American Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

American Literature - Essay Example The narration rises above the scope of an ordinary tale that deals with the power of Nature over man, as it depicts the ambivalent relationship between man and Nature in a manner comparable to other American works like The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway and Moby Dick by Herman Melville. London employs a strict and effective economy of words and terse plot construction to produce a powerful story replete with multiple layers of meaning. Though the unpredictable aspects of Nature play a major part in the devastation of the protagonist, the presence of a wild dog that accompanies him on his journey brings in many contrasts. The most significant among them is between the man’s estrangement from his own instincts that causes his death and the uninformed yet natural instincts of the beast that helps it survive. The characterization of the man is done deftly through references to his attitude to the excruciating cold which he understands to be fifty degrees below zero, but is in fact seventy five below zero. London describes that the absence of the sun or the tremendous cold did not make an impression on the man. It was not because he was used to it, as he was a newcomer to the place and it was his first winter. â€Å"The trouble with him was that he was without imagination† (London). He understood the extreme cold temperature on practical terms only, and was trying to deal with it logically, taking for granted the man-made equipments which he hopes would protect him from the powers of Nature. The first three paragraphs deal judiciously with the characterization of the man as a self-willed person unwilling to pay heed to the warnings and obstacles that were trying to stop him from his immediate objectives. The plot unravels through the man’s point of view and shifts between the present and the past. He was aiming to reach the left fork of Henderson Creek, where he expected to meet his companions in a mining camp. He discarded the

Interventions for Sexual Issues and Dysfunctions Essay Example for Free

Interventions for Sexual Issues and Dysfunctions Essay Interventions for Sexual Issues and Dysfunctions LaShawnda Ogle Walden University The Wilson’s are currently experiencing some sexual dysfunctions, a condition that can cause a lot of distress during intercourse (Hecker amp; Wetchler, 2010). In the case study Mrs. Wilson has been diagnosed with having Vaginismus. Vaginismus is known for causing some severe pain and as a result causes the female to avoid sexual activity (p. 377). It’s formally defined as the involuntary spastic contraction of the outer one-third of the vagina. There can be treatment techniques. The two sexual therapy interventions I would suggest for the Wilson’s are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and a medically treated approach using a vaginal dilator. The one intervention method suggested for Mrs. Wilson would be that of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. According to Hecker amp; Wetchler, (2010), women with vaginismus can show fear and have some anxiety with the thought of penetration. In order to help decrease those fears and anxieties CBT may help Mrs. Wilson’s sexual satisfaction increase as well as her over all well-being: addressing not only the physical pain or discomfort of sex but also the psychological aspects. For example: there are cognitive strategies such as: sexual exercises and relaxation techniques that can be applied with CBT in order to help relieve the pain associated with vaginismus (Hecker amp; Wetchler, 2010). CBT can also offer some coping skills along with restructuring a person’s way of thinking. Another intervention treatment method for sexual disorders such as that of Mrs. Wilson is more of a medically treated approach. Hecker amp; Wetchler, (2010) suggest a vaginal dilator as being a useful technique for modifying a conditioned response. Vaginal dilators are used to teach control of circumvaginal muscles (p. 377). In order to use these dilators they are generally supplied to people from a doctor’s office with or without the presence of the person’s partner. The private space offers the opportunity to help decrease the fear and anxiety with sex so that penetration can occur. The similarities of both CBT therapy and the medically treated approach using a vaginal dilator are that they both focus on calming the painful symptoms associated with sexual discourse in females. Another similarity with the two interventions is that they both offer suggestions in how to cope and deal with the shame and/or guilt associated with sexual dysfunctions. The only differences are the methods used to intervene. CBT focuses more on the cognition of dealing with negative thoughts that often occur with sexual disorders. The vaginal dilators focus on ways to relieve the stress without the conditioned fear response (p. 377). A challenge with using CBT therapy and vaginal dilators is that it encourages having both partners actively involved (Hecker amp; Wetchler, 2010). Sexual intercourse and dysfunctions can be a touchy subject that does not resolve itself without partner interaction, so getting both partners together could be somewhat of a challenge. In order to know whether or not a treatment intervention is working, both Mr. and Mrs. Wilson need to report the improvements in the symptoms of Mrs. Wilson. I would also like to know from both partners if increased enjoyment has occurred after treatment, in order to know whether or not my treatment interventions were working. Nonetheless, getting both partners together to discuss a sexual dysfunction is something I see as a challenge. References Hecker, L. , L. , amp; Wetchler, J. L. , eds. (2003). An Introduction to Marriage and Family Therapy (1st ed. ). Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Clinical Practice Press.

Communication Theories Essay -- essays research papers

In interpersonal communication there are many theories that are similar yet different in many ways. The theories can be combined to describe people and how those people interact and communicate with each other. Many of these theories help explain how people in society form impressions of others, how they maintain these impressions, why people interact with certain people in society, and how people will use these impressions that they have formed later on in life. These theories also help people to better understand themselves, to better understand interpersonal communication, and to better understand people in general. There are two theories in interpersonal communication that, despite their differences, can go hand in hand. The first is interaction adaptation theory and the second is emotional contagion theory. These two theories’ similarities and differences and their relevance to my everyday life will be discussed in this paper. These two theories are very important in und erstanding how people interact with others and why people do the things they do sometimes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interaction adaptation theory defined by Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond (2005) is a â€Å"Theory suggesting that people interact with others by adapting to what others are doing† (p. 190). A way of looking at this theory is by thinking about a mirror. â€Å"Sometimes we relate by mirroring the posture or behavior of others† (p. 190). This theory believes that people will share the same kind of communication patterns when they are communicating together. People will interact in the same way as the other person. There has been a conclusion based on this theory that â€Å"nonverbal cues play a key role in how people adapt to others† (p. 190). If a person is communicating with their friend, who has their arms crossed, than this person might find that they are crossing their arms as well. These types of actions are all conclusions to this theory. People, based on their interactions with others, usually tend to develop similar communication patterns and find themselves mirroring the patterns of the other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emotional contagion theory is a little similar to interaction adaptation theory. According to Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond (2005), emotional contagion theory â€Å"suggests that people tend to ‘catch’ the emotions of others† (p. 213). This means that if a person is comm... ...oes for most of the emotions that people feel. I never really noticed any of this before I started writing this paper. I shared this information with my best friend and she was amazed that the way people interact is generally the same within groups in society. She now has a better understanding of the communication patterns and behaviors of people and she is not even in the class.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These theories have helped me to have a clearer understanding of how people interact with others and how they can share emotions. Everybody uses these theories whether they are conscious of it or not. If people did not use these theories than they would not be taught in class. Knowing about these theories and how they work is very beneficial to having better communication and interaction with people who are complete strangers and with people who are friends or even colleagues. The way people interact with others is important to knowing how they will share emotions and behaviors not only now, but also in the future. References Beebe, S., Beebe, S., Redmond, M. (2005). Interpersonal Communication: Relating to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Others. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Chaucer’s Prologue To The Canterbury Tales Essay

Dave Tagatac English III Dec. 1, 2000 Canterbury Tales Essay #1 In Geoffrey Chaucer’s Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, there was a Friar to accompany the party traveling to Canterbury. Hubert, as he was called, embodied the traits from which friars were expected to keep their distance. Chaucer is successful in using this white-necked beggar to bring to the readers mind corruption, wealth, greed, and lechery, all hypocritical and immoral characteristics for a man of the church to possess. Although he is a merry man, full of joy and â€Å"wantonness†, these are mere irrelevancies when assessing Hubert’s value of character as a friar. Throughout Chaucer’s description of the Friar in the Prologue, Hubert’s corruption is evident. Probably the Friar’s greatest evil is suggested early in his description and mentioned several times more. When Hubert would marry a couple, he would give each â€Å"Of his young women what he could afford her.† The sexual connotation of this statement is enforced by the fact that â€Å"He kept his tippet stuffed with pins for curls, / And pocket-knives, to give to pretty girls.† Other evidence of corruption, although not as reprehensible as the defiance of celibacy, includes Hubert’s failure to befriend the â€Å"lepers, beggars, and that crew,† to whom friars were intended to be nearest. The narrator explains that their lack of money makes their friendship simply a waste of the Friar’s time. A friar is supposed to be poor, only taking what they need to survive, and giving the rest to those impoverished souls who need it. Hubert, on the other hand, was quite wealthy. I have never known the imbibing of alcohol to be a necessity of life, and yet this friar â€Å"knew the taverns very well in every town / And every innkeeper and barmaid too.† The narrator even states outright that â€Å"his income came / To more than he laid out.† Yet another extraneous possession for a friar was the extravagant dress Hubert wore, as contrasted with the rags friars were expected to don. All of these things demonstrate how the Friar, even when obtaining more than he expected, gave very little to the poor, and kept much for himself. This feeling is continued † even augmented † upon examination of Hubert’s greed. â€Å"Highly beloved and intimate was he / With Country folk within his boundary.† As mentioned above, he associated not with the poor, â€Å"But only with the rich and victual-sellers.† Anyone from whom a profit was possible was inherently the Friar’s friend. This greed is indisputable in light of a final piece of evidence. That is that Hubert would actually pay other friars not to beg in his district. Again, these are actions to be frowned upon in any man, let alone a religiously affiliated one. Finally, Hubert can be shown to be a leach, hanging around those from whom he can get money, and depending on them to support his opulent lifestyle. Although he had no permission to hear confession, this was one way for him to make money, and he did not hesitate to utilize it. He even targeted those who weren’t so wealthy in a never-ending quest for monetary gain: â€Å"though a widow mightn’t have a shoe / â€Å" ¦ / He got her farthing from her just the same.† When people of his district had a dispute, the lecherous Friar was there. Hubert could be found taking advantage of any opportunity he could find to make money honestly, or dishonestly. The Friar was well liked, and had a wonderful singing voice, but his contributions to society ended here. He, through his actions, has shown evidence of corruption, immoral opulence, greed to increase this wealth, and a terrible habit of leaching off others. He was considered a man of the church, but he was far from the piety the title â€Å"friar† conveys.

My American Dream

The American dream can have so many different meanings to so many different people around our country. This is what makes the American dream so wonderful, the fact that you get to determine your dream is in some cases the American dream for some people already! Luckily I myself am able to determine my American dream. I have always thought of my American dream of being able to live a simple life in which I am able to have a stable job that I enjoy.Most importantly though is I would like to not only have free time and do things that enjoy like watch my favorite sports team or spend time with my friends. Overall I guess you could just say that I would just like to live my life to the fullest. Some other things that I would like to be included in my American dream is being able to manage my time the way I want to, although this sounds like a very simple wish in my opinion people don’t realize how much time can dictate your life.So many times I find myself missing out on the opport unity to do something simply because there wasn’t enough time. Lastly but most importantly I dream of living a long-term healthy life because no matter what you wish for, you would never be able to enjoy it without your health. I believe that my American dream is reasonable and achievable and one day I hope to end up getting to live a life similar to this.

Marketing and the Strip Club Essay Example

Marketing and the Strip Club Essay Example Marketing and the Strip Club Paper Marketing and the Strip Club Paper Re: Marketing Topic Paper (Subject Matter) The subject I chose for my topic report is â€Å" Competing in the Adult Night Club Industry â€Å" . The subject sparked my interest when I over heard a classmate saying she wanted to own a â€Å"strip club†. I also had thoughts of one day opening my own â€Å"gentlemen’s club†. Typically when you think of a â€Å"strip club† you think of a low class, raunchy, place filled with criminals, but contrary to some beliefs that isn’t always the case. There is an upscale adult entertainment venue called a â€Å"gentlemen’s club†. We both had made reference to the recent popularity of a nightclub in Washington, DC called â€Å"The Stadium Club†. â€Å"The Stadium Club† considers itself an upscale â€Å"gentlemen’s club† that offers things such as: five star dining, dancing, live adult entertainment, valet, and door-to-door limousine service. â€Å"The Stadium Club† advertises live on the radio, works with various club promoters, is frequented by many celebrities, and is now featured in various rap songs and videos. â€Å"The Stadium† has a strong following on both facebook and twitter and has now become a DC â€Å"hot spot†. I knew that â€Å"The Stadium† wasn’t the only adult entertainment venue in the area, so I wondered â€Å"What made it so popular? † and â€Å"Why was â€Å"The Stadium Club† more sucessful than the others like it? â€Å". Through a market analysis I found that this industry is highly competitive. With regards to one of â€Å"Porters five forces† I decided to base my paper on the threat of rivalry among the competetiors in this industry. Introduction There is recent trend involving the popularity of â€Å"gentlemen’s clubs† thru-out the United States. With a growing acceptance and tolerance for these venues clubs are being bought and sold for millions of dollars These adult entertainment clubs have become just as popular as â€Å"regular clubs†. Atlanta and Las Vegas have an entire nightlife surrounding this industry with millions of dollar being made by these nightclub owners. There are over 2,500 â€Å"gentlemen’s clubs† competing in this 15 billion dollar market surrounding the industry. Out of the 2,500 venues only two have become successful enough to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The most successful one being â€Å"Rick’s Cabaret† based in New York City. Ricks is a very upscale â€Å"gentlemen’s club† that puts â€Å"The Stadium Club† to shame. According to â€Å"Business Wire New York† Ricks is the leading operator of upscale â€Å"gentlemen’s clubs†. â€Å"Ricks Cabaret† dominates the market operating over eleven clubs in seven cities including: Philadelphia, New Orleans, Charlotte, New York Miami, Dallas, Huston, and Minneapolis. â€Å" Ricks Caberet† Miami location operates as â€Å"Tooties† and was voted the number one †gentlemens club† in the United states by †Complex Magazine†.

Process Paper on Relaxation

Process Paper on Relaxation Since some people may not know how to or do not have the time to relax in today's busy world, it is important for one to learn at least one technique of relaxation. Once simple technique that comes to my mind is a method a nun has taught her students for many years. Even her students can teach this simple technique.Step one tot his technique is to sit on a comfortable chair with hands flat on a desk or table while having the forefingers and thumbs touching one another. Step two, close your eyes and think. Step three, imagine a room with a door. This is your room. Make it any size, shape or color. You can choose the door to have lock on it or not. With a lock on the door, no one can break into space and you can leave your troubles behind the closed door.English: A hollow door with one face removed.Step four, open the door to view your room. Once it opens, you can decorate the room, as you like, with huge windows overlapping puffy white clouds or at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Step five, think of the furniture, music and lighting. This is your room so make it the way you would like it to be. Imagine sitting on a big comfortable sofa or chair while listening to soft music or not. Have full light or no light at all in your room. Make this room your paradise where you can get away from all your worries, troubles, and hectic schedules.Finally, sit in your room for at least 10 minutes and think of only happy experiences. Maybe think about when you were a child playing with your family pet or riding your bicycle on a summer day. When you leave this room, you...

Spanish Expressions Using Ir

Spanish Expressions Using Ir Like its English counterpart to go, the Spanish verb ir can be used with an incredible variety of meanings. The meanings of phrases using ir cant always be determined logically merely by knowing the meanings of the individual words, so they are best learned through actual use or memorization. Using ‘Ir A’ as a Type of Future Tense By far the most common expression using ir is ir a followed by an infinitive. For most purposes, it is the equivalent of the English to go to followed by a verb. Thus voy a estudiar means I am going to study. This use of ir a is extremely common in Spanish, so much so that in some parts of Latin America it is the de facto future tense. It even has a name- the periphrastic future. (Something periphrastic uses more than one word.) Where it is in common use, it all but replaces the standard or conjugated future tense in standard speech. In other words, a sentence such as Vamos a comprar la casa can be translated as either We are going to buy the house or We will buy the house. Other Phrases Using ‘Ir’ Many of the other expressions using ir are formed by following ir with a prepositional phrase. Following are some of the most common. Keep in mind that some of the expressions here can also be translated literally. For example, while ir de has two idiomatic definitions given here, it can also be translated literally. For example: Mi tà ­a va de trabajo a trabajo. (My aunt goes from job to job.) ir a (or, less commonly, ir para) destination: to go to (a place). Fuimos a la playa. (We went to the beach.)Quienes fueron a Espaà ±a? (Who went to Spain?) ir en vehicle: to travel by (type of vehicle). Less commonly, the preposition por can be used instead. Voy en autobà ºs. (I am traveling by bus.)Nos iremos en taxi, porque no quisiera depender de nadie. (Well go away by taxi, because we dont want to depend on anybody.) ir para infinitive: to go to verb, to go in order to verb, to go for the purpose of verb. Vamos para conocer a mis padres. (We are going in order to meet my parents.)Quiero ir para aprender espaà ±ol. (I want to go in order to learn Spanish.) ir para type of job or career: to go to become someone with the stated type of job. Pablo va para mà ©dico. (Pablo is going to become a doctor.)Debe ir para el candidato presidencial. (She should go become a presidential candidate.) ir gerund: to be doing something, usually with the connotation of doing so gradually or laboriously. Voy aprendiendo la leccià ³n. (I am slowly learning the lesson.)Él va construyendo la casa. (He is gradually building the house.) ir tirando: to manage or get by. Vamos tirando por mucha ayuda. (Were getting by with a lot of help.)Ahora con la crisis las cosas estn malas, pero vamos tirando. (Things are bad with the crisis now, but well manage.) ir andando, ir corriendo: to walk, to run. Va andando a la escuela. (He is walking to the school.)Fue corriendo a la escuela. (He ran to the school.) ir de: to be about or be the subject of (when said of a book, movie, speech, etc.) El seà ±or de los anillos va de un hobbit. (The Lord of the Rings is about a hobbit.)Romeo y Julieta va de amor. (Romeo and Juliet is about love.) ir de: to think of oneself as. Roberto va de inteligente. (Roberto thinks hes smart.)Los jovenes de esa escuela siempre van de invencibles. (The teens at that school always think theyre invincible.) ir de, ir con: to be dressed in. Él va con camisa blanca. (He is wearing a white shirt.)Ella va de azul. (She is dressed in blue.) ir de compras: to go shopping. Fuimos de compras. (We went shopping.)Es imprescendible que vaya de compras antes. (It is vital that he has gone shopping earlier.) ir por: to search for, to go in search of, to go for. Vamos por una casa nueva. (Were off in search of a new house.)Mis hijos iban por un regalo para mà ­ y ya no regresaron. (My children went to get a gift for me and still havent come back.)  ¿Cà ³mo indirect object pronoun ir?: How goes it (for you, him, her, etc.)? This concept can be expressed colloquially in many ways.  ¿Cà ³mo te va? (Hows it going?) ¿Cà ³mo le va a à ©l? (Hows it going for him?) irse por las ramas: to beat around the bush, to get sidetracked. El testigo se fue por las ramas. (The witness beat around the bush.)Ella solà ­a siempre irse por las ramas y nunca llegar al grano. (She would always ramble on and never get to the point.)

Radical Theater Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Radical Theater - Research Paper Example For this reason, much of the theatre developed in this time period â€Å"represented the safe middle-class milieu and world-view aspirations of the audiences that would come to see them† (Batty, 2005). The purpose of theatre had been reduced to provide a rather thoughtless, structured evening of culture without the necessity of challenging beliefs or social norms. â€Å"They didn’t want anything else, they were perfectly happy to put their feet up. That was what going to the theatre was normally about, going and putting your feet up and just receive something, received ideas of what drama was, going through various procedures which were known to the audience. I think it was becoming a dead area† (Batty, 2005). At the same time, playwrights and producers had to be careful regarding the content and presentation of their material to be sure it fell within the strict regulations of the Lord Chamberlain’s office. This harsh environment saw the number of theatre s with permanent repertory companies fall from 96 to 55 between the years 1950 to 1955 (Clough, 2006). It was this constraining atmosphere that ironically gave birth to the radical theater movement brought forward by Peter Brook.

Citizenship in the Age of the Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Citizenship in the Age of the Internet - Essay Example In other countries, most of the public services are controlled by private authorities making the use of Government sites redundant. Part two of the article â€Å"How government online provision is currently organized and what it costs† talks about how the Government runs the online facilities and the cost associated with it. The major points are as follows: Part three â€Å"Future developments and strategy† discusses the strategy for the development of the Government sites in the future to facilitate the citizens of the country. The main points in this section are as follows: Part one of the article â€Å"Changes and challenges in information exchange across the department† points out the general practice of communication and the challenges the department faces because of it. The points discussed under this part are as follows: Telephone communication has reduced in importance, as it is not suitable for people not speaking English. Also it was seen that this mode of communication failed to provide new information to the Department. The third part â€Å"Pension credit† discusses the progress made by the Government to improve communication between the Department and the customers for the credit facilities. The points in this regard are as

Report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Report - Research Paper Example though most companies usually fail to offer any incentives to the franchisees they are engaged with owing to the fact that they (franchisees) are residual claimants, there are a bunch that have seen this as a noble action. Incentives to franchisees can come in the form of discounted franchise fee, reduced royalties and buy-back assurance. Also, a contract extension has been seen by many economists as a major incentive that has produced incredible results in many franchise business models (Barkoff and Selden 101). Discounts and reduced royalties are noticeably the most widely used incentives when it comes to franchising. According to Hero (121), different brands have incorporated these types of incentives because of their effectiveness. It has been reported by many economists as the real motivator that boosts the performance of the franchisees. When brands reduce the royalties and allow discounts, their franchising partners become more enthusiastic and initiate programs and strategies that aim at improving the brand’s marketing. Those brands that extend contract (especially if the franchisees benefits) are also involved directly in offering

Marijuana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marijuana - Essay Example Teenagers are naturally inquisitive, one of the justifications given for this age group experimenting with drugs. They also are inclined to become bored easily and experience recurrent emotional highs and lows, all probable factors in teenage marijuana use. Drug use increases the chance that teenagers will contract a social disease, become pregnant, perform inadequately in school and attempt suicide as this paper will examine. State and Support Three Claims Adolescents are in a more vulnerable life circumstance than are adults because teens are still developing in every facet of their lives. Regrettably, it is this same group that has the most access to marijuana as schools have become prolific illegal drug stores. Statistics collected by the National Institute on Drug Abuse demonstrate that schoolchildren have easy access to drugs and alcohol. â€Å"The average age of first alcohol use is 12 and the average age of first drug use is 13. Almost two-thirds of all American young people try illicit drugs before they finish high school† (Anderson, 1996) The relationship between illegal drug use among teens and an increased occurrence of sexual activity is a broadly accepted reality by both researchers and the general public. Many studies have time and again demonstrated an association between unsafe sexual behavior and illegal drug use by teenagers. Drug users are more prone to take risks than do teens that don’t use drugs. This may be an obvious assertion but a tendency to take unnecessary chances with their health combined with a lowering of inhibitions while on drugs and the inherent need of all teens to feel accepted by their peer group leads to increased sexual activity. This problematic circumstance also enhances the chance of teens having multiple sexual partners, having sex at an earlier age and decreases the odds that they will utilize contraception than those that do not use marijuana. â€Å"Teens 15 and older who use drugs are five times mo re likely to have sex than are those teens who do not use drugs and teens who have used marijuana are four times more likely to have been pregnant or to have gotten someone pregnant than teens who have never smoked pot† (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 1997). Teenagers are more emotionally unstable younger children and adults which explains the higher suicide rate among that age group. A study involving teenagers found that of those who attempted suicide, illegal drug abuse was the most often shared aspect of their lives. Of the teens that committed suicide, 70 per cent were regular users of illegal drugs and/or alcohol. However, this study and current research reveal that drug use alone may not instigate suicide just that drug use and teen suicide is statically related. Teens who experience emotional troubles to a higher degree than their classmates have an even greater likelihood of considering suicide and to use illegal drugs. Additionally drugs could magnify a pre-existing emotional condition and â€Å"may impair the judgment of teens considering suicide, making suicide attempts more likely† (Shaffer et al, 1996). Discussing Arguments: Dialogue The majority and probably all countries of the world face the steady trafficking of illegal drugs across their borders. Countries are increasingly realizing that the illegal importation of drugs, a criminal act, generally involves people of foreign origin, is ultimately more harmful to society than is the use of drugs

T&M -wk11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

T&M -wk11 - Essay Example I would use Rorscharch’s Ink blot test which is an effective instrument for assessing personality in forensic settings. It is the best known projective test in which a series of ten irregular but proportioned inkblot designs are shown to the subject, who is then asked to explain their understanding of it (Cordon, 2005, pp. 201–204). Subjective interpretations of the ambiguous pictures, the response time taken and response to a picture by a subject relative to responses by other subjects would enable me to infer the thought structure and feelings. I might also use the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2 RF), which is the latest revision of the MPPI personality tests that was released in 2003. It is popularly applied in forensic psychology as a self-report assessment of psychopathology (Goldstein, 2007, pp 73.). It consists of 567 items with true or false questions arranged on a hierarchical set of scales (Tellegan, 2003). I prefer it because its objectivity saves time and is easier to administer. It addresses adolescent problems more effectively through well-researched clinical and substance abuse measures as well. Psychological tests should be appropriately selected for issues that are relevant to the plaintiff. Tests should account for plaintiff’s language, culture and its own appropriateness to legal decision-making. Failure to regard these issues may result in unreliable assessment (Goldstein, 2007, pp 272-273). I have chosen to respond to Sharon’s posting to industrial settings. I agree with her point that testing plays a significant role in assessing trainees and applicants, and test their knowledge and skills in this area. Her choice of Assembly and Matching test and Blueprint test are important accordingly. However, the tests chosen by my colleague are not useful in psychological assessment of the employees as they are an assessment of job-specific skills, and do not test their

Building Hisense brand equity through selected marketing programmes- A Thesis

Building Hisense brand equity through selected marketing programmes- A study on the relationship among brand equity, marketing mix elements and consumer respons - Thesis Example er to test the defined structural research framework and research hypotheses empirical research was conducted on the sample of Hisense consumers in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and the multiple regression statistical method with the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 11.0) are used to analyze the data. The concept of brand equity has received significant attention from both scientists and marketing practice, which resulted in a large number of articles and books on the subject (e.g. Aaker, 1991 and 1996; Aaker and Keller, 1990; Farquhar1990; Aaker and Biel, 1993; Keller, 1993; Agarwal and Rao, 1996; Yoo et al., 2000; Morgan, 2000; Rio, et al., 2001; Datta, 2003, Moore et al., 2002; Keller, 2003). The importance of brand equity consists of numerous benefits for companies that own brands. One of the benefits provided by high brand equity is the possibility of brand extension to other product categories. Generally, brand extension is defined as the use of an existing brand name for entry into a new product category (Aaker and Keller, 1990). When compared to new brand names, brand extensions have lower advertising costs and higher sales (Smith and Park, 1992). Successful brand extensions contribute to higher brand equity of the original brand (Dacin and Smith, 1994; Keller and Aaker, 1992); However, unsuccessful extensions may reduce the brand equity of the parent brand (Aaker, 1993; Loken and John, 1993). Aaker and Keller (1990) developed a model for consumer evaluation of brand extensions and a number of authors worked on generalization of this model (Barrett et al., 1999; Bottomley and Doyle, 1996; Sunde and Brodie, 1993). In addition, brand equity increases (1) willingness of consumers to pay premium prices, (2) possibility of brand licensing, (3) efficiency of marketing communication, (4) willingness of stores to collaborate and provide support, (5) elasticity of consumers to price reductions, and (6) inelasticity

T&M -wk11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

T&M -wk11 - Essay Example I would use Rorscharch’s Ink blot test which is an effective instrument for assessing personality in forensic settings. It is the best known projective test in which a series of ten irregular but proportioned inkblot designs are shown to the subject, who is then asked to explain their understanding of it (Cordon, 2005, pp. 201–204). Subjective interpretations of the ambiguous pictures, the response time taken and response to a picture by a subject relative to responses by other subjects would enable me to infer the thought structure and feelings. I might also use the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2 RF), which is the latest revision of the MPPI personality tests that was released in 2003. It is popularly applied in forensic psychology as a self-report assessment of psychopathology (Goldstein, 2007, pp 73.). It consists of 567 items with true or false questions arranged on a hierarchical set of scales (Tellegan, 2003). I prefer it because its objectivity saves time and is easier to administer. It addresses adolescent problems more effectively through well-researched clinical and substance abuse measures as well. Psychological tests should be appropriately selected for issues that are relevant to the plaintiff. Tests should account for plaintiff’s language, culture and its own appropriateness to legal decision-making. Failure to regard these issues may result in unreliable assessment (Goldstein, 2007, pp 272-273). I have chosen to respond to Sharon’s posting to industrial settings. I agree with her point that testing plays a significant role in assessing trainees and applicants, and test their knowledge and skills in this area. Her choice of Assembly and Matching test and Blueprint test are important accordingly. However, the tests chosen by my colleague are not useful in psychological assessment of the employees as they are an assessment of job-specific skills, and do not test their

Job Learning Objectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Job Learning Objectives - Essay Example This can be found at http://www.bestbuy.com. My responsibilities were mainly in customer service. I worked with the sales team to help people select items that best suited their needs. Most of my time was spent working at the cash register, assisting with checkout. In this shop there was a manager or assistant manager on duty at all times. They rarely overlapped, so there was only one supervisor in the shop at a time. I reported directly to the manager or assistant manager. On our busiest days, there were five employees. The shop I worked in was small, so the largest crew was usually a manager (or assistant), two people working sales, one working on restocking or cleanliness projects and someone at a cash register. We were located along a commercial strip in Taipei. I was always on the floor either at the cash register or working with a customer. The average career path for people in the company consisted of either moving up into management or leaving to find more challenging and bet ter paying employment. Turnover was very high, mainly because most of the employees were young and always moving from job to job. My orientation was very thorough. I was taught how to handle the hardware, such as the cash register, packaging machines and even a hydraulic assist use for lifting heavy equipment. I was also given a day of customer service training.

How to Write a Poem About Lacrosse Essay Example for Free

How to Write a Poem About Lacrosse Essay The general purpose of this speech is to demonstrate. The specific purpose is to show how to shoot a lacrosse ball, catch a lacrosse ball and cradle the lacrosse ball. I am going to show you the proper way to shoot the ball, the right way to catch the ball and the correct way cradle the ball. Everyone chill-lax, i’m going to tell you about lax. I am the best person to give this speech because I have played lacrosse almost all my life and I am very good at it. This demonstration will be useful to you because if you ever want to try lacrosse, you will know some of the basics. The first part of lacrosse I am going to tell you about is how to shoot the ball. There are three main points on how to shoot the lax ball. The first is to keep your elbows and hands out and away because you can get more power on the ball. Also it helps you aim the ball more precisely and hit the corners of the goal. Second is to take a big drop step and twist your hips is to create more power on your shoot. Lastly you need to follow through your swing. It’s just like in basketball and how you need yo follow through on your shoot or in soccer and how you need to follow through on your kick. Another part important part of lax is how to catch the ball because if you can’t catch the ball you can’t really score. The most important part of catching the ball is keeping your hands in front of your body. If you do this you can catch the ball from almost anywhere. How you actually receive the ball is another crucial technique. When the ball is going into your stick, you need to bring the stick towards you so the ball won’t pop out. If you just keep your stick out there the ball will hit your mesh and fly out of your head. The last thing I am going to tell you about is how to cradle the ball. If you cannot cradle the ball, when you are trying to move down the field, you will get the ball knocked out and taking away. A way to not let that happen is to bring your stick up strongly and bring it down strongly.

The Importance Of E Commerce In Globalization

The Importance Of E Commerce In Globalization In the new era of Globalization, new opportunities for countries economic growth are knocking the doors, the new trends of market open the way for new countries to emerge and enhance their economies, for the common Ultimate goal of better well being. Kazakhstan, as the one of participant of global processes of development of e-commerce, aspires to occupy the appropriate place in this market. The analysis of information‘s application and communication technologies was carried out by the programs-the Real Monitoring of the Kazakhstan Internet and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Readiness for an Information Society by the Actis Systems Asia in Kazakhstan in 2001. The results of the analysis have shown the following representations about the Kazakhstan users of the Internet. The audience of the Internet in Kazakhstan is submitted in the basic experts in the given sphere, businessmen and students. There are nearly two millions of the men of the adult population living in the large cities. Thus one million, men receives information from the Internet independently or through the intermediaries. Also researches on the users of the Internet on a level of the incomes have shown that the Internet is visited by the persons both with high and low level of income. 2.1 Importance of E-commerce In fact, e-commerce come to be one of the catalysts that can promote the way for better trading and better economy, Mahesh and Vishnu (2005) discuss how E-commerce has a tremendous growth potential and also generates economic growth in the country. Furthermore â€Å"E-commerce promises better business for SMEs and sustainable economic development for developing countries.† (Ruth, 2003) In addition, at the beginning of 2000, Benbasat, Ives and Piccoli conducted a survey of the IS World Community on the â€Å"Electronic Commerce Top Research Questions†. The result of that survey indicates e-commerce success as one of the important electronic commerce research issues. And the measurement of E-commerce success is one of the research questions which are identified in that survey. Alemayehu (2001) Therefore, while implementing e-commerce, we have to measure of E-commerce success to understand where we are now and which factors are more crucial for better implementing. 2.2 Defining and measuring E-commerce â€Å"Electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to a wide range of online business activities for products and services.† (Anita, 2000) â€Å"E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the Internet, or conducting any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or services through computer- mediated work.† (Thomas, 2000) â€Å"E-commerce is the use of electronic communications and digital information processing technology in business transactions to create, to transform, and to redefine relationships for value creation between or among organizations, and between organizations and individuals†. (Lallana et al, 2000) Moreover definition of e-commerce is adopted describing internet commerce as â€Å"the sharing of business information, maintaining business relationships and conducting business transactions by means of Internet- based technology.† (Zwasse, 1996) â€Å"The E-commerce improves communication channels a nd provides a virtual interactive environment where the suppliers and customers can exchange information and products.† (Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2005) Also Evans and Wurster (1997) â€Å"acknowledge that e-commerce allows both customers and suppliers to reduce the transactions costs significantly and enables information to reach more people without sacrificing the richness of the content.† 2.3 E-commerce perspectives â€Å"Electronic commerce and its related activities over the internet can be the engines that improve domestic economic well-being through liberalization of domestic services, more rapid integration into globalization of production, and leap-fogging of available technology. Electronic commerce integrates the domestic and global markets from its very inception.† (Catherine L. Mann, 2000) E-commerce often through to refer to the buying and selling of goods through the internet only. However, E-commerce involves much more than electronically mediated financial transactions between organization and customer Chaffey (2002). Table.1 presents range of perspectives regarding what is considered as E-commerce. Table.1 Range of perspectives regarding what is considered as â€Å"E-commerce† (Source from: Kalakota and Winston, 1996) Figure.1 The main objectives usage of the internet in Republic Kazakhstan Source from: Agency on Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Available from www.stat.kz As mentioned before by Chaffey (2002) we can see from the Figure.1 presents range of perspectives regarding what is considered as E-commerce. 2.4 Current situation of E-commerce in Kazakhstan and Korea 2.4.1 Korea â€Å"Korea was an independent kingdom under Chinese suzerainty for most of the past millennium. Following its victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan occupied Korea; five years later it formally annexed the entire peninsula. After World War II, a republic was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a communist style government was installed in the north. During the Korean War (1950-1953), US and other UN forces intervened to defend South Korea from North Korean attacks supported by the Chinese. An armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about 38th parallel. Thereafter, South Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to roughly 14 times the level of North Korea.† (Internet World Stats, 2010 Available from: http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/kr.htm). In Table.3 Internet Usage Statistics is 34,820,000 Internet users as of Sept/08, 70% of the population, according to NIDA. Latest population Estimate: 49,232,844 populations for 2008, according to US Census Bureau. Gross National Income: GNI Per capita is (ppp) US$ 17, 690 (‘06) according to World Bank. Country Area: 99,268 sq.km. Population density is 510 persons per sq.km. 2.4.3 Internet Usage Status According to the 2008 survey by Korean Communications Commission and National Internet Development Agency, Koreas Internet users spend an average of 13, 7 hours per week, in which 69.2% more than half are using the Internet for an average of more than 7 hours per week. 98.5% of the places for using the Internet is surveyed as â€Å"home†, followed by 39,4% at office, 18.7% at no certain places (including wireless access), 13.9% at facility for public access (Internet cafes and game clubs) and 17.1% at â€Å"school† (Figure.1, Table.3) 2.4.4 E-commerce in Korea E-commerce represents online business transactions performed electronically by business subjects utilizing information and communication technology and the Internet. It also represents the related activities of business subjects to fulfill such transactions. Major business subjects can be categorized as individuals, corporations, and governments. The idiom e-commerce is comparable to E-business equally used interchangeably in the field. E-commerce may be regarded as a rather limited term, focusing on the transaction itself as a means of interchanging goods or services. In contrast, e-business includes rather broadly the activity of building IT infrastructure and the application of information technology to business. E-commerce standardization is the process of eliciting related standards from e-commerce industry members. The roadmap for e-commerce standardization is defined as providing guidelines or directions for e-commerce standardization. The intention is to present guidelines for developing e-commerce technologies to e-commerce related parties, such as private corporations, and to convey proper instructions for driving e-commerce standardization systematically and efficiently. To accomplish such objectives, the roadmap should contain the following materials: Outline of e-commerce, e-commerce standards, and standardization; Classification of e-commerce technology; Core elements of e-commerce technology for standardization; Status analysis of core technologies; Selection and timetable of to-be-standardized technology items; Information to project from any previous or future roadmaps The Roadmap project is comprised of three phases, from 2001 to 2003: Phase I: Standards status analysis, overall standards implementation timetable, and 2001 timetable for selected time-sensitive priority standards. Phase II: Status analysis of Phase I results, analysis, and classification of e-commerce technology, selection of individual standard items within each category, and overall 2002 standardization timetables, all taken in strategic approach to e-commerce framework standards. Phase III: Combination of the artifacts of Phase I and Phase II and consideration of changes necessary to produce a final comprehensive version of an e-commerce standards roadmap as a national guideline. The e-business environment changes rapidly and continuously. Although the Forum finished the initial three-phase project and produced a final version, it continues to update the contents of the version on a yearly basis (Jakobs, 2005) à Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ±Ãƒ Ã‚ »Ãƒ Ã‚ ¸Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ€˜Ã†â€™ à Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ à Ã‚ ´Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ ±Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ²Ãƒ Ã‚ ¸Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€˜Ã…’ à Ã‚ ¿Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ à Ã‚ ²Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ »Ãƒâ€˜Ã… ½Ãƒ Ã‚ ¼ 2.4.4.1 The volume of E-commerce by type The volume of e-Commerce in Korea reached KRW 516.514 trillion in 2007, which was an increase of KRW 102.930 trillion (24.9%) from 2006. The volume and proportion of each transaction type shows that B2B accounts for 89.9% of the entire businesses with KRW 464.456 trillion, while B2G takes 7.1% with KRW 36.801 trillion. B2C takes 2.0% with KRW 10.226 trillion, and C2C takes 1.0% with KRW 5.032 trillion. Compared to 2006, the transaction volumes have all increased: B2B by 26.8%, B2G by 6.9% and B2C by 12.0% and C2C by 31.5%. B2B: The total B2B e-Commerce transaction volume in 2007 reached KRW 464.456 trillion, which increased 26.8% (KRW 98.264 trillion) from KRW 366.191 trillion in 2006. Of the B2B transactions, buyer-led transactions increased by 21.9% to KRW 321.058 trillion and seller-led transactions increased by 38.3% to KRW 119.246 trillion. Broker-led transactions also increased by 45.2% to KRW 24.152 trillion. The proportions of seller-led and broker-led transactions both increased by 2.2%p and 0.7%p to 25.7% and 5.2% respectively. However, buyer-led transaction showed a decrease by 2.8%p to 69.1% from 71.9% of the previous year. B2G: The 2007 B2G e-Commerce volume of government bodies such as central administrative organizations, local governments, and offices of education accounted for KRW 36.801 trillion, which increased 6.9% from KRW 34.435 trillion in the previous year. Of this amount, the construction contract volume has increased 14.4% (KRW 2.166 trillion), and the purchase volume of goods and services has increased 1.0% (KRW 200 billion) from 2006. B2C/C2C: The B2C e-Commerce transaction in 2007 reached KRW 10.226 trillion after increasing 12.0% from 2006, and the C2C transaction increased 31.5% to KRW 5.318 trillion. The transaction volume through online shopping malls in 2007 has increased by 17.1% (KRW 2.306 trillion) from KRW 13.460 trillion in 2006 to KRW 15.766 trillion. Of this amount, B2C transaction takes the largest portion with 64.9% (KRW 10.226 trillion), 68 followed by C2C 31.9% (KRW 5.032 trillion) and B2B 3.2% (KRW 508 billion) (Informatization White Paper, 2008: 33-35) Informatization White Paper (2008). 2.5 Kazakhstan â€Å"The current independent state of Kazakhstan declared in 1991.It has population of 15. 4 million people with a land mass of 2.7 million square kilometers. The GNI per capita was 1860 Euro in 2005, according to the World Bank. Kazakhstan is the constitutional republic with a President and bicameral legislature. The country consists of 14 provinces and 3 municipal districts.† (McNamee, 2006) According to independent research company ICT-Marketing (2010) held its annual study of internet audience in Kazakhstan. The results shown that for 2009 number of internet users were 3.16 million people, or 19.8 % of population. Furthermore 80% of internet users are using ADSL connection. As it stated by ESCAP: â€Å"In 2000, there were first Kazakhstan online shops. The online shops conduct the retail trade in consumer goods. Their quantity is increased with each month. Priority task is the connection of Kazakhstan to the international system of e-trade. Through this system, it is possible to unit interests of the clients (consumers of the goods and services) and trade organizations of the various countries. Now there are following systems of information interaction between the subjects of economic activity: Inter firm business-to-business, intercompany, consumer business-to-consumer, governmental government-to-citizens, tender business-to-government, and auction consumer-to-consumer.† (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the pacific, 2002) 2.5.1 ICT Infrastructure The low Internet penetration rate is mainly due to the lack of competition and of modern equipment in the telecommunications sector. In order to continue the promising growth in terms of Internet access, the government has run a program for the development of the telecommunications sector in 2005. The program includes a phased liberalization of telecommunications market to achieve a competitive environment by allowing new operators to enter the market. In addition the telecommunications infrastructure is being modernized by using state-of-the-art technologies such as fiber-optic cables. In implementing the program for development of the telecommunications sector, accessibility to the Internet will be improved especially in remote areas. At the same time, increased bandwidth and affordable rates for Internet access will contribute to improve the quality and increasing the use of the Internet in the business sector as well as in private households. 2.6 E-commerce in Kazakhstan 2.6.1 Current situation â€Å"Kazakhstan, as the participant of global processes of development of e-commerce, aspires to occupy the appropriate place in this market. The country has favorable geographical location for transit of flows of materials, power, human and information between Europe and Asia. It is the basis for successful development of e-commerce in Kazakhstan. Another basis for development of e-commerce is desire to improve the informational telecommunication network.† (Economic and social commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2002) â€Å"Today in Kazakhstan, there is a sufficient quantity of the companies applying for a rank à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢the supplier of the decisions of e-business. These companies offer various packages of the decisions for development of own business in online.† (Economic and social commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2002) According to independent research company ICT-Marketing (2010) held its annual study of internet audience in Kazakhstan. The results shown that for 2009 number of internet users were 3, 16 million people, or 19, 8 % of population. Furthermore 80% of internet users are using ADSL connection. 2.6.2 Existing issues in Kazakhstan â€Å"The basic reasons of the slowed down rate of development of e-commerce in Kazakhstan are: insufficient quantity of the participants of e-trade, absence of the laws, which adjust the relation to the participants of e-commerce, safety problem for the information, which is transferred through the Internet, insufficient protection of the rights of the consumers in the purchase of the goods and services in the Internet.† (Electronic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2002) In addition from 2003 year E-commerce Center has been worked on Kazakhstan market. The reason for creating the company was the government regulation of Republic of Kazakhstan of December 13, 2003 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾- 1262 About some issues of Public Procurement Agency of Republic of Kazakhstan, as a result Republican State Public Enterprise E-commerce Center of Financial Control and Public Procurement of Ministry of Finance of Republic of Kazakhstan was created. In 2007 E-commerce center joined the National Scientific and Technological Holding Samgau as a subsidiary company and was reorganized into Ltd E-commerce Center. Nowadays, successful business is looking for new ways of development, and to attract customers and partners worldwide. Internet and commerce have become an integral part of each other, creating the concept of e-commerce. The main activities Ltd. E-Commerce Center are: Development, implementation and support of software and information systems in public procurement; Maintenan ce of the information system of electronic public procurement; Training of staff of organizations participants in the process of public procurement, including training in the system of electronic public procurement; Organizing seminars, conferences in the field of public procurement; Participate in the development of legal and regulatory framework for electronic public procurement; Technical and system services for computer and communications equipment in the field of electronic public procurement; Research in the field of electronic commerce. (E-commerce center, 2010) Source: (http://www.ecc.kz/). 2.6.3 How the market of Kazakhstan is ready to move to e-commerce? The market of Kazakhstan is ready to move to electronic commerce. The state, creating electronic trading platforms and commodity exchanges, in particular, stimulates the development of trade, creating a meeting place for the subjects of trading activity without having to special requirements. The main objective the conclusion of an increasing number of sales transactions. In doing so, the legal regulation on trading floors and commodity exchanges, carried out the internal rules and regulations outside the state financial control and oversight. The establishment in the past year, a portal of electronic public procurement www.goszakup.kz, helped make the first step the transition of Kazakhstan to the electronic trading and commerce at the state level. To provide opportunities for all wishing to make commercial transactions in electronic form, must first establish an adequate world class development and effective in our countrys laws. First steps in this direction have already been taken. However, to date there are still problems associated with not resolving the legislation in the field of electronic digital signature, the problem of the introduction of electronic money and the lack of literacy in information technology. Should be established and effective infrastructure for transactions and contracts in electronic form. And from a practical point of view, a crucial component of the infrastructure of e-procurement systems or electronic trading today is a public procurement portal. We must also remember that the development of electronic commerce to further exacerbating the problem of privacy, as well as the use info comm. technology has greatly facilitated the free collection of personal data and their synthesis of a variety of sources available in electronic networks. E-commerce, including public procurement, operating information, which is commonly called  «private nature of information ». And this is a very fine place in a legal provision where the availability of standards to ensure the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, is the general atmosphere of mutual trust and respect, and, ultimately, the success or failure of development of the entire e-commerce. It should be noted that the concept of public procurement is not smooth and fast. Nevertheless, a number of recently issued regulations on electronic commerce and government procurement systems show a high degree of interest on the part of the state and society to the problem. Conduct of electronic procurement is considered one of the basic public services and is one indicator of progress towards the electronic state. To date, Kazakhstan set up e-government portal. Continues to develop electronic public procurement portal, are becoming more and more use of electronic shops. In any future purchases from government procurement, and ending with the usual purchase of goods and services to citizens, it will be possible to implement in electronic form (www.profit.kz). In Table.6 shown about ICT infrastructure in Republic of Korea and Kazakhstan, which was reviewed before. ICT Infrastructure Korea Kazakhstan Internet Usage: 37,475,800 Internet Users, 77.3% of the population Internet: 12.2million subscribers, 77% of total Households. Access is spreading quickly Doubled their exports of telecommunication equipment between 2000- 2003 A penetration rate of 65.7% In 2003 the Republic of Korea had 26.7 million Pcs High percentages of Internet access by enterprises (94%) Largest proportions of online purchases, of businesses with Internet (45.5%) Enterprises use an intranet (35.2%) Mobile phones: 36.58 million, 76% of population Innovativeness in products and services in South Korea (18th) Internet Usage: 3,160,000 Internet Users, 19.8% of the population Internet penetration rate 8.5% E-Readiness (3.2- 2007 out of 10) 80% of Internet access using ADSL with connection speed starting from 128 to 1024 Kbps High mobile phone penetration growth between 2003 and 2004 Internet access prizes starts from Megaline Start- 1930 Tenge (13$ USD per month, speed 256-1024 Kbps) Megaline Turbo Plus- 5 845 Tenge (40 $ USD per month, speed 1GB-8GB Kbps) Table.6ICT infrastructure in Republic of Korea and Kazakhstan 2.7 Different model of assessing e-commerce 2.7.1 DeLone and McLean Model DeLone and McLean Model of Information System Success (1992), IS Success (2003), Measuring e-commerce Success (2004) In order to provide a general and comprehensive definition of IS success that covers different perspectives of evaluating information systems, DeLone and McLean reviewed the existing definitions of IS success and their corresponding measures, and classified them into six major categories. Therefore, they created a multidimensional measuring model with interdependencies between the different success categories DeLone and McLean (1992). Motivated by DeLone and McLeans call for further development and validation of their model, many researchers have attempted to extend or re-specify the original model. Ten years after the publication of their first model and based on the evaluation of the many contributions to it, DeLone and McLean (2004) proposed an updated IS Success model. â€Å"The updated model consists of six interrelated dimensions of IS Success: information, system and service quality, (intention to) use, user satisfaction, and net benefits. The arrows demonstrate proposed associations between the success dimensions.† (Jang, 2010) â€Å"The IS Success Model of DeLone and McLean (1992) provided a common framework to evaluate IS effectiveness/success in information system research. Between 1993 and mid 1999, the IS Success Model of DeLone and McLean was cited by 144 refereed journal articles and 15 papers from the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS).† (Saha, 2008). DeLone and McLean (1992), prompted to develop a more integrated view of the concepts of success. This resulted in the IS Success Model (Figure.2), which is described as a â€Å"taxonomy of IS success measures† with a number of inter-relationships that are drawn together in a model of six major â€Å"dimensions or categories of IS Success† DeLone and McLeans IS Success Model (1992) have 6 domains, system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact, organization impact, so in Table.3 summary of measured items for the DeLone and McLean Model. An interpretation of the model is as follows: â€Å"System Quality and Information Quality singularly and jointly affect both Use and User Satisfaction†. Additionally, the amount of Use can affect the degree of User Satisfaction. Use and User Satisfaction are direct ante decent of Individual Impact, and this Impact on individual performance should eventually have some organization impact.† (DeLone and McLean, 1992) â€Å"The Updated DeLone and McLean information system success model(Figure.3) can be adapted to the measurement challenges of the new e-commerce world.† (Saha, 2008) This model is based on the updated DeLone and Mclean (2003) original success model. Important modifications to the initial model included: The quality construct of IS Success was extended to include Service Quality. The construct Systems Use was found to be multi-dimensional, e.g., mandatory versus voluntary use. As a result, Intention to Use was added to the model, to differentiate between Systems Use as a behavior as opposed to Intention to Use as an attitude. The constructs of Individual Impact and Organizational Impact were collapsed into a single dimension named Net Benefits. DeLone and McLean (2003). In addition to the improvements described above, the authors also suggest that the updated model provides â€Å"a parsimonious framework to organize the various success metrics identified in the IS and e-commerce literature† DeLone and McLean (2003) Source: Measuring E-commerce success: Applying the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success Model, 2004 DeLone and Mclean Information Systems Success Model can be used to the measurement challenges of the new e-commerce world. The updated model (Figure.5) consists of six interrelated dimensions of information systems success: System quality, Information quality, Service quality, Use, User satisfaction, Net Benefits. â€Å"The six dimensions of the DeLone and McLean IS Success Model can be applied to the e-commerce environment as follows: 1. System Quality, in the Internet environment, measures the desired characteristics of an e-commerce system. Usability, availability, reliability, adaptability, and response time (e.g., download time) are examples of qualities that are valued by users of an e-commerce system. 2. Information Quality captures the e-commerce content issue. Web content should be personalized, complete, relevant, easy to understand, and secure if prospective buyers or suppliers are to initiate transactions via the Internet and return to a site on a regular basis. 3. Service Quality, the overall support delivered by the service provider, applies regardless of whether the support is delivered by the IS Department or a new organizational unit or is outsourced to an Internet service provider. This dimension is more important in an e-commerce environment than ever before, because the users are now customers rather than employees, and therefore, poor user support will translate into lost customers and lost sales. 4. Usage, measures everything from a visit to Web site and navigation within the site to information retrieval and execution of a transaction 5. User Satisfaction is an important means of measuring customers opinions of an e-commerce system and should cover the entire customer experience cycle from information retrieval through purchase, payment, receipt, and service. 6. Net Benefits, are the most important measures, because they capture the balance of the positive and negative impacts of e-commerce on customers, suppliers, employees, organizations, markets, industries, economies, and even society as a whole.† (DeLone and McLean, 2004) â€Å"Finally, e-commerce studies should include net benefits measures and not be content to collect only surrogate measures, such as Web Site hits (i.e., use). Such benefits can be measured on at least four levels: individual, group, organizational, and industry. These measures become most useful, however, when fitted into an overall structure or framework a framework like the one provided by the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success Models.† (DeLone and McLean,2004) Source: Measuring E-commerce success: Applying the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success Model, 2004 2.7.2 Rational behind using DeLone and McLean Success E-commerce Model One of the objectives of this research paper is to identify the success factors of e-commerce. â€Å"A review of articles on e-commerce and electronic data interchange (EDI) in recent academic and trade journals (1992-2002) yielded many suggested measures of e-commerce success. IS and marketing journals were included in the search for e-commerce success metrics. Most of the articles were conceptual in nature, but some were empirical and, therefore, attempted to operationalize e-commerce success metrics.† (DeLone and McLean, 2004) 2.7.3 Current research of other researchers As one of the objectives of this research is to assess and investigate the enhancement factors of Kazakhstan e-commerce, this combination make the study unique, as previous research in this field just provide a quick look with no depth focus on the Kazakhstan E-commerce. There were some studies exploring the weakness and strength of the Kazakhstan E-commerce, and other studies independently investigate the critical factors in E-commerce best practices, however no one tried to measure using E-commerce Success model. Moreover some of the research paper using statistical analysis, according to Griffith (2007) â€Å"statistical analysis is like a sewer. What you get out of it largely depends on what you put into it. There are a few researches about the measurement of e-commerce success.† 2.7.3.1 Chang Liu, Kirk P. Arnett Model of E-commerce Web site success, 2000 â€Å"Websites are being widely deployed commercially. As the widespread use and dependency on Web technology increases, so does the need to access factors associated with the Website success. The objective is to explore these factors in the context of electronic commerce (EC).† (Liu, 2000) â€Å"Webmasters from Fortune 1000 companies were used as the target group for a survey. Four factors that are critical to Website success in EC were identified:

Potential for Large Scale Ethanol Production Essay -- Renewable Fuel

Potential for Large Scale Ethanol Production Recent legislation by the Congress of the United States has created a mandate for 5 billion gallons of renewable fuel (notably ethanol) to be consumed annually by 2015. In light of this recent push for alternative fuels, many different biomass solutions have been considered to meet the energy need for the 200 million cars on the road. While the most efficient bio-fuels are derived from palm oil and sugarcane, the Unites States has begun to focus on the more regional corn crops to produce new renewable fuels. This program appears to have great potential towards achieving a sustainable future devoid of foreign oil dependence, until the economic implications of large-scale ethanol production are considered. With that said, it’s important for the United States Government to understand the relative inefficiency, environmental, and social cost of large-scale ethanol production in the US. Ethanol is a fuel grade form of alcohol that is produced from grain fermentation to create a clean, burnable oil alternative (Heinberg, 171). On a small scale, ethanol production appears to be a practical form of energy for farmers, but is limited by its lack of production facilities and unfavorable energy returned on energy invested. Ethanol has an extremely variable EROEI according to several net energy analyses. Cornell professor David Pimentel found a 29% net loss of energy after conducting two independent tests. Both studies found that, â€Å"the fuel cost more energy to produce than it eventually delivered to society.† (Heinberg, 173) While this study painted a negative picture for ethanol production, a USDA researcher recognized as much as a 77% energy profit; although, a ... ... farmers needs. Works Cited Evans, Michael K. The Economic Impact of the Demand for Ethanol. Chicago, IL: Diane Co., 1997. 2 Apr. 2007 . Hebert, Joseph H. "Study: Ethanol Won'T Solve Energy Problems." USA Today. 10 July 2006. 2 Apr. 2007 . Hirsch, Tim. "Brazilian Biofuels' Pulling Power." BBC. 8 Mar. 2007. 2 Apr. 2007 . Pica, Erich. "Power Politics: Linking Congress, Campaign Contributions and Energy Policy." Friends of the Earth 6 (2003): 1-2. 2 Apr. 2007. Segelken, Roger. "Ethanol." Health and Energy. 2 Apr. 2007 . Potential for Large Scale Ethanol Production Essay -- Renewable Fuel Potential for Large Scale Ethanol Production Recent legislation by the Congress of the United States has created a mandate for 5 billion gallons of renewable fuel (notably ethanol) to be consumed annually by 2015. In light of this recent push for alternative fuels, many different biomass solutions have been considered to meet the energy need for the 200 million cars on the road. While the most efficient bio-fuels are derived from palm oil and sugarcane, the Unites States has begun to focus on the more regional corn crops to produce new renewable fuels. This program appears to have great potential towards achieving a sustainable future devoid of foreign oil dependence, until the economic implications of large-scale ethanol production are considered. With that said, it’s important for the United States Government to understand the relative inefficiency, environmental, and social cost of large-scale ethanol production in the US. Ethanol is a fuel grade form of alcohol that is produced from grain fermentation to create a clean, burnable oil alternative (Heinberg, 171). On a small scale, ethanol production appears to be a practical form of energy for farmers, but is limited by its lack of production facilities and unfavorable energy returned on energy invested. Ethanol has an extremely variable EROEI according to several net energy analyses. Cornell professor David Pimentel found a 29% net loss of energy after conducting two independent tests. Both studies found that, â€Å"the fuel cost more energy to produce than it eventually delivered to society.† (Heinberg, 173) While this study painted a negative picture for ethanol production, a USDA researcher recognized as much as a 77% energy profit; although, a ... ... farmers needs. Works Cited Evans, Michael K. The Economic Impact of the Demand for Ethanol. Chicago, IL: Diane Co., 1997. 2 Apr. 2007 . Hebert, Joseph H. "Study: Ethanol Won'T Solve Energy Problems." USA Today. 10 July 2006. 2 Apr. 2007 . Hirsch, Tim. "Brazilian Biofuels' Pulling Power." BBC. 8 Mar. 2007. 2 Apr. 2007 . Pica, Erich. "Power Politics: Linking Congress, Campaign Contributions and Energy Policy." Friends of the Earth 6 (2003): 1-2. 2 Apr. 2007. Segelken, Roger. "Ethanol." Health and Energy. 2 Apr. 2007 . Potential for Large Scale Ethanol Production Essay -- Renewable Fuel Potential for Large Scale Ethanol Production Recent legislation by the Congress of the United States has created a mandate for 5 billion gallons of renewable fuel (notably ethanol) to be consumed annually by 2015. In light of this recent push for alternative fuels, many different biomass solutions have been considered to meet the energy need for the 200 million cars on the road. While the most efficient bio-fuels are derived from palm oil and sugarcane, the Unites States has begun to focus on the more regional corn crops to produce new renewable fuels. This program appears to have great potential towards achieving a sustainable future devoid of foreign oil dependence, until the economic implications of large-scale ethanol production are considered. With that said, it’s important for the United States Government to understand the relative inefficiency, environmental, and social cost of large-scale ethanol production in the US. Ethanol is a fuel grade form of alcohol that is produced from grain fermentation to create a clean, burnable oil alternative (Heinberg, 171). On a small scale, ethanol production appears to be a practical form of energy for farmers, but is limited by its lack of production facilities and unfavorable energy returned on energy invested. Ethanol has an extremely variable EROEI according to several net energy analyses. Cornell professor David Pimentel found a 29% net loss of energy after conducting two independent tests. Both studies found that, â€Å"the fuel cost more energy to produce than it eventually delivered to society.† (Heinberg, 173) While this study painted a negative picture for ethanol production, a USDA researcher recognized as much as a 77% energy profit; although, a ... ... farmers needs. Works Cited Evans, Michael K. The Economic Impact of the Demand for Ethanol. Chicago, IL: Diane Co., 1997. 2 Apr. 2007 . Hebert, Joseph H. "Study: Ethanol Won'T Solve Energy Problems." USA Today. 10 July 2006. 2 Apr. 2007 . Hirsch, Tim. "Brazilian Biofuels' Pulling Power." BBC. 8 Mar. 2007. 2 Apr. 2007 . Pica, Erich. "Power Politics: Linking Congress, Campaign Contributions and Energy Policy." Friends of the Earth 6 (2003): 1-2. 2 Apr. 2007. Segelken, Roger. "Ethanol." Health and Energy. 2 Apr. 2007 .

Last Sacrifice Chapter Fourteen

THE KEEPERS HAD MIXED REACTIONS to us leaving. They were usually glad to see outsiders go, especially since we had Sydney with us. But after the fight, they held me up as some kind of superhero and were enchanted by the idea of me marrying into their â€Å"family.' Seeing me in action meant some of the women were beginning to eye Dimitri now too. I wasn't in the mood to watch them flirt with him–especially since, according to their courtship rules, I would apparently have to be the one to battle it out with any prospective fiancee. Naturally, we didn't tell the Keepers our exact plans, but we did mention we'd likely be encountering Strigoi–which caused quite a reaction. Most of that reaction was excitement and awe, which continued to boost our reputations as fierce warriors. Angeline's response, however, was totally unexpected. â€Å"Take me with you,' she said, grabbing a hold of my arm, just as I started down the forest path toward the car. â€Å"Sorry,' I said, still a little weirded out after her earlier hostility. â€Å"We have to do this alone.' â€Å"I can help! You beat me †¦ but you saw what I can do. I'm good. I could take a Strigoi.' For all her fierceness, I knew Angeline didn't have a clue about what she'd be facing if she ever met an actual Strigoi. The few Keepers who bore molnijamarks spoke little about the encounters, faces grave. They understood. Angeline didn't. She also didn't realize that any novice at St. Vladimir's in the secondary school could probably take her out. She had raw potential, true, but it needed a lot of work. â€Å"You might be able to,' I said, not wanting to hurt her feelings. â€Å"But it's just not possible for you to come with us.' I would have lied and given her a vague â€Å"Maybe sometime,' but since that had led Joshua to thinking we were semi-engaged, I decided I'd better not. I expected more boasts about her battle prowess. We'd learned she was regarded as one of the best young fighters in the compound, and with her pretty looks, she had plenty of admirers too. A lot of it had gone to her head, and she liked to talk about how she could beat anyone or anything up. Again, I was reminded of Jill. Jill also had a lot to learn about the true meaning of battle but was still eager to jump in. She was quieter and more cautious than Angeline, though, so Angeline's next direction caught me off guard. â€Å"Please. It's not just the Strigoi! I want to see the world. I need to see something else outside of this place!' Her voice was pitched low, out of the range of the others. â€Å"I've only been to Rubysville twice, and they say that's nothing compared to other cities.' â€Å"It's not,' I agreed. I didn't even consider it a city. â€Å"Please,' she begged again, this time her voice trembling. â€Å"Take me with you.' Suddenly, I felt sad for her. Her brother had also shown a little longing for the outside world, but nothing like this. He'd joked that electricity would be nice, but I knew he was happy enough without the perks of the modern world. But for Angeline, the situation was much more desperate. I too knew what it was like to feel trapped in one's life and was legitimately sorry for what I had to say. â€Å"I can't, Angeline. We have to go on our own. I'm sorry. I really am.' Her blue eyes shimmered, and she raced off into the woods before I could see her cry. I felt horrible after that and couldn't stop thinking about her as we made our farewells. I was so distracted, I even let Joshua hug me goodbye. Getting back on the road was a relief. I was glad to be away from the Keepers and was ready to spring into action and start helping Lissa. Lexington was our first step. We had a six-hour drive ahead of us, and Sydney, per usual, seemed adamant that no one else was going to drive her car. Dimitri and I made futile protests, finally giving up when we realized that if we were going to be facing Strigoi soon, it was probably best we rest and conserve our strength. The address for Donovan–the Strigoi who allegedly knew Sonya–was only where he could be found at night. That meant we had to make it to Lexington before sunrise, so we wouldn't lose him when he went to his daytime lair. It also meant we'd be meeting Strigoi in the dark. Certain that little would happen on the drive–especially once we were out of West Virginia–Dimitri and I agreed we could doze a little, seeing as neither of us had had a full night's sleep. Even though the lulling of the car was soothing, I drifted in and out of restless sleep. After a few hours of this, I simply settled into the trancelike state that brought me to Lissa. It was a good thing too: I'd stumbled into one of the biggest events facing the Moroi. The nomination process to elect the new king or queen was about to begin. It was the first of many steps, and everyone was excited, given how rare monarch elections truly were. This was an event none of my friends had expected to see anytime soon in our lives, and considering recent events †¦ well, we all had especial interest. The future of the Moroi was at stake here. Lissa was sitting on the edge of a chair in one of the royal ballrooms, a huge sweeping space with vaulted ceilings and gold detailing everywhere. I'd been in this dazzling room before, with its murals and elaborate molding. Chandeliers glittered above. It had held the graduate luncheon, where newly made guardians put on their best faces and hoped to attract a good assignment. Now, the room was arranged like the Council chamber, with a long table on one side of the room that was set with twelve chairs. Opposite that table were rows and rows of other chairs–where the audience sat when the Council was in session. Except, now there were about four times as many chairs as usual, which probably explained the need for this room. Every single chair was filled. In fact, people were even standing, crowding in as best they could. Agitated- looking guardians moved among the herd, keeping them out of doorways and making sure the bystanders were arranged in a way that allowed for optimal s ecurity. Christian sat on one side of Lissa, and Adrian sat beside Christian. To my pleasant surprise, Eddie and Mia sat nearby too. Mia was a Moroi friend of ours who had gone to St. Vladimir's and was nearly as hardcore as Tasha about Moroi needing to defend themselves. My beloved father was nowhere in sight. None of them spoke. Conversation would have been difficult among the buzzing and humming of so many people, and besides, my friends were too awestruck by what was about to happen. There was so much to see and experience, and none of them had realized just how big the crowd would be. Abe had said things would move fast once Tatiana was buried, and they certainly had. â€Å"Do you know who I am?' A loud voice caught Lissa's attention, just barely carrying above the din. Lissa glanced down the row, a few seats away from Adrian. Two Moroi, a man and a woman, sat side by side and were looking up at a very angry woman. Her hands were on her hips, and the pink velvet dress she wore seemed outlandish next to the couple's jeans and T-shirts. It also wasn't going to hold up so well once she stepped outside of air conditioning. A glare twisted her face. â€Å"I am Marcella Badica.' When that didn't get a reaction from the couple, she added, â€Å"Prince Badica is my brother, and our late queen was my third cousin twice removed. There are no seats left, and someone like me cannot stand against the wall with the rest of that mob.' The couple exchanged glances. â€Å"I guess you should have gotten here earlier, Lady Badica,' said the man. Marcella gaped in outrage. â€Å"Didn't you just hear who I am? Don't you know who your betters are? I insist you give up your seats.' The couple still seemed unfazed. â€Å"This session is open to everyone, and there weren't assigned seats, last time I checked,' said the woman. â€Å"We're entitled to ours as much as you are.' Marcella turned to the guardian beside her in outrage. He shrugged. His job was to protect her from threats. He wasn't going to oust others from their chairs, particularly when they weren't breaking any rules. Marcella gave a haughty â€Å"humph!' before turning sharply and stalking away, no doubt to harass some other poor soul. â€Å"This,' said Adrian, â€Å"is going to be delightful.' Lissa smiled and turned back to studying the rest of the room. As she did, I became aware of something startling. I couldn't tell exactly who was who, but the crowd wasn't composed entirely of royals–as most Council sessions were. There were tons of â€Å"commoners,' just like the couple sitting near my friends. Most Moroi didn't bother with Court. They were out in the world, living their lives and trying to survive while the royals pranced around at Court and made laws. But not today. A new leader was going to be chosen, and that was of interest to all Moroi. The milling and chaos continued for a while until one of the guardians finally declared the room to be at capacity. Those outside were outraged, but their cries were quickly silenced when the guardians closed the doors, sealing off the ballroom. Shortly thereafter, the eleven Council members took their seats, and–to my shock–Adrian's father, Nathan Ivashkov, took the twelfth chair. The Court's herald yelled and called everyone to attention. He was someone who'd been chosen because of his remarkable voice, though I always wondered why they didn't just use a microphone in these situations. More old-world traditions, I supposed. That, and excellent acoustics. Nathan spoke once the room settled down. â€Å"In the absence of our beloved queen †¦' He paused looking down mournfully to offer a moment of respect before continuing. In anyone else, I might have suspected his feelings were faked, particularly after seeing him grovel so much in front of Tatiana. But, no. Nathan had loved his prickly aunt as much as Adrian had. â€Å"And in the wake of this terrible tragedy, I will be moderating the upcoming trials and elections.' â€Å"What'd I tell you?' muttered Adrian. He had no fuzzy affection for his father. â€Å"De- lightful.' Nathan droned on a bit about the importance of what was to come and some other points about Moroi tradition. It was obvious, though, that like me, everyone in the room really wanted to get down to the main event: the nominations. He seemed to realize that too and sped up the formalities. Finally, he got to the good stuff. â€Å"Each family, if they choose, may have one nominee for the crown who will take the tests all monarchs have endured since the beginning of time.' I thought that â€Å"beginning of time' part was a bold and probably unverified exaggeration, but whatever. â€Å"The only exclusion is the Ivashkovs, since back-to-back monarchs from the same family aren't allowed. For candidacy, three nominations are required from Moroi of royal blood and proper age.' He then added some stuff about what happened in the event more than one person was nominated from the same family, but even I knew the chances of that happening were non-existent. Each royal house wanted to get the best advantage here, and that would involve a unified standing behind one candidate. Satisfied everyone understood, Nathan nodded and gestured grandly to the audience. â€Å"Let the nominations begin.' For a moment, nothing happened. It kind of reminded me of when I'd been back in school, when a teacher would say something like, â€Å"Who'd like to present their paper first?' Everyone kind of waited for someone else to get things going, and at last, it happened. A man I didn't recognize stood up. â€Å"I nominate Princess Ariana Szelsky.' Ariana, as princess, sat on the Council and was an expected choice. She gave a gracious nod to the man. A second man, presumably from their family, also stood and gave the second nomination. The third and final nomination came from another Szelsky–a very unexpected one. He was Ariana's brother, a world traveler who was almost never at Court, and also the man my mother guarded. Janine Hathaway was most likely in this room, I realized. I wished Lissa would look around and find her, but Lissa was too focused on the proceedings. After everything I'd been through, I suddenly had a desperate longing to see my mother. With three nominations, Nathan declared, â€Å"Princess Ariana Szelsky is entered as a candidate.' He scrawled something on a piece of paper in front of him, his motions full of flourish. â€Å"Continue.' After that, the nominations came in rapid succession. Many were princes and princesses, but others were respected–and still high-ranking–members of the families. The Ozera candidate, Ronald, was not the family's Council member, nor was he anyone I knew. â€Å"He's not one of Aunt Tasha's â€Å"ideal' candidates,' Christian murmured to Lissa. â€Å"But she admits he's not a moron.' I didn't know much about most of the other candidates either. A couple, like Ariana Szelsky, I had a good impression of. There were also a couple I'd always found appalling. The tenth candidate was Rufus Tarus, Daniella's cousin. She'd married into the Ivashkovs from the Tarus family and seemed delighted to see her cousin declared a nominee. â€Å"I don't like him,' said Adrian, making a face. â€Å"He's always telling me to do something useful with my life.' Nathan wrote down Rufus's name and then rolled up the paper like a scroll. Despite the appearance of antique customs, I suspected a secretary in the audience was typing up everything being said here on a laptop. â€Å"Well,' declared Nathan, â€Å"that concludes–‘ â€Å"I nominate Princess Vasilisa Dragomir.' Lissa's head jerked to the left, and through her eyes, I recognized a familiar figure. Tasha Ozera. She'd stood and spoken the words loudly and confidently, glancing around with those ice-blue eyes as if daring anyone to disagree. The room froze. No whispers, no shifting in chairs. Just utter and complete silence. Judging from the faces, the Ozera family's nominee was the second-most astonished person in the room to hear Tasha speak. The first, of course, was Lissa herself. It took a moment for Nathan to get his mouth working. â€Å"That's not–‘ Beside Lissa, Christian suddenly stood up. â€Å"I second the nomination.' And before Christian had even sat down, Adrian was on his feet. â€Å"I confirm the nomination.' All eyes in the room were on Lissa and her friends, and then, as one, the crowd turned toward Nathan Ivashkov. Again, he seemed to have trouble finding his voice. â€Å"That,' he managed at last, â€Å"is not a legal nomination. Due to its current Council standing, the Dragomir line is regrettably not eligible to present a candidate.' Tasha, never afraid of talking in a crowd or taking on impossible odds, leapt back up. I could tell she was eager to. She was good at making speeches and challenging the system. â€Å"Monarch nominees don't need a Council position or quorum to run for the throne.' â€Å"That makes no sense,' said Nathan. There were mutters of agreement. â€Å"Check the law books, Nate–I mean, Lord Ivashkov.' Yes, there he was at last. My tactful father had joined the conversation. Abe had been leaning against a wall near the doorway, dressed splendidly in a black suit with a shirt and tie that were exactly the same shade of emerald green. My mother stood beside him, the slightest hint of a smile on her face. For a moment, I was captivated as I studied them side by side. My mother: the perfect picture of guardian excellence and decorum. My father: always capable of achieving his goals, no matter how twisted the means. Uneasily, I began to understand how I'd inherited my bizarre personality. â€Å"Nominees have no requirements concerning how many people are in their family,' continued Abe jovially. â€Å"They only need three royal nominations to be confirmed.' Nathan gestured angrily toward where his own wayward son and Christian sat. â€Å"They aren't from her family!' â€Å"They don't need to be,' countered Abe. â€Å"They just need to be from a royal family. They are. Her candidacy is within the law–so long as the princess accepts.' All heads swiveled toward Lissa now, as though they were suddenly just noticing her. Lissa hadn't twitched since the startling events began. She was in too much shock. Her thoughts seemed to move both fast and slow. Part of her couldn't even start to process what was happening around her. The rest of her mind was spinning with questions. What was going on? Was this a joke? Or maybe a spirit-induced hallucination? Had she finally gone crazy? Was she dreaming? Was it a trick? If so, why would her own friends have been the ones to do it? Why would they do this to her? And for the love of God, would everyone stop staring at her? She could handle attention. She'd been born and raised for it, and like Tasha, Lissa could address a crowd and make bold statements–when she supported them and was prepared. Neither of those things applied to this situation. This was pretty much the last thing in the world she had expected or wanted. And so, she couldn't bring herself to react or even consider a response. She stayed where she was, silent and shell- shocked. Then, something snapped her from her trance. Christian's hand. He'd taken Lissa's, wrapping his fingers with hers. He gave her a gentle squeeze, and the warmth and energy he sent brought her back to life. Slowly, she looked around the room, meeting the eyes of those all watching her. She saw Tasha's determined gaze, my father's cunning look, and even my mother's expectation. That last one proved most startling of all. How could Janine Hathaway–who always did what was right and could barely crack a joke–be going along with this? How could any of Lissa's friends be going along with this? Didn't they love and care about her? Rose, she thought. I wish you were here to tell me what to do. Me too. Damned one-way bond. She trusted me more than anyone else in the world, but she realized then that she trusted all of these friends too–well, except maybe Abe, but that was understandable. And if they were doing this, then surely–surely–there was a reason, right? Right? It made no sense to her, yet Lissa felt her legs move as she rose to her feet. And despite the fear and confusion still running through her, she found her voice inexplicably clear and confident as it rang out through the room. â€Å"I accept the nomination.'

Case Analysis: Ski-Right Essay

I. Background of the Case The case begins with Bob Guthrie, a retired physician and an avid skier, who realized that there was a need for a special ski helmet following the recent incidents that lead to serious head injuries for skiers. There were existing ski helmets in the market, but Bob believed that he had a chance to make helmets more appealing to the people, by adding new features. Bob took this idea as something that could not only be an outlet for his creativity, but as a way for him to make some money. He set out with the goal of making helmets that were attractive, safe and fun to wear. With this in mind, Bob came up with several ideas for his new helmet, which he named ‘Ski Right’. Bob wanted his helmets to be attractive, so they had to come in several colors and feature the latest fashion trends and designs. But aside from this, they also had to be fun and useful. To achieve this, Bob thought of putting a built in AM/FM radio and cellphone to the helmets, with controls in a pad on the skier’s leg or arm. Before proceeding to build the helmet, Bob thought of the possibilities of success and failure in his venture. He figured that there was a 20 percent chance that there will be an excellent market for his product, a 40 percent chance that the market will be good, a 30 percent chance that the market will just be average and a 10 percent chance that the market will be poor. With this in mind, he continued his plans. Bob found several companies that could help him build his helmets. Progressive Products agreed to be a partner in developing Ski Right and would share in the profits and losses. Bob also discovered Leadville Barts, who specializes in bike helmets. They could be of great help in the production of the helmets itself. Bob was also talking to Talrad TR, a radio company in Florida, who had experience in making military radios. They could assist in putting the AM/FM radios in the Ski Right. Finally, Bob was meeting up with Celestial Cellular, who could develop the cellphones. Bob Guthrie now has to take into consideration all this information in making the decision of how to make and launch his new product, with the intention of making the most money he can as possible and avoiding failure. II. Problem Statement Bob’s problem now is deciding which combination of partners would result in the best profits for his new product, Ski Right. His first option is to partner up with Progressive Products in developing the helmets. He also has the option to ask Leadville Barts to make the helmets, which will then be taken by Progressive Products for finishing. His third option is to contract Talrad TR to make the radios for the helmets, which will then be brought to Leadville Barts and Progressive Products. Bob’s fourth choice is to work with Celestial Cellular to make the cellphones which will be passed to Progressive Products for the rest of production and distribution. His final option is to forget about Progressive Products completely, contract the three other companies and hire some friends to assemble and market Ski Right. Other than choosing which of the options would be the best recommendation for Bob, the case also calls for us to compute the expected opportunity loss that Bob would have if he chose one option over another. The group also has to determine what the value of perfect information is, which represents the maximum that Bob should pay in order to get perfect information. The group will also identify if Bob was logical in his approach to setting up his business and making decisions. III. Model Development The objective of this study is to identify what would be the most profitable course of action for Mr. Bob Guthrie. Another objective is to identify the opportunity loss in this situation as well as the value of perfect information. In all of the options available to him, Mr. Guthrie calculated the possible profits or losses he would have for every possible state of the market. He also determined the probabilities of each of the states of market given. The information is shown in the table below. In order to meet the given objectives, the group will apply the method of Decision Making Under Risk due to Mr. Guthrie being aware of the probabilities of all outcomes. There is also a need to identify the possible amount of losses Mr. Guthrie may incur which means that gaining a perfect or accurate forecast would be beneficial to better clarify what is the best decision to take. V. Conclusion After applying the method of Decision Making Under Risk, based on the decision table used to sort out and categorize the information given, the group was able to analyze and interpret the results, and found out he best decision Mr. Guthrie could choose for the new product he’s about to make. After determining the EMV for each alternative, option 2 which EMV for $2,600, came out as the highest among the other EMVs. Next, the group was able to identify the possible amount of losses Mr. Guthrie may incur. After getting all the opportunity loss for each alternative, the one with the lowest value of EOL which is $14,300 is determine. The result is once again, option 2. This was made sure by getting the EVwPI and subtracting it to the maximum EMV, thus giving us the EVPI of $14,300 which is equal to the EOL we determined earlier. According to the option 2 which is getting Leadville Barts to make the helmets, and Progressive Products to finish them, LB had extensive experience in making bicycle helmets which gives Mr. Guthrie a higher chance of assurance in getting the job done right, especially that he considers the quality of the helmets to be produced. On the other hand, he’s facing a greater risk since he’s handing out to job to two different companies.