Bradford Factor or Bradford Formula: According to the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development, the term was first coined due to its supposed connection with research undertaken by the Bradford University School of Management in the 1980s. It was developed as a way of highlighting the misappropriate level of disruption on an organisations performance that can be caused by short-term employee absence compared to incidences of prolonged absence. In contrast, it is considered short-sighted and unlikely to be successful which could lead to staff dissatisfaction and grievances. The Bradford factor can be calculated as follows: B= S2 x D where: B is the Bradford Factor score S is the total number of spells(instances) of absence of an individual over a set period D is the total number of days of absence of that individual over the same set period The set period is typically set as a rolling 52 week period. For example: 1 instance of absence with a duration of 15 days (1x 1 x 5)= 5 points 4 instances of absence; one of one, one of four and one of six days (4 x 4 x 5) =80 points 6 instances of absences ;each for two days (6 x 6 x 5) = 180 points However, the Bradford factor has been critiqued for its limited and short-sightedness in effectively measuring absenteeism, this is because it only factors total number and frequency of individual absence into account, neglecting the kind of absence. Again, the Bradford factor is a generic process and would be inappropriate to implement on disabled employees this is because certain disabilities require higher days of absence. Employers are bound by law e.g. The British Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005 (DDA) to tailor their actions to the individual circumstances of disabled employees and failure to provide these reasonable adjustments by employers may lead to civil actions or breach of DDA in employment tribunal 3.0 Managing absenteeism: Absenteeism: A cultural problem Every organisation is a culture, with its own norms that constitute the expected, supported and accepted ways of behaving. These norms are most times unwritten and advice people on the code of conduct. The existing culture and norms influences everyones perception of the business, from the CEO to the newly hired employee. Managements behaviour has a special impact on organisational behaviour as relates to absenteeism, this is because of its modelling influence. Investigations have shown that absenteeism was/is directly traceable to the group norms established by leadership, the work environment and group expectations. Each group had similar illness records, it was the norms that dictated, and almost predictably, whether people showed up for work. Absenteeism is often symptoms of larger organisational problems and can be managed as thus: Leadership modelling and commitment: Managerial commitments and participatory culture have an important impact on attendance. E.g. in a retail company, a manager who demonstrated little commitment to attendance practices recorded one of the highest absenteeism rates in his organisation. Work motivation and rewards: Motivation in the work place is the driving force to achieve employee job satisfaction and commitment. This motivation could be Extrinsic or Intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation relates to the tangible rewards e.g. Salary, security, promotion and conditions of work. While, Intrinsic motivation relates to the psychological rewards which includes; a sense of challenge and achievement, participation and appreciation from the employer. According to Maslows hierarchy of needs; the expectancies of an employee from the employer are captured as thus- Motivated employees overcome obstacles to make it to work. The key to reducing employee absenteeism is to create a culture where employees want to come to work. Effective Groups and Team Building: groups and teams are essential features of the work pattern of organisations. These include formal and informal groups, project and virtual teams. Effective group and team building encourages inter personal relationships, fulfils the individuals psychological need of love and belonging, encourages organisational learning and communication while reducing conflicts in the organisation. This ultimately gives employees, sense of belonging and contribution, job satisfaction and an increased love for the job which will be evidenced in attendance rate. Recruitment and selection: Employers should recruit employees with good attendance records. This information should be included in references. Employee orientation and training: Attendance norms should be established the first day on the job. These norms are inculcated at inductions and orientation sessions. Performance Appraisal: this can boost employee attendance rates. Management should attach attendance rates to performance appraisals, if employees are aware that attendance would be a part of their appraisal, they would minimise unnecessary absence from work. Conclusion: Organisational culture is a key factor that affects the norms and modus operandi of an organisation. Thus the leaders and manager have a great job of making effective decisions and inculcation the required culture through policies and examples. Creating an attendance-oriented culture requires a complete corporate commitment to encourage attendance rather than manage absenteeism. This would be a significant shift because an absenteeism culture not only cost millions of pounds, but also impedes the development of human resources, reduces organisations competitive advantage and affects the bottom-line My case study illustrating the causes, effects and how to manage absenteeism is evidenced in my reflective writing. Reflective Writing: I would always wish I would not have to return to work the following day, I would call-in sick at the slightest headache. I disliked the new branch I was posted to be a team leader. Not having prior information or notice of my sudden inter-state transfer until a mail dropped in my mailbox, a Monday morning I just resumed from vacation, gave me the shock. I was to resume in the new branch with immediate effect. There was no communication whatever from my team leader that arrangement has been made for me to move to another state where i would lead the funds transfer team. This is a clear indication of communication gap and ineffective boss and subordinate relationship, where the team leader feels less need to have inter-personal relationship with team members. Her autocratic system of leadership in the workplace does not encourage participation, shared learning, sense of belonging and team spirit, which are among an employees intrinsic expectancies from the organisation/workplace This autocratic, non-participatory system of leadership and lack of effective communication and team spirit became a culture instilled by the branch leader. This holistically affected all team members. Demonization, fear, lack of commitment, ineffective communication that often caused conflicts, and absenteeism creped in. The feeling of betrayal, neglect and less regard filled my heart as i journeyed down the new branch. I lost motivation and commitment in the job. I lost the feeling of being part of the organisation. This was reflected in my re-occurring absenteeism and inability to deliver on deadlines The sudden relocation was pressuring and put me under stress. This further increased my absenteeism rate from work till the point I tendered my resignation. This situation highlights the importance and implication of the supervisory and managers roles in the work place as regards motivation, team building, eradicating conflicts and commitment. However, I feel sober, writing this coursework having realised through my research and the module learning, the cost and other implications of employee absenteeism in organisations. This also reflects why my recommendations for an effective management of employee absenteeism points to organisational culture, effective team and group building which encourages team participation and motivation, and leadership styles and modelling. A motivational team leader or mentor would encourage effective communication, build effective teams, build a culture of attendance and commitment through a democratic or participatory system of leadership where everyone contributes and feels the sense of responsibly and love. As a manager, having participated in this course module, I understand and appreciate my roles more. I have gained more insights on to build effective teams; manage conflicts, leadership by example and ultimately, how to manage individual differences and diversity in the workplace. Getting back into work, I would be a good leader, and inspire brilliance.

Marketing Letter :: Business Marketing Letters Digital Cameras

September 24, 2003 To All Editors and Publishers, Come and See Our Latest Products! Guinea Laser Photo and its network of dealers in the U.S., invite you to drop by our booth at PhotosGalore West for a look at our latest technological breakthroughs in digital camera technology. eyelike twinkleâ„ ¢ - Just released in August, is the first digital camera that enables presentation of multiple exposures with a reliable preview image. Before this innovation it was impossible to overlay a second exposure over another digital image. With twinkleâ„ ¢ it is now possible to overlay several images and display the results in preview mode before the final exposure is made. eyelike windedâ„ ¢ - Also just released, this digital camera software is specially designed to capture and process either moving objects or still portraits. It allows the shooting and capture of multiple images in sequence, at a speed of approximately one image per second. Using windedâ„ ¢ the photographer can later view all of the stored images one shot at a time, in digital contact sheet format, on a computer. These software modules are just the latest additions to Guinea's line-up of products that make eyelikeâ„ ¢ Digital Camera System a world leader. They're available to all users of the eyelikeâ„ ¢ system whether they work in a PC or a Macintosh based computer. 2002 good reasons to check us out! Guinea Laser Photo manufactured its 2002th digital camera in 2002. These cameras are used by professionals worldwide in the fields of: photography, archiving, and microscopy. The basis of this technology is the ProgRes 3000 family of cameras that have evolved over the past decade. In 2000, the ProgRes 3012 camera won the internationally recognized Seybold Award as best digital camera for professional use. The longevity of Guinea Digital Camera Systems is legendary. All new hardware and software developments made over the years have been designed to be compatible with the original base products so that users of the very first modules are able to work with the latest technological advances without having to change and buy new equipment.

Consumer Sciences Education Essay

Puberty is the period when children experience various physical and emotional changes in their bodies. Puberty comes with psychological effects that affect the teen’s interaction at school, with their peers and parents. Puberty Puberty is the stage in children’s lives when they experience physical changes through which their bodies eventually develop into adult bodies that are capable of reproducing. It is triggered by hormonal signals that stimulate the growth, function and change in different parts of the body, including the reproductive organs, breasts, skin, muscles, bones, hair and the brain depending on the sex (Allison, 2000). Puberty has various psychological effects within the school context, peers and parents. Within the school context puberty has wide psychological effects like searching identity and role confusion. It impacts their choice of career, sports activities, work schedule and tend to rebellious to the administration. It has been noted that adolescents prefer more liberal schools. At the same time the transition for example to high school has various effects on their academic achievement (Steinberg, 2001). During puberty, adolescents have very high regard for their peers. They measure who they are, their morals and lifestyles against them. Young people struggle to belong and to be accepted and affirmed by their peers, and yet also to become individuals. This desperate need for acceptance may explain why many teens engage in substance abuse and sexual activities. According to Allison, (2000, 54), adolescents tend to heed to advice from peers than from teachers and parents. It is notably however, the relationship between a teen and his or her peers has great impact on their self esteem. According to Steinberg, (2001, 67), parent-adolescent conflict increases during puberty. Conflict has been found to be most evident in interactions between adolescent girls and their mothers and relatively between boys and fathers. Many adolescents feel that the parents do not understand them and that they have different lives and interests. They also feel that the parents cannot guide them properly through this â€Å"stormy† period because they do not face the same challenges (Allison, 2000). In conclusion, there need to be a mutual understanding between parents and adolescents as puberty is a sensitive stage and needs to be handled with care by both parties. Only this way that both will minimize the unnecessary conflicts and promote understanding. Reference Allison, Barbara. (2000). Parent-adolescent conflict in early adolescence. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences Education: Vol 18, No. 2 Steinberg, Laurence. (2001). Adolescent development. Annual Review of Psychology: Vol 52: 83-110.

Othello the Manipulator Essay

Shakespeare’s Othello: Iago, the Master Manipulator William Shakespeare’s â€Å"Othello† is a play consumed with deception, jealousy, and revenge, mainly caused by a powerful â€Å"villain† named Iago (1. 1. 28). Although Iago presents himself as everyone’s honest friend, he is always trying to manipulate and deceive them, as shown in his words â€Å"Whip me such honest knaves† (1. 1. 50). This heartless character even manipulates everyone around him including his companions Cassio, Rodrigo, and the Moor, Othello intending to gain power. His actions create a massive amount of jealousy and rage. All of this revenge and manipulation first forms when Cassio is chosen for the position as Othello’s Lieutenant, a job which Iago wanted desperately. This sends Iago into a rage motivated by his hunger for power. His revenge towards Cassio first begins at a celebration when Iago pressures him into having one drink after another knowing Cassio has a low tolerance with alcohol. Under pressure, Cassio argues, â€Å"Not tonight, good Iago: I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking: I could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of entertainment† (2. . 1164-1167). Iago’s perfects his manipulation by taking advantage of other’s weaknesses. Iago manipulates both Cassio and Rodrigo into fighting each other which results in Othello taking away Cassio’s title as Lieutenant. Using Cassio’s statement, †She’s a most exquisite lady† Iago is able to use this to conjure a second mastermind plan to have Cassio’s rep utation ruined by convincing Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair (2. 2. 1152). Although Iago seeks revenge from Cassio for gaining Iago’s desired position as Lieutenant, his main interest of destruction is the Moor Othello, which is the masterpiece of Iago’s many manipulative plots. Iago uses Othello’s beloved wife, Desdemona, to take advantage of Othello’s weakness. Iago implies, â€Å"Cassio my lord? No, sure, I cannot think it; That he would steal away so guilty-like, Seeing your coming† (3. 3. 1668-70). Iago’s coy assumption of Cassio overcomes Othello, making Othello think Iago is an honest friend he can trust. This gained trust makes Iago’s plans of destruction much easier to accomplish. Iago, also, makes Othello overhear a conversation between Iago and Cassio, which he believes he is about Desdemona, when in fact their conversation is about Cassio’s prostitute Bianca. As the two men laugh and tell sexual stories, Othello goes into a jealous rage, at the thought of Cassio having these relations with Desdemona. Iago multiplies Othello’s rage as he talks about the situation, â€Å"Did you perceive how he laughed at his vice? † (4. . 2602). He convinces Emilia to take Desdemona’s handkerchief, which was Othello’s first significant gift to her. Iago sets the situation up so that the sacred handkerchief will be found in Cassio’s room, and later is given to Cassio by Bianca in front of Othello. As Iago pumps more deceitful lies of Cassio and Desdemona’s affair into Othello’s head, Iago says, â€Å"And did you see the handkerchief? à ¢â‚¬ ¦and to see how he prizes the foolish woman your wife! She gave it him, and he hath given it his whore† (4. 1. 2604-08). Othello, having seen this will have all the evidence he needs to suspect Cassio of the affair. Iago then manipulates Othello into killing his loyal wife by suggesting, â€Å"Do it not with poison, strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated† (4. 2. 2638-39). Iago’s over whelming hunger for power is also shown though his best companion, Rodrigo, whom is also in love with Desdemona. Discovering that Desdemona and Othello are married, frantic Rodrigo confides in Iago and asks, â€Å"What should I do? I confess it is my shame to be so fond; but it is not in my virtue to amend it† (1. . 673-676). As a master of deception, Iago proves to Rodrigo that Desdemona’s heart will be easily won by his lavish expensive gifts. With Rodrigo’s excessive amount of savings, Iago purchases these gifts that are intentionally for Desdemona and sells them for his profit. Secondly, Iago convinces Rodrigo into thinking that Cassio and Emilia are having an aff air. Iago manipulates Rodrigo into fighting Cassio at the celebration. Iago persuades Rodrigo by saying,Watch you to-night; for the command, I’ll lay’t upon you. Cassio knows you not. I’ll not be far from you: do you find some occasion to anger Cassio, either by speaking too loud, or tainting his discipline; or from what other course you please, which the time shall more favorable minister (2. 1. 1064-70) In conclusion, Iago’s deception and manipulation plan to gain power completely fails as everything falls to pieces. When Iago’s wife, Emilia, reveals Desdemona’s loyalty to Othello and all of Iago’s lies, it is far too late. After Othello murders his wife, he finds out all of Iago’s â€Å"honest words† were all lies and catches Iago in the act. In the final scene, Iago says, â€Å"Demand me nothing: what you know, you know: from this time forth I never will speak word† (5. 2. 3665-66). In the end, Iago manipulated everyone around him so he could gain personal power. However, his selfish goal of power is never reached and nothing is gained from Iago’s manipulative actions. Iago’s excessive lies and actions show that he is the main cause for so many problems containing deception, jealousy, rage, and revenge. Work Cited Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. The NortonShakespeare: Tragedies. 2nd ed. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton, 2008, 425-507.

Intonation Contour in English Speech

Intonation Contour in English Speech In speech, intonation contour is a distinctive pattern of pitches, tones, or stresses in an utterance. Intonation contours are directly related to meaning. For instance, as Dr. Kathleen Ferrara has demonstrated (in Wennerstroms Music of Everyday Speech), the discourse marker anyway can be analyzed as having three different meanings, each with its own distinctive intonation contour. (See Examples and Observations, below.) See also: Intonation and Intonation PhraseEmphasisParalinguistics, Phonetics, and PhonologyProsodyRhythmSegment and SuprasegmentalStress Examples of Intonation Contours Suppose a secretary would like to know if his or her boss has completed drafting up an important report. He or she might ask, Finish that report? or perhaps the same secretary is telling the boss the list of things he or she planned to do next. He or she might say, Call Frankfurt. Write the memo to Purchasing. Finish that report. Now, perhaps, the secretary is talking to his or her assistant who is word processing this same report. He or she might say, Finish that report.In all three cases, this same string of words, Finish that report, would be said with quite different overall tone contours. In the first case, it would be given a questioning intonation; in the second case, it would be said with a non-emphatic final intonation contour; and in the third case, it would be said with an emphatic intonation contour indicating an imperative. Any native speaker of English would recognize the difference in meaning among these three intonation patterns, though the exact description of such c ontours is far from being a simple matter. . . .The reason intonation contour is so important to spoken discourse cohesion is that participants use their reading of intonation contours in deciding whether or not it is their turn to take over the floor.(Ron Scollon, Suzanne Wong Scollon, and Rodney H. Jones, Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach, 3rd ed. Wiley, 2012) The Problem of Terminology One immediate difficulty in consolidating the literature on intonation is the lack of agreement on terminology. If I wish to talk about syntax, I can feel confident that most audiences will understand words such as noun and verb. However, with intonation, terms such as stress, accent, tone, and emphasis may mean different things to different people. Not only are the lay terms different from the linguists terms, but linguists themselves disagree on terminology. To make matters worse, there are even different schools of thought on what counts as a unit in an intonation analysis. Should the intonation contour of an entire phrase be interpreted as a single, meaning-bearing unit? Is it possible to identify smaller units as meaningful? Where exactly does a unit start and stop?(Ann K. Wennerstrom, The Music of Everyday Speech: Prosody and Discourse Analysis. Oxford University Press, 2001)A well-canvassed discrepancy between an American predilection for levels and a British preference for tu nes is only one aspect of the differences that exist concerning how the utterance should be segmented for the purpose of describing its intonation. There is a rough similarity between the categories referred to in the literature as sense units, breath groups, tone groups, and contours, but the similarities are deceptive; and the various ways of further segmenting into nucleus, head, tail, tonic, pre-tonic, etc., compound the differences. The important point is that, whether this is explicit or not, each formulation amounts to a starting assumption about how the underlying meaning system is organized.(David C. Brazil, Intonation. The Linguistics Encyclopedia, ed. by Kirsten Malnkjaer. Routledge, 1995) Intonation Contours in Text-to-Speech Systems In text-to-speech systems, the goal of the intonation component is to generate an appropriate intonation contour for each spoken phrase. An intonation contour is the underlying fundamental frequency (F0) pattern that occurs over time in speech phrases. Physiologically, F0 corresponds to the frequency at which the vocal folds are vibrating. Acoustically, this vocal fold vibration provides the energy source that excites the vocal tract resonances during voiced portions of speech . . .. Listeners perceive an intonation contour as a pitch pattern that rises and falls at different points in a phrase. The intonation contour emphasizes certain words more than others, and distinguishes statements (with falling intonation contours) from yes/no questions (with rising intonation contours). It also conveys information about syntactic structure, discourse structure, and the speakers attitude. Behavioral scientists have been instrumental in basic research demonstrating the importance of intonation in the perception and production of speech, and in developing and evaluating intonation algorithms.(Ann K. Syrdal, Text-to-Speech Systems. Applied Speech Technology, ed. by A. Syrdal, R. Bennett, and S. Greenspan. CRC Press, 1995) Intonation Contours and the Brain There is evidence that intonational contour and patterns are stored in a distinct part of the brain from the rest of language. When someone experiences brain damage to the left side of the brain that seriously affects their linguistic abilities, making them unable to produce fluent or grammatical speech, they often maintain the appropriate intonation patterns of their language. Also, when right-hemisphere damage takes place, the result may be that the patient speaks with a monotone. And when babies who have not yet acquired any words begin to babble at around 6 months of age, they often utter nonsense syllables using the appropriate intonation pattern of the language they are acquiring.(Kristin Denham and Anne Lobeck, Linguistics for Everyone. Wadsworth, 2010) Also Known As: intonational contour

Lord of the Flies Theme essay essays

Lord of the Flies Theme essay essays Lord of the Flies Cruelty and savagery are all parts of human life. When the reigns of civilization are lifted, cruelty and savagery are left alone to roam freely. William Golding expresses the need for civilized order to maintain the cruel savage beast in us all. In Golding's Lord of the Flies, the theme of discovering one's true self is displayed through object symbolism, analytical symbols of the cruel tribe and beast, and analysis of key character symbols. The use of object symbolism develops the structure and meaning of the novel. The symbolic meaning of certain items in the novel provide a degree of certainty of what the theme pertains to. An example of object symbolism is noted in the large conch shell. The shell symbolizes order and civilization due to its power to create order through organizing meetings. The conch also symbolizes destruction of order once Roger crushes it beneath a boulder. The act of destroying the shell provides an illustration of how uncivilized the isla nd has become. Another example of object symbolism is depicted in the signal fires that Ralph sternly suggests should exist. These fires symbolize a hope for rescue and a return to order and civilization. Once Jack, who is in charge of the fire, shuns the importance of a signal fire, it then symbolizes lost hope. Once Piggy suggests reigniting the fire it then symbolizes a restoration of hope. Another portrayal of Golding's object symbolism exists in Piggy's spectacles. The spectacles symbolize comfort and dependability due to their fire creating capabilities. Soon power to create fire is prevalent due to the lack of fire making ability of Jack's tribe. Once Jack's tribe takes the glasses the glasses then symbolize a shift in power. A further depiction of object symbolism is noted in the appearance of the naval officer toward the end of the novel. The officer symbolizes home, but the symbol is ironic in the fact that the officer is taking the boys from a wa...

Aaron Douglas. Bio Essay

† He made numerous contributions at Fisk University. ?On May 26, 1899, Aaron Douglas was born in Topeka, Kansas. During his time in the Harlem Renaissance, Douglas helped to guide the artistic and literary movement. He is sometime referred to as the ‘Father of Black American Art. Douglas developed an interest in art early on, finding some of his inspiration from his mother’s love for painting watercolors (Biography 1). † Proceeding graduation in 1917 from Topeka, Kansas, Douglas enrolled in the University of Nebraska, which is also known as Lincoln. â€Å"There he pursued his passion for creating art, earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1922 (Biography 1). † At the same time, he connected with students of Lincoln High School in Kansas City, Missouri to share his interest of art with them. After two years of bonding with his pupils, Douglas decided to migrate to New York City. New York’s Harlem neighborhood had a thriving art scene; therefore it would not take any time for Douglas to get use to New York.? Reaching New York in 1925, Douglas swiftly became familiar with the Harlem’s cultural life. He began his career in New York as an apprentice for Winold Reiss, a German artist whom he met through Charles S. Johnson. Being an apprentice for Reiss only lasted two years before he continued on to became the editor of Opportunity, the National Urban League’s magazine. Through his covers for Opportunity and The Crisis, Douglas set forth a new vision for the black artists. His strong, geometric forms and Egyptian profiles resulted in a style later described by cultural critic and educator Richard Powell as ‘Afro-Cubism (Aiga 1). † In 1926, Douglas finally stepped up to the plate and married Alta Sawyer. Mrs. Alta was a teacher as well. Their h ome became a social Mecca for the likes of Langton Hughes and W. E. B. Du Bois. â€Å"Around the same time, Douglas loaned his talents to the first and only issue of Wallace Thurman’s magazine FIRE!! nd later designed the cover of Thurman’s short-lived magazine Harlem (Aiga 1). † With Douglas reputation for creating compelling graphics, he became an in-demand illustrator for many writers (Biography 1). † A few of Douglas popular illustrations consist of James Weldon Johnson’s poetic work, God’s Trombone (1927), and Paul Morand’s Black Magic (1929). â€Å"In addition to Douglas illustration work, he explored educational opportunities; after receiving a fellowship from the Barnes Foundation in Pennsylvania, he took time to study African and modern art (Biography 1). This experience led him to creating some of his best-known paintings in the 1930s. Meanwhile, Douglas was hired to produce a mural for the library at Fisk University. Contin uing to broaden his horizon, Douglas spent time in Paris, where he studied with Charles Despiau and Othon Friesz. â€Å"Back in New York, in 1933, Douglas had his first solo art show. Soon after, he started one of his most legendary works – a series of murals entitled â€Å"Aspects of Negro Life† that featured four panels, each depicting a different part of the African-American experience. Each mural included a captivating mix of Douglas’s influences, from jazz music to abstract and geometric art (Biography 2). † ? Returning to Fisk University in the late 1930s, Douglas served as an assistant professor, and shortly after he founded the school’s art department. Because Douglas was valued his educational responsibilities, he attend Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1941, and completed three years earning a master’s degree in art education. â€Å"He also established the Carl Van Vechten Gallery at Fisk and helped secure vital works for it collection, including pieces by Winold Reiss and Alfred Steiglitz (Biography 2). Outside of his works in his classroom, Douglas remained committed to learning and growing as an artist. â€Å"He received a fellowship from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation in 1938, which funded his painting trip Haiti and several other Caribbean islands. He later won other grants to support his artistic endeavors ( Biography 2). † Douglas had several solo exhibits over the years from his continuation to produce new works. ?Douglas received countless honors during his later years. â€Å"In 1963, he was invited by President John F. Kennedy to attend a celebration of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, held at the White House. Douglas also earned and honorary doctorate from Fisk University in 1973, seven years after his retirement from the school (Biography 2). † He still remained an active painter and lecturer until the end of his life. On September 2, 1979, Douglas passed away at the age of 79, in a Nashville hospital. According to some reporters, he died of a pulmonary embolism. â€Å"Pulmonary embolism is a sudden blockage in a lung artery. The blockage usually is caused by a blood clot that travels to the lung from a vein in the leg (NIH 1). ? After Douglas death, a special memorial service was held for him at Fisk University, where he taught for nearly 30 years. â€Å"At the service, Walter J. Leonard, the university’s president at the time, remembered Douglas with the following statement: ‘Aaron Douglas was one of the most accomplished of the interpreters of our instituti ons and cultural values. He captured the strength and quickness of the young; he translated the memories of the old; and projected the determination of the inspired and courageous (Biography 2). † Aaron Douglas. Bio Essay † He made numerous contributions at Fisk University. ?On May 26, 1899, Aaron Douglas was born in Topeka, Kansas. During his time in the Harlem Renaissance, Douglas helped to guide the artistic and literary movement. He is sometime referred to as the ‘Father of Black American Art. Douglas developed an interest in art early on, finding some of his inspiration from his mother’s love for painting watercolors (Biography 1). † Proceeding graduation in 1917 from Topeka, Kansas, Douglas enrolled in the University of Nebraska, which is also known as Lincoln. â€Å"There he pursued his passion for creating art, earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1922 (Biography 1). † At the same time, he connected with students of Lincoln High School in Kansas City, Missouri to share his interest of art with them. After two years of bonding with his pupils, Douglas decided to migrate to New York City. New York’s Harlem neighborhood had a thriving art scene; therefore it would not take any time for Douglas to get use to New York.? Reaching New York in 1925, Douglas swiftly became familiar with the Harlem’s cultural life. He began his career in New York as an apprentice for Winold Reiss, a German artist whom he met through Charles S. Johnson. Being an apprentice for Reiss only lasted two years before he continued on to became the editor of Opportunity, the National Urban League’s magazine. Through his covers for Opportunity and The Crisis, Douglas set forth a new vision for the black artists. His strong, geometric forms and Egyptian profiles resulted in a style later described by cultural critic and educator Richard Powell as ‘Afro-Cubism (Aiga 1). † In 1926, Douglas finally stepped up to the plate and married Alta Sawyer. Mrs. Alta was a teacher as well. Their h ome became a social Mecca for the likes of Langton Hughes and W. E. B. Du Bois. â€Å"Around the same time, Douglas loaned his talents to the first and only issue of Wallace Thurman’s magazine FIRE!! nd later designed the cover of Thurman’s short-lived magazine Harlem (Aiga 1). † With Douglas reputation for creating compelling graphics, he became an in-demand illustrator for many writers (Biography 1). † A few of Douglas popular illustrations consist of James Weldon Johnson’s poetic work, God’s Trombone (1927), and Paul Morand’s Black Magic (1929). â€Å"In addition to Douglas illustration work, he explored educational opportunities; after receiving a fellowship from the Barnes Foundation in Pennsylvania, he took time to study African and modern art (Biography 1). This experience led him to creating some of his best-known paintings in the 1930s. Meanwhile, Douglas was hired to produce a mural for the library at Fisk University. Contin uing to broaden his horizon, Douglas spent time in Paris, where he studied with Charles Despiau and Othon Friesz. â€Å"Back in New York, in 1933, Douglas had his first solo art show. Soon after, he started one of his most legendary works – a series of murals entitled â€Å"Aspects of Negro Life† that featured four panels, each depicting a different part of the African-American experience. Each mural included a captivating mix of Douglas’s influences, from jazz music to abstract and geometric art (Biography 2). † ? Returning to Fisk University in the late 1930s, Douglas served as an assistant professor, and shortly after he founded the school’s art department. Because Douglas was valued his educational responsibilities, he attend Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1941, and completed three years earning a master’s degree in art education. â€Å"He also established the Carl Van Vechten Gallery at Fisk and helped secure vital works for it collection, including pieces by Winold Reiss and Alfred Steiglitz (Biography 2). Outside of his works in his classroom, Douglas remained committed to learning and growing as an artist. â€Å"He received a fellowship from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation in 1938, which funded his painting trip Haiti and several other Caribbean islands. He later won other grants to support his artistic endeavors ( Biography 2). † Douglas had several solo exhibits over the years from his continuation to produce new works. ?Douglas received countless honors during his later years. â€Å"In 1963, he was invited by President John F. Kennedy to attend a celebration of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, held at the White House. Douglas also earned and honorary doctorate from Fisk University in 1973, seven years after his retirement from the school (Biography 2). † He still remained an active painter and lecturer until the end of his life. On September 2, 1979, Douglas passed away at the age of 79, in a Nashville hospital. According to some reporters, he died of a pulmonary embolism. â€Å"Pulmonary embolism is a sudden blockage in a lung artery. The blockage usually is caused by a blood clot that travels to the lung from a vein in the leg (NIH 1). ? After Douglas death, a special memorial service was held for him at Fisk University, where he taught for nearly 30 years. â€Å"At the service, Walter J. Leonard, the university’s president at the time, remembered Douglas with the following statement: ‘Aaron Douglas was one of the most accomplished of the interpreters of our instituti ons and cultural values. He captured the strength and quickness of the young; he translated the memories of the old; and projected the determination of the inspired and courageous (Biography 2). †

Leadership and managmement in early childhood setting Essay

Leadership and managmement in early childhood setting - Essay Example Leadership, no doubt, is an important element, which plays a vital role in the development of people by following some principles of governance. In early childhood setting, leadership in educational sector deals with children, families, managers and stakeholders. Dr. Goh Keng Swee was a great and successful leader of Singapore. He became Minster of education and developed new sense of education in the general public and gave an improved educational system (Lee, 2010). According to Dr. Goh Keng Swee, educational leaders should be empowered and more autonomy should be given to them so that the students can be facilitated with better educational opportunities. Dr. Goh Keng Swee is one of the great examples of successful leaders, and I agree that I have learnt a lot of traits from this great leader and tried my best for adopting these traits. The traits that I learnt from the great leader are persuasiveness, strength, keeping vision, supportiveness, goal orientation, having influence, de cision-making power and much more. The first and foremost thing that a leader should have is knowledge because faith fails when the leader lacks knowledge. Therefore, faith comes after knowledge. He knows how to work in a team, how to motivate the team members, how to assist in application of different financial assistance schemes, he has to make alerts to the Director of every matter that is crucial to the well-being of the children and staff and much more. In order to become a successful leader in the field of education, I must know the way to constantly improve and add values to the curriculum so that it meets the goals and many other things, which are helpful for the students. This is in the time of unknowing that having faith is what sees you through to the other side. I have a need to develop a sense of judging the situation in right way and that is what will give me strength. I was an office manager before entering early

Case study analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Case study analysis - Essay Example The report also encompasses a SWOT analysis of Netflix along with recommendations for future development. The movie rental and streaming industry offers movies and streaming videos to customers at a monthly charge. Over the years, this industry has grown significantly, with customers spending increasing amounts on video and streaming services. According to Snider (2014) spending on digital video content increased by over 30% in 2013 in comparison with the previous year. Snider (2014) also been mentioned that, with the rise in popularity of streaming content, the DVD rental service is gradually declining. Over the past year, it has dropped by 9% and is predicted to keep on falling in the coming years. The movie rental and streaming industry is characterized by the presence of several well established brands other than Netflix such as Hulu, Amazon prime, HBO Go, Vudu, Apple TV, among others (Donfro, 2014). These firms compete among each other to gain the maximum possible number of subscribers by offering higher value propositions and, among all the competitors; Netflix has managed to attract the highest market share. One of the key drivers of the movie rental and streaming industry is the growing popularity of the online streaming services. The constant increase in the usage of high speed internet services has made it easier for customers to stream their favourite movie or TV series at a time of their own choosing. Moreover, another key driver for the growth of the industry is the increasingly hectic lifestyle of the people, which leaves hardly any time to catch a movie in theatres and watch a TV show at specific airing time (Marketline, 2014). Thus, the video and movie streaming service has gained huge popularity as its services allow customers to watch movies and TV shows at their convenience. Moreover, technological advancement has also allowed

Locke's point on view about empiristics Assignment

Locke's point on view about empiristics - Assignment Example Explain why Berkeley maintains that if empiricists take these ideas seriously, Locke's account actually leads to radical doubts about the existence of the material world. What solution to this problem does Berkeley think that empiricists should accept? Berkeley's solution, however, is widely seen to be highly problematic. Which of these two problems---the (alleged) problems facing Locke or Berkeley's solution to these problems---seems to be the most damaging or difficult problem facing empiricism? Why? Critically defend your position. The empiricist claim of Locke proposes that knowledge only comes from experience and feeling while the rationalists asserts that reason is already an innate attribute and is already previously present in Descartes Cartesian proof. Locke posits that the human consciousness evolves and therefore starts as an â€Å"empty mind† or a tabula rasa. It continuously evolves with experience, learning and sensation which are the sources of our ideas. The ra tionalists like Rene Descartes however, presupposes that reason is already inherent in man. It is already there even before he or she attempts to evolve or make a conscious effort to even think. For Descartes, the mere exercise of thinking is already a validation that one exists. Even the process of doubting one’s existence, in Descartes perspective, is already a proof that one exists due to the sheer exercise of thinking.

Gun Control community and police safety vs right to bear arms Research Paper

Gun Control community and police safety vs right to bear arms - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that judging by the current statistics, the United States has the highest level of gun-related violence, which is not only greater than everywhere in Western Europe, but around the World. Police officers receive reports of mass shootings virtually every day, with the latest one being the San Bernardino shooting in California, which left 14 people dead and 21 wounded. According to Shootingtracker.com, the San Bernardino shooting is undeniably the deadliest since the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting, which took place in December 2012, and left 20 children and 6 adults dead. The website, which defines a mass shooting as an incident where four or more people are shot at the same time, equally reports that the United States has witnessed 1052 mass shootings over a span of 1066 days. The situation in the United States is a sharp contrast to that in Scotland for example, which has a population of 5.3 million people but has made great strides in managing gun-related violence. The state of affairs in Scotland is said to have changed after the Dunblane Primary School shooting in March 1996, which left 16 children and 1 teacher dead. The public outcry that resulted from the 1996 incident prompted the British government to act with speed, and ban the private ownership of automatic weapons and handguns within their mainland. The effected changes similarly gave the authorities more control over the licensing of weapons.

Write up a report based on Case StudyStrategy Formulation at Zanzibar Study

Write up a report based on StudyStrategy Formulation at Zanzibar - Case Study Example The affluent are attracted by the magic of the word Zanzibar. The place was previously referred to as Zanj-el-Barr or the land of the blacks. The region has been a colony for many times in the past firstly for the fact that it acted as a stopover destination for the ships travelling to India and due to fact that the country had a rich variety of spices. The spices are what contributed to centuries old reputation of the region. The spices that once upon a time made the archipelago famous are Cloves, Cardamom, Saffron, Curry, black pepper etc. However the spices are no longer the main source of living and income generating activity of the region and the tourism business is now the main economic activity. In the following pages the discu8ssion is focussed on the SWOT analysis of the region and strategies that can be adopted in order to promote Zanzibar as a tourist destination. The archipelago of Zanzibar has been famous for centuries for the spices and an important stopover for the trade routes. The region was first used as a trade destination by the Persians. These were followed by the Arabs who were eager to establish trade relations between the African countries and the gulf (Wilson, 2012). The Arabs were succeeded by the Portuguese in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Portuguese were in turn followed by the Omanis and who in turn were followed by the Britishers. The British saw the region as the perfect stop for their ships before they visited India (Hartley, 2003). So, over the years Zanzibar has seen a blending of different cultures and ethnic groups. The culture of Zanzibar thus reflects a mix of Swahilis along with the Arabs, Indians and the Europeans (McIntyre and McIntyre, 2013). This mixing of culture is also reflected in the music of the region. However the archipelago has lost to the competition in the spices industry from India which is much more industrious, productive and operates an efficient

Locke's point on view about empiristics Assignment

Locke's point on view about empiristics - Assignment Example Explain why Berkeley maintains that if empiricists take these ideas seriously, Locke's account actually leads to radical doubts about the existence of the material world. What solution to this problem does Berkeley think that empiricists should accept? Berkeley's solution, however, is widely seen to be highly problematic. Which of these two problems---the (alleged) problems facing Locke or Berkeley's solution to these problems---seems to be the most damaging or difficult problem facing empiricism? Why? Critically defend your position. The empiricist claim of Locke proposes that knowledge only comes from experience and feeling while the rationalists asserts that reason is already an innate attribute and is already previously present in Descartes Cartesian proof. Locke posits that the human consciousness evolves and therefore starts as an â€Å"empty mind† or a tabula rasa. It continuously evolves with experience, learning and sensation which are the sources of our ideas. The ra tionalists like Rene Descartes however, presupposes that reason is already inherent in man. It is already there even before he or she attempts to evolve or make a conscious effort to even think. For Descartes, the mere exercise of thinking is already a validation that one exists. Even the process of doubting one’s existence, in Descartes perspective, is already a proof that one exists due to the sheer exercise of thinking.

Write up a report based on Case StudyStrategy Formulation at Zanzibar Study

Write up a report based on StudyStrategy Formulation at Zanzibar - Case Study Example The affluent are attracted by the magic of the word Zanzibar. The place was previously referred to as Zanj-el-Barr or the land of the blacks. The region has been a colony for many times in the past firstly for the fact that it acted as a stopover destination for the ships travelling to India and due to fact that the country had a rich variety of spices. The spices are what contributed to centuries old reputation of the region. The spices that once upon a time made the archipelago famous are Cloves, Cardamom, Saffron, Curry, black pepper etc. However the spices are no longer the main source of living and income generating activity of the region and the tourism business is now the main economic activity. In the following pages the discu8ssion is focussed on the SWOT analysis of the region and strategies that can be adopted in order to promote Zanzibar as a tourist destination. The archipelago of Zanzibar has been famous for centuries for the spices and an important stopover for the trade routes. The region was first used as a trade destination by the Persians. These were followed by the Arabs who were eager to establish trade relations between the African countries and the gulf (Wilson, 2012). The Arabs were succeeded by the Portuguese in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Portuguese were in turn followed by the Omanis and who in turn were followed by the Britishers. The British saw the region as the perfect stop for their ships before they visited India (Hartley, 2003). So, over the years Zanzibar has seen a blending of different cultures and ethnic groups. The culture of Zanzibar thus reflects a mix of Swahilis along with the Arabs, Indians and the Europeans (McIntyre and McIntyre, 2013). This mixing of culture is also reflected in the music of the region. However the archipelago has lost to the competition in the spices industry from India which is much more industrious, productive and operates an efficient

Philosophy - Is Memory Reliable Essay Example for Free

Philosophy Is Memory Reliable Essay How would I prove that my memory or reasoning processes are reliable? There really is no good way to answer this question. My first thought was, well that should be easy, because I can prove my memory is reliable by the fact that I remember where class is every day that I show up. If I can remember where the classroom is, that must show my memory is reliable. But then I realized that I’m relying on a memory to come up with that example. This makes the question seem like a paradox to even try and answer, because in order to figure out if there is a way to prove my memory is reliable, I must use my memory to recall memories that might apply, and I must also assume the accuracy of the memories I might draw from as example. I cannot prove memory reliability by using logic drawn from the assumption that the memories I used are reliable. This seems to create a fallacy in logic before even getting started. In reality it seems easy to say that yes, although our memories are sometimes wrong, generally more often than not they are right. We know this because we recall from our memory many times each day to do the simplest tasks. If our memory was that flawed, we would be unable to survive on a day to day basis. Where do I get water? How do I get food? How do I drive a car? While this does show that we are able to rely on our memories to complete everyday tasks, it doesn’t prove our memory is consistently true. We cannot be sure that any memory we’ve ever had actually happened exactly the way we remember it (unless material sources are used, like video or pictures to back up the memory) because of a multitude of problems with memory like delusion and distortion. Memories can be easily manipulated and altered in many different ways, from simple re-telling where little details may be unwittingly changed each time a memory is told, to the power of suggestion in which an entirely false memory can be implanted into a persons mind and believed to be true by that person. Although these memories may seem very real to us, even to the point where we are willing to fight for their reliability, they are still factually false. This actually happens a lot! Although it practice these issues with memory exist, they are mostly ignored because we typically use other methods beyond memory alone to help collaborate what we remember. We are validated by others who share the same memory, photos, ect. So although in a philosophical world it seems impossible to find solid clear evidence that memory is truly reliable, but it seems silly, and even dangerous to continually doubt that memory can be reliably called upon. For example, I decide to cross the road without looking both ways because I cannot be sure that being hit by a car would kill me. I might have seen and heard of people being killed by cars in the past, but if I doubt my own memory how could I be sure that speeding cars have the potential to actually kill people. Because of this seemingly correct logic I might then be hit by a car and become a victim of what many would say is clear common sense. So although there is no good way to prove the reliability of memory, we must still rely on it all the same.

Westgate Bridge Collapse Engineering

Westgate Bridge Collapse Engineering The West Gate Bridge fell down on the 15th of October in 1970, it was caused by a few half girders on the west part of the bridge that didnt fit. They attempted to fix this with an unusual method which made the situation worse. The bridge buckled and eventually collapsed. It killed the workers while they were on break and only a few were left alive. Introduction The West Gate Bridge started construction in 1968 and was the second longest bridge in Australia. The building process was going well at first though an unusual method was being used throughout the project. About 2 years into construction, problems began to show. There was an imbalance between several steel girders which made them not fix into position. Some engineers proposed putting 10 concrete blocks which weighed 8 tons individually, on each of the girders to put them into place which caused the bridge to buckle. Background The company Freeman Fox Partners was in charge of build and this was their 20th bridge.Some of their previous works were The Adome Bridge, Humber Bridge, Erskine Bridge, and Forth Road Bridge. The West Gate Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia which spanned over the Yarra River north of Port Phillip and is an important link to the inner city. Investigation For the most part, the investigation was mostly interviewing survivors and explaining what happened. The blame was mostly on the engineer who designed it and the engineers who ordered the concrete blocks. Findings It was found that Ward, aka Freeman Fox Partners were responsible for giving the designs.The bridge was built unevenly and they tried to put concrete blocks on the girders. Their measurements were fixed in the rebuild and there were no problems during the process. Conclusion It was structural engineer fault due to the failure of measuring properly and allowing to fixing the problem with concrete bricks, which resulted in the bridge buckling. The mess was cleaned up almost immediately. The ambulance got the injured, the firefighters put out the fire and the construction crew cleaned up the wreckage and started over. The bridge was reopened to the public in 1978. Notes Camber- is a rate of elevation between two rails Snapped after removing buckle Structural design failure Freeman Fox Partners Second longest bridge in Australia and highest in the country In October 15 1970, The span between piers 10 and 11 collapsed 2,000 Tonne mass plummeted into mud and created an explosion Rescuers risked their lives Girders are large iron or steel beams used in complex structures Unusual method of construction 35 killed, 18 injured Known for jumpers Steel box girder cable-stayed bridge Began construction in 1965 A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers from which cables support the bridge deck Sources https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/wQLmdTVt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Gate_Bridge http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:UccIiYplRh8J:anengineersaspect.blogspot.com/2009/10/west-gate-bridge-collapse-on-its-39th.html+cd=2hl=enct=clnkgl=us https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-f4416355b6576128ede23ea6abd5452e-c?convert_to_webp=true Rubric rating submitted on: 12/21/2016, 12:20:28 PM by [emailprotected] 10 5 0 Title Page Your score: 5 x Present not done Table of Contents Your score: 5 x Present not done Abstract Your score: 10 Present not done Introduction Your score: 5 x Background Your score: 5 Present not done Investigation Your score: 5 Present not done Findings Your score: 5 Present not done Impact Your score: 5 Present not done Conclusion Your score: 5 x not done References Your score: 10 References included no references Notes Your score: 10 Notes recorded no notes 6 Content Pages Your score: filled 6 pages 3 content pages no contents pages

Technology - Software Security Lacking in Face of Deadlines :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Software Security Lacking in Face of Deadlines Abstract: This paper illustrates a moral dilemma regarding security measures of software releases. The presence of malicious hackers throughout the globe today is a practical reality; robust secure code ought to be a strong priority for software companies. However, faced with complications regarding deadline issues, language issues, security continues to pose problems with software today. Software companies must ultimately make a decision between balancing security robustness and commercial viability of their products. A cooperative effort by software companies and users to promote responsible and intelligent usage of products can lead to more security. In today’s rapidly expanding computer world, growing demands for functionality under shorter time frames have become common place. Software growth has also provided newer economic rewards and possibilities for many companies. As software has become more pervasive in function and usage, security problems regarding the products has become a real issue. Viruses, worms, and hackers have become more dangerous as computers have become more connected and require more complex software. Software, unfortunately, will always be subject to flaws and bugs. Software coding is a distinctly human process and hence subject to human error. It is precisely such errors prevalent within crucial software that can be exploited by malicious individuals. The presence of such hackers is an unwelcome and unfortunate reality; it is the responsibility therefore, of software creators to take into account potential security risks in creating their products. However, reducing security risks mean s more resources and time spent in a product. For commercial companies, the dilemma exists between providing a safe product and protecting their bottom line. Nonetheless, practical solutions exist for providing security to the software user, involving responsible usage from the user as well as an informative approach from the software companies. In taking a wide overview of the computer world today, it is very easy to identify possible security risks. Especially in a connected network of worldwide computers, the limitless stream of bytes and data may invite viruses and hackers into any one single computer. According to PC Magazine Online, â€Å"Intel execs say the computer industry is lagging in support of data-security initiatives.†1 The difficulty lies sometimes in predicting areas of security weakness. Sometimes seemingly secure code may be subject to innovative attacks which can compromise security.

Social Security Essay examples -- essays research papers

SOCIAL SECURITY   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The purpose of Social Security is to provide for the material needs of individuals and families, to protect aged and disabled persons against the expenses of illnesses that may otherwise use up their savings; to keep families together; and to give children the chance to grow up healthy and secure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As I write this term paper, I will discuss the following topics, related to Social Security: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A brief history of Social Security. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Types of Social Security benefits. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How Social Security is financed. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How you earn Social Security work credits. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A brief history of Social Security: 06/08/34  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Federal legislation to promote Economic Security was recommended in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s message to Congress. 06/29/34  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  President Roosevelt created the committee on Economic Security to study the problems related to economic security and make recommendations for a program of legislation. 01/17/35  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Committee on Economic Securities’ recommendations were introduced in the 74th Congress. 04/19/35  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Social Security Act was passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 372 to 33. 06/19/35  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Social Security Act was passed in the Senate by a vote of 77 to 6. 08/14/35  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Social Security Act became law with President Roosevelt’s signature. 08/23/35  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Senate confirmed the president’s nomination of the original members of the Social Security Board, John G. Winant, Chairman, Arthur J. Altmeyer, and Vincent M. Miles. 10/14/36  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first Social Security field office was opened in Austin, Texas. 11/09/36  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Baltimore Office for Record Keeping Operations opened in the Candler Building. 11/24/36  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Applications for Social Security account numbers were distributed by the post office. 01/01/37  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Workers began to acquire credits towards old-age insurance benefits. 01/37  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First application for benefits f... ...efits, How Social Security is Financed, and How you earn Social Security Work Credits. The clock is ticking for the Social Security System with a gigantic baby boom generation approaching retirement age, Social Security faces a funding crisis. By about 2012 more money will be going out to Social Security recipients than will be coming in from workers payroll taxes. The system’s trust fund can cover the difference for a while, but by about 2032 the trust fund will be empty and the program will no longer be able to meet all of its obligations. Historically, politicians have had a simple, consistent position on Social Security, do nothing. However, a spirited bipartisan debate is raging in Capital Hill and across the nation, over a handful of possible changes, all of which were considered unthinkable a few years ago: 1) Cutting benefits across the board (or just for the wealthy). 2) Raising the payroll tax across the board (or just for the wealthy). 3) Raising the age at which retirees become eligible. 4) Investing the trust fund more aggressively. 5) Letting workers contribute to personal security accounts that the government would manage (or that workers would manage themselves).

A reasoned evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses in Marxism, Functionalism and Feminism

A sociological theory is a set of ideas that provide an explanation for human society. In undertaking an accurate interpretation of three sociological perspectives, I will make a reasoned evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses in Marxism, Functionalism and Feminism. From the three chosen sociological perspectives I will also look at their individual views on religion and the family. SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES MARXISM Marxism named after its founder Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) is very famous and influential. Marx regarded people as both producers and the products of society, he believed since people made society, only they can change it. He argued that ‘man makes his own history'. Marx believed that the rich would get richer (bourgeois – ruling class) and that the poor would get poorer (proletariat – subordinate /working class). He proposed that the proletariat would revolt in anger, leading to a revolution, resulting in the disappearance of the social class system and that people would live in a more equal society. Max Weber (1864 – 1920) agreed with Marx, however he also stressed the importance of status and power (i.e. an individual may be poor but have high status, such as a teacher). His views on religion differed to that of Marx too, arguing that it could be a source of conflict and change rather than a source of stability or social control. Key Names: Mark, Eng els, Young and Taylor. FUNCTIONALISM Society is viewed as a system, that is, as a set of interconnected parts that together form a whole. Functionalists believe that society has basic needs, which must be met if it is to continue to exist. It believes the concept of function i.e. the function of the family is to ensure the continuity of society by reproducing and socializing new members and the function of religion is to integrate the social system by reinforcing common values. Key Names: Durkheim, Merton, Murdock, Malinowski and Parsons. FEMINISM The basic assumption shared by all feminists is that women suffer certain injustices on account of their sex. Feminist sociology, stresses the importance of gender divisions in society and it portrays these divisions as working to the overall advantage to men. Although feminists are united by their common desire for sexual justice and their concern for women's welfare, there is actually a wide spectrum of ‘feminisms' (Mitchell and Oakley, 1986). These can be divided into four broad ‘tendencies': liberal, radical, Marxist/socialist and Black. STRENGTHS MARXISM Critical of Capitalism. In favour of the average person in society. Economic base or infrastructure and Political/Ideological superstructure. Social Structure (Macro Approach). FUNCTIONALISM Functional Imperatives: Goal Attainment, Adaptation, Integration and Latency. Functional sub-systems: Economic, Political, Family and Religion. FEMINISM Has done a lot to improve things for women over the years. Focuses on male/female relationships. Looks at laws needed/ used to ‘redress' male/female power balance (equal legal protection and social rights). WEAKNESSES MARXISM Too many inconsistencies and interpretations of Marx's work. Unscientific (the ‘Faith of Marxism' – Popper). Conspiracy theory (especially aimed at instrumental Marxists). Communism does not appear about to happen. Forms of (non-economic) conflict (gender, ethnic group) ignored in favour of economic conflicts. Left Functionalism (‘Marxism is little more than a form of Functionalism that replaces the interest of ‘society' with ‘ruling class' – Jock Young). Modern society is more complex than Marx predicted. Comparatively dated theories. Critics: Popper, Weber, Young (‘Left Idealism'), any New Right Theorist, Social biologists and Radical Feminists. FUNCTIONALISM Functionalists find it hard to explain rapid social change. They believe that ‘if something exists it has a function. It has a function because it exists'. The belief that non-human things like ‘society' can have human qualities such as ‘needs and purposes'. Over-emphasis upon the ‘beneficial' aspects of institutions and structures. Believing that society revolves around family unit – but not willing to recognise that not all people worldwide – belong to a family unit – yet function well. Critics: Marxist Sociologists, Radical and Marxist Feminists. FEMINISM Women – like working class men – are at a fundamental economic disadvantage; although Feminists refuse to see that. Legal changes mainly benefited middle class women. Legal equality not the same as status equality. Ignores study of social structural factors (e.g. class). Feminism geared towards middle class feminists (Bourgeois). Men are seen as the ‘enemy' (Marxist Feminism). Critics: Radical Feminists and New Right of Liberal Feminists and New Right, Marxist/Socialist Feminists of Radical Feminists. STRUCTURAL VIEWS ON RELIGION AND THE FAMILY Religions, families and societies have been around for a very long time. Unsurprisingly, we find family units and religions present in all known societies, and consequently, families and religion have a social impact. Everyone has their own view of what religion and the family consists of. These pre conceived ides are mostly to do with our own backgrounds, culture and life experiences. There is a lot of disagreement among sociologists about the roles of religion and the family within society; we will look at three sociological perspectives: RELIGION MARXISM In Marx's view, ‘Man makes religion, religion does not make man'. In other words, religion is the self-conscious and the self-feeling of man who has either not found himself or has already lost himself again. ‘Truly liberated individuals have no need of religion'. Thus, if the alienation and exploitation associated with the classes are eradicated, and people are freed to develop their human potential and find themselves, as in a truly socialist society, religion will no longer be needed and will cease to exist. Marx and Engels believed that religion represented a protest against a dehumanising social world and human alienation, it also leads people into false hopes and direction, along with the ‘solutions' it promises that are illusory. It obscures and distorts the true nature of reality in ways that benefit the ruling class. Marx anticipated that when a classless society was established, religion would disappear. FUNCTIONALISM Whereas Durkheim sees religion as an expression and celebration of people's sociality. Religion creates order and stability in society; it can be an agent of socialization and create a sense of social solidarity. Malinowski accepted like Durkheim that religion creates social solidarity but he believed that religion is a response to peoples needs during stress (e.g. birth and death). Parsons believed the role of religion served two functions, one to provide guidelines (behaviour in society) and the other is to answer ultimate questions. FEMINISM Religion is seen as an instrument of oppression, as a product of patriarchy rather than a product of capitalism. Religion is used by oppressors (men) to control the oppressed group (women), and it also serves as a way of compensating women for their second-class status. In most typical religions of the last millennium women are subservient and secondary to men (i.e. Catholic church and Muslims). THE FAMILY MARXISM The Marxists position asserts that the nuclear family is not universal but a product of capitalism and that the family is an exploitative institution. Murdock's theory is critised because he didn't consider that other social institutions could have performed the functions and he does not examine other alternatives to the family. In Engels theory he suggested that the main reason that the family developed was to solve the problem of inheritance, also that the family was the most efficient device for insuring legitimacy of the proposed heirs. Engels theory was largely based on a flawed interpretation of the family by Anthropologist, Lewis Morgan (1900). FUNCTIONALISM A strong supporter of the family is the Functionalist. Their belief is that the family is the ‘cornerstone of society'. A study was conducted on the family, studying 250 societies by George Murdock (Social Structure 1949). In his study, he concluded that the ‘nuclear family is a universal human social grouping †¦. It exists as a distinct and strongly functional group in every known society'. Murdock identifies four basic functions that the family performs: sexual, reproductive, economic and educational. Fellow functionalist Talcott Parsons would largely agree with Murdock's theories of the family. FEMINISM Feminists' criticise the family as the focus on the exploitation of women by men, they argue that men dominate family relationships. Radical feminists argue that in it's most extreme form this means oppression and violence (Russell Dobash, 1980). Evidence to suggest that women are dissatisfied in their family life is portrayed in the rise of divorces filed by women. Parson's theory of the family being a safe haven is more myth than reality for families today. Feminist Margaret Benson focuses mainly only the point that women are a source of cheap labour, as the housewife is unpaid for her work. In the family women are primarily seen as a housewife and mother, and in this environment men are given the control over women's sexuality and fertility. EVALUATION The different aspects of religion have a social impact and must be measured. Through out history there is considerable evidence to support Marx's ideology, that religion maintains the existing system of exploitation and reinforces class relationship, thereby keeping people in their place (consider the Islamic world). However, conflicting evidence suggests that religion does not always legitimate power (Catholicism – Pope – Rome). Whilst Feminism implies that religion and belief systems are an instrument of manipulation for men to use on women; although I believe this theory to be the case for some religions but not all. It can vary from religion to religion, for example women cannot become priests in the Roman Catholic or Greek and Russian Orthodox churches, but in the Jewish faith women can become rabbis and do not sit apart from men. Contrary to Marxist views that religion suppresses people' attempts to change their situation, religion can sometimes provide an impetus for change (Queen Mary – Catholicism and Queen Elizabeth I – Protestant). The Functionalist perspective of belief systems and religion does not vindicate for the dysfunctional aspects that the unruly force of religion can manifest (i.e. war in the name of ‘Religion'). The subject of the family and how it is defined is extremely difficult to determine. Marxists position asserts that the nuclear family is not universal but a product of capitalism and that the family is an exploitive institution, and that it was the simplest solution for insuring legitimacy of proposed heirs. Whereby Functionalism is a strong supporter of the family, believing it to be the ‘cornerstone' of society. Feminists' criticise the family as the focus on the exploitation of women by men, they argue that men dominate family relationships. CONCLUSION Everyone has their own view of what religion and the family consists of. These pre conceived ideas are mostly to do with our own backgrounds, culture and life experiences. I find it difficult to subscribe to one theory over another as Functionalist, Marxist and Feminist theories can be interpreted in many different ways. Consequently each theory's perspective will work for their interpretation of religion, the family and society. The three theories are not too dissimilar to the three main Political Parties (Labour, Conservative and Liberal) in Britain; each has it's own agenda, but are all are equally as devious! I am more inclined to opt for the Feminist and Marxist theories as they seem more plausible and are more comparative to past history and present day findings. I also believe that as societies cultures change through time, so will our definition of family, religion and society.

Financial analysis for smartphone industry

After a heat discussion, our team chose the smart phone industry for the following two reasons. Firstly, telephone is a significant communicating instrument around the world today. International Telecommunication Union predicts that the number of cell phones would exceed the number of human beings in 2014. Secondly, with the increasingly functions of smart phone, it plays a vital role in the relevant industries. The flourishing development of smart phone industry also accelerates the development of other industries such as the cell phone battery industry and cell phone game industry. . 1 Industry Analysis We are talking about smart phone industry specifically. The newly formed competitive market includes hardware manufacturing, operating systems and content. Looking back on the history, leaders of those fields have changed a lot, as Monika, Motorola and RIM have been transcended by Apple, Samsung and other brands. Apply Porter's five force analysis to smart phone industry. Starting f rom threat of entry, software faces this more because of open platforms. Floods of capitals are required for R and operation levels, thus this threat is moderately high.Substitutes like Pads, Notebook and laptops have entered the market causing the threat. Threat also comes from suppliers, fragmented supply and the difficulty of vertical integration have impeded company profiting. But the threat is low overall. Meanwhile, buyers also impact threat by various demands and higher bargaining power. All these four threats result in a high threat of rivalry. Brand and concentrated market also matter. For the industry status, in 2011, the smart phone application market was about USED 6. 7 billion which is expected to be USED 1 55 billion with CARR of almost 55% from 2011 to 2017.In addition, worldwide sales of smart phones to end users totaled 968 million units in 2013, an increase of 42. Percent from 2012. Sales of smart phones accounted for 53. 6 percent of overall mobile phone sales in 2013 which accounts for 75. 8% of the overall mobile handset revenue. 1. 3 Firm description We choose six companies in smart phone industry to do some analysis. They are Sony, Apple, Samsung, ETC, Black Berry and Monika. The firms we choose represent different level of performance in the industry. Apple and Samsung are outstanding firms with higher net income and greater profitability.MONIKA, SONY and Blackberry are firms once created brilliant achievements but suffer from ailing business in the past 3 years. ETC is a newly brought-in competitor with advanced technology in developing smart phones. The six firms experienced different types of history. Samsung struggled with poor quality and inferior products in its earlier times. Apple seemed to grow gradually since it was established. On the contrary, Blackberry and MONIKA were once outstanding in the industry. SONY (SONY Ericson) left behind when transforming from mobile phones to smart phones.ETC has a short history. Most of the f irms experienced several important mergers or acquisition in the past 5 years. Badly-performed firms shrink while well-performed ones expand their equines by proper selling plans or acquisitions. Some important events are as follows. Microsoft declared to acquire Ionians mobile business and large amounts of patent portfolios with 7. 17 billion dollars. Blackberry made an announcement that the corporation agreed to be acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings at the price of 47 billion, though the selling plan turns out to be failed.SONY and Ericson were incorporated into Sony Mobile Communications. 2. Past performance analysis Note: Risk free rate: US. Government bond rate for 5 years Expected market return: historical industry return for 5 years 2. 1 Samsung 013 is a fancy year for Samsung, possessing the biggest market share in smart phone for 31. 5% ahead of 15. 5% for Apple. For the first sq in 2013, PEE ratio decreased from 9. 09% to 6. 99% and it rose to 7. 30% in SQ. For the cap ital structure, 93. 2% was financed by equity and bond took up 6. 7%. Stock return for 2013 is -3. 7%. Move to past areas. PIE ratio experienced biggest decrease from 1 1. 88% to 7. 04%. Stock return is waving from 2. 98% to 28. 53%. Now focus on past areas. PEE ratio as 1 1. 88% peaked in 2011 standing out from a general downward trend. Besides, the releasing of GALAXY Tab 3 and GALAXY Note 10. Drove inventory turnover ratio higher. The peak for debt to equity ratio appeared in 2011 which is 0. 1446 and the trend is downward. Stock return in 2009 is highest for 64. 42%. The cost of equity for Samsung is 27. 63% given its current beta is 1. 12.For the dividend policy, the payout ratios are 12. 3%, 9. 3%, 6. 0%, 5. 1% and 7. 11%respectively since 2009. The most recent dividend pay date is on August 26, painting out 75. 4 million USED. On July 17 2012, Samsung acquired the handset operations of CARS Pl, and invested a 4. 9% stake in the company later. It is the largest acquisition cas e for Samsung since the 1997 uncial crisis. Actually, Samsung completed 5 acquisitions in 2012 which is more frequent than before. Acquisitions progress appears in net income rising from in 2011 to and to in 2012 and 2013.Inventions also declined from 3,859,994 to 2,918,234 until 2013. Samsung sold a record 86 million smart phones in Quaff 2013 and widened its lead over Apple selling 51 million for phone 5. 2. 2 Monika In 2013, Monika had a negative PEPS, showing that Monika didn't do well in 2013. The inventory turnover was about 6. 0, lower than the industry average (about). ROE was negative. The debt/asset ratio was 72. 59%. The dividend per share was O in 2013. The stock return was 97% in 2013 and the cost of equity for Monika is 8. 66%, given its current beta is 1. 3. Looking at the past 3 years, we find Debt/Equity ratio of Monika was increasing constantly. The ROE ratio was always negative over the past three years, decreasing from 2011 to 2012 and increasing from 2012 to 201 3. The dividend per share decreased from 0. 33 in 2011 to 0. 13 in 2012, then too in 2013. The stock return increased from -55% in 2011 to -23% in 2012, then to 97% in 2013. Considering the past five years performance, we find that Monika did quite a good Job in 2009 and 010 because its PIE ratios were positive and really high.The dividend per share decreased from 0. 41 in 2009 to 0. 31 in 2010. The trend of dividend per share from 2009 to 2013 is declining. The stock return increased from 2009 to 2013 while it was negative from 2009 to 2012. As for important events, on September 3rd, 2013, Microsoft declared to acquire Ionians mobile business and a large amount of patent portfolios with 7. 17 billion dollars. The stock price of Monika soared from about 3 dollars per share to about 8 dollars per share from August 29th, 2013 to November 18th, 2013.We compare the financial performance of the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2013 and find that net income increased a lot from -91 mil lions to -millions of dollars. 2. 3 Apple In 2013, Apple had a perfect performance. The ROE (about 0. 3064) and PIE ratio (about 15. 21) are both three times higher than the industry average, Besides, the inventory turnover of Apple is about 83, Apple is already well-known for its supply chain. The company's 40. 31% of assets came from debt and 59. 69% of assets came from equity. The of PAPAL in 2013 is 0. 74, and the cost of capital for PAPAL is 22. 3 percent in 2013.In the past 3 years, the current ratio and price-earnings ratio did not change a lot, but ROE decrease sharply in 2013, and the debt/equity decreased in 2012 and increased in 2013, meaning that the company issued more stocks than bonds in 2012. The annual stock return 0. 013 in 2013, 0. Tent 2012, and 0. 243 in 2011. Looking back over 5 years, the ROE increased from 2009 to 2012 and decreased in 2013. The inventory turnover went up sharply from 2012 and went down a little in 2013, which is partially because of the phon e ass's huge success. In addition, PAPAL began giving shareholders a quarterly dividend of $2. Per share in 2012. This dividend yield is about 1. 2% higher than the industry average. Apple's business philosophy is to acquire small companies that can be easily integrated into existing company projects, so Apple did more than 60 small acquisitions in the last decades. Apple merged plenty of software makers including Sir. After the acquisition, Sir has been an intelligent personal assistant and was introduced as a feature of the phone AS. This technical innovation has been a huge success so that more than 50% profit of Apple company came from phone in 2012. 2. ETC 013 is a struggling year for ETC, we can see that most of the key ratios of the company are under the industry average, profitability measures are almost all negative, and ROE are -1. 67, indicating that ETC failed to earn enough profit to even cover its expense. The high Debt/equity ratio (1. 22) makes its stock risky. The o f ETC in 2013 is 1. 88, while the industry average is only 1. 12. High makes the cost to raise capital high too. The cost of capital for ETC is 10. 13 percent in 2013. Looking back over 3 years, we found that Itch's profit has been declining since 2011, inventory turnover declined from 12. 8 to 7. 0 due to the poor sale and management problem. The annual stock return -0. 525 in 2013, 0. 064 2012, and -0. 392 in 2011. Looking back over 5 years, it is clear that the business boomed during 2009 and 2011, and started to fall behind since then. The sale increased by about 1 11% from 2009 to 2010, but stock price has fallen by 90 percent since then. Besides, the company prescribed at least 50% of the total dividend be distributed as cash dividend, it pay dividend in July or August every year. ETC believe that acquisitions are the key to help ETC quickly grow to compete with its competitors.So ETC spent more than $700 lions on acquisition in 2010 and 2011 trying to gain market share. Major mergers include SO Graphics, Beats Electronics LLC, and etc. However, Itch's acquisition strategy didn't work well as expected. Those deals neither helped ETC to boost its brand image or to win the law suit, the sale have also been decreasing since the requested of 2011. 2. 5 Sony From 2009 to 2013, Sony had gone through a road of difficult and twists. In 2013, Sony didn't have a well performance. Its current ratio, ROE and inventory turnover ratio is under industry average.To be specific, its inventory turnover ratio is the lowest. Through its PEE ratio is strangely high, I think it mostly related to the small profit number. Looking back over 3 years, we can see most ratio, including ROE and inventory turnover ratio, had a peak in 2012. Especially ROE had a soaring from 2011 to 2012. There are four reasons. First, Sony Corp. acquired the remaining 50% stake from ELM Ericson Telethon ABA on February 15, 2012, which made mobile phone sales increased a lot. Last, the yen devalued. Lo oking back over 5 years, the current ratio and ROE had a drop until 2011.The inventory turnover ratio had a peak in 2010 while he debt-equity ratio increased until 2012. Actually, Sony had negative net income for consecutive four years. Not only it is a result of disasters such as JP Tsunami, but also it is because the yen appreciate and digital products from Japan were shocked by other goods. The stock return ratio of Sony from 2009 to 2011 has dropped from 0. 5 to -0. 47. However, it began to increase then. The ratio in 2013 is about 0. 15. It is consistent with what ROE shows. The cost of equity is 52. 72%. It is large due to the high Arm (29. 64%) and high risk (beta-?I . 2). 2. 6 Blackberry 2013 is not a pleasant year for Blackberry. The ability to generate profit is far behind its peer competitors. PEPS and ROE of the firm are -1. 23 and -6. 61% due to the negative net income. However, the current ratio highly above the industry average (about 1. 09). Stocks risk of Blackberry is low, measured in of 0. 48. Based on p, the cost of capital is 3. 70%. On account of the bad performance over the year, annual stock return in 2013 is -0. 426. Looking back to the past three-year performance, Blackberry dropped from its recent peak in 2011 to historical worst.Blackberry experienced a terrible service interrupt in Cot, 2011, which severely damaged the rim reputation and directly caused the following bad performances. Business declined sharply in 2012, with falling ROE and PEE ratio. In retrospect the performance in last five years, we could see that even under unpleasant financial crisis, Blackberry still could hold itself. PEE ratio was 17. 1 in 2009 and 10. 0 in 2012, both showing a good prospect, however, the ratio then began to decrease sharply after 2010. Annual stock return was at first positive in 2009(0. 19), but it has fallen below zero ever since. Inventory turnover is quite stable during the whole period. No dividend has been strutted during recent five years because of the disappointing performance. Most important series of restructuring events in Blackberry's history appeared in the year 2013. BlackBerry first announced to have reached a potential acquisition agreement with its biggest shareholder Fairfax Financial on Seep 23rd, after this good news, the stock price of BlackBerry shot up 0. 6 dollars. But the potential acquisition plan didn't last for a long time.In Novena, 2013 BlackBerry declared the breakdown of the selling plan. By pm Novo 4th, the stock price of BlackBerry has dropped 1. 44 dollars (18. 53%). 3. Future performance analysis . 1 Pro formal Pro formal of Cash Flow Pro formal of Balance Sheet & Income Statement Note: Erg (regression) W-M (weighted-moving-average method) Final (final forecast) We complete the pro formal by three steps. First step is to do an autoregressive analysis to forecast the data of 2014 and 201 5 through the historical data from 2009 to 2013. Then, we computed the weighted average by givi ng the weight of 0. 5, 0. 1, 0. 15, 0. 3, and 0. 4. Finally, we find some forward looking data predicted by economic forecasters on the internet and use moving weighted average method to get final data which are more efficient. What is more, if there is no forward looking data, we use weighted average on the regressive result and average result. We combined two different methods to do the forecast. Because every method has it is own drawback. For the regression method, it cannot show that the latest data, which indicates the trends more accurately, is more vital than the previous one.And the weighted average can overcome this drawback by giving the latest data more weights. But for some items like income, we think the result of regression method is more accurately. So we combined these two methods by using weighted average. 3. 2 Recommendation We divided the analysis of future performance of PAPAL into two parts: The analysis of data and the analysis of reality. Firstly, Let us focu s on the forecast data. We analyze three kinds of vital data measuring the performance of PAPAL. The first one is earnings per share (PEPS), which reflects the ability of company to generating profit.We forecast this data by regression, which is to estimate the net income and shares and do a Multivariate regression. The result is around 45. Then, there are five websites give out the PEPS estimate around 47. 9. We give them weights and get the final data of 47. . PEPS is the dollar value of earnings per each outstanding share of a company's common stock. Higher PEPS means that the company can generate more net income by each share and it can use less capital to get higher profit. Besides, the dividend may be high because of the high PEPS. The forecast data 47. In 201 5 is higher than today's data and it is reliable, because the net income and the shares are both increasing and the increasing speed of shares is slowly. So the performance of PAPAL will be better in the future. The seco nd one is PIE ratio. We use the weighted average method to get PIE in 201 5, which is 13. 2, and we also use the regression method to get it, which is 13. 44. We find that the forecast PIE ratio in Yahoo is 13. 07, which is not a high one. Theoretically speaking, a stock with low PIE ratio is a good one to investment, because the purchase cost is low.Besides, we think the value of PAPAL is underestimated now because of the high PEPS and the low PIE ratio. The price of stock will go up in the future. The third one is ROE, which shows how well PAPAL uses investment funds to earnings growth. We use the weighted average method to get ROE in 201 5, which is 36. 34%, and we also use the regression method to get it, which is 38. 6%. The average number is 37. 6%. ROE measures the rate of return on the shareholders' equity of the stock owners, which measures a firm's ability of generating profits from every unit of shareholders' equity.Generally speaking, ROES more than 10% are considered go od. Besides, the ROE of PAPAL is a reliable one, because the debt asset ratio is not high. In conclusion, we recommend that stockholders could hold Pal's stock for a long time because of the low PIE ratio and the high ROE. Performance we forecasted originates from two reality parts, one is expected increase based on past and current situations and the other is unexpected hangs including systematic and unsystematic risks align with future. The anticipated two opportunities for Apple are analyzed as following.The global market for smart phone will grow in few years based on GIG prediction and the annual sale is expected to increase from 1 billion in 2013 to 1 . Billion in 2017. Until the end of 2013, the SIS system accounted for 41. 2% and Android is 51. 9% comparatively. This intense rising user trend will amplify the market pie. The other is the cooperation with China Mobile. Above million regular customers of China Mobile will assist the sales rise for Apple. Unexpected systematic risk consists of interest rate risk and foreign currency risk. The company typically invests in highly-rated securities and changes in U.S. Interest rates affect the interest earned on the company's cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, the fair value of those securities, as well as costs associated with hedging. In the third quarter of 2013, the company issued $17. 0 billion of long-term debt, which included $3. 0 billion of floating-rate notes. In addition, Apple is a net receiver of foreign currencies and changes in exchange rates, particularly strengthening of U. S. Lars will negatively affect its net sales and gross margins expressed as U. S. Dollars originally. Unsystematic risk involves Apple's internal specific performance.New products release like will be a main source. The attraction of next generation Apple phone is controversial and based on past dissatisfying sales of phone and pad, their growth rate nearly held constant. Some people concern its innovation w ithout Jobs but some analysts note that the bigger size for phones will eliminate advantage of Android system brands like Samsung. Charm of wearing new product which is twitch concretely is also worth anticipating ND we may get some indicts from the coming WAD held in Los Angels. Beyond this, Apple will increase repurchase of stocks and issuance of dividends.According to Sanford C. Bernstein prediction, Apple will issue BIB dollars dividends in 2015. This will increase the value of stocks held on shareholders if the PEE ratio increased after the issuance. 4. Relative Performance According to the comparison of 5 key ratios, the underperforming corporations are SONY, Blackberry, ETC and MONIKA. Most of the firm shared common problems in several aspects as lack of innovative products and inventory management, while mom have critical faults in designing strategies. Relative performance and recommendations are as follows.According to the lowest inventory turnover ratio of Sony among its industry peers, one recommendation for Sony is to turn over its inventory quickly. It can improve its supply chain, manage efficiently to product appropriately. Due to the fast update of digital products, long inventory turnover period will enlarge the risk and the cost. Besides, 3. 1% of the market share is so small compared with Samsung and Apple that its ROE can't increase smoothly. The key to increase its market share is to launch the new production. Only by creating great mobile phones like phone, can Sony rebuild its Sony Time.Similar problems appeared in Blackberry and Monika. Most of Blackberry's profitability ratios as PEE, ROE and PEPS are under industry average due to firm's negative net income. The reasons are lack of attractive application programs and disappointing new product. Apple's phone and Google's Android squeezed the market share of Blackberry smart phone. The newly launched table PC was also not satisfying with simple functions but high selling price. Blackber ry should not only depend on its good reputation in E-mail recessing system, but focus more on user's entertainment experience like fancy interface and programs.Besides, Blackberry is the only one who ignores the prospect in China. To recover from declining tendency, a competitive product is required to open its Chinese market. The negative ROE and low inventory turnover ratio indicates that MONIKA is losing money . The reason is that the product of Monika is not as popular as that of other leading companies like Apple and considered to be lack of innovation, and its Simian operating system (until 2013) is not advocated by developers. So Monika should increase funding for research and develop products that appeal the consumers.Given that the mobile phone business of Monika was acquired by Microsoft on April 5th, 2014 (the acquisition was started on September 3rd, 2013), Microsoft should learn a lesson from the failure of Monika. ETC has been struggling in China due to price competit ion and limited distribution. Many people think the wrong high-end market strategy got ETC into trouble. To get out of woods, ETC may need to forget its strategy on high-end market and consider a partnership (merger) with another smart phone company that could provide synergy.Chinese smart phone makers sell products domestically because they have weak brand awareness in other regions, but ETC has established solid brand awareness in the United States and Europe, which Chinese handset makers could capitalize on. And ETC could get resources to get through this situation and look for new chances for development. So a merger with Chinese films could be a win-win. 5. Conclusion From the perspective of companies in the smart phone industry: Considering the fast speed of development of Asia-Pacific market, each company should strive to evolve Asia-Pacific market.Moreover, the target market of the company must be effective. As for products, companies should develop the products that satisfy consumers' preference. From the perspective of investors: The smart phone industry has a great development potential, so investors have substantial investment opportunities in this industry. But investors should cautiously determine the invested companies. We recommend selecting invested companies according to their past and future financial performance, the fitness between their products and the preference f the market, the market strategies and so on.