Raw by Scott Monk Essay

Raw follows the story of Brett Dalton a teenager with an attitude who has succumb to peer pressure and lives outside the law. After being picked up for various minor offences Brett finds himself having to spend time at a rehabilitation centre. the image that I have created symbolises Brett Daltons perspective of the rehabilitation centre called the farm. The farm is home to many young crime committers such as Brett. The farms main purpose is to reform kids that are sent there. It is very different from most detention centres in regards that a lot of trust is given to the inmates. Brett was confused with this as his image of the farm was completely different as he states in the book â€Å"what kind of detention centre is this ? there weren’t any bars on the cells ? There weren’t even cells† the farm ran a much different way to which Brett thought which I have created in my image. My image helps to express the idea of how Brett sees the farm through his eyes. At the start of the novel Brett is considered as a rebel and feels that the whole world is against him and blames others for his troubles he has the perception that the farm will be full of guards and have locked gates and that it will never change who he is . Brett’s negativity towards authority is expressed in his antagonism towards the police but throughout the novel Brett comes to understand that not all power and authority is like that represented by police that power is non-merely vested in institution’s and authority figures but there are sensitive and compassionate individuals that through the book help Brett to regain control over his own destiny Although the farm does not successfully help Brett get out of trouble as he ends up in jail but he learns many lessons and that ‘he is the only one that can change who he is

Family Diversity Essay

The nuclear family is portrayed as the perfect family on most advertising. The ‘cereal packet’ family, dad, mum and two kids all perfectly bronzed and all smiles usually seen on TV adverts. Rapoport and Rapoport would suggest that this is not the case any longer due to increased family diversity. They identified five different types of family diversity in Britain. Organisational diversity refers to division of labour within the family and differences in the ways family roles are organised. Cultural diversity is diversity due to religious and ethnic influences. Social class diversity- there is differences between working and middle classes in terms of adult relationships, the socialisation of children etc. Life course diversity, as different stages in the life cycle will generate different patterns of structure e. g. newly weds have a different structure and life style to those with children. Cohort diversity refers to specific times in the past which could have had an effect on the family structure. Eversley and Bonnerjea identified six types of regional diversity. The ‘sunbelt’ – the affluent south with higher class two parent families. The ‘geriatric wards’ – coastal areas with retired couples. The old declining industrial areas of the north- traditional extended family structures. The inner city- single parent families and ethnic minorities. The newly declining industrial areas of the Midlands- dominated by diverse structures. Rural areas- typified by extended families. The New Right are not happy with the increase in family diversity seen above as they believe there is only one correct family which is the patriarchal nuclear family with a clear cut division of labour between instrumental (males) and expressive (females) roles. They see this family as natural and based on fundamental biological differences. The New Right argue that the increase in family diversity is the cause of lots of social problems such as higher crime rates and educational failure. They argue that family breakdown (where the family is no longer a patriarchal nuclear family) increases the risks to children.

Breast Cancer in Australian Women

Breast Cancer in Australian Women Breast cancer is most common cancer in Australian women. Breast cancer occurs when the cells lining the breast ducts or lobules grow abnormally and out of control.There are two common broad groups of breast cancers: Pre-invasive: where the cancer cells are still confined to the ducts or lobules of the breast.Invasive: this means the cancer has spread outside the ducts or lobules of the breast into the surrounding tissue. Breast screening is an important element in the response to breast cancer incidence in our communities. Some signs and symptoms to be aware of are: A lump, lumpiness or thickening of the breast tissueChanges to the nipple, such as a change in shape, crusting, a sore or ulcer, redness, unusual dischargeChanges to the skin of the breast, such as dimpling, unusual redness or other colour changesA change to the shape of the breast, including increase or decrease in sizeSwelling or discomfort in the armpitPersistent pain that is not related to your normal menstrual cycle TREATMENT OPTIONS Breast cancer treatment is often a multidisciplinary effort, involving: surgerychemotherapy andradiotherapyThere are different approaches available for all three treatment modalities in terms of technique, treatment regimens and prescriptions. Your team of specialists will discuss and recommend what is best suited for your diagnosis.As an example, for early stage breast cancer breast conserving surgery (lumpectomy) followed by a course of chemotherapy and then external beam radiotherapy is a common and standard treatment approach.External Beam Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer Radiotherapy has a vital role in the management of breast cancer.It is used: In conjunction with surgery (either lumpectomy removal of the tumour itself, or mastectomy removal of the breast, including the tumour)Instead of surgery,In advanced cases of cancer for symptom control (palliation)In each of these scenarios the treatment program is individualised for the patient based on the surgery undertaken, and the pathology and disease staging test results. Sometimes only the breast (or chest) requires radiation and sometimes both the breast and any affected lymph nodes are treated.Routinely radiotherapy treatment is delivered using External Beam Radiotherapy, but brachytherapy is also a viable treatment option for certain patients. Your Radiation Oncologist is the best person to advise you on what treatment is required, how effective the therapy should be, and how the treatment will affect you. AVAILABLE SERVICES All of our Genesis Cancer Care centres are actively involved in breast cancer research and hold joint multidisciplinary clinics where patient cases are discussed by surgeons, radiation and medical oncologists so that optimal overall care and treatment planning can be achieved. These groups of specialist treatment physicians are also supported by pathologists and radiologists who provide important diagnosis reports and investigations.Our treatment centres, in addition to providing the highest quality treatment services make support care via breast nurses and counsellors readily available. Link to Quick Links

Retail Market Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Retail Market Analysis - Coursework Example It has been observed that the retail industry of the United Kingdom is going to expand in size by around 15% in the coming 5 years. A value of around 312 billion pounds may be attained by the United Kingdom. Source: www.cbi.org.uk/.../10%2007%2026%20DTS%20NACE%20note%20final. pdf The retail sector of the United Kingdom has a value of 8% of the total gross domestic product of the country. The different retail industries in the United Kingdom have developed immensely in all areas such as home wear, health and beauty retail industry, electrical goods, garments industry, e-retail, furniture and floor coverings and other such types of retail sectors. Northern Ireland is one of the regions where tremendous amount of retail growth has been observed. Vancouver Trading Incorporated is planning to start its retail operations in the United Kingdom in the industry of white goods. This report is an overall analysis and advice of the level of retail of white goods in the United Kingdom. ... ng to invest their purchases on white goods, the consumer behavior aspects are also discussed and following this the advice is given to Vancouver Trading Incorporated for making their investments in the United Kingdom retail market of white goods. Retail trends over recent years In the white goods retail industry, the home appliances and the dishwashers are the main products that have a high share and high value of the total market of the white goods industry. The economical and social state of the United Kingdom is extremely important factors as they may directly impact the white goods retail industry in the market. The demand for white goods is directly related to the housing market of the United Kingdom. The more the consumers plan to shift in houses the more the market will increase for the white goods as many household appliances are needed for doing different chores of the house. The housing market and economical state affect the consumer purchasing power of white goods. If cus tomer’s purchasing power is low then they may opt for cheaper goods and also the white good products will be bought more if there are more people moving into the houses where there is a requirement for white goods. Moving in houses tend to trigger the need and requirement for different types of household products and appliances. The movement into houses can include the category of moving into a house the first time or by replacing the houses and therefore would require a replacement in the white goods products. If the value in growth becomes difficult to achieve then it may highly difficult to attain growth in volume of white goods products. The potential growth areas of the white goods retail industry is in the Central Europe and the Eastern Europe. The population in these areas is above

Global banking issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Global banking issues - Assignment Example The best example of barter system is that suppose there are two persons, one of them has a goat and the other has a cow and they both want the goods possessed by each other. In such condition the barter system is created so as to get into an agreement for the procedure of goods exchange. However even if the goods are exchanged successfully there would be a time when the goat and cow would die and hence it can be stated that these goods are not able to maintain their initial value over the time. In such a scenario there was evolution of a new concept in the form of money which served as exchange medium (Schwartz 361).This medium was accepted widely by all the traders as it was able to solve the problem that was associated with goods that deteriorated with time. One of the most important functions of money is that it can be considered to be unit of account that facilitates a mechanism through which value can be placed on the services and goods. This is simply because such a function is a standard unit in monetary terms for value measurement on services and goods. For instance when a person goes to a supermarket the monetary value of goods can be observed by the person through the price tags on the goods. There even exists monetary value on services such as when a person goes for a spa and gets the required service the person in return pays money to the concerned individual for the availed service. Thus unit of account as a function of money can be regarded as value measurement for services and goods. The supply of money can be considered as liquid instrument and total stock assets at a particular time and this in turn in an economy of a country is accepted as medium of exchange. The Federal Reserve System takes into control the supply of money in America. The supply of money comprises of three essential components such as the

Statistics (Term paper) Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Statistics ( ) - Term Paper Example 32.2%) of the patients belong to the age group â€Å"25-40†, 83 (26.3%) of the patients belong to the age group â€Å"40-55† and 36 (11.4%) of the patients belong to the age group â€Å">=55†. Interpretation: From the above table (Table No.3), it is observed that 168 (53.2%) of the patients had filling as procedure of diagnosis, 25 (7.9%) of the patients had â€Å"fit or prepare crown† as procedure of diagnosis, 41 (13%) of the patients had â€Å"root canal therapy† as procedure of diagnosis and 82 (25.9%) of the patients had â€Å"extraction† as procedure of diagnosis. Interpretation: From the above table (Table No.4) it is observed that 266 (84.2%) of the patients had reported success of the anaesthesia in killing pain and 50 (15.8%) of the patients had reported failure of the anaesthesia in killing pain. The pain level was divided into three groups based on the intensity of the pain. Pain levels 0, 1 and 2 were coded as â€Å"Low†, pain levels 3,4,5 and 6 were coded as â€Å"Medium† and pain level 7,8, 9 and 10 were coded as â€Å"High†. Interpretation: From the above table (Table No.5) it is observed that 184 (58.2%) of the patients had low pain, 70 (22.2%) of the patients had medium pain and 62 (19.6%) of the patients suffered from high pain. From the above chi square analysis table (Table No.7), since the chi square observed value (243.342) is much greater than the expected value (5.99) with probability less than 0.01 (

Career Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Career Management - Essay Example The researcher of the current article will attempt to define what the term ‘career’ understands is; carry out research into career models and theories and critically analyse their relevance and currency. According to Stitt-Gohdes, career is defined as a certain course of action which a person chooses according to his skills and abilities for a long term purpose in order to earn his livelihood. In other words, it is also called as occupation which one intends to opt. Nowadays the major component of career has become education and qualification. They are now considered as the basis of any successful career. Due to the dynamics of economy, intense competition and globalization, now there has been a lot of focus on career planning and development. For past few years, career management and development strategies are selected by counsellors and experts. The impact of career development on young individuals is inestimable and long term. The reason is due to the career developme nt process, a person fashions his identity of work. In today’s environment, work makes an identity of a person just like a famous notion in American culture is; â€Å"we are what we do†. Some prominent theories and models supporting the idea of career development and management are: †¢ Super’s theory of Vocational Choice – 1954 †¢ Holland’s Theory †¢ Hackett’s Social Cognitive Career Theory – 1987 †¢ Axelrad, Ginsburg and Herma Theory – 1951 ... At the end, a detailed action plan is given through which an individual can set a desired course of action. 1. Define what you understand by the term ‘career’; carry out research into career models and theories and critically analyse their relevance and currency. Career According to Stitt-Gohdes, (1997), career is defined as a certain course of action which a person chooses according to his skills and abilities for a long term purpose in order to earn his livelihood. In other words, it is also called as occupation which one intends to opt. Nowadays the major component of career has become education and qualification. They are now considered as the basis of any successful career. Due to the dynamics of economy, intense competition and globalization, now there has been a lot of focus on career planning and development. Career Models and Theories For past few years, career management and development strategies are selected by counsellors and experts. The impact of career de velopment on young individuals is inestimable and long term. The reason is due to the career development process, a person fashions his identity of work. In today’s environment, work makes an identity of a person just like a famous notion in American culture is; â€Å"we are what we do†. Some prominent theories and models supporting the idea of career development and management are: Super’s theory of Vocational Choice – 1954 Holland’s Theory Hackett’s Social Cognitive Career Theory – 1987 Axelrad, Ginsburg and Herma Theory – 1951 â€Å"Super’s theory of Vocational Choice – 1954† This theory was formulated by Donald Super. This theory divides vocational choices of entire lifespan in six stages of career development. They are: 1.

Could love change people life love between friends, family, couples Essay

Could love change people life love between friends, family, couples - Essay Example In this paper, few factors shall be given that prove the fact that love can cause changes in one’s life and change the aims and goals in life in a positive way. 2. Power of Love Love gives a sense of belonging to someone and thus gives comfort and sense of security. The emotion of love which is linked with family is said to provide more sense of belonging than the other types of love. Fisher stated that the sense of belonging and the emotion of love tend to benefit since individuals are seen to become healthy and confident in life (20). The sense of belonging related to friends tends to improve the social life of individuals in the society. It leads to the linking of feelings of comfort and love with those friends. Hagerty et al. quoted a statement from a famous paper by Lindgren (1990). Hagerty explained Lindgren’s statement and said that the sense of belonging makes one realize that they are valued, associated to a certain group of people and mutual obligations (173). If a person is loved by people, then he does not want to disappoint them or take offensive directions in life. Fisher discussed her research in her paper in 2004 and gave some interesting medical facts about the emotion of love (1). She studied the brain chemistry of a sample that had 40 women and men. Half of the individuals in the sample were in love and having successful relations while the other half had recently gone through broken relationships. However, the individuals with the unsuccessful relations still loved their partners very much. The participants of the research study were given the pictures of their loved ones and brain activities were measured. The measurements gave interesting patterns that explained that the people went through an increment of activity in a specific area in the brain. This area is known to give out dopamine to various parts of the brain. It then increases the energy levels of the body, improving the concentration levels and motivating the individ ual to achieve greater goals in life. This scientific finding provides support for the fact that love tends to motivate the individuals to achieve higher rewards and making their life better, rather than getting busy in negative activities in life. Other than research papers and literature, the world of entertainment has also made many movies on the topic of love. Almost every movie has the aspect of love and the strength that comes from love. The movie Philadelphia was based on the journey of a man who falls ill with AIDS. He gets strength and the motivation from his partner, friends and family to file a suit against a huge organization for firing him upon the news of him falling ill. He does not take up a negative approach in life. He does not even continue to stay depressed for his remaining days. He rather stands tall with the support and love of the people around him and wins the case against his employer. Martin Luther King wrote a famous book with the title, â€Å"Stride tow ard Freedom – The Montgomery Story†. In this book, he explained the meaning of love as a powerful emotion that helps people get security and peace for themselves. King stated, â€Å"the chronicle of 50,000 Negroes who took to heart the principles of nonviolence, who learned to fight for their rights with the weapon of love, and who in the process, acquired a new estimate of their own human worth’’ (King, 9). The brotherly love between all the African Americans gave them

Essay Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Essay - Assignment Example Moreover, the modernism paradigm is inherently intertwined with culture and Eysteinsson and Liska argue that in terms of literary criticism, â€Å"modernism constitutes one of the most prominent fields of literary studies today† (Eysteinsson and Liska, 2007:1). Indeed, leading anthologist Rainey asserts that in literary terms â€Å"modernists were giants, monsters of nature who loomed so large that contemporaries could only gape at them in awe† (Rainey 2007, p.xix) However, whilst modernism is instrumental in approaching literary context, it is evident that â€Å"it is however, a field that stands in a very ambiguous relationship to the present literary and cultural situation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ scholars and critics are seeking to draw a balance sheet with modernism† (Eysteinsson and Liska, 2007:1). The concept of modernism in the cultural consciousness evolved through the end of Queen Victoria’s reign between the nineteenth and twentieth century. Indeed, Gillies and Mahood (2007) refer to publisher Grant Allen’s remarks in 1889 that â€Å"everybody nowadays talks about evolution. Like electricity, the cholera, women’s rights, the great mining boom, and the Eastern question, it is â€Å"in the air† (In Gillies & Mahood, 2007: 3). To this end, it is evident that the cultural transition between the nineteenth and twentieth century towards a modernist socio-cultural model is a central causal factor in explaining the particular distinction of early twentieth century literature in the modernist discourse. For example, if we consider this proposition contextually, Gillies and Mahood refer to Aldous Huxley’s female protagonist Lucy Tantamount in â€Å"Point Counter Point† (1928) comments that â€Å"living modernly’s, living quickly†. Moreover, constant references to â€Å"make it new† meshed â€Å"itself in ever increasingly formalised definitions of

Racial Sensitivity in the Modern World Literature review - 4

Racial Sensitivity in the Modern World - Literature review Example In the research, individuals were asked to maintain their head below water and were promised that the longer they stayed under water, the more money their relatives would get. This was repeated with relatives of differing closeness such as brother, cousin, second cousin etc. The study found that the participants were naturally able to stay longer when doing it for those who were genetically close to them. The results of the study indicated why people are more likely to like those of their own race and distance themselves from those of other races or ethnic backgrounds. While it is not entirely clear whether race is a matter of genetics, it is obvious that people of the same race are more genetically related than those who are from different races. This difference in the race has brought many issues in the past to the point of warranting people to have better racial relations. Racial sensitivity is as a result of the conflict between the natural instinct that drives people to like the ir own race and place those of their own race before everyone else, and the rational part of the brain that tells one that that is no good. As civilized beings, humans are rational enough to know that they should not hate each other based on race, but still have to deal with an irrational, instinctive part within them that says otherwise. This indicates why there is so much racial sensitive in the social arena. At the same time, as a result of many years of activism, racial sensitivity has become very common especially in public life. Racial sensitivity can be seen in everything that people do. For instance, in most Hollywood movies, there is always a black man who in most cases is depicted as having some special abilities. This need to include only one person of the African American ethnic background and making him seem to have some special abilities can be seen as racial sensitive by the producers of the movie. For insane, in the movie Predators, the only black man in the movie wa s the only one who was able to detect the almost invincible predator. At the same time, he was the first character to die in the movie.     

Company as a Separate Legal Entity Essay Example for Free

Company as a Separate Legal Entity Essay A legal entity, typically a business, that is defined as detached from another business or individual with respect to accountability. A separate legal entity may be set up in the case of a corporation or a limited liability company, to separate the actions of the entity from those of the individual or other company. Meaning: If a business is a separate legal entity, it means it has some of the same rights in law as a person. It is, for example, able to enter contracts. In New Zealand, a company is a separate legal entity from its owners (shareholders) and can, for example, be sued, and enter into contracts in the name of the company, not the shareholders. Sole traders and partnerships are not separate legal, entities from the owners. Some Business entities like corporation, LLC can exist separately from its owners. In a common language that a corporation is a separate entity of its owners and corporation itself is an entity like human being created through legal or official process. Corporation lives and does its activities at its own existences and is treated in its own capacity. It does the business, it generates the revenue, it can incur losses, it hires the employees and it pays its own taxes. It is a better form of existence for the reason it takes its responsibilities itself, owners are free from their personal liabilities and owners enjoy limited personal liability (risk) only up to their investments in stocks, though there may be certain situations where their personal responsibilities can exceed from limited liability concept. Separate Entity Concept is better choice and it has better features because corporation enjoys separate entity concept, has indefinite life (perpetual). Management and ownership may change but corporation will exist indefinitely at its own existence, unless it is officially dissolved or merged. Corporation has a better scope for large amp; multiple businesses, expending business, securing debts, attracting investors, retaining professional setup and engaging professional management, promoting amp; achieving new ideal, expanding its activities at local to global level. Under Separate Entity Concept, Corporation is treated in its own capacity, but it is not a human being, it is an artificial being, therefore, it has to be managed by people in different capacities such as owners, The shareholders were Mr. Salomon,his wife, daughter and four sons. Two of his sons became directors; Mr. Salomon himself was managing director. Mr. Salomon owned 20,001 of the company’s 20,007 shares – the remaining six were shared individually between the other six shareholders. Mr. Salomon sold his business to the new corporation for almost ? 39,000, of which ? 10,000 was a debt to him. He was thus simultaneously the company’s principal shareholder and its principal creditor. Transfer of the business took place on June 1, 1892. The purchase money the company paid to Mr. Salomon for the business was ? 20,000. The company also gave Mr. Salomon ? 10,000 in debentures: that is, Salomon gave the company a ? 10,000 loan, secured by a charge over the assets of the company. The balance paid went to extinguish the businesss debts (? 1,000 of which was cash to Salomon). Soon after Mr. Salomon incorporated his business a series of strikes in the shoe industry led the government, Salomons main customer, to split its contracts among more firms. The government wanted to diversify its supply base to avoid the risk of its few suppliers being crippled by strikes. His warehouse, as a consequence, was full of unsold stock. He and his wife lent the company money, and he cancelled his debentures, but the company needed more money, so they sought ? 5,000 from a Mr. Edmund Broderip. Mr. Salomon assigned Broderip his debenture, the loan with ten per cent interest and secured by a floating charge. But Salomons business still failed, and he could not keep up with the interest payments. In October 1893, Broderip sued to enforce his security. The company was put into liquidation. Broderip was repaid his ? ,000, and the debenture was reassigned to Salomon, who retained the floating charge over the company JUDGMENT High Court: When the company went into liquidation, the liquidator argued that the debentures used by Mr. Salomon as security for the debt were invalid, on the grounds of fraud. The judge, Vaughan Williams J. accepted this argument, ruling that since Mr. Salomon had created the company solely to transfer his business to it, the company was in r eality his agent and he as principal was liable for debts to unsecured creditors. Court Of Appeal: The Court of Appeal also ruled against Mr. Salomon, though on the grounds that Mr. Salomon had abused the privileges of incorporation and limited liability, which the Legislature had intended only to confer on â€Å"independent bona fide shareholders, who had a mind and will of their own and were not mere puppets†. The Lords: The House of Lords unanimously overturned this decision, rejecting the arguments from agency and fraud. They held that there was nothing in the Act about whether the subscribers (i. e. he shareholders) should be independent of the majority shareholder. The company was duly constituted in law and it was not the function of judges to read into the statute limitations they themselves considered expedient. The 1862 Act created limited liability companies as legal persons separate and distinct from the shareholders. Lord Halsbury stated that the statute â€Å"enacts nothing as to the extent or degree of interest which may be held by each of t he seven [shareholders] or as to the proportion of interest or influence possessed by one or the majority over the others. Lord Halsbury remarked that – even if he were to accept the proposition that judges were at liberty to insert words to manifest the intention they wished to impute to the Legislature – he was unable to discover what affirmative proposition the Court of Appeal’s logic suggested. He considered that identifying such an affirmative proposition represented an â€Å"insuperable difficulty† for anyone putting forward the argument propounded by the lord justices of appeal. Lord Herschell noted the potentially â€Å"far reaching† implications of the Court of Appeal’s logic and that in recent years many companies had been set up in which one or more of the seven shareholders were â€Å"disinterested persons† who did not wield any influence over the management of the company. Anyone dealing with such a company was aware of its nature as such, and could by consulting the register of shareholders become aware of the breakdown of share ownership among the shareholders. Lord Macnaghten asked what was wrong with Mr. Salomon taking advantage of the provisions set out in the statute, as he was perfectly legitimately entitled to do. It was not the function of judges to read limitations into a statute on the basis of their own personal view that, if the laws of the land allowed such a thing, they were â€Å"in a most lamentable state†, as Malins V-C had stated in an earlier case in point, In Re Baglan Hall Colliery Co. , which had likewise been overturned by the House of Lords.

Web Based Information Systems

Web Based Information Systems Abstract This paper aims to present the social and organizational aspects of web-based information systems. Now we are in 21st century. Last century has been considered as the rising of Information and communication technology. Now-a-days there is increasing development of web-based information systems for social and organizational sectors. Web-based information systems based on web technologies which shares different types of Internet protocol and plays an important role for gathering, storing, collecting and communicating data from different sources and spread information at a glance. The speed and efficiency of web-based information system which includes both local and global networks, databases and different types of program for information processing makes social and organizational life easier for people. The web-based applications maintain operations of management. Such applications helps to integrate quality management processes, life cycle of organizational goal, implementing and shar ing production plan This web-based technology has an impact on social relation, social behaviour and various organization issues. Keywords: World Wide Web (WWW), WBIS (Web-based information system), Internet Protocol, Information processing, social networking, social relation and behaviour. Introduction: Information technology is playing a crucial role in the development of modern society and social life. It has transformed the whole world into a global village. Now social life has moved to online. People are using discussion board, blogs and social networking sites through web-based technology to communicate digitally. World Wide Web, digital library, e-commerce and computer based distance learning has made our life easier. Now-a-days people are becoming more interested in online communities to share interests and activities. Most of the social network services are web-based and these sites are providing different ways to interact with others such as instant messaging and email. More over WBIS can be used in many ways in our social life such as educational institutions, new and media organizations, government services etc. Business organizations are using this WBIS to develop their business and to run their business globally. Business organizations can select various range of product from product database. That technology let the organizations to know the price list of the product and they can order various products online. So it works as a buying and selling media all over the world. The organizations can track orders and update the information through internet. Moreover now-a-days all the multinational business organizations are using web-based information system to maintain communication to other branches. So this technology is playing an important role in business development. Web-based Information system: Web-based information system is an information system which uses Internet web technologies for delivering information and services to users. This technology is a software system and is used to publish and maintain data by hypertext principle. Web-based information system is the combination of one or more web applications, specific functionality-oriented components. Basically in this type of information system web browser is used as a front end and all the databases are used as a back end. Key features of web-based Information System: Web-based information systems have evolved significantly over recent years with its improvement. Web-based applications have several advantages over traditional software based applications. Some of the core features of web-based applications are given below: Cross platform compatibility: Most web-based applications are compatible in different platforms than traditional installed software. The minimum requirement would be a web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape etc.). You can use different OS such as Windows, Linux or Mac to run the web applications. More Manageable: WBIS only need to be installed on the server placing minimal requirements on the end user workstation, which makes the system easier to maintain and update as usually it can all be done on the server. Multiple concurrent users: Web-based applications can indeed be used by multiple users at the same time. Its not necessary to share screen or send a screenshot when multiple users see and even edit the same document at the same time. Web conferencing and online collaboration companies regulate some key transformations and users only explore what they really need to work effectively and co-edit documents together. Reduced cost: Web-based applications can reduce cost due to support and maintenance, lower requirements on the end user system and simplified architecture. It doesnt require any distribution or marketing infrastructure. Secure live data: These applications can decrease the risk of losing data due to an unexpected disk crash or computer virus. Companies of web-based applications provide extensive data backup service either as an integral part or basic service or sometimes as a paid service. Social aspects of web-based information system: In the view of Karl Marx, human beings are intrinsically, necessarily and by definition social beings who beyond being gregarious creatures cannot survive and meet their needs other than through social co-operation and association. Their social characteristics are therefore to a large extent an objectively given fact, stamped on them from birth and affirmed by socialization processes; and, according to Marx, in producing and reproducing their material life, people must necessarily enter into relations of production which are independent of their will. Social life is affected by web-based information system in different ways. Some of them are given below: Online community: An online community is a virtual community which exist online and can take the form of information system where any one can post content by using bulletin board system or weblogs. Online community is used by various social and professional groups interacting via web-based technology. Its not necessary to have a strong bond among the members. The social network based online community arrived in early 2000s which is called social networking services contains different category divisions to connect with people. Social networking services allow people to create their own profile. Now Facebook and twitter has been using widely worldwide. More than 30 million and 18 million people are using Facebook and twitter respectively at the end of 2009. Myspace and LinkedIn being most widely used in North America. There are many others social networking website such as hi5, LinkedIn, orkut, tagged etc which is using all over the world. Some social networking sites are created for the benefit of othe rs, such as parents social network service Gurgle which talks about pregnancy, birth and bringing up children. So social networking services are being popular in society day by day. Educational Institutions: Now-a-days WBIS is used by most of the educational institutions for communicating with students. Students can find their course material, class schedules or any updated information through the WBIS. This technology has enabled researchers to access a wider source of information though internet. Moreover it is helpful for distance learning. News media organizations: As WBIS is used to store, manipulate, distribute or to create information, news and media organizations are intimately familiar with each of the elements of information technology. This technology helps us to get the updated news from all over the world. We can also get early information about weather and natural disaster, stock exchange, fashion etc. So this technology is playing an important role in our social and day to day life. Governments: The development of WBIS has helped the government to improve their service to their citizens. Citizens can get current and accurate government information from e-government websites. Government can publish different types of information through websites such as budget of the country, tourist spots of the country, results of examinations, vigilance information etc. Income tax department is doing online tax accounting for collecting income tax now. So government can get various advantages from WBIS. Moreover WBIS can be used for References Boyd, Danah; Ellison, Nicole (2007). Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Eric Gleave, Howard T. Welser, Tomas M. Lento, Marc A. Smith A conceptual and operational definition of social role in online community-Proceedings of the 42nd Hawaii International conference on system science-2009. Gianluca, Zanutto and Alberto, D.T Web-based information success: A measurement model of acceptance and fit. Linda Askenas and Alf westelius (2003) Five roles of an information system: A social constructionist approach of analysing the use of ERP system, journal vol3. Nabil Adam and Yelena Yesha, eds, Electronic Commerce: Current Research Issues and Applications, Springer, 1996. Morrison, Ken; Marx, Durkheim, Weber (2006). Formations of modern social thought.

Light Touch Management Style Information Technology Essay

Light Touch Management Style Information Technology Essay Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. A project is a predetermined effort (having specific start and completion dates) undertaken to create a unique product or service which brings about beneficial change or added value. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve the project goals and objectives while honouring the project constraints. Typical constraints are scope, time and budget. The secondary and more ambitious challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-defined objectives. (L. Ireland) 2. Introduction Traditional project management methodologies grew out of a need to control ever-larger development projects, and the difficulties of estimating and managing these efforts to reliably deliver results. These methodologies based on the Waterfall Model (Refer Appendix) process drew heavily on the principles from engineering such as construction management, where the team needs to determine requirements, design and plan for the entire building in order to understand the full scope of the effort and maintain them in an orderly sequence (Hass K.B., 2007). The inadequacy of this process is that in real world situation the activities rarely follow a sequential order; clients find it difficult to complete certain processes completely at an early stage and then move on. A need arises to identify, track and maintain close relationships with stakeholders and customers to not only overcome pressures of unprecedented change, global competition, time to-market compression and rapidly changing technologies but also to create and deliver customer value. Augustine (2006) defines Agile Project Management as the work of energizing, empowering and enabling project teams to rapidly and reliably deliver business value by engaging customers and continuously learning and adapting to their changing needs and environments. For example Infosys, by using agile approach it has successfully integrated and standardized desktops to provide one technology foundation for the merged business of Promina group of companies and Suncorp. The project was achieved in short time with regular checking process to ensure the project remained on track. 33. BENIFITS AND CHALLENGES OF APM: Boehm H. et.al. (2005) identified three critical challenging areas that affect the software managers of large scale organisations: 3.1 DEVELOPMENT CONFLICT: Traditional project life cycles require adjustments to the agile process the reason being traditional activities are focussed on optimising development over a period of time controversial to agility which believes in delivering immediate operational results. Agile requirements being primarily functional and reasonably informal they may or may not work in any systems engineering verification of validation approach. 3.2 BUSINESS CONFLICT Todays business processes and infrastructure require almost accurate prediction of future difficult-to-estimate responsibilities. The main problem is that agile does not support the certifications like ISO, CMMI etc because of this organization rating is affected. 3.3PEOPLE CONFLICT Agile team members will perform multitasking so it is difficult for the managers to assign specific roles to the members. Agile teams must be assembled in agile workspace which demands pair-programming stations, walls for status chart for the team to coordinate and share ideas. Stakeholders may play a different role which is key for the organisation as agile requires onsite customers, customer feedback and interaction, and customer input for acceptance testing. 4. Agile Project Management The agile development methodologies deal with rapid changes include eXtreme Programming (XP),Crystal, Scrum, Adaptive Software Development (ASD), Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) and Feature-Driven Development (FDD) (Abrahamsson P., 2003).Generally agile methods promote a project management process that mainly focuses on frequent inspection and adaptation, a leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork, self-organization and accountability, a set of engineering best practices that allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software, and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals. There are many specific agile development methods. Most promote development iterations, teamwork, collaboration, and process adaptability throughout the life-cycle of the project. Agile methods break tasks into small increments with minimal planning, and dont directly involve long-term planning. Iterations are short time frames that typically last from one to f our weeks. Iteration is worked on by a team through a full software development cycle, including planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, unit testing, and acceptance testing when a working product is demonstrated to stakeholders. This helps minimize overall risk, and lets the project adapt to changes quickly. Stakeholders produce documentation as required.. Agile methods are sometimes characterized as being at the opposite end of the spectrum from plan-driven or disciplined methods. This distinction is misleading, as it implies that agile methods are unplanned or undisciplined. A more accurate distinction is that methods exist on a continuum from adaptive to predictive. (Turner, 2004). 4.1 Agile Management Agile management technically is used mainly in IT projects or projects which use software programmes as their base. Its been well known now that software plays an important part in the Project Management practises of now a day, as it plays an important role, agile project management is also becoming an integral part of it. There are various software techniques that management teams are now employing for their Project Management needs, such as CAS (Complex Adaptive System). CAS based agile project management framework is established that prescribes six practises for managing agile development projects. These practises not only help to manage teams as complex adaptive systems but also provide with a freedom to overlay personal leadership styles. For example consider an ant colony which is an example for CAS. Individually, ants have primitive brains yet collectively run surprisingly sophisticated and efficient operations. Using a few simple rules of logic without central direction, they find food, build and maintain their nests, tend to their young, and respond to attacks (G. Anthes). Keeping the principles in mind, the project manager can tune the following practices to match their unique project situation. 4.1.1 Guiding Vision According to Margaret Wheatley, A project vision translated into a simple statement of project purpose and communicated to all team members has a powerful effect on individual member behaviour.. It is essential for the agile project managers to promote team ownership of the vision by facilitating group discussions that would eventually help the team through difficult decisions about business value and would help them focus and inspired on the ultimate goal. Agile managers guide their teams by defining, disseminating, and sustaining a vision that influences the internal models of individual agents. The Agile Manifesto (www.agilemanifesto.org) created in 2001 by the proponents of these methodologies articulated a core set of values useful in steering this vision. 4.1.2 Team Organising Agile project managers need to pay lot of attention to set up and organize a agile team to operate within the larger enterprise. Agile project managers need to seek a redundancy of function and posses generalized specialists with skills not only in their specialty areas, but in other areas as well. This would then help in organic team composition and enable adaptability to changing external conditions. If a project demands larger team size, the agile manger needs to organize the project into several small organic sub teams to work in parallel to scale up in size. Organizing a project into organic teams implies a minor interaction penalty in terms of communication and coordination overhead (De Marco). Positive collaboration can be achieved by means of the time-honoured kick-off group lunch, training sessions by sharing personal and professional information and by understanding individual team members signals. Also it is vital for agile manager to ensure that the team maintains optimal internal channels of communication while minimizing the effect of an interaction penalty. 4.1.3 Simple Rules Agile project managers should establish a set of simple, generative process rules for the team. Methodologies usually carry processes, templates, deliverables and rules along with them. These rules become so burden that they are not followed at all. Some heavier processes enforce rule compliance by auditing, resulting in being counterproductive. Team members on APM projects should follow simple rules with their interactions resulting in complex behaviour emerging from the bottom up over time. Throughout a project, the manager identifies practices that arent being followed, seeks to understand why theyre not, and removes obstacles to their implementation. For example consider Birds in a group they follow basic rules such as avoiding objects, keeping pace and staying close to other birds .By following these simple rules, group of birds exhibit complex, collective behaviour by flying for long distances and adapting to changing conditions along the way (Augustine, 2006).Also XP practices do not restrict the autonomy and creativity of individuals by providing a simple set of rules. 4.1.4 Free and Open Information To adapt an agile team information must be open and free flowing. In agile project management information flows freely and team members benefit from the power of knowledge no matter what its source. In the agile arena, information is freed to leverage its power. Collective code ownership encourages everyone to contribute to the project. For instance, Trimble Navigation New Zealand implemented XP practices as fully as possible, as these practices promote open access to information and benefited of working with an accessible in-house customer who was able to be part of the project team. 4.1.5 Light Touch Management Style In Traditional project management everything is viewed through the prism of control of change, risk and people control (Augustine, 2006).Elaborate methodologies, tools, and practices have evolved to manage an out of control world. But tools fail when linear task breakdowns cannot accommodate cyclical processes and neat schedule demand frequent updating to reflect changing circumstances. So agile managers need to manage their teams with a light touch management style that allows team autonomy and flexibility and a customer value focus without sacrificing control. Skilled professionals dont adapt well to micromanagement, and tools and techniques quickly reach their limits when not used appropriately. Managers realize that increased control doesnt yield increased order, accepting their own inability to know everything in advance while relinquishing some control to achieve greater order. 4.1.6 Adaptive Leadership (Agile Vigilance) Adaptive leadership employs systems thinking to understand a projects internal forces. For example, events are understood in terms of their patterns, or the common elements that persist in diverse circumstances. The agile manager understands the effects of the mutual interactions among a projects various parts and steers them in the direction of continuous learning and adaptation (Sanjiv et al., 2005). Double-loop Learning enable agile managers to lead teams adaptively that involves continuous observing and assessing of the effect of the practices on the project and adapting the practices such as getting Plus-Delta feedback and conducting scenario planning for maximum impact and desired results 4.2 Agile Framework Scott Amblers Agile Modelling framework provides a broader framework for creating agile processes applied to software projects. Higher level Agile Model Driven Development (AMDD) best practices came into existence when AMDD lifecycle began to combine to describe when modelling occurs on projects such as Architectural envisioning and Requirements envisioning at the beginning of the project or model storming on a Just-In-Time (JIT) basis throughout the project(Ambler,2002). Project managers and senior managers should strive to keep modelling approach as collaborative and simple as possible, by adopting as many of the principles and practises of AM to ease it gradually 4.3 Principles of Agile Management Agile methods are a family of development processes, not a single approach to software development. Some of the principles of Agile Project Management are:- Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months) Even late changes in requirements are welcomed Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (Co-location) Regular adaptation to changing circumstances Simplicity Self Organising Teams. 5. Example of Agile Project Management 5.1 Executive Summary In 2002, Agile competency has started within Mahindra Satyam. It had a strong team of over a 100 consultants who were well trained in diverse skill sets to address various dimensions of Agile product implementation, support and maintenance services. The main focus was on customer delight and success. There are many challenges that an established software organization faces when shifting to Agile. While there is a wealth of information and literature on the topic, much of it is most applicable to small teams working on Greenfield projects. But when contending with several teams, multiple projects and a mix of work new products, existing products, and maintenance there is an art to figuring out how to adapt Agile so that it works for the business. The consultants are well trained in diverse sets to address the different dimensions of agile and the team is trained in various product versions including 8.5, 9x and agile e6. 5.2 Overview Mahindra Satyam is a leading global business consulting and IT services company established in June, 1987. Leveraging deep industry functional expertise, leading technology practices, and an advanced, global delivery model, we enable companies to unlock their business potential. It provides various services and solutions using agile methodology. Satyam has developed agile methodology to track costs associated in gathering and analysing the requirements, which are the primary cause for a software project to fail. Electronic Training Record (ETR) is a solution developed in agile to maintain and track the training requirements of users in pharmacy industries. Today Satyam is a part of the $6.3 billion Mahindra Group, a global industrial conglomerate and one of the top 10 industrial firms based in India. 5.3 Applying Agile Agile requires a great deal of discipline. To succeed, you need to have sound engineering practices and tooling, said Maples. Almost immediately, Agile exposes those areas that need greater attention. And how you deploy and structure your data will determine the accuracy and scale of your project. The first step was to define standards for data descriptions uniform definitions for different activities and assets across the organization. A single definition for goal story, requirement, user story. This helped to make it easier for teams to understand each others work, and allow them to manage dependencies across teams. Next, Satyam made Team Focus the standard management console for all of its delivery projects. Team Focus sits on top of all the various ALM tools and repositories for delivery organization and provides a single Agile dashboard. This enabled the teams to immediately begin adopting agile practices without making significant changes to tool support. 5.4 Agile Planning To drive alignment between its Agile teams, marketing and product management organizations, and ensure that the work that is happening sprint by sprint maps back to business goals, it relies on the connection between Team Focus and its core products to link strategic goals and plan items directly to the requirements, user stories, tasks, and test cases. Agile projects emphasize on working software, which is quite different from traditional software. Traditionally, the success of a project is measured by the functional milestone. In agile projects, however, working software is the final measurement of project status. At the end of each short iteration, a working product is produced and available for review. The main advantage of this is it provides enough time to fix any mistake during the execution of a project before it affects adversely on the project 5.5 Agile Quality 5.6 Result 100% increase in number of product releases per year Reduced administrative and planning overhead by an average of 15 hours per 3 week sprint Eliminated 6 days a month of vice president and director time spent reporting per product group Increased customer satisfaction by including minor features in maintenance releases Increased product quality, reducing issues open from release to release by 50% Increased team productivity through enhanced morale (Source: www.mahindrasatyam.com) 6. Conclusion The lack of guidance for project managers of agile development projects has been a gaping hole in the software development community over the past several years. The contrast between the world of agile software development and traditional project management has left many managers wondering what their role should be. By viewing the agile development team as a complex adaptive system and the manager as an integral part of that system, we have begun to develop a framework for managers. This framework of practices is meant to overlay the practices of existing agile methodologies such as XP, and provide clear guidelines for the visionary leadership of projects that use them. The servant-leader concept introduced by Robert Greenleaf is the most appropriate way of thinking of the agile project manager. The project can be modified as and when the process moves and can be guided to create the desired outcomes. Despite of being simple agile is a costly process. It needs an organisation with a quality team capable of working independent from the organisation coupled with desired skills and experience and a fully engaged product power;then the project will be lead in a great way. 7. References: Abrahamsson, P., Warsta, J., Siponen, M., Ronkainen, J. (2003). New directions in agile methods:Comparative analysis. In Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Software Engineering,pp 244-254. Alleman G.B. (2002). Agile Project Management Methods for IT Projects, The Story of Managing Projects: A Global, Cross- Disciplinary Collection of Perspectives. Greenwood Press / Quorum Books Augustine S., Payne B., Sencindiver F., Woodcock, S. (2005). Agile Project Management: Steering From the Edges.(Vol. 48). Communications of the ACM. Issue. 12. pp. 85-89. Augustine, S. (2006). Managing Agile Projects. Printice Hall PTR. David I. Cleland, Roland Gareis (2006). Global project management handbook. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006. ISBN 0071460454. p.1-4: Project management was formally recognized in the 1950s as a distinct discipline arising from the management discipline. DeMarco, T. The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management. Dorset House, New York, 1997. Hass K.B. (2007). The Blending of Traditional and Agile Project Management. (Vol. IX).PM World Today. Issue. V. Lewis R. Ireland (2006) Project Management. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006. Sanjiv et al., Communication of the ACM, December 2005/ Vol.48, No. 12 Scott W. Ambler (2002). Agile Modelling. Published by John Wiley Sons , Inc., New York Anthes, G. Ant colony IT. Computerworld (2001); http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/61394/Ant_Colony_IT accessed on 15-04-2010 http://www.mahindrasatyam.com/services/erp/Agile.asp 8. Appendix Appendix-1 Model storming Active Stakeholder participation Test-driven design (TDD) Prioritized Requirements Iteration modeling Requirements Envisioning Architecture Envisioning Executable Specifications Just barely good enough Document late Multiple models Model a bit ahead Single source information AGILEMODELING Source -Ambler (2002) Appendix-2 Source: http://www.fivelakes.org/images/projectstages.png Appendix-3 Source: Hass K.B. (2007)

Rock Bands Essay -- essays research papers

There have been all kinds of different types of rock bands throughout the years. Most of the bands have had a different type of style. All of these different types of style are what has shaped today’s music. Some of the bands from the earlier times were: The Beatles, AC/DC, Guns and Roses and the Bee Gees. The Beatles were the greatest and most powerful act of the rock era. They introduced more innovations into popular music than any other rock band of the 20th century. The Beatles grabbed a hold of the attention in 1964 and never let go for the next six years. The Beatles were the first British rock group to achieve worldwide prominence. The Beatles knew each other and had already been playing together in Liverpool for about five years before they had begun having hit records. As composers, their craft and melodic inventive were the best. As singers, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney were among the best and most expressive vocalists in rock and as performers they were exciting and photogenic. Guitarist and teenage rebel John Lennon got hooked on rock and roll in the mid fifties and formed a band called the Quarrymen at his high school. Around 1957, the Quarrymen were joined by another guitarist, Paul McCartney. Soon another guitarist, George Harrison, joined them. The quarrymen chan ged people throughout the 50’s eventually reducing to the three core guitarist who had proven themselves. The Quarrymen changed their name to the â€Å"Silver Beatles† but soon dropped the â€Å"Silver† to become just â€Å"The Beatles†. Lennon’s art college friend, Stuart Sutcliffe, joined the band on bass. Finding a permanent drummer was hard until in the summer of 1960, Pete Best joined.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The group was forced to expand its repertoire, tighten up its chops, and invest its show with enough manic energy to keep its rowdy crowds satisfied. Sutcliffe soon quit and McCartney took over on the bass. Harrison settled in as lead guitarist and Lennon had rhythm guitar. In the middle of the 1961 the Beatles made their first recordings in Germany. The Hamburg Stint was notable for gaining the Beatles sophisticated, artistic fans. In 1961, the Beatles exploding popularity caught the attention of a local record store owner Brian Epstein, who soon became the bands manager. In 1962, Sutcliffe tragically died from a brain hemorrhage. The Beatles were signed by Martin in the m... ...comber Nightclub. They eventually got their own local television show in Brisbane. Some time after that they took on the name the Bee Gees. In 1962, they landed their first recording contract with the Festival Records label in Australia, debuting with the single Three Kisses of Love. Their first English recording New York Mining Disaster 1941 was released in mid-1967, it made the top 20. The Bee Gees single Massachusetts was a chart topper in England and launched the group on their first wave of stardom. In 1981, the groups new LP, Living Eyes, was recorded but didn’t even make the Top 40. The Bee Gees remained active until the death of Maurice in January of 2003. He died from cardiac arrest at age 53. Soon, Robin and Barry decided to quit performing as the Bee Gees. Some of the bands from the earlier times were: The Beatles, AC/DC, Guns and Roses and The Bee Gees. All of these bands had a certain style which helped shape today’s music. Some of the bands used their bad reputation to help sell their music, when some used the cooler, preppy boy kind of style. However, it seems that all of the bands no matter what the reputation were, good or bad, it grabbed all types of audiences.

Violence in Video Games Essay -- Media Violence

Violence in the media is a very complex subject; extracting what actually causes aggression and what is just arbitrary circumstance can be a very sticky process. For instance, as a recreational player of video games, I play what might be considered violent games (mostly an online "shoot 'em up" game called Counter-Strike) in the eyes of someone who perceives what I am doing as "killing" or as violent, but there in lies the problem: I make no association with the death, killing or violence. Yes, I realize that on the screen there are guns and that to someone unfamiliar with the game it might look like mindless killing, but for me, it is truly just a challenge, a very engrossing and difficult one at that (due to the nature of the game I play, online, I am playing other people with real minds trying just as hard as I am to "come out on top"). The object isn't killing, the object is winning, competition and honing your skill, which takes practice, like anything else. Now, admittedly this is a bit tangental, but the point I am making is that it is not the actual video games that are causing these deviant behaviors, but rather outside stimuli cause the ills we are experiencing as a culture. Now, having said that, if the conditions are right, I definitely believe that video games and other types of media violence can at least influence an unstable target, but banning video games or censoring everything is not the correct approach, not given my experience, not based on the friends I have as models (given their video game history) or those whom which I have interacted with in gaming community at large (we've been under attack for some time now from these crusading Christian bible thumpers!). Video games are an intrical part of a large percentage of males in my generation's lives and to have this outlet reduced to the whim of outsiders who have never enjoyed beating a level or vanquishing an opponent, who see these games as purely degenerative and wasteful, to me is just ridiculous. Look at parenting, look at T.V., look at the politics, look at social unrest, look at economic pressures, hell even look at video games if you really want, but to resign to the notion that some game actually causes these real life tragedies is a simply ludicrous and short-sighted in scope (90% percent of the time). Unfortunately for the quiet throngs of video game practitioners world/n... ...ic violence in video games in recent years, I thought I would conclude by citing a piece I heard on NPR Radio that reported a study done at University of Rochester, in the magazine Nature (http://discover.npr.org/rundowns/segment.jhtml?wfId=1278017); the study showed considerably heightened visual attention skills amongst "hardcore gamers"(who played what are called "fps" or "first person shooters" in which you carry the first person perspective and can only see your gun/weapon and it's crosshair) and were even able to increase the original control group's (those that hadn't previously played video games) perceptual awareness dramatically in 10 short hours of involved training (learing to play video games). The question that concluded the piece, was one that posited whether non-violent video games could produce the same positive effects without some of the known ills of violent video games. Finally, the question of media violence, and distinguishing between what is harmless enter tainment and what the possible negative effects are can include a lot of grey area, but it's important to know the facts and decide for yourself what place video games/media entertainment has in our lives. Violence in Video Games Essay -- Media Violence Violence in the media is a very complex subject; extracting what actually causes aggression and what is just arbitrary circumstance can be a very sticky process. For instance, as a recreational player of video games, I play what might be considered violent games (mostly an online "shoot 'em up" game called Counter-Strike) in the eyes of someone who perceives what I am doing as "killing" or as violent, but there in lies the problem: I make no association with the death, killing or violence. Yes, I realize that on the screen there are guns and that to someone unfamiliar with the game it might look like mindless killing, but for me, it is truly just a challenge, a very engrossing and difficult one at that (due to the nature of the game I play, online, I am playing other people with real minds trying just as hard as I am to "come out on top"). The object isn't killing, the object is winning, competition and honing your skill, which takes practice, like anything else. Now, admittedly this is a bit tangental, but the point I am making is that it is not the actual video games that are causing these deviant behaviors, but rather outside stimuli cause the ills we are experiencing as a culture. Now, having said that, if the conditions are right, I definitely believe that video games and other types of media violence can at least influence an unstable target, but banning video games or censoring everything is not the correct approach, not given my experience, not based on the friends I have as models (given their video game history) or those whom which I have interacted with in gaming community at large (we've been under attack for some time now from these crusading Christian bible thumpers!). Video games are an intrical part of a large percentage of males in my generation's lives and to have this outlet reduced to the whim of outsiders who have never enjoyed beating a level or vanquishing an opponent, who see these games as purely degenerative and wasteful, to me is just ridiculous. Look at parenting, look at T.V., look at the politics, look at social unrest, look at economic pressures, hell even look at video games if you really want, but to resign to the notion that some game actually causes these real life tragedies is a simply ludicrous and short-sighted in scope (90% percent of the time). Unfortunately for the quiet throngs of video game practitioners world/n... ...ic violence in video games in recent years, I thought I would conclude by citing a piece I heard on NPR Radio that reported a study done at University of Rochester, in the magazine Nature (http://discover.npr.org/rundowns/segment.jhtml?wfId=1278017); the study showed considerably heightened visual attention skills amongst "hardcore gamers"(who played what are called "fps" or "first person shooters" in which you carry the first person perspective and can only see your gun/weapon and it's crosshair) and were even able to increase the original control group's (those that hadn't previously played video games) perceptual awareness dramatically in 10 short hours of involved training (learing to play video games). The question that concluded the piece, was one that posited whether non-violent video games could produce the same positive effects without some of the known ills of violent video games. Finally, the question of media violence, and distinguishing between what is harmless enter tainment and what the possible negative effects are can include a lot of grey area, but it's important to know the facts and decide for yourself what place video games/media entertainment has in our lives.

Another Benito Mussolini :: essays research papers

Benito Mussolini was born in Predappio on July 29, 1883, the son of a socialist blacksmith. Largely self-educated, he became a schoolteacher and socialist journalist in northern Italy. In 1910 he married Rachele Guidi, who bore him five children. Mussolini was jailed for his opposition to Italy's war in Libya. Soon after that, he was named editor of Avanti!, the Socialist Party newspaper in Milan. When World War I began, in 1914, Mussolini first denounced it as 'imperialist," but he soon reversed himself and called for Italy's entry on the Allied side. Expelled from the Socialist Party, he started his own newspaper in Milan, // Popolo d’ltalia, which translates ‘The People of Italy’, which later became the organ of the Fascist movement. When Fascists marched on Rome, King Victor Emmanuel III invited Mussolini to form a coalition government on October 28, 1922. By 1926 the Fascist leader had transformed the country into a single-party, totalitarian regime. In his new "corporative state," employers and workers were organized into party-controlled groups representing different sectors of the economy. The system preserved capitalism and expanded social services, but abolished free trade unions and the right to strike. The Lateran pacts with the Vatican ended a half-century of friction between church and state and proved to be long lasting. Another enduring legacy of fascism was a system of industrial holding companies financed by the state. Adopting an aggressive foreign policy, Mussolini defied the League of Nations and conquered Ethiopia in 1936. This won him acclaim in almost every sector of the populace. II Duce's popularity declined, however, after he sent troops to help General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War, this linked Italy to Nazi Germany, enacted anti-Jewish laws, and invaded Albania. Because of military unpreparedness, Mussolini did not enter World War II until June 1940, when the Germans had overrun France. Italy fought the British in Africa, invaded Greece, and joined the Germans in carving up Yugoslavia, attacking the Soviet Union, and declaring war on the United States. After Italy's many military defeats, King Victor Emmanuel dismissed Mussolini on July 25, 1943, and in September obtained an armistice with

Is Aristotle the Father of Logic

I believe so. Aristotle became known as the Father of Logic by demonstrating that logic was more than just an equivalent to verbal reasoning but an important tool of investigation, a way to learn everything about everything. He was the first to introduce scientific thought into daily processes. Even today, with hundreds of advances in technology and available resources, scientists find that observations he had documented two-thousand years ago are correct. For twenty years Aristotle studied with Plato and became a prominent figure at his academy. But yet after so many years of collaboration between the two, many people including Plato’s nephew Speusippus believed that Aristotle’s ideals varied greatly from Platos and indeed they did. Plato presumed that the â€Å"ideal† form of an person or animal is the result of a â€Å"sensory† world and that every man knew and understood his place in life. Whereas Aristotle believed that the â€Å"form† consisted of several characteristics together as a whole, which eventually was proven and known as DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) as well as believing that a man should create his own place in the world. Consequently, Aristotle left the academy after Plato’s death. Several years later he developed his own school known as the Lyceum at which he taught for thirteen years in a rather peculiar fashion. His lectures were offered to those that were willing to listen as he paced up and down the peripatos outside the school. His works included a vast array of subject matter including physics, biology, psychology, politics and more. In the subject of Logic, he developed the foundation of categories, a way to classify each element of an argument. He further demonstrated that the core of logical thought is a sequence of three propositions in which the first and second imply the last, known as a syllogism. These thoughts have stood the test of time and have only been slightly revised throughout the centuries. It is believed that Aristotle wrote four-hundred books in his lifetime. However, his work was hidden from the world for many, many years when he died in 322BC. Only a portion of them were discovered in 100BC, unfortunately ruined by dampness and moths. Originally taken to Athens and then to Rome, his works gained interest and were used as textbooks by Roman scholars and are still an important influence in learning today. References http://philosophy.sean.tripod.com/id17.htm http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/aris.htm http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/syllogism.aspx#1E1-syllogis

Responsibility of Employers for Acts of Employees

Another employee of your paper mill, Hotspur, steals a shipment of wood pulp for your company to impress you with initiative to secure new resources for free. Unfortunately, he runs down a pedestrian crossing properly in the crosswalk on his way back to your factory, injuring her. If the pedestrian sues your company can there be a recovery for the injury? Discuss your answer. The employee who stole the shipment will cause the company to be responsible for the recovery for the injury. I believe that this is a case of the doctrine of respondeat superior.This is Latin for â€Å"let the master respond†. The employee is an agent of the company therefore the employer is responsible for their actions. Even though the employer had no idea of knowing what the agent was going to do, the company is still liable for his/her actions. As noted in the text, the following example was given, â€Å"If a truck driver, the employee of a delivery firm, negligently runs a red light and injures a p edestrian, the owner of the truck is liable for the injury† (Hallowell & Miller, 2012).In addition, the employee could be terminated because of his/her actions while being employed as an agent. The employee could be terminated because an injury or possible death occurred that was not what the agent was contracted to do. The employee could also be prosecuted because the wood pulp was stolen. Even though it was an effort to impress the company it is still punishable by law because the goods were stolen, not free.

How Volvo Evolve in the Changing Market

BK 3037 Strategic Marketing Question 1: PESTEL Answer: Political One of the macro-environment factors which influencing Volvo’s strategy is the large taxation toward automotive trade by the government. Government is putting in place taxation structures that penalize large cars, with large CO2 emission. According to the case, Volvo’s biggest seller was its XC range, now being particularly successful in America, where big cars typically equated to big success. This government acts is encouraging consumers to move to hybrid or fuel efficient cars from big cars because the selling price of big cars would be more expensive when governments impose larger taxation on large vehicles. Consequently, the demand for big cars would drop significantly as consumers would prefer smaller cars due to high price sensitivity level and benefits gained from the government on smaller cars (Yoon and Tran, 2011). Therefore, large taxation on large cars will affect the sales and revenues of Volvo who mostly sells big cars. Legal The enforcement of US government toward the safer initiatives for automobile industry has challenged most of the automobile manufacturer which included Volvo. Therefore recently, Volvo invested heavily in safety research and development; its Goteberg Safety centre is world-renowned. Hence, Rudall (2011) emphasizes that the cost per unit of car has increased as research and development require a lot of experiments and tests to assure the performance. Besides that, research and development in new products involves a risk of whether the consumers will like the new features that have been added to the new or existing product. The more Volvo invests in research and development, the less cash flow they have in hand, thereby affecting the smooth running of daily operations. Economic Oil is the major ingredient in the production of tires. According to Li and Zhao (2011), increase in oil prices means that the cost to make the tires also increases. These tire production affects the Volvo as the increase in the price in tire production affects their profit margin. Additionally, rising commodity prices also affects Volvo’s strategy as 1 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing he raw materials for automotive industry are basically rubber and steel. Since, the prices of these commodities have gone up; Volvo would have to spend more money to purchase the auto component to make the entire cars. The higher the price Volvo purchases these commodities, the higher the selling price that Volvo would have to charge their customers. If they were to transfer the cost to their customers, there is a possibility that customers would shift to Volvo’s competitors as customers are very price sensitive (Lee and Cheong, 2011). Hence, the sales and profits of Volvo will decline and they might lose market share. Moreover, with the rising price of oil in the American market, sales and revenues of Volvo has dropped dramatically because their main business comes from fuel grueling SUV’s. With the increasing fuel prices, the trend has shifted from bulky cars to smaller and fuel efficient cars, thus, Volvo will be faced with many competitors such as Toyota while dealing with satisfying their customer demand (Hilmola, 2011), and hence, it affects the profit margins of Volvo. Moreover, increased oil prices is affecting the type of vehicles demanded by the customer and the way those vehicles are designed. According to Xia and Tang (2011), since there is a big shift from SUVs to fuel efficient or hybrid cars due to the rise of fuel prices, the problem of manufacturing overcapacity has incurred, where supply is more than demand, thereby, sharply dropping the SUV price. Additionally, when Volvo lowers down the selling price of SUVs, the profit margins of each car will become smaller, as their selling price might just be sufficient to cover the total cost of the production. Besides, when supply is more than demand, they would need more space or bigger warehouse to store the cars, and hence, higher cost of storage would incurred. Consequently, it forces Volvo to change their strategy to produce fuel efficient cars instead of SUVs. Environmental Furthermore, the community realizes that the transportation sector is becoming increasingly linked to environmental problems. With a technology relying heavily on the combustion of hydrocarbons, notably with the internal combustion engine, the impacts of transportation over environmental systems has increased with motorization (Bernon, et al. 2011). According to case study, Volvo’s main strategy is to produce SUVs but the consumers are engaging with environmental concerns where they are 2 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing demanding from fuel-efficient cars that release less pollution and absorb lesser fuel. Hence, this forces Volvo to offer Flexi-Fuel (combination of Petrol and Ethanol) in certain geographic mark ets in order to catch up the latest trend. Due to this reason, Volvo has to spend vast amount of money to purchase new raw materials and develop the technology to produce fuel-efficient cars to meet the current demand. Under such conditions maintaining market share and customers is difficult as the selling price needs to be lower to beat the competition, thereby, forcing Volvo to absorb the production costs (Needles, et al. , 2010). Social On the other hand, the changing social culture is affecting Volvo’s strategy as well. There are declining birth rates in Europe, smaller families and more couples choosing to remain childless. This demographic change has influenced Volvo significantly as their main product, SUVs, as it is suited well for big-size families. However, due to the increase of nuclear families consumers are willing to purchase smaller cars because of their small family size and smaller cars consume less petrol, thus it saves cost (Gwartney, et al. , 2008). In addition, many cars on the road today are used by just single occupants, commuting to work. Hence, the socio-cultural changes affect Volvo business strategy as the demand for SUVs is declining but demand for smaller and fuel-efficient cars is increasing. Besides that, they have to invest a big amount of money to do research and development for fuel-efficient cars in order to compete with Toyota for market share. Baumol and Blinder (2011) emphasizes that heavy R&D will lead Volvo to incur higher cost of production and profit margin will decline as they cannot sell the cars at a high price since to their competitor (Toyota) is offering reasonable price for fuel-efficient cars. Technological Technological factor plays an important role in automotive industry because consumers always demand for better and higher quality technologies in their cars so that the technologies can help consumers to save petrol, bring greater convenience to them, and ensure their safety (Hage, 2011). Based on the case study, Volvo took the first step as the pioneers of the safety cage, crumble zones, side-impact protection, antilock brakes, whiplash protection, and airbags. As the first mover, Volvo is able to 3 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing enjoy great profits before their competitors come out with the similar technologies but with lower prices or better quality (Aswathappa, 2005). Hence, Volvo would have to invest heavier in R&D to develop innovative technologies that create the safest most exciting car experience to customers. Additionally, Volvo also needs to invest in R&D for fuel-efficient cars as it is the current of the market. If Volvo fails to produce hybrid or fuel-efficient cars with a reasonable price, they will lose market share due to competitors are offering customers with the demanded products (fuel-efficient cars) (Schwartz, et al. , 2010). Heavy R&D is required from Volvo and at the same time they cannot charge higher prices, and hence, the profit margin of Volvo will be smaller. 4 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing Question 2: Five Forces framework Answer: Five Forces framework included the bargaining power of supplier and buyer, threat of substitute, threat of new entrants and power of rivalry. Any changes from any of the forces will bring huge impact to an industry. As the world is going to global, competition arise and it make the five forces framework even more competitive and it affect the global automobile market directly. Bargaining power of buyer Bargaining power of buyer are referring to the negotiation power or influencing power of the buyers toward the prices charge by a company (Jones and Hill, 2010), the buyer of the automobile company may refer to the end user of the automobile. As year by year, there are more and more new players joining the market of automobile. One of the reason contributes to high bargaining power of buyer is low switching (Jones and Hill, 2010). As times past, there are more and more players join to the automobile industry. For example, U. S’s automobile market shares which used to dominate by the Big Three (Ford Motor Company (Ford), General Motors Corporation (GM) and DaimlerChrysler (DC)) had been taken over by foreign brands such as Honda, Toyota and Mitsubishi in 2005 (Gopal, n. d. ). Hence, this provides larger range of choices for the consumers and this makes the buyers have high bargaining power toward the industry. Since there are more choices in the market, consumers’ dependency toward the particular brands will decrease, as the product does not fulfil the customers’ expectation, they might switch to another brand with low or even non switching cost. For example, as according to research, the sale of new car in U. S market has increase, as people are willing to pay for better quality cars (Gopal, n. d. ). The world now is moving to the environmental friendly site, thus, most of the automobile firms are facing challenge by switching their focus from big car, large engine to fuel-efficient engine. Beside, due to the availability of information, buyers nowadays are more educated and they are very concerning about the effect of the automobile to the environment and this has relatively increase their bargaining power as buyer. For example, there are more than 100 type of motor magazine in the market 5 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing which provides reliable and sufficient information for consumers (Gopal, n. d). Since the switching cost of the buyers is low due to the fierce competition, buyers’ brand loyalties have decrease. Bargaining power of supplier Bargaining power of supplier is referring to the negotiation power of the supplier for the business which may include supplier of human resource, supplier of raw material, and other outsourcing partners (Jones and Hill, 2010). For the auto component supply industry, the bargaining powers of suppliers are relatively low, as there are many available suppliers of raw materials in the market, the switching cost of the cars manufacturer to other suppliers are low or even none. For example, large automobile manufacturers such as GM, Ford and Toyota have strong bargaining power as they always purchase the raw material in large quantities (Jones and Hill, 2010). The sizes of auto components are typically small (Ahmadjian and Lincoln, 1997), meanwhile the big players are able to use the threat of manufacturing a component themselves rather than buying it from auto component suppliers to played off suppliers against each other, forcing them to lower down the price and increase the quality (Ahmadjian and Lincoln, 1997). Hence, we can say that the bargaining powers of auto component suppliers are relatively low. Unlike air line industry, which the air line are highly depend toward the suppliers, automobile manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda or Volvo, it has own research and development department (R&D) which helps in exploring all the latest technology. It contributes in lowering down the dependency toward the suppliers as suppliers merely involve in supplying raw material instead of important technologies as like Boeing (air plane manufacturer) and other air line. Hence, in short, the bargaining powers of suppliers are relative low as the low dependency toward the suppliers and the threat of switching to other suppliers always work as a strong bargaining tool for the automobile manufacturers. Threat of Substitution This refers to the product of different businesses or industry that can satisfy similar customer needs (Jones and Hill, 2010). For automobile industry, due to the increasing 6 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing number of public transport and other way of transportation, the demand toward automobile has gone down. For example, as according to research, nowadays people might choose to take public transport as their daily transport instead of own private car due to cost and environmental issues (Eboli and Mazzulla, 2008). Beside as government is placing pressure toward the environmental issue, public transports are being well develop day by day (Eboli and Mazzulla, 2008), and it actually decrease the dependency of owing a private car. In addition, as the social-culture has changed, people nowadays are reluctant to give birth and hence it decreases the willingness of consumer to own a car. As according to research, the birth rate of developed countries such as Japan, Korea and State are relatively low and it actually affected the several industries and this included automobile industry (Powell and Hendricks, 2009). In this case we can justify that only small part of the automobile industry are highly affected by the substitution, however, for those luxury brands such as Volvo, BMW or Audi, their target markets are hardly affect by the improvement toward the public transport (Svensson and Wagner, 2011). In short, the threat of substitution toward the automobile industry is not high as it merely affected those below middle-income. Threat of New entrant New entrant may refer to potential competitors that are not currently competing in an industry but have the capability to do so if they choose so (Jones and Hill, 2010). As refer back to the case, the automobile industry has facing increasing deregulation; this had broken down the entry barrier for new entrance. For example, Volvo needs to compete with not only the local market players but also the Asia market player such as Toyota since there entry barrier of foreign brands to the local market had been broken down. As more new entrance coming into the market, the switching cost of the consumer from one brand to another brand is even lower than before (Che and Seethu, 2008). Hence, there deregulation may affect partly of the industry but not whole. Firstly, setting up a new automobile manufacturing company requires huge capital injection which decreases the willingness of new player to enter the industry. This may due to the high risk of huge capital injection and hence potential companies dare not to grab the opportunity. Beside there are already few strong players in the automobile manufacturer industry such as GM, Ford, Toyota and Honda, which have 7 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing already gain certain economic of scale in term of buying large quantity of auto components (Xia and Tang, 2011), and this had build barrier of entry for potential players. In short, the threat of new entrant is low as it is high risk business. Rivalry among established companies It refers to the current struggle between companies in an industry to gain market share from each other (Jones and Hill, 2010). For automobile industry, the rivalry is intensified due to the high exit cost and the industry demand. As mentioned earlier, the set up cost of an automobile manufacturer is relatively high and hence this has created exit barrier. Hence, even the business of an automobile manufacturer is bad; it will still lock into the industry where overall demand is static or declining (Jones and Hill, 2010). For example, GM, had struggled in the industry for more than 8 years due to declined sale, because of the high exit cost, it had been locked within the industry (Terlep, 2011). Besides, the declining demand from customers as mentioned earlier had contributed to intensify the rivalry as well. As consumers are reluctant to buy a new car due to environmental issue or declining birthrate, it actually forcing the automobile manufacturers to play off against each other for larger market shares (Eboli and Mazzulla, 2008). Hence, we can conclude that the rivalry among the established companies of automobile industry is intensified due to the declining demand and high exit cost. 8 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing Question 3: Answer: There are many different brands of vehicles. As to stand with one foot crossed in front of the other competitors, Volvo has adopted the focused differentiation strategy (Dinitzen, 2010). A focused differentiation strategy is aimed at a niche group of customers with unique tastes (Schermerhorn, 2010). The cars produced by Volvo are targeted at a niche market of safety conscious upscale families. These upscale buyers of Volvo are those who value Volvo's reputation for durability, and are willing to pay high dollars for this Swedish brand of luxury. Volvo has differentiated their cars by adding additional features that are not available on other cars. Their cars are known as extremely safe cars for families due to the design, which its innovation in car safety enhancements, being pioneers of the safety cage, crumble zones, side-impact protection, antilock brakes, whiplash protection, and airbags, as stated in the case. One primary means of differentiating Volvo’s cars is through its research and development department to produce cars model that exude quality, performance and safety which emphasize on creating luxury automotive brand for family sector. This can be seen from the case that the model of XC90 is well-designed with a large SUV and the price range from ? 33,000 to ? 54,000. However, Volvo continually develops and adds new features that increase values to customers. Some recent innovation of Volvo’s that differentiates their products is Volvo’s sporty hatchback S30 which the engine and brake system of the S30 is designed differently from any compact executive hatch class cars in existence and is destined to compete against high-end versions of VW’s Golf. This shows Volvo attempted to broaden their target market by attracting younger drivers to their car marque (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2007) and Volvo sees their future as delivering safe, premium and exciting driving suitable for families. At the same time, Volvo has reached a level of maturity, by providing a better balance between sportiness and comfort, and also achieved high level of safety. Besides using focus differentiation strategy, Volvo should use differentiation strategy with a little of expansion strategy. A differentiation strategy depends on developing resources that set the company’s offer apart in a way that is meaningful and difficult 9 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing to duplicate (Lowy and Hood, 2004). This can be achieved through keeping ahead of competition, satisfying customer’s wants and also expectations better than business rivals (Moynihan and Titley, 2001). Volvo’s cars consist of those attractive features which meet customers' exact demands in terms of passenger comfort, driving safety and total economy. This enables Volvo to sell their cars at a premium price and satisfy the unique needs or preferences of customers (Hills and Jones, 2007). Furthermore, people are becoming more conscious about what they are buying, and are more environmentally and safety conscious too in today’s trends (Aarts, 2010). This means that quality work is a crucial part of all areas in their global organisation from product development and design to purchasing, manufacturing, sales and service. Therefore, Volvo should expand their products and focus on product innovation that developing product features that customer value to prevent eroding the current market and increase overall sales and profits (Hunt, 2003). This is to ensure that in case the existing market for the type of product that Volvo offers is already saturated and there are convenient ties to other product types. This strategy helps reduce overall business risk by offering products in a variety of customer categories. With this, Volvo may build up a brand name that evokes the feeling of safety and luxury in an expanding market base. The uniqueness of Volvo may insulate the company from competitive rivalry and reduce customer sensitivity toward price increases. Consequently, these will increasingly affluent public and they will become more famous and trusting of automotive industry. 10 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing Reference List Aarts, L. (2010) Feeding People. United Kingdom: Academy Press. Aswathappa, A. (2005) International Business. nd ed. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Baumol, W. J. and Blinder, A. S. (2011) Economics: Principles and Policy. 12th eds. Ohio: Cengage Learning. Bernon, M. , Rossi, S. and Cullen, J. (2011) ‘Retail reverse logistics: A call and grounding framework for research’, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 484-510. Dinitzen, H. B. (2010) Organisational Theory: A Practical Approach. Denmark: Hans Reitzels Forlag. Eboli, L. and Mazzulla, G. (2008) ‘Willingness to pay of public transport users for improvement in service quality’, European Transport. Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 107-118. Gwartney, J. D. , Stroup, R. L. , Sobel, R. S. and MacPherson, D. (2008) Economics: Private and Public Choice. 12th eds. Ohio: Cengage Learning. Hage, J. (2011) Restoring the Innovation Edge: Driving the Evolution of Science and Technology. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Hills, C. W. L. and Jones, G. R. (2007) Strategic management: an integrated approach. USA: Cengage Learning. Hilmola, O. P. (2011) ‘Benchmarking efficiency of public passenger transport in larger cities’, Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 23-41. Hunt, B. 2003) The Timid Corporation: Why Business is Terrified of Taking Risk. England: John Wiley and Sons. Jones, G. and Hill, C. (2010) Theory of Strategic Management. 9th eds. South-Western Cengage Learning. Lee, K. H. and Cheong, I. M. (2011) ‘Measuring a carbon footprint and environmental practice: The case of Hyundai Motors Co. (HMC)’, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 111, No. 6, pp. 961-978. Li, Z. and Zhao, H. (2011) ‘Not all demand oil shocks are alike: Disentangling demand oild shocks in the crude oil market’, Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies, Vol. , No. 1, pp. 28-44. Lowy, A. and Hood, P. (2004) The power of the 2Ãâ€"2 matrix: using 2Ãâ€"2 thinking to solve business problems and make better decisions. United States: John Wiley and Sons. 11 BK 3037 Strategic Marketing Moynihan, D. and Titley, B. (2001) Advanced business. New York: Oxford University Press. Needles, B. E. , Powers, M. and Crosson, S. V. (2010) Financial and Managerial Accounting. 9th eds. Ohio: Cengage Learning. Powell, J. and Hendricks, J. (2009) The Welfare State in Post-Industrial Society: A Global Perspective. London: Springer. Rudall, B. H. (2011) ‘Research and development: Current impact and future potential’, Kybernetes, Vol. 40, No. 3/4, pp. 581-584. Schermerhorn, J. R. (2010) Management. United States: John Wiley and Sons. Schwartz, R. A. , Carew, M. G. and Maksimenko, T. (2010) Micro Markets: A Market Structure Approach to Microeconomic Analysis. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons. Svensson, G. and Wagner, B. (2011) ‘Transformative business sustainability: Multilayer model and network of e-footprint sources’, European Business Review, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 334-352. The Sydney Morning Herald. 2007) Smallest, cheapest Volvo targets younger customers. [Online]. 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