Corrosion testing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Corrosion testing - Essay Example This implies this solution produces a corrosive atmosphere in the chamber. The accepted standard of testing chambers according to the international standards on salt sprays test (ISSST) is four hundred liters. Alternatively, some other solutions can also be applicable when testing corrosion. The test that applies 5% NaCl is the neutral salt spray whereby other solutions appropriate for this chamber include acetic acid. With the use of this solution, the name of the method of testing is acetic salt spray. The other solution that can apply in this case is acetic acid mixed with of copper chloride, which is one of the known corrosion tester is the Q-FOG cyclic corrosion testers. Designs of these instruments vary according to their capability of chambers. They also vary based on the various environments to which they have to operate. Figure 1: An example of a Q-FOQ cyclic corrosion tester. Results or testing of this machine is similar to those of an outdoor testing, which most of the sal t spray testers have failed to deliver. The purpose and application of the corrosion testing equipment The desire to maintain use and existence of different machines is a concern for numerous engineering industries. They attempt to prefer using their materials not only in an efficient way but also to ensure long-term usage of their products. This field uses various metallic instruments that are either ferrous or non-ferrous. What stands in the use of these metallic instruments is the fact that they are subject to attack by varied weather conditions. These conditions include humidity, basic solutions, gasses, and acids. The main purpose of these elements is to initiate the effect of corrosion on metallic materials. Therefore, producers of these metallic materials find it necessary to choose an ascertained coating material for the different elements. The quality control that applies during production of various metallic instruments is also essential in the present era. This calls for corrosion testing instruments that apply in the global field. This is because they help in identifying the corrosion element that exists for a metal, which is essential in providing users with longevity of their respective metallic materials. Various tests performed by the corrosion testers Many tests can apply in investigating corrosion in different metals. These tests vary depending on the variables involved, for instance, weather conditions and machine’s specifications. The humidity test is one of the common tests in the field of corrosion. In the corrosion testers, this takes place in the humidity cabinets that are airtight and moisture proof (Prateepasen & Jirarungsatian E11). The chamber also has an average temperature of 100 degrees. The purpose of this test is to determine whether the oxidative attack has begun on a given metal. In this case, the person taking the test searches for any appearance of a blister with the intention of knowing whether an attack has already began on a given metal. Another category of corrosion testing is the salt spray tests. In this case, the sizes of chambers may have standards according to given specifications. Chambers in this case have large sizes as compared to those used when taking humidity tests. The other tests include immersion tests, impact tests, outdoor exposure tests besides others. The tests mainly focus on eliminating effects of

Convenience and Future of ATMs in my Community Essay Example for Free

Convenience and Future of ATMs in my Community Essay Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) have made our life easy and convenient in many ways. With more and more ATMs being installed from street corners to local retails, from outside the bank to shopping malls, they are hard to miss. Gone are they days when we need to stand in line inside banks waiting to be served by tellers? Transaction now processed with just the click of a few buttons. History and Development Luther George Simjian, in 1939, had the first idea to place an ATM in banks (Bellis, n. d. ). He was to place them in holes so that bank clients can make their transaction through the window. This was first tested in New Yorks First National City Bank now Citicorp but was later rejected due to the lack of demand of customers (Bellis, n. d. ). The first truly cash-dispensing machine was created by John Shepherd-Barron from De La Rue Instruments called De La Rue Automatic Cash System, or DACS (International Merchant Services, n. d. ). They were checks bought in advance from tellers and was impregnated with Carbon 14 in order for the machines to detect them (Bellis, n. d. ). It was installed and placed in Barclays bank in London (International Merchant Services, n. d. ). In 1969, the first magnetic card was introduced. It was created by Don Wetzel who was working with Docutel. He had the patent along with Tom Barnes and George Chastain. It was installed in a New York based Chemical Bank (Bellis, n. d. ). Later, Docutel developed the first truly ATM machine that we are familiar today. It was placed in the wall and outside the bank. However, the first ATMs did not directly accessed your personal account when withdrawing money from it. Instead, they were initially offered to the banks credit card holders with good credit standings (Bellis, n. d. ). They were only cash advancements from the clients credit card rather than debiting them directly from the account. It was far from what we know of today where ATMs can do almost everything an ordinary teller can do such as deposits, transfers money from checking to savings, cash advances to your credit card and takes payments. How ATMs Work ATM works by providing users and clients with a remote access with their bank accounts. These machines are connected to the bank accounts through internet connection to the banks database where it has information on the amount of money in the account (Bowen, 2000). The magnetic part of the card stores information of the user such as account number and the pass code. Once the user has entered the correct code it will verify it to the users bank and will send out verification on the transaction that has to be made. The card then dispenses the money using an electronic eye and detector to determine the bills that are sent out. The sensor detects if there are stuck or worn out bills and places them in the discard tray and issues the user the required transactions (Bowen, 2000). Once the transactions are made, they are logged in the machines journal in case the client has disputes on the transactions. Growth of the ATM The popularity of the ATM is undisputed today. The number of ATMs installed today shows its success and effectiveness on both the banks and their clients. Banks have embraced this technology because of three reasons (Islam, Sheel, Biswas, n. d. ). First, banks improve their financial, marketing and competitive positions by attracting clients and increasing their revenue by increasing their services such as loans and financial packages (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). ATMs provided human resources with more time to process request that ATMs cannot process, thus, it increased the efficiency of tellers providing better services to their clients increasing the income of banks. Further, customers are now looking for banks with more access to ATMs for their convenience and accessibility. Second, ATMs can perform many of the tasks than tellers do and in the long run they are easier to maintain and cost considerably less than their human counterparts (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). Installing ATMs reduces the work load of tellers. The increase in number of clients for a bank means that they would need more resources to cater to their customers. ATM machines are more efficient for they need no training and less maintenance (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). Banks realize this cost effective way of providing service and provided more and more machines for their clients (Ferrari, Verboven, Degryse, 2007). Last, ATM machines serve as factors for marketing decisions for financial institutions (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). Banks would first place ATMs in potential locations for establishing bank branches. They would first see if there are enough clients for them in the area before finally establishing a bank in the area. ATMs today can also provide cash advances from credit cards depending on the allowable limit of the card. Another convenience provided for the users is the added feature of ATM cards. They can now be used as a debit card similar to that of the credit card. However, users must make sure that they have enough cash in their accounts to make similar purchases with that of the credit card. Problems Facing ATMs ATMs, though beneficial for most of its users, has their flaws and problems. They are most of the times reliable but sometimes they do break down and need some maintenance. It is sometimes out of service and needs overhaul and it needs to replenish its cash contents. These are the common problems of ATM machines. First time users of the machine may also find it difficult to use them and may be complex for them. However, this can be learned easily with a few tries at the machine. Others, on the other hand, points out those ATMs dispense only a certain denomination of money. Customers are either to transact lower or higher than what they really need but seldom exactly the cash they wanted. Finally, clients are sometimes frustrated when the machine captures their cards especially if they badly need the cash and they do not have any other ATMs available to them. Personal Application In Scottsbluff, Nebraska, ATM machines are normally situated in local shops within the community. There is also one located inside my local bank that has my account. Locations where there are many people passing by also have ATM machines installed within the area. This provides convenience and accessibility for users who need cash. Further, people who have no private cars can easily access these machines and do their transactions without the going to the bank. Further, they are easier to install than constructing new bank branches. Personally, ATMs have its own advantages and disadvantages. The most beneficial would be convenience and accessibility. People do not need to do their transaction within the bank or during banking hours. They can even do it during the night or even in another state. ATMs in the shopping mall have a business value for the mall other than having people to just withdraw cash from the machine. If users withdraw money in the mall, they are likely to spend some of it in the same mall. Citizens of Scottsbluff are also most likely to spend a portion of their money in the Newsagents, chip shop, hairdressers and the two public houses. These places have ATM machines located near them. However, there are some disadvantages. Some ATMs have surcharges if you are using a machine from a different bank other than yours. People using these machines 2-3 times per week, can have surcharges that may have a sizable amount. But this is still very minimal compared to the benefits that these machines provide us. Another disadvantage of ATMs in some areas of the community is those that are located inside shops that close early. These machines would have limited access to potential users and are only available only during store hours. Finally, news of scams connected to ATM machines are becoming more common where in criminals can have access to your personal account by using a machine attached to ATMs that records your personal information as well as your account number and pin code. Conclusion The disadvantage of ATMs outweighs the advantages that it gives to its users as well as the banks that provide them. ATMs have come a long way from its beginnings. Today, it is no longer just used for simple cash dispersing but also includes a wide variety of uses including payment of bill, ATM debiting and cash advances from credit cards. Without these machines, banks would have not been as efficient as they are today and people would have not ripped the benefits of this technology. References Bellis, M. (n.d.). The history of automatic teller machines or ATM. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://Inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/atm.htm Bowen, J. (2000, April 1). Howstuffworks How ATMs work. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/banking/atm3.htm Ferrari, Stijn. Verboven, Frank. Degryse, Hans. (2007, November). Investment and usage of new technologies: Evidence from a shared ATM network. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1075042 Timeline The ATM history. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2009, from http://www.atm24.com/NewsSection/Industry%20News/Timeline%20-%20The%20ATM%20History.aspx. Islam, Rafiqul. Sheel, Samir Kumar. Biswas, Pallab Kumar. (n.d.). Customer satisfaction of ATM service: A case study of HSBC ATM. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=990242

Googles Human Resource Management

Googles Human Resource Management James Bushor Many organizations want to be able to retain their employees because it benefits their organizations in the long run. Today, there are many organizations with high employee turnovers. High employee turnover can be a huge problem for most organizations because employee turnover is the number of employees they have to constantly hire to ensure that their organizations are operated consistently with their goals. High employee turnover can cost organizations at high expenses and can demonstrate a negative outcome on organizations. Ignoring this particular problem can lead to a destruction of an organization. Therefore, developing employee retention techniques is a best way to ensure that a needed number of employees remain employed while maintaining work performance and productivity. If employees are happy with their jobs at their organizations, it can lower their turnover rate. There are many organizations that successfully maintain its number of employees by its recruitment, selection, and retention practices. Google is going to be used as an example during discussion on this paper. Google has successfully maintained its retention of high quality employees by its retention program. Lombardo (2017) stated that Googles success is based on its high quality human resources. The company generally emphasizes smartness and excellence among its employees. Googles human resource management also includes carefully selected strategies, methods, and techniques for recruitment and selection, and for the retention of high quality workers. The firms recruitment practices and selection process ensure an adequate workforce. The retention programs at Google are designed to retain excellent employees. These programs also attract employees to the firm. The next section discusses how Google successfully maintains its number of employees by using its strategies, methods, and techniques for recruitment and selection, and for retention of high quality employees. Lombardo (2017) stated that Googles human resource management uses a mixture of internal and external recruitment sources to maintain the adequacy of its human resources. The company uses promotions, transfers, and trainees/interns as the main internal recruitment sources for HR needs. On the other hand, the external recruitment sources at Google include educational institutions and respondents to job advertisements. Google ads are mostly posted on Googles Careers website and on various websites through search engines and institutions. Also, Google sends their high-skilled recruiters to various educational institutions to give a presentation about its opportunities. Google successfully enables a constant arrival of qualified employees with these recruitment practices. Googles human resource management has settled the most significant criteria for the selection of applicants, which are smartness, creativity, drive for excellence, and alignment with the organization. Google does not view work experience as a major criterion for the selection process. Google mostly seeks potential applicants that strive for excellence and innovation. Google has goals to maximize innovation to support its broad differentiation strategy. That explains how Google successfully created a wide variety of applicable products and services that they provide to the world. Googles selection process commonly involves background checks, preliminary screening, on-the-job tests, and interviews. Googles human resource management uses various procedures and steps for various positions within Google. Google provides compensation packages to retain high qualified employees, which is one of the main Googles HRM tool to ensure that Googles operations are consistent with its goals and activities. Googles compensation packages are competitive and above average. Google provides high salaries and wages, free meals, incentives, and benefits to employees. The typical design of Googles offices highlights fun and creativity, which attract and retain high qualified employees. Googles HRM provides coaching and mentoring program to retain and develop employees with leadership potential (Lombardo, 2017). With those strategies, methods, and techniques that Google uses, organizations can achieve their desired goals to retain a number of employees. Also, those practices can reduce the costs of hiring process dramatically. Each organizations HRM should seek best practices that are shared widely by many organizations and also, they should create a new practice that supports their goals. Each organizations HRM should be encouraged to share their best practices with other organizations even though they may be in a competitive recruitment. Reference Lombardo, J. (2017). Googles HRM: Recruitment, Selection, Retention. Retrieved from  http://panmore.com/google-hrm-recruitment-selection-retention

Persuasive Essay: The Holocaust :: Persuasive Writing

My reaction to the Holocaust was devastating. It is one example of bad things happening to good people. The mass murdering of so many Jews is just disgusting and also because it was done for basically no reason. As this was a true event many sources or witnesses are available to express their views, feelings and emotions of themselves and those who survived this terrible tragedy. I will demonstrate examples of Jews who have survived what they have been through and what they think about God. It is really hard to go through all of this and still believe that God exists. The holocaust should not change our theology on God. It is said to be that the Holocaust was a temporary "Eclipse of God".[1] This is supposed to be when God is away from earth beyond any reason or explanation. People trying to respond to this problem of believing that there is a God after witnessing the terrible event have either succeeded or failed. I will introduce three people who have survived the Holocaust and have tried responding to this problem. The three people included are Primo Levi, Richard Rubenstein and Emil Fackenheim. I think a big impact on the life of Jews would be their belief in God because many of them have tried responding to this problem and have changed the ways in which they think about him, their views on how good or powerful he is, how they express him and why they still believe in him. I will introduce the problem of evil to the Jews that have survived the Holocaust and their problems of belief. I will also say which of the three Jews the most are convincing to me. The holocaust presents a problem for the Jews and changes their belief in God because now some Jews think "God is Dead" [2] Their reason to thinking this is because God is supposed to be omnipotent and almighty he could not have let something like this to happen. If there was a God, surely this event would not have taken place.

Global risk analysis Essay

This paper aims to review the publication of the World Bank Risk Management on the natural disaster hotspots. Specifically, this book is entitled â€Å"Natural Disaster Hotspots: A Global Risk Analysis†. In addition, this book was published in 1995 in order to address increasing risk brought by the natural disasters all over the world. As a result, this book gave light to the role of natural disasters in significantly shaping the lives of every people as well as its economy and its community. And so, a review in this book will yield great results to the readers of this paper. A Global Risk Analysis on Natural Disasters Natural disasters are described as any terrible event, not caused by human activity, which results in deaths, injuries or even damage to property. (Forces of Nature, 2007) As it name implies one cannot avoid the occurrence of natural catastrophes since they are not man-made activities. In other words, human activities cannot interfere with the occurrence of natural phenomenon. More importantly, their occurrence usually causes great damage on the lives and community of people. And as a matter of fact, it disrupts the everyday conduct of lives of human beings. In the book, the authors have presented the great risk faced by people with the occurrence of the natural catastrophes. More specifically, the study reveals that 3. 4 billion people, more than half or the world’s population, live in areas where at least one hazard could significantly impact them. Aside from this finding, other important findings in the book are as follows: (Uku and Tobin, 2005) †¢ Approximately 20 percent of the Earth’s land surface is exposed to at least one of the natural hazards evaluated; †¢ 160 countries have more than one quarter of their population in areas of high mortality risk from one or more hazards; †¢ More than 90 countries have more than 10 percent of their population in areas of high mortality risk from two or more hazards; †¢ In 35 countries, more than 1 in 20 residents lives at relatively high mortality risk from 3 or more hazards; †¢ More than one-third of the United States’ population lives in hazard-prone areas, but only one percent of its land area ranks in the highest disaster-related mortality risk category; †¢ Taiwan may be the place on Earth most vulnerable to natural hazards, with 73 percent of its land and population exposed to three or more hazards; †¢ More than 90 percent of the populations of Bangladesh, Nepal, the Dominican Republic, Burundi, Haiti, Taiwan, Malawi, El Salvador, and Honduras live in areas at high relative risk of death from two or more hazards; and †¢ Poorer countries in the developing world are more likely to have difficulty absorbing repeated disaster-related losses and costs associated with disaster relief, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Indeed, natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, cyclones, droughts, landslides and floods cause tens and thousands of deaths as well as hundreds of thousands of injuries. Aside from deaths and injuries, natural hazards also cause economic losses around the world each year. As such, billions of dollars are expended also every year in the aspect of humanitarian assistance, emergency loans and development aids. (Dilley et. al. , 2005) And so, the key findings of the book imply that in almost all parts of the world, people are faced with great risks from natural hazards. As a result, the occurrence of these natural phenomena disrupts the regular conduct of personal and business activities of people and organization. This disruption, in turn, results to the overall socio-economic development of a nation. And in the case of the developing world, development will even become more elusive. With the annual occurrence of natural disasters, it is the poor nations that are greatly affected, such that they become poorer and poorer with every cyclical happening of natural phenomena. Despite the large losses of people and money from natural disasters, organizations especially governments are unable to address effectively the damages brought about by natural disasters. This claim has been evident on the recoded loss of human lives as well as properties annually due to natural catastrophes. For instance, the tsunami incident that happened in Thailand last December 26, 2004 had killed 229,866 people. Also, the international community has donated an estimated US $7 billion for humanitarian aid to all the victims of the tsunami incident. And so, the reluctance on the part of the government and the people can be traced on the fact that natural disasters are unavoidable phenomena. What they can only do is to experience this phenomenon and hope for the minimal damage it brings. This kind of thinking has been the target of the book. It aims to deliver the message that in spite of the potential threats brought about by natural disasters, the people and the government can coordinate in order to have a successful encounter with these phenomena. Furthermore, the book emphasizes more on the development issues rather than the typical issues on humanitarian aspect. It also identifies the regions which are highly at risk with natural hazards. In this way, development efforts can be better informed and designed to reduce disaster-related losses in the future. Because of the natural hazard cycles repeating themselves every few years, developing countries find themselves in a vicious cycle of loss and recovery without the ability to move forward and achieve sustainable development. As such, there is a need for the highly affected nations such as the developing world to cooperate with the international community in devising ways to manage disaster risk rather than merely giving humanitarian aids. It is through disaster risk management that the international community can truly help the developing nations. As mentioned earlier, the occurrence of natural catastrophes cannot be avoided. And so, it is best to have an effective risk management program on disasters than forever be included in the vicious cycle of damage and revitalization. By stepping out of the vicious cycle, one is removed from the path of continuous loss and recovery, thus achieving development. Based on the book, risk management on disasters is effectively done by primarily focusing on the two disaster-related outcomes- the mortality and economic losses. The risk level was then estimated by combining the hazard exposure with historical vulnerability for two indicators of elements at risk- gridded population and gross domestic product (GDP) per unit area- for six major natural hazards: earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, floods, drought and cyclones. The natural disasters were classified in three categories- geophysical, hydro and drought. The geophysical includes the volcanoes, earthquakes and landslides. On the hydro, it consists of the floods and hurricanes. And so, by calculating the relative risks for grid cells rather than for countries as a whole, the authors are able to estimate risk levels at sub-national scales. (Dilley et. al. , 2005) Conclusion Overall, the book served as a catalyst in enlightening individuals as well as organizations both in the public and private realm about the impact of natural disasters and how they will be able to address this phenomenon. Undoubtedly, the book has shed some light into the ways of escaping the vicious cycle of loss and recovery, which is brought about by the annual occurrence of natural disasters. This is especially true in the context of the developing world wherein development becomes elusive once countries have entered the natural hazard cycle. And so, in order not to aggravate poverty, countries especially the developing ones must properly manage natural hazards. The occurrence of natural disasters can be addressed by the international community not through humanitarian aid but by development programs in the context of risk management on disasters. REFERENCES Dilley, M. , Chen, R. , Deichmann, U. , Lerner-Lam, A. and Arnold M. (2005, April). Natural disaster hotspots: A global risk analysis. World Bank disaster risk management series no. 5. Forces of Nature. Glossary. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from, http://library. thinkquest. org/C003603/english/glossary. shtml. Uku, R. and Tobin, M. (2005, March 31). Natural disaster hotspots: A global risk analysis- Columbia University and the World Bank produce new report. EurekAlert.

SCOTT JOPLIN essays

SCOTT JOPLIN essays In the late 1890s ; a craze for a new kind of music called ragtime swept the country off its feet. Instant popularity of ragtime increased before the turn of the century. By 1910, the ragtime mania reached its peak in all elements of music: popular dance, Scott Joplin was a young black man that mastered and polish this subtle art. Born in Texarkana, Texas on November 29, 1868, Scott became facinated with the piano at an early age and was mentored by a old german teacher that took him in as a pupil. Scotts style of piano playing stress his smooth singing tone and subtle sense of rhythm. Scott has the tendency to turn melodic lines into delicate and but simple notes. Generally all of his pieces share the customary ragtime layout and composition of a pair of contrasting lines, each repeated and followed by the return to the first line, then a new section consisting of two or three repeated lines emerge and is usually subdominant. In Scotts piece the Magnetic Rag. The reappearance of the orginal theme at the close of the piece, shares a shocking likeness to Beethovens famous reoccuring I am Death Theme. In the Magnetic Rag, the return of the opening theme at the end of the piece creates a rondo-like structure with a scheme ABCDA, with the outer A section and the central C section stands in tonal harmony. This can be compared to his other famous pieces of work Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer which all exercise the reappearing theme that shows a tendency to round out by always returning to the home Magnetic Rag was the last piece that Scott completed. It was subtitled : syncopation classiques because of his wonderful blend of syncopation on every up-beat and mad-cow improvisations tailored to sound like European ...

Critique of Quentin Tarantino essays

Critique of Quentin Tarantino essays Pulp Fiction, a movie from the mid 90s made for the millennium. From the action packed mind of Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction takes two hit men, Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega through an excessively violent plot. Combining drugs and violence in a way that is unspeakable to a normal persons everyday life. With trouble around every corner, Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) must make quick work of almost everyone they come in contact with. Tarantino makes writing a dramatically intense script look easy. His genius into human behavior in this modern day world makes this movie and others undeniably classics. With intersecting storylines of gangsters and general low-lifes, Pulp Fiction grabs the attention of the viewer in the opening scene. Honey Bunny and Pumpkin, two petty thieves decide to rob an unsuspecting restaurant and get away with some quick cash. Once the two thieves start their rampage in the restaurant the opening credits begin to play. Then we are introduced to the two main characters, Jules and Vincent. This is where Tarantino really turns up the heat on the religious prospects of the movie. Jules and Vincent enter the boys apartment to receive a package for their boss Marcellus Wallace. When Jules starts in on one of the boys named Brett he recites the bible verse that he memorized in order to say some cold blooded shit to anybody he pointed a gun at (Pulp Fiction. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Miramax. 1994.). This opens up the eyes of the viewer and really puts the fear of God in them. Tarantino knew this and by putting this verse into the character of Jules Winnfield that it would show the thin line between good and evil, thus telling you not to play God. The package the hit-men are supposed to obtain is a black briefcase. There are many different point-of-views into the real meaning behind the well k...

Script Writing Tips and Format Example

Script Writing Tips and Format Example Script Writing Tips and Format Example Script Writing Tips and Format Example By Michael If critics tell you that your stories have too much dialogue, maybe you should consider writing scripts. Its different from writing ordinary prose. For one thing, a script is not the finished work of art. Its the blueprint that the director and actors use to create the work of art. The good news about that: your words dont have to carry all the weight. As a playwright, I like the way a stronger actor can make up for my weaker writing. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. But though a bad actor can completely misinterpret a perfectly clear line, a good actor can bring out the meaning that you were not quite able to express through words alone. Unlike a novel, there will be no great literature unless a character speaks it. An inarticulate man doesnt change just because you have a big noble speech you want him to make. Enter late, leave early. Every writer needs to remove anything that doesnt advance the story, but thats particularly true for scriptwriters. And sometimes you dont realize that a scene doesnt advance the story until you try removing it and discover that it still works. William Goldman, who wrote The Princess Bride and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid said, â€Å"You always attack a movie scene as late as you possibly can. You always come into the scene at the last possible moment.† In the same way, once youve made your point, dont belabor it. Always leaving them wanting more. Otherwise, they may start wanting less and leaving the theater early. A joke works best when its given no extra emphasis, when all the fat has been trimmed. Alfred Hitchcock told an interviewer in 1960, How does one describe drama? Drama is life with the dull bits cut out. Writing is a balance between saying too much and saying too little. Its a show: show dont tell The visual nature of the screen or stage makes it easier to follow the writers rule of show, dont tell.The rule is harder to follow on radio and podcasts, because they cannot show anything visually. So a scriptwriter must turn to narration, as he might in a book, or to less-than-subtle dialogue: Look out, he has a gun! Early TV hadnt found its sea legs yet as a visual medium, and perhaps depended on narrators more than necessary. But a film or play is more than a book in visual form. In an intriguing novel (nameless here, so I dont ruin it if you havent read it), friendly inhabitants take a mistrustful visitor into their home for the night. As he lies down to sleep, he slowly realizes that maybe his hosts have put on a friendly appearance only to trap him. In the television miniseries adaptation, the exposition depends on the visitor thinking out loud in bed for several minutes as his host listens. It was awkward: What if you plan to spring on me as soon as I realize the danger? Thank you for reminding me. I'll do that now. Maid and butler talk on a do-it-yourself basis, since you dont have to pay a maid or butler. No wonder the novelist found the miniseries just boring. This scene could easily have been adapted more cinematically, showing not telling, based on the novelists own words. INT. HOST'S BEDROOM - NIGHT The CAPTAIN is lying in bed. He glances at his HOST in the other bed. He lifts his head to look again more closely. His host's bedsheet is pulled back, revealing his hand. CLOSE UP - the HOST'S HAND has four fingers, with claws. The Captain carefully rolls back the covers. He slips from bed and walks softly across the room. HOST: (coldly) Where are you going?" CAPTAIN: For a drink of water. HOST: But you're not thirsty. CAPTAIN: Yes, yes, I am. HOST: No, you're not. FOOTSTEPS as the captain tries to run across the room. CAPTAIN (O.S.) He screams twice. SILENCE. The TICKING of an old CLOCK. People dont need to say exactly what they mean. In real life, people dont say, I asked you how you were doing because I wanted you to ask me how I was doing, since I wanted to talk with you so that you would feel comfortable enough with me to say Yes when I asked you out on a date. Real life is more subtle. Behind the text, there is the subtext the thoughts that motivate the character to speak. When a scene has too little subtext or subtlety, people say it is too on the nose. We dont need everything spelled out, and it isnt as much fun. You dont want a mystery writer to spell everything out, do you, except perhaps at the end. We can tell if someone is romantically interested in someone else by the way they say, How are you doing? A script leaves less to the audiences imagination. Many authors make a point not to describe their characters appearance too precisely, to make it easier for diverse readers to relate to the story. But when you see The Hunger Games on the screen, now you know what Katniss Everdeen looks like, and can no longer easily imagine that she looks like you. Unless you happen to look like Jennifer Lawrence. However, the writer can only suggest visual details. He or she cannot mandate that the movie be filmed in New Zealand and co-star Kevin Bacon, much as the writer may visualize the story just that way. Proper format shows professionalism. If you submit your novel to a publisher, and it isnt double-spaced with a one-inch margin (with only one space after a period), you will appear inexperienced and possibly inept, which you dont want to be. But a script has even more complex formatting requirements, with lots of white space, specific indents, and particular capitalization conventions. A script is written in present tense, with no more than two or three lines per paragraph dialogue too. Twist your plot, then twist it again. Sure, publishers would love to get their hands on the Harry Potter of the 2020s but not if its exactly like Harry Potter. They dont want potential readers to say, I already have a book about an Indian boy who spends 227 days in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. I dont need another one. You might have come up with that brilliant plot device all on your own, without the inspiration of somebody else, but if it happens to have already been used by somebody else, your chance for a sale just went way down. Ironically, to create a truly original story, you have to become very familiar with other peoples stories, to make sure that yours is sufficiently different from them. Good writing must include the unexpected. So when you come up with one good idea, keep coming up with more. If you dont have enough good ideas, try browsing through the standard plot types. But you can build twists yourself. You could summarize The Silence of the Lambs in a brief logline, as follows: An F.B.I. agent tracks down a serial killer. Other stories have had that same premise. How about adding to it? A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help in catching another serial killer. Now that is getting more interesting. But dont stop yet. A young F.B.I. cadet tracks down an elusive serial killer as she develops his psychological profile, reluctantly confiding in a manipulative psychologist who has been locked up for years after committing a series of similar murders. Instead of an ordinary F.B.I. agent, now there is a particularly vulnerable one, mismatched for the task. Because instead of one murderer, now there are two murderers, both clever, and one is stalking the other from behind bars. Satisfied? With that kind of carefully planning, your script could win an Academy Award, as The Silence of the Lambss script did. The original novel sold 11 million copies. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:36 Adjectives Describing Light50 Types of PropagandaOne Scissor?

Need for Social Networking Sites Research Paper

Need for Social Networking Sites - Research Paper Example Social networking sites provide very effective opportunities for people to associate, communicate and interact in the most appropriate way. It is a way of sharing interests, connections, and real-life connections. The online community across the world has been rising exponentially in the recent years as many people join the bandwagon (McFedries, 63). Initially, the aspect of social networking was basically associated with young people who needed the platform to share information and interact. Most online community services are group-centered and allow the profile holders to conduct a wide range of activities online. The need for social networking sites has arisen out of the increasingly globalized world which creates the need for people to interact despite the limitations created by distance and time. In the same way, the conventional communications methods do not provide an interactive platform for the association. In this regard, the need for the social networking sites gradually developed. The growth in information technology also provided a good ground for the development of these sites as people became more engaged in Internet-based activities. Through social networking sites, it is possible for people to reconnect with their old schoolmates and share a lot of information on the past and the present. The aspect of age is the refore greatly eliminated as a limitation in the context of the interaction. While the majority of the online networking sites are mostly associated with people of young ages, the sites are actually very important for an aging population. Most developed countries like Japan and Switzerland are increasingly facing the challenges of an aging population.  

Teaching and learning strategies integration Research Paper

Teaching and learning strategies integration - Research Paper Example These strategies are classified under two categories: (1) Activity Based Strategies and (2) Cooperative Based Strategies. Furthermore, the last few sections of the paper will give an overview of the different learning style theories discussed by Jonnassen & Gabrowski (1993). This research hopes to gather information that will be instrumental for curriculum design and lesson delivery at USASMA. Field Trips/ Staff rides. One of the methods used to develop leadership among military officers involves visiting a historical site and applying the theoretical understanding of the technical lessons in class. The process is able to link a historical event, preliminary studies and actual terrain so students can construct battle analysis. â€Å"Revisiting battlefields in a thoughtful and structured way helps connect today’s officers to military history† (Stofft, 1998, p. 16). Prior to the trip, participants are given all the necessary information through lectures and classroom discussions. This is the preliminary study phase. In the field study phase, the participants relive what took place by following the course of action based on what they have learned. At certain points, selected individuals may be asked to play out some roles. The last phase is the integration phase where the facilitator contextualizes the battlefield at the present day issues and problems. Everyday, at least one staff ride is taking place signifying its importance as a teaching technique. Staff rides place the participants in the shoes of the decision makers in the past so they learn from historical data and use it as a guide for future reference. It is also considered as a legitimate preparatory training experience in national defense. Commanders who have undergone staff ride trainings reiterate the value of military history â€Å"in supplementing current doctrinal, operational, and technical

Pyramids Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pyramids - Essay Example Egypt is one of the countries that witnessed civilization in the early period. The pyramid in Egypt demonstrated progress in science, mathematics, and technology in the past. At this period, human society was considered to have little or no progress. The construction of the pyramids is not well documented, but it is believed to have taken many years to complete (Morris 97). It is also believed that the Hebrews did the initial work. The largest of these pyramids, the great pyramid contains more than 2 million limestone blocks put together to form an iconic structure. The pyramid rises from a rectangular base and is the size of nearly eight football fields and slopes at an uniform angle of 51 degrees to meet at a peak more than 4500 feet above the base. The technology that assisted this construction remains a great mystery. The most marveling thing was the calculation and ability to construct a structure that weighed more than six tones (Allen 313). The precursors of the pyramids are believed to be the mastabas, flat-roofed structures carved from rock that were used as royal tombs. These tombs were developed to keep the embalmed bodies of kings and rulers of the empire (Allen 313). With time, the mastabas were improved with mud bricks and raised to become shrines for the communities. What followed was the replacement of the mud bricks with curved limestone layers, and a height of 204 feet was first achieved. Architect Imhotep, who was also priest and healer, is accredited with the idea and calculations involved in the construction (Watson 245). Pyramids are also said to have been built as tombs for the kings and pharaohs. The size of the pyramids depended on how the leaders were revered in the society. It is said that construction begun upon accent of leader in power and continued to be built in the reign of the leader. Therefore, the size of the pyramid depended on the number of years one stayed in

Political Climate in 1980s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political Climate in 1980s - Essay Example Liberals were subsequently wont to pronounce, to be sure, that conservatives were giving plain answers to difficult dilemmas. But the predicaments were multifaceted for the liberals only because they persisted on misinterpreting them at a very plain level. The depression time was intensified as conservatives were triumphed two times in the 1980s -- the corollaries of which prolong to reverberate - the first was the victory of the West in the Cold War; the second the intellectual victory of free-market economics over economic planning. Altogether, these have united to generate a noticeable move to the Right in the political world - as similar to the world's move toward liberalism after the crush of the Axis powers and the dishonoring of any kind of right-wing tyranny in 1945 (Ehrman, John., 2005). The political game continues for an indefinite period - but it goes on with a dissimilar ground and under shifting regulations. And though the Left have to be more baffled than the Right by the philosophical instability of the post-Cold War world, it is actually moving more rapidly to define again the rudiments and basics of the climate of political regime. With Reagan's assurance to reinstate the country's military force, the 1980s observed considerable spending on military, amounting to approximately $1.6 trillion in just five years. The administration then favored a lofty approach to the Cold War era, particularly in the Third World superpowers competition. Following the Vietnam fiasco, though, Americans were more disbelieving of swallowing the financial loss of troop promises. The government then sought to trounce this by supporting the fairly cheap policy of specially-trained counterinsurgencies in place of huge wars like Vietnam and Korea (Ehrman, John., 2005). The US administration then adopted a hard-hitting standpoint for USSR. Early in Reagan's first appearance, he assailed the competitor as the "wicked realm." When Jimmy Carter had justifiably ruined the plan of dtente following Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, the worries in East and West touched the levels that haven't seen since the crisis of Cuban Missile. And by the late 1980s, it turned out to be obvious that the Soviet Union would no longer make use of its forces to maintain the Eastern-European communists in control (Busch, Andrew E, 1997). Peoples have had lost their trusts that the communist system could bring a healthier lifestyle to them. In 1989, people came out in the streets and upturned the communist hold consecutively. After few months, the system inflicted on nations of Eastern Europe by Stalin for forty years vanished as if it were a bad delusion. Two years afterward, the European communist system is collapsed. Timeline for the 1980s January 5, 1980: Margaret Thatcher performed a Cabinet reorganize, firing Norman St. John-Stevas. January 20, 1980: Ronald Reagan succeeded Jimmy Carter, becoming the 40th head of the US. March 30, 1980: U.S. President Ronald Reagan is gunshot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel. November, 1980: Republican Party's Ronald Reagan became president. Reagan goes on to take on a hard-hitting anti-communist foreign strategy and tax-cutting strategies. 1985 - Chernenko passed away and Mikhail Gorbachev joined the office as general secretary of the Communist Party;

Reference tool paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reference tool paper - Essay Example However, there have been a lot of assessment tools that have been developed to correctly evaluate whether a person shows signs of schizophrenic behavior and/or tell the severity of each case. Some of the most commonly used are Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Introduction Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder that is mainly caused by unsound function of the brain. A lot of psychologists point to past experiences, frustration, or a tragic loss of a loved one as factors that impact one’s mental health that leads to this debilitating disorder. However, as each case of schizophrenia is always unique, where each patient’s history should be clearly studied before coming to a conclusion of someone’s diagnosis to this disorder, it is important to understand effective assessment tools used to reach to a comprehensible judgment. Common Symptoms of Schizophrenia There ar e common symptoms of schizophrenia that somewhat signals the need to talk to a psychologist or to get help. Some of which would be hearing voices that no one could hear, assumptions of people talking about them or laughing at them, extensive control over their thoughts and imaginations, and the inability to control emotions (The Role of the Diagnostic Statistic Manual IV (DSM-IV) in Diagnosing Mental Disorders, n.d.). Diagnosing Schizophrenia There are several factors to consider in diagnosing schizophrenia. Aside from looking at mental behavior, how they react to their environment for which a candidate for schizophrenia surrounds themselves with is a factor to consider. This would include the change in their work, school, interpersonal relations, and or ability for self-care is important. This is because of the fact that an abrupt change to their routine without anything triggering a behavior is a strong sign of which. Another important basis for diagnosis would be the duration for which these abnormalities have been felt without the influence of substance use and/or an underlying medical condition. Persistence of which for at least six months is a clear supposition of the disorder and not just a result of perhaps a mid-life crisis or coping with a major happening in one’s life (Schizophrenia Society of Canada, n.d.). Assessment Tool in the Diagnosis of Schizophrenia Unfortunately, all these symptoms are not a guaranteed basis for a correct diagnosis of schizophrenia. Also, since there is no single course of treatment yet for this, assessment tools, one of which is the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is one that will help provide a more customized and effective diagnosis and treatment. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is a standard rating scale used to weigh the positive symptoms of a patient that manifests schizophrenic tendencies as opposed to the symptoms that point to the absence of these traits. It is a 30-item scale, assessed on a seven-point scale that points one from poor to extreme case of the disorder. This assessment technique was developed solely for diagnosing the syndromes of schizophrenia in all unique cases that

Implications of Economic crisis on Greece economic Essay

Implications of Economic crisis on Greece economic - Essay Example Advancement in globalization can also be as a result of the advancement of internet. Business globalization can be termed as the idea of business organizations moving beyond their domestic markets to other markets in other countries. This paper aims at discussing globalization and how it affects the management of contemporary businesses. Globalization of businesses avails foreign goods in local markets. For instance, a person in South America can be sitting in their office sipping Italian wine while typing on a Chinese keyboard. This does not necessarily mean that this person had to travel all the way to Italy and China to seek such products. This is good for consumers of such products worldwide. For the business this will be good because with their goods being sold all over the world, they will not have to rely on the local markets (Etemad & Wright 2003, p. 89). With international markets, businesses will be able improve the diversity of their products to match the various needs and wants of different types of potential customers. This difference is always as a result of geographical, political, cultural, and economic differences of various people in the world. Globalization cannot be termed as a new concept. It is a concept that has been in business for centuries. However, it is only in the 21st century that globalization has become a common concept in business and business management. When business organizations exhaust the local markets they always find a way of stretching their territories into the international markets. At a point like this there are always many challenges that are always involved. However, as a business manager it is always good to take such challenges because they are always accompanied by best result. Globalization also leads to exchange of technologies. Businesses firms that have an international orientation always use new technologies to exploit new business opportunities. For instance, e-commerce and

Political Climate in 1980s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political Climate in 1980s - Essay Example Liberals were subsequently wont to pronounce, to be sure, that conservatives were giving plain answers to difficult dilemmas. But the predicaments were multifaceted for the liberals only because they persisted on misinterpreting them at a very plain level. The depression time was intensified as conservatives were triumphed two times in the 1980s -- the corollaries of which prolong to reverberate - the first was the victory of the West in the Cold War; the second the intellectual victory of free-market economics over economic planning. Altogether, these have united to generate a noticeable move to the Right in the political world - as similar to the world's move toward liberalism after the crush of the Axis powers and the dishonoring of any kind of right-wing tyranny in 1945 (Ehrman, John., 2005). The political game continues for an indefinite period - but it goes on with a dissimilar ground and under shifting regulations. And though the Left have to be more baffled than the Right by the philosophical instability of the post-Cold War world, it is actually moving more rapidly to define again the rudiments and basics of the climate of political regime. With Reagan's assurance to reinstate the country's military force, the 1980s observed considerable spending on military, amounting to approximately $1.6 trillion in just five years. The administration then favored a lofty approach to the Cold War era, particularly in the Third World superpowers competition. Following the Vietnam fiasco, though, Americans were more disbelieving of swallowing the financial loss of troop promises. The government then sought to trounce this by supporting the fairly cheap policy of specially-trained counterinsurgencies in place of huge wars like Vietnam and Korea (Ehrman, John., 2005). The US administration then adopted a hard-hitting standpoint for USSR. Early in Reagan's first appearance, he assailed the competitor as the "wicked realm." When Jimmy Carter had justifiably ruined the plan of dtente following Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, the worries in East and West touched the levels that haven't seen since the crisis of Cuban Missile. And by the late 1980s, it turned out to be obvious that the Soviet Union would no longer make use of its forces to maintain the Eastern-European communists in control (Busch, Andrew E, 1997). Peoples have had lost their trusts that the communist system could bring a healthier lifestyle to them. In 1989, people came out in the streets and upturned the communist hold consecutively. After few months, the system inflicted on nations of Eastern Europe by Stalin for forty years vanished as if it were a bad delusion. Two years afterward, the European communist system is collapsed. Timeline for the 1980s January 5, 1980: Margaret Thatcher performed a Cabinet reorganize, firing Norman St. John-Stevas. January 20, 1980: Ronald Reagan succeeded Jimmy Carter, becoming the 40th head of the US. March 30, 1980: U.S. President Ronald Reagan is gunshot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel. November, 1980: Republican Party's Ronald Reagan became president. Reagan goes on to take on a hard-hitting anti-communist foreign strategy and tax-cutting strategies. 1985 - Chernenko passed away and Mikhail Gorbachev joined the office as general secretary of the Communist Party;

Implications of Economic crisis on Greece economic Essay

Implications of Economic crisis on Greece economic - Essay Example Advancement in globalization can also be as a result of the advancement of internet. Business globalization can be termed as the idea of business organizations moving beyond their domestic markets to other markets in other countries. This paper aims at discussing globalization and how it affects the management of contemporary businesses. Globalization of businesses avails foreign goods in local markets. For instance, a person in South America can be sitting in their office sipping Italian wine while typing on a Chinese keyboard. This does not necessarily mean that this person had to travel all the way to Italy and China to seek such products. This is good for consumers of such products worldwide. For the business this will be good because with their goods being sold all over the world, they will not have to rely on the local markets (Etemad & Wright 2003, p. 89). With international markets, businesses will be able improve the diversity of their products to match the various needs and wants of different types of potential customers. This difference is always as a result of geographical, political, cultural, and economic differences of various people in the world. Globalization cannot be termed as a new concept. It is a concept that has been in business for centuries. However, it is only in the 21st century that globalization has become a common concept in business and business management. When business organizations exhaust the local markets they always find a way of stretching their territories into the international markets. At a point like this there are always many challenges that are always involved. However, as a business manager it is always good to take such challenges because they are always accompanied by best result. Globalization also leads to exchange of technologies. Businesses firms that have an international orientation always use new technologies to exploit new business opportunities. For instance, e-commerce and

TKAM Racism Essay Essay Example for Free

TKAM Racism Essay Essay â€Å"I have a dream that one day, little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.† – Martin Luther King Jr., 1963. Racism is one of the world’s major issues today. Many people are not aware of how racism affects our schools, jobs, and social networks. Justice is determined fairly; justice can be biased, all races are treated equally; all races are not treated equally, society provides for equality; society creates equality. Justice is determined fairly; justice can be biased. Justice is determined fairly means no matter what race the person is. Justice will be served not based on the race, sin color, etc. Justice can be biased means that person race, skin color, eye color, etc. will affect the outcome of the situation either positively or negatively. In the book, â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird,† Tom Robinson is accused of the raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. Bob Ewell, the father, really just beat her and put the blame on Robinson because before the beating occurred, Robinson was here, helping Mayella. In the courtroom, the judge and jury members all were white. Of course, they were biased towards Robinson, because he is black. They found him guilty of raping Mayella, even though there were clears signs that bob Ewell beat Mayella. The only reason Robinson was thrown in prison was because the white jury members were being prejudice. Just because of his skin color, they found guilty. It wouldn’t be biased if only the jury were not all white people. If it were people of all race and nationality, then the verdict decided would be a little bit more fairly. Justice would have been served much more equally. Boo Radley from the book, â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird,† is another person who had faced never having justice until saving Jem and Scout. Boo has been locked in a basement and has faced emotional abuse from Mr. Radley and Nathan Radley. Boo had never done anything. Mr. Radley got boo locked up by saying that he was killing everybody and nobody has ever seen him since. People have made up ridiculous stories and descriptions of boo, even when they do not even know him or his story. They described him having yellow and rotten teeth and that he ate squirrels with his raw hands. Everyone assumed that he was nasty, veil and scary. But when Jem and Scout were rescued by Boo, things changed. Justice was made by the accomplishment Boo had done, not by the rumors heard. If the rumors were not made in the first place, people would not have doubted Boo. All races are treated equally; all races are not treated equally. All races are treated equally means that each race is treated as equal as the next; There is no top and bottom race. Every race is treated with the same amount of respect. All races are not treated equally means that there is always going to be at least one face that is not treated fairly as another. Not all races get the same treatment every race will always be looked at differently from one another. In the movie, â€Å"Every Other,† Charles M. Byrd explained that black in the day, Europeans have promoted political agenda of the slave trade. Political agenda basically means to promote one face over another. The Europeans were saying that they were better than African people and that Is the reason why they are slaves; Them promoting political agenda influenced others to do the same. It also promoted people to buy slaves. Africans being slaves were already enough, but to promote political agenda had crossed the line. Obviously, this shows that all faces are definitely not treated equally. If there were no slaves at all, in the first place, then races would have been treated more equally than they were then, and now. Political agenda was promoted only because of Europeans. All races are treated unequally because of people thinking they are better than others. Police officers are more likely to pull over black people. In the movie, Susan Graham discussed with her mixed son about â€Å"Driving While Black.† â€Å"Driving While Black† came from African Americans complaining about police officers pulling them over or no reason; just because they are black. One example said in the movie was if an officer sees a black man dressed as a bum, driving a nice car, the officer will think that he stole it, and pull him over. That is racial profiling. Racial profiling is a type of discrimination, basically blaming person for breaking the law, based on their race or cultural background as the reason. In the case, it is treating black people unfairly by assuming they had done something illegal because of their skin color. What is amazing is that only black people get his kind of treatment. Only black people are getting treated unequally in this case, and also others. Just because of their skin color, police automatically think they have don e something bad. Having being treated equally, cops would not stop a black person driving. Society provides for equality; society creates inequalities. Society provides for equality means that society treats every race equally and that society allows for every race to be equal. It also means that society provides everything for races to stay equal. Society creates inequalities simply means society is not fair to all the races. Some races get the special treatment from society, and others do not. Society creates all the drama between races. In the article, it says that some groups are assigned to perpetual low status, whole others were permitted access to privilege, power, and wealth. The reason to that is because society gives the privilege, power, and wealth to that certain race. A race cannot just get all that for no reason. Society is the one who will pick and chooses at who will get special treatment. Usually, the skin color will affect that decision. To exemplify, white people are usually the ones to get better opportunities and treatment than the back people. Society causes all the problems and tension between races. Drama is also caused by society between races; comparing and contrasting which race is better. That gives others reasons to discriminate against a certain race, giving one access to privilege, power, and wealth. If society had not compared and contrasted who was better, then no certain race would be assigned to perpetual low status. No certain race would be granted access to privilege, power and wealth. Society judges people for everything they may have, such as race, hair color, or skin color. Unequal populations of Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans are because of society. The slave trade has made society look more into the differences between the three races. Society was basically saying that African Americans were slaves because they are so much more different from Europeans and Native Americans; because of their dark skin and frizzy, kinky hair. Society is the one who set the race up for discrimination. By pointing out their major differences, they have influenced Europeans and Native Americans to think they are better than African Americans and that they are the only ones to receive all the privilege, power, and wealth. And that African Americans was the group to perpetual low status. Society created that inequality for African Americans. Society had caused the inequality for black people and others also too because by discriminating and disrespectfully those of the African descent. All races are actually not treated equally, society creates the inequalities, and justice can be biased. People are judged every day, everywhere by their race, skin color, eye color, etc. Racism is a major issue and not many people know it. Society takes a huge part in racism. Racism can be stopped, only if people would realize that everybody was born equally.

The Modern Theory Of Business Strategy Business Essay

The Modern Theory Of Business Strategy Business Essay Strategizing is much more than just visioning, forecasting, planning and reviewing. In the new rapidly changing economy, all important tasks of strategy have been redefined as issues of implementation. These days strategizing is concerned with the match between the internal capabilities of the company and its external environment. The modern subject of business strategy is a set of analytic tools techniques for understanding better, and so influencing, a companys position in its actual and potential marketplace. As strategy today is a subject of application; the obvious key disciplines for strategy are economics and organizational culture. One needs to employ them to define a structure in which the process of strategy formulation and its implementation are bound together. Putting it simply, strategy refers to the technique or direction one would adopt in achieving a certain objective. For business purposes, objectives are usually more precisely defined using numerical values 10% increase in sales in the next year could be an example of a business objective (sales). Objectives differ depending upon the conditions one may find himself in and therefore would result in the adoption of varied strategies. Business strategy refers to the combined strategies of single business firm or a strategic business unit (SBU) in a diversified corporation. A firm must devise a business strategy that incorporates either cost leadership, differentiation or focus and the like in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage and long-term success in its areas or industries. 1b) How strategy can be constructed and carried out effectively, even by small businesses? There could be political strategies, business strategies, social strategies and so on. It is nothing but natural for strategies to differ in matter but they all share some common issues that get addressed in the process. So, in order to work on strategic substance it is imperative to understand the issues that need to be answered in our strategic choices. Firstly, strategies are to be thought of in long term basis. Strategies are formed keeping in mind the vision of an organization that helps further decide the direction to be taken. Vision is basically the broad reason for an organizations existence. This being the first structural block. Secondly, strategies are formulated under the characteristics of an organizations strengths and weaknesses. The resources and competencies of a firm help define and shape the variety of strategic choices available to the management to choose from. This forms the second major structural block and alongside the first lays the basic foundation for strategy formation. The rest is basically a web where we need to analyse the current domain of the organizations activities and possible future expansion, the culture of the organization, the values and expectations of stakeholders, the operational and business environment and the competition. Once this analysis is done, strategies can be derived that help to provide a competitive advantage in the current environment after considering its expected future outcome. This aspect is very important as strategies cannot be altered time and again. They should keep room for a little change as they have to stand the test of time and therefore need to be aligned correspondingly to dynamic business environments. To sum it up, strategies are essentially long term choices of an organization that define the manner in which competitive advantage shall be obtained, alongside the fulfillment of stakeholders expectations, within the boundaries of the organizations strengths and weaknesses. Evidently, the process of developing strategies is a tedious one and requires concrete analysis of many inter-related factors. It is extremely complex and has an inherent uncertainty about its conception. However, a careful analysis of the business environment including that of competitors can greatly reduce this complexity. As a strategy developer one has to be in harmony with the vagueness of the opportunity costs for a particular strategic choice and once decided, should focus entirely on the chosen strategic direction. All actions are linked to the strategy of the organization and hence a thorough analysis of various direct and indirect factors is critical to its success. The most important strategic choice a small organization can make is prepare to do battle with the future, which includes five steps. Step 1: Anticipate both threats and windows of opportunities for the vision and mission of the organization. Step 2: Decide how to react to these emerging threats and opportunities. Step 3: Identify the source from which those risks and opportunities will come from. Step 4: Identify when the risks will hit or if the opportunity is really valuable. Step 5: Execute necessary actions to mitigate the threats or take advantage of the opportunities. Strategic planning for a small business doesnt have to be as formal, or as detailed as with a large company. The most important step to take is to strike up a discussion with your customers, employees, vendors, investors, and do your homework about your competitors. It helps to talk about your strategy with a partner, advisor, or trusted consultant to reduce ambiguity and bring some focus to your mind around the strategic issues that could impact your business in the future. The biggest mistake a small business owner can do for his organization is, be unprepared or surprised by unfolding future events. Even if he simply thinks things through in his mind and then briefly share his strategic choices or decisions with his employees, he will be ahead of the curve and enabling people to understand how they can connect with his strategy. For a small business working toward a strategic plan the one thing that can make a lot of difference is to commit all the strategic decision to paper. This is one move ahead of many of its competitors. Inviting the strongest employees to respond to the strategic issues, concerns and getting them involved so they feel some ownership in this simple process brings a clear and thorough insight into the strategic planning. Arranging a strategy adaptation meeting with all hands twice a year for a couple of hours to clarify the direction, make adjustments and respond to questions is yet another time-proven way of facing the changing business demographics. The strategic analysis should look at six aspects of the business. The customers: Figure out who your customers are now, who they will be in the future, how they are changing, and what they will want in the future. The people and talent: What skills and capabilities will be needed to address the threats and opportunities? How many people, what kind of new roles will be needed, how will peoples roles change in the future to handle the threats and grab the opportunities? Will the organization grow and are we developing the leadership to manage the changes coming? The Suppliers and Vendor: Can they give you what will be required to meet future challenges? Are there new offerings that can help you resolve your particular business issues? The Competitors: Who are the players in your market? What are the strengths they possess? How can you take advantage of their vulnerabilities with your unique capabilities? The Products and Services: Are you preparing something new and value added for your customers or users which enable them to be more productive? The Organizational infrastructure technology: What will the organization need to do differently in the future to keep up with new and emerging customers? Are you using technology to improve productivity? Strategy really isnt rocket science; rather it is a common sense and a willingness to ask some challenging questions and bringing the workable answers. Be willing to think it through, communicate with others, and solicit additional perspectives. Writing down the conclusions and sharing them with the rest of the organization. Lastly, issuing a call to work on strategic action each day to compliment the routine tactical work that has to be done to pay the bills and meet current obligations. All of the above help the small business stay ahead of the curve. 1c) The value of using key analytical tools to help in the strategy-making process Strategic Analysis This is all about analysing the strength of position of business and understanding the important external factors that may influence that position. The process of Strategic Analysis can be helped by a number of tools, including: PEST Analysis a technique for understanding the environmentin which a business operates [See Appendix A for details] Porters Five Forces Analysis a technique for identifying the forces which affect the level of competition within an industry [See Appendix A for details] Competitor Analysis a broad range of techniques and analysis that seeks to summarise a businessesoverall competitive position Critical Success Factor Analysis a technique to identify those key areas in which a business must outperform the competition in order to succeed SWOT Analysis a useful summary technique for summarising the key issues arising from an assessment of a businesses internalposition and externalenvironmental influences. Analytical methods and tools are key to ensuring that consistency and an appropriate level of rigour is applied to the analysis. The aim of the analytical tool is to intensify the focus of the analysis and to ensure a methodical and a balanced approach. All analytical tools rely on historical and statistical data to extrapolate future assumptions. It is important to exercise caution when interpreting strategic analysis results. Otherwise the analysis may be influenced by preconceived notions within the organisation which seek to validate a particular strategic assumption. One of the key skills of a strategic analyst is in understanding which analytical tools or techniques are most appropriate to the objectives of the analysis. One of the most common analytical tool used in devising a business strategy is SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis is a simple but widely used tool that helps in understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project or business activity. It starts by defining the objective of the business activity and identifies the internal and external factors that are important to achieving that objective. strengths and weaknesses are usually internal to the organisation, while opportunities and threats are usually external. Often these are plotted on a simple 22 matrix. Strengths à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What does your organisation do better than others? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What are your unique selling points? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What do your competitors and customers in your market perceive as your strengths? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What is your organisations competitive edge? Opportunities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What political, economic, social-cultural, or technology (PEST) changes are taking place that could be favourable to you? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Where are there currently gaps in the market or unfulfilled demand? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What new innovation could your organisation bring to the market? Weakness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What do other organisations do better than you? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What elements of your business add little or no value? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What do competitors and customers in your market perceive as your weakness? Threats à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What political, economic, social-cultural, or technology (PEST) changes are taking place that could be unfavourable to you? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What restraints to you face? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What is your competition doing that could negatively impact you? 2) Based on the case study, carry out an analysis of Making It Bigs: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ strengths and weaknesses, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ opportunities and threats Strengths Making It Big has had wonderful years over the past couple of years. For the last 10 years MIB enjoyed steady average sales increase of 12%. This was made possible due to the fact that Cynthia, the owner of the business, contributed significant amount of her time and effort to keep the cash flow running. Cynthia learned the whole trade of a business at an early age and rode on the surge of the feminism movements. She was already mentally prepared and economically challenged to take on the risky path of setting up her own venture. Her earlier stint with Cheap Frills also enabled her to learn the tricks of trade and get really close to the suppliers, manufacturers, whole-sellers and customers. This proved to be a foundational platform that let her project her thoughts and evaluate an opportunity that can be filled. Hence, the birth of Making It Big took place. This opportunity was plus-size clothing manufacturing selling business. It was only possible for her to evaluate and pick such an opportunity because she was able to put herself in the shoes of the her potential customers. She, being a female and a fat one at that, helped her empathize her customers and bring to them a product that can truly add value to their lives. Besides, she had personal beliefs of strengthening fat women. For that she had to attend various seminars, feminism conferences, fashion shows and other such social events to market her clothing collection of the season as well as learning more about the reservations of her customers. She had to use these platforms to raise awareness and to strengthen the fat category of female population to lead a normal life. This step of approaching a new customer bracket is always risky and frought with FUD phenomena among customers. FUD phenomena also known as Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, leaves a whole set of problems of manufacturin g, marketing and selling for the niche to be addressed. It also turned out in the very beginning that no manufacturer is willing to accept orders to custom make plus-sized ladies garments for a new venture. To overcome these challenges, Cynthia needed a partner, an expert in the area of ladies garments manufacturing, a dedicated sales person, a manufacturing facility, long list of suppliers, transporters, sewing staff and other office personnel. Moreover, she was also supposed to raise awareness and market her products to the category of fat women who usually stay indoor. One of her strengths played in the initial stages of her setup was a brilliant discovery of an expert seamstress as a contractor who helped MIB hire/train more such experts. This solved a major issue of getting the staff ready to take on the challenges that may lay ahead. It has been observed over years that staffing alone can take running businesses down if care is not taken and successful businesses have always invested largely on human resources functions. Therefore Cynthia focused on selecting and grooming a culture among employees who were hard-working and committed individuals. This strengthened the confidence of MIBs management on employees performance especially during times of tight money supply. This enables management to take sound decisions and face competition without fear of being wiped out. Another factor that improved the success rate of MIB tremendously was that Cynthia had two parallel businesses Cheap Frills and MIB running in parallel; with one complementing the other. In such circumstances, its easy to loose sight of the direction due to the division of owners attention. However, Cynthia managed it well and had highly motivated staff to take care of both of her businesses. This helped Cynthia maintain a healthy level of cash flow and also to acquire short-term credit from financial institution. Since, the two businesses were identical therefore there was also some overlap in their customers. Later on, when Cynthia dissolved one of her business, Cheap Frills, she was not only able to generate cash on liquidating its assets but she also converted it to MIBs warehouse. In short, running two businesses had a symbiotic relationship not parasitic and when she sold one of them it benefited the other even more. When it comes to manufacturing, MIB also met with a good luck in that it developed a product line that could carry over the season and still look new item because of different colors. This helped MIB manage SKUs and inventory at the very early stages of manufacturing. This also streamlined MIBs manufacturing processes so that the owner-manager could divert her attention on the more pressing tasks of sales and marketing. Another strength that MIB was successfully able to capitalize on was the idea of using various marketing channels; retail store ads, catalog for mail-in orders and a comprehensive website. Especially, when it comes to mail-in orders, Cynthia used a very unconventional approach of reaching out to the customer segment of fat women. This approach let MIB reach true potential customers, read fat women, rather than shot-gunning all the housholds in the area for search of potential customers. This caused MIB to develop strong relationship with new customers and repeat sales were possible apart from saving tremendous amounts of marketing budgets for a yet growing MIB. Weaknesses One of the biggest weaknesses that was figured out for MIB is the improvisational style of business that cannot cope with change. This style, although good for executing short-term goals while maintaining a tight grip on cash flow, is difficult to adapt to changing external factors. Cynthia, being the owner-manager, did not have a business degree to start with. She was working on her business purely through determination and intuition. This can bring short-term success but to really succeed in the global scale and expand the business beyond the territorial boundaries, one has to endeavour into the realm of experimentation and critical analysis of the various medium-term strategies and its market acceptance. Secondly, Cynthias partner Janet wasnt contributing much in the early days of MIB as a business startup. Although, she provided the much needed cash other financial help but she lacked dedication. This naturally led Cynthia to take on the role of both the partners and hence the role of strategist in MIB was lost forever. Had Janet been taking care of some of the daily sales and marketing matters then Cynthia would be in a better shape to use the above mentioned analytical tools to provide regular insight into business and the way to look forward to. This lack of strategic planning skills among the top management of MIB caused sales growth to come to stall. Another weakness cited in the case study was that MIB was serving a niche market. Niche markets are always a headache for sales and marketing professional. Customers, fat women staying indoors, were hard to find and their buying patterns, no prior experience or passion of shopping, caused MIB to look for alternate channels of marketing. The case study also points to a claim by industry experts that most retailers dont know how to sell to larger or fat customers. The reason for that was the buying behaviour of those customers in that those women were not working due to their hesitation of the social gathering in general. Thus those women were confined to the indoors and therefore they have to approached within the boundaries of their household. Even though MIB tried various marketing channels but they were still not their. The financial figures show that most of their sales were within their base state, California, and thus there was a huge market outside their base state that still needs to be accessed. Lastly, the case study reveals that MIB employees are over-worked so there is a chance of them leaving MIB despite of their loyalty. This problem is not limited to the leaving of managers only but also to all of the staff members within the organisation. Every year, industry experts quote a huge replacement cost associated with an employee. Therefore its in the best interest of firms to provide enough benefits and compliant human resource policies to retain existing employees. It has also been observed that small firms often make the mistake of not hiring enough employees matching the increase in their business activity. This ultimately leads to employees being overworked and eventually leaving the firm for one of their competitor with better work ethics. The weakness has also been found in MIBs case. Opportunities There are a lot of opportunities that MIB can exploit to project its sales and come out as a successful firm in the long run. In the very early days of MIB setting up its business, Cynthia developed a small line of credit with a bank to improve growth and opportunity. This is very important to enable a startup fulfill the orders that are beyond the financial capacity of the firm. This immediate or sometimes seasonal surge in sales can only be managed by taking short-term loans. MIB easily managed this opportunity and was able to keep sales growing at a steady rate of 12% over 10 years. Another opportunity that knocked on the MIBs door was the fact that Cynthia had no familiarity with mail-order business rules. Those rules were in fact good for marketing of only general household products but MIB was serving a niche market. Had Cynthia invested heavily in a certain mail-order marketing firm, it would have caused severe budgeting problems with no tangible impact on actual sales growth. That niche of a customer segment only stayed indoors and was not very easily approachable. Thus an unconventional approach helped MIB reach its true customers and enable it to cause recurring sales to existing customers. To reach those difficult to find customer, Cynthia regularly attended trade shows to keep up with the trends and new potential customers. This helped her stay in touch with few of her existing customers as well as attract new ones. Since, MIB needed brand awareness and brand recognition all throughout its lifespan apart from saving finances from huge marketing budgets therefore it was prudent to specifically target the potential customers in such events. Cashing on this opportunity caused MIB to stick in this niche marketplace. Another bright opportunity that was unveiled was that women plus-size market is growing in 2000s to $47 billion in 2005. MIB being an established player in this market only has to increase its capacity and reach out to customers. This rather unique opportunity that even the statistics agree is hard to miss for MIB. Moreover, careful strategic planning and evaluation of the outcome can result in tremendous growth of MIB in the years to come. Another NPD groups survey revealed 35% adult Americans as overweight and 26% as obese, 60% women wear 12 plus size and 16% teenage girls are overweight. This revelation is proof enough for Cynthia to invest in finding the right mix of short-term and long-term strategies to boost its sales and in the process increase market share. Thus there are ample growth opportunities that MIB needs to cash in and raise its business value. Threats There are numerous threats that were mentioned in the case study. However, how many of these MIB has been able to identify and take necessary steps is what we have yet to see. One of its competitor Charming Shoppes has a huge market share in plus size apparel industry. Charming Shoppes is acquiring its competitors and growing its business annually with billions of sales and thousands of retail outlets. Taking this competitor head on is difficult and unmanageable. However, the more troublesome situation is if Charming Shoppes shows interest in taking over MIB. Not only will this result in doubts among its customers, suppliers and other stakeholders but it will also create an environment of uncertainty among its employees. This will cause reduction in the productivity of its employees internally and loosing its sales instantly externally. This hostile bid may eventually result in Cynthia succumbing to pressure and even agreeing on weaker terms to sales her business to the giant competitor. Another threat that this niche market is facing is that famous brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Old Navy, have also started releasing plus-size women apparel. With big brands entering this market, there is little room for breathing left for smaller players like MIB. IT currently does not carry any brand recognition. Therefore big brands pose a significant threat to the existing sales of MIB. The market leader, Charming Shoppes, is investing heavily on sophisticated MIS to keep detailed profiles of customers and thus refine direct sales. MIB currently does not possess the financial backbone to undertake such a huge task. The best it can do is to hire more effective sales and marketing personnel to increase market reach beyond its base city and state in order to beat the onslaught of the competition. Lastly, as can be seen from its balance sheet that MIB has more business coming from mail-orders and internet. However, it has been observed over the past year by the top management of MIB that mail-orders are decreasing over the past few quarters. Therefore, it needs to immediately look for alternatives to mail-orders in order to keep running a positive cash flow. 3) From your analysis above, write a considered assessment of what needs to be done to develop and strengthen Making It Bigs competencies and capabilities, to the point where the company has a competitive advantage. The SWOT analysis conducted above presents a picture for MIB that if proper steps are not taken immediately, it could risk loosing its business to the competition. The owner-manager, Cynthia, needs to take helm of affairs and be able to come up with a business strategy and a plan to implement it that not only neutralizes all the threats but also drastically contribute to the growth of MIB as an enterprise. One important part of the overall strategy that MIB needs to develop must include augmenting the strength of already hard-working and committed employees in the form of better marketing sales professionals. Care must be taken that the hired marketing personnel are able to launch effective campaigns that can drive sales even in hard economic times. Cynthia herself has not been able to fulfill this role properly and there are currently no one in this position within the organisation. Small business generally do not have the resources ot plan and purchase external advice and support; they are very susceptible to small environmental changes; owner-managers may not have the necessary experience for managing all aspects of a small business; and owner-managers cannot devote a lot of time to consciously working through plans because of day-to-day work pressures. A consequence of this is that owner-managers tend to have a shorter and more functional emphasis on planning. (S. Carter D. Jones-Evans, 2006) Therefore this emphasis on marketing can cause positive change for MIB at large. Another strategic planning that MIB needs to conduct is to look for sales outside the confines of its base city and state of California. Even though MIB is not geared for globalization just yet but it is in a position to dramatically increase its market share as well as its brand recognition by effectively marketing its products in the rest of the states of Americas. MIB has a very strong manufacturing arm and an able manufacturing manager, which can handle increasing the production capacity as well as increase in order processing. Going beyond the psychological boundaries of its base city and state isnt easy. MIB may have to forge new partnerships with garments retailers in other parts of America. This can eventually result in reduction of financial pressure due to marketing and also raise its brand recognition among the new set of customers across the country. It has also been observed that the mail-in orders are decreasing over the last few quarters. This may be because of the increase in the usage of internet based business. MIB needs to invest heavily on generating more business electronically by investing heavily on its e-commerce infrastructure. This will not only prove to be a viable alternative but if executed correctly can give significant boost to the existing sales. Another aspect that Cynthia as an owner of MIB can improve upon is by hiring experienced managers with relevant educational background. It seems that the new hired managers have matching skills and relevant past experience yet they fail to build a sound strategy that can help Cynthia steer the business towards increasing sales. A couple of vocational training courses may not be adequate to make these managers think outside the box. Therefore, MIB needs to invest in hiring seriously strong candidates with relevant qualifications and education. Cynthia needs to take some vocational training as well as management courses to improve her perspective of her business and the market in general. Another aspect clearly missing from the case study as well as Cynthias perspective is that there is no mention of any SWOT analysis done for the MIBs competitors. Without a competitors analysis there can be no strategic planning that can yield significant positive change. 4) How well do you think the tools and techniques for crafting and executing business strategy work for small businesses run by owner-managers with limited resources (including key staff members)? Overtime strategic planning has been evolved into a concept that is commonly considered as the most effective solution to all the business issues. Some businesses follow strategic planning so religiously and focus so much of their energies on their strategic plan that it seems like their primary product. Even though, appropriately executed strategic plans are wonderful. However, they must be taken as a tool of a corporation to achieve its goals, not to make them a goal unto themselves. Most importantly the strategic plans must not take most of the valuable time of employer or employees. Several business ventures also carry a misguided belief that strategic planning is reserved only for large businesses that can afford the effort, time and resources to develop a sound plan. However, a small business intends to compete against the industrial big guns in the marketplace then it is imperative to guess some of their tactics and game plans and strategic planning is a primary component of any successful and large venture. It also does not suggests that a small venture needs all the bells and whistles and the complexity of larger corporations strategic plans. For a working entrepreneur it is possible to devise a good working draft in a matter of hours that is sound enough for the small business to keep on the course to becoming a solid competitor. The original idea of strategic planning is to set up a strategy that a small business is going to follow over a short to medium term of time period. It can be for a specific business unit, like strategizing a production planning strategy, or it can for the whole of a business. Usually its the job of board of directors to set an overall strategy for the whole of business and to execute that high-level strategy each area of the company plans their strategy which is compliant with the overall strategy. Various businesses use various periods of time for the planning of their strategies. Basically, this time period depends on rate of change the industry is going through. In a fast-changing environment for example the internet, devising a 5-year plan is worthless. For slowly changing industries th