Critically Appraise the Importance of Effective Operations Management Essay

Critically Appraise the Importance of Effective Operations Management in Improving Productivity in Retailing - Essay Example 5). Operations management brings in an element of efficiency in the business operations by looking to it that that business operations rely on an optimal exploitation of resources and tend to meet the consumer expectations in an efficient and satisfactory manner (Lowson 2002, p. 10). Operations management pertains to the management of all the processes associated with the conversion of inputs like finances, raw materials, energy and labour into the intended outputs like services and goods (Bassett 1992, p. 20). In an operational context, the efficiency in operations management has a lot to do with the policy decisions made by the senior management. It is usually the top management in the organizations that plans the strategy in operations management and tends to revise it as per the altering needs and requirements, while the line managers assure that the policy decisions get implemented in an accurate manner by taking the apt tactical decisions. Operations management in the area of r etail is pivotal to the influx of improving productivity. Operations management in retail requires an optimal management of varied associated operations like cost control, logistics and merchandizing associated with the movement of products from production facilities and stores to the hands of the consumers (Nersesian 2000, p. 153). Primarily retail is about curtailing costs so as to extend to the customers the required goods and services at most competitive prices. Operations management in retail has to do with managing and controlling the operating costs within the affiliated organizations (Nersesian 2000). It encompasses all the related and affiliated activities that have to do with the production, distribution and delivery of services of goods and services in a retail organization (Nersesian 2000). Current Characteristics of retail Industry Retail industry is an area of business that has quiet a wide spectrum. It involves small stores serving the select neighbourhoods to behemot h stores catering to the needs of large urban hubs. By its very nature, the retail industry tends to be immensely dependant on consumer spending. This is more so, considering the current economic meltdown, which has greatly compromised the spending ability of the consumers. The small retail stores are already a thing of the past because they failed to meet the customer aspirations in a cost effective and efficient manner. The internet, which has emerged as a ubiquitous medium for conducting retail transactions has added one new dimension to retail. The big departmental stores are also losing their appeal and they are trying hard to reposition themselves. The big departmental stores are under immense pressure to reposition their product lines to meet the fast changing consumer aspirations and preferences (Miron 2002). The emergence of discount stores in the retail scenario is one more salient trend that is poised to stay (Davies & Ward 2002). Discount stores offer varied incentives t o the consumers like competitive low prices, money back guarantees, etc. This is combined with varied other features like floor help and an easy access to the merchandise. The coming of Category Killer retail stores is one other major development. Category Killers concentrate their focus on a specific product category and try to outrun their competitors in that category by appropriating a lion’s share in that category (Davies & Ward 2002, p. 105). Category Killers have appropriated a major share of the retail segments in which they are operational and have drastically reduced the number of players in these segments (Davies & Ward 200

Common Misconceptions Essay Example for Free

Common Misconceptions Essay Commonly thought of as belligerently walking the streets late at night, or at any time in fact, the Irish culture is inaccurately perceived as the drinking type, at any point of the day on any day of the week, though usually all of the above. Americans drink, French people do too, as well as our friends from Great Britain, but for some reason people always accuse those Irish people of being too drunk too often. It just so happens to be that I am Irish, and American, though I am not drunk at this time of writing this paper. I may just be the exception, as many people believe or have believed at some time that they are just heavy drinkers. There are the stories we are told, how the potato famine in Ireland was a result of the Irish being too drunk to realize something’s wrong with their potatoes, and possibly continue to believe nothing is wrong. Then they came over to America and brought their drinking problems and potato famine ignorance with them and the rest is history that they will soon forget. With them jumping seas, it gave us Americans an excuse for our own belligerent ways; we could use those drunken Irish as a scapegoat! Now, if we are caught by our friends in a bush after a long night, we may say â€Å"It’s alright, I’m Irish, I’m just respecting my ancestry† or we have an excuse to celebrate the holiday St. Patrick’s day, which is more of a reason to drink than celebrate the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. If this myth helps All-Americans get out of sticky situations through deception, than it sure is doing its job, just be sure to say â€Å"I’m Irish† and wear that green clover hat every once in a while. Some could find it offensive, such as the Irish who didn’t jump ship because they paid good attention to their potatoes. So instead of reading the myth as â€Å"those drunken Irish are always drunk†, it should read â€Å"those drunken Irish who forgot about their potatoes are always drunk†. Now, where’s my shot glass?

Race and Racism - Racial Implications of an Advertisment Essay

Race and Racism - Racial Implications of an Advertisment The other day, as I was trying to find a picture for this assignment, I stumbled across the picture at the top of the "personals" section of a local paper. On the surface, it seemed racially balanced. It certainly wasn't structured to make an outward statement about race. However, just the way it's laid out reflects subtle and probably unconscious judgements of the nature of race, and how it affects us. It has small, individual photos of six people, of varying race and age. The two people farthest to the left are a bit older, perhaps in their forties. I was not sure about one of the pictures: my first opinion was that it was a young Hispanic man, but she is really a partially African female. In short, there was variety here. However, the ad uses race to sell by avoiding the implication of interracial relationships, showing predominantly "white" people, and showing a mix of people from different races. The ad does not explicitly show an interracial couple, even though people of many races advertise in the personals. The ad seems to avoid pairing people together as couples too much. There aren't any words like "Look what perfect couple found each other!" The people probably are not professional models, either. The implication is that the people shown represent either the people who are advertising or all potential readers of an ad that one might place. Perhaps it is significant that there is a bit of a bias toward men in the ad; they are placed more to the left. A reader will generally see the men first as he scans the ad. This could mean that the service is trying to sell more to women. If so, it is also avoiding the implication that a customer might be placed in a ra... ... even though it is not likely. How many people look at the personal ads and decide not to date because they don't see their race there? Not many. That is what the creators of the ad intended. In a liberal society, people should not be overly concerned about racial differences when they are dating. They should not worry about class differences either. I have heard advice that it is harder for interracial couples to have a successful marriage, because of cultural differences, but the person who issued this hastily remarked that this was the only problem, and that one says a false doctrine by saying that one race or another is inferior. In the end, one could use this ad in racist or race-unifying arguments, in spite of the intentions of the authors. I am simply glad that I don't have to use it to find potential dating contacts. (At any rate, I haven't done so yet.)

Psy/285 Final Week 9

PSY/285 Elizabeth Davis November 11, 2012 Bettye Griffin I am well rounded, independent, and unique. I believe that being well rounded means that you are not just one way or another. It means you have a little bit of every thing. I think that independent means for a person to be out on their own in life. It means to be able to take care of them selves in life, along with other people. I am independent not interdependent. I do not rely on others for any thing. Meaning I do not get help with bills, money, school, child, car, or any other aspect in life. Interdependent means you get help from others or depend on other to do things for you.I think that self serving bias is some thing that every one has to some degree or another. I think that it is a bias opinion that enhances or widens your ego or self esteem. For me I am self bias towards my self in the fact that I am a very vain person. I believe I am very attractive meaning my self esteem is great about how I look when others are arou nd. Locus of control theory is where people believe that they can control events that can affect them. External locus of control is a person that believes the whole world is out to get them, luck does exist, and that life is unfair.Internal locus of control is when a person has feelings of being responsible for the outcomes that happen in their lives. I know that confirmation bias is where a person has a tendency to favor information that goes along with their own beliefs. A person does this by gathering or when they remember information by picking out pieces of it. I think then that confirmation bias is some thing that we all do. I know for my self I have selective hearing. With this I pick out what I want to hear from a conversation, perceive it, and use it how I want to.My experiences that I have had with beliefs generating from their own confirmation have not always ended well. I know that nothing in life will happen exactly how you want it to. I do this all the time and plan ou t how others will react in a certain situation I am always wrong. I know that my behaviors influence my attitude a lot. I simply put my desires and actions first. My attitude or my intention only pushes my desires and actions further. Our text did suggest that there are several ways that genetics influence gender identity. My gender identity is influenced by my genetics because I was raised by my great grand parents.This means I am more apt to take on the old fashioned ways or believing in what a woman should act or be. I think that my gender identity has been shaped by the environment that I was raised in. I think that some evidence to support this would be that I do believe that me as a woman should do the cooking and cleaning. A woman should be married to one man in her life. A woman place in the world is behind her man. A woman must be able to do what a man does and work as hard as they can. I think that now in life that I am not at a great risk of conforming.I know that growing up at one point or another I was influenced to conform to a great many different aspects of life. I am stable in who I am and what I am today. I think as a person grows older in life it is harder to sway to conformity. I just don’t feel the need to impress or to be or act like some thing I am not. I have always had a hard time with both authority and also obedience. I think that in my opinion they go hand and hand with each other. I think that fear of authority or the stubbornness of just not wanting to both has a clear view of why the obedience will then not look.I think that the foot in the door technique has had a lot of influence on me doing things in my life. I think the biggest foot in the door was when I was younger and with my friends. When I would hang with them and they would start to do some thing illegal or dangerous. That means I would have a choice of walking away or since I am all ready there so why not concept. Oh, of course I have used the foot in the door t echnique on others. This is used in peer pressure situations when some one does not want to do some thing but convince them to using the foot in the door.I think that when I am in the presence of others I am very stand back and watch kind of person. I like to take in what is going on around me. I think that with or around others I know that I act with respect and honesty. When alcohol is involved that bearer that was there to just sit, watch, and be kind of shy is lost. When that is gone I am just full of confidence and the life of every one else around me. I know that no matter what group project that you get your self in to that there will always be some kind of social leafing.I volunteer at our church a lot, and at the veterans hall we work in groups and there is always one or two people who I have to pick up the slack from, because they refuse to help in any way. I don’t think that it will get any better in the future. I don’t think that it will because I can not c hange other people and how they see life. Only that person can make the conscious decision to change is them selves. I believe that Deindividuation is a concept that is mostly thought of as one loosing their self awareness in other groups.I think that deindividuation is where people sway into other groups other than what they would usually. It is acting different in a group than you would usually, that would be completely out of character for you. People that are in groups over time lose their own self awareness and self restraint because of the group they are in. At this point they would loose their own self as an individual and become more like the others. I think that people whom are in groups would do things that they would not on the account that the person would then be less responsible for their own actions.I think that I was influenced and have gotten in a lot of trouble in the past because of deindividuated presence of other people. I am not now though taken over in any gro up nor do I want to be my life is fine with out getting in trouble. I think that there are many different levels that a person can be attracted to another person. I think that at first it is the attraction of what a person looks like. I think that personal things you have in common helps. I also think that being around a person for long time will increase the chance of being attracted to one another.There is so many things that can make a person attractive to me. I do know that the preference at attractiveness is different between each person. I think that there are many things that you can do to help sustain relationships. Here are some of the things that I do to help sustain a relationship is trust, compassion, compromise, and respect. I think that all of these are needed to have a healthy relationship. I think that trust is big to be able to feel at ease. Compassion is needed for your self the most to put it into the relation ship, and also to be healthy for you to have compassio n towards other things in life.I would say that compromise is like picking your battles. This would come along with talking to your partner. I would also say that to have respect is both for your self as well as the other person. When I have to resolve a conflict there is just a few things that I do to help with this. I first pick a time to talk about it. I make sure not to go into talking about it when I am angry or mad. I would also take into consideration to bring in an out side party to monitor the conflict, if we can not come to a compromise or agreement about the conflict.I am glad that this class has opened my eyes to so many different views and ideas of what I need to take a look at in life. I think that it is good to know what the things are that centers around who I am and also why I am that way. I think that I have been able to change some of my views and ways from what I have learned in this class. Although, I do know that even though this class has made me aware of some of my actions and beliefs, that I am just not ready to take control of and change. It has also made me aware of why others act in the way they do.I will not be so judgmental of certain behaviors or actions in the future. I am more aware of the world around me, including my self and other people who I choose to surround my life around. I loved what this class has taught me and will keep it with me in my mind and thoughts for ever. I wish that other people would take vane and learn why things are what they are. To find reason for behaviors this makes it so that maybe some time knowing why will become action to change to some thing better.

Single User System for Startup Business

The purpose of this exercise is to design a single user system, to solve the needs of a startup business. The business I chose is a service oriented, automotive oil change company. This system will need to satisfy the business needs of a small company, including database queries, inventory management, customer tracking, form generating, accounting, and many other functions. This must be accomplished in an easy to use, simple, single user format. This system should be a point of sale system utilizing separate databases. One for customer tracking used to notify previous customers via postcard printouts. In addition, these should be sent after a three-month period from their last service. There could be coupons issued as well. Accounting and inventory information, such as daily, weekly, monthly, etc. sales, current inventory needs, cost of inventory, profit margins, employee records, sales tax, etc. should also be stored. Another, dynamic database would hold manufacture specifications. This would provide real-time query access for make/model vehicle specifications for referencing filter part numbers as well as other technical information. This would need to be updated as manufacturers change specifications. This system should contain redundant features as it is business critical, providing dual, mirrored disk drives, as well as an efficient backup device. This would reduce down time due to drive failure. The need for this amount of safety lies in the necessity of maintaining fast, uninterrupted service. There would need to be two printers. One, a dot matrix for printing customer receipts, as well as a hard copy for business purposes. The second printer would be for the service personnel. This would print out the work orders with specific information, such as the make and model of the vehicle as well as the filter numbers and quantity of oil needed. This printer would be located in the service area. This system should be capable of printing and displaying timely accounting reports including sales figures and current inventory quantities. These should be available on screen (a color VGA monitor would be required), as well as in printed form. All this must be extremely user friendly. With very little training required. The projected employee skill and pay level is expected to be entry level minimum wage. When researching a business solution to fit this need, one company was mentioned in most interviews and research. Auto Dataa was highly recommended by the independent area shops that provide this service. Auto Dataa provides a complete software system specifically engineered for this market. This package is called POS-I-LUBEa. This is a all-encompassing point of sale software package that provides complete support of an automotive service company. This system provides comparative accounting reports, real-time inventory management, work order creation, reliable specification information via a secured connection, employee time-clock accounting functions, full cash register functions and professionally printed receipts, as well as a complete service history for each of your customers. This system will provide the ability to check inventory levels anytime. Supply payroll information with their time card feature. Generate accounting reports ranging from comparative sales figures from one period to another, period financial reports, profit margins, inventory costs, personnel costs, withholdings, sales tax figures, essentially all the accounting information necessary to successfully run the business. This is in conjunction to the real-time product specification query function and work orders. The time that is saved by the vehicle specification query, which previously had to be done through hard copy cross-reference, looking up make, model, engine, options, etc., now can be used to assure that you have a timely customer turnaround time, as this is all done automatically through this menu driven system. The customer history database can be queried to provide essential data for mass mailings and coupons. These are all time saving functions that work to improve customer satisfaction, while maintaining a strong presence in the marketplace. POS-I-LUBEa utilizes a Fox Pro database for it's customer history and tracking, as well as its accounting data. For the vehicle specification database, POS-I-LUBEa uses a licensed Check Chart subscribed database available through a secured connection. This is where the monthly fee ($250.00) comes into play. Recommended hard drive size is 1GB by the manufacturer Auto Dataa. This menu driven package is designed to be mouse driven, with no typing required, offering less opportunity for mistakes. This also make the system very user friendly with very little training required. This all-inclusive package offers greater reliability than many other products available in the marketplace. The STAR Pro VII @ $ 1847.00, and the Shopman Standard Version 3.0 @ $299.00 are alternatives. While the STAR Pro VII offers much of the inventory, report generating and accounting functions of the POS-I-LUBEa system it does not offer the database query functions to reference vehicle specifications. The budget priced Shopman Standard Version 3.0 only offers the repair orders and invoices. This reliability of the POS-I-LUBEa system is due partly to the fact that it is all inclusive and not pieced together from non-compatible software. The initial cost of this software is under $2,000.00, with a small annual fee for real-time database queries ($250.00). The hardware is user supplied and can fluctuate in cost depending on the specifications desired by the user. For the requirements that I desired, Della provided the best solution for the money. I decided on the Workstation 410 with the following features. Dual 9.1GB SCSI, Ultra2/Wide LVD (7200rpm) hard drives The dual hard drives add a redundancy that is essential when your business is so reliant on such a system in case of failure on one drive. The Zip drive is for maintaining current backups and off-site storage for disaster recovery. Total cost of Della system is $94.00 per month on their business lease plan. This fully meets, and/or exceeds the system specifications required by Auto Dataa (see operations manual). I chose the lease program as it offers a service agreement throughout the extent of the lease, as well as the option to periodically upgrade due to the moderate terms of the lease (3 years). In addition to this, there are the required periphrials, as follows. Okidata Microline 321 Turbo parallel printer @ $451.91 Star Micronics SP322C Printer @ $379.00 3COM 56Kb Internal Modem @ $95.00 Symantec PCanyWhere v9.0 @ 169.95 Indiana Metal Cash Drawer @ $315.00 The dot matrix printer is for the creation of the customer billing record and receipt, while the other printer produces the employee work order in the service area with all the vehicle specifications. As required by Auto Dataa, all software must be installed and tested by their technicians at their facility at an additional cost of $100. Shipping is not included and runs approximately $25.00. In addition to these costs, there are also the costs of printer cables, forms, multi-jack surge and phone line protector, or small UPC system with active system protection. This is figured into the cost as a miscellaneous expense of $400.00. The initial total cost to this system is under $4,200.00. With a monthly expense of $345.00 plus costs of forms, backup tapes, printer maintenance, etc. Overall, this is a very cost effective solution that can be written off as a tax deduction as a cost of doing business. The initial startup expense is very low due to the leasing program offered by Della. All systems testing should be completed when system is completely installed, less the inventory information, as preliminary testing has been done at the time of the software installation. This testing should consist of entering vehicle specifications while cross- referencing returned data with a known, reliable source, verifying printouts to both the service area as well as the customer billing form. Upon successful completion of testing, all inventory information must be inputted into the database, along with cost figures. After the inventory data has been inputted, more testing will be required in order to test the inventory tracking procedures and cost analysis. When the system is tested and proven, the training of employees may commence. Auto Dataa provides, at an additional cost, remote training, although with this menu driven system this is not usually necessary. The employees will be prompted for the information required in the service process. The accounting information is available for management and will require additional training. This will be the final step in the implementation process. Maintenance should consist of no more than servicing the printers and running the backups. This is the most complete as well as cost effective solution I have found, utilizing off the shelf hardware and materials at an affordable cost. The hardware is common, providing easy replacement in case of failure. This is important in such a service-oriented, time-based company. For more user information, please see the accompanying user's manual.

Free Essays on Youth Gang Explosion

I found this to be very interesting when considering the origins of youth gangs. I was not aware of the popularity and rivalries that had been established about break dancing. To be honest, I wasn’t even aware that there were break dancing competitions. What I found so interesting about this is that here was a group of kids whose agenda was far from the gang agenda that I picture in my head. When I pictured the origin of gangs, I have the image of a strong, aggressive man that uses predatory tactics to gain the compliance of others. The gang is formed and begins to operate in accordance to the leaders demands. This could have not been further from the truth. These drill teams were concerned with only winning break dancing competitions. Sure their competitiveness led to fights with other drill teams but they hardly carried the mentality that is associated with youth gangs. It wasn’t until others began to call them gangs that they actually began to act like modern gangs. It is important to realize the importance of placing labels on others. This is especially relevant in the aggressive policing tactics being used in the inner cities. Today we are constantly hearing about police brutality and discrimination. The term ‘Driving While Black’ is as common as any other utterance. The label of being a gang member is as negative as any other stereotype being applied to a young black person. Those in authority seem to be no longer concerned with the well being of inner city youth. As a result there is a abundant sense of hopelessness prevalent in the inner city. On top of not being able to find a job or not being able to get a decent education, youth have to deal with these stereotypes. It is not difficult to see why they abandon the middle class ideals and morals. The system is working against them so they put no faith in it. Instead they turn to the gang and with it they find an avenue that prom... Free Essays on Youth Gang Explosion Free Essays on Youth Gang Explosion I found this to be very interesting when considering the origins of youth gangs. I was not aware of the popularity and rivalries that had been established about break dancing. To be honest, I wasn’t even aware that there were break dancing competitions. What I found so interesting about this is that here was a group of kids whose agenda was far from the gang agenda that I picture in my head. When I pictured the origin of gangs, I have the image of a strong, aggressive man that uses predatory tactics to gain the compliance of others. The gang is formed and begins to operate in accordance to the leaders demands. This could have not been further from the truth. These drill teams were concerned with only winning break dancing competitions. Sure their competitiveness led to fights with other drill teams but they hardly carried the mentality that is associated with youth gangs. It wasn’t until others began to call them gangs that they actually began to act like modern gangs. It is important to realize the importance of placing labels on others. This is especially relevant in the aggressive policing tactics being used in the inner cities. Today we are constantly hearing about police brutality and discrimination. The term ‘Driving While Black’ is as common as any other utterance. The label of being a gang member is as negative as any other stereotype being applied to a young black person. Those in authority seem to be no longer concerned with the well being of inner city youth. As a result there is a abundant sense of hopelessness prevalent in the inner city. On top of not being able to find a job or not being able to get a decent education, youth have to deal with these stereotypes. It is not difficult to see why they abandon the middle class ideals and morals. The system is working against them so they put no faith in it. Instead they turn to the gang and with it they find an avenue that prom...

Authenticity in John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath Essays

Authenticity in John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath Essays Authenticity in John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath Paper Authenticity in John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath Paper Essay Topic: The Grapes Of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath is a novel written by John Steinbeck. In the bulk of modern literature, it is consider a masterful epic unmatched in the realm of the written word. The novel centers around a family of workers who are immigrants The Joads. When the novel takes place they are in California attempting to survive the scarce conditions of the depression. Steinbeck monitors and recounts the ups and downs of the family and their experiences in United States. Much of the plot is Steinbecks commentary on the rampant capitalism which literary sucked the land and the people dry during the 1930s. The story is based on real life excerpts of John Steinbecks field research. The real life conflict was created by greedy business men, and lending institutions which bought up land and employed workers to farm. The majority of these workers were lower class immigrant families that were paid so little that their struggles have often been paralleled to that of slavery which plagued the United States in the 16th and 17th centuries. The old adage was particularly relevant when examining this novel, as the rich get richer, the poor end up dead worked to death. Steinbeck is not casual in his assault of capitalism and it not fearful to express his disgust for the supposed American dream. He has a clear political viewpoint and asserts: the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact: when a majority of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need. And the little screaming fact that sounds throughout all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed. (333). A major theme developed by Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath is his believe that the survive of the lower class is based on their dedication to family. His approach is a delicate mixture of Marxism and Socialism, both of which promote cooperative living. In the context of the time, Steinbecks beliefs were not just controversial but also dangerous. The United States went through a two periods in which the government hunted after individuals they considered unamerican, the 1920s and the 1950s. This novel was written in the the 1930s. However, Steinbeck intricately weaves a tale of family strife, struggle, and survival, in The Grapes of Wrath, which has become a beloved and honored classic since its publication. Steinbecks depiction of the devastating conditions during the 1930s is historically accurate. In particular, Steinbeck articulately describes what a Dust Bowl actually is and how it was created. He explains that the great plains experienced the greatest droughts ever during the great depression. The Dust Bowl was created due to lack of rain and also the over use of the land. Once pieces of land are over farmed they lose their nutrients and crops will not grow. These areas, once plush with grass and trees became â€Å"virtual deserts. † It was this drought which forced families, hungry and tired, to see out new hope in the west. The west promised folks clean and cheap living, and with access to regular work. Steinbeck describes the Dust Bowl in the following way, â€Å"The wind increased, steady, unbroken gusts. The dusts from the roads fluffed up and spread out and fell on the weeds besides the fields . . . the sky was darkened by the mixing dust, and the wind felt over the earth, loosened the dust, and carried it away. † For the people living in these devastated lands, this was a very accurate account as to what the â€Å"weather† was like for weeks and months.

Scott Kelly, Astronaut Who Spent a Year in Space

Scott Kelly, Astronaut Who Spent a Year in Space On March 2017, Scott Kelly, astronaut, blasted off to the International Space Station (ISS) on his fourth flight to orbit. He spent a year aboard, racking up a record total of 520 days in space over his career. It was both a scientific and personal achievement, and his time on orbit continues to help scientists understand the effects of microgravity on the human body. Fast Facts: Scott Kelly Born: February 21, 1964 in Orange, New JerseyParents: John and Patricia KellySpouses: Leslie Yandell (m. 1992-2009) and Amiko Kauderer (July 2018-present)Children: Charlotte and Samantha (with Yandell)Education: United States Merchant Marine Academy, University of Tennessee (MS)Published Works: Endurance: A Year in Space, My Journey to the Stars, and Infinite Wonder: An Astronauts Photographs From a Year in SpaceAccomplishments: Spent a year in space as part of the Twins Study of long-term effects of microgravity on humans Early Life Astronaut Scott Joseph Kelly and his identical twin brother Mark (who also served as an astronaut) were born on February 21, 1964, to Patricia and Richard Kelly. Their father was a police officer in Orange, New Jersey. The twins went to school at nearby Mountain High, graduating in 1982. During high school, Scott trained and worked as an emergency medical technician. From there, Scott went to college at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. In his memoir Endurance: My Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery, Kelly wrote that his early college years were difficult, and he lacked direction in his studies. By his own admission, his high school grades were bad and his SAT test scores werent impressive. He wasnt sure what to do with himself. Then, he picked up a copy of Tom Wolfes The Right Stuff and the words he read impressed him deeply. I felt like I had found my calling, he wrote about that time in his life. I wanted to be a naval aviator...The Right Stuff had given me the outline of a life plan. To pursue that plan, Scott transferred to the New York Maritime Academy, where his twin brother Mark was already attending college. He graduated in 1987 with a degree in electrical engineering and went on to earn a masters degree in Aviation Systems from the University of Tennessee. As a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, Kelly attended flight school in Pensacola, Florida, and later flew jets at various duty stations. In 1993, he attended Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent in Virginia, and over the course of his career amassed more than 8,000 hours of flying time in dozens of different aircraft in both land and carrier landings. Astronauts Scott Kelly (right) and Mark Kelly (left) in an interview about their work with the Twins Study and as astronauts. NASA   NASA and Dreams of Flight for Astronaut Kelly Scott Kelly and his brother Mark both applied to become astronauts and were accepted in 1996. Scott was trained in caution and warning systems for the ISS. His first flight was aboard space shuttle Discovery on STS 103, a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. His next assignment took him to Star City, Russia, where he served as Director of Operations there for joint Russian-American flights. He also served as backup for crew members on several ISS missions. Due to the Columbia accident in 2002 (for which he flew search and recovery operations), flights were postponed until NASA could investigate the causes of the tragedy. Scott next worked as the Astronaut Office Space Station Branch Chief in Houston before doing a stint on the NEEMO 4 mission. That underwater training laboratory in Florida was developed to study the similarities between living in space and underwater for long periods of time in enclosed quarters under simulated space conditions. Kellys next two flights were to the International Space Station for STS-118, and Expeditions 25 and 26, where he worked for several months. He participated in installing instruments for the station, as well as a variety of science experiments. Astronaut Scott Kelly in the cupola section of the international Space Station. NASA Scott Kelly and the Astronaut Twins Experiment The final mission for Scott Kelly was part of the famous Twins Study. For that, he spent nearly a year in microgravity while his brother Mark, who is now a retired astronaut, stayed on Earth. Scientists devised the experiment to study the effects of prolonged microgravity on Scott, and compare changes in the two over the course of the mission and beyond. The study also provided valuable information about how astronauts living and working in space on long-term voyages to the Moon and Mars can be affected. The mission began for him on March 27, 2015, when he blasted off from Earth with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko. Kelly was on for two missions and was commander for the second one. He returned to Earth on March 11, 2016. In addition to the Twins Study, Mark worked with Russian colleagues aboard the station and was commander for the mission during part of his stay. He traveled to and from the station aboard a Russian rocket and capsule. Among other activities, Kelly performed an extravehicular activity with fellow astronaut Timothy Kopra to repair a mobile transporter aboard the station. He also did an EVA with Kjell Lindgren to service several parts of the station, including the Canadarm 2 and installation of docking equipment for future missions by SpaceX and NASA crew vehicles. Scott Kellys personal living quarters aboard the International Space Station were quite small and include a sleeping and personal work area.   NASA The ongoing research into changes in both men has uncovered some significant effects of space flight. During his time in on orbit, Scott grew two inches in height due to weaker gravitational pull on his skeleton. Upon return to Earth, his skeletal structure returned to nearly the same as it was before the mission. Genetically, the men remain the same, but scientists noted some ways that his bodys gene expression had changed. This is not the same as his actual genes changing, but has more to do with how they prepare the body to respond to changes in the environment. In addition, Scott participated in research to help doctors understand why astronaut eyesight can change drastically over time in space. He, like many other astronauts, noted a distinct change in mental viewpoint and also how personal relationships are affected by lengthy stays in space. Kelly noted that one unique aspect of the mission was that time on the station flowed at a slightly different rate than it did for his brother on Earth. It made him slightly younger than Mark and medical scientists are still assessing the effects of his trip on his body. He wrote that his part as a scientific lab rat never ends. I will continue to be a test subject for the rest of my life, he wrote. I will continue to participate in the Twins Study as Mark and I age...for me, its worth it to have contributed to advancing human knowledge, even if its only a step on a much longer journey. Personal Life Scott Kelly married his first wife, Leslie Yandell in 1992 and they had two daughters, Samantha and Charlotte. The couple divorced in 2009. Kelly married his second wife, Amiko Kauderer, in 2018. Scott Kelly retired from NASA in 2016 and has worked with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs since that time. The memoirs of his time in space were published in 2017, and he spends time giving public talks about space and space travel. Ive been traveling the country and the world talking about my experiences in space, he wrote. Its gratifying to see how curious people are about my mission, how much children instinctively feel the excitement and wonder of spaceflight, and how many people think, as I do, that Mars is the next step. Honors and Awards Scott Kelly received many medals and much recognition for his work, among them the Legion of Merit, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and the Medal for Merit in Space Exploration from the Russian Federation. He is a member of the Association of Space Explorers and was one of Time Magazines Influential 100 in 2015. Sources Kelly, Scott, and Margaret Lazarus Dean. Endurance: My Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery. Vintage Books, a Division of Penguin Random House, LLC, 2018.Mars, Kelli. â€Å"Twins Study.† NASA, NASA, 14 Apr. 2015, www.nasa.gov/twins-study.Mars, Kelli. â€Å"NASA Twins Study Confirms Changes to Mark Kellys Genes.† NASA, NASA, 31 Jan. 2018, www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-twins-study-confirms-preliminary-findings.Northon, Karen. â€Å"NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly Safely Back on Earth after One-Year Mission.† NASA, NASA, 2 Mar. 2016, www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronaut-scott-kelly-returns-safely-to-earth-after-one-year-mission.â€Å"Scott Kelly.† Scott Kelly, www.scottkelly.com/.

Organisational Behaviour of Siemens and Dell Companies Essay - 1

Organisational Behaviour of Siemens and Dell Companies - Essay Example Research claims that OB is the study of â€Å"the interface between human behavior and the organization, and of the organization itself†. The organizational structure reflects the framework of management and delineates employee relationships â€Å"at different levels within the organization†. Research has labeled organizational culture the glue which holds an organizational together and â€Å"addresses the lived experiences of people†. Siemens is a multinational conglomerate which originated in Germany and is headquartered there in Berlin. Being the largest company in entire Europe, it has always made strikingly innovative efforts to preserve its reputation over changing times. A wide range of quality products is offered by Siemens from medical imaging equipment to transport products to generators to electrical services. Dell, in contrast, is primarily a computer manufacturing American company which is known for dealing with computers and laptops. Dell has a repu tation for delivering quality to its customers by designing products in exact accordance with customer specification. There are different leadership styles seen at both Siemens and Dell which will be scrutinized in this report. Organisational structure is a formal system of task and relationships which controls how people in a workplace interact with each other to accomplish organizational objectives. In addition to shaping behavior and different operations, it is also important to remember that organizational structure is dynamic and â€Å"evolves as an organization grows and differentiates†. Some important types of organizational structure are functional, divisional, and matrix. The above figure shows how a business is structured in a functional structure. Departments are set up to control different areas of activity. In this structure, an organization is divided into different groups and each group has its own purpose. There are different types of departments like a market ing department, a designing department, a sales department etc.

Samat pricing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Samat pricing - Essay Example Buying the product through an infomercial and shopping at the store both provide different channels for the same product. Purchasing an item on a website would be another channel a company could use to differentiate prices. ‘Regional pricing’ refers to the practice of pricing items differently in different regions, sometimes to better match local economies. Often cars are priced by regional pricing, and a person may pay more or less for a vehicle depending on the town, or even the country, in which they live. Anyone who has watched a home shopping network knows what ‘time based differentiation’ is. It is the practice of charging a different price based on how quickly a consumer gets an item or the length it takes to provide a service. Sometimes, if you â€Å"order now!† you’ll get a discount, or you may pay more if you ask for overnight shipping. When it is not possible for a company to use other sorts of price differentiation, ‘product v ersioning’ is a tactic that is sometimes used. The company creates slightly different ‘versions’ of the same product in order to adjust price by region or price sensitivity, justifying it by saying that it is a different version. The Apple corporation is known to do this sometimes with their ipod line. If the customer is unfamiliar with the features provided by the device, the company can simply repackage it into a slightly different package, and call it a new version, justifying any price changes they wish. Oftentimes, a company will offer coupons or rebates as a customer incentive. These are often beneficial financially to the company for several reasons. If a customer has a coupon for a particular item, they may go to a store they do not usually frequent to redeem it. This gets people in the door who may purchase additional items than the one they intended to come for. Also, in the case of rebates, since the customer must send them in after purchase and some l ose them or forget, this can sometimes lead to greater company profits. SECTION 2 Through the use of dynamic pricing, demand can be shifted from one period of time in a quarter or sales period to another. As available capacity increases, a shift is made in the product to another quarter by a changing the price. Through this practice, the company can attempt to predict the overall demand for their product. If sales are an uncertainty, a company may want to increase prices so that product manufacturing is controlled. This way, they do not create more supply than demand. Demand can change by season, and should be considered a variable. SECTION 3 The strategy of the Coca Cola Corportation was successful because it allowed the company to increase profit margins on days with a higher temperature. Consumers may have felt differently if they had realized that Coke was capitalizing on their thirst, and the heat, a factor that they the customer could not control. Some may have felt that they were being taken advantage of in this way. This example of price gouging was effective because the consumer at large accepted the situation and was unaware of the practice, they just knew they wanted their sodas. SECTION 4 [I WASN'T SURE THAT YOUR ANSWER TO THIS WAS ACTUALLY CORRECT, SO I TOOK THE LIBERTY OF REWRITING IT. IF YOU LIKE IT, PLEASE USE IT, IF NOT, DELETE THIS AND GO BACK TO YOUR PREVIOUS WORK.] In the case of the clothing company, Zara, they utilize a time sensitive outsourcing strategy. They outsource lines of clothing that are still selling, but

UN Millennium Development Goals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

UN Millennium Development Goals - Essay Example le progress have been achieved with regards to gender equality in primary and secondary education and most regions of the world including the developing countries have equal enrollments of boys and girls in primary and secondary education institutions (Sweetman, 2005). The case of tertiary and advanced education is different because there is a marked gap between the enrollments of boys and girls in higher education institutions, particularly in the developing world. Poverty, marginalization, food insecurity, armed conflicts and disease are the various different reasons of such trends of disparity in male and female higher education. The Gross Enrollment Ration in tertiary education institutions in Africa is 4.8% for women and 7.3% (Nwonwu, 2008). Financial issues are one side of the picture; there are many cultural and religious issues which are barring women for acquiring education and in some of the regions women eager to acquire education are subjected to violence. Education is one sector, gender disparity can also be observed in other spheres of life as well. Most of the developing countries have a very meager female population having paid jobs. The recent global recession has further aggravated the situation because the unemployment rates for women which rose up during recession did not fall down during the economic recovery of 2009-2010 however the unemployment rates for men fell down significantly (World Bank, 2011). Lack of representation of women in the legislative and administrative bodies is an issue being faced by the developed as well as the developing world. The target of equal representation of women in the legislative bodies of the world is still far from being achieved, according to 2011 UN report on MDG, the women shared only 19.3% of the total parliamentary seats in the world (United Nations, 2011). Education indicators in the United Arab Emirates show that the women are getting a remarkable share in the educational institutions but disparity

What is ideology Literature Review On Ideology Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What is ideology On Ideology - Literature review Example However, the meaning of ideology changed with human and political development. Today, different scholars and philosophers are yet to agree on the meaning of ideology and hence they present distinct views related to ideology. Indeed, the term ideology and its study have been subject to a continued debate among renowned political theorists (Freeden 2006, p. 3). Notably, ideology constitutes ideas that define human actions and objectives. The political theorists have been arguing about ideology in relation to the scienti?c standing of ideology, its epistemological status, and its totalitarian and liberal manifestations (Freeden 2006, p. 3). As such, ideologies assume a fundamental role in helping us to understand and design the modern political arena. Ideally, we have different political ideologies, which include liberalism, conservatism, socialism, feminism, and green political thought. Nevertheless, philosophers have failed to explore the nature of these ideologies and establish a uni versal meaning of ideologies. As such, they have different views on ideology. For example, the German Ideology by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels presents the authors views on ideology, communism, materialism, and revolution (Gasper 2004, p. 1). Another political scientist, Kenneth Minogue also uses communism to explain ideology. Indeed, Kenneth Minogue reckons that the collapse of communism did not mark the end of ideologies (Minogue 2006, p. 4-6). Furthermore, the German Ideology claims that historical materialism assumed the position of an integral theory (libcom.org 2013, p. 1). The German Ideology criticizes Hegel’s view on socialism and consequently demonstrates that social conflicts, which are present in capitalism, leads to socialism (Gasper 2004, p. 1). More so, Kenneth Minogue notes that after the collapse of communism, we now have a collection of overlapping fragments of revelation, which cooperate with each other in social transformation (Minogue 2006, p. 8-11). Mo re so, just like the other political theorists, who refer to socialism to address ideologies, Michael Freeden claims that the methodologies of studying ideologues encompass conceptual malleability and ideational pluralism, and offer bridges between identifying ‘social facts’ and their inevitable interpretation (Freeden 2006, p. 3). This assertion seeks to explain modern ideologies. The German ideology criticizes the proletarian world outlook (libcom.org 2013, p. 1) and their philosophy reflected the Germany’s economic and political backwardness. We can establish that Karl Marx’s support on radical democracy and human liberation led him to communism. According to Marx in the German ideology, the starting point for understanding human society is actual human beings and the material conditions in which they live but not in the realm of ideas (Gasper 2004, p. 1). According to Marx, material circumstances create the distinct ideologies and moral, religious, and other beliefs that humans possess (Gasper 2004, p. 1). The German ideology equally notes that actual material conditions produce communist revolution since there will be contradictions in capitalism. It also asserts that transformations in a society depend on the working class who possess material conditions and occupy a unique position in capitalism (Gasper 2004, p. 1). The German Ideology assumes that it is reality, which creates the mind, and the mind does not create reality. Indeed, Marx and Engels regarded the ideology as an upside-down sublimation, a set of ‘re?exes and echoes of life process’, of ‘phantoms formed in the human brain’ detached from the world (Freeden 2006, p. 4). More so, Karl Marx assumes the hegemony of a uni?ed ideological position

Vodafone in United Kingdom Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Vodafone in United Kingdom - Coursework Example This research will begin with the statement that Vodafone is currently experiencing many changes in its market (operating environment). Due to the diversity of the communication service providers the traditional boundaries of the market have greatly changed. These service providers offer, internet, mobile and broadband services. This change has been enforced and brought about by the evolution of customer needs, an intensified competition in service prices from established and the new competitors, new technologies emergence and regulatory pressures. Due to Factors like; Diversification, market penetration, product development and market development, Vodafone has undertaken the following marketing strategies. There is; Promotions, Price Cuts, Development of new products and market development by starting its new organization in new places. For effectiveness in marketing, Vodafone operates with different branches across with the world with different management. In 1998, the company made a deal with Telecom Egypt which enabled it to increase the stake in the country. After that Vodafone in Egypt was owned by Vodafone 55 % and 54 % Telecom Egypt. This made the company to increase is sales because Telecom Egypt assisted in marketing. The chart below represents the number of shares owned by Vodafone and Telecom Egypt in Egypt. Through the porter’s generic theory of the business environment, the company has identified the possible ways of achieving a competitive advantage over the competitors.

What is ideology Literature Review On Ideology Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What is ideology On Ideology - Literature review Example However, the meaning of ideology changed with human and political development. Today, different scholars and philosophers are yet to agree on the meaning of ideology and hence they present distinct views related to ideology. Indeed, the term ideology and its study have been subject to a continued debate among renowned political theorists (Freeden 2006, p. 3). Notably, ideology constitutes ideas that define human actions and objectives. The political theorists have been arguing about ideology in relation to the scienti?c standing of ideology, its epistemological status, and its totalitarian and liberal manifestations (Freeden 2006, p. 3). As such, ideologies assume a fundamental role in helping us to understand and design the modern political arena. Ideally, we have different political ideologies, which include liberalism, conservatism, socialism, feminism, and green political thought. Nevertheless, philosophers have failed to explore the nature of these ideologies and establish a uni versal meaning of ideologies. As such, they have different views on ideology. For example, the German Ideology by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels presents the authors views on ideology, communism, materialism, and revolution (Gasper 2004, p. 1). Another political scientist, Kenneth Minogue also uses communism to explain ideology. Indeed, Kenneth Minogue reckons that the collapse of communism did not mark the end of ideologies (Minogue 2006, p. 4-6). Furthermore, the German Ideology claims that historical materialism assumed the position of an integral theory (libcom.org 2013, p. 1). The German Ideology criticizes Hegel’s view on socialism and consequently demonstrates that social conflicts, which are present in capitalism, leads to socialism (Gasper 2004, p. 1). More so, Kenneth Minogue notes that after the collapse of communism, we now have a collection of overlapping fragments of revelation, which cooperate with each other in social transformation (Minogue 2006, p. 8-11). Mo re so, just like the other political theorists, who refer to socialism to address ideologies, Michael Freeden claims that the methodologies of studying ideologues encompass conceptual malleability and ideational pluralism, and offer bridges between identifying ‘social facts’ and their inevitable interpretation (Freeden 2006, p. 3). This assertion seeks to explain modern ideologies. The German ideology criticizes the proletarian world outlook (libcom.org 2013, p. 1) and their philosophy reflected the Germany’s economic and political backwardness. We can establish that Karl Marx’s support on radical democracy and human liberation led him to communism. According to Marx in the German ideology, the starting point for understanding human society is actual human beings and the material conditions in which they live but not in the realm of ideas (Gasper 2004, p. 1). According to Marx, material circumstances create the distinct ideologies and moral, religious, and other beliefs that humans possess (Gasper 2004, p. 1). The German ideology equally notes that actual material conditions produce communist revolution since there will be contradictions in capitalism. It also asserts that transformations in a society depend on the working class who possess material conditions and occupy a unique position in capitalism (Gasper 2004, p. 1). The German Ideology assumes that it is reality, which creates the mind, and the mind does not create reality. Indeed, Marx and Engels regarded the ideology as an upside-down sublimation, a set of ‘re?exes and echoes of life process’, of ‘phantoms formed in the human brain’ detached from the world (Freeden 2006, p. 4). More so, Karl Marx assumes the hegemony of a uni?ed ideological position

Quantitative Methods for Business Report Outline

Quantitative Methods for Business Report - Outline Example Therefore, it is the quality of the employees, rather than their quantity, that affects how the business will perform. To establish which factors is likely to affect business profitability more, between the number of employees and the employees’ turnover in a business, a sample of 30 banking institutions was studied. The reason for selecting banking institutions is the fact that; banking institutions mainly deal with offering financial services to the customers (Gitman & McDaniel, 2009 p188). Additionally, banking institutions operates under a competitive industry, where poaching of employees by other banks, microfinance institutions or insurance companies is highly experienced. The banking sector also entails the offer of services, where the employees of the banks interact directly with the customers, a necessary factor in this study, since the level of customer satisfaction influences their confidence and loyalty to the business, and the consequent performance and profitability of the business (Aamodt, 2010 p395). Thus, the selection of banking institutions as the samples for this study pro vided the most plausible means of assessing how the employee turnover and the number of employees affect the profitability of the businesses. The analysis was undertaken by approaching the 30 different banking institutions, and requesting them for the data regarding the number of employees within the period 2005 to 2010. Additionally, the information regarding the number of employees who have been recruited by the institutions and the ones who have left the institutions, for other reasons other than retirement was collected. The information regarding the profitability of the businesses during this period was also collected. The study also entailed the collection of information regarding the training programs of the banking institutions, and the amount of resources they have been committing towards the training of any single employee. This

Green Mile Book Report Essay Example for Free

Green Mile Book Report Essay To some people the words Book-report  mean rent the movie and write a report on that. Yes, it is easier to watch a three-hour movie rather than read a 536-page book. With most books turned movies, though, the book is far too detailed to fit everything. This is how it is with the book The Green Mile and the movie The Green Mile. There are similarities but, there are also a lot of differences between the two. The main parts of the book and movie are alike: Coffey being caught with the two dead girls in his arms, Coffey saves Hals wife and Coffey dying at the end. There are smaller details that are alike and that is more important than the main parts. One small thing is that Paul does have a UTI in both the book and the movie. This is a small part but it brings a lot to the movie and the book because this is how Paul finds out that Coffey is innocent. Another small thing is the placement of the prisoners in the book and the movie. They arent exact but they are pretty close and this shows importance when the mouse, later called Mr. Jingles, walks up and down the green mile. Lastly, a small detail that is the same in both the book and the movie is the last sentence. Paul explains his punishment for killing one of Gods great miracles. This is very important because it brings the whole movie and the book to a close. Along with the similarities there are major differences and minor differences between the book and the movie. The major differences that I noticed between the book and the movie are: the mouse doesnt die at the end in the movie, and there is no real character in the nursing home that bugs Paul in the movie like there was in the book. A smaller detail that is different is that in the book Paul asks Coffey to tie his shoe and Coffey cant do it. This turned into a major point in the book because it went through how the dog was killed with meat and Coffey was carrying his lunch tied up, when he was found with the girls. The only way Coffey would have been able to use the meat would have been to untie the package his lunch was in and then retie it. In the movie this isnt even explained which is kind of sad because it shows that he really isnt the one who killed the girls. Another factor is that in the movie everything is shortened to save time. This is because people dont want to sit through a five-hour movie. Lastly, the movie was created by the  impression the scriptwriter got with the help of Stephen King so of course there is no way they could have the exact same ideas all the time. This is a great book and a great movie and there is no way that the movie could cover everything that the book covers because there is a time limit with movies when people start to lose interest. Ways that the differences could become less evident would be by in each scene add detail even if it is just one line for a character it would make the book and movie seem more alike. Instead of two people looking at the book and combining their idea it would be one idea shared by millions. Everyone says dont just a book by the cover , well with more books turning to movies I think that that saying should be modified. The saying for nowadays would have to be Dont judge a book by its movie.  I am not saying that all books turn movies are bad. I am saying if you didnt like the movie and see the book try to read it because there might be more to the story than what the movie covered. Overall both the movie The Green Mile and the book The Green Mile are very good stories but to get the whole story you should both read the book and watch the movie.

The Effectiveness Of Election Campaigns

The Effectiveness Of Election Campaigns If there is one specific topic that has generated the most resounding growing political research in the study of voter behavoiur and election outcome, then it must be Do campaign matter? Decades of voting researches have explored this topic either as a co-relation between the effects of campaign on election outcome in new political perspectives or as a critique to the earliest voting behavoiur studies, whatever the rationale for investigation may be, it has ushered the emergence of a new political phenomenon. This essay would be explored from a typical two sided scholarly perspectives either to argue for or against the significances of election campaign in any political entity. Although this style of discussion would offer in-depth and broader academic resources for clearer understanding but may not be able to sufficiently examine the dimension and dynamics of campaigns in political phenomenon because of the limited time constraint. Also this study intends to draw a clearer picture between the importance and irrelevance of campaigns in cognizance of its relationship with some other socio cultural influences providing the liberty of the readers to take academic position on the argument SUPPORT OF CAMPAIGN Even though the literature of campaigning is unlikely minimal among the academic players, entirety of campaign have been eulogized as a key influence on election outcome and voting behavoiur amongst political actors. This view is supported by Holbrook (1996) as he argues that campaign enjoys continuous recognition from other political actors (voters, candidates and parties) but the scholarly community have shown less interest in campaign effects rather concentrated on the sociological and partisan identification, incumbency and its performances, candidate popularity as the essential factors which influence election outcome creating the emergence of the minimal effects of campaign by the earliest political scientist such as Berelson, Lazarsfeld and McPhee, 1954; Campbell et al., 1960 This position of argument influenced series of subsequent campaign researches which tend to primarily define the minimal effect of campaign as it merely activates voters prevailing partisan sentiments, thereby necessarily ignores a variety of other highly relevant campaign effects. Ironically, It is interesting to know how this minimal effects of campaign could create marginal changes in the voter participation can upturn the election outcome Considering the continuous transformation of the political institution, some political scientists ( Iyengar and Simon 2000) have argued that election outcome in any political environment are always shaped by interplay of many factors in which they may not be individually measured. Thus, they argue that assessing election outcome through the singular premise of campaign is unjustified because campaigns are part of the political processes which are traditionally focused on influencing voting decision by conveying certain impression about candidate or political parties In relation to this position, Ornstein and Mann 2000 in his descriptive analysis of the behavioral attitudes of campaigning defined it as a self centered, continual and persuasive political activity that gives the much needed relevance to the retrospective loyalties of the voter which reactivates them to make voter decision, Quite interestingly, he eulogized campaign as a key political instrument used to make a voter make a psychological purchase in correlation with his reasoning. However, such persuasion is achieved through aggressive media channels by engaging the voters feelings in a preferred direction. Because the political contests are predominantly competitive for elective position, the adversarial nature of campaign has reinforcement effect to maximize the voters loyalties in order to win the election is highly commendable. However, it is likely that campaign effects are heterogeneous across individuals and countries. These are the following reasons why campaign do matters; ENLIGHTENMENT EFFECT Recent researches have confirmed that there is a gradual decline of partisanship which given credibility to the significance of campaigns to influence the voter decision. The strength of retrospective evaluation upon the voter choice has been undermined by this decline which provides the fertile grounds for campaign messages to convert their perceived intention by enlightening their political knowledge. Shaw, 1999 and Salmore etal 1989 claim that political parties have failed in its primary duty to provide powerful information about the candidate during election causing a declining level of party identification in the electorate. In similar view ,Ornstein and Mann 2000 argues that there is a gradual decline in voter identification to the ideals of their political parties This is owing to that fact that the sudden change in party policies and in excesses of election primaries has weakened the allegiance of candidate to their political parties. These declining factors have given premises for campaign to persuade the voters intention for voting decision .However; this growing body of research has provided evidence that campaigns can influence voter preferences. This is evident in the study by Trent and Friedenberg (2000). Although voter behaviour are not only persuaded into new converts for opposing parties during campaigns, campaigning events are designed to reactivate pre-existing partisan loyalties of the voters for voter decision. To support this view, Ansolabehere 2006 further argues on the reinforcing model of the campaign effects on voter behavior as product of interplay of private and public information. This is within the premise that people use their cognitive properties (private information) with the campaign communication (public information to make voting decision showing the campaign reactivates their private supposition. VOTER MOBILIZATION AND PARTICIPATION Recent voting research has proved that campaign messages convert pre- voting intention into voting participation during election periods. Most evidently, Holbrook 1996 argues that findings have proved that there is fluctuation of opinions during campaign events which are due to its high content. This exercise tends to encourage public support which in turn influences voter behaviors. Because campaign exercise consists of several events, activities and processes, voter still respond differently to campaign events based on their individuals demographic and political ideals. The effect of these campaign events is that perceptions and opinions about the candidate and political parties are changed by the aggressive media communication which would propel voter participation. This is because researchers have shown that voting intention have been influenced by campaign communication which have strengthen voter participation in the election. Such participation would adversely enhance election outcome. (Kosmidis and Xezonakis. 2010 Personal canvassing, media communication and debates possess a more engaging interactive power to motivate voter participation in electoral processes. All retrospective alliance to his/her partisan party of the voter must be motivated by campaigning platform in order to encourage massive voting decision. However, the specific political act that can provide the engaging platform is campaigning. Certain political researches have not able to specifically measure the turn out effect of campaign on the voter behaviors but considerable evidence provided that voter participation increased during campaign activities. Evidently, in the field experiment by Gerber and Green 2000 on the effect on personal canvassing in the American 1998 Election In relation to the increased voter mobilization as a campaign effect, Bratton 2008 and Schaffer, 2007 collectively suggests that African election campaigns are mainly moments for politicians to engage in mass mobilization and the manipulation of electoral rules in order to increase voter turnout. Specifically in the case of Nigerias general elections of April 2007, Bratton (2008) claims that vote buying and political intimidation are characteristic dimensions of Nigerian election campaigns and are targeted at rural communities. Furthermore, Fournier etal 2004 argued that time-of-voting decision has been suggested as a key mediating variable for campaign effects. In other words, campaign messages tend to convert voting indecision to positive decision, or from one candidate choice to another thereby making the voter open to campaign persuasion. The media coverage and debates during the campaign influenced the voter intention drawing a co- relation between time of decision and the persuasion of campaign messages. In their researches, they confirmed that late deciders are responsive to campaign events in Canadian elections VOTER LEARNING Every voter needs information to make any type of voting decision either to reinforce his existing partisan loyalties or to make new voting decision. However, campaign is the most appropriate electoral process to provide such function. Because of the vast information- generating nature of Campaign, it provide the avenue for voter learning- the acquisition of information about the candidates and issues .During campaigns the political awareness are enlarged and fundamental voter preferences are being enlightened (Gelman and King, 1993), while the campaign learning process informs voters party positions and issue stances (Peterson, 2009). Campaign occupies the prestigious role as an educational academy for political learning through its information communication about the electoral system which enables the voter to understand the ideologies of the candidate, thereby offering them an enlightened voting decision. To support this stance, Iyengar and Simon 2000 describes campaigns as multifaceted and information-rich events which encompasses the candidates chances of winning, their personal and political ideologies giving campaign events (debates, candidate advertising) the opportunity to expose the voter knowledge to the personality of the candidate by boosting citizens political information, which may increase their likelihood of supporting the particular candidate Evidently, Hillgus and Jackman 2002 in the examination of the campaign effects in the presidential election 2000 in America party argue that conventions and presidential debates affected vote preference. They explored their research using the transition model to individual-level campaign data and concluded the effect of a campaign event based on the voters, campaigning timing, candidate Similarly, the effect of campaign for voter learning were evidently backed by Survey Researches such Brians Wattenberg 1996 and Zhao Chaffee 1996 as they found out that exposure to candidate marketing through the lens of campaign enhance voter learning which would encourage their voting participation Campaign communications increases the voters political understanding, thereby reducing uncertainty around the voting decision. Most recently, Kosmidis and Xezonakis 2009 executed an exploratory research on the undecided voters in the 2005 British general election; their finding confirmed that specific campaign messages formulated the choice preference of undecided voting behaviours. Agenda Control Traditionally, it is believed that voters choose whatever political interest based on their consideration of importance; ironically, campaign communication determines this consideration because of the cycle of appearance in media. Campaign messages surround its themes around those key interests and communicate them strategically in the media to set the agenda for relevance. Dalton etal 1995 suggests that because candidates are the principal sources of news during campaigns, they are in an advantageous position to simultaneously influence the media and public, for instance, candidates are motivated to introduce and pursue issues on which they enjoy a comparative advantage. The candidate closer to the student voter on an issue like fee reform would want to address that topic, as opposed to discussing issues which is not relevant to the student. Agenda control remains a key determinant of campaign effects because the candidate determines the principal yardsticks in which he/ she would be evaluated by the electorate as this are achieved through media communication. An extension in investigation of agenda control during campaign, Johnston et al 1992 argues that rhetoric also plays a special role by directing voters towards a specific agenda and considerations surrounding that agenda. This is achieved by the interplay of the acquisition of information and agenda control which provoke their voting decision. The evidence can be seen in their study of Canadian election 1988 which shows how free trade agreement between Canada and the United States, as a result of the candidates and parties rhetorical posturing came to the forefront of the public issue agenda To conclude the support for campaign, Kavanagh 1995 argues that the essence of campaign lies within itself, campaign is a means of choosing government and promoting political learning and citizenship, thereby contributing to the quality of representative democracy. This is because the interests of politics are heightened during campaigns through media communication about the candidate and party policies which are designed to attract the voting inclination for election participation. AGAINST CAMPAIGNS Examining the other view which argues that campaign do not matter, for the sake of clear understanding of the essay, the argument against campaign would be explored from the macro context factor of elections and their influence on voting behavoiur. As earlier stated, scholarly study on political science have argued the macro context of factors of elections both at the individual and aggregate level s strongly affect voting behavoiur and further posited that the macro context of election provides the wide platform in which any electoral campaign can function presenting a strong weakening interdependence characteristic of campaign. PARTISAN INDENTIFICATION Most predominantly stance of their argument is the influence of party identification on election outcome based on its psychological characteristics; their research argues that voting behavoiur and choices in elections are not merely a short term decision as similar the limited influencing experience campaign offers rather it is a conglomerate of certain long term political dispositions and ethnics in the social fabric of the electorate in which there is no room for campaign to change minds or influence behavoiur . An early voting research by Campell et al (1960) in their seminal book, The American Voter described the influence of party identification as a sustained psychological orientation to political parties which is a key determinant for attitude formation and political behaviour. Thus, electorates most often cast their votes based on their emotional affiliation with the electoral parties affirming their strong spirit of political devotion rather than the short persuasiveness of campaign propaganda. In the extensive study of the psychology of party identification and its influences of voting choice, a key realization is the existence of retrospective voting attitudes in the electorate. Fiorina(1981) explored the dynamics of retrospective voting and its direct impact of voting behavoiur as he argues that electorates associate their policy preferences with the policies of the party and make voting decision based on their retrospective evaluation of the performance of party in contrast to the mere make believe of campaigns. Much recent research points to the powerful electoral effects of incumbent performance evaluations which is termed the referendum model of presidential elections (Erikson 1989; Fiorina 1981) The recent studies such as Rice 1992 have evidently confirmed that election outcomes are easily explored without recognizing the mechanism of campaigning with their forecasting model. This simply means that elections outcome can be accurately predictive based on circumstantial factors before any campaign exercise. POWER OF INCUMBENCY Power of the incumbency is another factor that mitigates campaign effects. This particularly means that a party may enjoy a long term advantage in elections over its contemporaries because of its present governing authority. This long advantage may be due to the performance of the incumbency or possession of extensive resources to win the election. In this case, no matter the persuasiveness and aggressiveness of media fireworks in the campaign exercise, the ruling party would outage such approach. In all cases, every incumbency would strategically utilize all significant resources to ensure positive election outcome, they benefit from their ruling capacity in transforming media and economy to their advantage. In extreme cases, they use existing political institutions for election malpractices. A typical case is the Nigerias general elections of April 2007, Bratton (2008) which was characterized with rigging due to the power of incumbency by the ruling party (People Democratic Party) Trent and Friedenberg (2000) argue that the incumbency creates a special advantage for the candidate because of the political resources attached to the office of incumbency. Such advantage may be measured in them of the performance of the incumbency which may initiate retrospective loyalties during voting decision. In such power of incumbency, campaign may not necessarily affect the election outcome as voters would align their voting power t o the incumbency that have performed positively that an aspiring candidate of a new party STATE OF ECONOMY State of the Economy remains another significant factor subverts the effect of campaigns. Holbrook 1996 argues that the national economic context of political activities influences the voting behaviors, that is the economic performance of the incumbency largely influence voting behavoiur as voters are mostly inclined to vote for the ruling party in good economic times (High Gross Domestic Product, Infrastructural development)and more willing to change party in power in bad economic times(unemployment, inflation, high banking rate, poor exchange rate) . This position challenges the rhetoric of campaigns as it present comparison between the realistic experiences of the economy of the state and the fictitious gimmicks of campaigns. Thus, an aggressive campaign cannot influence the election outcome in occurrence of bad economic state A practical example cited by Holbrook 1996, was the American election of 1992, the winning of Clinton of the incumbent president George Bush was not due to his strong content of this campaign, it was purely because of poor economic situation of Bushs administration. No Bush campaign would have influence the voting behavior to change the experience of the realities o f the economy WEAKNESS OF CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES Even though it is believed that the power of campaign lies in its events of activities, it have been characterized with several shortfalls ranging from its irrelevant key themes, ambiguous message and inappropriate media channel. Kavanagh 1995 also argues that the shortfalls of campaigns lies in itself as, campaign are mostly surveyed based on the content of output(advertisement, flyers) not by its output (election result).The lack of defined measurement system for campaign effect devalued its significance because election outcome is a product of several interplay of key factor and campaigns is least . Also he identified the ineffectiveness of campaign in various factors are wrong timing , conflict of electoral goals(election winning) versus other political goals(party values),Disagreement on campaign strategy and tactics ,Lack of party actors for implementation of campaign strategies, Lack of guaranteed knowledge about election winning. CONCLUSION Evaluating the two ideological perspectives on campaign, it may difficult to take a decisive position considering the continuous transformation of political environment. However, it is true that voters are open to myriad of political information designed to influence their voting decision but tend to make their voting choice based on their sociological experience, campaign seems to be one major political process that creates a platform of series of effects ranging from the reinforcement of the retrospective values, education of the voters political knowledge and influencing the voting behavoiur. The main paradox is the word matter in the question because relevance of campaign may be related to different objectives, context and ideologies. In order, campaign effects can be from different studies use different approaches to aim specific objectives. Therefore, it may be devaluing to adjudge a political act to be irrelevant if it does not achieve the entire expected objective. It is important to say that no political scholar can specifically say that a particular political activity guarantee the Election winning because Election outcome is a series of interplay of macro cultural actives, therefore campaign may matter but not necessarily to all voters

Notes on Chemical Bonding :: Chemistry

Chemical notes on bonding Ionic bonding - This occurs between metals and non metals - Fe2+/3+, Cu+/2+, Zn2+, No3- - Metals loose electrons, non metals gain electrons. - Ionic compounds conduct electricity when dissolved, but not when solid, they also have high m & b points due to strong giant 3d lattice. They are also soluble in water as they have a charge - Metal atoms always form positive charged electrons while non metals from negatively charged electrons Metallic Bonding - They conduct electricity due to a sea of delocalised electrons - They have a lattice of positive atoms. - Transition metals contribute both S and D electrons in the sea of electrons - The attraction is between the ions and mobile valence electrons and not between the layers, this means they can bend over each other - The large the number of valence electrons and the smaller the atoms and the stronger the metallic bonding Covalent bonding - Between non metals with high electron values - Can have single, double, or triple bonds Bond strength C – C: single bond, longest type of bond (154) however is the easiest to break (346) C=C: double bond, second longest bond (134) and second hardest to break (598) C=C: triple bond, smallest bond (121) however is the hardest to break (837) Predicting the type of bonding (1) From electronegativity Electronegativity is the strength of an element/atom to pull electrons towards itself. Metals have a very low electronegativity as they lose electrons in ionic bonding, however non metals have a higher electronegativity as they gain electrons in ionic bonding. (2) From position in the periodic table Metal + non metal = ionic bonding Non metal + non metal = covalent bonding Simple molecular structure Molecular covalent bonds have low m & b points because of weak intermolecular forces called Van Der Waals forces. (more on this later) Giant covalent structures Diamond and graphite both have these structures but they are very different. They both have a giant lattice with strong covalent bonds, in the case of Diamond it is 3d and very hard to break in any way, however with graphite it is only 2d so can be broken if cracked in a certain way. These structures have very high melting and boiling points. Buckminsterfullerere A family of ball shaped C-molecules in which there are around 60 atoms which are found in ball shapes. Uses are being investigated in nano-thecnology. These substances are soluble in non-polar solvents Polar bonds The larger the difference in electronegativity the greater the strength of the polar bond. Now the hard stuff

Components of Mass Incarceration Essay

Mass incarceration of African Americans is one of the biggest problems that we as a society face today. Many of our African American men are either in jail, or on parole for crimes that are committed by whites everyday. Police often overlook those crimes when it comes down to whites but they do not for blacks. Hence why a lot of black men are missing from our society and locked away in prisons for years for such minuscule crimes. Yes they have committed a crime and need to be punished, but, at the same time white men are walking around committing the same crime, where is their punishment? Alexander raises these very pertinent points in â€Å"The New Jim Crow.† The three components of mass incarceration are denial, mainstream media and historical influence. Alexander states, â€Å"Today most Americans know and don’t know the truth about mass incarceration.†(181). What this means is that as a society Americans are either blinded or oblivious to the fact that there is a lack of education of how mass incarceration affects the African American communities. In many African American households they are missing father figures due to the fact that they are in jail. As Alexander mentions denial plays a huge roll in this. We know that a large number of African American males are in prison by watching mainstream media but yet we don’t care enough about it. According to Alexander â€Å"we tell our self that they deserve it.†(182). Americans have been painted a picture to see African American men as a whole, as criminals especially when it comes to drugs. When in fact white males are prone to do the exact same crimes and not be targeted by police. Mainstream media helps to greatly contribute to these lies that we are bein g fed about mass incarceration. Shows such as â€Å"Orange is the New Black† depict a different story. The show focuses on a Caucasian woman who is in jail for soliciting drugs. While she is in jail they show you a very multiracial and diverse group of woman. Shows like these help to contribute to why we believe that prisons are filled with not only blacks but also a  wide variety of ethnicities One thing that the show just briefly touches on that Alexander talks about in great lengths is how mass incarceration â€Å"traps† African Americans. â€Å"Orange is the New Black† showed the viewers in one episode a very â€Å"real† side of the prison life when they just slightly touch on the story of a black woman who was released from prison on good behavior and she gets out in to the real world and she has no family, no where to turn and she can not get a job due to her prison record and she ends back up in jail. When she gets back in jail she screams, â€Å"I’m home.† This is exactly what Alexander spends majority of her essay speaking about, she says that we are trapped in a â€Å"birdcage.† She says this because no matter how we try to â€Å"beat the system† we are always going to be trapped no matter what we try to do. Historical influence has and will always be a part of African American history. As Alexander’s title of her article is â€Å"The New Jim Crow.† She feels as if the prison system is another form of Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws were established to keep black men down which are exactly what the prison systems are doing according to Alexander. She states â€Å"Jim Crow and mass incarceration have political origins.†(190). She continues to say that the white elites desire to exploit these black men and how mass incarceration is similar to a caste system (190). Alexander thinks that mass incarceration is a â€Å"trap† so to speak and how they catch these black men and put them in jail is like a modern day Jim Crow. The only difference is that it does not seem so racist and the people are giving the illusion that mass incarceration is actually protecting them. Alexander raises many good points in her article about mass incarceration. Without all the misleading information that you see in the media about the prison systems being a mixture of many different races would we, as Americans still feel safe? Or would we feel in a way like we are being subjected subliminal racism?

The Rise and Fall of ABC Learning

Q1: The aspects of the business strategy of ABC Learning resulted in increased business risk for the company including: the rapid expansion of market share, over-indebt, and blinding overseas investment. Rapid expansion of market share: ABC, which at its peak had almost 2200 centres in four countries, also had a flawed strategy to handle significant and rapid growth. When A. B. C. Learning Centers listed on the stock exchange in March 2001, it was a tiny operation with a market capitalization of just $25m. But five years later that number is approaching $2. bn as the company has quickly become Australia's leading operator of childcare centers. ABC pursued acquisition after acquisition – buying up as many existing centers as they could, and expanding their appetite by establishing more and more sites off the back of increasing debt. The company's acquisitions are getting larger so there is always a risk with this strategy that they will pay too much for a business or be unable to integrate it effectively. This meant that every new ABC sign that appeared on the horizon – equated to more and more debt. Ultimately ABC could no longer sustain their rapid expansion. With a falling share price and closer examination of their books it became clear ABC’s true value was significantly lower than previously thought. Over-indebted: In 2005, in order to satisfy the expansion plan, raising capital for domestically and globally expansion was done through issuing shares to public. ABC borrowed an enormous amount of money from Australian big four banks: CBA, NAB, Westpac and ANZ). In the wake of the global financial crisis, it couldn’t refinance its huge debts, so the administrators were called in. In the end, ABC got too big for its own good, also made itself to the end. Blinding oversea investment: After becoming the dominant player in the domestic market, ABC Learning has pursued an aggressive overseas expansion. The high levels of debt and dilutive capital raisings that have been required to fund its international ambitions have not pleased investors, and doubts about the company’s ability to repeat its local achievements in the US market have weighed on the share price. As the case told, artificially create apparent shareholder value may be misleading to potential investors in the company. Q2: Intangible assets are defined as identifiable non-monetary assets that cannot be seen, touched or physically measured, which are created through time and/or effort and that are identifiable as a separate asset. There are two primary forms of intangibles – legal intangibles (such as trade secrets, copyrights, patents, trademarks, and goodwill) and competitive intangibles (such as knowledge activities, collaboration activities, leverage activities, and structural activities). Legal intangibles are known under the generic term intellectual property and generate legal property rights defensible in a court of law. Competitive intangibles, whilst legally non-ownable, directly impact effectiveness, productivity, wastage, and opportunity costs within an organization – and therefore costs, revenues, customer service, satisfaction, market value, and share price. ABC Learning valuated billions of dollars worth of now discredited intangible assets that made up most of ABC’s balance sheet. It increased profits rapidly through acquisitions, and cause the underlying problem when valuated the assets it acquired. Especially given that 70 per cent of its assets were intangibles. The inherent risk associated with the valuation of the assets was enormous and should haven been a red flag,’ said Dr Ross. In other words, it means that ABC did not have a particularly strong balance sheet. The company lists total assets of $4. 5 billion – of which, more than $3 billion relate to intangible assets (which are predominantly child-care licences and a small amount of goodwill). As a result, ABC has negative net tangible assets. Q3: Principle-based: Accounting standards may take the form of general principles, relying on interpretation and judgment by the financial statement preparers before they can be implemented. Historical cost depreciation provides a better example of a principles-only standard. Whereas, Rule-based: Alternatively, standards may take the form of a series of rules, limiting the flexibility and use of judgment allowed in their implementation. Rules-based standards often provide â€Å"bright-lines† tests which can easily be avoided. As a result, representational faithfulness may be avoided and a low degree of comparability will often result. Numerous exceptions may also result. The advantage of principle-based accounting standard is potentially very flexible with those new and changing products and environments. As such, they should also require less maintenance. For this case, applying principle-based accounting standard would be more flexible with changing conditions, and the trade-off for this flexibility is that strong enforcement is needed to keep the auditors honest; the accountants should be more latitude to address unique situations, and it may reduce manipulation of the rules as it provides financial statements which reflect much closer to the firm’s actual performance. While the rule-based accounting standard may include a lack of flexibility, hence require almost continual maintenance at times. Therefore, the fundamentally change from â€Å"bright-line† rules-based accounting standards to principles-based accounting standards help prevent another ABC-like fiasco. The dangers in removing â€Å"bright-line rules† describes as follows: it is more difficult to audit relative to compliance, and concern over consistent and reliable interpretations across entities. In this case, the system may be less regulated, and to the extent that they rely on individual judgment to interpret and implement the standards, there is a danger that they can be used to manipulate financial results. Q4 Agency cost of debt refers to an increase in cost of debt when the interests of shareholders and management diverge. In this case, the relevant agency cost that lenders face may include large dividend payments that result in less money in the bank for loan repayment and new debt competes with old debt for repayment. Because the lack of symmetry information desires between the management of ABC learning and lenders, managers intended to maximize their personal wealth which may mean lenders’ welfare is not maximized. Based on the hypotheses that the higher the debt equity ratio the more likely managers are to use accounting methods that increase income, managers of ABC Learning may violate debt arrangements by manipulating equity. Moreover, the lenders are likely to face risk shifting in this case. Therefore, agency cost happens when ABC Learning engages in behaviors that benefit more than lenders. For lenders, they could minimize the agency cost in shortening debt maturity, it can reduces the agency cost of borrowing in two ways. First, the increase in equity value from increasing the risk of he firm's assets is a decreasing function of debt maturity (Barnea, Haugen, and Senbet, 1980). Second, shortening the maturity of debt reduces the likelihood that a firm will have to exercise an option to invest before outstanding debt matures (Myers, 1977). They also can set up a debt covenant to mitigate the risk, and from a lender’s perspective, not only does a covenant reduce default risk but is also mitigates the debt-equity agency cost. Often, individual stockholders as owners of a corporation do not have direct control over the agency contract, but as stockholders they do have certain rights granted to them. Q5: It seems that previous and current auditors had divergent opinions about the company. The new audit team from Ernst ; Young took a very different view from ABC’s previous auditors from Pitcher Partners in several aspects such as the treatment of revenues and earnings, the valuation of intangible assets, for example, after taking over the Pitcher Partners’ place, Ernst ; Young did not allow ABC to place the same high value on the licenses to run childcare centers as Pitcher Partners had done. Ernst ; Young disputed the Pitcher Partners work and the situation escalated to the extent that the ABC board was forced to call in another accounting firm, KPMG, for its opinion. One of the reasons for divergent opinions of auditors is the accounting policy choice, The accounting policy choice research area investigates the inter-relations among the contracts existing between various stakeholders of the firm, the associated economic incentives of the contracting parties, and the consequent accounting choices made by managers to influence the payoffs to the various contracting parties. The other reason is the degrees of concern of the company are different, in other words, the extent of knowledge for the auditors are different, Pitcher Partners did not have a deep knowledge of the Full Operational Status of the company, so they can not valuate the objective value on the childcare licenses. The recommendations of CLERP 9 to promote auditor independence as follows: Non-audit consultancy income for auditors has been limited and must be clearly disclosed. Auditors must provide their firms with a declaration that they are free from any relationship that may interfere with their independence. And the audit partner must rotate off a company’s audit after 5 years( or 7 years in the case of small or rural firms). Reference list: Accounting Policy Choice, viewed at 10/05/2010. http://www.business.uq.edu.au/display/research/Accounting+Policy+Choice Adam Schwab, ABC learning the hard way as profits  slump, 26 February 2008, viewed at 10/05/2010. http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/02/26/abc-learning-the-hard-way-as-profits-slump/ Ken L, John H, John S, Jennie R, 2009, Company accounting, 8th edition, John Wiley; Sons, Australian,p149. Jeremy Sammut ; Gaurav Sodhi, The ABC of child care policy failure, viewed at 9/05/2010. http://www.cis.org.au/executive_highlights/EH2008/eh71308.html John C. Easterwood , Palani-Rajan Kadapakkam, Agency conflicts, issue costs, and debt maturity, viewed at 10/05/2010. http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LnzP1BQzKTGJxN2BX6hnvcHzdJcSYW2TGPQNtZLgNtR20dwgMfgc!783601474!-129296667?docId=5000275458 Natasha Bita ; Andre Fraser, Imploding as easy as ABC, November 15, 2008, viewed at 10/05/2010. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/imploding-as-easy-as-abc/story-e6frgaio-1111118041306 Tim Searles, Not so easy at ABC, 3 Mar 08, viewed at 9/05/2010. http://www.intelligentinvestor.com.au/articles/A-B-C-Learning-Centres-Limited-ABS/Not-so-easy-at-ABC.cfm?articleID=391596 Understand The Difference Between Principle-based Versus Rule-based Accounting Standards, November 10th, 2006, viewed at 10/05/2010.