Wednesday, December 18, 2019

The Validity of The Evolutionary Theory Essay - 1486 Words

The evolution theory, one of the most significant theories, laid groundwork for the study of modern biological science. This theory has lead scientists into unending debates due to lack of empirical supports. Until the mid-eighteenth century, when Charles Darwin came up with an explanation to evolution, scientists, then, began to endorse this hypothesis. In â€Å"Natural Selection,† Darwin explains the natural selection, a plausible mechanism that causes evolution, to gain approval of his cynical audience for his evolution theory. He supports his claim with numerous examples of animals and plants that have developed traits beneficial for survival. A century later, Stephen Jay Gould, influenced by Darwin’s work, supports the evolution theory†¦show more content†¦By â€Å"begging,† Darwin shows his respect for the audience’s opinions, making them listen to his claim without feeling obligated. Darwin realized that had he kept asserting the idea of th e evolution theory upon the readers, he would have ended up losing them. The readers would have eventually gotten tired of listening to him. Therefore, Darwin composed his essay in a subtle tone so that the readers would not feel offended and would eventually approve the evolution theory. Through gentle persuasion, Darwin triumphs in gaining his readers’ support in evolution. While Darwin uses neutral tone to persuade his readers, Gould, on the contrary, portrays his essay in a more vehement tone. Since Gould aims at people who are in favor of evolution, his cynical opinions toward the creationists tends to please his audience. While Darwin employs subtle tone to persuade his readers, Gould uses fervid criticism to create emotional appeal that links him and his readers. Employing emotional connection, Gould effectively makes the readers feel that they are both on the same side, convincing them to support the evolutionists. Gould’s disapproval on creationism can be see n through the vocabulary used to describe the creationists. For instance, Gould labels the creationists as â€Å"meaningless† and â€Å"self-contradictory† with regard to their use of â€Å"distortion† to deplore the evolutionists (113-117). Gould explains how theShow MoreRelatedGame Theoretic Evolutionary Multi Objective1212 Words   |  5 Pages!!!!!!! Research Proposal ! ! ! Game theoretic evolutionary multi-objective clustering !!!!!!!!!! Seyed Alireza Mohammadi ! 1. Introduction The goal of game theoretic evolutionary multi-objective clustering is to divide a dataset into similar groups maximizing multiple objectives in parallel using evolutionary algorithms based on game theory concept. From an optimization point of view, clustering can be grouped as a NP-hard problem [1]. Evolutionary algorithms are practical approaches which are successfulRead MoreEvolutionary Explanation of Gender Development Essay937 Words   |  4 PagesOutline and evaluate the evolutionary explanation of gender development. Gender refers to the concepts o masculine and feminine whereas sex is the biological fact of being a male or female. According to the evolutionary approach, gender differences are neither deliberate nor conscious; they exist because they enhanced or helped men and women perform particular types of roles in the past. Therefore, the role differences we observe are more a product of our biological inheritance than acquired throughRead MoreEssay on Sexual Selection1132 Words   |  5 PagesHatfield helped support this by getting female and male experiments to ask male and female participants if they would like to engage in casual sex. 75% of males said yes while every female participant said no. This helps support the sexual selection theory as it shows that females have to be more careful with mating as they only have a limited amount of opportunities therefore are more likely to enter a longterm mating strategy. Males can have casual sex with little investment so are more likely toRea d MoreThe Biosocial Explanation Of Gender Development1317 Words   |  6 Pagesreplicate the experiment. This is because a standardized procedure is used. They allowing for precise control of extraneous and independent variables. This allows a cause and effect relationship to be established. However, it has a low ecological validity as the artificiality of the setting may produce unnatural behavior that does not reflect real life. This means it would not be possible to generalize the findings to a real life setting. Demand characteristic or experiment effect might also biasRead MoreDescribe and evaluate evolutionary explanations of gender. [8 + 16]870 Words   |  4 PagesDescribe and evaluate evolutionary explanations of gender. [8 + 16] During the evolutionary adaptation time period, between 10-40 thousand years ago, our ancestors were hunter-gatherers. This created a division between men and women. The men would hunt for food and the women would be in charge of the domestic duties such as cleaning and cooking. Doing the domestic chores would have kept women more protected, as it is less strenuous and would have guarded the camp whilst the men were out huntingRead MoreUnderstanding the Debate Over the Origins of Life Essay examples1104 Words   |  5 Pagesorigins of life, an unwavering dedication to the theories behind creationism evolutionary and abiogenesis theories makes itself present. It is in this realm of debate, Darwin challenges the dogmatic approach to understanding made by religious doctrine with science and evolutionary precedent. The ongoing debate between evolutionary and abiogenesis biologists and religious leaders is the ultimate contest between science pseudoscience. Evolutionary biology bases i ts claims behind the idea that aRead MoreCrime And Theory Of Criminal Behavior Essay1920 Words   |  8 Pagesare many approaches to criminality and theories of criminal behaviour that have been supported by empirical evidence, which provide insightful, but different explanations of this psychology phenomenon (Eysenck, 2013; Hollin, 2013; Putwain Sammons, 2013). In spite of this, there are criticisms and weaknesses to these approaches and theories as well as methodological limitations to the supporting research, which brings into question the reliability, validity and usefulness of these approaches in theRead MoreOrigin Of Life On Earth And How Biological Populations Have Changed And Developed Over Successive Generations1635 Words   |  7 Pages The theory of evolution discusses, with considerable proof, the history of life on earth and how biological populations have changed and developed over successive generations. Despite the abundance of evidence for evolution, both scientific and physical, some still doubt the validity of this theory. However, once compared with the alternative theory of creation, it is apparent that evolution is the most probable explanation for the origin of life on earth, to date. This essay will explain a handfulRead MoreBiological And Social Effects On Sexual Orientation1406 Words   |  6 Pagesthat it is socially constructed. There is a third belief that human sexual orientation is not solely biologically determined or socially constructed. From this belief come theories that combine both arguments, where human sexual orientation contains a biological component and a social component. One of the conjoint theories is that humans are born with a propensity for certain sexual tendencies which ar e determined biologically, and these tendencies are developed into a complex sexual identityRead MoreThe Difference between Pure Logic and Scientific Logic and Its Relation to the Problems on Earth1538 Words   |  6 Pagesby the Romantic/Enlightenment era. Q.2. As an application- Discuss why evolution is still considered a theory (ie. the theory of evolution) and why so many people can still dispute its validity: The theory of evolution must still be considered a theory because it has not been proved on a macro level, either according to empirical science or to philosophical or pure logic. Theories are simply ways of understanding natural phenomena; they are not to be taken as scientific fact. Newtons law

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Inherit The Wind Analysis Essay Example For Students

Inherit The Wind Analysis Essay Inherit the Wind, a play written by Jerome Lawrence, and Robert E. Lee, is one of the greatest and most controversial plays of its time. It was written at a time of scientific revolution to benefit people of the day and in the future, however, people of the day had a hard time accepting new ideas. It is societies unwillingness to change, and accept new ideas that create racism, and hate groups of today. This unwillingness is one of the major themes of this play. This thesis will be further explained, and supported by such literary elements, as setting, and character throughout the essay.The first example of the peoples unwillingness to accept new ideas, such as Darwinian theory, is towards the beginning of the book when both sides of the prosecution arrive in Hillsboro. The town is parading up and down the streets chanting, give me that old time religion, and down with Darwin. The irony of this is that none of them have read Darwins book, for example, when E.K. Hornbeck was talking to Eliza, the Bible salesman. Eliza said, that he, cant neither read nor write, so he could not have read Darwins book, but yet he is calling Hornbeck a sinner, and evil-utionist for believing in its ideas. None of the towns people on Mr. Bradys side of the trial have read, The Evolution of Species, not even Mr.Brady himself. Nevertheless, they will not accept the idea or take it into consideration. It is the towns people who represent society, and even today people will make false accusations about issues without even researching or knowing about the topic. Just saying something that they hear someone else say, then someone will hear them say it and so on, and that is the theme the book addresses, and this has created a problem in our society. The setting of this play has a lot to do with the main theme. Because the setting is a small town, it is not use to new ideas, and major cultural shock such as a large city. The people of the town have followed more traditional ancestral views about society, whereas people in a large city have been exposed to different cultures, and new ideas. A small town, in general, has no economic stature, and therefore, people of conditioned thought and tradition does not easily accept scientific revolutions from the big city. It is a great setting for the major theme, because those people are unwilling to accept new beliefs because they have been taught only one. In a large city, there will not be as much picketing and hatred for the idea, and that is why the people of Hillsboro make a great representation of our society, and their unwillingness to accept new ideas and changes. The characters in the novel also play an important part in the theme of the play, in that what they really represent to us. Cates portrays the change in our society when he is talking to the children of his class about evolution, and not abiding by the law. The town represents society, and Colonel Brady represents the unwillingness to change, and helping to warp the minds of the towns people having them cling to every last word he says. Colonel Drummond represents the minority of the people who agree with the change, and that he is representing Cates in this trial. Other characters in this play have a few significant roles, but not that directly relate to the theme. In conclusion, there are many different themes of this play, but there is only one to be selected. The one chosen, societies unwillingness to accept new ideas and changes, is a subject that we are fighting today, and one in which people need to change and learn more about what is different. .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 , .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 .postImageUrl , .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 , .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63:hover , .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63:visited , .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63:active { border:0!important; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63:active , .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63 .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf90df18368591537f0355d61a1ed2b63:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Mental Illness Essay This is the theme of this play, and the most important one, one we need to learn from in which not everything is black, and white, right or wrong, good or bad, but it is the gray area that people need to come to a compromise about. Society would then be a better place for children to grow up in, and minority

Monday, December 2, 2019

The Advantages and disadvantages of Using Celebrities in Advertisements

Introduction In today’s business environment, advertisements are a part of our everyday lives as business aim to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. Advertisements appear in any conceivable legally acceptable place as organizations aim to capture the attention of their prospective clients. TV programs are punctuated by commercial breaks which increase in intensity at the time of day when advertisers concede that there is maximum viewership and towering billboards continue to litter our highways.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Advantages and disadvantages of Using Celebrities in Advertisements specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Advertising as a marketing medium for business promotion is here to stay owing to the huge successes it yields to the organizations which employ the means. Advertisements have evolved in complexity and creativity throughout the years as a result of numerous resear ch efforts undertaken in advertisements. In the recent past there has been the prevalence in the use of celebrities by organizations in advertisements. The fashion industry in particular has been notorious for its usage of celebrities to endorse its products. This begs the question as to whether employing celebrities to front fashion marketing campaigns results to greater gains for a particular organization. To answer this question, this paper shall set out to discuss the significant advantages and disadvantages that may come about as a result of using celebrities in marketing campaigns. An analysis of the merits and demerits of celebrity advertisement in the fashion industry shall enable the paper to authoritatively state if these means of advertisement is worthwhile for the industry. Advertisement and Celebrities There is no universally accepted definition of the term â€Å"advertising† but the legal and statutory definition puts it as â€Å"a paid form of message dissemin ated by businesses†¦ specifically and systematically designed to influence the attitudes and decisions of individuals in relation to their consumption of goods and their use of services† (AGCM 2010). As such, advertising is always aimed at biasing the attitudes of the market to be favourably disposed to the company’s product. Despite the lack of a universal definition, the core function of advertising remains the say: to sell a good, service or product to a targeted audience (MacRury 2009, p.1). One can therefore infer that good advertisement is that which results in the increase in sales of goods or services to the targeted audience. The fashion industry stands out for its use of celebrity endorsement as a major marketing communications strategy. A celebrity is a well-known personality who is famous to the public for his or her accomplishments in some area e.g. acting, entertainment or athletes. Celebrity endorsement is generally defined as â€Å"any individual w ho enjoys public recognition and who uses this recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement† (McCracken 1989, p.310, cited in Wong 2009, p.1).Advertising Looking for essay on advertising? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A report by Cooper (2010) indicates that the reason that celebrities are so prevalent in fashion marketing strategies is as a result of the acknowledgement by marketing executives that celebrities actively influence the public’s taste. Advantages of Celebrity Advertisements For a product to sell there must be some positive regard to the product by the consumers. If the consumers can perceive the product as being of a superior quality to other similar products by differing companies in the market, the consumers are more likely to purchase the alleged quality product. Celebrity advertisements are very effective in creating this perception of quality in the eyes of the consumer. This allusion of quality as a result of the products being used by the celebrities springs from the fact that the public assumes that being a celebrity is synonymous with having a taste for quality products. A case in point is the Nike â€Å"Just Do It† campaign in the early 1990s which made use of a number of celebrity sport figures including Michael Jordon and Bo Jackson. The Center for Applied Research (2000, p.2) asserts that the use of celebrity sports figures was very effective in reassuring consumers that the brands they picked (Nike in this case) was a quality brand. As a result of the celebrity endorsement, Nike rose to become the leading sports apparel company in the world. This goes on to demonstrate the power of celebrities to showcase a product as being of high quality hence leading to increased sales. The core goal of any advertisement efforts is to expand the consumer base of a product and ensure that the current consumer base is maintained. Cele brity endorsement enables an organization to tap into the fan base of a particular star (Elberse 2009). This is especially significant if the organization desires to reach a certain group of consumers who are known to make up a significant presentation of a celebrity’s fans base. Devoted fans of a celebrity have been known to don the product that the particular star vouches for regardless of their prior like/dislike for the same. Contrasting this with non-celebrity advertisement personalities who have no fan base and are unknown to the public, one can see why an organization would prefer to use celebrity advertisers whose mere endorsement of the products represents an intrinsic increase in the products consumer base. One of the defining attributes of using celebrities in advertisements is that they are generally very expensive. However, celebrity endorsements are in most cases regarded as worthwhile investments in advertising since the company makes up for the costs incurred through the positive stock returns and increased sales.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Advantages and disadvantages of Using Celebrities in Advertisements specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This may be because a product always has a higher likelihood of being successful if it is well known to the consumers and the use of celebrities invariably leads to the generation of a lot of publicity and attention by the public to the product in question. While the high cost may be seen as undesirable since it cuts into the company’s bottom line and the success of the celebrity endorsement is not always guaranteed, Elberse (2009) reports that a survey she conducted indicated that use of celebrity endorsements mostly led to the increase in a firm’s stocks. It can therefore be reasonably argued that despite the high cost for celebrity endorsements, an organization gains more than it losses in advertisement co sts. Today’s market is saturated with multiple products serving the same purpose but made by varying manufacturers. This is especially the case in the fashion industry where the there may exist multiple dresses, hand bags and shoes to name but a few, all made by different designers. In such a case, celebrity endorsement can achieve the invaluable task of differentiating the organization’s products from those of its competitors (Elberse 2009). In an attempt to differentiate its products from those of other organizations, a company will have to invest a lot of time and money into ensuring that its products remain visible to the public. As a matter of fact, celebrities are more exposed to mainstream media than anonymous models (Bergstom Skarfstad 2004). Celebrity endorsement will therefore bring a great amount of attention to the organization’s unique product therefore differentiating it from the others in the market. Celebrities can be used to bring about credibi lity to a particular brand. If a celebrity is perceived as being trustworthy and respectful, the audience to the advertisement will see the celebrity as believable and hence take his/her word for it in relation to the product that he/she is endorsing. Credibility is given high value in the fashion industry since some of the products sold are especially expensive and as such, consumers need to be convinced before parting with a small fortune to purchase the product. Elbers (2009) suggest that while â€Å"consumers cannot easily assess the true quality of products†¦ seeing a celebrity attaching his or her name to a product may help alleviate some of the uncertainty.† The consumers trust will therefore be built as a result of this celebrity connection leading to higher sales for the organization.Advertising Looking for essay on advertising? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Disadvantages of celebrity Advertisements A significant disadvantage of using celebrities in advertisements is that if a company repetitively uses the same celebrity, consumers may subconsciously begin to link the brand to the celebrity. For example, Till 1998 (cited in Bergstom Skarfstad 2004, p.2) notes that the consistent use of Michael Jordan in Nike’s advertisements encouraged customers to think about Nike whenever they thought of Jordan and vice versa. This may be detrimental to a company’s goals should the celebrity endorser fall out of grace with the public. This is a very real danger as can be demonstrated by the product endorser giant, Tiger Woods. Until 2009, Tiger Woods was one of the most popular celebrity endorser earning up to $100 million from his endorsement deals with multiple companies (Shimp 2008, p. 250). Nike in particular made use of this athletic star to endorse some of its products. The negative publicity that came about as a result of Tiger W oods infidelity cases which were over publicized by main stream media resulted in a bludgeoning of his image and by extension, a negative perception for the products he endorsed. Another demerit of celebrity advertisement comes from the fact that fitting a celebrity endorser with a product may be a hard task and if it is not done correctly, an organization may end up spending millions on advertisement costs and not reap any benefits from it. A research by Bergstom Skarfstad (2004) indicates that most companies do not employee a clear strategy when they are selecting celebrities to use in their advertisements. As such, the companies rely more on intuitions and feelings in the selection process. For example, the sports apparel company, Gap, enlisted the high-fashion celebrity Ms. Parker (the star in Sex and the City) to market its sportswear (Ferla 2005). This was a mismatch which had disastrous results for Gap as its consumers could not identify the celebrity with the product. The o rganization therefore ended up spending millions of dollars in celebrity advertisement despite it not reaping any significant gain as the sales decreased. Conclusion This paper set out to highlight the significant advantages of employing celebrities by an organization to front its marketing campaigns. To this end, this paper has discussed some of the advantages as well as disadvantages that are apparent in celebrity endorsements. From the discussions presented herein, it is evident that the main aim of using celebrities is to obtain as much media coverage for the organization as possible which results in the generation of more sales. The facts presented in this paper demonstrate that this is a role that celebrities play successfully. It can therefore be authoritatively stated that the use of celebrities in advertisements is more advantageous to a company. Celebrity advertising should therefore be employed wherever possible by organizations in the fashion industry. However, care shou ld be taken to ensure that the celebrities chosen to endorse a product are well fitted for the role and fairly predictable to avoid the losses that can be incurred by the organization should the celebrity fall out of favour with the public. References AGCM, 2010, The Statutory Definition of Advertising. Web. Bergstom, C. Skarfstad, R. 2004, Celebrity Endorsement: Case Study of J. Lindeberg. Web. Center for Applied Research (CFAR) 2000, Mini-case Study: Nike’s â€Å"Just Do It† Advertising Campaign,. Cooper, R. 2010, Celebrity Fashion: Terms of Interest to the Fashion Industry. Web. Elberse, A. 2009, Risks and Rewards of Celebrity Endorsements. Web. Ferla, R. L. 2005, The Celebrity Endorsement Game. Web. MacRury, I. 2009, Advertising. Illustrated. Routledge. Shimp, T. A. 2008, Advertising Promotion, and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications, Cengage Learning. Wong, C. 2009, Risky Business: The Pitfalls of Celebrity Endorsement, Otago Marketing Review. We b. This essay on The Advantages and disadvantages of Using Celebrities in Advertisements was written and submitted by user Dylan George to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

A Web of Symbolism essays

A Web of Symbolism essays The use of symbolic language enhances a story by displaying the authors message and offering new meanings for the story. Marie-Louise von Franz, a writer and psychologist, was an expert on the significance of fairy tales. In her book, Interpretation of Fairy Tales, von Franz states, ...we can put forward the hypothesis that every fairy tale is a relatively closed system compounding one essential psychological meaning which is expressed in a series of symbolical pictures and events and is discoverable in these (1). Von Franz suggests that the message the author expresses in his or her fairy tale can be deciphered through the authors symbolic language. Our website attempts to better understand Snow White and Bluebeard by explaining the symbols found in the stories. The site Julia and I created is titled Symbolism in Fairy Tales. Our site discusses the affect literary symbolism has had on fairy tales. The site includes a page that provides the meanings and importance of certain symbols in Snow White and a similar page on symbols in Bluebeard. Our site also includes a page with links to other symbolism web sites, Snow White sites, Bluebeard sites, and other relevant sites. Through the information we provided in our site, fairy tale readers can interpret different versions of Snow White and Bluebeard. Our descriptions of symbols from the two stories can be applied to other stories, which have the same symbols, and used to help understand those stories. It took awhile for Julia and I to decide on a topic for our site. First, we tried to combine our research papers in a creative way but we could not find any way to relate them. We went through our old papers and searched through our books. We brainstormed and each came up with a few ideas and eventually settled on my idea of Fairy Tale symbolism. After deciding on our topic we talked by phone and emailed back and forth frequently. ...

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Organizational studies Essays

Organizational studies Essays Organizational studies Essay Organizational studies Essay The main characters in this movie are James p. Sully and Mike Waxworks as the workers at the Monster Inc. Another key characters are Henry J. Watermelon the Company Chairman, Randall Bogs the co-worker, Number 001 the Chief Of Children Detection Agency (CAD) and Boobs as the children. Generally, Monster Inc. Is viewed as a power sourcing company with target to produce energy source as many as they can and they have a slogan Mime scare because we care. They have scaring doors as a production doors and numbers of highly skill and professional scare teams. It is assumed that Monster Inc. Is the sole electrical energy provider for Monstrosities using children fearful scream as a source. The source is collected and preserve in the energy bank in the form of yellow bottle can. Monstrosities is populated with monster being and the films showed that the connection between monster world and human world is the children. The technique to scare the children is not easy as it perceive because from the beginning the monster believe that children are toxic and touching them would be fatal. Monster Inc has a training centre to produces the special scaring team that can go into the unman world and scare the children effectively without physical touch to their body or any of their belongings. How the Monster Inc does reflect as an organization? What elements of organization that can we expound from the movie? Company Theory Monster Inc as a commercial organization, they employ monster to achieve the target, and they bring together the monster and the sources to produce the solutions of the needs. Monster Inc has a leader to manage the organization. The company in the movie is a large power company. Just like any factory, employees bunch in to start work and bunch out at the end of he day. Employees and managers are separate in the hierarchy of the organization. In the Organizational theory, study of the organizational behavior with the environments, Monster Inc fit in the Resource Dependence Theory. Resource Dependence Theory is a theory of organization that seeks to explain organizational and inter-organizational behavior in terms of those critical resources which an organization must have in order to survive and function. As an open-systems theory, the resource dependence argument suggests that a given organization will respond to and become dependent on hose organizations or entities in its environment that control resources which are both critical to its operations and over which it has limited control. From the Movie, Monster Inc. Have three external environments that they need to adapt in their organization, the population, CAD and the children. The production of the power of the screaming children contributes to the survival of Monster Inc. They have imperative responsible to provide daily needs of the monster world, without Monster Inc. The monster world will have disastrous circumstances. So they have the obligation to maintain their revises in order to avoid that situation. Apart of that they have to complied with the regulations that no physical contact with the human world. Monster Inc. Company Organizations has been designed adapting to those environments. If any of the factor changes, Monster Inc. Also need to change. Their setback with one of the environments is that their only source of energy has evolved; the children are becoming hard to scare and Monster Inc. Chairman found that the situation is critical. This is where Henry and Randall secretly find alternative means to extract children scream by force. Their lack operation is a reaction of the scarcer resources and the policy set by the CAD. There is no observation that indicates Monster Inc. Acquire Research and Development department that can innovate the technology of power extraction. All by coincidence, they found other alternative resource to acquire the power source, which are by extracting children laugh that are ten times stronger than their scream. Scaring technique is not required anymore and technique making the children laugh is the preferable skill. Also there are no harms of physical contact with the human. At the end Monster Inc. Have hanged and may evolve into better organizations which the resources are multiple now. Company Structure @ Company System Monster Inc. Organizational structure is designed in hierarchy structured. First there is distinction between the workers what might be called administrators like the CEO and COO and the training manager. This shows that there are a hierarchy of managers and workers in the company. Second the leadership is shown on personnel level when Mike and Sully go out their way to save the company and the child form destruction. They uncover scandal in the organization that goes all the way up to the CEO. Their main components in the organization is the Scarecrows, they have numbers of scaring team working daily producing the power resource. The scaring team comprise of the scarcer and assistant. The scaring team on the Scarecrows in structured in horizontal line provides mass outcome daily. It is assumed that the account department, marketing department and training department are at the same level structured where they are direct link to the chairman. CAD is not part of the company, but CAD may not relevant in future in their operational after finds that there is no toxic effect by the children if contact. Company Strategy Monster Inc fosters good image and a reliable power company to the perception of the public in their advertisement. Even after the reveal of the scandal, Monster Inc they have promoted new paradigm of power sourcing where by the end of the film, the company is back in the black and a positive light when they change from screams to laughter as the best practice for powering their world, During the movie we see television commercials for the company with its slogan and tagging. We also see magazine covers and advertisements with corporate image messages. They continuously enhance laity of create power where the scarcer compete each other to be the high score scare leader. Through their work and through the training program, the organization is trying to improve their efforts to create power for the city. Turning to laughs in the end, instead of screams, is really TTS. Corporate culture Monster Inc presents corporate culture that shown in the routine of the workers. Employees of different job types socialize together in the break room and in the hallways. Workers relationships have created a culture which is the workers activities, the company history in the intranet and the way the errors look up to Sully and Mike and the CEO, who uses a walking around type of management style. Sullen is a hero of the company because he has been the lead scarcer for years. Other employees look up to him for advice. The company values safety and quality work. This is shown through the display of safe days and high production of the scarcer. Rites and rituals are also there through the procedures that are used and reinforced by the employees. Conclusion It seems that in this movie, Monster Inc the only company that serves the public for power resource. Without Monster Inc, the disruption of power apply may unavoidable, and this is unacceptable circumstances. As a Company in the Movie, more or less, few organizational lessons can be extracted as example for learning purposes. Company seems to be observed as classic bureaucracy but equipment and technology may change the management theory into scientific management after finding out the laughter is the best options for power source. Company strategy must have far vision to make sure there will be no disruption of resource.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Apple, Inc. Business Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Apple, Inc. Business Analysis - Essay Example Apple Incorporation was established in the year 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and has its head office in California. The company enjoys a well reputed history over quite an extended period in the field of manufacturing, designing as well as in marketing. These mentioned services were offered in relation to personal computers along with the associated services software, networking solutions and peripherals across the globe. Presently, the company has been observed to benefit from a market share of above 87.3 percent in the global automotive market with regard to its MP3 players and iPod along with its products related to personal computer. The mentioned products named Macintosh was found to command its share to around 2 percent in the global Personal Computer market. Apart from iPod, Apple also indulges in designing, marketing and developing the associated accomplices as well as services. The company even deals online in music stores along with making available its software rel ated to iTunes in Windows as well as Mac OS. The music store operated by the company online has a strong legal presence in the download market and dominated it by around 70 percent. The company even offers products as software for the reason of offering information to the students. In addition, the company offers other additional third-party computing products as well as supplies in a wide range (Lin, 2005). The financial position of the company Apple is compared with two other companies in this paper so as to ascertain its financial health based on the income statement, cash flow and balance sheet. The two companies with which Apple would be compared are Dell and IBM. With this concern, the balance sheet, income statement and the cash flow statements of Apple Inc. has been studied in order to ascertain the financial health of the company. Financial Comparison & Review In its current performance, Apple recorded a net income of $25,922 million and the cash generated from the operatin g activities amounted to $37,529 million which depicted a huge increase compared to its previous year, 2011. The net revenue of the company was also recorded to be $28,270 million, increasing by a huge margin from the previous year that is 2010. The total assets had also increased remarkably in contrast to the previous years. Furthermore, a huge increase in the goodwill of the company was also recorded which proved to be a favorable indication for the company. The total equity was observed to depict an increase compared to the previous year (Apple Inc, 2011). Therefore, it could be inferred that the company displays a strong financial position currently. It was observed after studying the financial statements of Dell that the revenue of the company increased by a significant 16 percent. The revenue amounted to $61.5 billion in the year 2011 which was recorded to be the highest increase in the history of the company. It was ascertained from the balance sheet and the cash flow stateme nt that the net cash derived from the various operating activities increased substantially. A rise was also recorded in the assets of the company along with a sharp increase in the overall stockholder’s equity. The operating profit or revenue of the company is considered to be the fundamental source of capital for supporting its regular business functions. Therefore, the increase in the net cash from the other operating activities would prove beneficial for the company. The cash flow from the operations was determined to be $4.0 billion which again depicted an increase from the previous year that is 2010. The increased returns from the cash flows played a vital role in helping the company to increase their competencies along with attaining fresh competitive advantages. The net income of the company was ascertained to be $2635 million which showed an increase from the previous years. Therefore, it can be stated that the financial health of the company is quite favorable for it s growth (Annual Reports, 2011). The financial

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

African American Vernacular Tradition Focuses on Spirituals Songs Essay

African American Vernacular Tradition Focuses on Spirituals Songs - Essay Example This proved to be the foundation for â€Å"white† and â€Å"colored† discrimination in the United States, which still thrives ceaselessly in the area. With immense African migrations, slavery was legalized in many regions of America (Zinn 23).The African Americans were referred to as â€Å"blacks† or â€Å"negroes† due to their dark complexion they inherited from their homeland environments. This discrimination proposed a widespread racial feeling of mixed emotions – hatred, contempt, pity or patronization (Zinn 23). Several conflicts have risen within the country due to this racism, leading to the Civil War of 1861. Even though attempts have been made to promote equalization of rights for all citizens alike, the cities are now divided into racially segregated segments. The term â€Å"Vernacular† refers to a traditional trademark, specifically associated with a nation. Hence the African American Vernacular traditions refer to their trademark characteristics that differentiated them from masses. African Americans are known to possess unique language skills and values. Their spiritual songs have been their primary source of inspiration since time unknown. Though their vernacular traditions have now been highly influenced by the modern cultures, attempts have nevertheless been made by the African Americans to save their traditions from extinction.... rect addresses and dialogues, as well as erasing all specific time markers in identifying specific episodes, Jones constructs a complex text of characters and events whose authority and authenticity are occasionally undermined by its ambitious elasticity and heteroglossia† (Bell). This reflects the uniqueness of the African American Vernacular language from the Standard English of today. However, it has not been this simple for preserving oral vernacular traditions like spiritual songs. These were essentially conveyed from parents to offspring and down through the generations. The originality could therefore not be protected since the newer generations â€Å"†¦ learned all their songs by ear, they often strayed into wholly new versions, which sometimes became popular, and entirely banished the other† (Higginson 160). Hence the oral vernacular tradition was heavily influenced by the cultural and environmental factors through times and has evolved in many stages into the forms and genres as we see today. The African Americans love their spiritual songs, and they continue to inspire them even today. Their deep respect for the songs stemmed from their relevance with the sufferings of Christ. When the African Americans toiled on plantations and labor in the capacity of slaves, many of them identified themselves as Christ undergoing the troubles and sufferings of his life, often asking God for help and the strength to overcome these problems. But the sufferings of the African Americans turned into their faith – a faith that found its solace in songs. Therefore the African Americans regard their spiritual songs in highest esteem. The African American Vernacular traditions are described as that â€Å"which refers to the church songs, blues, ballads, sermons, stories †¦

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Beer Industry Case Study Essay Example for Free

Beer Industry Case Study Essay Beer industry is one of the oldest industries particular in EU as it is one of the biggest beer consumption markets. This industry has seen fluctuation of the demand and consumption of the beer over the last quarter of 20th century due to many factors. This analysis will look in to those factors by taking into account the case given and will analyze the general reasons, growth and effects of the industry keeping in mind the macro-environment and its main component such as political, legal, environmental, economical, technological, social- cultural, and international aspects. Furthermore industry analysis will be discussed in details by analyzing the critical factors such as the threats of new entrants, suppliers and buyers power on the industry, product substitutions, and alliance and merging of the companies. The details of micro-environment and industry analysis will be available in the appendices. In addition, current strategy, links between the micro-environment and industry analysis, will be discussed along with brief recommendations. The fore European brewing company will be analyzed in terms of strength and weakness. Current strategy The beer industry has been in the existence for as long as the barley have been harvested and used for the making of the beer. The drink is mixed with alcohol in order to give it tantalizing taste with addictive quality. The beer is used as an everyday drink by many around the world and it by creating a taste and demand in the market. It probably will not be controversial, if argued that it is in the top 5 most drinkable beverage in the world. The demand of the beer has increased significantly in the last half of the century and some cultural such as German has included it, as part of their culture and celebrates beer drinking festivals annually. The industry has been facing some threats in the market due to increased number of brewery companies, who over supplies cheap beer in the market, which could possibly kill the industry. Some other new and non-traditional threats such as increased health risks, potential abuse of the beer, new legal challenges, globalization and environmental has put a question mark on the future of the industry. These threats are real and the industry needs to address them effectively and efficiently in order to survive in the future. Some of the threats are addressed by adopting new strategies, such as being environmentally friendly production line, innovation, GM foods, and many more in order to be in the market and create consumer for the future. Summary of macro environment analysis Economic One of the biggest current threats almost on every business is the current financial crisis and the beer industry is not immune to it at all. The global crises have forced many workers out of their jobs, increased unemployment, which means less finance to purchase basics for a everyday life. Many had to cut unnecessary activities such as going to the local pub for a drink after work on regular basis or purchasing beer off the self from super markets. The uncertain financial times have dropped the consumer confidence and most of the people are afraid of spending any money on unnecessary activates. There is very strong evidence that consumers are saving money during these crunch times. Europe has been one of the hardest hit by the financial crisis, and some of the countries such as Island were almost to the brink of the bankruptcy. This uncertainty will have huge impact on the industry in short term and will affect the profitability. The usual willing buyers might cut down to consumption of the beer significantly or even chose to switch to a cheaper brand in the market, in order to fulfill their alcohol appetite. In terms of macro-environment, it simply means the buyers becomes price sensitive. The fuel price and beer have direct relationship, since the early stages of this crisis, the fuel prices had dropped significantly which means less overheads cost for the company in terms of logistics and supplies, however this drop in fuel prices may drop the beer price but it will not be enough to create a demand and increase sales for the beer in the market due to the financial crisis. Financial crisis would mean the availability of credit will be almost none existence for the company to borrow and carry their daily operations across the borders. Not only the credit will be a major issue, but the unavailability of the funds means, less money to compete in the market and high chances of being takeover, merged, and acquisitions with other major companies. Irrespective of the size of the company, the threats will remain hanging around their heads for as long as the markets picks up. The different taxation law around the European countries remains another challenge for the industry as despite being as a collective states and regulating a common taxation law around the Europe. The gradually increasing labor cost remains as a constant threat for the industry, regardless of the any other factor, it will be a long term threat to be dealt with on a regular basis. Political/Legal The expansions of EU will certainly be positive point towards the industry as it will increase the business boundaries and will create an open market. It also mean, increased customers to be targeted for the beer industry and at the same time it will increase competition among the existing breweries and the invader breweries. The competition will bring down the price for the customer and decrease the profitability for the business. The over consumption of alcohol due to many reason has forced the politician and law makers to make much more stricter legislation and rules with the use of alcohol in particular with drink driving. Forcing a very limited pubs and bars opening hours will reduce the consumption of the beer by a large margin. It is defiantly a negative effect on the business and high chance of getting harder in the near future. The well known negative effects of alcohol on the public health means that it would cost more to the government’s health sector annual budgets. The government will try to decrees the consumption of alcohol as much as possible as alcohol related health cost are rising on the government. It is a negative effect on the industry as customers are discouraged to drink alcohol as it carries health risks. Other factors may also include to limitation on the issued licenses for the breweries to make beer, which means less breweries. Over all the political side of the macro-environment remains negative for the industry in short and long terms as anti-alcohol sentiments are echoed in the legal and political section of the EU. Technological The advancement of the technology has affected the way businesses are operated and products are produced. The use of robot in the brewery for the propose of production line, assembly line and in particular packaging of the product has been used significantly and reduced the reliability of the labour and their costs and overheads. The on time tracking of the barley to the brewery and finished product to the stores are made much easy as GPS are used to track the movement of the product and on time deliveries are made possible. On the other hand it may in occur as a one-off purchase cost to the company, but the long term use and benefits outweigh the costs. The advancement in technology will be able to make mini home brewery, so the customers could have their own personal brewery at home. It will be a negative effect on the industry, as customer will make their own beer at home, however the home brewery will not be able to compete with the taste produced by the master brewer for the major brands. Environmental The climate change will affect the industry as unpredicted weather patterns are expected, which will affect the crops produced for the brewery. In this case the imports of barley from other countries cannot be ruled out, but the importation will carry transportation costs with it and it will certainly be passed on the customers at end of the supply chain. The climate change has affected Europe in many ways, as some parts are getting too cold for the barley to be grown and some parts are totally opposite to it. Climate change has affected the supply of water for the farmers, as less water simply means less crop for the industry. The industry does not have any alternative to use for the beer making as barley remains the one and only key ingredients. Water is not only required for the crops to grow but also for the making of the beer in the brewery, a good quality water will be hard to find in the future. The Genetically Modified (GM) crops could possibly be an option, which requires less water to grow and gives a batter taste to the beer. However the GM is still in the experimental stages and there are question in terms of reliability and health benefits with the GM. Social-cultural The social and cultural effects on the beer industry will be mix as demographically arguing that European populations are getting old but at the same time they are replaced by ever binge drinking younger population, however the replacement are not sufficient enough. The female buying power have increased as more and more European female are working and socializing outside and have the money to spend. The new fruity flavored beer are specifically designed for the female and it has been very successful to capture the feminine side of the industry. It is positive sign for the future of the industry. The increased EU population has been effected by a very reasonable number of Islamic community, who does not consumer beer due to religious reasons. It will carry negative effect on the industry unless non-alcoholic beers are produced to target this section of the industry. The excessive consumption of beer has not been approved by the society as a whole due to the valid reasons such as increased obesity, alcohol related violence and health related issues and underage drinking. It will be a negative effect on the industry and will be carried away in the future. International The international side of the beer market seems to be very interesting in regards to the political shifts of power from West to Asian region. In the near future the growing Asian market will play heavily on the industry as more and more beers are brewed and consumed in Asian region. European companies will have to make strategic moves towards the Asian market and possibly will be required to make alliances in order to survive. The shift will not affect the European market and it possible means decrees in the beer cost as beer produced in Asian will come to the European market for the customers. Globalization has promoted the free trade, which has opened new market and dropped the tariffs but it may result as negative to the European breweries as the cheap Asian beer will pour in the market. The cross border business might have some barriers as the taxation and tariff law differs from one state to another. Summary of industry environment Threats of new entrants The threats of a new entrants remains reasonably low as it is subjected to the scale of operation for the new entrants. Business within the local or regional area will require very little set up capital, however on an a broad scale of import and export across to the EU will require much bigger capital, logistics and distribution channels. The new entrants will face the brand loyalty and product differentiation as the existing customers already have mature tastes for their brands available in the market. Certainly the threats remain high for the current players, however the survival in this tight industry might be very hard as existing brands have very strong marketing knowledge and established customers. Bargaining power of supplies In this industry the barley suppliers does not have much of bargaining power as the alternative use of the crops are very limited and the suppliers does not have much of a choice. The number of suppliers out weights the buyers and there are huge number of buyers but the major beer companies purchase barley in huge volumes and has the upper hand. The bargaining power may increase in case of a natural disaster, which could destroy the crop of an entire regain and decreases the quantity demanded for the beer market, but the chances of it happening is very less. The suppliers might have an alternative option of forward integration as to enter in the brewery industry, however the life within the industry may be short lived due to monopolistic nature of the industry by the brewers. The demand for a skilled master brewer remains very high and the skill supplier has the upper hand in this case. Bargaining power of buyers According to the analysis in the appendix 2, the buyer seems to be in a much stronger position then the suppliers. Due to the very nature of the critical product barley, which can not be stored and needs to be sold to the buyers as soon as its harvested. The buyers uses the volume perches power to negotiate with the suppliers and gets a better price. The number of suppliers are increasing within the European market and in some case the raw product could possibly be imported from Asian and South American destination with much cheaper price. Over all the buyers have the power to control the industry and manipulate in many ways. Substitutes The substitutes available in the market are one of the real threat to this industry as the negative effects of the alcohol are coming forward, which are backed by strong scientific evidence. The number of substitutes such as Water, milk, soft drinks, wine, tea, coffee, energy drinks, and traditional cultural drinks are and most of them almost posses no health threats of any kind. In fact the substitutes are well accepted socially, legally, economically and does not have any age restriction of any kind when consumed. Industry rivalry The issue of rivalry depends on the sector of market controlled by the companies. In general Europe has a very high number of companies operating within the EU. Europe has one of the highest consumption of beer then US and Asian market, so competitors has very good reasons to be in EU market. Some of the companies are merging in order to create an oligopoly or even a pure-monopolistic markets to drive out others from the industry. Generally the rivalry remains very high at all times, with the other companies in the industries. Interconnections between two analyses The beer industry is one of the oldest industry and growing over times. It has seen some fluctuations over the last half of the 20th century, but it has not deterred it any way. The macro-environment’s components faces constant changes as factors such as environmental, economical, political, and technological are interrelated to one and other. These factors are beyond the control of the industry and the industry does not have any other choice to adapt the micro-environmental changes in order to survive. The effects of the micro-environment carries on the industry and many ways such as environmental changes will increase or decrease the power of suppliers and buyers. The ever changing weather pattern does not guarantee crops for the next year and breweries remains uncertain at all time. The globalization remains another unavoidable factor affecting the macro-environment and the industry as whole. Recommendations what will it take in 2015 to be an industry leader and who may that be? Recommendation and 2015 directions * The future of the industry remains clear as long as the industry remains flexible to change. * The environmentally friendly approaches needs to be taken on for the production and packaging. * Globalization is a fact and EU beer industry needs to make changes, accept players coming from USA and Asian markets. The same could be expected to USA and Asian markets. * In order to gain maximum market shares, merger with other companies should be encouraged as it will decrease the operational cost, exchange of expertise in particular master brewer. It will make them a strong player in the industry. * More investment are required in area of new flavor. * GM barley needs to experimented as it could possibly provide benefits both ways. * Non-alcoholic beer should be produced to target the growing Islamic community in EU and in the Middle East. * Geographic expansion needs to be considered out of EU. * In order to reduce the harsher law against the use of excessive alcohol, industry needs to educate their customer and advice them of moderate drinking habits. * With the assistance of the transportation department, Community based programs should be designed to educate the new drivers, of the dangers of the drink driving. The strength and weakness of the fore brewing companies As appendix 3 provides detail list of the weakness and strength of the fore brewing industry as 1. Heiniken ( The Netherlands) Strengths One of the biggest brewery in Europe as with the sales of more than 8bn pound in 2006, it’s a global company expending in to Asian markets and US by 5% and 17 percents. Weakness The weakness of the Heiniken would be as it has given more attention to the EU and ignored the ever growing Asian market. It may be enjoying the current EU market but the future holds with the Asian and Sub-continents. The future will be bright if the company considers moves in to other markets and makes alliances with intended region. 2. Grolsch (The Netherland) Strengths It is one of the oldest brewery with experience of all time. It has moved out of its European bases in to the US market and has successfully make alliance. It is one of the most innovative brewery and has a specialized experimental brewery. More then 50% of the products are exported out of Europe. Weaknesses The only weakness of the Grolsh would that it uses only one brewery to produce all it productions. The distance between the only brewery and some of the markets are enormous, which occurs in to huge logistics and transportation cost. The future looks very good as it does not rely on one market and the some of the new experimental beer could become market leading brands. 3. InBev (Belgium/Brazil) Strengths The largest brewery in the world as it is merger of the two companies. It is the largest market power to manipulate the price. It has gained big sector in to the Asian markets and are very innovative and environmentally conscious. Weakness Their does not seems to any weakness except the ignoring of the US market. The future seems to be very bright as it has the capacity and resources to grow and lead the market. 4. Scottish and Newcastle (UK) Strengths It is the 4th largest in Europe and 4 major established brand in the Europe. It looks in to the future and has tried to shares into the other bewaring companies. Weakness The company is not a big one and has tried to stretch it self into other breweries. The over reliance on the 4 brands has stopped them of innovation with new brands of beer. The future in European market seems to be well underway successfully but the entrance in the Asian market might be very risky as some of the major companies are well established in that market. APPENDICES Appendix 1 Macro-environment analysis Factor | Issues | Effects on Industry | Rulings | Economic | * The economic downturn * Increased unemployment * Uncertain financial times * Job insecurity of the customers * Global recession * Expansion of Euro * Tariffs and taxes * The increasing oil price * Labour cost | Controversial, as it may or may not increase the demand for beer. Could mean less money to spend on of going out for drinks at pubs and bars. People tend to save money as times are uncertainIt could possibly bring a very positive effect on the brewery business as the expansion will increased market boundaries with more customers to target. The expansion might be good on one hand, but on the other it will increase the Tariffs on the product as it has to go through many state borders. The taxation law varies from on EU country to the others, it will affect the profitability in short and long terms. The inevitable increasing oil price will need to be passed on the customer eventually. The labour market will demand an increase in their pay in the future, which will have to be included in the beer price. | +/-__++/-+/-__Final rulingsNeutral | Political/Legal| * Expansion of EU * Greater concern from politicians about effects of alcohol * Stronger legislation around drink-driving * Legislation on the pollutions * Marketing campaigns around effects of binge-drinking * Competition policy Licensing controls| It will increase the customer approaches as the boundaries will be diminished, creating open borders will encourage competition among the business within EU. The negative affects of alcohol will make the politician to take drastic action as to limit the use alcohol to reduce certain effects of it. The well known effects of alcohol, will put pressure on the customers to decrease the amount of consumption at pubs. Tighter legislation on the pollutions will put pressure to be environmentally clean industry. Health sector and public outcry will force the government to make stricter law for the use of beer. It may not be as an issue as the EU is very flexible with the licensing. | +____+Final rulingNegative | Technological| * Efficient production systems * GPS for tracking transportation Logistics and supply chain management * Product enhancements Bottling and packaging alternatives * Mini home Brewing | With use of robot in the production and assembly line will become efficient and effective also decreases the overheads Will monitor and make sure the product gets on time with the efficient routs to the customs and suppliers. It may incur some cost to the industry. The packaging and bottling cost will decrees with the use of alternative packaging such as plastics and papers. The compact mini home brewery will have minimal effect on the market as some of the customer will produce their own beer at home. | +++ +Final Ruling Positive | Environmental | * Climate change Variable * Seasonality of weather * Natural disasters * GM products * Pollution * Water scarcity * Energy costs| The increased outcry will affect the industry as the climate change will affect the production of crop by the farmers. The unpredictable weather with variation in rain pattern will put doubts the crops. The changing climate has made the nature unpredictable as Europe is getting colder every year and barley cannot be grown in a cold environment. The GM product will be beneficial to the industry as it will assist to produce the specific kind of crop, resistant to the pesticide and herbicides with maximum yield. As a result of the production, the industry will produce different kinds of wastes or pollutions. Beer brewing requires good quality water and it good quality water will be scares in the future. The energy cost will increase most of the source of energies are extracted from scares natural resources. | ___+_ _ _Final RulingNegative | Socio-Culture| * Ageing population * Feminine buying power * Increased multiculturalism * Peer pressure * Stress-relieving * Binge drinking * concerns about obesity * Alcohol related health issues * Under-age drinking| The EU population is getting old, it will not make much of difference on the industry as the younger binge drinker will replace them. Female are coming in the market with money to spend and adopting the beer tastes. EU’s population has increased significantly by multicultural, Islamic community, who does not drink beer. With the youth, the peer pressure makes them to act alike and promotes binge drinking culture. The current economic down turn has resulted into job losses, which has resulted into high level of stress. excessive beer is used as stress-relieving. Obesity is not accepted socially and considered to be unhealthy. Beer may be blamed to be one of the causes and it would affect the industry in future. The modern research has found strong reasons on the side effects of the alcohol and continued to do so. It will affect the business in long term. One of the unacceptable issues will be the underage drinking; however it may not be an issue when supervised. | ++ _++__+/-Final ruling Positive | International| * Shift in geo-political power to Asia * Increased awareness and global consumption of alcohol * Alternative religious aspects on alcohol * Falling tariffs * Global alliances * Globalization| Increased political power means increased income, which means more demand for the beer in the Asian market. New findings and Research increase the global awareness, most of them awareness appears to be advising to decrease the consumption of the beer. The increasing religious influences globally means less beer consumption as most of the religions discourages the use of alcohols such as Islamic religion with more than followers. The globalization has promoted the free trade among the states, which results in falling tariffs. The global alliances of the companies will help to increase their power in the market and act like a monopolistic. The globalization opens new markets and drops the tariffs, but it may result badly for the EU as the cheap Asian beer might pour in the market. | +__+++Final ruling Positive | Appendix 2 Details of Industry Analysis Factor| Issue Analysis| Rating of the Threat| Threat of New Entrants | Market Type:Monopolistic, with many number of brewer, Entry conditions: Relatively easy, with limited resource required on small level production. Product Differentiation: It is one of the key factors in this industry, the new comer will be required to create different and an acceptable taste for the customers, who already has matured tastes and brand loyalty with available brands in the market. Switching Cost: The switching cost for the buyers is very low as the product price is very low and trying another brand does not cost as much. Brand Loyalty: Most of the customer have a very strong brand loyalty and it will be very had to break that cycle in the market. EU well known brand such as Heineken, Inbev, Baltika, and Coopers. Logistics requirements:The new comer will have to establish a chain of logistics and supply from suppliers and to the brewery to the customers. Capital requirement:a very low capital is needed to enter in the market at a local level, however as on the international level the capital requirements will be medium to high. Globalization:Due to the globalization and open market, non EU players with cheap labor cost could enter in the EU and penetrate the market with cheap brands. Islamic countries:The market will not be allowed to enter in some of the Islamic countries as the consumption of alcohol is prohibited. | LowHigh LowHighLowMedium Medium Medium Low | Bargaining Power of Supplier| Master Brewer: The human capital of master brewer has the power of switching the company and move to another one of even changing jobs. Barley suppliers: The barley suppliers does not have much of choice to sell the crop to the brewery as the alternative use of the barley are very limited. Presents of substitute input:There is no other substitute for barley to be used in the making of the beer, so the supplier could have power in this regards. Due to a very high number of suppliers in the market, this power eliminates itself. Threats of forward integration:The supplier could possibly enter in the market as the entrances are too easy. In this case the suppliers will have huge impact on the industry. Switching cost of supplier: The numbers of suppliers are enormous as the buyers could easily switch suppliers in the market. It gives less power to the suppliers. | High Medium Medium Low Low | Bargaining Power of Buyers| Presents of substitute: A buyer does have power in the market as the product will needs to be purchased within a short time as use of barley in other products are very limited and it cannot be stored for a long time. Impotents of volume to buyers:The high volume of purchase decreases the power of supplier and increases the power of buyers. Buyers concentration: There are less buyers compared to the number of suppliers in the market for the use of barley, which means more power for the buyers to bargain with the suppliers. | High Low Low | Power of Substitutes | Strong substitutes : There are a very large number of substitute available in the market for the end user, such as Water, milk, soft drinks, wine, tea, coffee, energy drinks, and traditional cultural drinks. Most of the entire alternative has less or no side effects at all in the human body, which makes them all time favorite and increased in their demand for the future. | High | Appendix 3 Four Brewing Companies in EU Company| Strength| Weakness| Future outlook| Heiniken( The Netherlands)| * Biggest brewery in EU * 2006 sales 8bn pound * 5 % sales in Asia * 17% in US * Family business * Uses local business to sell their products | * More attention into EU and forget the ever growing Asian market * Very tight controlled due to family business in nature| Positive in EU, but negative in the Asian and US market. Over all in a good health. | Grolsch (The Netherland)| * One of the oldest * Medium size * Has alliances with US * Innovative with products * Licensed to export 50% of their products overseas * Has specialized brewery for experiment | * Centralizes brewery, uses only one brewery for the production| Looks good compared to its size and exports 50%. The innovation and experimental beer might capture market in the future. | InBev (Belgium/Brazil)| * Merger of two companies * The largest brewery in the world * Market power * Second largest in Chinese market * Looks for innovations * Environmentally conscious | | Very good and bright future due to the innovations, size, market power, environmentally awareness. | Scottish and Newcastle (UK)| * 4th largest in EU * 4 major established brands * Has global approach by purchasing shares in other brewing company. | * Over stretched company due to its size. * Lack of innovation with new tastes. | The future seems to be in doubt as company is entering to Asian market where the biggest brewery are well established brands. | REFERNCES Hubbard, G Rice, J Beamish, P 2008, Strategic Management: Thinking, Analysis, Action, 3rd edn. , Pearson Prentice Hall, French Forest, NSW, Austra

Friday, November 15, 2019

Lady Macbeth Responsible For Duncans Death Essay -- essays research pa

ohn Keating English Honors Lady Macbeth Must Take Some Blame for Her Husband’s Destruction In Macbeth, a play written by Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is partially responsible for the destruction of her husband. Lady Macbeth is not a monster without feelings, however she is tricky and cunning when she influences Macbeth to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth’s ability to influence her husband leads the audience to believe that she is the primary cause for the destruction of Macbeth. The audience is also led to believe that Lady Macbeth is responsible because she makes up the details of the plan to kill Duncan, while Macbeth was considering not even going through with the murder. Although Macbeth had the thought of killing Duncan, he would not have acted on that thought unless Lady Macbeth persuaded him. Lady Macbeth is sly person, able to manipulate her husband, and this ability to manipulate Macbeth makes her partially responsible for the destruction of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth knows that her husband is too kind to kill Duncan without her help she fears â€Å"thy nature; / It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness / to catch the nearest way† (I.v.16-18). She is very much aware of the fact that she needs to push Macbeth to kill Duncan or else he will not do it. We see Macbeth’s hesitance to murder the king when he lists reasons not to kill Duncan in Act 1, when he says, â€Å"He’s here in double trust: / First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, / Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, /...

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Alcoholics Anonymous Support Group Report Essay

Group therapy has evolved so much that the participant are learning how to help themselves and others. Self-help groups are one of the most popular forms of group therapy. One of the most known self-help groups is Alcoholics Anonymous also known as A.A. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international organization produced to assist alcoholics to recover and live alcohol free lives. It was founded by Bill Wilson and Robert Holbrook Smith in 1935. It is a program, complete with twelve steps and twelve traditions, that was put together to help addicts recover from their addictions and inspire them to remain sober. Robert Holbrook Smith was a doctor who struggled with an alcohol problem since his teens. He tried unsuccessfully for many years to overcome his addiction. His alcoholism had impacted his personal life and profession in a negative manner. He could not function properly without alcohol. In quest of finding help, he found in Bill Wilson. Bill Wilson was a part of the Akron Oxford Group that Smith joined in efforts to sober up. Bill Wilson saw how detrimental alcoholism affected his life and spoke to other alcoholics to try to help them. He helped Smith to completely abstain from alcohol and dedicated his life to assist alcoholics to remain their sobriety. The main idea to their approach was to recognize alcoholism as a disease and to realize that recovery could be maintained through working with others who were experiencing the same problem, alcoholism. I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting called A New Day. This group was held in a shopping center where two sports bars are located. I thought that the location was not an ideal place to have an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. There were about twenty-five people at each meeting that I attended. They were all very approachable and welcoming to me as an observer and everyone was very open about their situation and dependence on alcohol. Overall, the participants were of all ages, ethnicities, and there was an even amount of  men and women. I noticed that the participants did not look like what I perceived someone who was suffering from alcohol dependence would look like. They looked like productive law-abiding citizens. I am embarrassed to say that it never occurred to me that these individuals could live positive lives while battling alcoholism. I assumed that they would be dysfunctional and incapable to participate in the meeting. Instead many of them looked healthy and were eager to engage in the group discussion. We began the meeting by introducing those who are new to AA or those who were visiting from a different group. If a person did not want to introduce themselves, they were not made to do so. The meetings were very calm and were conducted in an orderly fashion. In a support group, the leader should create a safe environment where members can share (Jacobs et al., 2012 p. 43). I felt very comfortable being there and even though I was there as an observer, the group leader always encouraged me to ask questions or comments. Regardless of the topics that were discussed, no one was judgmental. I believe the positive energy I felt while in the group was because everyone truly cared about each other’s sobriety. There was one occasion in the group that I felt changed the momentum of the group because of a conflict. The group leader asked if there was someone who had a â€Å"burning desire† that they needed to talk about. A burning desire is an issue that a person is going through that may cause them to drink. It was a young man by the name of Jason who was been sober for about sixty days. He expressed how he was experiencing some trouble at work and at home. He rece ived his quarterly evaluation from his supervisor and he thought that he was evaluated unfairly. When he brought this issue to his supervisor, his supervisor started to curse at him. Then when he went home, he found out that his wife was secretly spending their savings on gambling. While he was sharing, another man interrupted him by saying, â€Å"let’s talk about something other than this crap!† Jason was very offended but before he could respond the group leader stepped in. Conflict will arise sometimes in group sessions, Forsyth states, it â€Å"seems to be an unavoidable consequence of life in groups† (Forsyth, 2014, p. 435). Our texts, workbook, and DVD all points out that as leaders, we do not have to be afraid of conflict and dealing with it. The group leader did an excellent job in dealing with the rude participate by encouraging Jason to continue his burning desire. The stage  that I believe the group was in was the working stage. The middle, or working, stage is the stage of the group when the members focus on the purpose (Jacobs et. al., 2012). Throughout the meeting, group members discussed different topics and shared their personal experiences. They also realized why they were there and did not stray from the topic. Even thou gh there were newcomers in the group, it was easy for them to participate because they could relate to what was being said by other members of the group. The natural leader of the group was a woman by the name of Beverly. Beverly has been sober for thirty years as of September 5, 2014. She is a teacher by trade and she continues to attend meetings. During the meeting, she reflected on her journey on staying sober. She came from a family of alcoholics. Alcohol has caused a strain on her relationship with her son and she feels that her being an alcoholic added undue stress to his life. She said something that I thought was profound during her testimonial. She stated that in order for her to stay sober, she had to look for the lesson that God was trying to teach her. Instead of complaining about life’s sad state of affairs, learn what need to be learned, change what needs to be changed, and move on. What I learned from her testimonial was to view failure as an opportunity to reassess God’s will for your life. I do believe that Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are effective ways to treat alcohol. Alcoholism is not something tha t can be treated alone. It is important to maintain physical, mental, and spiritual health while achieving sobriety. In each testimony given, everyone had a different way they initially made their approach to get better. Those who attend AA meeting realize that they have lost the capability to control their drinking. Because of this, they need the help and support of other alcoholics in A.A. References Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Haynes, R. (2014). Groups in action: Evolution and challenges (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole. Forsyth, D. (2014). Group dynamics (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Jacobs, E. E., Masson, R. L., Harvill, R. L., & Schimmel, C. J. (2012). Group counseling: Strategies and skills (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Essay

Out of the three that I chose, the program that I feel that would be the most valuable for the organization that was profiled in Appendix A is Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services. Program’s Objective: The objective of the block grants for community mental health services program is to provide territories and states with assistance financially in the making of their plans to provide mental health services to adults and children, as well as monitoring all progress and providing technical assistance. Eligibility: The States and U.S Territory Governments are eligible applicants and the recipients of States and U.S Territory Governments are the beneficiaries. Type of Assistance: This particular program is provided with Formula Grants Dollar Range and Average Amount of Assistance Awarded: The dollar range that is listed for this program is $50,000 to $53,096,425. The Average amount of assistance that is awarded is $6,761,619. How this program is utilized by the organization that is profiled in Appendix A: The organization in Appendix A’s needs are that they are able to provide psychiatric counseling services to the residents of El Paso County who are considered to be low income. I believe that the block grants for community mental health services program would benefit the state of Texas by providing funding so that this program can continue services and develop new innovative ideas and future plans to better its services. Since residents only need to pay an amount that is based on their income I believe that the cost would work well for them as well.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Mary Shellys Combination essays

Mary Shellys Combination essays Mary Shellys Combination Of Knowledge and Humanity In the novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelly is not trying to reinforce the biblical thought of a forbidden knowledge, but is rather introducing the thought that science is capable of being very dangerous if it becomes divided from humanity. The reason that it could be conceived that Mary Shelly is reinforcing the idea of forbidden knowledge is because of the constant statements that Victor Frankenstein makes about how dangerous the acquirement of knowledge is. For example he stated how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow (p. 81). These statements show that knowledge is dangerous, but it is other statements made by Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the creature that make up Mary Shellys main argument that the acquirement of knowledge without the consideration of humanity is the true danger, not the actual pursuit of knowledge. Mary Shelly first showed the importance of the combination of humanity and knowledge through Walton when he wrote home to his sister claiming that he was missing something very important from his life. Walton knew that the absence of a friend would cause him much suffering and felt it as a most severe evil (p. 52). A friend would be capable of aiding Walton on his voyage and together they could benefit from one anothers knowledge. Walton stated [how] would such a friend repair the faults of [himself] (p.53). In other words, for Walton, the absence of a friend would damage the connection of humanity and knowledge on his voyage to the north and would cause him much damage. Walton saw a friend as the connection to humanity because he would be able to converse with this friend and gain a different perspective on his own opinions (p. 53). After all if Walto...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Slave Revolts in Ancient Italy

Slave Revolts in Ancient Italy According to Barry Strauss in * prisoners of war enslaved at the end of the Second Punic War rebelled in 198 B.C. This slave uprising in central Italy is the first reliable report of one, although it was surely not the first actual slave uprising. There were other slave uprisings in the 180s. These were small; however, there were 3 major slave revolts in Italy between 140 and 70 B.C. These 3 uprisings are called the Servile Wars since the Latin for slave is servus. First Sicilian Slave Revolt One leader of the slave revolt in 135 B.C., was a freeborn slave named Eunus, who adopted a name familiar from the region of his birth- Syria. Styling himself King Antiochus, Eunus was reputed to be a magician and led the slaves of the eastern section of Sicily. His followers wielded farm implements until they could capture decent Roman weapons. At the same time, in the western part of Sicily, a slave manager or vilicus named Kleon, also credited with religious and mystical powers, gathered slave troops under him. It was only when a slow-moving Roman senate dispatched the Roman army, that it was able to end the long slave war. The Roman consul who succeeded against the slaves was Publius Rupilius. By the 1st century B.C., roughly 20% of the people in Italy were slaves- mostly agricultural and rural, according to Barry Strauss. The sources for such a large number of slaves were military conquest, slave traders, and pirates who were particularly active in the Greek-speaking Mediterranean from c. 100 B.C. Second Sicilian Slave Revolt A slave named Salvius led slaves in the east of Sicily; while Athenion led the western slaves. Strauss says a source on this revolt claims the slaves were joined in their lawlessness by impoverished freeman. Slow action on the part of Rome again permitted the movement to last four years. The Revolt of Spartacus 73-71 B.C. While Spartacus was a slave, as were the other leaders of the earlier slave revolts, he was also a gladiator, and while the revolt centered in Campania, in southern Italy, rather than Sicily, many of the slaves who joined the movement were much like the slaves of the Sicilian revolts. Most of the southern Italian and Sicilian slaves worked in the latifundia plantations as agricultural and pastoral slaves. Again, local government was inadequate to handle the revolt. Strauss says Spartacus defeated nine Roman armies before Crassus defeated him.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Classic Hollywood Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Classic Hollywood Cinema - Essay Example This essay prompts readers to revise Bordwells contention in a certain way. Movies have an emotional appeal that transcend gender, because these movies both demonstrate the second-class status of women in society, although Citizen Kane (1941) has shown womens subtle struggles in fighting their patriarchal society. In Citizen Kane (1941) and Shane (1953), men are the more powerful and stronger gender than women. Through a subjective camera, Welles makes the audience feel that they are breaking and entering a mans innermost property, with the â€Å"No Trespassing† sign framing the psychological intrusion into Kanes most-prized property, the Xanadu estate. Welles combines camera tilt with lap dissolves to shoot the high gate and focus on the large steel â€Å"K† sign on top of the gate. This sign stands for Kanes perception of himself as a human being and a â€Å"man,† where he is superior to his women and the people around him. In Shane, Joe (Van Heflin) and Shane work together on the ranch. They swing their axes together, as if in the harmony of brotherhood and masculinity. Their control over their environment also indicates their control over society. Through alternating shots, Stevens depicts the strength of men in the physical and psychological sense. Shane further demo nstrates the patriarchal culture of the setting through the rough-and-tumble way that men resolve their conflicts. During this time, law and order do not concretely exist yet, because America is in its â€Å"becoming† stage. The West is divided, where ranchers and homesteaders, or â€Å"squatters† as ranchers call them, are in conflict over property rights. They cannot resolve their land dispute over rational discussion, since they hate to give concessions to each other. They desire a zero-sum game, where one wins and other loses. This kind of thinking is a facet of realism, where anarchy drives

Friday, November 1, 2019

Importance of Uniforms in Schools Speech or Presentation

Importance of Uniforms in Schools - Speech or Presentation Example Brunsma and Rockquemore (54) define school uniform by arguing that clothing would be considered uniform if it sufficed as an emblem of a group, suppressed individuality and demonstrated the legitimacy of an institution by revealing the relative positions of individuals. Studies by Brunsma and Rockquemore back the argument that school uniforms improve behavior among both the female and male students (53). These studies indicate that suspensions from schools reduce drastically with adoption of school uniforms and in cases where an increase would be recorded, infractions of school uniform regulations could be the outright cause and not other forms of indiscipline. This suggests that the behavior of students shifts towards less severe infractions. In Norfolk, Ruffner Middle School recorded a 42% decrease in referrals related to discipline following the introduction of uniforms. The improved discipline in students translates to improved academic achievement. Research on elementary student s to ascertain this hypothesis deduced a 10% improvement on test scores after adoption of school uniforms with 0.05 standard deviations. ... Without uniforms, clothing could distract students especially the teenagers known to dress to be noticed by others. Holtz reported that teenage students would put on â€Å"shirts that comment on reasons not to do homework, may be associated with gang colors and symbols or expose too much skin† hence causing distraction to other students. Too much time would be spent on dressing up to impress others at the expense of concentrating on academic work. Standardized clothing would ensure that all students are at the same level hence no one would stand out to distract others. It builds team spirit and the desire for good ambassadorship hence promoting healthy academic competition among students from different schools (Stafford and Wade 416). Brunsma and Rockquemore (54) argue that if uniforms socially control the behavior of students, students in uniforms would therefore portray behaviors consistent with the goals of their respective schools. School uniforms make it easier to identif y unauthorized visitors thus preventing use of insignia and gang colors, which in turn reduces theft with students no longer having to bring along expensive clothing to school. These authors give the example of the effectiveness of school uniforms for safety of students in gang plagued areas in Los Angeles where putting on some colors could set off fights. The Long Beach School District also noted 50% decrease in muggings and fights and 74% decrease in sexual offences with the introduction of school uniforms (Brunsma and Rockquemore 54). Being a sign of group membership, school uniforms would signal those outside the school membership. Indeed, the argument on

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Benefits of Open Source software when Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Benefits of Open Source software when - Essay Example Reliability: Open source software are considered to be reliable. This is attributed to the fact that they are peer reviewed software. The use of this software has proven to be robust and reliable under extreme strenuous conditions. Apache server, being one of the open source software, is more reliable as compared to Microsoft IIS. The data showing the comparison between the reliability of Apache, which is usually run on Linux operating system, and Microsoft IIS which is run on windows operating system is shown below Security: Open source software use is safe and secure. Considering the fact that the development of open source software involves a diverse community of programmers around the world who are working towards a common solution, the chances of security flaws being in the code are minimal and in case there are any, they are quickly fixed. The ultimate solution of any institution running online service is security. Open source software is suited in this setting since it’s more safe and secure as compared to the proprietary software. Low Initial Cost: The cost of acquiring and deploying open source software is low as compared to the closed source software (What are the risks and benefits of using open source software, 2010). Thus, it’s more advisable to use open source in institutions to minimize costs while at the same time maximizing output. The figure below shows the percentage savings on users running open source software. Fast Development Speed: Open source software undergoes agile software development process. Agile software development is known to fasten the software development process (Anon., n.d.). Also, considering that the community of open source software is huge, the development time of any given software is short. This increases the development speed as compared to closed source software. This is the case with apache server which is can be deployed quickly to serve various purposes. Interoperability:

Monday, October 28, 2019

The Impact of Technology on Society Essay Example for Free

The Impact of Technology on Society Essay The contemporary society is characterized by its intensive use of technology in all walks of life. Technology is indeed a broad concept dealing with species usage, knowledge of tools and crafts, as well as the manner in which it influences a species capacity to control its environment and adapt to it. It has aptly been termed globalization’s handmaid (World Economic Forum, 2007). Advances in communication, entertainment, medical treatments and warfare reach the airwaves as technocrats develop faster, more effective technology. Communication is faster, tasks require far fewer steps to complete thus saving time, and it is possible to relive certain experiences just by pushing a button. History has demonstrated that whenever inventions are introduced to a particular society, the society necessarily changes (Arbab, 2008). These changes may be positive or negative, depending on preexisting societal norms, beliefs and cultural practices. This is the crux of the ensuing discussion, with a bias on the world of entertainment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to a study conducted by Forrester Research in the year 2000, the average American dedicates seven hours of their day watching television (Shoff, n.d.). Television is essentially a form of passive entertainment, taking out viewers’ cognitive capacity; everything is processed right in front of their eyes and there is no brain power involved (Borruso, 2005). Herein lies the big debate on the impact of television on children’s development. Their social skills are sacrificed in favor of passive entertainment. They lose out on other useful skills learned only through play and the urge to quench the innate curiosity of a child. Studies on the link between television and obesity indicate the debilitating impact of this form of entertainment on health. The stage from childhood to adolescence and early adulthood demands a high degree of self discovery. It allows individuals the opportunity to determine their talents, strengths and weaknesses. If seven hours are spent in front of the television and anther seven to eight asleep, there is hardly any time left for development. Despite the technological adroitness today’s generation possesses, they do not read, write, dive or add well. Cyber-world appears as a cocoon with these individuals focusing on entertainment.   They ignore key issues affecting mankind, their mental agility, street smarts and intelligence notwithstanding (Bauerlein, 2008). The influence of technology on entertainment has greatly fuelled the fire on instant gratification. It is possible to skip through commercials using applications like TiVo as well as select specific videos via Video on-Demand (VOD). In addition to this, cases of piracy are commonplace. With the technology available today, it is easy to compress large volumes of data and transfer it online. The one-to-many and many-to-many mode of transfer significantly exacerbates the problem of piracy. Should legal redress be sought, which elements of the distribution chain will be found culpable? In addition to this, entertainment material is fresh and plentiful, covering all imaginable genres. People are well aware of copyright laws, but conscientiously ignore them. The impulse-search-satisfaction route is the unstoppable driving force. This goes hand in hand with the ease of access attached to the Internet. Entertainment material is accessible at home, at work and on the road; practically everywhere. Many employees misuse their employers’ resources not only via quenching their thirst for entertainment, but also by misusing bandwidth in downloading extraneous material. This has been the subject of various IT-related policies with section of the public questioning an employer’s right to track employee computer usage. It boils down to the elements of ethics and codes of conduct. The discussion of technology and entertainment cannot be complete without a mention of the iPod. With respect to music, iPods makes shellac discs, vinyl records, video cassettes and compact discs appear as elements reminiscent of the Stone Age. However, these personalized digital players have created the effect of isolating individuals from the rest of the world behind white ear buds. The need to purchase entire albums died with the advent of the iTunes store as peoples could download only the desired tracks (A Technology Society, 2009). As with the every aspect of accessibility comes the question of blue movies. It seems that the billion dollar pornography industry found an efficient channel through the iPod. The Western society’s increasing tolerance of sexuality lays a foundation for pornography to find its way to mainstream media. This issue must necessarily be addressed, considering that in the United States alone, the adult entertainment industry was responsible for the generation of $2.5 billion dollars in 2004. In the month of August that year, 40% of all Internet users visit at least one adult site and 3% of all Internet traffic involved adult sites. Taking the hit rate statistics presented in the preceding paragraph, more so in relation to the speed of technological development, it will become much harder to censor pornographic content. Alex McKay, a Sex Information and Education Council of Canada research coordinator, all attempts at censorship have proved futile (Denomme, 2005). People may argue that adults have the prerogative to get involved whatever type of entertainment they please, but what about young innocent minds in their formative years? It is the society’s moral duty to guarantee proper formation of the youth. A concerned parent vocalized his opinion saying that the mass media of the day is making deliberate attempts to collapse the traditional, liberty, decency, social values that shaped America’s course (McLuhan, n.d.). He takes the argument back to the media bent on selling sensationalism. People cannot afford to ignore that when ethics and professional responsibility are categorically replaced with the yen to secure the greatest amount of advertising dollars, it is members of the public that suffer (McLuhan, n.d.). There is no question about the power the media wields over people via movies and programs. This power must necessarily be harnessed for the right purpose. The impact of technology on entertainment and society is powerful to say the least. The discussion presented indicates the need to establish strict codes of conduct, operating policies, as well as the legal implications of flouting stated procedures. Technology, in response to entertainment or otherwise, is a double edged-sword; it can either contribute to the greater good of society or lead to substantive destruction. This is where the importance of the development of well-laid out ethical standards comes in.   They serve as universal checks and balances with respect to technological operating procedures. Regardless of how powerful technology becomes, it must remain under the class of ‘aids’; human relationships must always rank higher in priority. References: A Technology Society. (2009). Has the iPod changed music? Retrieved April 3rd, 2009, from http://www.atechnologysociety.co.uk/has-ipod-changed-music.html Arbab, A. (2008, January 19). Impact of technology on society. Retrieved April 2nd,  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2009, from http://www.ideasdesk.com/2008/01/19/impact-of-technology-on  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   society/ Bauerlein, M. (2008). The dumbest generation: how the digital age stupefies young  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Americans and jeopardizes our future (or, dont trust anyone under 30). Tarcher. Borruso, S. (2005). The art of thinking – chats on logic. Paulines. Denomme, I. (2005). Video iPod a boon for porn lovers: ‘Negligible’ impact on  Ã‚  Ã‚   society, researcher predicts. Retrieved April 3rd, 2009, from  Ã‚   http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/article.cfm?section=FrontPagearticleID=462 McLuhan, M. (n.d.), Impact of computing technology on education and entertainment.  Ã‚   Retrieved April 4th, 2009, from http://pangea.tec.selu.edu/~hgildig/660695/mcluhan.pdf World Economic Forum. (2007). Technology and society: identity, community and  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   networks. Retrieved on April 3rd, 2009, from  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.weforum.org/pdf/summitreports/am2007/technology.htm