Report of the Interpretive Simulations

AllSmile Annual Report Years One – Three ————————————————- Bradyn Carson, Clarissa McMickle, Micheal Sullivan, Peiying Li â€Å"Perfect Smile Just a Brush Away† Mission Statement AllSmile’s mission is to provide quality toothpaste globally at a fair and honest price, providing customer service with a smile. Motto â€Å"Perfect Smile Just a Brush Away† ————————————————- Table of Contents To our ShareholdersPage 2 Potential Future Decisions Page 2 Challenges and Decisions in Year Three Page 3 Sales and Earnings Trends Page 4 Industry ComparisonPage 5 Income StatementPage 6 ———————————————— TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS Last year was a big year — we delivered strong results, launched fantastic new products and services, and positioned AllSmile for an incredible future. For fiscal year, we also maintained strong cost discipline resulting in cash flow from operations of $104. 7 million, an increase in manufacturer sales by 23 percent from the prior year. At the beginning of our first year we built a million dollar plant in Brazil. We look forward to all the opportunities this plant will provide for our company such as much lower cost of goods manufactured.We delivered these results by providing new products that help the families in the communities. We look forward to all the great opportunities in the future that our products will bring to Latin American individuals. Potential Future Decisions AllSmile has made an impact in the industry over the past three periods due to our ability to compete in terms of pricing, advertising, production, and distribution. We plan on increasing our competitiveness in the Latin American market by expanding our brand’s products to better serve our product demand and also by looking into new markets to enter.When deciding what new products to implement (if any), we will extensively research demographics, both social and economic, and potential demand for these products. It is very important for us to choose products that produce high margins. We will accomplish this by analyzing our costs associated with producing the products and determining the demand for the product. As far as pricing, AllSmile was able to compete with the large brands during the first three periods. We intend on continuing this, as well as focusing on competing better against local and regional brands in order to increase our total market share in Brazil.As the market matures in Brazil, we may need to enter a new market in order to increase revenues and maintain our strong growth. Some important characteristics we will analyze are: Population, GDP and GDP per capita, inflation, po verty, labor costs, shipping costs, tariffs, as well as other political, social, and economic factors. Since completion of our production plant after period one, our costs of goods manufactured has declined each year. This cost reduction will allow us to allocate more funds to areas that grow our revenue such as: advertising, promotion, and a larger sales force. Challenges and Decisions in Year ThreeOur group chose Brazil as the market to enter. We considered the national population, GPD, per capita income and other factors. Toothpaste is an ordinary and special commodity. It is ordinary, because you can easily find toothpaste everywhere, every household can afford it. It is special, because no matter a men, women, old people or children; both the workers and peasants, or drivers, or white-collar workers, and even national leaders; no matter the richest, the poor, all of them need to use it, it is a necessity product. Brazil's population is the largest in the choice of six countries , and their GDP is the highest, GDP / Capita is low.However, due to the universality of the toothpaste, toothpaste has low prices. It will not be a burden on the economy of the Brazilian family. Therefore, we have chosen Brazil as enter the market. Before the first sales year, we established in Brazil a native plant, which has a capacity of 100 million units. According to Brazil basic social characteristics, and several other major competitors’ product, we decided our product types covered by the child toothpaste for the kids, healthy toothpaste for the elder, white toothpaste for young people, economic toothpaste for family.Our team pricing standards are to ensure that company earnings, guaranteed price competitive enough in the market, and guaranteed consumers can afford the price. The end of the first year, we had 30% of the products left, in view of the traditional market accounted for 40. 5% of the overall toothpaste market, we decided to increase three sales people into traditional sales channels in the next year. Due to the selling of whole market Economy toothpaste are great, we add advertising investment. At the same time, the poor sell of children's toothpaste prompted us to reduce 5 million budgets on its advertising fee.According to the results of marketing, and sales of other companies, appropriate to improve the economy, white, healthy toothpaste price and their allowance, try to stimulate the sales. The end of the second year, we left 16% of the products, the market response is good, so we only slightly increased the economy toothpaste prices, reduce the allowance of white, healthy toothpaste. Given the improved performance, the other company has a large number of sales people, we added two sales people to Traditional channel, ten to the hypermarket channel, five to the wholesale channel, trying to expand the market.On the other hand, due to the increase of 17 sales people, the input is too high, so we decided to reduce the overall invest ment in advertising in the next year. Sales and Earnings Trends AllSmile has started off strong in period one and has maintained that momentum throughout the third period, with expectations of continuing the sales growth. At the end of period one AllSmile unit sales totaled 71. 8 million with a 6. 5% share. Our manufacturer sales totaled 72. 4 million with a 6. 2% share. Gross margins for the first period were 9. 5 million with a -24. 4 million net contribution.Even with negative contributions AllSmile momentum was able to carry us to a positive net contribution by the end of the third period. In the second period, AllSmile gained 12. 1 million in unit sales totaling 83. 9 million with a 7. 5 share. Manufacturer sales gained 17. 8 million totaling 90. 2 million with a 7. 3 share. Gross margins also gained 26. 4 million ending with 35. 9 million, which was a growth of 279. 5%. Net contribution also improved with only -3. 0 million compared to first periods -24. 4 million. Sales growt h continued in the third period as well with even higher numbers.The third period, AllSmile unit sales had a 13. 0% growth totaling 94. 7 million. Manufacturer sales had a 16. 1% growth totaling at 104. 7 million. Gross margins growth was 28. 9% ending at 46. 3 million. Finally net contribution finally ended positive with 10. 0 million. Unit Sales Manufacturer Sales Gross Margins Net Contributions By the end of period three, AllSmile earning trends showed that the Hypermarket channel we entered totaled 85. 2% of sales compared to the Traditional and Wholesale channels. Traditional channels totaled 8. % and Wholesales totaled 6. 0%. Industry Comparison AllSmile has six main competitors in Brazil: Britesmile, Clean+White, Dentacare, Eversmile, Local 1 and Regional 1. At the end of period one AllSmile ranked higher than Clean+White and Eversmile in market shares sales in Brazil. By the third period, AllSmile was competing head to head with Regionals, and Local competitors in market sha res. Period 3 Period 3 Throughout the industry overall, AllSmile is competing with Regional completion in all countries. AllSmile has gross margins of 44. 2%, compared to Regional completion that had 46. 6%.Even though Regional gross margins are slightly greater than ours, it is a great accomplishment for our company to surpass the other completion in our industry. AllSmile is well on our way to being the most competitive industry in the near future. Income Statement| For Periods ended 1, 2 and 3| (Values in Millions of Dollars)| Revenue| Period 3| Period 2| Period 1| Total Revenue|   | $104. 70|   | $90. 20|   | $72. 40 | Mfr. Allowance| 9. 6|   | 9. 1|   | 6. 5|   | Cost of Goods Sold| 47. 8|   | 44. 3|   | 42. 3|   | Shipping and Tariffs| 0. 9|   | 0. 8|   | 14. 1|   | Total COGS|   | 58. 4|   | 54. 2|   | 62. | Gross Margin|   | $46. 3 |   | $35. 9 |   | $9. 50 | |   |   |   |   |   |   | Expenses|   |   |   |   |   |   | Promotion Expense| 7. 6|   | 7. 5|   | 5|   | Advertising Expense| 10. 3|   | 14. 4|   | 13. 1|   | Sales Expense| 1. 7|   | 0. 7|   | 0. 5|   | Administrative Expense| 4|   | 3. 7|   | 2. 7|   | Total Expense|   | 23. 6|   | 26. 3|   | 21. 3| Contribution after Marketing|   | $22. 7 |   | $9. 60|   | ($11. 80)| |   | |   | |   | | Fixed Costs| 2. 4|   | 2. 3|   | 2. 2|   | Plant Deprecation| 10. 3|   | 10. 3|   | 10. 3|   | Total Fixed Costs|   | 12. 7|   | 12. 6|   | 12. 5| Net Income|   | $10. 00 |   | ($3. 00)|   | ($24. 40)|

Patient Narratives Essay

â€Å"Narratives† or stories have been used throughout the history of the human race to allow and help people to express themselves in ways that promote personal growth and enhance physical well-being. Even in the simplest of contexts, narratives are a core factor in the advancement of the humanity/society and all of its facets. An illustration of this can be seen in the transfer of a family’s lineage, history, and values from generation to generation. This allows for the recipient of this information to have a greater knowledge of his/her own family and the history surrounding it. Oral narratives and writings, such as journals, stories, or speeches to others are stress-relieving mechanisms that can reduce the external stress. The narrating of one’s thoughts definitely does not initially affect the external stressors one is facing. Narrating does, however, allow one to share these feelings with others and to organize one’s thoughts around these issues. More significantly, narrative opportunities such as these, work to encourage and advance constructive contexts in which individuals such as a mother and daughter or father and son can openly communicate any differences, worries, or problems one might be having with daily living. A more important and serious issue interlaced with narratives is the â€Å"personal issue of telling stories about illness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Frank, ch.1 pg.2) Narratives are the beginning to the process of healing. See more: how to start a narrative essay introduction By definition, the term â€Å"healing† is best understood as a natural process by which the body repairs itself. Although rather simplistic sounding, healing’s true definition or meaning is a much more complicated issue. When analyzing healing, it is imperative for an individual to not view the words â€Å"healing† and â€Å"curing† as the same words. Healing raises much deeper, hidden issues than curing does. I once was talking with a buddy about his recent misfortune of breaking his leg. After tens, if not hundreds of hours put in to rehab, he had his leg cast removed in a much anticipated doctor visit. After the doctor removed his cast, the first words out of his mouth were, â€Å"I’m healed!† Normally, a statement like this would cause no fuss, or evoke any further debate. But today it is time to turn things straight. Unfortunately for my buddy, his statement was far from the truth. He was not healed, but cured! Medicine, fortunately for him, was able to cure him. But medicine did nothing to heal him from the multiple breakdowns and personal  angst caused by his broken leg. Healing goes much deeper than curing. A cure is almost a â€Å"quick fix† in a sense. If someone was to burn their hand, the cure for this would be something along the lines of burn cream or ice. But when someone has something severe happen to them, such as a life threatening illness or disease, healing must take place in order for that person to recover. My point is that deep illness interrupts life in all aspects. To start the healing process, one must find a new equilibrium or sense of who you are in relation to the people around you. This calls upon the ever-healing powers of personal narratives to allow for insight into what is going on in your life. â€Å"Stories have to repair the damage that illness has done to the ill person’s sense of where he/she is in life, and where she may be going.† I’ll people have to learn â€Å"to think differently.† (Frank, ch.1 pg.1) This can be learned by an ill person by hearing themselves tell their story to others and in turn, understand the listeners’ reactions and experience their stories for themselves. When an ill person tells a story, it is incongruent to telling a story when they are not ill. â€Å"The story was told through a wounded body.† (Frank, ch.1 pg.1) The need of ill people to express and tell their stories to create a new â€Å"equilibrium† as stated earlier is essential to their recovery. More imperative is the need for listeners of the story to understand that it is told not only about the body, but through the body. â€Å"One of our most difficult duties as human beings is to listen to the voices of those who suffer.† (Frank, pg. 25) For the average human, listening to stories as told through the body of an ill person is not exactly anyone’s idea of a good time. These stories told are, on most occasions, easily neglected or brushed aside by listeners because of their own feeling or thought of the possibility that they too might one day be afflicted with a disease or illness similar to the sufferer. â€Å"Listening is hard, but is also a fundamental moral act; to realize the best potential in postmodern times requires an ethics of listening. In listening for the other, we listen for ourselves.† (Frank, pg. 26) In lesser words, this statement depicts the need to listen as a moral act. In a sense, it is a person’s duty to listen to the stories of the ill. In doing so, one can more fully comprehend the story  being told and in turn, be able to relate in some way to the patient. This allows for a more full understanding of what the patient is going through and opens the eyes of the listener in ways that are beneficial for him/her. This way of thinking often deteriorates when the listener is not just a friend or family, but the appointed physician or doctor. Narrative ethics is a term that has recently been abundant in the field of medicine. The term â€Å"narrative ethics† is often used in union with how a physician listens or goes about listening to a patient’s story. It is easily understandable, that after years of practicing medicine, a physician may grow indifferent to the many stories told by patients. It is rather clear to see that after multiple repetitions of something, such as stories told to an attorney or lawyer by their clients, each new story has less and less or an effect on the listener. If a defending lawyer hears stories about client after client killing someone or stabbing someone, they will soon become indifferent to the stories being told. This is a huge problem afflicting modern medicine and physicians. In order for patients to become healed, it is essential for physicians to have a â€Å"narrative sensitization† towards their patient’s narrative. The goal is to create empathy for the pat ient to allow for a full understanding of the patients illness, and also to create a bond between physician and patient that will allow for further quickening of the healing process. Without this, it would be hard for a physician to adjust or find alternative treatment and medical decisions that would play to the â€Å"specificity of each patient’s life.† (Frank, pg. 156)†Thinking with stories is the basis of narrative ethics.† (Frank, pg. 158) Many times a physician will listen to what the patient has to say, but only to a â€Å"professional† extent. By this, I mean that physicians often look at each patient’s narratives and/or illness objectively. They don’t look at any deeper truth or emotion that a particular narrative may express; they only look at the observable truths and obvious implications. In the notes written by Renee Anspach on the Sociology of Medical Discourse, she states that, â€Å"Cases are objects of professional scrutiny. In presentations of cases, professionals talk about people’s stories; the story is an object of analysis, and professionals believe themselves to be the only ones qualified to carry out this analysis.† For example, a physician may listen to what  his/her patient has to say but not think with the story. In this way, the physician could empathize with the patient’s true feelings and better understand his/her condition. If instead, the physician would have listened to the story and actually thought subjectively about the patient’s words said such as, â€Å"Can you give me the courage I need?† then he could have thought about the possibility of medicating his patient for possible depression. (Frank, pg. 158) Existing in and throughout patient illness and healing, religion has been a topic that has been somewhat overlooked. Religion plays a significant role in many people’s recovery and healing process that doesn’t necessarily go un-noticed, but unaccredited. Religion itself is a means of healing, but is usually not documented because of the simple fact that there is no hard evidence to link the two. Religion is a narrative all of its own. Possibly the most powerful narrative, religious narrative allows an individual to place every hope of healing and progression through illness or disease in a single word that has no boundaries; faith. It has been common, for example, for religions to be the sole source of physical, mental, emotional, and psychological healing for adherents. Although religion and prayer are unable to deliver the resources of modern medical science, it is able to alter the way people perceive and process their experiences. This, in turn, can change the course of a disease or illness simply because of the influence our attitudes have on our physical well being. Regardless of if you believe in God or maybe just a higher-power of sorts, faith in something that you truly believe, will better your condition and will prove beneficial in almost any situation. Religion is possibly the most powerful, yet least used form of narrative existing. With faith in God, anything is possible. As has been explained, patient narratives are an integral part of patient healing in the face of illness or disease. Not only is the patient’s stories essential, but a listener that really tries to understand the patient and takes an active role in story-listening will better the given situation by ten-fold. Only when all of these factors combine into a single entity do the patient’s hopes and healing abilities fully render. Narratives are the beginning, middle, and end to the process of healing. Bibliography for Patient Narratives Paper1.http://www.cancerlynx.com/storyteller.html2.http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sgQEb9AObS4C&oi=fnd&pg=PP13&sig=GodeUXE92NJX3OH0I9thPOJBtpA&dq=%22The+Wounded+Storyteller%22#PPP1,M13.http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/perspectives_in_biology_and_medicine/v048/48.1connelly.pdf4.Porterfield, Amanda. Healing in the History of Christianity. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. 3-185. 5.Frank, Arthur. The Wounded Storyteller. The University of Chicago Press, 1997. 1-185. Topic:Analyze the importance of patient narratives in healing experiences. How can personal illness narratives help patients move toward healing? What narrative options has modern biomedicine (or â€Å"orthodox† medicine) provided?

Darkness and Night

Both Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost use elements such as point of view, imagery, and structure to portray the significance of dark and night in their poems. Although the poems differ in many ways they share a common theme of loneliness. They also use darkness as a symbol of their feelings. In the two poems â€Å"We Grow Accustomed to the Night† and â€Å"Acquainted with the Night† the authors use figurative language, sentence fluency and rhythms, and their word choice to reflect their similar views on the darkness of night symbolizing life experiences everyone has to face throughout life. Emily Dickinson uses the structure to create elements of imagery, and describe an obstacle that everyone has to face. Dickinson uses dashes to represent pauses and makes it difficult to read to symbolize her difficult life. The dashes make the reader’s minds pause and understand what they are reading line by line. The dashes are used to effectively and deliberately make the reader reflect on the darkness. She also uses the dashes to create mental pictures. For example, she states â€Å"When not a Moon disclose a sign- Or Star- come out- within-† which creates the image of total darkness because of the lack of a moon and the stars. Dickinson writes her poem in first person so the average person can relate to her feelings. She understands the darkness to be something natural. Basically she uses the darkness to symbolize something everyone goes through. In her poem darkness describes the loss of a loved one. Unlike Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost doesn’t use dashes. Instead he emphasizes his complete isolation by using the first- person term â€Å"I† at the beginning of the first five lines of the poem. He uses the anaphora â€Å"I have†¦Ã¢â‚¬  to show he has become â€Å"Acquainted with the night† through different experiences. Throughout the poem the narrator is walking symbolizing persistence. This becomes a extended metaphor. It’s a long lonely walk at night that doesn’t seem to be easy, but he continues although he is unhappy. â€Å"I have stood still and stopped the sounds of feet† is an example of an alliteration he uses to create the sound of feet with the â€Å"st† sound. He continues to portray the narrator as a persistent and lonely. In conclusion, Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost use the darkness to symbolize life experiences.

National health insurance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

National health insurance - Research Paper Example This essay argues that the United States should reform its health insurance system and switch to a national system because the current system is not working. The World Health Organization released a report in 2000, which set out three goals of a fair and just health care system. These are: (a) providing good health (b) responsiveness, i.e, satisfying peoples’ expectations of respect and care from health care providers and (c) ensuring that costs are distributed according to an individual’s ability to pay. (www.ddl.umaine. edu). Japan has a nationalised health care system, whereby health care services such as preventive measures for certain diseases, pre-natal health care and similar mandatory services are provided by the Government, but specialized health care required by individuals is funded through a universal health care system, i.e, employee insurance. As pointed out by Harden (2009), the Japanese system costs half as much but achieves much better outcomes as compared to the United States. In the case of Sweden, health care is funded through a combination of state funding, taxes, social insurance and patient fees (Gennser, 1999). The advantages offered by the partially nationalised systems of health care in both these countries is: (a) lower costs of the system to patients (b) access to health care by all citizens and (c) better health outcomes, because people are able to approach health care centres and get basic medical check up procedures performed on an ongoing basis to detect serious medical conditions early on. There are also however, some problems which have manifested in these systems in most developed nations. For instance, Gennser (1999) points out that one of these problems is the overall increase in health care costs over a ten year period, while productivity fell. This was caused largely by increased employment of health professionals, but a lack of optimal use of the available manpower. Secondly, there is a general decrease in

Philosophy paper option Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Philosophy paper option - Essay Example However, this philosophy has been dynamic from century to century, as scholars from different backgrounds tackle the philosophical commentaries in other rational approaches. Chan explains that it is simple and easy to change with the ethical philosophies in line with the system of development and abandonment of legalism. Confucianism led to absorption of many challenges emanating from doctrines of Buddhism (Rahula, 1974). As a result, the intellectual life dominated and formed Neo-Confucianism. In the â€Å"source book in Chinese philosophy† book there is an attempt to make people in the west understand the culture of Asian people as well as their philosophy. This book explains more on the Chinese philosophy as written by great scholars in the Chinese era. This enables the author to bring a balance between the ancient, modern as well as medieval times. In addition to this, he explains about the different kinds of periods that existed in Chinese history with examples of Taoism, Confucianism and also Buddhism (Chan, 1969). Most of the history regarding Chinese philosophy had features of cultural as well as intellectual developments. Philosophy of Change There exist several ties between the mentioned origins command in the Chinese philosophy and the countries aboard. ... Moral cultivation depended fully on neo-Confucianism of which was keystone in milestones of progression. The characters of wealthy, powerful and authoritative human compares identically with the heavens reach from earths. The brilliance of the sun can well demonstrate the effectiveness of such a man feared by both the living people of the history of China’s philosophy as well as the modern neo-Confucianism and communism in regards to philosophical contexts (Chan, 1969). The relationship between modern philosophy by western philosophy and Chinese, India, Persia and other European countries is very Socratic. This is because most philosophers dealt with the supernatural and mythological underlying of concepts. They also involved metaphysics where they believed fire and water were infinite and boundless in touch and feel. This give them a green right to compose materials on the ways of nature and its relation to supernatural testimonials by time lapse (Nishida, 1992). With the ris e scholars, the ethical structures and seriousness to enlighten or rather straighten the spiritual life and internal righteousness to mould up the external uprightness. Change has come upon in the diverse understanding of philosophy in that philosophers and people all round believed the heaven to be high while the earth to be low. Therefore, they give them a credit of honorable place and humble states in the both places according to ones ethical uprightness. Tranquility was held with constancy as strengthening phenomenon of transformation of earth creatures. These were well classified according to good fortunes and bad fortunes to the natives where good fortunes originated from the heavens while bad fortunes originated from bad and evil people who

Catalysis and catalysts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Catalysis and catalysts - Essay Example With this introduction, this essay will demonstrate how catalysts speed up reactions, explain how they work by using the enthalpy reaction profiles, and demonstrate the difference between the heterogeneous and homogenous catalysts and showing examples (Bruice, 2007). A reaction can be sped up by a catalyst since they offer an optional route for the reactions to happen. They lessen the necessary reaction energy for the reactants to create products, therefore, atoms; at any given time will have the necessary energy for activation in order for the products to form. This principle is based on the collision particle theory (Gates, 1992) Reactant molecules interaction with catalysts to provide other routes for the response that connects a lower activation as compared to that of the non-catalyzed reactions. Many of the molecules that interact have energies that are bigger as compared to the lower enthalpy activation. Many of the collisions therefore end in a successful reaction and the conversion rates of reactant to product are enhanced and this demonstrates how catalysts function through enthalpy profiles (McNaught and Wilkinson, 1997) The two main groups of catalysts are homogeneous and heterogeneous. The catalyst in a heterogeneous reaction is in a diverse state as compared to the reactant. Catalyst in a homogeneous reaction is in a similar state as the reactant(Bell, 1973). This is pointless, in practice, because ethane that is extremely useful is being converted to ethane that is relatively useless. The same reaction however will occur with any compound having a double bond of carbon-carbon. In the vegetable oils hydrogenation one of the vital industrial applications is in its use in making margarine that also entails carbon-carbon double bond reaction in the vegetable oil with a nickel catalyst having a hydrogen presence. Hydrogen is created as before a link with the carbon, and that eventually also ends up breaking free. On the nickel’s surface

Respond to Taxation No Tyranny Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Respond to Taxation No Tyranny - Assignment Example The other would be that as humanity is uniform so do Americans resemble Europeans in such a manner. The protagonists have also made claims that the ancestors yielded to such tyranny as they had no right to vote or either gave up their rights for certain benefits such as being protected by the law and thus the colonists have exactly that which was passed on to them by the ancestors (Johnson 1775). The attempt to gain independence has been viewed as a progressive disobedience that started as dispute to paying of taxes and has grown to questioning of legislation. This leaves the colonialist with options that are limited to either yield to the demands or to combat the uprising. With the relentless nature of the colonist the latter has an upper hand, in other words resigning of dominion is impossible but reinstating it by force is inevitable. Furthermore the colonialist feels that such drum beats of independence must not rise from such a people as those who are enslavers of other races such as Negroes (Johnson 1775). The zeal with which these claims have been put across is outstanding, but the knowledge behind them is wanting; another display of leaping without thinking. The colonialist ought to know that times have changed and only a man who supports stagnation and stunted growth would support subjection of America to the Britain. To tell the Americans to continue under the tyranny of colonization given that that is what the ancestors passed on to them is a sheer display of cowardice towards change and exposure to the deficiencies of status quo. Every American is grateful at what the ancestors did to provide a system that worked in those days. It is indeed true that the Americans resemble Europeans that is why freedom is inevitable in America just as it is in Europe. Our ancestors might have forgone their right to vote and to make legislation for the benefits of being protected by the law, for the nation

Middle-aged and older people observation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Middle-aged and older people observation - Essay Example It is well known that no two persons are alike and I have found the same in almost every body but the most significant and identifiable aspect what I found is that the people within a particular age group tend to behave in almost the same manner. This almost similar behavior might be due to similar socio economic background from which they come from. Some of the middle-aged people coming from somewhat rich background tend to behave in a more dignified manner even though they are older than the people who are from a poor background. With this observation what I really came to know is that older people who lead significantly decent life through ought their life have a deeper understanding towards their life and will try to act accordingly in public. On the other way round poor middle aged and older people do not try to behave accordingly in public and according to the situation. On older people there past life influences their present state of behavior a lot. I have observed six people who are all above fifty-eight years. The first person I have observed is an old man who has retired long back from Military Air force. He has receding hairline and is slender built but very active, red in color, very lively person and pretty intelligent, was very communicative, very popular among the people coming to the library. I was observing this person from almost a week and could gather most of the information related to by simply over hearing the discussion between their old friends in the public library. Since he was worki ng in Air force earlier he is quite informative and communicative too. He has three children and all are working but no one is yet married. Being slender built he is very energetic and his actions are not at all like an old man. He even helps his fellow old men in climbing stairs. He is very popular among women coming to the library. He discusses all issues going in his home and even enquires about others

NPS Deploying network policy server Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

NPS Deploying network policy server - Essay Example Each and every employee in the organization who participates in project implementation has the responsibility do so. Because of the reason above, the best way in ensuring data security in for one central park and at the same time being economical to the company is by investing it the team’s technology. Technology is very dynamic and new things come every other time. When a principle instructs the vendor to direct or educate the employees on information system security the concerned employees feel that their contribution to the company is valued. The information security system that is supposed to be implemented in a bank must take in consideration the four major principles of information security. These are information confidentiality, integrity, authenticity and availability. Information confidentiality is whereby the information of a company is protected from getting into the hands of people who are not authorized. Integrity is a security factor that stops undetected modific ation of data for example the issue of students examination result cannot be modified or edited by unauthorized person because it is only the examination coordinator that have the right of doing editing it. The integrity is breached when anybody who is not an exam coordinator make an amendments. Authenticity means that particular information that is used for a certain purpose is genuine. The validity of individual that get access to some data is ensured by using authentication methods for example he use of password. The security of information that goes via internet is aided by ensuring that the channel that it goes through is the right one (Mueller, 2011). This is by use of IP address that is assigned to each computer. Availability means that the information is accessible anytime the users want. The paper gives details on implementing Network Policy Server in one central park. Security vulnerability Servers are network-based. This exposes all the data it contains to network attacks . A network attacker can use the exposures in the protocols that are ranked high and stronger applications to cultivate the disadvantage that are not checked by the firewalls that are of previous version. The access may prove dangerous as the client data would be reviewed during the transfer to a third party and it would be difficult to track as the activity is a part of the process created for a particular server and hence the severity of this activity is high. Considering the fact that only the users that are involved into this activity will have access to the transferred data, the likelihood of any intrusion is moderate. Database server that stores employee information uses student’s identification details as the only form of security. A password cracker that can overcome the technology used in designing the password can get access to the employee information. More so, database administrator’s password can be cracked and modification. Company’s information fo r example policies can create a mess in the institution. Super user privileges grant a great amount of power to any party who has access to the super user account. If an aggressive party is able to access a super user account on the database server they will be able to copy. The wireless access point devices are vulnerable to physical damages for example fire or theft. This will lead to denial of services in the entire department that

Smoking Cessation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Smoking Cessation - Essay Example It is a significant factor in three out of the five leading death causes in the US – cancer, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Berndt et al., 2011). Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco. To curb these negative effects of smoking, cessation programs have to be promoted. Rice, Hartmann-Boyce and Stead (2013) define smoking cessation as the discontinuation of use of cigars, pipes and cigarettes. Smoking cessation reduces the risk of suffering from lung cancer and smokers who quit cause a reduction in their mortality ratio to 1.20 in a span of 10 years of non-smoking. The nursing process provides a systematic framework in provision of professional and quality nursing care in smoking cessation (Maurer & Smith, 2013). It directs activities on smoking cessation towards health promotion and protection and prevention of associated diseases. After assessing the collected data on smoking problems from a community, it would be important for nurses to diagnose t he data. According to Maurer and Smith (2013), this involves the analysis and synthesis of the assessed data in response to potential or actual health problems associated with smoking. Rice et al. (2013) observe that this stage involves the determination of ineffective health management resulting from smoking. It also encompasses the determination of lack of information on smoking and its effects in the community. Having identified the smoking problem, nurses plan how to execute the smoking cessation plan so as to achieve the intended goals (Maurer & Smith, 2013). Planning involves setting of goals. It encompasses aiming at the patient demonstrating maintenance of more effective health patterns. The patient should openly discuss the problems faced due to smoking and the benefits that cessation would offer. Nurses should also aim at keeping the patient free from being injured during the smoking cessation treatment. The intervention phase involves the nurse’s role of care for p atients manifesting smoking related problems. This should meet the needs of the patient and develop a cessation relationship that teaches on smoking and the effect on an individual, family and community as a whole. Nurses should organize for seminars, trainings and community education on smoking and the related lifestyle and assist in the development of a comprehensive care plan (Maurer & Smith, 2013). Health promotion partnerships would be used for strengthening social networks and developing smoking cessation support and influence policies. Thus, intervention generally involves maximization of therapeutic plans and minimization of factors that encourage smoking habits. The third phase would encompass executing the appropriate intervention. With nursing focusing on the public, community level intervention would be appropriate for smoking cessation. The issue of smoking cessation could be approached from a community level where nurses devise approaches that would promote the communi ty norm as noted by Berndt et al. (2011), where the benefits of smoking cessation is advocated for. It would be important to also plan for preventive approaches. According to Maurer and Smith (2013), this reduces known risk factors and enhances protective factors. This nursing process should promote non-smoking habits in the community. As such, during detoxification, Rice et al. (2013) advocate for frequent assessments as the

The Jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights Case Study

The Jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights - Case Study Example Article 10 was alleged by the applicants as a ground for their action, as a matter of course, in view of the fact that the target of the attack was a media entity. Article 10 lays down the dictum that every person is entitled to the freedom to express or to speak out his mind albeit the same may be restrained according to the limitations which statutes of the Contracting States prescribe. Lastly, Article 13 of the Convention mandates that those whose rights and liberties are violated or encroached upon under the provisions of the Convention must be afforded an effective remedy or relief even if the perpetrators have acted in an official capacity. (European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. COUNCIL OF EUROPE. European Treaties. Press for Change [internet]). The focal issue in this discussion is the statement of the Court which declares that it is the obligation of the Court to consider the special character of the Convention pertaining to its role in the maintenance of European public order for the purpose of protecting persons or individuals. It also points out that the Convention has been covenanted to ensure that the engagements undertaken by the High Contracting Parties, meaning the treaty signatories, are observed. The latter principle is evident in the setting up of the European Commission of Human Rights and of the Court, both specified in Article 19 of the Convention. Since the principal matter which was resolved by the Court refers to the admissibility of the application, the arguments and debate presented in this treatise will center on that question. Some comments and opinions from literary sources will be considered for inclusion here. The Convention It is necessary to have knowledge of the history of the Convention in assessing the case... With all the foregoing backdrops, this essay will proceed to the questions of who are the people covered by the Convention and what cases does it cover. It will finally likewise be queried as to when the Convention applies. In short, there is a need to know what circumstances are embraced under the operation of the Convention. In the legal sense, the inquiry has to be directed into the jurisdiction of the Court which the Convention had created. Stated in another way, it has to be determined when, where and over whom does the Court exercise its judicial powers under the Convention in conjunction with the rules and principles of international law. Article 1 of the Convention is very specific. It provides that the signatories to the treaty are under obligation to secure to all the people within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms enumerated in Section 1 of the Convention. Were the applicants covered as persons within the jurisdiction of the High Contracting Parties when the bombardment of the radio-television network was carried out? The answer is definitely in the negative. They were not. During the time of the bombing of the Radio-Television Serbia headquarters, Bank ović and his co-applicants and their deceased relatives, Serbia was not a member of the Convention and, therefore, they were not within the reach of the jurisdiction of the Court. The bombing party, NATO, was also found by the Court as not having Serbia within its (NATO’s) effective control or that of its members.

Describe Your Own Leadership Style Essay Example for Free

Describe Your Own Leadership Style Essay Jim Collins and a group of 22 research associates conducted a five-year research project searching an answer on the question ‘how a company from merely good can be transformed to great one’ and identified that behind this transformation lies a level 5 leader. Level 5 leadership refers to the highest level in a hierarchy of manager’s capabilities. A level 5 leader transforms the organisation into a great institution through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will. Beneath Level 5 leaders, lie four other layers, each one appropriate in its own right but none with the power of Level 5. Level 1 leader is a high capable individual who plays an important role in the success of his organisation through his talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits. A level 2 leader is a contributing team member who is very good with his team members and ensures that his team meets its assigned objectives and fulfils the core purpose. A level 3 leader is a competent manager who is skilled at organising people and resources towards the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. A level 4 leader is an effective leader. He sets high-level performance standards. He is remarkable at motivating his people and leading them towards realising his vision of the organisation. (Appendix 1, p. 11 summarises all levels of Collins’ Leadership Hierarchy) (Collins, J. (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 83. No. 7, p. 136-146) The purpose of this assignment is to conduct an evaluation of my own style of leadership within the organisation in which I work by using the above hierarchy as a frame of reference. In order to produce a thorough assessment on both my style and the usefulness of Collin’s model, a range of other theories and concepts must be taken into consideration. However, before proceeding to the analysis and evaluation, it would be helpful first to know the position I hold as well as its responsibilities within the organisation. A Brand Manager, member of the Marketing Department, is responsible for the planning, development and implementation of the Companys marketing activities, among others: Launching of new products, market research studies, promotional activities/materials, to organize and execute the raining programs for the Sales Force. In order to become an efficient and effective Brand manager, the company is requiring knowledge (good academic background), experience and managerial skills including: Strategic and analytic capabilities, entrepreneurial spirit, team player, and flexibility and strong skills in communication and leadership. The Idea of Leadership It is most likely to find a topic more important to business success today than leadership. Leadership is defined as the ability to influence people toward the achievement of goals. Leadership occurs among people, involves the use of influence and it is used to attain goals. Leaders are expected to persuade or inspire people, produce cooperative efforts and pursue goals. Leadership is different from management, though the two are easily confused. One may be a leader without being a manager and many managers cannot ‘lead a squad of seven- years –olds to the ice cream counter’ according to Gardner (1989). Gardner believes that there are several dimensions for distinguishing leadership from management. Leaders think long-term, look outside as well as inside and influence others regardless the position that they possess. In order to understand the idea of Leadership and which are the characteristics a leader usually has, studies and research have been conducted and several approaches to leadership styles as well as theories are arose. Some of them are going to be related to Collin’s Level 5 leadership hierarchy as well as to my own style of leadership. (Daft R. L. , Management, ch. 16, Leadership in Organisations , p. 514-515) Level 1 Leader The Leadership Traits Approach Leadership trait approach is the oldest approach to the study of leadership. From this approach occurs that there are certain qualities in some people that define them as leaders or potential leaders. Traits therefore are the distinguishing personal characteristics such as intelligence, values and appearance. Leaders extend their power and use their abilities to influence events. Effective leaders are usually more intelligent, more dependable, responsible and more active. They usually ask for more information and give out more information. However, the ppropriateness of a trait or a set of traits depends on the leadership situation. The same traits do not apply to every organisation or situation. (Appendix 2, p. 11 summarises the physical, social and personal leadership characteristics) On the contrary, Collin’s Hierarchy is consisted of several characteristics/ capabilities that most can be found also in the leadership trait approach such as knowledge, achievement to drive and working effectively with others in a group setting. However, two characteristics that are of great importance are not included in it. There are the most important ones and are a necessary requirement for transforming an organisation from good to great, humility and professional will. (Diploma in Management, Module book 1, section 6, Teams in Management, p. 6. 16) However, in order to understand in what extent these two concepts can be correlated, we can use ourselves as an example. For instance, my position requires being a highly capable individual (Collin’s Hierarchy Level 1). How can I accomplish this requirement? By demonstrating many of the personal traits such as intelligence, knowledge, judgement and cognitive ability. For instance, the products that I handle have intense competition. Good knowledge of the market as well as intelligent moves made them to differentiate from competition. The creation of a guideline for treatment at home as well as the delivery of the products at home gave a benefit to them. As a result, Doctors preferred to prescribe these products for long term use and hade great impact on the company’s name and reliability. When we speak of leadership, either we refer to the qualities/ competencies of an individual or we can refer to a function of organisation. The ‘trait’ theory of leadership- the traditional or popular management view of leadership- focuses on the concept that leadership is a quality or set of qualities particular to an individual. On the contrary, the group dynamics theory sees leadership as a function of organisation. Level 2 Leader Task versus people perspective styles Task versus people perspective styles of leadership do not take into consideration the organisation as a whole. They focus on teams. Every group of people has a task to accomplish. However, since groups are composed of people, several needs arise from them. According to the group dynamics theory of leadership, the person who adequately fulfils the needs that the group perceive to be the most important could be considered as an effective leader. A working team need to fulfil two functions. First, its formal tasks must be fulfilled. In order this to be accomplished; a set of competencies must be evolved. Technical knowledge, innovation and sense of achievement are related with the instrumental need to perform the tasks. Second, needs for affiliation, interaction and mutual support are usually observed within a team. Such needs are called expressive needs. The person who becomes leader must facilitate the satisfaction of some of the teams’ needs. This leader emerges to the group because he is the best able to help the group survive and succeed. ) (Master in Business Administration, Module book 3, section 1 The Theory of Leadership, p. 1. 7-1-11) According to Collin’s leadership hierarchy, the leader that is described in the group dynamics approach could be characterised as a level 2 leader. A contributing team member who is very good with his team members and ensures that his team meets its assigned objectives and fulfils the core purpose. Both group dynamics approach and Collins hierarchy are useful in helping us to see how leaders may relate to team members and to situations. (Collins, J. , (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 83. No. 7, p. 136-146) As a Brand Manager, one of my responsibilities to support our sales team by providing them with moderate amounts of detail and focus on why it is important for the team members to complete our objectives. However, I believe that co-owning the objective/action plan with team members and asking team members ideas as well as offering my own ideas is more efficient and can lead us easier to our goals. Besides, It is better to have, for instance, five people to think rather than one. Therefore, I strongly believe that teamwork can lead to better results. Level 3 Leader The Contingency Theory According to contingency models, leadership depends as much on the situation of the group as on the leader himself or herself. Thus, we have a choice; either the leader can fit to the situation or change effectively the situation to fit the leader. As we can understand, leadership is different for first-level supervisors than for chief executives and the kind of leadership needed for skilled and highly motivated followers may not work for followers who are alienated and untrained. According to Fiedler, contingency model divides the leadership situation into three variables. In order to determine the most effective leadership style, we must consider the inter-relationship of the three contingencies: leader – member relations, task- structure and position power. 1. Leader – member relations, where mutual trust, respect and open communication exist and can be consider as advantageous. This means that tasks are clear and structured and members are aware of the power the leader holds. On the other hand, where there is little or no trust, respect of communication, then the relationship can be characterised as disadvantageous (control over the situation is needed and a focus on a task will not detract from the leaders/ team relationship because this is not essential to start with. 2.  Task- structure, when work is highly structured and easy to know when somebody has not complied with an instruction and it is easy to impose sanctions. However, when work is unstructured, leaders cannot enforce compliance with external controls and therefore, the leader has much less power than when work is highly structured. 3. Position power, is the extent to which a leader has formal authority over the followers. When position power is high then the leader has the power to plan and direct the work of followers, evaluate it and accordingly reward or punish it. On the other hand, when position power is low, the leader has little authority over followers. (Appendix 3, p. 11 presents Fiedler’s examination on how Leader Style fits the situation) Finally, according to Fiedler, task-oriented leaders tend to be more effective in situations that are either highly advantageous or highly disadvantageous to them and that relationship-oriented leaders tend to be more effective in situations that are moderately advantageous to them. (Bolman,L. G. , Terrence,D. E. , Reframing Organisations, Ch. , Reframing Leadership, p. 342-344) According to Collin, a level 3 leader is a competent manager who is skilled at organising people and resources towards the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. However, as it is showed above, an efficient leader must differ from situation to situation or from team to team, according to its special characteristics. Analysing a level 3 leader in correlation with Contingency theory, we understand tha t a level 3 leader should consider both leader –member relations and tasks. Predetermined objectives cannot be achieved, if mutual trust, respect and open communication do not exist in a team and if tasks are not highly structured and followers do not know precisely their responsibilities. However, we must never ignore the extent to which a leader has formal authority over the followers. (Collins, J. , (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 83. No. 7, p. 136-146) For instance, according to my position, my everyday contact is with the sales team. According to my opinion, it is clear that trust, respect as well as open communication and mutual understanding exist within our team. One of the responsibilities of my position is to organise in some extent, their work by indicating them what is our goal and how we can reach it, with what tools and where we want to focus. Another one is to monitor our products sales and ask questions whenever I believe it is necessary. However, my position power is not as high as to evaluate them and reward or punish them accordingly.

History of Googles Development

History of Googles Development 1.1.0 HISTORY OF GOOGLE Google began in January 1996, as a research project by Larry Page, who was soon joined by Sergey Brin, when they were both PhD students at Stanford University in California. They hypothesized that a search engine that analyzed the relationships between websites would produce better ranking of results than existing techniques, which ranked results according to the number of times the search term appeared on a page. Their search engine was originally nicknamed BackRub because the system checked backlinks to estimate the importance of a site. A small search engine called Rankdex was already exploring a similar strategy. Convinced that the pages with the most links to them from other highly relevant web pages must be the most relevant pages associated with the search, Page and Brin tested their thesis as part of their studies, and laid the foundation for their search engine. Originally, the search engine used the Stanford University website with the domain google.stanford.edu. The domain google.com was registered on 15 September 1997, and the company was incorporated as Google Inc. on 4 September 1998 at a friends garage in Menlo Park, California. The total initial investment raised for the new company amounted to almost $1.1 million, including a $100,000 check by Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems. Both Brin and Page had been against using advertising pop-ups in a search engine, or an advertising funded search engines model, and they wrote a research paper in 1998 on the topic while still students. However, they soon changed their minds and early on allowed simple text ads. In March 1999, the company moved into offices in Palo Alto, home to several other noted Silicon Valley technology startups. After quickly outgrowing two other sites, the company leased a complex of buildings in Mountain View, California at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway from Silicon Graphics (SGI) in 2003. The company has remained at this location ever since, and the complex has since come to be known as the googolplex (a play on the word googolplex). In 2006, Google bought the property from SGI for $319 million. 1.1.1 Name of Google The name Google originated from a misspelling of the word googol, which refers to 10100, the number represented by a 1 followed by one hundred zeros. Having found its way increasingly into everyday language, the verb google was added to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006, meaning to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet. 1.1.2 Growth of Google While the primary business interest is in the web content arena, Google has begun experimenting with other markets, such as radio and print publications. On 17 January 2006, Google announced the purchase of a radio advertising company dMarc, which provides an automated system that allows companies to advertise on the radio. This will allow Google to combine two niche advertising media-the Internet and radio-with Googles ability to laser-focus on the tastes of consumers. Google has also begun an experiment in selling advertisements from its advertisers in offline newspapers and magazines, with select advertisements in the Chicago Sun-Times. They have been filling unsold space in the newspaper that would have normally been used for in-house advertisements. 1.2.0 GOOGLE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Google product development philosophy involves rapid and continuous innovation, with frequent releases of early-stage products that they then iterate and improve. Google often make products available early in their development stages by posting them on Google Labs, at test locations online or directly on Google.com. If their users find a product useful, they promote it to beta status for additional testing. Once they are satisfied that a product is of high quality and utility, they remove the beta label and make it a core Google product. Their main products and services are described below. 1.2.1 Google.com Search and Personalization They are focused on building products and services on the Google web sites that benefit their users and let them find relevant information quickly and easily. These products and services include: Google Web Search, In addition to providing easy access to billions of Web pages, they have integrated special features into Google Web Search to help people find exactly what they are looking for on the web. Google Image Search, Google Image Search is a searchable index of images found across the web. To extend the usefulness of Google Image Search, Google offers advanced features, such as searching by image size, format and coloration and restricting searches to specific web sites or domains. Google Video, Google Video lets users upload, find, view and share video content worldwide. iGoogle and Personalized Search, iGoogle connects users to the information that is most useful and important to them in an easy-to-use and customizable format. Users add gadgets and themes created by Google and developers to create a powerful and personalized homepage and arrange the content the way they want. 1.2.2 Application Information created by a single user becomes much more valuable when shared and combined with information from other people or places. Therefore their strategy for products Google develop in this space is simple: develop tools for their users to create, share and communicate any information generated by the user, thus making the information more useful and manageable. Examples of products Google have developed with this strategy in mind include: Google Docs, Google Docs allows their users to create, view and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations from anywhere using a browser. These documents are useful to their users as they are accessible anywhere internet access is available, manageable as they are stored within their servers and automatically backed up, and shareable in that they allow real time editing with co-workers and friends over the internet. Gmail, Gmail is Googles free webmail service that comes with built-in Google search technology to allow searching of emails and over seven gigabytes of storage, allowing users to keep their important messages, files and pictures. Google serve small text ads that are relevant to the messages in Gmail. Orkut, Orkut enables users to search and connect to other users through networks of trusted friends. Users can create a profile, personal mailboxes, post photos and join or manage online communities. Google Sites, Google Sites allows users to easily create, update and publish content online without technical expertise, with control over who can see and update the site. Google Sites supports a variety of information such as videos, calendars, presentations, spreadsheets, discussions and texts. YouTube, YouTube is an online community that lets users worldwide uploads, share, watch, rate, and comment on videos, from user generated, niche professional, to premium videos. YouTube is also a video platform providing general purpose video resources to the web community. YouTube videos are embedded in blogs, social networks and web applications, and YouTube programming interfaces are utilized by many registered developers to create third-party products and services. In addition, YouTube offers a range of video and interactive formats for advertisers to reach their intended audience. 1.2.3 Client Google Toolbar, Google Toolbar is a free application that adds a Google search box to web browsers (Internet Explorer and Firefox) and improves user web experience through features such as a pop-up blocker that blocks pop-up advertising, an autofill feature that completes web forms with information saved on a users computer, and customizable buttons that let users search their favorite web sites and stay updated on their favorite feeds. Google Chrome, Google Chrome is an open-source browser that combines a minimal design with technologies to make the web faster, safer, and easier to navigate. Google Desktop, Google Desktop lets people perform a full-text search on the contents of their own computer, including email, files, instant messenger chats and web browser history. Users can view web pages they have visited even when they are not online. Google Desktop also includes a customizable Sidebar that includes modules for weather, stock tickers and news. 1.2.4 Google GEO-Maps, Earth and Local Google Earth, Google Earth lets users see and explore the world and beyond from their desktop. Users can fly virtually to a specific location and learn about that area through detailed satellite and aerial images, 3D topography, street maps and millions of data points describing the location of businesses, schools, parks and other points of interest around the globe. Google Earth includes Sky, an astronomical imagery library with images of over 100 million stars and 200 million galaxies, and Ocean, with a detailed bathymetric map of the earths ocean floors. Google Maps, Google Maps helps people navigate map information. Users can look up addresses, search for businesses, and get point-to-point driving directions-all plotted on an interactive street map or on satellite imagery. Google Maps includes Street View, 360-degree street-level imagery available in several regions around the world, and Google Transit, which provides up-to-date information on local transit options in many cities. 1.3.0 GOOGLE FINANCIAL STATUS TO DATE The first funding for Google as a company was secured in August 1998 in the form of a $100,000 USD contribution from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, given to a corporation which did not yet exist. On June 7, 1999, a round of equity funding totaling $25 million was announced; the major investors being rival venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and Sequoia Capital. In October 2003, while discussing a possible initial public offering of shares (IPO), Microsoft approached the company about a possible partnership or merger. However, no such deal ever materialized. In January 2004, Google announced the hiring of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group to arrange an IPO. The IPO was projected to raise as much as $4 billion. On April 29, 2004, Google made an S-1 form SEC filing for an IPO to raise as much as $2,718,281,828. In May 2004, Google officially cut Goldman Sachs from the IPO, leaving Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston as the joint underwriters. They chose the unconventional way of allocating the initial offering through an auction (specifically, a Dutch auction), so that anyone would be able to participate in the offering. The smallest required account balances at most authorized online brokers that are allowed to participate in an IPO, however, are around $100,000. In the run-up to the IPO the company was forced to slash the price and size of the offering, but the process did not run into any technical difficulties or result in any significant legal challenges. The initial offering of shares was sold for $85 per share. The public valued it at $100.34 at the close of the first day of trading, which saw 22,351,900 shares change hands. Googles initial public offering took place on August 19, 2004. A total of 19,605,052 shares were offered at a price of $85 per share. The sale raised US$1.67 billion, and gave Google a market capitalization of more than $23 billion. The vast majority of Googles 271 million shares remained under Googles control. Many of Googles employees became instant paper millionaires. Yahoo!, a competitor of Google, also benefited from the IPO because it owns 2.7 million shares of Google. Googles revenue growth rate has been slowing, but for the first time since it went public, the companys quarter-to-quarter revenue declined. The company, as is customary, reported results that most business only dreams of, recession or not. Its net income grew 8 percent to $1.42 billion and its revenue, excluding commissions paid to advertising partners, grew 10 percent to $4.07 billion. It generated free cash flow of $2 billion for the quarter, the vast majority of it derived from money advertisers pay Google when people click on ads next to search results. But everything is most definitely not coming up roses. Googles revenue, after ascending steadily quarter after quarter, peaked in the fourth quarter and declined 3 percent in the first quarter. Googles business is still relatively strong, and its been hit by the recession less than many in the tech world, but its been hit nonetheless. 1.4.0 CULTURE AND EMPLOYEES Google take great pride in their company culture and embrace it as one of their fundamental strengths. Their culture encourages the iteration of ideas to address complex technical challenges. In addition, Google embrace individual thinking and creativity. As an example, Google encourage their engineers to devote as much as 20% of their time to work on independent projects. Many of their significant new products have come from these independent projects, including Google News, AdSense for content and Orkut. Google began as a technology company and have evolved into a software, technology, internet, advertising and media company all rolled into one. Google take technology innovation very seriously. Google compete aggressively for talent, and its people drive their innovation, technology development and operations. Google strive to hire the best computer scientists and engineers to help us solve very significant challenges across systems design, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data mining, networking, software engineering, testing, distributed systems, cluster design and other areas. Google work hard to provide an environment where these talented people can have fulfilling jobs and produce technological innovations that have a positive effect on the world through daily use by millions of people. Google have assembled what Google believe is a highly talented group of employees. Despite their rapid growth, Google constantly seek to maintain a small-company feel that promotes interaction and the exchange of ideas among employees. Google try to minimize corporate hierarchy to facilitate meaningful communication among employees at all levels and across departments. Google believe that considering multiple viewpoints is critical to developing effective solutions, and Google attempt to build consensus in making decisions. While teamwork is one of their core values, Google also significantly reward individual accomplishments that contribute to their overall success. As Google grow, Google expect to continue to provide compensation structures that are more similar to those offered by start-ups than established companies. Google focus on very significant rewards for individuals and teams that build amazing things that provide significant value to us, their advertisers and their users. At December 31, 2008, Google had 20,222 employees, consisting of 7,254 in research and development, 8,002 in sales and marketing, 3,109 in general and administrative and 1,857 in operations. All of Googles employees are also equity holders, with significant collective employee ownership. As a result, many employees are highly motivated to make the company more successful. 1.5.0 GOOGLE BUSINESS MODEL As with its technology, Google has chosen to ignore conventional wisdom in designing its business. The company started with seed money from angel investors and brought together two competing venture capital firms to fund its first equity round. While the dotcom boom exploded around it and competitors spent millions on marketing campaigns to build brand, Google focused instead on quietly building a better search engine. The word quickly spread from one satisfied user to another. With superior search technology and a high volume of traffic at its Google.com site, Googles managers identified two initial opportunities for generating revenue: Advertising Search services 1.5.1 Google grows and business blooms Over time, these two business lines evolved into complementary networks. Google AdWords advertisers create ads to drive qualified traffic to their sites and generate leads. Google publishing partners deliver those ads targeted to relevant search results powered by Google AdSense. With AdSense, the publisher shares in the revenue generated when readers click on the ads. For sites wishing to have more control over their intranet or site searches, Google developed the Google Search Appliance, a scalable and secure appliance that delivers accurate search results across any number of documents. Google continues to think about ways in which technology can improve upon existing ways of doing business. New areas are explored, ideas prototyped and budding services nurtured to make them more useful to advertisers and publishers. However, no matter how distant Googles business model grows from its origins, the root remains providing useful and relevant information to those who are the most important part of the ecosystem the millions of individuals around the world who rely on Google search to provide the answers they are seeking. 1.5.2 Google AdWords for Advertisers Google designed AdWords for advertisers who want to reach a qualified audience as efficiently as possible. Advertisers select their own target keywords and only pay when customers click on their ads. Its easy to create ad text and manage online advertising accounts with no large upfront payment required. All thats needed is five minutes and a credit card. The ads appear across Googles growing roster of partners, including thousands of sites from America Online to the Washington Post, and are targeted to relevant search and content pages. Googles experienced sales and service team optimize campaigns for our larger advertisers. Our staff of AdWords experts work with advertisers to select the appropriate keywords and generate the matching creative, then carefully monitor the campaign to improve its performance over time by winnowing keywords and rewriting copy based on what is most effective. Theres no limit to the number of keywords that an advertiser can select and each keyword can be matched with a different creative execution. Recent advertisers include Amazon, Cisco Systems and Staples. Google provides all of its advertisers with a full complement of reporting services to enable fine tuning of campaigns and real-time intelligence about which components are performing best. Advertisers can further increase efficiencies by targeting their campaigns to specific geographies or languages. 1.5.3 Google AdSense and advertisers Google believes relevant advertising can be as useful as search results or other forms of content. And that advertising can enhance the experience for visitors to a publishers website, while helping publishers recover some of their investment in creating content of value. Google AdSenseâ„ ¢ combines Google Search technology with our base of keyword advertisers to deliver ads that precisely target search results or the content on a sites pages, no matter how specialized the subject matter. Advertisers, publishers, and information seekers all profit as a result. Signing up for AdSense is easy it only takes a few minutes to apply. And our sales team helps customize the program for sites receiving more than 20 million page views a month. AdSense serves relevant ads on content pages search result and content pages as well as dormant domain pages. Google Search Services enable publishers to provide Google web search on their own pages results that can be used to generate revenue with the AdSense for Search program The Google Search Appliance, a scalable and secure device that provides Google quality search across an individual website or intranet. Google Wireless Services deliver Google search results via PDAs, wireless phones and other mobile devices powered by many of the worlds leading wireless service providers. .1.0 GOOGLE GLOBAL MARKET SHARE Not only does Google continue to dominate the global search market, its also growing faster than any of its competitors, according to data from comScore. The audience measurement firm estimates that Google sites notched up a total of 76.7 billion searches during the month of July 2009, an increase of 58 percent over July 2008. Googles search product therefore continues to govern the global search landscape, accounting for over 67 percent of all queries worldwide, comScore suggests. In comparison, Yahoo and Microsoft which agreed to a ten-year search partnership in July attracted a joint total of 12.2 billion queries through their search services, which represents just 10.7 percent of queries globally. Microsofts product did, however, experience substantial year-on-year growth of 41 percent. 2.2.0 GOOGLE KEY TECHNOLOGIES Google web search technology uses a combination of techniques to determine the importance of a web page independent of a particular search query and to determine the relevance of that page to a particular search query. 2.2.1 PageRank Technology PageRank reflects our view of the importance of web pages by considering more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Pages that we believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results. PageRank also considers the importance of each page that casts a vote, as votes from some pages are considered to have greater value, thus giving the linked page greater value. We have always taken a pragmatic approach to help improve search quality and create useful products, and our technology uses the collective intelligence of the web to determine a pages importance. 2.2.2 Hypertext-Matching Analysis Our search engine also analyzes page content. However, instead of simply scanning for page-based text (which can be manipulated by site publishers through meta-tags), our technology analyzes the full content of a page and factors in fonts, subdivisions and the precise location of each word. We also analyze the content of neighboring web pages to ensure the results returned are the most relevant to a users query. Our innovations dont stop at the desktop. To give people access to the information they need, whenever and wherever they need it, we continue to develop new mobile applications and services that are more accessible and customizable. And were partnering with industry-leading carriers and device manufacturers to deliver these innovative services globally. Were working with many of these industry leaders through the Open Handset Alliance to develop Android, the first complete, open, and free mobile platform, which will offer people a less expensive and better mobile experience. 2.2.3 Life of a Google Query The life span of a Google query normally lasts less than half a second, yet involves a number of different steps that must be completed before results can be delivered to a person seeking information. 2.2.4 Infrastructure Google provides their products and services using their homegrown software and hardware infrastructure, which provides substantial computing resources at low cost. Google currently use a combination of off-the-shelf and custom software running on clusters of commodity computers. Their considerable investment in developing this infrastructure has produced several benefits. This infrastructure simplifies the storage and processing of large amounts of data, eases the deployment and operation of large-scale global products and services, and automates much of the administration of large-scale clusters of computers. Although most of this infrastructure is not directly visible to their users, Google believe it is important for providing a high-quality user experience. It enables significant improvements in the relevance of their search and advertising results by allowing us to apply superior search and retrieval algorithms that are computationally intensive. Google believe the infrastructur e also shortens their product development cycle and lets us pursue innovation more cost effectively. 2.3.0 QUALITY OF PERSONNEL Google is among the most successful Internet-based businesses and companies since the booming dotcoms years in late 1990s and remains to be a leader to date. The success of the Google is rooted on its outstanding organisational practices and core competencies. Googles formula of success is not only its competent technology but also its aggressive ability to come-up with both innovative and profit-oriented projects. Innovation is very critical among the members of its workforce since it operates in global environment.Managing global environment requires managers the ability to manage change through innovation and creativity. The innovative capability of Google combined with integrated process and a supportive culture creates sustainable competitive advantage. Among the considered high-leverage innovators, Google excels in ideation with overall adeptness and competence across all four stages of the innovation value chain. For example, (2007) describes Google as search engine leader tha t creates new-fangled ideas with intense speed or what they call the 70-20-10 Rule where the staff particularly engineers are encouraged to use 70 percent of their working time on central business functions, 20 percent on related business functions, and 10 percent on areas entirely of their own choice. Larger organisations like Google, in contrast to small ones are faster in adoption of innovations because of greater access to resources and need for strategic planning. Due to the stiff competition among Internet companies, the encouragement of innovation and creativity is inherent to Google. Innovation as a ground for doing business in the 21st century will be the consistent tugging force that the organisation must either strive to adopt or suffer the consequences of being left behind by competitors. The Googlers (employees) are motivated to contribute their suggestions, ideas, or anything that pertains to potential profit-gaining activities through various means like meetings, intr anet, and other forms of communication. In product development, they emphasise on the feasibility and user-friendliness of relevant ideas. The feasibility is supported by Googles aim of coming-up with something original and financially viable whereas the idea of user-friendliness works toward potential users. Through innovations, Google has expanded its services and features. Google today is no longer a search engine company but a web computing applications company. The upscale ability of Google is among its critical success factors that make it a sustainable competitive company in its specified industry. On the aspect of HRM, Google has a distinct recruitment procedure that is bounded on the increased importance on valued intelligence and brainpower more than experience. (2003) identified recruiting as part of the overall management function of staffing. Conversely, (2004) emphasised that staffing requires both the process of attracting and selecting potential personnel with exceptional capabilities and competencies to fill-in the company position available at hand. Recruiting potential Googlers are based on academic proficiency and human intelligence. The diversity of skills and qualities of applicants is recognised because Google management believes that it can contribute on its progression. There are also unique advertising techniques in job postings, effective referral system, and campus recruitment. Generally, Google upholds the key HRM functions namely; attracting a quality workforce, developing a quality workforce, and maintaining a quality workforce. 2.4.0 GOOGLE CAPITAL BASE REVENUE STREAM Googles stock fell decidedly below the psychologically significant mark of $300 per share at one point. The stock has fallen 60% overall from its high near $720 and sits near its 2004-2005 prices. Despite this, Google remains a global leader in search, internet advertising, and has its finger on the pulse of innovative web services. Googles earnings powerand Googles search share remain intact in the long. Does that mean the shares necessarily imply a great risk-reward tradeoff now? For perspective, lets take a look at Googles performance and its stock performance over a similar period. Overall, Googles stock grew at a 93% CAGR from its IPO in 2004 until 2007. Even including the precipitous drop in 2008, the stock has grown at a 30% CAGR. Since 2003, Google has grown its revenue at a 72.6% CAGR and its net income at a 109.1% CAGR. Roughly normalizing to the 2004-2008 time period, Googles revenue and net income have grown at 62% and 80% CAGR, respectively. Its clear that Googles stock grew relatively in line with its net income, in fact, even at its peak Googles stock growth never outpaced its net income growth rate thus implying that wild multiple expansion was not responsible for investor returns over the last five years. Unfortunately, with the changing economic outlook, the market seems to be pre-emptively punishing Google for slowing growth. If the current share price holds, the implication is that the Company will not grow net income from 2008 levels for another three years assuming that a stocks return (30% CAGR) trends towards the long term growth rate of a company. This return scenario seems compelling for a long term investor, but given that we remain dependent on growth for our returns as opposed to any fundamental valuation. Its hard to ascertain whether or not the stock current price represents a reasonable entry point. Now, let us try to look at the overall strengths and weaknesses of Googles market, technology, personnel and capital base and revenue stream. 2.5.0 Googles Strengths Google Already number one search engine has established a brand name, in which its users trust. Its dependable, reliable and fast. Google needs very little end user marketing as the name itself is getting word by mouth publicity. Google has a simple interface and it gives comprehensive results without confusing its users. Google has low operation cost as it uses low cost UNIX web servers for indexing millions of web pages across internet. Google has hired PhDs who are continuously working hard in order to enhance search algorithms and make searching faster, efficient and relevant. Google provides an interface to 177 languages to make it comfortable to search for its users in different countries. Google uses state of the art search technology to index pages regularly in order to give most updated results to its users. Google also weights the votes and ranks web pages with its PageRank technology to give its user access to most important pages first. Google is not biased towards advertisers. It clearly separates relevant advertisements and actual results by giving Sponsored Links tag to sponsored results when user searches to get information with some keyword. Moreover, it also ranks sponsored links to keep most relevant sponsored links on the top. Google offers localized search called search by location where users can get results showing vendors, products and services nearby their areas. Google also has a range of innovative additional services like Images, Groups, Directory, and News

Treatment Intervention to Improve Sleeping Habits

Treatment Intervention to Improve Sleeping Habits Individual Assignment: Bad Sleeping Habits Koh Ke Mian Bad Sleeping Habits According to Carskadon and Dement (2011), sleep is both combinations of physiologic and behavioral processes. When sleeping, the awareness to environment stimuli will decrease (Carskadon Dement). On the other hand, National Institutes of Health (2011) had stated that sleep is just for your brain and body to shut down. People always think sleep is merely their â€Å"down time† due to their brains will shut off when sleeping. Therefore, people will always stay up late because they will think sleeping is not important and it is wasting their time. Moreover, the researchers found that how much you rested depends on the total sleep, timing of the sleep stages, and how much sleep you get each night (National Institutes of Health). Besides, Kashmir Monitor (2012) had stated that health problems are caused by the sleeping patterns. In this globalization and urbanization, bad sleeping habit has become common and more and more young people stay up late to make sure their work is done o n the day. In addition, people will also sacrifice their sleep to do other things, such as rushing assignment which due on the next day, watch movies, play games, or chit chatting. According to Sleep Health Foundation (2011), bad sleeping habits is defined as poor sleep hygiene. Bad sleeping habits can be refer as erratically bedtime routine, which is not enough sleep for each day and sleeping very late. Bad sleeping habits may bring a lot of consequences to us which may influence our life. There are consequences that will be affected by bad sleeping habits. According to Harvard Health Publications (2007), there are connection between sleep and heart disease. They had stated that bad sleeping habits may cause heart disease and heart disease will affect the quality of sleep (Harvard Health Publications). On the other hand, the researchers had also mentioned that bad sleep habits brings a lot of consequences, such as high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, diabetes, and obesity (Harvard Health Publications). According to Harvard Health Publications, there will be higher risk of getting heart attack due to the bad sleeping habits. Furthermore, the researcher had also stated that bad sleeping habits causes higher risk of getting mood disorder such as major depression (Oster, 2012). Other than that, the researcher had found that students who have bad sleeping habits will negatively affect their academic performance (Park 2009). In addition, bad sleeping habits may also affect the performance and difficulty concentrating in class (Park). National Institutes of Health (2011) had stated that people who suffer from lack of sleep will slower down the thinking processes, harder to focus or pay attention on something, may cause confusion easier, make the wrong decision and risk taking, and slower down the reaction time. People who do something which need quick reaction may be dangerous if they suffer from lack of sleep. According to Cain (2012), the intervention of school will be effective in increasing the knowledge of sleep to adolescents. However, there are no significantly improvements of changing bad sleeping habits (Cain). On the other hand, students had stated that there were no motivations for them to change their habits in order to get more sleep (Cain). According to Cain, he had stated that people who have bad sleeping habits have the trend to avoid the morning bright light. Other than that, the researchers had mentioned that changing a behavior may require the willingness of an individual (Miller Rollnick, 2002, p.10, as cited in Cain). To change the bad sleeping habits, the individuals should have the willingness to change and believe on their own ability which they can change the habits. Motivating me is the way that I can change this habit and knowing more about the effect that cause by the bad sleeping habits may force me to change it. I will change this habit due to the consequences that could bring me. According to Harvard Health Publications (2007), lack of sleep will cause high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, diabetes and obesity. Lack of sleep may also affect an individual difficult to focus, decrease reaction time, and faulty decision making (National Institutes of Health, 2011). In addition, the tools that I will use to help me change my bad sleeping habits are avoid to take caffeinated drink at least four hours before going to sleep, not to take nap in the evening because it may make it harder to sleep at night, not taking meals when going to bed but not feel hungry, try to go to bed at same times, and not spending too much of time with bed while not sleeping (Sleep Health Foundation, 2011). According to LeBourgeois, Gi annotti, Cortesi, Wolfson, and Harsh (2005), as cited in Marhefka (2011), avoid taking nap in the late-afternoon or taking nap more than an hour during daytime, and not taking alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco before going to bed may have good sleeping habits. Method To make sure that I change the behavior, the behavior that I measure is the bad sleeping habits. In the baseline phase, I have used a mobile app which called sleepbot (Refer to Appendix F) to help me record my sleeping time and wake up time. This app help to record people’s sleep pattern and it can also track motion. It can help people know what are the problems that make them cannot sleep well and they can change their sleeping pattern through understanding this. Moreover, through recording my sleeping time and wake up time, I can know the amount of my sleeping time that I slept in a day and mostly what time I go to bed. Moreover, in treatment phase, I had set alarm clock for myself which remind me to sleep and wake up on time. Besides, sleepbot is the app that could help me calculate my amount of sleep and how much I debt to my sleep. I had set up the hours that I have to sleep which is eight hours a day and I set the alarm clock by using this app as well. Through using this sleepbot application, it reminds me the time I have to sleep everyday which may help me change my bad sleeping habits. On the other hand, this app may also allow me to record my daily sleeping quality. I will choose this app to help me change my bad sleeping habits because this app has a lot of functions which I can use it and no need to download so many apps that help me record my sleep quality. Furthermore, I will choose this app to help me change my behaviour because the first things that I will do when I open my eyes is check my smartphone. This app has the alarm clock system, so I will turn off it when it ring and it records my wake up time together, and I think it is very convenience. Results In the baseline phase, there are 54.4 hours of sleep time from 29th January 2015 to 5th February 2015 (Refer to Appendix A). The average daily sleep in these seven days is 9.1 hours. There is only a day which I did not sleep for eight hours. However, the earliest sleep time for me is at 12.14am and the latest sleep time is at 1.39am (Refer to Appendix B). Other than that, my earliest wake up time in the baseline phase was at 7.15am, and the latest wake up time was at 11.06am. Even though the total average sleep for me was 9.1 hours, but I do not have a healthy life style (Refer to Appendix A). Therefore, I would like to change it and make me be healthier. The treatment phase started from 12th February 2015 to 19th March 2015. In this treatment phase, I had found that the earliest sleeping time for me was at 11.15pm, but the latest sleep time was at 2.57am (Refer to Appendix D). This has showed that the behaviour that I would like to change had failed. Furthermore, my average sleep ti me in this treatment phase is 8.8 hours per day (Refer to Appendix C). It showed I slept more than eight hours a day, but my sleeping time and wake up time are not the same every day. On the other hand, the researcher had stated that if a person want to have good sleeping habits, they should go to bed at the same time (Sleep Health Foundation, 2011). According to Appendix E, the longest time I slept was about 12 hours, and the shortest time I slept was about four hours. My consumption of sleep dramatically changes every day. Furthermore, the results had showed that I did not change my sleep behaviour throughout the time and it had showed that I had slept latest in the treatment phase than baseline phase. Discussions This treatment programme did not work for me. This is because Lunar New Year was in my treatment phase, and I went to travel on that time. I could not sleep on time because I was not in the hotel on that time. Furthermore, this treatment programme failed because the treament period was the assignment weeks and I had to sacrifice my sleeping time to finish my assignment on time. In addition, I think procrastination is the important effect that I have to sacrifice my sleeping time to do my assignment. On the other hand, I think the app was useful, however, it could not motivate me to sleep earlier. Moreover, I think the weakness of this app was that I have to open the app myself while I want to record my sleep time and it is not convenient for me when I was feeling sleepy. It caused me lost my drowsiness when I started to set my sleeping time. This is because I have to think where my app is which caused me to regain consciousness. I think this app had contributed to me 60 percent out o f 100 percent. This is because it does not provide any other functions such as tips which help for sleeping, or music which makes people relaxes. Furthermore, I always switch off my smartphone when I am sleeping. However, this app needs to on my phone all the time and it drain my phone battery whole night. The difficulties that I had faced in this treatment phase were I did not have any motivation which helps me to sleep earlier. In addition, there were a lot of others factors which caused me to sleep late, such as rushing assignment, watch drama, or chit chatting. Procrastinating could affect my sleeping time. Furthermore, I think that because of nobody urge me to sleep earlier which makes me do not care on it. Besides, I had influenced by other people (e.g. family and housemates) that they all sleep very late and it makes me to sleep late also. According to Voke (2002), environment encourages exploration will encourage the child’s natural motivation. The motivation will come from the encouragement of environment. Other than that, according to Saul (2014), he stated that procrastinating could affect ability to sleep, and also affect general health and well-being. I think the app could add some music in which could help people to relax when they are stress out and could not sleep due to the stressful environment. In addition, I think the app may provide some functions which calculate the intake of caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol in a day. This is because the amount of taking caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol may also affect the quality of sleep. Other than that, I think this app should change their system which allows their user to switch off their phone while they are sleeping. It not only helps the users sleep better, it also helps the users to save the battery of their phone. Besides, I think I should ask someone to urge me to done my work earlier and also go to sleep before 12am. I think it could be effective if someone urging me. Moreover, stay with the people who sleep early could motivate me sleep earlier. In addition, I may also require my family to sleep earlier which help to motivate me.