Acknowledgement Examples Essay

* First and foremost, we would like to thank to our supervisor of this project, Miss Shyamala for the valuable guidance and advice. She inspired us greatly to work in this project. Her willingness to motivate us contributed tremendously to our project. We also would like to thank her for showing us some example that related to the topic of our project. Besides, we would like to thank the authority of Multimedia University (MMU) for providing us with a good environment and facilities to complete this project. Also, we would like to take this opportunity to thank to the Centre of Affiliated Diploma Programme (CADP) of Multimedia University (MMU) for offering this subject, Computing Project. It gave us an opportunity to participate and learn about the operation of flights ticket reservation. In addition, we would also like to thank Malaysia Airline System (MAS) which provide us valuable information as the guidance of our project. Finally, an honorable mention goes to our families and friends for their understandings and supports on us in completing this project. Without helps of the particular that mentioned above, we would face many difficulties while doing this * Apart from the efforts of myself, the success of any project depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of this project. I would like to show my greatest appreciation to Prof. James Geller. I can’t say thank you enough for his tremendous support and help. I feel motivated and encouraged every time I attend his meeting. Without his encouragement and guidance this project would not have materialized. The guidance and support received from all the members who contributed and who are contributing to this project, was vital for the success of the project. I am grateful for their constant support and help. * I would like to gratefully acknowledge the enthusiastic supervision of Dr. Ali Rezazadeh during this work. I thank Prof. Garth Swanson for the technical discussions on the spectral response model and Dr. S. E. Kanellopoulos for the help with optical measurements and relevant discussions. Postgraduates of the Physical Electronics Research Group are thanked for numerous stimulating discussions, help with experimental setup and general advice; in particular I would like to acknowledge the help of Dr. Jim Luck for his support. Sean Wootton, Kevin Smith and Nick Nicola are thanked for their assistance with all types of technical problems – at all times. I am grateful to all my friends from International Hall, University of London, for being the surrogate family during the many years I stayed there and for their continued moral support there after. From the staff, Donald Mann and Margaret Wilson are especially thanked for their care and attention. Finally, I am forever indebted to my parents and Anita for their understanding, endless patience and encouragement when it was most required. I am also grateful to Naela and Tanvir for their support.

Learning Log: the Affective Filter Hypothesis

The Affective Filter Hypothesis: Some Insights â€Å"The attendance for Miss Zaljiah’s English class has never been below 80% throughout her six teaching years in the polytechnic. You can often find her sitting beside the students working and guiding them through answers and task completion. Students’ commitment are often witnessed through their energy level, engagements during discussions in reaction to her video-recorded lectures. Smartphones, ‘Google’ and ‘Facebook’ are often their constant companion. At 55, she is an inspiration. † Teachers today go the extra mile to create relevant content, reflective enough of the real world.With the birth of screen-staring culture, it is undeniable how technology has overwhelmed current classroom pedagogies increasing the dire need for more enjoyable and stress-free learning environment. From Krashen’s perspective, Affective Filter seem to have its stand. The affective filter by Krashen is a ‘mental barrier’ students and teachers must reduce for learning fluidity. (Dulay and Burt, 1977 in Krashen, 1981). These three factors; low motivation and self-confidence combined with high anxiety built in students a ‘mental wall’ which impedes language from being acquired and internalized. Krashen, 1982). Students’ affective filter must be kept low with confidence and motivation, in order for the highest input to possibly reach the acquisition part of the brain. (Krashen, 1981). Supported and summarized by Macintyre (1995), he stated â€Å"language learning is a cognitive ability that relies on encoding, storage and retrieval processes. Anxiety can interfere by creating divided attention scenarios for anxious students. † (p. 96). Gardner and Macintyre’s (1993) characterized this apprehension as derogatory self-related cognitions.Now, the question is does learning stop when the fun stops? Does learning fail because of studentsâ€℠¢ anxiety and boredom? Or learning fails because students feel anxious and bored? We only focus and emphasize what deemed important for us. While one may agree the affective filter plays a role, its causal relationship cannot be proven. It is bias to say learning happens only with motivated and confident students and if they are not, learning never took place. It can never be argued that the presence of learning is the absence of anxiety or otherwise.To debate from an eclectic point of view, students’ various learning styles, multiple intelligences, idiosyncracies, language ego, literacy creativity and error-correction tolerance influences the acquisition process. These affective domains function in both directions. (Cook, 2000) Both students and teachers complement the learning process. The teacher certainly has the â€Å"influential effect on both the linguistic performance and emotional well-being of the students†. (Heyde, 1999 in Brown, 2000). Students can â€Å"u nfold their wings† with proper classroom techniques. (Andres, 1999).In conclusion, teachers should develop a perceptive and intuitive ability backed by theoretical grounds to decide on the effectiveness for the students. Students should not be choked in their language attempts as ‘anxiety can be facilitated’ (Bailey, 1983) in creating a meaningful learning environment. The fundamental principle of SLA is that every human capacity and ability is diversified should be addressed. Every lesson should aim to resonate with the spirit of each learner as balance is created in tapping everybody’s interest in the language classroom. (510 words) ———————– 1

Impact of Globalization on Small Businesses in Canada Research Proposal

Impact of Globalization on Small Businesses in Canada - Research Proposal Example There has been increasing emphasis on the impact of globalization on the small businesses all over the globe. On one hand, it is perceived that globalization is beneficial for the growth and development of the overall global economy. But, on the other hand, according to some of the analysts globalization have negative implications for different organizations and economies. There have been several research studies in order to understand and explore the impact of the globalization.According to the research study conducted by Julien, Joyal, and Deshaies (1994), that small and medium enterprises (SME’s) in the small regions of Quebec started to take different defensive measures and secure their competitive position in the market in response to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 1988 between United States of American and Canada. This research study also concluded that the main challenge for the Small and medium enterprises (SME’s) in the era of globalization and free trade is to come up with effective and efficient strategies in order to respond to the increasing competition from the organizations all over the world.Another important aspect of globalization is related to the changing technology and its implications on the business. In this regard, Dholakia & Kshetri (2004), conducted research for identifying the different factors which influence the internet adoption process of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). For this purpose, the researchers conducted a mail survey in order to test the research hypothesis. This research study concluded that there are several internal and external factors responsible for the adoption of the internet in Small and Medium enterprises (SME). However, most prominent external pressure in this regard if of the increasing global competitive pressure. The research study could have been able to generate more comprehensive results if it would have included the adoption

Inadequacies of the traditional historic cost accounting method in Essay

Inadequacies of the traditional historic cost accounting method in times of changing price levels and the alternative methods - Essay Example Inadequacies of Traditional Historic Cost Accounting: Based on the traditional historic cost accounting method, financial accounting of any business is done considering the earnings and costs that are associated only with the internal of the organization. Decisions are taken based on such measures that exclude economic transactional information without having any market value. With this technique only those external financial factors are taken into considerations that have some effects on the overall financial outcome of the business. Thus other social, economic or environmental factors are not considered in this method of accounting (Bailey, Harte and Sugden 2002). For any business organization, accounting method needs to realize the changes in prices in the market and be feasible in the process of accounting accordingly. The inadequacies with the traditional historic cost accounting method arise since the accountants used to measure transactions related to finance in terms of monet ary unit. The method proved to be unstable as the monetary value keeps changing with conditions in the market. With changes in the value of the rupee or dollar or any other unit, financial statements would reflect distorted amounts. For example if acquisition costs of assets are added to the statements, it does not prove to be rational since the value of the monetary unit is different at different points of time (Gupta 2004). The change in price levels reflects that when there is a rise in price, there is an increase in the prices of all items. The value of assets during these times may also increase, but the rates of increase may not be the same for all items. Thus general price rise and specific price rise are two forms of rise in prices requiring inflation accounting methods for business organizations to achieve accurate financial accounting. The historic cost accounting proved to be adequate to measure these prices changes thus requiring new accounting techniques for businesses (Dutta 2003). The major problem with the traditional historic cost accounting in regard to changing price levels is that it depends significantly on volume of output that an organization achieves. The categorization of costs may be done into four classes – variable, fixed, step fixed, and mixed – that may prove to be inappropriate. Considering the present day business performances, life cycles of product are short and there are higher levels of automation. This makes the above mentioned classification of costs less relevant for the organization and leads to satisfaction of the team simply counting on the costs and not managing them well (Adler 2013). Alternative Methods: With the problems and inaccuracies of the traditional cost accounting method proving to be inadequate for the present day business financial accounting, management teams had to plan for alternatives to replace the historic cost accounting method. Focus on strategic cost drivers has been considered as o ne of the steps of measuring costs effectively. This process allows an organization to divide its costs into structural and executional costs. While the structural costs allow the measurements of the costs related to the designs of the organization, the executional costs allow the organization to realize the post-design costs (Adler 2013). Alternatives to the historic cost

Police System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Police System - Essay Example The conclusion of this research detailed that without law enforcement there would be many unfavourable consequences for those in British society. The role of the police officer is concluded as being one of the most essential and crucial in a societal atmosphere within the country of Britain. From a historical perspective and dating back to 1962, the role of 1British police officers has been that of a civil, and peace keeping community official more so than anything else. The police are in the communities for a number of reasons and their purposes are so numerous that there really is no way to define just one of their roles. It is best known that the police have developed a well-meaning and defined relationship with the generalized public due to the fact that they are always readily available to assist when needed, even if it is for a minute reason. Furthermore, from a political standpoint, foreigners who have had the opportunity to visit the country of Britain have commented on the quality of the police force as well, making note that they provide some of the most proficient and high quality services in maintaining social control throughout the world. Although the British police force is not unique in their ability to maintain social order, they have been found to be on e of the main legal forces that have developed and expanded throughout the decades. The main differences in Britain's policing system in comparison to other countries are the fact that their legal remedies stem from common law practices that have been passed down through history. The philosophy of the British police force is in allowing for a "2community policing itself", and for police presence to be in the communities when it is needed. This ideal has not changed that much in the past decades but indeed, there have been many reforms in the British police force that have developed it into becoming what it is today. Due to globalization and the entering of other ethnicities into the country of Britain, the British police force has had to learn how to police specific cultural areas. This is due to many cultural beliefs and various ideas having unique qualities about them and therefore policing can not be handled in the same way with all cultures. An example of how the police have ada pted to this idea is evidenced in how effective they have been since the mid 1950's when they first were exposed to having to police the communal society of Sri Lanka3 Firstly, when a new ethnicity is intertwined with another culture within a country there is the issue of safety and trust that comes into play. It has been found that some cultures attempt to use the idea of discrimination against the police in order to try and detract from correct policing in a minority community, such as like Sri Lanka. However, British

Stats28 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Stats28 - Essay Example The correlation between amount of TV with violent content and amount of violent behavior is an example of ____. 2. For each of the following, determine whether the sample provides enough evidence to conclude that there is a significant, nonzero correlation in the population.   In each case, use a two-tailed test with ÃŽ ± = .05. For a two-tailed test with ÃŽ ± = .05, critical value of r with df = 16 is  ±0.468. r = -0.50 is less than -0.468. Thus, the sample provides enough evidence to conclude that there is a significant, nonzero correlation in the population.   For a two-tailed test with ÃŽ ± = .05, critical value of r with df = 13 is  ±0.514. r = -0.50 is greater than -0.514. Thus, the sample does not provide enough evidence to conclude that there is a significant, nonzero correlation in the population.   For a two-tailed test with ÃŽ ± = .05, critical value of r with df = 28 is  ±0.361. r = -0.375 is less than -0.361. Thus, the sample provides enough evidence to conclude that there is a significant, nonzero correlation in the population.   For a two-tailed test with ÃŽ ± = .05, critical value of r with df = 23 is  ±0.396. r = -0.50 is less than -0.396. Thus, the sample provides enough evidence to conclude that there is a significant, nonzero correlation in the population.   4. A professor obtains SAT scores and freshman grade point averages (GPAs) for a group of n = 15 college students.   The SAT scores have a mean of M = 580 with SS = 22,400, and the GPAs have a mean of 3.10 with SS = 1.26, and SP = 84. a.   A geneticist might wonder if there is a tendency for tall fathers to have tall sons and short fathers to have short sons.   Answer this question by computing the appropriate statistic and testing it for statistical significance.   (Hint:   The statistic will be much easier to compute if you subtract 40 from each of the scores.   Doing so will not affect the value of the

Reading and write essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reading and write - Essay Example It is vital to pay attention to this debate in regards for the future existence of the human race. As population keeps rising, the environment size remains constant. This leads to increased pressure on the natural resources found in the environment such as vegetation and minerals (Moseley, Lanegran & Pandit81). This scenario would result to a situation where the resources would become scarce to accommodate population. It is in this respect that it becomes vital to pay attention to this debate. As the population rises so to does the impact of human action on the environment. Human action such as industrial and agricultural revolutions has contributed to key impacts on the environment. Technological advancement has advanced food production as well as depletion of natural resources like minerals, biodiversity, and the global climate. It is vital that human beings think about the results that their actions leave on the environment. Population rise also leads to increase in waste producti on, which impacts on environmental degradation. Greater efforts need to be put in place to understand the relationship between population and environment. There are serious concerns on the results of population increase on local resources like water, soil, forests, pastures, fisheries and biodiversity. As the population keeps rising so to do humans encroach on other habitats (Moseley, Lanegran & Pandit 105). Population growth also results to development, which leads to expansion of human activities such as creation of industries and settlement areas. This development facilitated by population increase also results to encroachment of other habitats. Encroachment as a result of population rise threatens the existence of other animal and plant species. These species get forced to shift their natural habitats, and this may lead to their extinction. To create a balance in nature, there is the need for the existence of other species apart from the human race. The loss of biodiversity in t he environment posses a key threat to human beings. Population increase also contributes to climate change. Population increase may result to economic growth and development. Growth and development get characterized by technological advancement, industrial and agricultural revolutions (Moseley, Lanegran & Pandit 212). The development of industries ensures that carbon emissions impact on the climate by altering weather patterns. Population increase also results to increased pressure on environmental resources such as forests and water catchment areas. Pressure on such resources distorts the global water cycle and in turn results to climate change over time. Focus should get placed on developing sustainability between population and the environment. This concept seeks to address the issue of sustainable development. A balance should be struck between population increase and the environment. The sustainability concept seeks to address issues on population and resources, ecosystems, spe cies, and wastes. Sustainable development between population and the environment requires that focus be placed on policies and ethics by human beings. Policies should get created to protect the environment from negative human impacts. Policy makers such as governments and non governmental organizations need to develop strategies that would ensure synergistic relations between populatio

Evaluating A Guideline Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Evaluating A Guideline - Research Paper Example Keywords: wrong site surgery, universal protocol, time out. Evaluating a guideline: Universal Protocol (Timeout) The universal protocol for preventing wrong site, wrong procedure and wrong person surgery was approved by the Joint Commission Board of Commissioners in July 2003. However, it took one year before it was effective in July 1, 2004 for all accredited hospitals, ambulatory care and office-based surgery facilities. There was an increasing and continuing occurrence of wrong site, wrong procedure and wrong person surgery that prompted the creation of the universal protocol of the Joint Commission. The university protocol incorporated a series of requirements under the Joint Commission’s 2003 and 2004 National Patient Safety Goals. The universal protocol involves a number of steps, viz: 1.) A preoperative verification process which entails verifying a checklist to confirm that the relevant and appropriate documents (e.g., medical records, imaging studies) are available. P referably, this process should take place when the patient is awake and aware. 2.) Marking the operative site which entails involving the patient in the marking process of the surgical site. In this process, make sure to use unambiguous marks. 3.) â€Å"Time-out† or â€Å"Surgical Pause† immediately before starting the procedure. This process helps the surgeons to correctly identify the correct patient, procedure and site (Joint Commission, 2003). In hospitals and surgical centers, it should always be ensured that the patient feels safe and confident. This can be possible through the use of the universal protocol. Nurses who are involved in this should help maintain patient safety by utilizing the universal protocol. Literature review In the search strategy, databases used were from Jacksonville University online resources. The databases included EBSCO and ScienceDirect. Both PubMed and CINAHL PLUS databases were systematically searched between 1990 and March 2007 to i dentify both theoretical and empirical data that discussed the implementation process for the universal protocol recommendations. Searches were also conducted from January 1, 1999- October 31, 2008. The search terms used were: wrong site surgery, universal protocol, time out, and universal protocol implementation. A review of literature shows that an effective implementation of the Universal Protocol will tremendously reduce cases of wrong patient, wrong site and wrong procedure. It will increase the safety of patients in hospitals and surgical centers. Rogers (1989) developed one of the most adopted theories of nursing, the concept of â€Å"Science of Unitary Human Beings and Principles of Homeodynamics.† In her theory, Martha Rogers postulates two major nursing ideas. These include: 1.) Nursing exists to serve people- it is a science and at the same time an art that is humane and humanistic. 2.) Nursing Science seeks to promote how persons co-exist with and interact with th eir environments. Rogers’ model of the Science of Unitary Human beings has some concepts that provide a framework for nursing practice. To start with, the Unitary Human being (person) is regarded as a unified whole which cannot be predicted from knowledge of the parts and having its own distinctive traits which cannot be perceived by looking at,

Human Resource Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Development - Essay Example Comparative analysis of two academic articles is the main thrust of this paper. Workplace or Individual development in learning organization is the common argument of these two articles. The development of HRD theory and practice will also be discussed. Comparative Analysis First Article. According to Alkire (2002, p.182), â€Å"One fundamental reason for serious account of dimensions is to give secure epistemological and empirical footing to the multidimensional objective of human development.† This is the reason why there are several dimensions mentioned in the first article. HD framework is important for HRD considering that the latter is expected to handle the human capital of the organization, and it is the responsible department that will oversee the development of individuals (Laird, et al., p.7). This concept is also justified through Sen’s capability approach, Finnis’ notion of human flourishing and dimensions of development. As described by Alkire (2002 , p.184), Sen’s capability approach is one of the developmental approaches that refers to freedom as to what the individual prefers. Sen resisted further that his approach is all about the many capabilities an individual possessed which can be used in the development process. The Sen’s and Finnis’ approaches are somewhat related in terms of values and reasons for actions. The human flourishing approach of Finnis is all about the basic values that â€Å"provides standards for choice and action because the integral directiveness of basic practical principles enables us to identify intermediate moral norms that exclude ways of choosing that are incompatible with a will towards integral human fulfillment† (George, 2004, p.271). The argument in the article constituted on how these... This paper stresses that authors of the two articles both conveyed different theory development, and the ways of developing varied from each other. The first article is concerned about problem-solving theories not just within the corporate sector or individual development but also in the global perspective. In fact, its definition of HRD involved the whole humanity and the public good. On the other hand, the second article is focused on the problem-solving process within the boundary of merging organizations. The argument lies in the public and private corporations and data from NHS. However, the intersecting point of two authors has meet when they talked about training and development, culture, and values. The arguments of the first article are justified by presenting theories while the basis of the second article is through the conduct of research. Both of them explained the importance of human development framework in the field of human resource development, and the outcome has be en successful. This report makes a conclusion that the first article is using different approaches and arguments that will serve as a guide to the reader. It also managed to define terms that are in broad context particularly the given approaches. The arguments are clearly defined and examples are best illustrated. However, the human resource management literature review of the article is not thoroughly explained, and some of the presented theories are omitted. The article is addressing different arguments but not all of them are discussed. The relationship between HD and HRD are not clearly answered particularly in the part of conclusion. Human Resource Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words Human Resource Development - Essay Example This required recruitment of line managers with defined technical skills and hence developing new skills became mandatory. The management became aware that the changes implemented over the recent years have altered the nature of the company. To cope up with these issues, a new human resource manager has been appointed who plans to initiate the learning and training programmes for the employees to enhance their organizational performance. The company’s induction programme lasts for two days and covers topics such as the history of the company, mission statement, organizational objectives, company ethics, rules of the organization and human resource policies (Basadur, Wakabayashi and Graen, 2008). The objective of the study is to compare different learning styles, explain the role of learning curve and access the contribution of learning styles and theories in scheduling and designing a learning event for the company’s workforce. The aim of the study is to compare the tra ining needs of the staff of Green and Company, review the success of the evaluation of training event in the company. Learning curve refers to the geometrical progression which discovers that there is a gradual decrease in cost for achievement of a given repetitive operation as the similar operation is steadily repeated. The quantity of decline will be less with every successive unit manufactured. The decision curve slope is expressed in percentage (Hayes and Allinson, 2011). This curve is a measure of experience gained in production of a product in an organization. Along with more production of units, individuals involved in the manufacturing process become more efficient. It proves to be very effective in the manufacturing industries and where the task is repetitive in nature with same equipments and tools such as in Green and Company. Green and Company can use the learning curve theory for setting standards in the learning

Indentured servitude Essay Example for Free

Indentured servitude Essay Indentured servitude was considered a fine replacement for slavery, rising as slavery fell out of favor in many of the European countries. However, despite the rules that were out in place, they were often changed and didnt follow the what could be considered the lowest form of humanity. Indentured servitude was used instead of slavery, but in the end, it was almost the same affliction. David Northups Doc 4 compares directly with Doc 3, 6, and 9. They show almost just the sheer amount of indentured servants that were shipped for the purpose of hard labor. All three documents are purely data and can be considered un-bias, trustworthy sources. In Doc 3 it is hugely visible that a massive amount of servants are sent to the Caribbean such as Trinidad and plantations in Suriname from India, a British colony. Doc 4 backs up this information as well as provide a huge number of455,000 people bent sent from India to the Spice Islands, Mauritius. Doc 6 shows that many of these indentured servants were previous slaves, or Asian Indians, whom the British considered below their station. Doc 9 also shows this huge number of indentured servants in Mauritius, showing that 71% of the population was Asian Indian, as well as the population of Trinidad being 33% Asian Indian. This information may not seem prevalent, but when compared to the stark contrast of Doc 7 and Doc 8. Doc 7 is an official document from the British Guiana Indenture Agreement from 1895. The document itself is a sign-up sheet that the servant would sign to agree to conditions that he trusted were to be followed until the end of his term, which lasted 5 years. This agreement states that work is every day except Sundays and Holidays and work will be 7 hours in the field or 10 in the buildings. However in Doc 8 an indentured servant complains about the conditions of his work. He works from 5:30 to 8:30, which is 15 hours total, and must work on Sundays till 2:00, which is 8 hours and 30 minutes. This amount of work is double the promised 7 hours, and even more than the normal hours on a day in which they werent to work at all. This was a gross abuse of rights and scholars even knew it, but people still didnt see them as people but workers. Doc 1 and 2 shows this. At first it was drafted just as the necessity of importation of foreign labor, but grew into a huge problem. The natives couldnt keep up with the work and more and more immigrants were needed to keep up a study supply of sugar. However, it wasnt as what one could call, nice, as it sounded. They were machines.  Indentured servant were not voluntary immigrants, but they werent slaves. They were raised, with pain, much like recruits for military service. Indentured servitude was indeed not a slavery of people, but it was the outcome of slavery and led to something very similar. People were worked to the bone and foreigners were pulled in to tiny islands just to maintain a steady flow of sugar and other rich resources. I believe Doc 5 was completely unnecessary and would have preferred another document with another account of mistreatment, or a change of time graph of indentured servants, or a change over time graph of slaves to indentured servants.

Perspective on Race Theme for English B

Perspective on Race Theme for English B The poem Theme for English B is based on an assignment the speaker receives from his college English class. He is told to write a page about whatever comes to his mind as long as its true. Hughes, however, portrays the writers dilemma and uncertainty about what to write and what is necessarily true. Ultimately, the author provides a wide of range of audiences, from the African American youth to college students today, with a glimpse of how he perceives life and his interpretation of the assignment. In the poem, Langston Hughes not only touches upon the African American struggle for equality but through imagery, style, language, tone and repetition, he also dramatizes the inner thoughts of the colored student. Although he is different physically, he possesses the same human characteristics as his classmates and the instructor.   As the poem specifically focuses on the student, the readers expect him to be an intellectual individual because he is the only black student in his entire class. This reason alone also contributes to the students dilemma about the assignment. He is unsure about the instructors expectations and how he might react to the students response mainly due to their color differences. The student also possesses a courageous attitude because he is able to express his opinions about racial equality and describes his instructor and himself to be part of each other. Ultimately, this simple poem carries a stronger message of racial Kaur 2 awareness and identity. By the end of the poem, the student is able to resolve his dilemma by concluding that even though they might not always like it, the instructor and the student are part of each other and thats true. In order to fully understand the poem one must understand where the author is coming from. Langston Hughes, an African American and one of the many writers who rose up during the Harlem Renaissance, wrote this poem to portray ignorance about race. Even though he wrote the poem many years after the movement in 1951 at the peak of discrimination, it provides accurate accounts of experiences heeded by the black population at the time. Hughes [wrote] about Afro-Americas inability to actualise equality in the United States  nearly a century after President  Abraham Lincolns emancipation proclamation (Harlem World). One could sense that the poem could be an autobiography based on Hughes own personal experiences. This is apparent because the author did attend Columbia University but unlike the speaker in the poem he was not born in Winston-Salem. According to Anne Stevenson, the poem could be a reminiscence of Hughes earlier experiences and this is his way of reanalyzing some of the thi ngs he went through at a much younger age. However, even after such invigorating attempts by the author to illuminate on black experiences, his poem was met with mixed reactions. Hughes work was criticized by black critics who protested that his work only focused on the unattractive view of black life. However, Hughes was praised by many critics as well. Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of Kaur 3 black America (Poets.org from the Academy of American Poets). Thus, some were glad that he sided with the common folks and wrote about his personal experience in such a creative way. Hoyt W. Fuller claims that Hughes chose to identify with plain black people-not because it required less effort and sophistication, but precisely because he saw more truth and profound significance in doing so. This shows Hughes commitment to writing about African American experiences in an accurate way, instead of writing about obscure things like many of the poets did at the time. The primary audience for the poem could be seen as the speakers instructor and classmates, for whom he first wrote the poem. The audience could also have been the African American population of Harlem, where Langston Hughes resided for much of his life. However, the secondary audiences (or addressees now) could be seen as the college students either analyzing the poem in their writing class, African American studies class, or those pursuing poetry in general. In any case, this poem could be seen as a historical piece educating future generations about our past. The main focus of the poem is on the structure and the initial assignment that the student must focus on, which not only reveals his dilemma but Hughes uses this to highlight concepts of race. Unlike the rest of the poem, which appears to be in free verse, the instructions for the assignment are given in perfect and end rhyme. The instructor said, Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of youThen, it will be true (1-3). Even though most of us may find these instructions fairly clear, the writer, seems rather confused and conflicted about if the assignment is really this simple. He is Kaur 4 not sure his reality is the same as his fellow classmates due to his race. He endures an identity crisis and continuously tries to convince himself he is not any different from his professor and classmates because of his skin color. In the poem, the speaker reveals himself as a twenty-two-years-old colored student, and tries to answer the assignment by appealing to the audience. He lists things like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I like to eat, sleep, drink and be in love. I like to work, read, learn, and understand life (21-22). In doing so the student tries to express to the audience as well as his instructor that being African American doesnt stop him from liking the same things as other races. However, this leads to his next dilemma because now the student begins to wonder so will my page be colored that I write? (26). The student wonders if his race might have an influence on his writing and whether his instructor will be able to understand him because he is white. The audiences can relate to the speaker, not only due to his young age, but also because he feels like an outsider, which many of us encounter time to time. Hughes uses imagery to portray a typical day in the students life as he tries to make sense of his assignment. The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas, Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y, the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator up to my room, sit down, and write this page (11-15). Through these lines the author creates a visual of where the student lives, his normal routine of getting home from school, and the normalcy of his experience that makes him a typical person. However, his school seems to be above Harlem, perhaps outside the Kaur 5 city and this may lead to his feelings of being out of place. Also this long route that the student must take back and forth suggests that he may be poor, yet, based on his intellect he can go to a university that most of his neighborhood will never get to experience. This pertains to Hughess overall message that this student is just another resident of mainly African American community in Harlem and his skin color does not differentiate him from society. The poem consists of informal language written in jazz-poetry style, which demonstrates jazz-like rhythm or feel of improvisation (PittsburgStateUniversity). The poem consists of breaks in the middle of the lines and flows in a rhythmic pattern. Its not easy to know what is true for you or me at twenty-two, my age. But I guess Im what I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you: hear you, hear mewe twoyou, me, talk on this page (16-19). The speaker tries to establish a connection between him and his surroundings. He constantly refers to Harlem and how he can see and hear it. This develops into a small back and forth dialogue. These lines make it obvious that the speaker has a deep connection with his community and he feels understood and comforted by it. This leads him to conclude that [his paper] will not be white (28). The writer is able to understand his roots and (at this part) is coming to terms with what he will write for the assignment. Hughes uses repetition to establish a stronger emphasis on the point he is trying to make. In the next few lines, the student decides that whatever he writes will not be white. This is the crucial part of the essay because even though the student addresses the Kaur 6 instructor and realizes the differences between the two, he still believes they are part of each other. But it will be a part of you, instructor. You are white yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. Thats American. Sometimes perhaps you dont want to be a part of me. Nor do I often want to be a part of you (29-35). By repeating words like part of, you, and me the author highlights his main message: we are all part of each other. The writer realizes even though he is an individual, he is still a human being and part of the same society as his instructor. This simple, yet, powerful message makes the reader realize that we are more alike than one might think. The tone the author takes in the poem could be described as a bit ironic, and regretful. In the beginning, the speaker wonders if the assignment is really as simple as it seems but he ends the poem by simply stating that This is my page for English B (41). The speaker also is split between two aspects of his life. First of all, he is different than others in his class because he is black but he is also an American, which makes him the same as everyone else. You are whiteyet a part of me, as I am part of you. Thats AmericanThats true (31-33). Nevertheless, the poem ends with a sense of regret. Even though the student and the instructor are the same because they are both Americans, the instructor is still more free than him. One of the important components of the poem is its style, and language. Even though the poem starts out with the end rhymes and perfect rhymes, it is mostly written in free verse with Jazz like rhythm. The language of the poem is simple and straightforward as well, which makes it easier to understand and relate to. Also one can learn a lot from Kaur 7 the diction of the poem. The simplicity of the words prevents many different interpretations of the poem. Thus, different readers can agree on the themes of the poem and pretty much come to the same conclusion regarding its message. Walter Rhett writes, [Langston] approached issues and problems, differences and deficiencies with the joy of common sense. His work never yelled or sliced the truth into half measures, but it was never bombastic, in-your-face prevaricating, and no matter how dark the situation, always had an embedded sense of humor. In fact, this is exactly how most of the students and bloggers feel about Hughess poetry. Some (like Rhett) go as far as to say, although Hughes wrote about complex issues, he was always honest and rich in his writing. In the poem Theme for English B, Langston Hughes uses style, repetition, tone, language and imagery to effectively demonstrate African American struggle for equality. Hughes describes his personal account with race through the eyes of the colored student, who struggles to accomplish his assignment because he questions the similarities and dissimilarities between himself and his instructor. Hughes specifically targets African American audiences who can relate to the speaker of the poem and sympathize with him. Although students now days can understand the speakers dilemma, its looked at as a historical piece. Hughes is praised for his accurate portrayal of black life and use of particular diction and syntax to appeal to the audiences. Kaur 8 Work Cited Espey, Debbie. Examining Theme for English B by Langston Hughes.  Associated Content. Associated Content, Inc., 13 March 2010. Web. 6 Nov 2010. Harlem, By Langston Hughes, 1951.  Harlem World. WordPress, 8 July 2008. Web. 16 Nov 2010. Jazz Poetry: 1920s-30s.  PittsburgStateUniversity. Pittsburg State University, 29 January 2007 . Web. 14 Nov 2010. Langston Hughes (1902 1967).  Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation , 2010. Web. 6 Nov 2010. Langston Hughes Group.  enotes. Salon Media Group, INC, 5. September 2008. Web. 6 Nov 2010. Langston Hughes. Poets.org From the Academy of American Poets. Academy of American Poets, 1997-2010. Web. 13 October 2010. Langston, Hughes. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print Rhett, Walters. Theme for English B: Remembering Langston Hughes.  Southern Perlo Stories/Insights/Open Views. Salon Media Group, INC, 25 August 2010. Web. 6 Nov 2010. Kaur 9 Stevenson, Anne . #60 Theme for English B (Langston Hughes).  Poetry Countdown  . WordPress, 3 September2009. Web. 17 Nov 2010. Writers Memo The greatest strength in my essay would be the fact that it addresses many rhetorical devices and it focuses on the rhetorical analysis, instead of just summarizing the plot. My weaknesses mainly rely in the structure of the paragraphs. I had to struggle a lot with making effective transition from paragraph to paragraph. I would like to think I worked thoroughly and equally hard on all aspects of my essay. However, like I mentioned above, organizing my paragraph was really time consuming and frustrating. If I had extra time to fix my essay, I would probably try to reorganize my paragraphs and look for spelling/grammar errors. I would also try to check for plagiarism because I used many outside sources in my essay and sometimes I get carried away and either forget to cite or accidentally take others ideas as my own. Actually I wasnt sure if I had grasped the whole concept of analyzing works rhetorically before working on this essay. I learned a lot about rhetorical devices that make certain texts effective or ineffective. Overall, I think I finally understand the concept of rhetoric. Just like everyone else, I would like to receive an A on this assignment, even though that may not be the case. I like to think I worked on this essay best to my ability and tried to incorporate the necessary details into it. However, I do realize that my essay does have some weak points and Id like to at least receive a B.

Exercise of Authority in Measure for Measure Essay -- Measure for Meas

At the outset, we find the Duke transferring his power and authority to Angelo. He lends to Angelo his own terror and dresses Angelo with his love, â€Å"giving his deputation all the organs of his own power†. He says that from now on â€Å"mortality and mercy† in Vienna would live in Angelo’s tongue and heart. The Duke motive in appointing Angelo to function in his stead is, as he tells Friar Thomas, to rid the country of the evils which have taken strong roots and which, he thinks, he himself cannot eradicate because of his reputation as a very lenient man. Now the question is how far the Duke is justified in appointing a substitute to rule the kingdom and reform the corrupt Vienna society. We do not think that the Duke is justified in taking such a step. We are certainly not convinced by the reason which he gives to Friar Thomas for not undertaking the task of reform himself. Why should the Duke evade his responsibility? He tells Friar Thomas that, if he were now suddenly to become strict and stern, his actions would cause much resentment among the people. But this is no reason why a ruler should himself go into the background and appoint another man to take his place. Besides, we soon afterwards find that the Duke in interested more in observing Angelo at work as his deputy, and less is seeing evil being eradicated. We find that the Duke is concerned more with spying his deputy’ actions than with the process of reform. He becomes more interested in watching and prying into the personal as well as official life of Angelo than in the direction which the public affairs of the country are taking. Angelo’s Exercise of Authority As soon as Angelo is given charge of the kingdom, he begins to exercise his authority in a relentless manner. H... ...e protested against justice being totally pushed into background with mercy holding the field. The Duke compels Angelo to get married to Mariana, the girl whom he had once betrayed and forsaken, and the girl whom he has now seduced. But that is the only punishment which is imposed upon a character who proves to be the worst sinner among all the characters of the play. References [1]Marsh, Nicholas. Shakespeare: Three Problem Plays: New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003 [2]Montrose, Louis Adrian. Shaping Fantasies: Figuration of gender and power in Elizabethan cultures: 1983. [3]Rogers, Pat. The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature: Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1993. [4]Schanzer, Ernest(1963). The problem plays of Shakespeare: London, Routledge&Kegan Paul, 1963. [5]Tillyard, E.M.W. Shakespeare’s problem plays: London, Chatto&Windous, 1964.

Hobsons Choice by Harold Brighouse Essay -- Hobsons Choice Harold Br

"Hobson's Choice" by Harold Brighouse Analyse the events of act one and discuss how the playwright, Harold Brighouse prepares the audience for the transformation of Will Mossop's character as seen in act four. Hobson's Choice was set in the Victorian time of 1880. It was written in 1915 and is a Lancashire comedy that also refers to class. When Maggie marries Will, it is seen as a disgrace because Maggie is marrying someone of a lower class. Hobson's choice shows the rise of Will Mossop (a boothand) who is a nervous, unconfident man and how he changes when he marries Maggie, the daughter of Hobson. Maggie is the complete opposite of Will and she transforms him. It shows Hobson and others around them disagreeing with the wedding. In this essay, I am going to analyse the transformation of Will Mossop from act1 to act4 and say how he has changed. We first see Will Mossop when Mrs Hepworth, an important customer of Hobson's enquires about who made the boots that she has. "Who made these boots?" Mrs Hepworth seeks the assistance of Maggie to find out who made the boots, after getting nowhere with Hobson. This puts Hobson out and he still tries to interfere and show his importance. He assures Mrs Hepworth that he will make the man that made them suffer if there is anything wrong with them. "if there is anything wrong I assure you I'm capable of making the man suffer" Will appears from the trap door. He is lanky man who is not stupid, but has been stunted mentally. His clothes are poor and shabby but he has qualities and charm in him. When Mrs Hepworth speaks to him he is nervous and when she goes to give him her card he ducks expecting a blow of her. In the film version when we first... ... doesn't take no for an answer from Hobson. In Conclusion I feel that Maggie is solely responsible for the change in Will. Since she dragged him into marrying her he has changed into a strong, self-confident and self-assured man. At the end of act 1 he shows that he won't be bossed about by Hobson and becomes determined to marry Maggie. He turns into the strongest man in the play from being the weakest. He now knows what he is doing in life and is not afraid of changes as he was at the beginning of the play. He is now successful and respectable but he doesn't gloat or boast over Hobson's misfortunes. At the end of the play he shows of all his new qualities. Will's change has happened for the best for him without a doubt but not for Hobson. Hobson used to be in charge of Will and boss him around but now the tables have turned as Hobson now needs Will.

Shakespeares Problem Plays :: William Shakespeare Poems Literature Essays

Shakespeare's Problem Plays I suggest that a label for the causes of these feelings [of uneasiness and uncertainty of interpretation] might be the tragi-comic view of man: a view which splits the world today, and gives us the "totalitarian" attitude versus the end product of a European tradition which was chivalric and Christian. I mean by this any or all of the following, or any combination of these distinguishable attitudes. 1. A refusal or failure wholly to credit the dignity of man, and the significance that that gives the individual in tragedy. 2. An emphasis (comic, derisive, satiric) on human shortcoming, even when man is engaged in great affairs. 3. Any trend towards suggesting that there is usually another side to all human affairs, and that the "other side" to the serious, dignified, noble, famous and so forth, is comic. This implies a scepticism of man's worth, importance and value; and may range from the quizzical through the ironical to the cynical. 4. Any trend in the direction of expressing unhappiness, disappointment, resentfulness or bitterness about human life, by inverting these feelings and presenting the causes of them as matter for laughter or jest.... 5. A corresponding attitude towards traditionally funny subjects which insinuates that in some way they are serious, or that the stock response to them bypasses pain at human shortcomings or wickedness; or that this stock response depends on a lack of sympathy or insight which an author can make us aware of without abolishing the comic situation. * * * They [the problem plays] have another important themes or terms in common, and all have some echo or parallel in Hamlet. 1. They share a common evaluation of conventionally accepted "nobilities": noble heroes in Troilus and Cressida (and the nobility of courtly love); Authority in ermine in Measure for Measure; a gentleman of family in All's Well. All are deflated; and with the deflations there runs concurrently the critical devaluation of man at large. 2. Interpolated into the critical analytical patterns we find "ideal" figures who check our prattle of "cynicism," "satire" or "misanthropy": Greek and Trojan chivalrically fraternizing; Hector, Uysses in his degree speech, perhaps; the Duke in his quasi regal moments; the Isabella who talks Christian charity so moving.... All are as if inset or montage figures, so that in their context they appear out of phase; .

Microsoft Corporation’s Strategy Essay

1. Executive Summary Microsoft is a computer business company. It is famous for software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office suite, and Internet Explorer web browser. It is the world’s largest software maker measured by revenues. Also Microsoft has a new development strategy in  recent year which approaching to smart-phone industry. Microsoft built on the partnership with Nokia since 2011, and the significantly increasing success of Nokia’s Lumia smart-phones. Microsoft’s purpose is to use the acceleration growth of its share and profit in mobile devices through the speed innovation, addition synergies and centralized brand and market. At that period for Nokia, this transaction was significantly accretive to earnings, strengthen its financial position, and provide a solid basis for investment in its continuing businesses. This acquisition will promote competition, Microsoft offer competitive alternatives to Google and Apple which helped by integration of hardware and software. Also, Microsoft gains proven ability which from key personnel to success in devices and services, it remains committed to working with partners in the windows & windows phone ecosystems. Moreover, the acquisition can benefit consumers, it has pulled down Microsoft’s devices and services costs from development through the market and by gaining cost savings from Nokia’s. 2. Introduction Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational company, and its mission statement is use human diversity and inclusive of ideas and solutions to satisfy the needs of its increasingly global and and diversification consumer base . Microsoft get into the smart-phone market would be a big step for it to develop more for its business, that is one of the reasons that purchasing Nokia in 2013. Microsoft’s acquired Nokia on 3rd September 2013; and announced that to used approximately $ 7.2 billion to purchase almost all of Nokia’s mobile phone business which spent $ 5 billion on equipment and service departments, also paid $ 2.1 billion for related patent. This report aims to analyze the strategy of Microsoft acquisition of Nokia which included SWOT, also the analysis of PESTLE and five forces of the strategy, then finally would be the Value chain, the recommendation of its strategy and retaliation of competition. SWOT analyzes that after changed the strategy how to affect Microsoft as a good and bad way, also how it inspires more chances to develop the business, and any risk from this strategy. It shows that electronic product industry competed in the firm. Secondly, the report explains the reason of Microsoft has to change strategy by political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal, all  those factors show that when strategy changed by Microsoft. Thirdly, this report will talk about Nokia entered into Microsoft is the strategic change the business by using five forces; it explains the current rivals and potential new entrants in the industry with the businesses change in strategy. Also, with the value chain, the original Nokia’s technique skills have changed the organization and competencies. Finally, this report will talk about the future of this company development, it will tell core competence and innovation strategies are most likely to improve its absolute and relative performance in the next 3 to 5 years. With those analyses, this report will explain the details of this strategy from Microsoft, and both advantages and disadvantages by usi ng this strategy for its future business. 3. The Environment Analysis With technology great development, Apple’s produce iPhone and products to cater the market as Google’s does have Android to compete in. Thurs made a decision with Microsoft acquired Nokia in 2013. 3.1 SWOT Analysis 3.1.1 Strengths Microsoft and Nokia’s huge influence in the world Microsoft Corporation is world leader of personal computer software development; also it currently is the world’s largest provider of computer software. At the same time, according to Steve Ballmer Microsoft Chief Executive (2013), Microsoft’s Windows occupy 91.49% sharing of the global PC operation system. Nokia has had powerful hardware design concept and abilities of manufacturing, also Nokia’s Lumia occupied approximately 82% of the market. So, acquisition of Nokia was a great record for Microsoft’s corporate strategy. Brand loyalty Microsoft has been managing operation systems and software provider, it establishes over 90 % of the PC operation system’s market share. Most of people grew up with Microsoft’s operating system because of the easy manipulating and will use continually, there are not much brands can compete with it for those reasons. Even open source operating system; it is totally  free, suits ordinary users. Profits of the mobile phone market Profit is a big principle of Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia. According to the US technology blog estimating, Microsoft earned 10 US dollars gross profit from each Lumia phone, but after the acquisition, the gross profit of Lumia has increased to over 40 US dollars, which mean that Microsoft can recover the cost of acquisition of Nokia with 25 million Lumia phones be sold. 3.1.2 Weaknesses Saturated Market Microsoft approached too late to the smart-phone’s market, it has already saturated when Microsoft stepped into. Most of the market shares have been taken by Apple and Android. According to Bamburic (2013), in 2013, Window Mobile only occupied 2.9 % from the smart-phone market share, it is a bad record which compare with Apple’s 18.2 % and Android’s 74.4 %. Innovate slowly Microsoft is difficult to ask people to accept the whole system moved to a smart-phone operating in a short period. Although consumers have not totally approved Window Mobile, Microsoft still updates the mobile system slowly. 3.1.3 Opportunities Offer Option Android occupies most of the market share of smart-phone, however the loyalty of Android’s users are unstable, also Apple’s products are too expensive for consumers, with no more choice for mobile system, Window mobile get a chance to attract those customers. Functional With the developing Information Technology, people see mobile as a necessity, and mobile phone is not just a communication tool, consumers concern about the multi-function and the brand of mobile phone. 3.1.4 Threats Substitutive The threat of substitutive, same level of smart-phone will be the greatest  substitutive of Microsoft, such as Samsung, LG, Sony; developed technology and internet, net communication also are the substitutive, such as E-mail, MSN, Skype. Limited Creative & Cost The creative abilities of the whole industry are declining as Apple or Samsung. With the quick developed in these years, systems and function are getting homogeneous. This is the same problem for the whole industry. Moreover, with the developing creative function, cost also is a main element to win the competition which how to spend less to do more. 3.2 PESTLE Analysis Macro environmental influences on Microsoft are summarized with in following six categories to identify the key drivers for change. 3.2.1 Political The US government concerns the investment in high-tech industries and supports the development of high-tech enterprises which made the Mobile Enterprises starting the patent competition. Mobile manufacturers defray a large proportion of cost by the strict US patent system. Also America has the most complete and strict for mergers and acquisitions law. 3.2.2 Economic America’s tertiary industry occupied for about 78 % of GDP, which the contribution of high-tech owned the most, the technology is crucial for the US which is the power source of economic development. The global economic crisis of 2008 caused a huge blow to the world economy, under the impact of the economic crisis, Nokia’s share price fell sharply which just made a great offer for Microsoft to purchase as a low cost. 3.2.3 Social With the development of the information age, people rely on mobile phones increasingly. By changing the concept of value as people’s lives changed as well, people do not see mobile as a communication tool at all, they attach importance to the multi-function and brand of the products. Consumers’ brand awareness is getting stronger when they are selecting mobile phone.  Smart-phones are no longer for teenage only, it turns to be public goods for everyone. With the smart-phone fashion rising, mobile phones have become a symbol of renewal as a consumer, so the mobile phone market is very considerable. 3.2.4 Technological Walking in front of others is the only way to survive in the high-tech field and the fierce market competition. High-tech products have rapid upgraded and short life cycle, it inspires higher requires to enterprises’ special application software and ability of continuing to update the hardware configuration. Nokia as a former mobile phone giant obviously hold numerous patents, specialized technical personnel and technical reserves the phone which is an advantage to help Microsoft to develop on smart-phone industry. 3.2.5 Legal Microsoft corporate supervised by laws, and it followed the laws which contain Labor law, intellectual property and the tax regime. 3.2.6 Environmental Microsoft is an ecofriendly company, it is green IT and the company request customers to recycle the product which are used. 3.3 Five forces 3.3.1 Existing Competitions With fierce competition in the electronics industry, Microsoft’s mobile is facing every kind of problems in development, smart-phone’s challenged from Apple and Google, also there has problems with products, research and development, marketing strategy and enterprise development strategy. Microsoft needs to plan its strategy as an â€Å"universal key† to open each locks. 3.3.2 Threat of New Entrant New entrant is a threat of Microsoft. HP (Hewlett-Packard) purchased Palm mobile firm in 2010, HP was a global information technology company, main business focused on printers, computer and software. HP is just one of the new entrant, most of the famous computer industries involve as well, such as  Lenovo, Dell. They have stable trust on consumers and market in society, now they invade to mobile phone industry which is a serious threat for Microsoft. 3.3.3 Threat of Substitutes With development of information technology and continuous improvement of people’s living standards, network, iPod and even digital cameras are more popular to substitute with phones by more functional and professional. As a result, the substitutive has a certain threat to Microsoft. 3.3.4 Power of Buyers The products’ quality and quantity depends on the power of buyers. Nokia’s technique could not satisfy buyers enough to buy their products because of the lower level in the smart-phone market which cause buyers’ bargaining power are getting stronger. But Microsoft has good reputation and well system, after the acquisition of Nokia, it increases buyers’ confident of products which successfully reduce the bargaining power from buyers and raised profits. 3.3.5 Power of Suppliers Mobile phone suppliers had great competition before 2010, so enterprises picked very seriously of their suppliers which caused a low bargaining power in the market. After 2010, Apple’s products sold well and had significantly outstanding result which leaded to other enterprises’ profit sharply dropped down; also suppliers got reduced by them at the same time. So Microsoft purchased Nokia at the right timing which earns a good bargaining power. 4. The Value Chain According to Walters (2007), Microsoft knew that the company should have an efficient value chain and offering the customer great value with its products. People would discover that Microsoft’s value chain is completely integrated to crop-net which is their information technology infrastructure network. The management of central control and efficiency are brought by the integration with their technical capabilities, it allows them to use the minimum effort and minimum mistakes at the right time to make a right  decision, thus value increased when cost saving. Microsoft provides software to them is minimal for need of logistics, because they can send the software through internet to the local agents. They also do customer services and maintenance by information technology, and they have to recruit, support, market, maintain, interview, finance, customer service, deliver, consult, advertise for the network. The development of technology is interior, there have the cost benefits of development and maintaining technology of value chain for compared to competitors. According to Johnson (2011), Porter’s Value Chain Model, margin has significantly increased after the Microsoft acquisition of Nokia. For the primary value chain activities, the inbound logistics of Microsoft allows Nokia to provide equipment, also the marketing and sale of Microsoft has many advertising platform that can increase publicity and sales. Procurement area is an important part of the cooperation between Microsoft and Nokia. This development must source raw materials for the business and obtain the best price for doing so. The challenge for procurement is to obtain the best possible quality available on the market for their budget. At the same time, purchasing inputs that means it buys product cheaper from suppliers. Because of Microsoft’s core competence is the system software; the development of mobile phone hardware is not completed. On the other hand, Nokia’s core competence has the good hardware system and stable suppliers’ source, so this result is becoming a win-win for both companies which reach the cost efficiency. Microsoft can directly use Nokia’s equipment to sell and reduce the costs, also it improves the margin. Figure 1 and Figure 2 shows that after Microsoft got the Nokia, both of them operating margin profit and market value increased. In summary, Value chain model defines the cost advantage after Microsoft acquisition of Nokia; it achieves cost efficiency and associated with core competencies and capabilities in order to perform them better than do competitors. 5. Retaliation of Competitors Facing acquisition of Nokia, current rivals and potential new entrants in mobile market which are Google, Apple and HP should do something to deal with this Microsoft’s corporate-level strategy. As Burrows comment that Google and Apple did the same thing which is advertise their products. For  example, Google-operated retail Web site, use â€Å"Web meets phone† as a statement for introducing. In terms of the five force, existing competitions will make a plan for strategic change form same industry, so new entrants does. 6. Recommendation Mobile space could be one of the serious problems for Microsoft in recent years. Windows Mobile platform is still dominated by innovative in market, such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating system. The plan of Microsoft to compete with those providers this year would be releasing Window Phone 7, although it is little bit late to the smart-phone market, Microsoft realizes what consumers really needed, and Window Phone 7 will be the best explanation in the next 3 to 5 years. Innovation has been a big issue for Microsoft, Windows is a special case as an innovative product when it first released, but Microsoft did not provide anything that even matching the innovation. Because of the competitors have developed more creative products, all companies want to be the main competitor in the high-tech space. Innovation is the most necessary element in the smart-phone market which Microsoft has to improve. 7. Conclusion Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia is opportunities as well as challenges. As the analysis of opportunities and threats with Microsoft’s mobile phone business, for Microsoft entered lately to the mobile market and the decline of the old mobile phone giant Nokia, how to achieve the advantage complementary through the merger of both sides, Microsoft has to put smart-phone system and PC operation system together as soon as possible to achieve the great new innovations of smart-phone. Microsoft has to be originality of mobile system for its business, it will be the big step for Microsoft to be success. Microsoft has been the dominant PC computer software manufacturer over years, but now the sales growth of the PC has slowed sharply because of consumers have been the turning to smart-phones and tablets. The sales of PC’s expectation was 409 million units in 2011, it was a 15.9 % increased which lower than 18.1 % the previous estimate of the company. According to Research director of Gartner Ranjit Atwal (2013), this  result reflects the weakening of consumer demand, the recent increase in shipment is expected to decline, increasing consumer interested in the iPad and other tablet PCs are the main factors leading to rising slowing sales growth of the PC in the long run. As Lomas comment that (2013), in the future of 2014, tablet will replace PC for over 10 % of sales, Microsoft and Intel believe that Windows software could attract a variety of users by the touch features, especially business users, and it inspires the development of Windows Tablet PC, touch-screen laptop and their products. Technology is the most influencing Macro environmental factor by the PESTEL analysis. Microsoft strategy through Bowman’s clock as an explanation which both bases of differentiation and intended strategy for low price are detailed. Value chain diagnose the capabilities of the strategy as a tool, it proves that Microsoft strategy align ed well from this completed core. Also Microsoft had the abilities to resource the strategies by man power, technology, funds and information to win the position in the market. 8. Bibliography Ali-Yrkkà ¶,J., Kalm,M., Pajarinen, P., Rouvinen, P., Seppala, T. and Tahvanainen, A.(2013). Microsoft Acquires Nokia: Implications for the Two Companies and Finland. ETLA Brief [Online] Available From: http://www.industriall-europe.org/Sectors/ICT/2013/ETLA-Nokia-%20MS-Muistio-Brief-16.pdf. [Accessed: 3rd September 2013] Blandford, R. (2013). Why did Microsoft acquire Nokia’s Devices & Services business? [Online] Available From: http://allaboutwindowsphone.com/features/item/18293_Why_did_Microsoft_acquire_Noki.php. [Accessed: 3rd September 2013] Bamburic, M. (2013). What we know about Windows Phone 8.1 so far? [Online] Available From:http://support.techlogic.net/index.php?/News/List/Index/134. [Accessed: 28th February 2014] Burrows, P.(2010). Apple vs. Google. Businessweek. [Online] Available From: http://cecs5580.pbworks.com/f/businessweek+Apple+vs+Google.pdf. [Accessed: 14th January 2010] BBC News. Microsoft to buy Nokia’s mobile phone unit.. [Online] Available From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23940171. [Accessed: 3rd September 2013] BBC News. Microsoft-Nokia deal: Analyst reaction.. [Online] Available From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23945652. [Accessed: 3rd September 2013] CNET News. Microsoft to acquire Nokia’s device and services division. [Online] Available From: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57601025-75/microsoft-to-acquire-nokias-device-and-services-division/. [Accessed: 2nd September 2013] Guy, A. (2011). Entrepreneurship and the value chain: Importance, risks and suggestions. Advances in Management. 4(6). Pp.63-65. Johnson, G., Scholes, K., and Whittington, R. (2011). Exploring Corporate Strategy. FT Prentice Hall. Harlow. Lomas, N. (2013). Tablets To Grow 53.4% This Year, Says Gartner, As The Traditional PC declines 11.2%. [Online] Available From: http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/21/tablets-vs-pcs/. [Accessed: 21th October 2013] Microsoft Corporation. (2104).Company profile. [Online] Available From: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/co?s=MSFT+Competitors Microsoft to acquire Nokia’s devices & services business, license Nokia’s patents and mapping services. [Online] Available From: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2013/sep13/09-02announcementpr.aspx. [Accessed: 3rd September 2013] Ovide,S. (2013). Deal Is Easy Part for Microsoft and Nokia. [Online] Available From: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014241278873244324045790521127313496

Our aim is to investigate how much quicker Essay

Aim:- Our aim is to investigate how much quicker a reaction happens if the acid we uses strength goes up, and also to see if there is a pattern which could be carried on to higher strength acids. Background Science:- Chemical reactions play a very important part in our life, some even keep us alive (the process of our digestion system is a series of chemical reactions which convert food into chemicals which can be more easily used by our bodies), other circumstances where chemical reactions are used in our bodies that cut down the amount of acid in your stomach, there are also chemicals in washing powder for removing stains by using chemicals called enzymes which speed up the breakdown of the chemicals in stains. All chemical reactions happen at various speeds, such as chemicals in fireworks which react very fast, within seconds of the firework being lit the reaction is over. Slow chemical reactions could be such things as the ripening of cheese so it can mature over time. Some adhesives we use require two chemicals to be mixed depending on the amounts used it could make the glue harden quickly or slowly. Some reactions happen slowly whereas some happen very fast. The name in which we measure a speed of a reaction is called a â€Å"Rate Of Reaction†. It can be measured in two ways, either the rate in which one of the products is produced, one of the products that is produced is gas, you can measure gas in a syringe or in a upturned burette. Another method that can be used is recording mass of the reactant, (how much the mass has added to its weight of lost). The mass could be recorded every minute and could be written like this, 1. 0g/60secs. Variables:- We had four variables to choose from, Temperature, Concentration, Surface area/Pressure and Catalyst. If we were to use temperature we would measure how much quicker the reaction would go if the acid and calcium were heated together, but we would have to keep the temperature at a constant heat as it wouldn’t be a fair test if the reactants were getting hotter and colder. If we were to use a catalyst it would be used to speed up the reaction, but this would be unfair because we wouldn’t be able to measure how much extra speed is being put in by the catalyst. Or we could change the surface area of the reactant, this would give the acid more of a area to act on, to measure this we would have to weigh the calcium first then expose it to the acid for a certain time and then take it out and weigh it, making sure we use the same concentration of acid each time to make it a fair test. We decided to use Concentration, for this we would change the strength of concentration each time and take a volume of gas that is given off every ten seconds. From choosing the variable – Concentration we can measure the rate of gas that is being given of, this could be useful because we could work out how much gas per minute is being given off, from that we can then predict how much gas is being given off for any time you need to find. Prediction:- I think that as the strength of the acid goes up the rate of reaction will go up. Collision Theory:- I think this will happen because the higher the strength of the solution the more particles there are in the solution, which means more collisions more frequently. The acid will hit the calcium carbonate, if there is enough energy in the acid the calcium and acid will react together to give off Carbon Dioxide. The more the particles collide the faster they react. I have made a predicted graph, showing what I think the graph will look like. I have drawn in the lines of best fit showing the steepness of the line. This diagram shows how the acid particles collide with the marble chip to give off a gas. Method:- Set up apparatus as shown above. 1. Measure out desired amount of marble chips. 2. Measure out desired amount of hydrochloric acid – 0. 25 mole first, then when all experiments with 1 mole have been completed go onto 0. 5 mole then 1 mole then 1. 5 and finally 2 mole. 3. Fill up the water bowl. 4. Fill measuring cylinder with water up to 100 ml. 5. Holding hand over the top of the measuring cylinder quickly turn it upside down and place it under the water (as shown above). If the water comes out refill the cylinder and try again. 6. Place tube so one end is coming up in the cylinder under water. 7. Put the marbles in the chronicle flask. 8. Pour in the hydrochloric acid and quickly affix the top with the tube coming out of it into the chronicle flask. 9. Decide at what time you will measure how much gas is given off. We decided to take a reading every 10 seconds, we also decided to start taking the readings at 30 seconds. You measure how much gas is given off by the water dropping in the measuring cylinder. E. g. 10 mls given off in the first 30 seconds. 10. Take these readings for 100 seconds using a stop watch to be precise. I am going to take 3 repeats, I am doing 3 because I can get a fair average from these 3 results. From the averages I will plot a graph to compare the different strength acids. Analysis:- (Graphs). From my graphs I clearly show the variable of different strengths of acids. As I used higher strength acids, the time in which the gas was produced got much faster. As the acids get stronger the lines become more inline. Whereas the 0. 5 points were all over the place. From my results I can see that my prediction was correct â€Å"I think that as the strength of the acid goes up the rate of reaction will go up†. I could see that from my results the strength of acid went up and the speed it took to make the gas went down. This links to the collision theory, that is that as the strength of the acid went up there were more particles to collide on the marble, which meant that more gas was given of due to more particles in the small mixture. The higher the strength of acid the more accurate the results became, we can see this because the range bars get smaller as the strength of the acid gets stronger. From the predicted graph I can see a difference in the results graph. The 1 mole strength acid has taken longer than the 0. 5 mole acid to produce the gas. I will explain the possible reasons for this more in my evaluation. Evaluation:- The main difficulty we faced was with the 2 mole strength acid because it reacted so fast we barely had time to read the times precisely. This may have meant we had unfair results. The main anomalous results were the 1 mole results, because from the information we have (collision theory) it tells us that it is stronger than the 0. 5 mole which means it should be lower than on the graph than 0. 5. But it isn’t. This may have been because the results were read wrong, the acid we used may have been slightly too strong or the marble chips we used may have been smaller which means it is easier for the acids to break down. To improve the accuracy we could use a burette, which are far more accurate than a measuring cylinder or a gas cylinder. Gas Syringe Burette Computer data collectors are a very accurate way of registering the time, also if you were to use a camera recorder so you could look back at it and pause it when it got to the times when you needed to record a time. The results would never be the same because sometimes the measurement of marble chips maybe slightly more or less, or the accuracy of reading the time would be slightly out etc. As I said earlier in my investigation the results seemed to become more reliable as the strength of acid went up. Although it should be less accurate to measure the time as the acid strength went up it seemed to be more accurate. James Lane 11N – Rates Of Reaction Investigation.

Facebook’s Stock? Essay

Social networking has played a prominent role in allowing users to connect with each other around the world over the past decades. Social network sites are used in order to improve intimate communication and build better relationships with family, old and new friends. Facebook in particular is one of the most popular social networking sites. It provides a wide range of connection methods for users to interact with those people that they care about and to update status or photos on the website. The website was established by Mark Zuckerberg and his college friends in February 2004. It is owned and operated by Facebook Inc. The company has continued to develop and increase potentiality over the last eight years (PrivCo, 2011). As of March, 2012, there were more than 900 million Facebook users, more than 125 billion friend connections and there were an average of 300 million photos uploaded each day on the website (Facebook’s S-1 Filing, 2012). In this sense, Facebook has become the largest social networking sites in the world. Additionally, when the company started trading stock to public on 18 May, 2012, it was also recorded as the third largest IPO in the history of the United States (Hammond, 2012). However, the stock price has been significantly falling since selling the stock to public. Although social networking is a growing market and the company plans to continue developing its productions and services, investors remain worried about the ability of the company and they have doubted that the stock will not be able to turn profit margins in both short-term and long-term period. Therefore, the stock of Facebook should not be invested in because it is overvalued and overpriced and the company might struggle with commercial revenue and be restricted in many areas. This paper will describe the stock market and Facebook’s situation before and after trading to the public and will also discuss the question of investment in the stock of the company. It will then anticipate the future of Facebook.

Enron And The Decision Making Factor Essay

Introduction – Students, analysts and critics of modern business practice will always consider the colossal Enron collapse as an important text book case about how a lot of different things inside the company can trigger a nearly overnight downfall of a once prestigious company. If there was any Cinderella story in the world of blue chip trading and high portfolio business, Enron was the ultimate opposite, if not the witch herself who was killed by her own lethal potion. The Enron collapse resulted in the formulating of many different opinions pointing to the many different possible reasons why Enron – with all the promise and potential that it has a few years before it went south – made the nosedive that made it one of the worst disasters in the history of trade, commerce and business. There is no doubt that most of the opinions that surfaced explaining the reason why such an eventuality befell Enron placed the blame on the wrong things that the top management echelon did for the company; they are after all the one which is responsible for the present and the future of Enron. Critics looking at the Enron debacle scrutinized what happened leading to the collapse using many different perspectives and considering many different factors, both in the professional capability of the company’s leaders as well as the impact of the surrounding factors beyond Enron’s control. One of the most important facets in the debate regarding the fall of Enron is decision making. Evidently, a lot of wrong decisions were made, with one every wrong decision acting as a building block that eventually became an insurmountable wall of consequences all borne out of wrong or faulty decision making processes that yielded results that did the company more harm than good. Indeed, the decision making linchpins significant to the establishment of the case that the Enron collapse was due in some extent to the decision making aspect of the leadership strata of the company can be identified easily as it is scattered throughout the timeline of Enron’s very near and not so distant past leading to the eventual fall of the company that hid behind the facade of the building the ugliness created by the qualities of its leaders that caused the chaos that burned down Enron down to meager, worthless ashes. This paper will pick the significant moments wherein the decision making capabilities and abilities of its top management leaders were at play and use these moments to establish the ethical and other considerations coming to play during the analysis of the decision making efforts of the leaders and why the outcome of such exercises led to the fall of Enron and not towards the company’s betterment, which is the main task of the company’s top executives. The paper will utilize these occasions to stress its argument regarding the role of effective, ethical and sound decision making of top executives leading to either the success or bankruptcy of companies, in this case that of Enron, and discuss key aspects of this line of thought. The paper will not criminalize the actions of the executives of Enron; rather, it will infuse inputs from other professionals regarding important aspects in the discussion of corporate decision making (ethics, result-orientation, etc). Background – Various angles have already been explored by many different individuals every time the topic of analysis is Enron and its collapse. Because of this, the paper is moving to focus on an aspect that is focused more on Kenneth Lay and the rest of his top executive clique’s personal characteristic that could have played an important role in the outcome of Enron’s operation. Decision making is both a personal characteristic as it is a professional credential, even an asset. Some people are being paid handsome amounts of money for their ability to transform decision making moments into an opportunity that provides a positive result and expected outcome for the company. Ehringer (1995) puts it simply: ‘The ability to make good decisions is the defining quality of our lives’ (Ehringer, 1995, p. 1). When Lay, Skilling, Fastow and other Enron bosses were placed in their respective positions, they were expected to exercise a high level of intuitiveness, business acumen and professional foresight so that every decision making opportunity is met with the company’s best interest long term and short term in mind. They were where they were because those who placed them there believed that they can make decisions to which the company can benefit from. When Enron collapse, many people and organizations criticized the questioned the decision making capabilities of the top executives – was the collapse an effect of the result of the decision that they made? Was the decision made putting the benefit of the company and the employees first, or are the decisions shaped so that it benefited them first? How bad was the breach in the ethical considerations that a professional should take every time he or she makes a decision that puts the future of the company on the line? These are just some of the questions that may also be present in the minds of those who followed the Enron case. Sure there were varying degrees of deception and fraudulent acts from the part of many select individuals who sinned against Enron and its employees, but these cases would have been minimized or even averted altogether if the important decision making privileges was limited to a select few, or if the future-altering decision making capability is disseminated largely among a huge group of people that can provide a check and balance system for Enron. Roberts (2004) explained that ‘ if it is possible for others to make the decisions for a unit, then new options arise to design the decision-making process as well as the incentive schemes to get better performance on both dimensions. For example, the design might specify that a decision about a project arising in one unit that affects another would be implemented if and only if both units agree to it,† (Roberts, 2004, p. 51). Enron is an energy trading firm which was performing well in the early part of its existence. By the start of the 21st century, the problems that the bosses were trying to hide from the public and from the employees started to stank. Soon, events unfolded like dominoes falling one after the other as a consequence of information spilling out into the public’s attention. Before 2004, the public already had a clear idea about how Enron bosses were supposedly the one responsible for the defrauding of the employees and their company shares and other benefits, as well as the one responsible for the bankruptcy of Enron. One by one, key company officials stepped out of the light and implicated a new name, which will in turn implicate a much bigger name, until the dragnet sent out to see who was accountable for the fraudulent acts in Enron caught its top bosses, including Lay, Skilling and Fastow. Many individuals faced criminal charges, and many more simply went home not just jobless but are robbed of lifetime investments which Enron bosses manipulated and soon lost because of the wrong decisions they made on how to run the company and make it prosper and grow. Examples of how Enron management made wrong decisions during decision making moments abound in the history of the company. Take for example what happened in 1987 – instead of declaring the $190 million loss the company experienced, they concealed it instead, leading to criminal charges. This habit of Enron for opting to conceal losses instead of declaring it became a dangerous vice; when Fastow was aboard Enron, the same outlook affected the decision making of Enron, leading to increase in pile of cases wherein Enron through its top management consciously made actions that defraud the employees and the public. There was also the case of poor public relations by Enron which fanned the flames of panic that removed any possible opportunity for Enron to remedy the financial situation without creating hysteria that saw many stockholders selling their stocks due to the continued falling of the stock value of Enron. Statement of Problem – The most important decision that Enron’s executives faced was not the decision on whether or not to publicly announce about the bankruptcy; in fact, there was no decision making factor during that instance since the predicament of the company has already been decided regardless of what the top executives might have opted for: they were flat out broke and the public needs to know about this, that was the situation. The true decision making moment for Enron’s bosses was the time when they were deciding what the best option to take is with regards to the financial aspect of the company, including taxes, earnings and financial loses. It was a matter of facing a decision making task that provided the Enron bosses with two options – to do the right thing, or to opt for something that is morally and ethically inappropriate. The decision reached in this particular decision making instance was laced with the hope that the option they took would be free from serious repercussions and give them enough time to fix it all up again. Unfortunately for Enron, things did not work out as planned, and the criminal liability of the Enron bosses stemmed from the fact that they decided to do something which they consciously knew was detrimental to the welfare of the Enron company and its employees. During that particular instance, Lay could have opted to do the right thing and faced the consequences – by coming clean, he may have a more sympathetic public to support him in whatever efforts he may wish to undertake to revive Enron, and not be faced with the collapsing stock value since those who can sell theirs sell it in a frantic phase to rid themselves of the stock of the company which is nearing imminent bankruptcy. This showed how the people do not give second chances to those who squander their decision making privileges by making decisions bereft of the consideration of the good of the greater many. Decision making – John Hintze (2006), in his discussion about making smart decisions during decision making, used the case of the Enron collapse to open his discussion and establish the fact that problems are something that is foreseen, something that happened nonetheless owing to bad decision making. Hintze wrote, ‘should we have seen 9/11 coming? What about the Enron collapse? The Signs were there; people pointed them out, but the appropriate steps were not taken by those in a position to do something. Why is this? Politics? Greed? Those certainly contributed, but there was something else at work here, too: A failure of common sense in decision making’ (Hintze, 2006, p. 123). Enron: Bad decision making – Nothing can prove more about how bad the decision making went inside Enron camp more convincingly than the fact the company transformed from prosperous to poor overnight. This was the general characteristic of Enron through the traits shown by its leaders that reflect the Enron personality. There were earlier discussions in the paper about snippets on instances pointing to Enron’s penchant for making bad decision or for going to the resolving of a problem utilizing an option that is more questionable. Fox (2004) explained that ‘Enron believed that its expansion into international projects were positive initiatives simply because they put the company in more potential markets. In truth, Enron made bad business decisions that weren’t supported by the deal’s economics. The bad business decisions piled up, stretching from India to Brazil, pressuring the company to do something about its finances’ (Fox, 2004,p. 307). At least at this point, Fox is not pointing at the unethical aspect of the Enron decision making machinery, just the fact that they made decisions that were bad for the future of the company, but not to the extent of deliberately sabotaging the company or putting the company in danger with all known risk for personal gain. For Fox, it was a bad call plain and simple. But the matter of the fact is that not everyone sees it the way Fox does, and there are those who believe that there were ethical breaches in the decision making in Enron among its top bosses. The (absence of) Leaders in decision-making – Decision making in retrospective is one of the common line of thinking used when investigating events that led to growth or debacle. It is because decision making played an important part in shaping the future of the company; it is here where the foundation, or lack of it, was created via the decisions the bosses made or failed to make. To trace the problems or mark significant actions resulting from decision making which eventually resulted to either the success or failure of the company, it is not only the decision making events that are looked back to; the persons that made them were also put under the microscope, and among the qualities scrutinized is their decision making ability and their other characteristics that affect their decision making attitude and behavior. Professionals debate about the idea of a good decision, a bad decision, good intentions and bad intentions and how the good and bad effect that comes into play afterwards account for the overall accountability of a person wielding the power to make decisions that will have a tremendous impact on the future of the company, something which happened in Enron via Lay, Skilling, Fastow and the rest of the top figures of the company. Acuff (2004) explains that ‘if they make a decision that might not have been the decision I would have made, and they come and talk to me about it, we look at it and discuss it. There are a lot of different ways to skin the horse. I don’t go saying my idea is the only one that will get you where you want to go. I hold people accountable for good decision-making. If a bad outcome results from a bad decision – that’s a problem. But if a bad outcome results from a reasonable decision, then that’s business, and it could happen to anyone† (Acuff, 2004, p. 87). This was the predicament of those who are trying to evaluate the decision making actions of Enron top executives – did they make decisions, even bad decisions – with the sake of the company in mind, and gambled with their careers because they know that if their plans and actions go well, it is extremely beneficial for the company, in a very Machiavellian approach towards getting things done regardless of the means by which they did it, or were they just plain guilty of fraudulent actions? People who are burdened by the decision that impacts a lot of people is not always amenable to taking the high and moral grounds, that is why the adage about the end justifying the means, about getting things done at what ever cost, about delivering against the odds became popular because of people like the Enron bosses who (probably) acted upon their decision making duties by risking what can be a popularly bad decision. Indeed, it may be easy or even convenient for most people adversely affected by the Enron collapse to attribute the colossal corporate debacle to the top management figures of the company by criticizing their decisions as well as their faculty for sound decision making. While it is true that Enron’s top executives are responsible for the collapse of the company, it is not that easy to measure the level of ethical decision making attributes of Enron’s top brass. Goethals et al (2004) pointed out that â€Å"the complexity associated with ethical decision making and behavior, especially as it applies to leadership and the workplace, makes the construct extremely difficult to research†, adding that â€Å"Measuring an individual’s level of ethical decision making is challenging, particularly because the measurement instruments that are available have problems with priming and social-desirability effects; that is, questionnaires or other similar modes of data collection cue respondents to give answers that they believe are socially acceptable rather than answers that truly reflect their own actions or opinions (Goethals et. al. , 2004, p. 461). † Proof of which is the fact that all of these executives in question are career corporate leaders even before they joined Enron; their credentials played an important role regarding their selection for a corporate position as high as theirs. Because of this, as well as the factors that affect the credibility of the ability for identification of the real public pulse regarding the persons involved in the issue, ethical decision making levels of the persons involved is hard to ascertain, making claims for questionable ethical decision making consideration of the people lose important ground and stand on insufficient set of stable legs for proof and justification. Still, there are those who believe that the level of ethics that influences the decision making capabilities of the Enron bosses are without a doubt questionable, and this includes Mimi Swartz and Sherron Watkins who was quoted in the book edited by Kathy Fitzpatrick and Carolyn B. Bronstein. In the article, it mentions about how Swartz and Watkins â€Å"blame Ken Lay, former CEO of Enron, and other company executives for privileging greed and arrogance over ethical business decisions† (Fitzpatrick and Bronstein, 2006, p. 79), the gist of the published work co-authored by the two individuals. Nalebuff and Ayres (2006) wrote that ‘the problem often arises because people ignore the costs and benefits that their decisions have on other people. We call this approach â€Å"Why don’t you feel my pain? † The more technical term for these effects is externalities. Decision makers who ignore externalities are bound to make bad decisions† (Nalebuff and Ayres, 2006, p. 67). This explanation greatly tarnishes the ethical value of the decision making ethics of Enron bosses because it shows that they are prone or inclined to make decisions even if the result of such decisions lead to negative effects that other people will experience. Niskanen (2005) believes that Lay, one of the top bosses of Enron, â€Å"should be judged on the basis of his personal actions, directions to subordinates, or the actions of subordinates that he implicitly condoned by knowing about it without attempting to correct – not on the basis of what he should have known† (Niskanen, 2005, p. 6). Lay’s condoning of actions is a result of a personal and professional decision that he made – or failed to make – and because of that, Niskanen believes that Lay is answerable for any criminal charges that would result from that particular action (or inaction). Watkins was thinking of the company and its employees and their future and hers as well, when she made the decision to let her superiors, particularly Lay, know about the possible accounting problems and the making public of the current and real financial and trade status of the company. This clearly illustrates the difference in ethics when it comes to decisio n making. Decision making, ethics and public perception – Decision making in business is not merely a power or a privilege that one can use at will without thinking of the consequences that might happen should the decision resulted into something that is considered as adversely negative and detrimental to the welfare of the employees, their jobs and the company they work for. Those who are provided with such amenity to go along with their job description should consider that it is also their responsibility to make sure that their employees and subordinates do not think that they are squandering away their decision making privilege and everything that goes along with it. This was the prevailing attitude or outlook of the Enron employees especially nearing the imminent collapse of the company. The absence of ethical consideration resulted to the losing of the credibility of the bosses of Enron because they were not careful with how they undertake their decision making tasks. While bankruptcy is something that is very difficult to accept and impacts greatly in the lives of the employees especially the rank and file blue collar workers, there is a sense of adding insult to injury during occasions wherein the employees are starting to realize that all of the unfortunate things that happen in the company and in their careers are all a result of the faulty, incompetent and unethical decision making of the top management echelon and not because the company was helpless in the onslaught of a devastating economic problem, like how companies closed down during the Great Depression despite the efforts of American businessmen to keep the different industries alive and breathing. During the collapse of Enron, the US is experiencing a very stable economy far from that which characterized US economy during the Great Depression, and is shielded securely from the impact of whatever it was that was happening in the global economic and business landscape, and so during the Enron collapse, the collective finger was pointing an accusing index digit to Enron bosses and majority of the cause of their indignation originates from the sloppy decision making capabilities of Enron bosses who lost their credibility the moment they lost Enron. Brazelton and Ammons (2002) wrote in the book they co-wrote: â€Å"The Ethics Resource Center conducted a survey in 2000 in which it learned that 43 percent of respondents believed that their supervisors are generally poor examples of honest managers, and the same number were pressured to compromise their own integrity or that of their organization during decision making. The survey also identified a strong connection between employees’ perceptions of their supervisors and their own ethical behavior (Brazelton and Ammons, 2002, p. 388). † Enron decision making: the two-pronged factors – It can be pointed out that one of the problems that happened to Enron is the ineffective of decision making among top executives – first, their top executives failed to make correct decisions when they are required to do so, and second, Enron was not fully complimented with a set of professionals which could have contributed to the decision making process, and in the process provided the possibility of infusing new or different ideas that could have altered the outcome of the decision making process. Fitzpatrick and Bronstein (2006) did not look exclusively on Enron’s bosses and the decisions they made in the management of Enron and the company’s money and asset, rather, the two editors focused on the absence of a key top management personnel and took the presence of such a void as a sign that Enron is not even prioritizing the welfare of the company and its employees. The book Ethics in Public Relations: Responsible Advocacy, which includes the Enron case as one of the important case studies to point out the importance of the role of public relations, explains that â€Å"perhaps the governance of these companies was such that they did not care about their publics, and did not want the advice of senior-level public relations officer playing an active or dominant role in organizational decision making† (Fitzpatrick and Bronstein, 2006, pg 179). Conclusion – Niskanen (2005) summed up the Enron case on its characteristic of thriving in bad decisions made by its corporate leaders by saying in the book that ‘the most important lesson from the Enron collapse, however, is that Enron failed because of a combination of bad business decisions, not because its accounts were misleading’ adding that ‘the major business decisions that most contributed to its collapse were a series of bad investments, most of which were in the traditional asset-rich industries; the failure to reconcile two quite different business models; and the decision to focus management objectives on reported revenues and earning rather than on the present value of future cash flows’ (Niskanen, 2005, p. 6). Are they poor in decision making, or was the decision making adversely affected by other concerns and priorities outside of Enron that the results of the decision made for Enron looks like those who made the call did not even think about how this course of action will affect Enron? There are no sufficient proofs to point that the case was the latter; for a company that became seventh all in all in the Fortune 500 at least once, it is unthinkable how there will be conscious efforts to sink the company by making wrong decisions, deliberately or not. The point of the paper is not the assertion of the guild of Skilling, Lay or even Fastow, it’s the establishing of the point that decision making, when not handled properly, can turn even the most profitable company into a nose-diving wreck in a short period of time, that decision making plays an important role in how a person defines his or her life and how he or she leads a company and that because of these factors, no one should have an excuse why decision making was taken lightly and without much thought or care. All the people can see is a group of people who made wrong decisions several times, the resulting web and how they got trapped in that web, that is assuming that there was no malice or hidden agenda that the bosses perpetrated in lieu of Enron’s collapse. In the end, only Lay (now deceased) and the elite circle of the Enron executive clique will be the ones who would really know about the truth regarding ethics and the decision making in Enron leading to the collapse of the company. Many would ask, and some would presume, the reasons as well as the level of guilt of these leaders when it comes to breaching the ethical requirements needed when undertaking decision making for a company. Regardless, the decisions they made created far reaching ripples and altered the lives of many individuals who invested not just their time, strength and life’s savings into the company but as well as their but as well as their faith and trust, which are not in shattered pieces because of the bad decisions that Enron executives made. Crawford (2006) further elaborated on the pointed by explaining that ‘bad decisions by a major company, however, cause major disruptions for all of the company’s stakeholders’. He pointed at the case of Enron as one of his examples, saying that ‘the Enron disaster, as one example, certainly had devastating impacts on the lives of most of Enron employees (including the middle managers and professionals who invested in the company-sponsored Enron 401[K] plans) and also caused suffering for many individual investors who purchased Enron stock on the open market. Thousands of other Enron stakeholders, including Enron’s suppliers and customers, also suffered,’ (Crawford, 2006, p. 26). Indeed, Enron’s decision making had a hand in how the company turned out to be.