Thursday, October 31, 2019

Dental Office Network Systems Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dental Office Network Systems - Case Study Example This requirement can be met by advancing the firm’s Ethernet solutions to Gigabit Ethernet. This strategy will improve the firm’s Internet access speed rather substantially since Gigabit Ethernet endows higher bandwidth for many users, thereby eliminating bottlenecks. Moreover, Gigabit Ethernet grants full-duplex abilities that enhance the bandwidth’s efficiency (Jain, Bakker, & Anjum, 2004). Gigabit Ethernet reduces maintenance and ownership costs. This is because the bandwidth provided by Gigabit Ethernet has the capacity to convey high data quantities through one network at a fast rate. Furthermore, Gigabit enables east file sharing through high bandwidths, hence enabling file sharing between stationary and mobile dentists. Moreover, the firm has a sizeable requirement for all comprehensive coordination between stationary and mobile locations. The firm should, therefore, establish technologies that offer high speed Internet between the stationary and mobile lo cations within the metropolitan region. ... Mimax technology is appropriate since it allows fast data sending between locations in different regions of the city. The MAN technology is best suited for metropolitan regions since it allows mobility and speed of data transmission. Furthermore, the firm requires a network solution that connects all the city regions using a single network. A satellite microwave connection is the most viable option to fulfill this requirement since the technology permits connectivity across vast distances within the city. The technology sends signals from its ground station to a satellite then back to the other ground stations; hence encompassing massive distances. The firm also requires a secure and reliable network that protects confidential patient information as provided by the HIPPA requirements. HIPPA requires the protection of protected health data such as a patient’s past, current and future health condition, the health care services provided to the patient and past, current and future payment for health care (Castells, 1998). Because breaching these requirements is tantamount to a crime, the dental firm must maintain the integrity of confidential patient information. The firm’s greatest requirement is the protection of confidential patient information since a single breach or risk could result in loss of such confidential data. In order to connect the four dentists who work in the office but are also mobile, the firm should establish cloud technology, which has the capacity to connect both stationary and mobile offices. Cloud technology is an exceptional option since it delivers high storage capacity and computing to a multitude of users (Rhoton, 2009). Cloud technology will allow the four

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Initial Public Offering of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Assignment - 2

Initial Public Offering of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals - Assignment Example This research will begin with the statement that the business of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals is the development, production and the marketing of both generic and proprietary inhalable and injectable chemicals in the USA. Currently, the company is selling fifteen products, while at the same time in the process of developing thirteen more proprietaries as well as seven generic product portfolios, which will feature in the market in the near future. Â  The company prides more in its high technical and technological capability that is the main business strength that enables the company overcome competition in its field, through the introduction of innovative technologies such as the production of a variety of pre-filled syringes, and metered-dose inhalation technology. The terms of the Initial Public Offering of the Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares is through the use of prospectus, which acts as the registration statement for the shares, and the copies of the prospectus were being offered by the underwriters of the company shares, Jefferies LLC, from their offices. Thus, the press statements and advertisements of the IPO did not constitute an offer for sale, until the prospective buyer of the shares had obtained the copy of the prospectus and filled it. Therefore, the shares had been divided into various categories, comprising of 4,640,000 common stock shares that were directly offered by Amphastar Pharmaceuticals and common stock 3,360,000 shares that were being offered by the company’s stockholders. Additionally, the underwriters of the company, Jefferies LLC, are reserved 1,200,000 additional shares which were available for over-allotment, offered as an option for the prospective buyers to buy more shares. The company is offered 5,800,000 shares at an initial price of $7 per share, which constituted $40,900,000, but the Pharmaceutical Company paid a total of $6,200,000 in brokerage commissions and underwriting discounts, thus remaining with a total of $34, 700,000. The percentage of the commission to the broker-dealers, as well as the underwriter's discounts and other IPO issuing expenses, amounted to $6,200,000 of the total 40,900,000, which is approximately 15.2%.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The Complexity Of Culture Cultural Studies Essay

The Complexity Of Culture Cultural Studies Essay So why is culture so complex? According to the popular writer Raymond Williams, culture is one of the most complicated words in the English language. The study of culture is far too complex to be studied only from the viewpoint of one specific scientific discipline, or to be based on one specific model. In a world as complex as ours, each of us is shaped by many factors, and culture is one of the powerful forces that acts on us. Culture is not a set of objects and behaviors, but a context, specific to a particular time and place, in which meaning is made (Geertz 1973) (Schall). Cultural contexts include important patterns, attitudes, and values such as language use and communication patterns, religious beliefs and rituals, the tools and artifacts of daily life, familiar relationships, gender roles, and many other characteristics. Because of the complex, multifaceted nature of culture, understanding a specific group, whether ones own or that of others, requires study from several dive rse perspectives. Although each perspective will shed light on the systems of meaning within that group, the different perspectives will not necessarily fit together into a neat, unified cultural portrait (Rosaldo 1989) (Schall). In order for a researcher to make sense of the complexity of cultural concepts, relevant prior knowledge and a comprehensive understanding of cultural variation is a prerequisite to effectively comprehending cross-cultural studies. According to Joe Novak, the creator of concept mapping, when concept maps are used, the material to be learned must be conceptually clear and presented with language and examples relatable to the learners prior knowledge. Concept maps can be helpful to meet this condition, both by identifying large general concepts held by the learner prior to instruction on more specific concepts, and by assisting in the sequencing of learning tasks though progressively more explicit knowledge that can be anchored into developing conceptual frameworks (Novak). In the following sections I offer up a series of approaches designed to aid a researcher in unraveling the complex nature of cultural variation and ways of simplifying cultural understanding. Gaining sufficient knowledge and understanding of culture can become a complex task in itself making it necessary for one to develop specific strategies and approaches to the problem. Any approach should encompass key terms, essential cultural concepts and principles, as well as multifaceted foundational theories. This should provide the knowledge necessary to understand and simplify complex models and studies designed for the purpose of illustrating culture differences across an array of situations. So where should one begin in developing their cross-cultural knowledge? Establishing a glossary of terms that define some of the significant concepts in one or more topics that lend themselves to research investigation using cross-cultural data is necessary. For the purpose of cross-cultural communication, cultural literacy should begin with the basic terms such as culture and communication. Culture can be defined as, a system of symbolic resources shared by a group of people. In every cross-cultural situation, groups of people with different systems of symbolic resources come in to contact by communicating with one another. Communication can be defined as, the practice of creating and exchanging meanings or symbolic resources. It is clear that culture and communication are interrelated, therefore, cross-cultural communication can be defined as a process of interaction between two groups of people with different systems of symbolic resources. ( Klyukanov) Understanding these terms wi ll enable one to see how and why people identify with each other and form cultures through the process of cultural identification. Cultural identification simply allows us to define our own cultural selves. Before embarking upon the quest for understanding of other cultures, it is necessary to break down and understand ones own culture. Anthropologists Kevin Avruch and Peter Black explain the importance of culture this way: Ones own culture provides the lens through which we view the world; the logic by which we order it; the grammar by which it makes sense. Everyone has a culture. No one can ever fully separate themselves from their own culture. While it is true that anyone can grow to understand and value a range of different cultures and communicate effectively in more than one, one can never overcome his own, or any other culture, to achieve an all encompassing perspective on culture. As was mentioned previously, it is necessary and important for one to gain knowledge in the study of cross-cultural communication. The nature of knowledge is very complex; however the complexity of the cross-cultural world can be exposed by combining two complimentary approaches: the objective (scientific) approach and the subjective approach. In the objective approach, knowledge is viewed as an object, the world consists of concrete variables and people behave in patterned and predictable ways. From an objective standpoint, all observers of a culture would see the same thing, knowledge is external to all people and the watchful observer captures this knowledge and characterizes it in meaningful fashion. The subjective approach represents the other side of the knowledge gaining process. This approach aims to interpret and understand interactions and cultural meanings that are internal to people. The combined implementation of these approaches highlights the methodical, relational, an d opposing nature of cross-cultural communication which includes an array of cross-cultural knowledge. Edward T. Hall, a respected anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher, identified Ten Primary Message Systems which he classified as Interaction, Association, Subsistence, Bisexuality, Territoriality, Temporality, Learning, Play, Defense, and Exploitation. From his ten primary message systems, Hall devised an interrelated Map of Culture. Halls map makes it easier for researchers to pinpoint complexities in understanding target cultures. The process of constructing a system of meanings known as cultural mapping explains how every culture develops ideas about the world and its place in it. The main types of meanings which form a culture map include: beliefs, attitudes, values, norms, mores, laws, and world view. It is important to understand that all of these ideas are interconnected. Culture maps provide structure and give rationality to universal knowledge established about people and the social world, providing expectations about typical patterns of behavior and the range of like ly variation between types of people and their characteristic actions and attributes. Understanding and applying these concepts can aid researchers in breaking down the complexities of cross-cultural variation. Another set of means that are typically presented are global cultural dimensions. These variables are very wide in scope, are related to all cultures, and can be used for the purpose of assessing cultures. Global cultural dimensions vary from researcher to researcher, this section attempts to identify and provide the most commonly discussed dimensions which include: Individualism/Collectivism, Power Distance, Masculinity/Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and High-Context/Low Context Communication. Researching several ethnographies and studying the approaches presented by anthropologists, philosophers, and writers whose work has laid the foundations for the field of cultural studies will provide further depth and understanding. Below are a few examples of theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. According to Hans Gullestrup the complexity of cross-cultural studies, as well as cultural studies, are especially related to the following observations or facts: 1. The relativity of each culture the cultural hierarchy 2. The co-incidence of the cultures the cultural categories 3. The changeability of each culture the cultural dynamic 4. The ethical problems related to cross-cultural studies A researcher will base his or her work on different paradigms and a differing understanding of culture depending on the situation and the purpose (Hans Gullestrup). For these reasons, Gullestrup argues that theoretical and analytical models are needed for cultural and cross-cultural studies formulated as frame models, or as a kind of framework, where each researcher or cultural actor can relate to one other with his own data, observations, and experiences when trying to create an understanding of a particular cross-cultural situation, according to his or her needs, as well as to the four factors mentioned above. As mentioned previously, anthropologist Edward T. Hall When we approach another culture, a tendency exists to generalize, placing experiences in wide-ranging categories or types. The best we can do is to make sure generalizations are as accurate as possible and avoid overgeneralizations, especially those beginning with All. When attempting to describe a certain culture, we must be careful and ensure that the culture we classify is the one that was observed. If we come across another culture and fail to notice obvious differences then the all we have done is stereotyped and our interaction with that culture has become extremely unreliable. To avoid stereotyping, it is necessary to test generalizations against the actual behavior and values of those being encountered in the observed culture. Cross-cultural communication is successful when our observations and reflections of people from other cultures are accurate. Two useful approaches for counteracting mistakes of oversimplification and generalization of a culture are Culture-General and Culture-Specific approaches. Concentrating on cultures broad characteristics, is macro and global in scope and defined as Culture-General. With over 200 national societies throughout the globe, over 5,000 languages, and endless subgroups interrelated by ethnicity, race, religion, common history, politics, and culture, it becomes virtually unfeasible to thoroughly sort out the full range of cultural practices found in each society. Culture-General ideas and frameworks are useful and provide researchers tools necessary to understand principles, categories of behavior and world views, ideas and values, how to learn another culture, and how to successfully and effectively navigate cultural boundaries. Culture-general approaches to interaction describe general contrasts that are applicable in many cross-cultural situations. For example, Edward T. Halls classificat ion of high-context low and low-context cultures is a culture-general comparison that implies a source of miscommunication between many diverse societies. This approach is based on more conceptual categories and generalizable skills, and represents the etic form of cultural knowledge. Etic knowledge is essential for cross-cultural comparison because such comparison essentially requires standard units and categories (Lett). General cultural characterizations can be narrowed by using a Culture-Specific approach, based on ethnographies, is an intercultural form of emic cultural analysis. Emic knowledge is essential for an intuitive and empathic understanding of a culture (Lett). Culture- Specific refers to the distinctive qualities of a particular culture. It can also be a means of studying cross-cultural communication when the culture characteristics of a particular culture are examined and used to explore the broad, general characteristics of the structure of cultures. At the culture specific level, differences between two particular cultures are assessed for their likely impact on communication between people of those cultures. Cultural observers must always be ready to modify existing conceptualizations when new experiences do not fit into the original universal category. Simply, one-size fits all conceptualizations are not effective in cross-cultural communications. Clifford Geertz, in his book The Interpretation of Cultures, attempts to simply cultural variation by saying, The concept of culture I espouse, and whose utility the essays below attempt to demonstrate, is essentially a semiotic one. Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning. It is explication I am after, construing social expressions on their surface enigmatical. But this pronouncement, a doctrine in a clause, demands itself some explication.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Mother Theresa :: essays papers

Mother Theresa We all have our own heroes, people we admire and respect, people who made an impact on our life, that made us look at the world with a different eye, Mother Teresa is definitely the one for me. Although the world is full of good people, great humanitarians that really care, people who donate billions of dollars, people who raise their voice to make a difference, Mother Teresa stands out in the crowd, she is unique. "It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving." She dedicated every day of her adult life caring for "The dying, the crippled, the mentally ill, the unwanted, the unloved" and she loved every minute of it because she was loving, she was cleaning, feeding "Jesus in disguise." Yes, she fed them, sheltered them, cleaned their wounds, but what is more important is that she made them feel good, loved, and wanted. She gave them back their dignity that poverty had taken away from them and even if they died, they died with a smile on their face knowing that somebody loves them and somebody cares for them. "Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don't only give your care, but give your heart as well." Agreeing or disagreeing with her on abortion, population control, divorce, or how she raised the money should not shadow Mother Teresa's life-long contribution and dedication to the poor and humanity. To criticize someone, It's really easy... I suggest: stop criticizing her and do it better than she did. II. Body A. Mother Teresa's Life Mother Teresa was born August 27, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu from Albanian parents: Nikolle and Drandafille Bojaxhiu. Her father was a successful and well known contractor, her mother was a housewife. She was the youngest of three children. Mother Teresa's family was a devoted catholic family. They prayed every evening and went to church almost everyday. It was her family's generosity, care for the poor and the less fortunate that made a great impact on young Mother Teresa's life. By the age of 12, she had made up her mind, she realized that her vocation was aiding the poor. At age 18, she then decided to become a nun, and traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to join the Sisters of Loretto. After about a year in Ireland, she then leaves to join the Loretto

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Death and Dying in Hinduism and Buddhism

Death and Dying- Customs and Rituals Hinduism and Buddhism Religious and cultural beliefs play a significant role in the processes of death and dying. These beliefs have created rituals that provide a conceptual framework for understanding the experience of death. Cultures across the world have different, unique rituals surrounding death and dying. This can be proven by comparing Hinduism and Buddhism. Their pre-death rituals, burial rites and concepts of afterlife are very different. Hindus and Buddhists have diverse pre-death rituals. When death is imminent, Hindus are brought home to die.They are placed in either their room or the entryway of their house with their head facing east. A lamp is lit near their head, and the person is encouraged to focus on their mantra. The Hinduism religion states that a mantra is a word repeated during mediation. Family members sing hymns, pray and read scripture for the dying person. When Buddhists are dying, it is up to their family to keep them positive. Loved ones must free themselves of disturbing emotion. It is their responsibility to help the dying person accept death as a natural and inevitable part of life.Hindus rituals are scripted, religious and self-dependant while Buddhist’s rituals are low-maintenance and mostly dependant on family members. In conclusion, Hinduism and Buddhism are very different in regards to pre-death rituals. Hinduism beliefs about the afterlife vary significantly from Buddhism beliefs. Hindus believe that humans go through a never-ending cycle of birth and death. Hindus believe in karma. Karma is â€Å"action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation: in Hinduism one of the means of reaching Brahman† (Collins English Dictionary, Web).Buddhists believe that every soul is reborn until it has been cleansed. In Buddhism, the goal is to achieve Nirvana. Nirvana is â€Å"freedom from the endless cycle of personal reinca rnations, with their consequent suffering, as a result of the extinction of individual passion, hatred, and delusion. † (Collins English Dictionary, Web). Superficially, these two rituals seem similar, but differences can be found on a deeper level. Hinduism is a never-ending cycle, while Buddhism can be escaped. The biggest difference between Hinduism and Buddhism is their burial rites. Hindu families prepare heir deceased with oil and herbs. The body is carried on a wooden frame to a publically designated cremation site where mourners chant mantras. After the body has been cremated, bits of bone and ash that remain are collected and strewn into the Holy River. Ten days after the cremation, family members offer ten pindas to the river to feed the spirit of the deceased on its travels to the next incarnation. Buddhists hold simple, solemn funerals. They believe it is unnecessary to spend a lot of money on traditional ceremonies. During the viewing, an altar is set up in front of the casket.Mourners can place offerings such as fruit, flowers and candles on the altar. Images of the Buddha and deceased person are placed in front of the altar. These religions are different because Hindus burials are elaborate and expensive, while Buddhists burials are simple, practical and inexpensive. Burial rites reveal how different Hinduism and Buddhism are. Hinduism and Buddhism have very different pre-death rituals, concepts of afterlife and burial rites. This proves that all religions have a unique set of traditions surrounding death and dying. These traditions help shape religion and create a diverse society.Bibliography Hitchcock, Susan Tyler. Geography of Religion: Where God Lives, Where Pilgrims Walk. Washington DC: National Geographic Society, 2004. Print. Berhad, Koperasi Buddhisme Malaysia. A Guide to a Proper Buddhist Funeral. Sea Park: Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc, 2000. Print. Collins English Dictionary. â€Å"Karma. † Dictionary Reference. 2009. HarperCo Publishers. March 6, 2013 < http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/karma> Collins English Dictionary. â€Å"Nirvana. † Dictionary Reference. 2009. HarperCo Publishers. March 6, 2013 < http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/nirvana>

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

What Does Flaubert Think of Emma

Madame Bovary is about the life of Emma Bovary whose unhappy marital life has thrust her into illegitimate relationships with other men. Emma’s character serves to stand for the women of 19th century who found themselves in the web of unhappy life from which they failed to free themselves. The dominant theme of the novel is about the search of a woman for true happiness and independence but the irony of the novel is that she is deceived by the interplay of illusion and reality. Emma Bovary struggles to free herself from the conventions of the society through escapades in illusionary world and relationships which give her nothing in return. Emma’s character is criticized as that of a lustful woman but the way the author of the novel portrays and treats her is as important as the interpretation of the critics. The attitude of the author, however, has a considerable impact on the reader’s perception of Emma’s character and the readers come to see the character of Emma through the eyes of Flaubert. The novel is an admixture of ‘rebellion, violence, melodrama and sex, expertly combined in a compact plot’ (Llosa). What Flaubert thinks of his heroine is clear with his statement, ‘Madame Bovary, C’est Moi? ’ that implies that he can never think to imagine of the sufferings of Emma (Zarin). The story of Emma commences as she is married to Charles Bovary who is a physician. Charles undergoes an unhappy marital life before Emma where ‘his wife was a master’ (Flaubert 10). The author treats the character of Emma with a delicacy and sensitivity as she is presented as a romantic woman whose dreams are devastated as soon as she realizes that her choice to marry a physician was fatuous, ‘What exasperated her was that Charles did not seem to notice her anguish. His conviction that he was making her happy seemed to her an imbecile insult and his sureness on this point ingratitude’ (Flaubert 101). It seems that the author himself sympathyzes with Emma and wants to capture the reader’s attention towards her pitiful condition that is an excuse for the life she chose for herself. Another dominant theme of the novel is the interplay of illusion and reality which makes Emma to take decisions for her life. The callousness of her husband pushes her towards rebellion and she asks, ‘for whose sake, then was she virtuous? ’ (Flaubert 101). Emma finds escape in lascivious affairs with Leon Dupius and Rodolphe Boulanger. She ‘could not think that the calm in which she lived was the happiness she had dreamed’ (Flaubert 35). The sad fact is that Charles realizes his wife’s worth in his life after her death. Even when he has discovered the love letter of Rodolphe he admits that everyone ‘must have adored her’ and ‘all men assuredly must have coveted her’ (Flaubert 342). The attitude of Charles seems odd as well as he adores her as if a goddess and ‘she seemed but the more beautiful to him for this’ (Flaubert 342). But it is the choice of Flaubert who himself is found in love with his character that even after the enormous loss in the life of Emma she is treated with sympathy by the novelist. During her life the sole concern of Charles is ‘his reputation’, ‘fortune’ and ‘berth’s future’ (Flaubert 313). Emma commits suicide and does not realize her mistakes even after she is left by her lovers. The rites of passage does not appear in her life as she felt to be ‘disillusioed’ with ‘nothing’ to ‘learn , and nothing more to feel’ (Flaubert 35). The dilemma of Emma’s life, though, is that she fails to achieve perfect happiness and the victim of her rebellion was her daughter, Berth, who is bound to work in factory after the demise of her parents. Flaubert treats Emma as a woman who craves for wealth, joy and the superficial side of the things. The luscious style of life attracts her as the novelists describe ‘the silver dish covers’ that reflect ‘the lighted wax candles in the candlebra’ and the silk linen were the things that made her eyes glimmed (Flaubert 43). The ambitions of Emma lead her to sin and death are a part of western history of morality and religion (Llosa). The important aspect of Emma’s treatment of Flaubert is that the novelist portrays her character as a rebellious soul who is heroic in her own sense. Rebellion in Emma’s case’, says Llosa, ‘does not have the epic dimensions of that of the masculine heroes of the 19th century novel, yet it is no less heroic’ (Llosa). The attitude of the novelist towards the pivotal character is positive and he treats her as an Amazon of her own life but the fact is that Flaubert’s attitude inserts inverse imp act on the perceptions of the readers as they come to see her character as that of a lusty woman who bears no fidelity like that of women in other 19th century novels who came to compromise with the circumstances of their lives. The critics also criticize Emma Bovary for her impulses, her ‘incurable materialism’, her ‘predilection for the pleasures of the body’ than ‘soul’ and her ‘preference for earthly life’ which are also a part of a modern western woman (Llosa). ‘Here is the rebellion of an individual’, ushers Llosa, ‘and to all appearances a self centered one’ (Llosa). Emma Bavory represents women in 19th century society who are caught in unhappy marriages and aspire to obtain their wishes at every cost. Her story is that of a ‘blind, stubborn, desperate rebellion against the social violence’ (Llosa). She ‘violates the codes of her milieu’ only because she is ‘driven’ to act in the way as a consequence of her problems which she undergoes in her life (Llosa). The mastery of Flaubert lies in the fact that he links the thematic garb of the story with that of characterization. As the dominant themes of the novel include the struggle for independence by a woman, interplay between illusion and reality, theme of infidelity and betrayal. The interesting fact of Flaubert’s novel is that all of the themes are associated with the character of Emma Bovary who enjoys pivotal importance in the plot of the novel. This fact emphaizes the need to have a closer look at how is Flaubert’s own attitude towards the heroine of the novel and what he wants to imply through the portrayal of Emma. Emma is regarded as among the heroines about whose ‘appearance’ readers are ‘most likely to diagree’ (Barnes). Moreover Barnes finds it impossible to forgive Thackery for calling Bovary as heartless and callous. She is to be sympathized when she realizes that she is betrayed as she says to Rodolhe, ‘You never loved me. You are no better than the others’ (Flaubert 310). She was ;betraying, ruining herself’ for her ambitions (Flaubert 310). Flaubert shows that Emma’s engagements with the other men were due to the problems in which she was trapped and she was not disloyal to any one as Emma herself resolves to help her lovers when they needed, ‘I would have given you every thing. I would have sold all’ for the eternal love (Flaubert 310). Charles remains in the illusion that he had made her happy throughout her life, ‘Weren’t you happy? Is it my fault? I did all I could’ (Flaubert 316). The end of Emma’s life is presented with a divinity as ‘now’ a ‘twilight dimness was settling upon her thoughts’ (Flaubert 317) and she filled with joy on the ‘visions of eternal beatitude that were beginning’ (Flaubert 323). It was the ‘treachery’, ‘meanness’ and numberless ‘desires that had tortured her’, so she is rid of all the blames by the author (Flaubert 317). The character of Emma is presented by the author with such a sensitivity that it arouses the sympathies of the readers towards Emma’s character.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Compare and Contrast the Development and Establishment of the colonies of Virginia and Massachusetts Bay

Compare and Contrast the Development and Establishment of the colonies of Virginia and Massachusetts Bay Like Virginia, Massachusetts Bay was settled by Europeans. Both settlements struggled to survive at first. They both also encountered natives living there before they arrived. In Virginia there were the Algonquians and in Massachusetts Bay there was a large number of Puritans.Although there were many differences between the two colonies it comes as to no surprise that they are very much so related in their hardships. Such as in Virginia there was disease, famine and continuing attacks of the neighboring Algonquians which took a tremendous toll on the population. Only sixty out of the original two hundred and fourteen settlers at Jamestown survived. While at the Massachusetts Bay the settlers had their hardships too, the long, harsh winters, the unfertile soil, the lurking red man, often very hostile, and other obstacles common to pioneer life.They were also different in many ways for instance in Virginia as the population struggled to survive striving off the Powhatan and their food, furs, fruits, and their shelters.Anne Hutchinson on TrialIn Massachusetts Bay the growth of their colony was phenomenal. This phenomenal growth lasted for about ten years. During this time more than twenty thousand home seekers had sailed into the harbors of Massachusetts Bay.Sure they had their hard times but they were greatly improving over time whereas the colony of Virginia was greatly depreciating over time and the colony of Virginia had to depend on others the entire time they were there. But not the colony of the Massachusetts Bay they did a lot of he things on their on. Strong houses soon took the place of the early built cabins and herds of cattle, goats, and swine covered the countryside, and ships were soon carrying loads of lumber, salt fish and furs to their mother country. Where Virginia were running back...

Monday, October 21, 2019

IBMs Invention of the First Personal Computer

IBM's Invention of the First Personal Computer In July of 1980, IBM representatives met for the first time with Microsofts Bill Gates to talk about writing an operating system for IBMs new hush-hush personal computer. IBM had been observing the growing personal computer market for some time. They had already made one dismal attempt to crack the market with their IBM 5100. At one point, IBM considered buying the fledgling game company Atari to commandeer Ataris early line of personal computers. However, IBM decided to stick with making their own personal computer line and developed a brand new operating system to go with. IBM PC AKA Acorn The secret plans were referred to as Project Chess. The code name for the new computer was Acorn. Twelve engineers, led by William C. Lowe, assembled in Boca Raton, Florida, to design and build the Acorn. On August 12, 1981, IBM released their new computer, re-named the IBM PC. The PC stood for personal computer making IBM responsible for popularizing the term PC. Open Architecture The first IBM PC ran on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor. The PC came equipped with 16 kilobytes of memory, expandable to 256k. The PC came with one or two 160k floppy disk drives and an optional color monitor. The price tag started at $1,565. What really made the IBM PC different from previous IBM computers was that it was the first one built from off-the-shelf parts (called open architecture) and marketed by outside distributors (Sears Roebuck and Computerland). The Intel chip was chosen because IBM had already obtained the rights to manufacture the Intel chips. IBM had used the Intel 8086 for use in its Displaywriter Intelligent Typewriter in exchange for giving Intel the rights to IBMs bubble memory technology. Less than four months after IBM introduced the PC, Time Magazine named the computer man of the year.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

How to achieve expert status, HR Zone - Emphasis

How to achieve expert status, HR Zone How to achieve expert status, HR Zone Browse the business aisles of any bookshop and youll find an array of how-to titles. Whether youre hiring or firing, theres guaranteed to be a text extolling the latest methods, explains Rob Ashton. It can be tempting to think that these gurus are cut from a different cloth to normal folk. But the reality is that theyve achieved their expert status in large part by putting their thoughts and ideas in writing. Imagine that youve launched a company-wide initiative that will reduce labour turnover by 10 per cent over a six-month period. The managing director has asked you to share your success at the annual conference. But as the big day looms, you decide to let a colleague take the daunting task of speaking at the podium. Your colleague not only presents the project in all its glory, but speaks with such authority that people automatically associate her with being the expert. And youre left with little, if any, public recognition. The moral of the story (aside from always accepting public speaking invitations) is to make sure you own your ideas by getting them down on paper. For example, you could have distributed reports to all the employees in your company to demonstrate that you were the expert in that particular initiative. Cultivating expert status through writing is a smart move. It can lead to promotions, awards and all manner of challenging opportunities. You may not want to be a Sunday Times bestselling author, but you can still gain credibility within the HR world by writing reports, articles, white papers and blogs. So here are five steps to help you write your way to expert status in your organisation and beyond. One Always ask what employees need and want, even if youve been working with them for years. People change, so keep finding out what really makes them tick. Then, consistently take action to develop original HR practices. Dont be afraid to do things differently (provided of course its not just change for changes sake). Two Think beyond the nuts and bolts of your job and ask yourself how your work truly affects the lives of others. And always focus on the needs of your readers before you write any document. Remember, to gain authority in your organisation, you need people to connect with your writing. So be clear about who will read your document, how important it is to them and how interested they are in it. Use this information to help you shape the content. And make sure you speak directly to the reader by using words such as you, we, us and our. Three Give power to the people by including them in your writing. For example, its more effective to write that one in five people are now happier in their jobs than using the term 20 per cent. And use the active voice as much as possible. For example, youve helped to create over 700 new customers this year is far more effective than Over 700 customers have been created this year with your help. Four Write letters to HR magazines to comment on industry stories. Use the SCRAP formula to help structure your letter. The acronym stands for: situation, complication, resolution, action and politeness. Situation Begin by explaining the current situation or particular issue. For example, you may wish to highlight typical grades of the current graduate intake. Complication Introduce the idea that theres a problem. In this case, the problem could be that personnel managers are wasting time interviewing candidates who dont have the required skills, as grades seem to be a poor indicator of ability in the workplace. Resolution State your resolution to the problem. This could be forging links with universities to conduct undergraduate training in core workplace skills. Action Suggest what action the reader can or should take. You might want the reader to carry out your suggestion locally and report back to you. Politeness Finally, end with a polite, but thought-provoking sign-off. Five Cast your net even wider by contributing full-page articles to HR magazines and other business titles. Always send a synopsis of the article to the magazine first. Write an attention-grabbing headline and standfirst (the two lines under the headline). Then write a snappy opening paragraph and a few sentences about what your article will include. If the editor likes your idea, theyll work with you to decide on the exact content. It doesnt matter if youre a director or working your way up through the ranks, now is the time to start positioning yourself as an expert. Your ideas and recommendations are powerful, so take the time to tell people about them and document them effectively.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

(Authors Choice) One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest discussion and Essay

(Authors Choice) One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest discussion and summary - Essay Example It turns out that patients in the asylum have no rights and no life of dignity. The ward in the mental institute, where McMurphy gets to, is run by Nurse Ratched, who is a tyrant with sadistic inclinations. She cows and terrorizes the patients, most of whom have admitted the asylum on their own desire. McMurphy sees that many of the patients are not insane and he revolts against Nurse Ratched and her methods of â€Å"treatment† and â€Å"care†. He wants to teach people to be free and happy. In the course of the film, you see that sanity is a matter on question, while nurse Ratched seems to be more abnormal and socially dangerous then most of the patients do. Besides, you can’t get rid of indignation about the humiliating position that the patients of the mental institute are put into, as well as start doubting as to the appropriateness of many methods of treatment and the verity of some diagnosis set. McMurphy finds close friends in the ward. He treats Billy Bibbit, a patient with suicidal syndrome, permanently humiliated and frightened by nurse Ratched, as his younger brother, who needs his support and guard. â€Å"Chief† Bromden, a huge Native American, considered to be deaf and submitted with schizophrenia, becomes McMurphy’s confidant, after he learns that Chief is not deaf and is quite sane. McMurphy decides to treat patients in his own way. He teaches them to enjoy life, playing cards and basketball with them, and taking them fishing on a boat without permission. Having learnt that many of the patients were submitted to the ward voluntarily, he attempts to show them the prerogatives of the free life outside the hospital. Despotic Nurse Ratched starts putting screws on patients. For the first time, they are severely punished by electro shock (which is to be a way of treatment but not punishment). It is surprising that the rest of the staff doesn’t resist the obviously illegal actions of their chief as if everything that

Friday, October 18, 2019

Veterinary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Veterinary - Essay Example We can opt for three methods; 1) the conducting of face to face interviews, b) carrying out of telephone interviews and c) sending mailed questionnaires. However, with the advancement of state-of-the-art technologies, these methods can be applied through the internet and the utilization of contact centres. Conducting survey to the target group(s) and identification of at least three key areas of practice promotion that meet the needs of the local community Before a project or activity is to be lunched, it is important that there is an identification of the potential consumers and customers. It is best to consider that customers and consumers can be classified into categories: one is the individual customer and the other one is business organizations. Between the two, what would need intensive research is the individual consumer. For one the individual is unpredictable, and most of the time, they can only be considered as valid consumers once they have the budget and the preference fo r the products and services you are offering. ... farms and poultry). A classification of the community and locality that you are in, will greatly narrow down to whom should the survey be conducted. Design a survey that will tailor the extent of how your product and services will survive in the market. Or another way of looking at it would be, tailoring you r products and services to what the market in your locality needs. The focus of the survey therefore would be one; a) practices that will result to the greatest benefit of the locality that you are in and b) gaining the biggest monetary advantage from these best practices. Bringing the basics of marketing analysis into the context of health care and other health-related practices, physician practice promotion was be considered. Factors that have influenced and will influence consumer’s choice must be clearly evaluated in order to come up with programs that will increase income and revenue. When we talk about â€Å"medical marketing†, the concept covers a wide gamut of activities that are associated to practice promotion. Practice promotion has long been incorporated with activities such as practice literature, managed care initiates, through media advertising, conducting of patient seminars, among others. Market research and consumer surveys would point to the following key areas of practices (though may vary from places to places) are: animal vaccination, implementation of health insurance to pets, and to maintenance. Technologies would suggest that the most common and widely-used practice promotion would be advertisements. It communicates to the broadest number of people at the cheapest cost. Benefits of practice promotion through advertisements It has been

Financial Accounting Reports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Financial Accounting Reports - Essay Example The Financial Accounting Standards Board says financial reporting to be financial statements as well as other ways to communicate financial information related to the enterprise to the outside users. Financial reporting, compared to the financial accounting, is quite broader concept that encompasses the financial statements, the notes that are given below those statements and the disclosures. Financial statements are useful in providing important information to make decisions about the credit decisions and investments and also to assess the cash flow prospects. Information about the resources of the enterprise, its claim to these resources obtained and the changes that these resources undergo is also provided by the financial statements. Information provided by financial reporting is used by management and others who make economic decisions. Financial reporting primarily focuses on information about the earnings and the components it has. (International Financial Reporting Standards, 2013) Investors: these people make investments in the entity. They are interested about the security of their investments and potential profits in the entity. People interested in making investment in an entity make use of the financial statements, especially the income statement, with the help of which they can estimate the future incomes and performance of the entity they are interested to invest in. The solvency of the company and the financial strength will reveal whether their investments will be secured or not. Investors like unit trusts and pension funds are the most sophisticated and the largest group of investors. Lenders: they need the information about the entity’s financial strength and performance to know whether the entity will be able to pay them in future. This depends on how are the solvency conditions of the entity. They are shown by the balance sheet/statement of financial position. The entities may

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Lab2 Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lab2 - Lab Report Example The page also provides information about the career path certificates for those who may want to specialize. On the page is other information relating to service courses such as computer software tools and computer programming tools (Lane, 1996). In case a student needs financial aid, he or she can visit the Student Resource Center (SRC), located on the second floor of Building 1, Room 206. The SRC personnel helps students in solving non-academic matters while in the campus or the community. Under life and family, there is support for a wide range of information. The information provided include childcare, where families of the students can enroll their children in child care. Counseling guides students on academic, career and personal needs. Disability resources announcing the resources available for students with special needs. Health clinic provides information on healthcare for students. Housing & Titan Court, advising students on the best and affordable houses they can rent. Multi-cultural center gives information on where students can get best hospitality services. Other information under current students’ resources include employment, transportation, veteran’s services and women’s center (Lane, 1996). Academic advising department provides each student with program advising team. Electronic advisory services such as Moodle. The electronic resources help the students research and discover answers to a wide range of academic and career questions (Lane, 1996). a) The information on this page is varied, though all related to the University of Oregon. It provides links to the various section of the university. For instance, there is information on job openings, maps detailing directions to the University, the office of admissions, blackboard, academics and events calendar. The page also provides links to some institutes of the university like the Institute on violence and destructive behavior. b) The URL opens a webpage

(Hitchcock, Shadow of a Doubt (1942), Hitchcock, Strangers on a Train Essay

(Hitchcock, Shadow of a Doubt (1942), Hitchcock, Strangers on a Train (1951)and Hitchcock, The Lady Vanishes) - Essay Example In his career he pioneered a number of techniques that improved the quality of films in the psychological thriller and suspense genres (Bays). Over six decades, Hitchcock directed over fifty feature films both at the British cinema and in Hollywood. This does not mean that his career was smooth all the way in fact most of his first films did not do so well. According to Donald Spoto (1976), Hitchcock’s first seventeen films did not receive much recognition as they were more of historical curiosities (8). In Donald’s text he indicates that Hitchcock’s career took a leap for the better starting from 1935, which saw him produce and direct great pieces of art (Spoto 9). Throughout his career he produced a wide range of remarkable films. It would take a long time if one was to analyze all the best films by Hitchcock. However, for the purpose of this essay we get to analyze three of his best classics. This includes the 1942 Shadow of a Doubt followed by the 1951 Strang ers on a Train and the 1938 The lady vanishes. These great films were shot using unique styles that captures the viewers’ attention leading into a lot of suspense, mystery and admiration for the good work. The interesting part with Hitchcock is that for each composition and scene in the films, he knew who to work with for him to produce the best results. He went to the extent of seeking German and British technicians just to get the right image and the perfect shot. The German technicians helped him bring out unique techniques such as bring in the right â€Å"silent shrieks†, expressionist lighting, angular shadows and disturbing mirror reflections (Spoto 29). Some of his famous contributions to the film industry also include the feel of â€Å"voyeurism†; a technique where the camera’s movement imitates a person’s gaze and thus engaging the viewer more to the scenes (Bays, n. p.). Shadow of a Doubt is one of Hitchcock’s’ great masterp iece, shot in 1943 the films themes revolved around psychological thriller a genre in which most of his movies were categorized. After gaining a positive audience and a grand reception for the film all over the nation; the film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Story category. In 1991, the US national Film Registry selected to be part of the Library of Congress as its theme portrayed historical and cultural significance (McDevitt and Juan 158). The movie features a grand opening image which involves a perfect synchronization scene of a couple twirling with Merry Widow Waltz in the background. Perfection in the image goes on throughout the film with other outstanding scenes such as detective strides flawlessly matching with the background music as uncle Charlie is being trailed (McLaughin 147). Shadow of a Doubt’s features such as the beautiful filming and suggestive lighting all portray the stunning advances of style and technique by Hitchcock. The director creat es amazing camera angles that form unparalleled portrayal of emotion in the characters. Using sharp editing and camera close-ups, Hitchcock gives an emphasis on Uncle Charlie’s sinister nature in the scene where Uncle Charlie and Charlotte have dinner and Charlotte behaves in an erratic manner. As a psychological thr

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Formal report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Formal report - Assignment Example This study was limited to the evaluation of the effectiveness of Ace distributors’ salespeople. This study was also restricted to dealers operating in three major retail areas, including New York, Chicago, and Dallas. These dealers were selected randomly, and included those from the five leading brands of television in the country, including Todd Manufacturing Company; Apco, Incorporated: Davis Manufacturing Company; and Barr Industries, Incorporated, and Ace Manufacturing. This study may be limited through the insufficient time for doing the work. The scope of this study was wide; hence sufficient time was required for accurate completion of the study. In addition, the topic of study was wide; hence the aspect of subjectivity might have been introduced in the study, and some areas in the scope of the study might have been left out. Furthermore, this study adopted the use of questionnaires as the main data collection instrument in conducting the survey. Since questionnaires must generally be brief, areas that may have influenced effectiveness of distributors’ salespeople may not have been included in the questionnaire. The main goal of this report is to show the effectiveness of Ace distributors’ salespeople. It has become important for the company to launch investigations into the effectiveness of the salespeople, owing to the poor performance of the company in the last three years. Prior to these last three years, the company Ace Manufacturing ranked the top in all the five leading home television brands in the country. However, in the last three years, the performance of this company has dropped, as it currently ranks at position three. The sales activities of a company are key to its performance in the market. On the other hand, the salespeople involved with a company’s sales of products have a direct

(Hitchcock, Shadow of a Doubt (1942), Hitchcock, Strangers on a Train Essay

(Hitchcock, Shadow of a Doubt (1942), Hitchcock, Strangers on a Train (1951)and Hitchcock, The Lady Vanishes) - Essay Example In his career he pioneered a number of techniques that improved the quality of films in the psychological thriller and suspense genres (Bays). Over six decades, Hitchcock directed over fifty feature films both at the British cinema and in Hollywood. This does not mean that his career was smooth all the way in fact most of his first films did not do so well. According to Donald Spoto (1976), Hitchcock’s first seventeen films did not receive much recognition as they were more of historical curiosities (8). In Donald’s text he indicates that Hitchcock’s career took a leap for the better starting from 1935, which saw him produce and direct great pieces of art (Spoto 9). Throughout his career he produced a wide range of remarkable films. It would take a long time if one was to analyze all the best films by Hitchcock. However, for the purpose of this essay we get to analyze three of his best classics. This includes the 1942 Shadow of a Doubt followed by the 1951 Strang ers on a Train and the 1938 The lady vanishes. These great films were shot using unique styles that captures the viewers’ attention leading into a lot of suspense, mystery and admiration for the good work. The interesting part with Hitchcock is that for each composition and scene in the films, he knew who to work with for him to produce the best results. He went to the extent of seeking German and British technicians just to get the right image and the perfect shot. The German technicians helped him bring out unique techniques such as bring in the right â€Å"silent shrieks†, expressionist lighting, angular shadows and disturbing mirror reflections (Spoto 29). Some of his famous contributions to the film industry also include the feel of â€Å"voyeurism†; a technique where the camera’s movement imitates a person’s gaze and thus engaging the viewer more to the scenes (Bays, n. p.). Shadow of a Doubt is one of Hitchcock’s’ great masterp iece, shot in 1943 the films themes revolved around psychological thriller a genre in which most of his movies were categorized. After gaining a positive audience and a grand reception for the film all over the nation; the film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Story category. In 1991, the US national Film Registry selected to be part of the Library of Congress as its theme portrayed historical and cultural significance (McDevitt and Juan 158). The movie features a grand opening image which involves a perfect synchronization scene of a couple twirling with Merry Widow Waltz in the background. Perfection in the image goes on throughout the film with other outstanding scenes such as detective strides flawlessly matching with the background music as uncle Charlie is being trailed (McLaughin 147). Shadow of a Doubt’s features such as the beautiful filming and suggestive lighting all portray the stunning advances of style and technique by Hitchcock. The director creat es amazing camera angles that form unparalleled portrayal of emotion in the characters. Using sharp editing and camera close-ups, Hitchcock gives an emphasis on Uncle Charlie’s sinister nature in the scene where Uncle Charlie and Charlotte have dinner and Charlotte behaves in an erratic manner. As a psychological thr

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Rusell’s Theory of Reference Essay Example for Free

Rusell’s Theory of Reference Essay Language is very powerful. It can isolate one individual or allowed it to communicate with other people. We acquire a lot of skills and knowledge through the use of language. We used language for cultural adaptation. Some thinkers would just put it that way, accept language as part of our mundane existence, while others were engrossed on it. More than its social significance one cannot deny that language is important to the discourse of man thus some scholars put much value on the power of language in solving the puzzles in life. The structure of language became a preoccupation not just by linguistics but even by philosophy. It is the hope of philosophy in untangling the mess on the previous era. But before one would even speak of solving puzzles, s/he is already caught in the question as to what is the connection of language to the real world? Is there a world outside the rules of language? With that we begin to digest the underlying themes and issues in the development of philosophy of language. One of the issues concerning philosophers of language is, in what way can language represent the world. Moreover, do names pertains to the things themselves, as we experienced them? Is our description of the world the exact replica of the world? These are questions that not only Philosophy of language discussed but even those interested in metaphysics. If during the time of Descartes, philosophers are preoccupied with the debate between realism and idealism, in looking at the philosophy of language one can see that this debate did not die out but was transformed into a more investigative one such that scholars do not only discuss the world outside our representation of it, but also the connection between words, thoughts, meanings, reality and truth. In tracing the development of philosophy, one could conclude that philosophy undergone three stages; at first, ancient philosophers such as Parmenides and Heraclitus were concern about the world of world (or cosmos),second stage is the world of ideas, were the interest of thinkers includes, the dichotomy between the body and the mind, or of reality and ideas, and lastly is the world of language, were philosophers recognized the muddles of philosophy in the past particularly in the branch of metaphysics is due to the problems in language. How can one expressed or represent the world through language? Are the meanings we associate with the words have something to do with reality? It is in this light that logic was employed by some thinkers in trying to explain the connection of words with the thing itself. Does the word ‘chicken’ for instance pertains to something out there? Are the two thing the same or independent with each other? These will be explored in the succeeding parts focusing specifically on the theory of reference by Bertrand Russell coupled with the reaction of his protege Ludwig Wittgenstein. These two analytical philosophers became very influential that Time magazine(2003) even considered them as two of the 100 most important people of the Century. At first, the theory of reference must be clarified. What do the philosophers such as Russell mean by â€Å"reference? † Reference pertains to the relation derived from the expression and what the person used to talk about such expression (Reimer: 2003). The major question is in what way words can refer? Or what are the rules in referring? This concern about reference is also in relation to truth and meaning. Russell, considered as a descriptivist, believed in the description theory whereby proper name do â€Å"refers† because of the descriptive content associated with it by the speaker (Reimer: 2003). However he also clarified that proper names can vary from one speaker to another. For example, Peter (one person) may be called by someone as her son, and husband by another. As opposed to Frege, Russell go further in explaining that definite descriptions are not really referring expressions because they are not â€Å"logically proper names (Ibid). † In his collaboration with Whitehead, Russell developed his ideas that mathematical truths can be translated to logical truths. This reduction of Logic to Mathematics is known as Logicism. Maybe one would asked, why is there a need for this? Russell together with Whitehead wanted to provide solution in the difficulties of language which is why they look at the possibility that formal rules of logic could help solve the problem. This new tradition in Philosophy marked the attitude of a philosopher in understanding the world by knowing the opportunities and limitations impinge on us by language. Rusell became known in analytical philosophy also because of his theory of logical atomism (Klement:2005). This was derived or grew from the initial collaboration with Whitehead. According to this view, all truths are dependent upon layer of atomic facts (Ibid). He proposed that elements of certain theories be breakdown into simple forms (â€Å"atoms†). Russell’s idea also suggests that atomic propositions are logically independent with each other. Logical atomism is possible when formal logic provides the rules by which we can translate ideal language into their simple, atomic facts and put them in a meaningful context. Upon seeing Russell’s discussion, one of the greatest analytic philosopher has also something say about logic and about reference in relation to truth. The Early Wittgenstein ( He was called as such because the later Wittgenstein in the Philosophical Investigation totally abandoned his assumptions in this early writing), published his known book, Tractatus Logico-Philosopicus which became an a logical piece which explains the metaphysical world. This book was closely linked with Bertrand Russell’s philosophy because it tries to continue some of his ideas and at the same time serve as a reaction to it. The book basically address the problem of the world and language in philosophy. Wittgenstein (1922) believed that the world is represented by thought. His conception of the world is different with the logical atomists in a way that he believed it is made up of facts instead of objects. Wittgenstein’s idea of the world is unique because he considered thoughts and propositions as pictures of the world. Wittgenstein’s investigation in the Tractatus serves to find the limits of the world, thought and language (Ibid). As a consequence of this, he believed that one can only represents through meaningful propositions factual state of affairs that are capable of being pictured. Although he made it clear that the pictorial representations of the world show themselves through logical propositions but they cannot be said. Language therefore serve its function in showing or picturing this facts. Facts according to him are constructed in complex one thus making what one called the ‘world. ’ It must be said that in the Ordinary language tradition, a different Wittgenstein, proposed philosophical investigations with ordinary language and not some theory still trapped within the muddles of philosophy. Wittgenstein for instance would say, that instead of worrying yourself about the meaning of life and trying to look for some explanations (either logical or theological), one should understand how does s/he lives her/his life and is s/he happy in the process. Also in the latter Wittgenstein it was shown his theory the need for individuals to speak the same language. This was advanced in his idea on â€Å"language games’ whereby, if one would look the world, one would realized that there are various use and context of language. That an individual before engaging into the language game should first need to know the rules to be in context. This view is quiet similar to Austin’s theory in the Philosophy of Language entitled, â€Å"How to do things with Words. In as much as it is interesting to discussed the ordinary language theory in detail as part of the analytic tradition, it would be systematic to go back to the discussion of analytical philosophy in general. Going back to Russell’s theory, its contribution to analytic philosophy is that it became an offshoot for the development Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus that further lead to other strands of analytic philosophy. Based from the previous discussion one would realized why analytical philosophy is linked with philosophy of language. Some accounts also called analytical philosophy as ordinary language philosophy but not all thinkers are comfortable to used the terms interchangeably . Russell and Wittgenstein tried to solve some of the problems in philosophy by using logical analysis that would analyze the role of language to reality. The used of language will able the thinkers to solve philosophical problems. This was explicitly mentioned by Wittgenstein in the Tractatus, â€Å"the limits of my language means the limits of my world. † As an overview of the Analytical philosophy, the individual must realized that even though some philosophers adhere to the need for formal and logical analysis, others prefer to used ordinary language theory. Within the Analytic tradition there are various forms such as logical positivism, logical atomism, and ordinary language philosophy. Philosophers are even divided based on these strands. We can only hope that maybe in the future language could provide meanings that would enlighten us in our search for knowledge.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Hewlett Packard Company | Analysis

Hewlett Packard Company | Analysis Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) is one of the worlds largest information and technology (IT) companies. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939. Both of them established Hewlett-Packard (HP) in Packards garage which located in Palo Alto, California, USA. First and the foremost, HP is a worlds leading PC manufacturer. The creation of these new technologies had brings us a more meaningful impact for the community. This company had offered many products, technologies, software, solution and service for customers, small and medium size of businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises which encompass those customers in the education, government and health sectors. Besides, HP also famous in manufacturing and developing computers, data storage, networking hardware and designing software and sending service. The major product line for the company include those personal computing devices, related storage devices, enterprise servers and also a number of printers and other imaging which was related to the products and services. Moreover, the company also makes their profits by markets their products via online distribution, consumer-electronics and office-supply retailers to the household, small to medium size business and enterprise. Planning process is very important step for HP Company in order to achieve their goal. They had clarified their strength, weakness, opportunities and threat to reinforce their company as well. One of the strategies that used by the company is growth strategy. They expand their markets served and products offered by absorbed others company technologies to enhance their own products. For example, HP has added a Palm and a mobile operating which known as webOS to its electric device. These technologies had brought HP products become a much better and quality products. Therefore, HP had successfully build an extra value compare to others manufacturer because they had cooperated with the popular branded speakers company which are ALTEC LANSING and BEATS studio. Furthermore, they also used some of the competitive strategy in their company to compete their business with other organization. For example, although HP Company has many competitors such as Acer, Dell, Asus and more, but they still can survive until nowadays. One of the factors is because they have their own competitive strategy among each of their organization. Hence, this reason which had made the HP Company becomes a worldwide information and technology company. Content Definition of SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT analysis is a most useful of business analysis. SWOT analysis is an instrument for assessing an organization and its environment. SWOT analysis is a usually used technique through which managers produce a quick impression of an organizations strategic situation. SWOT analysis is the first step of planning; it helps managers to focus on key issues. A SWOT surveys and measures the influences of internal and external on the success of the subject of analysis. SWOT stands for strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T). In SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are internal factors, opportunities and threats are external factors. A good SWOT can maximize a firms strengths and opportunities; and also can minimize its weaknesses and threats. SWOT Analysis of Hewlett-Packard Company The HP or Hewlett-Packard Company is one of the biggest computer companies in the world. In 1939, it was established by William Hewlett and David Packard. Hewlett-Packard Company delivers hardware, software, solutions and services. Hewlett Packard also has a strong market position in the IT market. The biggest competitor of Hewlett-Packard Company is Dell Company. Hewlett-Packard wrested market leadership from Dell Company in the global PC market in 2006 and managed to sustain it in 2007.Higher market position in different market sections increase the brand image of the company and also offers economies of scale in attaining. The company faces intense competition across all business segments in terms of price, brand, quality, character, technology, range and distribution of their products. Strengths of HP Company One of the strengths of HP is it has a strong market position. After HP and Compaq announced to merger On September 3, 2001, HP became the worlds most big computer hardware and peripheral company all around the world. There have many benefits to HP being a large company such as leading positions in market of IT services, management software, PCs, storage and printers. Especially printer market, 40% market share of HP proofed that its domination the global printer market. This merger also helps HP made a high profit $87 Billion of Global Technology Leader. The other strength is that it provides its products and service into more than 170 countries including the undeveloped and the developed nations. In 2008 HP is acquiring EDS Inc. The next strength of HP is always having excellent products portfolio diversification. Furthermore, in this decade HP has been focused on the customer service market. HP Enterprise Customer Services provides efficient, effective services to customers all around the world. For instance HP Enterprise Customer Services having Consumer Direct Service, Customer Engagement Management Services- Contact Central, Customer Engagement Management Services- Transformation and Warranty Service. This might benefit to recruit, retain and reward customer.   Moreover, HP in recently years is performed on Environmental Programs to reduce the environment impact of its technology products. The Environmental Programs have include SmartWay, HPs Eco Highlights Labeling system, Design for Environment (DfE), HPs Planet Partners Recycler Program, HPs Hardware Return and Recycling Program, Change the World campaign, and Unlock your Energy. For instance, HPs Planet Partners Recycling Program is used to recycle printing supplies, computer equipment, batteries, and other items. Due to the program above HP have provide HPs computer take back service in some countries such as United State, Canada, Brazil, Australia, most of the Europe countries, some Asia Pacific and Latin America countries. In 2010, HP successfully manufactured over 310 million HP LaserJet and ink cartridges that contained content from their closed-loop recycling process. Furthermore, the other strength of HP is their business culture. They highlight innovation (Silicon Valleys innovation model- Top executives mingled with lower-level employees to discover fresh ideas) as a key element of its business culture and as a driver of its success. HP put more effort on research and development to design and developing products, solutions and services that foresee the market changing needs, desires, and emerging technological trends. HP Labs is one of their Corporate Investments segment. HP also spending a larger amount of financial plan on the research and development than others competitors. For instance, in fiscal 2011HP expenditures $3.3 billion for research and development. Weaknesses of HP Company One of the weaknesses of HP is high debt level. In this decade, HP has a high risk of debt level compare to the others competitive company like Dell. From the HP debt to equity ratio data shown that HP was reached the highest value 0.9292 in this July 31, 2012. Debt to equity ratio is a leverage ratio to indicate the comparative amount of shareholders equity and debt used to finance a companys property. It shows how the company has financed its property. A high debt equity ratio express that the company has been aggressive in their financing growth with debt and it results in volatile earning. HP made wrong decide on acquisition for the company. In the first decade of the millennium, HP had made some acquisitions like merger with Compaq, Mercury Interactive, Electronic Data Systems Corp and more recently, Autonomy, the enterprise software company. Since 2001 HP has been spent more than $67 billion on acquisitions, which data according to Jayson Noland, a Robert W. Baird and Company analyst. That was approximately double HP current market value of $38 billion. They buy at least a company a month, and they have struggled to get this right, Mr. Noland said. For example, in 2010 HP was purchased Palm with $1.2 billion. One year later, HP announced to close up its webOS device business which is Palms mobile operating system. Opportunities of HP Company Focusing on emerging technologies-In this modern world, Hewlett Packard Company has introduced new digital printing technologies on the part of its graphic arts offering. There is a full wireless HP Photosmart printer line-up. There are HP Indigo presses, HP Inkjet Web Press and HP Latex Inks. In 2010, Since Hewlett Packard launched this technology, theirs sales is rapidly increasing because the digital printing technologies are suitable for students or officers using. It also provides the consumer to print out the picture and information in the less time. Developed imaging and printing solutions segments- Hewlett Packard has launched more 150 products and services in the IT market. After that, Hewlett also has created some strategic to purchase competitor and introduced new products in the imaging solutions segment. The imaging and printing solutions provides consumers to print out and personalize their picture. There are industrial applications, outdoor signage and graphic arts. Hewlett Packard also purchases Tabblo, Logoworks, MacDermid and ColorSpan as their acquisitions. After they purchased the competitor, they would improve theirs products and services from the benefits of the acquisitions. The imaging and printing solutions strategy enter to the commercial markets from print services solutions to new growth opportunities in commercial printing and focusing high-value pages in some regions. Higher market position in the global-There are many competitor started to enter the IT market. In addition, Hewlett Packard started to expand theirs business to other countries, for examples, BRIC countries. They set up many contact centres in others countries because they can easy control their product lines and get closer to the consumer. In July 2008, Hewlett Packard, Intel Company and Yahoo produced a worldwide, multi-data centre, open source test bed on cloud computing study and training. Cloud computing is a new delivery model for IT services. The achievement of the projects is to remove the financial and logistical problem and build up the relationship of manufacturing, government and college. In this coming years, the growing demand for cloud computing is expected to build demand for HPs solutions. Threats of HP Company Higher competitive in the market share-The biggest competitor of Hewlett Packard is Dell. In this few years, the sales of Hewlett Packard are more than Dell. However, Hewlett Packard also kept fully to expand theirs business. Hewlett also obtain the most up to date company information available. In addition, there are also some competitors for example Toshiba, Lenova Group and Aver. This all competitor in IT market competes in terms of quality, brand, price, technology, reputation, distribution and range of product. In addition, the competitors also face competition from local companies and from generically-branded or white box manufacturers.The printing and computing markets are hyper-competitive. Some nimble competitor will offer lower prices than Hewlett Packard; it will direct affect the sales products of Hewlett Packard. Demands of Hewlett Packard decreases and Economic problem- Since many competitors enter to IT market, the sales of Hewlett Packard Company started to decrease. Shortage of the product sales will cause Hewlett Packard get low profitability. Some forecasters also predict there have a decrease in the worldwide demand for some IT products offered by Hewlett Packard Company. In addition, there are many market segments has affected by the economic recession. It also affected the information technology. Not only in the U.S has been affected, Hewlett Packard also has experienced this decline in its global markets. In 2009, worldwide spending of IT market also decreased by 4% and above. Threats of cloud computing-Cybercriminals always are the first to capture the latest internet innovation. Cloud computing also becomes their main target. The threat lies in cybercriminals ability to penetrate cloud providers webs and run bot-nets that can inflict destruction within a cloud service. So that, shared technologies mean shared risk. The greatest case of shared technologies used in cloud computing is Virtualisation technologies. It provides multiple companies to shares assets and information across a piece of hardware, thereby decrease the costs. Unfortunately, it also become a way of data can get into the wrong hand. Question A. In May, 2002, Hewlett-Packard merger with Compaq Computer Corporation to increase their asset and then on May, 2008 HP take acquisition of EDS (Electronic Data System). This acquisition leads to HP having the combined revenues of 118.4 billion US dollars in 2008 and became rank 9 in Fortune 500 in 2009. At November 2009, HP announced that they had purchase 3Com Inc. This acquisition said to be large in term of takeovers and acquisitions of technology giants to help them become one-stop series shops. After that, in 2010, HP won in a bidding war for 3PAR Inc. which their competitor declined to match. 3PAR Inc. is a manufacturer of systems and software for data storage and information management. This manufacturer helps HP develop and modify their IT products. In the same year, HP announced the buyout of Palm Inc. The Palm Inc. originally was bidding by HTC, Dell, RIM and HP. Finally, HP won the bidding by using 1.2 billion in cash and debt. This addition of Palm brings HP library of valuable patents such as the webOS operating platform and it also. This operating platform has enable HP to develop tablet devices. HP TouchPad, HP first developed tablet had launched at 1 July 2011. This TouchPad is using the webOS as the operating platform and tablet had been said that it works beautifully, and conveys far more information than the iPad 2, in the magazine of The New York Times. This tablet had brought a new challenge to Apples product. B. According to the annual financial reports of HP, their profit decline 31% in the second quarter of 2012. The decline of the profit is because of the growing of the tablet and smart phones or others mobile devices. HP has limited types or series of product and their product is less creativity due to their stability strategy. Their sales will continuous to drop if they still do not develop and launch some new products. Somehow, their main competitors Samsung electronics will replace their places in the computer industry and Greenpeaces Guide. This 2 list ranks the electronics manufacturers according to their policies on sustainability, energy and climate and green products. Samsung electronics grows rapidly and they develop their product in a very vigorous speed, for example their smart phones Galaxy S2 and SIII. Samsung has also established a prominent position in the tablet market, by release the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab. Furthermore, nowadays, the material prices becom e unstable all the times, HP would face the problem thats they need to purchase expensive material to manufacture their products. Once they using more expensive material to manufacture their product, they will be forced to mark up their products prices in order to cover back their cost as well. They would facing their market share would be decrease and their sales will be decreases also, they will not making many profit and at last they would face their company going bankrupt like Nokia now. Findings After HP merger with Compaq, HP became the world largest computer hardware and has a strong market position. This proves that the decision of merging is correct. The method HP used to make decision is known as Decision-Accelerator, which speeds up strategy implementation (i.e. execution) process. (M.Z. Deone, 2007). Decision-accelerator would emphasis on speed and efficiency. Minimizing waste and drive toward outcomes are always reviewed by the facilitators during meeting. The objective is union of ideas with least divergence instead of having deep and durable commitment. Therefore, it is suitable for those senior level or top-level manager when resolving differences and implementing large, complicated strategic initiatives. However, there are the bad side of Decision-Accelerator. It deals with hard-core decisions and involves limited creativity. Due to acquisitions with other company and improving operations in laptop PCs, Mark Hurd, the CEO of HP, need to cut down 10% of workforce. But at the end, HP did dominate the global printer market successfully.Top of ForBottom of Form HP Company has its own unique culture which is known as HP way. It is a standard of manners that emphasized innovation and most of the engineers would like to work on it. This is because HP respect and trust each individual who are working within the organization. (D.E Kimberly, 2012)Furthermore, flat management hierarchy is used by the company. By using this hierarchy, layers of middle management that give slow productivity can be eliminated and speed up the work. Employees are also allowed to decide how to their own work based on their creativity. Therefore, this culture enables HP to compete with other competitor such as Dell. In 2011, HP wiped off $3.3 billion to cover the closing up of the webOS business which is used on mobile operating system. This is because there is less customer and developer interest. WebOS was developed in about nine month and claimed that company took some shortcut from the concept to creation. According to Mr. Mercer who is recruited by Palm from Apple, fewer programmers are willing to understand webKit and most of the top talent are snatched up by Apple and Google. [1] (X.C Brian, 2012) Therefore, a detailed planning is very important for a business. A company should know the market trend and the real usage of the IT product before launching. WebOS is an operating system built on the same technology used by many web browsers. Instead of applying it on mobile, it is advised to be applied on forensic tools. Large amount of information can be extracted from the system partition of webOS devices. This information includes call logs, SMS, e-mail communications, and other Web browsin g activities. Besides, deleted items could be recovered through this operating system. (C.Eoghan, 2011) As recommendation, HP can increase their sales or profit by decreasing their advertising investments. As we known, advertising would increase their company expanses and hence they need to increase their cost for their product. When they increased their cost of the product, they need to mark up the market price to cover back the cost or they will have low profit. This is because large amounts of advertising investments will lead up with the drastic decrease in the size of the domestic market and it further increase the company dependency on the home market depend on the crisis. (Harrigan, 2001) HP would increase their risk when they mark up their marketing price because their competitor will sales out their product which having the same spec with HPs product with lower price. Somehow, they will increase their competitor fame because of the low selling price of the product. Although HP decreases the advertising investments, it is not represent that their sales would drop. They could us e some low cost advertising ways such like advertise through facebook or electronic devices. By this way, they could advertise their product and also wont increase their products cost.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Homers The Odyssey :: Analysis Odyssey

I. Preliminary Information A. The name of the book I read is The Odyssey Translated by W.H.D. Rouse. B. The author of the book is Homer. C. The name of the book's publisher is New American Library. The novel was published in New York City. D. This book was published in August 1999. The original year is not known. E. The edition of this book is Signet Classic. F. The book's translator is W.H.D. Rouse. G. This novel has 271 pages. H. This book is a work of non-fiction. II. Book's Contents A. Fiction B. Non-fiction 1. The general topic of the book is Odysseus trying to get home and people mourning over his absence for twenty years. No one in Ithaca has seen or heard from him. His wife, Penelopeia, and his son, Telemachos, are worried. Since it has been so long, every man in the city is now wooing Penelopeia. 2. The main characters in the novel, The Odyssey, are Odysseus, a man who left his home and family to go fight in Troy and never returned home for twenty years, because of a series of misfortunes. Telemachos, Odysseus's son, who finally, after twenty years, decided to sail the sea in search of anyone who may know anything about his father. Also, there is Penelopeia, Odysseus's wife, who has been waiting for him all this time. Her heart is full of pain and sorrow and all of the men are wooing her for her hand in marriage. There are also several kings who play a part in this novel. They are King Nestor, King Alcinoos, and King Menelaos. Lastly, one of the minor, but still important characters is the swineherd, whom let Odysseus stay in his home when he returned from his long and tiring journey. 3. The chief place in which the novel's actions occur is in Ithaca. Some other places in which actions take place are the Island of Aeaea, Island of the Sirens, and the Island of Helios.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Schindlers lost Essay -- essays research papers

Shindler's List Schindlers List "Memory is all we have, and when the memories are dreadful- when they hold images of the pain we have suffered or, perhaps inflicted- they are what we are try to escape" (Corliss 110). Steven Spielberg captures the audience in this critically acclaimed movie about the Holocaust. Schindlers List is a movie made to induce the mind into the unknown, the horrors of World War II. David Ansen states "Schindlers List plunges us into the nightmare of the Holocaust with newsreel-like urgency- and amazing restraint" (Newsweek 113). Spielberg brings out all emotions in recapturing this monstrous time period. Schindlers List is about Oskar Schindler, a German Nazi who uses the Jews to make money off the war. At the beginning of the movie Schindler is portrayed as a womanizer, gambler, and heavy drinker. He becomes friends with some top Nazi officials to better himself. As the movie progresses Schindler begins to produce war materials using the Jews as a labor force. As he sits back and watches the various actions of the Nazis he begins to question his morals. His accountant, Itzhak Stern, begins making a list of around 1200 Jews. These Jews were to come and work in Schindlers' factory. When Germany surrendered all of the Nazis were to be hunted. Many Jews thanked him and all of the workers wrote a letter explaining Schindlers' actions. Also, a gold ring was given to him inscribed, "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire" (Talmud). Schindler said good-bye to his workers and fled. Only now the Jews are liberated to have nowhere to go and nowhere to leave. Many great directors concentrate on dialogue, scenery, and plat; however, Spielberg stresses the importance of camera angles and the effect of black and white film, scenes and characters, on viewers in Schindlers List. With his outstanding work on camera angles, Steven Spielberg holds the audience at breath while waiting for the next scene. Spielberg uses a hand held came ra to grasp the effects. David Denby explains how the use of a handheld camera is much more accurate. "The camera keeps moving [†¦] moving fast, chasing corners and up stairways [†¦]." Spielberg makes the movie look "like and advertent look of newsreel footage" (1282). Life magazine quoted Spielberg discussing the image of Amon Goeth sunbathing. A man named Raymon... ...s that there is mass murdering going on. By looking on the walls at the shadows, the sights seen are atrocious. These shadows came from the black and white color of the film. So what caused the Holocaust? Many agree the main factor was indifference. "Schindler's List is about the triumph of the human spirit over sadism and degradation, indifference and silence" (Rader 6). Oskar Schindler saved 1200 Jews. Today more than 6000 Jews are descendants of the Schindler Jews. Spielberg ends the movie with the Schindler Jews placing stones on Schindler's grave. The movie is now in color to remind the audience that there is still mourning going on for the Holocaust victims. Someone who was dedicated to recreating an awful historical event could only do this movie. Steven Spielberg, a Jew himself, never believed he could make it through the movie. He too believed that the black and white made the movie easier to bear with, and gave it a more realistic viewpoint. "The movie en ds with the final message "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire." This message is true. Spielberg has constructed this movie as an educational film, so that it may never happen again.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Alibaba: Competing in China and Beyond Essay

1. Introduction In this paper, we will talk about the most successful and famous e-commerce company in China: Alibaba Group about its competition strategies and its future moving. Alibaba Group was founded by Ma Yun (Jack) and the other 17 people in 1999 in Hangzhou. Jack wants to make the Internet become a universal, safe and reliable tool that would benefit the public. Alibaba Group now is holding by private, it has more than 70 offices in Greater China, Singapore, India, the United Kingdom and the United States, with more than 20,400 employees. 2. History and Development of Alibaba In 1999, Alibaba was formally established in Hangzhou and it financed from Softbank, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity Investments and other U.S. investment agencies for about 25 million dollars. Three years later, Alibaba’s B2B become profitable. In 2003, China’s first personal e-commerce site Taobao was established by Alibaba, in the same time, it also published the online payment system-Alipay to support their B2B and C2C business. In 2005, Alibaba established a strategic partnership with Yahoo USA; meanwhile, it was in charge of Yahoo China. In 2007, Alibaba founded the business management software company: Ali Software, and Alibaba.com Limited IPO in  Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In 2009, Alibaba Cloud Computing established, later in 2010, Taobao Mall started an independent domain name Tmall.com and it became Alibaba’s B2C service website which is focus on quality goods sales. In 2012, Alibaba Group has completed the initial share buyback and restructure the relationsh ip with Yahoo, while, Alibaba.com Limited officially delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Chart 2.1 Overview of Alibaba Group 3. Alibaba’s competition advantages 3.1 Biggest market share of E-commerce in China We can see from the charts, till the end of 2013, Alibaba has owned the biggest market share in B2B, B2C, C2C and online-payment service. It has already became the top one e-commerce company in China. Chart 3.1.1 China B2B Market in 2013 Chart 3.1.2 China B2C Market in 2013 Source: http://www.chinainternetwatch.com/ Chart 3.1.3 China C2C Market Share Chart 3.1.4 China Online Payment Market Share Source: www.NBweekly.com & http://www.chinainternetwatch.com/ 3.2 The largest B2B, B2C and C2C website Alibaba is the world’s largest provider of online trading, and the world’s largest business forum. To December 31, 2012, the platform had around 500 million registered users and more than 2.8 million supplier storefronts, and  its websites are available in English, Simplified Chinese, Korean and other languages. It provides professional services for the global business. 3.3 The visibility is very strong Depends on its Propaganda efforts, almost all over the world have their ads now. 3.4 Better function Alibaba’s site speed, reasonable softwares, and good service attracted entrepreneurs of all ages around the world. 3.5. Others Also Alibaba had a high reputation in the Asia Pacific region and it always keep innovation, for example, in 2013 it officially published its online chat App called â€Å"LaiWang†. 4. The Movement of IPO (Initial Public Offering) 4.1 Background On March, 2014, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. announced the company will do IPO in New York Stock Exchange; the estimated time will be in quarter three of 2014. The IPO scale is considered to be between $150~200 billion (USD) (Chen, 2014). If the plan is actually executed, it will be one of the biggest IPO scales in the history. To do IPO, from the obvious perspective, it is for arranging the global market. However, it has been 15 years since Alibaba was founded in 1999, why the company decided to do IPO now? What is the reason behind and trigger this movement? It is worth to look into the meanings behind and analyze the reasons. There are two major reasons behind this huge action. One is keeping the control right inside the partnership; the other is competing with the main and biggest competitor Tencent in China. 4.2 Maintaining the control right The first reason is to maintain the control right inside the partnership. For the founder of Alibaba, the core idea of managing the firm is to keep the company culture and the innovation power. Based on this idea, he developed the special partnership structure for the firm. The special partnership structure is meaning CEO needs to be chosen from Alibaba’s partners. And, to  become the partner, the staff needs to be the core manager in the department and work in Alibaba group at least five years. The meeting of choosing partners will run one time per year, the nominee needs to get at least 75% votes from the existing partners, then he/she can become the partner. Now the boards of directors are formed by 2 seats of Alibaba, 1 seat of Softback and 2 seats of Yahoo. It is dangerous for the founder and managers that they can be replaced or take away the control right suddenly. The shareholding structure of Alibaba now is around Yahoo has 23%, Softbank has 31.9%, the founder has 7.4% and managers/other shareholders have 37.7%. According to the agreement between Yahoo  and Alibaba in 2012, if Alibaba can do IPO before in the end of 2015, then Alibaba can repurchase the half of holding shares which Yahoo takes now, also Yahoo will give up one seat in board of directors. Therefore, doing IPO is not just a simple global strategy, more with the implicit intention behind. 4.3 Rising competition The second reason is to compete with Tencent in China. Alibaba is the biggest B2B and B2C e-commerce company in China; it has leading position for past years. However, the situation has changed in recent 3~4 years, more and more users access the internet including buying goods and services via cell phones. It is the benefit access for the competitor Tencent to grab the market from Alibaba. Especially, Tencent just bought a large stake of JD.com (Gittleson, 2014). JD.com is the second biggest e-commerce site in China and in B2C market; it is also the second place right behind Alibaba. The competition intention with Alibaba is obvious. The recent competitions between two parties can refer the below Table 4.3.1. Both companies also start to make acquisitions in small areas and ready for a head-to-head competition (Gittleson, 2014). Tencent doesn’t need to worry about the money since the company did IPO right early in 2004 in Hong Kong Stock Exchange; the stock price is HK$578 on 18th, March, 2014 which is 156 times more compared to 10 years ago (Yu, 2014). Hence, Alibaba needs to find the money  support and start this† one of the most expensive competitions in online history.† said by Kim Gittleson from BBC news. Main business E-commerce platforms in B2B, B2C and C2C markets. (Taobao, TMall, Alipay) Instant message platform. (QQ, WeChat) Recent Competitions 1. During Chinese New Year, Tencent launched a mobile payment service that users can send or receive the money of red packet on line; it gave a warning to Alibaba’s Alipay (Gittleson, 2014). 2. The competition in mobile app for calling taxis (Alibaba’s Kuaidi v.s. Tencent’s Didi). The app not only can call cabs but also can tip for the ride. It is estimated that both parties pay more than $3 billion to subsidize it (Tong, 2014). 3. In the end of 2013, Alibaba launched one messaging application called â€Å"LaiWang† and tried to compete with Tencent’s â€Å"WeChat† 5. Conclusion As we can find out from the previous chapters, Alibaba is a market leader and dominance Chinese e-commerce markets over ten years. Due to its large market share, innovation power and strong website function, no one is able to challenge its leading positions. However, in recent years, internet users start to change their using ways via the booming mobile phones. It benefits another giant company Tencent to penetrate Alibaba’s existing markets. Even though Alibaba has the first-mover advantages in the market, the competition from Tencent doesn’t stop even getting aggressive. From the IPO movement of Alibaba, it can see Alibaba take this competition serious and doesn’t want to lose. Two giants battle for the leading place. The tough and expensive competition with Tencent just started. But, now Alibaba not only need to concern about the domestic competition but also need to make careful actions in global markets due to the IPO. The future of Alibaba is becoming more uncertain since the global markets are adding into the plan and the sever competition keeps going on. 6. References 1. Bidwai, S.V. (2010) Case Analysis Alibaba: Competing in China and Beyond. 2. Chen, Copper (2014) Super IPO, what’s the meaning for Alibaba (translated). Business Next. Retrieved from: http://www.bnext.com.tw/article/view/id/31942. 3. China Internet Watch 2013. For Charts 3.1.1, 3.1.2 & 3.1.4. Retrieved from: http://www.chinainternetwatch.com/. 4. Gittleson, Kim (2014) Tencent and Alibaba Battle for Internet Dominance in China. BBC News. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26540666. 5. Southern Weekly. For Charts 3.1.3. Retrieved from: http://www.NBweekly.com. 6. Tong, Frank (2014) Alibaba’s Founder Talks about Its IPO and Competition. Internet Retailer. Retrieved from: http://www.internetretailer.com/2014/03/18/alibabas-founder-talks-about-its-ipo-a nd-competition. 7. Walraven, Piet (2009) A Brief History (and Future) of Alibaba.com. TechNode. Retrieved from: http://technode.com/2009/01/22/a-brief-history-and-future-of-alibabacom/. 8. Wang, Guo-An & Lim, Yong-Taek (n.g) Research in China’s Alibaba’s Development. 9. Yu, Sophie (2014) A Tale of Two Internet Leaders: Tencent vs Alibaba. China Business. Retrieved from: http://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1452041/tale-two-internet-l eaders-tencent-vs-alibaba.