Creation of LEGO

With fourteen and a half billion dollars one may consider to purchase the Lego company right now. The Lego company has played a measure role in the toy industry for about one hundred years. Its innovations include famous playsets, minifigures, video games, and world renown stores located all over the world. Those thing would never have been fathomable without the famous Lego creator Ole Kirk Christiansen who born in the remote town of Filskovand, Denmark. Ole Kirk Christiansen came into this world during the year of 1891 and was the tenth child of the family. He had completed high school education even though he grew up moderately poor. When he was 14 he became an understudy to his brother in Denmark. This background had made Ole Kirk Christiansen a modest and determined individual who found that his idea was destined for greatness. The word â€Å"LEGO† means to play well. He started to call his company â€Å"LEGO† in nineteen thirty-four after he began making wooden toys in nineteen thirty-four. He officially started to make its plastic interlocking blocks in nineteen forty-nine. It is still possible that a 1958 Lego piece are still compatible with today's pieces. Over the past fifty years the Lego company has created over 400 billion blocks and the company was inducted in the National Toy Hall of Fame. These awards has made the Lego company a prestigious brand.Since plastic is a non-renewable resource and a major economic friendly agenda was being pushed in the mid two-thousands, the Lego group was forced to reduce the percentage of plastic used in their product and their carbon footprint. It is well know that the famous company almost went bankrupt due to their wasteful habits. The concept of lean manufacturing and a special software connected all of their factories around the world and helped the company achieve their slogan.†Only the best is good enough† is a slogan created by the founder Ole Kirk Christiansen. This motto came to fruition in nineteen thirty-six when he only had approximately ten employees. This motto is still used today and a significant impact on the way the company runs to this day. During the nineteen forties the Lego company was relatively small but showed minor improvements such as the introduction to colored blocks. Ole Kirk Christiansen had introduced the company to his son at the age of twelve. During this time, Lego had improved the amount of employees to fifty, introduced the game of tiddlywinks, and he bought the revolution plastic injection molding machine.During the fifties the company tried to push its products out to young children which was their target sales group. Ole Kirk Christiansen promoted his son the Vice President when he turned thirty. The company promoted their first major playset that consisted of eight creatable vehicles. The company also showed some signs of innovation by using wood and plastic as a basis of all of their products.The nineteen sixties was the coming out moment coming out moment for the company. Legoland was introduced and the production of wooden toys was dismantled due to massive fire that destroyed the company's toys. Legoland promoted three thousand visiter on the first day. In nineteen sixty-nine Lego cars were being made with a small amount of polyvinyl chloride along with plastic. The famous company started to expand globally to countries such as Italy, Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Morocco. During this time, between eighteen and nineteen millions toy sets were currently being sold per year.During the seventies the company had almost one thousand employees. Lego promoted its toys exclusively to girls with their renown playhouses. Still to this day Lego tries to incorporate female characteristics to influence girls to purchase Lego products. The company's banner transformed their logo from an older to a more modern banner. Many of the customers can also see that the seventies are the first decade that directly relates to the companies expansion globally.Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen was appointed to be the Chief Executive Officer and the company's president during nineteen seventy-nine. He is the grandson of Ole Kirk Christiansen and is worth five point five billion dollars. He led the company into its â€Å"golden age†. You may ask why I called this time period a golden age. The answer can be explained as quite simple. This time period had created approximately five thousand employees and promoted a great amount of collaboration of many universities such as M.I.T. This time period was also important because Ole Kirk Christiansen was inducted in the forever-famous National Toy Hall of Fame. In Europe the massive boom of Legos was proven true when a survey of the traditional household proved that seventy percent of households with a child less than fourteen years old owned a Lego playset.Nineteen nineties was a decade of reconstruction throughout the whole company. Officially eight thousand eight hundred and eighty people are employed under the companies record. The world renown company was officially labeled a top ten company during this decade. I believe that the real reason why this company underwent reconstruction is because of the fact that this is the first digital decade. The nineties promoted technological advancement towards the youth since smartphone were being used more and more often. Kids had other opportunities than to stay at home and play with their toys. This decade also proved that the toys were a choking hazard after a major recall of their toys since it was possible for it to get lodged in ones throat if they were incompetent. A positive benefit of the digital age is the idea of online shopping. This idea is capitalized in nineteen ninety-nine. The two-thousands were crucial to the history of the Lego company. In two thousand and nine the company celebrated its fiftieth anniversary and Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen was introduced into the renown National Toy Hall of Fame. Two thousand and seventeen was a challenging year for the famous company. They did not experience a lot of growth as a company and lost revenue in North America and Europe. This could be a major warning sign that the Lego company may need to adapt to the ever changing technological change. Many kids are now playing on their smartphones instead of building or playing with toys. The Chief Executive Officer of the Lego Group has inferred that there is a possibility that the company may tap into the virtual world of artificial gaming and artificial intelligence The Lego company also expanded their outreach on kids with televisions shows, series, and movies. The Lego Movie, the first-ever, full-length theatrical Lego adventure, directed by Phil Lord ; Christopher Miller is an 3D computer animated story that follows Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared. (Warner) Many famous historical interpretations have been recreated by the use of Lego blocks. Events such as the cherry blossoming in Japan have arranged so that many pieces are used to create that. The Lego company has massively evolved from dealing with a few section of colors, to being able to maximize the whole color spectrum in order to capture their true excellence in toy manufacturing.

Differences between Men and Women

Oftentimes, the difference between men and women is classified as two different cultures that can never be connected with each other. The statement that â€Å"men are from Mars and women are from Venus† had been the favorite phrase to define the difference between the two sexes. Aside from biological differences of men and women, there are also many distinctions that limit the two sexes to deeply understand each gender. Apparently, the society has been living in a world with full of issues in masculinity and femininity.The physical difference between men and women has gone to many conclusions and argumentations that these two gender also have differences in characters and personalities. The men’s ego to achieve their goals by themselves as a symbol of competence and power has been recognized by the society even in the earlier centuries. The emotional detachment of men has been the first in the list of complains of women toward them. Masculinity has been defined as a sen se of pride for the cluster of the society who provides the economic well being of the family.If women are known for their ability to talk about anything, men rarely talk about their problems and emotions. On the other hand, women are described based on all the exact opposites of the characteristics of men. Beauty, communication, love, and relationships are only few of the things that women value too much. If men are emotionally detached, the quality of relationships reflects the feelings and emotional side of women. Men’s great concern is the financial status; however women concern more on physical attractiveness and the quality of relationship that they would invest with their loved ones.For men, money and career reflects their masculinity, women viewed these issues as rejection of men to them and their relationships with women. The greatest challenge for women’s lives is to maintain their sense of self while expanding out to serve the needs of other people. This rol e of women makes this gender good mothers, partners, and peers. The care for others is the strongest trait of female. Men, on the other hand, tend to act, think, and feel in a way that expresses themselves as the primary and the other people as secondary only. (Evatt 16)In Deborah Tannen’s Genderlect Styles Theory, she states that â€Å"male and female conversation is a cross-cultural communication†. According to her, men are focused on status while women are focused on connection. This two different perceptions drive men and women apart and most of the time causes conflicts for both gender. Tannen suggests that men and women are from diverse cultures that cannot understand each other. In order to understand the theory better, Tannen gives five major areas to explain the difference between men and women. In her theory, she explains that men and women deal with things differently.Men tend to defend their masculinity in public and always aim to win the conversation but a ppear to be uncomfortable in speaking in private. Disclosure of feelings would take a long time for men, and women oftentimes initiate the disclosure. In contrast, women are reserved in public but more comfortable in intimate settings. (â€Å"Communication Theory†, 2008) In telling a story, men would narrate a story wherein they are the hero, but women would rather tell a story about other people. In some instance, men would tell a joke but women would narrate a story wherein they act foolish and let them put themselves on the level of the listeners.In other words, women always consider other people while men focus on themselves alone. Even in private conversation, the way men and women deal with the situation. Active listening and cooperative overlapping are women’s way to treat the speaker so as to encourage and agree with that person. Men oftentimes regard an interruption to have power over the speaker in the conversation. Men use silence as a weapon and power over the people that they are communicating with. Moreover, women ask questions to build a rapport or connection but men would refuse to ask for other people’s help because they consider asking as a form of verbal sparing.Women consider conflicts as threat to relationships, however men consider them as normal scene in the world that is full of competition. Gender differences have become a discourse between men and women. The idea that men are fundamentally different from women has become an important thought for the society that recognizes the all the gender issues. These differences have brought the two genders to two different planets that can never be merged into one. The society has formed a vast gender gap because of the stereotype judgment that men often seek for power while women always seek for connection.In most aspects, men and women are considered as fundamentally different from each other. Apparently, the stereotype judgment toward each gender has passed from generatio n to generation. However, this gender issues, according to genderlect styles theory can be resolved if the two different genders would try to understand each others language. The differences are human nature of both sexes and those can be understood if they are willing to learn each others’ characteristics. Oftentimes, social and political factors are neglected in analyzing why men often seek for power and women always care for others.Caring for others has been a connotation for women, but the society sometimes overlooks the effort that men do for other people too. The gender distinctions have grown to be a societal conflict and apparently gave men and women names to be acted upon. The typecasting has been the society’s basis to address a gender and assess the personality only based on what the culture has formed toward both sexes. The other factors in the society provide an underlying explanation why men and women act and talk the way they do. The power that has been associated for men is sometimes the goal of women for competing in the male and female society.The people often recognize the boundary between the two sexes but fail to search for the possible solutions to overcome the gender distinctions. Apparently, the society fails to recognize the other factors that cause men and women to act like what they have expected that makes the gender conflicts bigger. The stereotype that women are oppressed because their only function is to provide domestic services for other people may also open their minds and awaken the society that this role of women give them a total independence because they could work for other that make them whole as women.Perhaps men have found the happiness through achievements in the world of competition and would learn respect for the neglected dimensions of caring for others and concern for their partners. Women may have found ways to celebrate their femininity by caring for others and building a rapport for a quality rela tionship while men have found ways to guard their masculinity by having constant achievements and providing economic well being for their families.As a whole, men and women have differences that cannot be understood by the minds that have a strong belief about the incurable gender distinctions. However, these differences can also create a perfect connection instead of gap that provides a wall between the two sexes. Apparently, men and women have created with special tasks to perform and these fundamental differences are possessed in order to perfectly play their roles in this world. Languages and cultures can be learned as well as the gender distinctions that have been a societal issue in the world that is full of stereotype and typecasting.

LAND GRABBING KEEPS ME AWAKE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

LAND GRABBING KEEPS ME AWAKE - Essay Example With global reports confirming the world’s peaking oil, among other greater risks such as persistent hunger partly contributed by anthropogenic climate change, the putative existence of ‘reserve agricultural land’ in the global south, particularly in Africa and the Latin America, has been labeled the lifeline, thus the dramatic revaluation and the subsequent haste to acquire and control large swathes of land for agro-industrial, large-scale resource extraction initiatives and food security (McMichael, 2012). Buoyed by the idea that long-term landholdings are the only avenue to assuage continuous supply of their needs, ‘finance-rich, resource-poor’ countries are aggressively funding the acquisitions in government to government deals that leaves the poor even more worse off than ever. While the surge in the transnational commercial land deals ringing in massive ‘private and non-private’ lands to the dispossession of the global poor are guid ed by the neoliberal policies under the supervision of WTO, the trade-offs seem far off a just order, for the rules only but favors the big Brother, thus the accelerated land grabbing, more so in Africa where unutilized land is considered plentiful and labor are relatively cheap. In spite of the title deeds issued by most African, Latin American and Asian countries indicating ownership, land remains the property of the state. Accordingly, the state possesses all the rights to do whatever it desires, including utilizing as a bait to attract foreign investments (Houtart 2010). Ironically disturbing is the very fact that Africa, a continent that faces hunger the most, takes the lion’s share of the dubious land deals that exacerbates their local food insecurity further, for arable lands leased in large scale to foreigners only produce food and other products for export purposes. Small scale farmers hitherto

Project management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Project management - Research Paper Example A project is not a routine task, it is a certain set of functions designed to achieve a particular goal. Sometimes the project team involves people who usually do not work together; they are acquired from different departments, different organizations & different localities. In simple terms, Project Management involves a temporary group activity. Project Management is related to the application of knowledge, techniques & skills to complete a project efficiently & effectively. It is a strategic decision by the organization to enhance their competencies by tying the project outputs to the organization’s objectives. Previously project management referred to the collection of project data & metrics for evaluation & then accordingly making changes to increase efficiency & productivity. For the past decades, this area of management have become quite popular within the corporate world because of the following reasons- (ds.psu.edu 2) The average salary of a project manager is quite hi gh in comparison to the managers of other domain. Every year, a huge amount is spent for the purpose of accomplishing various projects. Lately, project management has been included as a subject of study in various educational institutes. It acts as a control mechanism for various projects. Project management helps in controlling the human capital, budget, quality, resources, time frames & communication. Project Life Cycle Projects always have a starting date & an ending date which means just like products, projects also have a definite life cycle that starts with the starting date & ends with the ending date. The diagram shows the different phases of a project life cycle- (weill.cornell.edu 1) Here we are given a particular business case where we have to modify the present structure of the University into a Wi-Fi enabled campus. We need to replace all computers & introduce iMacs for the classroom. Also we are required to complete the job within the month of June as the research woul d start from July onwards. We need several staffs for this purpose. Selection of the appropriate option for the given business case The appropriate solution that has been selected for the business case is requesting financial aid from the government as it is a reliable source of funds. On the basis of this option we are going to discuss further about this case with the help of the A3 tool. The context of Toyota can be considered while exploring the concept of A3. The managers of the company implement a tool called A3 that is named keeping in mind the internationally accepted paper size.A3 consists of a series of boxes arranged in a template. The boxes include the operations in the following order- 1. To establish the context of the business & the importance of a specific issue 2. To define the present status of the problem 3. To identify the desired outputs 4. To analyze the circumstances to ascertain causality 5. To offer countermeasures 6. To establish an action plan 7. To chalk o ut the follow-up process This method helps the managers to train others regarding the analysis of the root-cause & channel them towards scientific thinking. This is a tool for constant improvement & learning. We are required to use one management tool for the current business case & we would consider applying the A3 framework.

Biotechnology legal issues involved in technology transfer and new Assignment

Biotechnology legal issues involved in technology transfer and new venture formation - Assignment Example Another legal issue is the registration of the patents or the transfer of the patents’ ownership with the Office of Intellectual Property in the relevant jurisdiction. Contracts will also have to be drawn up between Bio Vacc Ptty Ltd and RMIT for the vaccine project and between Bio and Protein Solutions and Firefly Australia with respect to their joint ventures. Contracts of employment or simple contracts including confidentiality covenants will also be necessary with respect to the students involved in research. This paper examines the various legal issues involved in the transfer of technologies in the arrangements spearheaded by Bio Vacc with a view to accommodating the interests of the parties and any other relevant stakeholders particularly with reference to the patents involved. This is necessary as the parties to the arrangements are only some of the important stakeholders. Other stakeholders who are not parties to the arrangements may have interests that conflict with the commercial and/or scientific interests of the contracting parties.1 The Consequences of the Spin-off A spin-off is the creation of a new organization which is founded on the resources of the parent company or organization.2 This means that the Bio Vacc is essentially a new and independent organization that originated from RMIT. To put it another way, RMIT is commencing a new venture formation via Bio Vacc. The parent company which is RMIT in this case typically forms the new company which is Bio Vacc in this case, to facilitate technology transfer.3 Four legal issues are involved in this spin-off process. First there is the rights and obligations of the parent organization that transfers the technology (patents). Secondly, there is the stage where the technology transfer can actually start. Thirdly, the rights and obligations of the spin-off company that is attempting to form a new venture out of the technology. Finally there are the rights and obligations of the investor who pr ovides funding.4 The roles of each of the actors are best understood by the definition of spin-offs. To this end, Boehm defines a spin-off as: A new company formed (1) by individuals who were former employees of a parent organization, and (2) which is based on a core technology that is transferred from the parent organization.5 In the context of a university spin-off, Boehm describes the spin-off as a founded by a former member of the faculty, or staff member, or even a student who departs from the university for the purpose of starting an organization or starting a company while â€Å"still affiliated with the university†.6 The university spin-off may also be a â€Å"technology or technology-based idea development within the university†.7 The main legal issues are therefore the limits and extent of the use of new technology for the new venture formed by Bio Vacc. In this case the new technology is the two vaccine patents. A second legal issue is the limits and extent to which university research members will participate in the new venture of Bio Vacc. Bio Vacc is essen

Business plan for a restaurant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business plan for a restaurant - Essay Example The business should get to meet its financial targets and be aware of its financial position. The business should aspire to meet its social responsibility by running profitably, ethically and in accordance to the legislations and regulations (LLC 2010, p. 67). Goals The restaurants goals shall get tied to its mission and vision statements. The goals should be SMART; specific, measurable, realistic, achievable, and timely (Hatten 2011, p.88). The restaurant’s goals shall allow the business to plan and understand its point of success. The goals shall not become fixed as they will get updated with time as the business proceeds. The restaurant team should aim to achieve the business goals and assist to ensure they are met for the eventual success of the business (LLC 2010, p. 77). The restaurant’s goals shall be to provide impeccable and irresistible service by showing graciousness, warmth, efficiency, knowledge, integrity and professionalism. The restaurant also aims to im prove the quality of life of the local community around the Waterloo station and beyond by conducting donations and fundraisers (Walker 2007, p. 75). Location The Waterloo station serves as a superb location for a restaurant business. The completion of the construction of a retail balcony at the station for retail and catering outlets, the station provides a fantastic location opportunity for a restaurant business (Walker 2007, p.116). The station provides a great strength for the potential business due to its strategic positioning, which serves a large number of passengers. For the restaurant to become successful, it will require a customer base, and this will be partly covered by its location at Waterloo (LLC 2010, p. 97). At Waterloo station, the restaurant will get located...Its location on the first floor of the station also ensures that it is easily visible and accessible to potential customers The business other strength will lie in its pricing. The restaurant plans on offering prices for its services that are slightly lower to its competitors present at the station (Patti 2004, p.44). The other strength lies in the fact that the restaurant shall focus on Italian cuisine. This cuisine is popular and caters for a variety of meals that will attract a wide customer base. Weaknesses Since the establishment will get located at the first floor, there is a slight chance that customers might shun it. Some customers want a quiet place to have their meals and this cannot be promised at the first floor where the movement is relatively high to the second floor. Opportunities The business opportunity lies on the completion of the construction of the retail balcony at the Waterloo station. This makes the restaurant among the first establishments to grasp the retail spaces offered. The other opportunity lies in the restaurant’s menu. The restaurant’s plans on offering diabetic, vegan, and low fat diets makes it standout with the few restaurants offering such services at the station Threats The restaurant faces stiff competition from older restaurant establishments at the station. Some establishments have already developed a devoted customer base, and it will be difficult to lure such customers away

Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 14250 words

Dissertation Example However, several barriers hinder the route to successful implementation of cross-border acquisitions. Different authors and scholars have provided many factors hindering cross border acquisitions. In its entirety, cultural factors need the biggest attention because of their influence in changing the fate of the merger or acquisition activity. Cross border M&A are termed as ‘marriage between two culturally separate entities’ and endeavours to manage M&A’s arise more from the tenets of cross-cultural management than any other factor. Cultural knowledge has been found to facilitate organizations to come together for M&A with their partners. This view has been propounded by various theories like Hofstede’s and Trompenaars dimensions, Schwartz Value survey, Kluckhohn and Strodbeck Framework , and many others. Application of cultural factors are involved across various activities and different functions that include expatriate management, leadership, motivation, decision making, managing diversity and developing intercultural communications through managerial competencies. Taking examples of some successful and unsuccessful cross-border mergers and acquisitions and relating these with related theories and models, a study has been conducted to determine how cross-cultural knowledge, awareness and responsiveness helped the successful parties and vice versa. This research has investigated the cultural issues which are often not given utmost importance in regard to cross border M&A. The study has helped to gain an understanding of the significance of determination of cultural factors affecting cross border M&A and the necessity to deal with them before entering into a merger or an acquisition. Also, with perceived and identified gaps, recommendations have been suggested which might improve upon the way cross-border mergers and acquisitions should be implemented and dealt with. The research has been based completely on secondary sources and case studies. Real life M&A have been taken into consideration based on which a detailed analysis has been done thus determining the cultural factors that may affect cross border M&A. Recommendations have been provided for those organizations that tend to ignore the importance of such cultural differences, often leading to failure. Table of Contents Topic Page no. Introduction 7 Research Aims and Objectives 10 -Aim of the research 10 -Objectives of the research 10 Literature Review 11 Limitations of the Study 30 Research Methodology 31 -Research Philosophy 31 -Research technique 32 -Sources of information 32 -Credibility & Verification 33 Findings & Analysis 35 -Study of real life M&A 36 -Key features of success or failure 43 -Comparison of actual scenario with theoretical models 44 -Discussion 49 Conclusion 51 Recommendation 54 References 57 List of Figures Figure Page no. Figure 1. Different types of mergers and acquisitions 15 Figure 2. Consequences of differences in individualist or collectivist scores for work and organizations 18 Figure 3. Consequences of differences in power distance cores for work and organizations 19 Figure 4. Consequences of differences in masculinity or femininity scores for work and organizations 20 Figure 5. Consequences of differences in uncertainty avoidance scores for work and organizations 21 Figure 6. Acculturative model for the implementation of mergers 23 Figure 7. Reasons

Renal transplants Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Renal transplants - Research Paper Example During this time, approximately one third of potential living donors are unable to donate to their potential recipients due to ABO or antigen incompatibility. Kidney paired donation (KPD) and kidney list donation (KLD) were the alternative options for candidates with incompatible donor (McKay, 2010, 103). The first KPD transplant was performed on South Korea in 1991. The United States performed its first KPD transplant in 2000 in Rhode Island Hospital while the first KLD occurred in England in 2001 (McKay, 2010, 104). The kidney is the most commonly transplanted organ in the world with more than 160,000 persons in the United States living with a transplanted kidney by the end of 2008 (Shoskes, 2011, 154). But despite this number, persons needing kidney transplantation still increases and a relative scarcity in terms of resource arise. A complete array of information about kidney transplantation was included in the databases of U.S. Renal Database System (USRDS), Scientific Registry o f Renal Transplants Recipients (SRTR), United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), and Collaborative Transplant Study (Shoskes, 2011, 154). Procedures Before a patient undergo kidney transplantation, a series of laboratory tests and procedures are needed to perform and complete. Matching is the key tool is successful transplantation. The donor’s organ should match the recipient’s body in terms of ABO and antigen incompatibility to avoid risks of rejection. The patient with end-stage renal disease may choose from treatments such as peritoneal dialysis, hemodialysis, or transplantation. Transplantation is done if the patient wants the treatment or if according to disease severity, requires the transplantation procedure. The surgical team involves the pre-emptive living donor (LD) transplantation to minimize pre-operation transplant list and maximize operative choices. The LD transplantation decreases the risk of acute tubular necrosis due to ischemia, increases potential fo r matching, and offers opportunity to initiate and optimize immunosuppressive therapy, thereby reducing acute rejection episodes (McKay, 2010, 17). Background regarding the quality of the donor’s organ was predetermined and positive outcome was expected. Then, the transplant team prepares the patient for the procedure. However, if the patient has superior vena cava syndrome due to an AV graft in the previous hemodialysis, a different procedure is done by the nephrologists and cardiologists. The organ transplantation is divided into five separate procedures (McKay, 2010, 18) and discussed as follows: 1) Preparation – the surgeon discuss to the patient the surgical procedure. General anesthesia is introduced after and intraoperative measures are implemented. 2) Exposure – after prepping and draping, incision is made in the right or left lower quadrant. 3) Vascular Anastomoses – venous anastomoses first and arterial anastomoses must be last to avoid complica tions of bleeding and thrombosis. The kidney is chilled and topical iced is used liberally. Clamp is placed in the renal vein. 4) Ureteral anastomoses – is the preferred method to establish urologic continuity 5) Closing – wound/skin closure and measures to prevent complications. After completion of all the procedures in kidney transplantation, the patient is placed in the recovery area and post-operative interventions are applied. Health providers monitor for rejection signs post-operative

Socialism Essay Example for Free

Socialism Essay The years between 1815-1848 saw the rise of a number of related and competing ideologies, one of them being Socialism. Socialism sought economic equality for all, and was very much against the the Laissez Faire ideal of liberalism. There were different forms of socialism as it evolved over the years. Throughout the 19th century, Europe saw an uprising and evolution of socialism led by key names Karl Marx, Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen. It created equality for the majority of workers and prompted ideas of revolution. Socialism was partly rooted in the French Revolution, with a number of radical Jacobins taking the idea of political equality for all and moving it to the next step: economic equality for all through the common ownership of all property. The earliest socialist writers were coined â€Å"Utopian Socialists† by Karl Marx. Marx believed the earliest socialists offered non-scientific, unrealistic solutions to the problems of modern society. One of the influential early socialist thinkers was Count Henri de Saint-Simon. He argued the key to progress was proper organization. He also thought in highly moralistic terms. He said that every social institution must make improving conditions for the poor their main goal. In around 1830, another socialist thinker emerged: Charles Fourier. He took another approach. He was a fierce defender of freedom of choice. He established utopian communities, each with 1,620 people, where free love and voluntary unions were the norm. Many women were enthusiastic followers of Fourier because he was an early proponent of the total emancipation of women. The socialist Louis Blanc fought for a whole different right. He wanted the right to work. He believed the government should provide jobs when the private sector could not. These early Socialists birthed the ideology, but they had relatively little impact in comparison with Marx’s proletarian socialism. In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto, which became the bible of socialism. Early Socialism was most prevalent in France, since it benefited the majority of citizens. It was mostly concentrated in France because early French utopian socialists interacted with the experiences of French urban workers. Workers cherished the memory of the radical phase of the French Revolution, and they despised the laissez-faire laws that denied workers the right to organize. Workers favored collective action and government intervention in economic life. These aspirations of the workers directly connected to utopian theorists, and a genuine socialist movement emerged in Paris in the 1830’s. From here, Karl Marx was left the task of establishing effective socialist foundations. Socialist ideas favored the working class, because the primary reason it started was to make the proletariats more equal to the bourgeoisie. Socialism looked at the free-market economies of Western Europe in the midst of the Industrial Revolution and saw exploited workers leading miserable existences while manufacturers profited enormously. Socialists felt that since the rich benefited so much, the poor should get some benefits too, since their labor supported the entire system. Karl Marx even predicted that the proletariat class would one day arise and supplant those capitalists who had exploited them. The Revolts of 1848 represented the power of the middle and lower classes. These revolts were started as an attempt to achieve universal male suffrage. The socialists showed the workers there is a solution to the severely divided social classes. The proletariats attempted to destroy the bourgeoisies for economic equality. The middle class were the victims and many lives were taken in 1848 during the horrific â€Å"June Days. Because of the lack of leadership and organization, the working class failed in their revolution. These revolts represented the idea of socialism but also showed how much power the upper classes possessed. It is almost impossible to have a perfect socialist society and the socialists and working class of 19th century Europe failed to create one. However, the revolts and ideas of socialist thinkers showed how important the working class is. Socialism is a very important factor in the history of the 19th century. That influence has extended into present days, where there are still socialist ideologies.

Strategic planning Essay Example for Free

Strategic planning Essay 1. What is the difference between strategic planning and tactical planning? Strategic planning is the process of determining an organizations primary objectives and finding and implementing steps that will achieve the objectives. Tactical planning is setting short-term actions that are needed to compete larger strategies. 2. what is the difference between a business plan and a marketing plan? Business plan is a detailed plan setting out the objectives of a business, the strategy and tactics planned to achieve them, and the expected profits, usually over a period of three to ten years. Marketing plan is a strategic plan at the functional level that provides a firm’s marketing group with direction. The strategy for implementing the components of marketing; creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging value. 3. what is the purpose of a marketing plan? It is a road map that improves the firm’s understanding of its competitive situation. It helps the firm allocate resources and divvy up the tasks that employees need to do for the company to meet its objectives. 4. what are the two elements of every marketing strategy? 1)product strategy-product development strategy – creating new products or services for existing markets. 2)market strategy-market penetration strategy – selling more of existing products and services to existing customers. 5. how would you describe first-mover strategy? A market innovator, not a follower – Corporate level strategy theorizing that being the first organization to offer a product in the marketplace will be the long-term market leader. 6. what are the advantages and disadvantages of being a first mover? Three advantages of being first: technology leadership, control of resources, and buyer switching costs. The disadvantages: later entrants can overcome advantages, must heavily entice customers to try new type of product ( high education expense), some first movers may become complacent with changing customers needs. 7. how would describe second-mover strategy? Corporate level strategy theorizing that closely observing the innovations of the first movers, and then improving on them can help an organization gain advantage in marketplace. 8. what are the advantages and disadvantages of being a second mover? Advantages: ability to observe competitors’ successes and failures. Lower risk in product development and less controversy. Revising rather than creating and competitor surprise, and stealing market share rather than creating it. Disadvantages: persuading customers to â€Å"switch,† communicating your value add.

The effects of smoking in the human body

The effects of smoking in the human body Hazardous Effects of Smoking on the Human Health Since modern people live and eat satisfactorily, they began to concern themselves more about their health. These days we frequently can see many male adults who are smoking. Moreover, the smoking rate of teenagers and women has lately been getting higher; thus, the problem becomes very serious. Although people know that smoking is bad and harmful, they seem difficult to quit smoking. People might not fully know negative effects of smoking. They must attempt to learn how horribly undermine their health while they are smoking. Once they understand the serious relation between smoking and its effects, then they would be more determined and easier to quit smoking with obtained knowledge for preventing smoking. Then what does smoking actually cause on human health, and how seriously appalling are its effects? Smoking causes various diseases such as chronic bronchitis and various kinds of cancer: lung cancer, larynx cancer, cancer of the esophagus, etc. Tobacco, which people smoke, is a toxic substance, and a main ingredient that causes the toxic is nicotine. This nicotine has a medical action which is similar to toxic substance such as a narcotic. When it is the first time to smoke or when a smoker smokes a lot, it gives various symptoms such as vomiting, giddiness, headaches, etc. by nicotine. Nicotine is very poisonous; therefore, if a humans body absorbs too much nicotine in their blood at once, most of the people die. The most important medical action of nicotine is a mental effect. Nicotine makes smokers feel a sense of mental stability and gives a sedative effect that helps to relieve the tension. Most of all, these medical actions of nicotine cause a habit which makes people smoke continually. The smoke of tobacco includes carbon monoxide; therefore, smokers could be in hypoxia, because the use rate of oxygen by smokers is much lower than the use rate of oxygen by nonsmokers. Smoking makes smokers feel headache, dizziness, and fatigue, makes eyes get flickering, gives a sense of vomiting, makes the heart beat faster, gives an oppressive feeling of the breast, and makes a smoker have difficulty in breathing, and even a state of stupor follows. If these states get worse, it gives a state of unconsciousness and finally makes people die. Smoking does not only give people these states, but it also causes various diseases: coronary heart disease, lung cancer, esophageal carcinoma, oral cancer, laryngeal cancer, kidney cancer, cervical cancer, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer, et cetera. There is also the addiction of nicotine in tobacco. According to the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States, â€Å"Cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are addicting. Nicotine is the drug in tobacco that causes addiction. The pharmacologic and behavioral processes that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine.† It is obviously true that many smokers are having trouble quitting smoking even though many campaigns for smokers health are still going on. Only the reason why a lot of smokers keep smoking with the determination for quitting smoking is because nicotine gets their bodies addicted to smoking. As long as smokers are exposed to the addiction of nicotine, they would need more cigarettes to suffice for their impulse to smoking. However, people discovered that many of these toxic substances could be useful for medicinal purposes and also gave pleasure when consumed. The modern neuro-physiology has proven that nicotine is more effective when inhaled into the lungs. The smoke is mild enough to be inhaled deeply into the alveoli of the lungs from where it is rapidly absorbed. In addition, it takes about seven seconds for nicotine to be absorbed through the lungs to reach the brain. On the other hand, it takes 14 seconds for nicotine to travel from the arm to brain after an intravenous injection. Nicotine could unlock and combine with receptors throughout the body, thus it could activate other neurotransmitters, namely serotonine and dopamine. The small doses of nicotine could result to a sense of well-being while large doses may cause depression and overdoses may kill. Nicotine is highly addictive, as explained by West and Grunberg (as cited in Goodman, 1993), tobacco smoking could get regular and compulsive a nd the withdrawal syndrome usually accompanies tobacco abstinence. During the 1990s, the US Surgeon General reported that â€Å"smoking represents the most extensively documented cause of disease ever investigated in the history of biomedical research† (as cited in Goodman, 1993, p. 242). Passive smokers or second hand smokers are also affected since they also inhale the smoke. There are several studies linking human genes to nicotine addiction like the the Swedish and Finnish twin registries (Kaprio, Koskenvuo, Sarna, 1981) that support the conclusion of a significant contribution of genetic effects to smoking. Genes are the basic biological units of heredity and the segments of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) needed to contribute to a function. To make new proteins, the living cell uses the genetic code of the macromolecule DNA, which stores all the information about the sequence of amino acids in the cells proteins. The identity and position of each amino acid in the protein chain is coded by nucleotides on the DNA, called codons. Among the numerous neurochemical effects of nicotine is its initial action on the nicotinic cholinergic receptors. Nicotine produces an increase in the rate of release and turnover of acetylcholine and catecholamines. It has been hypothesized that nicotine enhances the experience of pleasure through its effects on the dopaminergic system, while its ability to reduce anxiety and tension is mediated through stimulation of ACTH and cortisol; nicotines ability to enhance task performance may be due principally to its action on the cholinergic and noradrenergic pathways (Pomerleau Pomerleau, 1984). This only shows that it is possible that gene variants play a role in receptor functioning in one or more of the systems on which nicotine exerts an effect. In a research conducted by Tapper, et al. (as cited in Secko,2005), they discovered that a â€Å"mutation in the ÃŽ ±4 nAChR subunit lowers the threshold of nicotine dependence in mice† (p. 175). The same article implicates that ÃŽ ±4 and ÃŽ ²2 nAChR subunits could affect nicotine dependence. One of the disadvantages of the relationship of gene variance and nicotine addiction is the heterogeneity of human beings. Thus, genetic make-up of every human is different from each other. Also, the genetic influences on different stages of smoking may also not be identical. Thus, researchers have to study well-defined subgroups of smokers with clearly characterized phenotypes to avoid problems of population stratification. The advantages of the new findings regarding the relationship of gene variance and nicotine addiction is that as more genetic variations are discovered that are associated with the addiction, the medical field would be able to better understand how to prevent and treat human addictive disorders. The insights on genetic variance could contribute to more effective strategies to reduce smoking. Moreover, since there is no single medication that is likely to be safe and efficacious for a majority of persons with nicotine dependence, it will be useful to develop gene tics-based methods and other tools to predict therapeutic response in subgroups of nicotine-dependent persons. Female smokers do harm to embryonic health, and smokers cause nonsmokers to inhale indirect smoking, which causes damage similar to smoking, by breathing in the smoke made by smokers. In addition, teenage smoking is very bad, because smoking is more harmful for teenagers, and starting smoking at teenage makes it easier to fall deeper into toxic symptoms of nicotine. Teenage smoking is connected to juvenile delinquency and also is causing serious effects to emotional and social problems. The problem of smoking is this serious; however, as the time goes, the population increases, and as the population increases, the smoking quantity increases. In order to solve this problem, there is one method always suggested: people must stop smoking for themselves and others. Smokers have to know the reason why they smoke, so they could take on other habits or other work instead of smoking. References Goodman, J. (1993). Tobacco in History: The Cultures of Dependence. London and New York: Routledge. Kaprio J, Koskenvuo M, Sarna S. (1981). Cigarette smoking, use of alcohol, and leisure time physical activity among same-sexed adult male twins. In L. Gedda, P. Parise, W. E. Nance (Eds.), Twin Research 3: Part C, Epidemiological and Clinical Studies (pp. 37-46). New York: Liss. McGee, H. (1986) On Food and Cooking. The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. London: HarperCollins. Pomerleau, O. F. Pomerleau C. S. (1984). Neuroregulators and the reinforcement of smoking: towards a biobehavioral explanation. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 8, 503-513. Secko, D. (2005). Craving nicotine: Its in the genes. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 172 (2), 175-176.

Tattoos and Mainstream Culture :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Tattoos and Mainstream Culture Many people have been getting tattoos lately. People of all ages have been getting them and from all different backgrounds. On a nice day in just about any public place one can spot a tattoo about every five minutes, from the business man who had a portrait of his daughter put on him to a young girl with a butterfly on her ankle and even people with extensive tattoo coverage. What is even more interesting is the rise in the number of people who are heavily tattooed and that they come from all different backgrounds. Not too long ago tattooing did not experience the popularity in mainstream culture that it does now. The question that must be asked in order to understand this fascination that popular culture has had with tattoos is why people get tattoos. There still is a lot of intolerance towards people who have tattoos especially towards people who have a lot of them but these days a tattoo here and there is not looked down as it once was. There was a time when only "low lives," were thought of as having tattoos and people who had them were dirty criminals and should not be associated with. Due to the mainstream of the world not accepting the practicing of tattoos many tattooists and their clients went into an underground state. It was not always easy for people to even find a tattoo artist even if they were brave enough to be labeled a "low life" by the majority of culture. A lot of places even banned tattooing due to the fact that they thought tattooing was morally wrong and a health risk. Tattooing was still illegal in New York City until 1993. The mystery that surrounds the art of tattooing has always created ignorant ideas from people who are misinformed. Looking back at how people perceived tattoos then and how many "normal" people have them today shows a lot about how the world has changed, specifically in mainstream society. These days one can thrown a rock and hit a tattoo shop, but why the change of heart? Why are tattoos so popular now? Holly Tuesday, a writer for "Skin & Ink" tattoo magazine and heavily tattooed person said "We all, myself included, like to think that we stand out from the crowd.

The Real Crux of Sino-Tibetan Relations :: Essays Papers

The Real Crux of Sino-Tibetan Relations Scope For more than fifty years after the formal forcible annexation of Tibet to the People’s Republic of China, Tibetan leaders in exile operating in neighboring India have fought for the rights of Tibetans against a Chinese central government that has stubbornly resisted prodding and pressure from any and all advocates for a free Tibet; however, after a prolonged stalemate, change seems imminent and an ultimate resolution appears to lie not too far on the horizon. In September of 2004, an envoy of Tibetan leaders visited Beijing to discuss potential solutions that would grant Tibet special autonomy while remaining a part of China, marking the third visit by Tibetan officials to Beijing in the past two years (â€Å"Tibet’s Government†). With the Dalai Lama declaring publicly in recent years that he does not seek full independence for Tibet – he is instead calling for a Middle Way approach, which would give China control of Tibet’s military and foreign policy sphere and leave the other issues to be decided by Tibetans themselves – it seems a settlement is truly likely to take place. Nevertheless, some Tibetan activists continue to protest the Chinese eradication of Tibetan culture since the forced takeover of 1951. These activists accuse China of invading Tibet and thereafter trying to mute the rich traditions of Tibetan culture through the destruction of monasteries, the planned migration of tens of thousands of ethnically Han Chinese to the region, restrictive birth policies, and etcetera. The Beijing government has fiercely rejected those charges, claiming that it helped to liberate Tibet from an impoverished era of political and economic backwardness by pouring in much needed financial investment into the region. In addition, the CCP has tried to portray Tibet as a historically integral part of China to convince the world of its rightful sovereignty over the region. The liberal media in the west has documented well the claims of Tibetan exiles and advocacy groups for a free and independent Tibet, but it has focused its coverage on the cultural genocide of Tibet, while the more prominent issue that is raised in Tibetan exile literature is the economic marginalization of the Tibetan economy. This paper seeks to give a brief overview of the history of the Sino-Tibetan relationship, discuss the exaggerated charges of cultural genocide against Tibetan culture, highlight the more pressing issue of the deplorable economic and social conditions of Tibet, and explore what has been done on the part of the Chinese

Tourism and it’s negative Effects

While tourism can be a powerful positive force for change in poor countries, it can also be seriously damaging for the local environment and culture. An increase in mass tourism that is not controlled responsibly can ruin areas of natural beauty. com/the-economic-impact-of-tourism/">Tourism can damage coral reefs, pollute beaches and destroy the habitats of wildlife as roads and hotels are built. Ironically, damage to these natural resources is likely to reduce future numbers of visitors. Another negative effect is that the increasing numbers of aeroplane ?ights are a major cause of global warming.A second problem is that the tourist resorts are frequently owned by large Western companies and all too often the pro?ts earned from tourism go straight into the bank accounts of these companies. Moreover, the well-paid managerial positions are often held by foreigners, and the wages given to local hotel employees are usually very low. Where this is the case, very little money enters the l ocal economy at all. By purchasing souvenirs, food and other goods from local people you can help to spread the bene?ts of tourism.Finally, tourism can have an adverse effect on local culture, traditions and the way of life. Large numbers of tourists can undermine traditional beliefs, values and customs and in particular risk commercialising the culture that they ?nd so interesting. And where these tourists are insensitive to local traditions their behaviour can cause great offence. Tourism Fact File  · Tourism employs 250 million people, roughly one in ten of the world's workforce.  · 80% of the people that travel internationally come from the USA, Canada, Japan and 17 European countries, including the UK. · 15 million Britons take package holidays abroad each year.  · The developing world's share of the tourist trade has increased by an average of 9. 5% a year since 1990.  · The amount of money that leaves a destination country (the country where people spend their holid ay) varies from 40% out of India, and 80% out of the Caribbean islands.  · The UN calculates that the amount of water used by an average tourist in 24 hours would be enough to grow rice for an individual for 100 days.  · An 18-hole golf course in a dry country can use as much water as a town of 10,000 people.

Eharmony Case Analysis Essay

* eHarmony founded by Dr. Clark Warren and his son-in-law, Greg Forgatch, in 1998 * Officially launched in 2000 * First radio commercial in 2002 * First TV commercial in 2003 * They target serious relationship and marriage-minded individuals, offering a unique match-making product * They offer a tightly integrated system that encompasses a Personality Profile, which feeds into a patented matching algorithm, which then leads to a Guided Communication system * In 2007 Match.com launched Chemistry to directly compete against eHarmony * Direct competition: Match/Chemistry, Yahoo! Personals * Indirect competition: paid do-it-yourself sites, free do-it-yourself sites, niche sites, online social networks Decision Dilemma: * With the advance from direct competition and increased popularity of free personal sites and online social networks would eHarmony eventually fold amongst all of the recent competitor actions or would they be able to choose a marketing strategy that will help them innovate and prosper? Analysis: Contradictions: * On page 13 it says that in 2004 a Yahoo! Personals Premier subscription costs $34.95 a month which is $15 more than Yahoo!’s regular service making it $19.95. However, when looking at Exhibit 10 it has Yahoo! Personals listed with a $29.99 cost per month which contradicts what page 13 says. Exhibit 9 even has a higher cost listed, $23.91 per month, than the stated page 13 price of $19.95. * Why does exhibit 9, 10, and 11 have prices in 2008 dollars when the case was set in October 2007? Missing Facts or Details: * 2004 eHarmony had 3 million registration * .40 = 1.2 million active users * No info for 2007 to compare to the competitors * eHarmony was able to convert these 1.2 million active users into paying customers 3 times more effectively than the industry standard * No info on what the industry standard is to find out the total number of paying members to compare to the competitors * 2004 Technology Crossover Ventures and Sequoia Capital invested in the company * No info on how much or what eHarmony planned to do with the money * 94 million U.S. singles * .05 = 4,700,000 paying members of online personal sites * 2005 Match revenue = $250 million on 1.2 million paying members * 2007 projected revenue = $349 million * Chemistry demographics missing * 2007 Yahoo! revenue = $6.9 billion * .025 = $172.5 million revenue for Personals * No information in Exhibit 10 for Yahoo! Personals Premier even though the case brings it up * No current data for Exhibit 1 or 2. (Exhibit 1 only goes to 2001 while Exhibit 2 goes to 2000) * No international data for web users. (Exhibits 6 and 7 only show American statistics) * No breakdown to show how many users have 1, 3, 6, or 12 month subscriptions for each site * No mention of eHarmony’s revenue or yearly budget * Size of eHarmony’s market share compared to their competition? Personal Insight: * I feel that a significant rate of success is due to eHarmony’s branding and the use of an advertising campaign that appealed to a broad audience. They went from 300,000 registered members in 2002 to 3 million users in 2004 because of this. To me, this shows the mass appeal eHarmony has. Their successful campaign, which featured happy couples that found love by using their services, gave people a hope that this could happen to them as well. I think this hope of falling in love and getting marriage is a large priority of women. Accordingly, they account for eHarmony’s largest users at 60% and generate 2/3 of visits to the website. Kotler Text Teachings: * Core Competency: Refers to areas of special technical and production expertise. * eHarmony targets serious relationship and marriage-minded individuals, offering a unique match-making product * They use this to differentiate their brand image and services from their competition. * Value Proposition: A set of benefits that the company offers to customers to satisfy their needs. * eHarmony offers a tightly integrated system that encompasses a Personality Profile, which feeds into a patented matching algorithm, which then leads to a Guided Communication system * eHarmony needs to keep this evolving in order to keep growing and maintaining profitability. * Industry: A group of firms that offer a product or class of products that are close substitutes for one another. * eHarmony’s success has brought competition into this industry creating a surge in market growth. * Niche Market: A customer group seeking a distinctive mix of benefits. * eHarmony’s niche is targeting serious relationship and marriage-minded individuals along with faith communities (with an emphasis in women) * Porter’s Threat of Substitute Products: A segment is unattractive when there are actual or potential substitutes for a product. * eHarmony needs to be wary of this. Especially now that Match has introduced its new dating site, Chemistry. * Porter’s Differentiation Strategy: The business concentrates on uniquely achieving superior performance in an important customer benefit area value by a large  part of the market. * eHarmony achieves this by doing in-house R&D, using a unique matching algorithm, and other processes mentioned in the facts * Competitive Advantage: A company’s ability to perform in one or more ways that the competitors cannot or will not match. * eHarmony acquired this by heavy use of off-line advertising and by leveraging Dr. Warren’s 35 years of professional counseling experience, focus groups, and in-house R&D, Something their competition has tried to emulate but has been unsuccessful. * Sustainability: The business must be sufficiently committed and willing to devote enough resources to create an enduring positioning. * This is where the importance of eHarmony’s commitment to one of the decision options becomes a factor. They could look at a lower-level brand extension to bring in revenue from users who are unwilling to pay the premium fee. They could also look at using their strong brand equity to venture into untapped markets, i.e. international and gay. Another possibility is expand internationally which has a potential to expand globally adding long-term success. Decision Options: 1. Defend eHarmony’s leading position in the online matchmaker market by reducing barriers and promoting Fast Track Pros| Cons| Increase in paying customers| Time consuming match-making process| Increase in revenue| Losing out on other niche markets| Decrease Chemistry from being successful| Higher subscription prices| Keep core competency| Lacking continuous innovation| Keep competitive advantage| Possible backlash from members| 2. Enter into the medium-term relationship market to increase paying members (casual daters) Pros| Cons| Increased customer base| Increased competition| Increased revenue| Reduce core competency| Keep differentiation with proprietary algorithm| Lower fees due to less serious relationship %| Increase market share| No medium-term relationship experience| 3. Growing a new business based off of internal R&D focusing on key life stages, and building a network of free eHarmony-branded websites; revenue mostly coming from advertising. Pros| Cons| Increased advertising revenue| Increase costs to build a network websites| Strengthen brand image| Unpredictable revenue since sites are free| Reduce short-term competitive threats| No market research conducted on key life stages subject matter| Potential for brand extensions | Possible brand dilution| Increase in brand awareness| | Potential for diversification growth| | 4. Rapid geographic expansion Pros| Cons| Strong European market | Have to act quickly| Untapped market segments| Competition already internationally active| Potential for higher profit | No global brand equity yet| Reduce single market dependency| No international relationship market research conducted| Strengthen brand image| Might not understand foreign preferences| My Decision: * My decision is to go with option #3: Growing a new business based off of internal R&D focusing on key life stages, and building a network of free eHarmony-branded websites; revenue mostly coming from advertising. Reasons: * Long-term success can be accomplished by eHarmony extending its brand by using these innovative websites focusing on key life stages and differentiating itself from its competition, i.e. Chemistry. * This will allow eHarmony to capture the market and reduce the chances of Chemistry becoming successful. * eHarmony has a strong brand equity that will keep their members loyal to them as they transition through these  key life stages. * There is also a great chance that other brands will want to pair up with eHarmony increasing their brand portfolio. * Example: Gerber Baby Food for couples going through the parenting stage. * With revenue gained from these sites, eHarmony can re-invest it back into them. Funds can then be used to improve its core competency strengthening their brand image. * This will also strengthen their brand portfolio, increase advertising, and support more R&D. * Additional R&D can be used to study the niche market for gays and lesbians. * With sufficient research eHarmony could then use its brand equity to start a new website targeting this niche demographic. * As eHarmony continues to develop their cores services and grow in market share it is unlikely that their direct competition, Match/Chemistry and Yahoo! Personals, will be able to compete.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – Year 10

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Teresa Ip Mark Herman, the director of the film, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, uses significant film techniques to create empathy towards the Jewish people involved in the Holocaust. Herman delivers thought provoking ideas to illustrate the horrid events the Jews had to suffer. The significant themes that are conveyed in this film are truth and revelation, betrayal, human suffering and death. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was set in 1942 at Auschwitz, Poland and is a historic didactic representation of the Holocaust.Truth and revelation, betrayal and death are important themes because Bruno’s betrayal of Shmuel, an inmate of the Nazi concentration camp, leaves him in a situation where he must attempt to properly mend his relationship with Shmuel, by going inside the camp to look for his father. This results in a tragic ending of both boys and they represent the thousands of people killed during the Holocaust. The truth and revelation of the Ho locaust are portrayed through the use of several dramatic film techniques allowing the audience to empathise for the Jewish people involved in the Holocaust.The audience is in disbelief and are horrified that the Nazi soldiers could be so inhumane. Truth and revelation are realised in the scene where Elsa discovers the truth about her husband’s work in the Nazi concentration camp and her opinion of him immediately changes forever. Herman uses the dialogue with Lieutenant Kotler’s rhetorical question, to Elsa, Bruno’s mother, â€Å"They smell even worse when they burn, don’t they? † to create the moment of truth for her and the audience.In this scene as the audience begins to understand the real truth and horror behind the Holocaust, they also begin to empathise with the Jewish people as the gravity of the situation begins to sink in. Furthermore, the symbolic allusion of smoke is a visual representation of the bodies being burned. The director uses this technique as a way to create further empathy towards the Jewish people. Moreover, the close-up shot of Elsa emphasises her shocked reaction and creates a more dramatic effect to the scene.In this way she represents the audience as this would hopefully be how they react. Thus, through the use of significant film techniques, Herman is able to convey thought provoking ideas based on truth and revelation to an audience. Betrayal is a theme delivered through various significant film techniques so the director is able to convey thought provoking ideas. The viewers are shocked when Bruno betrays Shmuel as they were finally united and the audience realises that Shmuel will have to suffer the consequences and the sense of hope is shattered.Setting is significant and symbolic in the scene where Bruno and Shmuel are in the same room of Bruno’s house as they are not separated by a fence here. Mark Herman has used this to heighten the betrayal even more by bringing the two of them t ogether. Furthermore, the dialogue â€Å"Little man, do you know this Jew? Do you know this Jew? † is used to manipulate Bruno to respond, â€Å"No, I just walked in and he was helping himself. I’ve never seen him before in my life. † In this way dramatic irony is used as the audience understands this to be a lie.The audience then sides with Shmuel and realise how many Jewish people were betrayed, leading them to empathise for them. Moreover, the low angle shot of Lieutenant Kotler and Bruno reinforce their superiority and power, therefore the audience see the pair as having power and this technique highlights one of the many soldiers who had authority over the Jewish people during the Holocaust. Thus, the zooming out shot of Lieutenant Kotler, Bruno and Shmuel heightening Shmuel’s innocence, lack of power and vulnerability as he is standing behind the table, covered by the glasses so the viewer can only just see his head and feet.On the other hand, Bruno is walking away with Lieutenant Kotler emphasising that he has sided with the Nazi’s. In this way, the audience realises that Bruno is not as innocent and angelic as they once thought and witness a darker side to him. Hence, the audience is able to understand betrayal through the use of significant film techniques. In the final scene of the film, death and loss are realised and these thought provoking ideas are conveyed through significant film techniques. In this way the audience is confronted with the shocking tragedy through the eyes of the director.Symbolism is portrayed in the scene where Bruno and Shmuel are inside the camp; both wearing striped pyjamas symbolically and they are finally seen as equals. The lighting gradually becomes dark, dull and grey as Bruno and Shmuel walk deeper inside the concentration camp, portraying the lack of life of the people living inside. The audience is in disbelief when they realise how horrible the concentration camps were and are is shock of how inhumane the Nazi soldiers were. Pathetic fallacy is used when the rain starts to pour and a storm begins to develop.This makes the scene more melancholic and the audience begins to anticipate that a tragedy is about to happen. Moreover, the zooming out shot of the silent anti-chamber emphasises the desolate loss of people, thus the empty striped pyjamas symbolically represent the mass death. The audience realises how many innocent people were killed and they begin to empathise for the Jews as well as having a better understanding of the Holocaust. This only resembles one of the many countless mass killings of the Jewish people that occurred.Therefore, Herman’s ideas on death and loss are able to be understood by the audience through these significant film techniques. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas focuses on the major themes of truth and revelation, betrayal, human suffering and death and loss. Herman has successfully linked these themes together through Brunoâ €™s betrayal and consequential guilt as well as Shmuel’s continuous suffering. The death and loss of both Bruno and Shmuel represent the mass genocide that occurred during the Holocaust.Herman has thus effectively conveyed his thought provoking ideas through the use of significant film techniques allowing him to evoke a sense of empathy in the audience. Betrayal, truth and revelation and death and loss are important because Bruno’s betrayal leaves him in an attempt to properly mend his relationship with Shmuel, by going inside the concentration camp to look for his father. This results in the death and loss of both and they represent the thousands of people who were killed during the Holocaust.The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas focuses on the major themes of truth and revelation, betrayal and death. Herman has successfully liked these themes together through Bruno’s betrayal and consequential guilt to make things right again between him and Shmuel. The death and loss of both Bruno and Shmuel represent the mass genocide that occurred during the Holocaust. Herman has thus effectively conveyed his though provoking ideas through significant film techniques, allowing him to evoke a sense of empathy in the audience.

Effects of Mass Media Essay

Media has slowly taken over each America’s life and has an incredible amount of power in the decision process of each American. On a daily basis each American listens to the radio, surfs the internet and watches television. For these same reasons, media possess a large amount influence on a decision made by an American. With all the tools and gadgets today, it is very easy to become influenced by the media. Over the past century there have been many new media developments that have impacted our society; although there have been many, the ones we will focus on are radio, television, and the internet. Radio began in the early nineteen hundreds and soon became very popular between every American. The radio was a mean of learning of news quickly and served the great purpose of entertainment. Also, in the early nineteen hundreds the word television was introduced and the first moving film was televised. This quickly grew and it began to broadcast in black and white. In the middle of the nineteen hundreds, the internet was first introduced to the American government and soon was used to provide efficient communication between government agencies. The radio, television and the internet were all created in the nineteen hundreds and as soon as they were available to the American public, they grew and developed into a large form of communication. In 1912 the radio became a common product found in each American home. Every year after, the radio grew in popularity. One of the biggest impacts to America was the use of the radio during the World War I. In the late nineteen-twenties the first easy to use kinescope tube was created but the image was very poor. In the early nineteen-thirties the first television studios and broadcasting begin to happen and it sky rocketed after that. It has grown so much into American lives that now every household has more than one television. Americans see television for entertainment, education and news purposes on a dai ly basis. In the early nineteen-ninety the first internet browser was created. The internet has impacted Americans in so many ways, to the point that it is now used more than once by every American and it is carried by most in their pockets. Without question, the media has grown tremendously and impacts each America’s life on a daily basis. Media convergences have been a huge facilitator. Media convergence is the way that one devise or tool combines different media types. One of the most common is the cell phones. In almost every phone you can take photos, videos, send text messages, view the internet, play music, check email and use it for its original designed function-to make a phone call. The next commonly used media convergence is the computer. The computer allows you to create different types of documents, presentations, monetary forms and it also allows you to browse the World Wide Web while listening to music and receiving emails. The newest media convergence is tablets. Tablets have the same function of a cell phone and a computer in a compact, lightweight, and portable device. For all the above reasons and with all of the named tools, it is very important to be properly educated about media. Learning how to access, analyze, and evaluate the media is very important when making an everyday decision because we either read something on the internet, watch the television show or hear a commercial on the radio. Not everything that we read, see or hear is accurate. In most cases, we are tricked into believing things by the bias show or commercial that we are watching or hearing. Due to false or head fakes found in the media all schools and educational institutes should provide some form of media literacy education just like math, reading and writing. This may seem a basic or common sense information, but many believe without questions what they see or hear. As the great nation that the United States is, it should properly educate its citizens about media literacy. The internet, television and radio have definitely impacted every American’s life. With the tools like a computer, cell phone or tablet it is very easy to be influenced by the media. Some of the influence coincides with each individuals beliefs and other will clash but this is something that has to be learned how to balance. In addition to personal emotion believes on a subject, a lot of the media will try to trick into believing false statements. It is every America’s duty to make sure that he or she has the proper media knowledge to be able to access it, analyze it and evaluate it before making a decision. References Lule, J. (2012). Exploring Media and Culture (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Flat World Knowledge, Inc. Besley, John C. (Summer 2008). Media Use and Human Values: Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly; ProQuest Zil, Karen. (Mar/Apr 2002). Media Literacy: Television meets the Internet; MultiMedia Schools

The Dos and Donts of Guidance Counselor Recommendations

One of your greatest sources of information during the applications process, as well as throughout your high school experience, is your guidance counselor . Your guidance counselor can not only provide you with information about what colleges are best suited to you and give you helpful advice about requirements, financial aid, and other college-related matters, but also play a crucial role in the admissions process—providing you with a letter of recommendation. By now, you probably know that you need teachers to provide letters of recommendation on your behalf. (If you’re struggling to decide which of your teachers will write the best letters for you, check out our â€Å" What Makes a Good Recommendation Letter ?† post.) But why exactly do you need a letter of recommendation from your guidance counselor? Most schools ask for one to three teacher recommendations and one guidance counselor recommendation. In some cases, you may provide an additional letter , but you should only do so if you believe that letter can offer additional information that will contribute to your application. While the teacher recommendation provides insight on your abilities, strengths, and accomplishments as a student , the guidance counselor letter offers understanding about you in the context of your entire class. Since high schools vary significantly in terms of rigor, student body, and courses, admissions committees want to compare you to your classmates to provide context for grades and other academic accomplishments. For instance, if you are a mostly B student, but the average grade in your high school class is a C-, colleges are likely to understand that you are closer to the top than it might initially seem, and that your courses are particularly challenging. On the other hand, if you are a mostly A student, but so are the majority of your classmates, admission committees might see your high school as a grade inflator that easily hands out high marks, and will want to pay closer attention to your test scores and other application materials. Both your teacher and guidance counselor recommendations are very important in the admissions process; they simply provide the admissions committee with different aspects of your academic background to consider. Another key difference is that unlike with teacher recommendations, you cannot choose the person who will write your guidance counselor recommendation. It must be the guidance counselor you have been assigned. (Keep in mind that some high schools call this person by a different title, such as school counselor or academic advisor.) Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. Students in especially large high schools or class sizes may not know their guidance counselor very well, since he or she is responsible for advising so many students. Additionally, while your teachers only need to write letters for students they see regularly, your guidance counselor must write letters for an entire class, or large portion of a class if there are multiple counselors assigned to your high school. If this is the case for you, you might want to take the opportunity to reach out to your guidance counselor personally to chat with him or her about your goals, ambitions, academic work, and other aspects of your life. Some schools might already have prearranged meetings for students and counselors in place, but it never hurts to put in the extra time to build a strong relationship. Even if you don’t attend a large high school or already feel that your guidance counselor knows you well, you may still want to schedule a meeting to discuss factors that may influence your school report that you haven’t covered until now. Building a strong relationship with your guidance counselor is essential; if you want them to write a recommendation that shows off your strengths, they must know you well in order to best identify them. What you look like on paper is only part of the story; looking at your grades and honors may not convey the full story on what you hope to do in college and during your career, or what is most unique about you. Developing a strong relationship will also help you stand out among your classmates and allow your counselor to write a recommendation that is unique and personal. At the same time, remember to be courteous when communicating with your guidance counselor, and avoid coming across as overly demanding. They are likely responsible for advising many students, and may not always be available to meet with you one-on-one or respond to your requests immediately. Be respectful of your counselor’s time, and make the most of the sessions you do spend with them. In addition to setting up meetings with your guidance counselor, you should provide a resume or list of your classes and recommendations. This will give your recommender a clearer sense of your accomplishments so far and what your strengths and interests are. And of course, as with teachers, you should always thank your guidance counselors for their hard work throughout the process. But what if you are homeschooled? The application process tends to be a bit different for homeschooled students . Most colleges will offer special application instructions to homeschooled students, so be sure to investigate the admissions process for the schools to which you are applying thoroughly. In general, it is never a good idea to ask a parent or other relative for a letter of recommendation ; relatives are have inherent biases, and colleges want to see a more objective perspective. However, some colleges, such as MIT, explicitly make exceptions for parent recommendations in the case of homeschooled students. Be sure to do your research before ruling out this option. Depending on the particular college’s rules, an admissions committee may not separate recommendation types by teacher and guidance counselor, since you probably don’t have a guidance counselor. Therefore, you should think about the various adults in your life—coaches from athletic or academic teams, community services or religious leaders, or other types of mentors—and try to get multiple perspectives. For instance, consider asking a sports coach and a community service leader, rather than two coaches. If you have taken courses elsewhere, such as a college or academic program, the educators who taught you are good choices for providing an academic perspective to replace teacher recommendations, while a mentor or leader in another area might replace a guidance counselor recommendation. For more advice on applying to college as a homeschooled student, take a look at our â€Å" Homeschooled Student’s Guide to Applying to College † or â€Å" How Do Colleges Evaluate Homeschooled Students? † posts.

SWOT Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SWOT - Case Study Example To sustain future growth; Wal-Mart should increase its presence in these markets that include Brazil, India, China and Mexico. The rise in acceptance of the company’s label products, which has experienced an increase of over 40% for the past ten years or so, is another opportunity. Therefore, to earn higher profit margins, Wal-Mart should hike the number of private label products, which are sold at the company’s store. Another opportunity that Wal-Mart has is to expand the grocery stores in order to earn more income since there is a current trend of consuming a healthier food thus increasing the demand of grocery products. Growth of online shopping is also an opportunity. Wal-Mart should seize this opportunity to increase its profits; considering that, Wal-Mart is the largest offline retailer and in 2001, the retail sector of online grew by 4.7% in the US, hitting $197 billion. The company can reach plenty of customers using this technique thus increasing its

Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Nursing - Essay Example ample, the following ones: freedom of taking initiatives, ability to take care of himself and of other people, ability to intervene in cases that a problem arises. All the above characteristics need to exist in nurses, a fact that verifies the relationship between nursing and philosophy. The environment is necessarily related to nursing. The term environment, as a concept related to the philosophy but also to nursing, can have a series of meanings, depending on the subject to which environment is related (Cody & Cody 2011). For example, for patients, environment can refer to their social environment, including family and friends, but also to their physical environment, as, for example, the health care setting where they have been admitted for a specific treatment (Cody & Cody 2011, p.149). However, environment can have another aspect: it can be used for describing the world in general. For example, in the context of utilitarianism, environment can have such meaning, indicating the obligation of a person to help people around him (Cody & Cody 2011, p.149). In nursing, the use of the term environment can be quite critical, especially if the specific term is given an explanation aligning with the principles of utilitarianism, as described above. Different approaches have been used for explaining health. Most commonly, the term health is used for describing the physical or mental status of a person (Cody & Cody 2011). However, the above term can be also used in order to reflect the differentiation of a person from his environment (Cody & Cody 2011). For example, when a person responds to a particular event in a different way than most people would respond, then it can be assumed that the particular person has a health problem, a mental problem that prevents him from reacting as expected. The term health has another aspect: it can be used for describing the potential of a person to face a health problem. More specifically, for certain people health is of critical

Managerial Economic - Assignment # 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Managerial Economic - # 2 - Assignment Example The basic cable TV was unbundled into thematic bundles. This might have resulted into cutting cost by the company reducing operational expenses thus decreasing the cost of production while offering less channels to the public decreasing demand (Hubbad & Glen, 2008). As a result of the low subscriber base and low cost of production, the company had no choice but to reduce prices of the cable TV so as to remain in the market and be competitive. Due to high amount of the fixed costs and operations expenses, star hub should adjust their prices upwards so as to compensate for the high amount of the invested capital which may be used for expansionary activities and keeps the organization going (Krugman & Robin, 2006). Marginal cost is the extra amount that the company spends on the acquisition of the extra channels. Thus every channel is acquired at an extra cost to meet the company’s objectives. It is only logical that prices are raised so as to factor in the extra amount spend by the company (Krugman & Robin, 2006). An increase in costs functions results into higher prices reducing demand as shown above, while a decrease in cost of production lowers prices increasing demand. This is due to the inverse relations between cost and

Discuss comfort zone and phase theories in business environment Essay

Discuss comfort zone and phase theories in business environment - Essay Example In performance management, motivation and anxiety are useful tools which are of great help since both are behaviorally subsets of stress. Both anxiety and motivation are constructive in different circumstances. In a certain scenario, introduction of anxiety might be appropriate while in another case, motivation may be most suitable. However, when excessive motivation or anxiety is used, it may decelerate performance because of too much stress. In order to be able to maximize performance in a given team or individuals an organization uses the appropriate management style in the various phases. If inappropriate management style is put to use on matters of people management, it may result to very poor performance. When utilizing performance enhancing steps, the new performance cycle should be at the point where the older cycle began to decelerate. The comfort zone The comfort zone is known to be a state of behavior whereby, an individual operates in a condition which is anxiety- neutral . In this state, an individual strives to deliver a level of performance which remains steady while using a limited set of behaviors without any sense of risk. This means that the level of performance remains constant as long as the anxiety or the applied skills does not change. In case the skills applied or the anxiety is altered, the end result will be either an upward or downwards change in the level of performance. The impact of anxiety on performance was investigated by Yerkes and Dodson. They found out that performance can be improved by anxiety to a point where, a given level of arousal has been reached (attained). However, performance begins to drop as the levels of anxiety gets higher and higher. The conclusion is that performance may be improved by increase in anxiety, but performance may also decrease when anxiety becomes excess (intolerable). In either case, an individual will be forced to move out their comfort zone and react to new stimuli. In terms of performance mana gement, improvement of performance as a result of increased anxiety is a good thing and is normally referred to a state of arousal. This state of arousal is defined as being the optimal performance zone, which all managers should strive to achieve to improve performance in their companies. However, the level of anxiety that causes performance deterioration is defined as being a good thing or danger zone. The research conducted by McCelland, Atkinson et al, on motivation illustrated the same relationship between motivation and performance. Carnall, when dealing with management of change came up with the correlation between individual’s performance and their own self esteem. Considering stress Carnall found out that stress increases an individual’s performance until a given level is attained. Beyond this given level, performance decelerates with increase levels of stress introduced to a worker. This continues until a given level where performance can enter into a free fa ll as behavior becomes unstable. The following model is developed from the above conclusion. The smallest circle illustrates the comfort zone, while the larger circle illustrates the optimal performance zone. Outside the two ovals is the danger zone that stress can lead an employee to. This illustrates that in a comfort zone, a slight increase in anxiety can bring an individual to a danger zone, however,

Consumer medicine information ( CMI ) in pharmacy Essay

Consumer medicine information ( CMI ) in pharmacy - Essay Example Complementary medicine also includes herbal medicines, traditional medicines, vitamins, minerals, nutritional supplements, homeopathic remedies, and aromatherapy products. Complementary medicines are under the regulation of non-prescription drugs; they also include both registered and listed therapeutic goods. Complementary medicines are different from (OTC) drugs in terms of their use. Complementary drugs often do not rely on evidence of efficacy, and one of these complementary drugs – herbal medicines are based on traditional knowledge. Under the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), complementary medicines must be scientifically evaluated to become listed or registered as therapeutic goods (Australia Government, 2007). And in order to be listed as complementary medicines, they must be essentially safe in the form they are presented. Efficacy of the medicines may or may not also be established through clinical trials. The dose and form of the active ingredients may vary and the sponsor may then provide an effective dose for therapeutic purposes. An â€Å"AUST L† number is assigned by the TGA and is later indicated in the label. This would mean that it is a listed product. Careful reading is essential for the imposition of effective doses especially considering the range of plant parts used and the method of processing of the drug. If the product indicates increased reports for treatment of serious illnesses, it must then be approved as a registered product and be given an â€Å"AUS R† number on the label. Evidence for safety and efficacy will rely on the possible adverse effects of the drug during its use. All products must be labelled in English and indicate the active ingredients, recommended dosage, indication and such other information (Australian Government, 2007). This is because â€Å"the quality standards for therapeutic goods in Australia are delivered through good manufacturing practice (GMP).

Feasibility of Foreign Retail Firms Entering India Case Study

Feasibility of Foreign Retail Firms Entering India - Case Study Example While formulating the strategies, the organizations’ leader and the management team will firstly look at the factors that may aid them to make a successful entry. After analyzing the positive factors, the firms will or should have to analyze the challenges that may impede their entry. As every foreign market or country will have different political, social, economic and legal conditions as well as different customers, competitors, prospective employees, etc, etc, there will be many challenges, which will block the firms’ success. Also, there will be country specific challenges as well as industry-specific challenges in those foreign markets. For example, the Asian country of India has some distinct aspects, which will surely act as an advantage as well as a challenge for the new firms, who are planning to enter it. Likewise, the retail industry in India also has some inbuilt favourable factors as well as impediments particularly in the political, social, legal and economic spheres, which may facilitate or impede foreign-invested retail firms’ entry. This paper will analyse India and the opportunities and risks, it presents for the retail firms. Globalization is having major impacts on the economic sphere of many developing countries like India, working as a catalyst for economic development. Globalization turned out to be a godsend opportunity to these countries. That is, these countries opened up their markets and invited foreign companies with a slew of schemes and benefits. India has also become part of the global plans of many organizations mainly due to globalization. That is, when globalization or liberation made its entry into in the early 1990s, it opened the door for foreign companies including retail firms (but with caps) to reach India, benefiting both the Indian people and the companies. India has been pursuing the Mode 1 globalization strategy since the economic reforms began under P.V. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh in 1991. Despite several changes of government and difficulties in implementation, the essential aspects of this international economic strategy have been maintained (Sen 2000).  

Enron Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Enron - Research Paper Example top, what exactly went wrong, and how this wrong was further fueled by an individual’s personal quest for gains, eventually turning the company into nothing more than a mere sand dune. A significant part of this research would also attempt to highlight circumstances under which auditors for the firm, Arthur Anderson failed to play its role as well as the failure of the federal government in its part to detect cracks in Enron’s policies and financial reporting to its shareholders. â€Å"In an attempt to identify the relationships, organizational and individual, that played a part in Enron’s fall, I will highlight the reasons that led to the eventual failure of Enron, the role played by individuals serving the management of Enron to hide information from their employees, stakeholders and the general public to elude failures and heavy losses incurred due to malpractices and willful fraudulent activities.† Based in Omaha, Nebraska, InterNorth was a very large company with investments in businesses ranging from plastics to petroleum exploration and so on. Primarily a gas pipeline manufacturer, InterNorth was also distinguished in its operations of the largest gas pipeline spread across North America. A legacy of Northern Natural Gas Company founded in 1932, InterNorth was formed as its holding company in 1979. Later in 1985, InterNorth took over Houston Natural Gas Company in 1985, in pursuit of expansionary production opportunities. For a while, the company was renamed HNG/InterNorth after the takeover, later named to Enron in just a few months. After the takeover, HNG/InterNorth fell into depth of $ 4.2 billion (Gavridis) following the acquisition of the company. In view of the critical situation, Kenneth Lay, then CEO of HNG, used Employee Stock Ownership Program to pay off the debt. After the settlement, the company, initially planned to manage two headquarters in Omaha and Houston, moved all its operations to Houston, Texas where HNG was initially based,