A Guide to United Arab Emirates Legal System Essay

A Guide to United Arab Emirates Legal System - Essay Example The UAE Legal System The legal system of the United Arab Emirates is founded upon the Constitution as approved by the Federal National Council in 1996. The Constitution replaced the provisional documents which had been periodically renewed since the UAE was established in 1971 (Info-Prod Research, 1999). The Constitution functions as the basic law of the land, specifying the purpose of the establishment of the federation, its components and objectives, and the public rights, responsibilities, and freedoms protected in the federation. It also establishes the structure of the federal government, provides for armed and security forces, and defines the legislative, executive, and international jurisdictions that govern the relationship between the federation and the member emirates (Tarbuck & Lester, 2009; Khedr & Alnuaimi, 2010). There are five federal institutions constitutionally provided for. These are the Federal Supreme Council (FSC – executive), the President of the Union a nd the Vice-President, the Council of Ministers of the Union, the Federal National Council (FNC – legislative), and the Judiciary of the Union. ... The legislative body, the Federal National Council, is a unicameral body comprised of 40 members, 20 of whom are elected by 7,000 notables who represent different tribes and social groups, and the remaining 20 are appointed by the rulers of the Emirates upon their discretion. Abu Dhabi and Dubai appoint eight members each, Sharjah and Ra’s al Khaymah six each, and four members each for Ajman, Umm al Oaywayn, and Al Fujayrah. Foundations of UAE Law The core principles of UAE law are drawn from Sharia, the fundamental Islamic law. However, most of the legislation enacted in the country are a combination of Islamic and European civil law concepts. The blend is not that far-fetched, since both of these systems are influenced by the Egyptian legal code that was established in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. There is apparently a strong leaning on the French legal concepts in the UAE as is shared in the European countries, in comparison to the distinctly different UK common l aw (Khedr & Alnuaimi, 2010). Federal Commercial Company Law – Forms of Business Entities Prior to 1984, there was no federal commercial company law, thus each Emirate formulated their own practices and procedures governing the establishment of business organizations within its own jurisdiction. The need was felt for a codified commercial legislation to address the concerns of international business in the country; this led to the promulgation of the Federal Commercial Company Law No. 8 of 1984, which was fully implemented by early 1993. This Law specifies that it is a requirement that UAE nations own at least 51 per cent of all public and private shareholding companies, as well

Commercial law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Commercial law - Coursework Example Apparently, the cleaner machine that is bought by The Royal Derbyshire Hotel from Walcott cleaners is seemingly suited for this category, and the laws that authorizes decline of sales and repudiation of contracts falling under this category will apply accordingly. 4 According to sec. 18(1), the title of specific goods passes when they are in a deliverable state and if the contract of sale is unconditional – this is with the exception of a contrary intention between the buyer and the seller. Whether the time of payment or delivery is postponed is of no importance in this case. This means that if all other requirement of the title of specific goods is met, the title of the cleaner would have passed to the buyer despite the delivery taking place after the date that was originally agreed. However, this assumption is contrasted with the fact that courts infer that parties to such a contract did not plan to pass the title in line with rule 1, but instead planed to pass it only when the goods are delivered or paid for.5 An â€Å"unconditional† contract means that the contract is free of any condition which may affect the passing of title. For example, a conditional sale agreement, under which the passing of title occurs only upon payment of the price, or a contract under which the seller must himself acquire the goods before he can honor his agreement to sell them to the buyer, would not be â€Å"unconditional† within the meaning of rule 1. Where the seller has undertaken to do something to the specific goods in order to put them into a deliverable state, title to the goods, according to rule 2 of sect. 18, is presumed to be intended to pass only when the seller does that thing and the buyer has actual notice of it.6 When purchasing the machine, Robin could not have doubted the rights of the seller because Section 12(1) stipulates that the seller has the right to

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL)

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) ORIENT OVERSEAS CONTAINER LINE (OOCL) 01.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF OOCL. Container shipping is most popular types of merchant shipping over the world. Due to size, use, and accessibility, it is famous and convenient for transporting from one place to another place to all customers from small trader to big trader. OOCL is the leading container main line operator in shipping industry having own information technology facilities. OOCL is a wholly-owned subsidiary company of OOIL (Orient Overseas International Limited) group which listed on Hong Kong Stock exchange as a public limited company. OOCL is one of the worlds largest integrated international container transportation, logistics and terminal companies having global brand images in container shipping (OOCL, 2010a) The founder of OOCL is CY Tung who dreamed to create Chinese merchant fleet in international shipping. In 1947, he succeeded when first ship with all Chinese crew reached in USA and Europe under the name of his company Orient Overseas Line (OOL). Due to the demand of container vessel and age of containerisation in shipping, OOL renamed to OOCL in 1962. Today, it has more than 230offices in 58 countries around the world and the present Chairman is CC Tung. OOCL Mission Statementis â€Å"To be the best and most innovative international container transport and logistics service provider; providing a Vital Link to world trade and creating value for our customers, employees, shareholders and partners† ( OOCL,2010b). The core values of OOCL for people or employee of the company, customers and wants to maintain high standard of services through community responsibilities. OCCL is a renewed container carrier who has own mother and feeder vessel, rail track, containers, trailers and terminals. In December 2008, OOCL awarded â€Å"Best of the Best† ocean career by World Trade Magazine of USA (Shister, 2008).All vessels of OOCL achieved the quality certificate of QUALSHIP 21 issued by US Coast Guard. However, recent world recession covered OOCL also and its container traffic fell 17.2 per cent compared with the first half of 2008, while revenue fell 37.2 per cent to $2.05bn and operating loss for the half of $197m, against a $216m profit in the first half of 2008 ( Lau and Wright,2009). United Nations Conference on Trade and development- UNCTAD positioned OOCL within the leading container transport operators of 20 MLO (Main Line Operators). Year Position Number Of Vessels TEU Capacity (TEU-Twenty feet Equivalent) 2008 11 90 364384 2007 09 84 351542 2006 12 71 275057 2005 11 68 236018 2004 11 63 216527 Figure 1 (Table) Performance of OOCL in world container trade 2004-2008 (UNCTAD,2010) The position of the OOCL is world container industry is fluctuating highly year by year. There is no constant improving that means growth in performance indicator by UNCTAD. However, they are increasing the number of vessel and container capacity (TEU capacity) in every year. Within 5 years they increased the number of vessels approx 50% and capacity over 68%. As a total logistics service provider, OOCLs international freight consolidation and logistics service unit, OOCL Logistics, provides its customers with innovative freight management services and leading-edge IT solutions. OOCL China Domestic Ltd. offers extensive domestic distribution services and supply-chain management to customers in China, the growing market which OOCL has been serving for over 50 years ( OOIL,2010 ) OOCL is renowned for its pioneering approach to developing intermodal connections. All means of intermodal transport are carefully integrated with trunk ocean services to offer seamless connections across continents using feeder services, barges, trucks and block trains (OOCL, 2010c) 02.STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT People have different views for understanding, developing and implementing strategy economically and timely to gain special advantages in business. Before taking any strategy, need to justify and assess the organisations present situation especially internal environment of the organisation. After that, external environment will help to set a preliminary plan for going forward. This is very important to assess the situations by marketing mix and political factors also. In a study (Johnson et all, 2005) of strategic exploration found that, there are three strategy lenses: design, experience and ideas which are useful to develop a strategy in a organisation. Model of Strategic Management (Johnson et all, 2005) The above model indicates that strategic management indicates the strategic position of a organisation depends on the environment and its capabilities to adapt also its expectations. The choice of strategy may be in business level or corporate-level; it may be internationally for the development of the organisation by following the strategic direction or methods. Furthermore, need to organise, enable the strategy into action to get competitive advantage. The research and development of the strategy based on the some environment analysis such as SWOT, PESTLE , value chain , Porters Five forces mode and etc. By applying these organisations can find the position where it placed and take effective measure to correct modify for developing the situation. 03.SWOT ANALYSIS FOR OOCL In a study Stacey (2000) stated that â€Å"SWOT analysis is the list of an organisations strengths and weaknesses indicated by an analysis of its resources and capabilities, plus a list of the opportunities and threats that an analysis of its environment identities. Strategic logic obviously requires that the future pattern of actions to be taken should match strengths with opportunities, ward off threats, and seek to overcome weaknesses.†(P-5). In addition, Strengths (Koch, 2000) can serve as a foundation for building a competitive advantage, and weaknesses may hinder it. By understanding these four aspects of its situation, a firm can better leverage its strengths, correct its weaknesses, capitalize on golden opportunities, and deter potentially devastating threats Container Shipping is the most complicated globalized industry which has to compete with internal competitors like other container operators also homogenous business like dry bulk or tanker operators. Moreover, it has a big competition with air transportation. Customer always wants to know the good and bad matters of the company before stuffing his cargo. By SWOT analysis of a company we can easily find out the negative and positives of an organisation. So, SWOT analysis is very important for developing company profile by correcting present weaknesses and aware the threats internally, externally and environmentally. OCCL has huge competition with other operators nationally and internationally and need to manage small shipper or big customer, moreover, fluctuation of international trade create the environment to forecast its all sight. Furthermore, it is a customer focused organisation. SWOT analysis will help to attract the customer for better business also develops the organisation economically and socially. 04.SWOT ANALYSIS A. STRENGTHS OF OOCL OOCL is a subsidiary of a global group of company OOIL group, Hong Kong. They can take any organizational or financial help from the group even from the government. Offering quality services in Asia, Europe, America and Australasia where container service is highly demanded as quick ocean transportation and easy access to shipper or consignee premises. Quick and speedy service, transit time is less, easy connection, global service network Pioneer in IT (Shipping).Very strong in information technology. Vendor services are performing by specialized software â€Å"Operationsmart†, â€Å"Depotsmart† and â€Å"Schedulesmart†. Vendor can easily log on and contract with OOCL from anywhere by using this facilities. Any customer can know his cargo position by this link. All vessels are handling by using information technology. Has own carriers (Mother and feeder vessels), rail track ( Owned in China and partnership in America Europe) Global brand image identification to trader, importer and exporter. Trained and skilled employees whos are really professional devoted in their jobs. Market leader in refrigerated container trade and temperature -controlled environment over ocean, rail and load line. Strong intermodal network in Asia, Europe and America. â€Å"DGsmart† which cares the dangerous goods customer. OOCL provides training for all for handling these types of cargo B. WEAKNESSES OF OOCL High competition and market fluctuation. Insignificant market growth of the line. No constant business growth in the industry. High freight costs. Peak season surcharge on service routes. Limited allocation of container in various routes and country GSA trade in maximum country. No direct trade for maximizing profit and mass customization. Imbalance of equipment. Huge lease container. Africa service is not available. C. OPPORTUNITIES OF OOCL OOCL can increase the number of vessels and container as world demand is increasing day by day. Introduction of Africa and South American services and intermodal connection there. Increase market share in Asian region by direct business. Introduction of feeder service in south Asia and investment in terminal business. More investment in port and terminal business. D. THREATS OF OOCL World recession which may be incurred huge loss which will impact to the share market and shareholders view to divert from their position or sell the share. Due to surcharge or extra payment, customer may divert to other operators. Heavy competition with national and international carrier. Globalization of the industry. May loose domestics cargo. Limited Feeder Vessel allotment from hub port to spoke port in Asian market 05.BUSINESS STRATEGY Business strategy is the key component of developing the organisation as reputed organisation of the world. In addition, it will help to establish the operational guidelines by which company can proceed step by step. This good plan may help to reach the target point for achieving the desired outputs. It will help to make plan, revision, control and implementation of the project. In a study Lasserre ( 2007) argued that a company business strategy is a set of fundamental choices which defines its long-term objectives, its value proposition to the market, how it intends to build and sustain a competitive business system and how it organises itself. He added that a business strategy will generally cover the followings for getting the maximum outcomes:- Ambition. This will help to set a long-term objectives of the company by which it is possible to create a target especially increasing the size of the organization economically, nationally and internationally. Positioning. It will add the value proposition to customer. Branding the product and service, customer segmentation, preference of customer choices will set a standard of the company and good position on the market. Investment. Business strategy will help to create the environment of investment for going very near of the customer. Also create a system that is able to deliver value to customers competitively. Organization. The profound beliefs of the organization will add value to the employee and long-term working facilities will develop a good structure of human resources management. From human resources to the production, everywhere will be a process and will maneuver the organization in a system. The business strategy of an organisation may be different in different location or region. The company business strategy may be FDI (Foreign Direct Investment), MA (Merger and acquisition), Diversification, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) or Global Strategy or any corporate strategies that will dominate or indicate how the company will bring competitive advantages to do business. 06.DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGY OF OOCL a)Diversification Diversification (Johnson et all, 2005) is a strategy that takes the organisation into both new markets and products or services and be undertaken for a variety of reasons, value creating than others. It may gain the economies of scope by organisations existing facilities also corporate managerial capabilities. Keeping the product is the main challenge of diversification. Instead of increasing growth, it sometimes is a burden for the organisation. The growth of the core business of the organisation may create the financial or distribution channel strength to expand the business in related or unrelated function. Sometimes managers or employee motivates the owners to engage in new business. In addition, the good brand value may attract to diversify the product or introduce new product by which company can give additional customer service. Furthermore, offer from government to do business in a new area or product for protecting the national interest towards a strong position of the compa ny also financial stability in a country. In a research of diversification , Reed and Luffman ( 1986) argued that basic strategic aims can only be decided after deliberate concentration on the companys present limitation and future needs which helps to survive, growth , use of resources or adapting to customer then diversification is one alternative in several option available to the company. They also added that analysis of market; material supplies, technological development and production process are required before moving to the decision of diversification. Where the opportunity is available but risk to develop, organisation may not diversify from their core business. The assessment to expand the business in various ways can help to take a decision in what way they will look forward towards existing or new customer but offering the qualitative product or service depends on the customers desire and availability of channel by which they can promote the product or service. Otherwise, risk will be increased and core business may be hampered by the new one. Grant (2008) argued that diversification strategy or decisions by the company involves for two issues: attraction of the industry and output by competitive advantages. The economics of scope can be tangibles or intangible resources of the company even organisational capabilities can also be transferred within the diversified company. OOCL had competitive advantages by its diversified products like information systems and terminal business. The group business expanded business in related and unrelated industry for getting the logistics support for its core business ocean shipping. He prescribed that diversification motivates the organisation for growing, reducing risk and making profit to create inconsistency of shareholder view. OOCL diversified in both concentric and conglomerate to develop their organisation economically also creating brand value. But they highly focused on concentric diversification because shipping is the derived demand and highly globalized business where customer needs all kind of logistics support. Providing the logistics support they made strong information systems from the origin of transport to the final destination which one is the full version of logistics. The OOIL group diversified in container business by creating the OOCL logistics which helps to add value in their core business ocean shipping. In addition, they involved in port terminal business in Kaoshiung (China) and Long Beach (North America) which form an integral part of international containerised transport business ( OOIL,2010a). The cargo smart is the innovative software of OOCL by which they can keep relation with their clients in 24 hours. Preliminary it is developed for their own organisations but now using by most of the logistics company of the world. It ( CargoSmart,2010) is a Software as a Service (SaaS) global shipping and logistics solutions provider that enables companies to lower transportation management costs, streamline operations, and reduce the risk of late shipments. For getting the domestics cargo, they established OOCL china domestics limited for getting the domestics cargo which also add value in their business. Due to heavy industrialization in China and having competition with national and international shipping company, OOCL diversified in their product to create a good marketing approach to the local trader. Kaoshiung port terminal is supporting them by giving logistics centre facilities to the shipper and consignee in China. Furthermore, road and rail transportation also help to attract the customer as it is the multimodal facilities for transporting the cargo at carriers risk. Enhance, they structured intermodal service in China, Europe and North America In conglomerate diversification, they established property business in two countries ( China and USA) as OODL which helps to increase the shareholder value and future of the company for any crisis or recovery of their core business. b) Vertical Integration in OOCL There is a vertical integration in OOCL diversification as they set a list of product and service in front of their clients. The core business of OOCL is ocean shipping that means selling the vessel space to the customer and providing the facilities of instrument container for caring the cargo. Along with this business they integrated the services by backward and forward integration. The backward facilities are the information facilities by which customer can log on from any place of the world. In addition, Logistics Company like OOCL logistics, intermodal systems also added in backward integration. The forward facilities are port and terminal business which added value to attract the customer for clearing the cargo easily and economically. C) Performance and Outcomes. Diversification and performance are correlated in their potential activities but depends on the acceptance of the customer. Grant (2008) believes that diversification has the potential to create value for shareholders where it exploits economics of scope and where transaction costs in the market for resources make it inefficient to exploit these economics of scope through market contracts. The shipping market depends on its cycles from the ship building to scrapping and mid times using facilities. Moreover, its perishable service where customization is very important to use its all cycles. As a container service main line operator, it is very difficult to run the business by only its vessel performance but also need connecting facilities to keep the customer. Diversification in OOCl helps to create logistics products or service like Cargo Smart, Intermodal, Port Terminal and catalyst their core business ocean shipping. The conglomerate diversification of OOCL in property business he lped to survive in recession. Due ( Reuters,2010) to global economic downturn and company huge loss in this downturn , OOIL group has sold $2.2 billion in Chinese property to raise cash and focus on its core shipping business. 07. CRITICAL ANALYSIS The diversification strategy of OOCL is partially failure. Due to economic downturn, group is unable to sustain and sold their unrelated property business OODL. It will be impacted to their core business because shareholder will not be influenced to keep their share. In addition, they had opportunity for developing their business in port terminals but sold two terminals out of four. Port terminals are big access of a shipping company. However, their present terminal is using by their own and grand alliance vessels. The best option for container shipping in strategic management may be in global strategy because this is the highly globalised industry. They can choose the strategy for increasing their services in all over the world. Some companies are very successful in MA like MAERSK. They merged with Sealand firstly and finally acquired PO Nedlloyd which one is the great and highly capitalized acquisition in shipping industry. OOCL has great opportunity to merge with some African or South American container line to diversify their business in these regions. It will bring more customers. In addition, their core competence of HR policy indicated that CSR may be the best strategy to develop the business. The Grand Alliance ( Hapag-lloyd,2009) formed in 1998 is the leading integrated consortium in global container shipping by the leading main line operator in container shipping Hapag-Lloyd (Germany), MISC Berhad (Malaysia), NYK (Japan) and OOCL (Hong Kong). Jointly they are introducing shipping rout es and new services day by day to extend the container shipping. 08.CONCLUSION Lasserre (2007) stated that managers, politicians, journalists and academics are commonly using the concept of globalization along with global industries, competition, or corporation or strategies to globalize or die. Container shipping industry is highly globalised as it is the derived demand of world trade. Moreover, it has to fight with same line industry like dry bulk or tanker shipping. The business rivalry among the main line container operators is very high. In addition, world alliance by some companies that making groups and start consolidated business is the new dimension to minimize the loss or maximizing the profit. Strategic alliance between two or more firms like the grand alliance of OOCL with other operators brought competitive advantages in business. OOCL is the family business organisation and featured the core competency of human resources. SWOT analysis of the organisation and diversification strategy may show the ways to face the global economic downturn and be mo re strategic in their business.

Charles Dickens Great Expectations Essay -- Charles Dickens Great Exp

Charles Dickens' Great Expectations Chapter one of the novel Great Expectations opens in a bleak and overgrown churchyard on the eerie marsh country. Here we are introduced to Pip, as a young and naà ¯ve boy, and we discover he is also an orphan, who lives with sister and her husband the blacksmith, in a small village a mile or more from the church. Whilst Pip is in the churchyard, he meets an escaped convict, Magwitch, whom Pip gives food to, and this encounter remains poignant in both their lives, as Pip goes on to receive the opportunity to become a gentleman, from a mysterious benefactor, and he abandons his friends and family for his â€Å"Great Expectations† and his London lifestyle. The desolate choice of setting and location for the start of the novel are relevant to Pip’s unhappy childhood. Dickens uses negative descriptions such as â€Å"bleak place overgrown with nettles† to create a vivid and miserable image in the readers mind. At once it becomes obvious that Pip’s tale is not going to be a joyful or pleasant one- more the reverse, as his surroundings are described with more depressing phrases including â€Å"dark flat wilderness†, to describe the marshes and land beyond the churchyard, and â€Å"distant savage lair†, to emphasise the fierceness of the sea. We get the impression of an isolated, wild and barren marshland, and feel sorry for the poor young boy let out with nobody with him. We are told that Pip never saw his father or his mother, and told also that he childishly derived what they may have looked like from the appearance of their tombstones. Pip evidently felt alone and deserted at this time, as we see him in the churchyard visiting his parent's graves, and looking at the â€Å"five little stone... ...gers that finish off each chapter. The fact that Magwitch is introduced to Pip in the first chapter is appealing for the reader, as this creates curiosity in wanting to know what is going to happen to Pip, and what is to become of Magwitch. The reader is persuaded to read on to find out also whether Pip obeys Magwitch, and how Pip completes his task. Also, because we feel sorry for the poor boy, we are curious to find out the outcome of his life and whether it gets any better. Overall, Chapter one of the novel Great Expectations provides us with sufficient information about Pip to know that he is not going to grow up in a loving and caring environment, as we find out that he is an orphan, who lives with his sister and her husband, in a strict and unloving household, and is let out alone in a deserted churchyard visiting his parents graves one evening.

Dramatic irony Essay

The Inspector makes Mrs Birling expand on what should be done to the boy and Mrs Birling not realising what has happened by linking together the parts carries on, the Inspector asks, ‘So he’s the chief culprit anyhow?’ and Mrs Birling replies, ‘Certainly. And he ought to be dealt with very severely-.’ It is now, if the audience hadn’t already worked it out from when Mrs Birling about the father being a drunk, her realising from others Eric’s a drunk, and the Inspector wanting Eric to stay so he could see him later, that we realise from Sheila’s dramatic ‘Mother-stop-stop!’ Eric’s the father. It is such a dramatic moment, there is suspense and tension; it shocks the audience and yet Mr and Mrs Birling still don’t see Eric as the father and tell Sheila to be quiet. Mrs Birling doesn’t stop, she’s already spoken about how the father should be made an example of and she on basically saying what should be done to her son, ‘make sure he’s compelled to confess in public his responsibility.’ The Inspector too confirms what she has said asks again if she is sure that that should happen, she agrees, it is then she realises, the penny drops, it’s Eric. She’s shocked. Mrs Birling has, in other words, told the Inspector that her son is responsible, should be made an of and confess in public without even knowing it. She has convicted her own son. This is dramatic irony as we, the audience have realised it was Eric and she’s carried on sentencing him. She has matters worse, which she will eventually regret. This is such a dramatic part of the play, she has condemned her own son to the blame and also without realising killed her own grandchild ‘I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it†¦.’- She will believe it. The next dramatic moment is shorter in length but still or even more, dramatic. This is the moment at the end when the Inspector has left and everyone is left questioning what has happened.  After the Inspector has left the family start blaming one another for the girl’s death. It is after this that Sheila, first of all and then the others question the Inspector’s existence ‘It’s queer-very queer-‘. When Sheila says this Mrs Birling seems to understand what Sheila’s thinking ‘I know what your going to say. Because I’ve been wondering myself,’ to which Sheila replies, ‘It doesn’t matter now, of course-but was he really a police inspector?’ Sheila and Eric don’t think it matters but Mr and Mrs Birling clearly think it does, ‘Well, if he wasn’t, it matters a devil of a lot.’ It’s clear that the younger generation, Sheila and Eric, have very different views form that of their parents. Sheila and Eric do not feel that it matters if the Inspector wasn’t a police inspector, it’s what they have all done that is the important part, they’ve killed a woman, ‘He was our Inspector alright.’-Eric. Gerald then returns and tells them that he has found out that the Inspector was not a real police inspector. Although they had their doubts this puzzles everyone. Gerald then has idea that all that had happened wasn’t to the same girl. To confirm his thoughts he rings up the infirmary and asks if there is anyone who has committed suicide by drinking disinfectant. There is no girl. Everyone apart from Sheila and Eric are relieved and act if nothing has happened, Sheila and Eric question the way they behaved but Mr and Mrs Birling and Gerald don’t care. Just when they are trying to forget, the phone rings. The drama starts when Gerald rings the Infirmary. There is a tense wait for us to know whether there is a girl, to which all this happened to, or if the things Mr and Mrs Birling, Sheila, Gerald and Eric did was all to one girl. The characters’ actions add to the tension we sustain, for example Birling wiping his brow, Sheila shivering and Eric clasping and un-clasping his hands, showing their nerves. ‘No girl has died in there today. Nobody’s been brought in after drinking disinfectant. They haven’t had a suicide for months.’ We are lulled into believing it is over; that the suspense has ended and there is nothing more to happen. Mr and Mrs Birding and Gerald are relieved but it is only Sheila and Eric that keep in consideration what they have done and actually seriously think about what has happened, Sheila ‘But you’re forgetting one thing I still can’t forget. Everything we said had happened really had happened. If it didn’t end tragically, then that’s lucky for us. But it might have done.’ This just shows the difference of the natures of the characters. Sheila shows herself as being concerned and truly sorry for what she has done, as well as Eric. However, Gerald, Mr Birling and Mrs Birling show the totally opposite view on what has happened, they come across as selfish, cruel and arrogant people from the way they behave. An example of this is when Mr Birling says, ‘The whole story was a lot of moonshine. Nothing but an elaborate sell!’ Sheila says how disgusted she is with their behaviour, Mr and Mrs Birling and Gerald carrying on not caring. Gerald tries to get Sheila back into thinking of the wedding ‘Everything all right now Sheila. What about the ring.’ This is a prime example of Gerald’s attitude towards what has happened. Sheila-‘No, not yet. It’s too soon. I must think.’ Mr Birling then says something very ironic. After all that he and his wife, the older generation, have done and the way they have acted towards this situation (terribly), he turns round and comments on the younger generation, who are clearly more sensible, caring and altogether better, and says ‘Now look at the pair of them-the famous younger generation who know it all. And can’t even take a joke’. This is in response to Sheila saying no to Gerald, it is very ironic. It is now that it happens, the most dramatic part of the play. The Phone rings. It rings sharply, immediately we think the worst, is it? Has a girl been found in the same situation as Eva Smith? The actions of the characters, their moment of complete silence is very tense. Mr B. answers the phone; he talks slowly dragging the moment on. His actions are slow intensifying; he slowly puts down the phone. He looks in a panic stricken fashion at the others. The audience knows what is about to come but are still waiting for it to be confirmed. Mr Birling confirms our thoughts; a police inspector is on his way as a girl has just died after swallowing some disinfectant. This ending is very, very powerful. It changes the nature of the play as it becomes a mystery-who was the inspector? It becomes cyclical and therefore spiritual-how many more times will it happen? Will it start again when the inspector arrives?  Ã¢â‚¬ËœAn Inspector Calls’ with its dramatic moments is a very powerful play. It has skilful climaxes and wonderful twists to the plot. It is a very enjoyable play that always keeps you on edge.

The Life of Alfred Binet

On July 8, 1857, Alfred Binet was born in Nice, France. He took a different tack than most psychologists of his day: he was interested in the workings of the normal mind rather than the pathology of mental illness. He wanted to find a way to measure the ability to think and reason, apart from education in any particular field (PBS, 1998). Over time, Binet became one of the most prominent psychologists in French history. After receiving his formal education in Nice and Paris, Binet became a lawyer. However, this profession did not please him. He became fascinated with the work of French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot, who was studying hypnosis. In 1878, he abandoned his law career and devoted himself to medical and scientific studies at the Salpà ªtriere Hospital in Paris, where Charcot was working. In 1884, Alfred married Laure Balbiani. Her father, E.G. Balbiani, was an embryologist at the College de France. Alfred was given the opportunity to work in his lab where his interest changed from comparative psychology to natural science. Research for his doctorate focused on the behavior, physiology, histology and anatomy of insects (Wolfe, 1973). While working in Dr. Balbiani†s lab, Binet wrote Animal Magnetism. Binet†s next area of interest was in the field of child psychology. He developed and tried a wide range of tests and puzzles on his own daughters Madeleine and Alice. It was through this study of his daughters that he began to discover the importance of attention span on the development of adult intelligence. It was at this point that he came to realize that individual differences had to be systematically explored before one could determine laws which would apply to all people (Pollack, 1995). Binet went on to became director of the Laboratory of Physiological Psychology at the Sorbonne in Paris. While at the Sorbonne, he founded the first French journal devoted to psychology, L†Annee Psychologique. Binet used the journal to publish the results of his research studies. The journal is still in circulation. In 1900, Binet and Ferdinand Buisson established, La Societe Libre Pour L†Etude Psychologique de L†Enfant (The Free Society for the Psychological Study of Children), a Paris laboratory for child study and experimental teaching. It was later renamed La Societe Alfred Binet et Thedore Simon. The laboratory†s concerns dealt with practical problems in the school setting. Parisian school authorities asked Binet to develop a method to identify children who were unable to learn at a normal rate. He went on to develop a method that could measure the intelligence of every child as dull, bright, or normal (Newland, 1998). Binet determined that complex problems, especially those involving abstract thinking, were best for separating the bright and dull students. Since problem-solving ability grows rapidly during childhood, Binet decided to make an age scale of intelligence. He chose tasks for each age level that could be performed by most youngsters of that age but that could not be done by the majority of children a year younger. In 1905, Binet and Theodore Simon published a scale of intelligence for children from 3 to 13. Binet hoped his test would be used to improve children†s education, but he also feared it would be used to label children and limit their opportunities (Myers, 1981). Since 1905, several adaptations and revisions of the Binet-Simon scales have been published all around the world. On October 18, 1911, while revising intelligence scales, he died. Despite his great achievements, he was never fully appreciated, especially by the French. His work was diverse, showing interest in the person as a whole. While Binet never provided any firm theories, his work was often the precursor of more detailed and profound research.

Comparing Computers Essays - Microsoft, Database, Server

Comparing Computers Essays - Microsoft, Database, Server Comparing Computers ASSIGNMENT 12 00 COMPARE AND CONTRAST PROGRAMS FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS At home I have Microsoft Office, not the 2000 version but I can tell you this program is like no other when it comes to presentation and processor capabilities. It is the cadillac of the programs. I have contemplated getting the office 2000 version however I am told it is very complicated and not generally for home or small business use. It is generally for the company that networks and moves around on the world wide web. As far as their database goes, it is also fairly good with Microsoft Access however transporting the database into other programs is still difficult in that it is complicated. Publisher 2000 is again an added boost to this program since it is able to help you with any publication/presentation, mailings and so on. The cost is high also which makes it less attractive for the small business owner. Microsoft Back Office, Small Business Server, is just that, a server. The cost is more reasonable however its capabilities are limited. Arc Server IT 6.6 is an excellent program for a small business because it has great database movement capabilities. Its backup and security programs are terrific which is paramount for a small business. I have know small business owners who have spent hours trying to recoup their database. It can cost them a lot of time and money with this type of a problem. This company also provides help, 24 hours of the day which is the biggest help for these store owners. There is almost no amount of money that can surpass this quality.

Cognitive And Non-Cognitive Abilities Example

Cognitive And Non Cognitive And Non Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Abilities Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Abilities In order to identify the cognitive abilities as well as non-cognitive abilities those are associated with emotional intelligence, it is necessary to first understand the definition of emotional intelligence. The term emotional intelligence issued to refer to the ability to of understanding and react to one’s own emotional issues as well as the issues experienced by others in order to solve personal and other’s emotional issues. This definition suggests that the cognitive abilities associated with emotional intelligence include ability to study, absorb heaps of information in order to practice the cognitive ability of making decisions in consistency with that particular information (Dahl et al., 2012). The non-cognitive abilities associated with emotional intelligence includes intrapersonal as well as interpersonal skills that are necessary for knowing others and knowing oneself as well as adapta bility skills which includes the ability of problem solving. In daily life emotional intelligence can be used to solve various problems experienced by loved ones such as mothers. My mother is not a kind of person who shares her personal issues with anyone. Therefore, emotional intelligence can help me identifying the emotional issues she is experiencing. For example: she may not be cooking food properly or may be spending time in unproductive activities. These are signs that a person is experiencing emotional issues. By looking at her activities and identifying that she is suffering emotional issues I can find a solution to such issues and help her solve the issues. This in turn will help her in indulging herself to the full potential in her own work. ReferencesDahl, D., & Cilliers, F. (2012). The relationship between cognitive ability, emotional intelligence and negative career thoughts: A study of career-exploring adults. SA J. Hum. Resour. Manag., 10(2). doi:10.4102/sajhrm.v10i2 .461

A StreetCar Named Desire

Hence, blacks mingle with whites, and members of different ethnic groups play poker and bowl together. Stanley, the son of Polish immigrants, represents the changing face of America. Williamss romanticizing is more evident in his portrayal of New Orleans as a city where upper-class people marry members of the lower class, fghts get ugly but are forgotten the next day, and the perpetual bluesy notes of an old piano take the sting out of poverty. The play immediately establishes Stanley and Blanche as polar opposites, with Stella as the link between them. Stage directions describe Stanley as a virulent character whose chief pleasure is women. His dismissal of Blanches beauty is therefore significant, ecause it shows that she does not exude his same brand of carnal desire. On the other hand, Blanches delicate manners and sense of propriety are offended by Stanleys brutish virility. Stanleys qualities†variously described as vitality, heartiness, brutality, primitivism, lust for life, animalistic†lead him over the course of the play into an unrelenting, unthinking assault on the already crumbling facade of Blanches world. Blanche comes across as a frivolous, hysterical, insensitive, and self- obsessed individual as she derides her sisters lesser social status and doesnt xpress Joy at seeing Stella so in love. Blanche, who arrives in New Orleans having lost Belle Reve and having been forced to leave her Job, exudes vulnerability and emotional frailty. Stanleys cocky interactions with Blanche show him to be insensitive †he barely lets Blanche get a word in edgewise as he quickly assesses her beauty. Nevertheless, in this introduction, the audience is likely to sympathize with Stanley rather than Blanche, for Blanche behaves superficially and haughtily, while Stanley comes across as unpretentious, a social being with a zest for life. Stanleys entrance ith a package of meat underscores his primitive qualities. It is as if he were bringing it back to his cave fresh from the kill. His entrance also underscores the intense sexual bond between him and Stella, which is apparent to the other characters as well. Stanley yells Catch! as he tosses the package, and a moment later the Negro woman yells Catch what! Eunice and the Negro woman see something sexual, and scandalously hilarious, in Stanleys act of tossing the meat to a breathlessly delighted Stella. The name of the Kowalskis street underscores the extreme, opposing rchetypes that Stanley and Blanche represent. Elysian Fields is the name for the ancient Greek version of the afterlife. Stanley, the primitive, pagan reveller who is in touch with his vital core, is at home in the Elysian Fields, but the Kowalskis home and neighbourhood clearly are not Blanches idea of heaven. Blanche represents a society that has become too detached from its animal element. She is distinctly over civilized and has repressed her vitality and her sexuality. Blanches health and her sanity are Scene 2 Scene Two starts to move our sympathies away from Stanley as the more malignant spects of his character start to surface. Whereas Scene One stresses the sexual attraction that drew Stella and Stanley to one another despite class differences, Scene Two shows Stanley acting disrespectful to Stella and antagonistic to her sister. Meanwhile, our compassion for Blanche increases as Williams reveals Just how destitute she is by showing that all of her belongings in the world amount to a trunk full of gaudy dresses and cheap Jewellery. In one sense, Stanley and Blanche are fighting for Stella†each would like to pull Stella beyond the reach of the other. But their opposition is also more elemental. They are incompatible forces, manners versus manhood†and peace between them is no more than a temporary cease-fire. Blanche represents the Old Souths intellectual romanticism and dedication to appearances. Stanley represents the New Souths ruthless pursuit of success and economic pragmatism. When Stanley confronts Blanche after her bath, she shows that she understands the nature of their clash when she tells him that Stella doesnt understand him as well as she does. Calling upon the Napoleonic code enables Stanley to Justify his feelings of entitlement toward Stellas inheritance. In doing so, he shows that he is ignorant of legal technicalities, because Belle Reve, located in Laurel, Mississippi, wouldnt fall under New Orleans Jurisdiction. However, Stanleys repeated references to the Napoleonic code highlight the fact that his conflict with Blanche is also a gender showdown. Stanleys greed reveals his misogyny, or woman- hating tendencies. As a man, Stanley feels that what Stella has belongs to him. He also hates Blanche as a woman and as a person with a more prestigious family name, and therefore suspects that Blanches business dealings have been dishonest. Blanche takes the first of many baths in this scene. She claims that steaming hot baths are necessary to calm her nerves, a believable excuse given her constant hysteria. Yet Blanches constant need to wash her body symbolizes her need for emotional, spiritual, and mental cleansing. Her bathing foreshadows the eventual revelation of her sordid past. She desires to rid herself of her social blemishes and start over after leaving Laurel. Two mysteries from Scene One are solved in Scene Two. Blanche reveals the boy she spoke of at the end of Scene One to be her usband. She tells Stanley that she hurt her husband the way that Stanley would like to hurt her, warning him that his goal is impossible, since she is not young and vulnerable anymore. Blanche knew her husbands weakness and unfeelingly used that weakness to destroy him. Yet she is naive to think that Stanley wont be able to do the same thing to her. She would like to believe that her age and experience protect her against Stanleys callous assaults, but Stanley recognizes Blanches essential weakness. Also, Stellas revelation to the audience that she is pregnant when she asks Stanley not to mention h er pregnancy to Blanche) explains Blanches remark about Stellas weight gain, and Stellas refusal to discuss her weight gain with her sister.

The Advantage of Pragmatism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Advantage of Pragmatism - Essay Example Thanks this paper   we shall see the theories’ relevancy on Centrica’s progress and how creative thinking in adapting new set of ideas as well as proper utilization of resources and advance technology can greatly contribute to progress. One kind of resource that will be emphasized would be Human resources and that how could this be an asset or a hindrance, on the other side, to company’s goals. We shall be dealing on factors like stress control, support and performance as a key of business improvement and success. Human resource is one of the most essential element of a business or company in the long run including today, whilst the expansion and enhancement of technology. This could be hardly eradicated in business, although they are already experiencing recession, still a company needs a human workforce for it to work (regardless of its size). One main reason for this is because human have the capability to think unlike of machines. We have interesting mental capabilities that only us could analyze and implement solutions and answer to predicaments and that machineries are just by-product of our creative thinking being a secondary source of our solution.

Job reward Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Job reward - Essay Example Research suggests that both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are necessary in motivating employees. Traditionally, extrinsic rewards that are derived not from the work itself were considered sufficient. These include salaries, bonuses, perks, benefits, commissions and cash rewards (Thomas). The tall hierarchies and close supervision allowed managers to keep track of whether the policies are being followed and could either grant or hold back these rewards based on performance. However, workers today prefer self-management rather than close supervision and get motivated from being empowered which gives them a sense of belonging to the organization (Thomas). Hence, intrinsic rewards are largely based on the satisfaction that workers derive from the task at hand (Thomas). Therefore, intrinsic rewards entail greater commitment and initiative on the part of workers who take pride in doing their work. Although the importance of extrinsic rewards is diminishing, they are can by no means be ne glected. As per Maslow’s theory of hierarchy, lower order needs such as pay and job security must first be satisfied before workers become motivated by higher order needs such as belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization. Therefore, both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards must be considered in employees’ job rewards package. Rummassah’s major problem in recent years is its high employee turnover and low level of employee morale that has often been reflected in bad attitude towards customers and job switching to competitors’ companies. Greater insight revealed that Rummassah was paying too little monetary incentives to its best performers and too much to their inefficient workers which led to the latter’s disillusionment. Most rewards were not customer focused as a result of which even poor performers were getting the same monetary incentives as good performers. Furthermore, rewards focused on length of service or seniority tends to turn compensati on into entitlement. Furthermore, insights revealed that part-time employees were not been provided with stock options which made them switch to other jobs, thereby increasing costs for the company. Employees also complained about monotonous work and lack of social gatherings to break the high pressure and stress during peak periods. Considering that almost 40% of the workforce was expatriates, they could not understand local Arabic language which made them fearful of dealing with customers. Finally, there were complains of long waiting times and lack of coordination amongst the cafe staff by disgruntled customers. In view of the above problems, the organization must implement a rewards program that addresses the above issues. Performance in this case shall be based on the achievement of tasks in the job description as well as relations with other employees. Firstly, good performers shall be recognized through their picture being put up on the company’s notice board under the caption â€Å"Star of the month†. The best performer will receive a bonus of AED 300. Furthermore, the name of this employee shall be featured on the company’s website. However, research shows that simply praising the employee’s work through thank you notes has more value than employee of the month awards (Bersin, 2012). Keeping

Sources of Internation Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sources of Internation Power - Essay Example This angered the most of those in Afghanistan since Muslim belief was a strong belief in the country. Many Muslim leaders got arrested, and others fled the capital and went to the mountains escaping Amin's police. Amin led a government based on communists who rejected religion caused discontent within the government. Most Afghanistan Muslims joined a rebel force for Allah called Mujahideen. They wanted the overthrow of the Amin government. They declared a holy war on Amin’s supporters. This got stretched out to the Russians in Afghanistan attempting to maintain Amin’s power in government (Arnold 1985). Russians argued that they got invited in by the Amin government and were not attacking the country. Their claim was that their task was to help an authentic government and that their rebel forces were not terrorists. Amin got shot by Russians on December 27th, 1979. He got replaced by Babrak Kamal. For him to head the Afghan government, it was necessary for the Russian mi litary to support him and keep him in power. Most Afghanistan soldiers left for the Mujahedeen. The Kamal government required over 80,000 Russian soldiers for him to be in power. The Mujahideen were difficult opponents. They had old rifles with no knowledge of the mountains next to Kabal and the expected weather conditions (Clements 2003). The Russians decided to use poison gas, helicopter gunships and napalm against the Mujahideen. Unfortunately, they encountered the same military state the Americans did in Vietnam. The Mujahideen controlled most of Afghanistan by 1982 although they fought the second most powerful military authority in the world. Young Russian soldiers did not match against men with religious beliefs. Although the Russian army had a strong reputation, the Afghanistan war showed the world how poor it was aside military displays. Army strikes did not last longer than 10 days without failing in this harsh Afghanistan environment. Most Russian soldiers fled to the Muja hideen. Russian tanks did not have any use in the mountain passes. America banned the export of grain to Russia. It also ended SALT talks that were taking place and embargoed the Olympic Games that were to be due to take place in Moscow come 1980. America also did nothing since they knew Russia got itself into a Vietnam and it provided American Intelligence with a chance of acquiring new Russian military rifles to be used in Afghanistan. The Mujahideen fighters could access American surface-to-air missiles (Collins 1986). Towards the end of 1980's, the Mujahideen was fighting with itself in Afghanistan with hardcore Taliban fighters clutching the whole nation. It imposed strict Muslim law on Afghanistan’s. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was quite Vietnam-like in cruelty, killing millions of Afghans and tearing apart a country with little religious fanaticism and making advances to women. Afghanistan became a base for terrorists, in the disorder. When Ronald Reagan took of fice 1981, he upheld the Carter emphasis about the Persian Gulf-Arabian Peninsula sector which followed the Soviet attack of Afghanistan. His approach to the Middle East problems resulting from the assumptions different from initial assumptions of the Carter administration. He held that the major threat to peace in the region was not the Arab-Israeli disagreement but the Russian and its policies. It was necessary to restore American ability and reliability that could be enabled by building

Environmental Problems and Role of International, European Community, Essay

Environmental Problems and Role of International, European Community, and Domestic Laws for Environment Protection - Essay Example The paper tells that today, it is an era of various environmental issues that have emerged in our society because of the technological advancement, man has made for ease and comfort. There are numerous environmental problems, which have become a part of our world today causing other hazardous situation for the people living in the society. Environmental laws have been proposed by the concerned authorities to address the problem in most efficient manner. Problems relate to environment are not only confined to local regions, but this problem has reached up to global level adding complexities in daily routine of people and imposing further health related issues at other side. Environmentalists and experts from all over the world have considered it an important issue that could create more problems for all living organisms. They have suggested various suitable methods and strategic tools to deal with the problems of environment without increasing risk factors for any other problem. Conce rned professionals have made environmental laws, comprise of crucial interlocking figures in the form of treaties, rules, conventions, and other statutes that organized and maintain a bond between people and the natural atmosphere, where they live. All environmental issues have resulted from human activities and inventions. At one side, there are several problems related to environment, but the core issue is termed as pollution, an undesirable and intolerable situation around living environment, which gives birth to various other problems in the society by polluting air, water, and land. 1. Apart, from pollution other environmental issues involve the challenges of saving plants, animals and countless natural resources along with specific areas of human life from hazardous influences of those conditions that are responsible for destroying and eroding living and non-living both components of the world2. Other than human activities, climate change in the form of global warming is anoth er major factor that contributes to cause many environmental changes in an inverse direction. But, the changes in earth`s climate is also a result of human inventions and use of technology, made to create fastest production of goods, communication and travelling. For instance, burning of fossil fuels, woods, and elimination of greenhouse gases from industries are influencing our environment dangerously3. The elimination of these toxic gases in the air is polluting our surroundings and making it difficult for every living organism to breathe in fresh air from the environment containing mixtures of many gases, which are dangerous for human`s skin, brain and heart4. Maintaining life of animals and plants and other precious creatures of the world is another vital concern of environmental problem. It is mainly because changes in earth`s temperature and polluting of air present in the atmosphere are not the only matters related to environmental issues, but the forests and marine life is a lso suffering equally5. Researchers have found that global warming is resulting in increasing sea level and its temperature as well, which cause death to many tiny marine animals and plants present on the upper surface of the sea level. In addition, man is consuming trees and plants to burn wood and manufacture required products along with the preparation of other goods as well such as, rubber, glue, medicines, food, and many more6. In this way, methods of deforestation are contributing to remove those natural sources that purify our environment by

Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy in Marketplace Essay

Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy in Marketplace - Essay Example The study performed a systematic analysis of the competitors and the performance of the market and the strengths of the organizations to overcome these challenges. However, the group experienced low demand, and we decided to operate within the initial plan and make changes whenever possible. We opted for an ideological strategy. We realized strategies cannot necessarily be deliberate (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). The ideological approach enabled us to predict our market with enough accuracy to pursue our intended strategy (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Thus, the plan offered us a clear business purpose and an opportunity to incorporate desirable actions when the deliberate action did not yield the intended results. Operating within the initial plan enabled a clear communication between the actors. Each actor understood his or her role very well. The decision to incorporate other actions was out of the realization that the market can be unstable sometimes. The organization had to tolerate the low demand while strategies to counter it were formulated. The tolerance to challenges emanated from analysis of the past demand patterns and thus the low demand did not come as a surprise (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Additionally, the learning from the market and previous analysis also enabled us to develop corrective actions that developed in strange ways. The corrective measures were implemented in quantum leaps and orientation that allowed the organization to regain its feet (Mintzberg, 1987). These measures enabled the group to stay on track and within its business objectives. In conclusion, emergent strategy acts best as a compliment of the deliberate strategy as witnessed in our

Segmented Marketing and Branding Big Mac Research Paper

Segmented Marketing and Branding Big Mac - Research Paper Example This paper focuses upon Big Mac, a hamburger which was introduced by McDonald’s in Pennsylvania in the year 1967 with a selling price of 45 cents. It was promulgated on a national scale in 1968. The burger was created to contend with Big Boy sandwich, a similar type of item with a bread slice in between with the purpose of holding together the stuffing and averting spill out. Over the years, it has become a signature product of the company with an exceptional brand name. It consists of two layers of beef patties merged with molten cheese and mouth watering sauce along with an onion and munch of pickle, served together in a delicious three division sesame seed bun. Iceberg Lettuce is also a core ingredient of the burger. The Big Mac is popular all over the world and is often regarded as an icon of American capitalism. In fact, the Big Mac Index is used as an indicative factor for contrasting the cost of living in countries around the world since its availability is common. This index is also considered to be Burgernomics. There exist several branding theories which identify brand as a unique feature of value proposition of a company. A branding promotion initiates with the development of a value proposition and relies on inspired apparatus along with a combination of consistency, continuity and commitment. The brand of Big Mac, ever since its establishment, has not looked back. It has been able to build its reputation not only in the United States but across 119 countries in the world. The brand of Big Mac is not just a name or a symbol. It has become a vital component of the relationship which McDonald’s has established with its consumers. For the consumers of McDonald’s in general, Big Mac, as a brand, has set its place in the hearts and minds of the consumers. For any brand, its real value exists in its ability and power to retain customer’s brand loyalty by influencing their preferences. The brand strategy of Big Mac has been so s uccessful that it has been thriving in the market as the leading hamburger choice for quite sometime. Being a powerful brand in its own domain, the brand equity of Big Mac is significant. It has been able to develop a positive differential effect upon its consumers and consequently, create a value for itself among people in different continents. McDonald’s have always made use of Big Mac’s classical taste and enriched quality in setting up its Brand Positioning. In this manner, the company has been able to devise such a competitive combination attributes, benefits, beliefs and values for the brand Big Mac that they have been able to develop the image of it in the minds of their consumers in the manner in which they wanted. Likewise, another core brand strategy

Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy in Marketplace Essay

Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy in Marketplace - Essay Example The study performed a systematic analysis of the competitors and the performance of the market and the strengths of the organizations to overcome these challenges. However, the group experienced low demand, and we decided to operate within the initial plan and make changes whenever possible. We opted for an ideological strategy. We realized strategies cannot necessarily be deliberate (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). The ideological approach enabled us to predict our market with enough accuracy to pursue our intended strategy (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Thus, the plan offered us a clear business purpose and an opportunity to incorporate desirable actions when the deliberate action did not yield the intended results. Operating within the initial plan enabled a clear communication between the actors. Each actor understood his or her role very well. The decision to incorporate other actions was out of the realization that the market can be unstable sometimes. The organization had to tolerate the low demand while strategies to counter it were formulated. The tolerance to challenges emanated from analysis of the past demand patterns and thus the low demand did not come as a surprise (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Additionally, the learning from the market and previous analysis also enabled us to develop corrective actions that developed in strange ways. The corrective measures were implemented in quantum leaps and orientation that allowed the organization to regain its feet (Mintzberg, 1987). These measures enabled the group to stay on track and within its business objectives. In conclusion, emergent strategy acts best as a compliment of the deliberate strategy as witnessed in our

Telecommuting Essay Example for Free

Telecommuting Essay Telecommuting or telework allows employees of a company to work from home or any other remote location other than an office. Telecommuting requires employees to be able to access all of the computer applications they have available to them at work in order to perform their jobs adequately. The company should provide Internet access to employees at their homes and make sure they have the appropriate equipment to run and access company provided software. While some experts argue telecommuting is more cost-efficient, may increase productivity and create a better work/life balance, others say the cost of decreased face time co-workers, effect it has on workers left at the office, and its failure to live up to some of its expectations could make it a less attractive option. By implementing telecommuting, a company has the possibility to save significantly. Because of telework, employees will be able to work from remote locations and will not have a need to come into the office. This will eliminate the need for a physical location for most employees, which will result in a large savings per month. Each employee can use their computer at home or be provided one by the company. By implementing telecommuting, it would prevent the need to expand physical locations in the future. Savings would also increase based on the lack of utility bills associated with the physical location, cancelling T1 lines, and landline phones. Each employee can communicate with each other and customers via their company cell phone, which usually is already provided to them or their home landline phone if they wish. The company will then be responsible for their Internet connection in the form of a reimbursement. The figure above outlines the total costs of each arrangement. It is clear that telecommuting has the potential to save a company more money almost immediately after implementation. This is true only if every person in the company telecommutes. As some companies telecommuting policies say, the employee who telecommutes must report to a centralized workplace for a portion of time each week. If this is true, telecommuting is not as cost efficient as it seems. Transportation costs are also drastically reduced for employees. Because they would no longer need to commute to the office everyday, costs associated with a daily commute would be drastically reduced. This would also save money for the company. The federal government offers tax incentives to companies who make efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. By implementing telecommuting, any company would be eligible for the tax incentives the very next year. In a study conducted at the Kentucky American Water Company, performed from 1998-2003, it was concluded that a significant savings could be made per employee (Butler, Aasheim, Williams, 2007). The article points out that for the Kentucky American Water Company, â€Å"savings include reduced expenses for office space and parking, and a reduction in complaints handled by the managers. † In a chart produced in the study, it compares the costs and savings of implementing the telecommuting process in the call center portion of the company. Their conclusion, on average, was telecommuting will save KAWC $1,361 per employee (p. 102). Research has shown that telework is related to higher job satisfaction and a variety of positive employee outcomes,† writes Karen Fonner for the Journal for Applied Communication Research (Fonner Roloff, 2010, p. 340). Telework helps employees manage their personal and work lives more effectively than working in an office setting. By releasing employees from the constraints of a physical office, they are empowered to create their own schedules to accomplish work more effectively. This empowerment enables employees to take ownership of their position and will otivate them to perform to the best of their abilities. With the ability of employees to create their own schedules around the clock, it will benefit companies by allowing the employee to have a flexible schedule to adapt to the demanding schedules of business in the new millennium. Another benefit of telecommuting is less absenteeism at work. If an employee has a doctor’s appointment, they can set their work schedule around the appointment and include it in their schedule around both personal and work appointments. If they were to report to a physical location and be forced to be stationary for a set amount of time in an office, the employee would be inclined to take the entire day off for the doctor’s appointment. With the flexibility of telework, the employee would not be inclined to call off and would still be able to work before and after the appointment. The same is true for employees who require creativity breaks in between sessions of working. The flexibility of telework enables more frequent breaks so that employees can use the time set aside for work to be most efficient. Telecommuting also takes employees out of the stressors of the office. Office politics plays a huge role in stress at work and is a huge distraction for employees. â€Å"By working remotely the majority of the time, teleworkers can avoid or ignore some of the unjust practices within the organization, such as cronyism, self-interested behavior, and pressure against speaking out against those in power,† writes Fonner (Fonner, 2010, p. 361). Without the politicking at work, employees who work from home can use their downtime for more productive personal task that don’t induce more stress on their job. In a survey conducted at the telcom company Ericsson in July of 2006, respondents were asked a series of questions related to telecommuting. Employees who were not currently telecommuting were asked what important factors would persuade them to telecommute in the future (Borjesson Markus, 2006, p. 526). The most rated saving time as the most influential reason to adapt telecommunication with increasing efficiency, reducing stress, and having more independence in their daily life as the top four reasons (Borjesson Markus, 2006). Ironically, reducing traveling costs had the smallest amount of supporters. Employees at Ericsson put more emphasis on empowerment as their main reason to choose telecommuting over monetary reasons. Plus, its an important tool for attracting a younger generation of employees who expect that flexibility and greater sense of control over their lives, says Danette Campbell, senior adviser for telework with the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington when speaking about telework in the article â€Å"Washington Tapping Into Telework For More Flexibility† (Silver, 2010, p. 0). Adding telecommuting as a workplace option will make any company a more attractive employer. The Kentucky American Water Company study proved telecommuters are more productive workers than their on-site employees (Butler, Aasheim, Williams, 2007, p. 101). The study measured productivity based on four factors, â€Å"amount of work; intensity of work; efficiency of work; and adjustments for additional costs associated with telecommuting (such as expenses for equipment, technology support, training, managerial support, and so forth)† (2007, p. 101). The study found, â€Å"the average productivity of telecommuters in the 13 months immediately after the â€Å"go live† period increased by 154%, while the average productivity of in-office agents fell by 13. 3%. Because overall customer service improved considerably (the percentage of abandoned calls decreased from 12. 2% to 3. 6%)† (p. 102). Understanding that all jobs at the KAWC call center can be performed using telecommunication, parallels can still be drawn from call center work and the type of work performed by most companies. The majority of daily work performed by most employees consists of communicating with clients and co-workers. All communication in most jobs does not rely on an employee being in a centralized workspace. By allowing employees to telecommute, they will be free to meet with customers and clients during any time of the day, thus allowing them to be more productive and available to them. Many clients and customers have problems meeting during a normal â€Å"9-to-5† workday because they are also at work. By implementing telecommuting, employees will be free to meet with them in the evening when they usually wouldn’t be at â€Å"work† if they worked in a centralized location or during business hours if they need to. Telecommuting also requires the use of technology to perform work from remote locations. â€Å"People who use more IT in their work are more productive, and by its very nature telecommuting requires more use of IT,† writes Ralph Westfall in his article â€Å"Does Telecommuting Really Improve Productivity? † (Westfall, 2004, p. 95). By implementing telecommuting at a company, they will be forced to update their technology and train people to use the new technology effectively. In doing this, employees will be forced to become more productive based on their new knowledge and the use of new technology. An argument against telecommuting is the lack of human interaction involved with the â€Å"Employees who worked away from their offices for three or more days a week reported worsening of their relationships with coworkers,† stated Pam Willenz for the American Psychological Association (Willenz, 2007). Employees may seem disenfranchised from their co-workers who report to an office, which has detrimental effects on employee morale to all employees. Telecommuting also could have detrimental effects on promotions for employees. The idea behind â€Å"out of sight, out of mind† plays a large role in the fear that employees who telecommute have less likely of a chance to get promoted from their current position because of their lack of face time with superiors. The lack of office politicking could be a double-edged sword where employees don’t have the chance to mingle with co-workers that could potentially advance their careers. Telecommuting had negative effects on the employees that are â€Å"left behind† in a centralized workplace. In-office employees took less satisfaction in their jobs and felt less of a relationship and obligation to their company as the number of telecommuting coworkers grew,† in a study that David Chartier reported in the article, â€Å"Study: Telecommuting makes work worse for non-telecommuters† (Chartier, 2009). Many of the workers that are left behind perceived that more work was left for them and are forced into other difficulties posed by telecommuting such as, building strong working relationships and finishing group work. Telecommuting is not appropriate for every job. There are still many jobs that cannot be performed through telecommuting. Contemporary Business states, â€Å"the cubicle- filled office will likely never become obsolete† (Boone, p. 22). Many jobs will never be able to completely translate over to a telecommuting environment so many workers will still have to report to a centralized workplace. Many face-to-face customer service jobs cannot be performed via telecommuting and many workers will still have to report to work therefore telecommuting is not an alternative to every job. Since telecommuting is so new, many employers are still experimenting with it and require that the employees who telecommute have to report to the office at least one day a week. Telecommuting is difficult to implement in situations where workers are paid on an hourly basis. The old adage, â€Å"Time worked equals time paid,† does not necessarily translate into the telecommuting environment very well. In hourly positions that can be transferred to telecommuting settings, clocking in and clocking out will be at the discretion of the worker with no oversight available. Employees who are compensated on an hourly basis would have to change their pay scale to a salaried position in order for telecommuting to be fair (Boone, 2010). If that is not the case, truant workers would be enabled by the lack of supervision and can â€Å"run the clock† more easily than if they reported to a centralized workspace (Boone, 2010). Telecommuting also puts company assets and information in an uncontrolled environment where it is difficult to keep track of how and for what they are used. It raises some questions where company information and assets could be compromised in a telecommuting situation. Many employees would easily be put in a situation where they could steal or copy customer information and use it outside of their work (Boone, 2010). Telecommuting is cost effective depending on how it is implemented and can save a company a lot of money only if every employee telecommutes in order to alleviate the need for a centralized workplace. Research supports these benefits of implementing telecommuting saying it will alleviate many stressors on employees by reducing time spent getting ready for work, commuting to an office on a daily basis, and office politics. There are negatives aspects, however, to telecommuting. It cannot be implemented for every job and there will still be a need for a centralized workspace so it may not be as profitable as expected. Telecommuting also puts company property and information inside someone else’s home. Truant workers are enabled to â€Å"run the clock† in a telecommuting setting since there is no oversight on when they are actually working. Telecommuting does have its strengths, but it also has weaknesses. The future will open up doors for telecommuting as technology improves and our culture becomes more technologically savvy. For now, telecommuting in most situations is a hybrid of some workdays reporting to work and others worked from home.

Eating Behaviour and Perceptions of Body Image in School

Eating Behaviour and Perceptions of Body Image in School Eating behavior and perception of body image in school children Background Body dissatisfaction, which is defined as the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image, can start during childhood (Smolak 2004) and can lead to eating and weight problems in adolescence (Stice 2002; McKnight 2003). Specifically, Stice 2002 reported that when an adolescent presents with body dissatisfaction the probability of engaging to dieting and eating habits that are precursors of eating disorders was increased. Besides that body dissatisfaction was linked to bulimia (Stice 2002). Moreover, McKnight 2003 suggested that school children who presented with thinner preoccupation were in greater risk of developing an eating disorder (McKnight 2003). In addition, body dissatisfaction has been associated with obesity, since obesity is an eating disorder risk factor (Fairburn, Welch et al. 1997; Mustillo, Worthman et al. 2003) and body image is a moderator of the risk of developing eating disorders (Dounchis, Hayden et al. 2001). Except from body dissatisfaction, eating proble ms in early childhood can lead to eating disorders in adolescence and early adulthood (Kotler, Cohen et al. 2001). A number of studies have focused on the relationship between eating styles that precede the development of eating disorders, and the perception of body image in various age groups like school children, adolescents and university students and have reported that individuals with high EAT and ChEAT scores were more likely to choose a thinner ideal body image and consequently had body dissatisfaction (Edlund, Halvarsson et al. 1996; Nishizawa, Kida et al. 2003; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012; del Mar Bibiloni, Pich et al. 2013; Kutlu and Civi 2013). In more detail, Kutlu and Civi (2013) investigated the association between symptoms of eating disorders and body perception by using the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40) in university students and found that individuals who perceived themselves obese reported higher scores in the EAT-40 and thus demonstrated a relation between eating disorders and body image perception. Similar results were presented in a study that investigated the association between self-physique and symptoms of anorexia nevrosa in high school individuals in Japan and showed that students with an eating disorder often chose the thinnest ideal body image when compared to the students who did not have an eating disorder (Nishizawa, Kida et al. 2003). Additionally, Edlund et al. 1996 investigated the relation between the ChEAT, DEBQ questionnaires and body image in school girls and observed that girls with high ChEAT scores were more likely to diet and engage to restrained eating and these girls had a higher discrepancy between ideal and perceived body image. Other studies have focused on eating behaviors like restrained and emotional eating and the relation with perception of body image (Kapka-Skrzypczak 2012; Wiedemann and Saules 2013; Ohara, Kato et al. 2014). Ohara et al. 2014 investigated the association between eating behavior, by using the DEBQ questionnaire, and discrepancy of body image in Japanese university students and suggested that restrained eating was negatively associated with body dissatisfaction in both males and females. In addition, university female students with emotional eating had higher levels of discrepancy of body image. This pattern was not observed in males (Ohara, Kato et al. 2014). Wiedemann and Saules (2013) suggested that the positive association between emotional eating and weight problem perception, another term for body image perception, could be explained by the fact that individuals that perceive themselves as overweight engage to emotional eating because they experience strong emotions like anger, d epression or anxiety more often than individuals who are satisfied with their body image. Kapka-Skrzypczak (2012) studied the relationship between dietary habits in adolescents and young adults and reported that students that weren’t on a diet were more satisfied with their body image as compared to students that tried to lose weight. Another important fact that arises from the existing literature is that the majority of studies are cross-sectional and examine the association between eating disorders symptoms or eating behavior and body dissatisfaction in a specific point in time. This results in a lack of longitudinal data studying the exact pathway that connects eating behavior and the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image. Moreover, most of the studies that were found during the literature search included adolescents and university students and only two studies investigated this relationship in school children (Edlund, Halvarsson et al. 1996; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012). Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the association between eating behavior of school children (9 year old), reported by mothers, and the discrepancy of body image. For this purpose data from the Generation R study will be used. Additionally, eating behavior will be assessed by the Children’s Eating Beh aviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) and the perception of body image by the Children’s Body Image Scale (CBIS). In conclusion, future studies should focus on younger ages, between 4-9 years old, because currently it is not known whether the association that is demonstrated by the aforementioned studies for adolescents and university students is present at this age group too. Furthermore, longitudinal studies investigating whether eating behavior of preschool children is a predictor of the perception of body image are needed and besides the individual and parental factors, sociocultural factors should be taken into consideration. Generation R Generation R is a population-based prospective cohort study from fetal life to young adulthood (Jaddoe, van Duijn et al. 2012). This study aims to investigate the causes (environmental and genetic) and the pathway that contribute to a normal or abnormal growth and consequently the state of health throughout fetal life, childhood and adulthood. In Generation R there are certain areas of research interest: maternal health, growth and physical development, behavioral and cognitive development, respiratory health and allergies, diseases in childhood, and health and healthcare for children and their parents. Generation R invited all pregnant women living in Rotterdam and were expected to deliver between April 2002 and January 2006. Furthermore, follow-up studies included children born by mothers that participated in the study. Participants had to sign a written informed consent in order to be able to participate in the study. Physical examinations and questionnaires were included in the a ssessments, where the majority (86%) of the questionnaires were filled out by parents. Generation R has been approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam. More information and details of Generation R can be found elsewhere (Jaddoe, van Duijn et al. 2012). Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) The CEBQ was developed in order to assess the eating behavior of children and study which eating styles lead to obesity and overweight (Wardle, Guthrie et al. 2001). Children’s eating behavior is reported by parents and consists of 8 eating behavior items: food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, emotional overeating, desire to drink, satiety responsiveness, emotional undereating and fussiness. In order to measure these items a 5-point Likert scale is used and ranges from 1 to 5, where 1 denoted â€Å"never† and 5 â€Å"always† (Wardle, Guthrie et al. 2001). Children’s Body Image Scale (CBIS) The CBIS is an instrument that is used to assess the perception of body size in children (Truby and Paxton 2002). CBIS consists of 7 figures which have different versions for males and females. These 7 figures range from the thinnest body shape to the fattest (3rd to 97th NCHS percentiles) (Truby and Paxton 2002). Usually, children have to choose between these 7 figures the one that represents the perceived and the one that denotes the ideal body image. Covariates Child BMI, gender, ethnicity, maternal BMI and education will be included in the regression analysis as potential confounding variables (Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012; Baillie and Copeland 2013; Bergmeier, Skouteris et al. 2014; Sukariyah and Sidani 2014). It has been demonstrated that female high school students had higher scores on emotional eating and binge eating than males (Sukariyah and Sidani 2014). Additionally, Baile and Copeland (2013) observed that women had higher score on the Body Shape Questionnaire. An different pattern was reported in Goncalves et al. (2012), where boys who were not satisfied with their body image had higher score in the ChEAT questionnaire, a pattern that was not seen in girls who participated in the same study. Moreover, another study in Korean adolescents found that males had higher percentage of body image distortion and thus were in greater risk of developing an eating disorder than females (Hyun, Jung et al. 2014). BMI has been associated with body image dissatisfaction, since individuals with a higher BMI are more likely to be dissatisfied with their body image and engage to restrained eating (Jones and Crawford 2005; OHaver, Melnyk et al. 2009; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012). Furthermore, differences in the magnitude of body image dissatisfaction concerning ethnicity have been suggested by some studies (Gluck and Geliebter 2002; Baillie and Copeland 2013). Glunk and Geliebter (2002) reported that Caucasians and Asians had a higher discrepancy of body image than African Americans and Caucasians scored higher on the eating disorder questionnaire than Asians and African Americans. Baillie and Copeland (2013) observed that Caucasians had a greater body dissatisfaction with their body image than Chinese but no differences were found concerning the scores on the eating disorder questionnaire (EAT-26). Lastly, maternal BMI and education have been associated with food fussiness in children (Bergmeier, Skouteris et al. 2014). Besides that, Goncalves et al. (2012) found that higher maternal BMI was associated with higher scores on the ChEAT questionnaire. Research question(s) Is there an association between eating behavior and the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image? In case an association is present, which items from the CEBQ questionnaire are related with the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image? Hypothesis This study will not be based on a specific hypothesis. Instead an exploration of the association between eating behavior and discrepancy of body image will be conducted in 9 year old children from the Generation R study. Methods Subjects In this study data were collected from both mothers and their children. Firstly, mothers provided information on their child’s eating behavior by filling out the CEBQ questionnaire, when their children were at the age of 9. Secondly, children at the age of 9 filled out the CBIS for the assessment of the perception of body image. In total data from approximately 4000 children are available at this point. Statistical Analysis CBIS provides ordinal data but usually it is treated as interval data (Collins 1991). From the CBIS questionnaire the variable discrepancy of body image will be created. Discrepancy of body image is defined as the difference of perceived-ideal body image. Plots to check whether the variables of interest are normally distributed will be done. Descriptive statistics will be performed for eating behavior items and body image (ideal, perceived and discrepancy of perceived-ideal) (mean scores and standard deviations). For this purpose statistical tests, parametric (ANOVA, χ2) and non-parametric tests for not normally distributed data will be done. Check correlation between confounding variables, eating behavior and body perception. Multiple linear regression will be performed where eating behavior (in the form of CEBQ scores) will be the outcome variable and discrepancy of body perception will be the independent/explanatory variable. Sensitivity analysis will be performed for the participants that didn’t have any missing values, in order to check whether individuals with missing data are different from individuals without missing data. Multiple imputation techniques will be used in order to check for missing data and avoid bias. Statistics SPSS 21 Period of thesis/internship 1 April 2015 – 31 August 2015 Investigation scheme: 1-24/04: Conducting literature search and writing research proposal 27/04-01/05: First acquaintance with dataset 04-08/05: Preparation of data analysis 11/05-05/06: Statistical Analysis and writing part of the report 08-12/06: Interpretation of results for the data analysis 15/06-22/07: Writing report 23/07-09/08 Holidays 10-17/08: Correcting and improving manuscript 18-21/08: Outline and submit report 24-31/08: Preparation of presentation and presentation References Baillie, L. E. and A. L. Copeland (2013). Disordered eating and body image in Chinese and Caucasian students in the United States. Eating Behaviors 14(3): 314-319. Bergmeier, H., H. Skouteris, et al. (2014). Child temperament and maternal predictors of preschool children’s eating and body mass index. A prospective study. Appetite 74(0): 125-132. Collins, M. E. (1991). 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The relationship between emotional eating and weight problem perception is not a function of body mass index or depression. Eating behaviors 14(4): 525-528. 1