Peer Review of Strategic and Implementation Plans Essay

Team members provided feedback on the individual draft papers posted. The assignment was to provide a strategic plan for our chosen organization. The plan needed to include implementation for objectives, functional tactics, action items, milestones and deadlines, tasks and task ownership, and resource allocations. Organizational and management changes, financial forecasts, and risks with contingency plans also needed to be addressed. One of the draft papers contained excellent breakdowns on the financials for a startup company along with specifics on which participating individuals would be responsible for key action items. The budget and sales forecast were realistic for what would be expected with a new business. The identified risk of low participation volume from clients was identified, but there was no contingency plan for this in terms of additional marketing. Another team member’s paper was clear in how customer needs could impact the success of the strategic plan. Internal and external factors addressed employee relations and shareholder expectations. The approach the company needs to take with delivering service to customers is identified as factor that needs to change as the plan is implemented. A SWOT analysis would be conducted and contingency plans made on an as-needed basis. The company may want to develop several contingency plans for common issues within its industry to be prepared for these scenarios. The third draft reviewed focused on short and long-term objectives and the use of a balanced scorecard approach to evaluating and monitoring the plan’s implementation. The critical components for objectives, functional tactics,  action items, and resource allocation were identified. Major changes to the organizational structure and management positions were key factors to the company’s plan. Conclusion Although all team members did not post drafts or offer feedback those that did provided details pertinent to the assignment. Team members identified the items outlined in the assignment and appear to have strong knowledge of what a strategic plan needs to address to be successful in meeting goals.

Discuss the theme of the Dream in the book Of Mice and Men Essay

None of the people on the ranch have freedom, and freedom was what George and Lennie wanted. Crooks, Candy and Lennie are victims, Crooks because of his back, where a horse had kicked him, Candy because of his hand, which he lost on the ranch, although he got two hundred and fifty bucks in compensation and Lennie is a victim because of his lack of knowledge. The main dream in the book â€Å"Of Mice and Men† is George and Lennie’s dream. Their dream is to have their own land where they will grow whatever they like, and to have a variety of animals, and Lennie will get to look after the rabbits, if he behaves well. The rabbits are all he talks and thinks about – the perfect land and the rabbits that he will look after if he behaves himself. â€Å"Don’t you think of nothing but rabbits?† The land will be ten acres, have a windmill, a little shack and chicken run. It will have a kitchen and plenty of food and water. They will build a smoke house where they will smoke the bacon, the ham, and the sausages. They’ll kill a pig or rabbit each Sunday. They’ll can fruits. They’ll also sell eggs and milk. They want to be answerable to nobody, to have freedom and be independent. Also, like Lennie says with a lot of enthusiasm, â€Å"An` live off the fatta the lan`† This is a dream that George believes will not come true, (but he continues as though the dream will come true to lure Lennie to behave himself.) because they don’t have the money and Lennie is always getting in some sort of trouble and then, they have to run away. He doesn’t mean to do any harm. â€Å"All the time he done bad things but he never done one of ’em mean† Soon Candy gets to know about their dream, and this is the only part of the book where it seems that the dream is only around the corner. With Candy’s three hundred and fifty bucks and George’s and Lennie’s fifty bucks each coming at the end of the month, which makes a total of four hundred and fifty bucks, George says he could swing the owners for that as the lady needs an operation. George has a dream of his own which is a life without Lennie. If he didn’t have Lennie with him all the time, â€Å"When I think of the swell time I could have without you, I go nuts. I never get no peace.† If he also didn’t have Lennie ‘on his tail’ all the time, he could maybe even have a girl. This dream does come true at the end, but George had to kill Lennie or otherwise Curley would have come and killed Lennie himself. George learnt from Candy’s mistake of letting someone else kill his dog, so he killed Lennie himself making sure that the gunshot would not give Lennie any pain. Lennie’s life is ended, also with the dream as Lennie and George are talking about the dream – until Lennie is killed like an animal. Candy’s dream was to be happy. The only time he was really happy was when he was a child. Candy has no other relatives, so he thought he’d be happy living with George and Lennie. Candy is heartbroken when he finds out that Lennie has killed Curley’s wife. Candy knows that their dream cannot come true now, because Lennie was part of the dream and now he is dead. Also, when Candy’s dog was shot, Candy covered his eyes with his arm. â€Å"Old Candy lay down in the hay and covered his eyes with his arm.† And this was what he did when his dream was shattered. We do not know what happened to Candy or George after Lennie was killed, as the story ended there, so the death of Curley’s wife ended two dreams, but the death of Lennie made George’s second dream come true. Even though he didn’t like killing Lennie, he didn’t want to let someone else kill him. I suppose George thought it was the last straw – if he is killing unknowingly, he could kill again. They could not keep running from everything he did wrong. He would get caught one day, and be killed. Curley’s dream was to be big like Lennie and this is why Curley picked a fight with Lennie and he lost. He didn’t give Lennie a chance to show him that he was not against him, but straight away headed for Lennie and started asking him questions. George had told him not to speak, so he didn’t answer. Curley really got angry. George answered for him and he answered, ‘An’ you won’t let the big guy talk, is that it?’ He wants to be big and tall. He picks fights with anybody that is larger, in a way superior to him. He only has respect for Slim; we know this because he listened to Slim. â€Å"I think you got your han’ caught in a machine.† He knows what really happened. He didn’t want to get laughed at either, so he listened and obeyed Slim’s instruction. â€Å"But you jus’ tell an’ try to get this guy canned and we’ll tell ever’ body, an’ then will you get the laugh.† Curley agreed to this statement, otherwise he will be laughed at for starting the fight and then losing it. Even though Curley’s hand was totally ruined, and Lennie got a couple of bruises and cuts nobody got in any more trouble. When his wife was killed he was really mad. Not mad for losing a loved one. He was mad at Lennie for killing her, and instead of staying with his wife, he hurried off to find Lennie and to kill him. We notice that although Curley was very protective over his wife, he didn’t show any interest in her, and showed no signs of love. Nobody liked Curley, not even his wife. Curley’s wife was an outcast, because she is the only female on the ranch and wore a lot of red. We can sense she is heading for trouble, because of the way she flirted with all the men on the ranch. Red lipstick and red finger nails shows a sign of danger. Curley’s wife’s dream was to become a movie star, and have nice clothes. This dream only came about because; some guy had said that she was a natural. â€Å"this guy says I was a natural† Her dream was shattered because she didn’t receive a letter, this guy had promised to send to her. According to her, she thought her mother had thrown it away. We get the feeling that he didn’t actually send the letter. She really thought that her mother had thrown it away and only for revenge, she got married to Curley. She didn’t love Curley, nor even liked him. She’s not interested in Curley and Curley has no interest in her, but she is always looking for him, as an excuse, to talk to other guys. The other guys think she’s a tart, and is ‘jail bait’. Crooks has a dream, which is when he was a little child he remembered he had two brothers and they used to do everything together. His dream is to be back with his family. â€Å"I remember when I was a little kid on my old man’s chicken ranch.† He became negatively cynical. He doesn’t believe life will get any better and he thinks that people always behave selfishly or dishonestly. Crooks is lonely and the only one who has respect for him is Slim. When he was small he used to play with people that weren’t black and this would upset his father. He didn’t understand why until he was older. People called him a nigger and he is the only black person on the ranch. When he was a child, his family was the only black family for miles. Crooks had no other dreams; he just wanted friends that won’t criticize him, because of his colour. None of the dreams came true, and are all crushed and shattered, because George’s dream didn’t mean that he didn’t want Lennie at all, he wanted him, but not all the time. Lennie had to be killed and that ends another two dreams. Candy’s dream was to be a part of George and Lennie’s dream, but as Lennie was killed, his dream also vanished. Curley’s dream was to be big and as he’s a grown man he won’t grow any more. Crook’s dream is to be back with his family, but it is impossible to go back in time. Curley’s wife is dead which ends another dream. We see that John Steinbeck didn’t make anybody’s dream come true. Anjana Patel English coursework 2nd January 2001

Assessing The Scope And Diversity Of Hilton Hotels Tourism Essay

Assessing The Scope And Diversity Of Hilton Hotels Tourism Essay There are 1.7 million employees engaged in the hospitality industry in the UK, which is almost 6 of the total working class people. Yearly turnover is  £55- £60b from the hospitality industry, includes all sizes or types of hospitality businesses or organisations. It is so difficult to say that which is the biggest organisation, as it is depends on so many factors. There are some top operators in the market specialised in own sectors. Generally, they are based on their yearly turnover, sizes, types, number of employees, sectors, sub-sectors etc. According to VisitBritain, 27.7m overseas visitors came to the UK in 2004. There is a 13 increase in terms of like for like sales than the previous year. Visitors have spent an estimated value of  £13b in the year 2004 increasing 10 than 2003, according to VisitBritain. On the other hand, domestic tourists spent 70.5 million on holidays of more than one night within the UK. Domestic business trips were also made, estimated more than 22 million, in 2003. An estimated total domestic spend was  £59 billion. In the case of tourism, there are an estimated 1.4 million jobs in the UK, which is 5 of all working people. Scope: There are 14 industries included in the hospitality sector; from hotels and restaurants through to events, gambling, pubs, and food contracts, school meals, catering for parties, conferences, Night clubs and travel services. Diversity: There are many types of Hospitality services available in the market, such as Luxury hotels (5*-7*), Boutique hotel, Mid range hotel, Budget hotel, guest house/B their reliable group of hotel brands includes the Waldorf Astoria, Conrad Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations (About us: Hilton Worldwide, 2010). Hilton’s commitment to creating extraordinary guest experiences remains unaffected and their more than 130,000 team member s continue to introduce the quality of service to the UK and the world’s visitors for 90 years of operations (About us: Hilton Worldwide, 2010). The organisational structure of various hospitality businesses Large full-service hotel: A well-run large full-service lodging facility, this requires the following department heads:

Operating Segments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Operating Segments - Essay Example Since then there have been minor changes that have been made to IFRS 8 by the other IFRSs. This has included improvements on the IFRSs, IAS 24 with related party disclosures, IAS 19 Employee Benefits, IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements and Annual Improvements to IFRSS 2010-2012 Cycle. The main function of the IFRS 8 operating system is to establish recommendations that ensure the disclosure of information on an entitys operating segments. This includes the entities products and services, the major customers it serves as well as the geographical regions of operation. These functions are mainly geared towards the achievement of global accounting standards as per the objectives of the International Accounting Board. It specifies on the entitys information reporting on its operations in its annual financial statements. It requires the authority in reporting information related to financial and descriptive matters on its reportable segment. These reportable segments comprise of aggregations of operating segments with specific criteria. Operating segments comprises of entities upon which different financial information available is put under an evaluation on a regular basis to decide on the allocation of resources and performance assessment (Belkaoui, 2004). It operates through an entity that ensures reporting as a measure on the operating segment of profits or losses being incurred by an entity. This enables an entity to report on a measure of segment liabilities and provides the decision makers with useful accounting information needed for the reconciliation of the total profits or loss, liabilities, segment revenues, total assets and other reportable amounts in correspondence to those of the financial statements. The IFRS is in need of an entity to put forth the information on revenues gotten from products and services. This is especially needed for the countries in which revenues are earned, assets are

Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 34

Business Ethics - Essay Example d of addition; that is why companies should make sure that their consumers understand that they might end up being addicted to the product (Orleans, 1993, 81). Fourthly, smoking may surely become a whole in a budget, so companies who promote this product should warn about possible financial consequences when a person will have to spend a certain sum of money each month to harm one’s organism (Sloan, 2004, 51). Finally, the reality of smoking is not as glamorous or exciting as it is being portrayed. So, tobacco companies should not deceive people by providing them with different pictures that do not reflect the reality at all (Wallander, 1995, 143). Ð ¡apitalism often relies on shared ownership which means that a considerable number of people might hold shared and by combining their voice they might shape decision making process in a way they want (Kruse, 2010, 41). In addition to that, capitalism often points out that making ethical decisions may be quite beneficial in long term perspective, especially when company accepts its social responsibility and tries to maintain sustainable production (Young, 2003, 194). What is more important is that capitalism puts great emphasis on the notion of free market, which urges companies to make sure that their decisions will ensure their competitive advantage over competitors (Buchholz, 2012, 28). As for the connection between capitalism and tobacco, I think that the former might view the latter as a popular commodity which is likely to bring a considerable amount of profits, regardless of the harm that it will do with regard to the person who consumes or addicted to it, and encourage peo ple to buy it. Keeping in mind the above mentioned, one is able to argue that it is quite possible to combine the interests of a company with personal interest. Thus, on the one hand, any organization wants to be successful, so profit might be recognized as one of the primary goals of it (Jayachandran, 2004, 71). Nevertheless, a company is

How Can Political Factors Affect Finance In Kuwait Research Paper

How Can Political Factors Affect Finance In Kuwait - Research Paper Example The wave of democracy in this country is based on the decision to control oil companies. This is because over 35 percent of the world’s energy consumption is based oil fuels. It is believed that the pivotal factor affecting democratization in Kuwait is the production of oil. This is because the entire economy of Kuwait revolves around oil and other hydrocarbons investments. In addition, the government provides security and employment of people because of acceptance in the recent political order. However, it is also clear that royal Al-Sabah family has ruled the country with an iron fist without detaching themselves from the society and its people due to their vast wealth. The factors of democratization engage in recreation, an essential responsibility in the society of Kuwait. This means that the stronger these institutional factors are entrenched into Kuwaiti’s society the more democracy is achieved. Due to these democratic elements, Kuwait is the chosen country of res earch on how political factors affect finance in Kuwait. The investigative factors in Kuwait go beyond state model. This is because oil factor in this country together with other extreme generous welfares gives the basic reasons why the current state of Kuwait is not developed into a democracy nation. In this research paper, I will investigate how the political system in Kuwait has affected its finance and economy. Democratization in Kuwait Over the years, Kuwait has achieved a transition from non-democratic to a democratic system. However, in order to achieve full democratization in this country, some degree of liberation must occur in the economy. In addition, political liberation must be achieved in order to have economic growth and development. This means the expansion of public space through recognizing and protecting civil and political liberties. In Kuwait, the line between democratization and liberalization is always vague to an extent of confusion (Thuroczy 2010). Although Kuwait has stable political system with citizens voting for their preferred candidate in free and fair elections, the country faces some limitations on how oil is managed. This is because the government collects no key taxes from other resources and thus relies on income achieved from oil and other foreign investments. The effect of oil in this country is therefore, considered the main cause of lack of economic and political reforms. Additionally, other aspects are overlooked and play a great role in the development of politics in Kuwait (Thuroczy 2010). According to UN’s development index, Kuwait is a highly developed country compared to other countries along the Persian Gulf. Although there is no doubt that oil in this country has increased education and income levels of people in this country, there are massive troubles in the welfare of the state (Thuroczy 2010). In addition, there is no maximum guarantee in the employment of the youths in this country. This indicates tha t oil in this country is the biggest hindrance to the progress of democracy and economic growth. Political Analysis It is worth noting that common stock refers to the stake that a person or a registered company owns in a given organization. Such stake gives such a person or organization the power to make important decisions such as voting in the organization. The difference between common stock and preferred stock is that every stakeholder in case of bankruptcy has to be paid first before the common stock holder receives anything. Politics play a critical role in the success of any given organization. This can be attributed to the fact that all actions of an organization have to adhere to the

INDIVIDUAL PROJECT 2 LIBRARY ASSIGNEMNT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

INDIVIDUAL PROJECT 2 LIBRARY ASSIGNEMNT - Essay Example An organization will need dreamers, doers, strategizers, organizers and team builders just to mention a few. This is a subject that will create major impact for leveraging the best of the employees present for the best results for the company. To allow for this kind of organization to occur, the organization as a whole must receive training on diversity and the hiring principles that will help us to make that happen. We will present a plan, here on how best to accomplish this change. To begin, there must be an established approach to the problem of education of something as new and different as diversity education. We will confront the data, share it broadly, and use it to define as precisely as possible where our greatest energy will need to be applied. We will share case studies and refine the information from them through discussion in the groups where they are applied. We will engage everyone by listening to them throughout all discussions, to better understand what their learning needs are. Our measureable objectives which are listed on the teaching plan at the follow of this document will be shared with the learners and actions will follow. We will survey all those involved in the education prior to the training and then again after the training to assure that there is a better understanding of cross cultural issues and the importance of those to the company in general. Once the education is carried out per the education plan following this document, we will continually reeducate to assure that this is a process that continues to work throughout the system. We will also assure that any new employees go through the whole training as part of their orientation to the company. We believe like so many companies that have leveraged diversity for the betterment of the company that the senior management team must be on board first. Research shows that this is a process that must be driven from the top down and so the education for

Shared Practice Velocity Part I responses Assignment

Shared Practice Velocity Part I responses - Assignment Example On the other hand, if managers would also focus keenly on getting more to what they have in terms of competence and skills, it will be another effective way to fix bottle necks at the workplace. This can easily be done through capacity creation at the workplace (Senge, 2006). Reading about how you combined systematic flow with business model was very interesting and I believe this was in the right place. I however believe strongly that if you had found a way of combining this directly with the issue of velocity discussed by Jacob, it would have made your arguments more resounding. The reason for this alternative suggestion is that in most cases, managers tend to think that the application of the three continuous improvement methods and thus velocity is only necessary when they are faced with the need to go directly into production (Mankelow, 2011). I however do not think this is the right way to approach continuous improvement. The concept of velocity can be made part of the very organizational culture of companies so that the need to avoid waste will be a continuous process as success within the organization must be a prompt and ever existing concept (Hsu & Sun,

Time Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Time Management - Research Paper Example I ensure that what I am doing is done to a high standard and therefore many details have to be approved by myself. Having acknowledged this challenge, I have decided not to emphasize so much on the finer details though not encouraging mediocrity. Delegation of duties will also assist me improve in this area since I do not have to go through all my tasks especially on my personal life. I will need to get a trustworthy person who I can delegate to some of my duties that do not require my immediate attention. This will enable me to focus on more tasks that require my full attention. This will also help me in both school and career since I will have plenty of time to focus on more, salient school and career issues. Since time is of the essence, delegation will avail more time for me to concentrate on more urgent matters. Part of this time can be used for my online studies and career development, which is truly paramount (Harris, 2008). After completing the Flash Activity, some of the unanticipated events and obligations that will occur in my life include emergencies, which could arise due to unavoidable circumstances. Some of these emergencies include falling sick unexpectedly, additional work either in school or at work, a pressing family emergency and an external factor that I would not have control. The only way I can plan for these events are by being flexible and to be adequately prepared for them in advance. This will enable me to handle the emergencies with ease since am prepared and flexible. I will also set an emergency fund to cater for any financial obligation that may arise from these events (Mancini, 2007). Using Prime Times, the strategy I would use for planning, managing time, and studying effectively will be the SMART strategy. The SMART strategy states that my time management goals should be set in line with the strategy. This means that my goals

Online Behavioral Targeting and Consumer Privacy Issues Essay Example for Free

Online Behavioral Targeting and Consumer Privacy Issues Essay Sophocles’ prolific writing has rarely produced a woman of such stern strength of character as â€Å"Antigone†. Inversely the comedy of Aristophanes â€Å"Lysistrat† was among the first to introduce a strong willed female protagonist, who is not a goddess. The treatment of both great writers differs in the fact that the backdrops and the moods are distinctly different. While Sophocles zeroed in on the sombre tragedy, Aristophanes chose to inject feminist revolt against domination through zestful comedy. From a gender perspective it is important to study the motives behind the actions of the lead characters in both the plays. There have been suicides and suicides in Greek tragedies (which almost define Greek tragedies). Sophocles’ Antigone commits suicide in the dark dungeon left to starve to death. But unlike the suicide of their mother Jocasta who decides to end her life when she learns that her marital relationship with Oedipus was incestuous, Antigone’s death is a defiant protest against the tyranny of her uncle Creon and an emphasis of her strongly held belief, that her brother should be accorded a proper burial. There have been few examples of valour from Greek women who defied the norms of either their contemporary society or their king for a symbolic gesture rather than a cause. In the case of Antigone it was the burial rights to one of her two dead brothers which drives her to go against the will of the ruler, Creon. â€Å"Antigone† begins after both the warring brothers have apparently killed each other and since Polynices revolted against the state and led an Argive army to overthrow his brother Eteocles, he is deemed to be a sinner against the state. Thus Creone, brother of Jocasta, who becomes the ruler decrees his body to be deprived of proper burial rites to ensure that his soul rots beyond redemption. Antigone, in the beginning of the play expresses her wish to accord her brother proper burial. It is a symbolic depiction of Antigone’s moral strength that she decides to go ahead in her chosen course though she is unable to enlist the support of her more timid sister Ismene. This is a marked deviation from the depiction of women in Greek literature of the time where women were always looked upon as dependent on others for the strength of their convictions. Antigone succeeds in her stated mission and when this becomes known to Creone, an argument rages on the choice between the natural law and man-made laws. In another daring drift from established norm, the chorus in Sophocles’ play have the moral courage to call the path of their emperor as the more evil. Creone’s son and Antigone’s fiance Haemon comes to her defence and the ensuing debate on the justice of natural laws which should supersede man made laws is a dramatist’s delight. Creone, however, decides to leave Antigone to starve to death in a sealed cave as her prison. The blind prophet Tiresias also advocates against punishment to Antigone and says he will pay â€Å"corpse for corpse, and flesh for flesh†. The declaration of Tiresias that Creon is causing moral pollution causes a change of heart in Creone. His moral dilemma leads him to conclude that Polynices should be buried and Antigone should be pardoned. But by this time, Hameon reaches Antigone’s cave with the intention of saving her only to find that she has committed suicide by hanging herself, much like her mother Jocasta before her. When Creon reaches the cave he finds Hameon grieving over Antigone and he takes his life by stabbing himself as Creon approaches him. This leads Eurydice, Creon’s wife to give up her life in the grief of her son’s untimely death. Thus Creon loses all his loved ones due to his one fatal erring conviction to hold the laws of the state above the natural law. The tragic flaw, is thus justified in Sophocles’ â€Å"Antigone†. It is easy to categorize the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes as a lewd comedy designed to entertain the Greek literature and drama lovers with a lampooning of the results if women begin to take an interest in affairs of national importance. It is also very convenient to visualize male actors playing all the important roles of the play and the â€Å"male† male characters wearing erect phalluses to depict their masculinity might have led to uproarious laughter. However, with passing time and the aid of retrospection help us to begin to understand that Aristophanes might have devoted considerable time and emotional energy in trying to decipher what goes through the hearts and heads of women of his time who were modelled to be subservient and detached from the affairs of the state. Lysistrata leads a domestic and non violent non-cooperation movement (though the medium of non cooperation seldom ventures beyond the conventional sexual subjugation) to convince the men of the time to end the long standing war (apparently the Peloponnesian war) and bring back peace. The play is an apparent comedy that it depicts women as sex crazed and spine less characters for whom rising beyond their daily chores is a daunting task. Except fro Lysistrata, no other woman comes across as strong willed enough to contribute in any way to the cause of the play. One can imagine the gusty laughter the scene involving the swearing of oath by drinking wine from a shield as it was a portrayal of women as being incapable of self restraint (from all good things in life, including wine and sex). Though Lysistrata as a play has a lot of titillate the viewers, it has been seen in modern light as a commentary on the plight of women who have no say in the affairs of the state entirely decide by the men but have to silently suffer the consequences. This has remained unchanged even after the liberation ages of the 20th century. Aristophanes does manage to draw a caricature of Greek women as incapable of with holding sex or thinking beyond sex as the only weapon in her armour to control or change society. It is possible though to excuse this caricature as Aristophanes’ attempt not to ruffle the feathers of his contemporary society while at the same time recording for future history that women did harbour different opinions on the approaches of the state to war and peace. The widowhood and martyrdom of a mother who loses her children to the ravages of war are not mentioned, perhaps because they would have added the much relegated sobriety to this deemed comedy. Gender domination is a visible thread in Lysistrata, but whether Aristophanes designed this play as a comic fiction based on improbable scenarios of liberated women questioning state policies, or as an underhanded attempt to depict female angst of his contemporary Greek society is debatable. However Lysistrata has remained current and meaningful to this date due to its universal themes of Peace being preferred over War and has helped several social commentators put across their point during the several un necessary wars that dot world history to date be it the Vietnam war or the latest invasion of Iraq. Whatever be the motivation, both Sophocles and Aristophanes manage to leave behind a piece of Literature which continues to engage readers and historians in a healthy debate on the premium placed on female equality by writers from the Greek age to the present day. Works Cited or used as reference Henderson, Jeffrey (contributor) Lysistrata by Aristophanes, London : Oxford University Press, 1990 Translated by Gibbons, Reginald and Segal, Charles Antigone by Sophocles, NewYork : Oxford University Press US, 2003

Brand Development For Educational Services

Brand Development For Educational Services Edumentor Educational Services, is an organization operating in its 6th year and is engaged into providing comprehensive, result oriented entrance test preparation for graduation level management courses (BBS/BFIA/BBA/BBE) at various institutes. The USP of the company is its extensive promotional strategies being implemented by the MBA Interns. Over these years, EduMentor has been able to grab a niche for itself in this highly competitive industry as it has always been focuses on product quality and delivery. A major emphasis is on the BBS/BFIA courses at Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (CBS), University of Delhi, as this is the best institution in the south East Asian Region for the same .The other institutes are the likes of IP University, Symbiosis etc. This year the company has expanded its horizon by introducing coaching for five new courses i.e. HM (Hotel Management), Mass Communication, Law, B.e.Led (Bachelors in Elementary Education) and CA (Charted Accountancy). Since students get only approximately 2 months to prepare for all the entrance tests, the institute begins its initial batches barely a day after the 10+2 examinations. Also, unlike the competition which consists of major players from the CAT/CA/CS market of other preparatory institutes, like Career Launcher, IMS, P.T. Education, BBA/BBS/BBE/BFIA is the core competency that EduMentor deals in, hence it basically operates seasonally, from about 2 months before the XIIth examinations, to about 12weeks after the same. But now this year with the launch of CA (Charted Accountancy) CPT preparation course, the company plans to operate annually. For other new courses and along with the existing ones the rest over year is spent in refining the course material, and conducting career counseling sessions at various schools (70 schools covered last year) which also provide a database of students which can be used later for over the Phone counseling, sales calls and information regarding free sessions and form dates. The role of the MBA program interns is critical to the complete process. The interns are taken in batches so that one batch works the first half of the critical activity which is the recruitment of a huge ground level workforce of associate level workers Primarily, this team of second batch interns is divided into two groups, the counseling team, that is responsible for career counseling at the respective centers and over the phone counseling of students and parents , which the author was a part of. The second group handles the vital component of the Board Centre activities. This activity aims at maximizing the promotion efforts to the core target audience, i.e., class XII students (mainly commerce stream). During this activity, 350 board examination centers were located by various methods by the team, and compiled onto a list of centers that is divided into North Delhi, South Delhi, East Delhi West Delhi. These zones are handled by zonal managers, under who up to 12 managers handle 4-5 board exam centers each. Each Zonal manager is responsible for building a team under him, which works on the D day i.e. the Board Examination day. 1.1 Company vision: EduMentor was started with the intention of providing specialized coaching to the students who wish to seek admission in BBS / BBA / BBE. Aim was not just to open a coaching institute but rather to create a Knowledge Hub where students are the top priority. That is the reason why our faculty consists only of those who have been to the best in the field of BBA/BBS/BBE, making us ‘The Only Specialist BBA/BBS/BBE Entrance Coaching Institute†. At EduMentor our core competency lies more in mentoring our students with those skill-set and weapons of education with the help of which they can easily fight their own battles and win them in the long run. Students come and go year by year but every year a lot of students are referred by old students making EduMentor. 1.2 Purpose, Scope, and Limitations of Project: Purpose: The purpose of the project is to get an overall idea about the marketing of EduMentor Educational Services. It aims at developing the promotional and business development strategies of the company after thoroughly analyzing the same of the competitors. As the aspects of this project are multidimensional so is its purpose. It will take into consideration the mutual benefit of the company coupled with gaining some practical knowledge about the Education market their overall marketing strategies processes. Value-addition to the Company Find out the various products and courses present in the industry Find various promotional and business development activity being undertaken by the company and the its competitors Make company know the best products, methods and practices present in the market and develop strategies accordingly. Find out the positive and negative aspects pertaining to specific area of operations. Suggest the company the best possible scheme coupled with awareness and timing of benefit. Overall business development of company in terms of revenue and value enhancement and making the company operations more efficient and effective for long term benefit. Academic Benefits: Got an insight of educational products and gain through knowledge of various promotional strategies. Real time experience of interacting with perspective customers and convert them into real customers. Real time experience of doing a market research practical experience in convincing the end-users to fill up the questionnaire Handling a team and act as a leader giving that winning edge which would not have come naturally Scope of Project: The objective of the project includes, the organizational Development at EduMentor Educational Services. EduMentor had entered the market of educational services 6 years back, so the basic aim of this project is Business Development that is generating business for them by attracting students year-by-year by virtue of its product and ensuring effective operational accuracy across all its centers. This would include structuring of the entire business so as to increase the efficiency of the work done at EduMentor. The project would enable EduMentor in Business development of the educational packages by reaching to the maximum number of students. Also it aims at developing promotional strategies (by keeping in mind the requirements of target audience and moves taken by the competitors) to increase conversion of students into these programs. The project will also help in measuring the students preferences for EduMentor educational package and how best EduMentor can come up with an educational package that meets the need/expectation of students based on the survey that will be done. Limitations of the Study: As this project undertaken includes a lot of activities and is very vast so considering the accuracy of all the aspects as required by the study is a major limitation. However, every attempt will be made to overcome any flaw which might occur due to this. Certain other factors which can form drawbacks to the conclusions of the project are: a) Reach The company covers Delhi NCR region, it doesnt go beyond the boundaries of our national capital, hence expansion is limited. b)Finance issues The company is not funded by outside source and due to this problem it has limited resources to offer during various Business deals which cater to improper results at the end of the season for the organization. c) HR issues The company doesnt have enough HR‟s to manage out the activity in spite of the fact that hiring of summer interns from prestigious colleges like ICFAI Hyderabad Gurgaon provides a little edge in management, still occurrence of numerous loopholes tend to occur. d) Work Definition The results and conclusions of the project cannot be generalized as the area of work assigned to me is restricted to the north zone (as Center Management) and NOIDA Zone (as Zonal Manager). 1.3Methodology:  § Ghost shopping In order gain insights of the strategies of competitors a study was conducted to gain knowledge about the business model of various competitors like Career Launcher and IMS and develop competitive promotional strategy for EduMentor accordingly and thus be the best among a few.  § Relation building Interacting with class XII students and their parents in order to get an idea of what all they expect from an institute preparing for BBA/BBS/BBE entrance exam and also to brief them about various options one has after XII. This is done by: e) Conducting counseling in various tuition centers f) On the day of the Board exams, we interact with the parents, do short term counseling and give them brief knowledge of our product and the services we offer.  § Market research The help of a questionnaire would be taken if necessary.  § Business development strategies As a part of business development strategy various activities like Board center activity was conducted throughout Delhi in order to reach the target audience. On the day of the Board exams, we interact with the parents, do short term counseling and give them brief knowledge of our product and the services we offer Also SPD (Sample Paper Distribution) forms an integral part of BCA in order to generate awareness among the target audience. The Board Center Activity is the biggest marketing tool of the organization. CHAPTER 2 PRODUCT DETAILS (STAGE 1) BROAD VIEW: PRODUCT AT EDUMENTOR EduMentor was established with the goal of providing specialized coaching to the students who seek admission in top colleges for the courses like: BBS (Bachelor of Business Studies) BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) BBE (Bachelor of Business Economics) BELED (Bachelor of Elementary Education) HM (Hotel Management) LAW CA-CPT (Charted Accountancy Common Proficiency test) ENG (H) (Common Admission test for English hons (CATE)) At EduMentor the core competency lies more in mentoring the students to the right path of education than merely preparing them to achieve the best results. The product mainly encompasses management courses at the under graduate level. The three major courses which are offered are BBA, BBE and BBS. Providing coaching for these three courses forms the product for EduMentor along with mentoring students for the same. All the courses are three full- time professional degree courses. A BBA/BBS degree provides adequate learning of managerial skills and knowledge of business activities to the students. However, BBE (bachelor of business economics) is a management degree which lays emphasis not only on the management skills but also helps the students to get adequate knowledge about the economy and its functioning. All the three courses have been designed so as to groom professionals for future, rather than mere academicians or â€Å"degree holder†. The course has kept in consideration the needs of the industry, so that students are job ready after their graduation unlike in the traditional sources where they are required to undertake additional professional courses to find a job. The approach to learning is a very practical one, complete with industry case studies, role plays and a lot of industry interaction. EduMentor provides coaching for undergraduate management courses. The primary programs being: BBS (University of Delhi) BBE/BFIA (University of Delhi) BBA (I.P. University, Symbiosis Pune, Christ Bangalore etc.) The Newly launched programs being: BeLed (University of Delhi) HM (I.P. University, Symbiosis Pune, etc.) CATE (University of Delhi) CA CPT (Institute of Charted Accountants of India) LAW (Various Universities throughout India) MASSCOMM (Various Universities throughout India) 2.1) BBS:BACHLOR OF BUSINESS STUDIES It is the prime pitch made by EduMentor; the company pitches itself to be the only specialist institute for its entrance coaching. BBS is a professional degree which has been designed on the same pattern as MBA programs. The subjects for the course are taken up from the curriculum of best ranking MBA colleges in India. During the two years or 4 semesters of BBS, students study the basics of all functions of management namely finance, marketing, human resource and specialize in one of these in the final year. BBS is an outstanding general management program, the curriculum for BBS is rigorous, flexible, and continually enriched with the latest developments in management theory and practice. The academic calendar is based on six semesters each six months in duration, followed by the University examinations. The Bachelor of Business Studies program enables graduates to think conceptually and adapt to change. In particular, the program is designed to: Develop intellectual and interpersonal skills Emphasize the broad economic, financial and managerial dimensions of dynamic business environment Facilitate the integration of academic knowledge and practical work experience Foster a high degree of professional competence in a specialist area Produce innovative and creative graduates Produce graduates who are motivated to continue lifelong learning and who cope effectively with change. Graduates of the Bachelor of Business Studies degree can look forward to a broad range of career opportunities in the dynamic and competitive environment of todays business world. 2.2) BBA: BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BBA aims at transforming a student into a corporate personality. This course with its intensive syllabus and a wide range of value addition modules enables the student to aspire for higher studies in premium business schools and India and abroad. Being a professional course it ensures a healthy balance between theoretical foundation and practical exposure to the present day business world. A quality BBA program offers more skill enhancement and practical knowledge than usual degree courses. Like an MBA program, learning through case studies, group activities, project writing, presentations, summer internship, etc. form an integral part of a BBA program. BBA graduates have an edge over others and are sought after by the industry owing to the exposure the course offers to operational environment in the field of Business. Most of the BBA programs require a candidate to pass in Class 12 / HSC examination. Some of the institutes may demand minimum marks of 50% in class 12 as an eligibility to pursue the program. However, students who have appeared their H.S.C examination and awaiting their results are also eligible to take these tests. 2.3) BBE: BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS BFIA: BACHELOR OF FINANCIAL AND INVESTMENT ANALYSIS Economists study the optimum use of financial resources for the success of an organization to increase productivity. They study production, distribution and consumption of goods and services on the application of economic policy in particular area such as finance, labor, agriculture, energy and health. The program- Bachelor of business economics is designed to develop broad business analytical skills as well as the technical knowledge required within the economics and finance environment. You will focus on the application of economic, finance and statistical theory to common business problems. Furthermore, class presentations, simulations and group assignments are used extensively to develop essential personal qualities including clear thinking, resourcefulness and the ability to work in a team and perform under pressure. As a BBE graduate one is expected to gain the necessary conceptual abilities, analytical skills and knowledge to equip one for a variety of professional career opportunities in industry, commerce or government service. In BBE the student verifies and reports how something is put into practice. As well as in the ability as in the activity the deepening of knowledge is the core factor. The students have to acquire an insight in the different functions that can be distinguished in a company, such as production, logistics, finance, marketing, informatics, control, etc. Future business economists are to be educated to deal with company problems in an integral way. Special emphasis is placed on ensuring the students qualifications for the job market and providing them with the necessary skills for academic research and further studies. As far as BFIA is concerned most management programs in a developing country are industry specific. Finance is one such area, which also happens to be an important subject, especially in todays global scenario. The rationale behind this course is to introduce students to the subject before they take it up at the MBA level as an elective. Furthermore, the thrust of the programs is on exposing the students to real time business problems, through three years of rigorous industry training, which runs simultaneously with theory classes. They are sent to Housing Finance Companies, Chartered Accountancy Firms and even to the Stock Exchange Board for experience. This course is meant for students who are keen on working in the core areas of finance, mainly with investment companies, capital markets, foreign exchange dealers, banks, mutual fund operations, insurance sector or finance companies. USP: Hard core finance content 30 Papers covered in six semesters. The opportunity for hands on training with our industrial partners. The papers covered in this course range from introduction to business and finance, to focus on areas like corporate taxation, auditing, corporate restructuring, merchant banking, investment analysis, portfolio management, etc. Pre Admission forms are not accepted. NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH THIS YEAR 2.4) B.El.Ed: BACHELOR OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION The Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.) program is a four-year integrated professional degree program of Elementary Teacher Education offered after the senior secondary (class XII) stage of school. Conceptualized by the Maulana Azad Centre for Elementary and Social Education (MACESE) of the Department of Education, University of Delhi and launched in the academic year 1994-95, the program is an attempt towards fulfilling the need for professionally qualified elementary school teachers. B.El.Ed. is designed to integrate the study of subject knowledge, human development, and pedagogical knowledge and communication skills. Both professional and academic options are available to students who graduate with a B.El.Ed. Degree. The program aims to produce graduates of high caliber in the field of teacher education. A lot of effort is spent in the training of students and giving them a supportive and stimulating environment. A good number of students have been placed in government and private schools as professionally qualified elementary school teachers. Others are pursuing post-graduate studies and research in disciplines like education, linguistics, psychology, languages, history, social work, sociology, mathematics and political science. Many B.El.Ed graduates are pursuing research in educational studies in Central Universities. Some of them are working as teacher educators. 2.5) HM: HOTEL MANAGEMENT The boom in the tourism industry has resulted in the immense growth of hotel industry in India. The hotel industry promises a bright future for anyone who wishes to take up a career in this segment. The students opting for hotel management career courses must have an affinity towards socializing and understanding the needs of the people. As hotels fall under the service industry, the motive of hotel management courses in India is to prepare the students to face the challenges of this competitive world. As far as tourism industry in India is concerned, it is attracting tourists from across the world and this definitely calls for quality hospitality. Hotel Management as a Career Option Hotel management is one of the most interesting career options in the contemporary job market. Career training from a recognized and reputed hotel management institute is just an icing on the cake. In India there are many hotel management institutes and colleges which provide hospitality or hotel management courses. Hotel Management Course Admissions These hotel management courses make one aware of the operating-sections of the hotel industry like front office, general operations, sales and marketing, food and beverage, service keeping and catering. Candidates seeking admission to the hotel management courses in India need to pass their 12th standard examination with English as a subject. Students with a bachelors degree from any recognized university may also join some of the management training schemes offered by various institutions. Admission depends on the performance of the students in the written admission test, personal interview round and group discussion session. The time duration of the courses offered by several institutes may vary from six months to three years. Hotel Management Course Scope Hotel management job opportunities exists both in the private and public sector. One can look for various openings available in the hotels of the nation. Most of the hotels in India offer lucrative pay packages to the suitable candidates. The jobs offered are satisfying as well as highly rewarding. 2.6) CATE: COMMON ADMISSION TEST FOR ENGLISH (H) The Common Aptitude Test for English (CATE) for admission into the highly sought after B.A English (Honors) program offered by the Delhi University (DU). According to the CATE-2010 information bulletin, teachers of English at DU feel that a candidates good performance in the Class 12 English examination does not necessarily mean that they have an aptitude for studying English Literature. Earlier, the entrance tests for admissions to the English Honors course offered by colleges at DU were all conducted individually by the colleges themselves. The university administration had decided to change the system as it was believed that too many English entrance tests would put excessive pressure on candidates. 2.7) CA CPT (Common Proficiency Test) It is an entry level test for Chartered Accountancy Course. It is a test of four subjects i.e. Accounting, Mercantile Laws, General Economics and Quantitative Aptitude. This test is of 200 marks. This test is divided into two sessions of two hours each: A Simplified Entry to the Chartered Accountancy Course CPT will replace existing Professional Education (Course-I) which requires 10-month study period followed by an exhaustive theoretical examination. CPT is an objective type test to be held every February, May, August and November. This will reduce long waiting for entry to the chartered accountancy education and training. Common Proficiency Test will be objective type multiple choice based examination. Candidates will be allowed to opt for Hindi medium Question Paper Booklet for answering the questions. Detailed information will be found given in the Information brochure. PROGRAMMES OFFERED The BBS/BBA/BBE program is offered in two formats: Classroom Correspondence (Till last year) Table 1 Features Classroom Correspondence Program Program Basic Reference Material Yes No Classroom Training Yes No Class Assessment Tests Yes No Comprehensive Tests Yes No Simulated Tests Yes No Competitive Test Ranking Yes No GD PI Training Yes No The company provides a specialist coaching for the management courses, substantiating the claims with excellent course material, results and the best faculty pool from the industry. The advantage of being a firm of CBS alumni initiative provides it with extensive knowledge of the product and process forming the core advantage for the company. CHAPTER 3 SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING 3.1SEGMENTATION The purpose for segmenting a market is to allow your marketing/sales program to focus on the subset of prospects that are most likely to purchase your offering. If done properly this will help to insure the highest return for your marketing/sales expenditures. Depending on whether you are selling your offering to individual consumers or a business, there are definite differences in what you will consider when defining market segments. At EduMentor, the kind of segmentation that is done is, segment marketing, based on a) Nature of school, i.e. public or private schools. Segmenting schools on the basis of its ownership, so that economically less privileged students of government schools can also be targeted, is unique to only EduMentor. No other player in the market, cater to the untapped potential of government school students. b) The segmentation can also be done on the basis of subjects studied at the +2 level. Like on the basis of stream: commerce, Science and humanities. Though student from any stream can apply for these entrances, but the target market becomes a little specific when considering commerce students, because often these entrances and other related courses are the first choice for them. Likewise, even within commerce students, the market can be segmented on the basis of subject mathematics, studied at the +2 level. Mathematics is essential for the entrance exam of BBE; hence, the students with commerce with maths can be motivated in that direction. 3.2TARGETING Targeting is the second stage of the SEGMENT Target POSITION (STP) process. After the market has been separated into its segments, the marketer will select a segment or series of segments and target it/them. Resources and effort will be targeted at the segment. Since BBS is a management related course it is a primary option for commerce students, so the biggest target students for the organization is students with commerce background. Humanities are going out of fashion, and the courses like Mass Communication and Hotel Management have tests on same pattern as of BBS. So, BBA training can help a student aspiring to clear a Mass Communication entrance test and also BBA entrance, like a backup option. After the primary data collection, the strategy used to reach to the prospective customers was done on the following segmentation. 3.3POSITIONING The organization has managed to form a niche for itself, in presence of strong competition from established players in the market. The positioning of the brand has been done from the very beginning, on two important propositions: The organization being the only institute for providing specialized coaching to the students who seek admission in BBS / BBA / BBE. That is the reason why the institutes faculty consists only of those who have been to the best BBA/BBS/BBE MBA institute making us „The Only Specialist BBA/BBS/BBE Entrance Coaching Institute‟. At Edumentor, the core competency lies more in mentoring the students to the right path of education than merely preparing them to achieve the best results. The core team comprises of alumni of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies and the leading MBA institutes which enable the organization to guide the students, the right things at the right time. Plus, the team, being CBSites, are more aware of the changes which have taken place in the pattern of the written test, GD and PI over the years. In fact, the core team consists of members who are involved in suggesting ways of improvement in the selection process at CBS in capacity of being Alumni of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies. Hence the STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) for EduMentor can be summarized as follows: 3.47 Ps @EduMentor The top most players for undergraduate management coaching is I.M.S. in Delhi with maximum number of enrolments in various consecutive years, so methodology used by the I.M.S was analyzed so as to understand the need of the market and develop the strategies for EduMentor. PRODUCT: The main product of EduMentor is coaching in BBS/BBE/BBA. It has expanded its horizon by diversifying its portfolio covering various undergraduate entrance exam coaching. The undergraduate coaching product comprises of:- BBA/BBA/BBE entrance coaching CLAT : LAW entrance coaching Hotel Management Bank PO Media Fashion B.El.Ed CA CPT PLACE: EduMentor has its centers all over Delhi with a strong distribution channel. The centers are located all over Delhi are easily accessible making it a suitable option for the target audience. The centers are all located at prime locations providing it a higher visibility over the competitors. 13EduMentor Educational Services. PRICE: The price of EduMentor is slightly higher as compared to the other players present in the market. It reflects that EduMentor charges a premium on its price in lieu of its brand value and the market holding. The price of EduMentor varies from one zone to another depending on the demographic factors (mainly income) depending on affordability of the product at the place as well as the competition in that region. The pricing strategy forms the main part of competitor analysis as some segments of the market are price sensitive and respond sharply to the price variations in the market. The price for coaching in Delhi is kept at Rs.12, 500 by EduMentor PROMOTION: EduMentor being a zonal level player enjoys high brand awareness in Delhi and NCR region. The agenda of promotion for the company is to make the audience aware of the product offerings and remind them about them being the market leader. Due to Financial back-up, various ways used by them to do the promotion are:- Mobile ads (bulk SMS) IP College Activity Board Centre Activity Edupro(Ex-Student Referral Program) PEOPLE: Workforce at Edumentor comprises of very few permanent employees and because this company operates seasonally so major chunk of workforce constitutes of 45 MBA interns for three months. This team represents Edumentor in its peak season PROCESS:

The Meaning of Doctrine of the Trinity in Christianity and Islam Essays

THE MEANING OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY IN CHRISTAINITY AND ISLAM The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most difficult aspects of Christian life. Some people may look at it at a glance, believing that such study will encourage them in their faith and there believes. Others are concerned about the Islamic believe of the doctrine of the Trinity, which make it trinithesim. For a monotheistic religion like Islam, Christian and Hindi, it is both improper and not ideological to believe in any idea of three gods. In Christianity the doctrine of the Trinity accepts that God is one which implies that God, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one, He exists as three persons: Jesus Christ the son revealed himself as the Father in some passage in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit, the bond of love between Jesus and the father. The concept of the holy Trinity for many centuries has serious conflict in defining it from different religions and scholar. Christians believe in the Trinity, and also a Christian believes in God the father God the son and God the holy spirit. Some people may even believe in the wonders of the Holy Spirit. However, if one does not believe in the orthodox concept of the doctrine of Trinity, then that person cannot be regarded as a Christian. Nevertheless, the Trinitarian theology is not easily understood completely. It is one of those mysteries of faith. In Islam the belief that God is one, and oppose the Christians that such a concept is a denial of religion which states that monotheism is the practice of one God. The Quran has repeatedly and affirm that God is one. People of the Book, do not go to excess in your religion, and do not say anything about God except the truth: the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, w... ...vealed in Jesus Christ (Murad). Mohammed is seen as one who wrote down the revelation entrusted to him by angel Gabriel; Jesus is one, who was himself the definitive revelation of God (Murad). Classic Christian theology holds that, as God incarnate, Jesus reveals God and makes restoration to him possible through his saving death and resurrection. The Islamic criticism of the doctrine of Trinity is a more fundamental concern about the identity of Jesus Christ himself (McGrath 204). For many Muslim in the world today, Jesus was a prophet to them and not an incarnate of God as the Christianity believes. The doctrine of Trinity has never been seen as compromising or contradicting the unity of God. The Trinity, to put it as simply as possible, is ultimately the distillation and correlation of the Christian tradition’s immensely rich teaching about the nature of God.

Ty Cobb Essay -- essays research papers

Ty Cobb "Baseball," Ty Cobb liked to say, "is something like a war...Baseball is a red- blooded sport for red-blooded men. It's not pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out of it. It's...a struggle for supremacy, a survival of the fittest" (Ward and Burns 64). Although Ty Cobb was possibly the greatest player in baseball history, many people would consider him its worst person. Tyrus Raymond Cobb was born December 18, 1886 in The Narrows, Georgia. His parents named him after the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre, which stubbornly refused to surrender to Alexander the Great. From the very beginning, he took after the city and became one of baseball's most stubborn and hated men. The Georgia Peach, so-called, was a creature of extremes. Ty Cobb is, by bald statistics, measurably the greatest hitter ever; he was, by the reckoning of virtually everyone who met him, personally the most despicable human being ever to grace the National Pastime (Deford 56). Cobb's playing career, with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Athletics, was arguably the best anyone ever had. He won twelve batting titles in thirteen years, including a record nine in a row. He also holds the records for the most runs scored with 2,245 and the highest lifetime batting average at .367, a number nearly unreachable even in just one season by today's standards. Other records he set that have since been broken: 3,034 games played, 4,191 hits, 892 stolen bases, 392 outfield assists, 1,136 extra base hits, and 1,961 runs batted in. He also struck out just 357 times in 11,429 times at bat, a phenomenal achievement. After his career ended, in 1936, he was the leading vote-getter of the first class of the Baseball Hall of Fame, beating even Babe Ruth. However, Cobb's career was marred with controversy and scandals. He was hated by nearly every player in the league, including his own teammates. When he was first called up to play with Detroit, he was extremely unpopular with his teammates. They locked him out of the bathroom, tore the crown out of his straw hat and sawed in half the bat that had been especially fashioned for him by his hometown coffin maker. He did not take any of it with good humor and could not bear to be the target of the mildest joke. He fought back with his fists, refused to speak to his tormentors, developed ulcers, took to sleeping with a revolver... ... Ty burned his fan mail for heat" (Kramer 31). As with all bad boys, there was a good side to Ty Cobb, although few ever saw it. Despite his inability to spend money on himself, he did give a lot to others. He gave money to needy retired ballplayers, helped build a new hospital in Royston, and started a fund for poor college students (Kramer 44). While giving money, Cobb still felt unliked and remained virtually alone for the rest of his life. What money he did spend on himself was almost exclusively towards the use of alcohol, which he became heavily dependent on. He said he would have given up his money if only he could change the way players felt about him. He knew nobody forgot how nasty he always could be in his playing days (Kramer 45). Cobb died of cancer July 17, 1961, a sad and lonely man. Only 400 people, most of them little-leaguers who only knew him as a name from baseball's past, showed up at his funeral. Just three ballplayers from his era bothered to attend. Near the end of his life, Cobb commented to a caller that if he had his life to live over again, "I would have done things a little different...I would have had more friends" (Ward and Burns, 65).

How do politicians use history today in Bulgaria Essay -- Bulgarian Hi

From 1945 until 1989 Bulgaria had followed with consistency the same foreign policy line of attachment to the Soviet Union and the Eastern Block, gaining the reputation of the most loyal ally/‘satellite’ of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe (*1) . The country’s given position in the international system was unchallenged, as was the dominant ideology (communism) that defined Bulgaria’s regime. After November 1989 however, and the fundamental geopolitical changes that started to take place throughout Eastern Europe, Bulgaria too entered in an era of full-scale political and economic transformation. The end of the Cold War, the disbandment of the Warsaw Pact in 1990 and the termination of Bulgaria’s close relations with the Soviet Union in 1991, meant in addition the loss of all the political, diplomatic and military advantages that the country had enjoyed since 1945: as other former members of the Eastern Block, Bulgaria had to find a new role and to create new alliances in the new geopolitical situation prevailing in Europe (*2) . Thus, Bulgaria had no other choice, after 1989, than to turn towards the West. All Bulgaria’s political forces were unanimous about the need to improve and develop the country’s relations with the West (*3) . Even the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the former communists, who had maintained power after the first democratic elections in 1990, agreed in that (*4) . II. Joining the EU II.1. From the outset of relations with the European Community until the Helsinki Summit (1988 – 1999) The signing of a Joint Declaration for establishing diplomatic relations between the European Community (EC) and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), in June 1988, is generally regarded as the beginnin... ...position was strengthened even more. The European Summit in Helsinki, in December 1999, decided to invite Bulgaria to open accession negotiations with the EU in February 2000. Although the European Council recognized the important progress that Bulgaria had made fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria , the decision to invite Sofia to begin negotiations was to a large extend a political decision. Firstly, because following the events in former Yugoslavia, there was growing concern that the whole region could be destabilized, and there was a need to support countries like Bulgaria and Romania, which was also invited to begin accession negotiations in February 2000 . The second reason had to do with France’s insistence to invite Romania. From the moment that Romania had been invited, it would have been highly insulting to Bulgaria to leave it outside and not to invite it .

Facebook Revenue Sources Essay

Facebook Revenues Up to $700 Million in 2009, On Track Towards $1.1 Billion in 2010 Facebook is tight-lipped about its revenue numbers, which is typical of private companies. The most it has said publicly is that it became â€Å"free cash-flow positive† as of last September. At the time, we estimated it was set to bring in around $550 million for the year in revenues based on previous reports that we and others had heard, and from our own calculations. But how did the year actually end? Somewhat higher. And sources estimate the company could make between $1 billion and $1.1 billion in total revenue this year. It ended 2008 making between $280 million and $300 million, according to many reports. The company’s revenues likely reached between $600 million and $700 million for 2009, according to a variety of industry sources we spoke with. The estimates match what we heard in September, which was that $550 million was looking too low – 2009 was clearly a big year for the company in terms of building its business, as we’ve been covering. The company has been roughly doubling its revenues every year — 2007 came in at $150 million. We expect that trend to continue for the foreseeable future, making Facebook a multi-billion dollar company within the next few years. The question is becoming how Facebook can hit the inflection point where its revenues increase much more quickly. Of course, it is not commenting on this story, except to provide the following statement: Facebook is a private company, and we do not publicly disclose our financial results. We understand there is a great deal of interest and curiosity in our past and potential financial performance. However, external attempts to forecast revenue are fundamentally speculative and should be treated as such. We’re focused on building our business to be successful over the long-term. 2009 Revenue How did Facebook make money last year? By growing multiple revenue sources, mostly around advertising. Here’s the revenue we estimate for each component, followed by our analysis. Note that the 2009 run-rate numbers in the table circulated went around the financial community last summer, and were publicly reported by investor-blogger Fred Wilson and Business Insider. We’ll get into the 2010 projections further down. Want more updates from Inside Facebook on Facebook revenues? Sign up here to be notified of future reports. Brand Advertising: Facebook’s internal sales force made a big push here throughout the year, building on past efforts. It made very public entreaties to advertisers with many millions in budgets, like its big presentation to Madison Avenue last year. There, it also announced a deal where Nielsen started providing better advertising data to help firms track campaign results. Facebook also continued to upgrade Pages and its home page advertising units, testing out a range of new features like engagement sampling ads. Meanwhile, the site grew to more than 350 million monthly active users at the end of 2009 from 150 million or so at the beginning of the year — that’s a lot of new eyeballs for advertisers to try to reach. Out of those users, around 100 million were in the US and another 100 million were in Europe: These two markets are where brand advertising br ings in the most money. Brand ads revenue also expanded for a couple more reasons we’ll get into below. Between what we’ve heard from sources and our estimates, we think this category increased considerably over the course of the year, from the $125 million rumor in July to roughly $225 million by the end of the year. The bigger question is if major advertisers are starting to spend more than â€Å"experimental† budgets on Facebook, and according to sources this just started to happen over the course of last year. Microsoft Advertising: Revenue in this area is not clear. Microsoft has been running banner advertising on Facebook for years, one of the perks of its which it started doing when it made a strategic investment in the company. But the two ended the international component a year early, on January 1 of 2010, instead of the same time next year. While that obviously won’t impact Facebook’s 2009 revenue, we also hear that it already took over a sizable portion of Micr osoft’s ad inventory during 2009. Meanwhile, sources familiar with the matter suggest that the July rumor about Microsoft $150 million number is half wrong, in the sense that it is gross revenue, including Microsoft’s cut. So Facebook’s would have been significantly less — the exact percentage it would get is not known, as revenue sharing terms have never been disclosed for the deal. Virtual Goods: This number is especially confusing, in part because Facebook accounts for branded virtual goods as part of brand advertising. Virtual goods revenue source, in terms of Facebook’s accounting practice, only means direct  Credits sales. The result is that the revenue source is significantly lower than what many have expected, coming in potentially as low as $10 million, according to sources familiar with the matter. While the Facebook gift shop has appeared to be popular with users, Credits has otherwise been in testing mode throughout the year. The use of the virtual currency in third-party applications has been minimal, and that only started changing in December. Most industry sources have estimated revenue for virtual goods at around $75 million for the year, which has roughly corresponded with the July rumors and followed from previous estimates for gift store revenue. Certainly, Facebook’s accounting method — which we don’t have many details on — alters some part of that estimate. But outside rumors and estimates have been bullish because social games and other applications brought in hundreds of millions to developers on the Facebook platform last year. At $10 million a year, the gift shop would be bringing in $25,000 a day, which seems extremely low considering the size of the Facebook audience. But, Facebook has promoted virtual gifts pretty lightly over the past couple of years. Performance Advertising: As the biggest success so far in terms of monetization, we believe performance advertising grew by roughly $150 million above the July rumors, and for a few reasons. FarmVille, Zynga’s hit farming game, saw sharp traffic growth after launching in June, partly because the company aggressively advertised on Facebook. Other social gaming companies followed suit. Social games accounted for a substantial minority of all spending on performance advertising, according to sources — between a third and half, some say. However, other types of performance-focused advertisers, including direct marketers and local businesses, also increased their spending, from what many in the industry have said. Growth was especially strong growth in international markets, in part because companies like Techlightenment, TBG London, Tradimax and 77 Agency began using Facebook’s advertising API to sell ads in bulk. These companies are based in Europe, and used Facebook’s precise ad-targeting features to reach users across the fast-growing region’s diversity of nationalities and languages. However, Facebook has rolled out its advertising API program more slowly than we’ve been expecting in general. 2010 Revenue Estimates Overall, we expect many of the same advertising trends to continue. Brand and  self-serve advertising should increase — but so will virtual goods revenue. A wide variety of sources we spoke to expect Facebook to pass $1 billion in revenue this year, possibly reaching $1.1 billion. This is significant growth, but likely still the start of the hockey stick. Here’s a quick look at what’s happening now. Note that these estimates are very rough, and based on our understanding of the market and conversations with sources — we don’t have enough data on Facebook’s traffic to model each revenue stream. Brand Advertising: Facebook is continuing to invest in its sales team here, opening new offices in the US and abroad, and cutting deals with regional advertising agencies in other parts of the world. Its traffic appears to still be growing — although how much is a big question for the year. The result is that ad inventory and the value to big b rands will likely continue to increase, potentially to $350 million, we believe. We don’t think big brands will switch major offline or portal budgets to Facebook en masse this year, but we’ll see more money coming over, with the big budgets likely to follow later. Microsoft Advertising: It’s hard to see Facebook maintaining much Microsoft advertising, because it can now monetize better on its own. It may maintain a token amount in some markets. Microsoft won’t mind about losing Facebook here, because it already has a big strategic investment in the company that will only get more valuable as Facebook builds its own business. And, Microsoft has other deals, like Bing within Facebook, and search ads to go along with the search engine. Virtual Goods: More than ever, Facebook is making Credits a more relevant part of its developer platform. We’ve been covering in detail as the company has recently gotten most big developers using the virtual currency as an option; it has also gotten one, CrowdStar, using Credits exclusively. One way it has done this is by giving games that use Credits prominence within the Facebook interface, appearing in the â€Å"suggested† window of its Games Dashboard, for example. We’ve also been hearing rumors — for months — about Facebook making Credits the mandatory, exclusive virtual currency in applications. It’s not clear that this will happen, and everything we’ve heard coming out of the company suggests no big decisions have been made yet. In fact, our understanding is that Facebook will continue to try to focus on advertising this year. Still, we expect Facebook to start to figure out how to tap into the virtual goods business in a big way. It takes 30% of Credits revenue, so  any developers it funnels through Credits will make it money. Performance Advertising: Social games need to advertise now more than ever to reach Facebook users, due to new inhibitions on viral growth, and more competitors. They’re going to be spending more on Facebook than they have been. So will many other types of performance advertising. Some, from our understanding, have figured out ways of getting a good return on their advertising investment, making additional advertising a way for them to make more money. Facebook’s ongoing efforts to build features for the Ads API, the development of third-party tools providers, and interest from more advertisers should bring this category continue to grow well, past half a billion and possibly towards $600 million. Conclusion: Look for the Most Revenue Growth After 2010 While many people have questioned Facebook’s ability to make money, it is innovating in multiple areas, in ways that we believe will work for the long-term. Brand and performance advertising benefit from being targeted on users’ real-life data, from appearing in Facebook’s engagement-rich environment, and from reaching its hundreds of millions of users. The company will, in our view, gradually chip away at brand advertising spending on other big web sites, including Yahoo and MySpace. The optimistic case for Facebook, in terms of its brand advertising revenue, is that it will get most of this advertising and bring it alone up into the billions range, eventually. Performance should also continue to expand. We expect social gaming as well as a wide variety of performance advertisers and local businesses to help the company make more money here for many years to come. This ecosystem could mature to look something like search engine marketing. Google’s AdWords and other contextual ads appear to be better than Facebook in terms of reaching users looking to buy things; some industries are struggling to make money on Facebook, including travel and insurance companies, from what we hear. We’re not prepared to make an estimate for how big this revenue source might become in future years, except to say that it looks the most promising out of any. Beyond 2010, Credits could potentially expand beyond Facebook apps. Facebook intends to have it be a virtual currency on the site for now, but many have speculated it could turn Credits into a web-wide virtual currency, and integrate it with Connect so other web  sites could include it as a payment option. That is possible — it’s an idea that’s been floating around for years. Some have also speculated that Facebook is going to get deeper into the payments business, instead of partnering with other payment service providers who currently manage Credit purchases. But in order to do payments itself, it would have to build out a PayPal-sized backend to support this. Right now, it uses PayPal, mobile payments from Zong, and direct payments via credit cards, instead. All in all, Facebook’s future looks good, in terms of its ability to continue growing revenues. We’ll of course keep tracking everything closely.

My Values, Beliefs, Clinical Gestalt with Individuals and Systems Essay

Becoming a successful clinician is like a work in progress, a clinician should never consider it completed. There is always room to learn, to grow, and develop while working in the Human Services field. The knowledge that a clinician learns comes not only from education but also from experiences and time working in the field. Overtime, a clinician can expect to look at his or her own beliefs, values, and experiences as well as family, cultural dynamics, and background. The main reason a person continues to learn and obtain knowledge, is because of the array of clients a clinician sees. In the textbook, I had to complete exercises that discussed our values and beliefs and how they will affect and interact with our professional lives. The values that are in my life affect and make me whom I am. Several values that bounce between my professional and personal life and some that do not. There are also some values that I need to improve on which will help me in both my professional and personal lives My most important values and beliefs are: -Be respectful -Be open-minded -Be trustworthy -Always do my best -Have a big heart -Work hard -Enjoy life However, the most important thing is to make my values and beliefs flexible so that I can view the clients and better assist them. This is not always an easy task to do, but because of my experiences and my education, I continue to make progress. A clinician takes the ability to adapt and be flexible with your own personal beliefs and values. My experiences in life have always revolved around helping things, whether it was people or animals. My parents use to tell me, and showed by old family videos that I was the biggest tomboy and helper around our family farm. From a very young age, I was often found helping my parents on the farm rather than playing with Barbie Dolls. I would do all types of work on the farm such as feed animal, clean the barn, and milk the cows. These items helped either animals or people. Being raised on a dairy farm, encouraged me to work hard. Once I started high school my hard work did not stop at the farm, I got my first job away from working on the dairy farm. I am still employed at the job and once again because of my hard work I have had several promotional experiences within the company. I have always been a hard worker at everything I do and have learned many of my values and beliefs. Another textbook exercise that I completed discussed how my own family and my culture background will affect my ability to respond and connect with clients. I have learned that how I view others and makes me comfortable when working with clients has to do with how and where I was raised. My cultural background can include my education, social behaviors, ideas, and viewpoints. For example, in one of the exercises I was asked how I would feel working with a client who was African American or a client who was gay. All these items are affected by how I was raised, and my cultural background. Society also influences the lives we live and how we view other individuals. Textbook exercises were also completed concerning this. I have learned that society we live in shape, who we are, just like cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and values. Society can be described as the world, and community we live in. One example of society affecting our beliefs is with same sex marriages. This is a very controversial topic of society. For a very long time, society said same sex marriages are not okay, and recently they are becoming accepted. Because society is saying that it is now acceptable, the people in the communities are affected by this and their viewpoints may be altered. While working with clients a clinician needs to keep their cultural backgrounds and society out of their mind. Clinicians will experience working with clients of all types. It is important to remember that each client seen is different even if diagnoses, traits, characteristics, or anything else is similar. No two cases are alike. Clinicians will work with individuals with physical, mental, psychological, emotional, and verbal, and many other types of individuals. My job as a clinician is important. I need to remember that everything that shapes whom I am is important but private and should not be â€Å"worn on my sleeve. † Everything I do in life affects how I am shaped and how I view others. My values, beliefs, experiences, and the society also affect me. Keeping an open mind, and be understanding toward my clients is an important role and I will continue to devolve this in my experiences.

Netscape’s Initial Public Offering

Finance 414- Individual Case Questions: â€Å"Netscape’s Initial Public Offering† SS13 You are responsible for handing in written answers to the following questions drawn from the case â€Å"Netscape’s Initial Public Offering. † You can work with others on this assignment, but each individual must hand in their own set of answers. 1. The case indicates that a group of media firms made an investment in Netscape during April of 1995. Using figures from the case, what is the minimum value these investors must have assessed for Netscape’s assets when they made this investment?The minimum value these investors must have assessed for Netscape’s assets when they made this investment was $163,636,363. 60. ($18M/. 11) I used $18M because that would be 11% of their equity. 2. Using figures in the exhibits, estimate Microsoft’s market value of equity on June 30, 1995. Microsoft’s market value of equity on June 30, 1995 was $56,730,960. (39 . 00*2. 32*627,000 shares) 3. Why would Netscape prefer an IPO to the alternative of attempting to borrow new funds from a bank?Netscape would prefer an IPO to the alternative of attempting to borrow new funds from a bank because they wished to fund expected future growth, stockpile cash, and gain visibility. Discussion question: You do not need to answer the following question, but you should think about it in advance since we will be discussing it in class. Is $28 the correct price for Netscape stock? What assumptions about growth rates in earnings might justify this stock price?

Future of Pakistan

Future of Pakistan After a great struggle Muslims of the sub-continent succeeded to get a homeland where they could lead their lives according to their religion. On 14th august, 1947. Pakistan came into being. unto now Pakistan has made much progress in different fields. Although Pakistan has been In troubles from the very first day yet It has made much progress . Now Pakistan is the 6th atomic power in the world. Exploring current images of Pakistan's futures is the task for this essay. Based on a literature review ofPakistani magazines, newspapers and Journals as well as conversations with Pakistani scholars and interviews with members of the general public, we develop and evaluate five Images or scenarios of the future. This essay concludes with suggestions for designing alternative futures for Pakistan. Before we articulate these images of the future, let us first examine the â€Å"futures approach† to the study of social reality. A futures view focuses primarily on tempor ality. Where are we going? What are the possibilities ahead? What strategies can we use to realize our goals?How can he Image of the future help us better understand and change today? who are the losers and winners In any particular articulation of time? The futures perspective Is initially similar to traditional political analysis in that it begins with an exploration of economic, International and social events and the choices made by actors that make these events possible. However, the futures view also attempts to place events and choices within an historical dimension; that is, the larger and deeper structures that make these discrete events intelligible, such as core-periphery. ban-rural, gender, caste, and macro patterns of social change. Also important in the futures view is the post-structural dimension; the larger meaning system or the epistemological ground plan of the real as embedded in language that constitutes events and structures. unfortunately, most efforts to unde rstand the future remain in the predictive mode. It Is often asked. what and when will a particular event occur and how can we profit or increase our power from a specific prediction? Economists and strategic analysts claim to excellent this task.Our efforts here-sensitive to the richness of reality and the need to decolonize the study of the future from narrow models of reality–is to explore images or scenarios of the future. Our task is not to predict and thereby make this essay political fodder for technocrats but to use the future to create real possibilities for change. We thus do not intend to give a familiar reading of Pakistan's future, as might be available In a five year plan, rather we enter Into a discussion of alternative futures, of the many choices ahead as contoured by the structure of istory and the modern boundaries of knowledge that frame our identity.In the images or scenarios that follow it should be remembered that these images are meant as tools for dis cussion and dialog; they are intended to clarify the futures ahead not to reify social reality. Our goal is Insight not prediction. As an Initial caveat, an important failing of this essay is that the textual sources and conversations were entirely in English–one might get different images with local Pakistani languages.By Zainabazharl 2 here they could lead their lives according to their religion. On 14th august, 1947, Pakistan came into being. Unto now Pakistan has made much progress in different fields. Although Pakistan has been in troubles from the very first day yet it has made and evaluate five images or scenarios of the future. This essay concludes with the image of the future help us better understand and change today? Who are the losers and winners in any particular articulation of time?The futures perspective is economic, international and social events and the choices made by actors that make ake these discrete events intelligible, such as core-periphery, urban-ru ral, gender, Unfortunately, most efforts to understand the future remain in the predictive mode. It is often asked, what and when will a particular event occur and how can we profit claim to excellent this task. Our efforts here–sensitive to the richness of reality and future, as might be available in a five year plan, rather we enter into a discussion of ahead not to reify social reality. Our goal is insight not prediction. As an initial caveat,

My 3 Pd Skill Areas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

My 3 Pd Skill Areas - Essay Example In order to improve my skills in giving and receiving feedback, I intend to employ a number of tactics. First, I will ensure that I am always clear about what I say, as Banhegyi (2007) posts. I will also strive to always emphasize on the positive whenever I am communicating. Moreover, I will always strive to be specific in my communication to avoid any ambiguities. Additionally, I will try my level best to focus on the person's behavior and not the person himself. I will also strive not to keep referring to behavior that cannot be changed. In my communication, I will try to be descriptive as opposed to being evaluative. When giving feedback, I will always ensure that I own this feedback through the use of "I" statements. I will also avoid generalizations and instead ask for specifics. Finally, I will be very careful with any advice I receive to avoid making wrong decisions about issues. To improve my networking skills, I will first find out more about myself and my personality as sug gested by Catt and Scudamore (2000). I must make sure that the networking group I join matches my attitude and style. I will also strive to have an agenda and well-set objectives whenever I attend networking events.I must also endeavor to know my audience well so as to establish who needs to know about me to enable an easier achievement of my goals. I also realize that in improving my networking skills, I must always keep the welfare of others in my mind as opposed to always thinking about myself.

Political Science - Is there a 'Clash of civilization' or a 'Clash of Essay

Political Science - Is there a 'Clash of civilization' or a 'Clash of fundamentalism' in contemporary International Relations - Essay Example While each conflict may have a unique cause, and very specific and exclusive factors that lead to the build-up and escalation, thinkers and scholars have spent considerable time and efforts in exploring and establishing any common underlying factors that may be leading to the present day conflicts. A well known proposition about the causes of conflict and clash in the current international relations is that different civilizations cannot co-exists and hence conflict is inevitable. ‘The clash of civilization’ theory was proposed by Huntington, (1993) and attributes the basic cause of all international conflict to the assumption that different civilizations are unable to interact with each other in a peaceful manner as inherently their culture, religion, values and beliefs may be contradictory. This theory had postulates that clashes between civilizations would continue to rise after the end of the Cold War. An other proposition explains the conflicts as a result of fundamentalist thinking in political and international relations. The cause of conflict therefore is not the inherent nature of the different civilizations, but the adoption of a fundamentalist outlook in dealing with other countries and people. The paper will first elaborate on the meanings of the two clashes by highlighting the works of other researchers who have contributed in the development of the concepts. Secondly, a literature survey will be conducted to gather material in support or against of The Clash of Civilization Theory, as proposed by Huntington, rests on the premise that there are basically several different kinds if civilizations, namely, the Western Civilization, The Islamic Civilization, The Sinic Civilization, The African Civilization, and The Latin American Civilization. Conflicts may arise within the nation’s boundaries where there is a