Wednesday, October 30, 2019

See Below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

See Below - Essay Example Sample Population: 5 medical personnel;10 transcriptionists of different cultures with at least three years of experience in the job; 6 major patients in the hospitals who know that their record of health developments is actually noted through transcriptioning The implications of this purposed research will prove or disprove the theory that transcription errors effect the patients length of stay. This could give significant documentation that computer entery orders are essential for optimal care. The collected for this study will be presented through a chart review. If a patient has a length of stay (LOS) longer than the admitting diagnosis DRG allows then that chart will be reviewed. Looking for medical transcription errors. If a second diagnosis was found during the stay the DRG allowance of LOS will determine if that chart will need to be review. (IE if a patient is dx with pneumonia the LOS is 3 days and they are in for 10 days. The initial review is looking for a secondary diagnosis if none then a complete chart review would take place.) FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE'S theory on the level of satisfaction that the patients receive based from the service of the nurses and medical per

Monday, October 28, 2019

Response Mc Graw-Hill Essay Example for Free

Response Mc Graw-Hill Essay With respect to the topic about the role of perception in a conflict, I am going to relate this to my personal conflict with a neighbor in the community that I live. I experience this conflict when our neighbor reprimanded my brother in a humiliating twice in different times for the reason that the latter used to play his radio component in high volume. Considering the distance of our houses, my mother believed that there was really no disturbance that was created by my brother. However, the said neighbor is still angry with us and tried to spread the issue around the neighborhood. That made my family more angry against our neighbor and we even showed disgust with him. As such, there are two things that are important for the same, and these include communication behaviors and the perceptions of these behaviors ( Hocker and Wilmot, 2001, p. 26). In addition to that, the way a conflict is characterized metaphorically creates a certain perception of what can happen, what will happen, what should happen and with what kind of feeling actions might take place (17). For instance, my perception with the conflict that I was involved was that, the constant show of utter disrespect my neighbor has shown me by wearing an angry face everytime I am around means that he disliked my presence. It may happen that I will do the same to my neighbor as a counter-reaction or maybe I will create a bad impression on him in my mind. I can detect that there are so many factors affecting my perceptions. The fact that I am also a guy, I hated my neighbor so much and his family background and cultural display are another factors of the conflict. Actually, my neighbor is a foreigner, particularly a Chinese. We have different cultural orientations and perceptions. He hates noise around him and knowing my brother who loves listening to loud music, they would really end up enemies by conflicting needs and likes. I am really affected to this conflict because it is a matter that affects my whole family. Reference Hocker, J. and Wilmot, W. (2001). Interpersonal Conflict. USA: Mc Graw-Hill.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Central Australian Food and Clothing Essay -- Culture Australia Essays

Central Australian Food and Clothing Weather and climate are immensely influential forces in every society, and central Australia demonstrates this nicely. Throughout history, the influence of weather has been evident. The aborigines, European settlers and modern Australians all had or have to negotiate the impacts of weather in their daily lives. The respective cultures of the aborigines and the Europeans are products of weather and worked together to create modern society in Australia. The modern culture has been produced by a combination of cultural and climatic forces and has changed over time as the different groups within it influenced each other. The cultural aspects that I will focus on in this paper are food and clothing. Both have been carefully shaped by cultural and climatic aspects over time, and demonstrate how the aborigines and European settlers influenced each other. In Australia the food commonly eaten today is a mixture of indigenous Australian food, food that was brought there by settlers in the 1800s, and food brought over by immigrants from Germany, Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Israel, and Southeast Asia (Avameg 2007). Before British colonization, the Aborigines mostly ate meats, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and roots. Grubs, lizards, snakes and moths were an important part of their diets as well. The name for this category of food that is indigenous to Australia is â€Å"bush tucker† or bush food (Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portal 2007). Bush tucker is determined by weather and climate. The climate in a certain area dictates what can grow and live there. The aborigines eat whatever bush food is readily available in the area that they inhabit. An important staple for central Australian aborigines... ...ynergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-3010.1997.tb01069.x>. Lister, P.R., P. Holford, T. Haigh, and D.A. Morrison. 1996. Acacia in Australia: Ethnobotany and potential food crop. p. 228-236. In: J. Janick (ed.), Progress in new crops. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA. November 25, 2007. . Martinez, Julia. â€Å"When wages were clothes: dressing down Aboriginal workers in the Northern Territory.† University of Wollongong and Australian Society for the Study of Labour History. 2005. November 27, 2007. . â€Å"Modern Australian fashion textiles.†October 12, 2007. Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portal. November 25, 2007. .

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Project Risk Management

Project risk management is aimed a avoiding bad surprises once we start executing the project plan. During the creation of the project plan, we identify risk, analyses them and plan our action to avoid the risk, transfer it or implement a contingency plan if the risk occurs. After we have planned our risk management process for the project, we begin by identifying the risks that the project faces. It's important to remember that these risks can be adverse to the project in the sense of causing it to finish late or cost more.Risk can also be positive or favorable in that is may let us deliver what's expected for less cost and finish early. We do the risk identification process with the project manager, project sponsor, stakeholders and team members. Risk quantification is the process of evaluating the risks that have been identified and developing the data that will be needed for making decisions The objective of quantification is to establish a way of arranging the risks in the order of importance. In most projects there will not be enough time or money to take action against every risk that is identified.Risk response development involves defining enhancement steps for opportunities and responses to threats. These generally fall into three categories †¢ Avoidance – eliminating a specific threat, usually by eliminating the cause †¢ Mitigation – reducing the expected monetary value of a risk event by reducing the probability of occurrence, reduce the risk event value, or both. †¢ Acceptance – accepting the consequences. Risk response control is the process by which risks are kept in the forefront of management discussions and thus, reviewed on a cyclic basis.Items that the risk register will hold in order to monitor and drive this process will include: †¢ Outstanding action; †¢ Action owner; †¢ Action issue date; †¢ Action status; †¢ Action response; and †¢ Action close-out date. The Risk Control Group will monitor the progress of the implementation of the agreed risk control measures. This will ensure that all risk control measures are incorporated efficiently and that any variations in the measure or any changes to the risk profile are identified and appropriate action is taken. The Risk Register will be a dynamic, growing document and will be updated, amended and revised on a regular basis.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Appearance vs. Reality †Comparative Essay Essay

It is all about Looking Good: A Comparison between The Role of Appearance vs. Reality In Macbeth and Frankenstein.  Macbeth is one of the works of playwright William Shakespeare and it is considered one of his most powerful tragedies. It tells the story of a good warrior, Macbeth, who turns bad because of ambition and greed. It is a classic tale of biting more than one can chew. A few centuries later, an author named Mary Shelley wrote a gothic novel, Frankenstein, about a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein who creates a being and abandons it. The creature tries to be accepted by both society and his creator. Although these two texts are of different genres and eras, with Shakespeare’s play showing strong themes of ambition and corruption and Shelley’s novel showing themes of justice, madness and the sublime, both authors use the theme of appearance vs. reality. They use this to show how human judgment is based solely on appearances, how an individual can chang e because of this judgment and how appearance plays a role in determining one’s place in society. It is human nature to judge others on their outward looks. People depend mostly on their visual senses as the strongest point of judgment. For example, in the play Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife deceive the king with their actions and words to make him feel welcome while they are actually planning his murder. (Macbeth I. v). They know that people judge on appearance and decide to use it to their advantage. They act how they want people to see them, as loyal subjects of the king as opposed to deceitful, cunning and ambitious people which was what they really were. As said by Lady Macbeth, â€Å"to [deceive] the time, look like the time.† (Macbeth I. v.70-71). As vision is the primary sense of man, the basis of human judgment is the shape, colour or texture of the overall outward appearance. This determines if something is good or bad. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s creation had yellow skin, watery eyes and straight black lips. He was not what was considered beautiful (Shelley, 58). The creature looked ugly and vile, and ugly and vile is not considered good so it was judged as bad. Eventually, appearance catches up with reality and an individual could change or become what others think they are because of how they look. The judgment dished out by people can be harmful to both the individual being judged and the ones doing the judging. It can lead to one building up different feelings inside of them. In Macbeth’s case, it led to overconfidence. He started out good; he was a brave and loyal warrior for his country (Macbeth I. ii.30-45). Then he committed a murder to satisfy his ambition to become king (II. ii) and he got away with it because no one could guess from the way he acts the bad intentions he has or the crime he has committed. He goes on killing and still no can tell because everyone keeps judging based on what they see on the outside. Macbeth reaches a point where he decides to let â€Å"the very firstlings of [his] heart be the very firstlings of [his] hand† (IV. i.161-162). By this time, Macbeth has turned into a tyrant and this is harmful to both him and the people of Scotland. Likewise, the judgment dished out for Frankenstein’s creation had a detrimental effect. He was initially compassionate and thoughtful until his naà ¯ve view of humans was destroyed by the unjust cruelty he faced (â€Å"Frankenstein- The Theme of Appearance.† 1). The creature was good but was never given the chance to so much as speak before he was turned away because of the way he looked (Shelley, 108). Eventually, he becomes threatening and malicious because of the hurtful treatment he had to bear (Shelley 148). Wrong judgment can have an effect, as shown in both Macbeth and the creature’s situation. The one difference is that Macbeth was already ambitious but got worse while in the creature’s case, he completely turned around and went from good to bad. In both cases, each individual’s place in society was affected. People are ranked into categories in society. It creates a social hierarchy where everyone knows their place and who they should associate with. There are ways to determine this and appearance plays a role. For example, if there was no predetermined idea of how good things should look and instead morals, intelligence and compassion was emphasized more than one’s outward appearance, Frankenstein’s creature would never have suffered isolation because of his unattractiveness (â€Å"Frankenstein- The Theme of Appearance.† 1). His place in society is at the very bottom because he has no one else who is willing to be associated with him and no one else who is like him. In Macbeth’s case, he was aiming for the highest rank; Kingship. In his time, a  king is considered closest to God and therefore the highest position in social hierarchy. Macbeth kills the king to become king and because no one judged him as capable of committing such an act, but instead judged him on how he appeared to be a loyal subject of the king, he attained the highest position in society. The theme of things not always being as they should be has been used throughout the history of literature. This is shown by Shakespeare and Shelley who wrote in completely different contexts and centuries. They show how judging based on appearances can have an effect on the individual, how the visual sense is man’s strongest sense so judgment is instinctively based on appearances and how the way one looks puts them in their place in society. The prejudice of looking good meaning being good and looking bad meaning being bad has been around for a while and will probably be around for as long as humans are able to see. Works Cited. â€Å"Frankenstein – Theme of Appearance.† 1999. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. 2nd ed. Ken Roy. Toronto: Nelson, 2001. Print. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. New York: Penguin, 1992. Print.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Colony I Would Live In

The Colony I Would Live In During the late 1200's early 1600's Europeans first started bring settlers over to America.In1585, Sir Walter Raleigh decided to settle in America. An attempt which failed. As settlers kept coming over, there became thirteen colonies. These colonies were divided into sections. New England which was: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. The Middle Colonies which were: Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. Last but not least, Southern Colonies consisted of: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Out of these thirteen colonies, I'd want to live in the Massachusetts, a colony in the New England section.Massachusetts was a great colony to live in. After all, you are guinea pigs. The people who sailed on the Mayflower were very lucky. Even though most of them died, the survivors must be strong enough to do anything. Massachusetts was a very important colony and is one of the most outstanding of the thirteen.English: This is a pa inting of Simon Bradstreet, w...New England has bad soil, and long winters, which made it hard to make a lot of money off of farming. Therefore, New Englanders made grain mills and sawmills. New England were very good shipbuilders and had good trade with other countries. In Massachusetts, the fish industry really helped boost their economy. On the other hand, the Southern Colonies made a lot of money from farming, like growing rice, tobacco, and cattle. The Middle Colonies grew wheat. I don't think farming in a very good way to make money, because it requires a lot of laborious tasks.The fact that New England didn't need so much land for farming helped it become a tight knit community. They had a village school, a village church and a town hall. Within three years, the Pennsylvania colony's (part of the Middle Colonies) population had gone from zero...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Amazon Strategic Analysis Essays

Amazon Strategic Analysis Essays Amazon Strategic Analysis Essay Amazon Strategic Analysis Essay The overview of Amazon. com Amazon. com is an e-commerce company from America. The company was found by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and was one of the first major companies to sell goods on the Internet. It began as a solely online bookstore. With years of successful development its main business diversified into many other products and services in a wide range. Today Amazon. com has become one of the biggest online retailers and web services provider in the world. The chart below shows the financial performance of Amazon in recent years.From 2007 to 2011, the revenue increased dramatically in contrast with the net income. According the latest data revealed, by the end of 2012, Amazon’s revenue was over 61 billion US dollars. Under the strategy of internalization Amazon. com has developed separate websites for Canada, UK, Germany, France, China and so on. It also has many customer service centers and fulfillment warehouses in many countries. Figure 1 [pic] Source from: http://healthcare. globaldata. com/expertinsightdetails. aspx? prid=985 This report is divided into a few sections.The first section is to analyze Amazon’s strategic position through a deep research of its external environment. In this section, approaches like PESTLE and Porter’s Five Force Model are deployed to find out Amazon’s competitive environment. The second section is to investigate the internal environment of the company. The SWOT analysis tool will be used to present a clear picture of the company and its performance. The third section introduces the business model of Amazon and shows how the company performed in recent years and gets the strategic position of the company.In the last section, all these analysis above are used to evaluate the suitability of Amazon’s corporate strategy, some real business cases and literature reviews are involved to get best criteria. The main purpose of this report is construct a link between the business environment and the strategy employed. To avoid the confusions brought from multiple markets and segments, in this report the strategy we analyzed will be in a corporate level. Considering the access to information and case timeliness, the time frame will be focus on 2007 to 2012. 1. 2 Amazon’s business model and primary businessAs the pioneer on the Internet and online retailer, Amazon faced large potential opportunities and rapidly growing markets. In the beginning of 21 century, Amazon joined the booming of Internet industry with other great organizations like Google and Yahoo and launched to a rapidly expanding. Benefits from upsurge of internet sector stocks, Amazon raised a large amount of cash from share market and this ensured its expansion over the world. In addition, compared to traditional retailing, Amazon’s business model had clear competitive advantages, such as more reasonable price, more purchase convenience and larger variety of products.Furthermore, Amazon also clearly secured the first-mover advantage. It has best reputation on the book retailing, mature logistic and supply chain, and large database and so on. In addition, Amazon’s business model was varying diversified due to its media channels; it could easily expand its product ranges to other products. The amazon. com business model assumes that the expanding number of Internet users will create a new mass market with value low prices and convenience. And they will shop for a large number of their needs using the computer. By removing the overheads of a traditional bricks-and-mortar store amazon. om is able to reduce the costing and so charge customers at lower prices. Amazon has three main distinct businesses: Amazon retail; Amazon marketplace and Amazon web services (Edwards, Lisa, 2013). Amazon retail started from online bookstore and then expanded to many other products like electronics. Amazon marketplace is a third-party selling platform which allows individuals to sell goods and services online. Moreover, this online marketplace also has some other functions like fulfillment and Amazon check out, which is similar with the PayPal. Amazon web service is an integration of leveraged technology developed by Amazon.They are mainly based on its online retail platform and offer customers web services like Amazon Cloudwatch and Amazon CloudFront. In the environment analysis (PESTLE and Porter’s Five Forces) we mainly focus on Amazon retail business. Strategic position of Amazon The external environment is referred as the macro-environment. This includes the broad environmental factors which affects organizations at various levels. It is important to consider the potential impact of the external factors on the individual organizations (Johnsonet al, 2006, P65).To have a deeply understanding on Amazon’s strategic position, we firstly analyze its external environment of the company through the PESTEL model. Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, his expectation to his company is not just profits. According to the mission statement of the group, customer centric and technological innovation seems to be the priorities of his business. Amazon desires to be Earth’s most customer centric company. And this determines that Amazon’s strategic position will be more concentrate on the growth of the group and enable it to be a great enterprise rather than a money maker. . 1 PESTLE analysis PESTEL analysis is used to identify how future trends in the political, economical, social, technological environments might influence an organization (Johnsonet al, P65). Those drivers of change in these aspects will be found out and their impacts on more than the industry will be identified. Political factors: Promotions from government are essential to the Internet industry. From 21 century, the USA government started high investment to the national infrastructures and this leads to the boom of the development of Internet industry over the world.This stimulates the number of personal computers and connection with networks globally. More and more people around the world today have opportunities to shopping on the internet and spend hours of their daily time on it. The construction of network and increasing transportation between countries means that a consumer from UK could choose purchase goods from an American online retailer. The telecom liberalization promotes faster and better access for national users to websites in other countries. And with the spread of the construction of Internet, more and more consumers from developing countries have chances to browse the Amazon. om and purchase on it. This has positive impacts on Amazon’s globalization and international expansion. However, restrictive policies in some countries may limit the operation of the Amazon especially in international expansion. For example, Google. com is banned in China since governmental decision arguing that it threats the community and national market with inappropriate content. Some region protective polices also pose obstacles for Amazon in its international expansion. These problems need been taken consideration in Amazon’s globalization strategy and should been avoided.Economic factors One significant benefit brought from the economy development is the increasing disposable income in recent decades. Even though the world economy was attacked by the financial crisis and downturn, the developing countries, mainly China and India, provide more potential and real purchasing power for the e-retailing industry. Amazon. com had expanded its business into these two countries with insufficient attention. The strategy direction under this trend is recommended that to put more attention for those growing markets and to adjust their marketing strategies.The fluctuant interest rate is another factor effecting Amazon’s business and profits. Today the credit card use is more and more popular and more acceptable by e-retailing merchants. Meanwhile the installment is welcome to those consumers who have less cash. When consumers decide to pay in installment, they usually have to pay extra fees in a fixed interest rate which refer to the current bank rate. Therefore the changing interest rate could obviously influence consumers’ outcome and profits of merchants. For Amazon, the expectation of the future interest rate is an important tool in its products pricing and payment scheme.Exchange rate Since Amazon is a US-based company, if the U. S. dollar weakens against foreign currencies, transactions conducted in foreign currency denominations will increase and inflate revenues, operating expenses, and net income. Moreover, one of Amazon’s corporate strategies are profit from lower pricing and large volume, which means the fluctuation of exchange rate could extremely influence Amazon’s pricing management. Social-cultural factors Figure 2 [pic] Source: gesterling. wordpress. com. From: http://webscience. org/web-observatory/about/tracking-explosive-growth/Data from Webscience. org indicates that growth of internet from 2004, the users internet increased dramatically by over 2 billion and this period is called social web stage. The social web media users including Facebook and Twitters account large amount of the population. This creates a new channel for promotion. It is good news for Amazon to expand their business and develop related marketing promotion through this new channel. Collaborations with these new social web like facebook and twitter means seizing huge potential customers and wider promotion chain.This part will be more detailed introduced in later SWOT analysis sector. Other cultural factors which play significant effects on Amazon’s operation is the habits of shopping online for public. In past, e-business sounds like a high-tech thing and is far away from public consumers. In 1996, the marketing and internet teams from IBM coined the term e-business and defined it as the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business. At beginning this kind of business activities are acceptable in high-tech industries and more popular between companies.With the development of internet and population of personal computer use, today all sectors especially individuals have been the main users in this business activities. The B2C or C2C business models could be seen everywhere in today’s online retailing and the awareness of shopping online is common and usual in our daily lives. Technological factors As mentioned before, from 1990s, the information evolution stimulated the science boom in the internet industry and this changed the communication forms of human beings. There is an increase in broadcasting, information and telecommunication technologies for internet access.Individuals today are more easy to receive information through Internet and they also search things and information on the web. This provides Amazon initials to set up a platform to carry out their business and web services. In addition, the trend of computerized office enables those big groups to seek web services from high-tech companies like IBM and Cisco. Amazon has first move advantages in this area. In 2002, Amazon launched Amazon Web Service (AWC) which provides programmatic access to latent features on its website. The demands of this kind of service help Amazon expand its business from traditional e-retailer to a wider market.And this part will be presented in later SWOT analysis. Environmental factors Power resource shortage It is well known that the global climate crisis has been a serious problem today and one of the most reasons for this problem is pollution from transportations like vehicle and bus. The lack of energy power like petrol and diesel also restricts people’s daily outdoor activities in a certain range. And these problems play positive effects on the e-retailing industry since customers can do purchasing before a computer. They do not need to drive miles to a super market in the town center.The convenience and energy saving makes certain influences when consumers doing a weekend purchasing. Customers are more concerned about whether their orders could arrive safely and timely. Therefore it is important for Amazon to improved their fulfillment center and logistic channel to provide best customer satisfaction and to reinforce their leadership in this industry. Legal factors There is no uniform regulations governing e-commerce in USA and UK but some related regulations like Data Protection Act in UK and Federal Trade Commission in USA may impact potential risk in Amazon’s operations, especially in its AWC web services.The mass surveillance scandal occurred in 2013 which is leaded by CIA and NSA in America. Although this kind of secret surveillance programs are always away from public eyes those international internet companies like Google could be involved in such sensitive cases. Amazon needs be aware of this kind of cases and at least keeps out from an affair. In addition, bad news revealed months before is that for Amazon in its China market is that the Chinese government may take actions to charge e-retailers taxes for their online transactions. China government had no clear tax payment act against the online purchase before.This will obviously influence those e-retailers in China market since they have to pay extra money if they still want a competitive pricing. For Amazon, it has to change its overall marketing strategy to prepare the future. Summary of PESTEL The analysis of PESTLE indicates an increasing and attractive market to be exploited by Amazon. The key drivers of changes enable Amazon to reposition its strategy in different levels. The increasing number of computer users means huge potential customers of its e-retailer business. The use of internet as a social networking channel has created new opportunities to be exploited.The global nature of Amazon’s activities also suggests that strategies developed should comply with the different legal obligations internationally. The possible regulations acted by Chinese government means Amazon has to change marketing strategies in its penetration to this huge market. 2. 2 Industry and competitive environment analysis - Porter’s Five Forces Model In this section, the operating environment will be taken a closer look at the e-retailer industry, to be more specific, the online bookstore and electronics industry which Amazon is mainly involved.The analysis is based on Michael Porter’s (1980) Five-Force model. Porter’s five forces consist of entry, threat of substitution, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers and rivalry among current competitors. These five forces jointly determine the intensity of competition within the industry and in turn help firms to set their strategies. We will use the proposed Porter’s five forces model to the state of competition on the e-retailing industry analysis in order to understand the the intensity of competition. Threat of new entrantThreat of new entrants is low. It would be virtually impossible for a new company to reach the magnitude of inventory and status that Amazon. com maintains. Amazon. com has been in the internet marketplace for about thirteen years now- it would be extremely difficult for a start-up company in the industry to raise enough capital to even compete with Amazon. com on a lower level. Figure 3 [pic] Source: gesterling. wordpress. com Although the cost to set up a new online bookstore is not high and more and more big traditional merchants try to enter this market today.To following the trend of shopping online, even those supermarkets like Tesco could set up a similar website to compete with Amazon. However, Amazon has been in the internet marketplace for more than thirteen years and it has extremely built its first move advantages. Few competitors could raise enough capital to even compete with Amazon in a high level. Amazon also built its brand recognition in American and UK markets. Brand Recognition and customer loyalty may also make it difficult for a new entrant to compete.The mature technology platform, long tested web structure, mature supply chain and distribution chain, all of these construct barriers for new entrants to compete with Amazon (Harry M; Cristina L, 2009) . However, in some countries Amazon does not have its first move advantages. For example, in China the Dangdang. com is the first online bookstore and Taobao. com is the biggest online retailer. Amazon is late to enter this big market and lost its competitive advantages. So it is high threats from new entrants for Amazon in Chinese market and other countries which Amazon has not entered in early. Bargaining power of buyersThe bargaining power of buyers is relatively high. Due to thousands of e-retailers existing in the internet, Amazon’s customers have options to compare and choose which one is better. The price of books and electronic products today is transparent on the web. It means the cheaper price you offer, the more preferable customers you own. Fortunately since Amazon does not operate its physical retailers, it has lowered overheads cost and could pass these savings along to customers in the form of lower prices. Moreover, the quality of products is another important factor to affect customers’ purchasing.Thanks to the long-tested operations, Amazon enjoys a better reputation and good recognition in the online book retailing. When sometimes the Amazon’s price is equal to or even higher than other retailers, customer may choose Amazon in consideration of its better reputation. Bargaining power of supplier Amazon. com Inc 2011 Annual report acknowledges the impact the supplier possess, since the company does not have long-term arrangements with most of its suppliers to guarantee availability of merchandise or services. Bargaining power of supplier is relatively high in their electronic business sector.Amazons Low Cost strategy has made it difficult for it to buy electronic products in lower prices from distributors since today more and more brands have set up their own direct sale store online. Threat of product substitute With the population of mobile and high integration of personal terminal devices, customers receive information more easily; this is not a good news for the book sale on Amazon’s online bookstore. Threats from iTunes and iBook also effect e-books and CD/DVD sales in the Kindles. Moreover, physical bookstores have an established brand in their brick and mortar business.Customers may not be satisfied with the shopping experience. In addition, with the technology developing, people’s reading habit may get changed and this could certainly influence Amazon’s traditional book sales. Intensity of competitors Resulted from Amazon’s diversification strategy, its products portfolio is covering many industries like books, electronics and other goods. Therefore Amazon faces high rivalry from competitors in different industries. In the electronic products sector, Amazon does not enjoy a success in the market. The serious problem of privacy leads Amazon’s CD and DVD products’ poor sales.With more and more brands set up their own direct-sale store on the internet, those digital products like PC and camera in Amazon can not keep its price advantage. Figure 4 [pic] Source: gigaom. com , from: http://gigaom. com/2010/09/24/e-book-numbers-hint-at-amazon-domination/ Amazon owns unique competitive advantages in its online bookstore markets especially in the e-book segment. In this sector, Kindle, an electronic reading device developed by Amazon needs to be analyzed. This device was unveiled in 2007 and it enabled customers to download book, magazine, newspaper and blogs.There are over 90 thousand books available in the Kindle in the beginning. By 2008 Kindle became a top selling product in Amazon’s electronic products and over 190 thousand books are available (Gary J. Stockport, 2009). The chart above shows the market share of Kindle in e-book segment. Kindle built a tight connections between readers and Amazon and it provides more potential customers for Amazon retailer. Kindle has been an important tool for Amazon reinforcing its leader position in the online bookstore. 2. 3 Internal environment analysis- SWOT Strengths Cost leadership strategy. Amazon has mature systems to control its cost and o deliver customers lower prices with better quality than competitors do. No overhead cost of physical retailer and high bargaining power to suppliers enables Amazon to maintain price advantages against competitors. Efficient logistics and distribution. Amazon has a number of fulfillment warehouses in each market it operates. The warehouses are geographically spread in each country so the goods could be dispatched faster and with lower cost. Advanced technology. Amazon invests lot of money in technology development including long tested platform and superior web services for customers. Weaknesses No physical store.Although this could brings less cost, no physical store may caused Amazon to lose a number of customers who prefer doing shopping in physical stores. The large budget on RD program and platform running. It needs a lot of money to keep the running of Amazon’s platform. And some of high technology results can not achieve to be profitable in the short term. Opportunities Amazon marketplace payment system. The payment system provides Amazon a fixed financial tool and cash to expand its business. Access to more brands and products. Amazon could benefit from a wide range of products and brands through its marketplace and online retailer platform.Increasing services and product portfolio through acquisitions. Amazon expands its business through acquisitions to other industries. The skills and business acquired from alliance help Amazon reach a diversification goal. The mature logistics and distribution channel. The construction of its own logistics and distribution channels not only builds an efficient shipping but also provides opportunities to easier access to other industries. Rise of social web. The sharply rise of social web like Facebook and Twitter provides Amazon a more efficient media channel to its market promotion. Threats Online transaction fraud.Amazon stores its online shoppers’ personal information, such as bank account details, which might lead to payment fraud. And the Amazon marketplace business could also be maliciously used by some merchants. Negative actions from governments. Governments may set up actions to charge tax for e-retailer merchants, for example in Chinese market. And the e-retailer platform may be used to tax avoidance by some users. Suitability of Amazon’s corporate strategies In this section, the strategic position based on Amazon’s business environment analysis will be deployed to evaluate the suitability of Amazon’s strategy in corporate level.To make objective and rational judgment, some Amazon’s corporate strategies which reflected in its particular business activities will be identified. Corporate-level strategy is concerned with the overall purpose and scope of an organization and how value will be added to the different parts of the organization (Jim Riley, 2011). It means corporate strategies are used to plan the long-term direction for the organization as a whole; it deals with capabilities including financial capital, human resources and RD sources. Amazon states its mission as to be Earth’s most customer centric company.In this section, three main corporate strategies will be described and their suitablilties based on strategic positions will evaluated. If not suitable, some recommendations will be developed. 3. 1 Growth through lower cost structure and lower prices. In a letter to customers Jeff Bezos (CEO and founder of Amazon) states his corporate goals: There are two types of companies: those that work hard to charge customers more and those that work hard to charge customers less. Both approaches can work. We are firmly in the second camp. Deliver best value to customers is one of the core strategies of Amazon to make it success.Figure 5 [pic] Source: www. amazon. co. uk , from: amazon. co. uk/b? ie=UTF8node=2610308031 The figure above shows Amazon’s core strategy and its business model. The lower prices and better services could be the best feedback to customers and these welfares have to be based on its lower cost structure. Amazon is well known as the cost leadership in the industry and it certainly delivers customers lower price and better service. The goal of cost leadership strategy is to produce products and services with a lower cost than the competitors do.It seems like only a company possessing customer centric could survive in today’s marketing orientation environment in any cases. To reach customers satisfaction, Amazon not only provides lower prices but also pushes off serious of promotion. Kindle is good example welfare bringing benefits to customers. As introduced in the Five Forces analysis before, Kindle brings convenience and benefits for readers around the world and profits Amazon by attracting numbers of potential customers. Another successful tool developed by Amazon is Prime.A brief introduction of Prime is: Paying $79 annually, customers get unlimited movie and TV streaming, one free borrowed e-book per month, and automatic two-day shipping on nearly everything you buy (Amazon. com, 2008). At the beginning, Amazon provided free Prime promotion when purchasing of the company’s bestselling Kindle Fire. And this made the Prime members dramatically increase to 10 million by 2012 (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). Prime created a $79 switch costs for customers if they chose to shop elsewhere. Reports from CIRP (2012) also found that, thosePrime members annually spent more than twice as much on average ($1,224) than non-Prime customers ($505). Adding in the $79 membership fee, Prime members brought nearly $800 more in sales per customer to Amazon. And adding cost of those benefits like unlimited movie and TV streaming, Prime members brought far more $79 profits to Amazon and they also benefited from this Prime project. It is a win-win situation for both Amazon and customers. Most Amazon’s promotions are effective and really bring customers benefits. However sometimes wrong forms of promotion could negatively impact a company’s marketing strategy.As analyzed in the PESTLE sector, in some countries where Amazon is late to enter, Amazon’s lower price strategy is not suitable for these markets. Since Amazon does not have its own physical store, it is difficult for Amazon to compete with those local brands. The excessive price strategy might cause a price war, which may result in a cut-throat competition. If Amazon does not have the first move advantage in an international expansion, the better pricing strategy is not simply lower than its competitors. Since Amazon is an international organization over the world, it is easily affected by the fluctuation of the exchange rate.In the PESTLE analysis, it analyses the fluctuation of exchange rate could make Amazon difficult to manage its pricing strategy. The simple lower price strategy is not suitable for today’s changing economic environment and Amazon has to engage for a balance between lower prices and profits in consideration of marketing environment. 3. 2 Technological innovation strategies Figure 6 [pic] Source: www. atkearney. com From: atkearney. com/paper/-/asset_publisher/dVxv4Hz2h8bS/content/finding-what-every-ict-services-provider-craves-healthy-profits/1019 [pic] Source: William Blair; The Economist.From: economist. com/node/21530980/print When Bezos was asked by the question what is the main difference between conventional retail and his business, the answer was the most important thing in retail is location and in his business is technology’. Amazon believed technology could help to offer better customer experience, to improve efficiency, to ultimately lower operating costs and enables the company to offer lower prices to customers. And they did continually invest on the technology innovation. From 2007 to 2009, it spent a number of major technological achievements on Kindle and AWC development.The figure 6 indirectly indicates the increasing spend in IT industry. For Internet companies, advanced technology is the core competitiveness. In the previous PESTLE analysis, Amazon’s strategic position on the technological factor determines that it can not fall behind those competitors like Google and Apple in the intensive competitive environment. Falling behind means you have to be eliminated, an old adage that said. Science and technology constitutes a primary productive force in 21 century, especially for those internet companies (Teece, David J, 2010).The most disruptive technological innovations by Amazon could be the Amazon Web Service (AWC). One of the most important products in AWC is Amazon’s cloud. And a number of big technology companies including Google and IBM have already embraced the cloud computing revolution. However, Amazon is commonly regarded as being the most popular and more commercialized than any of its competitor’s offerings (Gary J. Stockport, 2009). In a recent research, Barb Darrow (2013) suggests that Amazon’s cloud is bigger, more profitable than we think. Figure 7 [pic] From: slashgear. om/apple-icloud-vs-google-music-beta-vs-amazon-cloud-drive-07157822/ Figure 7 shows the total cloud market share is estimated to be $820 billion in 2014 and this number will steady increase in future. Figure 8 indicates that the gross profit of AWS could be $14. 8 billion in 2012, which accounts for a large proportion in Amazon’s overall profits. AWC is not only a strategic weapon that gives Amazon competitive advantages but also creates real income for the group. Good performance of Amazon’s technological achievement ensures its suitability in its technological innovation strategy. Figure 8 pic] From:http://seekingalpha. com/article/964201-amazons-stock-price-is-benefiting-from-irrational-exuberance 3. 3 Diversification and Marketing development strategies Amazon engages to offer customers all goods and services to meet their demands. Reviewing Amazon’s history, it started from an online bookseller to a diversified international organization and has been the largest e-retailer on the Internet today. The development of this great company is accompanied by the diversification of its product line and the strategy of diversification has been a core driver of its future directions.In this section, three types of diversification strategy of Amazon will be analyzed and evaluated in considering its strategic positions. There are millions of items sold in Amazon category ranging from books, electronics and so on. According to the PESTLE analysis and Five Forces Model, the complete retail goods line not only attracts millions of customers every year but also provides Amazon competitive advantages in a intensive rivalry. Research from Tommy D (2009) suggests that customer prefer to choose e-retailer that could provide more items since its convenience and reliability.In addition, the increasing products of books and video reinforce Amazon’s leader position in the online bookstore market and build brand recognition and customers loyalty. With the increasing numbers of brands sales in Amazon retail, it is easier for Amazon’s access more brands and this could increases its bargaining power against supplier, which means lower cost and lower prices for customers. Despite from Amazon retail, the diversification strategies are implemented in Amazon’s other related industries, for example, the fulfillment warehousing and payment system. The fulfillment and warehousing help Amazon construct ts complete logistics and distribution channel. The development of Amazon’s warehousing locations makes it easier to access to the express industry, which is an opportunity to enter other industries (Yogeshn, 2010). The payment system of Amazon Marketplace and Amazon retail could be a powerful financial tool which provides not only sustainable cash but also other hidden benefits. It is suggested that Amazon should pay more attention on its payment system. Its main competitor in US market, e-bay, developed pay-pal as a important payment tool in American customers’ daily purchasing activities.To achieve its diversification strategy, Amazon also did a lot of acquisitions and alliances. Over the 2007 to early 2009 period, strategically aligned acquisitions and alliances remained a key way for Amazon to pursue technology development. Through new skills and expertise from acquisitions, Amaz

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Molly Pitcher (Mary Hays McCauly) Revolutionary Heroine

Molly Pitcher (Mary Hays McCauly) Revolutionary Heroine Molly Pitcher was a fictitious name given to a heroine, revered for taking her husbands place loading a cannon in the Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, during the American Revolution. The identification of Molly Pitcher, earlier known in popular images as Captain Molly, with Mary McCauly, didnt come until the centennial of the American Revolution.  Molly was, at the time of the Revolution, a common nickname for women named Mary. Much of Mary McCaulys story is told from oral histories or court and other legal documents correlating with some parts of the oral tradition. Scholars disagree on many of the details, including what her first husbands name was (the famous husband who collapsed and whom she replaced at the cannon) or even whether she is the Molly Pitcher of history. The Molly Pitcher of legend may be completely folklore or may be a composite. Molly Pitchers Early Life Mary Ludwigs birthdate is given on her cemetery marker as October 13, 1744.  Other sources suggest her birth year was as late as 1754. She grew up on her familys farm. Her father was a butcher. She is unlikely to have had any education and was likely illiterate.  Marys father died in January of 1769, and she went to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to be a  servant to the family of Anna and Dr. William Irvine.   Molly Pitchers Husband A Mary Ludwig married a John Hays on July 24, 1769. This may have been a first husband for the future Molly Pitcher, or it may have been a marriage of her mother, also named Mary Ludwig as a widow. In 1777, the younger Mary married William Hays, a barber, and an artilleryman. Dr. Irvine, for whom Mary was working, had organized a boycott of British goods in response to the British Tea Act in 1774. William Hayes was listed as one helping with the boycott. On December 1, 1775, William Hays enlisted in the First Pennsylvania Regiment of Artillery, in a unit commanded by Dr. Irvine (also called General Irwin in some sources). A year later, January 1777, he joined the 7th Pennsylvania Regiment and was part of the winter camp at Valley Forge. Molly Pitcher at War After her husbands enlistment, Mary Hays first stayed in Carlisle, then joined her parents where she was closer to her husbands regiment. Mary became a camp follower, one of the many women attached to a military camp to take care of support tasks such as laundry, cooking, sewing, and other tasks. Martha Washington was another of the women at Valley Forge. In 1778, William Hays trained as an artilleryman under Baron von Steuben. The camp followers were taught to serve as water girls. William Hays was with the 7th Pennsylvania Regiment when, as part of George Washingtons army, the Battle of Monmouth was fought with British troops on June 28, 1778. William (John) Hays job was to load the cannon, wielding a ramrod. According to the stories told later, Mary Hays was among the women bringing pitchers of water to the soldiers, to cool the soldiers as well as to cool the cannon and soak the rammer rag. On that hot day, carrying water, the story told is that Mary saw her husband collapse - whether from the heat or from being wounded is not clear, though he certainly was not killed - and stepped in to clean the ramrod and load the cannon herself, continuing until the end of the battle that day. In one variation of the story, she helped her husband fire the cannon. According to the oral tradition, Mary was nearly hit by a musket or cannonball that sped between her legs and ripped her dress. She is said to have responded, Well, that could have been worse. Supposedly George Washington had seen her action on the field, and after the British retreated unexpectedly rather than continuing the fight the next day, Washington made Mary Hays a non-commissioned officer in the army for her deed. Mary apparently began calling herself Sergeant Molly from that day forward. After the War Mary and her husband returned to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. They had a son, John L. Hayes, in 1780. Mary Hays continued to work as a domestic servant. In 1786, Mary Hays was widowed; later that year, she married John McCauley or John McCauly (various spellings of names was common in a society where many were not literate). This marriage was not successful; John, a stonecutter and a friend of William Hays, was apparently mean and did not adequately support his wife and stepson. Either she left him or he died, or he otherwise disappeared, about 1805. Mary Hays McCauly continued to work around town as a domestic servant, with a reputation for being hard-working, eccentric and coarse. She petitioned for a pension based on her Revolutionary War service, and on February 18, 1822, the Pennsylvania legislature authorized a payment of $40 and subsequent annual payments, also of $40 each, in An act for the relief of Molly MKolly. The first draft of the bill had the phrase widow of a soldier and this was revised to for services rendered. Specifics of those services are not noted in the bill. Mary Ludwig Hays McCauly - who called herself Sergeant Molly - died in 1832. Her grave was unmarked. Her obituaries do not mention military honors or her specific war contributions. The Evolution of Captain Molly and Molly Pitcher Popular images of Captain Molly at a cannon circulated in the popular press, but these were not tied to any specific individual for many years. The name evolved into Molly Pitcher. In 1856, when Marys son John L. Hays died, his obituary included the note that he was a son of the ever-to-be-remembered heroine, the celebrated Molly Pitcher whose deeds of daring are recorded in the annals of the Revolution and over whose remains a monument ought to be erected. Connecting Mary Hays McCauly With Molly Pitcher In 1876, the American Revolution centennial sparked interest in her story and local critics in Carlisle had a statue of Mary McCauley created, with Mary described as the Heroine of Monmouth. In 1916 Carlisle established a three-dimensional representation of Molly Pitcher loading a cannon. In 1928, on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth, pressure on the Postal Service to create a stamp showing Molly Pitcher was only partially successful. Instead, a stamp was issued that was a regular red two cent stamp depicting George Washington, but with a black overprint of the text Molly Pitcher in capital letters. In 1943, a Liberty ship was named SS Molly Pitcher and launched. It was torpedoed that same year. A 1944 wartime poster by C. W. Miller depicted Molly Pitcher with a ramrod at the battle of Monmouth, with the text Americas women have always fought for freedom. Sources John Todd White. The Truth About Molly Pitcher. in The American Revolution: Whose Revolution? edited by James Kirby Martin and Karen R. Stubaus. 1977.John B. Landis. A Short History of Molly Pitcher, the Heroine of Monmouth. 1905. Published by the Patriotic Sons of America.John B. Landis. Investigation into American Tradition of Woman Known as Molly Pitcher. Journal of American History 5 (1911): 83-94.D. W. Thompson and Merri Lou Schaumann. Goodbye Molly Pitcher. Cumberland County History 6 (1989).Carol Klaver. An Introduction into the Legend of Molly Pitcher. Minerva: Quarterly Report on Women and the Military 12 (1994) 52.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Pros and Cons of Charter Schools Research Paper

Pros and Cons of Charter Schools - Research Paper Example A good way to obtain a good idea of a charter school is to consider its characteristics compared to the public school based on school size, grade-level configuration, student-to-teacher ratio, and student-to-computer ratio (Beryl et al.). In 1997 to 1998, the average size of charter school was 137 students and more than 400 for the public school in the same year (Feinberg 156). Though there is a significant increase in number, the same trend today is followed, by which charter schools have substantially small number of students and public schools have even more. Regarding the grade-level configuration, charter schools are given by the State laws the freedom to choose the grade structure and the age range of the students they will serve (RPP International 22). A certain study reveals that the student-to-ratio in low-performing charter schools is approximately 17 to 1, compared to approximately 15 to 1 in acceptable-performing charter schools (Burds 104). Intuitively, these ratios are lower compared to the prevailing ratios in comparable schools. There may be or no significant difference when it comes to student-to-computer ratio between charters schools and public schools, it is evident that students at charter schools are using computers extensively (Hill 16; RPP International 26). These characteristics are also significant indicators of learning. With this in mind for consideration, charter schools may be advantageous when it comes to learning compared to public schools because of the associated innovation in education. Aside from that, learning must be significantly of more interactive value in charter schools than in public schools because of the engagement of parents and teachers with the students’ actual academic performance. This will provide a more... This report stresses that one inherent manifestation of charter schools is their ability to allow teachers, parents and students to have strong involvement and participation together in order to ensure high rate of academic achievement and excellent academic performance. With this given information, one might consider that there are many things to be taken into account as great with charter schools. However, this does not mean that charter schools may not have some other important drawbacks. In order to make a clear justification of point regarding these two conflicting issues, the work at hand presents the pros and cons of charter schools and investigates if the former may have surpass the latter. This paper makes a conclusion that prior to the main objective of this paper, the need to consider the other sheer characteristics of a charter school is a better way to understand its advantages and probable linked disadvantages. A good way to obtain a good idea of a charter school is to consider its characteristics compared to the public school based on school size, grade-level configuration, student-to-teacher ratio, and student-to-computer ratio. Regarding the grade-level configuration, charter schools are given by the State laws the freedom to choose the grade structure and the age range of the students they will serve. Students in charter schools will have more exposure to modern information technology, which is evident in the student-to-computer ratio.

Heat Transfer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Heat Transfer - Essay Example Distillation columns are in two categories; continuous and batch-process. The batch-process distills one batch of mixtures at a time; introduction of fresh batches only happens once the first batch is over. A continuous column feeds constantly on fresh mixture. The units deal with a continuous feed streams uninterruptedly (Nisenfeld & Seemann 1981). Distillation columns are vital in the industrial arena e.g. in distillation of crude oil. Crude oil heats to 350-400oC, and, the vapor and the liquid channeled into the distilling column. The vapor rises as it passes through the perforated plates and the liquid falls to the bottom. The hydrocarbons which are heavier condense faster and settle on the lower trays. The lighter hydrocarbons remain longer in their vapor state and later condense on the higher trays. A heat exchanger cools distillates. Distillation occurs at tremendously high temperatures. The columns use an air cooled heat exchanger for cooling. A heat exchanger is equipment built for transfer of heat from one medium to another, efficiently (Nellis & Klein, 2009). Heat exchangers find their uses in refrigeration, power plants, sewage treatment, air conditioning, and natural gas processing and petroleum refineries. The air cooled heat exchanger is a pressure vessel whose function is to cool the circulating fluid in finned tubes by forcing ambient air, by directing the heat to water or air. The radiator of a car is an example of an air cooler. The objective of using an air cooled heat exchanger is to increase the efficiency of a plant, and its environmentally friendly effect of not requiring an auxiliary supply of water and no water treatment chemicals required, compared to cooling tower counterparts. The problems of chemical and thermal pollution from cooling fluids do not exist while using the air cooled heat exchanger (Kroger, 2004). Industrial applications, which do not have a reliable water

Friday, October 18, 2019

Magical sword, harp, oak tree, grail as archetypal symbols Essay

Magical sword, harp, oak tree, grail as archetypal symbols - Essay Example It influences all of our experiences and behaviors, most especially the emotional ones, but we only know about it indirectly, by looking at those influences† (Boeree, 2006). Like Freud, Jung felt that dream messages were couched in symbolism, but differed regarding what these symbols represented. He felt that dreams would continue to present carefully selected symbols as a purposeful means of communicating specific meaning to the dreamer from the unconscious rather than attempting to hide these concepts. At the same time, he felt unconscious symbols were often used as well to help us understand and accept those aspects of ourselves that we have ignored or attempted to disown or to present archetypal figures that help us connect with the collective. â€Å"Jung thought that dreams could help us grow and heal through use of archetypal symbols. †¦ Various archetypes are represented within myths, fairy tales, and religions, as well as dreams† (Bixler-Thomas, 1998). An ar chetype is described as an â€Å"unlearned tendency to experience things in a certain way† (Boeree, 2006) and Jung identified several, such as the mother, mana (or spiritual power), the shadow (or the unknown) and the persona (or public mask). His wife, Emma Jung, took these concepts and applied them to her own interests, specifically as they applied to Celtic myth and the Grail legends. Emma Jung’s theories regarding the archetypes of the magic sword, the oak tree, the grail and the harp will be closely examined to demonstrate how these archetypes and Jungian theory have become widely applicable within the Western world. Carl Jung believed the most effective method for dream interpretation was the use of series correlation (Hutchinson, 2000).   He gave hope to all dreamers who were looking for the meaning in their dreams without having to hire a ‘professional.’ Series correlation is a process involving the analysis of dreams over time.   Jung suggested keeping a dream

Evolution of Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Evolution of Revolution - Essay Example Marlon Brancho is an American screen and stage actor of the film the wild ones. He brought realism to the film industry thus becoming influential. The film Wild One starred by Marlon Brando features on real life event that occurred in 1947 during a weekend in California whereby a gang of motorcyclists converged and dominated in a small Town for two days causing trouble without confrontation (Harris 5). In addition, Easy Rider is an American road movie acted in 1969 by Peter Fonda. On the context, it depicts two bikers traveling through American southwest and south to New Orleans to attend a Mardi Gras. They have an objective of achieving freedom. In their trip, Wyatt and Billy meet and took a meal together. They leave for Mexico where they bought drugs intending to sell it at the American border. They sold the cocaine to a man riding in Rolls Royce (Canby 3). In the rebel without a cause film, conflict is ensued with remarkable symbol of social unrest such as drug abuse, violence, sexual promiscuity anxiousness over the future and emotional isolation. The film depicted extends of turmoil associated with the adolescent. The film directed by Ray gave both social commentary and unlike previous films it depicted delinquents in slums at urban environment. In my opinion, the movie acted in Hollywood had common themes used that showed such families as perfect avoided. In a further aspect, the rebel without cause considered American family as not perfect. In all cases, all have their missteps. I do not concur with the existence of as completely joyful families as rebels show the tortures among parents and mostly in youths (Ebert 7). We can see a rebellious teenager, who upon enrolling in his new high school after meeting a girl, disobeys his parents and goes against the schools bullies thus portraying the king of moral decay among American youths, critique parental style. From the film, it is seen that after James dies, the rebel was released.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 13

Business law - Essay Example 150). The Islamic doctrine would however not apply under the CISG because the convention overrules application of regional laws in international transactions (Schaffer, Agusti and Earle, p. 120). In the case, Bende made a contract with Ghanaian government for deliverables at a price of $ 158500. He then subcontracted to Kniffe who was to deliver the goods at $ 95000. Kniffe however failed to make delivery as the carrier train had derailed. Kniffe’s claim that the contract had been rendered impracticable is valid because the train wreck was unforeseeable and beyond his control. However, the performance is not excused because of the no force majoure clause that was contained in the contract sustains liabilities. The wreck was however unforeseeable (Fox, p. 143). Bende would be entitled to damages of $ 44685. This would include lost profit to which he would be entitled. This is due to compensatory damages doctrine that provides for a party’s restoration to the position he would have been had a contract been fulfilled. This includes profitability (Fox, p. 60). If the parties had agreed that Kniff would merely ship the goods then the risk would shifted from Kniff to either the buyer of Bende, depending on the original contract because property would have transferred to him (Schaffer, Agusti and Earle, p. 728). The importer is likely to win the case. This is because of two factors, the open price term of the contract and the force majoure clause that applies to contracts that have been rendered impossible. Under the open price term, the distributer is bound by the contractual terms that were entered into during contract formation. The force majoure clause also suspends any liability over contractual obligations when activities have been rendered commercially impossible. Adversely unfavorable currency fluctuation, being identified as a factor towards the clause, therefore releases both parties from any liability from the contract. Consequently, the

Review on history Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Review on history - Assignment Example The article itself found that in pre-industrial and late medieval history, environmental changes and shocks were able to powerfully affect the lives of those that were considered within the case study. This of course had to do mainly with crop production, animal health and reproduction, and human life expectancy/infant mortality. As a means of gathering the data to inform the result, the researchers relied on ice core analysis from Greenland to help paint a reliable image of what weather patterns in and around this time reflected. Due to the fact that no primary sources can be relied upon due to the unscientific manner that they necessarily represented, it was up to the researchers to find alternate means of providing the data concerning environmental change during the given time (Campbell 2010). The methodology therefore consisted of utilizing these ice cores and comparing the weather results represented therein as a means of comparison with historical records regarding crop yields, quality of life, animal reproduction, and human lifespan/infant mortality figures. ... not something that has taken place in the past and will necessarily not occur again; rather, it is an ongoing and natural process, oftentimes aided on by human destruction of the environment. In such a context, seeking to understand the role that environmental change has directly affected on the lives and livelihoods of past generations is a valuable starting point from whence to seek to draw a level of inference as to what may take place in the future with regards to the same issues today. Finally, with regards to the way the data was presented, it was lain out in a way that with a proper amount of analysis the reader/researcher can readily understand what is being presented. Likewise, the main conclusions that the piece draw necessarily relate to the fact environmental change has a profound and lasting effect on the way that human societies conduct themselves and relate to economic development within the constraints of such environmental change. Key limitations to the research are of course concentric upon the fact that the primary data sources which can be drawn upon are far removed and suspect to a degree erroneous data; thereby leading to inconclusive or incorrect findings. Although this is not a fault of the researchers, it is part and parcel of seeking to perform a level of scientific and social analysis upon a time period that did not keep detailed or conclusive records. In much the same way, the second article, entitled, â€Å"The Economic Impact of the Little Ice Age† helps to shine a light on the means by which the economies of pre-industrial Europe. By means of analyzing the data sets with relation to weather patterns, crop yields, and other economic indicators, the authors are able to provide the reader/researcher with a detailed economic analysis of the

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 13

Business law - Essay Example 150). The Islamic doctrine would however not apply under the CISG because the convention overrules application of regional laws in international transactions (Schaffer, Agusti and Earle, p. 120). In the case, Bende made a contract with Ghanaian government for deliverables at a price of $ 158500. He then subcontracted to Kniffe who was to deliver the goods at $ 95000. Kniffe however failed to make delivery as the carrier train had derailed. Kniffe’s claim that the contract had been rendered impracticable is valid because the train wreck was unforeseeable and beyond his control. However, the performance is not excused because of the no force majoure clause that was contained in the contract sustains liabilities. The wreck was however unforeseeable (Fox, p. 143). Bende would be entitled to damages of $ 44685. This would include lost profit to which he would be entitled. This is due to compensatory damages doctrine that provides for a party’s restoration to the position he would have been had a contract been fulfilled. This includes profitability (Fox, p. 60). If the parties had agreed that Kniff would merely ship the goods then the risk would shifted from Kniff to either the buyer of Bende, depending on the original contract because property would have transferred to him (Schaffer, Agusti and Earle, p. 728). The importer is likely to win the case. This is because of two factors, the open price term of the contract and the force majoure clause that applies to contracts that have been rendered impossible. Under the open price term, the distributer is bound by the contractual terms that were entered into during contract formation. The force majoure clause also suspends any liability over contractual obligations when activities have been rendered commercially impossible. Adversely unfavorable currency fluctuation, being identified as a factor towards the clause, therefore releases both parties from any liability from the contract. Consequently, the

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Selection of Web Server Software for Client Essay

Selection of Web Server Software for Client - Essay Example The client would also want a customised Content Management System to be coded so that they can easily change the content on site and add new pages, thus, making it flexible for accommodating changes. The current Information Technology Infrastructure is not very advanced and includes basic users with little knowledge of web technologies. The client is also not willing to spend a hefty amount but do requires a robust, agile and flexible system. 2) - Comparison of available technologies After going through the detailed requirements document from the client and understanding his needs, two sets of technologies can be recommended to the client. Let us compare and contrast between these two sets to see which set can be more viable for the client in the future. The two sets of technologies are: 1) - Internet Information Services, Active Server Pages and SQL Server (Microsoft Products) 2) – Apache, PHP and MySQL It is to be noted here that that both sets have a web server, a web progr amming language and a database. We should now just compare these technologies individually in detail and then in the subsequent sections, we will relate our results with the available IT infrastructure of the client. 2.1 - Web Servers The function of web server is to deliver services (web content) to the users who are requesting access via Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. The HTTP protocol is normally set by web browsers and doesn’t really require manual intervention or settings by the user. Web content here actually means all the media that is available on the web page. (WDN, 2012) The following table actually shows the differences between two available web servers: Apache and Internet Information Services. APACHE IIS Current market share at 65% Current market share at 15% Designed to work with most Operating Systems IIS designed to work only with Windows Operating Systems Co-operation is limited with the host system and there are no specific utilities available in every OS to monitor web service Greater co-operation with the host system and control through various Windows utilities Independent Request handler is limited Independent Request handler is not limited .Net languages aren’t integrated Support for most programming languages Open source software Comes with Windows OS More secure Less secure because of multiple system calls 2.2 - Web Programming Languages A web programming language or a server side scripting language is a language designed for developing web pages of dynamic nature. The following table shows the comparison between two leading server side scripting languages: PHP and ASP.Net PHP ASP.Net Microsoft Technology. Ships free with IIS on Windows OS. Open source language Runs on most OS Support windows only Slower compilation time Quick compilation and response time Hardware required to run PHP applications is expensive Windows licensing cost Not supported by any specific framework but has custom CMS such as Drupal and Magento Suppo rted by .Net framework which is very reliable Simple to code Complex to code Recommended for small applications Recommended for large applications Lesser data security Enhanced data security (Lerdorf & Tatroe, 2002) 2.3 - Database Management Systems A database management system (DBMS) is a software application that allows for the creation and management of a database. It also allows the users to make changes to the

Monday, October 14, 2019

Quality of Work Life Essay Example for Free

Quality of Work Life Essay Employees at any level many time experience a sense of frustration because low level of wages, poor working conditions, unfavourable terms of employment, inhuman treatement by their superiors the like whereas managerial personnel feel frustrated because of alienation over their condition of employment , interpersonal conflicts, role conflicts, Job pressure , lack of freedom , absence of challenging work, etc. QWL means different things to different people, J. Richard J. Loy define QWL as the degree to which members of a work organization are able to satisfy mportant personnel needs through their experience in the organization. In the search for improved productivity, manager executives alike are discovering the important contribution of QWL. Hackman suttle describe QWL from varied viewpoints. From a professional view point , it refers to industrial democracy, increase workewrs participation in corporate decision making , or culmination of the goals of human realations. In terms of management perspective, it relates to a variety of efforts to improve productivity through improvements in the human , rather than he capital or technological inputs of production. From standpoint of the characteristics of individual workers , it refers to the degree to which members of a work organization are able to satisfy important personal needs through their experience in the organization. From the unions, perspective , it is a more equitable sharing of the income and resources of the work of organization, and more human healthier working conditions. DIMENSIONS OF STUDY : Quality of work life improvement are defined as any activity which takes place at very level of organization which seeks greater organizational effectiveness through enhancement of human dignity and growth a process through which the stockholders in the organization management, union and employees- learn how to work together to better to determine for themselves what actions, changes improvements are desirable and workable in order to achive twin simultaneous goals of an improve quality of life at work for all members of organization greater effectiveness for the company and unions. Trade union claim that they are responsible for the improvements in various facilities to workers hereas management takes credit for improved salaries, benefits facilities. However, HR manager has identified specific issues in QWL. Klott Mundick Schuster suggested major QWL issues. They are: (1) Pay Employment on permanent basis: Good pay still dominates most of the other factors in employee satisfaction. Various alternative means for providing wages should be developed in view of increase in cost of living index , increase in levels rates of income tax profession tax. QWL must be build around an equitable pay programs . in uture more workers may want to participate in the profits of the firm. Employment of workers on casual, temporary, probationary basis gives them sense of insecurity. On the other hand , employment on the other basis gives them security leads to higher order QWL. (2) Occupational Stress : Stress is a condition of strain on ones emotions, thought process ; physical condition . stress is determined by the workers abilities nature and match with the Job requirements. Stress is cause due irritability, offering prestigious designation to the Jobs, providing well furnish amp; decent work places, offering membership in clubs or association , providing vehicles, offering vacation trips, or means to recognize the employees hyper- excitation or depression unstable behaviour, fatigue, stuttering, trembling psychometric pains, heavy smoking drug abuse. Stress adversely effects on employees productivity. The HR manager, in order to minimize the stress has to identifiy, prevent ; tackle the problem. He may arrange the treatment of problem with the health unit or provide some stress buster activities during the hectic work schedule. 3) Organizational Health programs : Organizational health programs aim at educating employees about health problems means of maintaining ; improving health etc. These programme covers drinking and smoking cessation ( if it is affecting the productivity of employee ) , hypertension control , other forms of cardiovascular risk reduction, family planning etc. Effective implementation of these progrme results in reduction in absenteeism, hospitalization ,disability, excessive Job turnover ; premature death. It should also covers relaxation, physical exercise , diet control etc. 4) Alternative work schedule : Alternative work schedule including work at home , flexible working hours, staggered hours , and reduced work week, part time employment which may be introduced for the convenience ; comfort of the workers as the work schedule which offers the individual the leisure time , flexible hours of work is preferred. 5) Participative Management ; control of work : Trade unions and workers participation in management and decision making improves QWL . workers also feel that they have control their work, use their skills ; make a real contribution to the Job if they re allowed to participate in creative and decision making process. (6) Recognition : recognizing the employee as a human being rather than as a labourer increases the QWL . Participative management , awarding the rewarding systems , congratulating the employees for their achievement , Job enrichment, offering prestigious designation to the Jobs, providing well furnish and decent work places,offering membership in club or associations , providing vehicles , offering vacation trips, or some means to recognize the employees . (7) Congenial Worker- supervisor Relation : Harmonious supervisor- worker relations give the worker essence of social association , belongingness, achievement of worker results etc. This in turn led to better QWL. 8) Grievance procedure : workers have a sence of fair treatement when the company gives them opportunity to ventilate their grievances and represent their case succinctly rather than settling the problems arbitrarily. (9) Adequacy of resources : Resources should match with stated objective ; otherwise , employee will not be able to attain them . This results in the employee dissatisfaction and lower QWL. 10) Seniority ; meri t in promotions : seniority is generally taken as the basis of promotion in case of operating employees . Merit is considered as the basis for advancement for managerial people whereas seniority cum- merit is preferred for promotion of ministerial employees. The promotional policies ; activities should be fair 7 Just in order to ensure higher QWL. (11) Welfare Benefits : Since workers are now better organized , educated ; vociferous, they demand social security ; welfare benefits as a matter of right which were once considered a part of bargaining process.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs: Mechanisms of Action

Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs: Mechanisms of Action Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are a type of drugs that can be used as pain killers. Nowadays, other pain killers such as paracetamol are more widely used, as they have fewer side effects, and cost less. However, NSAIDs are mostly used in conditions which cause inflammation. It may take from a few days to more than three weeks to show their anti-inflammatory effects. They are specifically used to treat arthritis, menstrual cramps, sports injuries, and headaches. There are different types of NSAIDs that are used in different situations. For example, Ketorolac (Toradol) is only used for short-term treatment of moderately severe acute pain that otherwise would be treated with opioids. (Ogbru, 1997). Aspirin is also a NSAID that is used long-term, at low doses, specifically to inhibit blood clot formation and prevent heart attacks and strokes in individuals at high risk for developing blood clots. The most common and undesirable side effects of NSAIDs are nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, decreased appetite, constipation, rash, dizziness and headache. The most severe side effects are kidney failure, liver failure, ulcers and prolonged bleeding after an injury or surgery (Ogbru, 1997). Mechanisms of Action Prostaglandins are a group of lipid compounds that are produced by specific group of enzymes called cyclooxygenases from arachidonic acid (Zeilhofer, 2007), which promote vital functions in inflammation, pain, fever; support the blood clotting function of platelets; and protect the lining of the stomach from the damaging effects of acid (Ogbru, 1997) (Figure 1). Mode of action of NSAIDs is to exert anti-inflammatory, analgesic (pain relieving), and antipyretic (fever-reducing) effects through the blockade of prostaglandin synthesis via non-selective inhibition of cyclooxygenases (COX-1 and COX-2) isozymes (Chakraborti et al., 2010). Both COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes produce prostaglandins that serve inflammation, pain and fever. However, only COX-1 produces and regulates prostaglandins that protect the stomach (gastrointestinal) and support platelets (Ogbru, 1997) (Figure 2). NSAIDs reduce the concentration of prostaglandins throughout the body by blocking the COX enzymes. As a result of this, ongoing inflammation, pain and fever are decreased. For example, when concentration of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) elevates in certain parts of the brain, body temperature increases. This increase in body temperature changes the firing rate of neurons that control thermoregulation in the hypothalamus. Aspirin which can act as an antipyretic, work by inhibiting the enzyme cyclooxygenase and reducing the levels of PGE2 within the hypothalamus of the brain. As a consequence, body temperature falls, and fever is relieved (Aronoff Neilson, 2001). It is important to understand that the pain pathway is not the same for fever and other cases like tissue injuries. In tissue injury, prostaglandins together with other agents like histamine, act on the sensory neurons present in the injured or stimulated tissue which in turn conduct the generated signal to the spinal cord. The afferent fibres (neurons) transmit the pain signal to the spinal cord. The signal is then propagated from the spinal cord to the pain centres in brain. This is carried out by synapse formation between afferent sensory neuron in the dorsal root ganglion of the spinal cord, transferring the signal up the spinothalamic tract to synapse in the thalamus. Therefore the final synapse with the primary sensory cortex fibres occurs in the thalamus (Lorne, 2010) (Figure 3 4). As a result of this, pain centres in brain will become alerted and body will feel the pain. Therefore, prostaglandin synthesis inhibition by NSAIDs will result in pain pathway blockage, hence reduc ing or killing the pain. Irrespective of the type of injured tissue (ligament, tendon or muscle), the body reacts to injury with a sequence of events that initiates with an influx of inflammatory cells and blood. Removal of debris and recruiting growth factors e.g. cytokines toward the injury site are the subsequent events that are carried out by the inflammatory cells. The same Prostaglandins that are blocked by NSAIDs are partly involved in this inflammatory stage. In a normal healing process (without application of NSAIDs), a proliferative stage consisting of a mixture of fibroblasts and inflammatory cells naturally follows the inflammatory stage. At this stage, the fibroblasts construct a new extracellular matrix and continue into the maturation stage (final stage) where functional tissue is laid down. The crucial point is that each stage of repair is a prerequisite for the subsequent stage. Hence, although blocking the inflammatory stage by NSAIDs relieves the pain, it may delay the healing of musculosk eletal injuries (Stovitz Johnsons, 2003). Side effects of NSAIDs such as ulcers and bleeding promotion are due to reduction in bodys prostaglandin level which protects the stomach and supports platelets and blood clotting. In other words, NSAIDs like aspirin, especially in high doses, act as pain killers by reducing prostaglandin concentration; however, this reduction can also raise severe unwanted effects like ulcers (Ogbru, 1997). There are various NSAIDs in terms of potency, duration of action, body elimination manner, how strongly they inhibit COX-1 and their tendency to cause ulcers or promote bleeding. The more an NSAID blocks COX-1, the greater is its tendency to cause ulcers and promote bleeding. One NSAID,  celecoxib  (Celebrex), blocks COX-2 but has little effect on COX-1, and is therefore further classified as a selective COX-2 inhibitor. Selective  COX-2 inhibitors  cause less bleeding and fewer ulcers than other NSAIDs. (Ogbru, 1997). Rofecoxib (tradename = Vioxx) In 1999, two new highly selective COX-2 inhibitors, known as coxibs (celecoxib and rofecoxib) which were claimed to have low gastrointestinal (GI) side effects were introduced which resulted in high commercial development. Rofecoxib (Vioxx) was introduced by Merck (one of the largest pharmaceutical companies) as a more effective and a safer alternative to NSAIDs for the treatment of pain associated with osteoarthritis (Krumholz et al., 2007). While found to have fulfilled these goals in part, a worrying series of events took place in the late 2004 period when rofecoxib was withdrawn worldwide from the market because of alarming cardiovascular incidents and concerns about increased risk of heart attack and stroke due to long-term, high-dosage use. Other coxibs were subsequently withdrawn on suspicion of having the same adverse effects, although to a varying degree (Rainsford, 2007). Previous to introducing the drug to the market, it were concerned that the drug might have adverse effects on the cardiovascular system by changing prostacyclin to thromboxane ratio, which have opposite effects on regulating blood flow and clotting. (Prostacyclin and thromboxane are members of the family of lipids known as eicosanoids.) (Krumholz et al., 2007) A study sponsored by Merck during 1996-1997 reported that rofecoxib decreased the concentration of prostacyclin metabolites in urine in healthy volunteers by about half. Merck officials sought to soften  the academic authors interpretation that COX-2 inhibition within the vascular endothelium may increase the propensity for thrombus formation, the basis of what became  known as the FitzGerald hypothesis. The academic authors changed  the manuscript at Mercks request-for example, they changed  systemic biosynthesis of prostacyclin was decreased by  [rofecoxib] to Cox-2 may play a role in the systematic biosynthesis  of prostacyclin. (Krumholz et al., 2007). However, despite knowing that rofecoxib may elevate thrombus formation, none of the studies that constituted Mercks new drug application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998 were designed to examine cardiovascular risk. The studies were all generally small, had short treatment periods, enrolled patients at low risk of cardiovascular disease, and did not have a standardised procedure to collect cardiovascular results (Krumholz et al., 2007). In 1999, the largest study on rofecoxib, the vioxx gastrointestinal outcomes research (VIGOR), took place by Merck. The purpose of the study was to show that the drug would have fewer GI side effects than naproxen (NSAID) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The study took place without a standard procedure for collecting information on cardiovascular events. Finally, the study showed that rofecoxib was not more effective in terms of mitigating symptoms of arthritis but halved the risk of GI events. However, the study showed that there was also evidence of an increased risk of myocardial infarction. Therefore, the first suspicion about the metabolite meanings i.e. urine prostacyclin data was right. Nevertheless, Merck decided to propose a naproxen assumption, implying that rofecoxib had not been harmful but that naproxen had been protective, despite having no evidence that naproxen had a protective effect on cardiovascular system (Krumholz et al., 2007). Finally, after wide usage of Vioxx in clinical centres around the world for around 5 years, due to an increase in serious cardiovascular events, the company voluntarily withdrew Vioxx from the market, in 2004. Currently, a lot of studies are taking place to discover why cardiovascular failures took place with coxibs, to identify safer coxibs, and to clarify the roles of COX-2 and COX-1 in cardiovascular diseases and stroke in order to develop newer agents to control these conditions (Rainsford, 2007). Overall, in order to improve the care of patients and gain their trust back, putting patients interests first is necessary. A renewed commitment and re-establishing collaborations between industry, academics, journals and practising doctors are the only way to extract something positive from this unfortunate event.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Effects of Television Violence on Children and Teenagers :: essays research papers fc

Effects of Television Violence on Children and Teenagers Does violence on television have a negative effect on children and teenagers? The violence shown on television has a surprisingly negative effect. Television violence causes children and teenagers to become less caring, to lose their inhibitions, to become less sensitive, and also may cause violent and aggressive behavior. Television violence causes children and teenagers to be less caring, to lose their inhibitions, and to be less sensitive. In a study on the connection between violence and television done with 1,565 teenage boys over a six-year period in London, William Belson, a British psychologist, found that every time a child saw someone being shot or killed on television they became less caring towards other people (Kinnear 26). William Belson also discovered that every time a child viewed this violence on television, they lost a fragment of their inhibitions towards others (Kinnear 26). In addition to William Belson’s study, studies done by many scientists and doctors show that seeing violence on television causes viewers to become less sensitive to the pain of others (Mudore 1). Furthermore, television violence causes aggressive behavior in children. Many people believe that children who watch violent television programs exhibit more aggressive behavior than that exhibited by children who do not (Kinnear 23). According to the results of many studies and reports, violence on television can lead to aggressive behavior in children (Langone 50). Also, when television was introduced into a community of children for the first time, researchers observed a rise in the level of physical and verbal aggression among these children (Langone 51). The more television violence viewed by a child, the more aggressive the child is (â€Å"Children† 1). Television violence is also a cause of both violent and aggressive behavior in teenage boys. According to the evidence in a study done by Turner, Hesse, and Peterson-Lewis, it was concluded that watching television violence had a long-term increase in aggression in boys (Hough 1). In addition to this study, Dr. William A. Belson evaluated fifteen hundred boys, aged thirteen to sixteen years, and he determined that boys with heavy television exposure are more likely to commit violent acts than other boys (Langone 51). In Belson’s study, he discovered that the effect of each violent act on television was collective, and over time, Belson discovered that the boys engaged in many aggressive acts, including painting graffiti, breaking windows, aggressive play, swearing, and threatening other boys with violence (Kinnear 26).

Friday, October 11, 2019

Volcanic and Seismic Events Are Major Pieces of Evidence Towards

â€Å"Volcanic and seismic events are major pieces of evidence towards proving that the plate tectonic theory is valid† Discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement (40). The theory of plate tectonics explains the structure and motion of the Earth’s lithosphere. The theory states that the Earth’s crust is split into large sections called tectonic plates, and these move relative to one another creating boundaries at which the plates converge, diverge or move past each other.These plates are either continental or oceanic and are powered by convection currents, which is the circular movement of magma that comes from within the mantle. These currents are powered by the core, which heats the magma, causing it to rise, cool and fall back down. This circular motion causes the plates, which float on the mantle, to move. In 1912, Alfred Wegener, a German meteorologist, was the first man to state that the continents were once joined in a super continent called Pangaea, conversely he couldn’t explain why and what happened to cause the plates to move apart.He based his theory on the extraordinary fit of the South American and African continent coastlines. Notably the eastern edge of South America and the western edge of Africa showed very similar geological features suggesting that at some point in the Earth’s history the landmasses were joined together. Another indicator that the continents were once distributed differently was geological evidence of glaciations in India – it is unlikely that glaciers could ever reach such low latitudes, but this problem can easily be explained by the theory of continental drift.Fossil distribution also provided some of the earliest evidence for plate tectonics. Interestingly, plant and animal fossils were found on the matching coastlines of South America and Africa. These are now widely separated by the Atlantic Ocean, therefore he reasoned that is physically impossible for most of t hese organisms to have swum or have been transported across the wide oceans. From this he suggested that the plates were once connected. Unfortunately, at the time of Wegner’s work many of the geophysical tools that are used today did not exist making the theory much more difficult to support.Since the original theory in 1912, newer evidence has appeared which supports the theory. In 1962 Hess studied the age of rocks around the mid-Atlantic ridge. He discovered that the newest rocks were closest to the ridge and the oldest were towards the USA and Caribbean. He therefore reasoned that the earth’s crust was expanding along the oceanic ridges, so it must be shrinking elsewhere. According to Hess, the Atlantic Ocean was expanding while the Pacific Ocean was shrinking. The old oceanic crust was consumed in the trenches causing new magma to rise and erupt along the spreading ridges to form a new crust.He explained why the earth doesn’t get bigger with sea floor spre ading and why there is so little sediment accumulation on the ocean floor, and why oceanic rocks are so much younger than continental ones. Paleomagnetism is one of the strongest pieces of evidence for plate tectonic theory and was developed to convince scientists of the theories validity. Basalt lava forms volcanoes when it rises to the surface, cools and then forms land. When new crust is formed certain minerals align themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field.Fascinatingly, new technology has shown that the magnetic field of the Earth is known to reverse every few hundred thousand years. So this implies new material is constantly being produced and the sea floor is spreading. However, as the Earth is not changing in size, material is being destroyed in other areas which are called subduction zones, and the position of the Earth’s crust must be constantly changing. Seismic activity can also tell us a great deal about plate tectonics. Plotting the locations of large e arthquakes allows us to see where they most frequently occur.Earthquakes are caused by the movement of tectonic plates. The plates move past each other which causes friction causing pressure to build up resulting in sudden jolts. This only happens on plate boundaries meaning areas that lie on them experience the most intense earthquakes. The fact that earthquakes appear in connected lines as opposed to clusters is good evidence for the theory of global plate tectonics. Volcanic events are also useful as they provide good evidence for the theory of plate tectonics.Similarly to earthquakes, plotting the locations of active volcanoes on a map of the world will also be useful as it will show a similar pattern. The three main places where volcanoes are created are at subduction zones, constructive plate boundaries and in hotspots, with around 75% of the world’s volcanoes being located on the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’. The area where two plates converge is called a subduc tion zone, here one plate is pushed underneath the other due to differing in density. This results in magma rising up to form volcanoes or volcanic island arcs.At constructive plate boundaries, new material is created by magma rising through the crack. The fact that volcanoes in certain areas have different types of eruption provides good evidence for plate tectonic theory. All the above reasons suggest that the theory is valid. However, there are some anomalies which go against the theory. Not all volcanoes occur on plate boundaries, some occur on hotspots which are areas where the mantle is particularly hot, causing it to rise and create volcanoes on the crust above.This suggests that plate tectonics theory may not be valid as volcanoes can exist without the theory being correct. Hawaii is a notable example of an active hotspot – the islands are volcanic yet lie in the middle of the Pacific plate. It is part of a chain of extinct volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean which decrease in both age and size as you move north-west. Since the hotspot is created by the underlying mantle this suggests that the crust is moving over this hotspot meaning the volcanoes eventually become extinct and eroded away.Since Wegener’s first theory, there is now a great deal of evidence to support the theory of plate tectonics. Seismic and volcanic events can provide lots of evidence to support the theory, although much of it requires tools which were not available when the theory was first developed such as accurate methods of mapping earthquakes. This made it difficult to prove the theory of plate tectonics as there were no hard facts. Although others may disagree, there are large amounts of evidence to prove the theory and so in my opinion the theory is a valid method.