Victims Of Crime With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Victims of crime with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an important topic to the field of psychology because it occurs in many victims. It is also important to the field because through research its causes and etiology are able to be discovered, treatments are able to be developed and tested for those with the disorder, and ways are found to prevent the disorder in victims. PTSD is a severe anxiety disorder and is recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The diagnostic criteria for PTSD include, â€Å"a history of exposure to a traumatic event meeting two criteria and symptoms from each of three symptom clusters: intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms, and hyper-arousal symptoms,† (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Interest in PTSD in victims of crime is the reason for this literature. More interests include prevalence, differences in gender, and treatment options for those who a re victims of crime experiencing trauma (sexual and non-sexual), as well as the measures taken to aide these victims. The following paper will discuss different aspects related to victims of crime with PTSD. The gender differences and treatment types for victims of crime with PTSD will be examined. The prevalence of PTSD is shown that women develop the disorder at a rate twice of that of men, despite other factors (Simmons, 2010). As stated in the National Comorbidity Survey, total lifetime prevalence ofShow MoreRelatedProlonged Exposure Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorders1271 Words   |  5 Pagesexposure therapy is a form of therapy treatment applied in posttraumatic stress disorders. 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People with PTSD usually have frightening thoughts or vivid memories or dreams of that event.Read MoreDomestic Violence and Social Problems1268 Words   |  6 Pagesfood, sleep, or forcing alcohol or other drug use. Economic abuse is an attempt to make the victim financially dependent. Such as sustaining control over financial resources including the victims earned income, forbidding employment, on the job harassment, or withholding information about family expenses. Emotional abuse can be the attempt to undermine the victims self worth. This could be belittling the victim, name calling, insults, criticism, manipulating, etc. Sexual abuse is any sexual contactRead MoreThe Effects of Psychological Trauma on Family Essay1091 Words   |  5 Pagessituation, and the ability to assimilate his or her emotional experience is overwhelmed at certain situation. (Lawrence Robinson, 2011) A much more serious psychological trauma can leads to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) in certain circumstance. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) is an anxiety disorder that certain peoples can change after seeing or living through a dangerous incident or after expose to any event that results in psychological trauma. (The National Institute of Mental HealthRead MorePsychological Trauma and Andrea Essay examples756 Words   |  4 PagesWorkplace Jean Berry Walden University Diagnosis of Andrea C.: Experiencing Violence in the Workplace Being able to form a diagnosis properly for a client is a process that is wide-ranging and broad. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) supports recommendations and standards for identifying a diagnosis for a client. The procedure of diagnosing is more than skimming for symptoms in the DSM; one must assess, interview and identifyRead MoreChild Abuse And Its Effects On Children1317 Words   |  6 PagesChild abuse causes many years of suffering for victims. Children abused suffer from chemical imbalances, behavioral issues and are at high risk for becoming abusers or being abused in adult relationships. This cycle of learned behavior and suffering will be a hopeless reoccurring problem unless the criminal justice system and protocols for abusers to undergo reform. Penalties for child abuse are less severe than those given to victims of lesser crimes. Children’s testimonies usually do not hold upRead MoreI nterventions For Children Exposed At Intimate Partner Violence1421 Words   |  6 Pagespartner violence affect the victim, but it may also cause psychological damage to children who may be exposed to it, both directly and indirectly. This paper will aim to examine two types of evidenced-based interventions available for children who have been exposed to intimate partner violence and have developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result. The analysis provided for this paper is based on the studies provided by Community Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder for Children Exposed toRead MorePosttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Battered Women800 Words   |  4 PagesPosttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Battered Women Summary Barbai, Ben-Shakhar and Shalev (2007) conducted a research study to investigate the role that learned helplessness (LH) played in the length and severity of violence towards the female population as well as the severity of symptoms and diagnosis of major depression (MDD) and Post Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD) on women who had been exposed to domestic violence for a long period of time. The study took place with 101 batteredRead MoreCriminal Victimization : Lifetime Prevalence, Reporting, And Psychological Impact948 Words   |  4 Pagesto be the prey of any crime. More than often it is seen as a cliche to see women as the victim in crime. Though it is true; â€Å"Criminal Victimization: Lifetime Prevalence, Reporting to Police, and Psychological Impact†, is a study on the percentage of women that have been made victims, and the future out out come of the wome. The article is by Dean G. Kilpatrick and colleagues. Researchers that chose to investigate this topic often have to face a barrier of non-reported crimes that may range from assaultRead MoreChild Abuse And Children All Over The World1689 Words   |  7 Pagesand alcohol can make people lose self control and can result in abusive behavior†. â€Å"Use of drugs can alter one s mood, emotion or state of consciousness†. An abuse victim can be traumatized and can develop a posttraumatic stress injury such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or acute stress disorder. posttraumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or seeing a terrifying event. â€Å"Approximately 30,000 children are currently on child protection registers, a

War Brings Out the Good in People Free Essays

War brings out the best in people War does not bring negative effects all the time. It does bring out the best in people. This is because during war people start caring more about everyone. We will write a custom essay sample on War Brings Out the Good in People or any similar topic only for you Order Now The war unites people and makes them more courageous. During war time, people start caring more about everyone’s humanity. When people see, for example, a family in distress due to war, then people would become more hospitable and help them in every way they can. They might give them clothing, food and provide all their necessities, and also sometimes let them stay at their own place. During the war time people become more united. For example, the town I lived in got bombed, then all the people in our town would get together to survive in the bad times. Even enemies will be united in these bad times . During war people will not only think about themselves, but they would also think about others too. For example, the people who live in the next town would collect money and help our town that was bombed. Even other neighboring countries would help us in times as these. During the war time, people would get more courageous. This is because to survive people will have to be courageous. If they are not scared then they can somehow bare any sort of pain. But if people are scared they would not be able to face the ugly truth of war. To conclude, I would say that war does not bring bad in people. It does bring the good in people as the facts I have written above. Because of war people would be more hospitable, caring , courageous and be untied to survive together. How to cite War Brings Out the Good in People, Essay examples

Academic English Writing

Questions: 1. Briefly define academic writing. Describe at least three characteristics of academic writing? 2. What is your writing process? Writing is usually a process and includes several stages? Answers: 1. Academic Writing Academic writing is a process where an idea is broken down and presented in a formal tone and third person point of view after applying the correct reasoning in the writing. The writing should be clear, transparent along with relevant information without any emotional tone attached with the writing (1). The three characteristics of Academic writing are: Precise The topics presented in the write-up should be precise, with proper figures and facts and to the point in formation so that the readers do not have to search through the write-up and get whatever is asked in the topic instantly. Hedge The writer should have a strong viewpoint regarding the information that is being put in the write-up. Whenever the writer is making a decision through the write up or claiming something, the writer should be confident regarding the decision or the claim Accurate The writer should use the correct vocabulary and make no grammatical mistakes while writing a academic write-up. 2. Process of Academic Writing Write a proper introduction that gives the reader an idea about what the following essay is all about (2). The main objective behind writing the essay should be stated clearly in the beginning. Every paragraph should present a new idea. In addition to that, the paragraph should be inter-connected with each other. Provide examples wherever required to prove a certain idea presented in the essay. The conclusion should be an overview of whatever being presented in the essay. The conclusion should not possess any new idea, but will be a summarization of what has been presented and what can be the expected outcome of the idea presented in the essay. Proofread the essay before submitting it to the reader. Grammatical mistakes, punctuation errors or wrong sentence construction is strictly prohibited in the academic writing. References Monippally, Mathukutty M, and Badrinarayan Shankar Pawar. Academic Writing. Los Angeles: Response, 2010. Print. Roundy, Shaun. The Art Craft Of Writing. [United States]: University of Life Press, 2011. Print. Monippally, Mathukutty M, and Badrinarayan Shankar Pawar.Academic Writing. Los Angeles: Response, 2010. Print. Roundy, Shaun.The Art Craft Of Writing. [United States]: University of Life Press, 2011. Print.

Romeo And Juliet - Violence Essays (511 words) -

Romeo and Juliet - Violence Romeo and Juliet - Violence Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, is a play which shows how prejudice leads to escalating violence. Prejudice leads to violence shown in the play when the feuding families, the Montagues and Capulets fight. In each case, disruption, fighting, injuries and death occur. Also, the prejudice against the two families never got resolved because they were enemies. The prejudice started in Act one Scene one, when the Capulets and Montague servants confronted each other. Then the Capulets servants insult the Montagues. Which lead to a street brawl of the two feuding families. Furthermore in Act three Scene one, the prejudice between the families get worse. When Tybalt wanted revenge with the Montagues, he then confronted Romeo and Mercutio and started a duel. In addition the prejudice between families got even worse, when Tybalt kills Mercutio. Also, in Act five Scene three, Tybalt challenges Romeo to fight and Romeo kills him. Which lead to prejudice between the families. The street in Verona, a public place, is where the prejudice starts between the two families. In Act one Scene one, Sampson and Gregory servants for the Capulets, insulted the Montagues servants Balthasar and Abraham by biting his thumb at him. This leads to a fight, which involves the Lord's of both families and the Prince. No death occurred, but the families attitudes against each other were worse then before. Which caused a lot of prejudice against the families that lead to violence. In like manners, another duel between the two feuding families start up again in the street of Verona in Act three Scene one. When Mercutio and Benvolio friends of Romeo, are confronted by Tybalt, who is still prejudice against the Montagues. Tybalt thinks that they crashed the Capulets ball and know he wants revenge. Mercutio and Tybalt fight between each others. Now Romeo arrives trying to stop the arguments. Tybalt draws his sword and challenges Romeo. Romeo refuses to fight and Mercutio stops in to meet Tybalt challenges. Romeo again, steps in to stop the fighting, but Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo's arm. Mercutio from this action dies from his injury and this caused disruption between the families which lead to prejudice. Instead of a Capulet killing a Montague, in Act five Scene three, a Montague kills a Capulet as prejudice leads to violence. In the Capulets Tomb at night, Paris, a young nobleman, kinsman to the Prince has come to pay his respect to his "lost" Juliet. When he hears the footstep of his enemies Romeo and Balthasar. Paris thinks Romeo has come to desecrate Juliet's grave in act of the prejudice against them. While young Romeo was only trying to see his only love dead.. But Paris didn't know so he challenges Romeo to a fight and Romeo kills Paris. This event was caused due to prejudice that lead to violence which included injuries, death and disruption. From examining Romeo and Juliet, it is evident that the play shows how prejudice leads to escalating violence when the opening brawl started by the servants, the duel between Mercutio and Tybalt and Romeo and Paris. So it is evident that Romeo and Juliet, is a play that shows how prejudice leads to escalating violence between the feuding families.

How to Write a Great Reaction Paper

How to Write a Great Reaction Paper How to Write a Great Reaction Paper In order to write a great reaction paper, a particular order needs to be followed. For instance, one must read through the given document carefully, while noting the key points. Watching the documentary, or fully partaking part in the seminar for the reaction essay topic, is also crucial in preparation for writing a great reaction paper. Taking notes of key thoughts, during one’s participation in the reaction essay events, is also an important activity during the preparation. This is because the latter helps in the generation of several ideas from which an individual is able to choose their key points. Secondly, think of and briefly describe two key points that you want articulated in your reaction. In each key point, details like the various lessons learnt, the areas of agreement and the points with which you disagreed, need to be clearly stated. Since experts claim that a successful reaction paper is brief piece of work, the various points should be precise and clear. The third point on writing a great reaction paper is presenting a clear justification in support of the stated key points. The other step that is followed is the provision of a real life example regarding the subject of discussion, which must be clearly explained for a better understanding of it. Finally, a brief description of how the researchers point is connected to public relations is given. The bibliography entails presenting a list of various documents like books, magazines and other scholarly documents used during the research. In addition, the list of works the writer plans to consult in future can also be included in the bibliography section. Provision of research methods for a thesis is also a compulsory part of a thesis proposal. This section includes stating the various research questions to be addressed in ones findings. This section also gives details on how the stated project will be handled, in order to be completed within the stated period of time. This generally means that the plan to be followed, in order to get the work done in a shorter period, is given. In addition, the writer is supposed to convince their chosen committee that they are well prepared to conduct findings on the given topic, while providing various opportunities for the committee members. You never should forget about the custom writing services available for ordering a great custom reaction paper on any topic and discipline. The professional writers team will do all that’s possible to meet your expectations in regards to the research paper of any level. Simply place the order with an online custom writing service and, within your deadline, the paper will be sent to you. All you need to do is to select the custom agency with which you want to work. If you need quality reaction paper help visit now!

Definition and Examples of Indexicality

Definition and Examples of Indexicality In pragmatics (and other branches of linguistics and philosophy), indexicality encompasses the features of a language that refer directly to the circumstances or context in which an utterance takes place. All language has the capacity for indexical function, but some expressions and communicative events suggest more indexicality than do others. (Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, 2008). An indexical expression (such as today, that, here, utterance, and you) is a word or phrase that is associated with different meanings (or referents) on different occasions. In conversation, interpretation of indexical expressions may in part depend on a variety of paralinguistic and non-linguistic features, such as hand gestures and the shared experiences of the participants. Examples and Observations of Indexicality Among philosophers and linguists, the term indexicality typically is used to distinguish those classes of expressions, like this and that, here and now, I and you, whose meaning is conditional on the situation of their use, from those such as, for example, noun phrases that refer to a class of objects, whose meaning is claimed to be specifiable in objective, or context-free terms. But in an important sense, namely a communicative one, the significance of a linguistic expression is always contingent on the circumstances of its use. In this sense, deictic expressions, place and time adverbs, and pronouns are just particularly clear illustrations of a general fact about situated language.(Lucy A. Suchman, What Is Human-Machine Interaction? Cognition, Computing, and Cooperation, ed. by Scott P. Robertson, Wayne Zachary, and John B. Black. Ablex, 1990)Direct Indexicality, DudeDirect indexicality is a meaning  relationship that holds directly between language and the stance, act, activit y, or identity indexed. . .An illustration of this process can be seen in the American-English address term dude (Kiesling, 2004). Dude is used most frequently  by young white men and indexes a stance of casual solidarity: a friendly, but crucially not intimate, relationship with the addressee. This stance of casual solidarity is a stance habitually taken more by young white American men than other identity groups. Dude thus indirectly indexes  young, white  masculinity as well.Such descriptions of indexicality are abstract, however, and do not take into account the actual context of speaking, such as the speech event and the identities of the speakers determined through other perceptual modes, such as vision. (S. Kiesling, Identity in Sociocultural Anthropology and Language.  Concise Encyclopedia of Pragmatics, ed. by J.L. Mey. Elsevier, 2009) Indexical Expressions- The success of a deictic act of reference to a given book by means of an indexical expression like This book, for instance, requires the presence of the book within the visual field shared by the interlocutors, just like its gestural indication. But indexical expressions are not necessarily put to deictic use. Definite noun phrases and third person pronouns allow for anaphoric and cataphoric use. During anaphoric indication, the expression remains the same, but the field undergoes a change. The expression does not typically refer to an individual physically given in the perceptual field, but necessarily refers to an entity previously or subsequently named within the same discourse or text: Im reading a paper on cataphora. I find it (this paper) interesting.(Michele Prandi, The Building Blocks of Meaning: Ideas for a Philosophical Grammar. John Benjamins, 2004)- The most frequently noted indexicals  are personal pronouns (I, we, you, etc.), demonstratives (thi s, that), deictics (here, there, now), and tense and other forms of time positioning (smiles, smiled, will smile). Our understanding of both spoken utterances and written texts must be anchored in the material world. To understand a sentence such as, Would you take this over there, we need a provisional location for myself (the speaker- a meaning for here), for you (my addressee), for the object (this), and for the goal intended (there). (Ronald Scollon and Suzanne B. K. Scollon, Discourses in Place: Language in the Material World.  Routledge, 2003)

Democratic Peace-International Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Democratic Peace-International Relations - Essay Example Since World War II, realists have sought a balance of power between the US and the USSR as a means of maintaining the peace. Constructivists have sought to socially construct a new political reality based on liberal values, trade, and international organizations. In a world with weak international organizations, such as the United Nations, the world is left to anarchy. Veto power by selected member nations has left the UN as an impotent body to determine the lawful respect for sovereign states. The US War in Iraq is an example where a weakened UN was powerless to stop a unilateral action. According to Brown, "Anarchy alone does not create the insecure, competitive, and war torn world... Social structures and shared knowledge determine whether states are friends or enemies. The fact that social structures are socially constructed does not, however, mean that they can be changed easily" (xxxi). Institutionalists hold some hope for order, but "treat states as rational egoists operating in a world in which agreements cannot be hierarchally enforced, and that institutionalists only expect interstate cooperation to occur if states have significant common interests" (Brown 384). Common interests most often revolve around trade and commerce. Actors do not wish to disrupt trade agreements and lose economic benefits. In the post Cold War period of nuclear availability, realism presents some clear dangers. The break-up of the Soviet Union has left a Europe where nationalism could be problematic in a scenario where a nuclear balance of power exists. Realism, a pessimistic view of human nature, would lead to further tensions in Europe and while it may provide a temporary lull in hostilities, it is incapable of solving the complex social problems of immigration, religious zeal, global health issues, or world environmental problems. Humanitarian intervention has

Responses from DQ1 andDQ@ CC and AAw2d2 1 and 2 Assignment

Responses from DQ1 andDQ@ CC and AAw2d2 1 and 2 - Assignment Example It does also not protect junior employees from manipulation by their seniors. The act is therefore more concerned with accurate financial reporting of corporations to the Securities and Exchange Commission. A spot check on the act shows that it only affects external auditors, boards of directors, corporate roles, and the PCAOB in a move to heighten investor confidence in the organizations (Halbert, 2010). It is exceptionally true that corporate employees fear losing their jobs if they decided to talk about illegal activities in their organizations. However, employees have of late been enlightened of their rights incase of unjustified work termination. According to Cox (2009), the Sarbanes-Oxley act (2002) is exceptionally clear on the responsibilities of senior executives regarding their roles in their respective organizations. Of importance to the executive is giving truthful financial information to the Securities and Exchange Commission and this is his or her duty to loyalty towards the organization, and to some extent, duty to care (Harris, 2003). The Sarbanes-Oxley act also protects the corporations from executive malpractices; therefore, external auditors and PCAOB are mandated to check any irregularities that may arise from senior corporate executives. It is therefore very much agreeable that the Sarbanes-Oxley act has helped streamline corporations that are prone to

A Filipino Dish Called Kare-Kare Essay Example for Free

A Filipino Dish Called Kare-Kare Essay In general, Filipinos are known to be food lovers. This results in varieties of recipes that were either borrowed or produced. And among these is one of the most popular Filipino dishes named â€Å"Kare-kare†. But why â€Å"Kare-kare†? What does it possess that others are lacking? Well, to know the reason behind this, let me bring you to the colourful world of â€Å"Kare-kare† dish. From a far, you can feel the heat coming from the pot as the pork leg bathes itself in hot water. It is showered with salt and vetsin. Now, as the pork leg softens and feels comfortable inside, a cup of red, thick atsuete starts to flow around it. And looking like a painter’s colour palette, the golden ground peanut and white ground rice mixed with the river of atsuete, covering the entire pot surface. The tub then becomes more attractive and vivid, catching the attention of Mr. Green string beans, Ms. Banana bud, the leafy chinese cabbage, and the ever elegant purple eggplant to jump over. â€Å"Plok†¦ plok†¦ plok†, you can hear as the nutritious vegetables dive inside the world of â€Å"Kare-kare†. So pleasurable! But wait, there’s more. Accompanying this delicious and beautiful dish is a cup of bagoong embellished with chopped liempo. The tenderness of liempo and saltiness of bagoong perfectly match the â€Å"Kare-kare† recipe which will surely leave you asking for more. Satisfying right? Indeed this popular Filipino cuisine is very nutritious and more colourful. It is original and will not only feed your mind and your stomach, but will also wake up your love for the Philippines. Try to share it with others, perhaps to your family or friends, and I’m sure they will feel exactly the same way as you and I do even while just reading this essay. So what are you waiting for? Stop imagining and start cooking your â€Å"Kare-kare†.

Chomsky and Knowledge of Language Essay example -- Philosophy of Langua

The linguistic theory of Chomsky has changed the long, traditional way of studying language. The nature of knowledge, which is closely tied to human knowledge in general, makes it a logical step for Chomsky to generalize his theory to the study of the relation between language and the world-in particular, the study of truth and reference. But his theory has been controversial and his proposal of "innate ideas" has been resisted by some empiricists who characterize him as rationalist. In our view, these empiricists make a mistake. In the present paper we attend to his position regarding linguistics as a science of mind/brain, which we believe is an important aspect of his theory that has not been paid enough attention or understood by his opponents. In turn, this will help to clarify some of the confusions around his theory. Finally we will discuss some of the debatable issues based on the outlines we draw. 1 Chomsky's linguistic theory is based on the following empirical facts: "child learns language with limited stimuli", or the problem of poverty of evidence. (1) The input during the period of a natural language acquisition is circumscribed and degenerate. The output simply cannot be accounted for by the learning mechanism only, such as induction and analogy on the input. The output and input differ both in quantity and quality. A subject knows linguistic facts without instruction or even direct evidence. These empirical facts, "knowledge without ground", (2) are expressed: "Knowledge of language is normally attained through brief exposure, and the character of the acquired knowledge may be largely predetermined." (3) This predetermined knowledge is some "notion of structure", in the mind of the speaker , which gu... ... but can hardly exist apart from languages, how could it be in the mind prior to language? What are those ideas? (Goodman, 1969, p.141) (24) He adds an interesting points: "Nevertheless, I think that what is significant in his paper is the fact that he believes that a genetic account is relevant to certain fundamental epistemological questions lying at the foundation of language." (Harman, 1969, p.170) (25) Quine, 1969, p.95. Also Lewis, Davison, Searle (Chomsky, 1986). (26) Quine, 1972. (27) The state SL is attained by setting parameters of So in one of the permissible ways, this is essential part of what is "learned," yielding the core, and adding a periphery of marked exceptions on the basis of specific experience, in accordance with the markedness principles of So. (28) Nagel, 1969, p.172. (29) Chomsky, 1986, p.269. (30) Danto, 1969, p.136.

The Yankee Stadium’s History

Any discussion of the history of New York City without a history of the New York Yankees would be like describing Pavarotti without mentioning his voice. And any discussion of the Yankees without including Yankee Stadium would be farcical. And when you get right down to the nitty-gritty of historical realities encompassing the Yankees and Yankee Stadium you have to include Babe Ruth. The Babe, the â€Å"Bambino,† the â€Å"Sultan of Swat,† was the reason the Yankees built Yankee Stadium, and that is why they call it â€Å"The House That Ruth Built.† The Yankees are beyond any reasonable doubt the premier team in Major League Baseball. They have been in the World Series 39 times since the American League was fashioned in 1900 – and they have won 26 of them. The teams tied for second most World Series Championships are the Cardinals and Athletics with 9. The Yankees have been in New York since 1903; previously they were in Baltimore known as the Baltimore Orioles. They started out in New York as the Highlanders, playing at Hilltop Park (today, the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center sits where Hilltop Park was located). They played in the Polo Grounds (sharing it with its home team, the National League New York Giants) from 1913 to 1920. The Yankees became popularly known as the â€Å"Yankees† around 1904; and when the New York Herald reported on April 15, 1906, â€Å"Yankees win opening game from Boston, 2-1,† it was more or less official they were no longer the Highlanders. Meanwhile, tracing the origins of Yankee Stadium properly includes a brief recounting of how Babe Ruth got to the Yankees; he was the spark that lit the fire that put Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. By 1919, a strong rivalry had existed between the Boston Red Sox and the Yankees for several years. A young Boston pitcher who was also an unbelievable slugger, Babe Ruth, hammered the Yankees on many occasions, including Opening Day at the Polo Grounds on April 23, 1919. According to The New York Times (4/24/1919), â€Å"Babe Ruth won the game for the Red Sox in the first inning when, with Jack Berry on first base, he slammed out a lucky home run†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Final score, Red Sox 10, Yanks 0. There had been some doubt as to whether the phenomenal Ruth would even play for Boston in 1919; Ruth had been a hold-out in the spring, following a sensational season as a pitcher and slugger, and a magnificent World Series for Boston in 1918, in which he won two games (hurling 13 scoreless innings in one game) and gave Boston power at the plate. It was to be Boston's last World Series victory until 2004. In the spring of 1919, Ruth was holding out for $15,000 a year, according to a New York Times story (3/19/1919): â€Å"Ruth†¦wants $15,000 for one year or will sign a contract calling for $10,000 a year for three years.† The headline in The New York Times on December 27, 1919 read, â€Å"Ruth Talks Of Retiring†; the story said Ruth is â€Å"‘through with major league baseball' unless the management of the Boston American league Club is prepared to meet his demand for $20,000 a year.† The New York Times reported on March 22, 1919, that â€Å"Babe Ruth Finally Signs with Boston,† for a reported $27,000 for three years. Boston owner Harry H. Frazee's previous best offer had been $8,500, the Times reported. Contrasted with today's dollar value $27,000 would be worth around $540,000; and even though $27,000 doesn't sound like much compared to the $2.5 million original cost of building Yankee Stadium – or to the salaries today's players draw. (To wit, Derek Jeter's 2003 salary was around $15,000,000; he came to the plate 482 times; do the math and see Jeter earned around $30,000 per at-bat). But to the average New Yorker in 1920, Ruth's salary was a huge quantity of money. Hundreds of thousands of American boys were fighting in Europe in WWI (thousands of them dying), and 650,000 Americans had died recently due the influenza epidemic. Times were rough, to say the least. Meantime, after Ruth clubbed 29 homers in 1919, an October 12th Times article hailed him as the â€Å"mastodonic mauler†; New York obviously was in awe of this superstar. And then, to the great surprise of Gotham, the one of the biggest sports events of the century hit the headlines of The New York Times with the clout of a Ruthian grand slam (1/6/1920): â€Å"Ruth Bought by New York Americans For $125,000, Highest Price in Baseball Annals.† The story reported that Ruth's acquisition gave the Yankees â€Å"the hard-hitting outfielder long desired.† After coming to terms with the Yankees, for $40,000 on a two-year deal, the Yankee owner Colonel Jacob Ruppert soon took out a $150,000 insurance policy on the Babe, unprecedented at that time. And interestingly exactly one year to the day after the Times story hailing Ruth's arrival in New York, the Times headline (2/6/1921) rang: â€Å"Yankees To Build Stadium In Bronx.† In the article, Yankee owners Colonels Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast L. Huston announced they had purchased 10 acres â€Å"on the east bank of the Harlem River,† between 157th and 101st Streets, from the estate of the late William Waldorf Astor. â€Å"On this terrain there will be erected a huge stadium, which will surpass in seating capacity any structure hitherto built for the accommodation of lovers of baseball,† the Times' article continued, in typical dramatic style, albeit there was no byline so the author was unknown. Excavation was to begin â€Å"in a few weeks and building will be expedited by every means known to human effort,† the article explained. The Yankees did not announce what they paid for the ten acres, but the Times had it â€Å"on good authority† the tab was $500,000, and the estimated cost of the projected stadium was $2 million. The â€Å"running time from Forth-second Street by subway is only about 16 minutes,† the story continued, and by â€Å"elevated train it will take about 2 minutes more to reach the Yankee's stadium than is necessary to get to the Polo Grounds.† The process of street-closings â€Å"will offer no obstacles,† the Times explained; and the stadium was projected to be â€Å"triple-decked,† which was made necessary â€Å"by the expectation of even greater patronage than that of the last season.† The obvious reference was to the fact that Babe Ruth is not only the greatest home run hitter in the game, but he was the biggest box office draw in all entertainment venues at that time. Prior to the decision to build the stadium on its present site, the Times (2/6/1921) reported that â€Å"until a few days† prior to February 5, 1921, Yankee owners â€Å"were inclined to favor the site of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, between 136th and 138th streets, near Broadway.† The stadium was to hold 75,000 fans eventually, though at first it would only hold 50,000 (5,000 of them bleacher benches); yet â€Å"when the cost of building materials becomes more nearly normal,† the Times explained, the capacity will be increased to the higher figure. This â€Å"massive and most attractive structure has been designed to adorn the new playing field of Babe Ruth and his pals,† the story went on. â€Å"Concrete and steel of the finest quality available will be used†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Before any building could begin, and before contractors were to be hired to do the building, the approval from City Hall had to be obtained. And while New York City Mayor John F. Hylan first hedged on the decision for the city to â€Å"release its interest in the bed of Cromwell Avenue† in the Bronx, which ran directly through the site, he eventually signed off on the deal. However, the sub-headline on March 18, 1923, in the Times badgered the mayor a bit by shouting that â€Å"Mayor Hylan Holds Up Decision on closing of Street Running Through Site.† â€Å"I am not going to put my signature on the official document,† the mayor said in the Times, â€Å"until I find out whether everything is regular.† The â€Å"Sinking Fund Commission† had already signed off on the street's demolishment, and worried that the mayor's delay â€Å"might prevent the Yankees from playing in their new stadium in 1923,† the article indicated. Meantime, within a couple weeks, the mayor did sign off on the closing of two streets, which â€Å"came as a personal triumph for colonel Jacob Ruppert, President of the Yankees, who had labored for more than a year to obtain the necessary permission for the closing of the streets,† the Times reported in late March, 1922. [Note: the dates on the New York Times' archival documents do not always reflect the precise date of publication.] Not only did New York political bureaucracies have to be hurdled by Ruppert, the Astor family lived in England, and since it was their property that was the site used for the stadium, their consent was imperative. After official approval, the Times' headline â€Å"Yankees Call For Bids on Stadium† had a little editorial slant in the sub-headline, â€Å"If Contractor Are Rational In Prices Work Will Begin at Earliest Possible Date.† The date on this article can't be correct (it is 1/4/1922), so it must have been in late February. â€Å"Excavation, grading, masonry, sewers and downspouts, reinforced concrete, lathing and plastering, ornamental metal work, tile work, terrazzo floors, carpentry, toilets, roofing, sheet metal, steel sash, painting and wood bleachers† all went out to bid, the Times reported. And it did seem like there was a limited amount of capital available for the huge project, because the newspaper article mentioned that bids â€Å"for the steel work have already been obtained,† and â€Å"they were fairly satisfactory†¦ranging from much below the prices of a year or two ago, but rather higher than had been hoped by the men who have to put up the money for this project.† The colonel did not plan to â€Å"get what they considered the worst of it financially† in case the bids â€Å"proved to be beyond the bounds of reason,† the story explained. Ground was to be broken around the first of March. The White Construction Company of 95 Madison Avenue was selected as contractor of the stadium, the Times reported shortly after receiving city permission to go ahead. Work was to begin â€Å"on what will be the greatest baseball plant in the world† within a week, and the Osborn Engineering Company of Cleveland was chosen as overseer of general construction; the stadium was projected to be completed by September first, at that time. The number of seats available for fans, which had changed several times, in this article (â€Å"Yanks Pick Firm To Build Stadium†) it was listed at 60,000. A â€Å"double shift of workmen† will be employed, and the Osborn company predicted in the Times that â€Å"it will smash all records in the matter of speed.† The actual construction of the stadium of course received a great deal of coverage in The New York Times. One story (4/1/1923) – headlined, â€Å"Yanks' Stadium Big Engineering Task,† pointed to the massive construction effort being put forth, in order to meet an incredibly tight deadline, and listed the materials that would go into the stadium. To wit: Thirty-thousand yards of concrete (from 45,000 barrels of cement, 30,000 yards of gravel and 15,000 yards of sand); 2,500 tons of structural steel and 1,000 tons of reinforced steel; 2 million board feet of lumber for bleachers and forms; 600,000 â€Å"linear feet† of lumber for the grandstand seats; 4 miles of pipe for railings in box seats, reserved seats and bleachers; 500 tons of iron for stadium seats; and about 500 workmen were brought in to put it all together. In a story in the archival Times dated May 4, the cost of the stadium changed again, this time to $3 million, and the attendance capacity became 85,000. But all the inconsistencies notwithstanding, the Times' story with the most pizzazz of all the archival coverage of Yankee Stadium was published April 19, 1923: â€Å"74,200 See Yankees Open New Stadium; Ruth Hits Home Run.† While 25,000 were turned away from the sold-out house, those in attendance were treated to this: â€Å"In the third inning, with two teammates on the base lines, Babe Ruth smashed a savage home run into the right field bleachers.† This shot by Ruth was made all the more dramatic because he had been quoted as saying he would give â€Å"a year of my life† to smack a round-tripper on opening day in the new stadium. The 74,200 attendance figure that was reported by the stadium was, Times' readers learned on the 20th, â€Å"merely an estimate† by Yankees business manager Edward Barrow. In fact, only around 52,000 paid to see the game, plus several thousand were admitted with passes. But the Times – obviously feeling somewhat duped – reported that the 74,200 figures â€Å"were accepted without question and were published in hundreds of newspapers in this country and in various places around the world.† In addition to baseball, many sporting events have taken place in Yankee Stadium over the years, including: boxing matches with stars like Jack Dempsey (Muhammad Ali defeated Ken Norton on July 24, 1923); indeed over 30 championship fights have taken place at the stadium, according to the Yankees' Web site; NFL games with the New York football Giants between 1956 and 1973; Army-Navy football games, religious conventions (including two visits by Popes). Lights were installed at the stadium in 1946, and in the winter of 1966-67, the stadium got a $1.5 million update, consisting mostly of fresh paint. Starting in 1973, the stadium was torn down almost totally, and rebuilt; during that period, the Yankees moved to Shea Stadium for two seasons. The stadium has been the playground for American sporting icons like Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Reggie Jackson, and many more.

My Ex-Husband and My Last Duchess Comp

Compare & Contrast: â€Å"My Ex-Husband† & â€Å"My Last Duchess† Amy Baysinger 9/16/2012 Both poems are similar in that they revolve around the theme of lost or unrequited love. The speakers, a man and a woman, are different in sexes but similar in their plights. Both are bitter, jealous, and seemingly unbothered by their losses (but their aloofness is also what gives away their feelings). Each speaker is having a conversation with an assumed good friend and explains the demise of their respecting relationships. Both hint at the idea of their partners’ flirting and infidelity as the breaking point.Sprea says â€Å"How slobbishly he carried on affairs† almost as if the speaker’s husband was so blatant about his cheating that he didn’t even try to hide it—an absolute insult to the ex-wife. Browning, however, is a little more subtle. â€Å"She thanked men,–good! But thanked somehow—I know not how. † Both spouses knew and tolerated it at first, but not in the end. I find it interesting how both speakers have such a nonchalant and, at least on the surface, indifferent view of their relationships. Understandably, the speakers try not to reveal their hurt feelings and egos but the reader can infer the pain in their words. My Last Duchess† is, in my opinion, much more of a dominating man teaching a woman a lesson versus â€Å"My Ex-Husband,† which is a woman scorned. Both relationships ended badly but had a different path based on the speakers’ point of view. I find it interesting both poems start in a very similar way. â€Å"That’s my ex-husband pictured on the shelf† and â€Å"That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall† echo the same sentiment. The respective relationships are going to badly and those left behind will undoubtedly have harsh feelings in the end.

Level 5 Leadership Walker Essay

Level 5 Leadership Walker Essay Level 5 Leadership Walker Essay The Theory of Level Five leadership firstly brought up by expert on high performance organization-Jim Collins who is a famed American business consultant in the field of sustainability and growth for companies. Level Five leaders integrate ambitious willing and modest personality that promote corporations from good to great that the â€Å"success formula† reveals culture overrides competence. Collins overthrows charming and possessing of the CEOs. Research through years emphasizes that getting the right people on the bus (wrong people off the bus) is the prior thing for Level Five leaders to fulfill. Compared with the four levels that are contributed by Collins, Level Five leaders possess ability of eliminating nepotism and ignoring family ties which are counterintuitive and countercultural. According to (Johns, 2011)ï ¼Å'Business Development Bank of Canada set training program to assess and blossom employees that in the Level Five Leadership scenario it concerns the culture of the organization override the competence to empower and develop personnel. Especially in a globalized corporation, such as Bonnie Brooks- the president of Lane Crawford Joyce Group represents duality, savvy as wells as unbridled inquisitiveness to function effectively in variety of cultures, language and economic factors. In the article of (Collins, 2005), Darwin Smith reveals the traits that Level Five leader possessing: Humility plus professional will by selling mills from Kim Berly-Clark which associated with servant leadership in (Johns, 2011)-going beyond self-interest and holding a cordial concern to serve the organization and motivate

Population Geography Overview

Population Geography Overview Population geography is a branch of human geography that is focused on the scientific study of people, their spatial distributions and density. To study these factors, population geographers examine the increase and decrease in population, peoples movements over time, general settlement patterns and other subjects such as occupation and how people form the geographic character of a place. Population geography is closely related to demography (the study of population statistics and trends). Topics in Population Geography Closely related to population distribution is population density - another topic in population geography. Population density studies the average number of people in an area by dividing the number of people present by total area. Usually these numbers are given as persons per square kilometer or mile. There are several factors which affect population density and these are often subjects of population geographers study as well. Such factors can relate to the physical environment like climate and topography or be related to the social, economic and political environments of an area. For example, areas with harsh climates like Californias Death Valley region are sparsely populated. By contrast, Tokyo and Singapore are densely populated because of their mild climates and their economic, social and political development. Overall population growth and change is another area of importance for population geographers. This is because the worlds population has grown dramatically over the last two centuries. To study this overall subject, population growth is looked at via natural increase. This studies an areas birth rates and death rates. The birth rate is the number of babies born per 1000 individuals in the population every year. The death rate is the number of deaths per 1000 people every year. The historic natural increase rate of population used to be near zero, meaning that births roughly equaled deaths. Today, however, an increase in life expectancy due to better healthcare and standards of living has lowered the overall death rate. In developed nations, the birth rate has declined, but it is still high in developing nations. As a result, the worlds population has grown exponentially. In addition to natural increase, population change also considers net migration for an area. This is the difference between in-migration and out-migration. An areas overall growth rate or change in population is the sum of natural increase and net migration. An essential component to studying world growth rates and population change is the demographic transition model - a significant tool in population geography. This model looks at how population changes as a country develops in four stages. The first stage is when birth rates and death rates are high so there are little natural increase and a relatively small population. The second stage features high birth rates and low death rates so there is high growth in the population (this is normally where least developed countries fall). The third stage has a decreasing birth rate and a decreasing death rate, again resulting in slowed population growth. Finally, the fourth stage has low birth and death rates with low natural increase. Graphing Population Developed nations usually have an equal distribution of people throughout the different age groups, indicating slowed population growth. Some, however, show negative population growth when the number of children are equal or slightly lower than older adults. Japans population pyramid, for example, shows slowed population growth. Technologies and Data Sources In addition to census data, population data is also available through government documents like birth and death certificates. Governments, universities and private organizations also work to conduct different surveys and studies to gather data about population specifics and behavior that could be related to topics in population geography. To learn more about population geography and the specific topics within it, visit this sites collection of population geography articles.

Reforms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reforms - Essay Example The changes have bought positive impacts from the view point of parliamentary democracy, parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law. Two such reforms, introduced under the Labour Party reform agenda, are the House of Lords act, 1999 and Freedom of Information, 2000. The former reform was introduced with the goal to make the House of Lord more representative as well as democratic whereas the later was created to make the government operations more open and increase the democracy and sovereignty of the nation1. UK is a nation that follows parliamentary democracy i.e. the members who form the government body are also members of either of the two Houses of the Parliament (though there are a very few exceptions to this) and, the government of Britain is answerable to the Parliament as it owes its very existence to the Parliament. The Parliament of UK is also a sovereign parliament i.e. the legislative body is superior to any other government body inclusive of executive or judicial bodi es. In the United Kingdom, it is the Parliament which decides the laws and the work of the judges is to interpret it. They cannot themselves make a law2. Under the House of Lords reform, the right to sit and vote held by the hereditary peers was to be ended but the legislative powers of the House of Lords was to remain the same. No particular political party would then have majority in the House of Lords and its composition will be a reflection of the percentage of votes cast in the last General Election. When the first phase of this reform came, all but 92 of the then present hereditary peers were removed from the House of Lords. 3 This law positively affects the British democracy, as proposed by many scholars. According to the result of a poll, the British MPs too have favored a fully elected House of Lords in comparison to the traditional composition citing that a step like that will have a major impact on the British constitutional reform. The government of Britain was previousl y divided into commons and the lords i.e. the there existed a â€Å"lower house† or popularly the â€Å"House of Common† which comprised of elected members and on the other hand there existed the â€Å"upper house† or the â€Å"House of Lords† who were unelected. The Lords believed themselves to be privileged who had either been put to the coveted seat by their fathers who sat on those chairs in the past or by the ruling party of their time. This arrangement was totally in contrast with the idea of democracy. The ultimate decision making power used to rest with the Lords and only when their decisions differed considerably with those of the Commons, the attempt to rule out those decisions used to be made. This highlights the existence of a large section of society with no important voice in the legislative process of the nation. This shows a democratic split. In a truly democratic country, problems like this would have never emerged. Therefore, it can be s aid that the House of Lords Act, 1999 was a step towards enhancing the democracy of the nation. (Britain’s Deficient Democracy) The reformed House of Lords is more confident, authoritative and it is broadly a representation of the society it seeks to serve. It contains people from different parts of the United Kingdom, from varied professions, from all ethnic and religious communities, both men and women and hence it will be

Employees contribution in customer satisfaction, customer retention Dissertation

Employees contribution in customer satisfaction, customer retention and customer loyalty in SME retail organization like SUPERVA - Dissertation Example The peripheral economies have not been able to restructure their economies and introduce reforms to enhance productivity and competitiveness of their economies. 1.1.2 The Irish Economy The Irish economy has been one of the most successful in the world but it has also been among the hardest hit during the economic recession (European Commission, 2012). Up to 2007 Ireland experienced strong economic growth and the living standards in Ireland caught up with the world standards. This occurred as more number of workers entered the labor market. Additionally, higher levels of education resulted in better productivity. EU being declared as a single market made Ireland an attractive destination for inward investments. Between 2002 and 2007 the economy experienced high growth rates but this was at the cost of the Irish households building up personal debts. The real estate sector surged forward to due to increase in bank lending. Due to this, the balance sheets of banks grew disproportionatel y large compared to the size of the economy. In addition to the deposit base, the introduction of the Euro encouraged short-term borrowing from overseas. Risky lending practices by the banks proved to be damaging for the economy and this was evident when the property bubble burst (European Commission, 2012). Because of these anomalies the Irish banks were vulnerable to the global recession in 2007. The collapse of Lehman Brothers, investment bankers of US, led to severe tension in the global financial markets which led to deposit outflows at the Irish banks. 1.1.3 SME Retail sector in Ireland The retail sector in Ireland comprises of over 20,000 food and non-food retailers, mostly SMEs, being both Irish and International in origin (IBEC, 2012). The retail sector employs over 240,000 employees. Retailing offers people career in their own locality. The retail SMEs have invested heavily in the sector in the last decade. As a result of recession, the retail market has shrunk by over one -fifth in the terms of value. The retailers were forced to reduce prices, which in turn impacts the overall profits. However, the operating costs have not been affected due to inflexible rents, hourly pay rates, local authority charges and property service charges. The shrinking of the retail market compelled the retailers to seek help from the government. To enhance consumer spending, focus on employees has been considered a valuable agenda. This is based on the recommendation of Irish Business & Employers Confederation in its election manifesto ‘Delivering the Jobs Agenda’ (IBEC, 2012). 1.2 Competitive advantage through people Human resources are now considered valuable assets as there has been a rise in the status of knowledge workers (Sheehan, 2005). Based on the resource-based view of the firm, human capital has become the source of competitive advantage as Koch and McGrath (1996) contend that a highly productive workforce possess attributes that make it a highly v aluable strategic asset. This has led to the recognition of and commitment to human capital development; this has also caused the shift from traditional personnel management to refined HR practices. Competitive advantage can also be gained by recruiting people from diverse backgrounds regardless of ethnicity, age, gender and other individual characteristics (D’Netto and Sohal, 1999). 1.3 Motivation for Research Retailing is intensely competitive in Ireland as anyone can open a store. This has brought in many new

Dis Post Poll 211 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Dis Post Poll 211 7 - Essay Example Modern societies also exhibit social structural differentiation with distinct definitions of political and national institutions. Modern societies also have a differentiated political structure and secularized political culture. Many modern societies are in a position to advance the political system of a society (Crain 67). Promoters of the modernization theory highlight that modernization occurs in phases. The five phases include the existence of a traditional society, the emergence of preconditions for takeoff, the real takeoff process, the drive to maturity, and finally the emergence of a high content consumption society. Modernization theorists reveal that the process began in Europe and America. The modernization process is highly transformative. The modernization process has been moving to the traditional societies in other continents. However, the completion of the process will take a long time. Other theories such as the theory of dependency and the theory of world systems do not explain the existence of income gaps effectively. For example, the theory of dependency cannot explain why countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China have the highest level of economic growth, yet they do not appear in the list of the developed countries (He 34). In addition, the theory of globalization does not explain why there is increasing income inequality in both developed and developing

Agile Development And Variation In SCRUM Sprint Information Technology Essay

Agile Development And Variation In SCRUM Sprint Information Technology Essay In Agile development SCRUM is highly acceptable approach. And main body of SCRUM is driven by the sprint. Activities in the SCRUM sprint are sprint meeting, sprint review, sprint backlog, development, acceptance testing, scrum meeting, sprint retrospective, and final shippable work product. it is observed that there are still missing activities that can be accommodated to improve the sprint. The research suggests some more activities that can be accommodated from other agile methodologies such XP, DSDM, and RUP/EUP. The new approach will enhance the sprint capability. KEYWORDS: Agile development, SCRUM, Extreme Programming, Rational Unified Process, Dynamic Systems Development Method INTRODUCTION Agile development is a group of methodologies where requirements and solutions develop through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional, cohesive teams. The main focus is on creating working software that could be handed over to the customer quickly rather than spending a lot of time writing specifications up front. Agile focuses on rapid iteration, with continuous customer input throughout the development lifecycle. In this paper we introduce a development process, in this process we have identified the missing activities in the SCRUM and collaborated the activities that are available in other Agile methodologies such as XP, DSM and RUP RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The methodology selected for this research is based on the qualitative analysis of the agile frameworks available in the industry. AGILE Agile has evolved as a light weight software development methodology against the legendary heavy weight software development methodologies such as waterfall, spiral, rapid prototyping, incremental. Agile methodology is based on iterative and incremental development that break tasks into small increments with nominal planning called iteration. Iterations are short time frames that typically last from one to four weeks. Each iteration involves a team working through a full software development cycle. AGILE ALLIANCE In spring of 2001, 17 software developers met at UTAH to see whether there was anything in common between the various light methodologies such asAdaptive Software Development, XP, Scrum, Crystal, Feature driven Development, Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM). AGILE MANIFESTO We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan [Martin C. Robert , Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C#, Martin Micah, 2006] SCRUM Scrum is an incremental iterative process. In Scrum, product development is done in iterative cycles called Sprints. Sprints are typically 1-4 weeks in length, and the time box is not extendable, i.e. the backlog items that could not be completed in one sprint are catered in the next sprint. Once a sprint date is committed it is never extended. At the start of a Sprint, there is a sprint meeting in which priority items of product backlog are selected and team calculates the efforts and commits to complete them in the Sprint. Every day there is a daily standup meeting in which team reports the progress to each other and update simple visual representations of work remaining in sprint burn down chart. [The Scrum Papers: Nuts, Bolts, and Origins of an Agile Process Jeff Sutherland, Ph.D. Ken Schwaber Co-Creators of Scrum, 2007] [Deemer.P and Benefield.G, SCRUM PRIMER, 2006] EXTREME PROGRAMMING Extreme Programming is an agile development methodology that focuses on the critical activities required to build software. Like other agile methodologies it also supports the development in little iterations after a work product is available to be released. Unlike traditional SDLC, extreme programming does not support different phases of requirement gathering , analysis, design and development rather it advocates a environment where the client is the part of the team and all the phases of SDLC are executed simultaneously in iterative incremental order. DSDM Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) is a software development method originally based on the methodology for rapid application development. DSDM is an incremental and iterative methodology that focuses on continuous user collaboration. Its goal is to deliver software systems on schedule and according to the financial plans while adjusting for requirement changes along with the development process. Among all agile methodologies DSDM is a fundamental methodology of Agile Alliance. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSDM ] RUP The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is an iterative software development process framework created by the Rational Software Corporation, a division of IBM since 2003[http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/IBM-Acquires-Rational/]. The RUP is a four-phase (inception, elaboration, construction, transition), prescriptive process whose scope is software development. The EUP extends the RUP to make it a full-fledged IT process. The EUP adds two phases, production and retirement. Not only do you need to develop systems, you also need to run them in production and potentially even remove them from production at some point. [The Object Primer, Third Edition,Scott W. Ambler 2004] COMPARISON Although there are many other agile methodologies such as Feature Driven Development, ICONIX, PRINCE2, Lean Software Development and Crysatal but for the comparison of the activities we have selected four most used agile methodologies which include Extreme Programming, SCRUM, DSDM and RUP. eXtreme Programming is a revolutionary methodology which focuses on the cross functional software development process and addressing the core software engineering practices such as analysis, development and testing. It makes XP a substantial difference to the quality of the end product. SCRUM is also an agile framework, which focuses mainly on how to manage tasks within a cross functional team environment. Before AGILE there was a light weight methodology called DSDM. When Agile was devised many of the DSDM principles were integrated in the agile development methodology [http://www.agile-software-development.com/2007/02/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-agile.html] Planning And Requirement Gathering In extreme programming, in order to plan a project, we must know something about the requirements, but we dont need to know very much. For planning purposes, we need to know only enough about a requirement to estimate it. In SCRUM same is being handled by Product Owner And Team mutually agreeing on the development of the planning of the items based on the product backlog. In DSDM there is a separate Elaboration phase to gather the requirement and plan the phases accordingly. RUP has an Inception Phase, Business process re-engineering is a very complex endeavor, and the RUP only provides techniques for business modeling, not for the supporting process. If, however, the business process is simple or well understood, its possible that work on it may be undertaken in the inception phase. If this is the case, a more complex inception phase will be required. [www.scribd.com/doc/41162/Planning-a-project-with-RUP] Specification Artifacts The test cases and code evolve together in extreme programming, with the test cases leading the code by a very small fraction as a result; a very complete body of test cases grows along with the code. These tests allow the programmers to check whether the program works. Major artifacts in SCRUM are Sprint backlog, Product Backlog, Sprint Burn down Charts. Product backlog contains [Deemer.P and Benefield.G, SCRUM PRIMER, 2006] features (enable all users to place book in shopping cart), development requirements (rework the transaction processing module to make it scalable), exploratory work (investigate solutions for speeding up credit card validation), and known bugs (diagnose and fix the order processing script errors). DSDM has a number of artifacts that are created and evolves with the project. These artifacts include Feasibility Reports, Non-Functional Requirements, Business requirements, Review meeting records, Systems Architecture Definition, Development Plan, Functional Model, Implementation Plan, Test records, User documentation, Project Review Document. In RUP Use case model, Supplementary requirements, Use case (Describes a service provided by the system), User interface prototype (Simulates the user interface, as defined and testable by users) Functional test (Tests the functionality needed to meet a particular requirement), Development environment (Sets up the development environment and manages changes to this environment) Progress To measure the team progress in extreme programming there is a steering team, record progress chart is used. SCRUM meeting, burn down chart in SCRUM, Big visible charts in DSDM and in RUP defined sources for project indicators. Defined thresholds for the project indicators. coding In extreme programming Code is written by pairs of programmers working together at the same workstation. One member of each pair drives the keyboard and types the code. The roles change frequently. In SCRUM same is done according to the willingness And Commitment Of Team. In DSDM initially a Design Prototype is created which is tested by the customer after the validation of Design the tested System is handed over to the next phase. In RUP Coding is done on the bases of the available use cases, lengthy use cases may be divided in to several iterations [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSDM#Stage_3:_Design_and_Build_Iteration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RUP] Testing As discussed earlier in extreme programming All production code is written in order to make a failing unit test pass. Write the code that makes that test pass. For SCRUM Acceptance testing is done at the end of each SPRINT. In DSDM, throughout project life-cycle Testing is done regressively. And same goes for RUP. Review The details about the user stories are captured in the form of acceptance tests specified by the customer. The acceptance tests for a story are written immediately preceding, or even concurrently with, the implementation of that story. The review meeting in SCRUM is called Sprint Retrospectives. In DSDM test records are developed according to the user documentation and checks the correctness of the designed system. For review purpose testing and reviewing are the main techniques used. Reviews are not available in RUP Iterations In XP iteration is usually 2 weeks in length and represents a minor delivery that may or may not be put into production. The iteration plan is a collection of user stories selected by the customer according to a budget established by the developers. In Scrum it is called Sprint Cycle which is usually of the length of 4-6 weeks and does not vary. In DSDM there is only one iteration in which complete build is developed. In RUP iterations are not time oriented rather there are use cases that help in determining the timeframes of iteration. Release Management XP teams often create a release plan that maps out the next six or so iterations. That plan is known as a release plan. A release is usually three months worth of work. In SCRUM 2 -3 sprints and as decided by product owner. In DSDM there is a single release concept that is sent to the customer in the entire project as it is adept in SDLC. DSDM is also unique in that it categorizes time boxes depending on their function: Investigate, Refine, Consolidate. The activities of RUP include Release handover, training the end users and to facilitate in User acceptance testing of the system. Customer Collaboration In XP customer is the part of the team. Customer is virtually present in the vicinity and he is always present to facilitate or elicitation of the requirements. [Kent Beck, Extreme Programming Explained, First Edition September 29, 1999 ]. In SCRUM product Owner can be Customer, in DSDM Executive Sponsor is called the Project Champion. It is a vital position from the user organization since it has the responsibility to facilitate all the requirements in the requirements elicitation. In RUP Customer collaboration is done throughout the project phase Project Management In XP Project management is done through Inter team coordination, A pair has the right to check out any module and improve it. No programmers are individually responsible for any one particular module or technology. Everybody works on the graphical user interface. In SCRUM Product Owner and Scrum Master are the facilitators. In DSDM there is a project Manager who can be a in-house IT Staff or a client. In RUP the Project manager plans the phases of the entire project along with the iteration plan which describe the iterations. Deployment: In RUP the purpose of deployment is successful delivery of the working software to its end users. It includes packaging, distributing and producing external releases of the software,. Support In RUP: Software release installations and technical support to the client or end user Architecture DSDM makes an architecture phase compulsory. In Business Study RUP make it able to agree on development priorities and a SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE DEFINITION are developed ACTIVITIES BENCHMARK Following is the benchmark of all the above discussed agile development project lifecycle activities PRACTICES XP SCRUM DSDM RUP PLANNING/REQUIREMENTS User stories product owner Product Backlog Elaboration Phase and feasibility studies Inception Phase and Business modelling ARTIFACTS Test case Archives Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, burndown charts Feasibility Report, Outline Plan, Business Area Definition Use case model, User interface prototype, Functional test PROGRESS steering team, record progress scrum meeting, burn down chart Big visible charts Defined thresholds for the project indicators. CODING Pair Programming commitment of team Prototype designing and evolution commitment of team TESTING write the code that makes that test pass. Acceptance Testing Throughout the project life-cycle. Testing occurs throughout the project REVIEW acceptance tests for a User story sprint restrospective correctness of the designed system by review and testing Not Available ITERATION 2 weeks in length 4 -6 Weeks in length Single Iteration Iterations are not time based RELEASE Release consists of 6 Iterations 2 -3 sprints and as decided by product owner Single release Single release CUSTOMER COLLABORATION Part of the team Product Owner can be a customer Executive sponsor; This role has an ultimate power to make decisions collaboration throughout the project phase PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project manager is Big Boss Product Owner Could be client or any one from the staff Phase plan by the team DEPLOYMENT Not Available Not Available Not Available Software Packaging and Distribution SUPPORT Not Available Not Available Not Available Software release installations and technical support to the client or end user ARCHITECTURE Not Available Not Available Architecture phase compulsory In Business Study architecture is defined ACTIVITIES COVERED IN SPRINT Sprint is a complete cycle of activities. This activity is time boxed, which means that the time allocated for a sprint cannot be varied and team has to provide a tested and working work product at the end of the sprint. The sprint backlog items that could not be completed in the sprint are catered in the next sprint. The activities in SPRINT are as follows Sprint burn down chart Design Development Testing Daily stand up meeting WHAT COULD BE ACCOMODATED IN SPRINT Things that could be added in sprint could be more customer collaboration, focus on the system architecture

an american story :: essays research papers

On November 25, 1986 at five minutes past noon, President Ronald Reagan marched into the White House briefing room to announce that Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North had been relieved of his duties on the National Security Council staff for supplying arms to the Iranians. By Stephan Perry It began in 1961 when Oliver North joined the Marine Corps, never knowing what he was in store for. Combat-decorated Marine, best selling author, founder of a small business, host of a nationally heard radio show, inventor with three U.S. patents and former candidate for the U.S. Senate, Oliver North is returning to newspapers with his hard-hitting column. â€Å"Ollie†, as he prefers to be called, was born in San Antonio, Texas and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis and served 22 years as a U.S. Marine. His awards for service in combat are the silver star, the bronze star for valor and two purple hearts for the wounds he received in action. Assigned to the National Security Council staff in the Reagan administration, North was involved in planning the rescue of 804 students on the Island of Grenada and played a major role in the daring capture of the hijackers of the cruise ship Achille Lauro. After helping to plan the U.S. raid on Maummar Qaddaffis, terrorist based in Libya, he was targeted by Abu Nidal, the world’s deadliest assassin. North’s involvement in the Reagan administration’s support for the anti-communist freedom fighters in Nicaragua and the rescue of American hostages held in Beirut Lebanon, catapulted North into international prominence. North has lectured at Oxford and many other colleges and American universities. He is controversial and committed, but retains the charisma that shocked the world during the so-called Iran Contra hearings and in his 1994 campaign for U.S. Senate. North believes that â€Å"We can disagree without being disagreeable.† The Iran Contra affair is the name of the major United States foreign policy scandal in the 1980s. It involved two secret operations by the executive branch of the government. The operations were 1) the sale of military equipment to Iran and enemy of the U.S.; and 2) The provision of the military aid to Contra rebels in Nicaragua, which Congress had banned. The two operations were connected by the use of profits from the Iranian arms sales to aid the Contra rebels. After United States president Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, he claimed the Sandinistas had set up a communist dictatorship.

Double Trouble Mystery

It all started on one bitterly cold December morning, I do believe that it was the week before Christmas when myself and Dr Daniel Barnet were suddenly awoken by a knocking at the door, the Dr was the first to rise as I always take my time, as I lifted myself from the bed I could hear the voice of a lady, the voice seemed familiar but I could not for the life of me think who it was, I wrapped my dressing gown around me and opened the chamber door, the morning sunlight was protruding through a small gap in the curtains. As I walked down the hall way the voice became evermore familiar but still I could not muster as who the woman was. As I slowly stepped down the stairs I could hear that Dr Barnet and the lady were not alone. I reached the bottom step and turned the corner only to my surprise it was my sister and her faithful dog Simon. I could not believe my eyes that my own sister of the higher class would be seen with the middle classes such as my self and Dr Barnet. Dr Barnet said I would like you to meet my associate Professor Williams, as my sister turned round to look at me I could see in the way that she looked that something was not right. Her eyes finally made contact with me, the sun shining through the window lead my eye to the tear which was now forming in her eye; she ran over to me and sobbed its Chris, its Chris. Being her brother I instantly said calm down Rose what has happened to Chris. She burst out into floods of tears; Daniel sat her down and told her to start from the beginning of what had happened. While Dr Barnet was calming down my beloved sister I went into the kitchen and put the kettle on. Seconds later I heard Daniel call me in, so I put down the tea pot and plodded into the lounge, an instinct told me that I should go and sit next to Rose as she needed my support. In trying to do so Simon her faithful dog jumped up and sat next to her leaning over her as if she needed protection. I pulled a chair up to the side of her and said Rose can you tell Dr Barnet and I exactly what is wrong, â€Å"it all started last week when I had told Christopher that I wanted to throw a candle lit supper for a few acquaintances, but Christopher being Christopher refused to let me have it so I said to him that if he didn't let me have the party terrible things would happen to him.† explained Rose. â€Å"Go on† replied Daniel â€Å"as I was saying I told him that bad things would happen if he didn't let me have my candle lit supper, hoping that he would let me have it like he usually does, but this time he stuck with his original answer of NO, so I tried to convince him that it would be a fun evening leading up to Christmas but he would not have any more talk about the party, and since me saying that bad things would happen if he didn't let me have the party bad things have been happening, firstly Christopher's mother passes away and leaves nothing to him in her will, as she said that he was too greedy and only wanted to inherit the land or the money.† Dr Barnet asked Rose â€Å"when did Christopher's mother pass on† â€Å"On Friday was when she passed away† replied Rose Do proceed with the story I added taking notes as the story was being revealed. â€Å"after Christopher's mother's funeral we went round to his mothers estate, and went to tidy up all her belongings, Christopher found this very hard and could not bare to do any more as the sudden death of is mother had caused him to have severe psychological problems, this caused him to start drinking. He never drank not even on special occasions. He started acting like a child which our ten year old son Thomas found strange, seeing as Christopher had taught Thomas how to be a gentleman. Now Christopher had started drinking he would spend more and more time out of the house, one night he did not return† â€Å"Can you remember which night this was?† asked Dr Barnet â€Å"I believe it was Tuesday night that he did not return home.† â€Å"Has he ever done anything like this before† I added â€Å"Not to my recognition† replied Rose. â€Å"Please continue.† said Daniel. Well I telephoned the office in which he works and he was there but in a very important meeting on which the business' finance could depend. That night he returned home and was fine but he did not act his usual self. He did not give me the normal peck on the cheek and walked straight past Thomas as if he didn't actually exist. He went straight upstairs, got into bed and went to sleep without saying a word.† That is certainly unlike Christopher to ignore Thomas as they have such a good father son relationship. I said calmly even though rage was building up inside of me because of the way that Chris could treat my only sister. She continued with the ever amazing story. â€Å"The next morning he woke up did not say a word, went straight downstairs after getting dressed had his breakfast and went straight off to work. This was breaking his usual routine. As he would normally lounge around in his dressing gown before having breakfast, once he'd had breakfast with the family he would let Thomas use the bathroom first then he would use it. They would both get dressed and Christopher would take Thomas to school on his way to work. Thomas was so disappointed that his dad had ignored him and not taken him to school.† My blood began to boil could not hold in the hatred for this man any longer, he had been treating my sister and my nephew so badly I could just kill him. â€Å"Since then I have not heard or seen of him I thought he was staying at the office and doing over time to raise funds for Christmas to buy little Thomas his Christmas presents, that is why I have come to find you,† Do you have any more information about where he could be or anything that could get us started. Asked Dr Barnet. â€Å"Well there was a report that noises were heard near my husbands late mothers house, but I dare not go there as I do not have the company of a man who I stronger that I.† replied rose in a tearful kind of way. Dr Barnet and Rose sat down to talk about what Daniel and myself will have to do. Whilst all this was going on I decided to have a low fat breakfast as I had noticed that I was getting to be a bit on the large side. So toast and butter it was even though I found it hard to resist the preserves. Dr Barnet had arranged for us to meat Rose outside the house of her husband's late mother at 10:30, we arrived at about 10:15 to get a quick look at the neighbourhood surrounding the estate. There was a drive to the house about fifty metres long which had a Rolls Royce standing proudly at the top of the drive. The house was of Victorian build with a distinct window which overlooked the street, this window was situated in the attic, and Dr Barnet said to me that he just saw the blind move. At that point Rose turned up to let us into the home. The first thing we noticed was a family photo with Christopher on his father's shoulders and a boy who was identical to Christopher standing net to his mother along with his older brother Scott and sister Lyn who now owned the house. As we walked through the house there was a feeling that we should not be her but Dr Barnet said that I was only imagining it. We found another photograph of the two identical boys one of which being Christopher. When we reached the first floor of the house we found the wallet of Christopher and in it there was a business card saying: Christopher Smith accountant's office of the Perm Wigs Corporation. But a Bank card with the name Robert Smith on it. We finally managed to comb our way to the top floor and still nothing. Dr Barnet decided that we should look in the attic as he thought that he saw the blonds move. As we walked up the narrow stair way full of cobwebs and dust the floor boards creaked when we neared the summit we were blinded by the sunlight from a gap in the roof where a tile had blown off. The attic was full of boxes some of which were coffin shaped. And covered with white sheets, some of which had turned a brown colour over time. We searched through all the boxes and under all the sheets we had given up hope of finding any more clues until Rose stumbles upon a closet situated behind a large stack of boxes. There was no dust on these boxes so they had not been left in that spot for any length of time. Rose slowly turned the handle o the door and it opened with a creak. Behind the door there was a white cloth covering something. There was a red stain on the cloth which had started to turn a dark brown colour it looked as if it was blood. As Rose took hold of the corner of the cloth and pulled it. She exposed the badly beaten body of her husband who had been killed by means of extreme torture and being savagely attacked by a sharp object. I concluded that he had been tied up at one point as he seemed to have burns on his wrist but Dr Barnet said that he thought he had been shackled with chains as the burns looked like a chain pattern. Rose smith identified the body and said that she believed it to the body of her husband Christopher. By now Simon the Saint Bernard was jumping around getting agitated as he did so he bumped into a wall which was inside the store cupboard, the wall opened it was on a hinge and in this room we found a candle which was alight and a red rose in front of a picture of which we thought was Christopher and a tape player was on with the queen classic the show must go on playing. There was a small coffee table on the far side of this hidden room and sitting at it was Christopher but we thought that he was the dead person we found. Rose ran over to him and said in a soft voice Christopher and he turned round with tears streaming from his eyes with a piece of paper in his hands that says at the top last will and testimony. He is muttering â€Å"sorry mum I didn't mean to do it. Please for give me.† Rose slapped him round the face and asked him what he didn't mean to do to his brother Rob, He replied in a tearful way I killed Rob I killed Rob, â€Å"Who is Rob?† asked Dr Barnet My identical brother my mothers favourite son and he got the rolls and all of mothers money and I got nothing so I wanted it all for myself so I ties him up in chains and attached it to the mains electricity and I whipped him with grandfathers sabre which he used in a fencing competition. I called the authorities and they dealt with the matter so all the clues we found could not have helped us in any way as they were identical twins and we could not tell the difference and that was only down to the split personality of one greedy man who was not happy unless he had everything. Since then I have looked after my sister and I now live with them taking care of them until Christopher is finally classed as a sane person and he can once again look after his family. That was the tale of the double trouble mystery. Another mystery solved for the ever expanding case book of world famous Professor Williams and Dr Barnet.

Distance Time Walking Relationship Experimentation

Physics Lab Report Distance Time Walking Relationship Experimentation For Mr. Williams SPH3U1-02 Sept. 13/10 Written by: Dong Chang, Gloria Chan, Sanjay Tanirige, and Waleed Shehzad Image credits Distance Time Walking Relationship Experimentation Purpose The purpose of this experiment is to determine the amount of time in seconds that it takes to walk a distance of 84 metres on the running track. In addition, the person that is the most reliable to perform this test will have to be determined. Hypothesis We hypothesize that it will take approximately 103. 7 seconds to run the 84 metre of track by an average person. This value was derived from the average time that it takes to walk one metre from the person with the most average walking speed out of the group. Procedure Materials and Apparatus: †¢ Metre Stick †¢ †¢ Method Part A: Finding most reliable walker 1. Place the metre stick on a sufficient space on the ground with some distance before and after it. Let the zero metre mark be the origin. 2. Start walking some distance before the origin (in the negative x-axis area).When the person’s stride is over the origin, the stopwatch is started. The person will keep on walking and maintain the same speed and heading with no acceleration until they have walked some distance past the 1 metre mark. Stop the stopwatch once the person’s stride is over the 1 metre mark. 3. Record the time that it takes to perform the action of walking 1 metre. Repeat Step 2 two more times so that you have three trials. Find the average time that it took the person to walk the 1 metre. 4. Repeat Steps 1-3 for each member of the roup. 5. Find the average that it takes for all members of the group to walk 1 metre by adding their averages and dividing by the amount of people in the group. Stopwatch with accuracy of 1/100 seconds Pre-marked area 84 metres long Distance Time Walking Relationship Experimentation 6. The person that has the closest personal average to the group average will be the most reliable walker for the group. Part B: Finding the time that it takes to walk 84 metres 1. Mark the 84 metre track with the start and the finish. 2.Using the most reliable walker found in Part A, start walking some distance before the start line in order to achieve a constant velocity and have zero acceleration. Start the stopwatch when the person’s stride is over the start line, and stop the stopwatch when the person’s stride is over the finish line. 3. Record the time that it takes the person to walk the 84 metre length of track. Observations Record of the amount of time in seconds for a person to walk one metre. Walker Time 1 (seconds) 0. 90 0. 93 1. 08 1. 28 Time 2 (seconds) 1. 23 1. 16 1. 10 1. 08 Time 3 (seconds) 1. 6 1. 16 1. 18 1. 18 Time Average (seconds) 1. 13 1. 08 1. 12 1. 18 Dong Chang Gloria Chan Sanjay Tantirige Waleed Shahzad Therefore, the total average of everyone’s time to walk one metre is: (1. 13s+1. 08s+1 . 12s+1. 18s)/4 =4. 51s/4 =1. 275s ?1. 3 seconds The person with the closest personal average is Dong Chang, with an average time of 1. 13 seconds.Therefore, he is the most reliable to run the test. Distance Time Walking Relationship Experimentation The average time of the most reliable person to walk one metre. Walker Dong Chang Time (seconds) 1. 21 1. 37 1. 19 1. 5 1. 17 1. 28 1. 18 1. 12 1. 21 1. 25 Therefore the average of the time to walk one metre is 1. 233 seconds. To estimate the time it takes to walk 84 metres: Let x be the estimated time to walk 84 metres x=time*distance x=1. 233 seconds * 84 metres x=103. 572 seconds x ? 103. 57 seconds Therefore we estimate it would take 103. 57 seconds in order to walk 84 metres. Actual result of test to walk 84 metres: 106. 75 seconds Distance Time Walking Relationship Experimentation Percent Deviation of Test [(experimental value – theoretical value)/theoretical value] * 100% [(106. 5s-103. 57s)/103. 57s]*100% =(3. 18s/103. 57s )*100% ?3. 07% Therefore the deviation is 3. 07% away from the hypothesis. Percent Difference of Trials (maximum difference in measurement)/average measurement * 100% [(1. 37s-1. 12s)/1. 233s]*100% =(0. 25s/1. 233s)*100% ?20. 3% Therefore the difference between the trials was 20. 3% Analysis 1. a) How did you choose the walker? We first had each person walk 1 metre three times each and timed them. An average time was assigned to each person based on their performance.Then we found the average that it takes for all members of the group to walk 1 metre by adding their personal averages and dividing by the amount of people in the group. The person that has the closest personal average to the group average will be the most reliable walker for the group because they are the most average. b) How did you design your classroom trials? We placed the metre stick beside the straight surface of the wall so that the walker can walk perpendicular to it as to not have any change in direction while conduction the trials.We set the 0 metre point of the ruler as the origin, and that was where we would start timing and we set the 1 metre point to where we would stop timing. The walker would start walking before the origin so they can maintain a constant velocity and have zero acceleration. When their stride is over the origin, we would start timing, and then their stride Distance Time Walking Relationship Experimentation is over the 1 metre mark, we would stop timing. We did this three times each for every group member to find who was the most reliable walker, and ten times more for the most reliable walker. . a) How did your classroom trials approximate the final verification? Our classroom trials help us obtain a proper hypothesis that was extremely close to our final test during the final verification.By using mathematical models and calculations with real world small scale measurements, we were able to predict the outcome of the experiment down to approximately 3% off. Howev er, such trials seem mundane for such a low scale experiment which would probably have been done a lot faster if the final verification was done earlier. ) Who was the most reliable walker? Why? Dong Chang was the most reliable walker because his personal average time to walk 1 metre of distance is the closest to the group’s total average to walk 1 metre. On average, the total group took 1. 275 seconds to walk 1 metre, with Dong’s time of 1. 30 seconds average the closest. 3. a) How accurate was your estimate? Our estimate was very accurate and only presented a 3. 07% deviation (see observations for calculations) from the final verification time. b) Area your results reliable to science?Our results are reliable to science due to the good design of our trials and experiments. We had a 3. 07% error, which is less than the 5% that would deem our results acceptable to science. Conclusion In physics, motion is a change in location or position of an object with respect to ti me. In this experiment, the walker exerts motion in order to change their position down a track. We were able to estimate the amount of time that it takes one to travel a certain distance with a set of scaled down trials. Distance Time Walking Relationship Experimentation

Strategic Perspectives The WritePass Journal

Strategic Perspectives Strategic Perspectives . In the former instance, the company was accused of employing suppliers in its outsourced production strategy who were running sweat shops, an accusation which subsequently led to the closure of one of its factories over poor labour conditions. The company agreed to these accusations taking the position that the misdeeds pointed out amounted to a serious breach to its code of conduct (Inditex, 2013; Economist, 2012). In the latter instance, testimonies and claims of abuse and terror meted on 25 of Zara’s employees, including store managers and staff, were aired in the media.   The company undertook to regularize such situations through the enhancement of supervision of the production systems of its entire network of suppliers (Economist, 2012). 2.1   Stakeholder theory The Stakeholder theory states that, without regard to the fact that some stakeholders would make more contributions to the organization, all stakeholders are entitled to equal treatment (Dricscoll and Hoffman, 2002). Stakeholders include individuals, organizations or groups that have legitimate interest in the business and who therefore affect or are affected by its actions (Nordberg, 2011). With crises and concerns over abuses of human rights, Zara’s corporate reputation and brand equity was hard hit giving it the image of a business entity which neither places sufficient importance to the needs of its stakeholders nor regard to them (Economist, 2012; Buelens, et al., 2011). With the interdependence between the company and its stakeholders, it is essential for an organization, in the recognition of the needs of its stakeholders, to act and reason rationally as well as to make ethical responses. The organization’s leadership is required to have the desire, will and the skill that will ensure that all stakeholders are treated with respect and their voices heard (Buelens, et al., 2011). 2.2   Corporate social responsibility Among the ways in which corporate entities may shore up their reputation and image as perceived by its stakeholders is through conformance and adherence to ethical principles (Dricscoll and Hoffman, 2002). A notable avenue is the pursuit of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which is a mechanism integrated into business processes and an organization’s business model that ensures that ethical principles and provisions in law are complied with and monitored (Nordberg, 2011; Dricscoll and Hoffman, 2002). It entails the deliberate attempts by an organization to do good as a corporate citizen in reciprocation of goodwill it enjoys from society. For success in ensuring adherence to ethical principles and in the endeavour to build up its corporate image and reputation, Zara needs to institute mechanisms towards CSR that would also serve to guide its mission towards a better relationship with its stakeholders, outline its stand on such issues and as well clearly indicate the promis es it intends to uphold for society as an entity obtaining its sustenance within society (Dricscoll and Hoffman, 2002). 2.3   Organizational ethics Organizational ethics is a concept that expresses the values of an organization to its stakeholders (Dricscoll and Hoffman, 2002). It includes written codes of ethics or standards such as Zara’s â€Å"Code of Conduct for External Manufacturers and Workshops of Inditex† which it claims to have had (Inditex, 2013); systems of reporting which are guarded with confidentiality; as well as ethics training and advice (Buelens, et al., 2011). Despite its claims of written codes of conduct, it is evident that they were not complied with, respected and adhered to. For its success in entrenching organizational ethics, Zara should endeavour to institute elaborate systems traversing the entire organization and its partners that enable the maintenance of requisite ethical standards (Nordberg, 2011). 3.0 Zara’s levels of strategy 3.1   Business level strategy of Zara The primary aim of a business in the competitive business environment, underpinning its goals and objectives of sustenance and growth, is to develop an edge over rival firms building on its resources and competencies. Porter fronts three generic strategies which a company can employ in its pursuit of competitive advantage over its rivals (Kim, Nam and Stimpert, 2004). They include cost leadership, in which a company seeks to offer similar value with a lower price; differentiation, achieved by a company when it offers benefits different from and of more value than those of its competitors; and, focus on either of the two (Kim, Nam and Stimpert, 2004). A company can pursue a hybrid of both strategies simultaneously, achieving differentiation and a price lower than its rivals. Zara pursues a hybrid strategy seeking to exploit both cost leadership and differentiation strategies. Its closest and most comparable rivals challenging its market presence and competitive advantage include Gap, HM and Benetton though Zara sits closest with HM in the more fashionable and less priced segment. Zara is however considered to be more fashionable among the three, a position the company intends to sustain and exploit (Inditex, 2013; Economist, 2012). Its strategic venture into the low-cost segment through its Lefties brand of stores illustrates its pursuit of a clear cost leadership strategy enabling Zara to tap into lower market segments meeting the need of customers in the current harsh economic times (Inditex, 2013). This ensures that the company is still better placed to sustain its growth and profits even with unfavourable shifts in the economy and consumer spending. However, Zara primarily pursues a differentiation strategy through significant focus on competitive strategies that enhance overall efficiency in its entire value chain (Economist, 2012; Inditex, 2013). Zara’s value chain, which is often tweaked to enhance efficiency and performance, is a major platform upon which the company derives its differentiation from rivals. Enhanced efficiency is enabled by vertical integration and therefore control of crucial processes; employment of technology to coordinate suppliers, production and distribution processes; outsourcing of intensive tasks; as well as its finely-tuned logistics and just-in-time manufacturing strategy which shorten response time and enable the achievement of greater flexibility in variety, frequency and amount of new styles produced (Economist, 2012; Inditex, 2013; BloombergBusinessweek, 2009). The constant refinement of operations in pursuit of continuous efficiency gains including leveraging on technology to enhance crucial production processes has enabled the company to reverse the trend of costs rising faster than revenues. Enhanced efficiency and attendant effectiveness lead to the minimization of costly errors, reduction in costs which consequently enables the enhancement of bottom line and price (Inditex, 2013; Carpenter and Sanders, 2007). Zara also derives its differentiation from its effective market intelligence and focus on continuous awareness and understanding of the customer. Customer feedback through personalized ‘word-of-mouth’ interactions with staff at store level used to assess their preferences and wants is used to guide design and development, as well as other essential improvements (Inditex, 2013; BloombergBusinessweek, 2009). Unlike its competitor’s reliance on electronic consumer data, this has enabled quick turnaround of merchan dise through quicker replenishment of popular items and removal of slow-selling lines enabling Zara to generate more cash, reduce inventory and eliminate the need for significant debt on held inventories which has a direct impact on costs (Inditex, 2013; BloombergBusinessweek, 2009). These strategies and the resultant efficiency have enabled the company to achieve enhanced return visits by customers far greater than the industry average on several indices, a significant competitive advantage (Inditex, 2013; Economist, 2012). They have also enabled Zara to incur significantly less expenditure on advertising with the saved revenue being redeployed to enhance competitive advantage (Inditex, 2013). 3.2   Corporate level strategy Corporate level strategy as the highest level of strategy in an organization is concerned with the overall scope, seeking to add value to constituent businesses/ elements within the entire organization (Lynch, R., 2006). In its pursuit of competitive advantage in the hostile business environment characterized by intense competition and economic challenges, Zara has adopted a growth focus in its corporate strategy. This is evidenced by its pursuit of vertical integration, market penetration, market development and product development strategies in an attempt to sustain its growth and strategic positioning in the fashion industry (Lynch, R., 2006; Inditex, 2013). Guiding these strategic decisions and particular choices, the Ansoff matrix highlights scenarios in consideration of the existence or newness of products or markets (Christodoulou and Patel, 2012; Mintzberg, et al., 2008). Existing product New product Existing market Market penetration Product development New market Market development Diversification Ansoff matrix 3.2.1   Market penetration and market development Zara is hindered by constraints resultant from its Spain-centred model, a major weakness in its endeavour to sustain growth and to maintain its strategic positioning (BloombergBusinessweek, 2009; Economist, 2012). An outward focus towards market development is essential. This has necessitated international expansion and the exploitation of untapped markets including North and South America, Asia, Middle East, Africa and the rest of Europe, particularly Italy.   Enabled by the construction of additional distribution facilities in Zaragoza, Spain and in South America, as well as the upward scaling of its logistics processes to enable the realization of economies of scale in the strategic expansion, the company has spread out into Asia, America, Australia, India and Africa (BloombergBusinessweek, 2009; Economist, 2012). The company has also sought to achieve market penetration in its development of virtual stores, tapping into the opportunities in internet retailing and marketing through online stores and boutiques. Available in ten countries and seeking entry into the USA and Korea, the company has since 2010 sought to exploit this model venturing into this field (Inditex, 2013; Economist, 2012). 3.2.2    Product development For a company to survive and grow in the fast changing fashion industry, it is essential that a business keenly enhances product development, matching or beating its rivals in output and production of new items. Zara has endeavoured to maximize its throughput of new items keeping merchandise in stores always new and fresh. This frequency, enabled by just-in-time manufacturing and focus on limited runs, also ensures that products do not stay long enough risking replication or imitation (Inditex, 2013; Carpenter and Sanders, 2007). The active pursuit of market intelligence and awareness and appreciation of customer preference ensures that the company does not become complacent and unresponsive thereby losing its track in the fast changing and intensely competitive industry (Carpenter and Sanders, 2007; Thompson, et al., 2008). 3.2.3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Vertical integration To enhance control of the entire business and its processes, achieve stability of production and thereby strengthen its competitive position, Zara has pursued vertical integration strategies. These include forward integration through the investment in distribution facilities and specialty stores, as well as backward into production and manufacturing facilities. Zara has also developed subsidiaries that manage its purchases of fabric and dyes (Inditex, 2013). The company has undertaken this strategy in an endeavour to minimize its exposure to expensive distributors and suppliers and the inefficiency attendant to the lack of complete control of especially crucial processes. 4.0 Recommendations Zara in its performance and strategic positioning can be considered to be a success. However, the company cannot afford complacency and should endeavour to maintain its competitiveness and to sustain its position in the fashion industry into the future. At its strategic position and level of maturity and given the slow growth of the fashion industry and attendant economic challenges (Economist, 2012; BloombergBusinessweek, 2009), a number of strategies are suggested for Zara to pursue for its sustenance into the future. Among these strategies is Diversification either into a business that also deals in fashion or to an unrelated field adding value and broadening present business. Also recommended is the strengthening and sustenance of its successful strategies such as efficiency in its entire value chain which has been the primary factor that has enabled its differentiation; Market Development in its international expansion and exploitation of new markets; and Market Penetration in the exploitation of the boom in the information technology field, enhancing its virtual platforms and stores. Such ventures have the potential of being important avenues through which the company can acquire additional revenue, as well as, reducing its exposure to vulnerabilities of its centralized model and complete focus on a single line of business. 5.0 Evaluation of strategies A simple and straightforward criteria used to evaluate strategy is the Suitability, Acceptability and Feasibility model (SAF). It offers a process of rationalization to assess importance, priority and likely success of each strategy identified (Haberberg, A., and A., Rieple, 2008; Thompson, et al., 2008). This report evaluates two strategies identified above including: diversification and continued market development. 5.1   Suitability Suitability is concerned with the rationale of the strategy and its overall fit in the organization’s mission (Thompson, et al., 2008). At the company’s level of maturation, with regard to the Industry Life Cycle (ILC), and stature in the fashion industry, diversification is highly recommended as a priority strategy given that its strong competitive position in the fashion industry is constrained by slowed growth in the market. This strategy would enable the broadening of present business to include complementary products (Carpenter and Sanders, 2007). Continued market development is also recommended for Zara enabling it to tap into new markets enhancing its growth and ensuring its sustainability. These strategies would generally also enable the company to lower its vulnerabilities to financial and political factors that could affect it given its centralized model, as well as risks attendant to the fashion industry (Economist, 2012; Mintzberg, et al., 2008). 5.2   Acceptability Acceptability deals with the expected outcomes of the implementation of strategy and expectations of stakeholders (Thompson, et al., 2008). Diversification, if pursued, would enable the capturing of cross-business strategic fits such as the creation of new competitive strengths and capabilities, the sharing of facilities to reduce costs, and/or the spreading of risks across diverse businesses (Christodoulou   and Patel, 2012). Market Development and entry into new territories/geographical areas and distribution channels enable the company to exploit markets that are not saturated, utilising its surplus production capacity. These strategies would enable the generation of additional revenue and the securing of shareholder interests which contribute to the enhancement of shareholder value (Carpenter and Sanders, 2007). They would also reduce risks due to Zara’s centralized mode of operations. 5.3   Feasibility Feasibility is concerned with the capacity of the organization to implement the strategy, especially focusing on the availability of resources (Thompson, et al., 2008). With Zara’s success in the fashion industry and, consequently, availability of adequate financial and organizational resources, as well as the consideration of the diminishing prospects of growth in the fashion industry (Economist, 2012; BloombergBusinessweek, 2009), diversification should be a priority strategy for Zara. Its surplus financial and organizational resources can be exploited to enable the company’s sustenance and growth. These surplus resources can also be utilized in pursuit of Market Development. Its highly efficient distribution system can be scaled up, such as in its present initiative to develop additional distribution facilities (Inditex, 2013), to build the company’s capacity to exploit the opportunity offered. Zara has successfully found activities that matter to customers and has significantly enhanced key activities enhancing its key activities. However, to sustain this strategic position and achieve necessary growth into the future, the company needs to pursue appropriate strategies as outlined above especially diversification, market development and the continuous pursuit of efficiency gains. 6.0 References BloombergBusinessweek, 2009. Zara Looks to Asia for Growth. August 26 Buelens, M., K., Sinding, C., Waldstrom, R., Kreitner, and A., Kinicki, 2011. Organisational Behaviour, 4th Edition: McGrawHill Higher Education Carpenter, M., and W., Sanders, 2007. Strategic Management: A Dynamic Perspective. Harlow: Pearson Prentice Hall Dricscoll, D., and W., Hoffman, 2002. Ethics Matters: How to Implement Values-Driven Management Economist, 2012. Inditex Fashion forward Zara: Spain’s most successful brand, is trying to go global. Mar 24th. LA CORUÑA Haberberg, A., and A., Rieple, 2008. Strategic Management: Theory and Application, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Inditex, 2013. Zara. Viewed from: inditex.com/en/who_we_are/concepts/zara Kim, Nam and Stimpert, 2004. â€Å"The Applicability of Porter’s Generic Strategies in the Digital Age: Assumptions, Conjectures, and Suggestions.† In: Journal of Management, 30, 5 Lynch, R., 2006. Corporate Strategy, (4th ed.), Harlow: FT Prentice Hall Mintzberg, H., B., Ahlstrand, and J., Lampel, 2008. Strategy Safari: The Complete Guide Through the Wilds of Strategic Management , 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall Nordberg, D., 2011. Corporate Governance: Principles and Issues. London: Sage Publications. Christodoulou, I., and Z., Patel 2012. BKEY 601 Strategic Perspectives, McGraw Hill editions. Thompson, A., A., Strickland, and J., Gamble, 2008. Crafting and Executing Strategy: (16th edition), Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill