Political And Social Criticism In 1984 - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2398 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/04/10 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: 1984 Essay Did you like this example? There must be something in books, something we cant imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. According to Ray Bradbury, You dont stay for nothing. It is curious to think that a single work of art, a single poem, and a single book can radically change the minds of the populace as a whole and yet it has been a recurring theme throughout history. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Political And Social Criticism In 1984" essay for you Create order As a major source of political and social criticism, books have been implemented in criticism of political machines, social injuctices, the greedy and selfish side of human nature that works toward assuming total control. As sometimes a blunt and rude awakening, dystopian novels illustrate, often in exaggerated ways, a fictional reality that disturbingly mimics what has occurred or is occurring in reality and has the potential to prophesied the emergence many different types of societies along with the conflicts between the people and the government. One dystopian writer who was influenced to write a novel criticising the totalitarian regimes of his time, such as Natzi Germani under Hitler and the Soviet Union under Stalin, was the left-wing writer George Orwell. In one of his lesser praised books,1984, argued by critics as being a very underdeveloped story lacking interesting plot points and containing a harshly pessimistic outlook on Londons society, George Orwell warns that a similar society to the socially oppressive, totalitarian society of Oceania could arise if social oppression in the forms of degradation of the self, political greed and extreme patriotism and oppression of the working class through enhancements in technology and erasure of the past continue in his current society. Orwell is well recognized for his inclusion of political and social criticism within his novels and essays. He used real world politics to be able to effectively depict and prophesize human greed for power and need to control people in totality through unquestioning loyalty. The critic Morris Dickstein comments that: Orwells appeal to posterity brings to mind poems like Whitmans Crossing Brooklyn Ferry or Brechts An die Nachgeborenen (To Posterity), which begins, Truly, I live in the dark ages, and ends with an appeal for understanding: Think back on us / With kindness. Winston scribbles in his diary, as Orwell writes the novel, for the future, for the unborn, though he wonders if such communication is really possible, especially under a system that claims it can wipe out any trace of him. (105). It is interesting to note that Orwell, with his lifetime numbered with a severe illness that took hold around the time of his writing 1984, rushed to get his message out to his future audience, in an effort to provide critical insight about political idealisms, such as communism and totalitarianism(Dickstein). Similarly, although he does not know how his message will be sent or received, Winston seems to want to relay a message for the future generation as a warning sign to be cautious with the seemingly desolate direction of total control that is Oceania. His desire is to make sure that his truth is spoken so that the future generation may know and understand the horrible conditions Winston lived in and aspire to change the negligent and oppressive lifestyle the government is forcing their own people to lead. Moreover Dickstein comments that Nineteen Eighty-Four has several minor characters who also serve as emblems of Orwells argument, including Syme, the ideological zealot, and Pa rsons, the slovenly, stupid true believer who is turned in by his own children(104). The unbridled patriotism that the people of Oceania exude, unsurprisingly, backfires when extreme amounts of surveillance come into play. The patriots ignorance and the belief that unquestioning loyalty has the ability to protect the self from perceived unlawfulness are products of the governments want to assume control. Not only is this exaggerated form of patriotism needlessly present in the adults it is also disproportionately apparent in the younger generation because the propaganda in favor of the government was all the children ever even knew. The adults may have grown up in a time where Oceania had not formed yet and so may be less influenced by the propaganda but because the children were born when this government was fully fledged, they are able to be molded in such a way that makes them turn against their own kin for the benefit of the government. As illustrated by the main character Winston, the two minutes Hate was a prime example of this extreme form of patriotism in whi ch: The most horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but it was impossible to avoid joining inA hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against ones own will into a grimacing, screaming lunatichis secret loathing of Big Brother changed into adoration, and big brother seemed to tower up, an invincible, fearless protector, standing like a rock against the hordes of Asia, and Goldstein, in spite of his isolation(Orwell 15). In his dystopian world, technology,specifically the telescreen, is used as a method for surveilling the populace to keep the people in a state of terror for their livelihood, specifically the telescreen, which is able to receive and transmit any sounds above a whisper to the thought police. This essentially gives rise to the effect of people believing that their every actions and thoughts can and will be heard and if anything goes against the belief system that the Party offers, the consequences are severe, in the form of torture and death. As an effect this causes the to be docile and unquestioning complacency of the populace. As the critic John David Frodsham pointed out how the system of surveillance to beget loyalty in 1984 mimics reality. As one observer commented, as late as 1975: China is an immense bar racks living in a permanent state of terror and fear. The Maoist way of life is based on surveillance of the citizenry. Several houses make up a cell whose members are required to report their thoughts and actions to each other. . . The individual has no right to personal life. . . where he goes, what he talks about, what he eats, what he reads, what he listens to on the radio, all this is immediately learned by those around him and reported to the neighborhood revolutionary committee !Thanks to the bao-jia (mutual surveillance) system, Maos China did not need the telescreen. Thought-control had been achieved without elaborate technology (144). With effectively little to no privacy, the government of Oceania, as well as China in the Maoist way of life, have efficiently stripped the populace of their identities and amassed control through surveillance (Frodsham). Likewise the fear factor in 1984 of being reported by someone or overheard by the Thought Police allows Oceanas government to effectively assume control. To the people of Oceania the thought of being taken away to never be seen or heard of again and to have their entire life uprooted has effectively made the masses complacent and docile enough to not utter a single word against the government and to foolishly believe the propaganda that is being spread to further elicit complacency. Frodsham continues to explain that For Orwell, Nature was essentially good and technology essentially evil. Technology in 1984 is used to enslave men, not liberate them(142). It is interesting to note that many technologies are in current use that help the government surveil and keep their people in line so utter chaos does not ensue. However, the extent of which the novel uses technologies such as the speakwrite and telescreen as a form of control is quite literally frightening as one misspoken word or action could get one killed. The extreme misuse technology in the novel is, quite literally, evil in the sense that, technology is innovative and meant to help one live a more comfortable life, but is rather used to constrain people into a very limited form of living where fear prevails and peace of mind does not. In the novel, OBrien explains that:The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. (1984, 175). The power that OBrien is illustrating is in and of itself desolate. It is a power that provides for no security or peace of mind for the people as a whole but rather illustrates the burning desire of the few who are in power to gain more and more power, of course without second thought of the consequences and without second thought for the wellbeing of the people. The greed that is illustrated in O Briens explanation as claimed by critic H. Mark Roelofs, stems from the knowledge that, power of this order cannot be possessed by a single individual except in and for the perpetuation of myth, to wit, the myth of Big Brother. In fact, toted power can be possessed only by a class, or a party representing a class(23). In essence, having power of that extent possibly be held in the hands of one individual. However brainwashing the population into believing that there exists someone in the right who is all seeing and all controlling, Big Brother, and symbolically having someone who is trying to overthrow this myth of Big Brother who is in the wrong, as demonstrated by the enemy of Oceania, Emmanuel Goldstein, essentially makes the people ideologically complacent to the control of Oceanias Party. As further explained by the critic Roelofs, In consequence, their power could be taken to the ultimate pitch total power is more like an absolute perversion of love(23). As a result of the Partys lust for power and greed combined with an overall lack of concern over the well being of the population as a whole, people like Obrien, who find those going against the societal norms to completely and utterly destroy the thi nking, conscious and rational mind, essentially the self, allow for a almost mindless and unquestioning loyalty to the Party to be instigated. Furthermore, in the novel Obrien exclaims If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever (178). Essentially, the Party has created a government without freedom, a grim reality that is substantially hopeless for the populace. There seems to be an overall lack of compassion, gratitude, and true criticism of the power hungry government that stems from rational thought based on the idea that government is meant to protect the wellbeing of the people. Roelofs claims that, It must always be noted that party members love (i.e., merge themselves with) the Party, and that the populace and Winston Smith in particular- must love Big Brother (23). Because the people have been conditioned to such an extent to believe that they must love Big Brother, they know only how to believe the lies the government is feeding them with a spoon and lack the ability to criticise and provide for intelligent debate that may help improve the well being of the people. Likewise the extreme forms of surveillance make this task quite difficult since so few are willing to stand up for better humane treatment at the expense of their lives. The self is a concept that is constantly being sought after, along with individuality and uniqueness. However, due to the inhumanity and cruelty illustrated throughout the book, the self along with individuality is not something that is considered or even widely sought after. According to the critic Irving Howe, Orwell is trying to present the kind of world in which individuality has become obsolete and personality a crime..and Orwell has imagined a world in which the self, whatever subterranean existence it manages to eke out, is no longer a significant value, not even a value to be violated (195). The very idea of having an identity, within the dystopian society that orwell has created, is seen as being blasphemous. The people are often depicted as robots, doing what the masses do, never stepping out of line for fear of severe judgement, and never once thinking or speaking their minds because they have been conditioned to not think. Therefore because the people are so far gone under the control of the government , none can ever have an original opinion or thought, none can critique, and none can ever be able to contemplate what it is to be human, to have an identity and a sense of self. The horrifying illustration of the older generation not being able to teach the younger generation how to think analytically and always question and have intelligent conversations comes into play through the portrayal of mindlessness throughout the novel. 1984 demonstrates the horrific society in which politics has overridden a persons ability to express themselves freely without fear of reprimands along with society and how it functions as a whole and Howe describes the novel as a profoundly anti-political book, full of hatred for the kind of world in which public claims destroy the possibilities for privacy (196). It should be noted that Orwells intention of the messages in the book are not anti-political in nature but are rather anti- totalitarian in which the entire state is required to have total subservience to a centralized and dictatorial authority. This is shown illustrated to the many instances of a lack of privacy and surveillance taken to extreme levels to garner complete and utter conformity of the people the government serves along with the utter lack of care of the government towards the people they are meant to serve and protect. To further demonstrate the illusion of good living conditions and security, the government has workers such as the main character, Winston, erasing and rewriting history and facts to prevent truth from reaching the public and to spread lies. As illuminated by R. B Reeves: inhabitants of this world (of crowded apartment houses that reek of boiled cabbage, of foul smelling Victory Gin, of Victory Cigarettes that fall apart) cannot know how truly bleak their lives are since they have no means of comparison. All knowledge of the past has been altered; so there is no way of discovering whether life had been better previously(14).

Walt Disney Company A Cartoon Studio - 2215 Words

Walt Disney Company The birth of Walt Disney Company can be traced back in 1923 where it was founded by Walt Elias Disney as a cartoon studio. The company was initiated in California in the summer holidays with its first animation being about Alice Wonderland, which was made in Kansas City (Sanders, 2015). At those days, the company was identified as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. After four years of adhering to only one cartoon, Alice, Walt Disney decided to release new series of cartoons which started with Oswald cartoon or the 928 when Walt Disney decided to change the character of his cartoon series into a mouse which colloquially identified as The Lucky Rabbit (Sanders, 2015). The recognition of the company was realized back in 1 was named as Mickey Mouse. Although Disney received several criticisms from the film distributors concerning his idea on the Mickey Mouse, the cartoon was marked as the international and the moist popular figure of the days by the New York Times Newspaper (Sanders, 2015 ). Most of the film distributors believed that the cartoon series from Disney only had the mediocre ability but not until it was performed in theatres and drew the interests of the audience in large numbers that they realized that it was going far. Citing from the setting background of Walt Disney’s cartoon series, it was marked as the guide to the animator and an orchestra from its musical background. The general development of the company was realized in 1950 when itShow MoreRelatedCasey Blackwell. Spc 1608. Professor Workman. 7 February1234 Words   |  5 PagesWorkman 7 February 2017 Walt Disney Introduction I. Open With Impact A. 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Business Model of Amazon Free Essays

Opening of the internet to commercial activity, the creation of naming conventions for URLs and the development of a user friendly and free interface i. e. the browser were the three major developments that led to the advent of what is known as â€Å"e-business†. We will write a custom essay sample on Business Model of Amazon or any similar topic only for you Order Now As the economy has moved from agrarian to industrial to information age, the focus of the businessmen or the wealthy and powerful has also shifted in terms of the ways of obtaining wealth or doing business. In the agrarian age there was shortage of land which made ownership of land as the determinant of value. Powerful land barons typically accumulated vast tracts of land and coerced people who were bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord into living on and working it. As economy moved from agrarian to industrial age, physical assets owned by a firm became the determinants of value and shortage of raw-materials led the powerful industrialists to conspire to control the supply of raw materials. In this age, the market could absorb as much product as the industrialists could produce. The current era in which we live has been defined as the information age wherein relationships and intellectual capital are more important than anything else. One is not worried about physical assets anymore. Companies don’t compete with each other over superior products as they are largely commoditized rather compete increasingly on the basis of value added customer services. The economic battles of today are fought over the mind-space of consumers. In the information age power-play customers are not passive participants, in the way that land and raw materials were in the agrarian and industrial ages. In fact, according to Zang Hailing, it is the customers’ time that is in short supply, and therefore for any firm to succeed, emphasis needs to be given to the importance of reducing the customers’ time to adopt a new product. Thus, in a world where technology is changing every day and the transformation of consumers has happened from â€Å"Price Takers† to â€Å"Price Makers† as they are armed with more options and information; the companies that control more and more customer relationships will be the ones that hold the power in an industry and reap the lion’s share of the profits. E-commerce or e-business is an important tool that enables companies to reach out to the global market at low cost and provides abundant information about the consumers’ requirements and preferences easily which was not so easy earlier. Following figure is a glimpse of the promising future that the ecommerce industry holds. The US E-commerce has seen a 40% increase in the sales over the past 5 years as a percentage of the total retail sales in US. Source: http://ycharts. com Now when thinks about e-commerce, the first name that comes to everyone’s mind is that of Amazon. com. Not only most of the people have heard about it but there are many people who have actually used its services. Amazon was not only one of the few of the companies that thrived throughout the period in which many dot-com companies struggled to survive but has been constantly performing exceptionally well in terms of revenue per visitor which is one of the key parameters for any commercial website. Amazon has had one of the fastest growths in the internet’s history with revenues reaching $2, 8 billion in the first five years with Google’s revenue reaching only $15bn in the first five years. Now, just like any other traditional business in order to clearly understand an e-business one needs to have information on the following components: a) Business Strategy which determines the products and service offerings by the firm, the firms targeted customers and the firms value proposition. It also helps firms decide on the choices and the tradeoffs that the firm needs to make. b) Organizational form or structure c) Business processes which refer to the unique ways in which organizations coordinate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to produce a product or service. ) Value Chain i. e. the sequence of activities that a firm undertakes to create value, including the various steps of the supply chain but also additional activities, such as marketing, sales, and service. e) Core Competencies which are the collective learning’s of the firms and being distinctive create long term competitive advantage for the firm. From the beginning, the focus of Amazon. com has been on offering their customers compelling value. In the current report filing dated 04/13/12, Jeffrey Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon. om writes â€Å"We realized that the Web was, and still is, the World Wide Wait. Therefore, we set out to offer customers something they simply could not get any other way, and began serving them with books. We brought them much more selection than was possible in a physical store (our store would now occupy 6 football fields), and presented it in a useful, easy-to-search, and easy-to-browse format in a store open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. † The Value Proposition offered by Amazon. com is â€Å"earth’s largest selection—24/7, at competitive price. † Amazon. om has continuously focused on improving the shopping experience owing to which they substantially enhanced their stores in 1997. Though they started off with books, they now offer customers gift certificates, 1-ClickSM shopping, and vastly more r eviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. The company’s stated goal was to â€Å"be Earth’s most customer centric company for three primary customer sets: consumers, sellers and developers. † It targeted its first set of customers through its initial retail model where it sold only books. It offered the perfect combination of low prices, large selection and convenience or customer experience. The digital media allowed limitless inventory, boosted customer care and allowed higher margins and hence lowest prices. In 15 years Amazon went from 1 category to 16 main categories of books. Amazon began with books and needed to grow big fast. From 1995-1998, Amazon moved from books to music and again through the same combination moved to become the biggest seller of music in just 120 days! Amazon moved on develop its own digital driven supply chain and distribution network by hiring from the expert: Wal-Mart. Amazon accelerated development through its strategy of â€Å"Build, buy, partner† a) Build: Amazon keeps on creating new categories. For example, Amazon kicked off a new service by the name MyHabit. com in May 2011 that made fashion available to consumers directly from designers and boutique brands. b) Buy: When there is a lot of competition in any area and the competitors have a strong hold, Amazon believes in buying out the incumbent. Few of the acquisitions made by Amazon include Internet Movie Database  (IMDb), Zappos (an online shoe and apparel retailer) etc. ) Partner: Amazon has also entered into a lot of merchant partnerships. It offers its technological service and ecommerce expertise to third- parties. For example in October 2011, Amazon. com announced a partnership with DC Comics for the exclusive digital rights to many popular comics, including Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Sandman, and Watchmen. As mentioned before as well, Amazon want to be the â€Å"wo rld’s most customer-centric† company, and so their focus is on the â€Å"Customer Service†. It ensures customer loyalty through three main approaches: a) Recurring usage b) Seamless Integration c) Lock-in The following table tells us how Amazon uses all above mentioned approaches for its both customers: Sellers and consumers. | Sellers| Consumers| Recurring Usage| a. Developed a customer base close to 615mn users that can’t be ignored by sellers b. Ensures profit through optimized and reliable technology c. Developed a trusted Brand name| a. Created an ecosystem through Kindle b. Stores user’s media library c. Offers personalization to customers d. Gives special offers everyday| Seamless Integration| a. Monitors sellers rating ratings posted by consumers and expels sellers with bad ratings b. Offers Fulfillment by Amazon service(FBA) which allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network| a. For customers, all the sellers are highly commoditized and invisible. They buy it because of the Amazons brand value b. Get benefitted by Amazon Prime and free super saver shipping| Lock-in| a. By controlling or owning the customer accounts b. High level of infrastructure development required to ensure same level of customer service as offered by Amazon| a. By providing digital content that works only on Kindle b. Amazon Prime Program which requires annual subscription| | c. | c. | Amazon developed a value chain of itself for internal appraisal so as to identify its strengths and weaknesses that would help it add value and maintain a competitive advantage. Amazon uses the value chain model from Michael Porter’s book, â€Å"Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. † The first table represents the Primary activities of Amazon which are needed to produce a product or services for the end customers. Inbound logistics| Operations| Outbound logistics| Marketing ; Sales| Service| Avoids the overhead and large amounts of inventory carrying cost because it orders the books from the distributors. Easy and fast payment systems. Online customer systems and feedback. | Operates a number of transportation hubs that they refer to as injection points. Injection point locations are located in heavily customer concentrated areas. | Customer tracking  is an Amazon stronghold through which it provides personalized customers’ exper ience| Free return policy within 30 days. Uses marketplace to increase channel and range of goods through 3rd parties and customers. Highly reduced returns to suppliers (such as unsold books and media) due to available accurate forecasting technology | Customized buyer experience| Ability to aggregate orders bound for specific locations. | Interactive shipping and parceling price calculations. Free delivery based on single transaction spends. | Price comparison of new products with used products in marketplace shops. | Efficiently gathering information about customer experiences to inform service inputs and inventory controls. | 24 hour warehouse operations to meet customer demands. |   Utilizes the capabilities of its supply chain partners to deliver orders directly to ustomers which bypass the Amazon. com internal distribution center network|   Discounts and price reductions made available with suggested product mixes. Similar products recommended to customers interactively. | Offers customers gift certificates, 1-Click SM shopping, and vastly more reviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. | The next table gives information about the various support activities performed by Amazon which help to facilitate or assist its primary activities. | Value Creation| Cost Reduction| Firm Infrastructure| Huge central customer data warehouse available to all business units. Amazon’s single technology platform with services being incrementally distributed to other worldwide locations, reduces costs by leveraging investments | Human Resource Management| Amazon. com has a great training for its employees resulting in talented, smart and hard working group. Offers employees unique benefits such as medical, paid time off and stock grants and relocation allowances and hence attract highly skilled workers| Amazon utilizes independent contractors and temporary personnel to supplement their workforce, particularly on a seasonal basis. Although Amazon has works councils and statutory employee representation obligations in certain countries, Amazon’s employees are not represented by a labor union| Technology Development| High investments in technology development (e. g. , Kindle) to best leverage digital products. Innovations such as personalized recommendations, one-click ordering, and search inside the book are all Amazon. com innovations. Highly customized software applications that support their supply chain business model. For example, Amazon. om is linked into Ingram’s systems to see Ingram inventory levels when deciding whether to use Ingram to drop ship an order to a customer | Building an IT strategy, IT infrastructure and Data Centre on Linux open source software thus reducing cost of technology development. Renting computing resources to other companies reduce total cost of ownership Using standard hardware systems from HP to reduce cost of maintenance and compatibility| Procurement| Utilize s a Sales and Operations (SOP) planning process to determine forecasts for each roduct that it stores in its distribution center inventoryUses the strategic business unit – Booksurge to keep a rich inventory of digital copies of books so as to make this readily available for customers through print-on-demand and reduce the time of delivery | Specially built distribution Centers, warehouses and fulfillment Centers to increase the speed of order processing thus avoiding transaction costs of contracting out| In addition to the business strategies the value chain components mentioned above, the success of Amazon. om can be attributed to the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder chief executive officer Jeff Bezos and the strong inclination of the firm towards bringing about innovation in the business model. Let us discuss both factors one by one. Entrepreneurial Spirit of Jeff Bezos: Jeff Bezos can be regarded as the forward-looking CEO responsible for the success of Amazon. com. He has not only efficiently managed the present but through his long term vision always taken steps to create the future. The computer science and electrical engineering graduate from Princeton University moved to Seattle after resigning as a Senior Vice-President at D. E. Shaw, a Wall Street investment bank. At the time Bezos didn’t know much about the Internet but he came across a statistic that the Internet was growing at 2300%, which convinced him that it was a large growth opportunity. Without knowing anything more, he plunged into the world of e-commerce with no prior retailing experience. It was his decision to locate the company in Seattle because it had a large pool of technical talent and since it was close to one of the largest book wholesalers located in Rosenburg, Oregon. Moreover, the sales tax laws for online retailers state that one has to charge sales tax in the state in which one is incorporated. Therefore it was logical to locate in a small state. Under his guidance and logical thinking Amazon. com quickly became the leader in e-commerce. Operating 24 hours a day, the site was user-friendly and encouraged browsers to post their own reviews of books and offering discounts, personalized recommendations, and searches for out-of-print books. In June 1998 it began selling CDs, and later that year it added videos. In 1999 Bezos, looking at the future trends, added auctions to the site and invested in other virtual stores. The success of Amazon. com encouraged other retailers, including major book chains, to establish online stores. As more companies battled for Internet dollars, Bezos saw the need to diversify, and by 2005 Amazon. com offered a vast array of products, including consumer electronics, apparel, and hardware. And with the Jeff Bezos vision to make every book ever in print in any language available to the consumer in 60 seconds, Amazon launched the handheld device called Kindle in 2007. Bezos is the quintessential dot-com icon. He proved to the business world that the Internet was about more than knowledge. He proved that it is possible to overcome fears about purchasing online, to drive down transaction costs, and to build an international e-commerce business over the Internet. He had the courage to attempt something that people doubted could be done. . At the age of 35, Jeff Bezos was picked as the 1999 Time person of the year. Describing why it chose Bezos, Time magazine said, â€Å"Bezos’  vision  of the online retailing universe was so complete, his Amazon. om site so elegant and appealing that it became from Day One the point of reference for anyone who had anything to sell online. † Innovation in the Business Model: Amazon survived the dot-com bust because it had a viable and innovative  business model  built around a market-changing customer value proposition and a radical profit formula and over it has been able to sustain its position as the leader in e-commerce by bringing about continuous innovations in its business model. Let us look at some of the different dimensions wherein Amazon. om has been able to bring about business innovation. a) Offerings: By offering a handheld device dedicated to reading, Kindle, Amazon. com revolutionized the books industry. By creating a product like Kindle, the created a perfect, integrated and streamlined customer experience. b) Platform: With Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment By Amazon, and Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon is creating powerful self-service platforms that allow thousands of people to boldly experiment and accomplish things that would otherwise be impossible or impractical. ) Customers: In 2002 Amazon launched a web services platform and identified a new area of potential growth by finding another new customer—the IT community. Serving this new customer’s needs required different processes, different resources, and a different profit formulaâ€⠀in short, another  new business model. d) Customer Experience: 1-Click combined with Gift-Click and Wish List made Amazon. com the most convenient, easiest-to-use shopping destination the holiday season. Wish List allows customers to post the gifts they’d most like to receive from family and friends, while Gift-Click allows customers to send gifts easily by entering just the e-mail addresses of their recipients. e) Value Capture: By opening up its storefront to other retailers that were essentially competitors, Amazon transformed its business from direct sales to a sales-and-service model, aggregating many sellers under one virtual roof and receiving commissions from the other companies’ sales. ) Supply Chain: Fulfillment by Amazon service (FBA) by Amazon is a classic example of innovating business model through supply chain. FBA allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network and in the last quarter of 2011, shipped tens of millions of items on behalf of sellers. When sellers use FBA, their items become eligible for Amazon Prime, for Super Saver Shipping, and for Amazon returns processing and customer service. From the above discussion of Amazon’s business strategy, value chain analysis and the success factors we can conclude that Amazon has a robust Business model. Amazon’s business model fends off all the four threats. It has the costly-to-imitate financial and technological resources, it has developed protection against holdup by seamlessly vertically integrating its both the customers i. e. the sellers and the consumers. Reduced slack by locking-in the customers and the sellers and fights substitution through innovation in business model. How to cite Business Model of Amazon, Essay examples

Difference between a manager and a leader free essay sample

Manager A manager is the person responsible for controlling or administering an organization or group of staff[1]. Leader A leader is the person who leads or commands a group, organization or country[2]. Difference between a manager and a leader There is a clear distinction between being a leader and a manager. Understanding the difference is important for the success as an individual or a business. Leadership and management are often used interchangeably. Leadership is an essential asset a manager should possess. A leader sets directions or visions for a group that they follow while a manager controls or directs people/resources in a group according to established principles or values. The difference between a manager and a leader is that a leader has social influence in which the person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. On the other hand, a manager controls an institution, business, or of a part, division, or phase of it. We will write a custom essay sample on Difference between a manager and a leader or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Leadership and management is not the same thing but are they are necessarily linked, and complementary. The main difference or variation between a manager and a leader is a manager usually obtains and directs resources to achieve an objective whereas a leader uses his visionary skills to set direction that a group follows. Managers usually rule while leaders are usually followed. A Leader possesses a natural set of talents that inspire people to follow, to be loyal, and to produce. Managers do not have specific leadership qualities and talents or that does not be given guidance to draw them out sometimes work much harder than their subordinates to produce results for the company. Managers and leaders are often referred to synonymously, but only leaders allow their employees to solve problems with their own insight. The truth of the matter is this: Every leader may not be a manager, but every manager should be a leader. It’s easy to see that leadership and management aren’t the same thing, but a manager who lacks effective leadership traits will drive a business into the ground. Manager or leader? Why? Upon studying the qualities and knowing the difference, I have realized that I want to be a leader since I want to lead, inspire and leave a mark in the hearts and minds of people for the good when I depart from this life. I wouldnt like to simply follow the instructions, rather understand the need of situation and act accordingly which when explained or said by the leader, we will feel like doing it. I feel this would be the case of others and so I want to be a leader.

Art Of Theatre Essays - Performing Arts, Theatre, Acting, Actor

Art Of Theatre The Art of Theatre Entertainment is a very important part of our existence, especially in our culture. Without entertainment, whether it is individual or with a group, humans could not stay sane, hence could not survive. There are many types of entertainment. Humans have been entertaining themselves in all sorts of different ways for thousands of years. As simple as playing with sticks and stones, and as complex as flying F-16 fighting jets; we need entertainment. The most popular form of entertainment today is watching television. Although television is the direct means of receiving entertainment for the common family, it is not however the most stimulating. Throughout the ages stories have been past down from generation to generation through word of mouth, and through the advent of theatre arts. Theater unites the past and present in a unique cultural experience. Theatre continues to thrive and has become an important subject for study in schools and universities. Theatre also can be defined, as an e xpressive process that is best understood through the idea of symbolization and its role in the discovery and communication of meaning Theatre is taught as part of a curriculum designed to make students more human and more humane. The emphasis, in this case, is on creative and critical thinking, communication skills, and the philosophical and historical place of theatre in the development and maintenance of various cultures. Theatre, both in study and performance, allows students, whether as performers or as audience, to better understand the human condition not only in the cultures with which they are personally familiar, but also in cultures that may be distanced by time or location. The purpose of theatre is to develop performance art through any distinctively cultural foundations. The curriculum integrates training in the areas of acting, voice and movement, and sometimes dance and song while telling a story of moral and value directly or subliminally. The theatre can affect people, because of the impact it often haves on its audience. The main people that the theatre affects are the Actors themselves. Theater t rains people in a way by offering them vocal communication skills, teamwork, building skills, expedient creativity, and confidence. Theatre is a very team oriented activity that causes the communication skills to heighten. The theatre is also a place that people can go to find themselves and to have a sense of belonging. Theatre entertains and educates. It shows us who we are and who we can be. Most people appreciate the theatre because they enjoy being told a story. People would be better educated and entertained if there was a little more interest in the theatre because of what it stands for, consequences of different actions arousing the emotions of pity and fear, wonder and awe. Theatre enriches our social and cultural heritages through arts, education, performance and production, all with a strong base in literacy and empowerment for life. This function enlightens and enhances lifes images as viewed by diverse cultures around the world. This means that no matter how much a pers on thinks they know there is always something that a person can learn. Actors provide a setting in which they can test the limits of their own creativity by contributing to a generous vision of the human condition. Actors often endeavor to create a diverse body of work that expresses a rigorous, embracing visual by reflecting the highest artistic standards that seeks to maintain an environment in which they as talented artists can do their best work. Actors also strive to engage the audiences in an ongoing dialogue of ideas, by encouraging lifelong learning as a core value. Through productions, outreach, and education, actors hope to aspire the use of theatre experience as a means to challenge, thrill, and stimulate what is best in the human spirit. Acting is not like real life. Acting is willful and extremely conscious. Actors have to determine and plan every desire, every action. When performing, an actor cannot depend upon sudden revelations of subconscious desires and spontaneous bursts of unrehearsed action, because the entire performance would be thrown into chaos. Each member of the cast is constantly trying to figure out and respond to the seemingly random actions of

Real Estate and Construction Sector in the UAE and the Effects of the Crises on the UAE and the Gulf

Real Estate and Construction Sector in the UAE and the Effects of the Crises on the UAE and the Gulf Introduction The current economic status of UAE economy The global crisis that hit the world adversely affected the economies of developing countries. This is because these countries lacked the ability to withstand the external forces that resulted from the collapse of the major world’s economies from which they depended forcing them to restructure their operating business models.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Real Estate and Construction Sector in the UAE and the Effects of the Crises on the UAE and the Gulf specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As the crisis took hold, the Gulf Corporation council countries’ were adversely affected by the depression which hit the region through the trade and financial channels (Khamis, n d). Among the most hit GCC countries was the United Arab Emirates whose economy has transformed itself from a classical base of fishing and pearling into oil based high income econo my with a high concentration of expatriate labor as the main drivers in the key sectors of the economy (IMF, 2003). The UAE had achieved impressive economic growth over the past years due to its rapid development in the non oil economy making it one of the most diversified economies among the Gulf cooperation Council Counterparts (IMF, 2003). However, the region’s persistent dependency on oil as the key driver in the economy and its widely segmented labor market where nationals still continue to have a strong preference for public sector employment over the private sector rendered the region highly vulnerable to the negative implication of the global economic downturn. Real estate and construction sector in UAE The study covers the actual effects of the crisis to the construction and real estate sector in the region which is among the key sectors in the economy contributing an approximate 16% GDP in UAE (IMF, 2003). The sector which had earlier on achieved remarkable growth r apidly declined with the occurrence of the global financial crisis resulting in depreciating values of property as well as departure of foreign investors from the region. The emirate of Dubai provides a clear evidence of the decline in the real estate industry following the crisis.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Consequently, the country provides us with the appropriate case study through which we will analyze the trend in the construction and real estate sector in the period between 2002 and 2006 where the industry achieved remarkable growth, the period between 2008 and 2009 when the global financial crisis hit the economy and the forecasted growth up to 2012. This analysis will be essential in our formulation of an informed conclusion. Financial crisis facing the region It is worth noting that the rental market had been soaring in Dubai due to the increased demand for residential houses and office space. Lease prices as well as the real estate prices have doubled since 2005 with prices varying between $ 1700 and $ 3500 per square meter according to location (Noack, 2007). Due to drastic rent increases, the government of Dubai implemented a rental cap forcing land lords to keep the rent increases to a maximum of 15% per year in 2006 which was further reduced to 7% in 2007 (Noack, 2007). There appeared to be the stepping stone towards stabilization on the rental and real estate markets which could be attributed to the implementation of the rental cap and the establishment of new housing units in the market (Noack, 2007). During the boom period, the countries in the GCC particularly Qatar and the UAE experienced remarkable increases in banking system credit to the private sector and this led to real average credit growth which increased bank leverage and doubled the ratio of private sector credit to non oil GDP to 122% by the end of 2008 (Khamis, 2010). Excess credit coupled with low interest rates and a vibrant economy facilitated higher demand for real estates and equities consequently increasing prices (Khamis, 2010). In the UAE, speculative investments significantly contributed to marked increases in real estate prices.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Real Estate and Construction Sector in the UAE and the Effects of the Crises on the UAE and the Gulf specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Further, following the stock market decline in 2006, GCC markets posted 22-60% gains in 2007 but this dramatically reduced in 2008 by 29-73% with the intensification of the global crisis (Khamis, 2010). With the global recession occurrence, the real GDP growth in the gulf region was expected to sharply decline from 5.8% in 2008 to 1.1 % in 2009 due to correction in oil prices, reduced overall production as well as tight credit conditions (UN, 2009). Among the G CC economies, the UAE was the most affected by the crises with its real GDP falling from 7.4 % to 0.5% between 2008 and 2009 (UN, 2009). This resulted from severe contraction in domestic demand for real estate prices. Literature review UAE attained a per capita income in terms of GDP amounting to $16700 in 1998 which was relatively higher than the GDP of most developing countries (Al Abed and Helyller, 2001). The three emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah account for the highest percentage of UAE gross domestic product as well as the population. The income differences between the emirates are generated by the variations in natural resource endowment prevalent in the region (Al Abed and Helyller, 2001). The key resource in the region is oil and gas and in 1998, crude oil contributed for 22% of the total UAE gross domestic product. The UAE economy is highly dependent on external sector as reflected by the import export disparities prevalent in the region’s economy. Both exp orts and imports are relatively high and consequently the external sector plays a major role in performance and evolution of the UAE economy (Al Abed and Helyller, 2001). The 2003-2008 oil price booms spurred economic activity in the GCC consequently strengthening all the sectors in the economy with overall growth in the economy averaging to 6.6% per year which was considerably higher than the pre oil price boom period.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Role of construction and real estate sector in UAE economy The construction and real estate sector is one of the key driving forces in the UAE economy. Increasing volumes of local and tourist population in the region as well as the liberalization of the real estate market had significantly contributed to the rapid growth in the sector due to the rapidly increasing demand for property in the region (Noack, 2007). The United Arab Emirates is by far the biggest property market in the Gulf region which facilitated its domination in the construction sector. Abu Dhabi heavily invested in tourism and residential sector with its numerous projects including beach and island development, town houses, and facilities for residents (Noack, 2007). Dubai’s real estate sector was mushrooming with projects worth billions of dollars and projects including infrastructure development were under construction. Continuous population growth and immigration in the region has led to increased demand f or residential houses especially in Dubai. Other emirates are also increasingly investing on the construction sector but on a relatively smaller scale. Effects of the Crisis in the Region The GCC countries have been hit hard by the decline in oil prices and production as well as by liquidity shortages in global financial markets (Khamis, 2010). The impact of the crisis in the GCC manifested itself in plunging stock and real estate markets with the region’s market capitalization falling dramatically by 41% (Khamis, 2010). As the effects of the global market became more apparent, the average correlation of the GCC markets with the global markets became evident in the period between 2007 and 2008 (Khamis, 2010). The region was further affected by decline in the international asset prices with losses estimated by market analysts at between 20-30% in 2008 (Khamis, 2010). Consequently, real estate prices dramatically declined which corrected prices in Dubai which had initially rise n more sharply. A couple of scholars had predicted the impact of global economic downturn across the Gulf Corporation Council. The economic down turn as well as the dramatic plunge in oil prices led to a major blow on the development efforts in the region and shattered dreams of thousands of investors seeking maximum returns in a region that was once a land of opportunity (BM, 2010). The construction and real estate sector was rendered vulnerable to the adverse effects of the crises due to the fact that credit growth in the region substantially contributed to lending in the real estate sector. This lending was funded substantially by bank’s foreign liabilities which rendered the region’s banking system susceptible to credit losses during economic downturn (Khamis, 2010). The international monetary fund predicted that economic growth across the region would slow down in 3.5 % in 2009 from 6.8% in 2008. The United Arab Emirates which accounts for approximately 46% of the GCC construction boom is likely to be adversely affected according to research findings by EFG Hermes (BM, 2010). The findings further revealed that the region is experiencing a ‘real estate crash ‘and the effects of this have not yet been fully addressed. Objectives, Scope and coverage The Extent of the Crisis in UAE and the gulf region The property and the construction sectors have been worst hit in the emirate following the global economic downturn. Although various sectors continue to register considerable growth in the recent past, the construction and real estate sectors evidently achieved negative growth in 2010 (Property Wire, 2010). This failure can be attributed to the sector’s dependence on demand and supply consequently elongated the recovery period. The world debt crisis has also intensified the negative implications on the real estate sector which plummeted with the diminishing international funding Property sales in the region increased by more tha n half their value since 2008 (Property Wire 2010). A report compiled by the royal institution of Chartered surveyors revealed that there was a substantial increase in the number of distressed assets coming into the UAE market in the third quarter of 2010 and this was further expected to rise in the last quarter of the year (Property Wire 2010). Tom Bunker, an investment sale consultant confirmed this increment in distressed selling citing that this property hit the market below their purchase price and in some cases below the price level at which they were initially sold by the developer. The global economy has started showing signs of revival from its previous down turn (Property digest, 2009). The United Arab Emirate real estate sector has subsequently registered gradual change and according to the Gowealthy Research Team, whereby the demand for off plan properties in the UAE ended with the departure of speculators changing the trend towards preference of ready to move in propert y that are at least half way complete. Dwindling market demand and oversupply of units coupled with distress sales by owners who aim at raising the mortgage requirements have affected the prices of property adversely (Property Digest, 2009). Research by Colliers revealed that home prices in Dubai declined by 40-42% since the fourth quarter of 2008 with sales transactions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi being driven by professional investors rather than speculators. T his helps us to understand the long term impacts of foreign debt as a means of financing local projects. In this region increased foreign debt coupled with global depression has resulted in devaluation of property in Dubai which has consequently affected the region’s economy. The UAE has an ideal location for long term property investment. At present, quality accommodation and work space can be acquired at moderate states with scales heavily tipped in favor of serious investors who negotiate for appreciable bargains (Prop erty Digest, 2009). This creates room for optimism in the UAE real estate market orientation towards long term investment. However, the most important question remains whether the UAE young realty sector is strong and resilient enough to withstand the adverse effects of the forces within the external economies as well as its ability to meet long term investor demands and expectations. To an attempt to achieve this end, the government of Dubai has recently amended Article No. 13 that aims at protecting the stakeholders in the realty sector. The article provides reviewed provisions for cancellation of contracts and also offers property auction licenses to private firms in order to facilitate the auction process. Research question and methodology Our study will focus on a case study of Dubai’s real estate sector and the impact that the global financial crisis has had on the same. This will enable us to evaluate the extent to which the crisis has affected the UAE region since Dub ai is one of the major determinants of overall performance of UAE economy. Effects of the financial crises on the real estate sector in Dubai The crisis has adversely affected the emirate of Dubai which has heavily invested in construction projects as well as establishment of a financial sector. Dr, Eckart Woertz, program manager of economics at the Gulf Research Center observed that Dubai, which was the pioneer in economic development in the UAE has been adversely affected by the crisis due to its over reliance on real estate sector as well as its foreign debt financed growth (BM, 2010). The impact that the economic downturn has had on the Dubai’s construction sector is an obvious indicator of the extent to which the UAE has been affected by the crisis hence our focus on the emirate. Construction projects worth billions of dollars have been rendered worthless with numerous projects being prematurely terminated due to lack of cash inflow (BM, 2010). A report by Proleads resea rch firm uncovered that an approximate 53% of the projects in Dubai had been suspended while only projects worth $698 were still in operation in a sector estimated to be worth US $1.3 trillion (BM, 2010). In addition, job cuts have been widespread in the real estate sector with numerous companies announcing a lot of redundancies while considerable number of expatriates continues to leave the country (BM, 2010). A report by Emirates Business 24/7 claimed that Indian carriers were preparing to accommodate bulk bookings for constructions workers and expatriates leaving the UAE in search of greener pastures. Further, figure released by Dubai’s ministry of interior naturalization and residency highlighted that 54684 residency visas were cancelled in the beginning of 2009 compared to 29418 in January 2008 with the majority being expatriates and private sector workers who had been frustrated by the poor performance in the construction and real estate industry in Dubai (BM, 2010). Th e impact of the global financial crisis further sent shock waves through out other related industries in the region that relied on the construction sector consequently affecting them negatively. For instance, the media companies which depended heavily on the real estate sector for advertising lost significant revenue due to reduction in advertising efforts by the sector (BM, 2010). The architecture and engineering firms as well as facilities management providers were also adversely affected. According to the Property wire (2010), â€Å"The construction and real estate sectors in Dubai have seen a decrease of almost 5% in 2010 and the recovery is some way off according to officials† (p1). Data Analysis: The Case of Dubai The property industry in Dubai registered remarkable growth in years prior the global financial crisis (Anonymous, 2007). The trend of the industry in the period between 2002and 2006 is a clear indicator of the robust growth that the sector had enjoyed in prev ious years. The graph below displays the percentage growth sustained by Dubai’s real estate sector during the period. Source: Zahrat Dubai real estate. rocketriver.com/zahrat/stat.php However, the upward trend rapidly declined with the occurrence of the global financial crisis that affected all the economies in the world. Reports indicated that the residential property prices in Dubai were bound to decline in the subsequent years from the peak levels seen in the third quarter of 2008. The graph below displays the falling real estate prices in specific locations in Dubai during the period of the financial crisis. Source: Dubai Forums 2009. dubaiforums.com/ar/dubai-property-prices-to-fall-70-from-peak-1-34758.htm Despite the numerous challenges facing the real sector as a result of global financial depression, the region is optimistic that the sector will survive the financial crisis. Substantial market corrections have taken place which has led to the restructuring of the bu siness models in operation. In order to achieve the best case scenario industry conditions as shown in the graph, the government of Dubai should seek to support the country’s economy by increasing infrastructural spending, reducing oil and foreign income dependence in the economy and bail out guarantees to financial institutions in order to improve performance of the industry and regain investors’ confidence. ameinfo.com/196124.html Conclusion The financial crisis that hit the global economy adversely affected numerous countries’ economies without exception of the countries in the GCC. The UAE was the most affected among the GCC member countries with its construction and real estate sector rapidly declining as a result. The construction and real estate sector which contributes significantly to overall GDP in the UAE has had severe consequences on the overall economic growth of the region. Evident from the study, the decline in the sector has significantly reduc ed returns to investment which has led to mass exodus of foreign investors from the region’s free zones and disrupted performance in other related industries. The region should therefore seek to rectify the situation by minimizing their dependence on oil and foreign funding in order to reduce the risks of industry collapse in future. Reference List Al Abed, I., Helyller, P. (2001). United Arab Emirates- A New Perspective. London: Trident Press Ltd. Anonymous (2007). Statistical Report on Dubai Real Estate Trends. Retrieved from rocketriver.com/zahrat/stat.php. Business management (2010). How The Bubble Burst. Retrieved from busmanagementme.com/article/How-the-bubble-burst/. Dubai Forums (2009). Dubai Prices to Fall ‘70% from the Peak. Retrieved from dubaiforums.com/ar/dubai-property-prices-to-fall-70-from-peak-1-34758.htm. IMF (2003). United Arab Emirates: Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix. Washington, D.C: International Monetary Fund. Khamis, M. (2010). Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on the Gulf Corporation Council Countries and the Challenges Ahead. Retrieved from imf.org/external/pubs/ft/dp/2010/dp1001.pdf Noack, S., Betriebswirt, D. (2007). Doing Business in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. Berlin: GRIN Verlag. Property Digest (2009). UAE Real Estate Sector on the Road to Recovery. Retrieved from gowealthy.com/gowealthy/wcms/en/home/real-estate/property-digest/april-2009/Vol1-April-2009-1240826069217.html Property Wire (2010). Real Estate Sector Is The Worst Hit In Economic Terms, Officials Admit. Retrieved from propertywire.com/news/middle-east/-dubai-real-estate-hit-201012024736.html United Nations (2009). The Global Economic and Financial Crisis: Regional Impacts, Responses and Solutions. New York: United Nations publications.

Annotated Bibliography and Thesis Statement Instructions on Essay

Annotated Bibliography and Thesis Statement Instructions on Geographical Issues - Essay Example Annotated Bibliography and Thesis Statement Instructions on Geographical Issues The author tries to prove the hypothesis that fish can be used as a navigation tool through various researches done by scientists and navigators. National Research Council, Committee on Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Surface of Mars et. Al. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. United States, US: National Academies Press, 2002 The astronauts that have landed to the planet mars explain the different hazards posed by the planets terrain. These hazards have different forms such as radiations, geological and the hazards posed by the atmospheric dynamics, which necessitate the study of the hazards to ensure astronauts’ safety while in the planet and their journey back to avoid contamination of the return vehicles. The chemical environmental hazards posed by planet mars are presented, which include the understanding of the between interaction of the Martian soil and the airborne dusts w ith an astronaut and the equipment that are critical, establishing the risk standards, and the toxicity levels of the Martian atmospheric gases. Passing quite a large number of countries, the equator is a major attraction site for many tourists who refer to it as the center of the universe. Neuman explores the San Antonio De Pichincha, Ecuador Park that reveals that the equator is hundreds feet to the northern direction, a fact that has been doubted by many tourists who visit the equator. Neuman uses the park in this newspaper article to study how the equator runs where the path it follows leads to a land traversed by a ravine, which possess a great danger to the construction of monuments; hence, the park’s monument was located in a different area that was initially 100 feet then reconstructed to 800 feet. To ascertain the amazing facts of the equator, a number of scientific research such as â€Å"Measure of the Earth† alongside with the tourists who get to the site describes the monument in the park. Flint, Warren. â€Å"Water Resource sustainability Management: Thinking like a Watershed†. Annals of arid zone 45(3 ) (2006):399-423. Print The journal explains the importance and management practices of the most important element, water, with cited examples all over the world and the effects that the functionality intact and biologically compound ecosystems the element has to the society. Sustainability anchors of aquatic systems presented and analyzed indicate the need to determine the effect they pose to the society’s factor such as health, integrity, and function ability. The watershed improvement strategy, from tradition, starts from the stage of focusing on the specific causes of water pollution ton containing the sources to ensure natural resource protection, social well-being, and preservation of ecological integrity. Flint describes the process that leads to a sustainable watershed natural defined hydrology preservation methods that involves and require a multi-dimension approach of thinking, which results to environmental pay-offs and economic benefits the society with most

Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 15

Research paper - Essay Example Therefore, this could not have come at the right time. Jack caught the shoplifter and asked her to accompany him to the security area for the necessary interrogations. Interestingly, as Jack escorted the female shoplifter to the security area, her male counterpart yelled and swore that the women did not deserve such treatment. On their way to the security office, Jack instructed the man who was in the company of the shoplifter to remain outside the security office as his presence in the interrogations was of secondary importance. Oblivious of the implications, the partner forced himself into the security room while at the same time yelling, swearing, and pointing accusing fingers at Jack’s face. He also referred to Jack as a â€Å"Nigga† meaning a black man. In a reactionary mood, Jack responded to the situation by hitting the customer in his stomach. This commotion forced Chris to alert the police, and both customers were apprehended. However, pursuant to the Grocery policies, employee code of conduct prohibits aggression and violence within the premises. Moreover, the policy forbids fights and any forms of physical confrontations at the workplace. Taking these policy provisions into consideration, Jack had gone through an elaborate training exposing him to get a proper grip of the company policy on workplace violence. This comprehensive training given to Jack offers the impression that he was liable to any action that violates the company policy provisions. In light of this stance, Jack was fired due to abuse of the nonviolence policy. Furthermore, he had a moral obligation to shape the errant customer in the spirit of the company policy stipulations. Apart from the dismissal, Jack was sued for the unfair portrayal of his nationality. This paper is an expository analysis of three case laws including; Ali vs. Roggers, Zeinali vs. Raytheon Co., and Rashidan vs. Geissberger . According to the

MUVES and the 21st Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MUVES and the 21st Century - Essay Example In the same way, these have enhanced access to learning and business practices. Many people from different parts of the world have been enrolling in institutions abroad to enroll in distance learning courses through the e-learning portals and systems created by the institutions offering this kind of learning (Jarrett, 2008). In this, the benefits of technological advancements cannot be overemphasized in any way. It remains the responsibility of institutions and business organisations that want to take advantage of these developments to make approaches through which they can improve their social and business process through the use of these systems and others, which continue to be developed. Multi-User Virtual Environments, also known as MUVEs refers to the popular and well-known forms of multi-media based entertainments. However, in the recent past, these kinds of media have been receiving wide acceptance in various other disciplines, because of the ability to facilitate important practices when effectively used. For instance, in many places the attention of MUVEs seems to have changed drastically, to focus on the ability support learning activities in the education sector. In this regard, many research groups have been active in designing different kinds of MUVEs, while investigating their perceived effectiveness in delivering some of the set goals and objectives. These research processes have been offering various kinds of MUVEs in different formats in order to determine their ability to achieve the set goals and objectives in teaching and learning. It is expected that the ongoing research into the effectiveness of these technologies will play a leading role in influencing the various practices not only in the education sector, but also in other sectors and in this century. MUVEs that are designed for use in the wider educational community often have certain embedded problems and

Two Recent Technological Advances In Endoscopy Nursing Essay

Two Recent Technological Advances In Endoscopy Nursing Essay I am currently working at a day case endoscopy unit, the two advances in endoscopy procedures I will be looking at are, scope guide and minimal sedation. I will be assessing patients at the day case endoscopy unit I currently work at by participating in procedures which use scope guide and minimal sedation. During this period, I will be emphasising at the improvements in the care and safety of patients, to see how these have improved quality of patient care and diagnose problems at ease. Endoscopist, Nurses and Surgeon depend largely on advancement in technology for delivering enhanced patient care and ability to diagnose problems at ease. The application of computer-assisted image guidance technology to the Endoscopic surgical procedures allow creation of new methods to address the challenges by providing the needed 3-D imager that ultimately improves accuracy, efficiency and safety during procedures. (Daniel L Farkas et al 2008). Scope guide 3-D imager, is a non contact form which uses a low intensity magnetic field to display a real time 3 dimension view of the position and orientation of the colon scope with the abdominal cavity by means of detromagnetic transmission coils built into the colonoscope insertion tube. 3 D imager that ultimately improves accuracy, efficiency and safety during procedures (Daniel L. Farkas et al 2008). The scope guide 3 D imager assist in identification of the correct combination of manoeuvres necessary to straighten out the loops o nce formed Olympus 2008. A consultant Endoscopist London UK commented about scope Guide 3 D imager when we started to develop the electromagnetic imaging technology for scope guide. I envisioned a system that would allow colonoscopist to feel as comfortable as a tourist driving through the most unpredictable city with the assistance of a safety navigation system he commented today scope guide does just that i.e. improving colonoscopy by providing a real time 3 dimensional display of colonoscope position and configuration, the endoscopist no longer need to rely on guess and feel to determine the orientation of an inserted scope, scope guide will change the why you see colonoscopy, 3 D imager is an essential part of quality colonoscopy. 3 D imager is able to show shape both from lateral and anterior view direction simultaneously in split screen mode. The use of this scope guide eliminates the hazard of radiation for patients, doctors, this makes the 3 D imager ideal for daily clinical usage and for training purpose. (Yamamate (2008) and Koichin et al, (2008) both stated that is pain free colonoscopy possible? The greatest advantage of this new technology is that when using insufflators air is an enemy. The 3 D imager gives easy visualization and manoeuvres and to orientate the scope along the colon. Easily it avon loops and whenever loops occurs straightening it on and takes less time unlike long time procedures. 3 D imager couple with EVIS EXERA 11 260 series system delivers images in high definition. There are certain scopes that can be used with the 3 D imager which deliver image on the scope guide monitor in three dimensional, which make it possible for the patient watches it on the screen. No sedation sometimes or individual sedation given, patient tolerate the procedure well with aid of the scope guide makes the procedure quicker, safer and comfortable for most patients. The use of this 3 D imager is done by attaching the cord from the guide monitor to the scope, which transmits a current to the scope and shows on the 3 D imager monitor showing where the scope is, if there are loops in the colon, and serves as a guide to the endoscopist. 3 D imager is safe and effective equipment for treatment of making colonoscopy less painful especially in patients with long colon or loopy colon, whereas procedures are abandoned most times when patients cannot tolerate it because its very painful and far fear of perforation. Some of the producing real time 3D imager is that it is capable of producing real time 3D image display of position and orientation of the colonoscopy. The endoscopist no longer needs to rely on guess work or fluoroscopy to determine the configuration of an inserted scope. The Scope Guide 3-D imager uses a low intensity magnetic field to display a real time 3-dimension view of the position and orientation of the colon scope with the abdominal cavity by means of electromagnetic transmission coils built into the colonoscope insertion tube. The scope guide assist the endoscopist in the identification of the correct combination of manoeuvres necessary to straighten out the loops once formed (Olympus, 2008) It shows the correct ways to manoeuvres and straightens complex looping. It is completely safe for daily usage due to the electromagnetic transmission coils within the scope creates a low intensity magnetic field. It generally reduces pain during colonoscopy which enhance advance total cave of patient in today endoscopy procedures. It helps in giving quality care throughout the procedure for the patient, endoscopist and nurses, it eliminates the hazard of radiation from X-ray during colonoscopy, but with the 3 D imager scope guide, X-ray is no longer required. It helps to reduces time during procedure by making complicated procedure easy, hence less lengthy procedure, it helps their ability in pain management of their painful. The scope guide can be dangerous if the cords are not well attached to the scope, which could give a false picture. The nurse plays an important role in the care of the patient before during and after 3 D imager scope guide is used. In my unit all the advantage of scope guide demonstrated at Solna conference for all endoscopists in UK and Ireland can be seen practically every day since the colonoscopist started using the equipment. We have three procedure rooms running and the unit is having only one Scope Guide 3-D Imager. It is now a competitions between the endoscopist, as to who will use the equipment even when the procedure is not too difficult as some might claim but because it give them easy visualisation and manoeuvres and to orientate the scope along the colon. Easily they can avoid loops and whenever loop occurs straightening it on was very easy and takes less time unlike before when we do not have the equipment. All the noise and shout of pains by the patient during colonoscopy procedures has drastically reduced since the introduction of the equipment in the unit, and nurses job in the procedure room has become less stressful unlike before. When a patient requires the use of 3 D imager scope guide due to post hysterotory operation or very difficult previous colonoscopy because of looping, we care for them in the following way. Initially the patient is admitted for an outpatient procedure and checked in, consented, during consenting the doctor will explain to the patient for the need of using the 3 D imager what difficulties involved in manoeuvring the scope and patient during the use of it, repositioning of the patient to get a good view and to minimise the looping if that why, hence the patient will sign the consent form (nursing and midwifery council 2008), British Society of Gastroenterology 1991, 2008) (BSG guidelines) sedation is given via intravenous (IV) route and if to give any emergency injection if need be. A nasal catheter sponge is also attached to the patient for oxygen administration. The patient is given blue knickers for privacy and because of repositioning to prevent unnecessary exposure of patient (privacy and dignity). The patient is firstly positioned on the left lateral with knees bent towards the chest, meanwhile monitory if the oxygen saturation, pulse and blood pressure are checked throughout the procedure. The patient is talked through the procedures, informing the patient when to expect more pain when negotiating the flexures of the colon. The monitor of the scope guide cord is then attached to the scope to be used, and right setting done which brings on the light on monitor of the scope guide. Sedation and if possible muscle relencant i.e. antispasmodic or analgesic is administered through the intravenous route, everyone i.e. the doctor and nurses in the room will wear an apron, gloves and goggles (Health and Safety Executive 1992). The Endoscopist will reconfirm from the nurse whether the constant the procedure, the scope guide must be checked and the cotside on the left hand side is let down and the flexible plate is placed near the patients stomach and to be sure no damage and plate well placed prior to start of procedure. The big movable plate should be put in right position and not on the chest or let (Aorn 2004). During the procedure the scope guide setting is changed as the patient is repositioned which should be visually seen on the monitor to give a right direction of the scope in the colon and monitored. The procedure time, the patient is observed and monitored for abdominal pain and possible sweating or vasovagal reactions. The pain level of the patient is assessed which will determine whether to top up the sedation , pain reliever or antispasmodic injections by the endoscopist, through the nurse in there is there as the patients advocate, the cardiac arrest trolley with the defibrillator should be ac cessible within easy reach (BSG 2003). Post care of the patient should be monitored for severe abdominal pain caused by 3 D imager (Malick 2006). The patient will be wheeled on the trolley to the recovery ward and continuous monitory of the observations and vital signs for any of the complication must be recorded and documented. During the consenting time, the patient must have been provided with verbal and written instructions emphasising on observations for severe pain and bleeding (in case of perforation), if any unexpected symptoms arise, they should go to accident and emergency immediately (Norton et al 2008). In the endoscopy unit where I work, 3 D imager scope guide was implemented late last year, through its a new technology its own. This initially course some problems because some of the medical team I work with, some will say leave the cortside up, some say let it down because of the insufficient training on the use of the imager. Even on repositioning the patient, some medical team do not know where the arrow on the monitor should be which will affect the image. In treating conditions or scoping patients who has had hysterectomy or with lots of looping in the colon, I have observed the differentiation between when the scope guide is used and when not. The colonoscopist find it much comfortable for the patient and each visualisation and manoeuvres, loops avoided easily and easily straightening, loops if it occurs, the scope guide used may delivers images in high definition. The scope guide has gradually wins the heart of most Endoscopists in my unit for less lengthy time on one procedure. The use of the scope guide there is no need of colonoscopy procedure under X-ray i.e. between barium Enemy or CT scan this eliminates the hazard of radiation for patients. My unit is regards as one of the best bowel cancer screening unit due to the use of scope guide 3 D imager. The procedure is quick, safer, painless and comfortable for most patients, this has really encouraged patient to come for the screening process at my unit. 2nd assignment Minimal sedation is given according to patients preferences in procedures (BSG 2008) such as gastroscopy, brochoscopy flexible sigmodoscopy, colonoscopy, stent insertion to my unit, minimal sedation is mandatory for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatograph patients (ERCP). Minimal sedation is a method of sedation which was formally known as conscious sedation. In this case, its a technique in which no pain relievers are used therefore making patient to be awake an aware during unpleasant procedure without too much discomfort experience for successful endoscopy, general anaesthesia and minimal sedation used, but minimal sedation is much a safer method to control pain and anxiety during procedures (Rex 2006). In my unit, minimal sedation is used for most procedures done i.e. both lower and upper gastro intestinal endoscopies, formally in my workplace 6 8 mg midazolam was used which is no more used. The report of the rapid response (2008) the maximum dose of midazolam is 5mg which is now the most recent practice in my unit. Minimal sedation has been used and accepted because it does not require an anaesthetist, which is more economical this technique is very useful for endoscopist in providing a better examination which improves patients comfort and amnesic effect (Regula and Sokol-Kobielska 2008). The drug of choice because of its rapid onset, short duration of action is Midazolam, it provide an amnesic effort and help to relax the patient (Norton et al 2008). The most common benzodiazepines are diazepam and midazolam, majority of Endoscopist prefer to use midazolam because of it fast onset of action and high amnesic effect (National Guidelines Clearing House 2003). During procedures the group called benzo diazepams are used either alone or in combination with an opiate e.g. pethidine or fentanyl, when it is been used alone the occurrence of respiratory complication with either midazolam or fentanyl is fairly low. Contrary, the implications increases when both drugs are given in combination.

The Use of Drugs by 1950s Artists Essay -- Illegal Drugs Speed Narcoti

A movement arose among the artists of 1950s America as a reaction to the time's prevailing conformity and affluence whose members attempted to extract all they could from life, often in a strikingly self-destructive way. Specifically, the Beat writers and jazz musicians of the era found escape from society in drugs and fast living. But what exactly led so many to this dangerous path? Why did they choose drugs and speed to implement their rebellion? A preliminary look at the contradictions that prevailed in 1950s American society may give some insight into these artists' world. At the end of World War II, American culture experienced an overhaul that ushered in a period of complacency beneath which paranoia seethed. A generation that had lived through the privations of the Depression and the horrors of world war was now presented with large suburban homes, convenient and impressive appliances, and pre-packaged entertainment. Such wonders so soon after extended hard times were greeted enthusiastically and even treated with a sense of awe. They may have encouraged few distinctions among the middle class -- the houses in a suburb were generally as identical as hamburgers at McDonald's -- but they represented a wealth to which few had before enjoyed access. Life became automated, with dishwashers cleaning up after dinner and air conditioning easing mid-summer heat. The new conveniences left more time for families to absorb the new mass culture presented through television, records, and Spillane novels. Excitement over the new conveniences and entertainment led America to increasingly become an acquiring society. To my parents' generation, childhood in the 50s was a time when people were generally pleased with themselves and with the... ...McNally, Dennis. Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, the Beat Generation, and America. New York: Random House, 1979. O'Neil, Paul. "The Only Rebellion Around". Life 47 (November 30, 1959): 115-116, 119-120, 123-126, 129-130. Parkinson, Thomas, ed. A Casebook on the Beat. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1961. Peretti, Burton W. Jazz in American Culture. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1997. Rigney, Francis J. and L. Douglas Smith. The Real Bohemia. New York: Basic Books, 1961. Tytell, John. "The Beat Generation and the Continuing American Revolution". American Scholar 42 (1973): 308-317. Van Den Haag, Ernest. "Conspicuous Consumption of Self". National Review VI (April 11, 1959): 656-658. Wakefield, Dan. New York in the Fifties. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992. Woideck, Carl. Charlie Parker: His Music and Life. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996.