Saturday, August 31, 2019

Kfc Essay Essay

It has grown enormously following its fragile birth, splashing in scintillating numbers in both franchisees and company owned stores all over. The company’s prime strength lies in providing high-quality chicken meals to its huge consumer base all over the world. Now every day, more than 12 million customers are served at KFC restaurants in 109 countries and territories around the world. KFC operates more than 5,200 restaurants in the United States and more than 15,000 units around the world. The company has strong product identification through its branding, advertising as well as packaging signifies the company in various manner. The famous paper bucket that KFC uses for its larger sized orders of chicken, its logos and the famous picture of Harland Sanders, the initial founder, all represent KFC in the most colorful way. KFC’s specialty is fried chicken served in various forms. However the recipe of 11 herbs and spices used by KFC in preparation of their chicken still remains a trade secret. KFC’s primary product is pressure-fried pieces of chicken made with the original recipe. The other chicken offering, extra crispy, is made using a garlic marinade and double dipping the chicken in flour before deep frying in a standard industrial kitchen type machine. Despite KFC’s success as a company, the fast food organization had faced many problems over the years. There were mostly environmental issues that had influenced their product marketing and in time they had inherited new ways and different techniques to cater their fast food products. Animal Cruelty Since 2003, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), have been protesting KFC’s treatment of the animals used for its products with the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign. PETA states that they have held more than 12,000 demonstrations at KFC outlets since 2003 because of alleged mistreatment of chickens by KFC suppliers. Alleged rainforest destruction In May 2012, Greenpeace accused KFC of sourcing paper pulp for its food packaging from Indonesian rainforest wood. Independent forensic tests showed that some packaging contained more than 50 per cent mixed tropical hardwood fibre, sourced from Asia Pulp & Paper Macro environment KFC operates in a larger macro environment of forces that creates opportunities, but also threats. A company such as KFC usually cannot influence trends in the macro environment, as they affect people and organisations on a larger scale. However, KFC has to carefully examine macro environmental trends and must create competitive responses to such trends. There are six major macro environmental forces KFC has to take into account. Micro environment The microenvironment consists of all forces that are close to KFC, and on which KFC has an impact. They directly affect KFC’s ability to serve its customers. Three major components influence KFC’s microenvironment: COMPETITORS Because the fast food market is highly competitive, KFC faces a wide number of direct and indirect competitors. KFC’s main competitors are fast food chains such as McDonald’s and Domino’s, which are already well established throughout the world. McDonalds’s in particular is a direct competitor, as they have already successfully introduced their Salads plus line, which directly targets ‘healthy food’ conscious world we live in. But, there are a number of other competitors that is also focusing on ‘chicken’ types products. All this competition makes it quite difficult for KFC to maintain or even broaden their customer base. However, with the introduction of a new and healthy product range, KFC can differentiate itself from most competitors and will gain a competitive advantage. CUSTOMERS KFC’s customer market consists solely of the consumer market. KFC’s products are bought by individuals (males, females, singles, and families). Therefore, the product range KFC offer should appeal to as many people within this consumer market as possible, to ensure that the maximum amount of products can be sold. The characteristics of these individuals and a segmentation of them are discussed later in this report. Strengths and weakness of competitors Strengths: 38 products, Attractive Outlets, Huge Marketing, Budget, More entertainment for kids Weaknesses: Same type of Menu, No Home Delivery How they compete with their competitors? It is found that KFC compete its competitors by five ways: †¢KFC compete its competitors through marketing strategy †¢They offered different packages at different events like Ramadan offer, midnight offer etc. †¢KFC compete their competitors by providing good services They must hired the hard selling persons to market their product in the market and motivate their employees for the sake of organizations and employees do well and they compete there competitors KFC has quality products and through these quality products they compete their competitors Current Sales Analysis Market Share Market Share KFC has a very long history and has the most recogni ze able brand in chicken with over 50% of the market share. It becomes difficult for the companies like Sub way, Mc Donald’s, Chicken planet, Dixie or those who may want to enter in the market of fast food restaurants. Due to with over 50% of the market share in fast food industry KFC has recognition around the world and has been globally positioned for many years in and to capture the market share in adopting a chicken loving experience. Environmental factors and opportunities Political: The operations of KFC are affected by the government policies on the regulations of fast food operation. Currently government are controlling the marketing of fast food restaurant because of health concern such as cardiovascular and cholesterol issue and obesity among the young and children in the country. Governments also control the license given for open the fast food restaurant and other business regulation need to follow such as for a franchise business. Good relationship with government in giving mutual benefits such as employment and tax is a must for the company to succeed in any foreign market. Economic: Though for last 1 year there was economic slowdown all across the globe but the sales of KFC and other fast food chains did not slow down to that extent that of other sectors in. The GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is estimated at2. 965 trillion U. S. dollars in the year 2010. The GDP- per Capita (PPP) was 2700 U. S. dollars as estimated in 2008. The GDP- real growth rate in 2007was 8. 7%. India has the third highest GDP in terms of purchasing power parity just ahead Japan and behind U. S. and China. Foreign direct investment rose in the fiscal year ended March 31 2007 to about $16 billion from just $5. 5 billion a year earlier. Socio cultural: India is the second most populous nation in the world with an approximate population of over 1. 1billion people. This population is divided in the following age structure: 0-14 years – 31. 8%, 15-64 years – 63. % and 65years and above – 5. 1%. There has also been a continuous increase in the consumption of fast food in India. The social trend toward fast good consumption is changing and India has seen an increase of 90% fast food consumption from the year 2002-2007. This increase is far greater than the increase in the BRIC nations of Brazil (20 per cent), Russia (50 per cent) and China (almost 60 per cent). Thus this shows a positive trend for fast food industries in India. Technological: The fast food Industry is heating up with a lot of foreign players entering the market. The technological knowhow and expertise will also enter the market with an increase in competition. With the lower rates and increase technology the fast food counters are attracting youth by giving them attractive deals. For e. g. KFC and Domino’s pizza. For a fast food restaurant, technology does not give a very high impact on the company and it is not a significant macro environment variables. However KFC should be looking to competitors innovation and improve itself in term of integrating technology in managing its operation. For example in inventory system, supply chain management system to manage its supply, easy payment and ordering systems for its customers and wireless internet technology. Implementation of technology can make the management more effective and cost saving in the long term. This will also make customer happy if cost savings results in price reduction or promotional campaign discount which will benefits them from time to time. Environmental: As one of world largest consumer of beef, potatoes and chicken, KFC always had been critics for world environmentalist. This is because high consumption of beef causing the green house effect by methane gasses coming from the cow’s ranch. Large-scale plantation has effect the environment and lost of green forest opening for plantation activities. Vegetarian environmentalist criticizes the fast-food giant for cruelty to animals and slaughtering. In America, once KFC want to introduce whale burger causing uproar because whales are endangered species. Before using paper packaging, KFC once had been criticized for being insensitive to pollution because of using ne based packaging for its food products. Imagine millions of people purchase from fast food operator and how is the impact to world environment by throwing away those hard to recycle packaging. Our world is getting concern on environment issue and business operating here should not just care for profit, but careful usage of world resources for sustainable development and care for environment safety and health for our future generation. Critics and concern from all public or activist should bare view and support if necessary to ensure we play our social responsibility better. Legal factors: As a certified fast food operator, there are many regulations and procedures that KFC should follow. For example is the Halal certification that becomes a concern to Muslim consumers. KFC should protect its integrity and consumer confidence by ensuring all materials and process are as claimed or must followed. Other legal requirement that the business owner should follow as stipulated in laws are such as operating hours, business registration, tax requirement, labor and employment laws and quality & environment certification (such as ISO) in which the outlet has been certified. The legal requirement is important because the offenders will be fined or have their business prohibited from operating which can be disastrous. KFC India -BCG Matrix Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) Matrix Currently KFC have launched a new product in the market. They have also tried to come into the beverages market by launching its new brand of shakes called KRUSHERS. As it is a fairly new product it comes in the category of the Question Mark in the BCG Matrix. It has a low market share thus brings low revenue. KFC is advertising a lot to popularize this product so there is a lot of expenditure on it. This product is individually not bringing any profits and is a cash drain for the company. Company may decide to completely remove this product from the market if it does not do well soon and start bringing in revenue. Business macro-environmental factors The company and all the other actors operate in a larger macro-environment of forces, including political, economic, cultural, technological, legal and ecological factors, which shape opportunities and pose threats to the company. Political and legal regulatory affect the strategic development of KFC Corporation, which made the US market more challenging. Example- Forbidding the use of trans-fat cooking oil mandating calorie counts on menus,removing advertisement from kid’s programme, and even prohibiting from making unconfirmed claims concerning nutritional value and losing weight benefits. All of these may seriously impede the free flow of goods within a group and from suppliers and consumer demand. According to the Institute for the World Economy, the aggregation of financial crisis continues to result in negative result to the world economy and generate a strong downturn in the entire restaurant industry, which leads to the falling of US unit expansion from 3. % of 2006 to 2. 4% of 2007. On the other hand, fewer costs as compared with healthier food helped KFC and the entire fast food industry to grow rapidly. Moreover, KFC can increase profit margins with chicken which is lower in cost compared to other meat. With the ever-increasing impact of health consciousness, like obesity, among consumers, it’s increasingly ha rd for KFC to keep its original product mix and alternatively prompt them to offer healthier foods (threat). In contrast, under the slump chicken consumption in Europe and Asia market owing to the outbreak of avian flu, US market still shows an image of rising. Furthermore, hurried and changing lifestyle of people along with convenient and tasty characters of foods, which offered numerous business opportunities for KFC Corporation. The innovation in technology offers further development possibilities to fast food industry. However, owing to equipment problems, KFC lost its Rotisserie Chicken market which had achieved a huge success in non-fried chicken area. Restaurants are known to have very high levels of energy intensity due to their relatively small building size and the amount of cooking, heating, and refrigeration needed to prepare and serve food to customers. Due to these high levels of energy use, we continue to focus our efforts on reducing our energy intensity in both new and existing restaurants. In 2006 KFC established a goal to reduce energy usage in the U. S. company-owned restaurants by 12 percent from 2005 levels by the end of 2009. They achieved a 14% reduction through the application of numerous energy conservation measures (ECMs). In addition to reducing energy consumption, these ECMs resulted in the elimination of over 117,000 metric tons of CO2 per year from the atmosphere. The KFC China division has also recognized the need to focus on energy conservation and has become actively involved in implementing ECMs over the past few years. Their efforts have resulted in the elimination of over 5300 metric tons of CO2 per year. Greenpeace, a conservational and environmental organization in 46 countries, has accused Cargill concerning the illegal exportation of soya to KFC for its chicken food supplied. Changing consumers’ perception about KFC is arisen among analyst and specialist and forthright. In respect to the accusations has actively retrofit existing restaurants with more efficient lighting systems. During 2009, 190 restaurants in China had their interior linear fluorescent lamps upgraded to a more efficient version resulting in a reduction of over 600 metric tons of CO2 per year. Heating, Ventilation ;amp; Air Conditioning (HVAC): In 2006, Yum! made the commitment to standardize high efficiency air conditioning systems for all U. S. restaurants. Since then, over 1800 high-efficiency air conditioning units have been installed with slightly over 600 taking place in 2008 and 2009. These 600 + installations have reduced our CO2 output by 10,500 metric tons per year. In China, the engineering team developed the means to overcome water hardness issues compromising the efficiency of certain heating devices used in our KFC kitchens. Their solution enabled the equipment to operate at peak efficiency which eliminated over 4200 metric tons of CO2 per year. In conclusion, KFC had used all its macro environment factors efficiently; it had improved its product in terms of packaging technology, its cooking methods and most important heath wise keeping in mind the external affect on the environment.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Article review of Finance and Growth; King, R. and Levine, R. Essay

Introduction For a long time, there has been a wide ranging debate among economists on the relationship between financial development and economic growth. A large number of them are of the opinion that finance is not a major factor in bringing about economic development. According to the article, these arguments are misplaced because all financial indicators are related in one way or the other to economic development. This is because financial growth or allocation has a direct impact on the distribution of capital throughout the economy. Moreover, the predestined elements of financial growth indicators largely forecast consecutive value of economic growth indicators (Robert & Ross, 1993, p. 729). Throughout the article, the authors use data that is consistent with their main argument; that financial services inspires economic development by increasing the rate of capital accumulation as well as by advancing the effectiveness   with which the economies utilize that capital. However, the authors do not associate any particular policies of financial sectors with long run economic growth. Instead, the article mainly associates the measures of executable government strategies to ensuing economic growth to make policy suggestions. At the onset, the article begins by examining the current relationship between financial growth, developments and their sources. Additionally, the article also scrutinizes the potency of the empirical link between the main indicators of the level of financial growth in the financial sector and the long-run tangible per capita GDP gains. Keeping all economic and other indicators constant, the authors state that they found a strong and partial connection between the average yearly rate of tangible per capita GDP growth and the average level of growth in the financial sector (Robert & Ross, 1993, p. 721). The article terms this study as a contemporaneous relationship because it looks at average growth rates and levels of financial growth over the same period of time. In investigating the relationship between financial and economic growth, the authors of the article first look into some of the major financial indicators used today. The first and second financial indicators are mainly used to establish the relative significance of particular financial institutions. These indicators reveal that commercial banks are more likely to offer risk sharing information compared to central banks (Robert & Ross, 1993, p. 718). On the other hand, the third and the fourth financial indicators are mainly used to investigate the overall domestic distribution of assets.   Any financial system that channels majority of its credit to state enterprises may not be helping the economy at all compared to one that allocates much of its credit to private enterprises. To support their arguments, the authors also present the readers with statistical summaries that prove the existence of a relationship between the four financial indicators and the overall economic growth. The article also presents an analysis of some countries that registered faster economic growth and those that registered slow economic growth (Robert & Ross, 1993, p.719). This analysis reveals the existence of a relationship between increased financial depth and the role played by financial institutions including central banks. More importantly, the analysis proves that countries with quicker rates of tangible capital accumulation and allocation appeared to have more developed monetary systems. On the basis of the theoretical study of endogenous technological transformations, the authors emphasize the idea of creative destruction. Through the application of the above mentioned endogenous technological developments, the authors are able to come up with a more absolute Schumpeterian vision of economic development through integrating major roles for financial intermediaries. For example, the selection and financing of insubstantial and substantial investments that result in innovation. The authors also use widespread regressions to measure the strength of a partial connection between economic growth indicators and the overall financial development. There are a number of ways through which the relationship between financial development and economic growth can be interpreted. However, the most widely accepted interpretation is that a strong relationship between financial and economic growth is a reflection of a correlation resulting from contemporaneous impacts of several shocks on economic and financial development. Much of the investigation carried out by the authors is largely meant to establish whether the prearranged element of the financial sector is related to development and its sources. The results of the investigations prove that the predetermined element of financial growth is a good forecaster of economic growth (Robert & Ross, 1993, p. 743). Moreover, the findings of the investigation reveal that financial growth forecasts both the rate of progress and the effectiveness with which economies distribute physical capital and the rate of physical capital accumulation. This is an indication that the relationship between economic development and financial growth is not merely contemporaneous. Instead, it shows that finance plays a key role in bringing about economic growth.    References Robert G. K. & Ross L.,(1993). Finance and Growth: Schumpeter Might be Right .The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 108(3) (Aug., 1993), pp. 717-7

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Nick’s Development in “The Great Gatsby” Essay

Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story, reminiscences of the summer he met Gatsby. He had just returned to America from WWI, where he had glimpsed everything from freedom to death. His horizons had been broadened significantly, so when he returned after the war, he felt stifled in the Midwest; thus his longing for the decadent and fantastic lifestyle of New York, but the problem with the fantastic is that it rarely has anything to offer beneath the surface. When he first arrives in New York, Nick is fascinated by the lives of the wealthy and the freedom they embody. However, as the novel progresses, he sees the impact of this behavior on the lives of others; he recognizes the atrocities that the elite of society commit toward those they consider beneath them. Daisy and Tom are too superficial and absorbed in living in wealth and Gatsby set himself a dream as a young child and has stuck to that throughout his life. Nick sees so many corrupt acts around him that he first tries to block them out, by acting artifical to fit in. However, once he realises that the people he is surrounding themselves with are liars and frauds, he begins to distance himself from them. The first obvious instance of this is when Gatsby is ‘watching over’ Daisy, and Nick narrates that â€Å"He [Gatsby] was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bare to shake him free. † This quote displays how Nick has given up on Gatsby and society’s superficiality and corrupt doings. This is one of the major instances of change in Nick’s life. By his thirtieth birthday, Nick realizes that this crazy, superficial lifestyle is not what he desires at all, and that he misses the wholesomeness of the Midwest. In this sense, Nick becomes rather representative of the 1920s: the turmoil and free living of the early part of the decade leading into the conservative 1930s. After witnessing the unraveling of Gatsby’s dream and presiding over the appalling spectacle of Gatsby’s funeral, Nick realizes that the fast life of revelry on the East Coast is a cover for the terrifying moral emptiness that the valley of ashes symbolizes. Having gained the maturity that this insight demonstrates, he returns to Minnesota in search of a quieter life structured by more traditional moral values.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

BPR - What does it means to organization who are underperforming Assignment

BPR - What does it means to organization who are underperforming - Assignment Example These are the key issues to be dealt with when doing BPR for an underperforming firm. IT is one of the means through which BPR can be achieved ; it is not an end itself. (Guy Doumeingts) The ERP package is there to help the BPR process. Many firms equate BPR with the implementation of the ERP software. This is where IT becomes a hurdle rather than a support for BPR. The software should be molded to suit the business processes. The processes and their outcomes are the important thing which needs to be re-organized by the firm; the software is not the important thing. When the latter assumes more importance and technical experts rather than functional people are made in charge of the BPR process IT becomes a hurdle and BPR fails. Misfit of the ERP package selected with the business processes – Vicro’s business processes were highly customer specific. The ERP package was a misfit to these processes and thus further denigrated performance. BPR equated with the software – Vicro made no efforts to actually focus on the business processes and re-engineer them. Its entire focus was on the software implementation. The implementation of this software was accepted to improve the processes as well which never happened. Make Business people owner of the change – Instead of the ERP package being forced by vendors from outside, functional people of the company who run the business should have been made owner of the processes and the vendor responsible to them. Get Universal Buy in – In order to reduce employee’s resistance to change proper education should have been provided to them regarding the implementation and the benefits from it. Their suggestions and feedback should have been taken. Proper Requirement Definition – ERP implementation was made as the major aim by Vicro. This was an improper requirement. The main aim should have been to improve the

Essay on Daoism Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

On Daoism - Essay Example In addition to the scenario, quest of Western materialism for peace has also provided Daoism with the opportunity for huge appreciation as a philosophical discipline. According to Eva Wong â€Å"Many people will experience, at least once in their lifetime, the urge to venture beyond the everyday world of the mundane into the world of spirit. These journeys into the spiritual world often take us into a universe we normally do not encounter in our daily lives, and allow us to explore regions of our consciousness that we have not before known† (1). While the Western philosophical discipline often fails to answer an individual’s questions regarding spiritual consciousness, Daoism, in this context, has been regarded as an effective source to solve these queries: â€Å"The spiritual landscape of Taoism is a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds. It is also a land of silence and stillness. It can be friendly and attractive, and at the same time challenging and dangerous† (W ong 1). Irrespective of the fact that it is quite difficult to restrain Daoism within a particular time frame, however, it can be said approximately that in A.D. 215 journey of Daoism commenced as a religious discipline through initiatives of Cao Cao (Robinet, and Brooks 2). Like all the major religious disciplines Daoism is still very much alive and continuously evolving. Though Cao Cao can be identified as a prime figure in recognizing Daoism, however, it has been widely argued that Daoism has never been founded and it is continuously evolving through different dimensions of human lives (Hu, and Allen 6). Daoism as a Religious Discipline: The literal meaning of Dao or Tao is â€Å"the way, the road people walk on† (Hu, and Allen 3). There are numerous instances of wide usage of the terminology in various philosophical disciplines of ancient China and consequently also makes it clear that Daoism cannot be confined within scope a particular philosophical domain; rather the ev aluative capacity of this discipline is actually a result of different ideologies: â€Å"The â€Å"Tao† of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing, Taoism’s foremost sacred text) was actually only one of many understandings of the word in ancient China. However, just as the â€Å"Tao† of the Tao Te Ching is the original force that encompasses all, the religion and philosophical system inspired by Tao Te Ching has also demonstrated inclusiveness by incorporating many other ancient understandings of the word into Taoism itself† (Hu, and Allen 3-4). Thus, the vast expanse of Daoism encompasses almost all dimensions of human life, especially in the Chinese cultural context. This integrity is one of the main reasons that the differencing limits between being Daoist and being Chinese is often blurred. Apart from scholarly and academic disciplines, the common people of China also encounter the problem when it comes to differentiating between being a Daoist and being a Chine se. The evolutionary process of the religious and philosophic discipline is so deeply associated with every dimension of Chinese socio-cultural existence that starting from daily life style, attitude towards life, personal philosophy, healthcare and even different incidents of the Chinese social history bear the evidence of the influence of Daoism: â€Å"Taoism has interacted with integrated many elements of what is now recognized as Chinese civilization, and,

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Heteronormativity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Heteronormativity - Essay Example Despite the increased visibility of gay men and lesbian women, there remains no definition of family in the public consciousness that refers to same-sex couples with children. In fact, in the not too distant past, the notions of lesbian mothers/homosexual fathers or lesbian/homosexual families would have been nonexistent. This culture of heteronormativity (Gamson, 2000) dictates that a viable family consist of a heterosexual mother and a father raising children together. Heterosexuality and heterosexual forms of relating are the norm.1 All other forms of relational experience are thus viewed in contrast. For example, the descriptive term "couples" means heterosexual couples, then, there are gay and lesbian couples. Families are nuclear and headed by two heterosexual parents, then, there are gay and lesbian families. Similarly, "woman" means a heterosexual woman, then, there is the lesbian. Heteronormativity supports the dominant norm of heterosexuality by marginalizing any relational structure that defies it.2 A review of the family therapy literature bears this out; until recently the concept of the gay/lesbian family has been virtually unheard of in the family therapy field. This fact was confirmed by two research studies. Allen and Demo3 and Clark and Serovich found that the marriage and family therapy fields generally ignored gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues. For example, Clark and Serovich surveyed 17 journals published from 1975 to 1995. Of the 13,217 articles published, only 77, or 0.006% focused on gay/lesbian issues, used a gay/lesbian sample, or included sexual orientation as a variable.4 Goodrich (2003) cited the availability of only two early texts on working with lesbian couples in family therapy as an indication of the intense homophobia in the field from the 1960s to the 1990s.5 Proceeding from the above stated, heteronormativity has determined that unless the word gay is attached, marriage implies heterosexual marriage. Heterosexuality is the norm. Indeed, as Warner (1993) pointed out, "humanity and heterosexuality are synonymous."6 This notion of heterosexuality goes far beyond the institutions that marginalize and punish any relationship viewed as other. In this vein, heterosexuality is, of itself, a social and political organizing principle.7 Intrinsically linked to the structures of male dominance, heterosexuality can be viewed as a dictatorial patriarchal institution.8 Rich described this culture of compulsory heterosexuality as a powerful cluster of forces within which women have been convinced of the inevitability of both marriage and sexual orientation toward men. Thus, there have been very few attempts to explain how an individual develops a heterosexual orientation.9 Research into the development of heterosexuality is limited by the belief that it is natural and when it focuses upon homosexuality, persistently views it as deviant. Thus, implicit in discussions about sexual orientation is the notion that heterosexuality is both normal and mentally healthy, and that non-heterosexuals are abnormal and psychologically disabled.10 In direct relation to the homosexual/heterosexual categories, Rothblum (2000) pointed out that in a categorical definition of sexual orientation behavior, desire, and identity are assumed to be congruent.11 This is disputed by research.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Hip Hop Dance (Documentary Responses) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hip Hop Dance (Documentary Responses) - Essay Example According to Williams, when the particular dance move or form was evolved in the 1970s, there was a lot of doubt theta whether this form going to last for too long or not. The starting of this famous dance step was associated with black & Latino teenagers, used to gather in a group and spin on their heads with a piece of cardboard with the tune of hip-hop music. At present, this dancing style becomes more and more attractive with mesmerizing choreography, complex and eye-popping acrobats into its gravity-defying routine. The planet B boy was a true homage or tribute to all the rubber limb performers of a hip hop act which was started by a poor kid somewhere in the ghetto with a radio and passion for self expression. Rize Documentary (The Birth of Krumping): The documentary movie Rize provides us a window to analyze the black culture in the city of Los Angeles and to it he introduction of krumping dance movement. This movie gives us a clear idea about the dancing form Krumping along w ith the black culture in USA. The documentary movie Rize was directed by David La Chapelles in the year 2005. This clearly indicates that Characterization of the dancers has a direct impact of the marketability. This film, with the help of its composition acted as a mediator between the viewers and the performers who was representing the problematic narrative dependent upon racial difference. The main focus of the documentary was on the African –American community of clowns and krumpers in South central Los Angeles. The dancers of this contemporary style are young, poor and can be termed as† at risk† and they opted this just to earn more money as well as to represent their own culture.. The krumping dance movement was a derivative of clown dancing, originated by Thomas Johnson who was more popularly known as Tommy the Clown. The reason behind originating this was to keep the young black children away from the streets. After this documentary was released the dance style cramping became a breakout dance form. Despite the fact that the movie incorporates both the dance form clowning and Krumping. The Krumping form of dance was evolved from the clowning with a special focus on self expression and social justice. Director of this documentary La Chapelle Interpreted that the dance form krumpings was a way of escape back to Africa, back to one's roots as he frames the movement of this particular dance steps as a representation of authentic blackness. Inclusion of poverty and violence of South Central America in this movie was very important to understand the context of the cropping and its bodily extremes. The History and Concept of Hip Hop: The History and Concept of the hip hop dance is a documentary directed by Moncell Durden in the year 2010. This documentary helps us to find out history and origin related to this worldfamous dance concept. The hip hop dance is not only associated with different attractive dance moves but also it represents a l ifestyle of young generation , how they want to see the life and how they want to live it accordingly. The dancing concept was first introduced in Bronx, New York city way back in the 1970s and 1980s. Hip hop can be considered as a cultural movement which was associated with music, dance dress up and speech of the American youth. This cultural movement was first originated in the South Bronx and also preferred as Boogie Down. The term

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Nursing article review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Nursing article review - Essay Example In prescribing drugs to combat these ailments, medical care providers place the responsibility of following the patient’s progress upon themselves. Patients, however, are susceptible to flawed human reasoning and do not always adhere to their prescriptions. With the rising cases of mental health issues, it is imperative that we understand the shortcomings of the health sector that impede delivery of health care. Coombs et al. (2003) analyze the impact of nurses on the prescription process and its subsequent effect on the adherence to medications. In the paper, they analyze the issue from the standpoint of a mental health worker. In the study, they aim to analyze the reactions of health workers on their opinions on the issue of prescription. The introductory analysis of previous works is commendable, in that the writers identify the significance of supporting the medication process since even little changes have drastic results (Coombs et al.2003). The methodology of a piece of research is dependent on the field of study on which the research is based. It also determines the approach and eventual results of the study. In their research, Coombs et al. adopted a case study approach, in which they identified a qualitative based framework. They used questionnaires as their main data collection tool and I believe that this was the most suitable approach owing to the experimental nature of their research. This is because their aim was deterministic, reducing the complexity of the research methods and requiring the exploratory framework provided by the case study approach. The sample size comprises of 76 mental health workers. Sampling was purposive as the researchers wanted to evaluate the experiences of mental health workers on patient adherence to prescription medicine. The sample size is appropriate for the theoretical approach of this study as well as the exploratory study into the effects of staff education. The questions, however, are subject to misinterp retation by the respondents of the survey because they are vague in the area of training and expertise. In employing questionnaires though, they ensured that the data collected allowed for the variability of responses. The results of the article present a well-documented manner with tabulated representations of the responses and the standard deviation between records. The researchers also noted the relation between increased monitoring by nurses and adherence to medication. Nurses’ training and experience in prescription also increases their effectiveness in dealing with medication and side effect issues (Coombs et al, 2003). However, the majority of nurses (88.5%) indicated that their medical training did not include lessons on prescription. In regards to the patients, the survey found that side effects had a negative effect on compliance to prescriptions. The conclusion of their article indicates the complexity of the issue at hand. Many factors influence the adherence to m edication, primarily the side effects experienced when under the said medication. The opinions of the people closest to the patients also influence their decision to adhere to their medication. Prior education of the medical practitioners also ranks high on the list of necessities for increasing prescription adherence. The article, however, did not monitor the practitioners at the workplace. This creates the

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Environmental Pollution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Environmental Pollution - Essay Example There are four various rank of coal: anthracite, bituminous, lignite and sub-bituminous (Plant et al., 2012). The fuel obtained from coal has several uses in industries and other sectors such as power stations. In power stations, coal is used as a fuel, in generating of electricity. Coal accounts for 39 percent of the world’s electricity. Electricity is essential in promoting economic growth and improving living standards. Coal is also used in the making of cement. It is used as a fuel to give the high temperatures required, approximately 1450 degrees Celsius, in the furnace used in the burning of raw materials used in making cement. The raw materials include calcium carbonate, iron oxide, silica and alumina which are combined and burnt to produce clinker. The clinker is then combined with gypsum to produce cement. Purified coal tar is used in the production of chemicals like naphthalene, benzene, cresol oil. Ammonia gas found in coke furnace is used for making ammonia salts, fertilizers used in agriculture and nitric acid. The manufacture of steel and iron is dependent on coal. Coal is burnt in hot kilns for production coke. The coke is then used for extraction of iron from its ore in order to make steel. Coal is also used to make plastics by the use of methanol and ethylene found in coal. Coal industry has several negative impacts on the environment. The effects include thermal pollution, formation of acid rain, micro plastics, and presence of mercury in fish, acidification of oceans, flourishing of algae, and death of fish. When coal is burnt it releases mercury into the atmosphere, which settles in water bodies with time. When the fish take in the polluted water, mercury accumulates in their body fat. When nitrogen, a byproduct of combustion of coal, finds its way into the rivers or lakes, it increases the nutrient level in the water bodies causing eutrophication. It also results to the bloom of algae. Sulphur (IV) oxide and

Friday, August 23, 2019

Globalization and Global Strategic Planning SLP 1 (401) Essay - 1

Globalization and Global Strategic Planning SLP 1 (401) - Essay Example The company’s retail division (called Primark in UK and Penney’s in Ireland) has a global presence with over 215 stores covering a total area of 6.9 million square feet (ABF, 2010). The retail division’s outlets are located in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK (ABF, 2010). In 1963, the company acquired the British supermarket giant, Fine Fare which it sold later in 1986 in order to acquire British sugar (ABF, 2010). As of 2009, British Sugar fulfills the sugar (ABF, 2010). The company provides employment to more than 97,000 people and operates in more than 44 countries (ABF, 2010)The Company’s profits by geographic region are such that the company derives 53% of its profits from U.K and rest from international sales. Amongst the international regions it targets are Europe , Africa, America and Asia Pacific with Europe and Africa contributing the most and Asia Pacific contributing the least (ABF, 2010). The mode of market entry employed by ABF has been diversification of both products and markets (Whittington & Mayer, 2002). It has been observed at times, that diversification into new markets has been the result of product diversification; that is, the company has entered into new markets simply because those markets had demand for the product that the company had newly introduced. This was the case with sugar. ABF diversified into the food business because of its intention to provide one-stop convenience shopping to customers; the company had realized that customer buying habits and trends were changing (Whittington & Mayer, 2002). One of the most important reasons however was the instability of earnings from sugar sector due to its seasonal nature, coupled with the anticipated EU reform (Bertin, 2002). By the early 1900’s, ABF diversified into the tea and coffee segment (through acquisition of Twinings and Jackson), the biscuits and chips bread business (through acquisition of Burtons

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Infosys Case Analysis Essay Example for Free

Infosys Case Analysis Essay ? Case analysis infosys document structure We have approached the case by first analyzing the identified issues, and then associate root causes to those issues. Further to it we have used two frameworks, â€Å"Web of Change† and â€Å"Hewitt Best Employer Characteristics†, to theoretically assess the weaknesses in Infosys Human Resource and Change Management policies. These frameworks can be used by organizations to better plan their change management and human resource management initiatives. We have used â€Å"Hewitt’s Best Employer Survey†, to identify the key initiatives which Infosys should undertake to enable it to reach its target of â€Å"Best Employer† by 2011. Further to it we believe that â€Å"Best Employer† and â€Å"Best Performer† are complementary goals, and it’s difficult to achieve one without the other, and hence we have identified the key initiatives which can help Infosys to achieve â€Å"Best Performer† target without compromising on its â€Å"Best Employer† objective. about infosys Infosys is the second largest Indian IT software services company. Infosys has reached pinnacles of success in short span of 20 years, through innovative business strategies and human resource practices. Currently it is facing challenges around balancing between business growth and employee satisfaction. About its business Model Infosys delivers IT services to its clients globally in a model called GDM (Global Delivery Model). The main characteristic of this model is that it decouples client location and project execution. Project is executed in locations which provide best combination of cost and talent. Project teams are spread across client site and offshore development centers in countries like India, China, and Mexico etc which provide rich availability of talent at competitive cost. Usually teams at client site document requirements and manage client relationship and offshore team manages delivery. This is a human resource intensive industry and the challenge is exacerbated by the fact that most of the resources are highly skilled professionals (engineers, MBAs, computer scientists etc). Being an industry where human resource is your only asset and your only competitive advantage, managing, ssues and Root Cause analysis In this section we’ll analyze the issues identified in the case and will attempt to identify root causes which led to employee dissatisfaction. After our analysis we believe that issues mentioned in the case is symptomatic of gaps in general principles of leadership, change management and HRM. Policies are not written in blood and stone, and they change ov er the lifetime of organizations. What should not change are basic organizations principles around human resource management. Our assessment is that policy changes in Infosys were reflective of external environment and business imperatives. However, diverging from the basic principles of Change management, leadership, communication and employee development in implementing new policies is what led to its fall in Best Employer ratings. â€Å"Stock Options started lacking luster to the new employees and created equity imbalance among employees† Stakeholders involved New Employees Discontentment Impact Inequity of income/wealth effect in the company which created tension between employees. New employees who had seen Infosys from outside as an organization committed to fairness, equity, and employee wealth creation got disenchanted. Root Cause Failure to Manage Expectations This issue primarily arose because of incorrect expectation setting of new employees. Infosys kept on using stock options and the millionaires’ stories as branding activity, even when stock options were no more an incentive to new recruits. Company should have made it very clear about its new compensation philosophy when it discontinued ESOPS. 1. Managing scale and attrition risk Stakeholders involved Employees Managers Discontentment Impact Infosys was growing at a speed where it was doubling its organizational strength every 1-2 years. However organization was plagued by high attrition rate. Employees felt lack of motivation, due to repetitive process tasks, which the business model demanded. Due to high growth, a lot of employees moved up the managerial ladder, but lacked proper training and orientation and hence couldn’t connect to employees Root Cause Lack of Employee fulfillment ( from the job ) Detached Lleaderships To stress on the need for the above two, we’ll give two examples from Indian public sector. Indian Railways Indian railways has recently transformed itself into a highly profitable organization, and according to the officer on special with Railways, single most critical factor which contributed to this success is involvement and commitment of employees of railways despite having a poor compensation structure. Employees of Indian railways take great pride in their work, since they believe they are contributing to the running of the country’s biggest infrastructure and are responsible for transporting of 2 crore customers every days. This association with organizational goal and pride in your organization is what makes an organization for perpetuity. Due to changing business needs, Iinfosys couldn’t connect to its employees in motivating them. Indian Army A unit commander in the army is able to inspire its soldiers to give up their life, compensation etc notwithstanding. The only reasons soldiers are so committed, is their immediate leader. It depends on the unit commander’s ability to connect to his soldiers, motivate them and show a genuine concern for their wellbeing, is what motivates the soldiers to do the unthinkable for their leader. According to research in human resources field, people leave managers and not companies. The leadership skills of managers are the greatest source of employee fulfillment at work. Lack of engagement and commitment of managers towards their subordinates, was probably the single biggest reason for high attrition rate at Infosys. 2. Strong formalization and process orientation, which came as part of growth, took away bandwidth to innovate from employees. Stakeholders involved Employees Discontentment Impact Employees who were used to getting the thrill and satisfaction from using their skill on technical challenges were feeling cocooned because of new process driven and re-use methodology. Similar impact was observed in people policy issues. All personal policies were getting more and more formalized. Root Cause Lack of employee Motivation Resistance to change One of the basic principles of organization design is that you don’t use strong formalization from highly skilled agents (employees). Formalization is for low skilled repeatable tasks. Infosys should have come up with business models aimed at high end, value added services much earlier. This would have kept its inherent talent not only motivated but better utilized for higher margins. In 1990s moving away from body shopping to GDM provide this opportunity, but in early to middle 2000s, Iinfosys couldn’t reinvent itself. Formalization in organizational policies when it grows out from entrepreneurial stage is inevitable. It’s actually needed to ensure consistent implementation of policies and create a sense of equity and fairness among employee. Dissatisfaction on this front could be attributed to resistance to change, and hence effective change management principles should be employed for disruptive changes. 3. Introduction of variable pay Stakeholders involved Employees Senior Management HR Department Discontentment Impact Variable pay was received with a lot of skepticism by the employees, fearing that it was introduced to reduce their compensation Root Cause/s Change Management Failure Lack of Leadership engagement Communication Failure This was probably one of the most disruptive changes introduced by Infosys. The amount of skepticism and distrust displayed by employees was a first in Infosys. Immediate reaction of employees was that this policy has been introduced to cut employee costs to satisfy shareholders demand for higher and higher profitability. The fact that a vast majority of senior management were shareholders in the company added to employee distrust. There was no clarity among employees how this policy will pan out. A lot of employees were not comfortable in linking their performance to factors outside their control (market conditions, decision taken by management etc). Also since the amount of variable component was high (more than 50% for project managers and above), employees could not understand how much their monthly take home were. This is a classic case of failure in change management and involvement of leadership at every level. Infosys data on variable payout shows that most of the time company has delivered 100% payout and even higher percentage to high performers. So employee skepticism bore from lack of clarity and communication on this policy. Lack of clarity, communication and involvement of employees was to such an extent that even middle management was taken by surprise by this policy. Many managers, who couldn’t appreciate the policy implementation, were reluctant in communicating the changes to the employees. For an employee first point of contact for clarification is his/her immediate line manager, hence it’s important to fully equip leadership at every level with information. To understand the role what leadership plays in motivating, retaining employees, we should look at armed forces. Unit commanders are able to motivate their employees to give their life, despite the fact that compensation package of soldiers is one of the lowest. This commitment in subordinates comes because of total commitment of their leader in engaging with them and motivating with them. Immediate line managers are the biggest reason employees leave an organization and are also the main reason employees go beyond their capabilities to outperform. 4. Retaining Organizational Culture with fast track growth Stakeholders involved HR Department Employees Discontentment Impact Due to business growth imperatives, and its business model, Infosys was doubling its employee strength every 1-2 years. To accommodate this type of growth, it had to lower its hiring standards and quality and culture was a victim of this. Root Cause/s Lack of Employee on boarding ( orientation) planning This issue had an impact on multiple facets. It led to a feeling disenchantment in existing employees, as they felt their brand equity in the market was getting diluted. New employees, who were not able to appreciate infosys inherent culture, didn’t felt comfortable and had a feeling that the organization is biased toward old employees. Root cause of this issue was that although organization had changed its selection criteria, it didn’t change its employee orientation strategy, or training methodology. Infosys should have changed its orientation program to be more customized offering for similar group of employees and using existing employees as mentor to help develop organizational culture and values in new employees. Similarly if you are hiring for quantity and not quality, it should have modified its training plan to be more exhaustive. 5. Broad Banding and promotions Stakeholders involved Employees Discontentment Impact Lack of faith in the organization Chaos and confusion in employees minds Root Cause/s Change Management Communication Leadership This policy again created a lot of employee discomfort since they didn’t knew the details of change. It’s again a classic change management failure. Although the policy was designed to bring more clarity in role structure and bring equity amongst similar roles, across the organization, poor communications created fear and scientism in minds of people. We can observe from the reinvention of Indian Railways, one of the reasons organization could progress on the growth trajectory, was employee commitment to the cause of Indian Railways, despite of low compensation. Employees felt proud to be part of the world’s biggest railways and were motivated to excel. Some of the senior managers lacked clarity about policies, hence they were apprehensive of clarifying the policy. This shows a major organizational failure in terms of change management and engagement of leadership with people. Similarly as discussed above, since employee appraisal parameters were not clearly defined, an employee could not appreciate how his/her appraisal going to impact promotions? Web Of Change – Change Management Framework To do substantiate our above understanding of issues at Iinfosys, we used â€Å"Web of Change†, a change management framework to understand the change management issues at Infosys. â€Å"Web of change: is the framework proposed by Stephen Thomas. This model defines 8 change elements as shown below and the web of change helps us to see how the values of each element changed during the Organization Change process in Infosys. The baseline score is the value of the Change elements in Infosys during the glory years of 1990’s and the re-assessment scores the value of the same change elements in the 2000’s when Infosys was going through the â€Å"Growth pangs†.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Comparing two poems Essay Example for Free

Comparing two poems Essay In this essay I will be comparing two poems. These poems are on the topic of war which is very relevant especially as there is a war going on in Iraq as I am writing this. The first poem I am going to write about called: Dulce et Decorum est is written by Wilfred Owen. He had first hand experience of war as he was a soldier; so he will give us a very honest opinion of war and what it was really like to fight in one. Unfortunately for him he was killed in action a week before the war ended. The poem has a very strong anti-war feeling about it; it is his personal view that dying for your country is not a very good thing and in the poem he conveys this to us by giving us very clear mental pictures of the horrible effects of war. Wilfred Owenss attitude to war is that he is frustrated, angry and resentful of it. The poem type Wilfred uses in this poem is the Sonnet; this is odd because Sonnet poems are usually about love but in this case he is writing about hurt; rhythm of the octaves in this poem is slow and speeds up in the sestet. These ties in with the mood of the poem e.g.: Gas! Gas! Gas! This line has been broken up with exclamation marks to show that there is an emergency. Then it slows down quite considerably again in the final stanza to make us think of the suffering the soldiers go through. It is wonderful the way that he structures this poem from the soldiers feelings, to his own and then he asks the reader for their views. There is one very noticeable thing about the structure and that is that there are two lines of the poem on their own; also these line are not in the past tense like the rest of the poem and this is because he is trying to emphasize the mental scars of war which remain with him in the present. He gives us a very detailed mental picture and he gives us this in all three verses. In verse 1 he talks about the physical breakdown of the soldiers. He builds up this mental image of suffering e.g.: knocked kneed, and he continues this mental picture into versus 2 as he talks about his fellow solider suffering and dying in the gas as he cant get his helmet on. He uses verbs in this verse in a clever way e.g.: Fumbling and floundering. E.g.: Fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time. And floundering like a man in fire or lime. In verse 3 he uses Onomatopoeic e.g.: gargling. He uses this word to explain how his fellow solider died e.g. Gargling from the forth-corrupted lungs. The pain that this soldier suffered is conveyed to us in a very gruesome way e.g.: As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. What he means by that is he has breathed in so much gas its suffocating him so it is very like drowning. Another example He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. In the first verse he uses metaphors in a very powerful way e.g. Blood shod, drunk with fatigue to show the exhaustion and suffering of the soldiers. Also the Onomatopoeic words in the first verse sludge and trudge, show us how the soldiers slowly marched ; it tell us also that they had no determination and enthusiasm lift to fight for their country. Wilfred Owen is basically saying in this poem that hes been there and its not that good at all to fight for your country. This is the complete opposite of what Lord Tennyson talks about in The Charge of the Light Brigade. Lord Tennysons poem is different from Wilfred Owen in a number of ways. Firstly Lord Tennyson has never fought in a war; Tennyson poem is also saying that it is good to die for your country and Tennysons poem is about the soldiers being heroes and noble men. The poets attitude to war is that it is an honorable and noble thing to die for your country. The tone of this poem is fast and very sharp e.g.: Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns! Another example is Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them stays at this speed for most of the poem. Tennyson structures his poem in to 6 verses of even length. He starts off describing the advance in verse 1 and 2 e.g.: Into the valley of death Forward, the Light Brigade! then into verse 4 he talks about the heat of the battle e.g.: Flashed all their sabers bare, Flashed as they turned in air, Sabring the gunners there. In verses 5 and 6 he talks about the retreat e.g.: Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them and he then goes on to say how courageous, noble and heroic the soldiers were e.g.: honour the charge they made! Honour the light brigade, Noble six hundred. Verse 6 is shorter than the rest as it is a tribute to the soldiers that fought in the war. The rhythm of the poem is regular; it conveys how inevitable the charge was. The rhyme sounds very grand, patriotic and has a musical tone about it. The poem type is a ballad. A ballad is usually a short narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain. They contain repetition e.g.: Rode the six hundred (which is on the end of every verse) another example: Half league, half league, half league onward. They are written in straight-forward verse, seldom with detail, but always with graphic simplicity and force. Many old-time ballads were written and performed by minstrels attached to noblemens courts. Language used in the poem is very powerful to glorify the charge rather than show pity. He uses metaphors in his poem e.g.: Into the valley of death; there is also personification used in his poem e.g.: Into the jaws of death and Into the mouth of hell He uses these metaphors and personification in his poem to emphasize the suicidal march of the Light Brigade. The hell and death in these phrases reinforces the views of this being the end for the soldiers. I really liked the way that Tennyson brings the reader into his poem by asking a rhetorical question: Was there a man dismayed? and When can their glory fade? He does use a quite a lot of onomatopoeia e.g.: Volleyed and thundered and Shot and shell. He has also chosen his verbs in his poem really well. They are Very prominent; convey idea of speed, the light and movement all in the one verb is flashed. The repetition is very powerful and significant in the poem from the very first line: Half a league, Half a League, Half a league onward. My personal view on war is that it is a terrible thing and should only be used for a last resort. I would only agree with a war at present if there was evidence to prove that Iraq have weapons of mass destruction and then I would consider it a just war and that we must get Saddam quickly and carefully to keep down the risk of innocent deaths. I personally prefer Dulce et Decorum est. by Wilfred Owen as it is more detailed and gives you very vivid pictures of the soldiers deaths and as Wilfred Owen was believable actually there its more in a sense as he was has seen it up close. This poem taught me that war is a bad thing and its not worth it; it helped me to appreciate how much pain some of the soldiers had to suffer in the war.

Multivariate Multilevel Modeling

Multivariate Multilevel Modeling Literature Review This chapter tying up the various similar studies related to modeling responses multivariately in a multilevel frame work. As a start, this chapter begins by laying out the recent history of univariate techniques for analyzing categorical data in a multilevel context. Then it gradually presents the literature available on fitting multivariate multilevel models for categorical and continuous data. More over this chapter reviews the evidence for imputing missing values for partially observed multivariate multilevel data sets. The Nature of Multivariate Multilevel models A multivariate multilevel model can be considered as a collection of multiple dependent variables in a hierarchical nature. Though the multivariate analysis increases the complexity in a multilevel context, it is an essential tool which facilitates to carry out a single test of the joint effects of some explanatory variables on several dependent variables (Snijders Bosker (2000). These models have the power of increasing the construct validity of the analysis for complex concepts in the real world. Consider a study on school effectiveness which can be measured on three different output variables math achievement, reading proficiency and well-being at school. These data are collected on students those who are clustered within schools by implying a hierarchical nature. Although it is certainly possible to handle three outcomes separately, it is unable to show the overall picture about school effectiveness. Therefore multivariate analysis would be more preferable in these types of scen arios since it has the capability of decreasing the type 1 error and increasing the statistical power (Maeyer, Rymenans, Petegem and Bergh) (Draft). Hierarchical natures of multivariate models are not like as the univariate response models. Let us focus on above example; it implies a two level multivariate model. But in reality it has three levels. In this case, the measurements are the level 1 units, the students the level 2 units and the schools the level three units. Importance of Multivariate Multilevel Modeling Multivariate multilevel data structures may itself present a greater complexity as it leads to focus the multilevel effects together with the multivariate context. Therefore the traditional statistical techniques would fail to face these kinds of areas since it can decrease the statistical efficiency by producing overestimated standard errors. On the other hand violation of independence assumption may cause to under estimate the standard errors of regression coefficients. Therefore multivariate multilevel approaches play an important role to get rid of these kinds of situations by allowing variation at different levels to be estimated. Furthermore Goldstein (1999) has shown that clustering provides accurate standard errors, confidence intervals and significance tests. Some amount of articles have been published on multilevel modeling based on a single response context. Multivariate multilevel concept comes into the field of statistics during the past few years. When people want to identify the effect of set of explanatory variables on a set of dependent variables and by considering these effects separately on response variables, then if it shows a considerable difference among those effects then it can be handled only by means of a multivariate analysis (Snijders Bosker, 2000). Software for Multivariate Multilevel Modeling In the past decades, due to the unavailability of the software for fitting multivariate multilevel data some researchers tend to use manual methods such as EM Algorithm (Kang et al., 1991). As a result of developing the technical environment, the software such as STATA, SAS and S plus are emerged in to the Statistical field by providing facilitates to handle the multilevel data. But none of those packages have a capability of fitting multivariate multilevel data. However there is evidence in the literature that nonlinear multivariate multilevel model can be fitted using packages such as GLLAMM (Rabe-Hesketh, Pickles and Skrondal, 2001) and aML (Lillard and Panis, 2000). But it was not flexible to handle this software. Therefore MlwiN software which has become the under development since late 1980’s was modified at the University of Bristol in UK in order to fulfill that requirement. However, the use of MlwiN for fitting multivariate multilevel models has been challenged by Goldstein, Carpenter and Browne (2014) who concluded that MlwiN was useful if only when fitting the model without imputing for the missing values. However REALCOM software was then came into the field of Statistics and provided the flexibility to impute the missing values in the MLwiN environment. MLwiN is a modified version of DOS MLn program which uses a command driven interface. MLwiN provides flexibility to fitting very large and complex models using both frequentist and Bayesian estimation along with the missing value imputation in a user friendly interface. Some particular advanced features which are not available in the other packages are included in this software. Univariate Multilevel Modeling vs. Multivariate Multilevel Modeling In general, data are often collected on multiple correlated outcomes. One major theoretical issue that has dominated the field for many years is modeling the association between risk factors and each outcome in a separate model. It may cause to statistically inefficient since it ignores outcome correlations and common predictor effects (Oman, Kamal and Ambler) (unpublished) Therefore most of the researches tend to include all related outcomes in a single regression model within a multivariate outcome framework rather than univariate. Recently investigators have examined the comparison between Univariate and Multivariate outcomes and they have proven that Multivariate models would be preferable than several univariate models. According to the Griffiths, Brown and Smith (2004), they conducted a study to compare univariate and multivariate multilevel models for repeated measures of use of antenatal care in Uttar Pradesh, India. In here, they examined many factors which may have a relationship to the mother’s decision to use ante-natal care services for a particular pregnancy. For that they compared Univariate multilevel logistic regression model vs. Multivariate multilevel logistic regression model. However as a result of fitting univariate models, model assumptions became violated and couldn’t get stable parameter estimates. Therefore they preferred the multivariate context rather than the univariate context after performing the analysis. Generalized Cochran Mantel Haenzel Tests for Checking Association of Multilevel Categorical Data. The history of arising the concepts related to Generalized Cochran Mantel Haenzel was streaming to the late 1950’s. Cochran (1958), one of a great Statistician has firstly introduced a test to identify the independence of multiple 2 Ãâ€" 2 tables by extending the general chi-square test for independence of a single 2-way table. In here, the each table consists of one or two additional variables for higher levels to detect the multilevel nature. The test statistic is based on the row totals of each table. The assumption behind is that the cell counts have binomial distribution. As an extension to Cochran’s work, Mantel and Haenzel (1959) extended the Cochran’s test statistic for both row and column totals by assuming the cell counts of each table follows a hypergeommetric distribution. Since Cochran Mantel Hanzel (CMH) statistic has a major limitation on binary data, Landis et al (1978) generalized this test into handle more than two levels. However there is a major drawback of the Generalized Cochran Mantel Haenzel (GCMH) test. This test was unable to handle clustered correlated categorical data. Liang (1985) was proposed a test statistic for get rid of this problem. However that test statistic itself had major problems and it was fail to use. As development of the statistics field, a need for a test statistic capable of handling correlated data and variables with higher levels arouse. Zhang and Boos (1995) coming in to the field and introduced three test statistics TEL TP and TU as a solution to the above problems. However among these three test statistics TP and TU are preferred to TEL since these two use the individual subjects as the primary sampling units while TEL use the strata as the primary sampling unit (De Silva and Sooriyarachchi, 2012). Furthermore, by a simulation study TP shows better performance than TE by maintaining its error values even when the strata are small and it uses the pooled estimators for variance. Therefore it provides a guideline to select TP as the most suitable statistic to perform this study. De Silva and Sooriyarachchi (2012) developed a R program to carry out this test. Missing Value Imputation in Multivariate Multilevel Framework The problem of having missing values is often arising in real world datasets. However it contains little or no information about the missing data mechanism (MDM). Therefore modeling incomplete data is a very difficult task and may provide bias results. Therefore this major problem address to a need of a proper mechanism to check the missingness. As a solution to that, Rubin (1976) presented three possible ways of arising misingness. These are classified as Missing At Random (MAR), Missing Completely At Random (MCAR) and Missing Not At Random (MNAR). According to the Sterne et. Al (2009), missing value imputation is necessary under the assumption of missing at random. However, it can also be done under the case missing complete at random. On nowadays most statistical packages have the capability of identifying the type of missingness. After identifying the type of missingness, the missing value imputation comes into the field and it requires a statistical package to perform this. Since the missing value imputation in a hierarchical nature is little bit more advanced and it cannot be done using usual statistical packages such as SPSS, SAS and R etc. Therefore Carpenter et. al (2009), developed the REALCOM software to perform this task. However latter version of REALCOM was not deal with multilevel data in a multivariate context. Therefore the macros related to perform this task was recently developed by the Bristol University team in order to facilitate under this case. Estimation Procedure The estimation procedures for multilevel modeling are starting late 1980’s. However For parameter estimation using Maximum Likelihood Method, an iterative procedure called EM algorithm was used by early statisticians (Raudenbush, Rowan and Kang, 1991). Later on the program HLM was developed to perform this algorithm. The most operational procedures for estimating multivariate multilevel models in the presence of Normal responses are Iterative Generalized Least Squares (IGLS), Reweighted IGLS (RIGLS) and Marginal Quasi Likelihood (MQL) while for discrete responses are MQL and Penalized Quasi Likelihood (PQL). According to Rasbash, Steele, Browne and Goldstein (2004) all of these methods are implemented in MLwiN along with including first order or second order Taylor Series expansions. However since these methods are likelihood based frequentist methods they tend to overestimate the precision. Therefore more recently the methods which are implemented in a Bayesian framework using Marcov Chain Monte Carlo methods (Brooks, 1998) also used for parameter estimation which allows capability to use informative prior distributions. These MCMC estimates executed in MLwiN provides consistent estimates though they require a large number of simulations to control of having highly correlated chains. Previous researches conducted using Univariate and Multivariate Multilevel Models Univariate multilevel logit models Before take a look at to the literature on multivariate multilevel analysis, the literature of univariate multilevel analysis is also be necessary to concerned since this thesis is based on some univariate multilevel models prior to fit multivariate multilevel models. In the past decades, many social Scientists used to apply multilevel models for binay data. Therefore it is very important to review how they have implemented their work with less technology. As a aim of that, Guo and Zhao (2000) was able to do a review of the methodologies, hypothesis testing and hierarchical nature of the data involve of past literature. Also they conducted two examples for justify their results. First of all they made a comparison between estimates obtained from MQL and PQL methods which was implemented by MLn and the GLIMMIX method implemented by SAS by using examples. They have shown that the differences in PQL 1 and PQL 2 are small when fitting binary logistic models. Furthermore, they have shown that PQL- 1 and PQL-2 and GLIMMIX are probable to be satisfactory for most of the past studies undertaken in social sciences. Noortgate, Boeck and Meulders (2003) uses multilevel binary logit models for the purpose of analyzing Item Response Theory (IRT) models. For that they carried out an assessment of the nine achievement targets for reading comprehension of students in primary schools in Belgium. They performed a multilevel analyses using the cross-classified logistic multilevel models and used the GLIMMIX macro from SAS, as well as the MLwiN software. However they found that there were some convergence problems arisen by using PQL methods in MLwiN. Therefore they used SAS to carryout analysis. Furthermore they have shown that the cross-classification multilevel logistic model is a very flexible to handle IRT data and the parameters can still be estimated even with the presence of unbalanced data. Multivariate Multilevel Models In the past two decades a very few of researches have sought to fit the multivariate multilevel models to the real world scenarios. Among those also all most all the researches trying to focus basically in educational sectors as well as socio economic sectors. None of them were able to focus these into the medical scenarios. However lack of multivariate multilevel analysis which presents in the field of health and medical sciences this chapter consists of the literatures of multivariate multilevel models in other fields. According to the previous studies of education, Xin Ma (2001) examined the association between the academic achievements and the background of students in Canada by considering three levels of interest. For that the three level Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) was developed in order to achieve his goals. This work allows him to draw the conclusions that both students and schools were differentially successful in different subject areas and it was more obvious among students than among schools. However the success of this study is based on some strong assumptions about the priors of student’s cognitive skills. Exclusive of the field of education Raudenbush, Johnson and Sampson (2003) carried out a study in Chicago to determine the criminal behavior at person level as well as at neighborhood level with respect to some personal characteristics. For this purpose they use a Rasch model with random effects by assuming conditional independence along with the additives. Moreover, Yang, Goldstein, Browne and Woodhouse (2002) developed a multivariate multilevel analysis of analyzing examination results via a series of models of increasing complexity. They used examination results of two mathematics examinations in England in 1997 and analyzed them at individual and institutional level with respect to some students features. By starting from a simpler model of multivariate normality without considering the institutional random effects, they gradually increased the complexity of the model by adding institutional levels together with the multivariate responses. When closely looked at, there work shows that the choice of subject is strongly associated with the performance. Along with this growth of applications of multivariate multilevel models, researches may tend to apply those in to the other fields such as Forestry etc. Hall and Clutter (2004) presented a study regarding modeling the growth and yield in forestry based on the slash pine in U.S.A. In their work, they developed a methodology to fit nonlinear mixed effect model in a multivariate multilevel frame work in order to identify the effects of the several plot-level timber quantity characteristics for the yield of timber volume. In addition to that they also developed a methodology to produce predictions and prediction intervals from those models. Then by using their developments they have predicted timber growth and yield at the plot individual and population level. Grilli and Rampichini (2003) carried out a study to model ordinal response variables according to the students rating data which were obtained from a survey of course quality carried out by the University of Florence in 2000-2001 academic years. For that they developed an alternative specification to the multivariate multilevel probit ordinal response models by relying on the fact that responses may be viewed as an additional dummy bottom level variable. However they not yet assess the efficiency of that method since they were not implemented it using standard software. When considering the evidences of the recent applications of these models the literature shows that Goldstein and Kounali (2009) recently conducted a study on child hood growth with respect to the collection of growth measurements and adult characteristics. For that they extended the latent normal model for multilevel data with mixed response types to the ordinal categorical responses with having multiple categories for covariates. Since data consists of counts they gradually developed the model by starting a model with assuming a Poison distribution. However since the data are not follow exactly a Poisson distribution they treated the counts as an ordered categories to get rid of that problem. Frank, Cerda and Rendon (2007) did a study to identify whether the residential location have an impact to the health risk behaviors of Latino immigrants as they are increasing substantially in every year. For that they used a Multivariate Multilevel Rasch model for the data obtained by Los Angelis family and neighborhood survey based on two indices of health risk behaviors along with their use of drugs and participation for risk based activities. They starting this attempt by modeling the behavior of adolescents as a function of the characteristics related to both individual and neighborhood .According to the study they found that there is an association between increased health risk behaviors with the above country average levels of Latinos and poverty particularly for those who born in U.S.A. Another application of multivariate multilevel models was carried out Subramanian, Kim and Kawachi (2005) in U.S.A. Their main aim was to identify the individual and community level factors for the health and happiness of individuals. For that they performed a multivariate multilevel regression analysis on the data obtained by a survey which was held on 2000. Their findings reflect that those who have poor health and unhappiness have a high relationship with the individual level covariates By looking at the available literature, it can be seen that there are some amount of studies conducted on education and social sciences in other countries but none of the studies conducted regarding health and medical sciences. Therefore it is essential to perform a study by analyzing the mortality rates of some killing diseases which are spread in worldwide to understand risk factors and patterns associated with these diseases in order to provide better insights about the disease to the public as well as to the responsibly policy makers.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Free College Essays - Our Town by Thornton Wilder :: Wilder Our Town Essays

Our Town by Thornton Wilder The Stage Manager is a man of many roles. Usually a stage manager is part of the non-acting staff and in complete charge of the bodily aspects of the production. In Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, the Stage Manager goes well beyond his usual function in a play and undertakes a large role as a performer. In Our Town the Stage Manager is a narrator, moderator, philosopher, and an actor. Through these roles the Stage Manager is able to communicate the theme of universality in the play. The main role of the Stage Manager is that of narrator and moderator. He keeps the play moving by capsule summations and subtle hints about the future. "I’ve married over two-hundred couples in my day. Do I believe in it? I don’t know? M†¦.marries N†¦.millions of them. The cottage, the go-cart, the Sunday-afternoon drives in the Ford, the first rheumatism, the grandchildren, the second rheumatism, the deathbed, the reading of the will-once in a thousand times it’s in teresting"(699). Here the Stage Manager is giving insight about George and Emily’s future. He is hinting about their life and fate to come. "Goin’ to be a great engineer, Joe was. But the war broke out and he died in France. All that education for nothing" (673). The incidents discussed about are great events in George, Emily, and Joe’s lives. The Stage Manage emphasizes that the short things in these people’s lives are overlooked. There isn’t realization that it is the small parts of their lives that make a difference. His role as narrator differs from most narration. The Stage Manager’s narration shows casualness. The casualness connects the Stage Manager to the audience. "Presently the STAGE MANAGER, hat on and pipe in mouth†¦he has finished setting the stage and leaning against the right proscenium pillar watches the late arrivals in the audience."(671) The informality is evident since he smokes a pipe, wear s a hat, and leans formally against the proscenium pillar. He also greets and dismisses the audience at the beginning and end of each act. The stage manager interrupts daily conversation on the street. The Stage Manager enters and leaves the dialog at will. He is also giving the foresight of death in the play. His informality in dress, manners, and speech, connects the theme, universality, of the production to the audience.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Generational Gaps And Conflicts Essay -- Literary Analysis

In the short story Who’s Irish by Gish Jen and Everyday Use written by Alice Walker, both authors address generational conflicts between mothers and daughters, as well as struggles to coexist while living in very different cultural mindsets. The moral of both stories is that cross-cultural issues exist in every family tree and we often find comfort in unlikely places. While a mother may not agree with her daughter’s choices she never loses love, and while a daughter may not like decisions that are made by their mother she never loses respect. Both are stories about women going through struggle to integrate and adept into modern American life, two mothers struggle to understand their daughters and the lives they are immersed in. Gish Jen is trying to communicate a sense of loss a mother experiences because she does not understand her daughter and struggles to adapt in Who’s Irish. The authors point is that American life through the eyes of an elderly foreigner is hardly understandable, things like, the wife being the bread winner, career oriented women, marital problems, and gender specific roles that are too rigid. Through the grandmother's voice; the author develops these themes with humor and sympathy, written in broken English, the she intends for the reader to see how difficult the world is to express in a language that is foreign to you the reader, perhaps as a way to contrast how different her thinking is compared to the world she lives in, America. The author emphasizes the grandmothers love for both her daughter and granddaughter throughout, her love for her family never ends in spite of her confusion over their culture and the way they choose to live, constantly comparing the way situatio ns and people are to the wa... ...ish was more thoughtful and caring in trying to become accustomed to her daughters ways, whereas Mama in Everyday Use was more rigid, she preferred her lifestyle the way it was and she had no intention of changing, nor could she couldn’t understand why Dee would want anything more, as she and Maggie were happy where they were at. The irony of both stories isn’t hateful or bitter but a message of love and caring despite differences. In the end we are left wondering whether the results of the quandaries are right or wrong, and to question our own motives with our families, relationships, and lives. Works Cited Jen, Gish. "Who's Irish." 1999. Literature: Craft and Voice. Vol. 1. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 105-10. Print. Fiction. Walker, Alice. "Everyday Use." 1973. Literature: Craft and Voice. Vol. 1. Boston: McGraw- Hill, 2010. 608-13. Print. Fiction.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Essay --

In today’s society there are a number of issues that may affect a number of Americans. One issue that is a big topic in today’s society is the issue of Illegal Immigration. Whether we should grant illegal’s driver’s licenses, amnesty, deport them, how it affects the U.S. economically, and some might even consider them as terrorists. Those are just a few topics that we may hear being brought up. It is possible to see this touchy subject on television, or it may be a debate at school, or you may read about it in the newspaper. It is a subject that catches alot of peoples’ attention and some might not even care to touch on the subject because of the repercussion. What is Illegal Immigration? †Generally, the term "illegal immigrant" refers to a person from another country who is presently in the United States without authorization to remain here. This includes anybody who is here intending to stay permanently or temporarily. It also includes anybody whose visa is not current. Sometimes people enter without permission (sneaking across a border, for example), but many people do enter with a visa, but then the visa expires and the person continues to remain in the country. There are many reasons why an illegal immigrant would like to come to the United States. It could be to get a better job to support their family or to get a better education. There are pros and cons to Illegal immigration. One of the pros is that Illegal immigrants contribute to the tax system by paying sales tax. Also, Illegal immigrants who purchase real estate properties also pay real estate taxes. In return, this generates commissions for the agents and brokers. In addition, since the illegal immigrants enjoy the banking services of the country, they pay inter... ...t to come legally to do the jobs Americans don’t want, but our broken immigration system does not allow that to happen. If there were legal channels for these migrants to use. The government could concentrate on identifying the real terrorists. Instead, the government is wasting money and manpower trying to keep out the immigrant workers the U.S. economy needs. That makes the job of finding a terrorist like finding a needle in a haystack. Topics such as terrorist threats, DLs, burden on our economy, deportation, amnesty and the term Illegal Immigrant are just a few topics that people often consider when taking on the subject of Illegal Immigration. So whether you are for or against it, that is your opinion. As for me, as long they are not out committing serious crimes or hurting anyone and are trying to do better for themselves and their families, just let them be.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Why We Use Stereotypes

Why stereotypes? Why can’t we just be judged by our own individuality and not based on someone else’s? Stereotypes basically give people untrue â€Å"facts† about different ethnic groups and their certain characteristics and behaviors. So in this essay I’m going to have to set things straight. I’ll define what stereotypes are, why do people use stereotypes and who/how does it usually affect people. Stereotypes are exaggerated or distorted beliefs or images about a person or group of people. They assume that everyone in the group have the same characteristics leading them to believe that they are all alike.No one is born believing in stereotypes, they are usually learned from the media (TV, radio, etc), parents, peers, and etc. Even when a stereotype is positive it affects the mind so much that there is no room for a person to show their individuality or how different they can be. Many people use stereotypes because it’s hard for them to take in all this complicated information about other people in the world. People find it difficult to spend the necessary amount of time learning to understand why or what different ways people behave.So then due to that we start accepting stereotypes because their easier for us to understand. Stereotypes affect people all over the world. There isn’t one group of people that isn’t affected by stereotypes (due to the fact that everyone is basically different from us). The effect that stereotypes take is that it eliminates the challenges of us getting to know and understand people who are different from us. They don’t allow people to be considered different. They give us a general overview of whole groups of people so we know what to expect and how to act when they’re seen.Also when we have problems with someone of a different group, we usually identify the problem as it having to be associated the group rather than the specific person. So the do impact us on ho w we think, and feel. Stereotypes also make us very judgmental about others and unfortunately they frequently do. Stereotypes make us believe that someone (or that group of people) did something to us, rather than the problem, fear, or rigidity/closed thinking we have within ourselves. Stereotypes have left a big effect on us. We can’t be seen as different with them around so we must try to eliminate them.We need to actually take the time to get to know people instead of accepting stereotypes just because their easier. Everyone is different, so you can’t just look at someone and think this is how they act based on what’s said about the group in general. Get to understand people based on their individuality not what you hear. Though no one is born believe in stereotypes they are usually learned from the media (which usually impacts us anyways). So in conclusion stereotypes are not what’s best to be used and are basically false.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Reflection paper

Reflection Paper: Zombie Apocalypse Myths have been around in all parts of the world for thousands and thousands of years. All religions have their own myths on how the world was created and dealing with the evil spirits in the world and much more. Over the years there were different myths created making society believe in them along with others wanting the historical facts behind these myths. Making many of us develop a sense of fantasy with these myths. For example, the zombie apocalypse.The word Zombie comes from the Haitian and New Orleans voodoo origins. It refers to a human dead body which serves the undead, but what makes people so crazed over it? Is it the mysterious way the illness or â€Å"bite† first started? Why is it continually being spoken about on the websites and on the television? Many people have their own interpretation on this. Many of it deals with the preparedness for the end of the world. This ties into the entertainment of peoples minds since people ar e bored in the world wanting to create a new myth. Let me elaborate on this farther.When It comes to the zombie type of apocalypse many people have created movies, video games, and books on It. This type of apocalypse have given some people the â€Å"adrenaline rush† in video games for they can use violence to kill these zombies. Other people search the facts in order to prepare for disasters in the world. It can be tough to get people thinking about emergency preparedness before disaster strikes. Hollywood created these zombie movies, video games, television series, and books to spark our attention and get people Involved in preparing before a true natural disaster strikes.Because of these many movies and books In the world It made people question this zombie apocalypse. Will it really happen? How do you prepare for it? Many people in the world have said to have an emergency plan and survival kit set up. But who would want to believe this? Is it a myth or fact? Many people h ave then thought of this apocalypse as another contribute to the humans who are â€Å"living† whom, without the threat of law, would contemplating to rape and kill you Just to take what you have, and to enjoy whatever sick twisted fantasy they cook up on the spot.This Is the type of facts people have to add to this myth. As signs go on with the facts other than trying to survive and kill the zombies, people would get depression. Depression will lower your immune system, causing the stress and making you tired constantly which can add to your death or becoming a â€Å"zombie. † Even if there is not a zombie attack, the government might be more prepared for an earthquake or any other type of disaster which is more common than an actual zombie apocalypse. I personally do not believe In the typical zombie apocalypse movies and videotapes and such.I do believe in other myths and such but with this type it is more fantasy than anything else. I would need to be given factual and solid scientific evidence explaining how and why this would occur. I refuse to acknowledge this as a valid warning. However I do have respect for some of the CDC government opinions, as they are entitled believe whatever they may want to. Even if it Is scientifically based To me it ties in with someone wanting the entertainment and excitement due to their boredom or preparing for the true natural disasters.The idea is to get the attention of people who would otherwise not prepare for real, actual emergencies, like natural disasters by getting the attention of people and getting them to seriously think about an emergency kit, in order to save us money. In any survival situation you must have food, water, shelter & protection. However, if a zombie apocalypse were to occur, you would not only have to have the supplies to survive, but would also have to have the ability to protect the supplies and your family.Most likely, you would need to have enough supplies for a minimum of three months. Then have a plan for either how to grow or produce your own supplies. This is another factual to needing to prepare. Personally, I would like to know why everyone thinks that they would be trying to survive. With the likely percentage of infection across the world in all the scenarios e imagine, there is a 99 percent chance that you would be a zombie too. What makes one think that it could not â€Å"happen to me? Why would one assume that they would be fighting them? Chances are they would be stumbling and moaning as well. These are questions that I face with this type of myth and why people could possibly be into this. Other people would use this as another way to get closer to their faith. For example, people would think that the zombies are Satin's demons and the â€Å"living† are God's children trying to escape Satin's grasp. To me this seems a very possible way to lead to their myth and fantasy in their minds.As other people believe, like me, that the zombies a re far-fetched, they do however look at the facts like the deadly flu in 1918 making people afraid to leave their homes. To me it is one way to use this apocalypse as entertainment to fill their boredom, but to end up believing this could possibly be an outcome in the world is bizarre. As, you can see many people use this as a way to prepare for the real disasters in the world, to have emergency kits and plans on how to survive. But then other people see it as actually happening. What do you believe in? Myth or fact? Why are you into this? Reflection paper This chapter focuses on the principles of biology. Biology Is the scientific study of life. A notable contradiction to science Is pseudoscience which Is something that sounds selecting but Is not based on complete evidence. Life encompasses a wide variety of things, but all life has a set of seven characteristics which are order, regulation, growth and development, energy processing, response to the environment, reproduction, and evolution. Life exists in many levels ranging from the exosphere to molecules and atoms.A cell is the lowest structural level that can sustain the activities required for life. Cells exist in one of two categories: prokaryotic or eukaryotic. A prokaryotic cell is simple, small, and lacking a nucleus while a eukaryotic cell is larger and more complex, containing many membrane-enclosed organelles. Biological domains further differentiate between kinds of cells. There are three major biological domains, two of which are classified for prokaryote and the other f or eukaryote. They are Domain Bacteria, Domain Archie, and Domain Eukaryote.Evolution Is also a major theme In biology. Evolution Is the concept of life evolving over the course of time. Charles Darwin Is responsible for the concept of evolution through natural selection. His idea of natural selection was about the adaptation to the environment over time by populations in order to survive. Discovery science and hypothesis driven science are the two main processes of science. Scientists follow the scientific method to test their findings. Theories and scientific saws sometimes result from many repeated experiments.A theory is a comprehensive explanation while a law is a more a generalized description. The basis of science requires that experiments be repeatable, as scientists repeat each other's experiments to check for verification. This is why It Is very important for scientists to be honest with their observations and results. Correlations occur when events occur together In time and space. It Is very Important to know that correlation does not always equal causation. A controlled experiment Is needed to prove a relation.This includes a control and experimental group. As science has advanced, technologies have advanced as well to help us apply or take advantage of said scientific advances. Positive and negative things have come about from the mix of science and technology. A positive result has been the use of DNA in criminal court cases. A negative result has been the deforestation and toxic wastes caused the growth in population. The information regarding the resistance that certain bacteria may be developing towards antibiotics is particularly interesting to me.This will also be relevant to me not only as I may probably be more careful with any future antibiotic Intake but also as I will be entering the health field and will need to be aware of this. As a nurse I might need to administer antibiotics or monitor or read patients bacterial count. By the time I become a nurse, In a couple of years, this has the possibly of becoming a larger Issue (hopefully not! ) and their might need to be extra precautions that I will need to inform patients of as well as general health. Reflection Paper Across Cultures Reflection Cross-cultural literacy and experiences are playing an Increasingly important part In developing a global management team particularly In a cultural-diversity team or organization. Building an effective global business team by Governance and Septa's told us that multinational corporations looking to exploit global economic of scale, transfer of knowledge etc needs to master managing global business teams. And the Dam's presents three culturally determined strategies for resolving conflict between organizational members from different cultures.For the past peer reviewed presentation, the purpose of this presentation is to help us gaining more experiences by working in a multicultural team. This teamwork exercise has given me an opportunity to develop my cultural learning and improve my understanding of the concept of culture. Be more specific about the part of communication, there Is Individualistic versus collectivist In the cultural aspect. The collective require consensus on decisions and the Individual view this as lower priority. Our group was In the prevalence of collectivism which has pros and cons.In a positive way, our team members can put forward different ideas then put them all together to achieve our goal. Furthermore, our team members select the best ideas to present and arrangement the points without any questions. During the discussion, we had different personal opinions due to the shortage of individualism so some conflicts arisen. To solve this problem, we tended to continue the ideas then discussed which one is most accepted. Therefore, there aren't many diverse ideas until finished the discussion.Next time, I will think out more Ideas then try to communicate with my team members more. At same time, I will listen to others about their opinions clearly and try to compare different Ideas then choose the best Idea. The communication Is the Important factor In the multinational cooperation. MAGGOT'S Reflection Paper BY h eptanes Cross-cultural literacy and experiences are playing an increasingly important part in developing a global management team particularly in a cultural-diversity team or organization.Building an effective global business team by Governance and Septa's Be more specific about the part of communication, there is individualistic versus collectivist in the cultural aspect. The collective require consensus on decisions and the individual view this as lower priority. Our group was in the prevalence of will think out more ideas then try to communicate with my team members more. At different ideas then choose the best idea. The communication is the important factor in the multinational cooperation. Reflection Paper Teachers, parents, and peers can all assume who is a good student and who is not by their reparation for the class, in-class behavior, and how they manage their classes on their free time. It is permanently vital to be prepared for class not only for yourself but to show the professor what kind of student you are. This means that the student should have read the material beforehand to get a clear understanding of the theme of the following lecture and prepare any questions.Also, being on time and bringing the proper necessities to class will show your professor that you are ready to learn. Being prepared for class is the first impressions students show their professors. I complete my reparation the day before the class. Do this to refresh my memory of the new course material. In addition, if I have a question, jot it down in my note book so will not forget it the day of class. I always keep my needed supplies in my backpack and double check before every class.If you are not prepared, your professor may think down upon you, which is an undesirable way to prove your self-worth. Behavior inside the classroom is correspondingly important. Just like being prepared, showing up to class on time can increase your chances of having a great first impression. Classroom etiquette involves tying throughout all of class while being involved and taking notes. Although am very shy and quite, give my professors clues that I am paying attention and am interested in their class.To do this, sit in the front of the class, look at the teacher while he or she is talking, and ask any questions that may come up. In addition, I try my best to keep small group discussions on topic. However, I know that I can greatly extend these tactics to prove how interested I am in the class. After class many students forget to do their assignments and procrastinate until the last possible moment. This will result in terrible work and prove to the professor that their class is not one of your prioriti es.The best way I show my professors that I am interested in class is by taking the time with my homework and papers. Will complete the assignment but will continue to recheck what have done up until I am completely pleased with my work. By doing so, I am communicating that I actually care about the class. In Sociology 201 , I put in my best effort to impress my professor. Although I am not asking many questions and do not talk as much as other students, do try my best to prove my interest and give great impression by the work I do produce. Reflection Paper Teachers, parents, and peers can all assume who is a good student and who is not by their reparation for the class, in-class behavior, and how they manage their classes on their free time. It is permanently vital to be prepared for class not only for yourself but to show the professor what kind of student you are. This means that the student should have read the material beforehand to get a clear understanding of the theme of the following lecture and prepare any questions.Also, being on time and bringing the proper necessities to class will show your professor that you are ready to learn. Being prepared for class is the first impressions students show their professors. I complete my reparation the day before the class. Do this to refresh my memory of the new course material. In addition, if I have a question, jot it down in my note book so will not forget it the day of class. I always keep my needed supplies in my backpack and double check before every class.If you are not prepared, your professor may think down upon you, which is an undesirable way to prove your self-worth. Behavior inside the classroom is correspondingly important. Just like being prepared, showing up to class on time can increase your chances of having a great first impression. Classroom etiquette involves tying throughout all of class while being involved and taking notes. Although am very shy and quite, give my professors clues that I am paying attention and am interested in their class.To do this, sit in the front of the class, look at the teacher while he or she is talking, and ask any questions that may come up. In addition, I try my best to keep small group discussions on topic. However, I know that I can greatly extend these tactics to prove how interested I am in the class. After class many students forget to do their assignments and procrastinate until the last possible moment. This will result in terrible work and prove to the professor that their class is not one of your prioriti es.The best way I show my professors that I am interested in class is by taking the time with my homework and papers. Will complete the assignment but will continue to recheck what have done up until I am completely pleased with my work. By doing so, I am communicating that I actually care about the class. In Sociology 201 , I put in my best effort to impress my professor. Although I am not asking many questions and do not talk as much as other students, do try my best to prove my interest and give great impression by the work I do produce. Reflection paper Asian Stereotypes It's human nature to create stereotypes. Humans are Judgmental beings that always seem to Judge something before they get to know them. Whether Its fear of the unknown, or Just because of bias. Stereotypes can be seen in almost every race. From white people being considered â€Å"trailer trash,† to Hispanics being known as â€Å"lazy. † Another group that has stereotypes are Asians. Asian people are those who originate from Asian. This group Includes both Indians, Japanese, and Chinese people. To begin, there are many different stereotypes about Asians.First of all, Aslant men are considered to be chauvinistic. Males are considered to be very disrespectful towards women. They are also seen as against the liberation of people. Furthermore, Aslant parents are portrayed as conservative and strict. Especially In the movies they are seen as dictators with their children. Thirdly, Asians are considered to have better bad English. As many movies have also sho wn, Asians are shown as having a very broken English and being unable to say â€Å"L† sounds. Moreover, religion is also something that people stereotype.For example, Sikhs are all considered to be Muslims. Also that Asians are not very good athletes. The one that is most common is that all Asians are great at mathematics. This is more of a nurture and less of nature when it comes to mathematics. I believe this is where the whole all Asians are doctors idea came from. This is all untrue. All in all, stereotypes are Just made up ideas about others. We tend to group people up with what we believe they represent. It's an unfortunate part of life but it seems to happen more and more. Reflection paper Asian Stereotypes It's human nature to create stereotypes. Humans are Judgmental beings that always seem to Judge something before they get to know them. Whether Its fear of the unknown, or Just because of bias. Stereotypes can be seen in almost every race. From white people being considered â€Å"trailer trash,† to Hispanics being known as â€Å"lazy. † Another group that has stereotypes are Asians. Asian people are those who originate from Asian. This group Includes both Indians, Japanese, and Chinese people. To begin, there are many different stereotypes about Asians.First of all, Aslant men are considered to be chauvinistic. Males are considered to be very disrespectful towards women. They are also seen as against the liberation of people. Furthermore, Aslant parents are portrayed as conservative and strict. Especially In the movies they are seen as dictators with their children. Thirdly, Asians are considered to have better bad English. As many movies have also sho wn, Asians are shown as having a very broken English and being unable to say â€Å"L† sounds. Moreover, religion is also something that people stereotype.For example, Sikhs are all considered to be Muslims. Also that Asians are not very good athletes. The one that is most common is that all Asians are great at mathematics. This is more of a nurture and less of nature when it comes to mathematics. I believe this is where the whole all Asians are doctors idea came from. This is all untrue. All in all, stereotypes are Just made up ideas about others. We tend to group people up with what we believe they represent. It's an unfortunate part of life but it seems to happen more and more.