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Saturday, August 31, 2019

Dear Doug Essay

I am happy to hear you are adjusting to college life. I’m sure it’s a big change, but at least you have found friends to help you with the transition. It is also good to hear that you have a diverse group of friends, even though you do not all agree on the same thing. It will be a really good opportunity for you to show them the Christian view and maybe question their own beliefs. So I saw your question from Nathan about if God created all of nature, everything would be divine. No, not everything is divine, but God did create everything. Divinity has characteristics specific to itself that are lacking in finite (human) beings, animals, and material things. For instance, none of these are omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotence (all-powerful), omnipresent (always everywhere), or immutable (non-changing). Therefore, nature is created by the divine (God), and is a work of His creative nature, but nature is not divine in itself. Human beings were created â€Å"in the image of God†, meaning that He provided us with the knowledge and gifted us the Holy Spirit, which gives us a â€Å"connection†, a relationship with Him. Now the question about the trinity is hard for everyone to understand. Since we as human are very visual and physical we try to understand that trinity in our own terms, but since it is something out of our nature we have a hard time grasping the concept that God is three in one. In the essay â€Å"Are all Religions One† by Douglas Groothuis he explains that there is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4), who eternally exists in three equal persons: The Father (Ephesians 1:3), the Son (John 1:1), and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-5). The trinity teaches that there is one divine essence that exists in three persons, not that one person equals three. Also I do not think God is a human invention. If we believe that we exist because of matter and chance then how could we trust our own minds? There would be no reason to trust our own mind since there is no absolute truth. Also everyone has a sense of right and wrong, well again evil could not exist if there was no truth, and God is our truth. I think it is pretty hard to make say God is a human invention and then have no explanation for the creation around us. Last but not least you asked about what is the Christian view of God. The Christian view would be that Physical and non-physical things both exist, such as morality, minds, souls, and numbers. Also while physical things change, non-physical things do not. Therefore, Christians believe that God (non-physical) exist and is unchangeable. Along with that he is all knowing and all-powerful, creating the universe in which we live. God is not dependable on us, but we sure are dependable on him. I hope this helps answers some of your questions, have fun on your date night! Cannot wait to hear all about it. Sincerely,

Premarital Sex Essay

Premarital  sex  is  something  which  almost  everyone  knows  about. Some  proudly  proclaims that they engage in  while others do it  secretly. However, there are  still some who do it but are unaware of such term. Different people view it differently: for some it’s acceptable  while  for  some  it’s  a  big  sin. At  present,  there  is  n  increasing  amount  of  discussions in newspaper and magazines in which various things attributed to premarital sex are discussed. It is said that the  Philippines is facing this persistent challenge about premarital intercourse. Since sex is involved, this is certain to produce a number of strong reactions. Nevertheless, it is important to be careful in making such reactions. Sex is an intimate act between individuals which includes genital contact ( Baumer  and South, 2001). Accordingly, it was designed for married couples to enjoy, hence the famous quote: â€Å"True love waits until marriage. † The norms of Philippine society say that it is not normal or it is immoral to engage in premarital sex, but despite this, people just cannot wait until they get wedded. This accounts for the prevalence of premarital sex in the country. At present, one can say that it’s normal to know people who had sex already. But what’s alarming is the rapid growth of the number of people who had sex before marriage . Different researches show the rise of this number. In the last century, only a few, if not zero, gave themselves to premarital sex. This information if compared to present data would give an  overwhelming  difference. Statistics  in 2008  showed that  premarital sex  was prevalent in30% of  the Filipinos. This figured is  actually small  when compared to  western countries. In the USA, 75% of the women would say that they already experienced premarital sex when they  reached  the  age  of  nineteen. However,  it  would  not  seem  right  to  compare  a  less developed country like the Philippines to far way more urbanized and liberal countries in the west. The figure 30% is, in fact, a very high number, taking to account the nature of Filipinos. Nevertheless, these data only show that attitudes towards sex have changed dramatically over  the past years

Friday, August 30, 2019

Child Obesity Essay

Child obesity has reached epidemic proportions in countries such as the United States, and is a growing issue that has profound consequences of physical and emotional development in children. Obesity is largely the result of lack of exercise and dietary lifestyle choices that promote weight gain, and when these habits begin early in childhood they have a strong potential to persist for the rest of an individual’s life. The detrimental effects of obesity have led to a rise in skyrocketing diseases, with diabetes being at the top of the list. Unfortunately, diabetic children are at greater risk of developing high cholesterol and hypertension, also increasing the chances of suffering from heart complications. Medical bills and office visits seem to be growing alongside their weight, due to the major health problems many face from being overweight. Many factors contributing to child obesity are associated with dietary habits, physical inactivity, and socio-economic status. In the article â€Å"Prevalence of Obesity, Diabetes, and Obesity-Related Health Risk Factors† researchers conclude that obesity in childhood leads to both immediate and long-term health consequences, including an increased risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, joint problems, and an overall poor health status. The researchers point out that a third of high blood pressure cases and 88 to 97% of cases of type II diabetes are a result of obesity. Furthermore, their research draws attention to the correlation between obesity and congestive heart failure, heart attack, sudden cardiac death, abnormal heart rhythms, and how high cholesterol and hypertension in overweight individuals place them at even a greater risk of stroke. The authors add, in a population based sample 70% of obese youths had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Although the research points out a strong link between obesity and many chronic diseases, it is a health issue that can be prevented by encouraging children to practice regular exercise and to focus on choosing healthier foods for their body. The opportunity for children to consume an abundance of fast food than earlier generations has created vast opportunities for adolescents to become obese. The high consumption of sugary foods and drinks with minimal nutritional value, particularly in school cafeterias has become a primary culprit. It is highly evident that the majority of food options in schools contain high caloric starched carbohydrates loaded with tons of grease, oil, cream, cheese, and butter. Tragically the junk foods offered in schools are increasing the likelihood of diabetes and other major health problems, so it is of utmost importance to increase education and government interventions due to childhood obesity increasing worldwide. Educated families of healthy dietary options, and transforming unhealthy cafeteria school meals, will greatly increase awareness and improve the overall health of children lives’. To help address the childhood obesity problem, the First Lady, Michelle Obama has initiated the campaign â€Å"Let’s Move† which aimed to influence healthy eating habits in children by providing healthier lunch options in schools, and to do this she helped pass a bill to increase funding for school cafeterias to replace their unhealthy foods with salad bars. The First Lady also worked with the American Beverage Association to develop clearer calorie labels for soda. There is a severe challenge in low-income neighborhoods, being bombarded with fast food joints and very few healthy supermarkets. Many families are not able purchase nutritious meals, nor wholesome organic fruits, vegetables, and meat.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Specific Actions Should Christains Take in Regards to the Environment Essay

Specific Actions Should Christains Take in Regards to the Environment and Its Preservation - Essay Example Specific Actions of Christians In Regard To Environment and Its Preservation Environment has faced serious moments of degradation and depletion across all corners of the world. The beginning environmental depletion and degradation could date back to the early industrialization periods that emerged in Europe and, which spread to other countries of the world. Environmental degradation have involved emission of poisonous smokes, clearing of forests for cultivation and settlement, uncontrolled use of hazardous chemicals, poor methods of solid waste disposal and overexploitation of natural resources. Furthermore, environmental degradation have encompassed and not limited to water pollution, uncontrolled noise, poaching of game animals and overfishing among others. All the mentioned human activities have led to significant change of environmental conditions with the most felt effect being global warming that threatens to devastate the world if prompt and serious actions are not taken. All the causes and elements of environmental degradation can be rightfully attributed to the failure of human beings to perform and meet the responsibilities given to them by God the Creator. ... This achievement will only become possible when Christians in collectiveness agree to stop depletion of forests that reflects and defines the actual nature. Forests are in fact the habitats of many animals and sources of rivers that supply fresh water for human and animal consumption. Belopopsky (2012) sufficiently recommends that, â€Å"human beings should sacrifice part of their wants to meet the standards of preserving nature as demanded by God†. In a nutshell, Belopopsky (2012) argues that human activities and desire for prosperity has led to uncontrolled rates of environmental degradation and it is high time Christians should adhere to the Bible and accept foregoing certain basic needs for the sake of preserving the natural environment. Christians should make sacrifices and set small parcels of land for their settlement and cultivation and leave a proportionately large part of land for inhabitation by forests and wild animals. Sacrificing wants as recommended by Belopopsk y (2012) also means that Christians should forego certain economic needs that would lead them into destroying the natural forests for economic gains. Dennison with reference to the book of Proverbs 12:10 recall that, â€Å"Bible commands respect for animals in their own sphere†. Christians therefore should work hard and in conformity to the Biblical ordinances to ensure protection and maximum respect of wild animals that are in the verge of extinction. In achieving the mission, Christians have to contribute and solicit for funds for establishing game parks and animal reserves to safe keeping of the endangered species from the target of the poachers. Christians should also set in place strict laws and rules that recommend for severe

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Philosophy of Art Monroe Beardsley's Aesthetic Definition of Art Essay

Philosophy of Art Monroe Beardsley's Aesthetic Definition of Art - Essay Example The paper will review the min concepts and definitions of art proposed by Monroe Beardsley, and then, critically review the proposed concepts. In this, its ultimate role is to provide a critique of its own conditions of possibility. And, as is well known, for Beardsley this became a matter of artists acknowledging the flatness of the picture plane as a way of asserting what they took to be the essential fact about the nature of painting. Beardsley defines artwork as: "something produced with the intension of giving it the capacity to satisfy the authentic interest" (Beardsley 57). Beardsley has in mind such audience responses as noticing details, recognizing patterns, making interpretations, filling in the work, etc (Beardsley 55). It is against this understanding of avant-garde art, the genuine art of the contemporary world, that Beardsley articulates his understanding of modern art. Avant-garde art is abstract, whereas modern art ostensibly favors representation. Avant-garde art is reflexive, whereas modern art is generally imitative. Avant-garde art is introverted -- it is about itself (it is about its medium). Modern art is extroverted; it is about the world. Moreover, in being introverted, avant-garde art is detached from practical affairs and disinterested, whereas by representing the world, modern art is implicated in practical concerns (Beardsley 55). In order to accomplish this, genuine art must be difficult, whereas Beardsley believes that modern art can be enjoyed without effort. Moreover, this emphasis on the active response of the spectator in genuine art is what leads Beardsley to nominate avant-garde art as the genuine art of our times, since avant-garde art requires an active spectator to fill in its open structures. Thus, avant-garde art can be said to preserve the central value of art properly so-called. For art properly so-called has always been dedicated to engendering active spectatorship. Indeed, commitment to this role, it would appear, is a necessary feature of art for Beardsley, as it is for many other modern theorists of art. On the other hand, Beardsley maintains that art involves 'unreflective enjoyment'. It abets passive spectatorship -- of the sort putatively evinced by 'couch potatoes' -- whereas Beardsley, with the authority of a long tradition behind him, presumes that a necessary feature of genuine art in volves a commitment to active vowing (Beardsley 56). Avant-garde art accords with this profile. In order to appreciate it, a certain sort of knowledge and background information will have to come into play, if, for example, one is to identify the reflexive comment that an abstract array makes on the nature of painting. Beardsley argues: "once we know what things are artworks in a particular society, we can identify artistic activities by discovering which activities involve interaction with artworks" (Beardsley 57). To interpret such a work one must be initiated into a certain discourse and, even after one assimilates the relevant art discourse, a great deal of cogitation will still be required in order to apply that discourse with understanding to the painting at hand. Such painting demands intellectual work from the spectator because of its hermetic structure, which serves as a difficult obstacle, or puzzle,

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Comparing Two Similar Businesses Research Paper

Comparing Two Similar Businesses - Research Paper Example This research paper discuses more about the management strategies essentially in Amazon.com and Borders Books businesses. To arrive at the conclusion of this paper statistical analysis related to the topic of discussion was collected and previous works used. Amazon.com is considered the pioneer in online selling. It expanded in the late 1990s to sell the world’s largest selection of books, DVDs, videos, CDs, electronics, toys, tools, house wares, and kitchen gadgets. Through intermediaries’ conformities, Amazon.com in addition sells products from renowned retailers like Toysrus.com Incorporated., the Borders Group, etc. On the other hand, Borders Group incorporated is the largest after Amazon.com in the United States bookstore chains. It is the fastest rising bookstore chain. It runs 354 superstores in the name of Borders Books and Music. It features books and special events, like live music, and appearances by artists. This research paper analyzed and compared two buss inesses on such topics as management approach each took to Internet marketing and sales, three reasons for Amazon's success despite not turning a profit for the first five to six years, three reasons Borders, although initially successful and profitable, ended up in chapter 11 in relation for bankruptcy safeguard. In conclusion, in order for a company to flourish in the competitive market environment it should adopt the modern marketing strategies like marketing online, designing there website in a way that attracts many customers.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Americas Best Colleges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Americas Best Colleges - Essay Example Aside from knowing the importance of choosing a reputable school, as an Economics major, I know that competition has become extremely great nowadays. The Information Age further intensifies competition to the next level, making it fiercer and tougher. The invention of the Internet has opened up numerous opportunities that I believe can be maximized only by those who have prepared well and decided to take up the more courageous and more exciting path. As a foreigner, at first I thought that by just studying in any school in the United States could already give me an edge that will secure my future success in my chosen career. With that burning desire, I struggled before to enroll in an American college. Fortunately, my efforts turned out to be fruitful. I successfully became a student of Fisher College here in Boston. But as I moved on as a student in that university, I realized that there are greater opportunities for academic growth outside it. As I become more familiar with the American school system, there was still a desire in my heart to get quality education that I need to further improve my future success. I also realized that the name and the reputation of the school really matter. This pushed me to research on the Internet on America's top universities that are found in or near Boston. On surfing the US News web site, I came across the name of Boston University Knowin

Sunday, August 25, 2019

There can be no love without justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

There can be no love without justice - Essay Example Love is good will, benevolence, affection, concern and high esteem for the well-being of an individual. Love is not being envious, boastful, rude or arrogant. Additionally, love rejoices in the truth and not in wrongdoings. Finally love believes in all things, endures all things and hopes all things. Love is kind and love never ends. Justice does not exist where there is no love. However, acting in love is not something that is done without any sense of responsibility towards others, it requires proper thought and care. Therefore, by acting responsibly, justice and love are distributed hence Love and justice are linked (Christoyannopoulos & Milne, 2007). God is just and through this he does everything due to the love he has for mankind. Mankind is treated equally when there is justice. Additionally, mistreatment and oppression are neither available. When justice presence people are shown love and care. Thus, justness symbolizes the presence of love. In absence of justness, people end up being treated in a bad way and also subjected to suffering. Also, unjustness leads to unequal consideration of peoples demands, therefore love does not prevail where there is no justice. Christoyannopoulos, A. J. M. E., & Milne, J. (2007). Love, justice, and social eschatology. Heythrop Journal - Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Theology, 48, 972–991.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Law And Contract Resit Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Law And Contract Resit - Case Study Example In this case four issues arise and these are noise and vibrations disturbing Pub's customer, Bloggs & Co Builders used the student car park to the jib of a crane, construction vehicles are constantly blocking the entrance of Public house owner and they work continues on site Saturday and Sunday mornings as a result the pub manager was disturbed.Winfield and Jolowicz defence private nuisance as an unlawful interference with a person's use or enjoyment of land, or some right over, or in connection, with it. This principle is neatly encapsulated in the words of Lord Wright in Sedleigh-Denfield v Callaghan1, where he said that a balance has to be maintained between the right of the occupier to do what he likes with his own and the right of his neighbour not to be interfered with. From it is implicit that as between neighbours, some measure of interference with the use and enjoyment of each other's land is permissible.The test is one of 'reasonable user' balancing the interest of defendan ts to use their land as legally permitted against the conflicting interest of claimants to have quite enjoyment of their land. It is a not a test of reasonable care. In Rapier v London Tramways Co2 held that it is no defence to prove that the defendant had taken all reasonable care to prevent the nuisance occurring. The Court will look at the result of defendant's conduct. In Cambridge Water v Eastern Counties Leather3, it was held that if the user is reasonable the defendant is not be liable for consequent to his neighbour's enjoyment of his land. In order to be able to sue for a Private nuisance, the claimant must have a proprietary interest in the land affected. In Malone v Laskey4 and Hunter v Canary Wharf Ltd5 it was held that landowners and tenants have right to bring an action but excludes mere licensee. So from the fact of the question it can be said pub owner and owners of public house and Birmingham City University may bring an action under private nuisance. But in question it is not clear whether pub manager was owner, tenant or license of the premises. However the location is an important factor. The locality in which the claimant's premises are situated is a second factor which assists the Courts in determining whether the interference complained of is sufficiently substantial to amount to a nuisance. The expectations of a claimant, in terms of comfort, peace and quiet, will naturally vary according to the location of his house or business. The point was succinctly made in Sturges v Bridgeman6, in which case a physician complained about the noise generated by a neighbouring confectioner who was operating a pestle and motor. Thesinger LJ stated that what would be a nuisance in Belgrave Square would not necessarily be so according to the area in which it occurs. The emission of smoke from a factory would not be considered a nuisance in an industrial estate, but would be likely to be found to be a nuisance in a largely residential area. In Gillingham BC v Medway (Chatham) Dock Co. Ltd7 held that a good example is the transformation of the London docklands from an industrial area to a now exclusive residential development. In this case it was held that planning permission which had been granted to change the use of an old naval dockward into commercial port should be taken into have effective a change in the character of the neighbourhood. The Court held that planning permission is not enough by itself to change the nature of the locality, although this may occur as a matter of fact due to investment in the area. The CA took the view in Wheeler v JJ Saunder Ltd8

Friday, August 23, 2019

Understanding the APA Format write an article Assignment

Understanding the APA Format write an article - Assignment Example He describes some of the laid strategies used by the company to achieve the success as illustrated in the article. These laid strategies regularly include hosting workshops at their stores, in areas that are theatre-like and providing training in every service they offer. The company also ensures that its store workers have a high level of fluency about the product: the technical experts are well conversant with the product features. With all these strategies, the company can attract customers, particularly the young customers, thereby ensuring significant profits of up to $151 million in 2005 from their sales. Wingfield (2006), however, implies that despite the success of Apple Inc., their particular challenges that the company experiences both from the internal and external environment. For example, some of the strategies set by the company are rejected by the company’s principal partners and customers (retailers): some of them have sued the company claiming that the competi tion is not

- Art and Music Appreciation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

- Art and Music Appreciation - Essay Example It is incisively instructive, showing how the entire art movement can be looked at cynically, but one needs to know a lot about it first. This quote best expresses Holland’s take on the development of art. He is biting in his sarcasm, which shows disdain of how art is shown to the public, how commercial art is denigrated, and how common perception needs to be improved by education. Yes, I agree with Holland’s ‘inherited and exploded’ quote: today’s artists can take everything that went before and ‘blow it to bits’ in the sense of debunking art myths, taking and expanding forms, and adding or subtracting what would have been unthinkable when those forms and myths were created. The collage of styles in Strawberry Fields Forever is a precursor (or permission) for other bands to incorporate classic themes in their music. It took a while, but bands like Electric Light Orchestra and Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark came along much later and used string and brass sections, together with symphonic strains. It was all due to John Lennon and Paul McCartney and their innovative, prophetic, visionary borrowing of classic motifs. The lyrics are intentionally jumbled to express laconic abandonment of all that was rule-bound: the Beatles allowed youngsters to break out with impunity, and to ignore disapproval. It allowed musicians to create collages of their own in a destructurist way, and there is the link with post-modernism. Such a band as the Beatles will, as Levitin (2007) proposes, always occupy a place in music, but their name might not live on with the tunes. People will hum Yesterday, sing Yellow Submarine to their children or serenade a lover with Michelle forever, but these will be like O Sole Mio, You are My Sunshine and Dancing in the Rain. Everyone knows them but like... who wrote

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Peat Soil Essay Example for Free

Peat Soil Essay Peat is generally found in thick layers in limited areas, has low shear strength and high compressive deformation which often results in difficulties when construction work is undertaken on the deposit. Peat represents the extreme form of soft soil. It is an organic soil which consists more than 75% of organic matters. However, the cutoff value of the percentage of organic matter necessary to classify a superficial deposit or soil as peat varies throughout the world, usually depending on the purpose of classification. This cutoff value also serves to differentiate peat from superficial deposits or soils with lesser amounts of organic content. The terms peat and organic soils, used for describing soils with an organic content, were once synonymous but term organic soils is presently used for superficial deposits or soils that contain organic matter. Figure 1 Location of Peat Soil in Malaysia PEAT SOIL SUBSIDENCE Draining of peatland lowers water table causing subsidence Rate of subsidence 20 – 50 cm per year over a period of 5 years after drainage thereafter 5 cm per year. Oxidation acidity: Peatland water is acidic once drained, peatwater causes severe damage to flora fauna habitats in adjacent areas. Compaction or shrinkage of peat soils may cause groundwater containing fertilizer or pesticide residues to flow from agricultural area to adjacent water catchment area.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Post Harvest Management of Fruits

Post Harvest Management of Fruits India, a place of variations of different agroclimatic regions, rich in diversified horticultural flora. India being the largest producer of fruits and second largest producer of vegetables. But unfortunately the average Indian remains aloof from the basic requirements of fruits and vegetables. As a result of which there is a huge gap between gross production and net availability. All these is because of the inefficient post harvest management ,a significant portion of production is lost after harvest. Post harvest losses accounts to approximately 25 – 30 % of production. Just to feed the bursting population of india, maximising alone the production and productivity will not be enough. Efficient post harvest handling and processing is mere essential to make available more food (fruits) to the mankind. Post harvest losses of fruits: Post harvest losses of fruits can be defined as a loss in quantity or quality or both that occurs after harvest and till the produce reaches to the consumers. There may be physical loss, physiological loss or biological losses. Physical loss: it occurs due to injury in fruits at the time of harvesting,handling and transportation. Physiological loss: it occurs due to physiological processes of respiration and transpiration. Transpirational loss of moisture results in shriveled appearance of the commodities. Biological losses: it occurs due to macrobiological and microbiological agents like bacteria, fungi ,yeast etc. Post harvest management practices: Sorting or grading: Sorting is done in order to discard rotten, damaged, diseased, misshaped and overriped fruits before spreading infection to other healthy commodities. Grading is a form of grouping the fruits according to the firmness, cleanliness, size, weight, colour, shape and maturity. Washing: The produce is cleaned or washed in order to remove the dirt, dust ,insects, moulds .exception – onion, garlic, okra, mushroom are not washed. For surface decontamination , Chlorinated water(100 ppm) is effective.after this,the fruits are again washed with clean water. Curing: Curing is a means of natural wound healing process. It is a process of forming a corky layer against water loss and infection. Waxing: It is a process of application of waxy layer on the skin of the fruits to reduce moisture loss, shrievelling and to extend the storage life. Paraffin wax, carnauba wax and various resins are common types of waxes used. Waxol is a common coating material. Pre-cooling: The process of removal of heat from the just harvested fruits particularly during hot weather is called pre cooling. It helps in decreasing the transpiration rate, respiration rate,ripening providing an ease to transport and storage. The methods are room cooling, forced air cooling, hydro cooling, vacuum cooling etc. Hot water treatment: It is a process of eradicating or killing the infectious organism on several fruits. For inactivation of infection by Phytopthora sp. In tomato and oranges , Colletotrichum in papaya, mango and crown rot in banana , dip in hot water at 50+- 2degree C for 1-2 minutes. Hot water treatment of mango results in uniform ripening. Vapour heat treatment: It is termed as an ecofriendly treatment mostly applicable for fruit flies mostly mango. It is initially expensive and cannot be used much by small and marginal farmers. Total treatment time for mangoes is approximately 195 minutes. Regulation of ripening: Ripening of fruits like mango, banana can be regulated or is carried out in special treatment rooms with controlled temperatures with low application of ethylene. Release of ethylene occurs where fruits along with etherel alkaline solution is placed in a closed chamber. Ripening process is delayed and extension of shelf life is done by removing ethylene from storage atmosphere using ethylene absorbent. Packaging: Packaging is a process to assemble the produce into convenient units of handling and to protect the produce during distribution , storage and marketting. It is a means of prolonging the storage life. For packaging cushioning materials should be used.(paper shreds, paddy straw, thermocole). Packaging of fresh produce is done with bamboo baskets, sacks, wooden or plastic crates etc. corrugated fibre board(CFB)cartons being polar now a days for transport of fruits as they are of lighter weight and cheaper cost. Aseptic packaging, modified atmospheric packaging and controlled packaging are some new innovations of packaging. Transportation: It is a phase of movement of fruits from one place to another, performed by, means of rail,truck,airplane and ship.effective transportation doesnot help if there is no proper handling.in many developed countries pallets are used for trading of horticultural produce. Marketting: Fruits have a high degree of perishability so marketting problems are more in fruits. NHB(National horticultural board) provides good market intelligence service for horticultural products.NDDB, HOPCOM are few of marketting organizations for benefit of growers and consumers. Storage The process of maintaining life processes of fruits upto a required level till it reaches the consumers avoiding market glut is called storage. Methods: Refrigerated storage – storage of perishable commodities at the lowest temperature without any chilling injury is refrigerated storage.it strongly retards moisture loss and spoilage by microorganisms. Controlled or modified storage- it is a process of adjusting the atmospheric composition of air surrounding the fruits different from that of normal air. it involves reduction in O2 and elevation of CO2 concentrations. Hypobaric storage- it is a form of storage in which the produce is stored in partial vacuum.it is maintained to the desired low pressure by vacuum pump. It is limited to high value crops. Zero energy cool chamber- this zero energy cool chamber works on the principle of evaporative cooling using locally available materials like brick, sand and bamboo.as compared to surrounding atmosphere the temperature in the chamber is less. Conclusion : Post harvest loss is even more serious than that of production loss. It is impossible to deny from complete protection of post harvest losses but it can be minimized to some extent by following some of the modern cultural,harvesting,handling,marketting and processing techniques. Thus it must be kept in mind that operationalization of improved post harvest technologies must be intensively developed in our country through technology refinement, industrial liasion so that we don’t face any productive losses and people can acquire nutrients from fruits to the most , as per requirements. References.: Name of the books 1. Post harvest management of horticultural crops. Edited by M.A. MIR, G.M. BEIGH, HAFIZA AHSAN QUAZI NISSAR AHMAD, H.R.NAIK,A.H. RATHER. 2. Basics of horticulture. Editor – K.V Peter. Chapter no. 11. Post harvest management of fruits and vegetables, page no 497-506. Champ ,b.r ,highley ,E and Johnson ,G.I 1993. Post harvest handling of tropical fruits .proceedings of International conference held at Chiang mai,Thailand 19-13 july 1993. Mitra ,S.K .1997. postharvest physiology and storage of tropical and subtropical fruits CAB international new york. Salunkhe, D.K and Desai ,B.B 1984 post harvest biotechnology of fruits. Vol1 2 .CRC press, florida. Rao , S.D .V 2004 pre storage treatment for minimisation of post harvest losses in fruits . training manual on minimisation of post harvest losses in fruits organised by IIHR, bangalore.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Online Decision Aid In Airline Industry Marketing Essay

Online Decision Aid In Airline Industry Marketing Essay 1. Online Decision Aids (ODAs) The World Wide Web can change human behavior and its communications with the world largely. Online shopping is one major example. Internet is changing day by day the way customers are shopping, buying goods. Many companies started using the Internet with the aim of cutting marketing costs, thereby reducing the price of their products and services. There are numbers of online shops that do not exist in the real world for e.g. Amazon, eBay, target etc. There is lot of benefit for all those who are sitting at home. Sometimes it may become difficult for a customer to choose a product from such a huge list, but customers always go for quality and Price. Most online retailers provide the customers with some help in the form of online decision aids (ODAs) .Online Decision Aid (ODA) is how customers make purchase on Internet .Customers buying goods on internet is based on the Online decision Aid. ODA help customers firstly through Information retrieval that is form of searching documents and data within the documents, as well as searching relational databases of documents within the World Wide Web. Whenever user enters a query in search bar, IR scores the query and ranks it according to its value. Secondly, ODAs uses information filtering, through which the system removes unwanted data and brings relevant stuff for customers according to customers need. Filtering tool helps user to locate the most relevant data, so that system take limited time to search for product and valuable documents. Filters used to organize and structure information so that information displayed in front of customers in sequence. Lastly, ODA use Collaborative Filtering process that displayed in front of customers. Collaborative filtering (CF) is the process of filtering data or techniques involving collaboration among multiple agents, viewpoints, data sources, etc. CF is applied on many different kinds of data sensing and monitoring data such as in mineral exploration, environmental sensing over large areas or multiple sensors; financial data such as financial service institutions that integrate many financial sources; or in electronic commerce and web 2.0 applications where the focus is on user data, etc. Collaborative filtering (CF) algorithm involves Prediction of the item and recommendation of data. Example of Collaborative filtering (CF): Figure 1: Result of Google 2. Benefits of ODA Use of ODA help user to find the product easy and more quickly. The task of ODA is use to compare or filter the data and brings relevant data in front of customers. In practice, ODAs get information from the customers and then based on the input preferences; they filter a massive amount of information and provide the customers with a smaller set of results. In addition, if there are plenty of customers on one website so in that way retailer have to make combination of ODA according to Customer decision. Customers buying travel tickets online does not have good idea than the customers buying a Product from online stores. If a customer is, buying ticket online is identified then the website developer have to see how many Combination of ODA can be made according to customer need and bringing accurate result in front of customer. 3. Types of ODA There are five types of ODA namely: Recommendation Agent Personalized Recommendation Bargain List Consumer Reviews Problem Definition 3.1. Recommendation Agent Recommendation agents (RAs) are software agents that bring products according to customer need. If customer is searching for a Product, online software agent brings related products in front of customer to save time. RA sustain and develop the quality of the decisions that customers made when searching for and selecting products online (Xiao. B Benbasat I, 2007). RA focuses on developing and evaluating different underlying algorithms that generate recommendations (Xiao. B Benbasat.I, 2007). RA itself is ODA that produce a list of goods available in the online store and then that list, ranked based on customer preferences. RA generates recommendation in a way to help customers. For example if customer is buying an Airline Ticket than RA also recommend other airline tickets with cheap prices so that it become easier for customers(Mohajerani .A , 2008). Figure 2: Process of Recommendation agents (RA) RAs use in different areas, including E-commerce, education, and organization knowledge management (Xiao. B Benbasat.I, 2007). In context of E-commerce, RA involved in two Processes: product brokering merchant brokering Product Brokering is the process of finding the best-suited product for customer and merchant brokering is the process of finding the best-suited vendor (Xiao. B Benbasat.I, 2007).In the project we focus on Product Brokering RA. A product broker is someone that locates the best possible deals for their customer by using a variety of sources. Some Product brokers have connections with major retail partner stores like Target, Wal-mart, Best Buy, etc that provide customers with the best potential deals. In Product broker case if customer want to buy product (i.e. Airline ticket) first he have to contact product broker, services of product broker are free. Customer signs up and provides detail to product broker what he is looking for, then product broker direct you to best store for that product. Once customer buys that product through Product broker services then product broker is pay through partner stores. In this way, it becomes smarter and easier for customer to buy that product rather than searching for that on different websites. 3.2. Personalized Recommendation Shopping on the web is more informative rather than shopping in ordinary store. So much information about products may lead overload and that creates less discontentment and confusion in customers. If we create personalized recommender systems, than this problem will overcome as there are different ways to overcome this Problem (Mohajerani .A, 2008).There are two types of personalized recommender systems (Mohajerani .A, 2008) First, if customer wants to buy a product. The personal information of a customer is collected and the system reasons about the preferences of the customer by analyzing the available personal information. Then, the history of the products he or she has browsed and the products he or she has purchased in the past would be analyzed. Finally, a profile is created for the customer to be used for further recommendations (Mohajerani .A , 2008) .System then record observation and behavior of customer and build a model according to that observation , once the model is obtained than System Predict other Product according to the behavior of customer in same area . Figure 3: Personalized Recommender Systems The second type of personalized system are those in which customer do not frequently purchase (Mohajerani .A, 2008). For example if customer is purchasing an airline ticket on the other hand he is purchasing home appliance, there will be no history maintain for such kind of ODA. For this other recommender system are used In this case, domain experts are required to make recommendations and give suggestion (Mohajerani .A, 2008). 3.3. Bargain List Bargain lists are the list of products or services, which sellers offer with lower price or in discount rates. Retailers tend to offer bargains and discounts on special occasions e.g. Christmas, Eid etc (Mohajerani .A, 2008). Figure 4: List of discounted Items Sometime customer likes products but they cannot afford in different seasons. Discount rates help customer to buy their favorite goods. Customers mostly consider price the main factor that draws them to an online retailing Web site. However, although offering low prices on all products is a good way to attract price-sensitive customers (Mohajerani .A, 2008). Bargain list is useful in two ways (Mohajerani .A , 2008) first customer react towards lower price product and discounted products , second bargain list offer those product which are left few in the stock. Bargain list are those ODA which inform customer about the low prices products (Mohajerani .A, 2008). 3.4. Consumer Reviews When customer is shopping online, they face two types of reviews. One is product review which is created by the retailer of the product and the second is a consumer review (CR) which is written by the consumers who have already used the product (Mohajerani .A, 2008). Consumer review is the review of product and suggestion of other products to customer. Figure 5: Consumer review Product review Customer search for opinions from other customer and they mostly rely on experience of other customer then they make final decision whether to purchase or not. Customers can give feedback for that product so that it becomes influence towards other customers. CRs are presented in a written form, consumers are then able to easily examine and measure positive and negative opinions in terms of quality and quantity (Mohajerani .A, 2008). 3.5. Problem Definition Decision making process for customer might become problem sometimes but ODA satisfied the customer through different recommendation systems. ODA develop more practical and convenient Web site for customers. 4. Importance of Online Decision Aid in Airline Industry Airline industry moves towards saving time of customers. Customer interacts with websites rather than inconveniently interact with an impatient travel agent in search for less Expensive tickets (Rubin E Mantin B, 2008). In this Project, we will examine a solution in the context of the travel industry. Customers just have to use internet when they write their query in search engine. Through this process total search cost of customer is reduce. Online decision aid has become an important tool for customer to take decision more quickly and effectively. In the context of flights, as information about alternative travel combinations is present, Customers can find similar, alternative flights, with lower prices and lower experienced demand. Therefore, depending on their flexibility, customers may end up purchasing less expensive alternatives rather than the more expensive, highly demanded ones (Rubin E Mantin B, 2008). When you search for a flight in search engine, you get various results. Some of the e-ticketing websites are Expedia, .ixigo, onetime, .travel-ticker, booking buddy, fare compare etc. Figure 6: Example of Airfare websites The main context of this research is to what extent information is provided by a decision aid on a carrierà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s website affects the results of retailer. More specifically, the major contributions of our research are in (Rubin E Mantin B, 2008): Record the previous search by customer, and extend the work and give recommendation of other airfare product through consumer review with discounts. Improving interaction between decision aids and pricing (Rubin E Mantin B, 2008). Improving the processes affecting airfare pricing (Rubin E Mantin B, 2008). 5. Web portal of flights Example Through a research on two web portal Expedia and Sky scanner, we extract few results. We book a round trip from Karachi (KHI) to Dubai (DXB) starting from Dec 31, 2010 to Jan 13, 2011. Both websites gave different consequences with recommendations of different airlines Figure 7: Sky Scanner and Expedia Figure 8: Results of Sky scanner Sky scanner show results with different airline Air blue, Emirates with timing of Departure and Duration with total cost of the flight. Figure 9: Results of Expedia Expedia show flights with different airline Gulf Air, Emirates with timing of Departure and Duration with total cost of the flight. Comparing the entire result, customer will select Airline with less charge and less duration time. In this way, it becomes easier for customer to book flights and ODA recommend so many flights. Sometime on special occasion like Christmas, Eid etc these retailers give discount on tickets and there are special honeymoon packages for couples. Figure 10: Bargaining list of travel deals 6. Conclusion ODA in airline industry is best way to buy ticket online on customer demand with cheap prices .ODA help customer to find best product they need. ODA uses different types of filtering tool, which is use to filter data, bring the most relevant data in front of customer, and give suggestions about other products. Through ODA, Recommendation agents (RAs) bring product according to customer wish and show bargain list of that product to customer. Customer also can buy product through product broker, which is link with some retailers. Customers can give feedback for products on web portal so it becomes helpful and easier for other customer to buy that product.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Web-based Communication :: essays papers

Currently society is in its 20th century, and quickly emerging into the 21st century technology has and will be reaching great heights. The education field is one of the most considerably effected domains in the advancement of the technology â€Å"revolution†. According to Stoner (1997), technology in the future is looking towards increased online/distance learning, virtual field trips, and audio files of music. As the technological world evolves so should the local community. Many of the latest educational technology will require two-way communication in the virtual community. Author of Virtually in the Middle defines the virtual community as a â€Å"Web-based communication forum. It is an interactive electronic space on the Internet in which diverse individuals can raise questions, share ideas, plan activities, congregate, and learn. This kind of dialogue and communication that would occur in this kind of virtual community is referred to as â€Å"asynchronous† or â€Å"delayed† conferencing, which is a time-free discussion of topic strands. †(Beghettio, 2001, p.22). First, method in which parents can increase communication to teacher is by logging on to the net. Parents can log on to school web sites, view lessons, objectives, goals, homework assignments, and student’s attendance. Currently, most counties nation wide provides a break down of state, county, and local web site for schools. For example, Maryland has a web site for all of its’ counties, that further break down to elementary, secondary, and high school. Listed on these sites are things like the school mission, contact information for facilities, special programs, individual classroom homework, and agenda for the week. Secondly, communication via web-based allow user-friendly e-mail exchange between all parents and educators. Many families in America have a functioning computer with access to the Internet. Those families who do not own a home computer have access to e-mail at work. On the flip side teachers who have Internet-connection at school make sending e-m ail one of the most popular usages. The graph in Educational Media and Technology Yearbook displays e-mail as the highest-ranking form of utilizing computers (Educational Media and Technology, 2004). Parents can be alerted via e-mail when their child needs further studying, absent form class, or to praise their child’s improvements. Third, linking parents to resources to assist in their child’s assignments can also be done via web-base.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Interpersonal Communication Demonstrated in the Movie, One Flew Over Th

Interpersonal Communication Demonstrated in the Movie, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Communication is an essential part of our lives. It is through the process of communication that we are able to make contact, and thus develop who we are in relationship to others. Interpersonal communication is a specific type of communication in which the people involved are contacting each other as persons, and through an ongoing process, defining who they are for each other. In the following pages, I will explain six concepts related to the study of interpersonal communication. Following each explanation, I will give examples of how each concept is demonstrated in the movie, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". In doing so, I hope to show that the concepts introduced in interpersonal communication can be applied to our everyday lives. Personal versus Impersonal Communication Each day we engage in various types of communication. Strange as it may sound, each time we speak with someone, we are not necessarily engaging them as a person. Sometimes, we just want to cash a check at the bank or pay for our groceries without creating anything deeper. Other times, we might want to discuss our feelings with a friend or introduce ourselves to someone new. Whatever the case may be, the type of communication that we engage in will be more personal at times, and more impersonal at other times. One way to envision this, is to imagine the communication events of our day lying somewhere on the impersonal--------------- interpersonal continuum. There are five characteristics that distinguish the personal from the impersonal: uniqueness, measurability, choice, reflectiveness, and addressability. Uniquen... ...nherently good or bad, but each serves its purpose depending on the context in which it occurs. Communication involves cues that can be best understood as parts of a continuum. This continuum ranges from cues that are primarily verbal (words), to mixed(pitch, tone of voice), to primarily nonverbal (facial expression, gestures, appearance). In any given communication situation, all of these ques work together in the process of negotiating selves. This process involves constructing and responding to definitions of ourselves and definitions of the people we are communicating with. Contact and communication is what makes us human. The quality of our communication is directly related to the quality of our lives, both physiologically and spiritually. For this reason, learning effective communication skills should be important to all of us.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Principal Agent Theory Essay

There are many settings in which one economic actor (the principal) delegates authority and/or responsibilities to an agent to act on his behalf. The primary reason for doing so is that the agent has an advantage in terms of expertise or information. This informational advantage, or information asymmetry, poses a problem for the principal—how can the principal be sure that the agent has in fact acted in her best interests? Can a contract be written deï ¬ ning incentives in such a way that the principal can be assured that the agent is taking just the action that she would take, had she the information available to the agent? Solving this problem is a matter of some concern for patients dealing with their doctors, clients dealing with their lawyers, etc. It is also a crucial concern for business ï ¬ rms dealing with their employees. Especially in the twenty-ï ¬ rst century, employees are often hired precisely because they have information available that is unavailable to the managers of a ï ¬ rm, who changes or implements new ways of work (Innovation), making sure that employee expertise is put to work in the interest of the ï ¬ rm can make the difference between success and bankruptcy–as illustrated by the performance of Google Corporation and their success. Principal-Agent Theory The key common aspect of all those contracting settings is that the information gap between the principal and the agent has some fundamental implications for the design of the bilateral contract they sign. In order to reach an efficient use of economic resources, this contract must elicit the agent ´s private information. This can only be done by giving up some information rent to the privately informed agent. Generally, this rent is costly to the principal. This cost or payment is what is known as Monitoring Cost, on which the Principal can limit divergences from his interest by establishing appropriate incentives for the agent and by incurring monitoring costs designed to limit the aberrant activities of the agent (Jensen, 1976, pg. 5). And just like in any other trade, the Principal is giving something in exchange of the actions and decisions of the Agent; we can say that the Monitoring Cost is an action with its own reaction:Bonding Cost. This is the Welfare the Agent is willing to take, on behalf of the Principal, to limit or restrict his own actions, therefore reducing the deviation from the Principal’s interests. These costs guarantee that the Agent will not take certain actions which would harm the principal or to ensure that the principal will be compensated if he does take such actions (Jensen, 1976, pg. 5). Nevertheless there will always be some divergence between the agent’s decisions and those decisions which would maximize the welfare of the principal. The equivalent of the reduction in welfare experienced by the principal as a result of this divergence is what we refer as the Residual Loss (Jensen, 1976, pg. 5). But as said on the beginning, this deal is because of a lack of information or expertise of the Principal in comparison with the Agent. This lead us to the Asymmetrical relationship. Asymmetrical relationship refers to the fact that the Agent may have more information than the Principal, leading to the fact that the Principal may not know to what degree are the actions of the Agent in the Principal’s own interests. Given the self-interest of the Agent, he may or may have not behaved as agreed (Eisenhardt, 1989, 61). Information is asymmetric because the agent, of course, knows which decision he is going to make (Spremann, 1987, pg. 4). This Asymmetrical relationship leads into a field of risk and uncertainty represented by the dilemma of Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection. Moral hazard is a situation where the behavior of one party may change to the detriment of another after the transaction has taken place. A party makes a decision about how much risk to take (Agent), while another party bears the costs if things go badly (Principal), and the party insulated from risk behaves differently than how it would if it were fully exposed to the risk. According to contract theory, moral hazard results from a situation in which a hidden action occurs. Bengt Holmstrà ¶m (1979) said this: It has long been recognized that a problem of moral hazard may arise when individuals engage in risk sharing under conditions such that their privately taken actions affect the probability distribution of the outcome. The non-observability of the agent’s action may then prevent an efficient resolution of this conflict of interest since a contract can never stipulate which action should be taken by the agent. In a moral hazard context, the random output aggregates the agent’s effort and the realization of pure luck. However, the principal can only design a contract based on the agent’s observable performance. Through this contract, the principal wants to induce, at a reasonable cost, a good action of the agent despite the impossibility to condition directly the agent’s reward on his action. In general, the non-observability of the agent’s effort affects the cost of implementing a given action. Moral hazard can be divided into two types when it involves asymmetric information (or lack of verifiability) of the outcome of a random event: Ex-Ante Moral and Ex-Post Moral. An ex-ante moral hazard is a change in behavior prior to the outcome of the random event, whereas ex-post involves behavior after the outcome. For example, in the case of a health insurance company insuring an individual during a specific time-period, the final health of the individual can be thought of as the outcome. The individual taking greater risks during the period would be ex-ante moral hazard whereas lying about a fictitious health problem to defraud the insurance company would be ex-post moral hazard. However, there is a second type of informational asymmetry which can also characterize principal-agent relationships. Adverse selection, anti-selection, or negative selection is a term used in economics, insurance, risk management, and statistics. It refers to a market process in which undesired results occur when buyers and sellers have. This is where the agent possesses some information prior to choosing an action which, if known by the principal, would influence the choice of action he would like the agent to make. The agent is then required to pass some message to the principal which depends on the ‘private information’ he has. Since the chosen effort, outcome and payoff to the agent may all depend on the message he transmits, the agent may have an incentive to misrepresent his information. The design of the contract will then have to take account of this problem of ‘adverse selection’. It is important to stress that, as adverse selection, moral hazard would not be an issue if the principal and the agent had the same objective function. Crucial to the agency cost arising under moral hazard is the conflict between the principal and the agent over which action should be carried out. Managing Innovation. First of all we have to define what is innovation. An Innovation is a new idea, which may be a recombination of old ideas, a scheme that challenges the present order, a formula, or a unique approach which is perceived as new by the individuals involved (Zaltman, Duncan, and Holbek 1973; Rogers 1982). As long as the idea is perceived as new to the people involved, it is an â€Å"innovation,† even though it may appear to others to be an â€Å"imitation† of something that exists elsewhere. Included in this definition are both technical innovations (new technologies, products, and services) and administrative innovations (new procedures, policies, and organizational forms). Even though innovation is always progress, it does not mean that can fit on everyone or that everyone will be happy applying it, and more because it involves changes. When we are talking about innovation in an enterprise, managers have to deal with 4 problems. This problems are reflected in a variety of questions the CEOs often raised (Van de Ven 1982).: 1. How can a large organization develop and maintain a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship? 2. What are the critical factors in successfully launching new organizations, joint ventures with other firms, or innovative projects within large organizations over time? 3. How can a manager achieve balance between inexorable pressures for specialization and proliferation of tasks, and escalating costs of achieving coordination, cooperation, and resolving conflicts? From these questions we can find three of four different factors that related to the Principal-Agent Theory, as Google did and we will explain it, to succeed in the implementation of innovation.First, there is the human problem of managing attention, second, the process problem is managing ideas into good currency so that innovative ideas are implemented and institutionalized, and finally there is the structural problem of managing part-whole relationships, which emerges from the proliferation of ideas, people and transactions as an innovation develops over time. It is often said that an innovative idea without a champion gets nowhere. People develop, carry, react to, and modify ideas. People apply different skills, energy levels and frames of reference (interpretive schemas) to ideas as a result of their backgrounds, experiences, and activities that occupy their attention. People become attached to ideas over time through a social-political process of pushing and riding their ideas into good currency, much like Donald Schon (1971) describes.Schon also states that what characteristically precipitates change in public policy is a disruptive event which threatens the social system. Here is where the Principal enters, because he needs the new ideas, so he makes a deal (contract) with the Agent to get those ideas. He (Agent) needs to respect and fulfil the contract previously made, incurring the bonding costs, so think or adapt ideas. In some way, the Principal or the contract is the pressure who makes the Agent work. A more realistic view of innovation should begin with an appreciation of the physiological limitations of human beings to pay attention to non routine issues, and their corresponding inertial forces in organizational life (Van de Ven and Hudson 1985). This make us think on the psychological aspect of the human being. You can implement innovation in your company or to your life (or someone else), it will be a new thing and our attention will be all focused on it. But when exposed over time to a set of stimuli that deteriorate very gradually, people do not perceive the gradual changes- they unconsciously adapt to the worsening conditions. Suddenly we lose our focus on the innovation and we just keep doing the same routine without even thinking why. Organizational structures and systems serve to sort attention. They focus efforts in prescribed areas and blind people to other issues by influencing perceptions, values, and beliefs. Janis (1985) states that only the vigilance pattern generally leads to decisions that meet the main criteria for sound decision making. Vigilance involves an extended search and assimilation of information, and a careful appraisal of alternatives before a choice is made. Here is where the Leader enters, setting the way where all efforts should go to. Most of the times, these directions go around the customers needs or wishes, and the manager materialize them into the new goals, ideas or direction of the innovation.In Principal- Agent language, here is where we can find the monitoring cost, the Principal pay attention into the actions of the Agent and corrects if necessary, in case that the actions of the Agent go in a different direction as they had stipulate on the contract. Proliferation of ideas, people, and transactions over time is a pervasive but little understood characteristic of the innovation process, and with it come complexity and interdependence – and the basic structural problem of managing part- whole relations. Transactions are â€Å"deals† or exchanges which tie people together within an institutional context. The relationship between the Principal and the Agent is a deal, a transaction. As the Principal wants a result but can not produce it by himself, puts him in the position of a transaction. The prevailing approach for handling this complexity and interdependence is to divide the labor among specialists (Agents) who are best qualified to perform unique tasks and then to integrate the specialized parts to recreate the whole. The objective, of course, is to develop synergy in managing complexity and interdependence with a deal design where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, where both of them obtained what they were looking for. In search of that correct synergy, John R. Commons (1951), argued that transactions are dynamic and go through three temporal stages: negotiations, agreements, and administration. The deal between Principal- Agent has to be very flexible to succeed this, without being vague and confusing. Following Ashby’s (1956) principle of requisite variety, learning is enhanced when a similar degree of complexity in the environment is built into the organizational unit. This principle is a reflection of the fact that both parts are dependant of the other (the main reason of the Principal- Agent relationship) but also a reflection of the need of being in the same ground of information, or at least on the same conditions of it (if not, there would be no deal and no need of each other). With this point and Management of Attention, the Principal can avoid and solve the problems and risk of Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection. Google case Talking about innovation and implementation, we can see Google. Google is the place to work according to Fortune magazine, which listed the top 50 companies to work for. Google appears as a top contender for most features, including unusual perks, cafeterias, health cover and work environment. Even Management guru Gary Hamel praised Google in his book The Future of Management, stating that more companies should adopt their system. The system ensures that interesting ideas—even those that aren’t obvious fits for Google’s capabilities or core business model—receive some degree of attention. Their management have 3 statements and the base of all of it: First, set and communicate clear criteria for how you make funding decisions. Make sure those criteria include quantitative elements (how big could the market be) and qualitative elements (how passionate are we about this). Second, create an â€Å"ideal† innovation portfolio that blends core improvements and new growth businesses. Finally, consciously seek ideas that provide â€Å"unique† diversification by using a new channel, reaching a new customer, or creating a new revenue stream. Every developer has 20% of their time to work on any project they want, free time if you want to see it like that, but they have also to fulfil some goals, achievements and chores. they have freedom, but still, have some responsibilities that have to accomplish. Developers have to report to their managers that they had finished all of those chores. As long as they keep doing that, the deal or transaction still valid. About those 20% of free time, everything the developers creates, is property of the company, and still have to be approved by his manager, but have a complete freedom of the way of working and develop it. In exchange of that intellectual currency, Google give their employees not only their salary, but also a lot of benefits and rewards. For example Google offers include 100% health care coverage and onsite childcare facilities, also a rule at Google is that no staff member should ever be further away than 100 feet from a source of food. That doesn’t mean that they only have access to vending machines with junk food, or that the cafeterias give out quick, easy and grease-laden meals. Chefs of the highest calibre prepare range of meals, with unique variations on everyday meals. Macaroni and cheese, for instance, comes with wild mushrooms and truffles. In Google we see that the Principal-Agent and Innovation Management concepts and ideas applied. First of all, we have to begin with the need of the Principal, the motor of the transaction. Google needs to keep on the market via innovations and new products. To fulfil those needs, Google hires new development engineers, the Agents, to create those innovations. As Bonding Cost, Google offers the engineers a payroll and to take care of their life needs, such as health, food and, in some cases, housing as an equivalent of their intellectual currency. There is no way to eliminate the Residual Loss, but in Google they try to have the smallest one. They know they are asking a lot, but give a lot as well. As an example of that, Google tries to increase the welfare of their agents at all time more than any other company in the world, by giving them a greater payroll (incentive or Bonding cost) as exchange of actions, decisions and innovations that favors both parts. We can see here the vigilance that the Principal has over his Agent, the Principal does not have a total control over the Agent, but gives him some chores to do to keep him on track and to keep his ideas flowing. This vigilance or monitoring is what we can see as Monitoring Cost. Talking about Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection, Principal and Agent are always on the same track and in a lot of communication, making their bond flexible and healthy. As we said earlier, when both Principal and Agent have the same objective function, Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection, are not an issue. Great part of their success is because they understood for who are they working for: themselves. Google hires young people, not only because their potential and innovative ideas, but also because young people are the greatest part or their market. Young people working and developing tools for young people. Who understands better their needs as themselves! Conclusion Innovation is the goal of every enterprise and person in this world: we were born to improve in any moment. And even though, it is very difficult to create it or implement it. Thankfully, the Principal-Agent help us understand how some part of the human relationships work and how we can keep a healthy staff and also to remunerate them truly. Also it is important to denote that is impossible to know at all the time what the Agent is doing or going to do, but if you create the correct synergy, and set goals that will benefit both parts, the risk of a bad decision and therefore, the vigilance, can be almost eliminated and an ambience of trust is built. Something that surprise me it’s the fact that being in the same situation for a long time doesn’t helps the Innovation, when normally one thinks that this will create experience and knowledge enough to know how to change the method or create a new one to make it better. Bibliography Jean-Jacques Laffont & David Martimort; 2001;The Theory of Incentives:The Principal-Agent Model. Merton H. Miller; Kevin Rock;1985; Dividend Policy under Asymmetric Information; The Journal of Finance, Vol. 40, No. 4. (Sep., 1985), pp. 1031-1051. Ray Rees; 1985; THE THEORY OF PRINCIPAL AND AGENT:PART 2; Bulletin of Economic Research 37:2;1985. Andrew H. Van de Ven; 1986; Central Problems in the Management of Innovation; Management Science, Vol. 32, No. 5, Organization Design (May, 1986), pp. 590-607. Michael C. Jensen,William H. Meckling; 1976; Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt; 1989; Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review. Klaus Spremann; 1987; Agency Theory, Information, and Incentives; pp. 3-38. Bengt Holmstrom; 1979; Moral Hazard and Observability; The Bell Journal of Economics, Vol. 10, No. 1, (Spring, 1979), pp. 74-91. Zaltman G., Duncan R., Holbek J; 1973; Innovations and Organizations. Rogers E.; 1982; Diffusion of Innovations. Schon D.;1971; Beyond the Stable State. Janis I., Groupthink; 1982; â€Å"Sources of Error in Strategic Decision Making,† in J. Pennings (ed.), Strategic Decision Making in Complex Organizations, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1985. Commons J.;1951; The Economics of Collection Action. Ashby W. R.; 1956; An Introduction to Cybernetics.

Women in Combat Rough Draft

Auriel Payan April 7, 2013 English 2010 Rough Draft Women fighting in combat is a topic that has stirred a lot of controversy in the last few months. This comes about from the uplifting of the ban that did not let women fight in combat. Though the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act in 1948, created a corps for women in every branch of military, it was also the beginning of when women would not be included in combat. (Mackenzie 1,) Whenever the topic of war comes to mind, the one’s usually pictured in war are men. People tend to forget that men are not the only ones involved in war or the military. In January 1994, a memorandum from then Secretary of Defense Les Aspin rescinded the â€Å"risk rule† barring women from any positions that could expose them to direct combat, hostile fire, or capture; the rule was replaced by the â€Å"direct ground combat assignment rule,† which more narrowly tailored the restriction to frontline combat positions. † ( Mackenzie, 1) This would completely change the way women in the military would be. Though not as big in number, women still do have a significant role in the military today. They can join the Military but they can have no part in combat.This limits the kinds of jobs that women can have. Woman in the United States want to feel equal to the man and the stigma that war is a â€Å"man’s thing â€Å" has created a lot of controversy, especially in the society that we live in now. Women in our society are breaking away from the boundaries set from the past generations. Women are now taking and seeking roles that were once considered only for men. Just like in our society, women are trying to advance in the military. Advancing in the military, not only has to be being able to fight in combat, but also reaching some of the highest military rankings.The leap for women being able to fight in combat came this past January, when the United State’s Department of Defense, uplifted the ban on women being able to fight in combat. A woman representing her country by joining the military is something that not only takes great sacrifice, but courage as well, and they deserve the utmost respect. If a woman is willing to risk her life for the sake of her country, just like the men, should be allowed to partake in combat. War is much physical as it is mental. Opponents argue that women are physically not capable to succeed out in the battlefield.If a soldier is not physically capable to perform, they could possibly endanger themselves or their fellow soldiers. Soldiers out on the battle field carry various items like electronic equipment, weapons, ammunition, heavy body armor, and enough water, weighing anywhere between fifty to hundred pounds. There is no denying that women on average do have forty to fifty percent less upper-body strength compared to men, but it is not one hundred percent certain that certain women are not fully capable. The statistic that women a re a lot weaker in their upperbody comes up a lot, but it is stretched from the truth. The physical fitness argument, which tends to focus on differences between average male and female bodies, is also undermined by the fact that women who join the military tend to be more fit than the average American. Additional training and conditioning further decrease the gap between female and male service members, and evidence indicates that women usually benefit substantially from fitness-training programs. † (Mackenzie, 1) To join the military there is this mental and physical toughness that one has to have or has to overcome by the time that they are about to be deployed.Yes, there is some women that are not physically capable to perform in the military, but at the same time, there are many men as well. Needless to say, there is a certain kind of person that is needed when joining the military. This goes beyond male and female. Character has a lot more to do with the success of an in dividual than the sex does. Regardless of this, the opposition still argues that women are still not physically capable and this could seriously put people in jeopardy.Here in the United States, opponents of allowing women fight in combat, strongly believe that women are not physically capable, but in other Countries this has been disproven. â€Å"In the 1970s, the Canadian military conducted trials that tested women's physical, psychological, and social capacity for combat roles. The results informed the final decision of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to remove Canada's female combat exclusion. After similar tests, Denmark also lifted its combat ban in the late 1980s. (Mackenzie, 1) If other countries have dismantled this theory that women are not physically capable, why has the United State’s not followed? Qualifications for being able to fight on the battle field should be tested on whether or not the individual is physically and mentally fit, the sex of the individu al should not be the determining factor for why they cannot be out in combat. The United States has had a rich history of patriotism. Citizens, for the most part, are proud of the nation that they live in. When one looks outside for the fourth of July, all one sees is red, white and blue.A lot of Americans have a great sense of pride in the nation that they live in. Most Americans have a sense of recognition for the sacrifices that some people have made in order to make this a very prosperous country. Among those that Americans feel that deserve the recognition are ones that serve in the military. There is the upmost respect and pride that comes along when an American sees a soldier that is fighting for their country. According to Pew Research Center for the People and Press, â€Å"Two-thirds (66%) support allowing women in the military to serve in ground units that engage in close combat, while just 26% are opposed. More than half of Americans are in support of the uplift of this ban. As an American, one has the god given right to choose if they want to defend their country. Upon deciding this, a lot of courage and pride has to come for one to say that they want to join the military. Though women only make up fifteen percent of the United State’s military, or roughly two hundred and fifteen thousand women currently serving, they still deserve the same amount of respect given to the men. Women joining the military are aware of the disadvantages that they are going to face just because of the simple fact that they are women.They realize at a very early start that war for men and war for women are two distinct things. It is a given that women are much more susceptible to negative aspects of war like sexual assault and sexual harassment. The fifteen percent of women that make up the military have chosen to overlook these negativities and have chosen to join the military regardless. These women are aware of the risks and dangerous and still have chosen to join the military. The courage, dedication and willingness of women in the military alone, should be the reason for why they should be allowed to fight in combat.The debate on women fighting in combat has a similar history to the debate on the policy â€Å"Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. † In 1950, President Truman signed the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This policy sets up discharge rules for homosexual members or anyone seen acting out in homosexual ways (Cristina Rivero, 1). This was the beginning of disallowing openly gays from joining the military. During Ronald Reagan’s presidency, it was made clear from his staff that â€Å" Homosexuality is incompatible with military service. Those that were believed to act in homosexual ways or were gay were discharged because of the fear that homosexuals would disrupt the order of the military. According to the supporters of this ban, the disruption was going to be so great, that the military as a whole was in jeopa rdy. Many people felt, that this â€Å"would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability. † (Wiki, 1) In essence, military officials were scared that soldiers would end up betraying or not performing to their peak if there were an openly gay member in their unit.This would all change In 1993 when President Clinton, ordered that a bill be passed that military members would not be asked their sexual orientation. This would become to be known as â€Å"Don’t Ask, Don’t tell. † In simple terms, if one was gay and was in the military, one could not openly express themselves as being gay. This stirred a lot of controversy because people believed that one should be able to express their sexual orientation without repo caution or fear of being discriminated against. Even though in 2003, President Clinton would want the â€Å"Don’t ask, don’t tel l† policy removed, it would not come about until years later.In 2011, don’t ask, don’t tell would come to an end. As the end of don’t ask, don’t tell came, a lot of military officials came out. Several high ranking military officials decided it was the appropriate time to finally come out. For years, the fear that openly gay members would be detrimental to the military kept many military men and women from being open about their sexuality. There was such a great fear when in reality there was minimal or even no consequences from openly gay members serving in the military. This is much like the debate on women fighting in combat today.Women have been serving in the military for decades. Hundreds of women have been hurt and even killed while proudly serving their country. With the proper training, any military member should be able to perform at their peak. If someone is not physically, mentally ready to be out on the battlefield, one should not be ou t there. There have been gay members in the military that have had the proper training leading to successful military careers. The fact of their sexual orientation did not limit or hurt them while serving in the military. Like men, women have been serving their country with honor and pride for decades.But unlike men, the women in the military do not tend to receive as much recognition for their service to their country. Women may only make up fifteen percent of the military, but they have been excluded from twenty percent of the jobs in the military. â€Å"According to the Department of Defense, ending the ban will open up 237,000 positions to women. † (Hallman, 1) With the uplift of this ban, more opportunities will be opened for women not only in the types of jobs that they can have, but the rankings that they could possibly reach. Sexual assaults in the military towards women tend to go unreported.By allowing women to reach higher-rankings, there could be the possibility t hat sexual assaults go down or more likely to go reported. â€Å"Recent surveys of female veterans found that close to a third were victims of rape or assault while they were serving, which is double the rate in the civilian population. † (Hallman, 1) More often than not, sexual assaults go unreported in the military. By having women as higher-ranking officials, the sexual assault epidemic in the military may start being addressed properly. The proper steps in reporting sexual assaults may take place.There is always this fear that there will be severe repo cautions if women come forward. Women may feel a lot more comfortable reporting sexual assault to a women high-ranking official. Allowing women to fight in combat will be a positive movement that may even get rid or limit the negative aspect of the military. During war, soldiers encounter a variety of difficult tasks, mishaps and dangerous situations. All of these things are inevitable and are a part of war. Soldiers are pu t through situations that are not only physically but also mentally exhausting. Because of this a lot of soldiers develop PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. † (Mayo Clinic) From 2009, post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses have increased in women from fifteen percent up to twenty-two percent. Men have increased from nine percent to fourteen percent in the diagnosis of PTSD. (Anderson, 1) This alone raises a lot of questions whether women are mentally stable enough to be on the front lines.Though it is true that women are being diagnosed at a much higher rate than men, there are probably a lot of men that are not willing to come forward and admit that they have post-traumatic stress disorder. Men in general tend to not want to come forward because of t he fear that they will be looked as less of a man or less honorable. Women on the other hand are much more likely than men to come forward and because of this, the statistic may not be as accurate and be swayed. Women are traditionally viewed as these caring, emotional, and even soft individuals when compared to men.But realistically, in the military all of these characteristics of traditional women are dropped. It takes a certain kind of individual, man or woman, to join the military. The women that do decide to join the military are not like the traditional women. These women are tough, rigid individuals that are not much different to their male counterparts. The military lifestyle is a lot different than the civilian lifestyle. Yes it is true that women officially may not be allowed to fight on the frontlines, but that does not mean that women are not exposed to the same dangers as the men who are.USA Today States, â€Å"since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, 292,0 00 women have served in those combat zones out of a total of almost 2. 5 million, Pentagon records show. In both wars, 152 women have died from combat or noncombat causes, records show, and 958 have been wounded in action. † Much like the men, some women that have served for their country have died. This just goes to show that even though women typically aren’t in the battlefield, the risk of them dying is significant. The military should be black and white not male or female.A lot of people are calling the uplifting of women fighting in combat an â€Å"experiment†. Is it really an experiment or just an official document that allows women to fight in combat? Women in the military are exposed to the same dangers as much as the men are. With the uplifting of this ban, men and women will now receive the same training essential for the front lines. Both men and women should receive this training in order to guarantee that both will be successful. If a soldier is not prepared mentally or physically, they should not be allowed to fight in combat.There should be rigorous testing on each individual soldier determining if they are combat ready. The sex of the soldier should not be the deciding factor whether or not someone is combat ready. There are plenty of men that are physically and mentally ready, but there is also plenty of women as well. Women are becoming more equal in our society vastly due to the fact that they are fully capable of doing any task that men can perform. Citations Mackenzie, M. H. (2012). Let Women Fight. Foreign Affairs, 91(6), 32-42. Tom V. B. and Jim M, (2013, January 23).USA Today http://www. usatoday. com/story/news/nation/2013/01/23/panetta-women-combat-pentagon/1859221/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Don't_ask,_don't_tell Mackenzie, M. H. (2013,January 23) http://www. foreignaffairs. com/articles/138200/megan-h-mackenzie/let-women-fight Hallman, L. (2013, March 6) End of Combat Ban Will Give Women Recognition They Dese rvehttp://www. foreignaffairs. com/articles/138200/megan-h-mackenzie/let-women-fight Pew Research (2013, January 29) http://www. people-press. org/2013/01/29/broad-support-for-combat-roles-for-women/1/

Friday, August 16, 2019

Marketing for Volkswagen Essay

Introduction The Volkswagen Group, one of world`s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. The Group operates 48 production plants in thirteen Europe countries and a further six countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa. Around the world, more than 360,000 employees produce almost 25,400 vehicles or are involved in vehicle-related services each working day. The Volkswagen Group sells its vehicles in more than 150 countries. Recently years, global warming has become an international problem. The co2 from the vehicle is one of the most direct courses. Now, as the leader of the automobile manufacturers. Volkswagen pools all of its eco-friendly innovations under an umbrella brand that signifies efficiency: Blue Motion Technologies. This year, the vehicles labeled with Bluemotion tag is going to sell in eastern china and shanghai. Main body 1. Marketing concept of the Volkswagen Shanghai 1.1Original ideals A company always needs original ideals. Especially a big company like Volkswagen. The market changes everyday, people`s consumptive ideas changing everyday also. So, original ideals can help the company catch its old customers and attract new customers. 1.2 Be a civic-minded company Always pay more attention to the environment and do more public activities. Volkswagen is a big company, but also a part of the society. As a automobile manufacturer, should always pay attention to the environment. The vehicles it makes will produce much waste gas. So, pay attention to the environment protection can show the responsibilities of the society and its customers. 1.3Customer-focused Customer is the source of life of the company. A company always needs to take care of the customers. Give them best vehicles, never cheat them. Never let them lose the trust of the company. Good after-sell service is also needed. No one can promise the vehicle won`t have problem after the customer bought it. Fix it and a sincerely apologize can solve many unnecessary problems. Focus on the customer can also make a good benefit. For example, the Touran from Volkswagen has a good humanistic design. This car have a perfect order of its seats. The car itself is not big, but this design makes the space inside much larger than any cars in the same size. This makes Touran be the best choice for the middle class and makes a lot of money for the Volkswagen. 2. Market positioning Eastern China and shanghai is the richest place of China. This part produce the largest part of GDP in China. This is the best place to sell the vehicle with bluemotion technology. But not everyone in eastern China and shanghai will be interested. Here is the positioning of the market. 2.1 Market classify 2.1.1 Market in single people By the great economic growing in China, more and more people can by a private car. This would be a great market for the vehicle with bluemotion technology. 2.1.1.1 Classify by sex Most males have a great interested in the vehicle, a large part of them would like the big vehicle with a strong power. Many cars in Volkswagen, like Lamborghini. A supercar. Many men dreamed to have one. Females would be interest in a small and good looking vehicle. The Volkswagen Beetle`s streamlined outlook and colorful appearance is the best choice for a women. 2.1.1.2 Classify by age In technically, the Volkswagen car is suitable for very level of age, someone who can drive a car. But the main level is the people from 25 to 60, who have ability to buy a car by himself. So, the main market is the adult from 25 to 60. 2.1.1.3Classify by income The vehicles produce by Volkswagen are in the medium and high grade. The bluemotion technology is mainly use in the vehicles better than average. People with low income will not able to afford it. People with high income would like to buy the cars in top grate. So, people`s income between 5000-10,000RMB per month will be interest in the vehicle with bluemotion technology. 2.1.1.4Classify by the road condition Road condition is a major determinant of the vehicles. Road in downtown will be suitable for the vehicles produce by Volkswagen. Countryside is also all right, but not a best choice for it. 2.1.1.5Classify by the occupation Eastern China and shanghai have a large territory and have a big amount of occupations. Most occupations need a transport. Someone who lives away from his company will need a economical and environmental vehicle. The vehicle with bluemotion technology will be their best choice. Above all, a person, no matter a woman or a man, age between 20 to 60, who have a driving ability, can make money between 5000 to 10,000 per month, need a vehicle to go to work and live in a place with good road condition, will be the market of the Volkswagen`s car with bluemotion technology. 2.1.2 Market in public transport 2.1.2.1 Public transport is the mainly transportation in a big city. Most city in eastern China and shanghai have a mature public transport system. Includes: subway, bus, ferry, light railway and taxi. Bus and taxi should use the vehicle and the vehicles with bluemotion technology is the best choice for taxi. 2.1.2.2 Every taxi company have their own needed and choice. Vehicles from Volkswagen with bluemotion technology is suit for the companies which needs lower fuel cost, more steady fuel supply and of course ,better environmental protection. This technology make the car to use diesel oil and make the much lower oil consumption. It also provide lower co2. This is good for the environment . Above all, the taxi company which need needs lower fuel cost, more steady fuel supply and better environment protection will need the vehicle with bluemotion technology . 2.1.3 Market in collective Collective is a big market for vehicle selling. Almost every collective need some vehicles for transport. No meter a factor or a government department. 2.1.3.1 First, a collective should be a large collective that can afford the cost of the cars and the fuel the cars need. This a large money if there is a large amount of cars. 2.1.3.2 Second, the collective should have enough environmental awareness. The main aim of bluemotion is environmental protection. The collective which have environmental awareness will like to try the vehicles with this technology. 2.1.3.3 Third, the collective should have the wish to buy a car. Many collectives have saturated with the cars already. The Volkswagen should find out the collectives which still need cars. Above all, the collectives which have enough fund, environmental awareness and willing to buy a car is the main market for the Volkswagen. 2.2 Market positioning In the end, the main market for the vehicle from Volkswagen with bluemotion technology is: the people no matter a woman or a man, age between 20 to 60, who have a driving ability, can make money between 5000 to 10,000 per month, need a vehicle to go to work and live in a place with good road condition, the taxi company which need needs lower fuel cost, more steady fuel supply and better environment protection, the collectives which have enough fund, environmental awareness and willing to buy a car. Conclusion The Volkswagen should focus on the customers and always have original ideals. The market positioning is also very important. The Volkswagen should always know where the customers are and who is the customer. This will help the Volkswagen to sell the vehicle with bluemotion technology a lot. Reference http://auto.china.com http://www.vw.com.cn

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Airline Bankruptcy Filings May Be Soon

Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines are expected to file for bankruptcy protection in September to get ahead of the new bankruptcy law. The new legislature includes a provision that restricts payouts to executives in the time of bankruptcy protection and calls for quicker reorganization. Both Northwest and Delta failed to cope with rising fuel costs and continue to lose money. In fact, Northwest’s losses got even worse, with second-quarter loss going from $182 million in 2004 to $225 million in 2005. Delta’s loss in the second quarter was still higher: the airline lost $382 million. The new, more restrictive law was probably inspired by delays in the reorganization of some companies. For instance, United has been under bankruptcy protection for two and a half years. During this period the management failed to prepare a reorganization plan and has asked for several extensions of the exclusivity period. I believe this shows two things. First, it is painful to realize that the once booming airline industry has not yet recovered after September 11th attacks. True, an important factor is fuel cost, and this has been rising for a while due to increasing oil costs. But I think if the industry had not survived the nasty crisis of the attacks, it would be better prepared to meet the rise in fuel cost. Second, it shows the difficult choices the rulers of the nation have to make. Take, for instance, bankruptcy – they certainly do not want to leave the airline companies out there in the cold coping with problems on their own. On the contrary, they do not want to encourage management to reserve huge bonuses for themselves at the time of the crisis. And yet companies in trouble need all the managerial talent they can get and so need to keep their managers. It sometimes scares me to think how careful a government leader needs to be to balance all these issues in order to stimulate management but also to keep their appetites in check. No Driver’s License? No Parking Space The article by Daniel Li focuses on the problems of illegal immigrants residing in one of the apartment complexes in Anaheim, Ca., caused by the decision of the management company to deny parking right to everybody who is unable to produce a driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance. The opponents of the decision say that it is discriminating against illegal immigrants who are residing in Hermosa Village. The management definitely knows that many of the tenants are undocumented and thus have trouble getting a driver’s license. These people cannot park in the streets of the low-income neighborhood after its streets became public. Now they cannot park in front of their houses as well. The management company representatives say that they did not mean to discriminate against illegal immigrants. They merely wanted to protect the safety of their tenants and remove those who had licenses revoked after they got in trouble on the road. The issue revives the debate the rights of illegal immigrants. Many believe they should be given drivers’ licenses. On the contrary, others say giving them the right would encourage more illegal immigration. In my view, the management company has to decide for themselves how they position their housing. If they present themselves as cheap property for all kinds of low-income families and singles including illegal immigrants, it is probably absurd to ask people to present the documents they cannot have. Otherwise, they have to declare a war on illegal immigration and start looking for more ‘decent’ tenants. True, this can be very much like cutting the branch on which one is sitting. As a management company, they have to show more consideration for the people they cater to and to be more committed to their customers who may not always be the most wealthy, well-bred or even law-abiding people in the world. Taking a stand on illegal immigration is a personal choice, but one has to be caring with one’s clients. Â