Arbitration and Adjudication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Arbitration and Adjudication - Essay Example These three sets of circumstances demand specific considerations and pose their own set of problems. I would like to begin, however, by briefly outlining some important qualifications for a study of these two methods of conflict resolution. One of the most problematic issues that arise when considering the efficacy of arbitration, as compared to adjudication, is the comparative lack of detailed information regarding the involved parties. In fact, as Walter Matti remarks, "the study of the practice of international commercial arbitration is like peering into the dark" (2001, p 919). Such cases by nature tend to be far less publicised than those settled through litigation, and indeed, many of the parties - be they individuals or companies - who seek private arbitration do so precisely because they wish to avoid the risk of having private information made public. The information used to argue either for or against the inherent superiority of arbitration cannot, therefore, be considered exhaustive. At the same time, however, Matti points out that the popularity of arbitration, particularly as a means of resolving international disputes, has increased exponentially over the past thirty years (2001, p 920). Since it may be assumed that the number of cases settled through arbitration would not have increased were arbitration not an effective method of resolution, it can be reasonably concluded that an increasing number of parties find arbitration to be more appealing than adjudication as a means of resolving disputes. In addition, arbitration possesses an inherent degree of flexibility that is not present when going through the legal system: "Unlike judges in public courts, who must follow fixed rules of procedure and apply the laws of the land, arbitrators can dispense with legal formalities and may apply whatever procedural rules and substantive law best fit a case" (Matti 2001, p 920). On the other, this flexibility carries with it considerable risks. Since arbitrators are not bound by legal formalities, they may of course exploit this flexibility, to the unfair advantage a party that cannot appeal to a court for clarification or support (Bonn 1972, p 257). Although this risk is always present, there are nevertheless significant benefits to pursing arbitration. In the case of arbitration as a means of conflict resolution between private individuals, the arguments in favour of arbitration appear to be quite strong. The emotional and financial demands on both the plaintiff and the defendant are considerably reduced, the overall resolution process is conducted in a less stressful environment, and decisions are often rendered more quickly. Arbitration is routinely used as a means of settling disputes between landlords and tenants, divorcing spouses, and accident victims suing for damages (Bonn 1972, p 256). In additional the arbitration process holds additional appeal because, although it is an alternative to the court system, is not entirely cut off from the it - rather, the two systems are complementary since "the provisions of an arbitrator's award can be enforced judicially under common or statutory law" (Bonn 1972, p 256). In addition, Plaintiffs therefore have the additional security of knowing

Analysing an Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestly Essay Example for Free

Analysing an Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestly Essay In the closing scene of the play the main focus is on Eddie and how badly he wants his name back and he is willing to do anything to get it, even kill if he has to. When Rodolpho comes and kisses Eddies hand, it is showing that Rodolpho is willing to settle for half, which links back to Alfieris prologue, this demonstrates the fact that Rodolpho knows he has been caught and that Marco will have to go back to Italy but he doesnt mind as long as he can be friends with the uncle of his bride. Rodolpho, by coming to apologise s really trying to protect Marco because he knows what he is going to do, as later on he says Eddie, please, he has children! You will kill a family! we know then that this is leading up to the climax of the play and then the resolution. First of all Eddie only wants is him to come here and apologise to him but later on when Rodolpho does come to apologise his demands change and he now wants his name back because Marco publicly shamed him when he shouted I accuse that one he also said he killed my children! That one stole the food from my children! because Marco will now no longer be able to work in America, he will not be able to earn money to send back to Italy to feed his children. After he shouted this out in the neighbourhood and everyone knows that Eddie Carbone snitched he only wants his name and reputation back. When Marco appears (his eyes are murderous and he cracks his knuckles)we are given an indication here that Eddie is going to do something to Marco, although he tries to stay positive by saying maybe he come to apologise to me. After this we are brought to the climax of the play Eddie (lunges for Marco) and Marco instantaneously strikes Eddie in return. As the inevitable happens and the knife is plunged into Eddie by Marco and the crowd rush in to separate them Marco has delivered his own justice upon Eddie but with a knife and not using the law like Alfieri suggested he do. This is the climax of the play and has terrible consequences for both of the characters as there search for justice ends simultaneously, because Eddie is dead so can no longer have justice and Marco has killed Eddie so has carried out his own justice. In Alfieris epilogue he again raises the fact that most of the time now we settle for half but this is not something which Marco was willing to do, he wanted justice and there was nothing that was going to stop him. Conclusively, miller communicates strong themes of law and justice in the play. Each character has their own views on what is right and what is wrong. The differences between the Sicilian society and the American society also play a large part. This is shown when Marco says that Eddie would be dead by now if he was in Italy because he had snitched on the two brothers. This is probably why Marco wanted to deliver his own justice because thats what he would do in his own country. Also Eddie hadnt actually done anything wrong in the eyes of the law, in fact it was commendable by the law because he reported illegal immigrants, and it was the fact that he betrayed relatives that needed justifying.

Evil in The Picture of Dorian Gray: :: Picture Dorian Gray Essays

Evil in The Picture of Dorian Gray:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Picture Of Dorian Gray is yet another novel portraying evil.   The theme is very much reflected by the book's setting, plot structure and characterisation.   It shows how individuals can slowly deteriorate because of the evil lying within themselves.   The evil of this book is the evil created by one's self and thrusted upon one's self.   The power of greed and selfishness take over Dorian Gray and create an ugly evil side to him.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The mid eighteenth century was a very influential era, specially in England.   This period judged much upon appearance and status.   Dorian was a very wealthy, intelligent man with a very high status.   He knew the very influential and rich people in his town as well.   His beauty charmed the world.   Basil was inspired to draw his portrait in order to preserve his beauty and youth. Dorian recognised that as long as he remained young he would be handsome.   He dreaded the day that he would age slightly and start to form wrinkles and such ugly (in Dorian's opinion) ugly things.   He believed that that day would deprive him of triumphs that would result in him being miserable.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The degree of evil within Dorian increases as the plot develops.   By trading his soul for his youth, Dorian rids of the good inside of himself.   The plot proves to us that evil does actually lie within an individual.   From the moment that he becomes forever young he begins to deteriorate.   Even once he reached his epiphany and saw his evil through the portrait he simply denied seeing it and continued his malicious deeds.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The characterisation of the book is one of the most important elements of this book.   Dorian begins by being a very naà ¯ve lad.   He is very easily influenced by others especially his two new good friends; Basil and Lord Henry. Basil, the painter of the portrait, influenced Dorian in more of a good, honest way.   While Lord Henry, although not being evil himself, gave him a more evil insight on life.   Both of them changed his life forever.   How little they both knew what went on inside that man.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Basil does not have any real direct influence on the youngster; without

Human Trafficking and how the Global Community can Mitigate the Practice Essay

Human trafficking is a type of illicit trade in humans which is carried out globally for the purpose of sexual slavery or exploitation and forced labor. It is one of the most booming business and fastest growing criminal enterprise around the world. The most affected population is women and children and the global community is charged with the responsibility of responding urgently to issues related to human trafficking. A number of approaches can be utilized by the international community to curb the problem of human trafficking. The most important approaches include the human rights approach, enhanced research into the problem of human trafficking, encouraging international judicial and the police cooperation as well as the community integration in the fight against human trafficking and providing support and assistance to victims of human trafficking (International Organization for Migration, 2008). One of the approaches that can help mitigate human trafficking is the human rights approach where the root causes of human trafficking such as patriarchal structures and gender based violence need to be brought into the limelight. These elements have been shown to favor several incidents of human trafficking particularly among the women. Policies and legislation on equal opportunities can help strengthen and protect the social and legal position of children and women and address gender and age discrimination. Support programs should be stepped up to strengthen efforts of fighting poverty and marginalization among vulnerable populations such as the girl child and women (Morrison, 2010). The global community should be keen not to confuse the fight against human trafficking with the fight against illicit immigration as there is need to scrutinize ways of increasing gainful, non-exploitative and legal migration of labor for the purpose of globalization. Education provision to vulnerable groups and creation of campaigns among the targeting clients can help reduce human trafficking (Morrison, 2010). The global community can combat human trafficking by encouraging research which will provide sufficient data and form a starting point of tackling the problem. Extensive research will indicate the scale of human trafficking and the mechanisms of exploitations. Information on human trafficking should be made available and this information should be shared bilaterally and multilaterally in order to facilitate good research on the problem (UNGIFT, 2009). Research on counter-trafficking responses will form a crucial component of combating human trafficking. This research will examine the reasons why clients of trafficked humans prefer the trade and check ways on solving the clients’ requirements. There should also be an extensive research that will focus on the needs of the vulnerable groups who mainly include women and children (UNGIFT, 2009). Another approach that can be used by the global community to combat human trafficking is the judicial and police cooperation which include the fight of corruption, checking on the investigative methods, exchange and specialization measures and legislative recommendations. The law should always ensure that there is protection of the witnesses and the victims, prohibit prostitute exploitation, ban illegal work and regulate national territory residence so as to combat such trafficking. There should be an introduction of adequate penalties into international and national legislation for such crimes that involve trafficking and other related offenses. Confidential and parallel investigation of the suspected traffickers’ financial affairs should be followed when identifying, sequestrating and confiscating the assets and proceeds of the human traffickers (UNGIFT, 2009). These should be legal provisions which may include the financial institution taking the legal duty to disclose any suspected transaction of money laundering to the agencies of law enforcement. However, the financial institution should not disclose any police enquires into the affairs of the suspect’s finances. The international community should ensure that states have legislations to assure the victims the right to secure and seek compensations for the harm and injuries they suffer during trafficking. Additionally, there should be direct contact between the judicial authorities and effective service of law enforcement for the purpose of speeding up information exchange in investigation process and having mutual legal support (UNGIFT, 2009). The approach of victim assistance and protection can help combat human trafficking. There should be an establishment of sufficient study and research to identify the trafficked victim and the traffickers’ profiles. This may include the design of key indicators of trafficking design matrix which can be used by the border personnel and the front-line police to assist them in distinguishing between the irregular migrant and the trafficked victims. The victims have to be provided with access to the support measures of all ranges such as shelter, sexual, psychological and physical health support and care. There should also be legal, social and independent health counseling to equip them with skills which will ensure that they avoid any future human trafficking predisposing factors (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2007). The global community can play a major role in combating incidents of human trafficking. This can be done by setting up rules and proving enabling environment that will discourage such crimes in the society. The approaches which look into the needs of both the traffickers and the trafficked individuals tend to strike a balance between caring both the offended and the offender as both are members of the community. Several organizations such as the United Nations have so far invested efforts to fight human trafficking although the cases of the illegal trade continue to be reported. This calls for more integrated approach which will involve the community, the victims and even the criminals of human trafficking.

Long Term and Short Term Cause of World War 1 Essay

There was no particular cause for the rash of the First World War. The causes are much more complex than those of the Second World War and include short, intermediate and long term factors that all ended to cause the July Days in 1914. These factors include militarism, nationalism, imperialism, the alliance system, and industrialization as the long term causes. The intermediate causes included the crises in the Balkans and the short-term trigger for the war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the Sarajevo, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. Militarism in the 19th and early 20th centuries involving the great powers of Europe was definitely important issue in the beginning of World War 1. Militarism means that the army and military powers are given a high profile by the government. More money was put into the military to increase arms and power of each country. This made each country ready and willing to fight one another. This build up and competition between the major powers developed into the arms race, which for many years put up looseness between Britain and Germany An alliance is an agreement made between two or more countries to give each other help if it is needed. . If any one country was attacked the other members of the alliance was repeatedly forced into the war as well, even if they did not want to fight. When an alliance is signed, those countries become known as Allies. A number of alliances had been signed by countries between the years 1879 and 1914. These were important because they meant that some countries had no choice but to declare war if one of their allies. For example: in 1879 Germany and Austria-Hungary made an alliance to protect themselves from Russia.

Learn How to Use Lo in Spanish

Learn How to Use Lo in Spanish Lo is one of those words that doesnt always have a clear definition - and it can function in at least three different ways, as a subject pronoun, object pronoun, or definite article. When you run across the word in a sentence and dont know what it means, you often need to figure out first how it is being used. Here, in rough order of how common they are, are the ways that lo can be used: Using Lo as a Masculine Direct-Object Pronoun As a direct object, lo can be translated as either him or it. The feminine equivalent is la.  ¿Pablo? No lo vi. (Pablo? I didnt see him.)El coche es muy caro. Quiero comprarlo. (The car is very expensive. I want to buy it.)Dmelo. (Give it to me.)No creo que lo hayas conocido. (I dont think youve met him.) Note that in the above sentences where lo means him, referring to a person, it would be very common in some areas, particularly in Spain, to use le instead of lo. The use of le as a direct object pronoun is known as leà ­smo. Using Lo as a Neuter Definite Article The definite articles in Spanish, typically el and la when singular, are the equivalent of the English the. Lo can be used as a neuter definite article before an adjective to make an abstract noun. For example, lo importante can be translated as the important thing, that which is important, or what is important. Lo bueno es que hemos sido ms listos. (The good thing is that we have been more clever.)Lo barato sale caro. (What seems cheap ends up expensive.)Lo mejor es que me voy a casa. (The best thing is that Im going home.)Lo mà ­o es tuyo. (What is mine is yours.)El entrenador se especializa en lo imposible. (The coach specializes in the impossible.) Lo as a Neuter Direct-Object Pronoun Lo can be used as an object pronoun to refer to something abstract, to an unnamed activity or situation, or to a previous statement. Used in this way, lo is usually translated as it, sometimes as that: No podemos hacerlo. (We cant do it.)No lo comprendo. (I dont understand that.)Mi religià ³n no lo prohibe, pero cada vez que lo hago, le doy las gracias al animal por darme vida. (My religion doesnt prohibit it, but every time I do it, I give thanks to the animal for giving me life.) Using Lo With Ser and Estar It is common when answering questions to use lo  before  the verbs for to be to refer to a preceding noun or adjective. When used in this way, lo has neither number nor gender. -  ¿Es nueva tu computadora?. - No lo es. (Is your computer new? It isnt.)-  ¿Estaban felices?  - Sà ­, lo estaban. (Were they happy? Yes, they were.) Using Lo Que and Lo Cual The phrases lo que and lo cual serve as relative pronouns usually meaning that, what, or that which: La marihuana: Lo que los padres deben saber. (Marijuana: What parents ought to know.)Mis padres me daban todo lo que yo necesitaba. (My parents gave me everything that I needed.)No puedo decidir lo que es mejor. (I cant decide what is better.)No todo lo que brilla es oro. (Not everything that shines is gold.) Using Lo De The phrase lo de can be translated differently depending on the context, but generally means something like the matter concerning: Los senadores republicanos fueron informados sobre lo de la CIA. (The Republican senators were informed about the CIA matter.)Lo de que las nià ±as japonesas se perdieron no era una mentira. (The story about the Japanese girls getting lost wasnt a lie.)Lo de Castro es todo pretextos y mentiras segà ºn sus enemigos. (Castros way of doing things is all pretexts and lies, according to his enemies.) Using Lo in Phrases Phrases using lo, not necessarily in a way that seems intuitive, include: a lo largo de, throughouta lo lejos, in the distancea lo loco, like crazya lo mejor, probablylo sabe todo, he/she knows it allpor lo general, generallypor lo menos, at leastpor lo pronto, for nowpor lo tanto, as a resultpor lo visto, apparently Using Lo as an Indirect Object In some regions, you may occasionally hear the use of lo as an indirect object instead of le. However, this practice, known as loà ­smo, is considered substandard and should be avoided by those learning the language.

Sydney Opera House essays

Sydney Opera House essays There was no true place for performing arts in Australia and this angered many residents. So Joseph Cahill set up a committee to raise money for an arts complex. Then, for more funding he established Opera Lotteries. With all the necessary funds available, the next step was a design. A competition was organized for the design of the complex. The winner was Jorn Utzon with his design of a complex with sail shaped roofs. Building began immediately in March of 1957 on Bennelong Point in Sydney. Many cost overruns and delays and even the elimination of the angels from the roofs drove Jorn Utzon to resign. The final cost of the opera house was $107 million dollars. The opera house was completed in mid 1973 and officially opened on October 20, 1973. The opera house itself is absolutely marvelous. It has more than one thousand rooms, including five main auditoriums. The building also has features such as: five rehearsal studios, four restaurants, six theatre bars, extensive foyer, lounge areas, sixty dressing rooms and suites, library, artists lounge, administrative offices, and extensive plant and machinery areas. All these things cause more than two million people to attend more than three thousand events per year. The opera house is home to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Ballet, and the Australian Opera. The largest room in the opera house is the Concert Hall. It has two hundred and sixty-seven seats. The Concert Hall is used for concerts, chamber music, opera, choral concerts, pop, jazz concerts, folk concerts, variety shows, and conventions. It has excellent acoustics with ceilings of eighty-two feet in height. All the walls in this room are made of woods such as white birch plywood, hard brown wood, and brush box. The volume of this room is tremendous at eight hundred and eighty thousand cubic feet. The Concert Hall is also home to the world ...

The Proper Way To Make References In A Dissertation

The Proper Way To Make References In A Dissertation How To Make References In A Dissertation Right? When it comes to academic papers, every writer must understand the importance of references. It has many reasons to be so significant. Firstly, this is one of the main requirements for the academic writings and it serves as a final touch for the paper, showing it is completed. Secondly, this is a way you can maintain statements in the text and provide proofs for your arguments. The presence of references displays that you have done quality research and have a deep knowledge of the topic you have disclosed in the dissertation. Today we will take a closer look at â€Å"academic† or â€Å"scholar† references in academic writing and discover their peculiarities. What is academic reference? This is the type of references you add to your academic paper to direct your reader to the sources of the information you have used in the paper. It can be a citation, quotation or another way of â€Å"borrowing† thoughts from other experts. We have many options for providing references in the paper. In this article, we will take a closer look at three of them. However, they all have similar features and purposes and provide the same piece of basic info about the source of thoughts: the name of the author of the text you refer to; the name of the paper/article/book/etc.; the type of work (book, article, magazine etc.); the date of publication, edition (if you refer to the particular edition of the book, with specific features, you need to specify what copy you have used exactly as the information, used in the older versions may drastically differ from statements used in the latest copies or the structure may vary and create a confusion when reader will try to find the original source you refer to); the place of publication and the name of the publisher; extra details, if needed, to provide complete direction to the source of information that is used in your academic paper. Reasons you need to make references and when you should do so Excluding plagiarism The most significant reason to use citation is to exclude cases of plagiarism in your dissertation or any other paper. It is not forbidden to add to your work thoughts and statements of other influential experts in the field. But you can do so only with proper references for their work. This is the way you can support your own statements and give credits to the people who have inspired you in your own discoveries at the same time. Keep in mind, that references are required not only for direct quotations of someone’s words but also to other data and thoughts, even if you have paraphrased them. Some people plagiarize other works unintentionally. But still, they are under the danger to be accused of dishonest researching. We advise making references anytime you know or consider the thought in your work is the representation of some other one. Be cautious. Additional reasons Apart from the danger of being accused in plagiarism, you need to keep in mind a few more reasons to make a habit to provide references to the sources of information you use. They are important in evolving as a scholar and following policies of collective knowledge creation: provide readers with the opportunity to dig deeper and find out wider explanation of the things from your paper, which can be a thing if your work stimulates reader’s thinking. Moreover, thus us just a common scholar courtesy to display the way your thoughts were formatted clearly and understandable; providing references to the works of other scholars will show you have done deep research on the topic and display your insight into it. This may help you in convincing your readers and make your arguments sound stronger. With quotations of the reputable sources, your interpretations may become even more understandable. What system for references is better to choose? Usually, there are no many options. In most cases, you will have an opportunity to choose between parenthetical referencing and footnote referencing or their preferred parenthetical and numerical styles for Arts or Humanities subjects and for Sciences or Social Sciences respectively. As a rule, it is up to the university choice. In case you have an opportunity to choose, you need to study the â€Å"usage† passage and check the following aspects: What is the number of sources you are about to use in my work? To what extent will you use the sources: will you use a lot of data from them or just include a few thoughts from each of them to point out some trends in the field? What will you choose: paraphrasing or direct quotes? So in case, your educational institution will provide you with the freedom to choose the referring method, use this checklist to make the right choice considering specifications of your work. Ways to make effective and consistent references Systematism Working dissertation, it is obvious that you will have to use dozens or even hundreds of sources and will have to provide references to them as well. You will need to work on the bibliography section for sure to display the list of used sources. But during months or even years of work on the paper it is impossible to remember and recall all the book, articles and papers you base your research on. So it would be wise to develop a system for organizing all the materials, whether you just read them or quote. This approach will be helpful for writing the bibliography section and making in-text quotations as well. Helpful software for automatizing the process Academic writers usually have their own ways of organizing sources lists and notes for their work. They may use spreadsheets or make notes on paper. It is good to implement even these techniques. But when you work with numerous sources and for a long time, you may require additional assistance from special software for managing references. This is one of the most effective ways to store and retrieve sources. Many educational institutions provide commercial subscriptions for their workers for software like RefWorks and EndNote. But you also may use free packages of Zotero. There might be some restrictions compared to the paid versions, but still, it can serve a great deal. Usually, this type of software provides a similar list of features: the feature for organizing the database by dividing it into different folders according to the particular criteria, that is especially useful for large databases; a number of fields that collect info that is typically needed for the proper citation in the academic paper; at least one option for automated recording of the info (for instance, plugins for grabbing citation data from pages you use in your work; DOI searches for collecting citation info right from the internet; functions for importing text or XML files, or even complete databases); plugins for word processing to make in-text quotations in any footnote or parenthetical form; at least one tool for creating lists of references or bibliographies – in a text form extracted from the program or collecting data about sources from the word procession results. Using these helpers, you can save a great deal of time while you will have an easy way for cataloging, retrieving or annotating materials you use in your paper. The automated citation will help you to create the full bibliography list for your paper. But keep in mind that automated tools cannot guarantee 100% accuracy in their results. So it would be better to check the records of the program and complete them with missing data or to fix some inaccurate parts. Parenthetical references Usage This type of references is used most often in academic writing and it can be applied in various academic disciplines with minor differences considering discipline specifications. MLA and Chicago styles are usually used in disciplines of the Arts and Humanities field, particularly in the north part of USA. When it comes to Social Sciences, APA can be appropriate. But the Harvard system is the most universal option that is acceptable by most universities and disciplines globally. Parenthetical methods are usually applicable on an economic basis. With their help, the reader may quickly and without any special troubles or time-wasting find the source of the provided information in the section with all references (can be marked as â€Å"References† or â€Å"Bibliography† etc.) where all the papers you have cited are collected. Due to the fact that this style is based on economy approach, it has simplified requirements considering the author’s name. So you can specify it only if it is not clear from the context. But if your quotation looks like â€Å"Brown states that.† you can omit Brown’s name in the references a few phrases later. System based on author-date principle Most references of the parenthetical format are based on the â€Å"author-date† principle. They include the name of the author and then the year of publication. As it was stated above, you can omit the author’s name and specify only the year, in case the name is understandable from the context. Here’s an example: We can observe many complaints that we have â€Å"too many styles for references that may only waste our time we could spend on deeper research† (Brown 2018, p.8) or Brown claims that â€Å"There are too many styles for references that may only waste our time we could spend on deeper research† (2018, p.8) The year of publication is the second main information about the source you need to specify in your referencing (after the name). This allows easy tracking of the source of the thoughts of the piece of the text and finds it in the bibliography section. The author-date principle usually creates a unique marker for each source of information. But in can the scholar has written more than one academic work in one year without specifying other dating information, and you need to use and quote each of the sources in your dissertation, so you need to make each identifier unique like â€Å"2018a† and â€Å"2018b† etc. The way you make references may differ depending on the selected format, discipline etc. For instance, we will use APA when we are assigned to write a paper on any of the Social Sciences discipline. It does not have any strict rules for mentioning page numbers as usually in such works the sources of information are rather paraphrased then cited directly. In most cases, it is just a general reference for giving credit to the inspiration and the direction for the thoughts in the paper. In the APA system, you need to specify the author’s name and the date of publication. In case you need to mention the page number, add this information at the end of the quote in a separate parenthetical note. Brown (2018) claims that â€Å"There are too many styles for references that may only waste our time we could spend on deeper research† (p.8) The Harvard system This citation method required separate disclosing, despite the fact it belongs to the author-date group of referencing styles. There are high chances that your university uses the Harvard system as the main citation system, or at least for some disciplines. But it is also possible, that your university may understand this system differently comparing to other educational institutions. While Chicago and MLA styles serve as detailed identifiers that have many rules for academic writing, apart from the references, Harvard method only specifies the type of info you need to add to your reference, but it has much more formatting rules. Harvard formatting differs from institution to institution and publication that apply this style. So variations may be many, but we can define basic principles that remain the same: capitalize the name of the author; referring to the page numbers, use â€Å"p.† or just add the number; separate the name of the author and the publication data with a comma; use the formatting and elements of bibliography that is specified by the university. It may be confusing, but many universities do not take into consideration these specifications. If you go to any library in any university, you will see that its referencing guide will disclose the main set of rules of Harvard System, without including elements of its variations. This will help you to identify the unique requirements and spot the ones, added by your university or software. Keep in mind this information, especially if you use the special software to automate tracking and collecting bibliography data. If you will choose the Harvard system in its settings, the high chances that the result will not match the requirements of your university. So you will need to fix some settings manually to reach the needed format. Some referencing tools offer a few variants of the Harvard system, so you can try each of them to find the most suitable option for you and your university. But still, you may need to make a few corrections as well. MLA format and features of MLA approach is even more economical in using the information in references. The main thing here is that we do not have to use dates but organize sources according to the names of the authors with minimal punctuation as well. For instance, it can look like this: We often hear complaints that there are â€Å"too many styles for references that may only waste our time we could spend on deeper research† (Brown 8) In case the author has more than one work, connected to the discussed topic, you can add a reference to the particular book, but make it the shorter possible, like this: We often hear complaints that there are â€Å"too many styles for references that may only waste our time we could spend on deeper research† (Brown, Education’s 8) More examples Take into account that all the references we provide in the examples are fictional and made up by us to display the main principles. In text: We often hear complaints that there are â€Å"too many styles for references that may only waste our time we could spend on deeper research† (Brown 2018, 8) In the list of references: Brown, John. 2018. The Challenges of Modern Education: Requirements and Academic Writing. Parenthetical styles examples Chicago (author-date) MLA (Modern Language Association) Harvard APA (American Psychological Association) Footnote/endnote references and their usage Usage Method of footnote referencing is used mostly in papers in Arts and Humanities disciplines and more common in the UK and Commonwealth countries. It is suitable for direct quotes and references to the sources when it is required to provide instantly what source has been used and when you need to add some comments to the info you have used in the main text. This type of referencing usually includes page numbers if possible. The exceptions are the classical texts that may exist in various editions and in such cases it is more appropriate to refer to the particular chapter, scene, line etc. Footnoting is based on the assumption that the reader may decide to trace the source to study the context of the quote and get a deeper understanding of the thoughts in the paper. So we often can see this type of referencing in the books and articles and they usually contain bibliography references and other info about the source. Formatting and style specifications Usually, we can see the number in the superscript note (less often – parentheses) at the end of the sentence of the passage quoted or some other option to display that the text has noted. In most cases, footnotes can be found at the bottom of the page that contains the reference. It can also be an adjacent page in case there is too much text in the footer. The referencing section as a rule id separated from the main text with a horizontal line. Less often universities use the endnote approach when all the references are marked with a running number and then at the end of the paper, book etc. we have a special chapter with references and comments. The amount of details in the footnote reference usually depends on the presence or absence of the bibliography. If the is one, in a footnote we can just add the main info to track the original source in the bibliography section. It can be the name of the paper and its author’s name and the particular page where the quote is. Footnote is the unique style as it allows using bibliography as well with the sources of quotations. You also can add to the footnote any other source and information that is important for the deeper understanding of the paper your work on, whether you cited it or not. In some cases, footnote referencing does not imply the bibliography section at the end of the paper. This means that all the details about the source of information must be added to the footnote. At the same time, two the most popular styles Oxford and MHRA usually require that all possible bibliographic details were mentioned in the footnote as well as in the bibliography section in the alphabetic order. Sometimes MHRA allows omitting of the general bibliography, but often universities require creating it anyway. Considering this, the short note is allowed (containing the author’s name, title and the page of reference) to be added to the footnote after the source was mentioned and introduced before. Examples In text: Brown often complaints that â€Å"There are too many styles for references that may only waste our time we could spend on deeper research†. 1 In the footer: Brown, John. 2018. The Challenges of the Modern Education: Requirements and Academic Writing (Oxford: Scholars Press, 2018), p. 8. In the list of references: Brown, John. 2018. The Challenges of the Modern Education: Requirements and Academic Writing (Oxford: Scholars Press, 2018). Footnote style examples MHRA (Modern Humanities Research Association); Oxford; Chicago (footnote style). Numbered reference styles Usage Numbered referencing style is most common in scientific works. They are perfect for cases when there are too many sources of information and they are used brief or paraphrased and when you use more than 5 sources to prove one point or statement but without direct quotations (or without it at all). Numbered collection of the references in bibliographic records are the best options for cases when there are too many sources and even the shortest parenthetical approaches will lead to the often and long interruption of the main text. Format and features Every source you use in your work has its unique number in the bibliography depending on the appearance order in the text. The definite number is inserted in the main text in parentheses (not in a superscript way like in footnotes) and when in the further text you refer to this source, you use the same number for referencing to it. At the end of the paper, you will have to collect all the references in one list in the respective order. Numbered references are suitable for the texts where there are many numbers and terms and you may need many references or even hyperlinks to explain them. Examples In text: Scholars often complain that there are too many styles for references that may only waste our time we could spend on deeper research. (1-4) In the list of references: Brown, J. The Challenges of the Modern Education: Requirements and Academic Writing. Oxford: Scholars Press, 2018. Examples of numerical styles One of the most standardized styles of numerated referencing is Vancouver style. But more often you can hear mentioning only â€Å"numerated referencing† without specifying Vancouver style. As well as Harvard style, this method of making references may be altered depending on the university requirements, time of publication and other factors. But the unique Vancouver style of referencing will remain the same and you may use it as a starting point to organize a large number of references in your paper. Changes in referencing approaches – e-sources and DOI The DOI style, or A Digital Object Identifier, is standardized and currently a very common method for making references to the online sources. This is like the connection between an ISBN and a URL. It is a unique and stable identifier that marks the particular source in electronic format and allows looking for it in the database. URL features are in its functioning as the â€Å"address† to the source and make it possible to found it quickly. Most of the articles published today online use DOI method. The main info of the DOI is collected in the centralized database as metadata. This is a very convenient option for those, who use referencing software. All you need is to input the DOI of the article and the system will collect the required bibliographic data. But the most convenient feature is that the metadata is being regularly updated so the unique DOI will contain the relevant URL and other info about the article. Type http://dx.doi.org/ before any DOI identifier and it will find the most suitable place in the article for reference. If the source is open, it will direct to the page where the full article is available. In other cases, it will lead to the login page or any other page that will help you to get access to the original source. The referencing techniques are still in the process of incorporating DOI. However, recent editions of APA and MLA now contain guidelines for using DOI as the references and even make it possible to exclude some details about the source of your reference have DOI.

Termination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Termination - Essay Example In such instances, it generally becomes necessary for the organization to consider terminating the employee. Termination should be considered as the most severe form of punishment that an organization can possibly impose on an employee and as such, it should be the most carefully considered form of disciplinary action. The experience of going through a job termination is considered to be traumatic for all of an organization’s employees. Of note is that the termination of employees at different levels or positions within the same organization varies considerably; Unlike the employees working in the lower level positions of the organizations, an organization’s executives and CEOs often do not have to worry about the probability of their positions being eventually eliminated. The main worry that individuals at this level often have is that of ensuring that they constantly try and please the organization’s board of directors because it is these boards that are tasked with the responsibility of firing and hiring of these executives. Most of the time, the board of directors only undertakes the rather drastic action of firing an executive or CEO due to a loss of confidence in the executive. This loss of confidence might be brought about by a number of factors that include a general decline in the level of productivity, the emergence of philosophical differences between the executive in question and the board of directors, economic reasons, or if there is a need to reorganize the organization. Of note however is that there are currently no formal termination appeal procedures for employees at this level (Mondy, 2013, p. 367). This group of employees is widely considered to be the most neglected and vulnerable in respect to employment termination. While an organization’s executives generally tend to have a considerable degree of clout that might aid in helping them to successfully

The ten faces of innovation IDEO's Strategies for defeating the Essay

The ten faces of innovation IDEO's Strategies for defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization Thomas Kelley, Jonathan - Essay Example Kelley does so by describing the way in which an innovation team can be built and function, providing numerous examples of application of these concepts. The introduction sets the scene by singling out the "devil's advocate approach" as the worst enemy of innovation, before defining three groups of roles, or "personas" which typically constitute a successful innovation-oriented activity. In a manner reminiscent of other team role models defined in organizational behavior, Kelley names the groups "learning", "organizing" and "building" personas. It is the learning group, which is the focus of the first three chapters. First the Anthropologist's role is discussed, where the key to beginning successful innovation is un-blinkered perception of how people behave. The theme continues with the Experimenter, whose accelerated failure allows for faster progress towards the goal, before closing with the Cross-Pollinator, adept at applying concepts from one area to a completely different one. Following this is the organizing group, again with one role per chapter. The Hurdler is the problem-solver, the Collaborator brings people together for a result and the Director sets the pace, the direction and the goals. The chapter on the last group, "building", open wi... The Caregiver is tasked with making it easier for the customer to transition to a new innovative context and the Storyteller, the final persona, enhances the motivation and the bonding of the team to produce real and useful innovation. The book closes with a final chapter with some general pointers on succeeding in innovation. The strength of the book lies in the very attainable possibility of replicating the innovation system that it describes. Kelley expresses the concepts and methods in terms that are related to everyday business life and does not make any excessive demand on the reader's intellect. The "cookbook" approach also allows readers to review their own organizations and to pinpoint any particular areas of weakness or malfunction. In a sense, the strength of the book is also its weakness: managing 10 different role models in a fast-moving business environment is a complex task and requires considerable energy. A section on a minimalist approach with ease of application would have been welcome, all the more so in that chapters on some roles (Director for example) appear to have been "padded" with more generic material. In addition, the transversal or underlying nature of certain personas notably in the organizing group could be further developed to enhance practical application. However Kelley makes a valid contribution to business in general with a workable innovation system underpinned by his own real experience. In the field of organizational behavior in particular, Kelley contributes at a micro-organizational level, mostly by charting the development of individual contributor roles, but also to some extent

Maos Cult of Personality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Maos Cult of Personality - Essay Example The following discussion will be concentric upon the cult of personality surrounding Mao Tse Tung and the means by which this cult of personality was able to assist the People’s Republic of China, and specifically the Chinese Communist Party, in solidifying their grip on power during the period of the Cultural Revolution (approximately 1966 to 1976). Further, it is the distinct hope of this student that the following analysis will be beneficial in discussing how the Cultural Revolution was able to take place and the means by which identity was formulated through this particular cult of personality. As a means of framing this particular issue, it must be understood that Mao Tse Tung’s cult of personality was not something that was evident from the time he came into power as the Chairmen of the People’s Republic of China. Although doubtless revered within the Communist Party, and amongst the people of China, there did not exist a mechanism or state-sponsored cult of personality for the leader up until the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. Essentially, this cult of personality was born out of a direct need. As a direct result of the Great Leap Forward, Chinese industry, the row, and communist identity had been significantly reduced (MÃ ¡rquez, 2010). Whereas the Great Leap Forward had been designed as a means of rapidly transforming the People’s Republic of China into a modern industrialized society, the ultimate end result of this failed policy was mass starvation, economic difficulty, and disastrous collectivized nation that failed to produce the requir ed quotas of goods that leadership demanded. From the information that is thus far been provided, it is clear and apparent that the cult of personality exhibited around Chairman Mao was much more than a lust and desire for emulation and hero worship. Although it is doubtless true that the overall level of power that Chairman Mao, and those within Chinese leadership, exhibited served as a means of corrupting the ultimate message that they hoped to provide to the people, the true nature of Mao cult of personality that has been the focus of this particular analysis is in attempting to reestablish the legitimacy and trust of the people after the horrendous failures that were exhibited in terms of the great leap forward other failed policies of development during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Furthermore, it should also be understood that even though the cult of personality which has been the focus of this brief essay was intended to engage each and every stakeholder within China, the specific focus that it had was on the youth. This was of course done in the understanding that the youth of the nation were those that were most likely to carry on the communist struggle and encourage older individuals to have faith in the process and to promote the ideology and approach that Chairman Mao most wish to have affected. Without the participation and engagement of the youth, is doubtful that the Cultural Revolution, or indeed the cult of personality, could ever have become as powerful determinants in Chinese history as they have become. Â  

Db4 team and leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Db4 team and leadership - Research Paper Example To ensure that every member is heard and given the required opportunity, the manager can consider taking various steps. They include improving effectiveness of communication among the members, fostering understanding, boosting members self-esteem, encouraging suggestions and inputs, organizing team’s and individual roles, offering rewards and recognition. The first step involves improving communication among the members and their leaders. Effective communication enhances understanding and appreciation among the members. It improves interactions among the members and thus creates better opportunities to support coordination. The manager should then develop various strategies to ensure that everyone understand that the ultimate goals can only be achieved through effective coordination and teamwork’s contributions. Such an understanding would encourage members to value and respects everyone’s contributions and roles. Low self-esteem contributed by conflicts, and poor coordination can cause a detrimental impact and affect achievement of the set objectives (Rapoport & Bailyn, 1996). The manager must motivate every member to play a role in the teams. Conflicts and low-esteem can be eliminated through organizing for regular meetings and appreciating everyone’s efforts. It is also beneficial to ensure that everyone understands his roles and expectations. A standard performance measure should be developed to evaluate the contributions of every member. The effort will help eliminate conflicts because everyone will be expected to meet the minimum requirements (Clutterbuck, 2007). Finally, it is beneficial to offer rewards and recognition to the good performers. Rewarding and recognizing good performances encourage everyone to aim

About the book The New Jim Crow Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

About the book The New Jim Crow - Essay Example This new approach towards racial control is more dangerous as it does not rely on obvious racism, but rather resorts to a very tacit and sophisticated sort of racism. To many readers the theory enumerated by Michelle Alexander regarding the new approach towards racial control may seem more of a rhetorical propaganda, but if one considers the available facts and data, the point made by Alexander comes out to be valid and true. The assertions made by writer Michelle Alexander regarding the dynamics of race in the contemporary American society are indeed valid and do deserve a serious consideration. The apparent racism of the past has reinvented itself to appear as being more unbiased, while it systematically goes on to target the racial minorities. The claim made by Alexander that a professedly color neutral justice system is more poised to target the African Americans and the colored people, does seem valid in the light of the research conducted by varied other experts. As per Walker, Spohn and DeLone, the law enforcement and justice system in the US is more biased towards the African Americans and other racial minorities (493). Even a cursory historical perusal of the race related issues in any print publication does testify to the fact that though the criminal justice system in the US may not exactly come out as being hostile towards the racial minorities, yet, it is a fact that in some stages, the criminal justice system happens to be biased towards the racial minorities. For instance many aspects of the criminal justice system like the selection of the jury do come out as being balanced and color neutral, there are varied other stages of the criminal justice system like seeking a harsher penalty or sentence, which are mor e biased towards the African Americans and the other colored people in the US. Hence, the claim extended by Alexander that the criminal justice

Db4 team and leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Db4 team and leadership - Research Paper Example To ensure that every member is heard and given the required opportunity, the manager can consider taking various steps. They include improving effectiveness of communication among the members, fostering understanding, boosting members self-esteem, encouraging suggestions and inputs, organizing team’s and individual roles, offering rewards and recognition. The first step involves improving communication among the members and their leaders. Effective communication enhances understanding and appreciation among the members. It improves interactions among the members and thus creates better opportunities to support coordination. The manager should then develop various strategies to ensure that everyone understand that the ultimate goals can only be achieved through effective coordination and teamwork’s contributions. Such an understanding would encourage members to value and respects everyone’s contributions and roles. Low self-esteem contributed by conflicts, and poor coordination can cause a detrimental impact and affect achievement of the set objectives (Rapoport & Bailyn, 1996). The manager must motivate every member to play a role in the teams. Conflicts and low-esteem can be eliminated through organizing for regular meetings and appreciating everyone’s efforts. It is also beneficial to ensure that everyone understands his roles and expectations. A standard performance measure should be developed to evaluate the contributions of every member. The effort will help eliminate conflicts because everyone will be expected to meet the minimum requirements (Clutterbuck, 2007). Finally, it is beneficial to offer rewards and recognition to the good performers. Rewarding and recognizing good performances encourage everyone to aim

Social Media Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Social Media - Research Proposal Example Lastly, the proposed research is foreseeing to acquire understanding of possible interpretations based on psychological theories of personality that focus on personal importance and satisfaction in relation to individual behavior. Previously carried out researches play a significant role in any study besides primary researches, and integration of both allows identification and evaluation of possible gaps and findings. For such purpose, the proposed research will identify secondary researches available in academic journals, books, magazines, etc, and will acquire concrete information by carrying out primary research methodologies. In specific, primary research will involve surveys and questionnaires from stakeholders (users, clients, advertisers, etc) of social media sites, as well as case studies on one of the social media sites. For data analysis, the proposed research will consider both quantitative, as well as qualitative approach allowing statistical and theoretical explanations and understandings related to the identified purpose

Sara Lee Corp Analysis Essay Example for Free

Sara Lee Corp Analysis Essay 1. What is Sara Lee’s corporate strategy? How has its retrenchment strategy changed the nature of its business lineup? Sara Lee corporate strategy was to implement acquisition strategies which would enlarge their geographical coverage in order to expand into new business classes. When the company started it was a small wholesale distributor of several items: coffee, tea and sugar and over time Sarah Lee acquired food processing, packaging, distribution and the retail food business. Over 40 years, the Sarah Lee Company acquired related and non-related business. Sarah Lee sold 8 businesses that were looked upon as non-strategic. This initiative was expected to generate combined net after tax proceeds in excess of $3B. The leaders of Sarah struggled over time to manage broadly diversified and geographically operations. So it was decided in order for the company to stay focus it would concentrate on the grocery portion and the upcoming trend of the single serve coffee machines. Therefore, Sarah would also focus on the single serve coffee line business, which they believed would be profitable for the company and shareholders. The retrenchment strategy changed the nature of its business lineup from a small wholesale distributor to acquiring retail food business. The retrenchment strategy would allow Sarah Lee to focus even more closely on the food, beverage, and household products. Management believed in order to save cost and to be more profitable they would concentrate its financial and managerial resources on a smaller number of business segments in which market prospects were promising and by Sara Lee’s brands being well known and well positioned would help them to stay in alignment with the strategy. Sarah Lee also executed an outsourcing strategy known as Project Accelerate. It’s a company-wide cost saving and productivity project that focused on outsourcing, supply chain efficiencies, and overhead reduction. 2. What is your assessment of the long-term attractiveness of the industries represented in Sara Lee Corp.’s business portfolio? In 2008 100M revenue,  with 10-12 core products was recorded as showing an increase in market share in 2010. However, in between 2008-2010, divisional sales had grown faster than any other food processing company; Sarah Lee’s market share had increased from 9.2% in 2009 to 12.3 in 2010. Keeping in mind, the state of the economy along with the size of the household’s, it usually cheaper for people to eat their meals at home and bring their lunches to work. By consumers purchasing lunch meats and other foods products of the well know brand Sarah Lee products would mostly remain high. Therefore the retail, foodservice, and other related industries represent the most attractive long-term business portfolio growth for the Sarah Lee Corporation. 3. What is your assessment of the competitive strength of Sara Lee Corp.’s different business units? By Sarah Lee staying focus in the food industry and having less or in some cases no focus on non-fitting industries allowed for value chain match-ups in the form of production technology, shipping logistics and customers. This direction offers opportunities for skills to be transferred, cost and brand sharing including the production of bakery, retail and foodservice goods because many of these are products are similar or the same products. By having product similarity the Sarah Lee Company can manufacturer a large batch of the same product, costing less than having to set up and run a separate product line. North American Retail: market-leading brands 30% market share in smoked sausage 23% market share in hot dogs 14% market share in lunch meat 58% market share in breakfast sausage 22% in frozen desserts 55% in single-serve coffee North American Fresh Bakery: Sales increased from $91 million in 2003 to $2.1 billion in 2009 Best-selling brand of packaged bread with 8.3% market share Number one ranking in hot dog and hamburger buns Increased shelf space= 1.5 feet to 4.0 feet Resulted in tripled average weekly sales North American Foodservice: Even though recession, caused division years $2.2 billion in sales to $1.9 billion in 2010 Held a 65% market share in liquid coffee and tea 52% market share in pies 19% market share in cakes 20% market share in refrigerated dough International Beverage 40% market share in Europe in single-serving coffee machines In 2009, expanded line to include L’OR Espresso capsules which were compatible with the second-best-selling brand of single-serve coffeemaker with a 27% market share International Bakery Bimbo fresh bread sold in spain accounted for 63% of division sales Bimbo frozen bread sold in Australia accounted for 12% of division sales Bimbo refrigerated bread sold in France accounted for 25% of division sales Bimbo was market leader with 37% market share International Household Body Care Kiwi brand was the number one shoe care brand worldwide with distribution in 200 countries and global market share of 30% Sanax was the number one brand of bath and shower products in Denmark, Spain and France, and Ambi Pur was the best selling air freshener in the Netherlands and Spain. 3rd best-selling air freshener brand in the U.K., Italy, and France. 4. What does a 9-cell industry attractiveness/business strength matrix displaying Sara Lee’s business units look like? 5. Does Sara Lee’s portfolio exhibit good strategic fit? What value-chain match-ups do you see? What opportunities for skills transfer, cost sharing, or brand sharing do you see? Yes, Sara Lee’s portfolio does exhibit a good strategic fit for the following reasons: Product line and product relations support one another like: bakery, beverage and meat items can be sold together which can save cost, time and increase profits. By Sara Lee retailing and whole selling is an advantage for all the products, all products will most likely be consumed. The opportunity of skill transferring enhances cost saving by allowing a bakery worker to work in the beverage and meat sector or vice versa. Brand sharing the products can be handled by various techniques, saving time, cost sharing, promotions/ads and generate revenue. 6.What is your assessment of Sara Lee’s financial and operating performance in fiscal years 2008-2010, the period following the divestitures that were the core of Sara Lee’s retrenchment strategy? Sara Lee deciding to close 8 business units, (Direct selling, U.S. retail coffee, European apparel, European nuts snacks, European rice, U.S. meat snacks, European meats and Sara Lee branded apparel) after adapting the retrenchment strategy which was not an easy decision. With this incentive the company expected to increase its operating profits margins by 12%, but the company could not achieve its targets. From 2008-2010 to help with cost savings the project named Project Accelerate was implemented which was estimated to save the company between $350M $400M by 2012, accumulative the project saved the company $180M. 7.What is your overall evaluation of Sara Lee’s retrenchment plan? What evidence and/or reasons support a conclusion that Sara Lee’s shareholders have or have not benefitted from the company’s retrenchment strategy? The retrenchment plan created a gamble for the leadership team’s expectation and it did not create a huge impact for providing additional revenue for the Sarah Lee Company. Per Sara Lee’s financials and not due to the retrenchment strategy the company did show growth in some sectors and barely over previous years. The leadership team felt the retrenchment strategy would increase improvement on its return on investments, increase revenue to $14B by 2010 and operating profit margin in 2010 by 12% against operating profit margin i n 2004. Sara Lee did manage to improve its operating margin to only 8.5% where as $10.8B of revenue was generated in the 2010. Sara Lee stakeholders did not really benefit as much as the company hoped they would from the retrenchment strategy. The book value of the common stock decreased from $3.61 to $2.25 The market value of the common stock decreased from $17.4 to $13.9 Dividends Declared decreased from $0.50 to $0.44 8.What actions do you recommend that Sara Lee management take to improve the company’s performance and boost shareholder value? Your recommended actions must be supported with convincing, analysis-based arguments. Research and  endorsing current products (ex. teas and coffee) in new markets such as in the Asian and European markets to help with increasing brand awareness, revenue and profitability. There is a limited margin on the dessert products. By selling off its dessert brands, Sara Lee can invest the profits of the sale into other innovations business units. Sara Lee International should expand its household and body care brands into the United States. Its air freshener brands hold significant market share in Europe, which could be utilized in North America. The market for cleaning products and air fresheners is strong in the United States. Sara Lee’s innovations would be very successful in the growing market across the Atlantic. With Sara Lee having the product lines that are related products can take a declining shift at the same time, therefore an innovative product line needs to be added/ expanded/developed. Sara Lee should utilize some of its cash and perform another stock buyback program. Sara Lee’s leadership team needs to be analysis to see who should stay and who should go. Once that process is completed then the leadership team needs to manage what is working well and Project Accelerate should stay in place to continue to increase cost savings and increase profits. All of the recommendations are needed in order for the consumer base to continue be to grow at the necessary rate also for the company to continue to grow per goals and to keep the shareholder happy.

The Beginnings Of Prescriptive Rules In English

The Beginnings Of Prescriptive Rules In English This research paper traces the beginnings of prescriptive grammar in the English language. It shows how the beginning of prescriptivism is closely connected with the changes in the society of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The invention of printing press, better social mobility and better education, in one way or another helped bring English to its standard level. Prescriptive efforts of the above mentioned centuries were also helpful in codifying the English language and setting this language as the standard one. INTRODUCTION My research paper traces the beginnings of prescriptive rules in the English language. The thesis is that prescriptive rules came into existence in the nineteenth century. However, after reading above mentioned works, I discovered that its beginnings could be traced before this time. Furthermore, the other assumption is that the rise of prescriptivism has been set into motion by changes in philosophy and economy, and subsequently in society, and we shall try to prove this assumption to be right throughout this essay. Also, some of the rules most commonly known as prescriptive rules will be mentioned. PRESCRIPTIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE In this introduction we will define what prescriptive rules are, and point out its counterpart decriptivism (agreement). These terms are used in linguistics and both have (not only prescriptive and descriptive rules, but also prescriptive and descriptive grammars) avid supporters, for instance R.A. Lafferty and David Foster Wallace, respectively. In linguistics, prescription can refer both to the codification and the enforcement of rules governing the usage of a particular language. These rules can cover such topics as standards for spelling and grammar or syntax, or rules regarding what is deemed socially or politically correct. Prescription includes the mechanisms for establishing and maintaining an interregional language or a standardized spelling system. It can also include declarations of what particular groups consider to be good taste. If that taste is conservative, prescription may be resistant to language change. If it is radical, prescription may be productive of neologisms. Prescription can also include recommendations for effective language usage. As already mentioned, prescriptivism has its counterpart descriptivism. Descriptive methods observe and record how language is used in practice, which is the basis of all linguistic research. scholarly descriptive work is usually based on text or corpus analysis, or on field studies. However, the term description includes each individuals observations of their own language usage. Descriptive linguistics eschews value judgments and makes no recommendations. In short, descriptive linguists do not think that something can be deemed wrong in language usage. These approaches to language are seen by many as opposites because one declares what language should be like, while the other states how language really functions in everyday society. We can also claim that they are complementary, because popular debates around language issues revolve around the question how to balance them. THE STUDY As mentioned above, my original thesis was that prescriptivism first appeared in the nineteenth century. I based this thesis on the fact that the nineteenth century, or more precisely the Victorian period, was the time of great social change, which led to greater social mobility. My interest in this period and some previous essays I wrote about the mentioned period had led me to take this stand. Studies conducted by Dr. Shadya A.N. Cole (The Rise of Prescriptivism) and Laura Wright (The Development of Standard English), made me think otherwise. Different events, historical and social, contributed to the rise of prescriptivism, which means that prescriptivism did not develop outside society. Cole states that most prescriptive rules were made between 1650 and 1800 (Cole 2003:119). This covers a big time span to consider, but this was an era that saw some of the most interesting changes take place. In that time frame, the UK witnessed change in the political arena. The absolute monarchy was transformed into constitutional monarchy  [1]  . This was the result and a sign of the growing power of the middle class. Power of the middle class could best be seen in the English Civil War (1642-1651), also known as the Puritan Revolution, and by the establishment of the Commonwealth. One of the things that also had a significant impact on the dawn of prescriptivism was the expansion of the colonies, which provided the Kingdom with vast amounts of money and resources needed for industry, and also made the middle class more affluent. All of these events led to social mobility, which was something that had not been seen before (Cole 2003: 119). The new emerging middle-class was formed and it strived for social betterment. This betterment, along with good etiquette, included language. In search of such modes of behavior, which characterized the nobility, the middle class had to look outside their own customs. It might be advisable to mention here William Caxton and the year 1476. This is the starting point of the English printing press. It carries importance because it opened the doors to vernacular works, which were designed for the middle class and nobility, and also provides a precise beginning for the tracing of orthographic reform during the late fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. One of the most important works of that time was the printing of the Bible into the vernacular language and that, consequently, opened the doors to preaching in the vernacular. Printing press, without any doubt, helped to diffuse knowledge much faster and in all levels of the society. At this point all kinds of printed material became available, from newspapers, journals, pamphlets, to books. Along with this rose the number of literate people. As commercial middle-class came into prominence, it spread literate education through wider circles of society and encouraged the study of modern foreign languages (Cole 2003: 121). The separation of the Anglican Church from the Church of Rome in 1533-34 made significant changes in the characteristics of the universities. Before, universities had been the professional schools of the clergy, but now education expended into the sciences and humanities. Latin and Greek were still the languages needed to be learnt, but demand for the English language to be taught was also growing. The demand for learning English marks a turning point. Before that time, the upper-classes insisted on their children being fluent in Greek and Latin along with French. On the other hand, with the rise of the middle-class the tide started to turn because English was getting appraisal and education was aimed at producing speakers of correct English (Cole 2003: 121). Again, this demand can be traced to the changes in the society. As the middle-class grew, two sub-classes started to emerge. Those were the more genteel merchant class and the less genteel trading class. The decisive factor in their separation was the way they spoke and wrote. Thus, the teaching of the English language became necessary for the acceptance into genteel society. Philosophy and the current way of thinking considerably impacted linguistic research. The influential new stream in philosophy was rationalism which was manifested in the tendency to attempt to settle disputes by using logic and it became dominant in the language usage. English language started to gain prominence. Variations, that had arisen through years were no longer being looked at with as great tolerance as before. Latin and Greek still carried a great importance. They were the languages on which English grammar was modeled. However, Latin had more influence over English than any other language. Latin conventions and examples were carried over into English to make it more appealing. One of the reasons for this was that Latin grammar was seen as an appropriate pattern upon which to model an English grammar (Cole 2003: 119). The early books written in English were textbooks for the instruction of a foreign language or books that provided a basis for the study of Latin. Now that books were being written for the instruction of English, the authors basically applied the same pattern as they did for Latin. Linguists were trying to force English into a linguistic mold that was no longer suitable for a living language. They wanted to have the same logi c, clarity and force in English as they had when they were using Latin. British writers were worried that English would bring chaos and instability, and would destroy the ease of communication afforded by the stable classical language. One of the early proponents of the call for the authorative regularization of English was John Dryden  [2]  . Eventually, this regularization led to the common acceptance of prescriptive outlook on the language and the rules of correctness. From what was said before regarding the new middle-class, we can conclude that the popularity of the authoritarian movement was due to the popular demand of the middle class for guidance on how to use English properly. Elizabeth Bohnert claims that the need for the proper usage of English also affected speech patterns. What she argues is that the speech patterns of the educated and aristocratic in the capital were naturally considered to be superior throughout the 16th and 17th centuries (Bohnert 2008: 1). It w as not until the age of prescriptivism that certain accents began to be considered faulty. As the middle-class increased in wealth, they desired to have the education and the manners of the ruling class. Their basic assumption was that variation in language was undesirable and printers catered to the need of the wealthy by producing various handbooks. Since material possessions no longer carried the stigma of class, the manner of speaking, pronunciation and grammar became useful in making distinctions among classes. In the late 18th century a few writers from diverse linguistic backgrounds took it upon themselves to distinguish between proper and improper pronunciation, which was a way to instruct the provincials on how to imitate the speech of Londoners. Latin influence eventually became more widespread, which decreased the freedom and individuality of English. English style and elegance reflected those of classical Latin. If there were differences found between the two languages, English was always referred to as faulty, because Latin was after all a classical language. What Latin offered was the definite rules that writers could appeal to and rely on (Cole 2003: 121). English was not reliable because it had no grammar, or at least that was the common assumption. Some writers, when writing in English, had to transform their thoughts or ideas first into Latin so that they could see what the best way of converting them into English was. Borrowing of Latin words greatly enriched English vocabulary, even though this was not something new. However, there were those who thought that such words were redundant. This led to the famous inkhorn  [3]  controversy. This controversy came at the time when English was replacing Latin as the mai n language of science and learning in England. Inkhorns were new words that were being introduced into the language by writers, often self-consciously borrowing from Classical literature. Critics regarded these words as useless as they required knowledge of Latin or Greek to be understood. They also contended that there were words with identical meaning already in English. Many of these so-called inkhorn terms, such as dismiss, celebrate, encyclopedia, or ingenious stayed in the language and are nowadays commonly used. We must stress here that even today Latin and Greek words can be found in formal and scientific writing, but as Cole said those are polysyllabic words (Cole 2003: 122). As English gained prominence, a new fear emerged among learned people. They thought that making English more linguistically rich would lead to ineloquent, imprecise, and ambiguous communication (Cole 2003: 123). The assumption was that English had no codified grammar, which made learned people uneasy, but at the same time gave them a new goal to reach to define English by a set of rules. These rules, for instance about sentence structure and world choice, would be agreed upon by all. However, usage differed very greatly because every writer had his own individual judgment on what was correct and what was not. In spite of their differences, linguists did agree on one fact, which was that English had a prior age when it was pure. It was thought that this former pure state could be restored. However, this turned to be more difficult because every writer had his own period which he considered pure. Some considered Chaucers writing as ideal, some Shakespeares or Swifts. In the 15th century there was an attempt to establish an English Academy, which would deal with linguistic problems. This academy would be modeled on the French academy. The suggestion for setting up such an institution was made by John Barret in the preface of his dictionary. The greatest proponent of this idea was Jonathan Swift. He claimed that language usage could and should be governed by an arbitrary authoritarian body (Cole 2003: 125). Likewise, this proposal brought objections. Some, like John Oldmixon (a poet), though that such an academy would impose its ideas of the language usage on others. Many contemporaries thought the same and the interest slowly waned. Nonetheless, the desire for the language to be ascertained, refined and fixed remained a popular sentiment. Now, the idea of private dictionaries came to be popular. The idea was to make a dictionary that would include all the words of English and a grammar that would detail the proper usage of such words. The two most important works were created in the second part of the 18th century: those were Samuel Johnsons Dictionary of the English Language (1755) and Robert Lowths Short Introduction to English Grammar (1762). Decisions about what to put in a dictionary and what to exclude were based on a lexicographers ideology. And every lexicographer has got/had one. One thing that directly comes to mind while going through these linguistic beginnings is that most of the writers sought ways to petrify a language in a certain time. Almost all of them were afraid that their works would not be read by future generations because they would not know how. They could not grasp the fact that it is quite normal for a language to change through time and in contact with other languages. There were attempts for English syntax to be explained. The handbooks were the work of individuals who believed that reforms were necessary and that they were the ones to make them. Most of the reformers had no particular training or qualifications other than the belief that they had a right do declare what was right and wrong about the English language. Some of them were members of the clergy and had knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Because they were all classically trained, they forced English into a classical mold. However, there were exceptions, like Joseph Priestleys The Rudiments of English Grammar. In it Priestley recognized the usage of reputable writers as the standard for linguistic propriety. The eighteenth-century grammarians wanted to prove that English was capable of being described systematically. They did not allow any variations in usage and were strictly against any uncertainty. Many of them based their pronouncements upon their personal preferences. Whenever Latin could not settle any disputed points in the grammar, they would turn to the authority of usage. It is safe to say that they were part prescriptive and part descriptive. By the 18th century, most grammarians agreed that usage must be the factor governing correctness in language. However, they could not agree whose usage should be standard. One that seems to stand out is George Campbell. He wrote Philosophy of Rhetoric in 1776, and in it he defined English as reputable, national and present. He then explains what he means by these definitions. National means that language is neither rural nor foreign (he means Latin or French). Present usage means not the usage of the moment, but it is the usage of the recent past, which has stood the test of time. Reputable means the usage of the best writers. Some of the most notorious prescriptive rules came from this period. Examples of these are the usage of pronouns, It is I or It is me (the correct form is It is I because verb to be always has a nominative case after it). Other rules would be the difference between verbs lie and lay. Lie is a verb that does not require an object, whereas lay requires an object. Users were discouraged from using the modal verbs shall and will interchangeably. Shall should be used only with first person singular and first person plural, and will with second and third persons. The eighteenth century is responsible for the final stamp of disapproval on multiple or double negatives (Cole 2003: 138). Lowth explicitly stated the rule that two negatives are equivalent to an affirmative (We dont need no education). Another rule was that of ending a sentence with a preposition. It was John Dryden, the 17th-century poet and dramatist, who first promulgated the doctrine that a preposition may not be used at the end a sentence. Grammarians in the 18th century refined the doctrine, and the rule has since become one of the most venerated maxims of schoolroom grammar. But sentences ending with prepositions can be found in the works of most of the great writers since the Renaissance. In fact, English syntax not only allows but sometimes even requires final placement of the preposition, as in We have much to be thankful for or That depends on what you believe in. Efforts to rewrite such sentences to place the preposition elsewhere can have comical results, as Winston Churchill demonstrated when he objected to the doctrine by saying This is the sort of English up with which I cannot put. Split infinitives have been condemned as ungrammatical for nearly 200 years, but it is hard to see what exactly is wrong with saying to boldly go (The American Heritage ® Book of English Usage.). In fact, the split infinitive is distinguished both by its length of use and the greatness of its users. People have been splitting infinitives since the 14th century, and some of them include John Donne, Daniel Defoe, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Johnson, William Wordsworth, Abraham Lincoln, George Eliot and Henry James. The only rationale for condemning the construction is based on a false analogy with Latin. The belief is that because the Latin infinitive is a single word, the English infinitive should be treated as if it were a single unit. But English is not Latin, and people split infinitives all the time without giving it a thought. I have already mentioned that prescriptivism also impacted the way people spoke. By the late 19th century prescriptivism had transformed into an effort to expunge any hint of accent that would betray regional distinction, including that of London. This created an environment of linguistic anxiety. During this time the term Cockney transformed into the most condemning term for improper speech in the 19th century. It came to denote somebody who is vulgar and ignorant. The whole 19th century London was riddled with Cockneyism. Prescriptivists described the Cockneys as the prime culprits of language degeneration, and a threat to all gentility and grace. Today, many linguists agree that this were mostly scare tactics aimed at the middle-classes, whose social insecurities made them a ready market for prescriptive coercion. Some such rules governing pronunciation were /h/ dropping (improper /h / usage was associated with the uneducated and illiterate, as proper usage required a knowledge of where h was made in spelling), /h/ insertion (came about as the hypercorrection of /h/ dropping), or post-vocalic /r/. The spate of books, magazines and newspapers that began flowing to the newly developed and fast growing class of literate readers accelerated stabilization and by the beginning of the 20th century the process of standardization of English was stabile. The 20th century gave many manuals written by authors of sufficient scholarship to make those manuals authoritative. One such example is The Kings English (1906) by the Fowler brothers and this was followed by Modern English Usage (1926). CONCLUSION The most important consequence of prescriptive grammar was that people could no longer claim that English had no rules. In addition to that, the distinction between the standard and non-standard usage was made visible. Standard usage is the one we still learn in schools today. Prescriptive grammarians fixed a number of disputed usages in language, even though they started off very indecisive on what the correct form was. Grammarians of that period emphasized rules that are still highly regarded today. Rules like the usage of pronouns I and me, double negation, or splitting the infinitive. After the invention of the printing press, English was promoted as a common language and some attempts at assigning formal structures to the language began to appear. Prescriptive rules have their ultimate justification in the communitys need to make their language meaningful. By making it meaningful, linguists tried to mirror English on the languages they thought were the most appropriate. They thought that classical languages were the best choice. In the end this led to some outrageous rules. The rule against split infinitives, for instance, is a consequence of the peculiar fact that English grammar is modeled on Latin even though Latin is a synthetic language and English is an analytic language. Nevertheless, the linguist of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries helped lead English into a codified and standard position by showing that it had grammar and rules that need to be obeyed.

Near Death Experiences :: essays research papers fc

There are many phenomena present in today’s world concerning both life and death. An extraordinary incorporation of these prominent values is a Near Death Experience (NDE). Near Death Experiences empower and affect the psyche of many, changing their lives forever and altering their perception of death. Many questions arise from this particular topic simply because you have to experience it to fully understand its meaning. Questions such as, What is it, What happens, and how do they occur are familiar to experts in this field or to the people who have first hand experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although the meaning of a Near Death Experience is different to the individual, it is described to be a personal encounter with death, later being brought back to life. The man responsible for triggering the later studies of this perplexing subject is Dr. Raymond Moody. During the year of 1975, he published a book, Life After Life, explaining his newfound concept of a Near Death Experience. He heard about a specific case study that extremely intrigued him. “As a student, Raymond Moody heard about the experience of a psychiatrist who had ‘died’ from double pneumonia only recovering after his doctor had pronounced him dead to his family.'; This remarkable case stunned Raymond Moody, and after publishing his book, this case intrigued society. This particular psychiatrist went on to write about his Near Death Experience, but Dr. Moody was the first to research this unknown topic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although Dr. Moody set a precedence in studying this subject, the event that triggered his studies was not the first Near Death Experience to be documented. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, also a psychiatrist, worked with survivors from the Nazi concentration camps. Because of her patients, she had become completely convinced that something unexpected happens close to death. Her book, Death and Dying, much more general than Dr. Moody’s work, contains the first real exploration of a NDE by a doctor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obviously, Near Death Experiences occur near an individual’s time of death. The cause of an individual’s time of death can come from virtually anything, but, usually results from some sort of accident. “Accidents come out of the blue. They can happen to anyone and there’s no time to prepare for them.'; Because accidents may occur at any time, so may a Near Death Experience. Thus meaning that, only knowledge of the subject matter can reduce fear and gain preparation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each individual may experience different emotions, visions, and encounters, but generally, the first few stages of Near Death Experiences are common throughout each case.

Decision Making at the Top: The All Star Essay

Sunru Yong prepared this case solely as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. This case, though based on real events, is fictionalized, and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. There are occasional references to actual companies in the narration. Copyright  © 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. M I C H A E L B E E R S U N R U Y O N G TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial Emma Richardson squinted at the TerraCog GPS (Global Positioning System) prototype in her hand. She zoomed in until the display showed a clearer satellite photo of the lake 200 feet in front of her and into which her Labrador had already happily bounded. Most weekends, Richardson made the hike to the lake to clear her mind and, on occasion, to test new GPS models from her employer, TerraCog, Inc. Unfortunately, with the â€Å"Project Aerial† launch meeting scheduled for the next day, it was difficult to enjoy this particular hike. Emma wondered how to get all parties to reach an agreement on the price point for Aerial. TerraCog had started losing share to a competitor, Posthaste, and it was imperative to get the new product to market. Arriving at the lake, Richardson gave in to the urge to check her phone and grimaced as she noticed two new voicemails. The first message was from Allen  Roth, the director of design & development (see Exhibits 1 and 2 for an organizational chart and brief biographies of key managers): â€Å"Emma, it’s Allen. Listen, Tony and I have been over these cost numbers on Aerial. We cut all that we could and we ended up with only a 7% or 8% reduction to cost. Unfortunately, I don’t think this will get us to the price point that Sales is looking for. But I don’t need to remind you that we gave Sales the features and functionality they wanted in Aerial, so I’m not going back now to ask my team to do the impossible. We’ll hash it out tomorrow, but I figured it best you hear it from me.† The second message was from her boss, Richard Fiero, the company president: â€Å"Emma, I wanted to check on Aerial. I heard grumbling from Ed and the sales team on Friday. They seemed frustrated with Tony Barren’s production team. Make sure Production has its act together. Tony should know he’s on thin ice after the recent production fiasco on that sonar project-he’s got to succeed on Aerial. We need to have Aerial on shelves at the start of Q3. Some board members are worried, so Aerial will be near the top of the agenda at the board meeting next month.† 2184 A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 0 8 For the exclusive use of B. Shi This document is authorized for use only by Bixi Shi in Organizational Behavior- Fall 2014 taught by Elaine Wong University of California – Riverside from October 2014 to December 2014. 2184 | TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial 2 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL Neither message was encouraging. The Aerial meeting the next day, involving  the sales, design & development, and production departments, was now guaranteed to be contentious. It was March 2008-only two months since Richardson had been promoted to executive vice president. Fiero had tasked her with moving TerraCog toward greater operational alignment and increasing cross-departmental cooperation. Richardson had already been tested by both inventory problems and quality issues, which had led to significant tension between the U.S. headquarters in Chicago and the production team in Shenzhen, China. Now, disagreement over the proposed price point for Aerial threatened to derail the launch of the prototype in her hand. Company and Industry History TerraCog was a privately held company specializing in high-quality Global Positioning System (GPS) and fishing sonar equipment. Founded in 1977, TerraCog got its start manufacturing high-end sonar equipment for serious sport fishermen and boaters. In the late 1990s, the company had introduced its first GPS products, marketed specifically to hunters, hikers, and campers. Management believed that it was the company’s skill at translating retailer and user feedback into exceptional product design and functionality that fueled the growth of its GPS business. Through attentive channel management and, as Fiero put it, â€Å"a deep understanding of what specialty retailers needed,† TerraCog had developed strong relationships with its key accounts. Fiero also believed that TerraCog’s grasp of its consumers’ preferences and usage had given it an edge over GPS manufacturers whose core business was in automotive applications. The firm had built its GPS line for the serious outdoor enthusiasts’ market, and the products had won plaudits for durability and value-added features like the integrated compass and barometric altimeter. Moreover, industry reports indicated that the TerraCog GPS outperformed competing products on navigation. TerraCog’s proprietary firmware-a custom computer program embedded into hardware that â€Å"ran† functions-optimized the GPS chipset’s Wide Area Augmentation System  capability, which provided more precise navigation. The company was not always first to market. In fact, TerraCog had found it was free to lag in technological innovation with little risk because, when the company finally introduced new products, they surpassed those of competitors in addressing customer needs. Customer word-of-mouth recommendations had given TerraCog strong momentum with its handheld GPS. In early 2007, TerraCog prepared to enter new, underserved GPS sub-markets, including cycling and fitness applications. â€Å"Google Earthâ„ ¢ for your GPS† At the Summer 2006 Outdoor Retailer Show-the biggest trade show for vendors of outdoor goods-a competitor, Posthaste, had unveiled a GPS prototype called â€Å"BirdsI† that displayed satellite imagery. The imagery was not live, but rather static satellite photographs that had been â€Å"stitched† into a single view. This was a marked improvement on the simple, vector-based graphics used by the rest of the industry (see Exhibit 3 for a comparison). This did not impress the TerraCog team. The imagery was crisp and had a certain visual appeal, but TerraCog’s research showed that BirdsI technology did not offer substantive performance improvement over the standard maps in TerraCog’s GPS system. Furthermore, the TerraCog team was convinced that Posthaste’s receiver lagged TerraCog’s product in both accuracy and reception quality. While the TerraCog team dismissed the Posthaste concept, a number of key buyers and product reviewers found it an exciting innovation. One magazine reviewer observed, â€Å"Imagine having For the exclusive use of B. Shi This document is authorized for use only by Bixi Shi in Organizational Behavior- Fall 2014 taught by Elaine Wong University of California – Riverside from October 2014 to December 2014. TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial | 2184 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL | BRIEFCASES 3 Google Earthâ„ ¢ built into your GPS-it’s much more compelling to look at an actual satellite image than to have yellow for land, blue blobs for water, and grey squiggles for roads.† Based on the buzz, TerraCog’s executives debated whether to upgrade to satellite imagery. However, they realized that adding the feature to the existing GPS platform required upgrades to processor speed and memory, as well as new firmware. After some deliberation, the company dropped the idea as a non-essential fad. TerraCog’s management remained confident that the company’s core customers were discerning purchasers who would value durability and performance over dressed-up graphics. In October 2006, with much fanfare, Posthaste introduced BirdsI as â€Å"the only handheld GPS with satellite imagery.† BirdsI had an exclusive launch at two major national outdoor retailers, both of which were key accounts for TerraCog. Within two months, TerraCog’s sales representatives in the field reported impressive sell-through rates for BirdsI nationwide. While the product’s success surprised TerraCog, management attributed it to the ebullience of the holiday shopping season. The TerraCog team was confident that the popularity of BirdsI wouldn’t last. Project Aerial However, by spring 2007 TerraCog’s sales reps were noticing increasing customer demand for a GPS with satellite imagery like BirdsI. Ed Pryor, vice-president of sales, began pressing for a reversal of the decision not to develop the product. â€Å"It’s embarrassing to have no answers for our retailers when they ask for our version of this,† he said. â€Å"Look at it from our perspective. We’ve changed the compensation plan for the whole Sales team-including me-so we take a real hit if we don’t reach our sales targets. Customers now want something different, and I can’t tell my reps we have no  plans to develop the product they need to hit those targets.† In response to these repeated requests, TerraCog’s president, Richard Fiero, changed his mind on satellite imagery, if only to satisfy the â€Å"gadget† appeal of such an innovation. The initiative was dubbed Project Aerial. In order to speed development and avoid the costs of new moldings and major reconfiguration, the team decided to redesign within the existing GPS platform. Shortly after making the decision to proceed with Aerial, Fiero and Pryor met with Allen Roth, director of design & development. Roth brought his key managers to the meeting: Cory Wu, who oversaw software and firmware, and Alice Gorga, who managed hardware design. RICHARD FIERO: Allen, we’re obviously in a hurry to get to market. But we don’t want something slapped together – let’s make sure we get this product completely right the first time. Our reputation for quality is paramount. ALLEN ROTH: Understood. Are we including all the same features that we have in our current GPS line? ED PRYOR: Yes. We plan to offer Aerial at approximately a $50 retail premium to the current top- of-the-line GPS, so it’s important to maintain the same high-end functionality. ALLEN ROTH: What about speed? Satellite imagery requires a lot of processing power, so without some serious juicing, Aerial might run slower than you’d like. ED PRYOR: I think we’ll be okay there, Allen. Our consumers are tech-savvy-they know there’s an inherent trade-off to get more sophisticated graphics. As the meeting ended, Roth indicated that they would have to do some careful planning to keep costs as low as possible, but he was sure the product design could be completed by year’s end. At that point, they could hand it off to production to develop detailed cost estimates, which would allow the  sales team, in consultation with finance, to determine pricing and develop a go-to-market plan. For the exclusive use of B. Shi This document is authorized for use only by Bixi Shi in Organizational Behavior- Fall 2014 taught by Elaine Wong University of California – Riverside from October 2014 to December 2014. 2184 | TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial 4 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL Given the manufacturing lead-time, TerraCog expected to get Aerial to stores by the 2008 holiday season (see Exhibit 4 for timeline of events). The product development team members did not greet the Aerial decision with enthusiasm. First, they felt that a redesign of the total platform-including firmware, external case, internal components, and TFT (thin-film transistor) display-was feasible if management could extend time to market by six more months; the resulting product would be superior and the project would be more stimulating technically to the team members. Second, they had several other ideas for new products that they believed would position TerraCog to capitalize on growth in cycling and fitness GPS applications, and Project Aerial was forcing them to put aside these more exciting projects. Finally, with company co-founder Harold Whistler preparing for retirement, Roth was eager to prove his readiness to be the next VP of design & development. The Aerial project impeded his building of a product line he could truly call his own. Aerial Pre-Launch Meeting As promised, the design team completed Aerial by the end of 2007. Late in January 2008, the production team received the design specifications it  needed to establish production methods, conduct a pilot run, and estimate costs. As the new executive vice president, Emma Richardson was tasked with overseeing the product launch. She scheduled a launch meeting in early March with sales, production, and design & development. In the past, Fiero and Whistler had been very involved in new products and tended to make quick decisions. TerraCog’s growth forced Fiero to take a step back from the launch process, while Whistler had cut back to part-time hours. There were many more employees involved in Aerial than in past product launches, and Richardson worried that the size of the group might threaten the focus and thwart decision making. She needed to finalize decisions on costs, pricing, and initial production volume. At the start of the pre-launch meeting on March 7, Richardson looked down the table, seeing Ed Pryor, Allen Roth, production director Tony Barren, Cory Wu representing software and firmware, and Alice Gorga representing hardware. Richardson opened the meeting by asking Barren to present his cost estimates. Barren looked around grimly and did not mince words: â€Å"This thing’s expensive to build. It looks the same, but Aerial’s got higher-end components and it’s more complex to manufacture.† He gave a high-level overview of product-cost breakdown and concluded by saying, â€Å"I’ll be blunt. You’re going to have to sell this product for a lot more than you thought. If anything, we have been too aggressive in our cost estimate. We can’t lower it beyond what I’ve presented.† ED PRYOR: I know you think your estimates are sound, but that isn’t going to help us. With these numbers, we would have to sell Aerial for $550 to maintain our margin. We’d be two years late to market with a price point $100 over BirdsI. CORY WU: Tony, those cost estimates are surprisingly high. We tweaked the firmware without overhauling it, so it’s basically the same components. It doesn’t seem justified that the costs should come out as you say. ALICE GORGA: I’m not sure, Cory. Those costs look realistic, given how my  team upgraded the hardware. Sales probably just needs to reconsider how to position this thing. I think – ED PRYOR: Wait, are we here to talk about positioning or pricing? Fiero and I already figured out how we’ll position the product, so let’s just get the pricing straightened out. For the exclusive use of B. Shi This document is authorized for use only by Bixi Shi in Organizational Behavior- Fall 2014 taught by Elaine Wong University of California – Riverside from October 2014 to December 2014. TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial | 2184 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL | BRIEFCASES 5 TONY BARREN: Well, we don’t perform miracles. The cost won’t change, and I’m not going to cut corners in production. I had my head handed to me the last time we had quality issues. ED PRYOR: Allen, your designers must be able to tweak something, right? Hate to say it, but maybe you guys need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to solve this problem. ALLEN ROTH: Ed, we’re well into a couple of other projects now. Frankly, I don’t think this is Sales’ call to make. We already put other projects on hold for Aerial, and we’ve given you what you requested. The discussion continued, but it became clear the group was at an impasse. Richardson suggested ending the meeting: â€Å"Why don’t we wrap it up for now and meet again next week? In the meantime Tony and the Design team should look for opportunities to cut these costs.† As the meeting adjourned, Pryor announced to the room, â€Å"If we can’t lower these costs and fix the finances on Aerial, I can’t sell it. I won’t try.† Resumption of Aerial Pre-Launch Meeting One Week Later Roth and Barren had spent much of the intervening week reviewing the cost estimates. When the team re-gathered on March 14, the participants seated themselves around the conference table (see Exhibit 5 for a seating chart). Becky Timmons, the CFO, was in attendance. At the last minute, Harold Whistler also decided to join the meeting. As Emma Richardson passed out copies of the new cost estimates, she explained that Roth and Barren had agreed to make minor changes to the Aerial prototype, and that they now felt it could be produced for approximately 8% less than the prior week’s estimate. On this basis, the Aerial could be priced at $475, about $100 more than the current full-featured TerraCog GPS. A long silence followed, then Cory Wu spoke up. â€Å"Eight percent-that’s all? I don’t understand it. I’d like to know where the differences lie between our costs and PostHaste’s on BirdsI. There’s got to be room for more cuts.† Barren snorted derisively. â€Å"You can’t wish away the costs,† he said. â€Å"We’ve cut what we can. Last time we got pressured into being too aggressive on cost estimates and then we got burned when the price of plastic went through the roof. I’m not making that mistake again.† Allen Roth concurred, pointing to the drivers of the cost increase: â€Å"Incorporating the satellite imagery requires five times as much memory as our standard graphics. That increases cost-but if you cut it, you undermine Aerial’s value proposition. Then we also did some reconfiguration internally, and that increases the labor required to put one of these together.† He paused, surveying the frustrated faces around him. â€Å"I don’t like the situation any more than the rest of you do, but we’ve got to be realistic. Look at the numbers in front of you-there’s nothing we can do to further reduce costs.† As everyone scrutinized the new cost estimates, the meeting broke into several conversations. Ed Pryor and Richardson huddled together, while Allen Roth and Tony Barren carried on a conversation with Harold Whistler. After several minutes, Richardson realized she needed to get the discussion back on track. She addressed the entire group, saying, â€Å"We have the estimates, so we just have to set a price that makes sense for the company. What do you think, Ed?† ED PRYOR: We have to consider the selling price of the Aerial relative to competition. Posthaste is selling at around $250 to dealers, which means they retail for around $400. Garmin just announced For the exclusive use of B. Shi This document is authorized for use only by Bixi Shi in Organizational Behavior- Fall 2014 taught by Elaine Wong University of California – Riverside from October 2014 to December 2014. 2184 | TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial 6 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL their satellite-image version, which will hit shelves at somewhere around $395 MSRP. You all are talking about $475 retail, and that’s too high. We have to be in the ball park with our list price or we’ll be shut out of the game. EMMA RICHARDSON: What should list price be? ED PRYOR: $425 tops-but we should be lower than that if we are going to be aggressive at recapturing lost share. Let’s not kid ourselves. The way we’re trending, same-store sales will be down 10% this year. And this is with the GPS handheld market growing. HAROLD WHISTLER: What if we relax our margin requirements for once? BECKY TIMMONS: Absolutely not. We’re cutting it close already. HAROLD WHISTLER: Okay, then how about a redesign? Let’s go to market with what we have, and I’ll have my team take another look at possible changes that we can incorporate later. ALLEN ROTH: I’m afraid that’s wishful thinking, Harold. Given the product requirements the sales team called for, the cost is as low as it will get. CORY WU: I don’t know about that. The changes we made to meet sales’ requirements were not enormous. Why would they contribute to such a large increase in projected labor costs? TONY BARREN: Cory, you and Harold can run the numbers for yourself. Then you’ll see that these high costs are real. BECKY TIMMONS: I’d still feel more comfortable if we could price it at $500 retail. With fuel costs still rising, the cost to get these here from Shenzhen will only increase, and we run the risk of our margins really getting squeezed. ED PRYOR: Becky, you don’t understand how competitive this market is! Even at $475, why would anyone give us shelf space? We are late to market and we’d be pricing at a substantial premium. And is the product superior enough to justify that premium? I’ve been trying out our prototypes and I’m concerned about the speed. The update speed is terrible, and switching between functions is just – ALLEN ROTH: Come on, don’t start talking speed now. We were clear from the start that we would trade some speed to get new functionality and features. ED PRYOR: Well, my sales managers are going to be fuming. Fiero told them  Aerial would be available at $400, and now you are talking about a minimum of $75 more than that. I still want to see Cory or Harold take a crack at reducing unit cost. Emma Richardson took a deep breath. The company needed a â€Å"go/no-go† decision on the existing Aerial, and whether to do so at a competitive price in the hope that costs might be cut in the future, or at a high price. She wondered fleetingly what the consequences might be if the company abandoned Aerial altogether. As things stood, the arguments and finger-pointing were bound to continue, and the group would never come to a decision on its own.