3 Digit Addition Worksheets Without Regrouping

Sql Vs. Relational Databases - 956 Words

To SQL or Not to SQL Relational databases play a major role in making many apps and programs work. They provide an easy way to store large amounts of data in a consistent, non duplicating, and maintainable way to be used by developers for analytical or software use (Advantages of a relational database, n.d.). However, more and more applications and companies with a tremendous amount of data such as search engines, social networks, and e-commerce sites have been requiring a level of speed and scalability that relational databases can not provide (Why NoSQL?, n.d.). NoSQL is a name given to a quickly growing type of database known as non-relational databases, which are being used to store and manage huge amounts of structured, semi-structured, and non-structured data known as Big Data (Why NoSQL? n.d.). With the advent of social networks and apps with millions of users, the rate of growth of non-structured and semi-structured data is exponential, and the value in being able to quickly traverse it, analyze it, and use it for development is also growing quickly (McGuire, Manyika, Chui, 2012). Fundamentally, relational and non relational databases are very different. Relational databases generally follow the ACID transaction principles, while non-relational databases generally follow BASIC principles (Sasaki, 2015). ACID stands for atomic, consistent, isolated, durable; and prioritizes data consistency, stability, and accuracy over speed and scalability (Sasaki,Show MoreRelatedSql Vs. Oracle Server1285 Words   |  6 Pages SQL vs. Oracle Server Dheeraj Balamoori Wilmington University â€Æ' Abstract Databases are most paramount part in today s organizations. In the event that the servers are down for quite a while and data is not accessible there would be enormous misfortune to the organization regarding income and good will. Thus, databases play an essential part in today s business. There are various relational database management systems (RDBMS) like Microsoft Access, Sybase, MySQL and oracle but outRead MoreDatabase Management System And Microsoft Sql Server Vs. Teradata754 Words   |  4 PagesDBMS Database Management System or DBMS is a collecting computer program used for creating, deleting, editing and maintaining collections of different data records. There are many different types of database management systems; they are used to stored, managed database model. Different DBMS systems are Relational Database System, Flat Files Base Database Management, Hierarchical Database Management Systems, Network Database Management System and Object-oriented Database Management Systems. () Read MoreDescription Of A Relational Database1366 Words   |  6 PagesNoSQL is the generalized term to describe a relational database that uses no form of SQL language querying and consists of several data models to define it. My topic of this research paper is the Document Store data model. I will be covering the introduction of the model and its mechanics, how and when the model emerged, its strengths and weaknesses, and it’s real world applications. Introduction and How it Works Document Store or â€Å"Document-oriented database† is a data model within the NoSQL familyRead MoreMicrosoft Vs. Multi File Database1594 Words   |  7 Pagesdifferent database technologies. Each technology offers its own pros and cons and below is a look at of the most common technologies. Single- vs. multi-file databases A notable different between technologies can be whether they are single-file or a multi-file database. Single-file database Single-file database is the simplest database structure, as it consists of unified information, which can often be used and accessed in a pre-determined manner. Complexity in a single-file database is not commonplaceRead MoreWhat Value The Traditional Database Projects Helps Run A Better Business?1489 Words   |  6 Pagesof structured to unstructured data of the NoSQL data bases have made the data modelers to think more in business –centric notion. It is always better to choose a NoSQL databases based on the business requirement rather than use a polished technology, which would bring out the best results. Some questions that traditional database projects answer are why, when and where relating to the business. Who is responsible and what value does it bring in future? Or to write a report of the business (LangitRead MoreSql Server Vs Oracle : Sql1511 Words   |  7 PagesSQL Server vs Oracle Background of SQL: A group that was commissioned by IBM created a simplified version of DSL/Alpha (DSL/Alpha was proposed by Dr. Edgar F. Ted Codd for manipulating the data in relational database) and named it as SQUARE. With few additional functionalities to SQUARE they created a new language called SEQUEL. Later on SEQUEL was renamed as SQL (Structured Query Language). In 1980s, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) began to work on the SQL language and by the end ofRead MoreSecurity Of Nosql Database Against Intruders Essay1707 Words   |  7 PagesSecurity of NoSQL Database against Intruders Abstract The evolution of distributed web based applications and cloud computing have generated the demand to store voluminous of big data in distributed databases efficiently to offer excessive availability and scalability to users. The new type of database resolves many new challenges especially in large-scale and high concurrency applications which are not present in relational database. These new sorts of databases are not relational by using explanationsRead MoreDatabase Management System Software ( Dbms )1557 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Database management system software (DBMS) is the software that can operate on the front and back end of an organization’s database. As do the database requirements of an organization differ, so do the types of DBMS software. The type of DBMS software required can often be narrowed down to the organization’s size and industry (Mohamed 2016). Currently, the top three DBMSs are Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft SQL Server (â€Å"Microsoft SQL Server vs. MySQL vs. Oracle Comparison† 2016). Read MoreAn Open Source Relational Database Management System Essay1056 Words   |  5 Pagescategory of DBMS. [choose one] a) Ms SQL2014 VS MySQL 5.5 b) Ms SQL2014 vs ORACAL 11.g A) Identify the similarities and different.[Range: data access tools, recovery, audit, distributed data management, backup, transaction processing] Answer: - SQL is known as structured query language to manipulating and accessing database. And it is designed to manage large amount of data of company. It’s manage and make us easy to find any information in less time. SQL was developed by IBM in 1970’s by Donald DRead MoreImplementing A Big Data Database Platform817 Words   |  4 Pagesobjective of the document is to detail the steps necessary to implement a Big Data database platform to achieve what is called an Enterprise Data Lake and to improve Enterprise Data Hub where all data stored in one place and integrated with existing infrastructure and tools. Relevance Presently, I am working as a Database developer in a Software company. My primary role is to help my clients in implementing appropriate database architecture and analyzing data so that my clients can understand their users

Les Miserables Essay Example For Students

Les Miserables Essay LES MISERABLESLes Miserables is a story, a very long story, which has been categorized as a classic. The story is about 1200 pages long. It is an epic saga, which covers about three decades in the early 1800s of France. The film is about the fugitive, Jean Valjean, following his release from jail after doing nineteen years of hard labor for stealing bread. Jean Valjean is chased by the cruel and self-righteous Inspector Javert, in a lifelong struggle to evade capture. The novel, Les Miserables is internationally known. That is because of its universal themes. These themes are: how society treats its outcasts, and how it views its criminals, prejudice, justice, doing what is morally right, and people can become better persons. The theme -how society treats its outcasts- can be seen in how the poor and homeless are are treated, and that is like animals. The rich treat them as though they are inferior and that they have no feelings or any form of intelligence. They are also not given the right to vote, which makes them not citizens of that nation. This theme is universal because every nation in the world has some sort of outcasts in their land. In America, this theme can be related to the blacks. In the beginning of the twentieth century they did not have as much rights and oppurtunities as the whites. Another example of how this theme can be related to America is how a person with a southern accent is perceived as less intelligent, which is a false misconception. The theme -how criminals are viewed by society- can be seen by how Jean Valjean is treated after he is released by prison. Although, he has served a sentence of nineteen years, he is still chased and wanted. In that period of time when a person commited theft it was viewed as a crime against the community and that person should be punished to the most extremes. That theme can be seen in modern America. When a person commits a federal crime heshe cannot hold a public job or teach for the rest of hisher life. Also, when a person commits a crime, that person and that persons career is scarred for life. The theme -doing what is morally right- can be seen in many instances in the novel. One instance is Valjean gives money to free Cozzette. Another instance is Valjean does not kill Javert to save his life. Also, Javert lets Valjean go free. There are also times where people do something that is morally wrong, but lawful. One might be when the students are executed. Another might be the arrest of the prostitute. A present time situation might be soldiers killing other soldiers. It is legal, but is morally wrong. In conclusion, the novel, Les Miserables, is a universal book with themes that many people from many countries can relate to. That is why it is put in the class of classics. It is also popular because it can be related with present time situations and events.

Mr. Joe Hall, Who Is The Former President And Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Joe Hall, who is the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Food Lion, spoke about various lessons which he learned while dealing with different businesses throughout his life. He spoke about nine lessons in particular that he had discovered. These lessons were about character in the workplace, relationships, trust, relying on rules, understanding business, mentors, patience, initiative, and learning from mistakes. Mr. Hall stated that "every business is a people business" and this is something that you have to apply in every job which you have. In all jobs you will have to deal with people and create some kind of relationship with these people. The key to this is to capitalize on these relationships and build them to a point where they are helpful to you, both on the job and off. He said that he often used these relationships to know what was happening on the floor of the Food Lion warehouses and to stay informed on what manufacturers were correctly shipping and what manufacturers were over-shipping or under-shipping. Use these people to your advantage to ensure that you know what is going on in your business. In order to establish these relationships, you will have to go out of your way to talk to employees and establish friendships with them. People always seem to react more positively to a person who they consider a friend, or at least have no reason to think of them otherwise. Another fact or to establishing these relationships is trust. This coincides with the employee seeing you as a friend and not a foe. People are much more cooperative when they believe and trust you. Mr. Hall also commented that you must build a "trust account" in the workplace, which you can draw on when you do let someone down. If you always fulfill your promises to someone, then the time when you let them down will be much easier. It is a simple matter of doing what you say you will do. Another topic on which Mr. Hall spoke was the use of positive reinforcement. It should be used to persuade employees to do what you need them to do, but they are apprehensive about doing. You should reward positive actions and punish negative or detrimental actions. Hall spoke on the fact that one must learn what business it is that he is in. He should learn all facets of the business that he can and then make sure that he actually understands the business. One must also be aware and cautious of the things which are the key drivers in the industry which they are a part. He mentioned the fact that young business-people will have been with an average of nine companies by the time they are 32 years old, possibly reinforcing this fact that most business-people do not understand the business which they are in. Finally, Mr. Hall talked about satisfaction in work. He stated that you must find what truly makes you happy and pursue that field or occupation. If you are not happy in an occupation, then it will make your life miserable. You must know yourself and find what you need to be happy. Additionally, he said that we must learn to gain something from our mistakes and take something away from them. Everyone is going to make mistakes along the way, but the ones that succeed are the ones which capitalize and learn from these mistakes. You should not be afraid to make these mistakes either, for that will only leave you unable to take risks and advance your career to the next level.

How to Write a Good Attendance Policy

How to Write a Good Attendance Policy Attendance is one of the biggest indicators of school success. Students who attend school regularly are naturally exposed to more than those who are routinely absent. Furthermore, absences can quickly add up. A student who misses an average of twelve days a year from kindergarten through twelfth grade will miss 156 days of school which nearly translate to an entire year.  Schools must do everything within their limited power to compel parents to get their children to school. Adopting and maintaining a strict school attendance policy is a necessity for every school. Sample School Attendance Policy Because we are concerned about your child’s safety and well-being, we ask that you notify the school by phone the morning the student is absent by 10:00 AM. Failure to do this will result in the student receiving an unexcused absence. Types of absences are: Excused: An absence due to illness, doctor’s appointment, or serious illness or death of a family member. Students must go to the teachers and request make-up work immediately upon their return. The number of days absent plus one will be allowed for every consecutive day missed. The first five absences will only require a phone call to be excused. However, any absence after five will require a call and a doctor’s note upon the return of the student to be excused. Explained: An explained absence (not an absence due to illness, doctor’s appointment, serious illness, or death of a family member) is when a parent/guardian takes the student out of school with the principal’s prior knowledge and approval. Students will be required to obtain assignments for classes to be missed and an assignment form completed before leaving the school. The assignments will be due on the day the student returns to school. Failure to follow this policy will result in the absence being recorded as an unexcused absence. Extra-Curricular Activity Absences: Students are allowed 10 activity absences. Activity absence is any absence that is school related or school sponsored. Extra-curricular activities include, but are not limited to, field trips, competitive events, and student activities. Truancy: A student who leaves school without parental consent or is absent from school on a regular basis without school authorization, or has a high rate of absenteeism shall be reported to the County District Attorney. Parents/Guardians are compelled to send their child to school and could incur legal liability for failure to do so. Unexcused: An absence in which the student is out of school that does not qualify as excused or explained. The student will be brought to the office for disciplinary action and will receive no credit (0’s) for all class work missed. When a parent does not call to report an absence by 10:00 AM the morning of absence, the school will attempt to reach the parents at home or work. The principal can determine or change an absence from excused to unexcused, or from unexcused to excused. Excessive Absences: A letter will be sent informing any parent when their child has 5 total absences in a semester. This letter is meant to serve as a warning that attendance may be becoming an issue.A letter will be sent informing any parent when their child has 3 total unexcused absences in a semester. This letter is meant to serve as a warning that attendance is becoming an issue.After 10 total absences in a semester, the student will be required to make up each additional absence through Summer School, or they will not be promoted to the next grade level. For example, 15 total absences in a semester will require 5 days of Summer School to make up those days.After 5 total unexcused absences in a semester, the student will be required to make up each additional absence through Summer School in May, or they will not be promoted to the next grade level. For example, 7 total unexcused absences will require 2 days of Summer School to make up those days.If a student has 10 unexcused absences in a semester, the parents/guardians will be reported to the local district attorney. The student is also subject to automatic grade retention. Attendance letters will be automatically mailed when a student reaches 6 and 10 unexcused absences or 10 and 15 total absences during the school year. This letter is intended to inform the parent/guardian that there is an attendance issue that needs to be corrected along with potential consequences.Any student having more than 12 unexcused absences or 20 total absences for the entirety of the school year will be automatically retained in the current grade level regardless of academic performance.An administrator may make exceptions for extenuating circumstances at their discretion. Extenuating circumstances may include hospitalization, long-term illness, the death of an immediate family member, etc.

Non-Gradable and Gradable Adjectives in Grammar

Non-Gradable and Gradable Adjectives in Grammar In English grammar, gradability is the semantic property of an adjective that identifies different levels or degrees of the quality it denotes, such as small, smaller, smallest. An adjective that is gradable (or scalar) can be used in the comparative or superlative forms, or with words such as very, fairly, rather, and less. Although many adjectives are gradable, not all of them are gradable in the same way. The big divide, says Antonio Fabregas, is the distinction between qualitative and relational adjectives (The Oxford Handbook of Derivational Morphology, 2014). Examples and Observations There is a vast difference between better and best. You may be better than the rest, but you are not a success until you have made the effort to become the best you can be.(John Wooden, Coach Woodens Pyramid of Success. Regal, 2005)I want to go on record right now, that this is the most stupid, dimwitted, idiotic, moronic piece of putrefied garbage that I have ever in my entire professional career had the displeasure of being involved with.(Richard Dreyfuss as Chris Lecce in Another Stakeout, 1993)Happy insect! what can beIn happiness compared to thee?Thou dost drink and dance and sing,Happier than the happiest king!(Abraham Cowley, The Grasshopper)Gradable/Non-gradableAdjectives fall into these two subclasses according to two criteria: (1) whether the adjective can have a comparative and a superlative form; (2) whether the adjective can be modified by an intensifying adverb (e.g., very). For example, big is a gradable adjective: it can form a comparative (bigger) and a superlative ( biggest), and it can be modified by an intensifier (very big). On the other hand, the adjective wooden (i.e., made of wood) is non-gradable; it fulfills none of the criteria.(H. Jackson, Grammar and Vocabulary. Routledge, 2002) Adjectives are often considered to be the prototypical example of a gradable category. Degree expressions such as too are restricted to adjectives and morphological comparatives. This has led several linguists to conclude that gradability is a distinctive property of adjectives, while others rather insist on the fact that gradability is found across categories.(Jenny Doetjes, Adjectives and Degree Modification, in Adjectives and Adverbs: Syntax, Semantics, and Discourse, ed. L. McNally and C. Kennedy. Oxford University Press, 2008)The age is best which is the first,When youth and blood are warmer;But being spent, the worse and worstTimes still succeed the former.(Robert Herrick, Song)Gradability and Suppletion- Sometimes we find the phenomenon known as suppletion, where word forms of different historical origins stand in the same sort of relationship within a grammatical paradigm . . .. Thus, worse and worst stand in the same paradigmatic relationship to bad as poorer and poorest do to poor. . . . Both forms go back to the Old English period (Old English wyrsa and wyrst), and they have been the antonyms of better and best (Old English betra and betst) throughout their history in English, but the adjective in the general sense bad to which they correspond (again suppletively) as comparative and superlative in Old English is yfel (modern English evil).(Philip Durkin, The Oxford Guide to Etymology. Oxford University Press, 2009)- Good, better, best,never let it resttill your good isbetter, and yourbetter best.(This early-20th-century dictation exercise illustrates the  suppletive  comparative and superlative forms of the adjective  good.) The Lighter Side of GradabilityGeorge Costanza: Youre gonna over-dry your laundry.Jerry Seinfeld: You cant over-dry.George: Why not?Jerry: Same reason you cant over-wet. You see, when somethings wet, its wet. Same thing with death. Like, once you die, youre dead. Lets say you drop dead and I shoot you. Youre not gonna die again, youre already dead. You cant over-die, you cant over-dry.(Seinfeld)One closing grammar note: I got several letters from people who informed me that stupidest and stupider are not real words.To those people, I say, with gratitude and sincerity: Oh, shut up.(Dave Barry, Hoosier Your Daddy. The Baltimore Sun, January 12, 2003)

Quality TV Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Quality TV - Essay Example 4). The discussions on quality have been evident for a long time. For example, according to Robin Nelson, television quality was determined in UK and USA by basing on traditions or cultural values (Akass, 2007p. 4). It is also worth stating that there has been a shift in the television quality rating due to economical or social factors. According to Cardwell, the business strategies usually affect the programs cast in televisions. This is because most institutions and industries usually adopt institutional and cultural discourses when determining quality based on broadcasting mandates, policy-making decisions, and the production demands. Sarah Cardwell conducted critical judgment and evaluations to establish the differences since the variance between quality and good television had been neglected. She stated that the television studies lacked sufficient attention on the conceptual matters. Consequently, the difference between quality and good television can be established by looking at the generic classification of television programs. In 1995, Cardwell let her television students watch 1995 classic-novel where the students had different opinions about the movie. For example, one student said that the movie was of high quality but rather boring making it improper. From the findings, it was clear that the quality of television is determined by the way the television program has been filmed or acted. Concurrently, a good television program is rated based on the textual characteristics of the program (Akass, 2007p. 20). In summary, a good television is moving, riveting, provocative, rich, and should be frequently contemporary. It should not only be relevant but the viewers should also value it (Akass, 2007p. 21). However, the classifications of the quality of television are largely dependent on the national context. For instance, the contemporary quality of television in Britain is different from American television quality. According to the BBC and Public Space, television quality is a priority. In March 2010, the BBC’s executives published the proposals that were meant to increase efficiency and ensure quality by restricting new online activities (Potschka, 2012 p.25). The collaboration between the HBO and BBC enhanced their reputation of producing quality programs. This has been beneficial in helping HBO consolidate its market position. HBO has experienced several successes when producing programs such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and the Six Feet Under. However, it is having trouble maintaining its success due to the changing nature of the television industry. They have developed a creative approach that will enable them to improve the success of their television programs. The approach in the post network has been characterized by high-production values, artistic integrity and risk-taking process that are highly creative (Akass, 2007p. 62). The famous HBO program, The Sopranos has been analyzed based on the industrial factor s. Since it is a gangster television program, it usually exists in the form of a pre-sold television program. It has prompted researchers and scholars to analyze it in terms of branding (Jaramillo, 2007 p. 594). For the quality brand of The Sopranos to be established, HBO has differentiated its merchandise from the

Lyme Bay and Tort Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Lyme Bay and Tort Law - Essay Example The case of teenager deaths of canoeing in the Lyme Bay in March 1993 should be considered in the context of tort law. There are different aspects of the case, which should not have occurred at all. The canoeing activity should have been reconsidered under stricter regulations. St. Alban's Centre lacked of a proper supervision of canoeing activity. Therefore, the individual from the company was accused of four teenagers’ deaths. The involvement and mutual cooperation of parental, educational, health and social organizations resulted in legal regulations changes in the field of outdoors businesses. On March 22nd 1993 the canoeing party was organized by teachers and pupils and they were under supervision of two instructors from the St Alban's Centre. They were intended to reach Lyme Regis by lunchtime. The raft was far away from teachers and students and they were protected by life jackets. Only at 18:40 the rest of party members were rescued by helicopter . Consequently, this c ase is an appeal for the publicity to better regulate safety of outdoor activities for pupils. The coastguard was accused of oversight of their rescue activities and there was a need to better develop rescue operations on the coast. The main emphasis is made on outdoor education, which has been provided by the charitable organizations and authorities. Tort law implications In terms of tort law there are different prospects on this study. On the one hand, participants of Lyme Bay accident were under protected. On the other hand, their deeds and actions were neglected by the employees, who were not informed on time. Thus, in order to give an unprejudiced evaluation of the situation, it is relevant to focus on safety standards of recreation regulations of 90s. The ACAC Code of Practice is one of the most essential steps in the area of recreational sphere protection. Both the implications of statutory regulations and self-regulations were much concerned2. There was a need for an effective research and survey in the field of health and safety protection in the area of recreation activities. The role of public was essential, because people had a chance to have an access to required information about the relevant inspections. Lyme Bay accident was a starting point for considerations taken by the Departments for Education (DFE) about safe ty and protection of teachers and pupils at schools3. Explicit regulations at the governmental level taken by the government are also considered to be safety and protection laws determinants for further implementation at the local level. Moreover, it was found out that it is relevant to "place Education Authorities across the country in an invidious and untenable position" and there is a need for existence of monitoring organizations recording serious violations of activity centers4. Otherwise the public concerns of parents would be dubious with respect to pupils’ safety at school. The role of public concern and its explication in the tort law led to positive changes in

Problem Solving & Spreadsheet Modeling Essay Example for Free

Problem Solving Spreadsheet Modeling Essay This paper talks about the problem solving process along with examples, as well as one of more commonly used modeling and analytical techniques, i.e. spreadsheet modeling. It also talks about its dependency, its uses, disadvantages and well as explores ways to better this very new, but powerful technique. | Modeling is the process of creating a simpliï ¬ ed representation of real life problems and representing them in an organized fashion in order to understand a particular problem. These models can take many forms such as mental, visual, mathematical or electronic spreadsheets to name a few. Their uses can be seen in almost every field of our daily lives such as businesses, governments, human resources, science and engineering, and medicine etc. Their primary function is to gain insight into a specific problem and after getting a clear understanding of the topic, one can easily approach it from different directions with possible solutions. This paper discusses this process in detail, starting with gaining insight into a specific problem by using a problem solving model, and then moves on to how it applies to spreadsheet modeling. It also discusses different aspects of electronic spreadsheet engineering, its uses and caveats, as well as its dependency in the business world these days. Before creating any models, visual, mathematical or spreadsheets, one has to start with the problem solving process. The problem solving process consists of six stages that can be followed to solve almost any problem. These stages or steps are employed and are repeated multiple times, not necessarily in the same order, to obtain an efficient and refined solution to a particular problem. The first of these stages is exploration of a â€Å"mess†. â€Å"A mess is a morass of unsettling symptoms, causes, data, pressures, shortfalls, and opportunities† (Baker Powell, p.18). One of the key issues in solving any problem is to be able to take any given situation and extract key information, problems, issues as well as opportunities from it. A problem never presents  itself in a clear, well-posed statement. It is usually hidden in a scenario, along with a lot of other trivial information and any problem solving should start by understanding a given situation and be able to extract key information from it. â€Å"During this phase, questions that are explored include listing problems or opportunities that are to be faced, gaps between current and desired situations, and thinking about stated and unstated goals.† (Baker Powell, p.21) Baker and Powell use an example of a pharmaceutical company in their book, where majority of that company’s revenue is generated from the production and distribution of a single drug, and present a scenario where the patent for that drug heads towards its expiration date in upcoming months. Using this scenario, exploring the mess stage would involve the company officials to perform individual researches and evaluate any threats and affects the expiration of the drug patents would have on their revenues as well as taking initial steps to address the upcoming problems (Baker Powell, p.21). Second stage of the problem solving process involves searching for information. â€Å"This includes opinions, raw data, impressions and published literature etc. and involves casting about widely for any and all information that might shed light on what the problem really is† (Baker Powell, p.22). This is basically a â€Å"brainstorming phase†, and usually involves approaching the mess from different directions. In the case of the pharmaceutical company, for example, senior managers would handle this phase by holding meetings and addressing their discomfort towards the upcoming problem as well as hiring outside consultants to perform company as well as industry research and gathering all the necessary facts involving this problem. â€Å"This stage is usually complete when relevant information for the situation at hand if found and organized and when initial hypotheses about the source of the problem and potential solutions are discussed.† (Baker Powell, p.22) The next phase of the process, known as â€Å"identifying the problem†, st arts out in its divergent phase with a few possible problem statements that can be inferred from earlier stages. These problem statements are evaluated and results in a final, more detailed, problem statement that may or may not be an aggregation of one or more initial statements. It is imperative that each of the initial problem statements are examined individually and eliminated carefully and the end result is an unambiguous problem statement. For  example, the pharmaceutical executives may initially come up with two different problem statements, one dealing with somehow extending patent dates and focusing on revitalizing their strategy around the existing drug, while the other group thinking about how to come introduce other drugs into the market to cover the decline in revenues. Another option looks at decreasing costs and expenses overall to cover the losses incurred. From these initial statements, developing a portfolio and introduction of new drugs seems to win the general consensus. The next phase of searching for possible solutions to the now defined problem statement involves open-ended process searches for good, even radical, solutions. This can only be done however, when a problem statement has already been described. â€Å"Considering possible solutions to an ambiguous problem is not only inefficient but also dangerous as well, since it can lead to solutions that were nowhere close to the original problem and can result in a lot of wasted time and resources. This stage is complete when a list of potential solutions is produced and perhaps a list of advantages and disadvantages for each one† (Baker Powell, p.23). In the case of the pharmaceutical example, this phase can start out with solutions including speeding up FDA approval process for the new drugs, investing RD resources and funds towards drugs with the highest percentages of approval and focusing on a new portfolio of drugs in the same medical category, and thus providing expertise in one or two specialty areas (Baker Powell, p.23). Next comes the stage of evaluating all possible solutions and deciding on the preferred solution. This is done through evaluating each of the initial solutions against a set of given criteria. â€Å"This can lead directly to a preferred alternative. More often, this process leads to changes, and improvements, in the solutions themselves. Often, stronger points of multiple solutions are grafter together while less attractive aspects are removed and through this process, a final, preferred solution is refined† (Baker Powell, p.24). For example, for the pharmaceutical drug scenario, after evaluating and grafting various solutions, it can be decided that one most critical area for improvement is how RD funds are allocated over time. And finally, the problem solving process concludes with implementation the preferred solution. In this phase, a problem-solving team will identify sources of resistance as well as support for their solution. During this stage, once a  solution has been implemented, a final evaluation is done after some time to see if the implementation has been successful or not. This stage concludes when an implementation plan is produced and executed enough so that the team may begin to evaluate how well it is succeeding. For example, the pharmaceutical problem solving team will have to get approval and support from the senior management for their solution and when they carry the plan forward, they must monitor its impacts and modify it as needed, and solve a new set of problems as they arise. In order for a solution to be refined, these six steps must sometimes be repeated multiple times, each time creating a new solution to the problems in the previous cycle. â€Å"It is also worth stating that only rarely are these six stages followed in a strict sequence. Most problem-solving processes move back and forth from one stage to another, perhaps rethinking the problem statement while evaluating solutions, or returning to an information-gathering mode while searching for solutions (Baker Powell, p.25).† Now a brief overview of the problem solving process has been outlined, we can discuss one of the more common problem solving and analyzing techniques used in the business world today, i.e. spreadsheet modeling. Baker and Powell explain it in their book that â€Å"spreadsheet is the second best way to do many kinds of analysis and is therefore the best way to do most modeling (p.4).† Basically what this means is that for any singular modeling task, there is always some better, more powerful software available that can handle that specific task. However, due to the complexity and costs related to such applications and their very narrow scope of problem solving capabilities, it becomes inefficient for most companies and analysts to use separate software for separate models. Therefore, most of the modeling in the business world is done in electronic spreadsheets due to its nature of being able to handle and process a wide scope of modeling and analytical tasks. There are, however, limitations to electronic spreadsheets due to its broad capabilities but most modeling tasks in many companies can be easily handled through spreadsheet modeling and analytical tools. Despite their limitations, spreadsheets allow modelers to build more detailed and more complex models and also have the advantage of being pervasive in business analysis. On the other hand, however, using ele ctronic spreadsheets is not without its downsides. The business world is still at an early stage of understanding how to develop error-free  spreadsheets. And one of the caveats of using electronic spreadsheets is assuming that they are error free. In fact studies and research have shown that only less than ten percent of spreadsheets in individual studies have been free of any errors (Graves, p.1). These errors may be small and would seem very insignificant, such as improper sorting or entering numbers as text, but in larger companies, the results can be devastating and can cause effects ranging from ineligible candidates becoming police officers to a school losing more than $50,000 in funding due to budget understatements (Baker Powell, p. 6). When using electronic spreadsheets, or any software for that matter, it is also imperative to ensure that the software packages are always up to date. This can range anywhere from applying security updates to upgrading software versions altogether. â€Å"Upgrading a business software is more than just an economic business decision. It is a matter of security, productivity, lower costs, and employee morale† (Garger, p.1). The longer any software has been around, the more vulnerable it gets to malicious viruses and security breaches. Therefore any software must be updated or upgraded routinely since newer versions would be safer from a security standpoint guarding against vulnerabilities from previous versions. Another reason to keep software up to date is from a budget point of view. Usually, older versions of any software are more expensive to maintain than the newer versions (Garger, p.1). And probably the most important reason to update any software, and especially spreadsheets, is an increase in productivity. Software companies are continually adding newer features to their applications that increase productivity and are efficient in handling various tasks. More often than not, newer versions usually have larger set of capabilities and tools under their belt and can perform more tasks in lesser time and with more ease (Garger, p.2). Even though electronic spreadsheets are still quite new in the business world, their dependency has been increasing drastically in the past two decades. About 25 years ago, the idea of personal computers was unknown to most and â€Å"modeling was performed only by specialists using demanding software on expensive hardware. This meant that only the most critical business problems could be analyzed using models, because only these problems justified the large budgets and long time commitments required to build, debug, and apply the models of the day (Graves, p.1). However, since then, the ever evolving technological advances  starting with personal computers, spreadsheets and now the add-on features for specialized analyses have greatly changed the business world. Nowadays, anyone with a laptop and little background in spreadsheet modeling can easily handle tasks that would have been thought of as quite complex 25 years ago and would have required teams of specialist to perform (Baker Powell, p.5). In fact, â€Å"these applications have become a staple of end users and business professionals and are widely used by businesses, service agencies, volunteer groups, private sector organizations, scientists, students, educators, trainers, researchers, journalists, accountants and others† (Graves, p.2) In conclusion, spreadsheets represent an ever-present platform for businesses and our dependency on them cannot be understated. However, as with any great tool, there are many stipulations. Any tool can be only as useful and powerful as its user. Therefore, in order to use electronic spreadsheets properly, one has to be proficient in their use and must acquire the necessary skill set to create and analyze powerful and effective business models. Knowing the capabilities of any given software as well as its limitations is crucial. And finally, planning a spreadsheet model properly and never assuming that it will be error-free are necessary to create successful business models. â€Å"Only with a solid foundation in spreadsheet engineering can the business analyst effectively generate real insights from spreadsheet models (Baker Powell, p.8). References Baker, Kenneth R.; Powell, Stephen G. (2010-10-08). Management Science: The Art of Modeling with Spreadsheets, 3rd Edition. John Wiley Sons, Inc. Kindle Edition. Garger, John. â€Å"The Advantages of Upgrading Your Business Software†. Bright Hub. Nov 8th, 2010. Accessed Dec. 12th, 2012. http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/43180.aspx Graves, Sherry. â€Å"The Importance Of Excel In The Workplace†. SparkNET. Sept. 10, 2007. Accessed on Dec.12th, 2012. http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-Of-Excel-In-The-Workplaceid=724646

Essay --

In the novel Lord of the Flies William Golding uses many forms of symbolism to point out the underlying conflicts in their society. By using these symbols he makes the reader not only think about the problems that arise in the book, but also hints towards problems in our society today. The story uses the conch, fire, and the glasses to reference other meanings in the story. These symbols play a crucial part in the story in which they provide the reader with information that isn’t directly stated but is inferred. The first symbol that appears in the story is the conch which was found by Piggy and Ralph early in the story. The boys believed it to be held by the person with the power to govern and speak for the people. This power was recognized early to ralph "But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch"(Golding, 22). When choosing their chief the conch appeared to give Ralph power over Jack in the decision for bringing them all together with the conch i...

Abortion and the Symbolic Interaction Paradigm

In this paper, we needed to discuss whether or not abortion contributes to the corruption of today’s society, using the symbolic interaction paradigm. We have come to the consensus, as a group, that abortion does contribute to the corruption of today’s society simply because it is such a heated issue and therefore people choose sides. When people choose sides, and are unable to look at a situation from another person’s point of view, there tends to be corruption. Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical perspective that people use definitions, meanings, symbols, interpretations, and human interactions to compare themselves to others (Henslin, 2010, p. 15). Herbert Blumer, whom attended University of Chicago with one of the founders of the symbolic interactionism perspective, George Herbert Mead, developed one of the most prominent versions of the perspective (McClelland, 2000). Mooney, Knox, and Schacht explained Blumer’s theory of the symbolic interactionism perspective. According to Blumer, social problems develop in stages. The first stage is â€Å"social recognition†, when the social problem first happened. The second stage is â€Å"social legitimization†, when the problem is recognized by the community. When the community gets concerned and starts to develop a way to react is called the â€Å"mobilization for action†. â€Å"Development and implementation of an official plan† is when legal regulations occur (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2000, p. 10-16). There are many ways that people interpret the idea of abortion, and they often use words to help get their opinions across. Language is just a system of symbols that we recognize as a way of communication, and in terms of abortion, there are several ways to use language to make points to solidify one's position on the issue. The pro-choice movement is a group that believes that women should have to choice to have an abortion if they feel that it is necessary given their personal circumstances. The phrase â€Å"pro-choice† is a very strong symbol in itself because it can cause people to think in a more broad sense, implying that if one is not pro-choice, then he/she must believe that the mother of the unborn child does have rights to her own body. On the other hand, pro-life can also be seen as a very significant symbol, because it also tends to imply that if one is not pro-life, they simply believe that the unborn child in the womb does not deserve to live. Obviously, this conclusion is not always true, but it is the implications that make the phrases such strong symbols. Each side of the argument has its own list of legitimate reasons why they feel that their way is the right way, but there are some words that they use that are demeaning and insulting to whomever it is that is considering an abortion. While it is understandable that many pro-life groups believe that an abortion is a terrible way to end a life, the use of strong, suggestive words makes it seem like they are simply trying to make women feel even guiltier about having an abortion. Having an abortion is oftentimes one of the most heart-wrenching, difficult decisions a woman has to make, and some pro-life activists still feel that it is necessary to make the woman feel even more torn by comparing abortions to murder. This is probably the strongest, most symbolic word used to describe an abortion. No matter what a group's opinion on the subject, they should not use guilt as a means of trying to turn people away from abortion. This leads to further arguments, and more importantly, it leads to women feeling even worse about their decision should they decide to go through with an abortion. Words are a very big part of symbolism when dealing with such a sensitive subject like abortion. They can be used positively, to try to enlighten a person on the subject, or they can be used negatively, to try to scare a person into siding with one group or the other. Because there are so many negative connotations that go along with having an abortion, it becomes a very significant factor of social corruption. There are different types of abortion, therapeutic abortion, when the mother’s health would be at risk if the pregnancy was continued; elective abortion, when the woman decides not continue a pregnancy for whichever reason; abortion pill, which can terminate a pregnancy up to 9 weeks into it (Planned Parenthood, 2011). Many people feel differently about the different types of abortion and there are laws regarding how far into pregnancy an abortion can be performed. The news and media cover the abortion debates frequently and often help to stir up some of the controversy. It was found by David Shaw, a write for the LA Times-Washington Post Service, that the media often favors pro-choice advocates over pro-life and â€Å"Columns of commentary favoring abortion rights outnumber those opposing abortion by a argin of 2 to 1 on the opinion/editorial pages of most of the nation’s major daily newspapers† (as cited in Wade, 1990). On Yahoo Answers, â€Å"Does the media influence teenagers to get pregnant and to have abortions? † was asked and one of the responders, Ashley, replied that â€Å"†¦it does encourage them to be sexy- which then leads to sex and pregnancy, and sometimes abortions. But the media is only partly to blame; the main problem is the attitude of today’s s ociety (2009)†. It is easy to research and find distasteful images and photographs from pro-life sites. The ultimate goal is generally to convince a woman out of an abortion or to make people feel that abortion is murder. On the Maine Vitae site, mainerighttolife. com, there is a link to â€Å"Issues†. If you then click on a sub link called â€Å"The Ugly Reality†, there are 9 pictures of aborted fetuses from 8 weeks to 24 weeks gestational age (2010). It is relatively easy to find pro-choice images online, with a lot of the images including children and woman stating that they are pro-choice. A major issue for most people is the idea of abortion as contraception. The Centers for Disease Control released a statement on November 27, 2009, â€Å"Women should use contraceptives, not abortion, to prevent unwanted pregnancies. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study showed that 19-25% of women who received abortions in 2006 had previously had one or more abortions† (2009). Religions often have an opinion that they provide as public knowledge on the abortion debate. In the bible, the sixth commandment is â€Å"Thou shalt not kill (Exodus 20:13, King James Version)†. The commandment is often used to explain why people believe that abortion is considered murder. Traditional Buddhism teaches that life begins at conception and the fetus is â€Å"as entitled to the same moral respect as an adult human being (Keown, 2004). In our research we also found medical doctors, citizens and psychologists that are against abortion. Henry Sigerist gave his interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath’s opinion on abortion; â€Å"The original text of the Hippocratic Oath, the oath that doctors traditionally take when swearing to practice medicine ethically, forbids abortions. One section of the oath reads: â€Å"I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion. † The modern version of the Hippocratic Oath written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna also forbids abortion in its line, â€Å"Above all, I must not play at God† (1996). With his interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath, Henry Sigerist, shows that people can form different interpretations from the same information. David C. Reardon, PhD, et al. also found that women who aborted were 154% more likely to commit suicide than women who carried to term (2002).

Business Research Method – Banking Questionaire

RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE AN ANALYSIS OF HOW BUSINESS CAN USE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) TO GAIN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: THE CASE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN ZIMBABWE. SECTION A: RESPONDENT AND BANK PROFILES a) Respondent’s Profile Position in the organisation Please tick where applicable |Clerical | | |Supervisory | | |Managerial | | |Executive | | Length of Service with the Institution Please tick where applicable |1 – 5 years | | |6 – 10 years | | |11 – 16 years | | |16 – 20 years | | |More than 20 years | | |Highest Qualification | |Please tick where applicable | |Certificate | | |Diploma | | Degree | | |Postgraduate | | |PhD | | How long have you been exposed to use of computers? Please tick where applicable |1 – 5 Years | | |6 – 10 Years | | |11 – 15 Years | | |16 – 20 Years | | |More than 20 Years | | ) Bank Profile Bank Name________________________________________ Number of Branches_____________________________________ |Number of Employees | | |Please tick where applicable | | |1 – 100 | | |101 – 200 | | |201 – 300 | | |301 – 400 | | |More than 400 | | Clientele Base (i) Corporate Clients Please tick where applicable |1 – 500 | | |501 – 1 000 | | |1 001 – 1 500 | | |1 501 – 2 000 | | |More than 2 000 | | (ii)Individual Clients Please tick where applicable 1 – 10 000 | | |10 001 – 20 000 | | |20 001 – 30 000 | | |30 001 – 40 000 | | |More than 40 000 | | SECTION B: LEVEL OF AUTOMATION IN THE BANK (a)IT Systems i) Core Banking System |Type of Core Banking System | |Please tick where applicable | | |Globus | | |Equation | | |Bank Master | | |Equinox | | |Flexicube | | |Other (Specify) | | |__________________________________________ | | Year Core Banking System was Introduced †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ (ii) Enterprise Resource Planning System Please tick modules used | | |Finance | | |Human resources | | |Inventory management | | |Customer relationship management | | |Business intelligence | | |Other (specify) | | |______________________________________ ____ | | (b)Delivery Channels i) Teller Transactions |Transactions per month | | |Please tick where applicable | | |0 – 50 000 | | |50 001 – 100 000 | | |100 001 – 150 000 | | |150 001 – 200 000 | | |More than 200 000 | | ii) Electronic Transactions a) Use of Credit or Debit Cards |YES |NO | |ATMs (Please tick where applicable) | | | |Transactions per month | | |Please tick where applicable | | |0 – 5 000 | | |5 001 – 10 000 | | |10 001 – 15 000 | | |15 001 – 20 000 | | |More than 20 000 | | |YES |NO | |Internet banking (Please tick where applicable) | | | |Transactions per month | | |Please tick where applicable | | |0 – 5 000 | | |5 001 – 10 000 | | |10 001 – 15 000 | | |15 001 – 20 000 | | |More than 20 000 | | |YES |NO | |Point of Sale (Please tick where applicable) | | | |Transactions per month | | |Please tick where applicable | | |0 – 5 000 | | |5 001 – 10 000 | | |10 001 à ¢â‚¬â€œ 15 000 | | |15 001 – 20 000 | | |More than 20 000 | | b) Electronic Funds Transfer |YES |NO | |Internal Transfers | | | |Please tick where applicable | | | |Transactions per month | | |Please tick where applicable | | |0 – 10 000 | | |10 001 – 20 000 | | |20 001 – 30 000 | | |30 001 – 40 000 | | |More than 40 000 | | |YES |NO | |Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) (Please tick| | | |where applicable) | | | |Transactions per month | | |Please tick where applicable | | |0 – 5 000 | | |5 001 – 10 000 | | |10 001 – 15 000 | | |15 001 – 20 000 | | |More than 20 000 | | |YES |NO | |Society for Worldwide Interbank | | | |Funds Transfer (SWIFT) | | | |(Please tick where applicable) | | | |Transactions per month | | |Please tick where applicable | | |0 – 5 000 | | |5 001 – 10 000 | | |10 001 – 15 000 | | |15 001 – 20 000 | | |More than 20 000 | | SECTION C : BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES a) BENEFITS Please tick where applicable. | |5 |4 |3 |2 |1 | | | |Strongly Agree |Agree |Indifferent |Disagree |Strongly | | | | | | | |Disagree | |1 |Profitability | | | | | | |2 |Increase in market share | | | | | | |3 |Increase in revenue | | | | | | |4 |Reduction in labour costs | | | | | | |5 |Reduction in transaction costs | | | | | | |6 |Improved risk management | | | | | | |7 |Speed in service delivery | | | | | | |8 | Increase in Customer satisfaction | | | | | | b) CHALLENGES Please tick where applicable. | |5 |4 |3 |2 |1 | | | |Very High |High |Moderate |Low |Very Low | |1 |Operating costs | | | | | | |2 |Transaction turnaround time | | | | | | |3 |Risks | | | | | | SECTION D: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE BROUGHT ABOUT BY I. T. IN BANKING Please tick where applicable. | |5 |4 |3 |2 |1 | | |IT helps in: |Strongly Agree |Agree |Indifferent |Disagree |Strongly | | | | | | | |Disagree | |1 |Lowering costs | | | | | | |2 |Product differentiation | | | | | | |3 |Innovation | | | | | | | 4 |Promoting growth (e. g. evenue) | | | | | | |5 |Developing business partners | | | | | | |6 |Locking in customers and suppliers | | | | | | |7 |Creating switching costs | | | | | | |8 |Raising barriers to entry | | | | | | 9 |Customer Relationship Management | | | | | | |10 |Re-engineering business processes | | | | | | |11 |Quality control | | | | | | Thank you very much for taking your time to complete this questionnaire. The information you have provided will be treated in strict confidentiality. NB: Company details will not be included in the report. Fictitious names will be used.

Thinking and Decision Making Essay

Thinking and Decision Making Essay Thinking and Decision Making Essay Thinking and Decision Making The basic concept of critical thinking is to simply take charge of your own mind. Many believe that if a person can do just that; take charge of their mind, they can take charge of their lives by making improvements and ultimately placing themselves in the proper or desired direction. To do this requires a great deal of self-discipline and the ability to look at yourself and examine how your mind works; looking to fine-tune or modify certain aspects to change for the better. We would all have to constantly reflect on our minds impulses day in and day out to tackle our ways of thinking. Thoughts are greatly influenced by our gender, race or ethnicity, religion, and economic status, etc. Each person has an accustomed way of thinking that affects how our problems and situations are rationalized and decided upon. The way in which our issues are resolved and chosen, stems from those attributes that were of influence to the lives of us all. The various forms of thinking: Open questionin g, Inductive, Emotional, and Pessimistic will be examined along with its comparisons as well as each thinking style will be related to how they are handled in the workplace or in everyday life. When it comes to thinking and decision making, there are styles that can affect the critical thinking process. Two of the styles that will be compared and contrasted have to deal with open and closed questioning. Using the appropriate question can help uncover information or find answers needed to complete the critical thinking process (Paul & Elder, 2006). With closed questions, the question can be answered with a short phrase or single word. An example of a closed question would be, â€Å"How are you?† Typically closed questions are fairly easy to answer and provide facts. It doesn’t force deep thought or require the individual to reveal too much information about them right away. Some other uses for closed questioning are to test and individuals understanding of a particular topic. Open questions are used when trying to a more detailed response. Open questions require the individuals think and sometimes reflect. These types of questions also tend to bring to the surface opinions and feelings. Many open questions tend to begin with, how, what, and why. An example of an open question would be, â€Å"What would an education do for you?† Comparing open questions to close, you can easily see that they both differ in the responses that received and the purpose which the type of question is used. Questions are used to seek out information and details used to better solve a piece in the critical thinking process. Using open and closed questions to my career is very important. More often than not open questions are preferred because if you want to better try and understand a potential student, you will want them to talk about their needs and wants. Uncovering these needs and wants sometimes require questions that target true feelings and motivation (Changing Minds, 2010). These open ended question focus on depth and getting to the core. Knowing what, or how a particular situation could affect and individuals outcome is important. When I think about all the areas that decisions can be made by thinking, it is easy to spend all our time just thinking. In my business as clergy have come upon many ways of the thinking process and can see how they have been used in ministry. Some of the styles that have been used are emotional, logical, inductive, and deductive. Everything accomplished in ministry relies on critical thinking and how it can inter-proceed, with the others as the subject of being discussed to come to an understanding. First the use of critical thinking comes into play when talking and listening. Listening is the first of the styles that comes out. By trying to help the person whom I am working with the first part of the conversation is emotional. When, by thinking about the situation the part of the emotional needs is to move on

Medieval Christmas Traditions

Medieval Christmas Traditions Among the Pagan traditions that have become part of Christmas is burning the yule log. This custom springs from many different cultures, but in all of them, its significance seems to lie in the iul or wheel of the year. The Druids would bless a log and keep it burning for 12 days during the winter solstice; part of the log was kept for the following year when it would be used to light the new yule log. For the Vikings, the yule log was an integral part of their celebration of the solstice, the julfest; on the log, they would carve runes representing unwanted traits (such as ill fortune or poor honor) that they wanted the gods to take from them. Wassail comes from the Old English words waes hael, which means be well, be hale, or good health. A strong, hot drink (usually a mixture of ale, honey, and spices) would be put in a large bowl, and the host would lift it and greet his companions with waes hael, to which they would reply drinc hael, which meant drink and be well. Over the centuries some non-alcoholic versions of wassail evolved. Other customs developed as part of Christian belief. For example, Mince Pies (so called because they contained shredded or minced meat) were baked in oblong casings to represent Jesus crib, and it was important to add three spices (cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg) for the three gifts given to the Christ child by the Magi. The pies were not very large, and it was thought lucky to eat one mince pie on each of the twelve days of Christmas (ending with Epiphany, the 6th of January). Food Traditions The ever-present threat of hunger was triumphantly overcome with a feast, and in addition to the significant fare mentioned above, all manner of food would be served at Christmas. The most popular main course was goose, but many other meats were also served. Turkey was first brought to Europe from the Americas around 1520 (its earliest known consumption in England is 1541), and because it was inexpensive and quick to fatten, it rose in popularity as a Christmas feast food. Humble (or umble) pie was made from the humbles of a deer the heart, liver, brains and so forth. While the lords and ladies ate the choice cuts, the servants baked the humbles into a pie (which of course made them go further as a source of food). This appears to be the origin of the phrase, to eat humble pie. By the seventeenth century, Humble Pie had become a trademark Christmas food, as evidenced when it was outlawed along with other Christmas traditions by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan government. The Christmas pudding of Victorian and modern times evolved from the medieval dish of frumenty a spicy, wheat-based dessert. Many other desserts were made as welcome treats for children and adults alike. Christmas Trees and Plants The tree was an important symbol to every Pagan culture. The oak, in particular, was venerated by the Druids. Evergreens, which in ancient Rome were thought to have special powers and were used for decoration, symbolized the promised return of life in the spring and came to symbolize eternal life for Christians. The Vikings hung fir and ash trees with war trophies for good luck. In the middle ages, the Church would decorate trees with apples on Christmas Eve, which they called Adam and Eve Day. However, the trees remained outdoors. In sixteenth-century Germany, it was the custom for a fir tree decorated with paper flowers to be carried through the streets on Christmas Eve to the town square, where, after a great feast and celebration that included dancing around the tree, it would be ceremonially burned. Holly, ivy, and mistletoe were all important plants to the Druids. It was believed that good spirits lived in the branches of holly. Christians believed that the berries had been white before they were turned red by Christs blood when he was made to wear the crown of thorns. Ivy was associated with the Roman god Bacchus and was not allowed by the Church as decoration until later in the middle ages when a superstition that it could help recognize witches and protect against plague arose. Entertainment Traditions Christmas may owe its popularity in medieval times to liturgical dramas and mysteries presented in the church. The most popular subject for such dramas and tropes was the Holy Family, particularly the Nativity. As interest in the Nativity grew, so did Christmas as a holiday. Carols, though very popular in the later middle ages, were at first frowned on by the Church. But, as with most popular entertainment, they eventually evolved to a suitable format, and the Church relented. The Twelve Days of Christmas may have been a game set to music. One person would sing a stanza, and another would add his own lines to the song, repeating the first persons verse. Another version states it was a Catholic catechism memory song that helped oppressed Catholics in England during the Reformation remember facts about God and Jesus at a time when practicing their faith could get them killed. (If you would like to read more about this theory, please be warned that it contains graphic descriptions of the violent nature in which Catholics were executed by the Protestant government and has been refuted as an Urban Legend.) Pantomimes and mumming were another form of popular Christmas entertainment, particularly in England. These casual plays without words usually involved dressing up as a member of the opposite gender and acting out comic stories. Note:Â  This feature originally appeared in December 1997, and was updated in December 2007 and again in December 2015.

Surrealism in Art and Society Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Surrealism in Art and Society - Research Paper Example The paper "Surrealism in Art and Society" states the art society and the surrealism movement. It also includes art that pictured images of paradox and dream devised to change human perception of the world and the world, moreover, the goals of surrealism include revision of the human definition of reality by allowing the free flow of thought with the violation of literal convention in art. Surrealism has its roots from the movement founded by Andre Breton as an artistic and literal movement. However, it borrows plenty of its beliefs and practices from other fields that are not directly related t art. These include politics and psychological fields of society. Politically, surrealism professes communist beliefs following the First World War, its causes and its effects. On the other hand, practices and ideologies are borrowed from the works of Freud due to his assertions on the crucial role of sexuality in human issues. In the case of Freudian influence on surrealism, sexuality is embed ded in the subconscious, which surrealists attempt to utilize to create their works of art; moreover, surrealism is defined as a form of automatism through which it intends to express verbally, in writing and by any other means. As a result, the use of the subconscious in artistic expression must not be limited by sociological and psychological reality, which allows surrealism to violate most conventions. Andre Breton is considered the father of surrealism in the entire world following is experimentation in the artistic field.

A South African Investment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A South African Investment - Essay Example While comprehensive civil rights as well as freedom are critically imperative to all people in order that they can realize their absolute potential and assert their appropriate place in humanity, there are other, supplementary fundamental needs that ought to be satisfied prior to a person worries about spiritual, intellectual and related individual freedoms and rights. It may not be reasonable to offer an individual full government, social, as well as legal rights if they are deprived any reasonable sources of livelihood (Mbendi, 2008). Caltex had the power to influence political policies on the South African government in order that the government may revive its laws. This has happened in other parts of the world, whereby conglomerates influence government policies in order to create a conducive environment for business. Foreign financial investments mean a great deal in any country since it revitalizes the social-economic status of the population and the national economy as well (T obin, 2009). It is an ignominy that Caltex had no problem investing in a country whose laws were exceedingly abhorrent to humanity. In contrast it is factual that in that era, the living standards of the South African minorities as well as the Blacks were in a deplorable state. They vast majority of these populations lived in pitiable homes, and had poor access to high quality educational programs. They were also deprived the right to practice certain jobs or careers, and granted wages that were exceedingly less than that of the white population in South Africa (Nicholas, 2008). For numerous South African Blacks at the time, for whom so several outside the nation had the courage to confront the repressive regime may have chosen to take up jobs at the Caltex plant which granted them better living wages and better workplace environment than in the civil service. It is justifiable to imply that absolute freedom may not have been the priority for all Black South Africans who needed bett er living standards. Therefore, the Caltex plant may have been the category of investments that were essentially required in the country at the time. The only provision Caltex ought to have added would have been the maintenance of reasonable wages and reasonable housing for its black and colored human resources (Mbendi, 2008). Question 2. As a stockholder in Standard Oil or Texaco, it would have been appropriate to vote in agreement with the three stockholder declarations. While it is factual that under the utilitarian philosophies, it might not of necessity have been the most appropriate option for Caltex, Standard Oil or Texaco to desist from investing in South Africa. As a stockholder, it would have been appropriate to vote according to individual conscience. Any financial recompense, such as facilitating the generation of national income from the mining of natural resources or construction of national industries such as in petroleum, appears as unconscionable in regard to the fu ndamental premise on which the South African government operated and survived (Nicholas, 2008). The first resolution demanded that Caltex terminates all its operations in South Africa unless and until the government ceased

Who is Affecter in Labor Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Who is Affecter in Labor Market - Essay Example Labor implies the workforce needed. There needs to be market for services provided. The labor market is unique in the sense that it comprises people who lease their time to enterprises for a given period. The labor they provide is exchanged with wages; in other words, these people trade their idle hours for paid time to that they can earn a living and buy goods and services. In turn, businesses utilize the labor to generate goods and services that consumers demand.As mentioned previously, capital, labor, entrepreneurship and natural resources are the major components required in generating good and services. The quality and quantity of labor that people provide is a significant factor in influencing the rate of growth and level of production of an economy. Employed people, job seekers and enterprises looking for workers constitute the labor market. The contact between the suppliers of labor and businesses seeking human capital determines the salaries and wages that the employees are paid. It also dictates how many people will be employed. A major feature of the labor market is the role of the unique abilities and skills of everyone. Unique talents can be enhanced and changed through training and education so that the labor force becomes an evolving talent pool that businesses hire. Effective use of skills and training of people to meet emerging demands in the market makes the process of production more efficient. Another significant aspect of the labor market is the flexibility of its workforce.

Exploring The Illusion Of Conscious Will Philosophy Essay

Exploring The Illusion Of Conscious Will Philosophy Essay The experience of conscious will can be defined as the feeling that we are doing things, that we consciously cause our actions. However, this feeling may not be an accurate interpretation of what is happening in our minds, brain and bodies as our actions are produced. If we had access to a variety of information we could uncover the mechanisms that activate our behavior and we could explain why we are acting in a specific way. However, another way to explain our actions is that we consciously willed what we are doing. There is a confliction between the ideas of conscious will and psychological mechanism, having never been reconciled in a proper way. One solution for bridging the gap is that the explanation given from the mechanistic approach is preferred for scientific purposes, but that the persons experience of conscious will is very convincing and important to the person and must also be examined and be understood as well. Conscious will can be perceived in two ways. First, we can assume conscious will as the experience of consciously causing an action. This feeling of voluntariness or performing an action on purpose can be considered as an indication of conscious will. Secondly, we can think of conscious will as a force of mind, in other words, as the causal link between our minds and our actions. One might infer that this two interpretations of conscious will are corresponding to the same thing but it turns out that they are completely distinct and we are often tend to confuse them. This confusion is considered as the source of the illusion of conscious will. By examining conscious will as an experience it is concluded that will is a feeling. In other words, will is not consider as a cause or a force by itself but the personal conscious feeling of such causing and forcing. Also, this experience of willing an action is accompanied by a feeling of doing, which is an internal force that certifies genuinely that one has produced the action. Experiences of conscious will can only be confirmed by self- reports. The problem is that self- reports are not always corresponding with some other external evidence of the experience. There are several examples in which the experience of will does not seem to accompany actions that appear to be willed by other external factors. Considering the alien hand syndrome which is a neuropsychological disorder patients typically experience one hand as acting independently, in its own conscious intention. In this case there is a problem classing the alien hands movement as willed or unwilled. On the one hand the a ctions that are performed by the alien hand are seemed to be willful while on the other hand the person states that these actions are not consciously willed by himself. Another example in which the feeling of involuntariness is observed is hypnosis. People in this case feeling that their actions are happening to them rather than they perform the actions themselves. The only difference between hypnosis and alien hand syndrome is that in the second case the person cant predict what the hand will do but in hypnosis conscious will is lacking even though the person knows that the action is present. Considering these examples it is useful to draw a distinction between action and the sense of acting willfully. There are four basic conditions of human action. In the first two conditions we can observe the expected correspondence between the action and the sense of acting willfully. More specifically there is no controversy when a person does something and feels also that he is doing it or w hen a person is not doing anything and feels he is not. However, the case in which the person does not have the feeling of will when there is in fact action encompasses the examples of the alien hand syndrome and hypnosis. These instances can be classed as automatisms and draw a distinction between action and the sense of acting willfully. Another special case that highlights this distinction is the illusion of control. This term was used in order to describe instances in which people have the feeling that they perform an action when they actually dont do anything. This illusion of control can be observed in the interactions between humans and machines or when someone is rolling a dice or flip a coin in a specific way hoping to influence the outcome. Examining these two last conditions it is concluded that the action and the feeling of doing are not coexist inevitably. This might happens because the process of mind that produce the experience of will is different from the process of mind that produce the action itself. As it was mentioned before will is not only considered as an experience, but also as a force. Wegner states that conscious experience is an immediate perception of ones conscious mind causing an action. From this point of view will is considered as a quality of power that resides in the person and causes his or her actions. There are two fundamental problems arising from this concept. First, conscious will is considered as an entity that explains a variety of thing but nothing can explains it. In this way this entity cannot be examined in a scientific way because assuming that will is a force that causes a persons actions is like saying that God is causing an event. This is a barrier to any other explanation because it is not predictable what will is going to do as it cannot be said what God is going to do either. Secondly, the assumption that will is a force that resides inside the person creates further objections. As Hume pointed out causality is not an attribution inhering in obj ects. Another thing that was stated by Hume is that it cannot be seen causation in something, but must only be inferred from the constant relation between cause and effect. Causation is not a characteristic that is nestled in objects but an event. Thus it cannot be assumed that causation is an attribution of persons intention. It cannot be observed that an action is caused by ones conscious intention but it can only be inferred from the relation between the intention and action. One reason why people confuse the experience of will for a causal mechanism is because they try to make sense of themselves as causal agents. Most humans perceive themselves and the other people as entities that acting independently in order to achieve a future goal. The concept of causal agency is very important for people because it helps them understand in a deeper sense human action. Humans are considered to be agents that are acting in purpose and they have the capacity to discern their goals consciously in advance of action. Thus the experience of will seems to be a causal agent. People perceive their own minds as systems that have mental causing properties, as causal agents and in this way they need to accept that the experience of conscious will is real. 2. Theory of Apparent Mental Causation What are the mechanisms that give rise to the experience of conscious will? Why do people feel like they are doing things? Wegner states that the experience of consciously willing an action is departing when people interpret their own thought as the cause of their action. In this sense conscious will is experienced independently of any actual relationship between ones thoughts and actions. This perception of will usually arises when people think themselves before the action takes place and that produces the sense of agency. In other words people seem to see themselves as the authors of an action when they perceive relevant thoughts about this specific action in advance and in this way they tend to infer that their mental processes caused this action. However will is not perceived as s force that causes action but as a conscious experience that depicts weakly the actual causal connection between the persons cognition and action. In this way, there is a fundamental distinction between mental process and the perception and the verbal report of that process. The mental process does not reveal the person any further information about the mechanism of this process and in this case it may be that the person uses prior causal theories to explain his or her own psychological functions. The conscious will may depart from a theory that was formed in order to explain the constant relationship between thought and action. But many scientific findings support that conscious will does not reflect the real causal relation. In fact brain events are those that determine intention and action while conscious intention itself cannot cause action. According to many studies the feeling of will is not tied inevitably to voluntary action and so must be considered as a distinctive phenomenon. Wegner propose a model of mental system that explains how people end up having the experience of will which is consistent with various empirical findings. According to this model, there are a series of events that end up to a voluntary action. In this network conscious thought and action are activated by unconscious mental processes which are may be linked to each other. But the path that gives rise to the experience of will is not actual but apparent. More specifically, when someone believes that his conscious intention caused the voluntary action he is experiencing a sense of will, that he willfully caused the action. The problem is that the perceived conscious will is not always corresponding with the actual mechanisms that connect the thought and the action. In other words, the experience of conscious will is not an indication of the actual relation between the mind and the action. What is truly might be happening is that conscious will arises from a causal illusion, from a third variable that interferes. As it can never be drawn with certainty that A causes B because there is always exist a variable C that cause both of them, in the same way it is not certain that ones thought cause his actions because there are unconscious mechanisms that produce both of them. Wegners theory proposes that experience of will is arising when people infer that their thoughts have caused their actions, whether this inference is true or not. According to this people tend to infer that thought causes action when the principles of priority, consistency and exclusivity are fulfilled. First, the thought must be appear in consciousness prior to the action (priority) secondly, it should be consistent with the action (consistency) and finally there must not be other potential causes of the action (exclusivity). Studies have shown that the perception of causality is based on these principles in order to be established a relationship between the cause and the effect. In fact, these principles do not depict an actual causal relation because the perceptions of causality that are based on these principles arise from reality. In a nutshell, the theory of apparent mental causation assumes that the experience of consciously willing our actions is a construction. When a thought appears to be prior and consistent with the action and exclusive of any other alternative causes this construction produces the feeling that we are the authors of this action. However, this feeling is just an inference that our thoughts cause our action, not a direct perception of this causal relationship. 3. Why do we have the illusion? Why do people occupied with experience of intention if it is no causally effective? As we mentioned before conscious will departs from the interpretation that our thoughts cause our actions. In this way, apparent mental causation is produced by an interpretive mechanism that is completely different from the mechanistic process that forms the real mental causation. Thus, the experience of will is considered to be an indication that mind determines our actions, is the way that mind illustrates their functions to us, not their real functions. These prior thoughts that people have are not intentions that cause things but previews of what we may do. Wegner states that conscious will is the minds compass. More specifically is the experience that alerts our minds when actions are present and that these actions are the products of their own agency. Therefore the will is an indicator that informs us about the way we operate, does not cause our actions. Will also serve another purpose, is it a feeling that gives us information about our understanding of our own agency. In other words, it is an emotion of authorship and functions as a guide to ourselves and marks out our own functions. It informs us about who we are and what we are able to do. Finally, the most important thing is that will cultivates feelings about our responsibility for our actions and our sense of morality and guilt. 4. Empirical evidence Is free will exists? What is causing our actions? Libet (1999) had taken an experimental approach in order to give conclusive answers to these questions. In his empirical study, he found that free voluntary actions were preceded by the readiness potential RP, that is a specific electrical shift in the brain, that starts 550ms before the action. The awareness of the intention to act comes 350-400 ms after RP begins but 200ms before the action. Therefore, the processing of the voluntary acting was initiated unconsciously. In this way it can be drawn that if the brain initiate this voluntary action before conscious intention is appeared then consciousness is too difficult to be the cause of the action (Blackmore). However, the conscious processing can control the result if it veto the action and that confirms that free will cannot be excluded. It is supported that free will is not able to initiate a voluntary action but it can control it (Libet, 1999). Libet experiments had raised many philosophical and methodological problems. First of all, he has been critised Mele(book) tried to interpret Libet findings in an alternative way. According to him there is a crucial distinction between the concepts of deciding and intending on the one hand and other states such as wanting on the other hand. Libet uses the terms of intending, urging, wanting, deciding, willing alternatively without making any discrimination among them. In particular, in order to explain how does a specific intention for an action arises in the subjects he strongly claims that the brain decides to initiate or at least to prepare to initiate the act before there is any reportable subjective awareness that such a decision has taken place. Therefore, Libet believes that decisions are causing our actions and that this electrical shift that happens in our brains seems to be correlated with the causes of our actions because they precede of the muscle motion by approximately half a second. In this way the brain made the decision 500ms earlier before the subjects become aware of that. B ut this can lead to contradiction because decisions cannot be made without being conscious of them. According to Mele, deciding to do something is completely distinct from having an urge or wanting to do something. One might want to produce an action but finally not decide to do it. In this way it is more plausible that brain produces urges rather than decisions because urges correspond to an unconscious processing. Thereafter, this unconscious urges helps the decision to be generated in order for the act to be produced. As Libet point out the conscious self can control or permit or veto the final motor action by deciding to do so and in this case the decision to initiate the action is more direct from the unconscious urge that initiated the whole process. In this way the conscious self that is intending and deciding still has a causal efficacy.(mele) Trevena and Miller (2009) disproved Libets core assumption that the electrophysiological shifts of the brain that prepare the action, that are present before the subjects are consciously aware of making the decision to move, is not evidence that voluntary action is initiated unconsciously. It is also concluded that these signs are not related only with the preparation of the movement. In the experiment that it was conducted the researchers compared the electrophysiological sign before a decision to move with signs before a decision not to move and they found that there were no significant differences between the signs in the two conditions. In this way these signs are not in charge of preparing these movements. Thus, Libet findings dont prove that voluntary actions are initiated unconsciously.

Essay --

1. NAME OF THE SYSTEM E-Cab is a service of mobile Taxi application via online. 2. SUMMARY OF THE SYSTEM TO BE DEVELOPED E-Cab is a JoBa company, provide a complete taxi services using the latest equipment and technology to facilitate the travel of individuals in and around the Johor Bahru area. The value proposition is straight-forward for confirm your pickup point and order your cab with the press of a button. In seconds you’ll receive confirmation of the name, photo and car model/plate of your driver, and will be able to follow the vehicle’s location in real-time as it approaches you. You can save favorite addresses, check ride history and use many more features constantly being added. Since drivers are checked for compliance before joining the network, passengers do not need to worry about their safety and can simply enjoy their ride. E-Cab gives customers the opportunity to pay with a multitude of payment instruments. So, our customers can pay through debit and credit cards, account vouchers and also coupons. Other products being introduced are university student debit cards, private label cards, account cards, pre-paid single event cards and specialty payment cards. Our company pays our drivers and gives our customers a full account of their taxi transactions. As an added safety measure for both drivers and passengers, E-Cab cabs are fitted with Global Positioning Systems (GPS), which enable the cabs to be tracked or located in an emergency. All E-Cab taxi will be clean, well maintained, and inspected regularly for safety and comfort. E-Cab’s has a unique Global Positioning System (GPS) that pinpoints the nearing driver thus allowing the driver to give an accurate estimated time of arrival. The GPS will enable the company ... ... clean and tidy taxi, friendly and polite drivers, careful driving, most practical route taken, and drivers know more about maintenance/repair services. â€Æ' REFERENCES Easy Taxi. (2013). Easy Taxi: Your Taxi in One Clicks! Retrieved October 20, 2013, from Easy Taxi Web site: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=br.com.easytaxi Softusvista Inc. Venture. (2010-2013). Malaysia Taxi Auto Fare. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from Taxiautofare.com: http://www.taxiautofare.com/my/Default.aspx The Atlantic Monthly Group. (2013). The Atlantic: Why You Can't Get a Taxi. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from The Atlantic Web site: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/why-you-cant-get-a-taxi/308942/ Wikipedia. (2013, June 25). Taxicabs of Malaysia. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_Malaysia

511 Midterm

511Part 1. Zomeworks: Four Decades of Design-Driven Innovation in the New Mexico Desert 1. )I believe that no, Zomeworks should not aggressively pursue the solar water heater market. I believe this for many reasons. Number one being that natural gas is one of the most abundant natural resources that the world has and if individuals are not being compensated for using a different technology then they will not change, it is sad, but it is reality. In today’s present society individuals do not like change nor do they like more expensive change.What I mean by that is it is quite expensive to have a solar water heater installed. I think that Zomeworks has a great opportunity to further maximize their current portfolio as long as they really start to focus on it. Zomeworks is a leader in Passive Solar Technology. I feel that this type of technology is not well known and that by pursuing the solar water heater market they are going to jump their innovative wave too soon. I think a go od indication of this is the fact that Zomeworks is producing products right here in New Mexico and I have not heard about them until this midterm.Zomeworks need to capitalize on the very valuable assets it has to offer. For example, Zomeworks Passive Solar Tracker is a great product for them to get their brand name recognized. While all of this is just my opinion I believe that in order to really make an educated analysis on whether or not Zomeworks should pursue the water heater market, the first thing I would look into is the overall goals of the outside investors, since they hold the majority stake in the company. I would want to look at the actual finances of the company.I would conduct research to find actual amount of quantities sold, revenues generated by each product type, and production costs associated with each product. In addition, it would be important to know the firm’s costs of optimizing its existing portfolio and its benefits against the costs and benefits i nvolved in focusing on the solar water heater market. Minimum Winning Game is defined as, â€Å"the first major market opportunity for a new technology that is limited enough to provide a clear target for the technology and product development efforts in the short to medium term and, nd sufficiently large enough to establish the foundation for the long term business and financial success. It requires iterative double linking process of understanding the business opportunity for the technology and linking that to technical priorities. † For example, a minimum winning game for Zomeworks would include many different facets. A winning strategy at Zomeworks would include further product and technological development that energizes and inspires its target consumer.The company knows that its target consumer base is mostly comprised of either â€Å"going green† supporters or those off the grid who require their specialized products. Zomeworks simply needs to use a more effecti ve strategy to communicate its message of â€Å"why† consumers should purchase its solar water heater. El Bulli accomplished the communication of its vision by highlighting an expression of innovation and a team that â€Å"constantly sought new techniques and new equipment with which to experiment†, rather than the message of running a restaurant to make money.Zomeworks needs to focus on redesigning the core meaning behind its entire portfolio before it can successfully expand its reach in promoting its solar water heater, Zomeworks currently caters to the niche buyer who has a definitive need for a solar product. If Zomeworks is going to expand into the consumer solar water heater segment, work needs to be done on communicating the environmental benefits of this product. A winning strategy at Zomeworks would include leveraging their customer target segments that show the most growth potential. . ) Full Credit Leadership is one of the key drivers in running a company. Leaders have many techniques and organizational structures to choose from depending on the type and size of the firm. When it comes to Zomeworks I think that an informal organizational structure and leadership technique would be the best. What I mean by informal organizational structure is the acceptance of input from all employees. Since Zomeworks is of a smaller scale they can afford the diverse inputs of their employees.While it is important for a business to have a structure in place as it grows, I feel a formal structure can have unique drawbacks while a company is still small. Employees in a startup business need to feel more like partners in the company's vision. Placing employees in rigidly defined roles when the company is small enough to ensure that all employees’ work together can create a rift in the relationship between business owners and employees, which can greatly affect the performance of the company.Strategic decision-making is generally more centralized in smaller organizations than in larger companies, again due to the relatively fewer number of managers found in small companies. What I mean by informal leadership is very well illustrated in the Monnalisa Clothing Case. â€Å"The founder is an essential element of our system of control,† says a Monnalisa product manager. â€Å"He knows when to feed the creative forces of the company or when to draw attention to critical production, financial, or quality indicators. As stated in the case, Monnalisa is a medium-sized Italian company that designs and sells clothes and accessories for children. Monnalisa is a great example of a company that has formal (results control) and informal (social control) mechanisms to manage its concurrent and ongoing need for creative design and efficient production processes. At Monnalisa, there’s no intention to limit creativity, but increasingly the company is trying to offer the stylists a minimum structure by running a series of internal meetings at the beginning of every collection.This collection briefing enables the team to define the objectives in terms of what to create (and its quality standards), when to create it (fashion weeks and availability at the shops for the beginning of the season dictate the timing), and at what target cost. Significantly, the company has introduced new software that allows the stylists to monitor the consequences of their creation(s) in financial terms (through cost cards) and in development terms (through technical cards) as ideas progress. With this tool, we don’t want to limit creativity at all—actually we want to maximize our creative potential and avoid the problems we had in the past when collections ended up to be incomplete on the shelves because we decided not to produce some low margin prototypes,† the CFO emphasizes. I think that for Zomeworks this type of managing between creativity and business would actually be pretty easy. Zomeworks management str ucture seems like it is very strong and they understand what each of their roles is.I think that the hardest part for Zomeworks would be the fact that the employees that work there are so smart and have so many different ideas that if would be hard keeping input to a minimum and explaining why management chose one idea over the other. 3. ) Full Credit Today, in order to be competitive it is essential to recognize the value of â€Å"knowledge† and to strive for an improved ROI and better management of your organization’s knowledge assets. Perhaps your organization has already recognized the value of the knowledge that it has spent its hard-earned capital to obtain.If so, you may already be taking steps to formalize the collection of valuable knowledge gained from experience and organizing knowledge in ways that benefit the entire organization. These new approaches are collectively referred to as â€Å"Knowledge Management†. â€Å"The fact is [knowledge managemen t and best practice sharing] is good for business. The faster and more effectively we can share ideas, the better we can make our product, the better we can serve our customers, the better we can build a committed team of employees, and—bottom line—the better we can earn profits for our shareholders. One way that Zomeworks can increase its internal knowledge capture and internal knowledge sharing is to build their collaborative competency. Collaborative competency is a firm’s ability to realign its internal resources and capabilities to the changing environment by leveraging on external resources and capability-acquiring mechanisms such as strategic alliances, acquisitions, and joint ventures. Zomeworks could greatly benefit from collaborating and sharing their passive solar technology.For example, lets say that Zomeworks collaborates with the company that is selling the majority of the solar water heaters in Europe. They could use this collaboration to learn fl aws that the Europe product might have or vis versa. Also, if they partnered with this European company their brand name would be out there more and this type of collaboration could eventually lead to a joint venture and the entrance into a new economy for Zomeworks. 4. )When it comes to the question of determining your target market you have to take into consideration what your product is and how your product is going to be used.Whether or not suburban residential southwestern United States is the right target market for the solar water heater is not the biggest concern for me. I think the bigger question to ask is, is it the only target market for the solar water heater and the answer is no, it’s not. I would agree that solar water heaters are more effective in the southwestern United States. I do not think, however, that the southwestern United States is the only target market to approach.If we again refer back to the scenario of just the Albuquerque area we know that the residents that live close to the natural gas lines are the residents that are going to be using gas water heaters because it is extremely cost effective. Therefore these individuals will have no financial incentive to give up their gas water heater for a solar water heater (refer to figure 1. ) The real target market for residential Albuquerque would be those residential areas that are further away from the gas lines since they are most likely using electric and propane heaters, which are around 10X as much to use than gas water heaters.Since customers are spending a lot more on electric and propane heaters they would be the best residential target market for the solar water heaters since even though the instillation of a solar water heater will be expensive in the beginning it will quickly earn its value compared to how much the resident owner was originally paying to operate an electric water heater. Figure 1 The key to remember is that there has to be a real problem that solar wa ter heaters solve in order to warrant mass adoption, something I don’t see happening in the United States, at least in today’s society.It appears that Zomeoworks is best positioned to pursue emerging markets, because these markets have conditions that produce problems that Zomeworks can solve. The Chotukool refrigerator further exemplifies the importance of having used a product to solve a problem. In rural Indian villages, traditional refrigerators were too expensive and an unreliable power source made them unconventional. The Chotukool merged the gap between having a functional and inexpensive refrigerator (something the Tata nano also did). Obviously this product would never serve as a primary cooling unit in the U.S. and I feel like solar water heaters fall into a similar category. The only target markets worth actively pursing are either idealists and those homeowners living off the natural gas line (self-centered). Since people with no gas lines typically use cos tly and inefficient electric and propane water heaters, installing a solar water heater would be a cost effective solution. The difference of course is that idealists have an emotional drive toward the product while those living off the natural gas line have a functional, self-centered need for the product. . ) I think that currently the company has a reserve the right to play strategy see figure 3 below. This means that the company invests enough to stay in the game, but avoid premature damages. This strategy may work for them now, especially since customers find them due to very little outside advertising, besides of course a magazine ad that targets the same consumers who are already are knowledgeable in the technology. Basically, Zomeworks is following a strategy aimed at maintaining production for the relatively localized and sporadic level of demand.I don’t see the company having as much potential by encroaching on the traditional energy market. Instead of adapting, Zom eworks needs to use a shaping strategy to redefine what it means to actually use solar. Lets face it, at the end of the day consumers are going to buy what they are most comfortable with and whatever is most popular. Incidentally the people making decisions for businesses act the same way. People want to be energy conscious consumers. Zomeworks needs to step into the wave and excite customers about the solar philosophy.How about designing a marketing campaign that shows which companies use Zoneworks products and how it has impacted the earth. This creates a popular group where individuals and businesses get social recognition for supporting rentable sources of energy. If I was going to make a shaping view for Zomeworks the biggest part would be for the based of Steve Baer’s philosophy. I think that Steve could have his engineers work quite diligently on producing a solar water heater that could be a leading example in the industry.It would set out and educate that population of what a big deal this type of technology is and how good it is for our world. I would really push advertising since we want to create a lot of demand. Figure 3 6. )B2C is defined as any business who sells primarily to the end customer while, B2B refers to any business who sells primarily to other businesses both online and offline. B2B markets are generally small vertical markets, often niche in size, comprised of a few thousand sales prospects to maybe as large as 100,000 prospects.B2C markets are typically large broad markets of tens to thousands to millions of sales prospects. I believe that Zomeworks should try a B2B approach instead of a B2C for the solar water heater market. I think that a B2B approach would be better for Zomeworks to pursue for many reasons. I think that the greatest reason that Zomeworks should go to B2B is to benefit their Research and Development department. If Zomeworks uses a big-box retailer to sell their products than it can increase the funding it h as towards R;D projects.If Zomeworks wants to have better product placement it needs to improve dealer relationships and further relationships with businesses that are possible customers. The benefit of using a B2B approach is that more effort can be spent on support and instillation, assuming that B2B results in a lower number of buyers. Instead of trying to cater to individual consumers, Zomeworks could appeal to servicing multiple needs of entire organizations and cultivating lasting relationships with its clients. Zomeoworks also needs to find a partner in the appliance industry.A reputable business partner would add credibility to Zomeworks and its products, and marketing multiple variants of its products would help diffuse solar technology into the market. Plus since brand identity in B2B markets is created through personal relationships and consultative selling with the other business Zomeworks doesn’t have to worry about product advertising. They can use the other bus inesses and resellers to do the marketing for them if they used the B2B approach. With their client base typically being repeat customers the transition would be easy. The lifetime value of a B2B customer is much higher due to the higher cost of sales and the likelihood of repeat or add-on sales to the same customer. † I think that with a B2B approach it would be easier to have multiple product configurations. I think that my having multiple product configurations Zomeworks is helping sell more of their product without the annoyance of pushing all of their products onto the customer, which in return could make them not want to buy the product since they will then be locked in. I elieve that by having a B2B approach it will help facilitate the diffusion of technology. I believe this because if you have many or even just another business selling your product they are able to advertise and speak to the value of the product. I believe that the one of the greatest ways to diffuse t echnology is to educate people of that technology. When individuals are fully educated on what the different products are used for etc. , they will be able to make an educated decision on whether or not the different products would be a right fit for them and their needs.The ever-changing market that is technology can very easily influence people, so by having resellers be able to answer questions and explain the products they are helping Zomeworks diffuse the technology. I think that a good example of a situation in where technology was diffused is in the example that Everett Rogers gives, â€Å"the implementation of water boiling to obtain higher health and wellness levels of the individuals living within the village of Los Molinas. † In this case the residents of the village have no knowledge of the link between proper sanitation and reduced levels of illness. In Los Molinas, a stigma is linked to boiled water as being something that only the â€Å"sick† or â€Å"u nwell† consume, and thus, the idea of healthy residents boiling their water prior to consumption was frowned upon, and those who did so wouldn't be accepted by their society. †3 Much of the reason for the lack of success is because the social norms and standards of acceptance into society greatly outweighed the idea of taking on this innovation. Zomeworks could also levarge what there target market should be in order to diffuse technology. With the proper market the customer base will be very accepting of this new technology.For example, bringing the technology to individuals that are very environmentally friendly. 7. )I believe that although Zomeworks is great at the R&D aspect of their company. I think acting as an R&D laboratory and licensing out technology and products would be a smart move for Zomeworks. They currently have a limited manufacturing layout (I am assuming since the one location is in Albuquerque), so switching to a pure R&D structure would be relativel y easy. If Zomeworks focused more on the R&D aspect of the business they could contract out to companies that would pay very well.TTTech faced a similar problem when deciding to either license out its time triggered system or become an engineering partner. The benefits of licensing its technology would be faster diffusion into the marketplace through various product variants. Its possible that firms would see alternative uses for Zomeowrks technology and products, just like how coolcell was designed because of a outside firms asking for a solution to cool batteries and increase there usable life. Another benefit of licensing includes focusing more on invention and innovation, which would help Baer diffuse his solar philosophy into a wider range of products.They could become a B2B company, which would free up the amount and time it would take set up stores everywhere and sell directly to the customer. I think that if Zomeworks handed over the sales operations to one or multiple compa nies then it would be a lot better off in the sense that it would really have the opportunity to perfect the products that it currently has and the time to invent new ones. I think that there are pros and cons to both solely being a R&D company or readjusting their sales strategy. I feel that with R&D come two main types.The first type of R&D is going to be the hardcore image processing and specialized stuff, which is giving you substantial competitive advantage. This is usually less than 5 percent of all the software developed, takes years, and gives you an edge and the ability to do projects others just won't or can’t do. For example, I currently am an intern at Sandia National Laboratories and the company performs a lot of WFO (work for others) and R;D research, but at the same time Sandia has corporate tools that they would not share with anyone simply on the fact that the knowledge an product are so valuable and crucial for the company.The second type of R;D can be descr ibed as general utilities written to spare time. For everything that falls under section one you have to be careful since this kind of stuff can either simplify the life of your competitors too much. To have in-house SW of this kind also usually means hiring a master in computer science or a genuine mathematician to actually develop it. For everything under section two you are doing a proactive disservice to the community by keeping these closed. You could spare a lot of people a lot of grief by giving them access to what you have, and get the same in return.The pros and cons of just revamping the sales process would be the fact that you would be able to monitor how your products are being sold and used. You could know that the purpose of your product is being used for what it is actually meant for. I personal feel that for Zomeworks I wouldn’t become solely an R;D company, but a lot of my attention would go to this aspect of my business. 8. )Steve Baer I believe is a very go od leader. He takes care of his employees and values the company’s vision and mission.A deeper meaning of Zomeworks’ products is that they present society with a decreased dependence on high technology, and therefore a more direct relationship with the sun and the natural world. â€Å"Industrialist, manufacturers, and scientists have made man so successful that he is becoming rude to nature. Let us not allow this. Engineers and businesses must lead the way a to good manners. With more energy, more experiment, and more study, man can spread throughout the universe while being polite to nature at home. Appropriate industry utilizing science will allow part of the earth to be left alone.Packing up to leave would show good manners. † I believe that the above quote really emphasizes what Steve Baer is trying to convey with the hidden meaning in Zomeworks’ innovative technologies. I believe the true meaning of the solar water heater is not that we can passively heat our water by ourselves, but is more about the idea of not subsidizing our natural resources mainly the sun in this case. I think it is greatly related to the fact that we should be able to take care of ourselves and if we continue to deplete the world of our natural resources then we are going to destroy our species.For Steve Baer I believe that the acceptance of the passive solar water heater would show that the world is moving towards a place where they are starting to appreciate the world around themselves. Zomeworks needs to communicate its products reliability and functionality in ways that support and augment high technology. A big question would be, how does one publicize the purchase of a water heater and how will they be socially rewarded for the purchase that sits hidden in the home.A water heater is much different than sporting a recycled water bottle or eco friendly clothing, but what if there was a way to publicize the product? 9. ) Full Credit When thinking about how Zomeworks could help the public in understanding its products I think that one of the first questions they should ask themselves is â€Å"who are our customers? † By asking themselves this question they put into perspective whether or not their customer will have any questions about their product. Usually Zomeworks customers are highly inquisitive individuals so making sure that their products are explained well is very important.Also, since many of the customers are returning customers they will want to be consistent on how they explain their products. The case illustrates to us that the potential United States solar water heater market is lower in comparison to foreign markets such as the European Union. Solar water heaters definitely have a positive public image, but public awareness is low due to poor publicity. If Baer does decide to produce his solar water heater he will definitely have to explain the benefits well enough so that the general public would be interes ted and want to purchase one.One way that Baer could inform the public on his products is through quick vignette tapings that he could easily post to his website or you-tube. I think that if Baer did want to pursue the solar water heater market he would have to explain the product to the public more. I think that he could easily do this without compromising his vision. He doesn’t have to offer bribes or subsidiaries in order to communicate the benefit that the solar water heater has to offer. He just has to explain how great the solar water heater is that way people will want to buy it on their own.I think that explaining the products better will actually help Baer in the selling of his products because to be honest people don’t want to buy something they know nothing about. I believe that no, Zomeworks should not expand into producing educational tools; I believe that the market is too small to make anything more than breaking even. Plus I think that if they were to e xpand into any other market they should shoot for what they are passionate about which is solar water heaters. Whether or not Baer’s water heater is an invention or an innovation is a good question.An invention is defined as, â€Å"A new device, method, or process developed from study and experimentation. † An innovation is defined as, â€Å"The act of introducing something new. †So in essence innovations lead to inventions. An innovation is the idea and invention is the creation and actual outcome of innovation. So based on what I understand the differences between the two to be I believe that the solar water heater is an invention that was based on the innovation of having a more direct relationship with the natural world. I feel that Zomeworks models a design process like Bang and Olufsens.It is very similar to a â€Å"Manhattan Project† type production place. Manhattan project design is a type of production development where many ideas are explored in parallel in early stages. It is a very design driven process. I think that the amount of controls in Zomeworks is pretty spot on. I think that everyone in the company shares the same values, which leads them stay on route to the mission. I don’t believe that Zomeworks engages their customers like Lego did. I think that they rely really on only the engineers and Steve Baer for the designs and input of the designs.I think that it would be very beneficial if Zomeworks did decide to leverage its passionate customer base. I think that by leveraging their customers they would be able to gather very innovative and diverse responses on their current products, or they could get ideas for new products. 10. ) I believe that Zomeworks’ innovations are not too radical for conventional houses. I think that the products they design are good for any type of house I think that their designs may be too radical for the conventional person.Conventional people don’t need the produc ts that Zomeworks produces. There is little incentive to buy a solar product that requires a labor-intensive expensive instillation, and periodic adjustment. Furthermore, its not likely that Zomeworks would be able to convince consumers to purchase multiple products to install in their â€Å"conventional homes†. Again, there is no problem conventional homeowners have that need to be solved with solar technology, unless they live off the grid or in an area with unreliable electricity, which is unlikely in the U.S. In today’s world there are all sorts of different people you have minimalists compared to the materialistic, you have the environmentalists compared to the contaminator. Zomeworks sell product not for the general public it sells products to a very specific kind of person and although the world in moving towards more an an eco-friendly environment there are still many people out in the world that will not buy Zomework products based on the fact that they are re ally not value added in a personal way.Unless there is a cost benefit to use these products Zomeworks is going to have a hard time appealing to the individuals who are just concerned about how it affects their personal bottom line. I think that Zomeworks should continue to sell their products to anyone who will buy them I think that there is definetly not a big enough market for Zomeworks to bring back the production of Zomes. What would be smart is to make Zomes available as an order to make strategy. You could order custom homes such as Lego did with the custom lego sets.This way you could personalize your Zome with all or none of the other Zomeworks products. I feel that Zomeworks would increase they sales of products quickly because everyone would want the most up to date Zome. 11. ) Zomeworks technology is different than a Nintendo game system or smartphone operating system. Zomeoworks cannot lease out the sun in the same way that Nintendo can demand money and incentives from g ame developers. If Zomeworks decided to sell its technology as a platform it wouldn’t work the same way as traditional â€Å"conventional† products.Whereas game system manufactures usually have tight controls over their platforms, Zomeoworks technology is not that advanced. Likewise, why would you give your technology away so that others can imitate your products? This is one reason why TTTech decided against leasing out its technology or even co-engineer products using its proprietary technology. The only product that I think Zomeworks could position as a platform are the Zomes. They could encourage architects to purchase their Zomes to build modern, environmentally friendly homes.Just like Apple pushed third party developers to come up with different Apps that individuals can download to their different Apple products. I think that Zomeworks should keep all the other products and possible just have re-sellers for them because I feel like the other products are what g ives Zomeworks their competitive edge. A winner-take-all strategy is defined as; a company – usually in a new space that is growing very quickly – should spend a lot of money today in order to achieve the top spot in market share, because they will likely keep that spot in the future.The polarization of winners and underperformers is intensifying. Once, a chief executive officer could claim that the performance of the industry, not the company, was the prime mover for stock prices. But with the advance of globalization and technology, companies whose products or service models have the slightest edge over the competition can quickly exploit that advantage. Investors are scrutinizing companies one by one, screening out those with merely average performance and investing the bulk of their money with the top one or two players in each arena.This phenomenon has created a â€Å"winner-takes-all† dynamic. There will be many companies who will destroy their companies i n the next 18 months by pursuing a winner takes all strategy. They will think they are doing what’s needed now to assure their future success. Instead, their reckless spending will exhaust their cash and they will likely find investors are too skeptical to keep giving them more money in the future. I don’t believe that the solar water heater market is a winner take all. I don’t believe this because although it is new space it isn’t growing quickly.The solar water heater product is going to have to be perfected before if can even become its own market. Yes, Zomeworks is going to be up against network effects in the because as time moves on competitors are going to start coming out to the woodworks in American and put peer pressure on Zomeworks to develop faster and develop a better product. Also, I believe that the R&D segment at Zomeworks is going to constantly be pushing themselves on different innovations to become the best solar water heater available. 12. )I think that Zomeworks has a very loyal customer base and really need to optimize the relationship between them.Zomeworks could even reward companies or individuals who buy their products by advertising a list of â€Å"socially responsible companies†. I think that Zomeworks could mimic the practices of Bang an Olufsen especially how Bang and Olufsen â€Å"think how their customer lives. † When you work with very specialized products you are not going to sell to that general public you are going to be selling to individuals that believe in the product just as much as you do. I feel that a very smart tactic that Zomeworks could use in order to leverage their customer base is to develop a loyalty program.All loyalty programs are unique, and they require ongoing and complex communications. If customers don’t understand a program or if the terms change, they will become disinterested at best or feel betrayed at worst. The characteristics of a good loyalty progr am might include: †¢ Clear benefits †¢ Achievable rewards †¢ Consistency †¢ Sustainability †¢ A feeling of appreciation †¢ Engagement †¢ Personalized, ongoing communications (print and electronic) †¢ Reward for referrals Loyalty programs in general are a huge opportunity for print and value-added services.These programs can be used for program planning, creative collateral development, customer support, or rewards and redemption management. In today’s market, success requires defining a targeted market, becoming an expert in understanding customers’ business issues, taking a cross-media approach to engaging customers’ clients, leveraging cross-media to drive interaction between print and electronic communications to improve and measure campaign response, and leveraging loyalty programs to generate ROI for you and your customers. I used to work for BCBG Max Azria, which is a high-end clothing store for women.Because our pri ce points were so high our sales greatly relied on the consistent client. This company uses a loyalty program and that is why I think they do so well. They make sure that every client that goes into the store is treated like a queen with a personal shopping experience. All of the clients at BCBG Max Azria always get first choice on sale merchandise. They do this by having events strictly for clients the day before the sale actually begins for the general public. Also, Zomeworks could give out samples of its technology in the form of small prototypes.Recall that G&B tested out its product experiments at religious festivals attracting thousands of people. After considerable excitement stewed among the participant, G&B used community members to distribute its Chiotokool in Godrej. Zomeowrks is not leveraging its current customer base or future customer base. Current customers need to be rewarded and leveraged to promote the products to untapped markets. 13. ) Full Credit I think that Z omeworks should create a business model for the solar water heater like the business model Tequila Mobile has.I think that a multi-sided would be the best choice for Zomeworks because it would allow them to have the best of all worlds. Their technological environmentally friendly products would prosper in this type of market. They would be able to have an R&D side that could sell solar water heaters to large industrial firms, and other large entities. They could supply solar water heaters to construction companies that are building homes and along with the solar water heater look into selling Zomes to the construction companies.To take that scenario a step farther Zomeworks could contract out interior decorating companies that can make household decorations (couches, desks, beds, etc. ) to fit nicely in the odd shaped Zomes. Some of the Indirect/Direct network effects that Zomeworks would run into are the having lower operational/overhead costs since re-sellers will take over the du ties of selling most of the items. They will also have lower advertising costs since the re-seller would take on those costs too. Also they would benefit from developing the Zomes and specialized products to equip the Zomes for example, the solar water heater.Users Traffic Partners 3rd Party Developers Billing Partners Multi-sided Platform 14. ) I think that Zomeworks would never use social media as a way to commercialize their water heater. I feel that Zomeworks could either greatly benefit or greatly suffer. Let’s talk about the negative aspect of using social media firkst. I think that Zomeworks would suffer greatly if they even tried to. I believe this because of the simple fact that Zomeworks is so against the use of high technology just because it is available to us.I think that if Zomeworks did try to use social media it would send the wrong message to the customers that know what Zomeworks believes in and stands up for. I will discuss below, the underlying causes of s ocial failures may be very different. Social failures represent opportunities for firms to step in and provide social functionalities that enable people to pursue new relationships or strengthen existing ties. Most of us are not accustomed to think about the social world in terms of social failures. We have been conditioned to think about the world in terms of the relationships and interactions we do have, rather than those we do not have.However, a moment’s thought will reveal that you may be facing some of these social failures yourself. Maybe you and your closest friend wish you could spend more time together, but you cannot, because you are separated by thousands of miles. Perhaps you and your dad wish that you could confide in each other more, but both of you are afraid of making the first move for the fear of being rebuffed by the other. When talking about Zomeworks I believe that social media would not solve any social failure besides advertising.When even considering advertising Zomeworks would have to consider the fact that they are a company that is completely against the use of high technology because the company believes that â€Å"high technology has disempowered us†. The company could come off hypocritical if the advertising choice they decide to use is one that involves the idea of high technology. On the beneficial side, Zomeworks use popular issues such as climate change to create a Facebook presence. Increasing exposure is not a joke. Zomeworks needs to make an emotional appeal to people and Facebook is the easiest way to communicate it.A lot of ideas could be generated for the R&D team at Zomeworks and real time demand information could be obtained by following the social media posts. Part 2. : Expressing the Terroir of Rioja 15. )If you refer to figure 3 on page 6 you can see that with a shaping view we are trying to take on the leadership role of deciding how an industry operates. The winemaker that I choose to make a shaping view for is Maria Jose Lopez de Heredia who runs the Marques de Murrieta Bodega. The reason that I picked Maria is the fact that I believe from the way she talks in the case to be very passionate about Rioja.I would want to base the shaping view on the fact that her grandfather was very modern and had the courage to change many of the historical and traditional practices of Rioja. I feel that she would be the most accommodating winemaker to challenge the process, which is the main goal of a shaping view. I think that it would be a good start to come up with a mission and vision, as well as the values that could be held by all in the industry. Our vision would center on keeping the traditional style of Rioja with bringing in modern flavors. Since there isn’t much research on the grapes the use to be used there would be a lot of rial and error. I think that from being a family member of one of the region’s most historic estates, the other bodega owners will most likely respect Maria and follow in the values that we set up for the industry. 16. )The term ‘dynamic' refers to the capacity to renew competences so as to achieve congruence with the changing business environment; certain innovative responses are required when time-to-market and timing are critical, the rate of technological change is rapid, and the nature of future competition and markets difficult to determine.Innovation occurs in a network of relationships between firms. Collaborative competency is a firm’s ability to realign its internal resources and capabilities to the changing environment by leveraging on external resources and capability-acquiring mechanisms such as (strategic alliances, acquisitions, and joint ventures. ) Nintendo’s strategy is open innovation. Open innovation is where you start optimizing your secondary talents that in return it creates a brand new market. So instead of competing head on, you bypass the other competitors by creating your own market.Dynamic marketing competencies enable firms to move into new territories by market sensing and technological shifts. Apple’s strategy is one of simplicity that was greatly fostered by the former CEO Steve Jobs who was probably one of the greatest visionaries ever. The company executed this strategy of simplicity by executing the timing of their products to the â€Å"T†. Also all of their products are capable of doing pretty much anything and all with just one button. I feel that I would use a mixture of those approaches.I would not fully commit to the idea of open innovation because I don’t think that it would be wise to leave the market of Rioja. It is not like a game console to where you can switch into different markets quite easily. I like the idea of using Apple’s competencies of innovation and superior quality. When markets are dynamic and ever-changing two things that you want to stay constant are your ability to always be innovative and the reputation of superior products. If I were a winemaker in Rioja I would reach out to the other Bodegas and see if any of them would want to start a strategic alliance.First off there is power in numbers and secondly you get access to more resources during all the different phases of development. 17. ) Full Credit The first scenario is that if I had a client that didn’t have a budget or didn’t care about the mass market I would want them to follow the business model of Elbulli. Elbulli didn’t care about anything except making the best most innovative meals and providing the most amazing experience. The only reason that I think my client should model the elBulli model is because money isn’t an option and the only thing that is a requirement is high quality.Elbulli has a very unique model in the sense that it isn’t about the bottom line, in fact ElBulli went out of business for a period of time and is now currently out of business again. Elbulli serv es this meal that is worth at least 800-1000 euros but is only charging 230 Euros, why is that? Ferran Adria the owner and top chief of Elbulli says it isn’t about the money it is about the customers and what they get out of the experience. Adria also teaches many culinary students how to develop this menu throughout most of the year. My client would manage the organization and their innovation strictly by creativity.I think that my client would express the Rioja Terrior in a very positive light since their whole process is run by passion. The second scenario is that my client wanted to be â€Å"born global† and compete internationally in the mass market I would recommend that they run their business like nano. My client could make a first mover advantage into different foreign markets. The first step in this move is they would have to conduct a lot of research in order to determine the different demographics that they would be selling to. Different individuals have di fferent taste buds for wine.They would have to know about the different market drivers for each area. I think that their attitude toward expressing Rioja terrior would vary depending on which foreign market it chooses. I think that yes the same company could operate with both of the two preceding goals. I think that it would probably be more difficult but that it could be done. All the company would have to do is be able to be both creative and structured. I think that if a company did decide to operate with both goals the leader of the company would have to know the happy medium between how to lead with creativity and structure.This company that wants to operate with both of the two preceding goals would want to follow the business model of Monnalisa. Monnalisa is a great example of a company that has formal (results control) and informal (social control) mechanisms to manage its concurrent and ongoing need for creative design and efficient production processes. At Monnalisa, there ’s no intention to limit creativity, but increasingly the company is trying to offer the stylists a minimum structure by running a series of internal meetings at the beginning of every collection. 18. I don’t think that the expression of terroir should be limited by tradition, but I do think that it should be tied to regional identity. Terroir is a traditional view, but I think that when things get stuck in tradition they loose innovation and change is good. I think that terroir has been limited by tradition and that is probably why there are so many arguments between the different bodegas because some are ready to accept the change and some are not. I do think that terroir should be tied to regional identity because along with regional idea comes culture and along with culture comes values.When the Rioja winemakers have the same values it would be easier to discuss issues that might arise in the industry as a collective group. Yes, I believe that the marketplace shoul d determine which expressions of terroir are â€Å"classic†. The reason that I think this should be the case is because there is no one else more suited for judging what is â€Å"classic† or not than the actual individuals that are involved in the market. You would never ask clothes salesmen to change your oil just as you would never ask a mechanic to judge you wine. I think that the authority of this decision should be given to the local market.I also believe that terroir should be combined with â€Å"locally produced† I think that by giving your product a local background it adds to the value. For example in the Zomeworks case how they refused to offshore their production. By being made in the U. S it showed how much Zomeworks cares for the local community. I think that it would be wise to have a board of directors for the Rioja and they could meet and discuss what the breakdown of payment should be, but if all of the Rioja territory is going to be considered â€Å"locally produced† then they all need to make the necessary payments.Just because a market is transnational, doesn’t mean that the expression of terroir should be transnational. I don’t think that by selling your product internationally you have to give up your cultures identity. 19. ) Full Credit Terroir is concerned with the relationship between the characteristics of an agricultural product (quality, taste, and style) and its geographic origin, which might influence these characteristics. The concept of terroir is frequently used to explain the hierarchy of high-quality wines. It can be defined as an, â€Å"interactive ecosystem, in a given place, including climate, soil and the vine. To understand the way terroir functions, it is essential to take into account the interactions among the factors that contribute to terroir. While very high quality wines are grown in various climates, it is impossible to define the ideal climate for fine wines in terms of temperature, rainfall (amount and distribution), or solar radiation. Nor can one define the best possible soil for growing high-quality wines in terms of pebble, clay or lime content, soil depth or mineral content. These factors of the natural environment have to be considered in terms of their interaction with the vine.Human factors, such as history, socioeconomics, as well as viticulture and oenological techniques, are also part of terroir. I believe that the actual managing of the terroir is a technology and a process, but I do not believe that the expression the terroir is a technology. The expression of terroir to me is more of a value that in engraved in the local community and culture. I think that terroir should be both expressed and managed. This could also relate back to Apple. While simplicity is the company’s strategy on how they execute their products it is also a vision for their company.It’s the belief that this is how they execute and will always execu te. Same goes for terroir, it is much more than just managing the land a certain way. It is an expression of local history. 20. ) Full Credit Are the denominacion de origen and France’s appellation d’origine controlee effective examples of regulation. Products labeled Denominacion de Origen, apart from being of superior quality, are expected to carry specific characteristics of geographical region or individual producer and be derived from raw materials originating within the region.Like most of these designations, a fundamental tenet of a DO label is that no product outside of that region is permitted to bear the name. I believe that yes the denominacion is a good/effective way of regulation I just don’t believe that there will be any such regulation that will help the winemakers at Rioja. Each winemaker is always going to believe that they have the superior product no matter what regulation is being used. I think that the government has gotten involved enough on the regulation aspect.I feel that regulation or no regulation the marketplace is going to always have its own view. I feel that a simple solution of an unbiased tasting took place. Even with that thought I feel that every individual has very different tastes which could again not provide a solution to this ever heated debate. Another way the this matter could be resolved is from the article Peer Power, from Potholes to Patents, â€Å"For two centuries, we have lived in a mass society defined by passive consumption, vast corporate hierarchies and the centralized control of state power.Those organizations didn't seem artificial to us because we couldn't imagine alternatives. But now we can. Peer networks are a practical, functioning reality that already underlies the dominant communications platform of our age. They can do things as ambitious as writing a global encyclopedia or as simple as fixing a pothole. † The bodegas could start a peer-networking group that could listen to the problems that the Rioja territory is having and come to an unbiased solution. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. scribd. com/doc/61931601/Minimum-Winning-Game [ 2 ].Susan Elliott, â€Å"American Productivity & Quality Center Conference Attendees Discover the Value and Enablers of a Successful KM Program,† Knowledge Management in Practice, Issue 5, December 1996/January 1997, p. 1 [ 3 ]. http://www. mymarketingdept. com/comparing-b2b-versus-b2c-marketing/ [ 4 ]. Rogers, E. â€Å"Diffusion of Innovation† 1962 [ 5 ]. Baer, S. Appendix 1 [ 6 ]. http://www. answers. com/topic/invention [ 7 ]. http://www. answers. com/topic/innovation [ 8 ]. SEGUIN, G. (1986) ‘Terroirs’ and pedology of vinegrowing, Experientia, 42, 861–873. [ 9 ]. Johnson, S. Peer Power, from Potholes to Patents. 2012