Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Adam Smith Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Adam Smith - Essay Example Advantages of division of labor can be seen in large organizations that have various branches and finally the branches incorporate into one bigger organization. Each branch has its own set of activities that it works on and has perfected. For instance, in a manufacturing organization there could be branches such as finance, production, sales, and marketing among others. Combination of all these branches makes one large organization and bringing together activities from the various branches gives better performance than if these tasks were to be conducted by one body. In his example about pin making, Smith argues that division of labor yields better results that non specialization (Smith, 2007, p. 3). This implies that division of labor is certainly an important aspect in increasing production levels in an organization. Actually, division of labor yields multiples than what would have been produced without division of labor. Combinations of the results presented from division of labor are seemingly unachievable if each person carried out the entire process alone. Borrowing from Smith’s example of pin making, it is evident that sometimes production of one person may not even yield one complete production of a pin per day. The efficiency and change brought about by division of labor is amazing. Increasing number of branches within an organization raises the chances of more production. This implies that breaking down a large organization into various stand-alone branches adds efficiency and consequently increased production. Evidently, countries that have adopted division of labor are more productive. Each person in the society has specific tasks and upon bringing the various different tasks together, the total production of the country is great. For instance, areas with huge chunks of land are used specifically for farming and the people around those areas only dwell in

Monday, October 28, 2019

Cognitive Process Culture Essay Example for Free

Cognitive Process Culture Essay Lamadrid takes into account the mythical or magical dimension of the novel and relates it to the emerging social consciousness of the protagonist. He asserts that Anaya elucidates that the command of Curandera is consequential in nature is derived from mythical though process and it resultant knowledge. These mythical thought processes itself are derived from resolution of the contradiction that is inherent within the culture. So he portrays power as capability to contemplate and comprehend the social processes in a dialectical way. So myth is not something extra-human and acultural phenomenon but it is a cognitive representation of social thought process. This scholarly article facilitates readers to understand the role of Antonio in the context of mythical realism and development of his mature social consciousness at the end of the novel. People resort to Antonio at critical times because they are inherently aware that these mediators have powers that can offer remedies to their maladies. So myth helps understanding the role of Antonio in the society and how this role is established. Mancelos, Joao de. Witchcraft, Initiation and Cultural Identity in Rudolfo Anayas Bless Me, Ultima. Alfarrabio. Retreieved on 12 October 2008. Website: http://alfarrabio. di. uminho. pt/vercial/zips/mancelos21. rtf This article manifests the development of Antonio and how different elements of chicano culture i. e. witchcraft, cultural identity play a vital role in helping him achieving maturity. He considers the role of Ultima and his witchcraft prowess to help Antonio explore his cultural identity. This article elaborates the role of his familial traditions, by his Hispanic lineage and his Catholic religion at an early stage of his life. Later he learned the tussle between Ultima and his religions but prefers Ultima and his witchcraft. All this contribute toward his maturity at the end of the novel. This article explains various developmental stages of Antonio and contribution of various factors during these periods and enables us to understand the contributories toward this development.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

John Stuart Mill’s Education Essays -- John Stuart Mill Education Essa

John Stuart Mill’s Education John Stuart Mill’s education was intense at all times, but at different stages in his life he learned different things and in different ways. Though his education was unique by all accounts, it embodied many virtues that modern educational systems strive to include. These include: close parent involvement and one-on-one work between students and teachers; exposure to intellectual role models; emphasis on independent thought, logic, and pursuing curiosities; being held to high standards for achievement; being free from invidious comparisons to peers; and learning the value of seeking out peers for intellectual support and stimulation. He also learned, during personal struggles to understand his relationship with his father and to rediscover passion for life after his mental crisis, that the responsibility for his education and his happiness ultimately lay with himself. Most stunning in his account is what he learns about his father during his process of evaluating the way his father educated him, judging his father’s ideas and abilities, and navigating his relationship with his father over time. During his early childhood Mill’s father tutored him in classical languages and history through structured lessons overseen by his father. His father’s patience encouraged him to ask questions and made him understand that his education was a priority. In retrospect he described his early education as an example of how much can be accomplished in a period of life that is generally wasted. Though he was reading Greek by age three, he attributes his achievements not to his own genius but to his learning environment. While the modern reader is inclined to disbelieve this modest assertion, his unique up... ...his education at different stages of his life, but I think I presented it here much as I read it – which is to say, I’m more inclined to praise Mill’s education than my professor and classmates are. I hope I’ve done a good job of explaining why I think his early education prepared him for everything, even his mental crisis, because I consider that personal struggle a vital part of his education. Learning about oneself and having to provide one’s own meaning for life is an important part of education, and the foundation of logical thought, facing and meeting challenges, and persevering with tough tasks, helped Mill through his mental crisis. I still really like Mill, and though I’m obviously no where near the extreme of his life, I identify to some extent with the way he thinks, the way he was raised, and the personal struggles he’s had to work through on his own.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Case Study †Catfish Dispute

â€Å"The Vietnamese catfish importers are enjoying the fruits of our work,† This was the main discontent of the domestic (US) catfish industry. Undoubtedly, the catfish farmers had put a lot of effort in improving the aquaculture technology to raise the catfish with better quality; thus, raised the demand of domestic market. At the same time, they had invested about US$50 million in the industry’s marketing. When catfish became the third favorite seafood of the American, leading to a total consumption of 275 million kilograms in 2000, it inevitably attracted people to get in the market.However, based on the fact that the US Congress had approved the U. S. -Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with a reduction in tariff, it was the right for American importers to start the new business – importing Vietnamese catfish. The agreement was approved by the Congress due to the important reason: the trade benefits. To capture these benefits, they had to undertake the possible risks. Indeed, it was a fair game played by both parties. From the article, it was clear that one of the sources of discontent from domestic farmers was the quality considerations difference between the American-grew and Vietnam-grew catfish.The quality of US catfish is justified by the inspection of 17 federal agencies and can meet the standard of the Catfish Institute of America, whereas the Vietnamese catfish only need to pass the Food and Drug Administration’s approval. This preferential practice should not sustain. The authority should consider standardize the quality requirement of both places’ catfish, for example, make it compulsory for Vietnamese catfish products to undergo the same inspections as the US catfish. Or at least, ask for proof of quality issued by Vietnamese government for all imported catfish.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Jungs View of Religion Essay

I will be explaining Jung understands and his views of religion. Jung first starts with the key concept of the mind which is the three concepts of consciousness – consciousness, personal unconsciousness and the collective consciousness. Consciousness is where we actively make decisions and choices. The thoughts are based on a sensory experience e. g. the things we see, smell, hear, touch and taste. These are directly accessible. The personal conscious is out thoughts, feelings, urges which are difficult to bring to the consciousness and they are not directly accessible. They have been environmentally determined. The collective unconsciousness is inherited and the thoughts are shared by everyone – archetypes (inherited ideas: first prints or partners that form the basic blue print for major dynamic counterparts of the human personality. ) Jung believes that the archetypes pre exist in the collective unconscious of humanity. They determine how we both perceive and behave. Archetypes are the source of the ideas or images that is inherited instead of the ideas themselves. The experiences you have construct/create uniform images. We inherit a functional disposition to produce the same or very similar ideas not inherit the idea. This is the reason for a dream dictionary, for example a person could be dreaming that their friend is falling. So the falling is the image drawn from the archetype and the friend is from their experience. So the collective unconscious means that many of our ideas will be shared with people. There are different types of shared archetype examples are: the person – this is the mask that covers out true natures for the benefit of society. The mask could be good impressions of what is expected of us by others or the false impression to manipulate others behaviour and opinions. In our dreams the may manifest itself in images of ourselves appearing at a party in disguise. The shadow – this is our darker sides of us. In dreams it might reveal itself in the form of personification of evil e. g. Satan or monster. It could be deeper of our personality identity beings to be lost and individuals experience the chaos of getting closer to the material structure of psychic life. This commonly is found in the woods. The animus – is the masculine side of a female. They may appear as an exotic, sensual, young man or as heroes. The anima – is the female side of a male. They may appear as a  dancing girl, seductresses or goddess. Jung believes that the way neuroses(mental illness is caused by being psychically imbalanced) occurs is that it arises from being psychically imbalanced (so we become mentally ill if the when the psychic energy – psychological energy by which the work of the personality is performed isn’t flowing as well as it could. To maintain mental health all of the features of the personality need to be balanced so the psychic flows properly. There needs to be a balance between conscious and unconscious and the different archetype. If you fail to do this according to Jung this causes a mental disorder. Jung says through individuation (figuring out who you are and becoming your own self) you become psychically balanced personality through the addition of the range of archetypes into the conscious personality. There are two main process of individuation; the first part is when they come to terms with the outer environment with its challenges through work, friendship and relationship. The second part is from a middle age onwards is to come to terms with one’s own personality. For example a mid-life crisis, this is when someone is in the middle of their life they want what they never had in their youth age e.g. a sports car. They want to become psychically balanced as they missed out when they was youths. The things that come from the archetype such as images or thoughts are considered to be religious. Jung redefines religious thought as the numinous. This relies on Rudolf Otto’s understanding of the religious or numinous experience. According to Otto’s a numinous experience affects our consciousness which is caused by something external to our consciousness. Any experience which is archetypal in origin can be stated as religious. All archetypal images are ineffable (indescribable) . Our images of god are themselves archetypal. The concept of god is one of these primordial images (an archetype). Everyone is born with the tendency to generate religious images of god and angels . the actual image that we have of god are through our experiences in the world. An example of a case study is where Miss Miller had a dream about a moth’s desire for light. Jung said this parallel between god and light can be found in countless religious traditions e. g. the Aztec preoccupation with the sun and the Christian view of Jesus as ‘light of the world’. The role of religion is the process of individuation. The two reasons he gave was the self archetype this guides and controlled the innate process of individuation. Individuation is a religious process. The second reason is the self archetype generates images of wholeness. For example the mandala – means circle and is perfectly balanced, the design is symmetrical which represents the balance and wholeness same with Islamic art instead the repetitive patterns to show his eternality. Jung argues that god images are beneficial to our health. The images are used by the mind to individuate the personality, the personality then achieve its goal of integration. Religion now becomes clear, the ones that reject religion are therefore less likely to individuate successfully and is most likely to experience neurosis as a result. Jung concludes that the existence of an actual god is similar to Freud’s – there is no proof either way. We don’t know where the archetype actually comes from and we don’t know the origin of the-psyche because there are ineffable. As a psychic reality – god is real to those who experience the effect of archetypes. Jung always considered religious beliefs to be a natural expression of the collective unconscious.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

John Lewis, Civil Rights Activist and Elected Politician

John Lewis, Civil Rights Activist and Elected Politician John Lewis is currently a United States Representative for the Fifth Congressional District in Georgia. But during the 1960s, Lewis was a college student and served as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Working first with other college students and later with prominent civil rights leaders, Lewis helped to end segregation and discrimination during the Civil Rights Movement. Early Life and Education John Robert Lewis was born in Troy, Ala., on February 21, 1940. His parents, Eddie and Willie Mae both worked as sharecroppers to support their ten children.   Lewis attended the Pike County Training High School in Brundidge, Ala., When Lewis was a teenager, he became inspired by the words of Martin Luther King Jr by listening to his sermons on the radio. Lewis was so inspired by Kings work that he began preaching at local churches. When he graduated from high school, Lewis attended the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville. In 1958, Lewis traveled to Montgomery and met King for the first time. Lewis wanted to attend the all-white Troy State University and sought the civil rights leaders help in suing the institution. Although King, Fred Gray, and Ralph Abernathy offered Lewis legal and financial assistance, his parents were against the lawsuit. As a result, Lewis returned to American Baptist Theological Seminary. That fall, Lewis began attending direct action workshops organized by James Lawson. Lewis also began to follow the Gandhian philosophy of nonviolence, becoming involved in student sit-ins to integrate movie theaters, restaurants, and businesses organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Lewis graduated from American Baptist Theological Seminary in 1961. The SCLC considered Lewis one of the most dedicated young men in our movement. Lewis was elected to the board of SCLC in 1962 to encourage more young people to join the organization. And by 1963, Lewis was named chairman of SNCC. Lewis married Lillian Miles in 1968. The couple had one son, John Miles. His wife died in December of 2012. Civil Rights Activist At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Lewis was the chairman of SNCC. Lewis established Freedom Schools and the Freedom Summer. By 1963, Lewis was considered on the Big Six leaders of the Civil Rights Movement which included Whitney Young, A. Philip Randolph, James Farmer Jr., and Roy Wilkins. That same year, Lewis helped plan the March on Washington and was the youngest speaker at the event. When Lewis left SNCC in 1966, he worked with several community organizations before becoming community affairs director for the National Consumer Co-Op Bank in Atlanta. Lewis' Career in Politics In 1981, Lewis was elected to the Atlanta City Council. In 1986, Lewis was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Since his election, he has been reelected 13 times. During his tenure, Lewis ran unopposed in 1996, 2004 and 2008. He is considered a liberal member of the House and in 1998, The Washington Post said that Lewis was a fiercely partisan Democrat but†¦also fiercely independent. Atlanta Journal-Constitution said that Lewis was the only former major civil rights leader who extended his fight for human rights and racial reconciliation to the halls of Congress. And those who know him, from U.S. Senators to 20-something congressional aides, call him conscience of Congress. Lewis serves on the Committee on Ways and Means. He is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Progressive Caucus and Congressional Caucus on Global Road Safety. Lewis' Awards Lewis was awarded the Wallenberg Medal from the University of Michigan in 1999 for his work as an activist of civil and human rights. In 2001, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation awarded Lewis with the Profile in Courage Award.   The following year Lewis received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. In 2012, Lewis was awarded LL.D degrees from Brown University, Harvard University and the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Discuss Williams dramatic presentation of Blanche Essay Example

Discuss Williams dramatic presentation of Blanche Essay Example Discuss Williams dramatic presentation of Blanche Paper Discuss Williams dramatic presentation of Blanche Paper A Streetcar Named Desire makes it clear that for Williams the act of fleeing always becomes the act of reliving the past. Flight forces the presence of the past on his characters as the presence of what they attempted to flee. ’ Discuss William’s dramatic presentation of Blanche. Blanche is portrayed as a complex, delusional, psychotic character in denial, shown when she says at the conclusion ‘Is it the gentleman I was expecting from Dallas? ’ when there is no gentleman. This is done through William’s use of dramatic language and style ‘She begins to speak with feverish vivacity’. Blanche is out of place in Scene One where her clothes are described as ‘incongruous to the setting’. She is out of place geographically, having been exiled from Laurel because of the turmoil with her husband committing suicide and her relationship with a student. She portrays herself as a Southern Belle in Laurel and continues this in New Orleans-she is a lost soul. She has moved from a large estate, Belle Reve, to sharing a small apartment. She is portrayed as having money but she didn’t buy Belle Reve, it was handed down to her but she never admits to having nothing. Her clothes reflect the kind of person she is, they are always ‘off white’ because she is not pure and are similar to that of a moth which is referred to in the play because of how Blanche reacts to the light, ‘I like it dark, the dark is comforting’. In biblical terms ‘light’ is the same as ‘truth’ and Blanche lies throughout the play. Williams is keen to convey to the audience how vulnerable she is in the first scene, ‘her shoulders slightly hunched’ however as the play develops the audience becomes less sympathetic towards her. Blanche shows how snobby she is which is seen as pathetic and the audience pity her because of the way she is reacting. She believes she is above everyone when she realises where Stella lives, ‘This-can this-be her home? ’ This is ironic because it is Blanche who has lost her home and has all of her belongings in a suitcase. William’s creates a very dismal scene when Blanche is on her own in Stella’s house, describing the inside of the house; ‘The surrounding areas dim out as the interior is lighted. Two rooms can be seen, not too clearly defined. And then suddenly she notices the alcohol and there is a change which is the first sign of Blanche being an alcoholic. Blanche is described as ‘springing’ up to get to the alcohol and ‘tosses’ it down and Williams uses the same wording to describe how Blanche reacts to Stella coming into the room which shows the relationship Blanche has with alcohol. She displays the behaviour of an alcoholic by ‘carefully replacing the bottle and washing out the tumbler’. She acts like she has not seen the alcohol when Stella comes in, ‘while I look around for some liquor! ’ Blanche is in denial about being an alcoholic-she tells Stella ‘your sister hasn’t turned into a drunkard’ and this is true for the other parts of Blanche’s life. When Blanche commences her talk about Belle Reve and what her life has been like, the audience gets the sense of her delusional state of mind which could be perceived as madness and this continues through the play; ‘I received a telegram from an old admirer of mine’. Dramatically Williams creates the effect of Blanche losing her composure and control and turning into a tragic wreck, ‘Blanche begins to shake again with intensity’. The repetition and pause between ‘the loss†¦ the loss’ show how traumatised Blanche is with losing Belle Reve. When Blanche is describing all the deaths in her family it is as though she has gone into her own world and, although talking to Stella, she is convincing herself how hard it was for her. Williams uses dramatic imagery, ‘Sometimes their breathing is hoarse, and sometimes it rattles’ to create sympathy. Blanche uses ‘honey’ to distract from the fact that she is being mean to Stella and accusing her. Blanche portrays a different nature towards the end of her speech, becoming more forceful, ‘Where were you. In bed with your –Polack! ’ Then, again, she suddenly changes to a different tone, ‘Oh, Stella, Stella, you’re crying! ’ as though she is surprised that she has upset her. This is a way of gaining sympathy because she acts like she didn’t realise how rude she was being-it also shows the start of a mental illness with Blanche not being able to control everything she does all the time. This creates a dramatic tension because Williams changes the personality of Blanche so quickly that the reader cannot understand her fully. Throughout the play Blanche has various mood swings, such as with Mitch. In Scene Two, Blanche is very pleasant towards Stanley, ‘I’m going to ask a favour of you in a moment’ and then, suddenly, she changes to a fierce tone, ‘The touch of your hands insults them! ’ There is dramatic irony in this scene also because Blanche doesn’t want to say why she has moved from Laurel, ‘I†¦Uh’ and as the play continues she develops even more elaborate stories, but she says to Stanley that women should ‘(lay) cards on the table. ’ This shows Blanche is a hypocrite and the tension between her and Stanley over this leads of her breakdown, especially after the rape. Scene Ten is a tragic scene because Blanche is upset from her confrontation Mitch, ‘Blanche has been drinking fairly steadily’ and the audience start to fully realise the state of her mind ‘decked herself out in a somewhat soiled and crumpled white satin evening gown’ which shows the change from the beginning where she always wanted to look her best and didn’t wear white. She looks in the mirror and then ‘slams it face down with such violence that the glass cracks. ’ This is a dramatic and symbolic action and breaking a mirror is also considered bad luck so it makes the audience foreshadow the tragic outcome. The tension between Blanche and Stanley gradually builds until Blanche becomes terrified and is raped. The shadows are described as ‘grotesque and menacing’ which makes the scene powerful and Williams intention is for it to seem like there are more people intent on hurting Blanche than are actually there. This also plays with Blanche’s mind and portrays her mental instability. Blanche sits down ‘wearily’ which shows the audience that Blanche is gradually giving up. Tragedy is defined as ‘An event causing great suffering, destruction and distress’ and this scene is compiled of all three. Blanche suffers from the way Stanley behaves towards her and Stella suffers afterwards in not knowing who to believe, ‘I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley. ’ There is great distress from Blanche in this scene because she is scared about what will happen, ‘Stay back! Don’t you come towards me†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Williams creates drama and tension by not saying what happens between Blanche and Stanley. Like Stella, the audience have to make their own judgment as to whom to believe. Blanche commands the audience’s attention throughout, which is what she wants with the other characters too. She wants to have a hold over people, particularly men. This is shown when the audience can see that her late husband didn’t want to marry her, but she forced him to. When she is describing how she fell in love with him, she says ‘It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on’ which is different to how she lives now with not wanting to be near a strong light. A young boy comes to deliver a paper to the house and although Blanche doesn’t know him she flirts with him. She wants to know that she can still have a hold over men even though she is older, ‘You make my mouth water’. Williams creates suspense by Blanche hinting at the reason she had to leave Laurel, ‘but I’ve got to be good and keep my hands off children. ’ Overall, the last scene also defines tragedy, ‘A serious play in which the chief character passes through a series of misfortunes leading to a final, devastating catastrophe. ’ The scene is made more dramatic by being extended, to prolong Blanche’s ordeal. Blanche is having a bath, again, to wash away the guilt and her past, and, ‘The atmosphere of the kitchen is now the same raw, lurid one of the disastrous poker night. ’ which creates dramatic tension because the audience can sense, like Blanche, that something bad will happen. However, Blanche, being the self-centred person that she is, thinks that the reason everyone is sombre is her appearance, ‘Is something wrong with me? ’ This is ironic because mentally there is something wrong with her. There is reference to her old life, ‘I have always depended on the kindness of strangers’ and Blanche shows that she trusts men over woman by doing what the doctor wants but not the matron. This is ironic because men have been the ones hurting her over the years, for example, she was in love with her husband and he was homosexual, she has been used for sex by soldiers and Stanley hasn’t been nice to her. Blanche shows how hurt she is by Stella and Stanley by ‘(walking) on without turning.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Sample Papers

Sample Papers Sample Papers Sample Papers: Help for Students Are you becoming crazy about those numerous assignment papers that you are constantly provided with during your study? Sometimes it may seem to you that they are aimed at turning your life into the terrible nightmare. Do not know how to escape from all that? Try not to avoid the problem but solve it! This article will help you in that. If you do not know how to write your assignment papers, do not rack your brains make use of the Internet. You may find a lot of different web-sites there that offer students assignment writing services. You may say that it is too expensive to buy every assignment paper. But these sites may be useful for you even if you are going to write your assignment paper by yourself. In what way? Free Sample Papers The answer concerns sample papers that these sites propose you to get free of charge. You may find a lot of different papers: sample term papers, sample research papers, sample essay papers and many others. But in what way can they help you if you are not going to buy assignment papers? Of course, you should not submit one of these sample papers as yours because you may have problems. As these papers are available for you everyone else may get them (even one of your group-mates or your tutor). Any kind of sample papers is a papers research sample. What does it mean? Any of sample papers may give you a hint about in what direction you should make your research of the topic given in order to write a good paper. Moreover, reading of such papers may give you a lot of other interesting ideas concerning preparing and writing. Sample Paper ElementsTopic. Sometimes your tutor may let you choose a topic for your paper by yourself. But if you have no ideas about it, you may search them in sample papers. You may find a topic that you may get interested in and that is the half of the success of your paper. Thesis statement. When reading sample papers you may find out how to formulate a thesis sta tement in order to make it clear and understandable. Structure. You may study the structure of papers of a certain kind: what parts they should include, how you should divide them into paragraphs. That will help you make your paper well-structured. Vocabulary. You may study what special words and phrases are used in the academic writing. The usage of such vocabulary will help you put your thoughts logically and clearly. One should stress that this is one of the main criteria of writing a good assignment paper. Thus, it becomes obvious that sample papers may be very helpful for you even if you are going to write your assignment paper by yourself.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Current Issues in Intellectual Property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Current Issues in Intellectual Property - Essay Example Most of the legal principles to encourage and establish the intellectual property rights have evolved over decades. The intellectual property laws were strongly established in the 19th century due to the different evolutions in the global business environment. Today the intellectual property laws and rights have become a commonplace concept in almost all countries accrues the globe. Intellectual properties are not only applicable to artistic creations but are also used to protect inventions and discoveries which have commercial value. Intellectual properties are protected by the law due to the usefulness of these properties in enabling the general people and society to earn financial and economic benefits and recognition from their discoveries, creations or inventions. It can be ascertained that striking a right balance between the interests of the public and those of the innovators is likely create an environment which will support the flourishing of creativity and innovation. Intellectual property laws can be used to protect a wide range of products and services. It includes all types of innovations and some discoveries made by individuals, teams or organizations. The intellectual property rights can be gained under copyrights, patents, trademarks, confidentiality or trade secrets. Patents can be obtained for a wide range of products including any method, substance, process or device which is inventive, new, authentic and useful to the society, technology or any other domain. Patents can be enforced legally and can be used to commercially protect and exploit inventions and creations. Some innovations like mathematical models, schemes, artistic creations, plans and processes which are completely dependent on mental processes are not eligible for getting patent rights. The copyrights are commonly used under the intellectual property laws to protect mental creations like literary works, music compositions and other forms of artistic,

Friday, October 18, 2019

Analysis of Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals by Kant Emmanuel Research Paper

Analysis of Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals by Kant Emmanuel and James W Ellington - Research Paper Example Time was of the essence as the woman’s condition continued to deteriorate despite the application of certain remedial measures. According to standard practice, the doctors required the assent of the next of kin in order to perform the dangerous experiment. After several futile attempts to contact the family members, the doctors decided to proceed with the abortion with the intention of rescuing the life of the mother. The operation went on successfully as the fetus was aborted. However, both the woman and her family members expressed their disappointment in the loss of the child and vowed to sue the doctors and the hospitals for what they deemed as professional negligence. Attempts by the hospital administration to explain the difficult situation in which the doctors found themselves failed to calm down the irate family members. According to their culture, abortion is a taboo and should not be performed under all circumstances. The family members implied that they would have p referred the woman to die in her own efforts to give birth rather than performing an abortion. The issue elicited sharp responses on both sides of the abortion debate. Much of the arguments were focused on the moral question of rescuing a mother in danger and the necessity of performing an abortion that led to the death of the child.  In the Grounding of Metaphysics of Morals, Emmanuel Kant expounds on his philosophical perspective on the principles of morality by providing specific frameworks about the nature of morality. Kant makes a significant effort in replacing the cultural assessment of moral principles by his alternative perspective that is grounded in logic (Kant and James 40). He seeks to provide critical tools for use in certifying certain actions as moral by basing them measuring them against consequences and motives. According to his position, actions can only be described as moral if indeed some specific moral laws motivated them.  

Software Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Software Engineering - Essay Example Software requirements, 2. Software design, 3.Software construction, 4. Software testing, 5. Software maintenance, 6. Software configuration and management, 7. Software engineering management, 8. Software engineering process, 9. Software engineering tools and methods, 10. Software quality, and 11. Knowledge areas of related disciplines (Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Management, Mathematics, Project Management, Quality Management, Software Ergonomics, and Systems Engineering) (SWEBOK, 2004 p. 1-2). Software engineers, therefore, must be proficient with the latter knowledge areas to handle every software engineering projects properly, successfully and efficiently. The software engineering project being studied at hand is the Chat Application. According to the given case, the status of which are the following: 1. The project is going well, and 2. The project is progressing. However, during one of the teams status meetings, two of the team members had an intense discussion on multi-threading particularly on the safety and ease of use of Java threading until everyone got somewhat confused. The team members asked you for clarifications on the issue. As a member of the team, you are given a task to clarify on the issue, and you are obliged to the following: 1. To prove that Java threading is a difficult task, and 2. To provide evidence to back up your belief. Further, you are required to do the following: 1. To locate one or more articles, web pages, or discussions dealing with Java threads, 2. Using one or more of your references for support, describe a significant problem or difficulty when using threads in Java, and 3. Provide either a concrete coding example or detailed scenario that illustrates why it is a problem. Frankly, theres no significant problem or difficulty in using Java threads since this could clearly be addressed by the above mentioned articles, tutorials and web pages. Its only the side of technical expertise and

Thursday, October 17, 2019

International Dispute Settlement. Galactic Commodities Inc case Essay

International Dispute Settlement. Galactic Commodities Inc case studies - Essay Example In this discussion, decisions enacted as arbitral awards will be considered; this award means that settlements are implemented after being recorded in an arbitral proceeding. Different issues present themselves in this situation in instances when the law would allow the â€Å"settlement reached in conciliation to be recorded in an enforceable arbitral award† 4. One such issue pertains to form requirements which vary from country to country. An issue in this case is if there is a requirement for clarification for the settlement to be recorded in an award. Should the payment and performance obligations agreed upon be written in much the same way as awards? Or should the tribunals reconceptualize such obligations in the award into others?5 The award based on agreed terms should therefore be clear enough to be enforced without the need for reformulation of interpretation. Recording settlements in an award are based on providing finality and enabling a faster enforcement of the set tlement6. In instances when the parties call for an arbitral tribunal to carry out an award based on agreed terms, risks are often seen and problems of clarity can arise when the parties negotiating settlement are focused on the elements of the settlement, not on the need to fulfill the formal requirements of awards7. An issue may also be seen when the settlement of the parties resolves only some of the issues being forwarded8. This situation can sometimes be easily resolved when a partial award would be given and the other issues are left unresolved. A greater issue results when the settlement includes matters â€Å"which are not within the jurisdiction of the arbitrators, either because such matters fall outside the arbitration agreement or because they have not been submitted to the arbitrators for determination†9. In instances when the settlement resolves matters which are not included in the arbitration agreement, it is clear that the arbitral tribunal does not have cove rage in resolving the issue and rendering awards on the dispute. Another issue which would arise relates to the fact that the settlement gives rights to a party who is not included in the arbitration. This is seen in instances when both or one of the parties belong to a group of corporations where the settled performance must be made or the rights must be exercised by a parent or a sister company10. Awards on the terms agreed upon cannot bind the rights of the third party. The follow-up question in this case is if the arbitral tribunal would still record the settlement in the award. In these instances, the dispute raised before the tribunal is resolved and the arbitration is terminated. If the law allows the tribunal to record the settlement in the award or when the different parties allow the tribunal to record the settlement, the tribunal would now be confused and would be in a dilemma on what to do11. Still another question is if statements shall be possible to record in award fo rms on terms agreed upon. Motives for settlements recorded in awards on agreed terms may not be successfully captured in declaratory statements. But on the other hand, the res judicata effect may already be sufficient reason12. The right to implement awards on agreed terms can call for requests by both parties. The issue arises on what the tribunal should do if the settlement

Cross Cultural Issues in International Business Essay

Cross Cultural Issues in International Business - Essay Example The parent company is Roll-Royce cars, but it produces both cars and motorcycle. Initially the company engaged in the manufacture of fast cars such as the formula one sports car and later engaged in the production of fancy cars. The production and demand for the BMW cars has been increasing over the last decade as a result of the increasing demand on the fancy cars as a result of the changes in the consumer market. The expansion of the company to Brazil and other country has been affected by the financial crisis witnessed in the 2008, which affected the sales of fancy cars due to decline in revenues and personal wealth. The 2008 was a notable year for the company due to the success achieved in Formula One competition thus, improving the brand visibility (Ferrell and Hartline, 2010). The company targets the high end market associated with quality, style and performance of the product. Internationalization and cultural practices influence the operation of business essentially making th em vital in the process of business expansion and acquisition. Different countries have a different approach to issues in business and marketing. The culture of the countries differs significantly especially when interested in venturing into countries in the Latin America. The historical and socio-cultural difference must be factored in during the process, to facilitate the faster understanding of the negotiation, thus, making it possible for a win -win solution. The key to successful communication between different cultures is knowledge. The understanding of the problems affecting cross cultural communication and working towards overcoming the problems will ensure the successful business acquisition and management. BMW Corporate culture BMW culture is based on the principles of offering quality product targeting the high end market segment. The BMW corporate culture involves the use of various approaches in the various approaches in the market. The increase in product range facilit ates customer preference and increase brand affinity and affiliations. The company’s corporate structure entails production and performance efficiency while also increasing the quality of the cars produced by the company. The culture encourages customer satisfaction and improved market performance of the cars. The production of high end vehicles facilitates brand loyalty while also encouraging the development of success and understanding of the target market. The production process improvement and welfare of the employees are values included in the corporate culture of BMW. BMW internal environment Product quality One of the company’s core values is quality and is vividly reflected in the products presented by the company in the market. Product quality has led to quality advantages to the company (Beverly and Thomson, 2011). The company has not experienced model recalls as compared to other companies. For example, Toyota has been forced to recall some of the product mo dels due to failure in breaking and acceleration. Such recalls create consumer confidence related problem thereby affecting the sales of the product. The majority of the company’s products have exhibited satisfactory performance in the market leading to the increased consumer confidence. Excellent buying experience The opening of several subsidiaries in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Dubai and other countries has been a plus for the company. The expansion has increased product visibility, as well as provide over 300 state-of-the-art show rooms with trained customer care and sales executive leading to an improved buying experience for the customers (Bowdin, 2010, p. 89). The association of the company with the higher social class led to the development of

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

International Dispute Settlement. Galactic Commodities Inc case Essay

International Dispute Settlement. Galactic Commodities Inc case studies - Essay Example In this discussion, decisions enacted as arbitral awards will be considered; this award means that settlements are implemented after being recorded in an arbitral proceeding. Different issues present themselves in this situation in instances when the law would allow the â€Å"settlement reached in conciliation to be recorded in an enforceable arbitral award† 4. One such issue pertains to form requirements which vary from country to country. An issue in this case is if there is a requirement for clarification for the settlement to be recorded in an award. Should the payment and performance obligations agreed upon be written in much the same way as awards? Or should the tribunals reconceptualize such obligations in the award into others?5 The award based on agreed terms should therefore be clear enough to be enforced without the need for reformulation of interpretation. Recording settlements in an award are based on providing finality and enabling a faster enforcement of the set tlement6. In instances when the parties call for an arbitral tribunal to carry out an award based on agreed terms, risks are often seen and problems of clarity can arise when the parties negotiating settlement are focused on the elements of the settlement, not on the need to fulfill the formal requirements of awards7. An issue may also be seen when the settlement of the parties resolves only some of the issues being forwarded8. This situation can sometimes be easily resolved when a partial award would be given and the other issues are left unresolved. A greater issue results when the settlement includes matters â€Å"which are not within the jurisdiction of the arbitrators, either because such matters fall outside the arbitration agreement or because they have not been submitted to the arbitrators for determination†9. In instances when the settlement resolves matters which are not included in the arbitration agreement, it is clear that the arbitral tribunal does not have cove rage in resolving the issue and rendering awards on the dispute. Another issue which would arise relates to the fact that the settlement gives rights to a party who is not included in the arbitration. This is seen in instances when both or one of the parties belong to a group of corporations where the settled performance must be made or the rights must be exercised by a parent or a sister company10. Awards on the terms agreed upon cannot bind the rights of the third party. The follow-up question in this case is if the arbitral tribunal would still record the settlement in the award. In these instances, the dispute raised before the tribunal is resolved and the arbitration is terminated. If the law allows the tribunal to record the settlement in the award or when the different parties allow the tribunal to record the settlement, the tribunal would now be confused and would be in a dilemma on what to do11. Still another question is if statements shall be possible to record in award fo rms on terms agreed upon. Motives for settlements recorded in awards on agreed terms may not be successfully captured in declaratory statements. But on the other hand, the res judicata effect may already be sufficient reason12. The right to implement awards on agreed terms can call for requests by both parties. The issue arises on what the tribunal should do if the settlement

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Research assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Research assignment - Essay Example In an attempt to curb Iran’s nuclear program, France, Germany, and Britain persuaded Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions in exchange for peaceful civilian energy programs. Under the deal, Iran was to disclose its past nuclear activities, stop enrichment, and ratify additional protocol to the NPT. Tehran accepted the deal and signed the additional NPT protocol in December 2003. It also suspended uranium enrichment in November 2004 in exchange for aid and renewed trade talks. Because the deal appeared to work, America responded by dropping objections on Tehran’s efforts of joining the World Trade Organization. However, in 2005, the agreement broke down following the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Katzman 23). In 2005, Tehran breached the IAEA’s seals by resuming uranium conversion at its Esfahan facility. The move raised concerns about Tehran’s commitment to NPT and also security fears in the region. Because Tehran was no longer committed to the previous agreements, the issue became a great concern to the US. American indeed had some good reasons to worry about security threats from a nuclear-armed Iran. First, president Ahmadinejad pursued an aggressive foreign policy, which was a direct threat to the US interests and its allies in the Middle East. Second, Tehran has links with radical groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which it can use to attack the US. Third, there is a considerable risk that Iran could share its nuclear technology with Islamic extremists such as al-Qaeda. Lastly, Iran’s missiles pose a significant threat to the US forces, ships, and allies in the Gulf (Katzman 31). Iran’s nuclear program is still prioritized in the US foreign policy because there is no permanent future deal in place. However, the lection of Hassan Rouhani raised hopes of a new nuclear deal that could limit Tehran’s capability to develop

The Internet and the Human Society Essay Example for Free

The Internet and the Human Society Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The growing developments that technology and communications have taken so far have been an essential part of the growing system of technological applications. Along with the technological advancements, the social living of humans also is further enhanced. Both economic and social lifestyles were advancing but there was no rest in incurring the best possible progress that the developers of technological systems wanted. With the introduction of computers to the society, the easier way of living and completing everyday tasks has become a trend for many industrial workers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With the introduction of the computer technology to the human society during the 19th Century, the works or the tasks of people have been further created with ease. With the implementation of computer systems within the existing systems of completion for human tasks, the jobs of people, which can be merged with technological arrangements, were enhanced to becoming easily completed. Today, 95% of the whole population of man all around the world utilizes the computer systems for their everyday application. Even ordinary appliances are now compiled with complex operating systems based upon computer arrangements to be able to meet the best possible performance that they could render the human society. (Tanenbaum, 2006, 15)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Now, even more complex role is played by the application of operating systems in the daily dealings of people has been introduced. With the development of the communication systems such as the internet, learning from home, using top of the art facilities and technologies became possible for many students who cannot attend universities because of some unavoidable circumstances. Through the existence of the emerging technological innovation on communication and information transfer, everything became possible and available through the Internet. As of the present situation, there are still other innovations that have been affected by the developing Operating Systems. The world trade systems has become more easy for the traders since the Internet systems allow them to connect with others easily and effectively transact with their business partners abroad. (Tanenbaum, 2006, 19)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The introduction of the Internet systems to the world has been noted as one of the most successful breakthroughs that has been attempted, pursued and now fulfilled by the merging of science and technology in increasing the capability of human communication in connecting people together from a worldwide perspective. Years before the said introduction, people simply depended on snail mails and telephone calls to be able to communicate with their loved ones abroad. It could also be remembered that people who had lesser financial resource also have lesser chances of actually meeting foreign friends. Now, all those situations have already changed. The connection of people to people actually managed to step forward to the next level. Most likely enough, the situation of connecting humans from the different parts of the world has already been revolutionized through the development and continuous advancement of the Internet Systems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Certainly, the entire human systems now mostly depend on the said global connection. Economic and political arrangements are now much more effectively done through the adaptation of the said systems with the arrangements of the Internet instituted within the said human engagements. Overall, seeing the said progress on the positive side would actually suggest the fact that internet arrangements have actually brought the whole human society into the new age of communication and information burst out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, seeing the balance of the said technological and communication system, it could be noted that the other side of the coin suggests the opposite of the Internet’s positive effects on the human community. There exists several informations that are not necessary to be known by the human society yet they are much accessible for the society such as pornography and fraud. Primarily, fraud actually is noted as one of the most impacting disadvantage of the internet towards the human society. Certainly, there is a certainty that makes this particular act [fraud], a matter of attention among the different sectors of the society. The said fraudulent scams actually made the possibility that at least half of the population in the human community believe that there is a reason that internet systems may not be that advisable for constant and easy public access as some of its systems only victimize technology-fearful individuals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is the very reason why it is important to understand how the said fraudulent scams actually affects the development of the people in the human communities. It is certain then that these scams should be identified and modified as well to be able to meet the needs of recognizing which kind of procedures are needed to be able to treat this particular disadvantage brought about by the said scams. Internet and the Human Community   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Humanity has always been in constant and insatiable quest for learning and scientific knowledge to use for the betterment and development of their present lives. All the scientific innovations that have been discovered in their quest are then applied in practical usage thus creating the technological advancement system in the humanity. Thus, this new trend of technological development has been created continuously improving the lifestyles and practical processes in the society in almost every aspects of living. However, one social dilemma has been encountered in the course of integrating computing technology in the common practices in the society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The digital divide is mainly the problem arising from the incorporation of computing technology to the society due to the unequal distribution of technology’s access in the public.   Because of this problem, some parts of the society are being left out causing social stratification, technological illiteracy, and unequally distribution of information. If the present society really desires to improve the lifestyles of the public as a whole, the problem of digital divide must be properly addressed thus ending the said division in the society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since the problem of digital division brought about by unequal access to computing technology post threats to the progress and development of the society as a whole, government and other technological corporation have already started programs and projects to address this dilemma. From their studies and researches, they have determined that to make technology virtually accessible for the public in every level, they must create two major social movements. First, is that they must create community-oriented programs which will promote opportunities for easier access for the public. In addition, this design solution will make technology access truly inclusive by eliminating social and cultural diversity such as lack of education and media illiteracy. Second is that, community technology models must also be created to be use by local public groups to strengthen neighborhoods, educate youth, promote economic development, connect individuals to the social and economic life of the community, and increase participation in civil society (Ba, 2001).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, continuance of the application of these concepts is being hindered by great social and cultural obstacles. Some of these hindrances are the inadequate technology infrastructure in the society, which includes geographical problems regarding the coverage of the technology scope and the limited acquisition ability of the local public for the technology and hardware because of its cost. Another is the cultural barriers regarding the worldwide scope of computing technology thus limiting the access of some of the culture groups to the general technology network. Nevertheless, technology is flexible and adaptable thus it can be adjusted to better suit the needs of even the smallest social groups for technology to be made accustomed to their specific needs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, computing technology has many advantages and benefits many for the betterment and advancement of the lifestyles and practical processes in the society making it very much valuable for the public. For the public to benefit for this technology, it must be made generally accessible for every people who wish to incorporate the computing technology in his or her lives. The end the dilemma of digital division, technology must be made to be suitable adaptable for the society for it to be able to bridge the gap across the humanity. The Computer and Internet systems that affect the Commercial Developments Spamming in the electronic world is defined to be the abusive and detrimental use of the electronic messaging system. This malicious act has been considered at the present to be a form of violation and an illegal act because of its adverse effects to the electronic media mainly in the massive network in the internet. At the present, many nations have already passing bills and legislation to illegalize this electronic action and large software companies have been developing anti-spam programs to combat and prevent the surge of this unwanted action. However, the number of spammers around the globe is still increasing and the influences of their actions are still being felt in the internet world thus slowing down the efficiency of the electronic processes within the internet society. The problem of spam in the present has been greatly manifesting in the field of unwanted e-mails containing marketing and publication propagandas of profit-oriented business entity.   Flagrant abuse of electronic media is still widely surging thus, society must implement an iron-hand approach in dealing with spammers to halt down their business. Spamming has been an inexpedient act in the electronic world flagrantly using and hacking any available information in the web. This act is originally been created as a form of propagating business thus making it as a form of marketing for commercial entities. In the said aspect, the general theme of spam media is to communicate commercial advertisements and propagandas to attract consumers however, this ideal nature is being crafted away in the present.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Presently, spam now is becoming an obnoxious way of selling and pushing commercialism way to consumers in the electronic world. In ethical aspect, unsolicited or unwanted emails need not to be pushed through anymore however, abusive people still continues to strongly implement this approach thus harming already the electronic world of media in the internet. Large Internet Service Providers are already expressing resentment against this form of marketing because it is already abusive in its form and it is slowing down the information trafficking system in the web. Unwanted mails and solicitations should not be implemented anymore but it is still repetitively done by internet spammers thus wasting significant internet resources on the process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another unethical aspect of internet spamming   is that the people who practice this approach results to illegal hacking for them to acquire the personal information of their victims.   Because of this, spammers worldwide have indeed questioned the security integrity and reliability in the internet. Another is that electronic spamming have also becomes a tool for the promotion illegal business transactions such as fraud businesses and money scams. With the use of the spamming network, practitioner of illegal acts have acquired significant electronic capabilities to enticed more victims   in the present. Because of these reasons, spamming has become an illegal and wrongful act affecting the world of electronic media in harmful manner thus, a strong response must be implemented to satisfactorily address this problem. Recently, Microsoft has apprehended the Scott Richter, the self-proclaimed spam king in the web for his illegal act of hacking people’s personal information and sending out unwanted and unsolicited emails of all nature to them continuously.   Because of this, it has been determined that the actions of Richter have wasted internet companies significant electronic resources and consumer’s money on fraudulent and fake businesses. Thus, to ensure a satisfactory solution for this problem, the electronic corporations have aimed removing the ability and resources of their apprehended spammers to halt their illegal activities. Indeed, the present electronic society has been implementing an iron-hand approach in dealing with internet spammers whose activities have affected the internet world in a negative aspect. Aside from spamming, there are also other systems of internet fraud that actually serve as a dilemma in the Internet servicing industries. The said systems of fraudulent scams include: (a)Pharming and Phishing These terms are based from the agricultural terms â€Å"farming† and Fishing†. However the process of the said internet computing actually involves an engineered system in redirecting the surfers into fraudulent sites that actually serve as swindling sites that make users pay or either their computer systems be infected by several computer viruses. (b)Vishing It is the technological process that makes it possible for hackers to attain personal informations of several internet surfers. This then results to identification stealing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These major processes of internet fraudulent systems actually affect the views of the people with regards the developing systems of the communication technology hence resulting to other’s fear of the said internet progress in the human society. Many among the modern population are then hesitant to try the said modernized approach of technological communications. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   True, internet has revolutionized the different systems within the human society. The impact of the said worldwide connection has actually made it possible for humans to reconnect with each other through a simple click of a button. Certainly, many would agree that people and their lives have been advanced towards massive progress through the said technological and communication innovations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, the disadvantages of the said systems actually count as important as the advantages. Most of the time, the fraudulent systems that are presented to the society actually affects an amiable number of the human population in becoming fearful with the said innovative designs prompted by the internet. It should then be noted that these fraudulent systems simply brings about problems only when people have lesser acts towards the precautions that they know they have to take into consideration whenever they are using the internet. References: Deitel, Harvey M.; Deitel, Paul; Choffnes, David (2004). Operating Systems. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-182827-4. Silberschatz, Abraham; Galvin, Peter Baer; Gagne, Greg (2004). Operating System Concepts. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons. ISBN 0-471-69466-5. Tanenbaum, Andrew S.; Woodhull, Albert S. (2006). Operating Systems. Design and Implementation. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-142938-8. Piazza, Peter. Filtering out problems: e-mail spam and scams often infuriate corporate computer users. A surprisingly easy and effective solution, however, is the e-mail clients filter feature. Security Management. American Society for Industrial Security. Volume 46, Issue 9, page 36. September 1, 2002. PlanetMagpie. Learn More About Spam. PlanetMagpie. 2006. http://www.planetmagpie.com/support/spam-info.aspx. December 8, 2006. Wikipedia. Spam (Electronic). Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_%28electronic%29. December 8, 2006. Wilson, Jamie Johnson, Bobbie.   He sent 38 billion emails and called himself the Spam King. Then Bill Gates went after him. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. August 11, 2005. http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1546744,00.html. December 8, 2006. Ba, Harouna. What is the Digital Divide? The Digital Divide. Volume 1, Number 2. http://tcla.gseis.ucla.edu/divide/politics/ba.html. 2001. Reeves, Byron Nass, Clifford. The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media Like Real People and Places. Cambridge University Press. New York, NY, USA. 1996. Warschauer, Mark. Technology and Social Inclusion: Rethinking the Digital Divide. The MIT Press. 2004.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Case Study Crossing The Chasm Marketing Essay

Case Study Crossing The Chasm Marketing Essay Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore is one of the most authoritative books on high-tech marketing, and best-selling book of the influential business publishing houses Business Week. It is dedicated to marketing and sales of high-tech products for the mass market and related issues. In particular, the author argues that early and major high-tech product markets are divided by a gap or chasm, and all the forces of high-tech enterprises should be directed on overcoming it. The existence of the chasm is determined by the significant differences between the participants in early market (technology enthusiasts and visionaries) and the participants of the mass market (pragmatists). Tips for overcoming these differences, correct positioning and the correct choice of market segments all these can be found in Geoffrey Moores Crossing the Chasm (1991). Generally, if one has read Geoffrey A. Moores book, one has probably learned the main lesson: shifting from one segment of product life cycle to another, the company risks falling into a deadly trap. Crossing the Chasm is actually talking about changing the type of market (from One-For-All to All-For-One), in which companies are functioning. Such changes happen all the time, and the task of a good manager is to know about them and manage them. At first, when the software or complex computer products are at the stage of development and first tests, and are claimed only by fans or advanced industrial customers, we have the All-For-One market. In this market, the seller must do everything possible to meet the demands of individual customers. For the cycle of complex products creation, this first stage is factually the time for finding the few who will see something valuable for oneself or ones business in the new product. They will be ready to suffer disadvantages of the product as long as the seller (the creator) is surrounding them by additional services (like delivering defective parts, creating missing programs, etc.). It is clear that in this cycle stage, the seller cannot satisfy thousands or millions of users (Moore, 1991). As soon as the goods are ready to meet the mass market, the situation changes. Now, it is necessary to respond to any reaction of the first buyer, and make millions of people who know nothing about the product invest into the packaged solution. One should understand that its impossible to sell the products unless they meet customers needs. But having created such, there is no other way, but to make customers buy these goods through advertising pressure, promotions in stores and so on. Finally, we get the One-For-All market. As rightly written by J. Moore (1991), this market uses completely different laws from the All-For-One market. Buyers do not want the anticipatory care, but guarantees that it works for others. They are not interested in adjustment of the product on demand, but a stable operation or a non-stop service center. They do not want to boast that they bought something no one has, but be sure that they will not be fired because of that purchase. In general, the One-For-All market is a mass market with all the consequences connected with it. Moores main merit for the developers of all new products is the formulation of the phenomenon of the chasm that lies between the different psychological types of consumers, the product meets moving along the life cycle curve. Through the images of innovators, followers and conservatives, who face the goods in turn, Moore (1991) showed why the success of the product within one audience means nothing to another one, and therefore, why a successful product actively spinning up can suddenly stop in its development, or even disappear from the sight. In addition to the revolutionary idea of the abyss, Moore (1991) has formulated a lot of other ideas deserving individual pedestal. Its in his work that we can find one of the first references to such a phenomenon as the ecosystem of the product; the reasoned conviction to why the main reference for decision making should be based on informed intuition, rather than quantitative research; and niche strategies of market penetration. Moore (1991) predicts that in future, the markets skeptics and conservatives (and not innovators, as it has been commonly believed until now) should become a major battleground for technology companies, and also suggests what should be the main weapon of this struggle for the audience. However, far not every change creates a chasm. For example, the juice from PepsiCo for teenagers is a new idea, but it does not require a new type of refrigerator or new glasses. The criterion for classification of the product to a model of the chasm is the effect of interruptions caused by its appearance on the market. If a new product makes people refuse their habits and change their behavior model, then it surely faces a chasm in the market, because despite all the advantages, its adoption requires sacrifice. Here the gap occurs: some enthusiastically adopt the technology, and others equally strongly reject it. The chasm appears in any community, which, having faced discontinuous innovation, breaks up into groups of early adopters, pragmatists, late followers and skeptics. Thus, when a company buys a new technology, therell definitely be a chasm, first of all, among companys staff: some are willing to accept it, others do not. What should be done in such a situation? Moore (1991) argues that skeptics should simply be told that this technology can solve the problem they cannot solve in any other way. But if it is quite easy to overcome the gap within the company, the chasm in the market carries much higher risks. The chasm also occurs when new resources appear. The reason for the chasm in the computer market was that the chips became faster and more powerful; it allowed creating products that previously could not have been even imagined. Todays interest in alternative energy reminds the computer industry 30-40 years ago. The interruption effect is explicit here. For example, a very traditional sector, the automotive industry, for a long time was very conservative. However, in the 1990s it began progressing. An attempt to bring to market electric car was unsuccessful. But hybrid cars that use both gasoline and electric motor seem to have managed to overcome the chasm. According to Moore, the best indicator of the industry moving over the chasm is a community of venture capital (Moore, 1991). In general, in the IT field the support for new products have become the so-called visionaries. Occupying high positions in their companies, they are interested in competitive advantages of the new technologies. This category of customers helps young companies to cope with the chasm. But in the FMCG-market there are no such characters. So, what should the small companies do with innovative ideas for consumer markets? According to Moore, the chasm models can be applied to consumer markets only with serious reservations. These are very conservative markets, here the gap between the wealthy few visionaries and the rest of the audience is almost insurmountable. There is a notion of enough, the main barrier to interrupting innovations in consumer market. It strives to ensure that innovations are not interrupting; it makes them less daring trying to simplify them. Business will overcome the chasm, if it gives the opportunity to solve problems. But there is no competition between the custom ers in the store, you cannot help the customer to solve a problem with your change. The only way to success in consumer market is not to create gaps (Mohr, 2000). However, what to rely on, starting the process of overcoming the chasm? Moore writes that the quantitative analysis cannot help, because it requires facts, and facts appear when something happens. Therefore, the results of quantitative market research are completely useless for predicting of how the product will overcome the chasm. Businessman needs a model for the future. He should be able to rise above the business process and detect the sample. None of the life situations may be exactly taken for the sample. To determine whether this model is sufficient for the situation, can it be put as basis for future actions, or it is the wrong model and it should be eliminated, one should have informed intuition. None of the cases of quantitative analysis changes the model, but it is needed, because the world is constantly changing. High-tech companies, which have to overcome the chasm, in fact, create it themselves. On the one hand, it would be advantageous to choose the expectant tactics and to watch other fall into the chasm, but on the other hand, attitude to chasm depends on the size of the company. If it is small, it tends to pass the chasm as soon as possible not to let big companies to grab them while they are fixed on the other side. For big companies, on the contrary, it is advantageous to use the expectant strategy. Large companies are not inclined to engage in interrupting innovation within themselves. But they can buy companies that overcame the chasm, and raise them to a new level (Mohr, 2000). A good example: Apple invented graphical computer, and Microsoft waited a bit and captured the market. However, Moore (1991) believes that the rule running that in order to succeed in the technology market, one must first capture a niche, is not absolute. The opposite situation is often observed: the winner in the mass market is not the winner of a niche. Niche market surely does not always lead to the capture of the major one, but at least allows entering it. Typically, a young company dealing with technologies initially has few buyers who cannot provide it with a steady income. But until the company has a loyal group of buyers, it shouldnt even try to enter the prime market. The company finds itself in the conditions of fighting for each sale, but when a niche market is captured, the company can be considered successful. The purchase of a new product ceases to cause a surprise among major players. Thus, a niche market is the gateway to the core market; and if the company wins there, a number of new niches are formed around it and finally, the company will be with higher probability successful in them. At the same time, Moore (1991) says that the chasm is difficult to predict. Most often, companies find it only when they stand over it. So, what decisions should be made in this case? According to G. Moore (1991), if a company has found itself hanging over the abyss, the best solution is to retreat. When the product is too immature and cannot bridge the gap, it is necessary to postpone the work on it until better times; otherwise it will drag the whole company into this chasm. The company can also try to become a consultant or service company. After all, it still has ideas beside the product. Instead of selling a product, the company can personalize the technology for the solution of each specific task, and thus selling not products, but projects. However, in this case, all the people who cannot be engaged in consulting services (administrative and technical staff, product sales managers, marketers) are to be downsized. Attempts to cross the chasm actually create chasms within the organization itself, presented by the conflict between start-up generation and generation of mature business. Often, companies have to sacrifice the creators of the technology for the sake of survival. This may seem unfair, and when the market is at an early stage of development, the leader really must be a fan of the technology, attracting a certain type of customers (fans). But when the chasm is overcome, the company needs other customers pragmatists. And here it becomes clear that visionaries cannot find common language with them and begin to push the company back into the abyss. At this stage, the company has to change its leaders: most often, they become technical directors, as technological vision is required even in the mature market. Thus, though the main objects of desire of IT companies have always been buyers-innovators, already in the early 1990s Moore claimed that that the conservatives are the future of the IT market. Today we see how the compass of many technology companies turns in their direction. The whole point is that the conservatives are afraid of the responsibility for the new technology. They are happy to use it when it runs by itself. Therefore, in the mature market conservatives are the most fertile audience, they are very loyal to products they purchase. Most buyers of FMCG-market are very conservative in giving preference to one and the same brands (Mohr, 2000). For example, today most buyers choose cell phones by their color and shape, rather than because of technical characteristics, although until recently these people did not believe in the usefulness of the phone and basically did not buy it. Selling products to conservatives, companies face the fact that at this stage all the technologies are similar and competitive differences are minimal. Companies still have to be creative in design, small modifications, and service development. This seems to be a paradox: conservatives need to sell creatively. On the other hand, according to Moore (1991), the fact is that the process of innovation does not end after overcoming the chasm, but simply its essence is changing. At the early stages, it was connected with the essence of technology, and later with the appearance of the product. Conservatives do not need new technology, they need superficially attractive technology; they welcome only two changes in the product: when it gets cheaper and when it becomes seemingly more attractive. Therefore, a more advanced manufacturing technology is needed to make it cheaper, and the efforts of marketers to make it more vivid. On the whole, the more mature the market becomes, the less the essence of technology changes. Here automobile can be a good example. The majority of innovations are connected with style, interior and decoration of the car, aimed at making it more beautiful and comfortable, at reducing its size and price (Mohr, 2000). For example, the Chinese offered Chery, which will cost about $ 10Â  000 in the USA, while Mercedes and BMW are focused on comfort: climate control, leather seats, automatic doors and stuff. But all this does not deal with technologies; it is rather a supporting innovation. Such innovations make the existing products better, but do not create new technologies and do not change anything in their essence. As a result, the product becomes more convenient to consume. During most of the products life cycle the innovations are supportive, while disruptive innovations are much less common. Surely, in the world of high-tech, they should occur permanently, but now the technology as such becomes more mature and the intensity of intervenient innovations declines. Moore also says that the model of disruptive technologies in high-tech should also be interesting for other industries. The logical question is if principle of turning market will work for those who do not work in IT, where the author drew inspiration for his book. No less logical question is whether once turned over the market can make a turn again. The answer to both questions is yes. First, IT market is just one of many markets in the world, and it would be strange to consider it an exception to the rules. Digital technologies have transferred significant gaps to the entertainment industry. When Sony created the videotape recorder, people became accustomed to viewing home videos. In finance and airline industry, the effect of interruption can be seen today in the decentralization process and the change of aviation model. Thus, traditional carriers adhere to the nodal model, with several towns through which they conduct their main operations. The nodal model is good for long hauls, but for short distances is much more convenient to fly from point to point. Young companies like Southwest Airlines have adopted cost-effective aircrafts, which are easy to fly at medium distances. As a result, their clients were able to fly without transfers. Big companies have not noticed this niche and now its captured by small entrepreneurial companies, which is a real breakthrough. The second question is much more interesting, because a developing company will at all times meet on its way markets in both states. Moreover, it is constantly working in a situation where both types of market are taking place in one and the same market. For example, any seller of any goods in retail outlets is simultaneously working with both types of market. For those networks that are important in terms of sales and product image (class A network) the seller selects a special team, which is occupied by only the satisfaction of the vagaries of purchasers of such networks (All-For-One market). For all other networks that do not bring considerable profit, the seller holds a general division (One-For-All market). Thus, drawing out practical advice from Moore, in order to obtain maximum profit from both types of markets, a company has to divide its sales into two parts in compliance with the type of market. These departments should also be divided geographically, then the sales are to grow significantly in at least 3 months. However, the markets should be divided accurately, as the incorrect operation cannot contribute to the development of sales. If it turns out that one of the markets is just a tiny fraction of companys turnover, it should be eliminated in order to concentrate on the remaining market and increase it at times. Nowadays, it rarely happens when a bestseller contains practical, applicable to life lessons. Geoffrey A. Moores Crossing the Chasm is surely one of such rare works; it teaches both IT-companies and non-high-tech sector to separate markets and manage the gap when shifting between their types.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Modernist Movement in Fords Good Soldier and Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway Ess

Ford Madox Ford and Virginia Woolf were major contributors to the modernist movement. They, as well as others (such as James Joyce), were trying something new, by breaking down the boundaries of traditional writing. Ford's Good Soldier and Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway are two particular examples of the genre. These novels were not well-received in their own time. As time went on, however, the attitudes of the literary world changed and were able to finally see these works for what they really are – exemplary pieces of fiction, certainly worth merit. The Good Soldier was first published in 1915. Rebecca West penned a promising review for the year, ending with â€Å"Indeed, this is a much, much better book than any of us deserve† (40). Theodore Dreiser, in his review published in the New Republic in June of the same year, is not as kind. He disdains John Dowell as narrator, particularly his unreliable and meandering style, calling it a â€Å"bad method† (Dreiser 41). Dreiser goes on to explain that he finds no fault with the plot, just with the way Ford went about telling it. It is interesting to note that Dreiser states that a story must proceed in a linear fashion, bemoaning the fact that The Good Soldier does not follow this form, but yet winds up his article by calling the book â€Å"fairly representative of that encrusting formalism which, barnacle-wise, is apparently overtaking and destroying all that is best in English life† (43). In the early 1950s, there was a resurgence in interest (and criticism) of The Good Soldier. Mark Schorer, in his introduction to the 1951 reprint of the novel, called it a â€Å"great work of comic irony† (44). Where Dreiser denigrated the form of the novel as if it were sloppy and slapdash, Schore... ...so did literature, and eventually, critics began to come around and focus on particular aspects of these works, rather than dislike for them. Works Cited Author Unknown. â€Å"Book Notices.† The English Journal 14 (1925): 738-744. 4 Nov. 2014. Bullett, Gerald. â€Å"Virginia Woolf.† The English Journal 17 (1928): 793-800. 4 Nov. 2014. Cassell, Richard A., ed. Critical Essays on Ford Madox Ford. Boston: G.K. Hall and Co., 1987. Cheng, Vincent J. "Religious Differences in `The Good Soldier': The `Protest' Scene." Renascence 37 (1985): 238-247. Literature Resource Center. Infotrac. U of South Florida, Tampa. 18 Nov 2014. . Hoffman, Charles G. Ford Madox Ford. Boston: G.K. Hall and Co., 1990. Wright, Nathalia. â€Å"Mrs. Dalloway: A Study in Composition.† College English 5 (1944): 351-358. 3 Nov. 2014.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Ten Minute Time Sample Observation

Ten minute child's observation Observer: someone Aim: To do a ten minute time sample observation of a child engaged in a play activity. Date of observation: 29 11 2011 Observation started: 9. 55 Observation completed: 10. 05 Child's Initials: AWDate of Birth or Age: 4 years 5 months Legend: Child observed = AWOther girl = ESG = small group P= pair of childrenSOL = alone Evaluation : During the observation I did, AW was engaged in play all the time. She was playing with other children most of time. She is confidently interacting with other children while playing. She speaks clearly, in simple sentences. Asks simple questions. In ten minutes time she used even five areas in the nursery; so she’s very confident in there. Also, she doesn’t like staying in one area for a long time and she engages in imaginative play. Interested in shapes while in gluing activity. From this observation, I can tell that she has a good social skills, but, also, that she likes to dominate and tell other children what to do. Plays very well with E, likes to spend time with her, but sometimes doesn’t want to take turns. Time Setting Language Social group Comments 9. 55 In a construction area, going to play hide and seek. AW Â ® E ‘see if you can find me. ‘ E Â ® AW ‘I'm sure I will' P AW is going to find some place where to hide, E is not looking. 9. 56 In construction area hiding under the table. None SOL AW is hiding and E is trying to find her looking in all the nursery areas. 9. 57 In house corner – AW is hiding in the wardrobe None SOL AW has changed area, E didn’t notice her. Finally E finds AW in the wardrobe. AW is very happy. 9. 58 Music area AW Â ® E ‘can you please turn the music o? ’ E Â ® AW ‘sure, I can’ P AW is in music corner together with E again. She has a suitcase full of things. She found a remote control and gave it to E. 9. 59 Music area Whispering to each other P AW and E are hiding behind the armchair and laughing silently. 10. 00 New experiences area AW: ‘I want to be a dog; I want to be a dog!!! ’ SG AW, E and to other girls are playing in new experiences area. AW finds a dog bed and she’s pretending that she is a dog lying in dog’s bed. 10. 01 New experiences area E Â ® AW ‘let me be a dog now? ’ AW: ‘no, I am a dog!!! ’ SG AW doesn’t allow E to be a dog, because she wants to be a dog and she is still lying in a dog’s bed. 10. 02 New experiences None SG AW is still in a bed, pretending sleeping. 10. 03 New experiences AW: ‘sssh, I am sleeping’ SG AW is telling other girls to be quite, because she is sleeping. Other girls are quite now. 10. 04 Gluing area None SG AW is taking some card boxes from the shelf, measuring them and comparing shapes. 10. 05 Gluing area None SG AW took some boxes from the shelf and she put some glue on it. Later she took decorations from the box and started to decorate her art. She plays silently

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Project Plan Management Essay

ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been a lot of progress in the knowledge area of  project management; however, many companies continue ignoring the techniques and tools that assist the conduct of projects. The project planning phase is considered, by many scholars, a crucial stage for the success completion of a project, especially when it comes to multi-project environments; where managers and team members participate in multiple, concurrent projects. The main objective of this project is to use the many project management techniques and tools to plan a Fitness Festival to educate the Tampa Bay community about the benefits of fitness and health while promoting the sport of CrossFit. PROJECT HISTORY Each year, the United Health Foundation and the American Public Health Association team up to rank the health of America’s states. I was surprised to read that Florida was ranked number 33, behind many states like Colorado (ranked 8), and Minnesota (ranked 3). How could a state named â€Å"The Sunshine State† be so low in the rankings? And how could I help change that? Three years ago, I was introduced to CrossFit, and since then, my own health has changed radically. I stopped smoking, started to exercise often, and while learning about nutrition changed the way I eat. It not only changed my lifestyle, but I noticed it started to change my family and friends as well. In educating people around me about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, they became motivated to try it themselves. PROJECT OBJECTIVE The purpose of this project is to create Fitness Festival that can educate the community about the benefits of fitness and health while promoting the sport of CrossFit. â€Å"CrossFit combines aerobic conditioning, Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics along with some other old-school training elements like kettlebell, rope climbs, tire flipping and sledgehammer into daily WODs (workout of the day)† (Upton 2013). By using Project Management skills, I will be able to â€Å"provide a vision of what the project is to achieve, communicate the vision to all involved, ensure that everyone stays focused on the vision, motivate all involved, as well as coordinate all tasks  necessary to complete the project† (Kleim, 1998). PROJECT SCOPE â€Å"The first step in the planning process was to identify exactly what was to be delivered as well as the major elements of work† (Heerkens, 2002). The main goal of the project was to educate the community about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, but we also wanted to focus on promoting CrossFit. We know that CrossFit athletes are very competitive, so what a better way to promote the sport, but to create a friendly competition among Tampa Bay Crossfit athletes? All tasks had to be completed under the approval budget of $1000. DELIVERABLES †¢Finalize Location of Event †¢Develop Competition Workouts †¢Plan Marketing Strategy †¢Inventory of Equipment †¢Obtain Sponsors and/ or Vendors †¢Obtain commitment of Resources/ Volunteers †¢Entertainment MILESTONES †¢Reserve competition location- January 18th 2014 †¢Create event flyers, website and social media- January 31st 2014 †¢Finalize workouts-February 10th 2014 †¢Confirm vendors and volunteers- February 17th 2014 †¢Organize swag bags- February 24th 2014 †¢Host Competition- March 1st 2014 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS †¢Location must accommodate the intended number of athletes and spectator †¢There must be at least 1 judge for every team competing †¢Location must have bathrooms †¢All Athletes must sign a release form ASSUMPTIONS †¢At least 15 athletes will sign up to compete †¢Volunteers will not receive monetary compensation †¢Sponsors and vendors will pay an entry fee LIMITS AND EXCLUSIONS †¢Sponsors and vendors will bring their own tent, table and chairs †¢DJ is responsible for all music equipment including a microphone CUSTOMER REVIEW Taylor Smith and Nicole Smith WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is â€Å"developed by sub-diving a process, product, project, or service into its major work elements, then breaking the major work elements into sub-elements† (Stewart, 1995). The WBS is the â€Å"skeleton and foundation of every project and acts as the project’s major support mechanism† (Dow, 2010). I have found it to be useful in not only projects, but also in any brainstorming session. It helps team members â€Å"remember all major portions of work to be accomplished† (Stewart, 1995). Creating a focus helps organize the team and therefore, assure that all major deliverables are recognized. The WBS â€Å"graphically displays all the work items for the project in a single chart† (Dow, 2010), so it can be used as a helpful communication tool. The WBS is also used to reduce the â€Å"possibility of overlap, duplication and redundancy of tasks† (Stewart, 1995). There is a lot of misconception that the WBS is an organizational chart or a schedule. PMs have to be very careful in explaining the function of the WBS as it does not have a sequence and should not be used as the project’s schedule. PROJECT NETWORK â€Å"The network diagram’s purpose is to sequence and logically order all tasks on a project. It’s an organization of the project layout† (Dow, 2010). It allows for the PM to know what tasks are being worked on, their duration, when they should start and when they should finish, along with any predecessors and successors. Furthermore, the PM should identify the project’s critical path in order to assign the best team members to those tasks, as those tasks are critical to maintain â€Å"cost and schedule savings† (Warburton, 2013). CRITICAL PATH The critical path will assist with maintaining control and keeping the project on schedule. â€Å"The critical path is derived by performing two manipulations of the schedule- a forward pass and a backward pass. The forward pass calculates the earliest times (or dates) that activities can start and finish. The backward pass calculates the latest times (or dates) that activities can start and finish† (Heerkens, 2002). â€Å"The critical path is the longest path and the shortest time in which a project can be completed† (Warburton, 2013). The critical path activities are the ones the PM needs to pay most attention to as â€Å"one day of slippage in a critical path activity means one day of slippage in the overall project†. COST ESTIMATE I started my project with a high level/ macro estimation. I used my experience from a previous In-House competition I planned as the basis for estimating the current competition event I am planning†. â€Å"While this method is less costly than other techniques, in most cases it is also less accurate† (Hill, 2009). Even though the end deliverable (host a competition) is the same, there are a lot of differences between In-house and a community competition. The scope is much larger, the timeline is greater, a lot more resources are needed, etc. This is why a Bottoms-Up or Micro estimate is a better technique. This type of estimate is â€Å"used when the PM wants to improve the estimate and account for risk and estimation uncertainty†Ã‚  (Heldman, 2013). Unfortunately, this technique is hard to do in the beginning stage of the project because there is not enough information at that time. The best time to use this technique is after the PM finalizes the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). During this technique, the PM will estimate the cost of each activity in the WBS. â€Å"The cost and accuracy are driven by the size of the individual work packages- smaller work packages increase both cost and accuracy† (Hill, 2009). â€Å"The calculations used in the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) approach recognize the variability inherent in each activity and applies rudimentary statistics in a way that accommodates the variability† (Heerkens, 2002). PERT uses three estimates. â€Å"The most likely time is the effort to complete a task under normal or reasonable conditions. The most pessimistic time is the effort to complete a task under the worst conceivable circumstances. The most optimistic is the effort to complete a task under the best or ideal circumstances† (Kleim, 1998). PERT CALCULATION Estimated Cost = Optimistic Estimate + 4* (most likely estimate) + Pessimistic Estimate 6 $800 + 4* ($1,000) + ($1,500) = $1,050 6 EXTERNAL BUDGET This project is not expected to warrant a profit. Its objective is to educate the community about health, nutrition and the sport of CrossFit. Sponsors, including apparel stores, equipment stores, etc. will pay a fee of $250.00 each. The funds will go towards each athlete’s swag bag (which will include a competition t-shirt). The fee will also be used for the purchase of t-shirts for volunteers and judges. All Vendors, including vitamin stores, sports drinks, and any food vendor will pay a fee of $100.00 each. The fee will be used for the marketing of the competition which will include all vendors’ information and advertising. RISKS â€Å"Risk management is a proactive attempt to recognize what can go wrong and to plan ahead† (Warburton 2013). Risk reporting is the act of informing team managers and senior management of those risks. RISKSCONSEQUENCES Not enough athletes will sign upPotential cancellation of project Judges/ volunteers don’t show up on competition dayDelay and over-allocation of resources Athlete does not sign a waiver and gets hurt during competitionLiability to the Sponsor Property damage caused by heavy equipment Cost not in budget EARNED VALUE (EV) The earned value concept consists of examining the past, present, and future in order to determine the end point. IDBaseline EstimateSpent to DateCost to Complete Revised ForecastUnder (Over) 1$1,000$200$600$800$200 1.2$200$200$0$200$0 1.3$100$0$100$100$0 1.4$100$150$0$150($50) 1.5$80$95$0$95($15) TOTAL$1480$645$700$1,345$135 *** Local companies donated money towards the project in return for advertisement, which covered some costs within the planned budget*** RECOMMENDATIONS/ LESSONS LEARNED Even though I understood that the project scope was one of the most important documents, I did not â€Å"invest an appropriate amount of time to fully understand all aspects of the project† (Heerkens, 2002). That caused a lot of wasted time on my part, as I struggled maintaining the timeline and handling over-allocation of resources. During the WBS exercise, I was clueless on what to do, so I kept focusing on â€Å"how† to deliver a task and  ended up wasting a lot of my team’s time. After understanding the purpose of the exercise, I was able to focus on â€Å"what† work was needed to be performed and not â€Å"how† to do it. The PM needs to make sure every team member understands the concepts of what each â€Å"exercise† is. Many SMEs, stakeholders, etc. are not familiar with project management skills. When I was working on the network diagram, I realized I made the wrong assumption on the duration of some tasks, and had to adjust those ti mes in order to meet the deadline. That created even more pressure on the, already â€Å"stretched thin† resources. I also had to combine some tasks in order to simplify the diagram. The once separated tasks of commitment from Athletes, Sponsors, and Vendors are now combined and have the same duration time. After learning the importance of having the best people assigned to critical activities, I had to shift the assignments of resources and add other volunteers to help with the planning phase of the project. Also, I could have done a better job recognizing changes in the critical path through the ongoing schedule updates. If not done, the â€Å"PM could very well spend time, money, and resources fighting fires that don’t necessarily matter (i.e. not in the critical path)†. (Heerkens, 2002). Understanding the cost estimate is extremely important as it will drive the project. It took me a long time to understand the concept in relation to my project, as resources were volunteers (not paid) and a lo t of the budget came from fees paid by vendors and sponsors. In hindsight, I would have preferred picking a different type of project- one that I could clearly explain each cost. The biggest frustration and biggest lessons learned came from MS Project. Not being familiar with the application; I struggled completing that assignment. I learned the tool is excellent and hope to use in the near future; however, the PM should not attempt to promise to deliver something without having a basic knowledge of the process or tool being used. I had planned to run the schedule based on a 7 day/ week work schedule; however, could not figure out how to accurately change it in MS Project, so I had to constantly manipulate the tasks and duration to try to fit the timeline. I hope to run the same exercises and use the same tools during the next CrossFit completion I get involved in. I am curious to see how I go about it and see the difference in results. REFERENCES Dow, W. (2010) Project Management Communications Bible, John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Heldman, K. (2013). PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide. John Wiley & Sons, 2013 Heerkens, G. (2002) Project Management, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2002 Hill, G. (2009). The Complete Project Management Methodology and Toolkit. CRC Press, 2009. Kleim, R. and Ludin, I. (1998) Project Management Practitioner’s Handbook, AMACOM Books, 1998. Stewart, D. and Wyskida, R. (1995) Cost Estimator’s Reference Manual, John Wiley & Sons, 1995. Upton, J. (2013, May 10). The CrossFit Craze: 5 Reasons You Need to Get In on It. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-upton/crossfit_b_3240705.html Warburton, R. and Kanabar, V. (2013). The Art and Science of Project Management. RW Press, 2013.