Configuring, Communicating and Delivering Value Essay

Configuring, Communicating and Delivering Value - Essay Example In other words we are going to deal with the whole marketing mix of the sporting goods footwear products. Thus now onwards we may be using the marketing concepts related to the product itself while as earlier the customer was under focus. The value of a product or a service can be created by defining it. That is, what our product is and how it is going to satisfy the needs of customers. The value configuration phase includes three parts ─ product, brand and price of the product. Defining our product is very essential in order to position it in the minds of customers. According to Know This.com, marketing starts with the product since it is what an organization has to offer its target market. Product in other words is the solution to the problems of the customer. These solutions include tangible or intangible (or both) product offerings marketed by an organization. Another importance of the product in marketing is that it generates revenue for the company. It is the â€Å"thing† that companies sell in order to realize profits and satisfy stakeholders. There should be a well developed product strategy which is compatible with the target market to succeed in the long run. Because of these two reasons, we must define our product. But our aim here is to create a value for our product offering. We have to take into consideration various factors which can help us create a value which will be later communicated and delivered to the customers. In other words before communicating the offering, it should be made worth communicating. First of all the product is to be categorized. According to Pride, William M. and Ferrell, O.C., 2005, there are two general categories of product ─ Consumer products and Business products. As far as sporting goods market is considered it can be targeted with both consumer as well as business products. Pricing, distribution and promotion of a product depends

Should the government provide free public education to children of Essay - 2

Should the government provide free public education to children of illegal immigrants - Essay Example Critics’ against free public education for illegal immigrants a. Expense b. Threat c) Conclusion 2. Work cited Illegal Immigrants and Free Public Education America has been experiencing a high number of immigrants. Many people are leaving their countries heading to America in pursuit of job opportunities and better living standards. Some of these immigrants do not have the permit, or have expired visas or even improper documentation to be in America hence are illegal immigrants and may come with their families inclusive of their school going children. Although America advocates free primary school education, it has the challenge of whether or not to provide these children with free public education (Grandrath, 2011). This argument has been continuing for quite a long time, but no specific agreement reached. Education is crucial but expensive, hence the need for free public education. Though the provision for free public education to illegal immigrants still face challenge, the need is inevitable. Educational Goals Generally, every young individual has aspirations and expectations of a good future. It is considerably true that education is the key to self-development and sustainability. To enable the young individuals achieve their goals, America provides its’ citizens with free education in public schools. ... Education also renders an individual, political empowerment (Grandrath, 2011). This will make sure that the individuals are aware of the voting systems, rights, and freedom on any political freedom. Importance of free public education for illegal immigrants Providing education to children of illegal immigrants will reduce the rate of crimes in America. This is because when children are at school, their minds are busy and with constructive ideas. Ignoring such children may end up involving themselves with robbery, immoral behaviors, and all sorts of vices, following a common saying; an idle mind is a devils workshop. Therefore, educating such children shall contribute in upholding high morals in the society. Education is the foundation of development and actualization. Since every child has a goal and a dream to attain in future, refuting a child right to education interferes with his future (Longley, 2012). Although the security bodies argue that illegal immigrants are a threat to st ate security, educating their children will assist on enlightening them on the importance of peace and harmony in the society. Once educated, they may realize their talents and explore them in promoting the security issue in the states (Ramirez, 2008). Moreover, every economy faces labor shortage at any times due to the economic cycle. Providing such children with skills and knowledge will make sure that there is an adequate supply of labor. In return, this stable labor supply supports economic growth but leaving such children out of the education block, may translate that, important labor force has been ignored. Therefore, educating these children will solve the problem of labor importation to cater for the unfilled job vacancies which is a bit

Gourmet Pasta Brand Analysis

Gourmet Pasta Brand Analysis Name- Charanjot Sethi Introduction:- As I have done in the first assessment how to prepare the audit for gourmet Pasta and in this assessment I am going to do conduct a audit to see progress of that business and I would use all this sales records and their financial records that has been increase or decrease by the last one year or two years. The many types of pasta in your kitchen have traveled a long road. Soon after early man began to plant grain, woman began to grind flour; shape or cut lumps of dough, and throw them in the soup. Thus was pasta invented at different times and in different parts of Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean Scholars and others have traced-and imagined-lines of migration and influence, but they look more like fussily than spaghetti. Along the journey from prehistoric dumpling to tagliatelle al ragà ¹, neat timelines are few; the most rewarding route will be a tour of scattered highlights. Conduct an external audit:- Data and information is classified as their qualitative or quantitative. As that gourmet Pasts Company was using flyers in local letterbox but that was only junk mail anyway. It can be easily to measured and analysis to determine quantity or extent of factors being investigated. Quantitave data is focused on words and observation not numbers. as that pasta company gives us their sales records for that year of 2009 which are showing that how was their sales going on into that time in the market. External audit:- EXTERNAL AUDIT is an audit conducted by an individual or firm that is independent of the company being audited. These independent auditors audit the books of a company generally once per year after the completion of the companys fiscal year. Their role is to give an opinion of the financial statements reflection of the status and operations of the company being audited. Based on what they witness during the audit they will also produce, for management and board utilization, a management letter. Although a financial statement audit is the most common type of external audit, external auditors may also conduct special purpose audits which might include; performing specific tests and procedures and reporting on the results, a less intensive review, and compilations. An external marketing audit covers issues such as economic factors, demographic factors, technology factors and legal factors. Economic factors: gourmet pasts company thinks about their sales that has a big change from last years and they are not having a up to date staff that who could provide all the information as they mentioned in the case study one of their staff member do not know how to attended phone call for the take away orders and that effects the business most. They are not achieving short, medium and long term expectation of their business in regards of their staff and their credit availability. Demographic factors: according to the demographic that area has most of the people between age group of 25-50, and young professional who live close to the location and their income over $60000. I think they have to be careful because they are getting trouble with their competitors that next to them and they all are busy all the time that affects a lot on gourmet pats restaurant. Technological factors:-gourmet pasta have problem about their parking area that have big impact on people having access to the restaurants at night. They should provide new products and they could change their names according to their types. They could start doing online services and need to update their business and services that they are providing to the customers. Legal factors:-according to me they have to follow the rules and regulation according to the government if they changing their price list they should mentioned in advance to their regular customers because it impact the business lot. They have to keep in mind what are the new rules and make sure they are following them according to the government. External micro factors:- those factors that meet audit requirements include:- Market characteristics:-  that is the trend of market for restaurants is headed towards a more sophisticated customers. The restaurants patron today relative to yesterday is more sophisticated in a number of different ways. As now days the preference for high-quality ingredients is increasing as customers are learning to appreciate the qualitative differences. Customer need:- sartos pasta is providing with a wide selection of high-quality pasta dishes that are unique and pleasing in presentation and utilize top-shelf ingredients. Sartos gourmet pasta seeks to fulfill some benefits that are important for their customers. Competitors factors: as the owner of pasta restaurant explained that their competitors, had built a large 30 seat outdoor eating area and that it seemed to be full every time he went past and looked in and also one of the franchise chains, pasta bite, had opened up in the adjacent suburb giving the local customers greater options in pasta. Conduct internal audit: Internal audit is a dynamic profession involved in helping organizations achieve their objectives. It is concerned with evaluating and improving the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes in an organization. To do this, internal auditors work with management to systematically review systems and operations. These reviews (audits) are aimed at identifying how well risks are managed including whether the right processes are in place, and whether agreed procedures are being adhered to. Audits can also identify areas where efficiencies or innovations might be made. Internal audits are organized under an ongoing program of review and advisory activity this is based on the strategic needs of an organisation. In the course of their role, internal auditors work across all areas of an organisation. In addition to core areas of financial control and IT, they review the tangible aspects of operations, such as an organizations supply chain or IT systems; as well as more intangible aspects such as organizational culture and ethics. In fact, any system that has an impact on the effective operation of an organisation may be included in internal audits scope. The criteria to be used:-in the internal audit we are focusing on sales analysis, SWOT analysis, product development, profitability and efficiency. they all are mentioned below:- SWOT analysis:-a swot analysis examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the business. As we strengths and weaknesses are factors that are able to control by the business. They both need to be consider from the perspective of the customers and should only be assessed based on their ability to assist or prevent the business in meeting market needs. Opportunities and threats exist independent of the business and are often beyond its control. Pasta company owner has to match internal strengths with external opportunities to create the best competitive advantage. Sales record:-as the company financial record staff member gave me the detail about the actual sales of 2009 which is below:- Segment Budget-2009 Actual-2009 individuals 120,000 121,000 families 150,000 112,000 Take away 180,000 203,000 Total 450,000 436,000 Functional efficiency, internal interface and:- Gourmet pasta restaurants owner need to make sure that their relationship between sales and marketing are good and they are working effectively or he need to bring some changes in. to make sure everything working properly he need to check all the service are up-to date and products and their technological skills are changed according to the new time basis. He should know that their staff members know all the service how to answers on the phone and how to serve people with reasonable manners and that would impact his business with positive way. He should know about all the problems that are happening into the business and he need to consternate on them and they need to be fixed such as manufactured, fiancà ©, purchasing and new product development. Marketing system:- Marketing system is a set of procedures and methods designed to generate, analyze, disseminate, and store anticipated marketing decision information on a regular, continuous basis. An information system can be used operationally, managerially, and strategically for several aspects of marketing. A marketing information system can be used operationally, managerially, and strategically for several aspects of marketing. We all know that no marketing activity can be carried out in isolation, know when we say it doesnt work in isolation that means there are various forces could be external or internal, controllable or uncontrollable which are working on it. Thus to know which forces are acting on it and its impact the marketer needs to gathering the data through its own resources which in terms of marketing we can say he is trying to gather the market information or form a marketing information system. This collection of information is a continuous process that gathers data from a variety of sources synthesizes it and sends it to those responsible for meeting the market places needs. The effectiveness of marketing decision is proved if it has a strong information system offering the firm a Competitive advantage. Marketing Information should not be approached in an infrequent manner. If research is done this way, a firm could face these risks: Opportunities may be missed. There may be a lack of awareness of environmental changes and competitors actions. Data collection may be difficult to analyze over several time periods. Marketing plans and decisions may not be properly reviewed. Data collection may be disjointed. Previous studies may not be stored in an easy to use format. Time lags may result if a new study is required. Actions may be reactionary rather than anticipatory. And the owners of that business have to control all those kind of risk and problems that affect the business. Marketing productivity:- Measuring too much can be as bad as no measurement at all. ECI will assist you in navigating through the data and research maze of marketing analytics. The result of our data architecture audit is clearly defined key performance indicators that explain and clearly correlate to long- and short-term marketing and business success. To secure transparency and up-to-date overviews of your marketing performance we will support you in the implementation of extranet and dash-board solutions. Technology will not only increase productivity in the day-to-day marketing process, but also secure ownership of information and models related to your significant marketing and media investments. The system will track your investments from allocation of funds for marketing all the way to the profit and payback. The output of the process will be clear input to future briefings.

Sibling Society :: essays research papers

The Sibling Society by Robert Bly is a moving call for the rediscovery of adulthood. It is not about siblings in a family. Robert Bly has used the term â€Å"sibling society† as a metaphor to suggest that we are in a culture that doesn't look up to parents or to grandparents. What are these siblings like? The description of the â€Å"sibling society† builds throughout the book. They are a society of half-adults who lack dedication to causes, justices and caring. At what point do they become full-fledged adults? We are all perpetual half-adults pursuing our own pleasure. This pleasure has become the disease of our society. The need to stay young for adults has corrupted our society. The book’s array of anecdotes and examples attempt to prove a chilling point. The point is that our nation is one of adults regressing towards adolescence and adolescents with no desire to become adults. Where have all the grownups gone? In his interpretation of social change, he sees a society adolescent in its behavior, no matter what age or geographic location. â€Å"Sibling society† acts as a lens focusing on tendencies, habits and griefs we have all noticed. Of all these griefs and tendencies none is so destructive as the absence of fathers. The role of the father has gone through a drastic change. Fathers are no longer the sole center of the family, the breadwinners. In traditional society older men played an important role in rearing boys. But in our society the elderly is locked behind the doors of nursing homes and not around to pass down their wisdom. Respect for elders has given way to the furious competition of peers who strive not to be good but to be famous. Where have all the grownups gone? With single parents working full time jobs, babies are carted off to day care centers to have someone else raise them instead of their parents. In the sibling culture that Bly describes, the talk show replaces family. Television has robbed children of their ability to use their imagination just when it should be flowering. Instead of art, we have the Internet. Bly grieves computers as well, arguing that they have caused children to withdraw into an artificial world. In place of community we have the mall. Through his use of poetry and myth, Bly takes us beyond sociological statistics and tired psychobabble to see our problem anew.

IDEA and Special Education Annotated Essay

Bowen, S. and Rude, H. (2006). Assessment and students with disabilities: Issues and challenges with educational reform. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 25 (3), pp. 24-30. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Bowen and Rude pointed out that the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA reflected an effort to align IDEA with NCLB. This article focuses specifically on the problem of accountability, eligibility for special education services, summary of performance, and transition services for special education students. Also included are guiding principles for selecting appropriate accommodations for assessments. Ketterlin-Geller, L. (2007). Recommendations for accommodations: Implications of (in)consistency. Remedial and Special Education, 28 (4), pp. 194-206. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier. The author noted the importance of appropriate accommodations for students who have special needs. Unfortunately, student IEPs are often not aligned with the actual accommodations that are made in the classroom. This disagreement between the classroom teacher and the IEP team results in inconsistent accommodations which, according to Ketterlin-Geller, have a negative effect on student outcomes. The author outlined several possible causes for these inconsistencies. Ketterlin-Geller concluded, â€Å"Regardless of the root cause for the disagreement between IEPs and teachers, the current system is placing teachers in the awkward position of enacting a set of predetermined, legally binding guidelines with the intention of providing the support needed for their students to succeed. † Lynch, S. and Adams, P. (2008). Developing standards-based Individualized Education Program objectives for students with significant needs. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40 (3), pp. 36-39. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier. Lynch and Adams noted the apparent conflict between the expectations of NCLB and the requirements of IDEA described guidelines that may be used to help districts to develop assessments that are inline with student IEPs. This article focuses on developing assessments that address pre-symbolic levels of learning, early symbolic learning, and expanded symbolic levels of learning. National Education Association (2004). IDEA and NCLB: Intersection of Access and Outcomes. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from http://www. nea. org/specialed/images/ideanclbintersection. pdf This 47-page booklet describes the implications of NCLB for IDEA. Section One of the booklet addresses standardized assessments for students with disabilities, including acceptable accommodations under NCLB. The booklet also addresses how special education may affect Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) reports. The text includes several links to documents that may be used for policy guidance for districts that are developing policies for special education. Turnbull, H. (2005). Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Reauthorization: Accountability and personal responsibility. Remedial & Special Education, 26 (6), pp. 320-326. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Turnbull noted that IDEA 2004 reflects the concept that the teacher, the school, and the federal government share in the responsibility of improving student outcomes. Turnbull argued that this scope of responsibility must also include parents and students if learning and student achievement are to take place. U. S. Congress (2002). No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Public Law 107-110. 2002. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from http://www. ed. gov/legislation/ESEA02/107-110. pdf This is the full text of NCLB. Altogether, the law is 670 pages long. The sheer volume of NCLB makes it difficult for many parents and school administrators to read through understand. References to IDEA and special education are spread throughout the bill; however, the most reference with the most significance for special education is found on page 1448-1449, in which â€Å"not less than 95 percent† of students, including students in special education, are required to take assessments â€Å"with accommodations, guidelines, and alternative assessments provided in the same manner as those provided† under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). U. S. Congress (2004). Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Public Law 108-446. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from http://www. copyright. gov/legislation/pl108-446. pdf The full text of the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA. It is interesting to note that although IDEA 2004 was passed 2 years after the enactment of NCLB, there is no reference to NCLB in IDEA 2004. IDEA 2004 does note, however, that â€Å"all children with disabilities are included in all general State and districtwide assessment programs† (p. 40). Provisions are also made for alternative assessments. The philosophy of NCLB is also reflected in the IDEA 2004 requirement that states and school districts shall report the number of students who required an alternative assessment and how those students performed on the assessment (p. 41). Voltz, D. and Fore, C. (2006). Urban special education in the context of standards-based reform. Remedial and Special Education, 27 (6), pp. 329-336. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier. Critics of NCLB have argued that children from low-income families are more likely to have difficulty passing standardized assessments. Voltz and Fore pointed out that education does not occur in a vacuum. To be effective, education reform must be linked to broader social reform, including reforms that reduce poverty and that address the effect of poverty on student achievement. Wakeman, S. , Browder, D., Meier, I. , and McColl, A. (2007). The implications of No Child Left Behind for students with developmental disabilities. Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 13 (2), pp. 143-150. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. This review addresses how to develop appropriate alternative assessments for children who have developmental delays and the implications of NCLB for curriculum and instruction for these children. The authors encouraged teachers to work towards meeting challenging academic standards for their students with developmental delays and noted that â€Å"there is no research indicating that functional skills must be mastered before academic learning can take place†. Wakeman, et al. , also pointed out that the requirements of NCLB may make it more difficult to recruit and to retain teachers who are qualified to work with this population. Wasta, M. (2006). No Child Left Behind: The death of special education? Phi Delta Kappan, 88 (4), pp. 298-299. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier. In this editorial, Wasta argues that NCLB includes unrealistic expectations for the educational outcomes of students with disabilities. Wasta fears that NCLB may lead some schools to eliminate their special education programs altogether. Despite his concerns about NCLB, Wasta contends that special education students should not be exempt from assessments and other provisions of the law. Instead, NCLB should be modified to include realistic expectations for special education students and special education programs.

Survey Questionnaire Sample

Employability of BSA Graduates of Saint Mary’s College of Catbalogan for the School Year 2009-2010, 2010-2011, and 2011-2012 (A Tracer Study) Survey Questionnaire I. PROFILE 1. Name of Respondents: _______________________________________________ 2. Age: ______________ Sex: __________ Civil Status: ______________________ 3. Address: __________________________________________________________ 4. Year Graduated: _____________________ II. INTERVIEW PROPER 1.Are you employed? ___YES ___NO 2. How many months/ years are you in service? ____________ 3. What is the nature of your work (position) at the present? ________________ 4. What is your status of employment? ____ Regular ____ Casual ____ Contractual Others: _________________ 5. Does your work apply to your course? ____ YES ____ NO 6. Do you enjoy your work status/ position? ____ YES ____ NO 7. Place of work? ___ Catbalogan ____ Tacloban ____ Cebu ____ Manila ____ Outside of the country: Others: ___________________________________ _ 8. What agency / company’s do you work? ____ Government ____ Private ____ Semi-Government ____ Family Business Others: ________________________________________ 9. What examination have you taken in your employment wither passed or not passed? ____ Civil Service Commission ____ Company Examination ____ CPA Board ExamOthers: ________________________________________ 10. To what degree are the knowledge and preparation you obtained in SMCC to prepare you to the nature of work? ____ High ____ Medium ____ Low 11. What is the nearest reason/s why you are unemployed? ____ I don’t feel like working ____ I want to take first and pass the CPA board examination ____ I just can’t find a job that suits my inclination ____ I just got fired from my job ____ I take up another course instead of degree Others: _____________________________________________

Modal and Phraseological Verbs in Italian

Modal and Phraseological Verbs in Italian In addition to the Italian auxiliary verbs essere and avere, Italian modal  and phraseological verbs also serve as support to other verbs. Italian phraseological verbs (verbi fraseologici)  include   stare,  cominciare,  iniziare,  continuare,  seguitare,  finire, and  smettere,  which, when used before another verb (mostly in the  infinitive, but also as a  gerund), define a particular verbal aspect. Read on to learn more about these important Italian helping verbs. Modal Verbs The Italian modal verbs are dovere, potere, volere- meaning, respectively: necessity, possibility, and volition- they precede the infinitive of another verb and indicate a mode, such as in the following examples. The sentences show how to use these three verbs in Italian, followed by the type of mode in parentheses, followed by the English translation: Sono dovuto tornare (necessit)- I had to come back (need).Non ho potuto aiutarlo (possibilit).- I could not help him (possibility).Rita vuole dormire (volont).- Rita wants to sleep (will). To underscore the close link between the modal verb and the verb that follows it, the former usually takes the auxiliary of the second: Sono tornato. / Sono dovuto (potuto, voluto) tornare.Ho aiutato. / Ho potuto (dovuto, voluto) aiutare. This translates in English to: Im back. / I had to (have, wanted to) return.  I helped. / I have (had, wanted to) help.. It is common to encounter modal verbs with the auxiliary avere, even when the governing verb requires the auxiliary essere, as in: Sono tornato. / Ho dovuto (potuto, voluto) tornare.- Im back. / I had to (have, wanted to) return. Modal Verbs Followed by Essere In particular, the modal verbs take the auxiliary verb avere when they are followed by the verb essere: Ho dovuto (potuto, voluto) essere magnanimo.- I had to (have, wanted) to be magnanimous. The presence of an unstressed pronoun, which can be placed before or after the servile verb, has an effect on the choice of the auxiliary verb, such as: Non ho potuto andarci.  Non sono potuto andarci.Non ci sono potuto andare. Non ci ho potuto andare. This transelates in English to: I could not go there. I am not able to go there.  I could not go there. I could not go there. In addition to dovere, potere, and volere, other verbs such as sapere (in the sense of being able to), preferire, osare, and desiderare can also support the infinitive forms: So parlare inglese. Preferirei andarci da solo.Non osa chiedertelo. Desideravamo tornare a casa. In English, this translates to: I can speak English. Id rather go alone.  Do not dare ask. We wanted to go home. Phraseological Verbs To understand phraseological verbs, its helpful to view how they are used in context, in brief prases. Each of the following phases in Italian uses a phraseological verb, followed by the type of action being described, followed by the translation of the phrase and type of action in English: Sto parlando (azione durativa) - Im talking about  (action durative)So per parlare (azione ingressiva)- I know from talking  (ingressive action)Cominciai a parlare (inizio dellazione)- began to talk  (onset of action)Continuai a parlare (proseguimento dellazione)- continued to talk  (continuation of)Smisi di parlare (fine dellazione)- I stopped talking  (end of action) Additionally, various phrases and expressions are used idiomatically in Italian: essere sul punto di, andare avanti, a etc.- be about to,  go ahead, and  etc.

FISH! †A Philosophy of Team Work

FISH! – A Philosophy of Team Work Free Online Research Papers FISH! is a philosophy that people around the world are implementing in workplaces and educational facilities to help foster fun and teamwork in their business. This philosophy is interesting and has been successful. The founders Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen pulled together to create three books on teamwork which are named Fish!, Fish! Sticks and Fish! Tales. In these books they give pointers and tell stories of how making work fun and working as a team creates success. (Lundin, Paul, Christensen, 2000) The idea of this philosophy emerged in 1998 from a film produced by John Christensen. The film is about Seattle’s World Famous Pike Place Market. John translated and depicted through his film that â€Å"even in a workplace where fishmongers spent smelly 12 hour shifts stocking, selling, and packing fish that amazing things can happen when people accept the invitation to: 1) Be There for their co-workers and customers, 2) Play, 3) Make someone’s day and 4) Choose their attitude about how they show up for work.† (Christensen, 2007, p. 1) After the film appeared the book Fish!, this has been on the best seller’s list and translat ed into 17 different languages. Today the Fish! Philosophy has flourished among corporate and educational markets throughout the world. â€Å"We are not afraid to use words like love, soul, and spirit because those are an essential part of our humanity. But these values are just as important to businesses†¦We are on a journey together.† (Christensen, 2007, p. 1) Lundin, Paul, and Christensen believe that there are four secrets and strategies for a better way to create fun and teamwork in businesses. First, be there for co-workers. The biggest ways to do this is by smiling and acknowledging people while walking by them. Say hello, converse with co-workers, be friendly and help co-workers laugh. Take the time to listen to people around the workplace. When seeing a co-worker not happy, go up to them and give them a pat on the back and a compliment. Make an effort and try to get to know everyone. Show up for work to help the team. A team is not a team with people missing. These are all some of the things we can do to be there for co-workers. These strategies are used worldwide and seem to help. The second strategy is to play at work. Playing helps energize the workplace. Some examples of play are telling jokes to co-workers, maybe even pass around appropriate jokes (no personal jokes), saying things throughout the day to help people laugh. Have theme days where everybody dresses up differently. Having office parties helps unite play and team because everyone gets together. Create bulletin boards and decorate the office with fun stuff ensuring everyone’s involvement. Making work fun helps work to get done and makes people want to participate in a team. Third, make someone’s day which is easy to do and makes the team run smoother. Several ways to make someone’s day are as easy as saying hello, complimenting their looks, bringing baked goods to work, having a candy bowl out for others to enjoy, thanking people for the small and often overlooked things they do for us, acknowledging others’ accomplishments, being nice, and by simply volunteering our time. When working as a team it is very important to remember team means â€Å"we† not â€Å"I† that is why it is so important to help the team work easier. (Morton, 2007) Fourth, choose your attitude. Attitude plays an important role in teamwork as well. The good thing about attitude is you can choose a new one. Some ways to keep a positive attitude and help support the team are start each day with a personal positive thought, go to work with a positive attitude, put on a smile, start the day with a laugh or by being helpful, think positive. If you feel yourself getting a bad attitude change it so it does not affect others, be pleasant even if your day is not going well, leave home at home and last walk around, speak to co-workers and wish them a good day. Successful teams all over the world are using these strategies and making them work. Some of these teams are Ford Motor Company, Wells Fargo, Sprint, the U.S. Army, the May O Clinic, Harley-Davison, the National Weather Service and Verizon Wireless. (Lundin, Paul, Christensen, 2000) An article about Verizon Wireless struck an interest to me. It tells about how the Fish! Philosophy has helped the Southfield Verizon Wireless’ office. Call centers can be tough. Upset and angry customers call with billing and service questions, even problems. They chew up whoever answers the phone and results can hurt the company. They could have loss of customers, revenue, and employees. In a Southfield Verizon office receiving approximately 5,000 calls a day, you would probably expect it to be a stressful and frustrating place to work but due to them applying the Fish! Philosophy they say no. Instead the cubicles are decorated with cartoon fish and lessons for employees are taped on construction paper, employees can look forward to special days such as Mardi Gras, Black History and many others. Not only are they just all around happy, out of 273 employees, most appear happy. Verizon started using Fish! in 2002 and reported results have been excellent. There was a significant decline in the call center’s complaints. The Southfield Verizon center that uses this philosophy ranks top amongst the company’s other 24 four call centers for solving customer problems on the first call. (Morath, 2005) How amazing that a philosophy developed from watching quaky workers at Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market have fun, interact with customers and become a tourist attraction even though very smelly and not the cleanest place, tends to inspire, motivate, and engage employees through a system that makes work fun by rewarding creativity empowering employees. Most of all they keep employees and even more important they work as a team. (Morath, 2005) These are just some of the many successful companies using the Fish! Principles and this philosophy continue to grow. Teamwork is a vital part of life and we apply it everyday. We use it all over the place, why not have fun while doing it. (Tucker, 2007) Doing this research on Fish! not only interested me but has taught me a great deal. I have learned some very helpful tips in just this little time and if applied might truly help me not only in my job but with life and life’s struggles. Being part of a team is better than trying to accomplish tasks by oneself. I plan to keep learning and applying the Fish! Philosophy and the four principles; Be There, Play, Make Their Day, and Choose the right attitude to enhance my life and work. References Christensen, J. (2007). FISH! Philosophy: What is FISH!. Retrieved August 15, 2007, from charthouse.com. Lundin, S. C., Paul, H., Christensen, J. (2000). FISH! New York, NY: Hyperion. Morath, E. (2005). Fish Philosophy catches on. Michigan Live, 2005, Retrieved August 15, 2007, from mlive.com. Morton, B. (2007, August 11, 2007). Team big concept in todays workplace; (Final Edition). Star Phoenix, Saskatoon, Sask, 2007, August, Pg. F.20. Retrieved August 13, 2007, from ProQuest database. (Document ID: 1319529891). Tucker, C. (2007, March 21). Having fun at work and play; Fish followers; Fish! Philosophy helps workers have fun. York Daily Record, p. 6. Retrieved September 5, 2007, from ProQuest database. (Document ID: 1240070001). Research Papers on FISH! - A Philosophy of Team WorkWhere Wild and West MeetAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaTwilight of the UAWThe Project Managment Office SystemResearch Process Part OneMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayHip-Hop is ArtThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationThe Masque of the Red Death Room meanings

The top 4 emerging trends that will shape recruiting in 2018

The top 4 emerging trends that will shape recruiting in 2018 Any recruiter worth their business card knows that their success depends on staying on top of industry developments and trends. Aside from having a robust network of contacts to leverage, this may be the single most important rule of thumb to follow for recruitment professionals.Recruiters know that their business is one characterized by intense competition and constant hustling in order to stay relevant and effective at their jobs. If they fail to stay on top of things that are happening in their field, they risk being viewed as out of date and irrelevant- and once your reputation as a recruiter gets tarnished it’s a tough trick to regain that luster.The best recruiters approach the beginning of each new year as an opportunity to take stock, retool, and refocus their recruiting efforts, in order to align themselves with the latest and greatest trends shaping their industry.LinkedIn’s Talent Blog recently published an article on the 4 major trends that are shaping how r ecruiters will hire in 2018 and beyond. Their findings are based on results obtained in the â€Å"2018 Global Recruiting Trends† report, which reveals four key hiring trends that are â€Å"killing the transaction, making hiring more strategic, and letting recruiters and hiring managers focus on discovering high-potential talent.† Let’s take a closer look at each of these potential recruitment game changers.Diversity- the new global mindsetThis is arguably the top trend in professional recruiting, and it’s significantly impacting how companies are staffing their teams. According to LinkedIn, â€Å"Diversity used to be a box that companies checked. But today, diversity is directly tied to company culture and financial performance. Our data shows that 78% of companies prioritize diversity to improve culture and 62% do so to boost financial performance.hbspt.cta.load(2785852, '9e52c197-5b5b-45e6-af34-d56403f973c5', {});Key forces are at play here: changing d emographics are diversifying our communities, shrinking talent pools for companies that don’t adapt. Growing evidence that diverse teams are more productive, more innovative, and more engaged also makes it hard to ignore.†Despite the importance of diversity in today’s world of recruiting, it seems as if some companies and recruiters are finding it difficult to attract and retain candidates from a diverse array of backgrounds. According to LinkedIn, â€Å"†¦when it comes to fostering diversity, very few organizations have cracked the code. Despite all of the buzz, most companies still fall short of their goals and the public’s expectations. Our data shows that the main reason why is that recruiters and hiring managers can’t find enough diverse candidates. But this may be a problem of perception- many female engineers and black product managers exist, for example, but companies may not be looking in the right places.†Despite the potential challenges of building a diverse workforce, if you’re a recruiter you should certainly consider making this a priority in 2018.The interview- reinventedAll recruiters are familiar with the traditional interview- and the good news is that it’s not disappearing any time soon. However, its days as the primary or sole predictive tool regarding the potential success or value of a candidate may be numbered as new assessment techniques get adopted into the recruitment process.According to LinkedIn, the following five techniques are being used- often alongside traditional interviews but at times instead of them- in an effort to gauge potential new hires as accurately as possible:  Online soft skills assessments that  measure traits like teamwork and curiosity to give a sense of candidates earlier in the processJob auditions, where companies pay candidates to work as normal employees do so that they can observe skills in actionCasual interviews that show  candidateâ€℠¢s character, such as a meal at a restaurant where one must deal with servers and the outside worldVirtual reality situations, where companies put candidates in simulated work environments to view how they handle actual work situations in a more realistic wayVideo interviews, which  can be recorded and saved so more people can be interviewed and assessed at onceBottom line: if you’re in a position to vet and assess new candidates for various positions, consider using these techniques for assessing potential hires if you’re not already doing so.Data- the new corporate superpowerGone- or at least rapidly disappearing- are the days when recruiters would trust their instincts or hunches when deciding on potential candidates for positions. Today, measurable and quantifiable data is the new hunch.According to LinkedIn, talent acquisition has usually emphasized people and personalities in the past, but now is just as much a numbers profession: â€Å"Our research shows that most recruiters and hiring managers use data in their work now and even more are likely to use it in the next two years. Now, it’s true- data informing talent decisions isn’t a new concept. But what is new is the volume of data available and the speed with which it can be analyzed. What’s new is that data can be used to predict hiring outcomes, not just track them. What’s new is that data can power machines to make smarter recruiting decisions for you.†If you’re a recruiter whose still relying on instinct alone, it’s time to make a change in 2018. Make sure you’re embracing big data to help you make key hiring decisions.Artificial intelligence- your secret workhorseThe notion that artificial intelligence (AI) is going to sweep in and completely revolutionize how we handle every aspect of life- personally, professionally, and everything in between- has been a buzzing topic of discussion for years, and often feels exaggerated and overblown. But according to LinkedIn, 35% of talent professionals and hiring managers say that AI is the top trend impacting how they hire. This may be the year that AI makes certain annoying aspects of recruiting a little less tedious- and who doesn’t want something that saves time? Sourcing, screening, and scheduling are only a few candidate interactions where AI can become a vital took in your day-to-day.There you have it- some of the big potential trends in recruitment in 2018. If you’re a recruiter, make sure to keep these on your radar so you don’t get left behind. Good luck!

Identify a current business issue Research Paper

Identify a current business issue - Research Paper Example This has caused businesses to take a step back and consider ethics seriously. Companies rely on auditors and accountants for their financial processes. For this reason, a strict code of ethics should be followed by accounting professionals. Even though it is common to find unethical behavior in accounting professions, ethics in accounting is vital because it is important to ensure a correct and clear financial image of a business, to instill confidence and trust with stakeholders and the public and to prevent fraud, embezzlement or financial scandals. Ethics are the backbone of any business and it is vital that ethics are implemented within the accounting and bookkeeping systems of an organization (Axline, 1990). Like other operating bodies involved in business activities, Accountants also need to focus on ethics set by the company in order to solve the problems and complexity that they will encounter. For example, the capital markets’ need to focus on the broken up profits th at may attract an organization’s management authorities to bend or even break accounting rules to inflate reported net income. In these situations, technical competence is not enough to resolve the dilemma (Hoffman, 1996). Qualitative Research The chosen method of qualitative research for conducting research on Ethics in Accounting is literature review, which facilitates the researcher to read and analyze the collected data from various sources and incorporate it in his research. Hypothesis Even though it is common to find unethical behavior in accounting professions, ethics in accounting is vital because it is important to ensure a correct and clear financial image of a business, to instill confidence and trust with stakeholders and the public and to prevent fraud, embezzlement or financial scandals. Literature Review Ethics are said to be an intangible asset of any organization and a key to success as it a system which is led by the moral and fair systems helps distinguishi ng the wrong or right. Problems in ethical system are, infect, a situation faced by a group of persons or by an individual, and to solve these ethical problem, they need to get complete information (â€Å"Role of Ethics in Accounting†, 2011). According to Axline (1990) in his journal about accounting, ethics are the backbone of an organization and play a vital role in the development of the organization. As the importance of ethics is increasing, organizations are becoming more conscious about the ethical system in their book keeping and accountancy. Ethical environment in the accountancy and book keeping is now subject to scrutiny and criticism from the media, regulators, and public interest groups (Axline, 1990). Although accounting is a very helpful record of a business and it is a most valuable sort of knowledge, people who are directly or indirectly related to the firm believes that the accounting records should be same like a pure science and it should be strong enough to solve some problems of the firm. Similar to the medical and legal professions, society is also obligate to give grants to the public accountants some extra and especial rights which help them improving their performance and handle certain activities with more proficiency as they are suppose to get something good in return (Mautz, 1988). Professional practitioners are always on the higher expectations of the public and they are

Technique for a Full Golf Swing a 7-Iron Assignment

Technique for a Full Golf Swing a 7-Iron - Assignment Example To commence the swing, the head should be behind the ball, hips open, forward the arm, with the leg and shaft stacked over the golf ball. To ensure the correct path of the backswing of 7-iron, stand with knees slightly flexed and feet together and get a good ball fight which ensures that the club is on the plane. If you have an incorrect start to the backswing, this makes it hard to consistently square up the clubface at impact. The swing should start the swing with a little more weight on your front foot. Halt the swing when your hands are actually level with the outside of your right thigh. During the swing, an incorrect shoulder turn leads to an inconsistent contact with the ball. As a result, one should ensure that they have the correct shoulder turn. When hitting the golf ball straight, the golfer needs to align his body parallel to the target line of the ball. Adopt a neutral grip with the back of the left hand that is parallel to the clubface. Move your body and arms in such a way that you can trace a straight plane line with the right index finger and club shaft during the backswing, as well as the downswing with the hands below the waist level.     

Tax Researh memo (Corporate Formation and Basis Calculation) Research Paper

Tax Researh memo (Corporate Formation and Basis Calculation) - Research Paper Example Fred Horn decides to contribute equipment that has a basis of $100,000 and an FMV of $80,000. Sam Yang will provide his legal services to Acme, Inc., which has an FMV of $20,000, and Wade Kent will use his know-how to develop software that will mass-produce the road runner trap. This software development is worth $75,000 and in addition, Wade Kent will contribute cash worth $100,000. The four shareholders will receive a share of stock as follows: Barry – 140, Fred –150, Sam – 40, and Wade – 350. Each share costs $500. Issue: It was the decision of the four shareholders to come together to form Acme, Inc. However, since each has a personal contribution to the formation of Acme, Inc., there are tax implications involved. Therefore, the issue is that the four shareholders would like to know what tax implications of the formation of Acme, Inc. are to them considering the analysis of their realized and recognized gains/losses. Another issue is the tax implicati on of the transaction to Acme, Inc., including the basis of the assets the shareholders will include in their books. Authorities: District of Columbia v. Universal Computers Assocs. Code Section 351 Code Section 83 Conclusion: Software is classified as a property. However, the classification of software as a property should specify that software is an intangible property. Know-how being non-discardable is also classified as a property, and more specifically as an intangible property for that matter. Any gain or loss recognized by any shareholder will be guided by the satisfaction of the conditions of the Code Section 351. Wade will not have any loss or gain recognized since there is a transfer of property. A cash or property contribution in return for long-term debt, such as bond, does not qualify for Section 351 treatment. Therefore, Wade’s cash contribution is not considered under the Code Section 351 as he receives 175,000 of stock in return. Analysis: Barry will contribut e a land and a building in return of stock shares. The land has a basis of $60,000 and an FMV of $80,000. Acme, Inc. will also assume a mortgage of $90,000 on the land. The amount realized will include $170,000 from the stock shares ($500 per stock share x 340 stock shares). Therefore, Barry will realize a gain of $20,000 of cash, $170,000 from stock and the $90,000 mortgage. The asset-by-asset analysis would be: the total amount of the FMV of the assets transferred would be $200,000 + 80,000 + 90,000, which gives $370,000. From this, the land portion is $200,000 and the building portion is $170,000, which translates to 54% for the land and 46% for the building out of 100% that represents $370,000 (total amount of the assets transferred by Barry). When portioned according to the percentages, the total FMV of the stock received would be $170,000 (Building of $91,800 + Land of $78,200). The total cash realized would be $20,000, which would come from both the building and the land, wit h the building contributing $10,800 and the land contributing $9,200. He would recognize a total of $10,800 from the land and $92,000 from the building. Therefore, his would recognize a total of $102,800 from his transfers. He would, however, receive a basis of $60,000 in stock (60,000 + 90,000 – 20,000 + 20,000 – 90,000 = 60,000). He will also have gains realized as follows: from the

GREECE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

GREECE - Essay Example Beautiful nature, geographical position and warm climate make Greece attractive for immigrants. â€Å"Greece's geography, which became especially important after the formation of Europe's borderless Schengen Area, has also contributed to the country's transition to an immigrant-receiving nation. Positioned at the southeastern "gate" of the European Union, and with extensive coastlines and easily crossable borders, Greece has become a common transit country for those seeking entry into Europe† (Kasimis 86). Actually, with the development of globalization, migration became very active. Now it plays a very important role and is defined as â€Å"function of changes in the international division of labor and reconstructing of the global economy, which entails rapid and massive movements of productive factors, including capital and labor† (Icduygu 294). The number of immigrants in Greece is very high. Immigrants from Albania amount to around 60% according to the data of the y ear 2012. 1990s were the period of active immigration from Asian states that now is mostly illegal: illegal immigrants usually come from Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, etc. There are a number of factors that influence migration. Poverty is considered to be the most important factor that makes people look for better life in a foreign country. The second important factor is armed conflicts in the countries that made people leave motherland and many of them came to Greece that always has been attractive by its geographic location and financial stability. Active immigration from Asian countries has grown into a serious problem for Greece. Moreover, only small part of immigrants is registered, the rest are illegal. The government of Greece is very concerned about the issue as the number of immigrants is becoming so high that it is very difficult to control the immigration. Some actions have already been done in this direction, but the government still can’t establish the appropriate c ontrol over the issue. The absence of legal protection, racial intolerance that inevitably occurs in the society with very high number of immigrants, and bad working conditions turns the foreign labor into exploitation. In general, immigration in Greece is treated negatively and considered to be undesirable and troublesome for the society and economy of Greece. Speaking about natural resources, it is essential to admit, that Greece does not have plenty of them, so import is needed. The main are marble and petroleum. Last time Greece is concerned about the reduction of petroleum reserves. Aluminum, nickel and magnetite can be also found in Greece. In the 1970th Greece was going through the economic development, this period is characterized by active industrialization. Simultaneously, country started facing serious problems connected with environmental pollution. The situation is especially serious in Athens that faces heavy air pollution. Pollution leads to spread of respiratory illn esses and in addition spoils the monuments Greece is so proud of. In order to overcome this problem, the government has to build a number of stations to monitor pollution. These steps helped reduce the pollution. â€Å"Greece should soon begin to see further environmental progress as a result of management and financial efforts made since the mid-1990s. Its environmental policy has been modernized and driven by EU environmental legislation, a search for improved quality of life in the larger cities (Athens, Thessaloniki) and, to some extent, the

Why is the Equality and Diversity agenda important in the workplace Essay

Why is the Equality and Diversity agenda important in the workplace - Essay Example This being the case, the allocation of rewards and compensation among individuals is fairly done. Having equality and appreciating diversity in the workplace enables all the workers to have same working opportunities with due regard to the differences that exist between individuals (Garbers and Dupper, 2009). Failure to treat people equally at within the organizational setup may damage the culture and reputation of the company. Treating people equally in a workplace is essential if the organization has to operate effective and production maintained high. This is because inequality leads to poor morale among workers and sometimes laziness among those who are favoured (Garbers and Duppers, 2009). Equality also removes certain barriers to employment and career success for minority groups such as discrimination. The existence of diversity in the workplace in some cases leads to an increasing in positive competition and higher efficiency as the organisation hires qualified and energetic people and who have varieties of talents and skills (Cornelius, 2002). This helps and motivates the employers to develop their potentials and talents of the workforce hence utilising and maximising the efficiency of the organisation. Every employee in the organisation is entitled to a working condition that that promotes self esteem and respect in spite of their differences. Diversity in the workplace makes employees be able to understand and appreciate other people’s cultures according to Estlund (2003). Diversity in a work place, honours and appreciates skills, talents and knowledge of people at work by adding special richness toward teamwork and cohesiveness. The existence of diversity in the company provides an opportunity to workers to learn new skills and foster their various talents. Profit and non-profit companies requires diversity to become innovative, creative and open to changes hence

Fallacies and conspiracy theories, Roswell UFO incident Essay

Fallacies and conspiracy theories, Roswell UFO incident - Essay Example With this in mind, the fallacy goes on to state how scientists have taken years of hard work studying the equipment on-board the craft and have managed to gain some understanding, at least on a minimal level and not fully, which has brought about modern technologies. This has been done through reverse engineering of alien devices found onboard, which has seen â€Å"discoveries† made to the benefit of the military and the good of the people. A good example exists in the form of technological application in some unfathomable items such as night vision goggles and the Kevlar body armor. This is because the alien spacecraft did not have windows or any openings that could grant access, which means they were able to use accurate estimation instrument for navigation, and even got to the earth without being detect by the then defense mechanisms. The insinuation of this fallacy is that aliens gave birth to the technology that man holds dear in modern times as there is no other explanat ion to how it came into being, and that all pieces of the puzzle fit and point to Roswell. The technologies, besides the ones mentioned earlier include stealth technology, lasers and the integrated circuit chip, which have into existence recently after years of research and reverse engineering of alien technology (Speigel). Another fallacy is that the US military is in possession of highly effective weapons mounted on planes that could see to it that no enemy survives. This story is backed by the information given by a number of former military officials who put through their arguments for the existence of the conspiracy in that there were actually two alien spacecrafts and not one, as commonly believed by those that believe. This they back with tales of how the first craft came to crash, which is that there was a new test plane in the air force. The test plane is said to have fired its out of this world weapon, which is supposed to be some form of advanced pulse gun, which shot out electromagnetic pulses, which took out the electronics of the craft (Daily mail). With this idea, conspiracy theorists issue the concept of annihilative power of the US military in that as soon as the experimental plane took out the UFO, it came down crushing to see the developments that later followed after the craft was sa lvaged and towed to storage for exploration. This fallacy shows the alleged power of the US military and how much advanced it is in developing military applications for technologies that are discovered every now and then. As this pertains the main reason for the development of these theories or fallacies, one may view it starting from political to sensational conspiracies from several angles. In terms of political ambition, it is meant to discredit the government in that is not

Why is the Equality and Diversity agenda important in the workplace Essay

Why is the Equality and Diversity agenda important in the workplace - Essay Example This being the case, the allocation of rewards and compensation among individuals is fairly done. Having equality and appreciating diversity in the workplace enables all the workers to have same working opportunities with due regard to the differences that exist between individuals (Garbers and Dupper, 2009). Failure to treat people equally at within the organizational setup may damage the culture and reputation of the company. Treating people equally in a workplace is essential if the organization has to operate effective and production maintained high. This is because inequality leads to poor morale among workers and sometimes laziness among those who are favoured (Garbers and Duppers, 2009). Equality also removes certain barriers to employment and career success for minority groups such as discrimination. The existence of diversity in the workplace in some cases leads to an increasing in positive competition and higher efficiency as the organisation hires qualified and energetic people and who have varieties of talents and skills (Cornelius, 2002). This helps and motivates the employers to develop their potentials and talents of the workforce hence utilising and maximising the efficiency of the organisation. Every employee in the organisation is entitled to a working condition that that promotes self esteem and respect in spite of their differences. Diversity in the workplace makes employees be able to understand and appreciate other people’s cultures according to Estlund (2003). Diversity in a work place, honours and appreciates skills, talents and knowledge of people at work by adding special richness toward teamwork and cohesiveness. The existence of diversity in the company provides an opportunity to workers to learn new skills and foster their various talents. Profit and non-profit companies requires diversity to become innovative, creative and open to changes hence

The underground man Essay Example for Free

The underground man Essay The underground man is amusing and thought-provoking. His assertion that his intelligence is the reason for his isolation must have some truth; that he should be so socially inept at his age is probably explained by his acute sensitivity, but it is interesting to think that it might also have been his isolation that has led to his extreme sensitivity. Since he is situated outside of the normal social structure, he is able to make observations that â€Å"normal† persons could not. He is like an ugly man who cannot bear to show his ugliness to the world, yet one who also desires intensely to become part of it. This is a maddening aspect of his character. For all his intelligence, he is remarkably stupid for refusing to understand. He states that it is his choice to live in isolation because he suffers from acute consciousness, but despite all this it is obvious that he desires to have a â€Å"normal† life. However, the predominant feeling that I had from reading the story is frustration. Most frustrating is that he does not even try to resolve his problems. This attitude of his is exemplified when he says: â€Å"Ha! you may object sarcastically, this way youll soon find pleasure in a toothache. Well, Id answer, theres pleasure in a toothache too. (p. 99) His greatest â€Å"toothache† here is his alienation and isolation from â€Å"normal† society. I, as I suspect almost everyone, have had feelings of alienation and isolation that, during the time of their occurrence, I could only have described as profound; although looking back these feelings become easier to rationalize and to see the cause of. But he insists in the fact that he is always rational, and that his intelligence is superior and furthermore correct. He knows that he is negative and destructive towards himself and others, but he makes no effort to resolve this. He seems disillusioned, but he is actually a pitiful victim of self-deception, attaching the wrong sort of â€Å"superiority† to his miserable intelligence, and believing himself superior to everyone else. When he says: â€Å"You know, ladies and gentlemen, probably the only reason why I think Im an intelligent man is that in all my life Ive never managed to start or finish anything† (p. 104), he means that only the stupid can be so sure of themselves; this is one thing that is irritating and frustrating about him. His intelligence has rendered him immobile because he is aware of all the uncertainty inherent in nature, and he will not believe that he has a full understanding of reasons, as the stupid man does. He finds comfort in justifying his plight by asserting that he is intelligent But in his portrayal of his â€Å"misadventures† in the second part of the story, I felt a distasteful sort of sympathy. One almost feels elated on his behalf, in the instance when he is almost joyous that he would at last have an â€Å"encounter with reality†: So this is reality, I mumbled, dashing downstairs, finally Ive met it head on. † (p. 159) At last a decisive event will happen in his life, one over which his excessive rationalizing has no effect. He hides from from life, and he feels alive only by being destructive. But in him one finds a sort of friend who will probably understand your every ill emotion because he has experienced it all, but who will also probably scorn you and make you feel foolish. His intelligence has allowed him – or perhaps has forced him – to live a life of constant rationalizing, thus robbing him of he ability to relate to the â€Å"lower† level of ordinary human life. But he is also subject to pride despite his intelligence. I could almost sympathize with what happened when he â€Å"did make a friend once, but I was already a tyrant at heart and wanted to be the absolute ruler of his mind. I wanted to instill in him contempt for all those around us; I demanded that he break with his world† (p. 147). I have had my share of instances of a vague sense of contempt for everyone, but I am far from rejecting society as he has. His rejection of society has led to society rejecting him, and this has robbed him of tangible experiences and made him desperate.

Data warehousing and data mining

Data warehousing and data mining Abstract This paper aims to discuss about data warehousing and data mining, the tools and techniques of data mining and data warehousing as well as the benefits of practicing the concept to the organisations. It also includes the trends and application in data warehouse and data mining in current business communities. Keywords Database, data warehouse, data mining, database management. Introduction Organisation uses information systems to record and retrieve data from daily transactions. The information systems via the database that link to it provides valuable data for making important and strategic decisions in regards to the well-being of a company. An organisation can predict the expectation that is yet to come from the data that they possessed. The data can also be used to provide possible solutions to overcome the problems that they faced, and even, they can use the data to obtain competitive advantage in their business environment. Database has reduces, if not in some place, vanish the old method of storing and keeping the information, that is, through the usage of the traditional filing system. The change towards digitization of data and the establishment of data repository has created a new term in the field of information systems, new position in the organisation, and a new way of doing business and daily transactions in human life. This paper will discuss further about the two terminologies which is data warehouse and data mining from the perspective of database management in the organisation. At the same time, this paper will also include some cases and issues about data warehouse in the organisation according to real situation based on the literatures. According to William H. Inmon, data warehouse is a set of integrated, subject oriented databases designed to support Decision Support Systems (DSS) functions, where each series of data is precise to some period of time. It is said that data warehouse contains atomic data and lightly conclude the data. On the other hand, data mining is the search for valuable information in large volumes of data (Weiss Indurkhya, 1998). It is the process of nontrivial extraction of implicit, previously unknown and potentially useful information such as knowledge rules, constraints, and regularities from data stored in repositories using pattern recognition technologies as well as statistical and mathematical techniques (Technology Forecast, 1997; Piatetsky-Shapiro and Frawley, 1991). As mentioned earlier, many organisations nowadays use computers especially through the usage of information system to collect particulars of business transactions such as records of banking operations, sales of retails, productions of factory, telecommunications and other transactions. Consequently the data mining tools are used to expose positive potentials and association from the data collected. Background of data warehousing and data mining The following part point up the historical evolution of the database and directly discuss about data warehouse and data mining. A brief history of data warehousing and data mining are included. Furthermore is the issues faced in the early years of implementing the concept of data warehousing and data mining and where both concepts are useful. Data warehousing started in the late 1980s from the IBM lab and the responsible researchers are Barry Devlin and Paul Murphy. They started by the development of business data warehouse for decision support surroundings. In the early 1990s, it became a trend for organisations to meet the growing demand for organising information. However Haisten (1999), a columnist for Information Management Website, mentioned that the concept of data warehouse take shape in early 1970s through a study that started out at MIT with the aim to provide optimal technical architecture. And now, the next generation of data warehousing called Trend in Data Warehouse (TDWI) is mushrooming and become popular in many organisations that use information as their vital capitals. The emergence of data mining began in the late of 1980s and it flourished by 1990s. There are three roots that can be traced back along three family lines on the origin of data mining, which are the classical statistics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. In order to automate the process of extracting the data which are increased every single time, human has increased the power of computer and data storage. For that reason, the amount of data becomes huge and more complex. Primarily, Bayes theorem (1997) and Regression analysis has identify patterns in data. The data mining is actually the process or method by using greater discovering in computer science engineering such as neural networks, clustering process, genetic algorithm and decision trees. Data mining can be said as a method to help with the collection of observation of behaviour. Ayre (2006) stated in his paper that todays data mining techniques is due to the work of mathematician, logicians, and computer scientist join together to create Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning dated back from the 1950s. That was a very basic spark for data mining ideology. As mention earlier, in the 1960s, AI and statistic practitioners created new algorithm such as regression analysis, maximum likelihood estimates, neural networks, bias reduction, and linear model. Also in 1960s, the field of information retrieval (IR) made its contribution in the form of clustering techniques and similarity measures. At these time techniques were applied to text document, but they would later be utilized when mining data in databases and other large, distributed data sets (Dunham, 2003). In 1997, Connecticut-based Gartner Group report has mentioned about data mining and artificial intelligence are at the top five ranking of major technology areas that will clearly have a main crash transversely the whole scope of business unit within the incoming three to five years. Presently, data mining techniques and tools are being prolonged to the variety of areas. For instance, the data mining tools like intelligent text-mining system will extract the text waste pertinent to user queries. The above is the process of how the data is transport to database and data warehouse and selection process by using data mining techniques and technology. And then it show us how the information form by the translating the data to be deploy in business. Approaches of data warehousing and data mining in various industries The industry of finance, sales and marketing, administration and others should see information as corporate source but the many local narrow systems that held that information simply did not give way the incorporated commercial viewpoint that was required. (Inmon, 2007) Even though operational data is a greater asset to the organisation, it seemed data is usually not making use to its full capable. Therefore, data warehouse basically is to enable users appropriate access to breaking apart and complete view of the organisation, supporting forecasting and decision-making process at the managerial stage. Additionally, data warehouse can achieve information consistency by carry data from dissimilar data foundations into centre of database. Users from different department for instances, can view the data from consistent single one place repository. The layer of data in data warehouse makes the information consistent by enable data around the data warehouse to be describe in business terms as against to using database terminology. The establishment of data that enforce how business terms are declared or calculated are also defined in the metadata layer and then served to the users. Because of the data in the data warehouse is non-volatile but it must be d esign to adapt the changes periodically. It is because terminologies use in business cannot run from changes. Mannino and Walter (2004) in their study about the refreshment of data warehouse stated that data warehouse refreshment is a complex process comprising many tasks, such as extraction, transformation, integration, cleaning, key management, history management, and loading. This study is base on interviewed of 13 organisations and the author conclude that daily refresh during nonbusiness hours were the most common policy. Sometimes data warehouse is not fully utilized by organisation or it being used by company but not all departments. In a case studied by Payton (2005) conclude that there are three factors why data warehouse is disappointed them. It is because; marketings lack of trust in the data in CDW (Corporate data warehouse); marketings low perceived quality of the data; and marketings perceived lack of incorporation of their needs in the design of the data warehouse and data warehouse interface. Data mining in the industries like information provider as library involved in digital libraries gain benefits from it as they found the method to classify information automatically and apply new way to clustering the subject called MetaCombined the project. Besides database, data mining can be useful in a variety data types like text, spatial data, temporal data, images, and other complex data. Data warehousing and data mining in telecommunication The telecommunication industry is fast fitting the main user of high quantity information system. The problem faced by telecommunication industry is the generation of information which is too fast and in tremendous condition. The difficulties occur when a user, either a manager or high executive, needs access to stored information. If the time is not the issue to search what they want in that kind of stored data where they put in different places, it will not be an issue at all but time limitation is consuming. For instance, in order to produce a report regarding subscriber, an executive need to extract the data, do some analysis, and some other step to make it presentable to their officer. What else can enhance all this besides technology? The exact question to ask is; what is the technology that can be very helpful in this situation? The answer is through the application of data warehousing and data mining. In real case studied by Papaiacovous, Bramblet, and Burgess (n.d) in a paper titled Data Warehouse: A telecommunication Business Solution; they described about the difficulties to produce report. They then design personalized systems which exceed the traditional borders of data warehousing systems by assembling and keeping only important data, analyzing and transforming the data, and then summarizing and rearranging it in according to the demands of the user. Another interesting article by Gomez (1998), expressed the hope that cellular companies and other communications firms to strongly consider data warehousing as a way to achieve competitive advantage. The author also reviews new way to data warehousing that have established successful in compliant concrete business benefits. Service providers realize due to the competition in the marketplace, they need to provide the best for their customer or risk to lose them. It is because customer can simply change their telecommunication service provider if they are not satisfied with their current provider. So the provider must get the knowledge in customers hand about what they want actually. After all the data about the customer are collected via online and phone survey, a data warehouse can enhance the executive to analyze and segments customer into groups by their product usage patterns, demographic characteristics, etc. Telecommunications companies produce tremendous quantity of data. These data consist of call detail data, which describes the calls that cross the telecommunication networks; network data, which explain the position of the hardware and software components in the network, and customer data. Data mining can be used to uncover useful information buried within these data sets. Telecommunication companies might counter fraud from customer that intends to use the service without paying for it. It happens when the users register and manipulate the registration information. The most regular way for identifying fraud is to construct a profile of customers calling behaviour and compare recent activity against this behaviour. Thus, this data mining application relies on deviation detection. The calling behaviour is captured by summarizing the call detail records for a customer. Here is the issue on data mining. In the customer case study by the company ECtel n order to sell their data mining product for fraud detection called FraudView noted that selling data mining product to a telecommunication provider has been traditionally difficult because they dont have data mining experts on staff who can work conventional data mining tools. Additionally, there are many ways to run away from paying for telecommunication services, from stealing phone card to bypassing phone circuitry. ECtel created FraudView, the solution that uses SPSS Inc.s advanced data mining workbench, which enable the detection of telecommunications fraud in real time. Data mining in telecommunication industries is not limited to detect fraud only but it also can be used as network fault isolation, marketing or customer profiling, etc. This is owing to the three main sources of telecommunication data which are call detail, network, and customer data. Data warehouse and data mining in financial services How a retail bank can truly understand and predict its customers needs to the point where it can design product and services that suit those needs? One way of looking at customers can be from the standpoint of channel usage. In the UKs Llyods Bank/TSB merger, data were sourced from both their data warehouse, and then used to segment the customer base by service channel usage. Customers were allocated to segment on their usage of the following channels: ATMs, automated (direct debits/standing orders), cards (credit card and debit) and telephone (Peppard, 2000). Financial institutions struggle with the large amount of data on every transaction deal. Data warehouse helps financial service organisations to analyse large, complex, and rapidly growing data volumes in a quicker way for better decision making and faster speed back to the market. Fundamentals of data mining in finance are coming from the need to forecast multidimensional time series with high level of noise, accommodate specific efficiency criteria, make coordinated multiresolution forecast, and also incorporate a stream of text signals as input data for forecasting models (Kovalerchuck Vityaev, 2002 ). As noted by Kovalerchuck Vitayaev, four main reason why data mining need to be implemented in finance is because the emergence of high volume databases such as commercial data warehouse and computer automated data recording; advances in computer technology such as faster and bigger computer engines and parallel architectures; fast access to vast amounts of data, and the ability to apply computationally intensive statistically methodology to these data. Data mining is used to forecast the target variable, performing the contribution varies in percent within todays closing price and the price five days later, along with next days prediction. Data warehouse and data mining in health service In healthcare there is not much transaction as business environment. The data is about outpatient, visits to doctor office, procedure and so forth. Instead of numerical data, healthcare has textual description if the different medical counters. And there is a little bit problems here, where the technology that own a old method of data warehouse is created to manage process of transacting data that is very conquered by arithmetical information. When textual, non-transactional information is come across, the old method data warehouse technology nowadays is simply at a defeat to handle healthcare information. (Inmon, 2007). Then, if the data is not a number but a textual; it must be kept with different understanding of phrase. It just likes a different language. In order to be standardized, there has to be creation of same vocabulary for instance, with the purpose to gain understanding for all. Then it can be kept in the data warehouse. In a case study written by Kumar and Raval (n.d), they traced a large global pharmaceutical, which has a huge data of clinical trials for a number of drugs projects. Due to data collection and analyses operations that are broadening across the world, it is harder to implement data standards. Even harder to enforce was the programming and validation standards that are required of pharmaceutical companies. Primarily, a data warehouse is an operational middle ground and disparate and incompatible to a big quantity of systems put together to diverse collection from end user platform. In another case, Whiting (2001) reported a healthcare name Intermountain Health that used data warehouse to make an analysis handling provided to its cardiovascular patients for five years. From the result, it improves service provided after the patients return home. These are the data mining in healthcare and insurance where it can give beneficial such as providing claims analysis, it means determine which medical procedure are claimed together. It helps in predicting which customer will buy new policies and can identify behaviour pattern or risky customer and also prevent fraud. Data warehouse and data mining in retail industry The challenge in retailer business actually is inundate of data, the battle of data and expired data. To cope with these challenges, many retailers are building unified repositories of data known as data warehouse. In the early implementation of data warehousing technology in 1990s, the retail business has gained benefits of practical data warehouse. From the daily historical sales reporting database created over past few years ago, retailer can expanded the use of analytical systems to support and produce vital decision. The retail industry is going through a transformation. Data warehouse enable retailers to carry out on their major products, including activities such as inventory replacement, purchasing, and vendor management across multiple other multiple. Financial planning, adjusting for stock outs to seed a top-down financial plan provides all of the data necessary to support well-organized process for the confirmation of invoice accuracy to strategy-based pricing solution. Simple application that can implement the concept of data mining for retail industries are SQL server 2008 and Microsoft Office Excel 2007. To stay competitive, retailer must understand not only current consumer behaviour but must also be able to predict future consumer behaviour. Accurate prediction and an understanding of customer behaviour can help retailers keep customers, improve sales, and extend the relationship with their customers. SQL server 2008 provide predictive analysis through data mining and Microsoft Excel 2007 offer data mining capabilities that can help retailers make better decision. The application that is common for business retail in data mining such as market basket analysis, fraud detection, database marketing, sales forecasting, and also merchandise planning and allocation. Data mining is so beneficial in retailer industries! Recommendations In the business world a transaction is repeated again and again and many of them deal with data in numerical. The same activity repeats with different customers and different figures. To release from this mess, data warehouse and data mining provide solution. Even though data warehouse and data mining is a strategic investment to the business world but it can be risky without a proper understanding of the concept. Governance or control is important to support the implementation of data warehouse and data mining. There must be a proper standard to ensure compatibility in processing the data especially for textual data used in the health industry. There should also be a policy and to manage the data warehouse. It is highly recommended that to be successful in the implementation of data warehouse or/and data mining, an organisations are required to have extensive or comprehensive knowledge about the data in their company. This is to guarantee that a well structured data warehouse can be constructed. A well structured data warehouse consequently will help organisation to exploit via data mining the data that they have. Organisation should also know what exactly they want to implement in their organisation so that the right tools for data mining can be used. And finally, a strong support from top management is important to deploy data warehouse and data mining because the investment on these is not cheap. Conclusion Insufficient of data is no longer a trouble but lack of ability to breed valuable information from data is the issue today. The answer for those issues is through the implementation of data warehouse and the power to use data mining techniques and tools. Nevertheless, the realisation and the awareness of data warehouse and data mining in the organisation should take into consideration many aspects regardless of what industries. The aspects include support of the top management, understanding of the data needed by the organisation, governance and policy, the right design of the data warehouse, and the right tools or techniques for data mining. Bibliography Dunham, M.H. (2003). Data mining introductory and advanced topics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Kovalerchuk, B., Vityaec, E. (2002). Data mining in finance advances in relational hybrid methods. USA: Kluwer Academic Publisher. Wang, J. (2003). Data mining opportunities and challenges. USA : Idea Group Publishing. Keng Siau. (2003). Advanced Topics in database research. USA : Idea Group Publishing. M. Kumar Sagar., Raval, H. (n.d). Data warehousing in pharmaceutical and healthcare: an industry perspective. 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Death and Suicide - The Death of a Friend Essay -- Personal Narrative

The Death of a Friend I hid my face as I sat desperately alone in the back of the crowded church and stared through blurry eyes at the stained glass windows. Tears of fear and anguish soaked my red cheeks. Attempting to listen to the hollow words spoken with heartfelt emotion, I glanced at his picture, and my eyes became fixed on his beloved dog. Sudden flashes of sacred memories overcame me. Memories of soccer, his unforgettable smile, and our frequent exchange of playful insults, set my mind spinning. I longed only to hear his delighted voice once more. I sat for what seemed like hours in that lonely yet overcrowded church; my tears still flowed, and I still remembered. October 2, 2001 started like a normal Tuesday morning at Hotchkiss High School. As I lazily wandered past Mr. Schelle into his advisory class, I noticed that he seemed quite upset about something. I dared not ask what had happened, for it was really none of my business. Soon after the bell rang, Mr. Schelle, whose eyes were welling up with tears, struggled to compose himself enough to say, "Guys, I've got some bad news for you." I sensed a bit of hesitation as he proceeded to read a letter as clearly as possible. The letter explained that Derek Grillos, a sophomore at our school and a good friend of mine, had died the night before. At first, my mind failed to register his name. I sat wondering who Derek Grillos was. As everyone questioned Mr. Schelle to find out who Derek was, I sat quiet. Finally, the fact that Derek, my "soccer buddy", had died hit me and hit me hard. I could feel my eyes darting back and forth in confusion and my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my toes. I stared aimlessly at everything yet nothing. I su... ...te anxiety. Only good memories came from there, memories of me and Derek. I opened my eyes, and my thoughts were shattered by sobbing people and brilliantly colored flowers. My face burned, while my body shivered. As I returned to reality, I realized the pastor had asked for anyone who wanted to share memories of Derek to do so. Listening to the memories being shared, I shyly hopped to my feet. I quickly made my speech about what Derek meant to me and sank back into my seat. After the funeral service ended, I made my way to my car and drove home in complete silence. Even after everything that has happened, the kids' comments both good and bad, the funeral, and the loneliness, my admirable thoughts of Derek still remain. All I have left of him are all the cherished memories that remain in my heart. Even now, my tears still flow and I still remember. Â