Monday, December 23, 2019

Essay on Pay Attention to the Commercials - 1070 Words

Pay Attention to the Commercials Dont go to work! Dont go to school! Stay home tomorrow and watch some TV. Daytime television commercials can be classified into who they are being marketed to. Businesses realize who will be watching TV between ten a.m. and two p.m. so they target their ads to these TV watchers. The majority of the viewers between these times are the stay at home moms, out of work people, and the people who stayed home from work sick. The only reason that I pick up on such a minor detail as this is because my goal is to graduate from college with a major in marketing. I watch commercials and laugh when I see the approach used by some businesses to get the attention of their consumers. Women tend to watch talk shows and†¦show more content†¦Juice boxes always claim to be made with real fruit juice when they really only have about 5%, but moms are looking to give their children the very best. There are some commercials targeted just for the mom in mind though, such as: Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and cereals that are good for you like Special K. Moms who do not have much time on their hands need an easy way to lose weight, so when they see these commercials they may think it will get them a little thinner without the effort of committing to a gym. Lastly, there are commercials for hair color, shampoo, conditioner, and makeup. Herbal Essence chooses to show how using their product will take you away from all the hassles of the world when you use it. What mom wouldnt want that? The other audience watching shows such as Judge Judy and Moral Court are the out of work people. This audience is kind of a slacker who lays around the house all day not motivated to find a job or do much of anything except flip through the channels. These people arent interested in what they can buy so they need different advertising. This is where the chiropractors, lawyers, ideas/patents, and college commercials come in. Zero down! No credit, bad credit okay! If youre an accident victim well work for you! Discount fees, not discount service! There are some key words to grab the out of work viewers attention. Commercials for this group have to beShow MoreRelatedAnalyzing Old Spice Essay766 Words   |  4 PagesThe Old Spice Company uses several methods to convey a message and sell their product. Old Spice commercials are well known for using the famous Isaiah Mustafa, wrapped in just a towel, to talk about the company’s product. While Mustafa walks and talks, the background and setting of the commercial changes and the actor never loses eye contact. The product is always shown throughout the entire commercial. By combining all the elements of gender stereotyping, sexual imagery, and racial innuendoes, OldRead MoreVisual Analysis : The Flies 932 Words   |  4 PagesVisual Analysis Summary: The commercial starts out with a dark brown haired woman, named Ashley, sitting on a couch holding a small wooden alien figurine. She then proceeds to say â€Å"I love your apartment Brian† as a man, Brian, and a monkey are walking up from behind the couch. The monkey climbs over the couch and sits next to Ashley. As the monkey, Frank, sits next to Ashley, Ashley says â€Å"and Frank is so well behaved†. Brian leaning on the couch from behind says â€Å"yeah we’re best buddy’s. I’m goingRead MoreThe Appeal and Strategy of BMW Advertising Essays1144 Words   |  5 Pagesadvertisement is trying to sell, and some of which are associated with its image.† According to Ingham, ads/commercials are everywhere, and they all have one thing in common. They all contain the messages that mainly aim to persuade people to consume their product. By various different methods, they slowly engage the consumers’ needs in certain ways. The most common st rategy that ads/commercials are using may also include any of the fifteen basic appeals by Jib Fowles. In Fowles’s article â€Å"Advertising’sRead MoreMovie Review : Star Wars1214 Words   |  5 Pagesplay with your new toy? In this Duracell commercial a young boy receives a toy light saber like the ones used in Star Wars. As the boy opens up the box to his new light saber, he finds that batteries are not included. He then races upstairs to his bedroom and finds Duracell batteries. After putting in the Duracell batteries into his Star Wars Light Saber, suddenly his whole house and neighborhood turns into a Star Wars battlefield. This Duracell commercial was aired on television on October 30, 2015Read MoreEssay On Gender Inequality1137 Words   |  5 Pagesman’s dollar. Through a rhetorical analysis of Audi’s 2017 Super Bowl commercial ‘Daughter’ they inform their buyers of the gender inequality around the world and to inform them that they are a fair and equal company when it comes to its employees. Not only that but to show support to every girl and women and to hopefully make in impact on the men as well. The audience can immediately feel all the emotions while watching this commercial. It starts off by showing you this young girl so determined to andRead MoreTheory : Cognitive Learning Theory Essay1631 Words   |  7 Pagesthe stimuli that are attended to will make it into working memory. Our attention acts as a filter of the vast amount of input we receive as the brain is only able to process a limited number of stimuli, and only what we focus on, either consciously or unconsciously. Therefore, the ability to grab, engage and direct attention is important for educators as students will only learn what they attend to. In order to grab attention a lesson must stand out from all the other stimuli competing for a student’sRead MoreImpact Of Advertising On The State Of Alabama844 Words   |  4 Pagesgovernment. We see the same message from each candidate that we miss to look at their body language and what each word they say mean throughout the commercial. Every political com mercial has the same purpose, but it’s always directed to specific people. It’s simple to get lost in words when you are unfamiliar with the topic so it’s crucial for us to pay attention and think critical. The politician in the video isn t running for president or congress, he s running for Agricultural Commission of AlabamaRead MoreEven In 1999, Seth Godin Knew That Marketing Strategies1033 Words   |  5 Pageswere forever changing. In Permission Marketing, Seth Godin discusses interruption marketing and how it is not the main way to market to consumers. Yes, interruption marketing is acceptable to initially get attention but it should not be a constant marketing strategy after getting consumers’ attention. Godin goes on to explain how marketers can create a marketing message that buyers voluntarily notice, this strategy is known as permission marketing. The content of the book explains permission marketingRead MoreDoes the Media Use Subliminal Adver tising as a Tool for Mind Control?1775 Words   |  7 Pageswhich the consumer is exposed to product or brand advertising such as pictures or songs related to the product without the consumer being consciously aware of it. This may include ads during the airing of different sports matches or that one catchy commercial song that gets embedded into our minds. The consumer is then expected to decode the information subconsciously without ever realising the source of the information. This influences the consumer’s behaviour. This research essay will mainly focusRead MoreMarketing Analysis : Pull Out Two Similar Products Owned By Different Companies1541 Words   |  7 Pagestexts trying to attract maximum numbers of buyers. Focusing on the Scribner’s magazine in the 1916s, pull out two similar products owned by different companies at a time and compare the ways they were advertised and the significance of the single commercial. Advertisements in Scribner’s magazine had done a great job playing with classes and people’s desire. The early twenties century is all about social class and living the luxury life like there’s no tomorrow and those advertisement perfectly manipulate

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Life in ancient Greece and medieval Europe Free Essays

This essay briefly compares and contrasts a few salient features of life in ancient Greece and  medieval Europe. Familiarities The life in ancient Greece and during the middle age in Europe has tremendous impact on our  lives today also. The effect of the ancient Greek lifestyle is direct and that of the middle age  Europe is indirect. We will write a custom essay sample on Life in ancient Greece and medieval Europe or any similar topic only for you Order Now    The ancient Greeks have gifted to us system of governance like ‘democracy’  and the master event of all masculine sports: the Olympic games. On the other hand, the  life style of middle age, gave rise to the age of new thinking, the renaissance. It was during the  middle age that intellectuals started their quest for knowledge, which led to an upsurge or  intellectual activities later. It was during the middle age that schools and Universities started  being established across Europe. These gave rise to centers of learning during the renaissance  period, later.( Daily life in ancient   Greece, life ). While studying the life style of ancient Greeks and the people of middle age Europe, one  more familiarity that strikes the reader is that in both the cases, considerable stress was laid on  education of children.   In ancient Greece, children were educated at primary level at home  mostly by the male slaves. The way education was imparted in the medieval period was slightly  different. Schools had already come into existence, and concept of language, math and science  had started developing slowly.( daily life in ancient Greece, life ). Both the ages have given memorable gifts to mankind. The ancient Greeks have given us  1)   trial by jury, 2)   the Greek mythology, 3) democracy,   and   4) recreational activity like  dramatics, while the middle age has opened the doors for establishment of schools for primary  level and universities for the higher level education. The invention of Guttenberg’s printing  press, is the greatest gift from the middle age to mankind. The forts and structures built by the  rulers for protection of citizens and worship of God, during these ages, are remarkable pieces of  architecture.( daily life in ancient Greece, history ) Contrasts The ancient Greek era is timed up to5th century B.C. while the medieval European age is  timed from 4th century A.D. to the 14th century A.D. Life in ancient Greece marked   the  development of one of the civilizations on this world, while life during the middle age is also  known as a dark age, because of the downfall of activities in almost all spheres of life.( daily life  in ancient Greece, life ) The biggest contrast between the two is that slavery existed in ancient Greece whereas it had  no traces in the middle age Europe. Male and female slaves lived miserable lives and were  treated like commodities by their owners. They did not even have a right to have their own name.  Slavery was so prominent in ancient Greece that there were as many slaves as the number of  citizens in ancient Greece. The Greek civilization spread over a small geographic area whereas the middle age Europe  encompasses the whole of the continent. Despite the fall of the Roman empire, the Catholic  church was the sole centralized authority to impress upon the rulers of all countries. In contrast,  the ruling system in ancient Greece was heavily decentralized. In   ancient Greece, there existed  a system of city-states. Each city was a state, governed independently. Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Argus and Megara were the main city- states. ( Daily life in ancient   Greece, life )  The similarities between the life in ancient Greece and in the medieval Europe are few,  whereas the contrasts are too many, and too prominent also. Works-cited page Daily life in ancient Greece, 2006, Retrieved on 4 May 2007 from: http://members.aol.com/donnclass/Greeklife.html Life History, 2000, Retrieved on 4 May 2007, from: http://www.medieval-life.net/ http://www.medieval-life.net/history_main.htm How to cite Life in ancient Greece and medieval Europe, Essay examples

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Australian Consumer Law

Question: Case study Topic Australian Consumer Law Answer: Introduction Consumer laws forms the basis upon which fair trade and rights of the consumers are upheld. These laws are enacted by the government or the legal authority so as to protect the interests of the consumers and imbibe certain protocols connected to fair trade, eschew fraudulent activities and promote competitiveness within the business sector. Alike other nations Australia too has its own share of laws enacted for the protection of the consumers and fair trade and policies. Australia comprises of six states along with ten federal territories all of which comes under the jurisdiction of the laws (Corones, 2013). The consumer law will be discussed with special reference to the case of Jimmy and the legal recourses available to him. Ascertaining Manufacturers Liability From the case study it can be inferred that Jimmy had bought a shirt from the shop of the hotel and did not exercise reasonable care while using the shirt i.e. he did not wash it before wearing it for the first time. As a result he developed allergies on his skin due to a toxic substance contained within the packaging in his shirt (Ramsay, 2006). At the same time it can also be stated that the hotel shop did not take steps while selling the shirt to Jimmy to educate him on using the shirt. Even though the shirt was packed there can be hazardous substances within the packaging and it was the responsibility of the seller to educate the consumers notwithstanding the nature of the product. The Australian Consumer Law comprises of Schedule 2 to Competition and Consumer Act, 2010 substituting as many as 20 statutes and laws over all the states and territories. Jimmy may approach the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to look into this dispute (Ramsay, 2012). The Commission in c onjunction with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission is in charge of administering and enforcing the consumer law. Under the scope of Australian Consumer Law a consumer has a broad definition that includes: Any person who acquires goods and or services worth less than $ 40,000 Goods and services that have been acquired for domestic consumption or usage even if they are priced over $40,000 Any means of transport that has been acquired principally for the purpose of transporting goods on public roads (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 2016). When the definition of a consumer is evaluated under the Australian Consumer Law it can be seen that Jimmy can be termed as a consumer and there was a breach of duty by the hotel shop as a result of which he developed allergies and rashes all over his body. Moreover it may be seen that the shop attendant refused to look into the matter when Jimmy went back to the Gift Shop. There was a clear evidence of rude and impolite behaviour that can be termed as offensive and uncouth. Instead of refusing to accept the fault the retailer should have shown empathy and compassion (Law, 2009). The shirt was packed in a sealed and clear plastic bag and as such Jimmy had no reason to suspect that there were any harmful chemical in the shirt. It can be stated to be the manufacturers liability as they should have taken due care while packing the shirt so that it did not contain any harmful chemical. The Australian Consumer Law clearly states that persons engaged in trade and commerce should refrain fr om engaging in unconscionable act. However when the case study of Jimmy is examined it can be stated that there was negligence in the conduct of the Gift Shop while dealing with their consumers (Lande and Averitt, 2007). Non adherence to these laws can attract severe penalty as can be observed from the penalty order against Coles Supermarket. The policies and rules are formulated by the concerned authority and the government so as to ensure fair conduct of trade among the different entities and bodies. The Australian Consumer Law has its roots from the erstwhile Trade Practices Act, 1974 with some additional features so as to cater to the changing structure of the business environment. Broadly it may be stated that the focus of this law is on ensuring competitive practices and ensure protection to the consumers. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is the body who will look into the grievance of Jimmy and will suggest recourse (Williams, 2007). It can also impose penal ty on the Luxury Hotel Gift Shopand direct it to pay damages to Jimmy. Consumer Guarantee in Australia and its subsequent application to the case of Jimmy Consumer Guarantee in Australia effectively means that products that are sold and services that are rendered should be of acceptable quality. By the term acceptable quality it refers to safe and lasting goods without any fault. Moreover the goods should look acceptable and should function normally for the purpose of which they have been bought. Other than that products should match the descriptions as highlighted in the packaging, labels, promotions and advertising. Consumer Guarantee in Australia means that when a consumer buys goods or services they are furnished with automatic guarantees that the goods will work and perform as per the descriptions of the product (Hogarth et al, 2008). The case of Jimmy essentially highlights the importance of Consumer Guarantee Clause for the business entities in order to carry out transaction of goods and services. From the definition of quality by the Consumer Guarantee Clause it can be inferred that it should be fit for the purpose of which it was sold. Even though the shirt itself was fine the packaging was harmful that clearly breached the consumer guarantee. The consumer has the rights to claim damages and compensation for the breach in the guarantee. The Australian Consumer Law further proclaims that goods and services that are being sold need to be safe as basic criteria (Steinwall, 2009). In other words it is fundamental for the establishments and trade bodies to ensure that goods that are being sold are safe and does not harm the consumers in any way. Jimmy can seek compensation for the distress, discomfort and pecuniary losses that he suffered as a result of wearing the shirt smeared with toxic chemical. While selling the shirt to Jimmy the shop should have exercised due care for ensuring that the product does not harm the consumers. It was the sole responsibility of the shop to ensure that they sell products and commodities that does not cause any damage or blight to the end users (Lindsay, 2005). Jimmy can either approach the retail shop or the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for seeking damages to the losses that he incurred. Even though it is difficult to estimate the exact amount of compensation that Jimmy is entitled to it may be opined that compensation will include the cost of expenses that Jimmy had to bear as a result of allergy. Thus, it will include cost of medicine, doctor fees and also the distress and inconvenience. Jimmy can also lodge a complaint using the website of Australian Competition and Cons umer Commission (Ramsay, 2012). Even though the shirt did meet the description as per the label it can be opined that it was not fit for use since there it was smeared with harmful chemical. Under consumer guarantee it is clearly stated that entities need to provide automatic guarantee irrespective of other warranty they might provide or not. As such Jimmy can seek compensation for damages and losses that he suffered as a result of wearing the shirt. It can also be opined that the Consumer Guarantee also takes into account any online products bought over the internet since a substantial number of goods are bought over the internet these days (Steinwall, 2009). Thus it can be stated that the guarantee seeks to compensate and protect the rights of the consumers over a broad range of conditions and scenarios so as to ensure holistic growth of trade and commerce. Conclusion The above paper has shed light on the consumer laws in Australia and the conditions that have to be fulfilled by the business entities in order to operate successfully. The case study involved Jimmy who bought a shirt from Hotel store that was smeared with a toxic chemical. The paper has discussed the definition of the consumer law and the scope along with applicability. From the discussion it can be seen that there was clear duty of the manufacturer to provide the consumers with product that met quality and did not cause any harm. However the shirt that was sold to Jimmy was coated with harmful chemical. The second part of the paper dealt with Consumer Guarantee in Australia and its subsequent applicability to the case of Jimmy. It was inferred that Jimmy is entitled to compensation since he suffered mental and monetary stress as a result of wearing the contaminated shirt (Corones, 2013). References: Corones, S. G. (2013).The Australian Consumer Law. Thomson Reuters, Lawbook Co.. Hogarth, S., Javitt, G., Melzer, D. (2008). The current landscape for direct-to-consumer genetic testing: legal, ethical, and policy issues.Annu. Rev. Genomics Hum. Genet.,9, 161-182. Lande, R. H., Averitt, N. W. (2007). Using the'Consumer Choice'Approach to Antitrust Law.Antitrust Law Journal,74, 175. Law, A. A. C. (2009). Fair Markets-Confident Consumers. Lindsay, D. (2005). Exploration of the Conceptual Basis of Privacy and the Implications for the Future of Australian Privacy Law, An.Melb. UL Rev.,29, 131. Ramsay, I. (2006). Consumer law, regulatory capitalism and the new learning in regulation.Sydney L. Rev.,28, 9. Ramsay, I. (2012).Consumer law and policy: Text and materials on regulating consumer markets. Bloomsbury Publishing. Steinwall, R. (2009). 25 Years of Australian Competition Law.Journal of South Pacific Law,4, 2000. Williams, T. (2007). Empowerment of whom and for what? Financial literacy education and the new regulation of consumer financial services.Law Policy,29(2), 226-256.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

The Importance of Participating free essay sample

Therefore, it is crucial that you join in co-curricular activities, as it brings many benefits. First and foremost, co-curricular activities play a vital role in providing knowledge and experience to the students. For instance, students will have the opportunity to gain new experiences when they join a camp. They would learn to be independent. They would also be able to gain extra knowledge such as inventing gadgets from recycled objects and all sorts of other Hellenizing activities. Sometimes, the new experiences gained will teach you to be more matured. Next, active participation in co-curricular activities will help a person to develop holistically. This is because students should not only focus entirely on their studies and instead, should learn to balance between their studies and their involvement in extra curricular activities. Through active participation in the activities, the school would be able to produce students who are smart, intelligent, bold and inquisitive instead of just bookworms. We will write a custom essay sample on The Importance of Participating or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Furthermore, participation in co-curricular activities can also help you to release stress and boredom.I am sure you will feel stressed, especially when the examinations are just around the corner. Hence, by joining clubs or sports in your school, you can set aside your problems for a while. This in turn will make you feel better and less tense, as all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Besides that, co-curricular activities will help you to be fit and healthy. All of the toxic substances in your body will be removed whenever you sweat by playing sports and carrying out activities that require a lot of physical movements.Therefore, you will feel better and be more focused in class. You will also have the opportunity to apply things you have learned in the classroom in real life. For example, if you join the Physics Club, you might have a chance to build a rocket based on the physics principles that was taught in class. On the other hand, if you join the life skills club, chances re,you will get the opportunity to build handicrafts or learn how to cook properly.These are rare opportunities that you might not get when you are not actively participating in clubs and societies. Moreover, your chances for further studies are also enhanced, bayou are active in sports, clubs and societies. With an increasing number of students excelling academically, the competition to get into universities is tougher. The universities are not only looking for students who are academically good, but also who are confident and bold. These attributes could only be gained through co-curricular activities.Overall, even though the participation in co-curricular activities are usually seen as less important than the academic subjects, they have been proven to benefit the students in many ways. Co-curricular activities form the core of a students life and pave a brighter future for those who excel in them. So, do not hesitate to join any co-curricular activities now and be an active member who contributes to the club as well as the school. That is all from me today, thank you.

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Movie Educating Rita essays

The Movie Educating Rita essays The movie Educating Rita shows us how drive and motivation goes from wanting to have an education, to longing for every class to learn something new, and finally to sharing knowledge with others. Rita seemed trapped in a life that she did not want. She decided that if she had an education she could do so much more. As you will see motivation was Having an education would place her where she wanted to be in society. She wanted learn and have knowledge and that meant getting and education. She always knew that she could do it and that she wanted more in life. Therefore, she started a class with Frank. After she started classes with Frank, she could not get enough. She was gaining knowledge by the day and thrived knowing there was another day to come. She did not care what her father, Dennie, or anyone else thought of her going to school. No matter what people thought she was always ready to learn. By the time she was finishing her test she was coming out of her shell. She was now sharing her thoughts and feelings with others. She was at one time somewhat shy of the other students, not anymore. She seemed to walk proud and be proud of herself. In conclusion education is what mattered to Rita. She wanted to have an education and the same for her family. In the end, the only thing that mattered was her education and being educated, then and only then would she be free. ...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Barrack Obama’s Campaign Speech Essay Example for Free

Barrack Obama’s Campaign Speech Essay Communication can be defined as the act/art of exchanging/transmission of thoughts or information by the means of speech, signs, written means and the behavior. It was the occasion of the America’s Presidential candidates Campaign when the Illinois Senator Barrack Hussein Obama delivered the speech announcing his will of seeking the democratic nomination for presidency in 2008. It was on Saturday evening (19. 06GMT) of February 10th 2007 on the Venue of Springfield, when the Senator Barrack Obama now the Elect president of United States of America delivered the persuasive speech used on this focus paper. In this Speech it excellently exploits the elements of speech. First, The candidate Senator Obama by that time was very prepared for the occasion against the deliverance of the amazing speech towards the audience. His introduction of the speech appreciates all the audience present and recognizes their vital role they do play for that occasion. For instances He starts by thanking all the people for their coming and gives the reasons why the occasion was very important to every individual. His introduction captures the attention of the audience giving time to deliver his message. Part of introduction was â€Å"†¦it’s humbling but in my heart I know you didn’t come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. † Secondly there is use ‘of being yourself ’ while giving the speech. The Senator gives personal and professional examples and life history precisely, possibly helping him to gain support to emphasize his own points of the campaign. The self-example messages matches with the destined purposes of the Campaign. Thirdly, Obama stayed relaxed throughout the speech delivery session, very composed and maximal prepared for the outcome. He remained focused on passing the message. He too employed other means of speech presentation such as movement/ walking, gestures. In addition, the Senator used the Natural humor and avoided depicting/ pinpointing an individual from the Audience and he didn’t over do it thus maintaining the audience on move of the speech. The other element that I figure was the Body plans and hand positions. I keenly observed the movement and gestures of the Senator. He moved within the three positions – the right, the center and the left- and the hand position was well managed and maintained throughout the session. He didn’t hide behind the lectern and he excellently maintained the eye contact with the audience throughout the speech session. Lastly of the elements of speech, the Senator was very keen and well informed about every detailed he presented. He used the environmental reference that surrounded the Venue appropriately on his speech. He understands what is the past, currently and the future happening of the immediate ground. He keenly observes the audience to an extent of identifying some schoolmates but he didn’t mention their names. â€Å"†¦friends that I see in the audience. †. Speech Accomplishment: The speech is accomplishing the real mission of the Senator while being elected as the president of United States of America. He explains out what he will accomplish for the country when he will be in power. He gives new hope the people of America; to believe that ‘yes he can’ bring peace where there is war, bring hope where there is despair, reach what is more possible and build a more perfect union. The Senator aspires to establish convergence place where the farmers, teachers, students, businessmen, laborers, young and the aged, male and female, rich and the poor’s clamoring can be heard. The speech intends to accomplish the enlightenment of the US people the existence of presumptuousness in the present government calling for the change, in the faces of the depressed he will increase the employment opportunities in order to lift the millions out of poverty, Welcome the immigrants to the shores of America and experience justice and righteousness around the globe. The Senator contemplates the currently status of the US and around the globe and promises to accomplish missions such as to quench the anxiety of the feel of rising health care costs and the illusions of the stagnant wages, to bring the war in Iraq to an end by bringing the troops back home by march next year and give Sunni and Shia to resolve the problem and bring out peace, minimize oil dependency that is threatening America’s future, instill an ethic achievements in children by setting high standards of learning providing the resources for them to succeed, recruiting the new army of teachers and giving them the batter pay and more support for the exchange of accountability, making colleges affordable and investing in the scientific researches, to reshape the economy, strengthen the communities, to cut bureaucracy by use of technology, free America from the Tyranny Oil, solve the crisis of global warming by innovation and by capping the greenhouse gases, give incentives for the businesses, and destroying the deadliest unguarded weapons. The Speech was a persuasive, since it is persuading the people of America to elect the Senator as the President of America by voting for him in the year 2008. It was evidenced in his speech as persuasive where he says â€Å" †¦If you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching before us, if you sense as I sense, that the time is now to shake of our slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe the past and the future generations, then I am ready to take up the cause, and match with you and work with you to finish the work that needs to be done. † The main aim of the speech was to persuade for votes that resulted to the delivery of the speech. But on the process he enlightens the people the critically analyze and keenly make judgment for the best next US president. I can also say it is informative to some extent that it elaborates the incidences that have been taking place and the others that are likely to take place in the United States of America. Audience’s reaction towards the speech was very applauding during the speech presentation and indeed the audience was very pleased with the amazing speech, contented that Obama can make out to be the best candidate to be elected and very disappointed with the previous disguised government. The speech disclosed the factual facts to the audience, which was the quenching of the long thirst, the beginning of the new hope and the change on which the Americans can believe in. At some points the multitude nodded their heads as a sign of concession/ agreement to what was spoken, and at some point the audience was pity as a sign of how sympathetic and pathetic the situation was in as per that time. The pattern of speech was sequential, topical and spatial. The speech was sequential since it has the introduction, the body and the conclusion as the structure of the speech. Obama welcoming the audience, he presents his speech (The body) where he factually speaks of what he should do when he will be in power, he identifies what to change and or improve, what to innovate and implement, what changes he is able to bring, what was the defects the previous government, and finally he give out his conclusion of expecting the people of America to vote for him if they want the change they can believe in. The speech was also topical since Obama Generally emphasizes on the Change that that Americans can Believe in. He bases his own speech on change and frequently mentions change throughout his speech. Despite of having other minor topics such as speaking about education, the economy, war, resources and the political history his main topic was about change. To some extent but not very, the speech was descriptive. It entails what to be done, how, when and by whom. Obama described in his speech for instance that the only source for change in America is people, the only peace in war at Iraq lies between Sunn and Shia, the only way to prosper in future is by doing the present that needs to be done. Also Obama gave the vivid description on how to solve some of the long-lasting problems in America. For instance the problem of global warming can be solved by innovations that can tap the greenhouse gases, creating more job opportunities, investments can solve the problem of poverty, practice of justice and establishment of converges to listen the clamoring of each and every one in the US. In conclusion, Communication is the transmission of information from one person to another. The occasion of the speech was during the campaign of the Presidential candidate of America on Democratic Party at Springfield. The utilized elements of speech were such as being prepared for the speech presentation, being yourself when representing speech, being composed and contented when delivering speech, body plan and hands position, gestures and movements. Accomplishment of the speech was to convince the audience to vote for Him/ Change. The type of speech was persuasive as he persuades for the votes, the reactions of the audience was a sign of relieve or being relieved if Obama was to be the president and indeed he became. Finally the pattern of the speech is Sequential, topical and somehow spatial. References: 1. Public Speaking an Audience-Centered Approach By Steven A. Beebe and Susan J. Beebe. (2008) 2. http://www. guardian. co. uk/world/2007/feb/10/barackobama. 3. http://www. ljlseminars. com/elements. htm. 4. Organization Pattern Of Speech By Osborn (2000). Barrack Obama’s Campaign Speech. (2016, Oct 02).

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Comparing and evaluating the financial performance of US commercial Essay

Comparing and evaluating the financial performance of US commercial banks during the recession - Essay Example The study tells that the recent financial crisis began in 2008 – although signs of the crisis could be identified in 2007; since then, the crisis has being expanded in all countries worldwide causing severe losses to businesses of all industrial sectors. In its primary form, the crisis was related with the banking sector in US; in fact, the subprime products that were promoted by the US banks were proved to be more risky than initially estimated; as a result, US banks were highly exposed to the recession. Many banks in US collapsed – as a consequence of the crisis; however, there were also those banks that managed to limit the losses and protect effectively their equity/ capital. This study will help to understand the effects of recession on the financial performance of US commercial banks using the figures included in these organizations’ financial statements. In other words, it will be an evidence – based study not just a critical analysis of the behavio r of these firms since the beginning of the crisis. On the other hand, the level of resistance of US banks – as identified through this study – would be valuable in order to estimate the expected development of the US banking industry both in the short and the long term – the prospects for the development of US firms that operate in other industrial sectors could be also estimated using similar criteria. The study also identifies the framework of successful strategic decisions – referring to the banking industry – a fact that could further lead to the increase of this sector’s credibility.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 30

Business Law - Essay Example C.  Ã‚   With one of the legal issues you identified above, check with a legal web-site, as a reference that gives you greater understanding of this issue, so that you can describe the general rule of law about this issue, and any significant exceptions. As an employee, you have the right to raise a claim of discrimination by the employer only if you belong to a protected class. A protected class implies that you are fully qualified for the job. In such a case, the employer takes negative actions against you particularly by filling your position with an unqualified employee who does not fit in the protected class. If you want to raise the claim, you must either have circumstantial or direct evidence. The book serves as a special dedication to employees and employers. It provides guidance and information regarding legal employment issues. The workplace laws enacted by the state legislatures, congress, and local government meant to bring just for both parties. The book also highlights a case law that pertains to decisions made on precedent cases. Other critical issues addressed in the books are such as employment contract, company’s personnel, collective-bargaining agreement, and civil service rules. The book also focuses on federal laws and, in particular, the different kinds of employment laws. In the first category, the book addresses the anti-discrimination legislation. According to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 title VII, employment discrimination based on religion, color, pregnancy, race, sex and national origin is prohibited. The Rehabilitation Act of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employment discrimination against people living with disabilities. The Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA) forbids employment discrimination based on age. Discrimination against persons aged 40 and above is an offense. Another category addressed by the book relates to salaries and hours of work. The Fair Labor Standards Act

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Point of View Essay Example for Free

Point of View Essay The speaker of the story, who speaks as a first-person narrator, is not named. We may conclude that he has had a good deal of experience with small boats, and with the language of sailors. His concentration shifts in the course of the story. At first, he seems to be aware of all four men on the boat, collectively, and he makes observations that permit us to understand the ideas and responses of the men, who are linked in a virtual â€Å"brotherhood† because of their having been stranded on a tiny boat amid the high waves that are menacing their existence (paragraph 9). At about paragraph 49, however, the speaker shifts his concentration primarily to the correspondent, while he describes the other men more dramatically. Might we assume that at this point, Crane is merging the speaker of the story with his own voice, as nearly as we can determine it? Throughout, the speaker introduces some of his own ideas, and also, at times, speaks ironically. This accounts for some of the more humorous expressions in the story. Thus, the speaker comments wryly that the men, while rushing from the sinking ship to save themselves, â€Å"had forgotten to eat heartily† and therefore were now being weakened with hunger (paragraph 49). The speaker is in control of the tone of his descriptions, as when he points out that the human back, to a rower, is subject to innumerable and painful kinks and knots (paragraph 82). The speaker is also observant and philosophical, as when he comments that the four men at sea need to turn their heads to contemplate the â€Å"lonely and indifferent shore† (paragraph 206). The story’s final sentence, about the fact that the three surviving men can be â€Å"interpreters,† is suggestive of a good deal of thought and observation that could lead beyond the content of the story. Though the point of view is third-person limited-omniscient, Cranes merging of his thoughts with the narrators would not be as effective, not as dramatic, or objective, for it is this third-person distance that Crane feels would be most suitable for his idea that men are insignificant compared to the forces of nature, or nature itself. The point is driven home well with his particular point of view: another or different point of view would cloud his message and obscure his central theme: a different point of view would be too emotional, too fraught with survivability. The white heron is told from a third-person omniscient point-of-view, one that is aware of both Sylvia’s hopes and aspirations, and the hardships that she will encounter as she strives to achieve them. The constancy of the tree is noted from the very beginning with Sylvia’s recognition that â€Å"[in the] dark boughs [of the tree] he wind always, stirred, no matter how hot and still the air might be below † It is from this stillness that Sylvia begins her journey â€Å"with tingling eager blood† and apprehension of the point at which she must make â€Å"the dangerous pass from one tree to the other, [when] the great enterprise would really begin. † This image of making the transition from a smaller tree to a larger m ore dangerous one is a symbol of Sylvia leaving the realm of her early childhood to begin facing the challenges of becoming an adult. At first, â€Å"Sylvia felt her way uneasily,† but as she crosses trees and feels the support of the old pine, she becomes â€Å"his new dependent. † The pine is likened to â€Å"a great main mast to voyaging earth,† a simile which is followed by the author’s personification of the way in which it â€Å"h [olds] away the winds† to protect the â€Å"solitary gray-eyed child† just as a father would do. The narrative pace of the passage varies from being restrained and held back as Sylvia prepares for her adventure, to increasing in speed slightly once she changes trees, to finally reaching a climax once she reaches the top. It is this fast progression from her climbing and feelings of support from the tree to this climactic awakening that aids in communicating the true extent of Sylvia’s growth. The â€Å"spark of human spirit† that the tree’s â€Å"ponderous frame† helps to lift to the top quickly easily becomes â€Å"a pale star,† trembling and tired, but wholly triumphant. † Bierce tells An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge in three parts. Part I is in objective third-person point of view except for the last three paragraphs. In objective third-person narration, the storyteller observes events but cannot enter the mind of any character and disclose his or her thoughts. In the last three paragraphs of the Part I, the narration shifts to omniscient (all-knowing) third-person point of view in relation to Peyton Farquhar. This shift enables Bierce to take the reader inside Farquhars mind to demonstrate how emotional upheaval alters not only the way the mind interprets reality but also the way it perceives the passage of time. First, Farquhar mistakes the ticking of his watch for the tolling of a bell or the ring of an anvil struck by a hammer. Then, after Farquhar drops from the bridge at the moment of execution, he perceives a single second as lasting hours.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Politics In The Gilded Age Essay -- essays research papers

Politics in the Gilded Age Discuss Politics in the Gilded Age. Include major political events and issues, and the roles of the â€Å"bloody shirt,† corruption, patronage, and reform movements.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The term Gilded Age was named for a Mark Twain book. It meant covered with gold, and was applied to this period as a whole. This was a period of corruption in sordid politics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Republicans and Democrats didn’t really have strong opposing beliefs during this period. The Republicans supported high tariffs and sound money. The Democrats supported lower tariffs and expanded currency. Both rural and urban classes supported each party. They worked with spoils and local issues. Both parties worked to please everyone, and to attract voters. Since both parties were so close in strength, it caused the elections to be fought harder.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Republicans used the waving of the bloody shirt tactic. This meant that they brought back the past in order to avoid the real issues. They portrayed the Democrats as rebel traitors. The Republicans were against alcohol. The Stalwarts were led by Senator Conkling from New York and were the hard core machine of elections. Senator Blaine led the Half-Breeds from Maine, and they wanted to be in control of it all. The mugwumps were a group that turned Democrat because of the corruption of the Republican presidential nominee, Senator Blaine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  &nbs...

Monday, November 11, 2019

Hoyts Cover Leter

Manager Hoyts Cinemas Dear Sir/Madam, I am apply for you position as team member at Hoyts Cinemas, Broadmeadows. I believe I am the best candidate, as I not only fill the stated requirements for the position but, offer to your company my talents, determination and keen interest in customer service. I have a very welcoming personality and a warm approach to not only my employment interactions but also my fellow employees. My former position as Crew Member at KFC had allowed me to display enthusiasm, persistence and attention to detail; all qualities that I believe would be an excellent addition to your establishment.Achieving excellence in customer service and connecting well with clients has always been of high importance throughout my work experience. I consider it necessary to build up a good rapport with all customers so that they enjoy their experience and have a desire to return. I hope to have the opportunity to prove that I am able to perform not only my set duties but to bran ch out, using initiative and flexibility in other tasks. I endeavour to understand exactly what clients’ need and promote as much as is necessary without being overbearing.I am also familiar with Windows and Mac processing and have excellent written and verbal communication. I am available to work weekends and would be happy to take on other days, if necessary. In writing this letter, I have attempted to convey my personality and expose strengths that are of use to your company. Actions however, do speak louder than words, and so I suggest a meeting, where you will better understand my inviting manner and hospitable nature. I am eager to meet with you so please, do not hesitate to call or email me. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Personal Learning Profile Essay

What technological development, during the early history we covered, do you feel was either a detriment or an enhancement for people to move away from spending all of their lives finding sustenance? The Greeks were a highly civilized society when they came up with the idea of domestication in the Neolithic era (New Stone). It enhanced there civilization and made them be able to accomplish other thing that were important. They didn’t start out that way, but thing where able to change in the Mesopotamian area. The Mesopotamia area is between two rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates. Mesopotamia was the creation of the universe with their ruler Marduk. He made things possible to achieve which made and kept the gods happy. During the Paleolithic era, people where hunting to find food instead of farming before civilization occurred. This made them not be able to focus, maintain order on earth, and honor the gods as much as they wanted to. They had to move around and follow there food. The woman gathered plants close to camp providing most reliable supply of nourishment. On the other hand, the men hunted the most dangerous wild animals far away from camp. They praised and worshiped their gods to help find food. They even believed in animal gods that stood for love, hate, and fear which was known as animism. As time progressed the climate started to change that altered the pattern of plant growth which brought the Neolithic era (New stone). During this time period, people came up with new inventions such as agriculture and permanent settlements that grew into cities. In the fertile crescent woman were sowing seeds from wild grains to produce regular harvest. On orchard fields they grew fig, olives, and dates. The wheel helped them move more efficiently and getting the job done a lot faster. Men continued to hunt, but also started to domesticate animals like sheep, pig, goat, and cattle. This became known as the â€Å"Farming Pack Age†. Because of this it became a gigantic political state under a single ruler controlling formerly independent territories. Since they had more time, learning was able to occur. They learned from one another, adapting the knowledge, and beliefs of others. Trading vegetable oil, woolens and leathers with one another they acquired metals, timber, and precious stones. Through this they were able to build, make better tools, and weapons. They were also able to irrigate the arid flatlands with water channel from the rivers maintaining a system of irrigation. This led to the centralization of authority in Mesopotamia cities, which controlled the farmland and irrigation canals lying outside their fortified walls. With so many enhancement, Greeks were able to obtain order on earth and honor the gods as much as they wanted to. The Greeks need a way to track food, animals, and in trading. So, they came up with cuneiform; a way of writing. They wrote it on clay tablets it looked like tallies marks. Through this they were able to become good at math and science. The Greeks came up with the decimal system, 60 seconds in the clock, and the 360 degree circle. Some of the things the Greeks did we still do today. In school we learn from the teachers that math and science is a very important subjects that you will use through your whole life. The math is divided into different groups such as algebra, calculus, and geometry the one that the Greeks teach us about with the 60 seconds in the clock and the 360 degree circle. In the South, where it is more rural areas we still have farming and they use the same system like irrigation and plowing, but with a twist of new technology.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Life in Ancient Rome essays

Life in Ancient Rome essays Romans of the Classical era built what was perhaps the greatest empire of all time. Roman civilization has served as a model or basis for much of Western culture. Roman engineers pioneered the use of concrete, glass windows, the dome, central heating, and apartment buildings. Roman roads, aqueducts, and buildings still survive. We still use the Roman alphabet, numerals, their system of months, religion, and marriage customs. Latin, the official language of the Roman Empire, is the basis of many modern languages, including Italian, Spanish, French, and English. As an Ancient civilization, Roman way of life formed a solid base for the ways of our present-day living. One can see the reflected, though improved, similarities first shaped hundreds of years ago that have remained essential concepts over time and still retain the original ideas created by the powerful Romans. From marriage customs to feminism, education, and the urban life, one can compare and contrast the ancient pa st with the present. Roman family was based on the unlimited power of the pater familias, or the male head of the family. By the second century of this era, this idea had disappeared completely along with the fathers absolute authority over his children and wife. While mans power weakened, the laws of marriage were modernized into what we believe our present day system is derived from. This new form of marriage consisted of a reciprocal engagement entered into by a young couple with the consent of their fathers and in the presence of a certain number of relatives and friends. Is seems that this newly founded procedure has not changed since it first originated in the second century AD. As is custom today, the concrete symbol of the betrothal was the gift to the girl from her fianc of a number of presents, more or less costly, and a ring. In the presence of the guests the girl ...

Monday, November 4, 2019

SCIE210 Unit 1IP Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SCIE210 Unit 1IP - Research Paper Example Every layer has its own unique biotic features of different kind of plants and animals. The floor of the forest is the bottom layer and it receives a little amount of sunlight of approximately 3% (Bush & Flenley, 2007). The only plants that can grow on the surface are those that can adapt to low light. It is relatively clear of any vegetation because of limited availability of sunlight. Lack of vegetation makes it easy for the movement of animals such as tapir, apes and okapi, and many other species of insects and reptiles. The surface also contains decaying matter from plants and animals, the growing of the fungi assist in decaying the waste. The second layer is understory layer, this layer lies between canopy and surface. This is the home of several birds, small mammals, predators, and insects. Examples are leopards, ring-tailed coati, boa constrictor, and several other living species. The vegetation is made up of herbs, shrubs, and small tress. The amount of sunlight that penetrates the layer is approximately 5 percent. To adapt to the environment, the trees at this level normally develop large leaves meant to trap large amount of sunlight (Bush & Flenley, 2007). The third layer is the canopy; it is the primary layer that forms a roof over the 2 remaining layers. It contains many largest trees, normally between 30 to 45 meters high. Evergreen trees dominate this layer. The densest areas of biodiversity are found in this layer since it supports rich flora such as bromeliads and mosses. Animals species found in this layer include African gray parrot, hornbill, monkeys, tamandua and many others (Bush & Flenley, 2007). The last layer is the emergent layer. This layer contains a few number of very tall trees that grow above the average canopy reaching up to 80 meters tall. Examples of such trees are Balizia elegans, Dipteryx

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Write a 3-page response paper with thesis and argument on Plato cave Essay

Write a 3-page response paper with thesis and argument on Plato cave of analogy - Essay Example In psychological theory, there is the concept of metacognition, which is loosely defined as â€Å"awareness of person, task and strategy variables and the ways these factors affect cognitive tasks† (Lorch, Lorch and Klusewitz 241). A person with metacognitive characteristics maintains tacit as well as explicit knowledge about the process of cognition, learning to think with a theoretical philosophy and adjust learning to meet with environmental conditions. Metacognition is the process of using a range of different thinking and processing strategies, consciously, to facilitate well-rounded learning and adjust cognitive processes accordingly. Plato’s analogy is very relevant to metacognition, as the individuals within the cave are being held prisoner, thus they maintain no metacognitive characteristics (no blended approach to discerning reality from perception). The prisoners in the cave understand only a single reality, which is largely distorted by the tangible construc ts of the cave, such as with the diminished lighting that conflicts with the reality outside of the cave. Metacognition as a modern example used in comparison to Plato’s analogy is relevant as Plato is attempting to illustrate that inherent learning desire within the prisoners is stifled by lack of experience and knowledge. Without some governing force to promote higher learning and explain the concept of tangible reality, people will not use metacognition and have no inherent desire to seek additional understanding. Plato attempts to use this analogy to illustrate that an inquisitive person, such as the prisoner led into reality, will have more foundations of genuine understanding to be equipped to be a more effective leader for others. Plato attempts to illustrate that those who are darkened or have their lives shadowed cannot effectively discern wisdom, but the unfortunate part of this phenomenon is that there is no

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Difference between rationalism and empiricism Essay

Difference between rationalism and empiricism - Essay Example Rationalist believe that truth exists and rational and logic can grasp truth. Empiricism Empiricism is a Greek Philosophy Empiricism is a philosophy which bases on experience for knowledge This philosophy establishes that sensory experience is the sole way to gain knowledge Empiricism is related to the material world and phenomenon of universe. Empiricism is related to posteriori knowledge which means knowledge need experience. Empiricism explains that all human ideas are based on some outward experience Empiricsim is a psychological thought. Empiricism is philosophical theory which believe on intelligent assessment of things in universe Empiricist believe that knowledge is gained though experience and not by innate ideas. Plausibility of the theories Rationalism -Rationalism is a theory which is based on logic or rational. It is right that logic is predisposed with us who give us the ability to understand between right and wrong. If a person does not have logic then it is not possib le for him to evaluate experience or gain knowledge. However, logic itself cannot give knowledge, as human being is social beings some kind of experience can complete our knowledge level. The strength of this philosophy is universal and eternal which means that if one person can think then all others can as well. Rationalism makes us independent because we don’t need experience from outside to increase our knowledge. This philosophy believes in innate ideas and hence is natural and pure. The weakness of this philosophy is that only by thinking one cannot gain knowledge. For example ;We can imagine of a strawberry of how it would look like but we can never think of it taste. This is because our brain does not have the faculty to give sense of taste of aching which we never... Rationalism -Rationalism is a theory which is based on logic or rational. It is right that logic is predisposed with us who give us the ability to understand between right and wrong. If a person does not have logic then it is not possible for him to evaluate experience or gain knowledge. However, logic itself cannot give knowledge, as a human being is social beings some kind of experience can complete our knowledge level. The strength of this philosophy is universal and eternal which means that if one person can think then all others can as well. Rationalism makes us independent because we don’t need experience from outside to increase our knowledge. This philosophy believes in innate ideas and hence is natural and pure. The weakness of this philosophy is that only by thinking one cannot gain knowledge. For example, We can imagine of a strawberry of how it would look like but we can never think of its taste. This is because our brain does not have the faculty to give a sense o f taste of aching which we never experienced.Empiricism -The main strength of empiricism is that it believes that knowledge can come only through experience which is obtained through sensory organs. We learn from scientific methods and experiments and gain knowledge more and more. According to this philosophy, the best way to understand things is to see with the eyes. The second strength of empiricism is that it gives experimental reasoning. Here the past experience and observation contribute to the gaining of knowledge.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Multi-Level Change Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Multi-Level Change - Coursework Example Meanwhile, there were two of these positions were top departmental positions. What this means was that those two positions needed to be occupied by senior employees with long years of experience in the organization’s business. The decision that was taken by the leadership was that two existing employees would be made to occupy the two top positions as a form of promotion for them. This created two new vacancies at the lower rank and three lower rank vacancies in all. Three new employees were subsequently recruited in the organization. The change created a couple of impact within the organization. At the individual level, the newly promoted employees had their human capital equipped. The promotion also served as an intrinsic motivation for them (Johnson, 2012; Gray-Toft and Anderson, 2008). All in all, their human resource base was enhanced to put up extra ordinary performance for the organization. If for nothing at all, they needed to justify their competence for the new roles that were assigned to them. At the group level also, it can be said that there was a positive impact on organizational functioning. As new group leaders who were very familiar with the existing employees, inter-personal relations became enhanced and easier (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2003). These two major impacts at the individual and group level ensure that the whole organization experienced sharp growth as the organizational culture was upheld to (Hussey and Hussey, 2007). Thereby, there was a welcoming response to the

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Developing of Online Enrolment System

Developing of Online Enrolment System Preface This software project management plan is intended to act as an outline of the development of a new honours system for Buena Vista College Administration. This plan will provide the structure and basis of the development of the new system. This includes outlining the deliverables, providing a schedule and organisational structure, and producing the associated plans needed for development of this project. This plan is intended to be used by the project team, as a development guide, throughout the life of the project, and by management as a reference to the details of the design as well as the progress of the project. 1.0 Project Overview The overview of the project provides a brief outline of the major details of the project, including identifying the project, stating what is expected form the project, and a summary of both schedule and budget. 1.1 Purpose, Scope Objectives The purpose of this project is to upgrade the existing enrolment system for Buena Vista College. The upgrade will consist of an added function, allowing administration staff to automatically compute students eligibility for entrance into honours programs. This new system will be integrated into the existing enrolment system. The project team will be restricted to adding the honours function only; fixing defects or adding other functionality is out of the scope of this project. The scope of the project does however include the implementation of any additional packaged software. The objective of this project is to meet the universitys business need of improving efficiencies, in order to lower operating costs and remain competitive. These needs are further defined below: v Overall quicker processing of applications to honour programs. Current methods are manual, making them both time consuming and prone to error. v A more effective handling of honors applications v Develop a readily accessible assessment report of current applicants v Develop a readily accessible honors entrance summary report 1.2 Assumption and Constraints There are several assumptions and constraints relating to the project team developing an honours system for Buena Vista College. They can be found in table 1.1 (below). Table 1.1: Assumptions, constraints and impacts Assumptions Impact on plan if false The group size will remain at five members through-out the life of the project The plan will need to be rescheduled to accommodate the change. Tasks will also have to be reallocated. The client has not specified a due date. The project will require heavy rescheduling, and possibly an outsourcing arrangement. The university will approve financing the system. The project will not go ahead. Client will be able to be contacted at all times May delay production, therefore extending the schedule. Constraints Impact on plan if false Project team is constrained by design of current administration system Project would be developed in a manner best suited to the project team. The plan would need to be recompiled, to conform to the new design. 1.3 Project Deliverables The following list specifies the elements of the project to be formally completed as a deliverable. A full list of both deliverable and non-deliverable work products is included in section 7.3. Table 1.2: Project Deliverables Statement of User Requirements and Acceptance Criteria Formally identifies the requirements of the system, specified by the client. This document needs to be reviewed and accepted cby the client. Software Project Management Plan Details the processes, tools and techniques that are to be used in the development of the project. User Documentation A manual for users clearly explaining system. System (Software) Formal hand over of new system to the client. 1.4 Schedule and Budget Summary The schedule and budget for this project is based upon the waterfall Software Design Life Cycle (SDLC) being adopted for this project. Table 1.3: Schedule and Budget Summary Phase Begun Finished Cost Requirements 04/11/2002 08/11/2002 $1,642.67 Analysis 11/11/2002 25/11/2002 $5,923.44 Design 26/11/2002 13/12/2002 $6,608.00 Coding 16/12/2002 03/03/2003 $36,216.00 Testing and Implementation 04/04/2003 25/04/2003 $6,308.31 TOTALS Project life is approx 125 days $56,968.42 The worst-case and best-case scenarios deviate less than 10% from the above summary. The full schedule and budget can be found in section 5.2.2 and 5.2.4 respectively, and in APPENDIX. 1.5 Evolution of the Project Plan This plan will be completed when it passes two criteria: v All elements of the Software Project Management Plan Template (Walden), are included in this document, and v The document passes a quality review, outlined in the Quality Assurance Plan (Section 7.4). At the completion of this document it will be labelled version 1.0 and shall be put under change control, whereby it may only be changed through the processes outlined in the Configuration Management Plan (Section 7.1). This process shall be made available to all members of the project team, as well as any member of management who requests it. Scheduled updates will be conducted at reviews undertaken at each milestone specified in the Project Reviews (Section 7.5). Unscheduled updates may be conducted at any stage during the development of the project, as long as the project manager approves changes. Regardless of whether the updates are scheduled or not, any change to this plan must comply with the change control plan outlined in the Configuration Management Plan (Section 7.1). 2.0 References Buena Vista College (1997) Configuration Management Plan v2.0, Buena Vista College Press, LOCATION Buena Vista College (2001) Quality Management Plan v3.1, Buena Vista College Press, LOCATION Buena Vista College (1999) Verification and Validation Plan v1.2 Buena Vista College Press, LOCATION Buena Vista College (2002) Work Product Plan v4.0 Buena Vista College Press, LOCATION IEEE Computer Society (1999) Volume Two: Process Standards, IEEE Inc.: New York, U.S.A. Walden, J. (1999) Software Project Management Plan Template v3.0, Department of Information Resources. PMBOK Rout Hodgen (2002) lec notes ROUT CASE STUDY SCHWALBE ALAVI M 1999 RUDOPLH EBERHADT LEC NOTES ON ESTIMATING ADD STANDARDS REFERED TO IN THE SUPPORTING PROCESS PLANS ALPHABETISE REFERENCES. 3.0 Acronyms and Definitions The table below shows all acronyms used and their definitions, in alphabetical order. Table 3.1:Acronyms Definitions (Alphabetical) Acronyms Definitions BVC CMP Buena Vista College Configuration Management Plan BVC QMP Buena Vista College Quality Management Plan BVC VVP Buena Vista College Verification and Validation Plan BVC WPP Buena Vista College Work Product Plan Client Buena Vista College Administration COCOMO Constructive Cost Model COSMOS Software Cost Modelling System FPA Function Point Analysis IT Group Buena Vista College Information Technology Group PM Project Manager PPR Post-project Review Project Team Members of the IT Group working on the system QE Quality Engineer SDD Software Design Description SDLC Software Design Life Cycle SPMP Software Project Management Plan SRS Software Requirements Specification SURAC Statement of User Requirements and Acceptance Criteria System Buena Vista College Administration honours system being developed by the project team TD Test Documentation TP Test Plan UD User Documentation 4.0 Project Organisation Project organisation involves identifying the external and internal interfaces as well as the roles and responsibilities of each member of the project team. 4.1 External Interfaces External interfaces summarise the relationship between the project team, the client, and any other entities associated with the project. This project does not have a true external interface existing between two parties, as both the acquirer and developer are part of the same larger organisation. The project shall exist in an environment separated from non-university bodies. The following table highlights the project teams organisational interactions and the interface/ liaison to each organisation. Table 3: External interfaces Organisation Role/s Interfaces with Project Team Develop of system Client IT Department IT Department Oversee project at highest level Client Project Team Buena Vista College Client; Managerial superior of IT dept and project team Project Liaison interfaces with Project Team IT Dept The Project Manager will be responsible for interfacing with anything outside of the project team. This includes the client liaison, the IT Director, and any other external body. It is important to mention that the IT Director has strong personal interest in this project, as he wishes to prove to the university that the IT department is a capable body. We expect that he will impact heavily upon the interface between the client and the project. Buena Vista College are both the client, and organisational superiors to all involved in the project. 4.2 Internal Structure The internal structure of Buena Vista College outlines the managerial hierarchy of the project team, identifying whom each member is reportable to. The structure also distinguishes the other known elements of the organisation, and their relation to each other. 4.5 Roles and Responsibilities The following table identifies the roles of each person in the team, and the subsequent responsibilities related to that role. Table 4: Roles and responsibilities Role Responsibilities Project Manager * conflict resolution * task allocation * project monitoring and improvement * project team leadership * liaise with both client and superiors Quality Engineer * review all deliverables for quality * produce quality plan * system testing System Analyst/ Designer * analysis * design * testing Programmers * coding * source code documentation * testing 5.0 Managerial Process Plans This section contains the managerial plans that shall be employed during this project. These plans are all subject to change and improvement. The plans have been created using both external knowledge, and personal judgement. External knowledge used includes IEEE standards and the PMBOK guide. 5.1 Start-Up Plan The projects cost and schedule shall be determined by how much effort will be required for this project. In order to determine the effort, the system size must be estimated. This shall be done using function-point analysis (FPA), and Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO) analysis. 5.1.1 Measuring System Size The FPA will yield an approximation to the systems size, which includes an estimate to the number of lines of code required. The FPA will be based upon the statement of user requirements; all data requirements, functions, and reports shall be approximated based upon the users specifications. Please be aware that the FPA is executed after the user the requirements have been gathered, and that the project has already begun. 5.1.2 Measuring Effort Required and Determining Schedules Measuring the amount of effort needed for this system can be measured in terms time required. Because the FPA provides an approximation to the size of the system, it can be used as the basis for measuring time required. Accordingly, the FPA results will be fed into a COCOMO analysis. Again, please be aware that this analysis is done once the project has begun, and does not include the effort required to gain, study, and synthesise the user requirements. The COCOMO analysis shall provide an estimate on the amount of time required to complete the project. The time required shall be displayed in a three phase breakdown; design, programming, and integration and testing. These phases shall then be broken down into activities, which shall be further broken down into tasks. Effort/time required for activities will be guided by the estimate provided in the COCOMO analysis. These estimations will be based upon the outlines given in section 7.2 of the PMBOK (Cost Estimating). In turn, the effort/time required for tasks shall be based upon the estimate for the activity that the task is part of. The COCOMO analysis has only been used to determine the effort required from schedule task 2.2 (Process Implementation), to schedule task 5.3 (Configuration Evaluation). To be more specific, the COCOMO product design phase includes section 2.2 to 3.2; the COCOMO programming phase includes all of section 4; and COCOMO integration and testing phase includes all of section 5. The schedule may be found in Appendix. A diagrammatic mapping the breakdown of work, or Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), is included in APPENDIX. The WBS shall then be used to calculate the project schedule, shown in APPENDIX. 5.1.3 Measuring Project Cost Cost is associated with three key indicators, size, quality, and productivity (Rudolph, 2002, p9). Unfortunately quality and productivity are too difficult to measure. Because system size can be measured in terms of effort, which is measured in terms of time, the hours required to complete the effort tasks can be translated to money (As staff pay can be calculated hourly.). By looking at the schedule, a monetary value shall be assigned to each resource used, eg. staff, hardware, training, etc. 5.1.4 Tools Employed in Calculating Size, Effort Cost The tool (application) that shall be used to conduct this analysis is known as COSMOS, created by East Tennessee Universitys Computer Science Department. The output of this application, the FPA, COCOMO, and Rayleigh Information, is shown in APPENDIX. The Rayleigh Information outputted by COSMOS shows how much time needs to be committed to the main building phase. 5.1.5 Staffing Currently, five staff are available for this project; one Project Manager, one Systems Analyst/Designer, one Quality Engineer, and two programmers. Not all staff will be required to work on the project at once. In the initial phase, the Project Manager and System Analyst are expected to do most work. As the project progresses more staffing shall be required. Programmers shall be employed during the intermediate phases, as well as a quality engineer. During this phase the project manager shall continue to manage and control the project, and the Analyst shall provide support, possibly in supporting areas such as process improvement. The Quality Engineer is likely to oversee the programmers, as well any processes that are subject to quality reviews. As the final phase is entered, the programmers shall be laid off, and also other staff, once their roles are no longer required. The project manager shall then hand over the completed product to the client. An approximation of the staff required through each phase is shown below. Detailed staffing schedules can be found in appendix. Table 5.1: Staff number and details by phase Phase Staff required Details Initial phase: Maximum 2 staff Project Manager Analyst Intermediate phase: Minimum 5 staff All staff Final phase: 1 or 2 staff Project Manager (Minimum) 5.1.5.1 Staff Sources The staff for this project will almost certainly come solely from the IT department. We doubt that contract personnel will be required for this project, as the IT group have more staff, which we expect to be free. If no additional internal staff available when the project requires extra staff, then contract personnel shall be considered. As all staff are familiar are with the development environment, we also doubt special expertise will be required. In the unexpected case that contract personnel are required, we shall approach an appropriate agency and seek the right person immediately. Little technical or managerial training will be required, as any contract staff must be experienced in the technical fields needed. Should the position be a managerial position, then managerial experience will be a prerequisite for such a job. 5.1.5.2 Staff Training All staff are currently familiar with the development environment so we do not expect that any technical training will be necessary. We do not know whether managerial training will be of benefit to the staff in this project, as such, no training will be provided. However, managerial process reviews shall be used in this project. These may uncover managerial weaknesses. Should this be the case, action shall be taken during the project, if feasible, otherwise, it shall be provided upon conclusion of the project. 5.1.6 Required Skills The client has specified a fairly basic system that is to operate in a Windows environment. Furthermore, the client stated that the system is a stand-alone system to run on one PC. Therefore, basic technical skills will be required. Our technical staff are certainly competent in such environments. Project management skills will also be required for this project, as well as knowledge in quality, and systems analysis and design. 5.1.7 Other Resources Required We do not expect any resources not already discussed in this document to be used. No additional hardware, facilities, contracts, or software is expected to acquired, both on the clients side and on the develop teams side. 5.2 Work Plan This section explains about work activities, schedule, resources, and budget details for the project. Some parts of the sub-section will refer to appendix or other sections. 5.2.3 Work Activities Waterfall model has been used to satisfy the requirement of BVC. Work activities involved in the work breakdown structure are: v Requirements v Analysis v Design v Coding v Testing v Project Management For a full description of their relationships and details, refer to section 6(technical plan) and appendix WBS. The acceptance criteria for the project lists the necessary task that are to be completed for the client to accept the product. A copy of the Acceptance Criteria is attached in section 6. Risk management processes relevant to these activities, including risk tracking, is included in section section 5.4 The relationship between a task and its predecessors and successors is illustrated in appendix msProject. 5.2.2 Schedule Allocation After establishing WBS, the tasks were entered into Microsoft Projectà ¢ 97, and the estimated schedule was created. This was completed by assigning a time period to each task. The schedule has been provided in the appendix msProject. 5.2.3 Resource Allocation Resource allocation assigns resources, as in staff and tools provided, to control activities within the WBS. These resources for each task are listed in section 6. 5.2.4 Budget Allocation Budget Allocation place a key role in any project. It estimates cost of resources and tools needed to conclude project activities. The budget for this project was calculated using Microsoft Projectà ¢ 97, using resource allocation, and expected pay-rates. A copy of the budget is provided in msProject. 5.3 Control Plan This section describes how the project will be monitored and controlled using the following plans. 5.3.1 Requirements Control Plan Any changes to the product requirements will be managed through the configuration management change control process, summarised in section 7.1. A requirements tracability matrix will be provided in all documents referencing the requirements, this will provide a direct link back to each requirement of the system. Impact analysis and change approval processes are described in Configuration Management, section 7.1. 5.3.2 Schedule Control Schedule control for this project will require inputs to control, control techniques, and outputs such as updates and corrections. The schedule will be monitored using the following inputs. v Project schedule: See Appendix for the project schedule. This will provide the basis for measuring and reporting schedule performance. v Performance reports: These reports provide information on schedule performance, such as whether deadline dates are being met or not. They shall also help the team stick to schedules, and alert us issues that may cause future problems. v Change requests: Schedule changes may be required to extend or shorten the project. Change requests for this project must exist formally as a document, and may originate internally or externally. A schedule control system shall use the above the inputs to manage changes to schedule. When changes to occur, additional planning must be done for compensation. A MS Project file will be updated to accommodate these changes. 5.3.3 Budget Control Budget control will be undertaken by the project manager, and include affecting any changes to the cost schedule, monitoring the cost baseline and determining any changes to the schedule and managing those changes. Changes to the budget schedule shall be influenced as much as possible by the project manager, to create the least effect on the plan. To monitor the budget, the project manager will receive periodic reports on the status budget, detailing what is under, over and on budget. Based on this information, Based on this information, the project manager will be able to assess any difference from the planned budget and determine if the variance is significant enough to require further investigation. If further action is required, then the type and extent is left to the project managers discretion, based on the particular case. Earned Value Management (EVM) will be used to monitor the budget compared to the amount of work completed. Through these techniques, the project manager will be able to determine if there are any changes to the schedule. If the schedule has changed, the project manager will need to reassess the schedule, taking into account these new developments. The project manager will also have to ensure that the changes to the budget will not affect the scope of the project by having to leave out some tasks due to budget constraints. Cost reporting of each task will be determined based on its size and budget. Large and expensive tasks will be reporting more frequently than small and cheap tasks. The period between reports is chosen by the project manager on a case-by-case basis. 5.3.4 Quality Control Plan The details of the Quality Control Plan are outlined in the Quality Assurance Plan, (section 7.4). The Quality Assurance Plan describes the measuring and controlling mechanisms used to assure the quality of the work processes and products. These mechanisms include audits, joint reviews, process assessments, and quality assurance of the processes. 5.3.5 Reporting Plan This plan highlights the reporting mechanisms, formats and frequencies of the reporting structure of the project. These relationships are displayed in table 5.2, below. Table 5.2: Reporting and Communication plan Communication From To Time Period Action plans Audits Minutes of meetings Risk Assessment Schedule checks Progress of assigned tasks All group members Project Manager Weekly 5.3.6 Measurement Plan All project measures, where not predetermined by either Buena Vista College, or any other external requirements, will be agreed upon by the project team based on the projects main issues. These details will be formally recorded in the Measurements Recording Form (Appendix #). The metrics used in the measurement plan will be collected at two processes in the development lifecycle, at the verification and validation processes, and at the end of the project. These measures will be collected mainly through interviews and reports at each of these times. The collected data will then be validated and stored by the project manager. 5.4 Risk Management Plan The risk management plan is designed for the development team to recognize any risk that may have a clashing affect to the projects schedule, budget and quality. The risk management covers the identification of risk factors, the assessment of the possible severity and likelihood of the risks, definition of management strategies for avoiding and containing risk, and the means for ongoing monitoring of the risk factors. 5.4.1 Risk Factors Identified Risk factors that were identified early in the project are listed below. During the life of the project the PM may find more risk factors that may affect the schedule and budget of the project. The PM will record each new risk factor in a Risk Identification Form (Appendix #). The risks presently identified are: v Conflict with team members v Staff skills and competence v Functional Rise v Conflicts with client/Customer v Low quality v Low productivity v Consistent to standards v Business Risks (absence caused by illness of accident of involved stakeholder.) v Loss of client. v New/Old technology conflicts. v Client Acceptance v Availability and use of Resources. 5.4.2 Risk Assessment Each risk factor identified was assessed on the likelihood and severity of it becoming an issue. Each assessment gave a value of 1 to 10, where 1 was low and 10 was high, indicating its importance. The assessment for each risk factor gave the reasons for the risk, impact of the risk, monitoring of the risk, and the resolution of the risk. With this detailed assessment of the risk factors a top ten risks identification and report was created. Also a risk matrix was created of each risks likelihood and severity. The project risks can be founding APPENDIX. 5.4.3 Risk Management Strategy Impacts of the risks on the project will be the cost, schedule and quality of the product. The PM must understand that risks are part of the day-to-day operations of the project. As part of the risk management strategy, the PM must conduct weekly reviews on the status of the current top-ten risks, and continually be aware of the development of any new risks. Any new risks identified must be formally recorded in a Risk Identification Form (Appendix #). Once identified, if in the top-ten, a risk has a contingency plan developed in case it becomes an issue, and is continually monitored. If a risk eventuates and becomes an issue, it will be recorded, its contingency plan will be started, and a group member will be assigned to handle the issue. These procedures are outlined in Issue Management, section 7.6. The PM must also be able to produce a report on the current status of the risks to any stakeholder if required. 5.4.4 Top Ten Risks Identification The top-ten risks identification highlights each risk and its details. It identifies each risks probability of occurring, 1 10(high), its severity and exposure (probability of occurrence * severity), the problem resolution technique, who is responsible for monitoring the risk, and the time period of the risk. Table 5.3: Top Ten Risks ID Item Prob Loss Exp Resolution Who Date 1 Conflicts with team members 6 8 48 Group Meeting PM Cont 2 Resource Availability 4 9 36 Reschedule PM Cont 3 Low Productivity 4 8 32 Inspection PM Cont 4 Consistent standards 5 6 30 Inspection PM Cont 5 Low Quality 4 7 28 Inspection PM Cont 6 Client Acceptance 4 7 28 Client meeting PM Hand -Over Phase 7 Conflict with Client 4 7 28 Client meeting PM Cont 8 Staff skill and competence 3 9 27 Training PM Cont 9 Functional Rise 2 9 18 Reschedule PM Cont 10 Absence of a stakeholder 2 9 18 Reschedule PM N/A Cont = Continuous (on -going) Below is example report kept by the PM to monitor risks in the project. The PM must have a current copy of the report. He must be able to show the report when requested by a stakeholder. Table 5.4: Risk Report Item Rank Now Last Time Time List Resolution Conflicts with team members 1 New 0 Have a group meeting. Resolve differences among the team members Resource Availability 2 New 0 Get more resources Low Productivity 3 New 0 Use Software process improvement methods. Consistent standards 4 New 0 Check QA plan. Low Quality 5 New 0 Design a Quality Model to achieve software quality standards Client Acceptance 6 New 0 Rework project until the client is satisfied. Conflict with Client 7 New 0 Talk with client and resolve issue Staff skill and competence 8 New 0 Train Staff Functional Rise 9 New 0 Redo Schedule for project. Absence of stakeholder 10 New 0 Redo Schedule for project. 5.4.5 Risk Matrix The risk matrix identifies the top-ten risks in terms of their likelihood of occurrence and severity. Items towards the top-left of the matrix are both probable and severe, and should be monitored carefully. Items towards the bottom-right are improbable and have a negligible impact on the project. Table 5.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Hypatia :: Essays Papers

Hypatia Hypatia was born in the year 370 AD in Alexandria, Egypt. She was the daughter of Theon, a famous mathematician and astronomer. He invented many things, but his most famous invention is the astrolabe, which measures the altitude of a star or planet. Hypatia studied with her father for many years at the Museum in Alexandria, but soon became unsatisfied with his instruction because she was smarter than him. She left Egypt, and traveled to Greece and Rome to do "post-graduate" work. Her brains and beauty gave her a wonderful reputation throughout the capitols near the Mediterranean. When she returned to her homeland, everyone wanted to be taught by her. She not only gave lectures on philosophy, but also tutored. Hypatia became good friends with Orestes, the Roman governor of Alexandria, and would later become one of his closest advisors. She also became pals with Synesius, who became bishop of Ptolmais thanks to Hypatia’s ingenuity. Much of what we know about Hypatia today is from the letters Synesius wrote to her. In one letter, Synesius wrote to his friend, "You always have power and long may you have it and make good use of that power. The ancient encyclopedia Suda also tells us a little bit about Hypatia. It tells us that when she was 31, she became director of the museum in Alexandria. This museum was brought the top scientists from all around Europe to work and do research there. Some of these mathematicians and scientists were Euclid, Galen, and Archimedes. This museum was considered to be one of the finest and most outstanding buildings at the time. It was built by Ptolemy, the ruler of Egypt after Alexander the Great, in 300 B.C. Next to the museum Ptolemy built a library which was considered the greatest library of the ancient world. However, the Julius Caesar’s army burned it down accidentally. Some archaeologists called this "the greatest disaster in the ancient world." During Hypatia’s life, there was bitter rivalry between the pagans and Christians of the Mediterranean. Hypatia was a pagan herself, but taught both Christian and non-Christian students. The pagans and Christians were battling over who had more power, and in March of 415 AD, it was the Christians who had the most power. These two groups were trying to drive each other out of Alexandria.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Strategic Management Business Case Study for Insight Magazine

{draw:frame} {draw:g} {draw:g} INSIGHT’s MISSION, VISION & PHILOSOPHY {draw:text-box} Insight is a local social magazine founded to satisfy different appeals in the Egyptian society. It are committed to face our challenges by embracing and creating change, through innovative solutions to extend the overall content distribution and marketing model to include websites, digital magazines, virtual events, and other new technologies to establish positive relations and credibility between the magazine and its readers. It is committed to providing an informal yet professional working environment that encourages and rewards creativity, teamwork and enthusiasm. Insight’s operation is environmentally friendly. {draw:text-box} ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING When setting the mission, Insight had to first understand the â€Å"big picture† of the environment, in which it is operating, and the opportunities and threats that lie within. Such understanding of the surrounding environment will enable us to take advantage of the opportunities that will come in our ways and minimize the threats that will face us along the way The Big Picture (PEST ANALYSIS) PEST Analysis helps understanding the â€Å"big picture† of the Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological environment, it ensures that what we are aiming for in our mission is aligned positively with the powerful forces of change that are affecting the press media. Political factor: Understanding the political environment in Egypt is almost the most important step in the scanning phase, the freedom of press in Egypt is not â€Å"as free† as it may seem because of the following: The political environment might not be stable within the next five years due to the presidential election which may negatively influence the market. Egypt's state security investigation apparatus empowered to interfere in almost every area of public life under the state of emergency in force for the last 28 years which forms a barrier for writers to speak up their minds freely. On the other hand, there are some positive changes in the political environment such as the reform program that is a work in progress. Egypt has made substantial progress in developing its legal, tax and investment infrastructure, over the past five years; Egypt has passed, amended and admitted over 15 legislative pieces one of which was the reform of the country's presidential election law, paving the way for multi-candidate polls in the upcoming presidential elections. Economical factor: The financial crisis and the recession which has recently struck the world all over definitely had an impact on the Egyptian job market in many versatile ways such as: The downfall of the western economy forced the expatriates working abroad consider twice before asking for a high salary, this made the hiring of foreign calibers easier and resulted in the layoffs of many local employees and the increase of unemployment and job market instability. Unemployment in the Egyptian society has aggressively increased during the last five years affecting indirectly the press industry. Many organizations started to adopt the policy of cost cutting and benefit minimization; this as well had the same effect as the precedent point resulting in unemployment and instability. The worsening state of the global economy makes 2009 a â€Å"horror show† for advertising-dependent newspaper and television companies, with some analysts predicting that businesses may have to wait until 2011 to see positive ad growth. It must be noted as well that the Egyptian economy has been gaining, thanks to the wide-ranging amendments & reforms that the country began implementing in 2004 and due to such amendments and administration of many legislative pieces the economy is expected to grow by about 4% to 6% in 2009/2010. Technological Factor: We are living the technology era, every day, a new invention, revolution or innovation strikes the market in every business, if Insight is not open to apply new operational strategies that can help to address the effects of both technological streamlining and better developing meaningful ways of generating an exchange of ideas, it won’t last before its competitors, with a daily increasing pace in the world of technology. The rise of online media presents another challenge: reliability. The internet has become the fastest and easiest way for the readers to get the type of info they claim, low-priced and as diverse as they want, and this rise is obliging the media world to give attention to online advertisement as much as or even at a higher interest that normal printed magazines. Socio-cultural Factor: A cultural change has came into the surface, with he increase of the coffee shops outings, the topics that were point of interest to readers have been changed , Insight carried out new researches to cover a broad range of topics to attract readers. Over the last 5 years, the interest in football, politics and religion ruled over many areas in life, Insight being a social lifestyle magazine it has to cope with the new interests in our society. Given that English is the language of the magazine in an Arabic speaking country; this has enlarged the difficulty of the magazine’s distribution in the Egy ptian market. Environmental Factor: Global warming that became perhaps the most complicated issue facing the world of magazine production after study showed that the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the production and distribution of one copy of an average sized 0. 39 pound magazine total about 0. 95 kilograms including paper from trees, materials, production, shipping and customer use; henceforth, the loss of natural habitat potential from the 0. 39 pound magazine is estimated to be 0. 3 square meters. This has led to a huge increase in the prices of the papers which is the most important element of the magazines industry. {draw:frame} The Small Details (SWOT ANALYSIS) SWOT Analysis is a simple but powerful framework for analyzing the magazine’s Strengths and Weaknesses, and the Opportunities and Threats it faces. Thus, helping Insight to focus on its strengths, minimize threats, and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities available. Strengths: Insight magazine enjoys a very good image that has a business idea and credibility amongst its competitors. It has an extensive advertising and good promotions that withhold good value and quality. The magazine enjoys good cash flow through advertising which provides space for innovation and expansion. Most of Insight’s staff is between 20-25 years, at these young ages the ability to cope with new challenges of life is much more flexible than older generations and this provides the space to innovate & improve in many fields. Weakness: Any organization has its weaknesses; Insight suffers from the lack of a good distribution plan compared to its rivals. Another weakness facing Insight is the fact that the teams are self managed by junior staff which lack knowledge and experience leadership of its junior staff. Threats: Insight’s main threat is the strong competitors dominating the market and how quickly they can adapt to market changes. The inability to cope with new technologies may also lead to the magazine’s failure. Opportunities: Giving that Egypt is in a state of transition and economic growth, our good cash flow will enable us to seize any opportunity of hiring excellent calibers and adopting new technologies. {draw:frame} STRATEGY FORMULATION Strategy formulation is the process of determining appropriate courses of action for achieving the organizational objectives and thereby accomplishing organizational purpose. The strategies formulated should reflect environmental analysis previously discussed, lead to fulfillment of the mission, and result in reaching our organizational objectives. TOWS MATRIX The TOWS Matrix is a relatively simple tool for generating the strategic options, using it, will enable us to look intelligently at how Insight takes the best advantage of the opportunities open, at the same time that we minimize the impact of weaknesses and protect ourselves against threats. By analyzing the external environment (threats and opportunities), and the internal environment (weaknesses and strengths), we can use these techniques to think about our corporate, business & functional strategies. Corporate Strategy Corporate strategy is one, which decides what business the magazine should be in, and how the overall group of activities should be structured and managed, it is as well a description of the magazine's overall direction in terms of its general attitude toward growth, stability or Retrenchment and the management of its various businesses and product lines. Following the change of the external major forces as well as the declining performance of the distribution unit and the marketing department, the top management had to consider formulating an alternative strategy other than the previously followed growth strategy. A stability strategy is now the new corporate strategy followed by Insight, it is decision of doing nothing new in the worsening situation but instead to act as though Insight’s problems are only temporary, and it is an attempt to artificially support profits when sales are declining by reducing short term discretionary expenditures. Insight magazine is currently following the stability strategy as its corporate strategy knowing that it will be temporarily adopted until Insight settles its weakness in the marketing area and regains a significant position in the Egyptian market. Business Strategies In light of the ongoing economic crisis besetting the world, many business leaders had to consider just exactly how they are going to put together a winning business strategy to help overcome the hard times. Insight’s business strategy is a competitive one, it involves making the right choices in order to achieve cost leadership, differentiation and focus; this is achieved by invest our money and strategies in this area as well as coordinating properly Insight’s distinctive competencies in the provision of the service we provide. In order to sustain our competitive advantage, Insight has to determine the durability and imitability of its main distinctive resources which are the human and the financial resources. Business Model Insight serves English reading customers in Egypt by providing them with the latest lifestyle information; Insight’s Insight sustains a competitive advantage through recruitment through the strong cash flow from advertisements made by top class brands, young calibers who adapt easily with any changes in the external environment, thus allowing diversity in writing materials and articles. draw:frame} Functional Strategies Functional strategy is the approach taken by Insight’s functional departments to achieve corporate and business unit objectives and strategies by maximizing distribution. In each functional area, the manager is concerned with developing a distinctive competence to provide Insight with the competitive advantage that it aims to obtain. Marketing & Sales Strategies After 14 years Insight is still struggling and to maintain, capture larger market share, and continues market penetration. It is very hard to achieve now days especially in our case and similar to many magazines and newspapers in the region and world wide. Insight relies heavily on advertising money for revenue since the price consumers pay when they purchase a copy of the magazine has never been sufficient to cover the production costs much less creating any profit. Insight Magazine’s marketing strategy consists of market and product development as well as dealing with pricing, selling and distributing the magazine through the following: Creativity Launch new campaigns with developed layout and logo. Distribution Generate new distribution plans to cover different venues; hotels, bookshops, newsstands, supermarkets, airports, cultural centers, advertisers, numerous Egyptians and international business peoples and VIPs. Make a deal with a well known distribution agency to circulate the magazine on a wider scale on one hand, and on the other hand to put booths in many different areas and offer special gifts to people in order to attract the readers. Sales Give free issues on special occasions in order to encourage and attract customers Instead of selling space to marketers for print ads, we started selling services that marketers want to have. Diversification To focus more on topics that have overwhelmed people lately especially football. Emphasize profitable material and realign their content production costs with where the revenue is generated. A publisher will need to find the unique and defining material that attracts their readership. Go Green Despite the economic state and the rapid increase of paper prices, the Marketing head suggested to the top management to use recycled papers and environmentally friendly materials in order to save cost and maintain same quality of the product that the customer got used to and at the same time to cope with the green trend of the world. Technology & Innovation Digital marketing media and web publishing have become a very tangible area for improvement and market enlargement, Insight’s strategy for development in print media magazine world is mainly based on enriching Insight’s website, with new means of advertisements such as online purchasing of a wide range of products starting from pictures all the way to specific non published exclusive articles. HR Strategies Giving that a good human resources management practice enables organization to achieve higher profits and better survival rate than do firms without these practice, Insight’s strategies towards its most valued asset-the people had to be reviewed and amended to the following: Insight being owned and managed by a sole proprietor, have always followed a top-bottom strategy, as a new practice, the top management is now opening the door for a bottom-top strategy thus taking advantage of any new ideas, innovations and changes that can increase the magazine’s share in the Egyptian Market. Insight magazine is considering the hire of a mix of young generation, skilled reputable writers and foreign calibers as well, no matter how high they get paid. This mixture will help the different teams at Insight to properly manage themselves and thus achieving high productivity to the magazine. Encouraging the hire of part time employees and free lance writers; it will save cost since they will not be paid for health care benefits, pensions and many allowances offered to the full time employees. Promote new company traditions such as family outings, annual dinners. Improve the communication level between the top management and staff by involving employees in decisions that affect their jobs and the overall direction of the company whenever possible. Recognize excellent performance by implementing new exercises such as employee of the month, additional rewards for high performers. Promote career & personal growth perspectives such as succession planning, trainings, education, challenging, assignments and more. Assign a development team to cope with the recent technologies. Insight’s Culture & Behavior Insight enjoys a very friendly and supportive work environment, everyone is free to speak up their minds, and all new ideas are being appreciated, but giving that the top management of the magazine is being held by the owner, the last word is always up to them. This gives Insight’s a mix of Supportive and Autocratic behavior, any suggestions are being carefully interpreted but the final decision is always up to the owner. Insight’s culture is a Multi-directionalone, being a relatively small organization that has only four distinct function, each department member considers themselves as a part of his function only forgetting that they are a member of a whole body. Insight’s Organization Structure Insight’s organization was structured based on functional groups centered on clusters of titles each led by chief function officer with complete responsibility for their respective business unit as per the below chart. draw:frame} STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION The implementation of organization strategy involves the application of the management process to obtain the desired results. Particularly, strategy implementation includes designing the organization's structure, allocating resources, developing information and decision process, and managing human resources, including such areas as the reward system, approaches to leadership, and staffing. Strategy mplementation skills are not easily mast ered, unfortunately. In fact, virtually all managers find implementation the most difficult aspect of their jobs – more difficult than strategic analysis or strategy formulation. Marketing & Sales Strategy Implementation: Implementing a rock-solid marketing strategy is probably the most important factor contributing to the long-term sustainable success of any business and the one that will set Insight ahead of its competitors. Insight’s main task is to get its message across the market, make sure that its unique selling proposition is articulated in all of its marketing messages, campaigns, and sales channels through the following implementation: HR Strategy Implementation The HR Strategy has at its core maximizing the potential talent of Insight’s staff. Each of these strategic themes are interlinked and are the strategic objectives for each of these themes facilitates the delivery of the Institutional Strategy, the Financial Strategy, enhanced organizational performance and Operational Plans. This is illustrated as follows: {draw:frame} In implementing the desired strategy of Insight to resolve the sales and distribution, The HR function have done the following: â€Å"Get the big picture â€Å" of the whole company, to provide the readers with the ultimate life experience through lifestyle magazine and becoming No. 1 magazine the Egyptian market; Recruit a mix of the young generation and skilled reputable writers and employees who receive high pay and are trained to participate in self managing teams. By implementing this strategy it will result in employee satisfaction and high productivity to the magazine. Hire part time employees and free lance writers; it will not save cost since they will not be paid for health care benefits, pensions and many allowances offered to the full time employees. Encourage diversity in nationality, and age as in aligning with the Egyptian labor law, this strategy has proven higher productivity inside the magazine. Respect employees at all times. Listen to them deeply; use their ideas. Offer performance feedback and praise good efforts and results. Involve employees in decisions that affect their jobs and the overall direction of the magazine whenever possible thus increasing the loyalty and sense of belonging to the magazine Recognize excellent performance, and especially, link pay to performance. Value and encourage the magazine traditions through events and gatherings like Family day and annual company dinner. Increase the employees’ skill by providing them with the best training opportunities to enhance their competencies and develop their skills. Outsource professional distributors in an attempt to reach the target. EVALUATION & CONTROL Although the term â€Å"monitoring and evaluation† tends to get run together as if it is only one thing, monitoring and evaluation are, in fact, two distinct sets of organizational activities, related but not identical. Monitoring is the systematic collection and analysis of information as a project progresses, aimed at improving the efficiency of organization. If done properly, it is an invaluable tool for good management that provides a useful base for evaluation. Evaluation is the comparison of actual project impacts against the agreed strategic plans. It can be formative (taking place during the life of a project or organization, with the intention of improving the strategy or way of functioning of the project or organization). It can also be summative (drawing learning from a completed project or an organization that is no longer functioning) During the planning and implementation phases, it was crucial to conduct a reporting mechanism to monitor whether the right milestones have been taken towards the targeted goals or not as well as to ensure that employees are keeping pace with the progress. This monitoring was done by Chief executives submitting a monthly report to the Chairman as well as scheduling a quarterly meeting to continually keep an eye on the sales, client feedback, foresee what could be done for improvement of any new ideas that would help in increasing the sales of upcoming editions, and finally to ensure that the business and functional levels are keeping track with the corporate objectives and goals. On the other hand, daily meetings are held in each functional department to continually monitor and evaluate work quality and business progress. After an extensive monitoring process the HR strategy was found week in the following points: No HR interview was made any manager interviews his calibers from his own aspects and cultural background. Huge cultural gaps between foreign and local employees No relatively clear difference between the full time and part time employees in term of salaries and benefits which creates unfairness and injustice among them. The rewards were not given in great value and are not fairly given to all employees. Trainings were not fairly distributed among employees. In order to evaluate the magazine performance we have found the following diagnostic checklist items: CONCLUSION Insight is a local English magazine which has been in the Egyptian market for more than a decade. Although Insight enjoys good cash revenue from the top class advertisements it provides, it is struggling with a marketing and distribution setback which gave the top management the sufficient motives to alter the current strategies followed in order to reclaim its top position in the Egyptian market. Insight’s top management first steps of creating new strategies started by setting a new mission of developing the marketing function followed by an external and internal scanning of all possible threats and opportunities that could in a way or another affect the strategies. The scanning that was done helped Insight distinguish its competitive advantage which consequently assisted in the formulation of new corporate, business and functional strategies. After implementing the previously formulated strategies precise monitoring and evaluation were done in order to conclude the gap areas that resulted in the implementation. One of the gap areas that were found was the wrong implementation of hiring foreigners without giving them a proper induction on the Egyptian culture which lead to a huge conflict in ideas between the local and foreign staff. As a final conclusion to the previous report, Insight top management should investigate what went wrong during the implementation of the HR strategy that lead such gaps and how to overcome these gaps to properly implement the functional human resources strategy that will ultimately reflect its success in Insight’s overall performance. {draw:frame}