Sunday, December 29, 2019

Inhumane Acts of Society Illustrated in Jacksons The Lottery

Shirley Jacksons â€Å"The Lottery† shows the reader that the human race will do any horrible act for success, in this case holding a town lottery where the winner is stoned to death in the towns square in hopes of a bountiful corn crop come during harvest time. The lottery is a tradition held in the town annually on June 27 and is done right as the corn is ready to become fruitful. Even in the day and age where technology is used for farming (tractors, plows) to till and harvest the land, this is a communal tradition that cannot be broken. The story begins with a small town on a beautiful sunny day showing the children innocently collecting rocks near the town square, but was it an innocent act? The lottery would start around 10 oclock.†¦show more content†¦As Mr. Summers reads off name by name, the happy, talkative crowd is hushed by the nervousness. Reality is staring to settle in. As the men are told to open their piece of paper, Bill Hutchinson was disappoint ed to see the heavily drawn black dot in the middle of his paper. He is not the â€Å"winner† yet but now his family is at risk of demise. The rest of the family members must draw amongst themselves to discover who will be stoned for the harvest. The wife Tessie is the unlucky one to hold the final dot. Tessie is not a criminal but a victim of the unfortunate holder of the paper As the stoning process begins, Mr. Summers announces, â€Å"All right folks, let’s finish quickly,† (p.209). This remark proves that this village does not cherish human life where they will do anything for a successful outcome. This ritual sacrifice is something the younger generations might foresee as something not right or barbaric to do. Mrs. Adams says, â€Å"‘some places have already quit lotteries,† (p. 207). Old Man Warner who has been to 77 lotteries angrily argues, â€Å"There always been a lottery...nothing but trouble in that, pack of young fools,† (p.207). This shows that the young people are wanting to go off the trail and get rid of lottery because they see no good in it. The older generations see the lottery as a tradition that has been practiced for many years, it must keep living

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Process Flow - 1372 Words

Case Analysis: Arapahoe Pharmaceutical Company A PAPER SUBMITTED TO MSBMW IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE REQUIREMENT IN PROFESSIONAL SALESMANSHIP Submitted to: Professor Ricardo Cruz Submitted by: Sales, Ma. Shiela N. Nolasco, Princess Ann R. March 7, 2013 I. Scenario: The case describes the condition at the Arapahoe Pharmaceutical Company and its sales management structure. In the case, the Arapahoe Pharmaceutical Company has encountered important changes in the management structure of the sales division which has concerned the operations of the company. The change was started in order to beat the sales challenges that the company had been facing in†¦show more content†¦John Ziegler will be able to differentiate between the right amount of coaching time and when that person is not going to get better no matter how much coaching time he will put in so if his sales representative does not improve then he would know if it is time to let that person go. He will be able to tackle his problems with Marty Nakai up front as being a good leader; he will be able to give Marty Nakai a strong positive verbal feedback for his excellent performance. Disadvantage of #2: Planning can be time consuming especially during emergency or crisis when quick decisions are required. Advantage of #3: In the case of Larry Palmer, he was the most promising applicant, he had a great personality but had difficulty obtaining the required product knowledge and his scientific communication skills were not very good and these were all the things that were not easy to tell from his interview so it is possible that it was not completely John Ziegler’s fault for hiring Larry Palmer. Fortunately, John Ziegler made up for his mistake by hiring Peggy Doyle who seems to be very productive and she is doing very well in her region. John needs to find out on how to allocate his time in an even way because he spent too much time in the recruitment process for both Larry Palmer and Peggy Doyle when he should have been spending more of his time with his sales representative so John Ziegler will be able to reduce risks andShow MoreRelatedOperation Process Flow1526 Words   |  7 PagesOperations Management: Process Analysis and Applications Module †¢ Changing Sources of Competitive Advantage †¢ Operational Measures: Time T, Inventory I, Throughput rate R †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Link through Little’s Law Link to Financial Measures Levers for Improvement CRU Computer Rentals S. Chopra/Process Flows 1 How can operations help a company compete? The changing sources of competitive advantage †¢ Low Cost Scale Economies ( 1960s) – You can have any color you want as long as it is black FocusedRead MoreProcess Charts And Flow Diagrams Essay946 Words   |  4 PagesProcess charts and flow diagrams can be used to analyze construction process. The charts and flow diagram consist of standardized symbols, which helps to quickly identify the area of problem. There are six basic standardized symbol which are as follows: Table 2: Basic Graphic Symbol Source: Proceeding IGLC-7 The flow chart represents each step of the construction. It also represents the flow within the departments and between the departments. Flow process chart can be made by the flow diagram.Read MoreProcess Flow Supply Chain Management1528 Words   |  7 PagesRunning head: PROCESS FLOW: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT PROCESS FLOW: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE (EDI) Clifford Butler Operation Management November 1, 2009 Table of Contents Abstract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..4 The Internet-based supply chain system for mass customized markets†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..4 The role of electronic data interchange (EDI) and the Internet in supply chain integration..†¦...5 Read MoreProcess Flow For Generating Service Route1619 Words   |  7 Pagesautomotive and industrial clientele. Having branches across the United States, service representatives in these branches carry out service provision for customers who are geographically dispersed across their respective territories. From the As-is process, we can see that there are approximately 45,000 service orders each week across all branches; the volume of service orders per week is quite large. In order to maximize time and fuel efficiency, and also reduce the cost of freight as well as optimizeRead MoreBest Practices in Continuous Process Flow704 Words   |  3 PagesBest Practices in Continuous Process Flow Introduction Pursuing continual process performance improvement by through the use of a wide variety of lean techniques leads to an enterprise being more responsive to its customers while at the same time drastically reducing the costs to operate. No longer can organizations hope to stay competitive over the long-term by continually embracing the more statically-based, less flexible means of process flow that they have relied on in the past. FundamentalRead MoreTechnology : Visualizing Process And Data Flow Essay1876 Words   |  8 Pages AT 590 Special Problems in Aviation Technology Visualizing process and data flow ‘Smart’ interactive process mapping Shuyao Wu Purdue University â€Æ' Abstract This paper explores the augmented reality (AR) technology in airport ramp operations. The purpose of this project is to provide a surveillance mechanism for ramp operators so that where will be a decrease in ramp accidents. Through the paper, the process map of ground operations shows the procedure after planes entering the gate until theyRead MoreThe Impact Of Fragmentation Process On Genetic Diversity And Gene Flow1418 Words   |  6 PagesCHAPTER FIVE 5.0 The Impact of Fragmentation Process on Genetic Diversity and Gene flow. 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After completingRead MoreCapacity, Process Flow and Bottlenecks - Quinte Mri Essay2244 Words   |  9 Pageshealth services as the residents of the larger urban centers. Quinte MRI is experiencing difficulty in meeting the expectations of 2 scans per hour. As a result, productivity is declining and they losing the referral of many of their colleagues. The process is creating a lot of variability and uncertainties that Quinte MRI are dealing with. Solving the issue of the â€Å"bottleneck† will make the operation more effective and managea ble. By assuming the role of David Wright and Kevin Saskiw, I will recommendRead MoreThe General Flow Process Of The Digital Forensic Research Workshop2931 Words   |  12 PagesThe  Evaluation  stage consists of placing the gathered data in its proper context, and this is as legal as atechnical task, meaning that at this point of the forensic process we can determine either the acquired information is relevant and can be described as legitimate evidence in the case being investigated or not. Finally  admitting  the extracted data as legal evidence and presenting it the court of law. Digital Forensic Research Workshop In 2001, the first  Digital Forensic Research Workshop (DFRWS)

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Arguing in Favour of Behaviourism

Question: Write an essay on Evaluation of cognitive approach and Behaviourism Arguing in favour of Behaviourism? Answer: Introduction In psychology behaviourism play a dominant role in analyzing the way behaviour could be analyzed with respect to the positive and negative understanding of situation. The major aspect that is, checked in the present condition includes understanding of the emotion, personality and learning. Cognitive psychology refers to the study of several processes of mind. Utilization of different languages, attention, perception and problem solving as well as decision-making skills of any individual has been included within the study of mind. This study of mind has been called as cognitive psychology from the time of ancient Greek. Comparing and contrasting Behaviourism and cognitive psychology The major aspect related to behaviourism is through the process of conditioning. Lewis, Haviland Barrett (2010) opines the dominant role in the approach is that the individuals are judged with the help of the external environment. The stimuli play the most important role in the approach of behaviourism. Observation is the basic rule in this approach along with the understanding of the observable behaviour. However, Goldstein (2014) argued that, the major focus area of cognitive psychology is the mental process of the human being. The process of mind can affect the behavior of the human being. Different perceptions and assumption of the human being always affect the behavior of the individual person within the society. The subjective aspect that is the emotions, cognitions and the subjective aspect play a vital in the behaviourism. There are different forms of behaviourism approach that includes classical behavioursim that was prevalent in the 20th century. Snyder, Lopez Pedrotti (2010) put forward This approach is one of the most important measurable aspects in the psychology that measures the reaction and behavior of the individuals. Well-known US psychologist John B. Watson proposed this particular approach in accordance to the reaction of the behaviours that is exhibited by different people. He has the belief that there are number of attributes that can be attached to the specific behaviours of the individuals. In such case, Watson tried to understand the ancient feelings attached to the consciousness. In this perspective, it is important to note the fact that consciousness is non- quantifiable. However, he advocated the behavioursim approach that helps in dealing with the all the elements tha t is related to the feeling, emotions and the gesture of the individuals and the behavior that they exhibit. Watson tried to amalgamate both the theories and the concept of the ancient along with the current thoughts those are important. In the beginning of nineteenth century, experimental psychology has been emerged as the evidence based discussion of the psychology. The study of higher mental processes has been emerged in this period. Therefore, cognitive psychology, behaviorism have been emerged as the important contribution towards this aspect of experimental psychology. Cognitive psychology refers to the study and experiment of mental process of human being. It is the aspect of cognitive revolution from the perspective of psychology and sociology of human being of the society. However, Estes (2014) stated that, the aspect of behaviorism dominated the study of American psychology. Behaviorism is the approach of living as well as non-living aspect of earth. Nevertheless, cognitive psychology deals with only human being. The mental process, language, attention have been reflected within the study of human psychology. The cognition is included within this study here, as behaviorism has lacked from this aspect. Howev er, the process of communication and information theory has been included within the study of cognitive psychology. There are primarily three types of behaviourism, which includes the methodological behavioursim, psychological behavioursim and analytical or logical behavioursim. The methodological behavioursim is one of the normative theories that is related to the use of the scientific knowledge in the psychology. In this type of behavioursim the major element of understanding is not the mental state of the individual. This motive of the behavioursim deals with the aspect that there is no relation with respect to the beliefs of the animals. In such case, the understanding of the scientific behavior is not related to the proper study of the private entities (Martin, 2010). The processes of cognitive psychology are as follows: Attention: According to the psychological thought, attention can be considered as focused awareness on the subset of available information of perception. Attention helps to filter the irrelevant data of the whole information. Every human being with the help of desired data that can be distributed to different processes of mind of the individual. Memory: As discussed by van der Maas et al. (2011), there are two types of memory within the mind of the human being. Short term and long-term memory are two types of memory those can be utilized by every human being. Working memory and long-term memory are very useful memory for every human being. Long-term memory is included within the procedural memory, semantic memory and episodic memory. Perception: On the other hand, Demacheva et al. (2012) stated that, perception is involved within different physical senses. It is the structural approach of cognitive psychology. Language: Language acquisition is another perspective that is very important as well as effective for the psychology of different people. Language is also varying between different people. There are different forms or phenomenon within the perspective of language acquisition. Psychological behavioursim is a form or program within the limitation of psychology. In this aspect, the understanding of the study deals with physical stimuli, learning histories along with the responses that are forms of reinforcements. The analytical or the logical behaviourism is within philosophy that is regarding the meaning or the mental terms that is relating to the semantics of the particular concepts. The behavioural tendencies are the relation that is established by the individuals with the family and the socialization process that they have inculcated. The individuals are part of the environmental stimuli in this part of behavioursim. In the cognitive psychology, major processes of mind are included within the process of attention, memory, perception, language, Meta cognition. Ulric Neisser formally has coined this term of cognitive psychology. Cognitive structure means the process of transforming as well as reducing and elaborating or storing the input of sense of human being. Meta cognition: On the other hand, Paap Greenberg (2013) stated that, cognitive approach is the modern approach for analyzing the behavior of the human being. Cognitive psychology mainly deals with the approach of thinking of different human beings. It is very modern approach within the aspect of human psychology. Therefore, the cognitive approach has included within stimulus, effects and the response of the human behavior within the individual body. The approach of cognitive psychology is based on the principle that the behavior of human being can be generated with the help of response and stimuli within the mind. Behavioursim is formed on the observable behaviours that can be collected and can be used in case of quantifying the data in the research. Apart from this the major techniques that is used for the approach of behavioursim includes the intervention of the felling, gestures, emotions and the way of reaction. The analysis of the behaviours helps in understanding the psychological effects that both adults and children may have in the mind. Wright (2010) mentions this also indulges the socialization process along with the external stimuli and the reaction projected by people. This method has been used in the recent cases to know about the wanted behavior and to identify the unwanted ones. This would help in generating the positive ideas by the therapists. Therapies can be coordinated with the help of the reaction that is projected by the individuals. Major assumptions of this theory of cognitive psychology are included within different scientific processes also. According to cognitive psychology theory, every type of behavior of human being can be elaborated with different techniques of science (Unsworth et al. 2014). On the other hand, the behavior of every individual can also be explained as some effective responses of external stimuli. Behavior of the people can be controlled by though process of the individual. There are genetic factors and psychological factors those can affect the behavioral process of every individual within the society. Therefore, cognitive psychology has focused upon the thought process of the individual. The basic area of assumptions that is tried by the approach of behavioursim includes the fact that psychology is a science and the perspective of science plays a dominating role in the same. The strengths of the approach includes that the scientific base helps in the empirical study of the people. Apart from this, there is objective measurement that could be tried by the approach. Apart from this, the analysis of the behaviour and the reaction can be, based on both humans and animals. Various renowned psychologists have carried out this study. The limitation may be the study may be at times deterministic and through the method of reduction. However, the scientific and the empirical aspect overpower this aspect. The key strength of the approach determines the relationships, language, culture and such other elements (Valentine, 1992). Cognitive psychology deals with the stimulus and response theory of communication. The communication process happens where the sender and receiver sends and receives messages in response of their stimuli, perception. Therefore, cognitive psychology has been included within this aspect of mental process. However, the first important theoretical effort within the psychology of information processing had been built by Donald Broadbents theory of Perception and Communication (Groome, 2013). On the other hand, De Houwer (2011) argued that, several psychologists have taken attempt for creating different explanations and rules of human behavior for evaluating the nature of behavior of every individual. Cognitive psychology deals with the thought process for the behavior. Every individual has different patterns of behavior within several conditions of life. Every individual behave differently in accordance with different situation and perspective. Every individual have different perception a bout different perspectives. Arguing in favour of Behaviourism In case of the bahviourism the major aspect of the understanding is that instead of only studying the mind the behaviours of the individuals are analyzed. This makes the study more relevant as all the aspects of the individuals that are the driving reason for the understanding of the way of behavior is, analyzed with precision. In case of the cognitive approach, the understanding is only based on the mind and there is a specific limitation to the same. In case of the behaviourist approach the major importance relates to the understanding of the way of behaving that also includes the gesture and the influence of the external stimuli. Hence, Mcghee (2001) argues in case of coming to conclusion the importance of the approach lies with the reduction of a number of aspects. The major understanding of the bahaviourist approach includes the fact that all the elements that is responsible for the way of behaving of the individuals is understood with respect to the environment. The study or th e assessment is based n the factors like the family, peers, groups the socialization process and the method of dealing with all the relationships. This approach is not constrained to the individual mind and discusses the understanding the nature and the behavior of the individuals. The assessment of the reasons and the understanding of the specific behaviour is the cause of the different levels of interaction and the relationship that is established by the individuals. Gross (1995) refers Behaviorism is part of a materialist theory and includes the idea of postulation no mental substance. Bahviourism is one of the approaches in psychology that make use of the physical substance and so it helps in clearly understanding the changes in behaviour. The aspect that favours the approach is that of the law of parsimony which entails that the approaches that use fewer perspectives are the one that could be judged effectively. In such case, bahviourism is the approach that helps in analyzing the fewer aspects and this makes the study much more credible. The decision making process in the study is helpful in understanding the ideas. The analysis of the bahviours in case of bahviourism includes the study and the research f the individual based on language, decision making and the problem solving efficiency of the people. This theory is use by the teachers and the therapists to analyze nature and the bahviours in the modern day. This helps in understanding the perspective of the behavior of the individuals along with analysis. The teachers make use of this method to know about the psychological change relating to behavior of the students. This also helps the counsellor in analyzing the change and the peer pressure that leads to the behavioural change. In such case, it might be noted that even in the present case then there are certain assumptions in the modern psychology that is derived from the aspect of bahviourism (Bem de Jong, 2013). The essay plan Introduction Behaviourism is the aspect that deals with the condition and the nature of feelings, gesture and way of behaving. This is important in case of analyzing the reason of behavioural change in the individuals. Martin, Carlson Buskist (2010) mentions this is one of the approach that help in analyzing the phobias, behavior therapy, behavior modification, education, language, relationships, addiction and aggression. These aspects help in understanding the behavior that is determined by the conditioning or the environment. This type of approach does not exactly allow the lab experiments but there is an ethical consideration that is followed in the particular approach. On the contrary, the mental process is the main aspect that is studied in the perception, memory, creativity and the problem solving capacity of the mind. In case of the Cognitive Psychology, it is the most important aspect that helps in understanding the perception of the mind. The creativity of the individuals is another attribute that helps in getting the developmental psychology that is relating to the mind. Criteria of evaluation The evaluation of the Behaviourism is based on the scientific validity. In case of the empirical nature of Behaviourism it has been found that most of the approach that helps in the analysis is the understanding. The quotient of science in the particular approach is less. The most important aspect in the present approach is the process of observation (Comer, Gould Furnham, 2013). The fruitfulness of the approach is the analysis that can be drawn from the people and the understanding of the people and the reason that they have certain behavioural aspect. The ability of the approach delves with the physical substance and the feeling that is inculcated through the process of understanding the nature of the coherence. The coherence of the people or the individual is through the process of understanding the motive and the impact of the physical substance. The pre philosophy of Behaviourism includes the fact that there has to be certain aspects like the belief and the cultural influence t hat change the behavior of the individuals largely. In case of the Cognitive Psychology it is the most fruitful important understanding the observation relating to the mind. The mind and the aspects that drive the mind is the most important aspect in the present approach. The memory is the aspect that can be analyzed through the process of the working memory. In such case, the scientific ground is the most important element (Glassman Hadad, 2009). In case of the development of the child or the understanding of the minds of the student both the approach are crucial. However, in case of the change in the behaviour it is the Behaviourism as an approach that, helps in dealing with the situation. Beckett Taylor (2010) mentions the analysis of the child and the development through can be also with respect to the mind that is the cognitive aspect. The quotient of intelligence can be through the method of cognitive approach as the development of mind and intelligence can be related with the approach. In case of the child, development the aspect of peer pressure can be ensured through the Behaviourism. This is the underatnding of the specific or differential exhibition of the behavior of the child. Main evaluation Behaviourism Pros Cons This approach is scientific largely with the change in the behaviours. The meditational processes are missing. In such case, the analysis of the behavior of the individuals based on the meditation is missing largely. This approach is largely applicable in the present day psychology and the therapies of the therapists. This approach does not depend on the biological drives. The hormones and the drive relating to the hormones are missing (Guey, Cheng Shibata, 2010). The major understand is through the emphasis on the objective. This approach does not have the deterministic approach. The approach needs to be free which is largely missing in the approach. There are number of experiments that cannot be tried with the help of support of the models and theories. The experimentation and the extent of the experiments are largely missing. The comparison can be tried and experiment with the humans and the animals. This also helps in the understanding of the perspective of the animals and the reason that they also behave in a particular way (Chaplin, 2010). In this approach there can be an analysis based on the humans and the animals. This is not effective as the creatures are different along with the perception that the humans retain. Animals on the other hand cannot speak and expression is the only method of exhibiting the behaviours. This approach is a process of reduction that does not help in attaining the full knowledge of the information. Cognitive psychology Pros Cons The approach is empirical and scientific The theory only deals with the mind and the reason that the kind has certain inhabitations Most of the implication is practical and so the application of the approach is related to the realistic implication of the mind The theory is only interested in the mental processing The treatment of the mind is the major aspect that helps in gaining the desired personality of the individuals This approach lacks the validity of the ecology This approach is narrow and does not follow the intentions and the behvaiour The approach does not look at all the perception of the a person (Woollard, 2010) Hence, it might be said that after going through the pros and cons behaviourism is the approach that helps in understanding the physical and the psychological analysis of the environment. This seeks to understand the change in behaviour. Conclusion In the recent days, it is one of the major aspects to apply behaviourism in the study of changing behaviour of the people. In schools and in the analysis of kids or children the change in behaviour plays a dominant role. Hence, from the study conducted above it may be said that even in the recent days more than cognitive approach behaviourism has its own place for the analysis of individuals. Reference list Beckett, C., Taylor, H. (2010).Human growth and development. Sage. Bem, S., de Jong, H. L. (2013).Theoretical issues in psychology: An introduction. SAGE Publications Limited. Chaplin, J. P. (2010).Dictionary of psychology. Dell. Comer, R., Gould, E. Furnham, A. (2013). Psychology. Sussex: Wiley. De Houwer, J. (2011). Why the cognitive approach in psychology would profit from a functional approach and vice versa.Perspectives on Psychological Science,6(2), 202-209. Demacheva, I., Ladouceur, M., Steinberg, E., Pogossova, G., Raz, A. (2012). The applied cognitive psychology of attention: a step closer to understanding magic tricks.Applied Cognitive Psychology,26(4), 541-549. Estes, W. K. (2014).Handbook of Learning and Cognitive Processes (Volume 4): Attention and Memory. Psychology Press. Glassman, W. E Hadad, M. (2009). Approaches to Psychology (5th Edition). Maidenhead: Open University Press. Goldstein, E. (2014).Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience. Cengage Learning. Groome, D. (2013).An introduction to cognitive psychology: Processes and disorders. Psychology Press. Gross, R. (1995). Themes, Issues and Debates in Psychology. London: Hodder Stoughton Guey, C. C., Cheng, Y. Y., Shibata, S. (2010). A triarchal instruction model: integration of principles from Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Humanism.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,9, 105-118. Lewis, M., Haviland-Jones, J. M., Barrett, L. F. (Eds.). (2010).Handbook of emotions. Guilford Press. Martin, G., Carlson, N. Buskist, W. (2010). Psychology. (4th Edition). Harlow: Pearson. Martin, R. A. (2010).The psychology of humor: An integrative approach. Academic press. Mcghee, P. (2001). Thinking Psychologically. Basingstoke: Palgrave Paap, K. R., Greenberg, Z. I. (2013). There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing.Cognitive psychology,66(2), 232-258. Snyder, C. R., Lopez, S. J., Pedrotti, J. T. (2010).Positive psychology: The scientific and practical explorations of human strengths. Sage Publications. Unsworth, N., Fukuda, K., Awh, E., Vogel, E. K. (2014). Working memory and fluid intelligence: Capacity, attention control, and secondary memory retrieval.Cognitive psychology,71, 1-26. Valentine, E. R. (1992). Conceptual Issues in Psychology. London: Routledge. van der Maas, H. L., Molenaar, D., Maris, G., Kievit, R. A., Borsboom, D. (2011). Cognitive psychology meets psychometric theory: on the relation between process models for decision making and latent variable models for individual differences.Psychological review,118(2), 339. Woollard, J. (2010).Psychology in the Classroom: Behaviourism. Routledge. Wright, R. (2010).The moral animal: Why we are, the way we are: The new science of evolutionary psychology. Vintage.

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Challenges Facing the Field of Organizational Change Management

Question: Write about theChallenges Facing the Field of Organizational Change Management. Answer: Introduction In the modern day business world, organizations are facing more changes than it has been witnessed ever before. One of the factors that have brought about the rapid change is globalization that has led to an increase in todays markets growth and revenue increase. Organizational change management is a field that gives guidelines for preparation, equipping and supporting individuals to be successful in adopting change with the view of driving organizational success and outcomes. However most of the changes and individuals are unique, research has proven that some actions can be taken to influence affected people in their transitions. It is a discipline that provides a structured approach of how individuals can be supported in their organization to be able to successfully transit from their current status to that if the future(Dyer, 2017). Most precisely, organizational change management is a framework that is aimed at managing the effect of new business processes changes in the structu re of an organization or enterprise cultural changes. While there are laid approaches towards change management, there also exist several challenges in the same field(Buchanan, 2014). The primary aim of this paper is to explore the challenges facing the organizational change management field. The exploration will involve a literature review in the challenges facing the field of organizational change management followed by a critique of the same. Challenges facing the field or organizational change management Different authors have taken an interest in the subject of organizational change management, probably because it is a critical subject that determines how organizations are likely to adapt to changes in their organizations. According to different schools of thought, various challenges are associated in the field. However different authors take different angles in analyzing the challenges, their arguments seem to have a common focal point. According to one school of thought, organizations either change or remain the same. According to the author, one of the challenges in the field of organizational change management is resistance to change. The author argues that people are status quo biased and that they are willing to get low pay struggling to get into a stable organization(Gioia, 2016). He further argues that resistance to change usually has political motives and that people tend to resist changes whose origin is political adversaries. He argues that people may resist a change dire ctly either through political influence or indirectly through passive aggressive behavior. According to the author, another challenge is an unknown current state. He says that it would be difficult for an architect to repair a building without first looking at the existing blueprints. He claims that most of the organizations often try to change without having a glimpse at their blueprints, something that fuels the complexity of the buildings architecture. This blind move makes it difficult to transition to a future state(Lewis, 2017). Another challenge is integration. The author likens managing a large organization to repairing an aircraft while it's still on the flight. He says that change is a moving target and therefore implementing a process will change the business processes it supports. He further argues that changing n organizational structure will lead to employee turnover occurring in parallel. He concludes by saying that long-running changes with many integration points are usually prone to failure. Another challenge according to this author is competitive forces. He says that in most of the times organizational change is influenced by external forces such as competition, technological change, market conditions, external threats and economic forces. Organizations may plan to change to respond to external threats. He argues that however if a competitor releases a product that is many years ahead of your product chances are there that you are driven to an extreme pace of change whose likelihood of failure is too high(De Massis, 2018). According to the same author, another challenge in the organizational change management field is complexity. He says that when organizations develop more complex systems, processes and product change become very challenging to make and therefore complexity of a change is a big barrier. He argues that complex changes need an effective and efficient project, quality, knowledge, risk and change management. He concludes by giving a change management prin ciple that says that one should never tackle a change which is too complex for his organization to manage. According to another school of thought, one of the challenges facing organizational change management is planning. The author argues that without stepwise planning an organizational change would bring about more problems than the benefits it is anticipated to bring. He argues that you need to precisely need to know which changes are to take place and how theyll occur. Overall, the author advises prior planning of how the change will be executed. According to the same author, another challenge is lack of consensus(Ololube, 2017). He argues that failing to involve everyone in the corporate changes will lead to increased barriers to the change execution. He advises that a decision to make corporate changes should originate from the top organizational level. He also says that the associated management level staff should be present to be in a position to deal with the challenges otherwise the staff will dissent. Another challenge according to the same author is failing communication. He argues that failing to communicate to all employees in the organization beforoe the change brings about fear and rumors in the entire organization especially if facing major changes such as downsizing or emergence. Communication failure brings about the uncertainty that makes the employees feel that they are not part of the decision(Pettigrew, 2016). He advises involvement of employees and updating them regarding the plans and progress towards the implementation of the change. Another challenge is employee resistance. He argues that sometimes employees resist change especially when they had become comfortable with the way their organization runs. It is because they have been used to what is expected of them in the organization. He argues that some major changes disrupt the familiarity of the employees thereby making them upset. In this case, the employees are not willing to relearn their jobs or change the wa y they used to undertake their duties. That becomes an enorbigmous challenge. He concludes by advising that provision of training for any new responsibilities as well as supporting then will ease the transition. Now, according to another school of thought, one of these challenges is lack of employee involvement. He argues that that is the main and common barrier to effective change management(Senge, 2015). He argues that most of the employees have a fear towards change and that there is the likelihood that even the most loyal employees would resist the change if they were not involved. He further argues that failing to involve employees in the change execution process lead to fear of the unknown and the lack of desire to support the change which eventually becomes very challenging(Grosser, 2015). According to the same author, another challenge is lack of effective communication strategy. He argues that in some organizations when some of the top leaders announce a change and assume that people will automatically adjust to the new change which is not the case(Meyer, 2015). The author argues that this approach is the silliest way to introduce a change and therefore it usually leads to change re sistance. He says that employees need to know how the change will affect them as well as how they will be able to adapt it. Another challenge according to this school of thought is bad culture shift planning. The author argues that sometimes the planning team lacks the idea that the change will affect the people. He claims that in most of the times the team concentrates on planning the administrative structure, job responsibilities and work reporting structure ignoring decisions regarding feelings and intuitions. By so doing, that becomes a challenge to change management(Kiefer, 2014). Another challenge according to this author is an unknown current state. He says that many organizations tend to introduce and to implement a change without assessing and understanding their current blueprint. He suggests that this can be overcome through a full understanding of the current corporate's blueprint before formulating or implementing any change. Another challenge is organizational complexity. He argues that sometimes organizations start developing complex processes, something that makes the process of planning and implementing a change very challenging(Stensaker, 2015). He argues that these complexities include complex products, processes, and systems which act as change barriers because they are difficult for the organization members to understand. He suggests a solution that an organization can counter this barrier by making use of a quality, diligent and effective change management approach(Tushman, 2016). He says that it is wise not to tackle a change that is too complex for an organization. He also advises that it is not wise to implement complex changes if the organization does not have the maturity to handle the complex change. Critique According to the literature review conducted above concerning the challenges facing the organizational change management field, it has been evident that different authors have different approaches to the same subject as well as different thoughts and ideas. However, at some point, their arguments have the same baseline. In considering the first author, his arguments are precisely true, and much evidence has been garnered to support the arguments. As seen in the above literature review, the author has come up with the challenges that are facing organizations in the contemporary world. It seems that the author conducted enough research to know what the modern day organizations are facing(Kuipers, 2015). The explanations provided by the author are valid and convincing. Taking an example, the author said that one of the challenges facing organizational change management is resistance to change. He began by hinting that people are status quo biased and went ahead to prove the same by showing that they can easily opt to get a lower pay to get into a stable organization rather than getting a higher pay in a changing organization. He goes ahead and provides the reason as to why people may resist change and finally illustrates how they resist the change. That is a sure indication of enough pre-conducted research on the study topic. However the author has strong points, he is too brief. The author is dedicated to tackling key points rather than giving full explanations, and this is one of the drawbacks of his piece. According to his principle on complexity barrier, organizations should not tackle complex changes(Buck, 2015). This principle, however workable, is a discouragement to organizations as it drives that view that some impossibilities in change management are beyond solution(Kiel, 2014). That is not true, in the business world, every problem has a solution, and therefore the author should have given a solution to the problem rather than arguing for not giving it a trial. The second author has taken the topic at a different angle. He has looked at the challenges of organizational change management from the employees point of view rather than the organizational point of view. He has looked at the factors that may make the employees unwilling to adjust to the change such as poor planning, poor communication as well as lack of consensus. The arguments are true and have enough explanations. The author has in fact taken time to deeply explain his arguments so that they can be easily understood. The challenges given by the author apply to organizations in the modern day business world and thus helpful. While his arguments are true and practical, the author should not have looked at the challenges in the employees point of view only(Cameron, 2015). The author should also have looked at the same in the organization perspective such as competitive forces, an unknown current state among others. That would have been more helpful. The third author has not done any research concerning the subject. His arguments are just a copy cut of the first authors arguments. As seen from the literature review, the same challenges given by the first author are the same challenges given by the third author. The author lacks originality and distortion of initial message in the zeal of attaining uniqueness is evident. His arguments are weak with the usage of offensive words such as the silliest approach. Overall, the author has not introduced anything new on the subject. Conclusion Change is indisputably one of the hardest things to adapt. This fact poses a major threat to companies wishing to change their structure, systems or operations with the fear that the affected stakeholders may not be willing to accept the change. Many authors have given several challenges, but the bottom line is that employees will hardly accept and adopt changes. However, there is an opportunity to provide solutions for these challenges by proper planning and involving all the affected members. Therefore, organizations should not be afraid of making major changes especially if they bring positive impacts to the company. References Buchanan, D., 2014. No going back: A review of the literature on sustaining organizational change. International Journal of Management Reviews, 4(8), pp.43-69. Buck, T., 2015. Long-term orientation and international joint venture strategies in modern China. International Business Review, 6(89), pp.58-64. Cameron, E., 2015. Making sense of change management. A complete guide to the models, tools, and techniques of organizational change, 5(7), pp.76-90. De Massis, A., 2018. Counterpoint: How heterogeneity among family firms influences organizational change. Journal of Change Management, 4(9), pp.78-98. Dyer, L., 2017. Studying human resource strategy: An approach and an agenda. Industrial Relations. A Journal of Economy and Society, 45(8), pp.55-78. Gioia, D., 2016. Identity, image, and issue interpretation: Sensemaking during a strategic change in academia. Administrative science quarterly, 59(8), pp.65-84. Grosser, T., 2015. Employee Perceptions of Network Change Following an Organizational Change. In Academy of Management Proceedings. Academy of Management Briarcliff Manor, 5(8), pp.63-85. Kiefer, T., 2014. Feeling bad: Antecedents and consequences of negative emotions in ongoing change. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 4(8), pp.68-75. Kiel, L., 2014. Managing chaos and complexity in government. A new paradigm for managing change, innovation, and organizational renewal, 5(7), pp.65-78. Kuipers, B., 2015. The management of change in public organizations: A literature review. Public administration, 5(7), pp.67-87. Lewis, S., 2017. Appreciative inquiry for change management. Using AI to facilitate organizational development, 4(76), pp.56-89. Meyer, J., 2015. Employee commitment and support for an organizational change: Test of the three?component model in two cultures. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 6(8), pp.53-84. Ololube, N., 2017. Organizational Change Management: Perceptions, Attitude, Application, and Change Management Practices in Nigerian Universities. International Journal of Applied Management Sciences and Engineering, 5(8), pp.5-10. Pettigrew, A., 2016. Studying organizational change and development: Challenges for future research. Academy of management journal, 4(7), pp.57-87. Senge, P., 2015. The dance of change. The challenges to sustaining momentum in learning organizations, 8(45), pp.12-22. Stensaker, I., 2015. Change management choices and trajectories in a multidivisional firm. British Journal of Management, 9(6), pp.61-87. Tushman, M., 2016. Ambidextrous organizations: Managing evolutionary and revolutionary change. California management review, 6(8), pp.56-85.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Why We Cant Wait by Martin Luther King Jr Essay Example For Students

Why We Cant Wait by Martin Luther King Jr Essay While reading Dr. Kings novel, I was able to get an uncensored idea of what African Americans went through in their struggle for civil rights. I cannot comprehend the extent to which they suffered while protesting, and it would be ignorant of me to think that I could understand. The many people who fought with Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil rights understand something about this country that I am only beginning to discover. I can only hope this shameful part of our history is never repeated. I felt a sense of disgust and shame while reading about the events of the Civil Rights struggle in Birmingham, Alabama. I have always heard that they would used dogs and water hoses to push back crowds, but I always got the sense that it was some kind of chaotic protesting on the part of the African Americans. I cannot believe that people who live in a country based on freedom of speech and the other rights in the Constitution would try to stop peaceful protests and demonstrations in such a manner. How could people think that this kind of oppression was tolerable and that the blacks did not have a right and freedom to protest? Part of me wanted to be there to help make a difference and join in the struggle, but part of me was also really afraid just by reading about the events in Birmingham. The people who protested with Dr. We will write a custom essay on Why We Cant Wait by Martin Luther King Jr specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now King showed a tremendous amount of courage and passion that could not be put out by fire hoses or dogs. I do not think that anyone, who has not been the victim of the extreme oppression that the blacks were victims of for hundreds of years, could understand why the civil rights movement was necessary at that time. Dr. King realized that you cannot wait for people to change their attitudes or beliefs, you have to help them see the error of their beliefs. It is easy for someone who is not being oppressed to tell you to wait. When you and your families are the victims of oppression and violence, you reach a breaking point when you realize that things need to change now. Dr. King had the courage to say that publicly, and people followed him in the struggle because of that courage. When you believe in something that much nothing, not even death can stop the struggle. Even after Dr. King was assassinated, his legacy lived on. His legacy was something that was stronger than the racists attitudes in this country and there was nothing they could do to stop his legacy. Our country has come a long way the events in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. Each day we come closer to being the country that Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned, and I hope we get there soon. I look forward to the day that we can say as a country that oppression and racism were the biggest mistakes of our country and they are a thing of the past that shall never be relived by anyone. Bibliography: King, Martin Luther. Why We Cant Wait .

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Phonetic Letters in the NATO Alphabet

Phonetic Letters in the NATO Alphabet Mens lives, even the fate of a battle, may depend on a signalers message, on a signalers pronunciation of a single word, even of a single letter.(Edward Fraser and John Gibbons, Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases, 1925) The NATO phonetic alphabet is a spelling alphabet- a standard set of 26 words for letter names- used by airline pilots, police, the military, and other officials when communicating over radio or telephone. The purpose of the phonetic alphabet is to ensure that letters are clearly understood even when speech is distorted. More formally known as the  International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet  (also called the ICAO phonetic or spelling alphabet),  the NATO phonetic alphabet was developed in the 1950s as part of the International Code of Signals (INTERCO), which originally included visual and sound signals. Here are the phonetic letters in the NATO alphabet:Alfa (or Alpha)BravoCharlieDeltaEchoFoxtrotGolfHotelIndiaJuliet (or Juliett)KiloLimaMikeNovemberOscarPapaQuebecRomeoSierraTangoUniformVictorWhiskeyX-rayYankeeZulu How the Nato Phonetic Alphabet Is Used As an example, an air traffic controller using the NATO Phonetic Alphabet would say Kilo Lima Mike to represent the letters KLM.The phonetic alphabet has been around for a long time, but has not always been the same, says Thomas J. Cutler. In the U.S., the International Code of Signals was adopted in 1897 and updated in 1927, but it wasnt until 1938 that all the letters in the alphabet were assigned a word. Back in the days of World War II, the phonetic alphabet began with the letters Able, Baker, Charlie,  K  was King, and  S  was Sugar. After the war, when the NATO alliance was formed, the phonetic alphabet was changed to make it easier for the people who speak the different languages found in the alliance. That version has remained the same, and today the phonetic alphabet begins with Alfa, Bravo, Charlie,  K  is now Kilo, and  S  is Sierra.(The Bluejackets Manual. Naval Institute Press, 2002) Today the NATO Phonetic Alphabet is widely used throughout North America and Europe. Note that the NATO phonetic alphabet is not  phonetic in the sense that linguists use the term. Likewise, its not related to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which is used in linguistics to represent the precise pronunciation of individual words.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Friendster Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Friendster - Assignment Example A defendant who has only added a new element to the claimed invention cannot avoid liability. Facebook and Myspace may use the defense of invalid as anticipated to avoid legal liability. This is through claiming that Friendster should not have been given this patent rights as their invention was anticipated. An anticipated invention is one that draws its inspiration from prior arts thus making their production to be predictable and expected by people. Such an invention cannot be a novelty and only novelties are accepted for receiving patent rights (Cooper, 2007). The option of showing that the patent is invalid as obvious can be used to discredit the patent rights. An invention may not be anticipated but obvious. The doctrine of obviousness gives the accused infringers some form of flexibility when the court is determining validity of a patent. Patents on invention which are novel but contain little differences with other inventions of prior arts will be invalid if such differences are very pronounced to a person who is skilled to that relevant art. The defendants may claim that the patents by Friendster are unenforceable even though they are valid. Even though Facebook and Myspace may have infringed on the patent rights, they may prove that those rights were not enforceable (Schlicher, 2003). This may succeed if Friendster had committed conduct that was inequitable. This conduct may involve failure to disclose the relevant prior art to the examiners during prosecution. This conduct is inequitable as it accords an inventor undeserved advantage over other inventors who comply with the inspection rules. The patent rights obtained are legal and valid but they are

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Broadcasting Culture in the U.K Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

Broadcasting Culture in the U.K - Dissertation Example (2) suggest, closely related to wider controversies revolving around race, class and sexuality. The methodology of this study will be that of a careful examination of what the movie audience actually sees and further, how these images/sounds influence their changing interpretation of gender roles within the film. Thus an analysis somewhat similar to the close-analysis of literary theory will occur in which what Bert States calls "the thing itself" (the film) will be considered together with its catalyzing effect upon the thoughts of the audience (States, 1). Due to the fact that this close analysis will involve a fairly detailed examination of the movies, two representative movies will be chosen for each of the decades concerned: Tarantula and Psycho from the 1950's and Fight Club and Thelma and Louise from the 1990's. While other movies will be mentioned, a discussion of just four examples in detail might seem a decidedly flimsy framework on which to hang an analysis of gender roles in film, but the depth of analysis possible by choosing just a few examples enables a firm foundation for the ideas to be laid. If an analysis descends too much into generalities it is liable to become just that, generic; films are best examined as the viscerally simple and yet overwhelmingly complex "things" that they are. A skimming over multiple films does not enable this. CHAPTER 1 1. High Heels in the Lab: A Close Look at the Portrait of Femininity in the 1950's Classic Tarantula It is possible to watch the apparently generic 1950's "monster movie" Tarantula without discerning the message that is almost subliminally contained with it that a woman can pursue a career... This dissertation reveals that different constructions of the â€Å"masculine† and the â€Å"feminine† have occurred since the beginning of Western dramatic literature in Ancient Greece, and have been continued within that most modern of art forms: film. The camera is traditionally seen as â€Å"male†, and it has a â€Å"gaze† that supposedly dwells upon the outer features of the female body while ignoring the complex human being beneath. The opposite is meant to be true of the man, who enjoys the position of having his intellect admired and his body ignored. When the camera looks at this body and the actions of the human beings within them in a problematic and more ambiguous manner, as has been shown in the four films discussed here, a more complex interpretation of human gender roles is possible. Thus Steve in Tarantula is a sexy, voluptuous woman and also a potentially brilliant scientist. The heroine of Psycho is equally feminine but takes on the â€Å"masculine†, active role of the thief trying to abscond with the money. Norman Bates controls his own world, and in fact literally â€Å"gazes† at his future victim through a peep-hole, but reveals surprisingly feminine features and neuroses. Indeed, the role of â€Å"Mother† that he takes on to murder people might be seen as the spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to subsume this feminine side. These two films, the representative of the 1950’s, were written at a time when gender roles were fairly rigidly enforced, although the stirrings of the massive changes that would occur during the 1960’s were starting to occur.

Monday, November 18, 2019

Introduction How does money become contaminated with cocaine Essay

Introduction How does money become contaminated with cocaine - Essay Example o the fact that cocaine is snorted from rolled-up bills, money recovered on the drugs trade from police raids is often contaminated with cocaine heavily. Tainted bills put into the counting machines also contaminates money. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is a technique in which a GC is coupled to a MS to separate, recognize, and quantify complex chemical mixtures. Vaporization of the sample solution takes place after it is injected into the inlet of GC. The sample solution sweeps by a carrier gas onto a chromatographic column. Flowing of the sample through the column causes separation of the compounds consisting of the required mixture by virtue of their interaction with the carrier gas and the column’s coating. The column’s latter part passes from a heated line of transfer and finishes at the ion source entrance. This is where the compounds are changed into ions. A mass analyzer fulfills the purpose of separating the ions that are positively charged. After separating, the ions enter a detector which sends information to a computer for visual

Friday, November 15, 2019

European Presence In Africa History Essay

European Presence In Africa History Essay Although there had been a British and greater European presence in Africa prior to the last two decades of the 19th century it was primarily coastal and revolved around the slave trade. With the abolition of the slave trade within the British Empire in 1803 and a complete abolition of slavery across the empire in 1834 there was little interest in Africa by Britain until the end of the century. This lack of interest in Africa did not include The Cape Colony though, which the British gained at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and which served a key role in outfitting ships on the British trade route to India. The role and importance of Africa to the British soon changed though do to imperial competition with France and Germany. Germany under the aggressive policies of Bismarck set out to take a leading role in Africa and catch up to other European powers such as Britain and France in terms of empire by gaining new control over territory and expanding their spheres of influence. Other important factors made Africa the hot spot for British and European expansion including the discovery of gold in the Transvaal and diamonds in the Orange Free State, the palm oil industry in Nigeria, scientific discoveries such as the way to treat malaria, and the mapping and exploration of the previously mysterious African interior early in the 19th century. In order to explore the nature of British expansion in Africa Porters The Lions Share and T.O. Lloyds The British Empire 1558-1995 are indispensable texts. Using their information on British expansion throughout Africa as a foundation it becomes possible to break down the period of greatest growth between 1880 and 1900 by analyzing British role in Africa prior to 1880, the external roles that competitors such as Germany and France had in forcing Englands imperial hand coupled with the internal economic drives for procuring areas of Africa, and the special case and significance of the Cape Colony and British Afrikaner relations. Britains early presence in Africa was exclusive to Sierra Leone, Gambia, The Gold Coast and The Cape Colony. They gained control of these areas in the late 18th or early 19th centuries. It is not until the 1860s that Britain and other European powers began to assert themselves in terms of gaining African territory making treaties. The scramble for Africa really has its beginnings in the late 1860s but does not began to fully take off until the 1880s when Britain, Germany, France, and to a smaller degree Italy begin to stake their claims. Britains previous African expansion had been very different then it would be in Africa during the scramble. The early British territories were either in primarily un-inhabited coastal regions or they had been gained from other European powers that had previously established sound control of territory such as with France in regard to The Cape Colony. Britains attitude toward African expansion doesnt really change in the last two decades of the 19th century from its long held overall view of keeping Africa on a shoestring. Its actions change radically though because of newly discovered economic opportunities and a need to respond to the actions other European powers. Although economic influence and foreign pressure created a reason for British expansion in the last two decades it is key to look at the small ways the British built a foundation for expansion starting in the 1850s and 1860s. For example David Livingstons exploration in Africa and the resulting publicity in the Victorian media opened Englands eyes in regards to Africa. He was most effective in creating interest by awakening Victorian morality concerning the still active slave trade occurring in east Africa. David Livingston had caught the public attention with his accounts of his explorations and his reminder that a slave trade on the east coast was still taking a gre at many slaves across the Indian Ocean to the Arab world. When he said that he was going back to Africa to make an open road for commerce and for Christianity he meant that unless a natural alternative was provided the slave trade was bound to go on (Lloyd, p. 182). Livingston was an icon to remind the British of Africa but his role alone did not fully set the foundation for later British growth in Africa. African expansion hadnt particularly been considered by because it wasnt viable do to high mortality rates caused by malaria and other tropical diseases and the lack of geographic knowledge of the African hinterland. These piece of the foundation started to come together though in the 1850s and 1860s to combined with Livingstons publicizing of Africa to build the base that would support the rapid expansion the would develop in the 1880s and 1890s. Advances inland were becoming a little more practicable because of advances in technology; People had known for centuries that quinine was a useful drug for tropical diseases, but it was really not until an expedition up the river Niger in 1854 succeeded in keeping its death rate very low by laying down that everybody must take a regular dose of quinine that the drugs value comprehensive value for preventative purposes was accepted. (Lloyd, p. 182) Careless behavior in exploring or expanding in Africa was not a sound choice even as of Livingstons death denoting the lack of interest Porter believes present prior to and through the much scramble for Africa in terms of the British governments desire for expansion in Africa. All the same Livingstons publicity and the work of other explorers and the use of quinine certainly contribute to the availability for British expansion in Africa by the 1880s. As the 1880s arrived and the stage was being set for African expansion. This is when a big impact from Social Darwinism played a huge role in Europes imperial ways. Social Darwinism of this period is generally understood as the idea that the strong have the moral right to rule over the weak. This concept is influential in the motivation to expand into Africa. The scramble for Africa primarily starts as French and German policies of expansion become apparent. It is important to make note though that the British government as of 1880 was lead by the anti-expansionist sentiments of Gladstone who came into office trying to deal with the imperial entanglements that the previous conservative government failed to clean up. The need to resolve conflicts in Africa began in Egypt in regards primarily to the Suez Canal. Egyptian mismanagement of the economy and military and a continually more strained relationship with France who had held considerable sway since the Napoleonic era in Egypt crea ted an opportunity for England to become more important in Egyptian affairs which the English desired because of the importance of the Suez Canal as an eastern trade route (Porter, p. 92-93). The situation in Egypt continued to worsen as France played less of a role because of concerns with Germany and with the debts mounting and the abdication of Khedive Ismail in 1879 something had to be done in order to bail out Egypt and preserve control over the Suez Canal. The British for the economic reasons attached with the canal stepped in and bought out the Egyptian shares in the Canal to help cancel some of the Egyptians debts. The debts were still not able to appropriately managed and rebellion broke out because of the wretched economy and the European presence in Egypt. At this point Britain was un-encumbered as France was with major concerns about Germany decide to go in and occupy Egypt so as to ensure the canal and bring about order. Along with Egypt, Britain soon came to similar situations in Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya. The British had been present in Nigeria since the middle of the 19th century with many small companies involved in the palm oil and coco industries in 1879 these small companies were merged together through the leadership of George Goldie producing The Royal Niger Company. As other European powers began to encroach in on the area controlled by The Royal Niger Company Goldie requested favors from the imperial government to prevent the loss of Nigeria. France was moving east from Senegal. Germany gained control of Togoland and The Cameroons just to the south. The Belgians were making claims in the Congo to the southeast leaving Nigeria surrounded by other European powers. The problem primarily arose because Goldies company lacked a charter and had no real treaties with the tribes in Nigeria. As the encroachment became more severe Goldie gained a charter in 1886 granting his company the powers of government. Goldies administration turned out to be a success following the granting of a charter as The Royal Niger Company promptly went out and procured treaties with the principal rulers of the area-staking claim and effectively limiting the further growth of their neighbors. The situation of the Royal Niger Company once again highlights Gladstone and his anti-expansionist policy being manipulated and circumvented under external pressure. German expansion in eastern Africa prompts British annexation of The Buganda Kingdom, which will be come Uganda and Kenya and builds a close relationship with Zanzibar at the same time Goldie is making progress in Nigeria. The issue of Britain absorbing Uganda and Kenya came from the foreign minister Lord Salisbury who had a sincere yet somewhat implausible belief that the Germans would swallow up Uganda which is the wellspring of the Nile from there new colony of German East Africa and would create a massive water works and cut off the river decimating Egypt and making the Suez Canal worthless (Lloyd, p. 238). Salisbury spent much of his time hyping this idea and in the process found McKinnon and his British East Africa Company. The British East Africa Company seemed like the perfect way to establish a British presence in the regions of Uganda and Kenya. It also helped to solve the crisis occurring in Zanzibar. In 1888 Salisbury became convinced that the Sultan of Zanzibar was in real danger of having what remained to him of his dominions taken from him by Germany. British interests there had to be safeguarded, and the best way to do this seemed to be to underwrite McKinnons arrangement with the Sultan. In addition, there was considerable disquiet in the Foreign Office about what was happening in Uganda in the lakes region. The German explorer Karl Peters was threatening to take it; Bismarck denied that Germany was officially interested in the area, but only a few years back she had not been interested in The Camerooons or Zanzibar either (Porter, p. 109). At first this seemed sound but the British East Africa Company was poorly managed and was in competition with the east African slave trade. The company was in trouble right from the start but made efforts to get involved with the Buganda Kingdom who were the primary rulers of the hinterland. McKinnon sent missionaries and his military captain a man by the name of Lugard into the Buganda kingdom and they quiet successfully became overlords of the Buganda Kingdom with little bloodshed. The only problem that arose from this was the fact that the British East India Company had neither the money nor the military needed to politically control the region. Lugards expenses in the hinterland and the lack of financial growth by the government prompted Salisbury to try to get a rail line built between Mombassa and Lake Victoria. This plan was meet with little support and Lord Rosebery soon replaced Salisbury in 1892 (Lloyd, p. 239). Rosebery shared Salisbury interest in Uganda and also pushed for the building of the railway and a governmental take over of the Buganda Kingdom when the company failed in 1895. The railway was eventually built when Joseph Chamberlain came into power in 1895 and the region was soon divided into Kenya and Uganda. The annexation of the Buganda Kingdom ends the expansion of the British during the scramble for Africa but then special attention must be paid to southern Africa. The Cape Colony as was mentioned before was procured in 1795 from the French as a victor prize at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Although the British had gained the colony from France it was really Dutch in origin. The Dutch had begun settling the region as early as the middle 17th century. The Dutch population that represented the majority of the European population up until the middle of the 19th century settled the area so as to escape religious persecution in the Netherlands. The Dutch population that inhabited the cape colony was known as Afrikaners or Boers and they were staunch Calvinists. The Afrikaners were a unique culture that caused a fare degree of conflict when the British took over. They spoke their own version of Dutch known as Afrikaans and they were primarily agricultural and thus relied heavily on slave labor. As England encouraged emigration to the Cape Colony and the slave trade and slavery were abolished throughout the British Empire greater cultural conflict grew between the Afrikaners and the British. The abolition of slavery made the majority of Afrikaners feel that their rights were being impinged upon and so in 1836 under the leadership of Sir Benjamin DUrban and Piet Retieg a mass exodus of Afrikaners to the north occurred. Nearly 15,000 Afrikaners trekked north past the Orange River into unclaimed territory in the southern portion of the Zulu Nations territory and founded the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Britain is content to be rid of the Afrikaners for the time being and lets political issues rest in southern Africa until they grant representative government to the cape colony in the 1870s and there is British interests in unifying all of southern Africa. These desires become more intense when the opportunity arises because of the economic difficulties the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were experiencing and because of a new Zulu threat. Lord Carnarvon was the Colonial secretary under Disreli in the 1870s and he pushed for unification and in 1877 he was able to convince the Transvaal and the Orange Free State to be annexed in return for aide against the Zulu threat. When the governments Changed hands in Britain and Gladstone came to power the Afrikaners appealed to him for their independence back as they no longer needed the British as the Zulu had been neutralized. Gladstone was not impressed and it resulted in the rebellion that saw the British embarrassingly routed at Mejuba in 1880. In 1881 at the Convention of Pretoria Gladstone gave the Transvaal and the Orange Free State their independence back in a relationship of suzerainty. This meant that Britain would control native and foreign affairs for the Afrikaner States but that was all. The relationship between Britain and the Transvaal and the Orange Free State is revised once more at the London Convention of 1884 giving the Afrikaners control over native affairs. During this period though a change in economic status in the Afrikaner states economic changed British interests. Valuable diamond mines were discovered in the Orange Free State and the richest gold strike in the known world was found in the Transvaal. These discoveries resulted in a massive influx of people not only from the Cape Colony and Britain but also from around the world. This mass emigration made the Afrikaners insecure and they didnt want to grant citizenship to the newly arrived people they called Uitlanders because it would mean that they would lose political control. This economic growth produced a renewed interest in consolidating the south of Africa but the British were still no closer to a solution. Two methods of achieving this federation, the voluntary and the coercive, had both been tried and failed. The current hope in the 1890s was that (in Lord Salisburys words) by impressing them, they might be compelled to fall in line and to join the great unconscious federation that is growing up (Porter, p. 100). It soon became clear that impressing the newly wealthy Afrikaner nations were not going to be impressed into unification either. A new political figure then joins the picture named Cecil Rhodes who eventually pushed the British effort at unification forward in some ways. He became a millionaire because of the diamond mines and rose to control both the British South Africa Company and act as Governor of the Cape Colony. He had British interests a heart but also thought unification would be a positive step forward for the Afrikaners and managed to have some respect with the Afrikaners at least early on in his efforts. Although unification did not happen until the beginning of the 20th century after he had lost his position as governor of the Cape Colony and shamed himself by trying to take the Afrikaner states by force in a failed action called the Jameson Raid he laid the groundwork for the unification that would come at the end of the Boer War. The unification would consist of the conglomeration of the Cape Colony, Natal to east, and the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State. Rhodes Tried to return to Cape Colony politics after settling tribal disputes in Rhodesia which was also under British control do in many ways to Rhodes role as head of the British South Africa Company but without success. The southern portion of Africa did not fully stabilize until after the end of the scramble for Africa in the first years of the 20th century (Porter, p. 243-44). British imperial growth in Africa during the last two decades of the 19th century was on the grand scale. This growth was not due to a British expansionist policy. This is made particularly clear under Gladstones government but through reactionary response to other European powers imperial conquests, both failed and successful economic reasons were also influential in expansion, and by British imperialists at home and in Africa who were kept on shoestrings and forced expansion such as with the cape colony and to some degree the British East Africa company in the Boganda Kingdom. African expansion at this time was closely compared to Asian expansion. The first reason was that Africa was not really so valueless by contrast with Asia; South Africa especially was rapidly becoming a treasure-house itself with it diamonds and gold and the prospect of much more to come, and from Indias point of view it, and Suez at the other end of the continent, were as essential as ever for access to Britain. The second reason was that Africa was easier for Britain to defend anyway. None of her rivals there had the natural advantages Russia had in Asia except perhaps the Afrikaners, and they were underrated; Britains naval strength could count for more, and her military weakness need show less in skirmishes with Africans or European expeditionary forces then in wars with standing armies; and there was no India to fall apart at the first sign of trouble (Porter, p.163). The British role in Africa only began with the scramble for Africa. British influence would continue to grow until the African colonies began to gain their independence in the middle and second half of the 20th century.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Tobacco and the Brain Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Tobacco and the Brain Recent surveys show that 25 % of all American adults smoke despite the fact that tobacco is the No.1 cause of death (430,000 annual) and disease in this country (1). The life of a 30-year older that smokes 15 cigarettes a day is shortened by an average of more than five years (2). Why do people smoke despite the fact that it shortens their life? Why has this practice of smoking tobacco been around for 1000 years? There must be something that the human body or mind gains in spite of the threat of an early death. I realize this craving for nicotine on a personal level because I smoke. Smoker's self-reported motives for smoking include stress reduction and improved circulation (3). That sounds like my reasons. Plus smoking is like a friend that I visit and have a good time with, something that I enjoy being with. Smoking cigarettes produces a rapid distribution of nicotine throughout the body, and reaching the brain within 10 seconds of inhalation (4). The nicotine causes a release of dopamine, neurotransmitters that carries information across synaptic clefts, in the dopamine circuit. This circuit, known as the brain's pleasure center, is an anatomically small cluster of cells. It has evolved over millions of years and mainly seems to reward activities that increase the likelihood of survival, such as sex and eating. This cluster of cells might be small but it reaches into regions of the brain involved with a variety of tasks (4). . These dopamine-releasing pathways course from the evolutionary older part of the midbrain to the hypothalamus and trigger activity of other cells, that extend from one part of the midbrain to an area in the forebrain known as the nucleus accumbens (2). It also branches out t... ...reatments further improves smoke cessation success rates (4). Considering the high death rate due to smoking and the difficulty of withdrawing from this deadly addiction, it is not a good sign that America's youth cigarette usage is escalating. Smoking prevalence among adolescents has risen dramatically since 1990, with more than 3,000 additional children and adolescents becoming regular users of tobacco each day (1). WWW Sources 1)Quick Facts about Nicotine http://ctri.wisc.edu/sub_dept/quick_facts/ 2)Interesting Science http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/home?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 3) Gleitman, H., Fridlun, A., and Reisberg, D. Psychology. Fifth Edition. New York. W.W. Norton & Company. 1999 4)U.S. Government Research Reports , http://nida.gov/researchreports/nicotine/ 5)MSNBC News Website , http://msnbc.msn.com/news/263658.asp .

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Microsoft Strategic Management Essay

Background It’s the 1970s. At work, we rely on typewriters. If we need to copy a document, we likely use a mimeograph or carbon paper. Few have heard of microcomputers, but two young computer enthusiasts, a nineteen year old kid and his twenty-two year old business partner (Bill Gates and Paul Allen) sold their first program to a little computer company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The program was called BASIC, and it was the start of this company we call Microsoft. We see that personal computing is a path to the future. In 1975, Gates and Allen form a partnership called Microsoft. Like most start-ups, Microsoft begins small, but has a huge vision—a computer on every desktop and in every home. During the next years, Microsoft begins to change the ways we work. Starting in 1980, Microsoft formed an important partnership with IBM that allowed them to bundle Microsoft’s operating system with computers that they sold, paying Microsoft a royalty for every sale. In 1985, IBM requested that Microsoft write a new operating system for their computers called OS/2; Microsoft wrote the operating system, but also continued to sell their own alternative, which proved to be in direct competition with OS/2. Microsoft Windows eventually overshadowed OS/2 in terms of sales. When Microsoft launched several versions of Microsoft Windows in the 1990s, they had captured over 90% market share of the world’s personal computers. We can take a look of the road map of Microsoft products, how it becomes a giant in the personal computer market. In 1982 – 1985 (Windows 1.0) – Microsoft launched a first version of new operation system – Interface Manager is the code name and is considered as the final name, but Windows prevails because it best describes the boxes or computing â€Å"windows† that are fundamental to the new system. In 1987 – 1992 (Windows 2.0) – Microsoft releases Windows 2.0 with desktop icons and expanded memory. With improved graphics support, you can now overlap windows, control the screen layout, and use keyboard shortcuts to speed up your work. Some software developers write their first Windows–based programs for this release. In 1990 – 1994 (Windows 3.0 & Windows 3.1) – Microsoft announces Windows 3.0, followed shortly by Windows 3.1 in 1992. Taken together, they sell 10 million copies in their first 2 years, making this the most widely used Windows operating system. In 1995 – 2001 (Windows 95) – Microsoft releases Windows 95, selling a record-setting 7 million copies in the first five weeks. It’s the most publicized launch Microsoft has ever taken on. Television commercials feature the Rolling Stones singing â€Å"Start Me Up† over images of the new Start button. The press release simply begins: â€Å"It’s here.† In 1998 – 2000 (Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me) – Windows 98 is the first version of Windows designed specifically for consumers. PCs are common at work and home, and Internet cafes where you can get online are popping up. Windows 98 is described as an operating system that â€Å"Works Better, Plays Better.† In 2001 – 2005 (Windows XP) – Windows XP is released with a redesigned look and feel that’s centered on usability and a unified Help and Support services center. It’s available in 25 languages. From the mid-1970s until the release of Windows XP, about 1 billion PCs have been shipped worldwide. In 2006 – 2008 (Windows Vista) – Windows Vista is released in 2006 with the strongest security system yet. User Account Control helps prevent potentially harmful software from making changes to your computer. In 2009 – today (Windows 7) – By the late 2000s, the wireless world has arrived. When Windows 7 is released in October 2009, laptops are outselling desktop PCs and it’s common to get online at public wireless hotspots like coffee shops. Wireless networks can be created at the office or at home. External Environment Microsoft gained a good result during the past thirty years. However, they still need to face the market change, which we called External Environment. Let us to take a look what External Environment that Microsoft is facing. Political factors – Microsoft is highly affected by the political scenario there in USA. Microsoft is becoming one of the giant companies globally. It has created huge monopoly across the globe. US government is now trying to break up Microsoft into several different companies so that to maintain equal competition throughout the market. One of the other reasons in splitting up Microsoft Corporation that it is becoming so much stronger that it could be a threat for even US government in near future. Economic factors – Being such a versatile company and the market share they have, Microsoft plays major role in bringing up the country economies they have set-upped their businesses. According to an independent studies that the economies of the country shoots up three times when Microsoft starts businesses in that country. Social factors – Microsoft has an edge on all of its competitors that socially more people are inclined towards Pentium platforms so naturally it helped a lot to have more market share rather than others. Market segment of Pentium users is considerably very huge but it would be threat for Microsoft that they are losing its share with an average pace, due to their unsatisfied customers. Technological factors – It was a decade earlier that Microsoft was the leader in producing high tech software and gadgets, but now they are getting tough competition from global phenomenon brand ‘Apple’. No doubt Microsoft adopts and market new technology. Environmental factors – Microsoft follows very strict policies to make sure that the company remains in full compliance with international environmental regulations and the specifically environmental requirements of each country/region where they are doing their business. Microsoft reduces waste disposal, where possible through source reduction and recycling at company facilities. All waste safely and responsibly handled and disposed of properly. Legal factors – Microsoft is playing vital role in legal aspect of their pirated products like Windows and other software. They are trying their level best to reduce the usage of their pirated software. They are introducing different security features which may reduce the usage of pirated products. Porter’s Five Forces Model Force 1: Potential Competitors The entry barriers of Microsoft’s business divisions are high. In the operating system business, it holds major market share in personal computing. There is over 90% of personal computer are using Microsoft Windows Platform (NETMARKETSHARE, 2012). The second is Mac OS by Apple Inc. which is only have 7.3% market share. Creating an operating system takes years and requires high skill set and knowledge. Besides the coding, it involves graphic design for better user experience, integration between various platform, and design of innovative features. Both Microsoft and Apple have been developed operating system for near thirty years. Microsoft has very strong user base from home users to enterprise and even government all over the world. To create a new operating system is very difficult that not only the financial problem but also experience developer and the market to promote this product. Force 2: Rivalry Among Incumbent Firms The threat of rivalry is relatively among Microsoft is low. There are just few rivals on operating systems market. The only distinction between operating systems is what software it can run. However, many famous application have release cross platform version. Force 3: Supplier Power F or supplier power, the threat for Microsoft is relatively low. All major resource are come from corporate internal. Most of them are human resources. For other business like their gamming console, Microsoft has several of suppliers available. The only down side of a supplier could hold is that the items needed by the console is a wide variety of electronics Force 4: Buyer Power Most of the PC Company sold their desktop, laptop, workstation with latest Microsoft Windows OS. This is become as expected by buyer. Even the direct competitor like Apple, their Mac PC and Mac Book can also support Windows OS. The cost of the OS is absorbed in the price of PC, and buyers tread it as bundle software. So it leads to low treat from buyers. Force 5: Substitute Products/Services Threat of substitute for Microsoft is low, even with the improvements of Mac OS X has made. To substitute by Mac OS, user need to purchase Apple PC. Apple PC usually more expensive compare with other brand in same hardware configuration. Many user consider the cost is not justify. SWOT Microsoft SWOT Analysis is in order to dissect the company situation in the market, consisting of 4 layers such as Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and threats. To date, the global business of Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft) mainly develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports software products for various computing devices. Its performance has been certainly in the science and technology circle, through its strong operating performance and financial stability to the company. It was expected to seek more growth avenues in the future. However, Microsoft’s margins and market share were partially hinged on the intensifying competition. Strengths * Windows is the dominate operating system in PC desktop of the world 92 percent of the market before Apple with 6 percent * Microsoft Internet Explorer is the second largest web browser behind Google Chrome * MSN was one of the favorite’s instant online chatting platforms * Bing is the second largest search engine behind Google * Software products have high name recognition, broad-based corporate and consumer acceptance, for instance Word, Excel, PowerPoint & Access, and numerous powerful features that are in use worldwide, thereby promoting standardization and competitive advantage through their ease of integration and cost-effectiveness Weaknesses * Dependency on hardware manufacturers to preinstall Microsoft’s PC operating system * Falling sales in the operating systems and server software sectors * Little or no significant presence in the wireless market. For example, Windows CE has been hazy and gave up. * Few products were occupying in an Internet applications * Perceived by many as a cutthroat competitor that uses its dominant market position to marginalize competition by stealing/destroying the competition’s products, stifling product innovation, and decreasing the availability of competitor products Opportunities * Lower global telecommunication costs create new markets as people connect to the Internet * Mobile phone applications and exploitation of personal digital assistants represent a growth industry so that strategic alliances could provide Microsoft with opportunity in a market Popularity among people for Internet access * The needs for personal computers in the global markets still keeps necessary for the aspect of document although the growth and increasing popularity of personal handheld devices Threats * Apple and Linux threaten Microsoft’s 88% market share of the desktop operating market * Currency exchange rates affect demand for application/operation software and hardware, and fluctuating currencies can negatively impact revenues in the global marketplace * Hardware manufacturers (Sun Microsystems, Oracle, and IBM) have collaborated on new platform technologies that replicate much of the value of Windows * Hardware manufacturers (Sun Microsystems, Oracle, IBM, AOL, and Apple) are preinstalled in their own prefunded programs with their own hardware * Personal computers, mobile phones, personal digit assistants, entertainment oriented handheld computers, and similar wireless products for Internet access do not need Window operating system products * Rapid development of mobile devices that will displace/replace personal computers * Software piracy of commercial and consumer applications software would be directly threaten the revenue streams * Cycle of Technology life is sh orter * UNIX is believed dominating in high-end mission as its customers do not believe Windows can handle these operations Capability and Resource In today’s information generation, the invisible is the essential. We no longer live in a world where physical assets are more valuable than invisible assets. Top levels of business performance are relying on invisible characteristics. Successful business could be achieved depending on the tangible and intangible issues. Intangible Leadership and managerial capabilities Slogan as follows quoted by Bill Gates of Microsoft: â€Å"Our basic assets, which are our software and our software development skills, do not show up on the Balance Sheet at all.† – Bill Gates advocates the company that Ability to innovate, Ability to change, Speed to Market, Develop and Retain the Best People and Create a One to One Customer Relationship. He clearly pointed out the Marketplace that a preference for invisible over visible when it goes to running a company. Therefore, businesses will have to recognize new drivers of value, such as customer led company processes, increased specialization, and an emphasis on knowledge employees. Brand name According to http://brandirectory.com/league_tables/table/global_500_2011 Microsoft jumped from fifth to second place in Brand Finance’s new list of the world’s most valuable brands as at 2011, but it’s still behind first-place Google. The Microsoft brand is worth $42.8 billion on 2011, up from a value of $33.6 billion in 2010, according to the list released today. Patent The Microsoft Intellectual Property Licensing group is responsible for licensing Microsoft patents and other forms of intellectual property (IP) such as research technology and know-how. The following items were the examples of patent of products. Several devices, from portable computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to mobile phones and video cameras, use liquid crystal display (LCD) technology to render images on a screen. Exchange ActiveSync is a communication protocol that enables mobile, over-the-air access to e-mail messages, schedules, contacts, task lists, and other Exchange Server mailbox data File systems patent The Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) is the latest file system for personal storage devices. The file allocation table (FAT) File System makes it possible for an operating system to track the location and sequence of each piece of a file Microsoft also offers a flexible Intellectual Property (IP) licensing program upon increasing in the industry’s interest in licensing its growing hardware technology portfolio. Strategic Partnership Nokia and Microsoft gathered on 2011 to create market-leading mobile goods and services designed to provide consumers, operators and developers without rival choice and chances. As each company would concentrate on its important competencies, the partnership would create the chances for fast time to market execution. Besides, Nokia and Microsoft joined integrate important assets and create completely new service provides, while extending built up goods and services to handheld devices market. Tangible Researching Centre and facilities Microsoft Research Cambridge was set up in July 1997 with a few researchers. Today over 100 researchers, mostly from Europe, are joined in computer science research at the lab. The city of Cambridge, England, was the good choice for the station of the facility because of its world-renowned reputation and its rich history as a center of learning. Located in Mountain View, California, Microsoft Research Silicon Valley was founded in August 2001 and now employs about 75 researchers. Its research work concentrate on assigned computing and includes privacy, security, protocols, fault-tolerance, large-scale systems, concurrency, computer architecture, Internet search and services, and related theory. Microsoft Research Asia is founded in Beijing as Microsoft’s fundamental research facility in the Asia Pacific region and expands rapidly. By attracting the best talent from Asia and across the international, Microsoft Research Asia has grown into a world-class research laboratory with more than 240 researchers and developers and more than 260 visiting scientists and pupils. Nowadays, the lab conducts core research in natural user interfaces, next-generation multimedia, data-intensive computing, search and online advertising, and computer science fundamentals. Employee With 90,000 employees in over 190 cities planning and developing many products and services for all customers and partners, Microsoft is concentrate on ensuring a top level of satisfaction among its customers and partners. It is an important component of its business. Final mission is to provide experiences for the customers and partners, across all of their interactions with Microsoft, that they value and recognize, and enable them to realize their full potential. Strategies In order to discuss Microsoft’s strategies of business level, corporate level, and international level, it is necessary to define them beforehand. Business level strategy is a comprehensive mechanism a company chooses to gain competitive advantage or superiority in a particular business (Cutcher, 2006). Corporate level strategy refers to the decision a firms make to explore new strategic opportunities, which range from an extension of current product line to expanding current operations and further moving the firm to completely new lines of business, under such conditions to vendor uninterrupted growth or keep current sales and profits (Cutcher, 2006). International level strategy is a strategy through which the firm sells its goods or services outside its domestic market by a few entry modes, like exporting, licensing, Joint venture/Alliance, and Sole venture. Microsoft adopts differentiation as one of the business level strategy by: * Accessibility options that let user personalize the computer display, mouse, keyboard, sound, and speech options in Windows and other Microsoft products. * Assistive technology products, specialty software and hardware products (such as screen readers and specialty keyboards), that provide essential computer access to individuals with significant vision, hearing, dexterity, language, or learning needs, and, * Interoperability among assistive technology products, the operating system, and software programs, which is critical for assistive technology products to function properly. * Continuing our longstanding commitment and leadership in developing innovative accessibility solutions. * Making the computer easier to see, hear, and use by building accessibility into Microsoft products and services. * Promoting innovation of accessibility in the development community and working with industry organizations to encourage innovation. Microsoft also uses cost leadership as one of the business level strategy to be consistent with the aim of Microsoft’s original goal enabling PCs that run Microsoft software on every desktop making the use of software is possible for everybody (blogspot, 2011). It provides inexpensive upgrade offers for user to upgrade from existing operation system or software to brand new version. Also, OEM version of operation system comes with brand new PC devices are sold at considerable discount. Furthermore, special edition of operation system and software specified for colleges ‘use are also offered with much discount to penetrate the market of students and teenagers. To maintain growth of business, Microsoft goes for diversification and innovation as corporate level strategy (scribd, 2009). Example would be TV game console, Xbox 360, mobile phone operation system, and voice over IP service software, Skype. Such strategy enables Microsoft to benefit in terms of money, market share, and better use of resources by: 1. Exposure to new products and markets 2. Sustain innovation and use opportunities to integrate knowledge into operations 3. Spread risk by avoiding having all eggs in one basket and provide better risk control through not being reliant on a single market 4. Provide movement away from declining activities (scribd, 2012) As to international level strategy, Microsoft adopts licensing as an entry mode, in which Microsoft, the licensor, authorizes a foreign licensee to use its patented technology for making and marketing products in the licensee’s home country (Cutcher, 2006). Microsoft sells goods and services through forming partnership with local licensee all around the world. Their partners are often licensed resellers and authorized distributors that are selling Microsoft’s products to local customers and provide marketing operation (Microsoft, 2012). Besides, Microsoft adopts global strategy to compete globally. Except suiting the language for each country and region, their products, like OS and office suite, are standardized that they share the same functions and features. Recommendation Microsoft is the world’s largest software maker. It represent the top tier in the industry and playing the role of market leader. Actually there’s not much weakness on its dominate market like operating system and office application. On the other hand, due to the changes of user behavior on Internet, more and more user surfing Internet using mobile device. In 2011, only 3.79% using mobile or tablet for browsing Internet. At the end of 2012, it has been increased to 10.42% (NETMARKETSHARE, 2012). We can predict the numbers of mobile device will keep growing in the near future. Microsoft was once dominate the mobile device (or PDA during that era) market by its Windows Mobile / Pocket PC OS. But losing it when Apple release iOS and iPhone. Consumer market keep changing in an expeditious way. A market leader can falling in a blink. Microsoft take two years to release Windows Phone 8 after the release of Windows Phone 7. To regain the market share, Microsoft may speed up its R&D. Provide upgrade path for its product or even produce its own hardware like other direct competitors Apple Inc. and Google did. Bibliography Cutcher L., & Wailes N., (2006), Cases in Strategy and Management, North Ryde, McGraw-Hill,p.100. Chakidan, 2011. Microsoft Business Strategy Analysis. [online] Available at:< http://chakidan.blogspot.hk/2011/04/strategy-analysis-for-microsoft.html> [Accessed 26th Dec 2012] Microsoft, 2012. Microsoft partner program. [online] Available at:[Accessed 26th Dec 2012] NETMARKETSHARE, 2012, Browsing by Device Category, Net Applications.com, [online] Available at: NETMARKETSHARE, 2012, Desktop Operating System Market Share, Net Application.com, [online] Available at: http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8&qpcustomd=0 scribd , 2009. Project Report: Impact Of Company’s International Strategy on