Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6500 words

Marketing - Assignment Example ISO works process framework would be used to show how SIX Sigma might be laid out and what information will be needed to implement this tool. There are many tools that make up this collective and they need to be fully researched in the first instance for early stages and consultants/experts in the implementation of these tools are required to avoid pitfalls caused by redundant data. One problem that is required to be addressed with these tools is that of measuring potential work flows and bottle necks in the production process. "Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing  variability  in manufacturing  and  business processes." (one six sigma web) The 'Qualicoat' status requires us to do much of the processes of Six Sigma would and we run a zero defects policy with any defects being reworked. New innovation such as Quality control measures before the Powder coating process will mean that many of the issues will be taken care of on the production line. Where Six Sigma and learn thinking tools will come into their own will be more visible in our data processing and customer liaising as well as in our order processing and sales activities. Sales personnel will be able to predict work flows with new centralised communications and above mentioned tools will assist in that role facilitating negotiations at first contact with customer queries. Six Sigma and Total Quality Management (TQM) are tools that are going to be used to push the changes forward and improve on employee participation towards a culture of due diligence. Various tools are now being introduced to engage the workforce in dialogue to identify problem areas, provide training and walk-through them in meeting new goals while actually improving their working environment. Brief look would be given to the questionnaires and language that are going to be used to encourage change. One problem is the resistance to c hange that has been experienced in the past because of people being stuck in the old ways of carrying out processes thus introduction of Six Sigma terminology will create confusion and animosity. These terminologies would only be used within management to avoid unnecessary chaos. It is to be assured that there is the balance of communication therefore new responsibilities are properly defined along with the changes in processes. In order to enhance data collection and processing new management positions would be introduced. There are several objectives of TQM that include process improvement, observing behaviour changes over a time period, defect prevention, developing operational definitions, priority of effort, developing improvement check forms and check lists, developing relationships of cause-effect, measuring capacity of the system, assisting teams in making better decisions and separating trivial from significant needs. TQM on the whole revolves around a few main things that include systems for facilitating improvement, techniques and tools for improvement, Senior Management and all employees’ commitment, team work, customers - Supplier relationships, effective vision, mission, strategy and goals, communication and trust. A systematic approach towards quality management involves components like modification of the processes and the inputs, examining of the processes performance, planning of the inputs

The Future of Japans Economy

The Future of Japans Economy Where will Japan be in 20 years? SUMMARY Long-term economic forecasting is still as difficult as ever. Typical previous long-term forecasts have proved to be on average out by as much as 33%. In the present day unsettled political and economic climate forecasting economic future of a country has become even more difficult. Japan‘s economy declined during 1998-2003 period, making the economic pundits wonder if Japan would be able to revive its economy. Significant growth during the last two years shows that Japan’s economy cannot be written off that easily. Japan has many economic factors supporting the likely hood of Japan’s continued economic growth over the next 20 years. On the other hand emergence of China as the third largest economic power, its increasing share in world economy, Japan’s declining working population, huge domestic debt, rising energy prices and unstable world politics could jeopardize the economic growth. Japan need to modify its tax structure and reduce the burden of debts. Recent elections over the decision on privatization of the postal system shows that Japan is prepared to make tough decisions to keep its economy on track. It appears that Japan is already preparing to be a part of the success of the newly emerging economic superpowers. The inter-dependence of the economies will ensure that Japan will continue to make economic progress. An economic development rate of 1.8% over the next 20 years appears to be certainly achievable for Japan. INTRODUCTION The post war years allowed Japan to concentrate on economic development. With nearly no defense expenditure, Japan was able to devote nearly one third of its GNP to investments during 1953-63 [Angus Madison, 2005]. The government policies of investment in education, industry and research and development started bearing fruit and the average annual growth rate during 1960s remained around 11% per annum. The government policies favored encouraging savings, promoting investments, supporting newly emerging industry and promoting exports. Between 1965 and 1970 average growth rate was 11.1% (Financial statistics of Japan, Ministry of Finance, 2005) GDP Growth in real terms** GDP Growth % 1960 8.8 1965 9.2 1970 11.1 1975 4.5 1980 2.8 The steady growth rate of almost 10% per annum helped Japan overtake Federal Republic of Germany in terms of GNP by 1968 to become 2nd only to United States of America. The 1973 oil crisis came as an economic shock to Japan. The second oil price increase of 1979 meant that the oil prices which were around $12.75 a barrel in 1974 increased nearly by 300% to $34 a barrel in 1981 [Nakamura, 2005]. Japan, being almost totally dependent on imported oil reacted quickly by adopting a policy of monetary constraints and improved its energy efficiency to stay competitive and the decline in exports in 1980-2 were recovered by 1984 proving that Japan has the ability to bounce back. The two decades following the Japan’s meteoric rise were the years of globalization. 1980-2000 were the years when the economic development suffered a slow down all over the world. [Weisbrot et al, 2001] call it the period of diminished progress. The 2nd oil price increase of 1979, globalization and flow of capital to third world countries and economic mismanagement have all been blamed for the decline [Weisbrot et al, 2001]. The IMF figures of real per capita GDP (in constant 2000 US$) shows that when compared to 1960-80, almost in all cases per capita GDP declined during the two decades 0f 1980-2000. For the top GDP bracket (which includes Japan), the annual rate of GDP growth fell by 1%. Reference: [Weisbrot et al, 2001] In this global period of economic decline, Japan’s economic also went through a period of recession. When everyone was expanding Japan to continue the economic miracle, Japan’s economy had to face a number of financial crises, some of which in the hindsight appear to be of their own making. [Agarwal, 2004] believes that the liberalization of financial system, the deregulation of banking sector, interests and capital flows were carried out without proper assessment of their impact on the domestic financial markets. Many financial institutions came to the verge of bankruptcy and most of these had to be bailed out to prevent an economic crisis. Some analysts [in Agarwal Agarwal, 2001] believe that unlike United States which stepped into to save the economy from ‘Savings and Loan’, Japan’s Ministry of Finance failure to intervene and making the financial institutions sell their assets to account for hundreds of billion dollars worth of non performing loans is responsible for the economic crisis of Japan during the 1990s. In addition to the financial problems and banking sector near insolvency, the economic experts identified Weak economic activity, low productivity and high prices as some of the reasons for stagnation of economy. Japan’s dwindling working age population means that there will be fewer workers available for economic activity. The domestic financial policies, a reduction in exports due to a global economic down trend resulted in an average growth rate of 1.7% during 1990s [CIA Economic Report, 2005]. In the aftermath of September 11 crisis, the slowing down of US, European and Asian economies has not helped the export based Japanese economy and during 2000-3 Japan’s economy stagnated during this period. During the first half of 2004 Japan’s economy began to show the sign of recovery. It was the first time that the economic figure gave reason for optimism for Japan’s economy during almost a decade; Japan declared a growth rate of 5.25% (seasonally adjusted annual figure). This figure was largely due to the new economic factors now emerging in the world economy, the fast growing Chinese economy. Slower growth in domestic machinery demand and reduction in orders from China resulted in an overall growth rate of 2.25%. Suddenly the economic pundits have become extremely optimistic about Japan’s economic growth in the forthcoming years. The earlier estimates of 3.4% growth for 2005 have now been upgraded by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to 4.5% [IMF Predicts, 2005]. Economics believe that due to pressures of being a democracy, Japan chose not to make hard choices; the banks were forced to hide the non recoverable loans and were obliged to throw good money after bad to appear to be solvent. The government borrowed heavily from the public and now the debt stands at 160% of GDP [CIA Economic Report, 2005]. Japan opted to ignore the option of writing off bad debts and using inflation to overcome the problem and used monetary tactics of accumulation of capital, which to most economist has cost them a longer than expected period of economic decline. The position now is that the banks are in a strong financial position and are generally solvent. The economic recovery from now on can be expected to be on a sound footing [Jerram, 2004]. ECONOMIC FORECASTING The science (or Art) of forecasting the economic future of a country especially a long term forecast is still an uncertain art. The parameters required for the input can and do change over the forecast period. [Artis, 1996] analyzed the economic forecasts error in pre-1983 and post-1983 period to show that the forecasting has not significantly improved during the two periods. While the economic parameters for most of the developing countries are not available in the required detail, for the developed countries it is normally not a major problem, yet the accuracy of the forecast varies by about 1% which is almost 30% out when we recognize that actual growth rate is around 2.75% [The difficult Art of Forecasting, 1996]. It has to be appreciated that some of the factors involved in economic growth are so unpredictable that they cannot be possibly included in economic forecasting, factors such as oil price shocks, unification of two Germany, September 11 terrorist attack, natural disaste rs like floods in New Orleans and Kashmir earthquakes cannot be factored into economic forecasts. The error of 1% in predicting economic trends is an average, in many cases IMF and OECD have been quite accurate in their predictions and the economic forecasting continues to have the confidence of economic planners to use it as a basis of international business as well as for providing planning information to the national economies. METHODOLOGIES OF ECONOMIC FORECASTING [Clements and Henry, 2002] and [Mizon, 2002] present excellent reviews of economic forecasting techniques. [Clements and Henry, 2002] give a detailed explanation of statistical modeling and techniques for generating forecasts. Reasons for errors in macroeconomic forecasts are also covered as also are methods of evaluating forecasts generated by different methods. The reasons for forecast failure are explained in a non-technical language by [Hendry Ericsson, 2001]. [Arsham, 2005] is an excellent reference manual available online for economic forecast modeling. The Forecasting method covered by [Arsham, 2005] include Economic Indicators, Economic Projections, Compound Growth Rate, Time Series Projection, Time Series using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) Method, Visual Time Series Projections, Forecasting with Smoothing Techniques and Forecasting with Econometric Models. JAPAN ECONOMY IN 20 YEARS Japan’s economy has overcome the difficulties of the last decade. The growth rate from 2004 is expected to be a healthy 3%. In 2004 Japan achieved a growth rate of 2.25%. The IMF forecast for 2005 and 2006 is an economic growth rate of 4.5%. The worse appears to be over but for future economic growth, Japan has to ensure that its national debt is reduced, the impact of demographic factors is minimized and its exports and overseas production interest are maintained. DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS One of the major factors being identified as potential hazard to future economic development of Japan is its aging population. Japan has an excellent health care system. The life expectancy in Japan is among one of the highest in the developing countries. According to the population statistics 20% of Japan’s population is now 65 years or over. The problem is that the Japan’s population is not being replenished by the new births at the required rate. The fertility rate has dropped to 1.3 children per woman which is well below the replacement level. The concern that Japan’s economy weakened by the recession of more than a decade may be overburdened by the problems of manpower shortage, paying old age benefits to the high percentage of senior citizens. The labor force is likely to shrink by 0.7% [Campbell, 2003] a year between 2000 and 2025 and may well seriously effect the economic development during the next 20 years. The problem is that the life style Japanese have got accustomed to does not encourage child bearing to have the hope of making up the present shortfall in foreseeable future. A survey of Japanese women showed that only 7% of Japanese women saw child bearing is a satisfying experience compared to 60-70% women in other countries [Campbell, 2003]. This means that Japan’s population is likely to continue its trend of declining working age group and an increasing population of 65 years and over. The fiscal implication of the aging population would require a change in the pension system. The present system of pay-as-you-go would mean that â€Å"pure aging effect on public finances for 2000 to 2030 could be debt equal to 190% of 2000 GDP [ ] The United Nation Population Development calculations estimate that if the present situation does not improve, by 2025 Japan will have an average age of 50 years. The population of 65 years and over will be 30% of the total population. The NUPD paints a bleak picture where due to decline in birth rate the proportion of children under 15 will be the same as those of people 80 years and over. This is stark statistics indeed and there is no doubt that Japan will have to take steps to encourage population growth rate to around 3% per annum. However, most social scientists believe that this doom day forecast can be avoided. In the near term Campbell [ ] argues that the gradual decline rate of 0.7% is manageable and the economy can cope with this without undue strain. Campbell [ ] contends that older people will not be a burden on state, the pension premium for the working population may have to be increased to support the pension schemes but it is unlikely to impede the economy. He points out that United States spend 13% of GDP on health care while Japan spent 7.8% for providing a better degree of health care to its population. Usui [ ] believes that women are still not participating in the economy to the extent they could and in case of labor shortage they would play a more active role in the labor market to remove the labor shortage. She also points out to the useful role senior citizens play in upbringing of their grand children releasing parents for a more active economic role. The population growth rates can thus be achieved without removing women from the workforce for an extended period. The demographic dilemma is certainly a cause for concern for Japan’s economy but it appears that Japan will be able to cope with the shortage during the next 20 years. Japan has not been very receptive to the ‘guest workers’ for meeting its manpower requirements but a future shortage may change that situation. Increased productivity, late retirement, more participant of women in work force and possibility of using foreign workers are some of the options that can be used to meet the manpower requirement of the economy. Japan has the highest number of robots in use in the world [CIA Report on Japan Economy, 2005, the automation is another solution to the manpower shortage. However, the real solution in the long term is to encourage population growth through incentives and child support. Negative population growth is a problem in many developed countries and solutions are being found to prevent it from holding the economic development. CHINA AS AN ENGINE FOR JAPAN’S ECONOMY Japan’s economic miracle was greatly helped by the exports to United States. As Japan’s economy developed it was able to find additional partners in Middle East, Europe and in developing countries. The global economic decline during 1980-2000 reduced the pace of economic development in Japan. China’s ‘economic miracle’ during the last few years has been largely responsible for the revival of Japan’s economy. India is also posting impressive economic growth rate during the last few years. Japan’s technological advantage, its competitiveness and its participation in ASEAN places Japan in an advantageous position in helping develop these economies [News Item, 2004]. The recent revival of Japan’s economy has in part been attributed to its exports to China. At present the main exports to China are of high-tech parts. Many of the Japan’s giant corporations are building new facilities in Japan to make products for China and other markets. China has made tremendous progress since a change in its political system. Its foreign trade has grown by double digits for many years. China is now the third largest trading country in the world and its exports to United States were around $150 billion last year putting China ahead of Japan in the list of countries exporting to USA [Herman, 2005]. Many observers believe that this might be a threat to Japan’s economy. But China and Japan, at least for now see this as a window of opportunity for developing their economies. China needs Japan’s technology and Japan recognizes China as an opportunity to reduce its production costs by using cheap labor available in China. China will perhaps welcome Japan’s investment even more than investment from US as Japanese investment does not come with a dose of speeches urging China to reform its political system! China is encouraging direct investment from developed countries and Japan has already built plants in Japan to lower its labor costs and stay competitive in the international markets. Japan-China cooperation in the economic filed appears to be in the interest of both countries. China has an advantage in labor costs and for the foreseeable future China will need the advance Japanese technology to meet its development goals. China is now the second largest market for Japan’s export and it appears that for the next decade or two China- Japan trade will continue to grow for their mutual benefit. China’s GDP of $1.7 trillion is only 13% of that of United States and about one third of that of Japan [Wang, 2005]. China has a population of more than a billion and it is clear that the scope of development in China is enormous. After China agreed to the one-country two-system policy and Hong Kong came under its political control, countries like Singapore, Korea and Japan built considerable production facilities to China to benefit from the cheap labor costs. Hong Kong, of course being a political part of China moved many of its labor intensive industries to China. This has benefited China in boosting its exports. It has been estimated that 60% of Chinese export in 2004 came from the foreign invested enterprises. The profits of Japanese enterprises in China, of course benefit Japan too. It is clear that both China and Japan are using trade to each other’s advantage. What is not well known is that China is not only the fastest growing market for Japan but also for the United States. The Kyoto protocol agreed to keep India and China out of the developed countries list and as such they are not expected to limit green house gases. Although United States has also not agreed to the Kyoto Protocol, it appears that Chinese economy can continue to develop, at least for the time being without the worries for limiting green house gases. Absence of application of Kyoto Protocol would also be advantageous for Japanese companies working in China. JAPAN’S DEBT AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT The total debt of Japan is nearly 160% of its GDP [CIA Economic Report on Japan, 2005]. Most of Japanese debt is however internal. Us Foreign debt is already approaching the internal debt of Japan and it has been estimated that by 2010 US will owe as much to the international lenders as Japan owes to its internal lenders, Japanese people. Although the difference in economic sizes of the two countries is enormous and it is not correct to compare Japan and US on the same economic scale but it does give us an idea that the debt that Japan built during the recession years may not hold it from future development. The demography, the huge debt problem and rise of competitive China are some of the factors Japan will have to contend to make economic progress. As the editorial in Rediscovering Japan Dec 2003 said that with the revival of Japan’s economy economic pundits are once again discovering that Japan has the competitive strength to bounce back. The editorial said that that Japan is still the world second largest economy and it has streamlined itself to meet the emerging challenges from Korea and Japan. It urges US CEOs to be not influenced by media misperception and to take Japan seriously. Japan is far too important to be ignored, it said. THE ECONOMIC FORECAST FOR NEXT 20 YEARS The Editorial from Rediscovering Japan is perhaps the best note to conclude this article. Japan has the potential to develop and compete with the new emerging economies; it had the ability to become energy efficient to stay competitive after the energy crisis of 1973 and 1979 and the new energy prices will probably be more of a headache for gas guzzling economies of the west. Japan has invested in its people and while other countries might build plants to manufacture Japanese cars for the present, Japan has the foresight to invest in the research and development for energy efficient vehicles possibly electric to stay ahead of the competition. [Suzuki, 2004] presented medium term economic forecast for Japan (2004-2010), estimating the economic development rate to remain in the range of 2% per annum. Their forecast is however based on an oil price estimate of $28 per barrel, which we now know is more than twice that. Their assumption regarding improvement in export was also rather conservative. The economic forecasting is poor in estimating up and down turns. Suzuki analysis had projected 2% growth rate for 2004 and 2005, which was actually 2.25% for 2004 and 4.5% estimated for 2005. [Kosai and Ito, 1999] estimate that the economy growth rate for the period 2000-2025 will be 1.8% and as the economic forecast for such a long period of a habit of being out by an average 1% we can safely expect Japan to develop during the next 20 years. Japanese have proved themselves capable of meeting economic challenges presented to them. No one would have believed that Japan had the capability of bouncing back from the ravages of the 2nd World War and develop to an extent where it is seen as a threat to the other economies. One thing is certain Japan is too important to be ignored and is likely to remain so for the next 20 years and beyond. WORK CITED Agarwal, J. D., Globalization and International Capital Flows, Keynote Address at the National Conference on Globalization Decadal Indian Experience, Kannur University, Kerela, India, 17th January 2004 Agarwal, J.D. and Agarwal, A. (2001), Liberalization of Capital Flows, Banking System Trade: Focus on Crisis Situations, International Review of Comparative Public Policy Volume 13, pp. 151-212. Angus Madison, Economic Growth in Japan and the USSR, 2005, http://www.mail-archive.com/[emailprotected]/msg06027.html Arsham, H., Time-Critical Decision Making for Business Administration, http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/stat-data/Forecast.htm Artis, M. J., How Accurate Are the IMFs Short-Term Forecasts? Another Examination of the World Economic Outlook, IMF Working Paper 96/89 (August 1996) Campbell, J. C., Population Aging: Hardly Japan’s Biggest Problem, Asia Program Special Report No 107, January 2003, Woodrow Wilson Asia Center for Scholars. CIA Report on Japan Economy, retrieved from Internet on 16 November 2005, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ja.html#Econ Clements, M.P. and Hendry, D.F., (eds.) Companion to Economic Forecasting, Basil Blackwell, 2002 Eberstadt, N., Power and Population in Asia, retrieved from Internet on 16 Nov 2005, http://www.policyreview.org/feb04/eberstadt.html Financial Statistics of Japan, Ministry of Finance, 2005, http://www.mail-archive.com/[emailprotected]/msg06027.html Hendry, D.F. and N.R. Ericsson (eds.) Understanding Economic Forecasts, MIT Press, 2001. Herman, S., Chinas Economic Might Makes Japan Nervous, retrieved from Internet on 16 Nov 2005, http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2005-01/2005-01-17-voa7.cfm?CFID=8078384CFTOKEN=86056847 IMF Predicts Rosy Economic Growth for Japan, retrieved from Internet on 16 November 2005, http://www.bizasia.com/economy_/becd7/imf_predicts_rosy_economic.htm Jerram, R., This Time it’s Different: Japan Poised for Growth, The International Economy, Spring 2004 Kosai, Y., and Ito, Y., A New Start for Japan’s Economy: The Path Towards Balanced Growth to the Year 2025, Jan 1999, http://www.jcer.or.jp/eng/eco/98long.html Mizon, G.E., (2002) `Review of Probability Theory and Statistical Inference: Econometric Modeling with Observational Data by Aris Spanos, Economic Journal, 112, F164F166 Nakamura, T., The Postwar Japanese Economy, http://www.mail-archive.com/[emailprotected]/msg06027.html News Item, Chinese scholar suggests axis with India, Japan, May 19, 2004, retrieved from Internet on 16 Nov 2005, http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/may/19axis.htm Suzuki, H., Japan’s Economy through 2010, Daiwa Institute of Research Limited, March 2004 The Difficult Art of Forecasting, World Economic Review, International Monetary Fund, 1996 Usui, C., Japan Aging Dilemma? Asia Program Special Report No 107, January 2003, Woodrow Wilson Asia Center for Scholars. Wang, R., China’s Economic Growth: Source of Disorder? Foreign Service Journal, May 2005 Weisbrot, M., Baker, D., Krav, E.and Chen, J., The Scorecard on Globalization 1980-2000, Twenty Years of Diminished Progress, Center for Economic and Policy Research, July 2001

The Causes of the Persian Gulf War Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Causes of the Persian Gulf War â€Å"Two dozen U.S. and British aircrafts bombed five radar and other anti-aircraft sites around Baghdad with guided missiles yesterday in the first major military action of the Bush administration. It was the largest airstrike against Iraq in two years and hit sites near the Iraqi capital, a significant departure from the low-key enforcement of no-fly zones in the country’s south and north. The U.S.-led alliance declared the zones off-limits to Iraqi aircrafts after the Persian Gulf War. President Bush, speaking at a new conference in Mexico alongside the Mexican President, Vicente Fox, called the raid ‘routine.’ But it was widely interperted in Washington and other world capitals as presaging a get-tough attitude by the new administration toward a country that has vexed U.S. policymakers for more than a decade. ‘Saddam Hussein has got to understand we expect him to comform to the agreement that he signed after The Desert Storm,’ Bush said...† (Ricks A1) Saddam Hussein’s continuing failure to cooperate is one of many results of the Persian Gulf War. Between January 17 and February 28, 1991, an international military coalition sanctioned by the United Nations and led by the United States defeated the large, well-equipped Iraqi army and forced it to withdraw from occupied Kuwait. The allied offense, whose military code name was Operation Desert Storm, involved ground troops from 19 countries joining together from virtually every region on the globe: North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia (Yant 18). In essence, from the Iraqi position, there were three, main, inter-state causes of the Persian Gulf War: 1) To aquire a major port on the Persian Gulf, 2) To eliminate the $13 billion debt that Iraq owed Kuwait, 3) To gain vast oil reserves. In order to better understand the Iraqi position, it is necessary to look at some of the historical factors. The discovery of oil by the the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC; later renamed the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and still later British Petroleum) in Iran in 1908 stimulated a great interest in potential Iraqi oil resources. Financial groups from several major nations engaged in protracted negotiations with ... ...; Works Cited Bennis, Phyllis and Moushabeck, Michel. Beyond the Storm. New York: Olive Branch Press, 1991. Saddam Hussein - His Rise to Power. Ed. Gerald Butt. Nov 17. 1998. BBC News. 24 Feb. 2001. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/events/crisis_in_the_gulf/decision_ makers _and_diplomacy/newsid_216000/216328.stm>. Freedman, Lawrence and Karsh, Efraim. The Gulf Conflict: 1990 -1991. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993. "Inside the Storm" Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX). 12 Jan. 1992: 1A+. Ricks, Thomas E. â€Å"Allied Jets Blast Iraq, Largest Strike in 2 Years, Seen as Signal of Get-Tough U.S. Attitude.† San Francisco Chronicle. 17 Feb. 2001: A-1. Schwartz, Richard Alan. Encyclopedia of the Persian Gulf War. North Carolina: McFarland & Co, 1998. Yant, Martin. Desert Mirage: The True Story of the Gulf War. New York: Prometheus Books, 1991.

Kobe Bean Bryant Essay

Kobe Bean Bryant nicknamed the â€Å"Black Mamba† is a professional basketball play who plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born on August 23, 1978. He was drafted right out of high school to play for the Charlotte Hornets, but soon was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, never playing in Charlotte. Bryant is a five-time champion with the Lakers and a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the USA national team. Bryant was born on August 23 in Philadelphia. Bryant was named after a Japanese steakhouse. He is son of a former NBA player Joe â€Å"Jellybean† Bryant. After the elder Bryant finished his NBA career he took his family overseas where he played in an Italian league. Growing up in Italy where soccer was the most popular sport Bryant grew up loving two sports. He would stay all day playing soccer on the pavement fields all day, then after all the kids went home he worked on perfecting his mid-range jumper. Kobe later returned to Philadelphia where he played in high school with Lower Merion High School. Eyeing the NBA he workout with the nearby NBA team the Philadelphia 76ers. Kobe decided to skip college and head straight to the NBA. He was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets and subsequently traded to the Los Angeles where his career ignited. (Biography.com/Kobe Bryant). Kobe Bryant career did not take long to start in a good manner. In his second year in the NBA as a shooting guard, at the age of 19, he was voted to play in the NBA’s all-star game, becoming the youngest player to appear in the game. Later with the help of Shaquille O’neal the Lakers won three consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, 2002. As he reached the prime of his career without Shaq he had some lackluster season as his team didn’t even nearly compete at the level Kobe was. He was outstanding on January 22, 2006 he scored 81 points and achieving the second highest scoring game in NBA history, only second to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game. Although his race for a title was not yet over in 2008 he linked up with seven footer Pau  Gasol reaching to the NBA finals. They did not win that year but the following year they did in 2009. In 2010 their season was just as great reaching to the NBA finals for a third straight time as Kobe was leading the way . They met their arch rivals again in the games most important stage. They beat the Boston Celtics in a thrilling seven game series. Kobe was named Finals MVP for both of the seasons that they had won the NBA championship. He is now a five-time NBA champion and is still seeking more titles. In the 2013 season he became the youngest player to reach 30000 points at the age of 34. Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest basketball player to ever play the game and will one day be a Hall of Famer. Kobe Bryant has a foundation, â€Å"The Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation†, that is dedicated to improving the lives of youth and families in need, both domestically and globally. By providing financial resources and developing unique programs, the foundation strives to strengthen communities through educational and cultural enrichment opportunities. Kobe Bryant is admired by the NBA fans all over the world. They love the excitement he brings to game with his incredible clutch shots and amazing plays. Kobe is also admired for the help he brings to the less fortunate. By helping the financially or educationally. Overall Kobe Bean Bryant is someone you could look up to on and off the court.

Devil wear prada essays Essay

â€Å"Devil wears Prada† was presented in 2006, based on the Lauren Weisberger’s novel of the same name. This is the story about a girl named Andrea Sachs who want to be a real journalist. For her wish, she opted to become an assistance of Miranda, a tough editor-in-chief of Runway fashion magazine. From there, she had to overcome all the challenges and the lure of the luxury life which are brought by this job. Particularly, the film also mentioned impressively the organizational culture theory of Runway fashion magazine company. II. Aspect of culture in Runway fashion magazine company via â€Å"Devil wears Prada†. 1. The basic, underlying assumptions As the film shown, all decisions are made by Miranda, the editor-in-chief. Additionally, the employees even cannot make mistakes. Their ideas are also considered strictly by Miranda. About the kind of people employed, the knowledge of the employees must be high in fashion. Moreover, they have to be passionate in fashion One significant thing of this organization is that when the employees do something right, they won’t be promoted or complimented. However, when they make mistakes, they can be scolded or even dismissed. 2. Overt belief Nigel, the art director of Runway said: â€Å"This is a place which product many excellent artists of the century. All their works, their creation is greater than the art because they lived for that† or the position as Miranda’s assistances is called â€Å"A million girls would kill for†. Anyone who work for this position for one year can apply for any newspaper office in New York. All the above reasons prove that Runway fashion magazine company has a strong organizational culture thanks to legendary figures such as Miranda, De La Renta, etc. 3. Visible artefact Runway is a fashion magazine. Therefore: The office design and furniture are modern. The pictures and photos about Runway are presented in all over the walls in the company. The employees have to be fashionable especially the female ones are slim and pretty. All of them worship the Runway magazine. 4. Symbols The image of the leader is also the image of the company, it is Miranda. She are known as a tough and evil boss. Andrea, her assistance becomes something like a personal servant. The employees are scare of her but also respect her. Its product, the magazine, became a clear symbol in the fashion industry. 5. Rules, norms, ethical codes and values Miranda is the fearsome boss. The most important one is to never ask her anything. All the employees have to abide by her decisions, including Nigel, the art direct. Moreover, the employees must understand the company culture to make a best choices and success. 6. Ritual, rites, ceremonies and celebrations Obviously, the ‘morning-routine’ can be clearly observed at Runway in Miranda’s office. Everything is prepared in a fashionable way before her arrival. When she arrives, people avoid her by anyway: a girl gets out of the lift for her and apologize, people in the corridor turn back the way they came from, etc. Working under Miranda’s supervision require certain rituals. When Andy goes to deliver ‘the book’ to Miranda’s house, Emily informs her about the strict book-ritual. III. Types of culture 1. Power culture The organization is controlled by central figures –the editor-in-chief, Miranda. She is the most powerful and famous one in company. Then, all important decisions are made by her. Likewise, she has the influence on the decisions of the employee. For instance, in the meeting with fine art teamwork, she is the only one who can choose the suitable ideas for the new collection and almost of them are denied but no one dare to oppose her opinions. Change or innovation is crucial in the fashion industry. Runway uses teamwork in order to get new fresh ideas. Miranda lets her team make suggestions to develop a new outfit for Runway-cover. The balance in Runway have a tendency to integrate all the ideas instead of making difference, under Miranda’s tight control and the strong organizational culture. Last but not least, there are the good relationships between Miranda and her assistance, Andrea or Emily and Andrea. After a hard working time, Andrea was recognized by Miranda and she can come to the Fashion week in Paris with  her boss. Finally, Miranda said to Andrea: â€Å"But I really see a great deal of myself in you†. About Emily and Andrea, they have a beautiful friendship: Emily always helped Andrea to finish the tasks. At the end of the film, Andrea gave Emily all the clothes which she had wear in Paris. 2. Role culture A role culture has a highly defined structure, where everybody has its own role. At Runway, people do not seem to have a clearly defined role. Obviously, Miranda was in the highest level in company. She played her role as an editor-in-chief, a design team leader and a human resource manager at the same time. Andrea is not only her assistance but also her personally servant to buy food or drinks and even do the scientific exercises for her daughters. Particularly, Andrea is so smart that she could expect what the others would think or do. In addition, all main characters in the film have a strong ambition. They can take risk to achieve anything they want. For example: Andrea, she applied for the post of Miranda’s assistance in one year to have a chance of being a real journalist in New York. There is not much evidence for the stability of Runway fashion magazine company but with the accomplishment which this company have got, it can be seen that the organization had a high stabilization. IV. Conclusion â€Å"Devil wears Prada† demonstrated that Runway fashion magazine company had a strong organizational culture which include sufficiently all the aspect of culture but only two types of culture.

Steps for evaluating an argument essayEssay Writing Service

Steps for evaluating an argument essayEssay Writing Service Steps for evaluating an argument essay Steps for evaluating an argument essayRecently, I have purchased a mobile phone and, while making the purchase, I applied the deductive reasoning that helped me to make the right choice. In this regard, the deductive reasoning allowed me to reject all those offers in the market that did not match my requirements and interests. Eventually, I have selected the mobile phone that I really liked and, at the moment, I am fully satisfied with the purchase and I made this choice on the ground of the inductive analysis.First of all, the inductive process has started with the moment, when I came up with the decision to buy a new mobile phone. When I realized that I did not like my old phone, I decided to buy a new one, which I would like. I had several criteria for the purchase of a new mobile phone. One of the main criteria was the price of the new mobile phone. I was ready to purchase a new mobile phone for $200-500 and no more. Another important criterion for me was the touch screen of at l east 3 inches. In addition, I wanted a reliable mobile phone with a warranty that would last at least for 3-5 years and without any extra payment for it (Zarefsky, 2002). Then I considered selecting a brand of mobile phone but later I rejected the idea of narrowing the scope of my search of a new mobile phone by limiting my search to the specific brand. I believe that brand is still not the determinant factor in my choice of my mobile phone. This is why I admitted that I would consider phones of all brands but within the price I could pay for the mobile phone, with a 3 inches touch screen and 3-5 years warranty. After that I added another requirement for my mobile phone focusing on specific functions, which the mobile phone. On determining key functions which I expected my phone to offer me, I decided to start selecting the mobile phone that matched my criteria. Eventually I found the mobile phone which I wanted.In such a way, I conducted the inductive argument since I relied heavil y on my personal experience of using the mobile phone and determined my needs, i.e. what I actually want from my mobile phone judging from my needs and experience of using the old one. As I determined which features of the new mobile phone I need, I had eventually managed to come up with decision and buy the mobile phone I wanted that is the sample of inductive reasoning from elements, parts based on personal experience to the general concept.Thus, my approach was based on the inductive process because I steadily moved from the analysis of criteria the new mobile phone should math to the decision to purchase a mobile phone. I used the inductive process on purpose because it helped me to identify clearly distinct features and requirements which my target product, the mobile phone should match. As a result, I have made a conscious and reasonable choice and I really like my new mobile phone because it is just what I really want.

Islamic Law essays

Islamic Law essays The religion and the practices of Islam have often been seen in a negative light in the Western world. This can be attributed to the effects that Islamic fundamentalists have had on society through their attacks on the Western world. For this reason many Westerners have developed an Islamophobia. A direct result of this Islamophobia is a negative perception of Islamic Law. Many Westerners feel that Islamic Law is very unjust, however in reality this is not the case. Islamic Laws may be strict relative to Western society, but their main purpose is to give people a guideline of how to live their lives in a clean fashion (Nasr, 1997). The punishments that people receive for violating Islamic Law are believed to be very brutal by Western Society; but this is not necessarily the case. Most Muslims believe that these punishments are just and also that these punishments are minor compared to the ultimate punishment that will be delivered by the hand of God on the Day Of Judgement. Islamic L aw also has a positive impact on society by helping out others through required charitable donations called Zakat. For these reasons Islamic Law should not be perceived as unjust by Western Society. Islamic Law extends into every aspect on life from how to use water to banking. It is based on the Muslim Holy Book, the Koran. The Koran is the primary source for Islamic Law, as it laid a solid foundation upon which Muslim scholars devised guidelines (Seestani, 1994). Muslims believe that the Koran contains the words of Allah. So, whatever is written in the Koran is considered to be sacred and everything in it is obeyed. But the Koran was not written in detail. The Koran gave people a guideline as to how they should live their lives but not the specifics on how they should do this. For example, the Koran says that people must pray but it did not say how to pray. In order to clear up any confusion caused by the generalization of the ...

Sewanee, University of the South - Admission Data

Sewanee, University of the South - Admission Data Sewanee Admissions Overview: Students applying to Sewanee do not need to submit scores from the SAT or ACTstudents can submit these scores if theyd like, but its not a requirement. Students are required to submit an application to Sewanee through the Common Applicationwhich can save time and money for applicants applying to multiple schools that use that application. With an acceptance rate of 44%, the school is fairly selectivesuccessful applicants generally have good grades, a well-rounded academic background, and a strong application. Will You Get In? Calculate Your Chances of Getting In  with this free tool from Cappex Admissions Data (2016): Sewanee Acceptance Rate: 44%GPA, SAT and ACT Graph for Sewanee AdmissionsTest Scores 25th / 75th PercentileSAT Critical Reading: - / -SAT Math: - / -SAT Writing: - / -What these SAT numbers meanTennessee colleges SAT comparisonACT Composite: - / -ACT English: - / -ACT Math: - / -ACT Writing: - / -What these ACT numbers meanTennessee colleges ACT comparison Sewanee Description: Sewanee: The University of the South, stands on a 13,000 acre campus on the Cumberland Plateau between Chattanooga and Nashville in Tennessee. A small college, Sewanees liberal arts curriculum places students first. Every class at Sewanee is taught be a professor, not grad students, and the university boasts an 11 to 1  student faculty / ratio.  Average class size is 18 in the first year, 13 in later years. Sewanee has produced 25 Rhodes Scholars, a remarkable number for a school of about 1,500 students. English is particularly strong, and the university is home to  The Sewanee Review  and Sewanee Writers Conference. In athletics, popular sports include football, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field, and tennis. Enrollment (2016): Total Enrollment: 1,815  (1,731  undergraduates)Gender Breakdown: 47% Male / 53% Female99% Full-time Costs (2016  - 17): Tuition and Fees: $42,400Books: $1,200 (why so much?)Room and Board: $12,100Other Expenses: $1,750Total Cost: $57,450 Sewanee Financial Aid (2015  - 16): Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 85%Percentage of New Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 84%Loans: 35%Average Amount of AidGrants: $21,168Loans: $5,405 Academic Programs: Most Popular Majors:  Biology, Economics, English, Global Studies, History, Political Science, Psychology What major is right for you?  Sign up to take the free My Careers and Majors Quiz at Cappex. Graduation and Retention Rates: First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 88%Transfer-out Rate: 15%4-Year Graduation Rate: 79%6-Year Graduation Rate: 82% Intercollegiate Athletic Programs: Mens Sports:  Football, Lacrosse, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, Basketball, Baseball, Track and Field, Cross CountryWomens Sports:  Field Hockey, Lacrosse, Softball, Soccer, Volleyball, Tennis, Basketball, Cheerleading Data Source: National Center for Educational Statistics If You Like Sewanee, You May Also Like These Schools: Vanderbilt University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphBelmont University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphWake Forest University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphEmory University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphDuke University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphBerry College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphElon University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of Virginia: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUNC - Chapel Hill: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphKenyon College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphAuburn University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphFurman University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT Graph

How have the culture and mentality of the Chinese contributed to their Research Paper

How have the culture and mentality of the Chinese contributed to their success as entrepreneurs - Research Paper Example This unusual success is based on the Chinese culture and customs. Chinese school of thought Confucianism has deep roots with the entrepreneurship. Confucianism evokes qualities like hard work and constant struggle and also suggests that people should do such actions which become a source of pride for not only their family but for the state also. The Chinese custom of saving money and not using more than their needs, help them to investment in their business. Confucianism allows its followers to lead a loyal and modest life, and not using corruption as a tool to progress. Along with other qualities like interpersonal relation, self discipline and risk taking, the importance given by Chinese government on education has helped them to come up with latest and innovational solutions in the field of science and technology. The state is now taken extra steps to motivate young individuals to enter in the world of entrepreneurs and try to facilitate them in every way. Loans, coaching and help are offered to the interesting candidates. Thus their culture and the policies offered by the country helps the Chinese entrepreneurs to succeed beyond others. ..

Wartime Rape Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Wartime Rape - Research Paper Example ence of the victims themselves, if what has been reported is any indication, then the escalation in the number of wartime rapes during 20th century wars alone has increased to appalling proportions. As suggested by data on the wars in France and Germany during the second World War, the number of wartime rapes has increased by up to four times (Morris, 2000) and even a few thousand times over during the wars in Berlin (Brownmiller, 1975). With the number of wartime rape victims reaching to staggering numbers and victims continuing to hold their silence about the atrocities committed to them and most importantly, the derisory serving of justice to perpetrators of these crimes of war, more and more people’s attentions have been captured by the rape of civilians – mostly women and children. Perhaps, what makes the study of wartime rape more remarkable is the number of theories and theses that writers have come up with trying to explain the sexual carnage perpetrated during wars and its physical, emotional and economic consequences (Arcel and Kastrup, 2004). Many authors have offered their own rationalization of the act of wartime rape, but one of the most extensive explanations on the functions of rape was proposed by Seifert (1994) where these were broken down into five possible reasons of wartime sexual violence. Each of them has their own merits points of consideration. Raping the women of the enemy is a natural consequence of war. It is nothing but a part of the unwritten rules of the games of war – to the victor belong the spoils (Askin, 1997). Seifert proposes that war is a seemingly systematic activity with well established set of rules. In times of peaceful existence, sexual violence against women is a criminal offense. When wars broke out, certain conventions such as this no longer applied. Instead, a different set of rules came into play: overpower the enemy, take over their territory and destroy their possessions – including the women they

Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 12

Globalization - Essay Example Speaking about driving forces of globalization, it is essential to mention that, first of all, the globalization is caused by the objective factors of the global development, by the intensification of the international division of labor, scientific and technological progress in the area of transport and communication that reduces the so-called economic distance between countries. Allowing to receive the necessary information from any place on the Earth in real time, modern communication systems facilitate the organization of international capital investment, production and marketing cooperation. In the conditions of the informational integration of the world the transfer of technologies and adoption of foreign experience is greatly accelerated. The preconditions for the globalization of the processes, which are local by nature, for example, receiving higher education distantly, are being formed. The second essential source of globalization is the liberalization of trade and other forms of economic liberalization, which caused the limitation of protectionism politics and made the global trade more independent. As a result the tariffs were lowered, many other barriers set for goods and service trade are removed. Other measures led to the intensification of the movement of capital and other factors of production. The results of the process of globalization can be seen in the fact that the barriers for economic, cultural and even political activity become more transparent. Internet, student exchange, the protection of human rights contribute to the creation of really global society, which consists of networks. The globalization is expressed by the rapid growth of migration and capital, unification of laws, division of labor, the standardization of technology and the union of the cultures in the global scale. It is possible to state that it provides the stimulus for the formation of new international

Locating Mobiles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Locating Mobiles - Essay Example If accurate movement prediction per mobile was possible, the task of locating mobiles given their last location would become substantially efficient in terms of both speed and system resources used. Being able to determine the mobile's future locations and access points as it moves inside the network while being connected can result in significant improvement in system efficiency and connection quality. The wireless terminal (laptop or PDA) is equipped with an IEEE 802.11b -compatible network card and a web browser. The web server handles the presentation logic. The application and location servers' constitute the application logic. One possible solution for improving the quality of the service is to use a vector image format. The use of vector data is essential, in order to improve the response time and the power of the client application. Using a vector format, there is no need to request a new image file every time the user zooms or pans the image or something changes in that particular image. At present, the most promising vector format for Internet-use is SVG, which is a W3C recommendation for describing dynamic and interactive two-dimensional graphics in XML. These graphics can contain vector graphic shapes, raster images and text. SVG is ideal for visualising geographical information on the Web, since it has many features that are used in traditional cartography such as polygons, lines, points and text. More sophisticated features suitable for mapping in SVG include layering, opacity, gradient fills, stroke options, clipping, masking, scripting, animations and filter effects. SVG can also handle coordinate transformations and enables high quality paper prints. In addition, SVG maps are freely pannable and zoomable. Cellular Location Methods Cellular location methods use the signals of the cellular system to find the location of a mobile station. Since cellular systems were not originally designed for positioning, the implementation of different location methods may require new equipment to make the necessary measurements for location determination and new signalling to transfer the measurement results to the location determination unit. Before presenting the cellular location methods and their implementation aspects, some concepts that will be used to classify different methods based on the role of the mobile station (MS) and the network or on the location measurement principle are defined. Based on the functions of the MS and the network, implementation of a location method belongs to one of the following categories: Network-based Mobile-based Mobile-assisted In network-based implementation one or several base stations (BSs) make the necessary measurements and send the measurement results to a location center where the position is calculated. Network-based implementation does not require any changes to existing handsets, which is a significant advantage compared to mobile-based or most mobile-assisted solutions. However, the MS must be in active mode to enable location measurements and thus positioning in idle mode is impossible. In mobile-based implementation the MS makes measurements and position determination. This allows positioning in idle mode by measuring control channels, which are continuously transmitted. Some assisting information, e.g. BS

Exam_Decision support system and business intelligence 2 Essay

Exam_Decision support system and business intelligence 2 - Essay Example It is thus characterized by subject, integration, time and volatility. Subject-oriented – this is the type of data warehousing in which the data is arranged by the subject details that are relevant to the decision support processes thus enable users determine the how and why of the organization’s performance. Integrated-this is the characteristic of data warehouse in which the data is placed from different sources are placed in a consistent format. This is only possible if the data warehouse is dealing with major data warehousing conflicts like naming discrepancies. Time-variant-this is the characteristic of data warehouse that maintains historical data. Time is a very important aspect of warehousing that defines the status of data in real systems. This character is responsible for detecting trends, long-term relationships and deviations that help in comparisons and forecasting which forms a very important part of decision making. Non-volatile- this is the characteristic of data warehouse that ensures that data entered into the data warehouse is not manipulated by users through updating or changing. It also ensures that changes in the data are recorded as new data and obsolete data are discarded. Q2: Natural Language Processing is the mode of representation that was used by early text mining applications to introduce various structures to the text-based documents so that they could cluster them to the natural groupings or classify them to some predetermined classes. In the earlier text mining like bag-of –words the natural language was considered a cluster of words. Texts like paragraphs, sentence or complete document were often represented as a collection of world. This process disregarded the grammar of the text or the order in which these words appeared. Though this model has become obsolete, some document classification tools still use it. This is still applicable in span filtering where the e-mail message

Hamlet Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Hamlet Paper - Essay Example This setting emphasizes the exclusion of the people in this scene from the important and royal people who are tucked up inside the castle. It is as if the author is leading the audience gently up to the castle from a long distance and forcing them to pause and reflect on the time and place before tackling the main characters and plot. As the scene develops, however, it gradually becomes clear that this opening scene is setting down some markers for what is to come. It does this by drawing attention to three main themes which are: loyalty to the monarch, the difference between fantasy and reality, and the dread of some impending but unknown evil. The opening lines of the play are evidently an exchange between two guards, Bernardo and Francisco, who are changing places because it is time for one to finish his shift, and the other one to start. They speak to each other robustly and yet also respectfully, and it is clear that they both are in service to a monarch since Bernardo shouts ou t â€Å"Long live the king!† (Act I, Scene 1, line 3) as a means of identifying who he is. Both Bernardo and Francisco define themselves by their duty of loyalty to the king, and although they take their jobs seriously, it seems to be a life of hardship, because Francisco complains of the cold and of the fact that he is â€Å"sick at heart.† (Act I, Scene 1, line 8). This same declaration of loyalty to the king is repeated when Horatio and Marcellus appear, declaring that they are â€Å"friends to this ground/And liegemen to the Dane.† (Act I, Scene 1, line 8). The Dane is a reference to the king of Denmark, since kings were often referred to simply with the name of the country they ruled, and it is Shakespeare’s way of making it clear to the audience that the action takes place in this foreign country of Denmark. The loyalty of these men to the Danish throne is not in the least questioned but an element of doubt creeps in when it becomes clear that the g hostly apparition in front of them is â€Å"In the same figure, like the king that’s dead† (Act I, Scene 1, line 41). This reference informs the audience that there has been a recent changeover in the kingship, and that the soldiers have not yet adjusted to the new king’s reign. Bernardo says â€Å"Looks it not like the king?† (Act 1, Scene 1, line 43) and does not use a phrase like â€Å"the old king†, or â€Å"the former king†. This suggests he is still loyal to the old king and thinks of him automatically as the rightful monarch. The soldiers ask Horatio, who is addressed as a scholar, meaning that he has more education and status than the ordinary soldiers, to speak to the ghostly figure, and Horatio too, reveals his fondness and respect for the dead king, whom he refers to â€Å"the majesty of buried Denmark.† (Act I, Scene 1, line 48). In this case the usage drives home the message that if the fate of the whole country is tied u p with the fate of the king. This little exchange injects an element of suspense into the scene, because the audience is bound to be wondering what happened to the old king, and who is now ruling Denmark in his place. These questions are left hanging in the air, so that the whole topic of kingship acquires an aura of uncertainty. Further information about the dead king is given by Horatio, who presumably knew him, and fought with him

Exam_Decision support system and business intelligence 2 Essay

Exam_Decision support system and business intelligence 2 - Essay Example It is thus characterized by subject, integration, time and volatility. Subject-oriented – this is the type of data warehousing in which the data is arranged by the subject details that are relevant to the decision support processes thus enable users determine the how and why of the organization’s performance. Integrated-this is the characteristic of data warehouse in which the data is placed from different sources are placed in a consistent format. This is only possible if the data warehouse is dealing with major data warehousing conflicts like naming discrepancies. Time-variant-this is the characteristic of data warehouse that maintains historical data. Time is a very important aspect of warehousing that defines the status of data in real systems. This character is responsible for detecting trends, long-term relationships and deviations that help in comparisons and forecasting which forms a very important part of decision making. Non-volatile- this is the characteristic of data warehouse that ensures that data entered into the data warehouse is not manipulated by users through updating or changing. It also ensures that changes in the data are recorded as new data and obsolete data are discarded. Q2: Natural Language Processing is the mode of representation that was used by early text mining applications to introduce various structures to the text-based documents so that they could cluster them to the natural groupings or classify them to some predetermined classes. In the earlier text mining like bag-of –words the natural language was considered a cluster of words. Texts like paragraphs, sentence or complete document were often represented as a collection of world. This process disregarded the grammar of the text or the order in which these words appeared. Though this model has become obsolete, some document classification tools still use it. This is still applicable in span filtering where the e-mail message

Levers of Control and Strategy Implementation Essay

Levers of Control and Strategy Implementation - Essay Example Secondly, the technology requirement for the low class lock is low and lock can be produced by some small companies in town. They have cost advantage in tax and administration. The product can meet the requirement in low class market. Thirdly, the higher steel price compresses the profit space. The case company is located in the North of China. It is a medium size company which has three production lines and can produce about hundred kind of lock. Their products are mainly the door lock and padlock. Their locks are used in civil and industrial areas. They can produce the low- and medium class lock. Between 2003 and 2005, they pay attention to low class door lock because of high demand by the construction company. In these two years, the competition in low class market became fierce They decided to go back the medium market. In 2007, The productivity of medium class lock take 30% percent and the profit take more than 50%. The top management realized they must develop in medium-class market because of high profit ratio. However, their vision and strategy can not be implemented successfully by their current performance and control system. During strategy implementation, the strategic uncertainty must be met. These strategy uncertainties drive the new strategy. The company's current source of strategy uncertainty is stronger competition (Atkinson and Court, 1998). Normally, companies choose one or more performance measurement and control system to monitor the uncertainties interactively. The case companies choose the revenue interactively which is highly responsive to changes in competition. However, the measure of the whole revenue can not meet the requirement of the new strategy as the companies decide to develop their product in the medium product market. The sales and profit of the medium class products are not monitored separately and interactively. Moreover, supplier is an important aspect of strategic uncertainty in competition market. For example, they pay less attention to the raw material previously because the fluctuation in the raw material market is stable. The small fluctuation of profit does not influen ce their production plan and strategy. One of their strategies is market share. The revenue is a critical performance variable of market share. However, in the last year, the steel price increased by 15%. This change heavily influenced their profit. The company had to change the production plan. The cost of raw material has a big impact on the company's profit. They need to pay more attention on the raw materials market. In order to occupy the market, they can not transfer the cost of raw materials to sale price fully. Therefore, they should monitor the cost of raw material and provide a subjective incentive to the purchaser. The levers of control (LOA) can not only improve the strategy implementation capacities in the four facets, but also manage the strategic risk which is often ignored. The successful strategy implementation requires controlling the multiple dimensions of strategy reflected in the 4Ps of strategy implementation: perspective, position, plans and goals, patterns of action. Since there are still gray areas in some aspects of strategy implementation like the levers of control, this research will investigate the levers of control of strategy implementation (Bapna et al, 2000). Specifically, the study is set

History of Video Games

History of Video Games The History of Video Games One of the youngest forms of entertainment to date, the path that led the video game industry to be the giant multibillion dollar industry that it is today is about as humble as World War II. Mounted in mystery and finding its roots in gambling dens and the minds of defense contractors, the history of video games is obtuse and then some. This essay will present a summary of the history of videogames, as it started in the mind of Ralph Baer, the ‘Father of video games, to its place in present and future society as the place holder for billions of dollars in the entertainment industry. Although he is barely spoken of today, except by those the behind scenes, the idea of interacting with televisions further than changing the volume and channel sprang out of the mind of Ralph Baer. After escaping Germany with his parents at the age of 16, Ralph came to America and began working in a television and repair factory. In 1943 he was drafted in the United States Army and served in World War II in Army Intelligence. (Game Informer, 2009) Baer learned much of his knowledge in electronic technology while working for Loral, a military contractor that specialized in airborne technology. Loral approaches Baer with a mission: He is to make the best television technology and money can create. It was at this time that Baer had an idea to make a television that people can be actively engaged with. Loral wasnt nearly as enthusiastic as Baer was and shot his idea down, an action that may have been hastily made. (gamespot.com, 2009) In the year of 1966, Baer approaches his associates with a full page paper on his idea, which is now in the Smithsonian. â€Å"That Document was basically the Magna Carta of the home game industry. Within a year and a half, we were playing video ping-pong, hand ball, and shooting the screen with light guns,† Ralph Baer told Game Informer Magazine. (Game Informer Magazine, Gamespot.com) Sanders and Associates gave Baer the thumbs up. They provided Baer with the backing he needed to start development on his beloved idea. Baer successfully created interactive games such as a chase game, a video tennis game, and a game involving a toy gun that could distinguish between different of types light emitted from a television screen. Baer and other engineers on his team begin creating a prototype. In 1968, the Brown Box was created, named for its faux wood-grain housing. All that was left for Ralph Baer was to put his brainchild in the hands of the populous. This was much more difficult than expected. Sanders asked Baer to find a production partner for his invention. Many of the television and entertainment companies that he approached enjoyed the idea but did not want to enter into contractual obligations. Then he found Magnavox. In 1972, the Brown Box was released as the Magnavox Odyssey. One of its first games was the forever famous, Pong. (Game informer Magazine) Before the first home console hit the stage, in 1958 the very first invention to resemble a video game was a table tennis like game played on an oscilloscope. Willy Higinbotham sought to keep visitors to the Brookhaven National Laboratory interested. A year later, he added a fifteen inch monitor to his unique device. He never placed a patent on his machine. (gamespot.com) An MIT graduate by the name of Steve Russel created the first computer game, called SpaceWar. SpaceWar was played on a rigged up Digital PDP-1. This machine spurred the mind of many imaginative thinkers, one such being was Nolan Bushnell. (gamespot.com) During his academic career, Bushnell sees SpaceWar and is left an everlasting impression. While working a summer job at a carnival, he sees the local coin-operated arcade filled with dozens of computer machines. Realizing it is only a dream, he sees that the cost of computers in that day makes this feat impossible. (gamespot.com) In the early 1970s, Nolan, with the help of Ted Dabney, wanted to make an arcade booth with a SpaceWar based game. The result was Computer Space, the first video arcade game. Placed in a futuristic housing cabinet and crowned with a whopping (for those days) thirteen inch television, Bushnell and Dabney immediately gained support from Nutting Associates, an arcade game manufacturer. 1972 heralded the publics mass exposure to video arcades. Computer Spaces success was short lived, as the public found the gameplay too challenging. (gamespot.com) 1972 was a busy year for video games. The dynamic duo Bushnell and Dabney, left Nutting to start Atari, naming it after a word equivalent to ‘check in the Japanese game Go, which is similar to chess. The two enlisted the help of Al Alcom to program the games. Alcom was given a preliminary assignment, and programmed the first ever Pong. A Pong machine was thrown together and placed in a bar, Andy Capps. Less than two weeks later, the machine broke down. The culprit was the coin storage bin, which was flooded with quarters. Pong was a hit, and paved the way for modern day arcade games. (gamespot.com, Game Informer) Years later, Baer took Bushnell, along with several other video game companies, to court for Bushnells version of Pong. A settlement was reached out of court, where Bushnell finally agreed to pay the licensing fees. (Game Informer) Nintendo, a Japanese word meaning, â€Å"leave luck to the heavens,† is one of the oldest gaming companies today. Its roots began in the year 1889, as a Japanese playing card company. Nintendo quickly gained a following, as the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza, began using Nintendos cards in their illegal gaming and gambling dens. This provided a steady income allowing the company to flourish. Nintendo first appeared in the United States in 1907, creating American styled cards. Impressed with Nintendo, Disney approached the company in 1959, commissioning Disney character cards. This brought Nintendo into the home of more upstanding families. In the late 1970s to the early 1980s Nintendo put its foot in the door for electronic gaming, creating sundry unsuccessful arcade games, that is, until Donkey Kong. 1981 saw the flight of Donkey Kong, a game which took the nation by storm. It success was only bested by games with the likes of Pac-man. This movement caused Nintendo to switch gears, and give serious thought to the video game industry. In 1985, it put the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in homes worldwide, giving itself the concrete foothold into the home console market that became the mainstream concept of most gaming companies of the day. (Wii for Dummies, nintendo.com) The other large scale production companies of the day were Sony and Sega, both starting out as electronic repair and development companies. Those companies, along with Atari, Activision, Coleco, Magnavox, Mattel, and Nintendo, produce more than 15 home-based consoles in the span of six years, while gaming was only out of the womb for less than five years. (Game Informer) Original games such as Pong were played on a very limited plane comprised of dots and squares. The first games were also immovable programs that came with the consoles, which usually only had a few games. Optional peripherals could be purchased to slightly increase gameplay. In 1976, cartridges debuted, allowing games and consoles to be purchased separately, and for more games to be created and implemented well after a consoles release. Cartridges, along with VHS tapes, held strong until 1992 when the compact disk killed cartridges for most consoles. Other than computers, the Sega Genesis was one the first consoles to use this form of the medium . Today, handhelds are the only platforms to see their usage, and we are actively watching them disappear and go the way of the VHS. Most games today float through airspace, are on CDs, or flow through cables. (gamespot.com, Game Informer) Games also have under gone massive prosthetic changes. In the days of Odyssey, games were pixilated and simple to look at. In 1981, one of the first three dimensional games was created: Battlezone. It was also one of the first first-person games. One player played as a tank and faced enemies in a battle like simulation. It was met with much success and gratification. It even fell into the lap of the US Army, and an enhanced version was commissioned and used as a battle simulator to train troops. (gamespot.com, Know the Score) Today, games continue to push the envelope. In 2000, Sony placed the Playstation 2 in the market, dazzling gamers with its almost lifelike games. It was met with Nintendos Gamecube and Microsofts Xbox. Four years later, the Xbox 360 hit the scene, with graphics that looked like works of art. A year later the Wii and Playstation 3 burst into the market, after much speculation about both. The Wii falls short of the other two consoles at first because of its graphics, but quickly gains fame do to its new wireless motion sensed controller. By November 16, 2006, it had sold more than fifty million units worldwide; more than that of Sony and Microsoft Combined. However, the undisputed champion of sales, is that of Nintendos first handheld, the Gameboy. The Gameboy sold over one hundred-sixty million units worldwide. (nintendo.com, Game Informer) The gaming phenomenon has reached heights that were never expected, especially given its complicated history. Its memorabilia have gained collective value faster than any franchise before it, with games less than 20 years old being bought and sold for more than three-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars. They are even moving in the direction of removing controllers from gameplay by having cameras capture and process movement and simple or complex gestures to advance the player in the game, such as Project Natal. (Game Informer) This essay has captured the rocky surface of the video game movement. It began with its speculated beginnings, and ended with its present and future outlook. Video games have stretched the relative views of space and time, pointed out infinite possibilities, have been emulated on the ‘Big Screen and allowed expressive outlets for the mind and bodies of my generation, and will continue to dazzle and amaze us for the remainder of our lives. References Corporate history (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2009, from http://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.jsp Game Informer. (2009, May). Ralph Baer. Game Informer Magazine, 193, 30-31. Game Informer. (2009, June). The Fate of a Generation. Game Informer magazine, 194, 16-17. Herman, L., Horwitz, J., Kent, S., Miller, S. The history of video games. Retrieved November 13, 2009, from http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hov/ Orland, K. (2008). Wii for dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing. Skurzynski, G. (1994). Know the score. New York: Macmillian.

How Children Deal with Death :: Papersb Stages Psychology Essays

How Children Deal with Death Death is hard to deal with for everyone, but for children especially; they view death in various ways at different ages. At these ages children need help and guidance from their parents. The first step is to help them feel a part of the whole experience, doing this will allow them to deal with the death. The rest is counciling and (quick step number two;) the parent’s main part should be to listen while the child talks, doing this is very helpful for understanding the child. This is also very benneficial because it gives the child a chance to get his/her feelings off, this relieves certain tensions. So in order to help children get through the grieving process age and maturity level of the child must be concidered, and council should be centered around the limitations of those statistics. Infants are one group, with no real understanding of death but they can react to the way their parent/s react/s to loss. When the physical love that a parent can provide is suddenly missing, the child does have fears of separation. Infants are also very tuned in to their parents’ feelings of stress and sadness. In relation to these feelings there might be noted physical expressions such as: crying, crankiness, rashes and clinging. How one can handle this is to talk with others about one’s concerns with family members, or even the funeral director; he/she has a good chance of knowing what to do. Seek support and help from family and friends. Parent/s should try spending more time each day with the child to ensure a secure feeling for the child. (Wolfelt) I have learned on the Discovery channel that children who are physically touched develop better and more fully, so loving them patting them and holding them often does worlds of help. (experiment covered by the Discovery channel) For children ages two and a half to five; this is the stage at which the child is likely to confuse death as a reversible event like sleeping. Or the death of someone close to them could be viewed as punishment for something they have done; make sure they know this is not so. Children of this age are egocentric and believe everything that happens to be caused by them or that they will â€Å"catch† death and die as well. A child might also believe death to always be result of violence, this belief might have come from what they see on TV. Behaviors to look for are: the child showing little concern for favorite TV shows, going

Personal Computers are better than Macintosh Computers Essay -- Techno

The conflict between personal computers (PCs; developed by Microsoft) and Macintosh computers (Macs; developed by Apple) has occurred for many years. The two are constantly competing with each other to win over the computing market. Macintosh claims that their computers are more efficient when working with graphic design and media arts, while a PC is known for mathematical superiority and a stronger variety of hardware and software. Many myths about both systems have been spread amongst the consumer world. However, proper research can easily clarify these fictions. Someone looking to buy a new computer has a right to know the truths behind both systems. Though the Macintosh computer and the personal computer have been competing for years, a PC is a much wiser choice for the average consumer. The PC and the Mac have many factors that can be compared and contrasted. Walking through the computer store, a shopper can see the two side-by-side and begin to make conclusions. The Mac looks sleek and fancy with all sorts of different colors while a PC may appear to be nothing more than a vanilla-colored box. However, when the shopper looks around the store, it is easy to notice "that Mac titles aren't easy to find" (Kantor). Microsoft's operating system, Windows, is supported by many software developing companies, while only a small selection is made available to Mac owners. Something else someone might notice is that only Apple makes Macintosh computers, while many different companies can make a PC that supports Microsoft Windows. Taking a brief look at the interface of the systems, the Mac looks bubbly and "cute" while the Windows desktop tends to look more corporate or professional (Farmer, Harris, Kantor, Marks). Let's look a littl... ...list of companies while only Apple makes Macintosh computers. Both Macs and PCs are vulnerable to viruses, so one of Mac's few advantages is actually a myth. It would seem that a personal computer has many advantages over a Mac. Therefore, it would make sense that PCs make up "95 percent or more of the market" (Kantor). By sticking with the majority, a user has easy access to people who are trained to repair their computer and to hardware and software selections (Kantor). Due to of the reasons stated, a personal computer is a much better choice than a Macintosh computer for most consumers. People with certain needs may be happier with a Mac. However, the majority of consumers will find reliability and satisfaction in a PC. An educated shopper knows what they are personally looking for, and hopefully those who read this essay can confidently make their own choice.

The Functions of Diplomacy Essay

Diplomacy has existed since the beginning of the human race. The act of conducting negotiations between two persons, or two nations at a large scope is essential to the upkeep of international affairs. Among the many functions of diplomacy, some include preventing war and violence, and fortifying relations between two nations. Diplomacy is most importantly used to complete a specific agenda. Therefore without diplomacy, much of the world’s affairs would be abolished, international organizations would not exist, and above all the world would be at a constant state of war. It is for diplomacy that certain countries can exist in harmony. There has not been a documented start of diplomacy; however there have been instances ranging back to the 5th century where diplomacy arose in certain nations. Dating back to 432 B.C, the Congress of Sparta was an â€Å"illustration of diplomacy as organized by the Greek City States† (Nicolson 1). The origin of the word â€Å"diploma† comes from different sides of the earth. In Greece diploma meant â€Å"folded in two†, while in Ancient Rome the word was used to describe travel documents. Often times the word diplomacy is given many meanings. Many times will the words â€Å"policy† and the word â€Å"negotiation† be seen as synonyms; hence the word â€Å"diplomacy† and â€Å"foreign diplomacy† are deemed to be similar (Nicolson 3). These â€Å"synonyms† of diplomacy are all faulty. While they may be very similar in some cases, they are not the exactly the same. Sir Harold Nicolson who was an English Diplomat born in Tehran, Persia, states that: â€Å"Diplomacy is neither the invention nor the pastime of some particular political system, but is an essential element in any reasonable relation between man and man and between nation and nation† (Nicolson 4). For the upkeep of the International System, diplomacy is used in every corner of the world. Without it many nations would not be able to conduct successful negotiations. While many are not able to find a clear beginning or creation of diplomacy, modern diplomacy has become much more advanced and many aspects have changed over the years. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 created the first modern diplomatic congress in addition to creating a new world order in central Europe based on state sovereignty. Much of Europe began to change after the introduction of modern diplomacy. For example, â€Å"France under Cardinal Richelieu introduced the modern approach  to international relations, based on the nation-state and motivated by national interest as its ultimate purpose† (Kissinger 17). The New World Order began to bloom in all of Central and Western Europe. Great Britain argued for the â€Å"balance of power† which kept European diplomacy alive for the next 200 years (Kissinger 17). Every country in Europe contributed a little to the diplomacy the world has today. The balance of powers theory that many famous realists such as Francsesco Sforza, Machiavelli, and Guiciardini argued was and still is an essential component of modern diplomacy. Many could argue that diplomacy is a product of society and history itself. As countries progress different aspects are added to diplomacy. Separation of powers, national interest, and a country’s sovereignty are only a few elements that were added to modern diplomatic history. Therefore, diplomacy can be seen as an ever-changing concept, the same way International Relations between countries fluctuate. Author of The Pure Concept of Diplomacy Josà © Calvet De Magalhà £es stated that â€Å"continuity of the diplomatic institution throughout thousands of years and in all known civilizations shows that diplomacy is an institution inherent to international life itself, one that may undergo transformations or may be used with more or less intensity, but cannot be dispensed with† (Szykman). As Henry Kissinger states â€Å"By pursuing its own selfish interests, each state [is] presumed to contribute to progress, as if some unseen hand were guaranteeing that freedom of choice for eac state assured well-being for all† (Kissinger 22), In the course of all diplomatic history â€Å"[†¦] no country has influenced international relations as decisively and at the same time as ambivalently as the United States. No society, has more firmly insisted on the inadmissibility of intervention in the domestic affairs of other states, or more passionately asserted that its own values w ere universally applicable. No nation has been more pragmatic in the day-to-day conduct of its diplomacy, or more ideological in the pursuit of its history moral convictions. No country has been more reluctant to engage itself abroad even while undertaking alliances and commitments of unprecedented reach and scope† (Kissinger 18). The United States headstrong tendencies to succeed have made it one of the most influential countries in the course of diplomacy. â€Å"The most famous of all peace proposals following World War I was the program of Fourteen Points, delivered by President Woodrow Wilson in  1918† (Szykman). Most can argue that without the United States, much of modern diplomacy would be gone. There are in fact many functions of diplomacy that make diplomacy an essential ingredient for any peaceful and efficient change. The reason to negotiate with other persons has always been the same, to have better relations. Over the course of diplomacy being in existence, the structure of diplomatic posts has changed from a loose one to an organized institution made for a specific purpose. While the structure of diplomatic posts has changed, the functions always remained the same. There are four functions of diplomacy. The first function involves â€Å"representing a state’s interests and conducting negotiations or discussions designed to identify common interests as well as areas of disagreement between the parties, for the purpose of achieving the state’s goals and avoiding conflict† (Ameri 1). Representations of a state as well as negotiation are the most important functions of diplomacy. Negotiations between two representatives are a key component in diplomacy, because in doing so the representatives find a common interest. Finding a common interest is vital in conducting negotiations because with a common interest representatives are able to devise a solution that is in the interest of both sides. G.R. Berridge that negotiation â€Å"can produce the advantages obtainable from the cooperative pursuit of common interests; and it is only this ac tivity that can prevent violence from being employed to settle remaining arguments over conflicting ones† (Berridge 1). The second function of diplomacy involves â€Å"the gathering of information and subsequent identification and evaluation of the receiving state’s foreign policy goals† (Ameri 1). Diplomatic posts are concerned with gathering information; however when the information is sent back to their native country a Foreign Ministry analyzes the data and determines what foreign policy should be enacted. Political leaders choose what path is right for their country then. The third major function of diplomacy is expansion of political, economic, and cultural ties between two countries (Ameri 2). For example, after WWII countries such as the United States and Britain aimed their foreign policy at the extermination of communism. In present day, the United States State Department engages international audiences to speak about politics, security, and their values to help create an environment receptive to US national interests. In addition, â€Å"the State Department annually sponsors more than 40,000  educational and cultural exchanges† (Diplomacy). Finally, the fourth function of diplomacy is that â€Å"diplomacy is the facilitating or enforcing vehicle for the observation of international law† (Ameri 2). It is the diplomat’s job to promote the country’s national interests and keep ties with other countries open. The emphasis put on diplomacy is not just dominant in today’s world, however it was a developing concept in the Renaissance as well. Great thinkers such as Machiavelli, Guicciardini, Grotius, Richelieu, Wicquefort, Satow, Nicolson, and Kissinger had a profound impact on diplomacy. For Machiavelli diplomacy was a tool of deception to grant more power to the state (Beridge 24). Machiavelli’s impact on leaders was a major one because he argued for leaders to be headstrong as well as reserved. Guicciardini promoted the upkeep of good relations; to be careful with whom one deals with and that reputation is key in a negotiation (Berridge 43). His contribution to diplomacy was that diplomati c posts are given to people who can be trusted and can promote their country’s state interests. What these great thinkers contributed to diplomacy was immense. All of them contributed a different element to the ever-growing concept of diplomacy. Since the subject of diplomacy is always growing and changing, it can be said that because of its vast effect on the world, everybody needs diplomacy to survive. It has become such a vital part of everyone’s life that is indirectly becoming a trait for survival. Throughout the course of history diplomacy has been a paramount element in the upkeep of peace and in the creation of positive change. Without diplomacy much of the world’s affairs would not exist. There are many examples of how diplomacy has affected countries, and even individual citizens. An example of how negotiation positively can affect someone is Clinton’s negotiation with Kim Jung Il in North Korea. Their peaceful negotiation resulted in the release of two American citizens. An example of how power can corrupt diplomacy is Libya and Switzerland. With the introduction of power, in other words oil, countries such as Libya with the leader Ghaddafi are able to have a stronger presence in the world and say things that can normally not be said. Power corrupts, however diplomacy seeks to rid corruption and reinforce the international system as well as international law. It is for diplomacy that international organizations can exist. In a diplomatic way, an international organization is merely a many  members finding a common ground on a particular subject. In the United Nations for example, all the members try to find a common interest for positive change. Although it is sometimes perceived to be slow change, the method of diplomacy causes fewer casualties than any other one. If diplomacy were not in existence, international organizations would not exist. The world would be at a constant state of war, and war would in fact never end because they normally end with diplomatic negotiations. Selected Bibliography Adam, Watson,. Diplomacy the dialogue between states. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1983. Berridge, G. R. Diplomatic Theory From Machievelli to Kissinger. New York: Palgrave, 2001. â€Å"Diplomacy – The U.S. Department of State at Work.† U.S. Department of State. Bureau of Public Affairs, June 2008. Web. 2 Sept. 2009. . Eban, Abba Solomon. New diplomacy international affairs in the modern age. New York: Random House, 1983. Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy (A Touchstone Book). New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. Kwong, Maj Tang Mun. â€Å"The Roles of Diplomacy and Deterrence in the 21 st Century.† Journal V27 N1 Jan-Mar (2001). Newsom, David D. Diplomacy under a Foreign Flag – When Nations break Relations. Washington DC: Institute for the Study of Diplomacy,1991. Nicolson, Harold. Diplomacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977. Satow, Ernest M. A guide to diplomatic practice. London: Longmans, 1932. Written by: Christopher Amacker

Poetry Project Essay

Introduction These poems are all written based off of my, Miciah’s, opinions. I have a distinct perspective on religion, therefore I chose to write a poem describing hate and love and how I thing religion is a dumb idea. My poem is titled â€Å"Hate and Love†, based off of the poem â€Å"Fire and Ice† by Robert Frost. In it I concur to what religion claims, symbolically saying that religion is wrong and not serious. I used the same exact syllables and rhyme scheme as â€Å"Fire and Ice† by Robert Frost. â€Å"Pie† is simply an original poem by me. It has no significant meaning what-so-ever. I also have a sense of humor therefore I wrote poems that are humorous yet meaningful if the reader decides to read deeper into the meaning of â€Å"Clothes†. In this poem I humanized clothes to the point where clothes are smart and can do actions. Again, if the reader reads deep into this poem, he/she can see that family is symbolized as the clothes. In the first two lines, the reader can read that â€Å"Family† (the clothes) keeps you from being embarrassed. I also wrote a short haiku titled â€Å"My Name Is†. I titled this after one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite rappers, â€Å"My Name Is† by Eminem. In this Haiku, based off of the original poem â€Å"After Basho† by Carolyn Kizer, I describe myself as a person that people who don’t know me well just see me as a kid by the name of Miciah. But for those who know me can call me â€Å"friend† whether or not they really are a good friend. This is based off of my first few weeks of high school here at Sacred Heart, a lot of people didn’t know me as a person but they knew of me/ just knew my name. I used the three unrhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables found in the haiku â€Å"After Basho† by Carolyn Kizer. â€Å"Once Called Home† is a meaningful poem that I related with my really years about my life before and during fostercare before I got adopted. This poem that I wrote is based off of â€Å"Tyger† by William Blake. I chose this poem as the model for my poem because it is a powerful poem with a rhyme and rhyme scheme that would work with the meaning of the poem. I used the imagery, pattern and rhyming in a similar manor to William Blake’s poem â€Å"Tyger†. â€Å"Poetry† is simply about how I am not meant to be a poet. It has a similar subject as â€Å"How Poetry Comes to Me† by Gary Snyder in the sense that they both are relating poetry and themselves to create a poem. Under my bed is another haiku that doesn’t have a deep meaning but is based off of Matsuo Basho’s â€Å"Under Cherry Trees†. Basho’s haiku talks about under a cherry tree whereas my poem is more humorous, and is about the underside of my bed. Clothes Clothes are debatably the smartest things ever made They keep your junk from being displayed. But not only that, They are good resting grounds for your domestic cat Clothes are clothes and will never change Unless you and a friend decide to exchange My Name Is Who am I, you ask? I am known as Miciah But to most, just â€Å"Friend† (Based on After Basho by Carolyn Kizer) Hate and Love People say the world will end in hate Some say in love But, please, let us not discriminate I think we could live without the hate For those thinking of an above Have another thing coming their way Was land in fact spotted by that dove? But neigh I say. Not the right glove (Based on Fire and Ice by Robert Frost) Pie I like pie, And you like pie. Boy! Aren’t we cool!? Once Called Home Home is to live in a place you love Home feels like a place sent from above It’s free from the hatred and disgust It clears you a nice path from the dust The dust is still in the air for me Hatred and disgust roams just freely Formerly, home was a place I cherished But, out of the blue, my home perished Everything I treasured and cared for Left me and isn’t here anymore The pain rubbed so much it left blisters. But at least I got my two sisters Being forced to leave someone named â€Å"mom† Feels like a kiloton blast from a bomb I despise what home has made of me But what I shall make of home, we’ll see (Based on Tyger by William Blake) Poetry Although fun at times, I am not much of a poet. Take this â€Å"poem† for example, It doesn’t even make sense Bananas. (Based on How Poetry Comes to Me by Gary Snyder) Under My Bed There is something there Dust bunnies, mold and all†¦ It kind of scares me (Based on Under Cherry Trees by Matsuo Basho).