Japanese Distribution System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Japanese Distribution System - Essay Example Wholesalers - Intermediaries or middlemen who buy products from manufacturers and resell them to retailers. They take the same type of financial risk as retailers, since they purchase the products, keep them in inventory until they are resold to retailers, and may arrange for shipment to those retailers. Agents and/or brokers - Intermediaries who work between suppliers and retailers. They do not take ownership of the products they sell and are independent sales representatives who typically work on commission based on sales volume. They can sell to wholesalers as well as retailers. The Japanese distribution system accommodates the cultural and economic concerns of business establishments in Japan. This is such as business relationships are heralded as more important than implementing immediate and profitable business decisions that might trigger a strain in fulfilling social obligations to the participants in the distribution channels. Both Japanese and foreign observers, above all the United States, claimed that such intimate business relationships between an (in comparison to the United States) unusually high number of small players (both retail and wholesale establishments) not only formed a non-tariff barrier to foreign suppliers, but that such business relationships were protected... Agent or Broker Channel - This type of arrangement can include producers selling to agents, agents selling to wholesalers, who sell to retailers, who then sell to consumers. The Japanese distribution system accommodates the cultural and economic concerns of business establishments in Japan. This is such as business relationships are heralded as more important than implementing immediate and profitable business decisions that might trigger a strain in fulfilling social obligations to the participants in the distribution channels. Both Japanese and foreign observers, above all the United States, claimed that such intimate business relationships between an (in comparison to the United States) unusually high number of small players (both retail and wholesale establishments) not only formed a non-tariff barrier to foreign suppliers, but that such business relationships were protected by a legislation (the Large-Scale Retail Stores Law) that was in favor of small-scale establishments. The revision of the statute as demanded by the United States was therefore seen as hopeful solution to "modernize" the Japanese distribution system (less small-scale operations) and also pave the way for Japanese and foreign suppliers to enter the Japanese market. 1.1 The Japanese distribution system as barrier to trade When Japan surrendered to the American supremacy on August 15, 1945, the Japanese economy was in almost near collapse1 and Japan had to finally accept foreign occupation to their economy for the first time in its history. The occupation by the Allied Powers2 lasted over six years, obliviously more than double the originally envisaged three years.3 The Allied Powers had originally planned to contain Japan into a

Prospects and Practices in Educational Tourism Essay

Prospects and Practices in Educational Tourism - Essay Example The researcher states that Singapore receives thousands of visitors on educational tours from a wide variety of nations and cultures. It has several places of attractions for the educational tourists. Singapore has meaningful and beneficial tie-ups with countries such as Abu Dhabi and China which demonstrates that the future of education tourism in Singapore is promising. While the majority of the educational visitors are teenagers, there is ample scope for Singapore to attract adults and businessmen. Hence, proper segmentation and promotion has to be looked into. However, as in every trade and sector, corruption, misuse and competition has entered the educational tourism market also. Both education and tourism have grown as industries in the recent decades and this is the reason that both these sectors are important from the social as well as the economic perspective. Education and tourism promote international exchange and learning and these are the two sectors on which would rest the success, growth and economic prosperity of nations. Changes in both these industries have taken place which has seen a convergence of these two industries. Education facilitates mobility and learning and this has become an important part of the tourist experience. However, despite both these industries growing independently, very little theoretical writing is available on the convergence – educational tourism. Educational tourism is â€Å"tourist activity undertaken by those who are undertaking an overnight vacation and those who are undertaking an excursion for whom education and learning is a primary or secondary part of their trip†. Educational tourism is a novel method of acquiring knowledge which involves traveling to a foreign location and enrolling short term courses in a specified field or subject. In the process, the individual also learns about the history and culture of the country, including its lifestyle and architecture.

Principles of Economics Essay Example for Free

Principles of Economics Essay Suggest how an economist would approach the problem of alcohol abuse. Economics is about scarcity and choice. It is assumed that all human beings are rational thinkers hence would always choose to consume products that would give them maximum satisfaction or utility. Mankiw (2011, p. 6) argues that rational people ‘systematically and purposefully do the best to achieve objectives given available opportunity.’ Given a choice among alternatives and with scarce resources, one would evaluate the benefits and costs of consuming an extra unit of a product and would only take a decision only if marginal benefit is greater than marginal cost. In this case, to solve the alcohol abuse problem, one has to consider marginal benefits and marginal costs derived from consuming an extra unit of alcohol and since excessive drinking has more costs than benefits, one would refrain from alcohol. The opportunity cost foregone by choosing to abuse alcohol is too high compared to satisfaction derived; money spent on alcohol can do many other things such as feeding the family, education for children, and investments among others. Besides, the person may have health problems thus adding to the costs. By considering all these factors, a rational person would refrain from alcohol abuse. Heyne (2000) acknowledges the role played by incentives in directing behavior. For him, rational people usually respond to incentives or are induced to act by them. Assuming alcohol abusers are rational, imposing taxes on alcohol substances would eliminate the problem. This would follow the law of demand which states that other things being constant, if the price of a good increase, the quantity demanded of the good decreases. Taxes have the effect of increasing alcohol prices and this would automatically mean that the abusers would desist from alcohol consumption or cut their consumption. Analyze how prescription drugs affect the demand and supply of other products  and services in this country. Prescription drugs are drugs prescribed by a medical officer to a patient and are regulated by legislation unlike the over-the-counter drugs which can be old to anyone. If a patient is under prescription drugs, he/she buys the drugs despite the price of the drugs. An increase or decrease in price of the drugs therefore has little or no effect on the quantity demanded by an individual (McCarthy Schafermeyer, 2007). The drugs are provided by the National Health Insurance and have no close substitutes. The increase in price of the drugs thus affects all the sectors of healthcare industry such as patients and private insurers. Due to increased costs, the private insurers are forced to increase the cost of their services in case they have to offer such drugs and this may lead to low demand for their services. The patients are also required to get medical prescriptions before obtaining the drugs thus the demand for the medicine may be low compared to over-the-counter drugs. Use of prescription drugs also has an effect on demand for other healthcare services such as hospitalization. The prescription drugs also affect supply of generic products as manufacturers have patents to supply the new drugs for some years. Formulate a reason why elasticity of demand is an important consideration when analyzing the impact of a shift in supply and why the elasticity of supply is an important consideration when analyzing the impact of shift in demand. The price elasticity of demanded which is percentage change in quantity demanded over percentage change in price shows consumers responsiveness to price changes. (McKenzie Lee, 2006). It is an important consideration when analyzing the impact of a shift in supply and in determining if the firm should raise or lower its price. The supply curve is upward sloping showing a positive relationship between price and quantity supplied other things held constant. However, in long-run, those factors do change causing a shift in supply curve. Such factors include; input prices, technology, expectations and number of sellers in the market. For example, an increase in input prices such as labor would lead to a decrease in supply thus shifting the supply curve to the left. This results in low output which is  not able to satisfy the market demand thus pushing the prices up. An increase in prices according to the law of demand would lead to a fall in demand leading to excess supply and consequently fall in prices until an equilibrium is reached (Mankiw, 2011). However, the fall in quantity demanded will be determined by elasticity of demand. If the product has inelastic demand, an increase in price as a result of shift in supply would have no effect on demand thus suppliers would get more revenue. If demand for the product is elastic, an increase in price would lead to a massive reduction in quantity demanded and consequently lowering of prices and revenue. Shifts in demand curve are caused by other factors that affect demand except price. These include; income, price of related goods, tastes and preferences, expectations and number of buyers (Mankiw, 2011). Elasticity of supply shows the producers’ responsiveness to changes in price and is important in evaluating the impact of a shift in demand. For example, an increase in income would lead to an increase in demand depending on the type of the good thereby shifting the demand curve to the right. If it is an inferior good, an increase in income would lead to decrease in demand shifting the curve to the left. In this case, the good is normal. A shift in demand curve to the right would lead to an increase in price and quantity supplied. However, this is determined by elasticity of supply. If the good is elastic, a small increase in price would lead to a large increase in quantity supplied. This would in effect lead to excess supply forcing the prices to fall thus inducing an increase in quantity demanded but if the supply is inelastic, an increase in price would lead to a small increase in quantity supplied not enough to offset costs hence fall in revenue. Provide two examples of increasing-cost industries in your state and propose why they would have a positively sloped supply curve. According to McEachern (2010) increasing-cost industries occur as a result of entry of new firms due to increase in demand. An increase in demand results in high production costs and the average long-run average cost curve of each firm to shift upwards. The market is competitive and thus new firms enter the industry to share in the abnormal profits made by existing firms. However, as new firms enter, they compete thereby pushing up the production costs leading to low  profit or some firms are forced out of the market. This depends on how far the market supply curve shifts to interact with demand curve. The industry would have a positively sloped supply curve as an indication of the increasing costs. Examples of increasing-cost industries are housing construction and mobile companies which bid up prices for labor and raw materials. Suggest how, under certain conditions, a perfectly competitive market is economically efficient. A perfectly competitive market cant innovate, because all products are homogeneous and cant take advantage of cooperation. But if you define efficiency in a particularly useless way and choose only one definition of economic efficiency as well then there are certain conditions under which a perfectly competitive market is economically efficient.

Hamburger and Wendy Essay Example for Free

Hamburger and Wendy Essay Executive Summary Wendys offers a variety of fast food. The food selection ranges from hamburgers, French fries, salads, chicken, potatoes, and chili. Wendys income is based on the sale of fast food. The demand of Wendys service is highly elastic. A change in price will affect demand for products. Wendys market structure is an oligopoly and has two main competitors; McDonalds and Burger King. In an oligopoly, the market is dominated by a few large producers of a homogeneous or differentiated product. Because of their fewness, oligopolies have considerable control over their prices, but each must consider the possible reaction of rivals to its own pricing, output, and advertising decisions (McConnell Brue, 2005). Since there are many substitutes, Wendys has to be willing to keep their prices and quality of food relative to competitors. McDonalds and Burger King offer substitutes to Wendys food. Advertising and promotional offers can help Wendys stay competitive. Wendys also has to be observant of economic trends. Raises in inflation and food costs will affect the demand for fast food. However, inflation and food costs should also affect McDonalds and Burger King. Therefore, Wendys market share should not be affected if they raise prices collectively with McDonalds and Burger King. In the future, there is a chance for a healthy fast food restaurant to enter the market. Society is leaning towards a more health conscience population and the fast food industry will have to adjust. Wendys and its competitors currently offer salads. Wendys should consider offering healthier menu items and increase advertising to gain market share. Investing in advanced technology will also keep Wendys competitive. More technology will result in higher productivity and lower average total cost. Description of Utility of the Good or Service Wendys is a fast food restaurant that provides an alternative to home cooked meals. The convenience of their products is not a necessity but can be considered as a luxury. In the past, women were not in the work force and stayed home to tend to household chores. Chores included tending to the children, cooking and cleaning. In the twentieth century, women had begun working outside of the home. In addition, there has been an increase with single-parent homes. The work day has also increased in hours. These factors have increased the demand for an alternative to home cooked meals. Wendys offers fast food at an affordable rate. Time that would have been spent in the kitchen can now be spent with family or running errands. Fast food also serves as an alternative to traditional restaurants that seat customers and offer full course meals. The meals offered at traditional establishments are priced higher than fast food restaurants. In addition, the time spent at a traditional restaurant is significantly more than time spent getting food at a fast food restaurant. For added convenience, most fast food restaurants offer seating for customers who wish to dine-in. Description of Substitutes and/or Complementary Products Wendys competes in local, regional, national, and international markets. Wendys mainly competes with Burger King and McDonalds on all market levels. Burger King and McDonalds offer the same types of foods as Wendys. Each fast food chain, however, offers something that the others do not. For instance, Burger King and McDonalds sell fish sandwiches all year, while Wendys only sells fish during Lent. On the other hand, Wendys offers chili while Burger King and McDonalds only sell chili in certain markets, or not at all. Wendys doesnt offer many complimentary items. Items sold at Wendys can be eaten alone or with other products. French fries usually complement sandwiches but can be eaten alone. Wendys offer a combination meal that includes a sandwich, fries and a drink since the items are usually purchased together. With the change in culture to a more health conscience environment, Wendys allows side salads as a substitute for French fries. In the immediate future, there may be a chance for a healthy fast food restaurant to enter the market. In general, the oligopolies in the food industry have large marketing budgets that hinder others from entering into the market. In addition, the members of the oligopoly can begin a price war to deter other entrants into the industry. However, it is conceivable that a healthy fast food restaurant may emerge in the near future. The fast food industry may have difficulties advertising against a healthy fast food restaurant, since the current culture is health conscience. Price Elasticity of Demand The price elasticity of demand is relatively elastic. If McDonalds and Burger King have promotional sales and Wendys does not follow suit, the demand curve for Wendys food will shift to the left, reflecting a decrease in demand. Due to the decrease in demand, Wendys will have more supply than usual. The supply curve will shift to the right. On the other hand, if Wendys raised the price on their food and other competitor prices remain the same, demand for Wendys food will decrease. Another factor of demand for Wendys food comes from a healthier culture. The shift in society has been to a more health conscience population. Demand for fast food had decreased as a result of high fat content in many of the foods. Wendys can adjust to a decrease in demand by increasing promotions and advertising. Having a promotional low-fat sandwich and extensive advertising will result in the demand curve shifting to the right. Another method to counteract a decrease in demand is to offer reduced prices for popular selling items. For example, Wendys could offer fifty cent junior cheeseburgers for a two week period. This type of promotion will get consumers back into Wendys and should boost the sell of French fries, since the two are usually sold together. To counteract the demand for a healthy fast food restaurant, Wendys will have to promote healthy items. Wendys has taken steps to include nutritional facts on their website and offer healthy menu items. They have increased their selection of salads and have collaborated with the American Diabetes Association to help familys select menu items for a healthier lifestyle (www. wendys. com). Advertising healthier menu items is an important part of countering restaurants that offer health food. Issues that Affect Consumer Demand and Price. Oligopolies are affected by the price competitors charge for similar products. The market share should remain constant if oligopolies collectively increase or decrease prices for similar products. Issues that affect consumer demand for fast food include changes in national, regional, and local economic conditions, consumer preferences and spending patterns, demographic trends, consumer perceptions of food safety, weather, traffic patterns, the type, number and location of competing restaurants (www. wendys-invest. com). For instance, fast food on highways and toll roads are priced higher than residential areas. The higher price can be charged on the roads and will not affect demand because travelers have few substitutes and will pay the higher price. Residents, on the other hand, can cook at home and have more substitutes than a traveler. The same is true for demographics. A restaurant in a metro area with a higher cost of living will have prices higher than a restaurant that is not located in a metro area. Demand for the higher priced items will not decrease because the cost of living is higher. The location of competitors will greatly affect price and demand. If there are many substitutes available, consumers will not buy an expensive product. In an oligopoly, a company has to be aware of competitors prices and predict what impact their own prices will have on competitors. The previously mentioned issues will continue to affect Wendys in the future. Wendys should remain competitive if their prices remain relative to their competitors. Wendys has to remain aware of the location of immediate competitors and competitors prices. Cost Component Factors such as inflation, food costs, legal claims, labor costs and benefit costs, affect administrative expenses (www. wendys-invest. com). Labor and Benefit costs are minimal expenses for Wendys compared to other industries. Wendys usually pays minimum wage and the majority of its employees are part-time. Therefore, benefits costs are low. Wendys is affected by inflation and food costs. However, the benefit that an oligopoly affords Wendys is they can expect competitors to react to increase inflation and food costs, as well. Increased prices should be realized by all competitors. Technology and productivity are indirectly proportional to average total cost. By increasing technology, productivity will increase. For example, a large grill will allow multiple hamburger orders to be processed at one time. Productivity increases for hamburgers. As a result, the average total cost to process on sandwich decreases. Wendys also has incorporated an automatic coin changer. This allows the coin portion of a customers change to be automatically dispensed by the register. Cashiers no longer have to count out someones change. This reduces processing time and allows for more customers to be served. In the future, inflation, food costs, legal claims, labor costs and benefit costs will continue to be a cost for the fast food industry. Advanced technology can aide in faster processing of customers and free up monies allocated for labor. For example, robotic arms can process all orders for fries. The culture has evolved into a ? get rich quick society. Frivolous law suits can pose as an added expense in the future, as well. The time and effort to investigate and disprove claims can be expensive. Wendys was recently involved in a severed finger scandal. Wendys official state that Wendys quarterly earnings fell nearly $2 million dollars after the scam (www. money. cnn. com). Market Structure Component. Wendys is an oligopoly. An oligopoly is a market structure that contains few large sellers. Most likely, there are barriers to enter the industry. The sellers have interdependence in pricing and output decisions. Oligopolies consider responses of rivals in pricing decisions. Strategies for pricing and output decisions include retaliatory pricing and advertising (McConnell Brue, 2005). Retaliatory pricing is one strategy that may govern how Wendys reacts to anothers price and output decision. Wendys can sale their sandwiches for a lower price than McDonalds and Burger King. However, Wendys could lose money by slashing prices and may have to raise prices or layoff employees to compensate for lost monies. Price slashing may work as an immediate competition tool, but should not be a long term solution for competing. Advertising is another strategy that governs how Wendys can compete with anothers price and output decision. Advertising can be more effective than price matching. By providing information about competing goods, advertising diminishes monopoly power and results in greater economic efficiency. Successful advertising can boost demand, lower long run average total cost due to increased output, and enable firms to enjoy economies of scale, (Muryn, n. d. ). Successful advertising campaigns may also raise the cost of entry to potential competitors. In the future, Wendys has to be more health conscience. McDonalds and Burger King are making advances towards healthier menu items. To stay competitive, Wendys should make more strides to display healthy menu items. Some of the advertising budget has to be directed toward health conscience consumers. Promotional campaigns should introduce the public to healthier items offered by Wendys. The market share for Wendys should remain competitive with the introduction of healthy menu items. Conclusion Wendys is an oligopoly that competes with McDonalds and Burger King. Demand is relatively elastic. To stay competitive, Wendys must stay aware of the competitions prices, location and menu items. Wendys should also know what current economic trends, costs, and societal shifts affect demand for their product. Wendys should use increased advertising as a long term tool to stay competitive. References CNN (2005). Wendys Frosty, Retrieved May 15, 2005 from http://www. money. cnn. com/2005/05/10/news/midcaps/wendys_frosty McConnell R. C. , Brue S. L. (2005). Economics principles, problems, and policies, 16th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Muryn, Jack (n. d. ). ch25. ECO 204, Retrieved May 26, 2005, from http://www. washington. uwc. edu Wendys (2005). Eating Better Together, Retrieved May 30, 2005 from http://www. wendys. com/food/US_nutrition_topics. jsp Wendys-invest (2005). Safe Harbor Statement, Retrieved May 30, 2005 from http://www. wendys-invest. com/safeharbor.

Analysis of Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin Essay -- Mary Reilly Valerie

Analysis of Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin The book Mary Reilly is the sequel to the famous The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a stark, ingeniously woven, engaging novel. That tells the disturbing tale of the dual personality of Dr. Jekyll, a physician. A generous and philanthropic man, his is preoccupied with the problems of good and evil and with the possibility of separating them into two distinct personalities. He develops a drug that transforms him into the demonic Mr. Hyde, in whose person he exhausts all the latent evil in his nature. He also creates an antidote that will restore him into his respectable existence as Dr. Jekyll. Gradually, however, the unmitigated evil of his darker self predominates, until finally he performs an atrocious murder. His saner self determines to curtail those alternations of personality, but he discovers that he is losing control over his transformations, that he slips with increasing frequency into the wo rld of evil. Finally, unable to procure one of the ingredients for the mixture of redemption, and on the verge of being discovered, he commits suicide. Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin, is a powerful and moving novel. It takes the story Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, and gives a fresh take on the distinguished Dr. Henry Jekyll and the nefarious Mr. Edward Hyde. It is told through the psyche of a Victorian servant named Mary Reilly. The book's structure purports to be Mary Reilly's diary. The entries articulate Mary Reilly's feelings and experiences while in service for Dr. Henry Jekyll, and how she often empathizes with Dr. Jekyll on his afflictions which she cannot comprehend. As the book progresses Mary Reilly continuously comments on her Masters every changing state of health. Towards the end of the book her mother passes away leaving Mary in grief. Soon after this personal catastrophe, she encounters Mr. Hyde while looking around out side. In this confrontation Mary is bitten on the shoulder by Hyde and is near death when Hyde abruptly ceases his frenzy. Not long after this the body of Mr. Hyde is found dead in Jekyll's laboratory. Naturally two books related to each other in this way have their similarities and differences in certain areas. Most of the similarities between both books fall in the areas of historical correctness and act... ...g, "The next morning I was washing the front steps when Mr. Poole came out the door and spoke to me very coldly. "The Master has sent for you to come to the drawing room," he said , and I knew he was displeased and suspicious, for Master never pays much attention to servants, and hardly knows their names, or so it seems, though that may be partly due to how determined Mr. Poole is to keep Master from any bother having to do with the house and what a free rein has over everything that goes on, including who is hired and let go." This long excerpt says that Poole monopolizes the master's attention, and has influence over the whole house and every thing in it, except for Master. Mary Reilly explained this sort-of servant dictatorship as if she accepted it, not because she had to, but because she was taught to. This excerpt made me feel badly for Mary Reilly because it showed that Mary was content with her life. This is upsetting to me because I think that Mary had potential to be a successful writer rather then a servant. Each excerpt said a totally different thing about the character Poole. Because of the difference of narrator in the descriptions how the excerpts were said is not

Theme Analysis of D.H. Lawrences The Horse Dealers Daughter :: D H Lawrence Horse Dealer Daughter Essays Papers

Theme Analysis of D.H. Lawrence's â€Å"The Horse Dealer's Daughter† Many authors are recognized by a reoccurring theme found throughout their works. The author D.H. Lawrence can be classified into this group. He is well known for his reoccurring theme that romantic love is psychologically redeeming. He wrote â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter† , a short story that exemplifies this theme quite accurately, in 1922 (Sagar 12). Through excellent use of symbolism in â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter†, Lawrence renders his theme of romantic love being psychologically redeeming through the emotional development of the two main characters, Mabel and Dr. Fergusson. In â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter,† symbols are used to fulfill the quest of happiness and love. This love story has many symbols, which show hidden meaning. One can fully understand a story, if one can point out certain symbols. Symbols create ideas and images for the reader to better understand the story. (Symbol)Mabel, one of the two main characters in this story, is depressed and suicidal. After her mother died, she feels like there is nothing to live for. Her mother was the love and joy in her life; without her, she is lost. All she has left is her house, which she is extremely proud of, and her brother, which she seems not to care for. She decides to release herself from her troubles by drowning herself in a pond. The other main character, Dr. Fergusson, sees her and tries to save her life. This pond is a strong symbol with many meanings. It is a start of a new experience, and a change of two people’s lives. The pond is described as dead and cold. This symbolizes that Dr. Fergusson had no feelings for Mabel before the incident. The narrator describes the pond as lifeless right before the doctor had entered it. Before going in, the relationship between them was dead and cold, and they had no passionate feelings for one another. Dr. Fergusson tries to rescue Mabel for no other reason but because he was doing his job. The pond also describes Dr. Fergusson’s life as dull and pointless. His life was still and silent before he had met her. He was afraid to go in too deep into the pond, and was afraid of drowning. This represents his fear of falling in love. He was scared of the water because he could not swim, and also because he was scared of love.

The Significance of Simons Death in Lord of the Flies Essay -- Englis

Explore the Significance of Simon's Death in Lord of the Flies. The characters in this story are thrown into a world of their own with no parents, no structure or laws and no protection from their own primitive instincts. There are many ideas about society and the nature of man represented in the novel. The theme of inherent human evil battling with essential human goodness, as represented by Simon. His brutal murder by the other boys indicates the scarcity of that goodness amid an overwhelming abundance of evil. The death of Simon is a turning point in "Lord of the Flies". It represents the completion of their degeneration from civilization to savagery. Simon is kind, thoughtful, sensitive, introvert and helpful by nature; he has a friendly aura about him that is recognised by Ralf as soon as they meet. Simon is used to represent what is good about the boys. Simon feels at home with the nature of the island, it seems to accept him and he is in harmony with his surroundings. Simon exhibits a number of contradictory characteristics. He is community spirited and helpful when building the shelters with Ralf, yet on occasions is solitary and reclusive. He often walks alone at night through the jungle and does not share the boys underlying fear of the darkness. He is described as 'Batty', 'queer' and 'crackers' by the other boys but quite what form this strangeness takes is never really explicit. Ralph sits at the beach, thinking about his physical deterioration, as his nails and hair had out-grown and are filthy and shabby. He realizes that they lacked the basic elements of civilizations, showing how he has become much more reflective over the fact that their being rescued seemed as far away as the "miles ... ...ilisation and responsibility. Golding uses Simon to show that when we are in trouble, we are likely to turn on the people that we do not understand. Simon is unlike the others thoughtful, sensitive and intellectual, he is a rather mysterious character who plays a key role in the supernatural side of the story along with 'spooky noises from the jungle' and his weird visions. After Simon's death, any trace of rules and resemblance of society that had been taken to the island had gone. This left the path open to the vicious murder of piggy and the final man hunt for Ralf. Simon's death is of utmost importance to the novel as a whole. It changes the structure of the system of authority on the island and it removes the only person who might reveal the fact that the beast is a figment of their imagination and so therefore ridding the island of the boys fear. The Significance of Simon's Death in Lord of the Flies Essay -- Englis Explore the Significance of Simon's Death in Lord of the Flies. The characters in this story are thrown into a world of their own with no parents, no structure or laws and no protection from their own primitive instincts. There are many ideas about society and the nature of man represented in the novel. The theme of inherent human evil battling with essential human goodness, as represented by Simon. His brutal murder by the other boys indicates the scarcity of that goodness amid an overwhelming abundance of evil. The death of Simon is a turning point in "Lord of the Flies". It represents the completion of their degeneration from civilization to savagery. Simon is kind, thoughtful, sensitive, introvert and helpful by nature; he has a friendly aura about him that is recognised by Ralf as soon as they meet. Simon is used to represent what is good about the boys. Simon feels at home with the nature of the island, it seems to accept him and he is in harmony with his surroundings. Simon exhibits a number of contradictory characteristics. He is community spirited and helpful when building the shelters with Ralf, yet on occasions is solitary and reclusive. He often walks alone at night through the jungle and does not share the boys underlying fear of the darkness. He is described as 'Batty', 'queer' and 'crackers' by the other boys but quite what form this strangeness takes is never really explicit. Ralph sits at the beach, thinking about his physical deterioration, as his nails and hair had out-grown and are filthy and shabby. He realizes that they lacked the basic elements of civilizations, showing how he has become much more reflective over the fact that their being rescued seemed as far away as the "miles ... ...ilisation and responsibility. Golding uses Simon to show that when we are in trouble, we are likely to turn on the people that we do not understand. Simon is unlike the others thoughtful, sensitive and intellectual, he is a rather mysterious character who plays a key role in the supernatural side of the story along with 'spooky noises from the jungle' and his weird visions. After Simon's death, any trace of rules and resemblance of society that had been taken to the island had gone. This left the path open to the vicious murder of piggy and the final man hunt for Ralf. Simon's death is of utmost importance to the novel as a whole. It changes the structure of the system of authority on the island and it removes the only person who might reveal the fact that the beast is a figment of their imagination and so therefore ridding the island of the boys fear.

It 460 – Unit 2 Project

Running head: UNIT 2 PROJECT Session 1 Part 4 IT Consultant Firms 1. Gatesix Inc. Gatesix Inc. is based in Phoenix, Arizona. They handle everything from web development, productivity solutions, and marketing applications. They are considered am all inclusive company that handles all your IT needs. They consider themselves no nonsense and will work within a budget. They have a broad range of services which include but are not limited to: †¢ Web Development – Custom development of web-based software, content management, custom applications, e-commerce. Interactive Marketing – SEO strategy analysis, search engine marketing, paid search marketing, and ongoing SEO support.†¢ Software Development – Business applications, business process automation, web-based applications, client extranets, employee intranet, and E-commerce applications. †¢ Interactive Design – Website design, flash and multimedia design, and graphic design. Network Support â€⠀œ network analysis and design, office cabling and networking, remote monitoring and support, desktop support, server setup and management both Microsoft and Linux platforms, VPN setup both Microsoft and Cisco, managed support, onsite and offsite backups, after-hours help with moves, server migrations and upgrades. †¢ Staff Supplementation – System architects, project managers and technical leads, internet marketing consultants, graphic and web designers, software engineers, and both onsite and offsite resources. 2. IBM Services The next company I found is IBM.Obviously they are a well known company who has offices and service throughout the world. They are definitely competition whom can offer all IT services and are well recognized. IBM can offer everything from communication services to training. †¢ Business continuity and resilience – Disaster recovery service, information protection, managed resilience, and resilience consulting. †¢ End user service s – Client virtualization (workplace optimization consulting), device deployment and management (platform integration and development, software platform management), and help desk ervices. †¢ Integrated communication – designing, implementing and managing communications and networking environments to optimize. Integrated business communications.†¢ IT strategy and architecture – Analyze and develop a plan to provide a business-driven infrastructure, identify cost reduction opportunities and improve quality. †¢ Maintenance and technical support – Hardware and application maintenance (24/7). †¢ Middleware – Service-oriented architecture (SOA) integration, IT lifecycle management, information on demand infrastructure, and infrastructure optimization. Security and privacy – Threat mitigation solutions, data security, and integrated security program. †¢ Server services – Server optimizer, integration, management, an d server products. †¢ Site and facility support – data and facility strategy, IT assessment, design, and construction. They also help with IT consolidation and relocation. †¢ Storage and data – Storage optimization and integration, lifecycle management, data mobility, storage and data products, and storage and data management. †¢ Training – They offer a wide variety of training from software to administration and applications. 3.MIT Consulting MIT Consulting is located in Toronto, Ontario. They have long standing relations with many manufacturers which helps they provide up to date consulting and services. MIT Consulting is a well rounded company that can offer consultant services for all aspects of business and IT needs. They have a wide range of backgrounds that make up their team. †¢ Business consulting – Consulting for planning, training, financing, market research, and promotion/advertising. †¢ Hardware and Software (sales an d service) – They offer a variety of hardware and software products from Microsoft to Lenovo.They also provide service for all the products they provide. †¢ IT relocation – they help with all relocation of a company IT resources. †¢ Technical support – For all aspect of IT emergency problems. They can restore the entire system or individual aspects or elements. †¢ Web development – Design and development of new website or single features. †¢ Web Hosting – Web hosting services. †¢ Disaster Recovery – Hardware planning, backup solutions, data recovery, and off-site storage. †¢ DVR Systems – Premises monitoring via internet recording using digital video recorders. Wifi – Building and deployment of company wireless network. Session 2 Part 3 Project Scope Statement Training Information Management System (TIMS), the project scope is to allow users to track instructors, students, courses and grades. TIMS must be completed in six months and must allow the functions listed above. TIMS must also link with the accounting system for accurate pricing for courses and accounting financial interaction. TIMS should be able to track credits earned toward IT industry certification requirements. The new system may also allow students to register for courses online.Session 2 Part 4 Interview and Questions The following is the list of employees at SCR who I wish to interview and the accompanying questions for each employee or group of employees. SCR training group: Jill Martin Questions: 1. What is the cost benefit of this training group program? 2. How long do the courses take? Is there a standard or are all the courses different? 3. Will these courses be non-stop and on-going? Or will it just stop after a year or so? 4. What is your vision for these courses? 5. How much improvement from the employees are you looking for? 6.How much will each of the courses cost? 7. Is it free for employees who w ant to update themselves in information technology? 8. How do you know it will work at the end of the course? 9. Will there be pretesting for the participants who are taking the courses? 10. What will be the system requirement for this training program? Executive Committee: Gary Smith and Nan Wheeler (Executive Assistant) Questions: 1. How would you like the TIMS program to benefit SCR Associates? 2. Is there anything specific that you would like to see implemented? 3. What is the proposed budget for this program/project? . What are you trying to achieve with this new training program? 5. Do you feel the students will have the necessary skills to be successful in the Information Technology sector after completing these courses?6. Do you feel this training program will be profitable for SCR? Systems Group: Jesse Baker (Manager) and Robert Newman, Marge Clark (Programmers) Questions: 1. Have you ever worked with any system similar to TIMS? 2. Are there any obstacles or restrictions th at you foresee in this project? Network/Web Group: Tamisha Spencer (Manager) Questions: . How would you like to see the system designed in terms of being accessible to everyone, i. e. through the intranet or internet? Administrative Support Group: Janet Gannon (Human Resources Specialist) Questions: 1. Can you go through the process of staff training from start to finish with me? 2. Currently what are the problems associated with staff training? 3. From a HR perspective how do you see this benefiting staff training? Business Solutions Group: Lynn Chou (Manager) Stephanie Greene (Business Analysts) Meg Harris (Corporate Trainers) Questions: . How can this be designed to be used in your department?References Gatesix (2008) Gatesix Inc. Retrieved February 8, 2009 from http://www. gatesix. com/. IBM (n. d. ). IBM Services. Retrieved February 7, 2009 from http://www. ibm. com/technologyservices/us/en/. MIT Consulting (2009). MIT Consulting Services. Retrieved February 8, 2009 from http:/ /www. mitconsulting. ca/index. php? ref=services. SCR Associates (n. d). SCR work sessions and intranet. Retrieved February 6, 2009 from http://oc. course. com/sc/sad7e/scr/intranet/index. cfm.

Ethical Challenges in the Media Essay

What are some of the ethical challenges surrounding the movie and music industries as they relate to the Internet? The current conflict between the recording industry and a portion of its customers who are involved in illicit copying of music files arose from innovations involving the compression and electronic distribution of files over the internet. Some of the ethical challenges associated with responses that threaten further innovation, ultimately reduce the chances of finding solutions that hold appeal for all parties. Today’s world of the online web has provided new opportunities for both the creators and the consumers of media such as music. The digital aspect of the web allows for wonderful innovations such as MP3 players but ethical personal use must be employed to avoid legal punishment. How has education affected your views about the practice of downloading or copying multimedia content in these fields? When you download music without paying for it or share it with others without their paying for it, the musicians don’t get paid for their hard work. Recording companies and their professional associations consider this stealing. The RIAA, the professional organization which represents the recording companies, (Recording Industry Association of America), has reacted with copyright infringement legal actions against schools and college students. These notices are very serious and deal with potential copyright infringement. School use or personal use copying should be limited to a respectful, ethical Fair Use of media content. Charles I agree with your post, â€Å"You never know what someone has included or sent along with a song, file, or picture. However, the music industry is now going through vast changes due to the new digital world. Now there are more legal ways for music customers to purchase their music online with services such as iTunes, Rhapsody, amazon. com, etc. There are even some legitimate free music download examples. For example, some unknown bands may provide free previews online. While other more popular bands or singers may post a sample tune for fans to hear for free. Most media exist first as businesses to make money to pay their employees’ salaries to make a living. Many of these media workers only earn a modest living wage. They are not all famous and rich! WK1 DQ2 What collaboration tools have you used in your work environment or personal life? One collaboration tool that I have used in my work is the use of a network folder on a shared drive. All documents can be stored in a central location. By using collaboration software, according to taskmanagementsoft. com, multiple team members can work on the same document at the same time. Changes made to the document can be tracked using collaboration software. This keeps everyone on the team accountable for the changes made. By having all the documents in the same place, team members in different time zones or countries can work on files and leave notes for others who work on the document next. How have these information systems benefited you? Our company benefits from information because our company have to pay for video conferencing equipment or travel expenses, when everyone on the team can be on the phone and review the documents at the same time. Using the collaboration software to save documents allows the company to save money on shipping and faxing expenses. Copies requiring approval by multiple individuals no longer have to be faxed or emailed; instead, each authorizing individual can review the document in the collaboration software and sign off on it using the software. WK1 DQ3 How does University of Phoenix work to combat plagiarism? The University of Phoenix work to combat plagiarism by requiring that both campus and online students to submit all of their written assignments electronically, instructing faculty to run the papers through an automatic plagiarism checker available online at the university’s Center for Writing Excellence. Student papers are archived to facilitate crosschecking. The plagiarism checker is not simply a punitive tool, but is also instructive, as students can run their papers through it before submission and learn whether they have borrowed too heavily from the literature or used proper citation. What other steps do you think could be implemented to deal with this problem? Another step that can be implemented to deal with this problem would be for students to seek proper plagiarism tutorial class to assist student with documenting citations correctly.

“Geese from Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” by Z.Z. Packer Essay

â€Å"Travel is a Fool’s Paradise† – Ralph Waldo Emerson Traveling is a rite of passage for some younger people. Many consider these times rewarding to the psyche of a young adult, as experiences in other lands broaden their senses. College students embark on sabbaticals to spend time in the real world. Others temporarily replant themselves, to experience other places, cultures, and languages, and in doing so to find out more about themselves. And there are that select few who use relocation as a form of escape from their tumultuous lives, because as they say, â€Å"the grass is always greener†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Some never return home. Whatever your reason for these journeys, it should be understood that going outside one’s comfort zone can test your mettle, and good judgement and wit are crucial in surviving in a foreign land, where language, culture, and even racism are an issue. A few wrong steps and you may find yourself a few shingles short of a roof over your head. It is that last category of drifters who define â€Å"Geese,† where Dina and four other ex-patriots find themselves sharing a one room flat in Japan. These misfortunate individuals are escaping from themselves, and through misplaced pride, ill preparation, and execution find themselves on the brink of self-annihilation, finally regressing into their own futileness. The story begins with Dina, a girl from a hardscrabble section of Baltimore with â€Å"boarded-up row houses the city had promised to renovate,† (210) relating to her reasons for moving to Japan. Aside from high yield economic opportunities that don’t exist in her neighborhood, she pines for a â€Å"loveliness† that Japan will offer through its ceremonious bowing, sashimi delicacies, calligraphy, and architecture. (211) Really what she is seeking is a respite from her former environment, where the creed is â€Å"Never advertise your poverty. Dress immaculately. Always smell good, not just clean.† (224) Once in Japan Dina soon finds herself in a community of people, also fleeing from their own pasts. Petra, a once aspiring model who had a career-changing accident, has exhausted her â€Å"once sizable bank account† for reconstructive surgery and is now broke, and it becomes apparent that she is escaping a place that once knew her as beautiful, a land of runways and pan-seared foie gras. (215, 219) In tow with petra is Zoltan, her hot-headed boyfriend who â€Å"had given up bodybuilding once he  stepped off the plane at Narita,† a statement that if probed procures tears from Petra. (218) Later, we see the arrival of Sayeed, another squatter who has defied his family’s honor and has been exiled from morocco, only to fail at opening a business in Japan. After his assault on Dina, his allusions of conspiracy and subsequent violent behavior suggest he is also escaping a world that is aware of his imbalance. Finally there’s Ari, whose back-story is not revealed, though he forms a glue that keeps the community together, which may be his crux, as this reflex hints he had presided over a different family. As these folks settle in and eventually succumb to their fate, one has to wonder, why stay in this same state? Why cling to this unfamiliar atmosphere and not redeem yourself? This inquiry is explored as an expression of pride when Ari is asked why he let them stay at the apartment in the first place. â€Å"Ari held out his hand and said, ‘See this? Five fingers. One hand’† (218). And after a roommate has had enough, Ari retorts, â€Å"Can’t take? You must!† (222) Petra’s insistence that she †could not go back to Moldova† reflects that she literally doesn’t want to show her face again to her contemporaries until her talked-about trans-pacific voyage to save face is fully realized. â€Å"I go to America next. Say, ‘Fix my face. Fix face for actual.’ And they will fix.† (215-216) Her partner Zoltan is also dealing with his own physical hang-ups. His body, once looking as if â€Å"constructed of hundreds of bags of hard-packed sugar,† is now eviscerated due to a diet of â€Å"crackers and ramen.† (217-218) But he proudly parades around pictures of his former glory in an attempt to distract himself from his deportation and sudden halt of his career. Dina feels that returning to Baltimore at this point would be considered a failure, as she told Miss Gloria and others of her â€Å"hopes of making a pile of money, socking it away, then living somewhere cheap and tropical for a year.† (210) Coming home empty-handed and not having learned anything in Japan would label her as a dreamer, and the boarded-up row houses would look the same, against her wishes. And later, when she finds some solace in memories of Baltimore, and even homesickness, the feelings are quickly â€Å"swept away like little wrappers,† (224) and she goes on to endure her current situation. It is the blind tenacity of these five characters, along with their near-sightedness and lack of planning, which  unsurprisingly leads them to hit rock bottom, especially in the case of Dina. All the characters seemed to have ignored the fact that Japan is hard place for a foreigner to succeed in. In addition to the obvious language barriers, there is also a current state of â€Å"Economic downturn,† where â€Å"people want to hire Japanese† as an â€Å"obligation,† which leaves Dina and her cohorts with only marginal or seasonal opportunities, or a â€Å"gaijin dumping ground.† (212) There is also an undercurrent of sexism and racism affecting all of these gaijin. When a Japanese boy encounters the quintet in the park, he wants to ask, â€Å"Do you have tails? Do you come out at night and suck blood?† (228) And being in a land where the Japanese women themselves experience sexism, Dina finds herself harassed by businessmen and propositioned by a visa interviewer. (214) But they will persevere, although rather ineptly, and without foresight. Dina, after losing her job, sells the return part of her round-trip ticket, and actually takes a vacation. She eats â€Å"an outrageously expensive bento lunch,† visits a part of Tokyo that sells â€Å"electronics she couldn’t afford,† then observes â€Å"skinny prostitutes† as they â€Å"dart into doorways without signs.† (213) And now she is broke with an expired visa. Petra, who was regrettably unaware that there were no opportunities available for a person with such an â€Å"affliction,† (216) is now adamant in not finding a job, and her main contribution to the household is incessant weeping. Her other half is now content in â€Å"maundering about with the look of a beast in his lair,† and also resists seeking employment. (217) This couple wants to simply disappear into Japan. Sayeed has no backup plan and blames his financiers back home as well as Dina. Finally Ari, the meek breadwinner of the group, has lost his job near the end of the story and has failed to save any money. It is around this point that begins a period of petty theft, public humiliation, and near starvation. Dina’s â€Å"nebulous fluffy things that had started in her chest† (211) have tragically led her to dart into her own doorway of prostitution. Dina then sees a formation of geese, which reminds her of the  promise-keeping kamikaze, whose planes were â€Å"allotted just enough fuel for it’s one-way trip.† (233) This arrogance of youth is demonstrated in the group’s destination of self-destruction, with escape, pride, and obliviousness at the wheel. We learn how their bitterness is a continuation of what existed back home. While â€Å"Geese† is certainly a page-turner, in the end it leaves one wondering what’s at stake for the clan. Will they roam further? In my earlier travels, I too have pondered my fate while watching a flock of birds fly by, and have been left to walk for four hours to my friend’s farm in the middle of the night, while wondering what I was fleeing from. But I luckily knew when to get off the road and return to normalcy. When in dire straits in a â€Å"foreign† place, a trip to the local embassy is your best bet. I should hope that this flock of migrants h as the wherewithal to do the same. Safe travels.

Oedipus Rex Essays - Greek Mythology, Literature, Vocal Music

Oedipus Rex Essays - Greek Mythology, Literature, Vocal Music Oedipus Rex The great tragedy Oedipus Rex by Greek tragedian Sophocles centers on the protagonist Oedipus, king of Thebes, and his quest t o save the town from the plague that is crippling the city. The oracle from the gods states that the town is suffering because the murderer of the previous king, Laiis has not been punished for his crime, and in order for the town to enjoy peace again the murderer must be killed. King Oedipus who is unaware of his role in the murder of Laiis begins a relentless campaign to find the killer and bring him to justice. From his argument with Tiresias at the end of scene one to his conversations with Jocasta in scene two, Oedipus's approach changes from one that is confrontational to one that is doubtful. Towards the end of Act one Oedipus suspects that his brother-in-law Creon, who was also the brother-in-law to the former king killed Laiis out of greed and jealous y and becomes angry. Filled with feelings of betrayal he confronts Creon. Oe dipus is convinced that Creon will not stop his quest for power at Laiis rather he has "plotted to steal [Oedipus] throne" as well. Oedipus fears that his power and life are at stake because of Creon. At this moment Oedipus' feeling of paranoia begin to become visible and is directly accusing Creon for the murder of King Laiis. Additionally, Oedipus sees Creon as a threat that must be permanently disposed of. While Oedipus considered exile for the punishment of Creon, he realizes that his punishment will "not [be] exile. It is your death I want." Creon was once Oedipus' closest companions, but now may face the maximum punishment, death. The feelings of betrayal Oedipus is experiencing forces the king to act out of rage and raw emotion toward his brother-in-law, rather than contemplate and investigate the accusations. In scene two, Oedipus' demeanor goes through a major shift, his forceful and angry attitude seen in scene one, is replaced with one of doubt and confusion. When Oedipus shares his concerns with his wife Jocasta who is also the widow of Laiis, he is told the story of Laiis' murder in greater depth. After hearing Jocasta's recount of Laiis' death Oedipus begins to see possible connections between the murder he committed before coming to Thebes and the murder of the King. Oedipus now begins to question his innocence and believes than he "must be accurst/by my own ignorant edict." Oedipus no longer blames Creon for the crime that has brought upon the plague; rather he blames Thebes' suffering on his own foolishness. As more details regarding Laiis' life surface, Oedipus' doubts are only solidified. "Think of it: I have touched you with the same hands, / these hands that killed you husband. What defilement!" Once Oedipus is properly briefed on the facts of the crime he begi ns to understand the truth, that he is in fact not only the sun of Laiis, but also his murderer. In his writings Sophocles meant to imitate the real behaviors and tendencies of humans. The play Oedipus Rex address several the most prominent being, human arrogance; had Oedipus been able to control his anger and not act to preserve his ego, King Laiis may have not been killed. However, in the eyes of Sophocles most men act similar to Oedipus and allow their own pride to cloud their judgment. Similarly had the people of Thebes investigated the murder of their King, the gods would not have sent the plague, and ju stice would have been delivered long before.

Definition of a Percentile in Statistics

Definition of a Percentile in Statistics In statistics, percentiles are used to understand and interpret data. The nth percentile of a set of data is the value at which n percent of the data is below it. In everyday life, percentiles are used to understand values such as test scores, health indicators, and other measurements. For example, an 18-year-old male who is six and a half feet tall is in the 99th percentile for his height. This means that of all the 18-year-old males, 99 percent have a height that is equal to or less than six and a half feet. An 18-year-old male who is only five and a half feet tall, on the other hand, is in the 16th percentile for his height, meaning only 16 percent of males his age are the same height or shorter. Key Facts: Percentiles Percentiles are used to understand and interpret data. They indicate the values below which a certain percentage of the data in a data set is found. Percentiles can be calculated using the formula n (P/100) x N, where P percentile, N number of values in a data set (sorted from smallest to largest), and n ordinal rank of a given value. Percentiles are frequently used to understand test scores and biometric measurements. What Percentile Means Percentiles should not be confused with percentages. The latter is used to express fractions of a whole, while percentiles are the values below which a certain percentage of the data in a data set is found. In practical terms, there is a significant difference between the two. For example, a student taking a difficult exam might earn a score of 75 percent. This means that he correctly answered every three out of four questions. A student who scores in the 75th percentile, however, has obtained a different result. This percentile means that the student earned a higher score than 75 percent of the other students who took the exam. In other words, the percentage score reflects how well the student did on the exam itself; the percentile score reflects how well he did in comparison to other students. Percentile Formula Percentiles for the values in a given data set can be calculated using the formula: n (P/100) x N where N number of values in the data set, P percentile, and n ordinal rank of a given value (with the values in the data set sorted from smallest to largest). For example, take a class of 20 students that earned the following scores on their most recent test: 75, 77, 78, 78, 80, 81, 81, 82, 83, 84, 84, 84, 85, 87, 87, 88, 88, 88, 89, 90. These scores can be represented as a data set with 20 values: {75, 77, 78, 78, 80, 81, 81, 82, 83, 84, 84, 84, 85, 87, 87, 88, 88, 88, 89, 90}. We can find the score that marks the 20th percentile by plugging in known values into the formula and solving for n: n (20/100) x 20 n 4 The fourth value in the data set is the score 78. This means that 78 marks the 20th percentile; of the students in the class, 20 percent earned a score of 78 or lower. Deciles and Common Percentiles Given a data set that has been ordered in increasing magnitude, the median, first quartile,  and third quartile can be used split the data into four pieces. The first quartile is the point at which one-fourth of the data lies below it. The median is located exactly in the middle of the data set, with half of all the data below it. The third quartile is the place where three-fourths of the data lies below it. The median, first quartile, and third quartile can all be stated in terms of percentiles. Since half of the data is less than the median, and one-half is equal to 50 percent, the median marks the 50th percentile. One-fourth is equal to 25 percent, so the first quartile marks the 25th percentile. The third quartile marks the 75th percentile. Besides quartiles, a fairly common way to arrange a set of data is by deciles. Each decile includes 10 percent of the data set. This means that the first decile is the 10th percentile, the second decile is the 20th percentile, etc. Deciles provide a way to split a data set into more pieces than quartiles without splitting the set into 100 pieces as with percentiles. Applications of Percentiles Percentile scores have a variety of uses. Anytime that a set of data needs to be broken into digestible chunks, percentiles are helpful. They are often used to interpret test scores- such as SAT scores- so that test-takers can compare their performance to that of other students. For example, a student might earn a score of 90 percent on an exam. That sounds pretty impressive; however, it becomes less so when a score of 90 percent corresponds to the 20th percentile, meaning only 20 percent of the class earned a score of 90 percent or lower. Another example of percentiles is in childrens growth charts. In addition to giving a physical height or weight measurement, pediatricians typically state this information in terms of a percentile score.  A percentile is used in order to compare the height or weight of a child to other children of the same age.  This allows for an effective means of comparison so that parents can know if their childs growth is typical or unusual.

Symbolism In Young Goodman Brown Essays - Young Goodman Brown

Symbolism In Young Goodman Brown Essays - Young Goodman Brown Symbolism In Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne's work is typically fraught with symbolism, much of it deriving from his Puritan ancestry; a great-great uncle was actually a judge in the Salem witchcraft trials (Roth 76). Not surprisingly, Hawthorne was obsessed with the twin themes of sin and guilt. Author John Roth notes that A number of recurring thematic patterns and character types appear in Hawthorne's novels and tales. These repetitions show Hawthorne's emphasis on the effects of events on the human heart rather than the events themselves (76). Because he is speaking of what we later would come to call the unconscious, Hawthorne extensively employed the use of symbolism, which bypasses the conscious, logical mind to tap into its more dreamlike processes. The story begins as a conventional allegory, creating the expectation that the characters will consistently exhibit the abstractions they symbolize (Levy 116). Young Goodman Brown is an allegory whose characters play a major role in displaying the determination of what to believe and what not to believe. The short story represents one man's wild journey to leave his faith, home, and security temporarily behind to take a chance with the devil on an adventure into a dark forest. In his short story Young Goodman Brown, the main character goes off into the forest and undergoes a life-transforming experience there. The forest is a very real symbol of the test of strength, courage, and endurance; it took real fortitude to survive in the forest, and a young person entering this forest would not emerge the same. However, this story is more symbolic than realistic, and the dangers are of the spirit. The story is a dream vision, or conscious day dream, that explains the theme of the story as being a formal allegory composed of massive symbolism. Many symbols help the protagonist Goodman Brown move toward a vision of evil which causes an unexpected effect of distrust due to his uncertain decision of experiencing a dream or reality. In Young Goodman Brown the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, creates a short story that displays a clearly abstracted allegory through the determination of the conscious and unconscious, composed of an enormous amount of symbolism interpreted from the setting, characters, and plot in the story. To begin with, an allegory is a form of extended metaphor in which objects persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy (Bereng 1). In this case, the story's setting, characters, and plot represent abstract concepts such as faith, innocence, and evil. The story is allegorically centered around Young Goodman Brown. The characters' names, Goodman and Faith, obviously indicate how Hawthorne uses them as a religious allegory to stand up against the evil in the story. It is no accident that such an experience should have taken place in a forest, for there is a long and extremely profound tradition in our literature for experiences of this nature having taken place in forest settings. Psychologist Bruno Betelheim, for example, shows that in the folk tale The Three Bears, Goldilocks encounters the cottage of the three bears in a forest; in Hansel and Gretel, the children's father takes them off into the forest to abandon them and they have to find their way back out; in Red Riding Hood, the little girl has to travel through the forest to her grandmother's house. Betelheim also observes that Since ancient times the near-impenetrable forest in which we get lost has symbolized the dark, hidden, near-impenetrable world of our unconscious. If we have lost the framework which gave structure to our past life and must now find our own way to become ourselves, and have entered this wilderness with an as yet undeveloped personality, when we succeed in finding our own way out we shall emerge with a much more highly-developed humanity (Betelheim 94). However, this does not happen in Young Goodman Brown. Instead of bravely battling down the dangers of the forest and emerging more mature, Goodman Brown emerges a ruined man. In order to determine why, it is necessary to look at some of

2 Minute Presentation Topics on Modern Architecture

2 Minute Presentation Topics on Modern Architecture 2 Minute Presentation Topics on Modern Architecture If you are tasked with giving a presentation on modern architecture, you have the unique opportunity to introduce a not well known aspect of buildings and their history. While 2 minutes are not that long, it is still long enough to give your classmates an introduction to one aspect of architecture you might find fascinating. If you are in need of 2 minute presentation topics on modern architecture then consider the list of 20 topics below: How Social Housing Architecture Is Changing Urban Redevelopment: Architectural Assessments and Change The Role Played by the Church of England in Maintaining National Architecture Preserving National Heritage: How Modern Architecture Must Remake Historic Buildings Global Cultural Spaces: How Architecture Reflects Identity Sustained Buildings: Combining Nature and Architecture University Architecture and Design: The Search for Modern Perfection The Rich Decoration of Venetian Style Architecture Victorian-Edwardian Styles of Modern Architecture What Changing Architectural Styles Tell about the Civic Pride in Modern Architecture The Political Aesthetic of Foster’s Dome The Americanization of British Urban Architecture Reinventing Civic Design with Modern Architecture Environmentally Friendly Architecture: How Modern Utilities Have Changed Architectural Standards Clean Lines Creating Challenges for Modern Maintenance The Influence of Islam on the Architecture of Turkey: How Changing Rulers Changed the Construction The Influence of Christianity on Architecture: The Incorporation of Religious Artwork on Public Buildings The Geometric Shapes Used in Islamic Construction: How Interior Designs Reflect Internal Beliefs The Decline of Modern Architecture How Architecture Expresses More than Structure: The Historical Lessons Hidden in Each Building The first thing you must note is that nearly all academic writing is opinionated to some degree, meaning that no matter what you are writing, your goal is to present your opinion, often supported with facts. That being said, when writing on this particular topic, your goal is to present enough facts to support your point of view. Once you have a topic, you must start writing out the key points you want to cover. By writing a short draft or outline the same as you would do in an essay, you can review what you have and time your speech before you stand up in front of the class. Editing is important, but you should not rush it. Start at least 24 hours after you produce your first draft. In addition to this you want to make sure that your sentences flow smoothly and all of your thoughts or ideas are properly connected. You want to finally look over everything for spelling or grammar mistakes. Print out a copy too! Reading it out loud gives you the opportunity to catch smaller errors that might have gone otherwise unnoticed. Having the red pen with you allows you to write down immediately what areas need to be fixed so that once you are done, you can go back and make any necessary changes before printing out your final copy. Our professional custom writing company is a good PowerPoint presentation maker  available for students. All you need is to place your order at our website.

Limitations of Previous Researches Essays

Limitations of Previous Researches Essays Limitations of Previous Researches Essay Limitations of Previous Researches Essay In summary, the previous researches on attentional systems have indicated that studying eye movement is a limited way of furthering knowledge about the process of attention. T has been established by a number of researches that orienting attention can occur even before the movement of the eye to the object. Moreover focusing on visual attention alone sacrifices the scientific insights that we might gain from studying more than one sensory modality.Visual attention has been well researched over the years and more so because of the fact that it is one of the major faculties that we have and much of its physiology is known. On the other hand auditory attention is unchartered territory given that it lacks neurological explanations unlike vision. We know of the anatomy of the ear but how the ear process sound and how it relays it to the brain has largely been understudied.The findings of past experiments on auditory attention have had been conflicting and was always measured in conjunction with visual cues, this is a pragmatic view since what has been done with visual attention could also possibly work with auditory attention. A true auditory covert attention experiment has not been fully investigated to date. The advent of technology and the advantages of using 3-dimensional sound have revived the interest in auditory attention experiments.The wide range of technologically advanced equipments we have at present allows us to investigate complex processes like auditory attention. And with the increasing complexity and present demands to the human attention it is desired that investigations into the workings of our mind and bodily senses be explored so as to generate knowledge that would help enhance our attentional capabilities. One major limitation of the researches that has already been conducted into covert spatial attention is that the equipment and experimental designs used do not measure true spatial performance.The equipments used in the past experiments were not sensitive enough and have thus limited the results of the study. Experiments are designed to control for various nonattentional effects, such as response priming and criterion shift, by having cue-target stimuli in different spatial dimensions. However, the experimental environment and methods employed in the previous studies were not able to adequately control for the possible effects of priming and memorization.Taking this into consideration, we intend to replicate these experiments in a vir tual environment, which would allow greater freedom to conduct more realistic spatial experiments without compromising on experimental control and equipment limitations. The use of virtual audio has been investigated by a number of researchers with a varying degree of success. One of the main limitations in using 3-D virtual audio in the past has been the inability of virtual audio to reduce the number of front-back confusions to that of free-field localization.Martin, McAnally Senova (2001) used a technique of recording golay responses in the inner ear canal via placement of miniature microphones in the participant’s ears. The use of this technique had the effect of reducing the number of front-back confusions to equivalent levels as that of free-field localization. A number of studies have used this technique to produce free-field equivalent virtual 3-D audio, and then apply the virtual audio in situations where free-field presentation of spatial audio is problematic, for example in the cockpit of an aircraft.The goals of the current research are threefold. First, due to the continued debate on the nature of pure auditory spatial attention, the confirmation of the research by Spence Driver (1994) into covert spatial orienting in audition is desirable; it would help establish that covert auditory spatial attention do exists. Secondly, the nature of endogenous processing in covert spatial orienting in audition is still unclear, due to the lack of a purely auditory cueing paradigm.While the nature of endogenous processing does not require a spatial stimulus to drive attention to the appropriate areas in space, a non-spatial stimulus has been used in previous research to indicate the area of space in which the mechanism is most likely to encounter the target stimuli. In the past this stimulus has taken the form of a visual indicator, and the use of a similar non-spatial auditory indicator may shed some light on any possible interference caused as a resu lt of any multi-modal effects.Finally, due to the limitations enforced on more complicated research into auditory attention by the nature of producing spatial audio, it is desirable to confirm the previous results obtained by Spence and Driver (1994) in a virtual auditory environment. If the use of virtual audio is equivalent to previous findings, then this would allow the future use of virtual audio without the concern that by doing so may confound any results obtained. Hence any findings derived from this study will help further the theoretical knowledge of auditory attention and aid in the practical use of multisensory equipments.

BUSINESS RESEARCH PAPER

BUSINESS RESEARCH PAPER Business Research Paper assignment is considered to be one of the most important papers to be written. Good business research paper not only covers major business aspects, but also includes such subjects like marketing, economics, advertising promotions, successful sales, HR management, etc. And, yes, as you start writing your business paper you should have knowledge of all these topics that must be included in your perfect business research paper or other essay writing. If find yourself that you do not possess enough subject matter information, then buckle up to get this knowledge online or library books. Prepare in advance, start writing your paper as soon as possible at least in your mind. Sometimes you may find yourself that you don’t have enough real-time experience or knowledge of business. Then you should consult others and talk to business related people in order to get more information that will be perfect for your business research paper. As a help, recall your previous corporate work experience and analyze existing business patterns. It would be great if your will include real-life experiences and examples that will make your business research paper complete and profound. In case you are ready to accept help from essay writing service, we will be able to offer you great price and quality. You will receive you’re A-grade research paper on time as agreed. We know that we offer great deal. Our friendly customer support service will have contact with your 24/7. Dealing with our company is convenient and easy. We strive to make your academic study experience to be positive. In order to receive your best business research paper, we will need very detailed and clear instructions from you. You will be able to keep regular contact with your professional writer who will be working at your business research paper. The earlier you place your order, the better price you will get. Business Plan Essay Majority of business companies have different requirements that‘s they need a clear business plan. The process of writing a good business plan needs to state clearly business goals. It should have a market overview and information about existing and present competitors. We have gathered a team of professionals who are able to write successful project that will include marketing, sales part, financial part, hr management part, etc. The most important part of any business oriented writing is creating a genuine statement. This business statement will provide a clear vision of what the business stands for and wants for development. We are ready to create for you a special declaration that clearly states the vision of your business.   All you have to do is to contact our customer service and order online a business research paper or other custom essay papers. A true business plan or business research paper will have a clear business structure of the particular company or business. It will possess the companys business strategy and rational mind analysis.

Case H Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

H - Case Study Example Before the venture the salaries of the partners were between $55,000 and $90,000. This means that everyone on the team was going to be receiving a raise. There was no reason to fight over which person deserved more money among the partners since everyone was going to be richer in terms of salary. The decision to spit the equity equally was also the simplest way to arrange the partnership. My opinion is that the founding partners of NanoGene Technologies created a division of wealth fairly. On many instances when people are starting a business they fight too much over who deserves what even before the business venture starts to make money. The founding partners of NanoGene Technologies are all very satisfied with the arrangement. All partners where able to increase their total compensation in terms of salary and ownership in comparison with their prior jobs. The new venture will improve their quality of life because of the higher compensation and the control and self satisfaction of w orking in a company that you founded. B. Some people might perceived that NanoGene Technologies created a company introducing too many founding partners due to the fact the maximum amount of founding partners is typically three. This assumption is incorrect because if a larger group is satisfied splitting the money among more people it does not matter if there are more than three founding partners. The founding fathers of NanoGene Technologies are: Tompkins, Mark Masterson, Ravi Rhoota, and Gary Garfield. The founding team is composed of four scientists. This was a noble idea, but it would have been much better to have a more diversified group of professionals in the founding team. The current dilemma associated with the hiring of Paige Miller would not exist if one of the members of the founding team had an MBA. There is a huge difference between the founding members of a company and the early employees. The founding members of a company are the pioneers that had an idea which they develop into a product or service. The founders are the persons that made the original investment to start the business. Founders are also the ones that put in the original R&D time to develop a product. On many occasions the founding teams invest hundreds or even thousands of hours without receiving a penny of compensation prior to starting the business. The early employees are the people that are hired to work for a company once the operation starts. In the NanoGene case study Paige Miller if hired would be one of the early employees. Other needs such as engineers or accountants could have been met by having a more diversified group of founding partners. C. Paige Miller is an experienced professional with an expertise in the biotech industry. She is a proven winner and a person that can lead a business towards the path of success. She would be serving the role of VP of operations. Her salary demands are $175,000 and 3% of the equity. The first issue with her salary demands is tha t she would be making more money that the four founders of the company. Her salary would be superior to the salary of the CEO. Also her equity demands would equal the equity currently held by the founding fathers. Despite the high salary demands that Paige is asking the reality of the marketplace is that VP of operations are making upwards of $175,000 a year. Mrs. Miller is an excellent candidate and a good fit for the company. Due to the

East Asia Culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

East Asia Culture - Research Paper Example This definition brings to light the fact that shared behavior in culture helps distinguish one set of people from another. It implies how culture makes people unique, how their shared experiences create patterns of interaction, and how these patterns eventually affect all aspects of their lives. This paper shall define culture and shall describe five major characteristics that help define a culture. It shall also describe common cultural characteristics of East Asia, particularly China and describe how some characteristics have been shaped by the history of the region. One of the characteristics of culture is that, it is subjective (Routledge, 2006). In relating this characteristic to the Chinese culture, subjectivity may be seen in the way the Chinese people and the rest of the world perceive the Chinese culture. For example, initially, a person from the West may perceive the Chinese people and their culture as conservative. This perception of conservatism may also be expressed as a degrading assessment of China’s economic progress. However, to the Chinese, this conservatism may be viewed as a positive, but not degrading, description of their culture. Chinese conservatism can be attributed to their agricultural economic freedom and their artistic way of life. Their largely agricultural lifestyle has made them very much attached to the earth, and as a result, they have an increased sense of permanence. â€Å"This sense of permanence, being a built-in Chinese way of perception, sees the ‘eternal truths’ in the sayings of their ancient sages, and thus prevents any arbitrary progression into novelty† (Wu, n.d). New ideas presented by philosophers are not easily accepted as ‘new ideas’, but they are seen as modern interpretations of existing truths from ancient sages. The artistic way of life for the Chinese gives them a profound devotion and respect for

Disabled People and the Rights to Social Citizenship Essay

Disabled People and the Rights to Social Citizenship - Essay Example The British government has proffered different definitions of a citizen as components of the various solutions proposed in respect of the extant social, economic and political problems and these solutions have affected the rights of individuals (Young, 1985). The Conservative government under John Major introduced a Citizen's Charter in order to subject public services to market forces. Accordingly, citizens obtained the right to choose. This development in conjunction with privatization was considered to be the panacea for the ills of the inefficient public services. Citizenship can be perceived either by the individualist approach in which the nature of citizenship is determined by individual choice or the structuralist approach in which the determining factors are social and economic in nature. Further, "Choice based theories are exemplified in their purest form by economics. In this world, individuals seek to maximize their utility by obtaining the highest return at the minimum cost from any course of action which they undertake" (Pattie, Seyd and Whiteley, 2004, pp 138-139). Consequently, "Citizenship is a status bestowed on those who are full members of a community. [and who] are equal with respect to the rights and duties with which the status is endowed" (Marshall, 1950, p. 28). These rights are of three kinds civil, political or social. The Civil rights are, "liberty of the person, freedom of speech, thought and faith, the right to own property and to conclude valid contracts, and the right to justice" (Marshall, 1950, p. 10). Political rights comprise of "the right to participate in the exercise of political power" and social rights are "the whole range from the right to a modicum of economic welfare and security to the right to share to the full in the social heritage and to live the life of a civilized being according to the standards prevailing in the society" (Marshall, 1950, p. 11). The absence of the disabled person's perspective in discussions involving citizenship is ubiquitous (Meekosha and Dowse, 1997, pp. 49-72). To achieve equality, disabled citizens need to possess freewill and involvement. Societal impediments rather than the disabling impairment, play havoc with the disabled person's endeavour to be full and equal citizen. Hence, civil society has been defined as "an arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values" (Centre for Civil Society, 2004). In order to provide disabled persons with equal access a modicum of restriction has to be enjoined on the freedom of the non-disabled people. The enactment of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) on the 8th of November 1995 was the culmination of a protracted battle to enforce the rights of the disabled. This enactment led to several measures being adopted in order to prevent discrimination against disabled people and to grant them additional rights Vis - a - Vis employment, purchase and lease of real estate and access to goods, facilities and services. The DDA has empowered

Marketing Planning and Strategy (Organizations or Individuals) 1 Assignment

Marketing Planning and Strategy (Organizations or Individuals) 1 - Assignment Example A consumer is more important to the marketer since the marketer takes into account the disliking and liking of the consumer to produce goods and services in that regard. Studying consumer behavior is important in reference to research conducted by Gilligan (2012) on factors that influence purchase decisions made by consumers such as social influences, cultural influences, psychological factors and personal factors. Furthermore, Pride and Ferrell (2006) noted that these factors are especially vital when applied as marketing strategies. Some of the cultural influences that concerns marketers in marketing are religion, nationalities and lifestyle of the targeted consumers. Psychological considerations include how consumers feel, reason, think and select different alternatives. Also, Sorger (2011) stated that customer service considerations after marketing products, builds strong relationships between the organization and the consumers and enables companies to gain valuable information that helps in designing future marketing efforts that are more effective. Sorger (2011) further noted that social influences are values and norms that are held by the community that is marketed and they vary by ethnicity, way of life and race. If a marketer has the capability of analyzing these features of their potential customers, then they can tailor their marketing strategies. The understanding of utilizing information obtained from consumers is the key to a successive organization. Marketers can then utilize this information to focus on producing services and/or products that the targeted markets are specifically interested in and also figure out ways of developing effective

Nuclear Weapons Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Nuclear Weapons - Coursework Example Currently, such as weapon would have a larger toll in modern city such as New York and Paris. In addition, a ground level explosion would lead to immense death s due to the intensity of local fallout that would lead to deaths within an hour or even two weeks as a result of radiation. However, such a phenomena was absent in the Japanese cities. After the 1945 incidents, there was an international outcry which resulted in the formation of international bodies such as the UN in order to regulate the building of nuclear weapons. However, this effort has failed miserably. It is of great importance to note that the two bombs that were initially used have been expanded (Kapur 2007). For instance, current bombs have a common nuclear yield of 150,000-500,000 tones. This would have a major devastating impact on the world if used in time of war. Nuclear proliferation entails the spread of nuclear weapons to countries that were not recognized as Nuclear Weapon States. Initially, nuclear weapons developed as a contest of superiority between the superpowers. Each powerful country required weapons that would infringe more losses to the enemy than the others that were in existence. This exerted the pressure on the countries to come up with weapons that would cause mass destruction. This was mainly during the Second World War when the two warring sides tried to look for weapons that would have a large number of casualties. The initial weapons that were in existence were tested during this war. However, they were not effective, an aspect that forced the US to come up with nuclear weapons especially because the war would provide the platform to test these weapons. Constant threats by the Soviet Union forced the US government to increase its budget towards military research. This is to ensure that the military was well equipped to face the enemies. After the World War

Employment law 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Employment law 1 - Essay Example In the above case, Wal-Mart is not liable for any offense since US constitution protects employees with criminal background from any form of discriminatory practices in employment matters. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964 prohibits all forms of employment discrimination on the basis of national origin, religion, color, or race (Repa 15). In the above case, Wal-Mart had no hiring policy requiring the criminal background of the potential employees. In the case, Bobby has only previous being convicted of a misdemeanor and not rape. However, Wal-Mart can implement a policy to request the criminal background of employees, but it must put into consideration the nature of job, the gravity of past convicted offense and time lapse since the offense before making the hiring decision (Repa 67). Wal-Mart is not liable for not requesting the criminal background of Bobby since no employment law requires the company to do so. Equal employment opportunity guidelines require all employees to av oid or minimize requesting the criminal background of employees since this may lead to discrimination in employment practices (Walsh 163). Under Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines, Wal-Mart is not supposed to deny Bobby the employment opportunity even if the company has a policy on employee criminal background screening except when the crime is job-related (Walsh 162). Wal-Mart is not liable for any offense in hiring Bobby considering no hiring policy that requires the background checks of employees and the nature of past convictions and the current allegations of

Charles Manson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Charles Manson - Essay Example At one time, she sold him to a waitress for a pitcher of beer. This waitress kept him until his uncle retrieved him a few days later. In 1939, his mother and uncle were thrown in jail for robbing a gas station and Manson went to live with another aunt and uncle who were quite religious. When his mother was granted parole three years later, however, Manson returned to his mother’s side, where they moved from hotel to hotel. Kathleen Maddox was constantly attempting to get rid of Manson, as she was not a good mother. In 1947, she attempted to have him placed in a foster home, but she could not find one available. This led to Manson being placed in Gibault School for Boys, where he stayed for ten months before fleeing to find his mother again. His mother, however, rejected him and he was then on his own. The first crime that Manson committed was the robbery of a grocery store. He did this in order to pay for a hotel room. A series of other robberies followed until he was caught and sent to a juvenile center. He escaped from this juvenile hall after only one day and after his recapture, he escaped from another juvenile hall four days later. This time, he escaped with another boy and the two of them committed a series of robberies on their way to the other boy’s uncle’s house. The robberies and escapes continued for years, as Manson was sent to different juvenile centers around the country, but none of them could hold him. He even was caught with a stolen car that he had used to rob gas stations in Utah. It was at these juvenile centers that it was concluded that Manson was aggressively antisocial. The first time that Manson was actually considered a dangerous offender was right before a scheduled parole hearing in 1952 when he held a razorblade to another boy’s throat and sodomized him. After this, he was transferred to the Federal Reformatory, which is where more dangerous juvenile

Google Search Engine Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Google Search Engine - Term Paper Example The MapReduce system indexes the pages that are later used to present information to the users and has been a major contributor to the success of the company. In September, 1998 a company named Google Inc. was launched in a garage by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They initially started working in their friend’s garage and within a span of just one year moved to an office with 8 employees. In 2004, Google was able to raise a massive sum of $1.67 billion dollars through its Initial Public Offering (IPO). (Schneider, 2012) It was a highly publicized event that caught everyone’s attention. As of now, Google has more than 20,000 employees worldwide that are stationed in various parts of the world, making sure that the company operates to provide its customers with valued services. The first international office of Google was opened in Tokyo, Japan in August 2001. This was a sign of how technology has shifted from west to east in the past decade. Far East is considered to be on e of the most tech-savvy regions of the world and the big minds at Google capitalized on this opportunity and went straight to Japan for their international expansion. (Google, 2012) In the same year as its IPO, it opened its R&D (Research and Development) centre in Japan to attract the brightest, innovative and qualified engineers from amongst the Japanese and other Asian countries. In 2007, Android was announced as the first open source platform for mobile devices. In January 2010, Nexus One was the first phone introduced by Google as its benchmark phone that was equipped with the Android operating software and enabled new dimensions for mobile phone users. (Google, 2012) Google’s mission statement from the very first day has been â€Å"to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful† (Schneider, 2012). It specializes in Internet Search, cloud computing and advertising technologies. Amongst its most famous products include Gma il (email service) and Google+ (a social networking service). Google Chrome, Picasa (photo organizing) and Android mobile operating system have been its recent success that has helped it take over the technological world. It has been roughly estimated that Google runs over one million servers in data centers around the world. (Pandia, 2007) The huge success rate of Google can be attributed to an intricate set of innovative processes. The â€Å"science driven PageRank algorithm† has generated excellent search results that have been able to attract millions of searches on a regular basis. Google has reported that it spends approximately 200 to 250 million US dollars annually on purchasing or revamping its IT equipment. (Pandia, 2007) This shows the extent to which Google is committed in improving its infrastructure to provide the most latest and up-to date services to its customers. Peter Hidas of the Gartner Group has concluded that based on the above figures Google is roughly the fourth largest server producer in the world trailing behind HP, Dell and IBM. He even went on to say that Google has surpassed Microsoft’s total servers, signifying the fact that Google has the capacity and ability to handle excessively large number of computers in parallel. Its technical solution has been a result of continuous innovation and thus is far ahead of its competitors. (Pandia, 2007) According to estimates by some Google engineers, Google is processing a massive sum of 20,000 terabytes of data on a