Phase 5 Individual Project 5 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Phase 5 Individual chore 5 - Coursework ExampleThe global spread is delinquent to its superior quality brand that meets consumers tastes and preferences and high write up in customer service delivery a critical factor that its competitors lack. Currently, the firm is the fourth largest retailers in world.Profitability being one of the main objectives that guarantee sustainability and growth of an organization, Home Depot is trading at a profit. This isshowedby anincrease in the Net sales from $78.8Billion in the year 2013 to $83.2Billion in 2014. The clams earnings scaled up from $4.5Billion in 2012 to $5.4Billion in 2013 and finally to $6.3Billion in 2014. Additionally, the store count likewise improved from 2256 in 2012 to 2263 in 2013 to 2269 in 2014. This result indeed shows that the firm will continue in operation(p) at a profit for unforeseen future pursuant to the basis of a going fear (The home depot, 2015).For the purposes of financial support its internal activities and investments, the firm preferred long-term debt because of the tax shield that is tied up in the debt. The total amount of debt that is spent by the enterprise is $16.869Billion. The huge sum loan was due to the decrease in its assets by $572Million, decrease in shareholders equity by $572Million, an increase in accounts collectable by approximately $10Million all from February 2014 to February 2015. However, this is notan issueto shareholders as Home Depots dictation of bullion flows clearly indicates that the cash and cash equivalents have been increasing. This is evidenced by an increase in cash from operation from 6975 in 2013 to 7628 in 2014 and 8242 in 2015. The cash from investing activities increased from 1432 to 1507 and 1271 from the year 2013 to 2015 respectively. The cash from financing activities scaled up from 50354 in 2013, to 6652 in 2014 and 7071 in 2015. This stipulates that the cash and cash equivalents have been increasing intimately and, therefore,

The Different Aspects of Employee Engagement Term Paper

The Different Aspects of Employee Engagement - Term Paper ExampleWith the evolvement of the executeplace and the workforce, giving medications realize that to accompany in the search for talent, they have to first succeed in winning over employees through elements such(prenominal) as trust, justice, and perceptions and through practices that make their roles clear. Amongst the major factors that improve employee engagement are changing management and strong communication systems. Theorists have held that companies that can unlock the secrets of employee engagement can benefit from maximum profits (Vance, 2006). publications Review Research has suggested that employee engagement and a high level of psychological well existence of workers plays a major role in achieving organizational objectives related to successful and profitable organizations. The psychological well being of any company is directly associated with performance levels. Studies conducted by Folger and Cropanzano (1998) have revealed that workers experiencing higher levels of psychological well-being work better and that this well being is a superior forecaster of work performance than job satisfaction. correspond to Robinson et al (2004), employee engagement is defined as A positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its values. An meshed employee is aware of business context and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization (Robinson et al, 2004, p.5). The concept of employee engagement was first introduced by Kahn (1990) whereby he held that in being engaged, employees are emotional, cognitively and physically involved while working in the organization. Another aspect of employee engagement is the flow relative to holistic sensations that are experienced by workers while performing their roles with complete involvement. This flow is the mental condition whereby a minimal distinction is made amongst the self and t he working environment and while employees are in such flow, they do not need to exert many conscious controls while working.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne short story Young Goodman Brown, the pink Essay

In Nathaniel Hawthorne bunco story Young Goodman Brown, the pinkish ribbons are used symbolically to represent white - Essay exemplificationOne such citation of the pink ribbons found on faiths detonating device take on Goodmans thoughts, in which he looks at Faith as an angel that was sent to earth consequence and implies that at i time she will resume her heavenly duties. As such, the mention of the pink ribbons in Goodmans shimmy are a sign of blessings and white in which flake Goodman believes in tasting Faiths innocence by clinging on to her skirts and following her to heaven. This is symbolic of taking her innocence, pink ribbons, by first signifying a common belief related to the color pink, which is then accentuated by the fact that they are ribbons. Following the above argument, the ribbons at one point or the other point to Faiths femininity, but this idea is then taken over by the concept of innocent. One such subject in which femininity is suggested by the pink ribbons is in the fourth paragraph of the story, where Faith says, Then idol bless you. (Hawthorne 2). The succeeding events are those of Faith peeping at Goodman and her ribbons still showing. Following this, the ribbons signify the fact that she is maidenlike and that is part of the aspects that draw Goodman towards her and is again applied to draw her percent ripen and put it into a realistic cast factor. This is such that the ribbons on Faiths cap are pink, and this can be looked at the purity of the color, which is non-existent. For pink to be made existent, there is a need to mix red and white, which in this case draws out quite a scoop in building Faiths character, especially considering the independent meanings of the two constituent colors. Pink is made of white, which is used to symbolize purity and innocence as is the case of Goodman calling her a blessed angel, while red represents a totally different feature. Red signifies prostitution and blood, which in thi s case when put together to create the color pink suggests the different faces or characters of Faith. The character are in that the ribbons stand for the young stages of life that Faith is at and the youthful and angelic innocence she bears, according to Goodman. It however goes on to symbolize the aspects of an unlived life that can only be achieved when Faith be cuts of age and matures to see the world for what it is rather than living a sheltered life. Goodman brings out this symbolism in that he is of the opinion that in spite of all the sin in the world, only he and Faith are exempt to all the evil around them, which unlike earlier, he would like to preserve her innocence. At one point, Goodman accepts to being sinful and attempts to shield Faith from losing her innocence, where Goodman views her as a steadfast anchor against sin. To further indicate Faiths purity, the ribbons are read as having fell and Goodman picking them up after they come of her cap. Goodman takes them a s a sign of Faith having fallen from the glory of god and that her innocence is breached. As a result, the ribbons strongly represent innocence and purity of Faiths character in that when they fall of her cap Goodman screams, My Faith is gone, which then indicates the value attached to the ribbons by Goodman as a symbol of Faiths state of being innocent and youthfully pure (Hawthorne 9). Altogether, symbolism in relation to the pink ribbons that are repeatedly mentioned and referred to in the story is used to depict a number of

Motivation and Teams Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Motivation and Teams Case Study - search ExampleAbraham Maslow argued that unsatisfied needs motivate employees to meet their needs in order to feel satisfied. The miscellaneous needs include physiological needs (bonuses), security needs (job security), belongingness needs (group cohesiveness), esteem needs (promotion to higher(prenominal)-ranking positions), and self-actualization needs (responsibility for profitability (Fargus, 2000). After satisfaction of the physiological needs, the employees demand moves to security until the abutting higher level. For example, an employee satisfies his physiological needs such as water, food, and clothing. After the satisfaction is met, the employee feels motivated and proceeds to satisfy the next needs. Expectancy conjecture explains that work motivation is a function of an employees belief. The managers encourage employees to believe that if they yield and work hard, they will succeed. For example, an office messenger believes that he w ill receive reward if he performs, which is fuelled by the belief that working hard leads to high job performance (Fargus, 2000). Goal setting theory illustrates that managers should prove goals for their employees, which will find use in assessing their performance. For instance, a manager who tells his staff that they have two weeks to finish off processing some work motivates the employees to work harder before the expiry of that date in order to see their objectives. Equity theory argues that employees are motivated to achieve goals after believing that they will remain rewarded fair for their efforts. For example, two personnel working together perform effectively when their salary output is similar. Job enrichment theory illustrates that the best way to motivate employees is to raise their responsibility over the way they function (Fargus, 2000). For instance, a confederate staff having several responsibilities has great autonomy hence, feeling satisfied. Finally, managem ent

Reducing Secondhand Smoke on Children Research Paper - 8

Reducing Secondhand Smoke on Children - explore Paper Exampleive reliable data prior to the battleground, the researcher dos equivalent comparison groups to rule push through the effect of unusual scores in a study (Kerr & Wood, 2010).A research instrument is referred to as a systematic and standardized tool for collection of data. It involves all types of research gesturenaires as well as standardized scales (Tran, 2009). According to Tran, the instrument to be used in a study must be appropriate, valid as well as reliable.The research instruments to be used in addressing secondhand potful (SHS) on children will include questionnaires and standardized scales. The research instruments are essential in carrying out a study they aid in the collection of data that is used in answering the research question of a given study (Tran, 2009).There are many factors that researchers considers before making a last-place decision on which data collection tool to use in carrying out their s tudy. These factors include the usability, reliability, and hardship of the instrument. Before drafting a questionnaire and using a standardized scale in carrying out a study on reducing SHS on children, a researcher carries out a systematic check out of the literature in order to determine if the instrument will measure what it is required to measure and if the results of the study provided by the research tool are valid. The researcher also evaluates whether the use of the instrument would result in the same results if the study were repeated. A researcher first determines if the instrument he or she is about to use measures a construct as intended before selecting the instrument for a study. The researcher also checks whether the constructs in the instrument identified matches the construct conceptually defined in the study. Additionally, the researcher finds out if the instrument poop be used in the public domain before using it in the study (Blankenship, 2009).The atomic nu mber 20 Health Interview Survey on rates of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke shows (SHS) that

Virginia House of Burgesses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Virginia House of Burgesses - Essay ExampleThis house did establish a tradition that became very in-chief(postnominal) in the course of colonial developments and as such, each and every new colony of England started demanding that it be granted its own legislature. This house became empowered to come up and enact legislation for the colony, albeit its actions were still not definitive as they were subject to any veto by the council, governor, and the directors who were in London. It was a limited monarchy within the slope mint. The throng was later listed by some of the most prominent people in the history of the States such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry who brought strong leadership roles that saw the country gain independence. in that location were three major events that make Virginia significant in the history of the USA. These were the recruitment of almost 100 maids that sailed to Virginia and were made brides for the settlers to increase the n umber of people. Sir George Yeardley went to the colony with what was referred to as the Great Charter which did set up the English unwashed Law in Virginia and thereafter allowed the locals to be elected as representatives. The meeting of the first House of Burgesses was make in the Church in 1619 and this became the start of governance by representation in the USA (Breen 16-278). The conditional relation of Jamestown comes from the fact that it was the first permanent English settlement in the North America and was set up in the year 1607 and this did remain the sole capital of Virginia for almost a century. It acted as the foundation of the strong-minded United States of America. A historic triangle was formed by linking Jamestown to Yorkton and Williamsburg through a legislation that was passed in 1930 forming the Colonial National Monument. The Virginia State Capitol housed the colonial legislative body of the commonwealth and this was the Virginia General Assembly. This ge neral assembly is simply a bicameral body that is made up of the lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates having one one C members, and the senate of Virginia which had 40 members. It thus consisted of 140 elected representatives across equal amounts of constituents in the commonwealth. Major changes occurred in the precondition of slaves in Virginia whereby the indentured low-spirited servant who had some hope for freedom was fast replaced by the black slave. The Virginia General assembly passed a declaration that highly affected the African Americans. The servants that were originally not Christians in their homeland were to be accounted and made slaves. All the Indians, Negros and Mulatto slaves were to be held as real estate. It was allowed to kill a slave by a master who needs to correct such slave. Harsh physical punishment was obligate since they could not pay fines due to lack of ownership. Lashes, chopping off of limbs and body parts and hanging was allowed (Fische r and Hinderaker 8-267). John jibe Zenger was a German immigrant that ran a publication print with the name new-fangled York Weekly Journal. It brought to fore the becloud practices of William Cosby who was the then royal governor. It accused the government of letting the enemy to vary out an exploration of New York harbor and for rigging elections. It labeled the governor an idiot based on crimes allegedly committed by him. Zengers printing of these articles landed him in jail since he could not reveal the anonymous writers. It was against the people

The Improvement of Customer Service in Argos Essay

The progress of Customer Service in Argos - Essay ExampleArgos was founded in 1973 by Richard Tompkins. It has been part of the Home retail Group since 2000 which is the market leader in the central office and general merchandise market (Management straight off 2010). unitedly with Homebase, Argos is one of UKs leading brands, selling products byout UK as well as the Republic of Ireland (Management Today 2010).Argos was founded in 1973 by Richard Tompkins. It has been part of the Home Retail Group since 2000 which is the market leader in the home and general merchandise market (Management Today 2010). Together with Homebase, Argos is one of UKs leading brands, selling products throughout UK as well as the Republic of Ireland (Management Today 2010).Argos is a unique multi-channel retailer well-known for go customers choice, value, and convenience. Argos sells general merchandise and home products in over 750 stores all over UK and Ireland through their twice-yearly catalogue, ov er the internet, and through the telephone. Argos is currently essay to retain its viability and profitability. Operational strategies are being contemplated, including the use of internet technologies on its operations. The struggling Argos intends to do a digital makeover of its wrinkle operations. This move will replace traditional catalogue and may close or relocate at least 75 stores. Home Retail Group, the parent company, intends to down the circulation of traditional Argos catalogue, although it still believes that print marketing will still be relevant to its retail business

Case Analysis For The Tiger Woods Foundation Term Paper

representative Analysis For The Tiger Woods Foundation - Term Paper ExampleTiger World altercate was changed to Chevron World Challenge. The aim of this program was to pursue a tag of $ 5million. Tiger, hosts his own PGA tour. He co sponsors tournaments. He wins most of these golf events. The five-time tour wins, he donated the money back to his foundations, to ensure that the lives of the American children argon comfortable (Skyzinki, 2006).No company currently that builds sustainable employee commitment and success around their brand and heroes. I heart there is an urgent need and commitment in leadership to drive the community to a continuous change in the entire organization. A business community that shares vision and same practices bring up dialogue ensuring solid future leaders in the organization.Many exist and studies interview show the existent story between the employees and employers. The company employees must countenance faith in their managers. If they do not have faith, they will go the company. The kernel management is under attack from time memorial. The Business re-engineering unit claimed that the middle class sub- optimize the turf builders. The turf builders prevent the company from operating in full efficiency. technological evolution is making people believe that companies hierarchies are not needed in companies. I feel that the employees ought to communicate directly to any department in the company. The leadership effort that develops the companies goals and missions are focusing on the top potentials. They then neglect the middle class in the company. The management cannot motivate others before prompt the top management first. Many of the middle management is not motivated. This makes most of the middle class workers leave the company for other companiesThese events and programs are aimed at impacting and benefiting millions of lives of the American children (Londing, 2012). Tiger World Challenge was changed to

Economic Determinants of Higher Education Demand in the UK Assignment

Economic Determinants of Higher Education assume in the UK - Assignment ExampleAdvancement of new technologies and globalization has created complex high competitive environments in businesses. Thus, contemporary graduates commonly find occupations as programmers, journalists, primary school teachers, marketers, and retail managers. Higher education field not only contributes to the development of countrys human resource, but also it provides a paid business venture and a prominent source of export income to the UK (Universities UK, 2011). Therefore investigating the determinants of the demand in this sector can be beneficial to countrys economic growth. This study is focused on identifying the impact of students demographic characteristics on demand for high(prenominal) education. It also examines the types of occupations in which graduates argon significantly employed. The higher education sector in the UK comprises of universities, university colleges, specialist higher educat ion institutions, and other higher education colleges. consort to the statistics, there are 115 universities and 50 other higher education institutions in the UK. The demand for higher education derives from labor markets in UK, EU countries, and non-EU countries. The United Kingdom has a competitive advantage in providing higher education to the world due to its global reputation, elite higher education brands, historical mountain and political links, the popularity of the English language and culture, and post-study employment prospects (Universities UK, 2012). These can be considered as pull factors (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002). There are also push factors contributing to the growth of this sector. The push factors are largely generated based on the socio-political environments in the home countries of international students (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002). Thus, changes occurring in those countries can affect the growth of higher education sector in the UK.

Veteran's Affair Services Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

seasoneds participation Services - Research Paper ExampleVeterans Affair Services When one hears the term veteran, a perception of its meaning encompasses reparation definitions found in the dictionaries, to wit a person who is long experienced or practiced in an activity or capacity (The Free Dictionary, 2011, par. 1) an old soldier of long service or a former member of the armed forces (Merriam-Webster, 2011, par. 1). In contrast, the Federal definition the term is explicitly stated as any person, who served honorably on active duty in the armed forces of the United States (Veterans Agent, 2011, par. 1). These definitions confer that a veteran is a person who has rendered particularly long service, as honorably classified, in the armed forces, not only in the United States, entirely in other governments as well. ... In this regard, the main endeavor of the inquiry is to proffer a study of how Veterans services affects criminal justice in the United States. Particularly, the o bjectives of the research are as follows (1) to present a detailed history of the creation of Veterans Affair (2) to provide a presentation of the mission statement of the social agency (3) to present financial reports or summaries of the operations of the social agency (4) to proffer a critical analysis of the effectiveness of the social agency, which includes, but is not limited to exposit on how the specific agency interacts with the Criminal Justice System, the services provided, the education of critical personnel, and the motivation of the agency to provide services (5) to present a commentary on ways in which the social agency could improve its effectiveness to fightds its social goals and finally, (6) to provide a prediction concerning the succeeding(a) of the social agency and its impact on the criminal justice system. Historical Background The history of Veterans personal business (VA) in the US was traced in the year 1636 when a war existed between the Pilgrims of Pl ymouth Colony were at war with the Pequot Indians and a law was enacted by the Pilgrims indicating the support pledged to disabled soldiers (US Dept. of Veterans Affairs History, 2010, par. 1). The following historical details are presented in tabular form for concise structural arrangement, and sourced from the Dept of VA History (2010) DATE SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1776 During the subverter War, Continental Congress encouraged enlistment of soldiers through the provision of pensions to disabled soldiers. 1811 The Federal Government authentic the first domiciliary

Fox's Book of Martyrs Religious Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Foxs Book of Martyrs apparitional - Essay ExampleThe main objective of create verbally this allow is to attack the Roman Catholic perform and it s hypocritical values. The writer has given detailed accounts of the corruption in the Roman Catholic perform and also the illegal or unethical ways the Popes resorted to, to attain the position of Pope. The motive behind writing this concord was to create awareness amongst the masses to rise against the tyrannical rule of the Romans. Fox himself was the victim of the below the belt rule of the king and the notorious Bishop. Bishop had made an unsuccessful attempt of nabbing Fox and persecuting him. He was lucky tolerable to escape from his country. Being the witness of such gruesome incidents, he was provoked to write a book, and he did this with utmost dedication and sincerity. He even neglected his health and continued writing for this noble cause. The book speaks of the atrocities of Queen bloody shame on the Protestants and nea r the cruel Bishop Bonner. It was only after(prenominal) the accession of Queen Mary to the throne that the reign of terror began. For the sake of restoring the supremacy of the Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church, she tell the persecution of those who protested against her power and Roman Catholicism. Hundreds of Protestants were burnt alive during her reign. It is really ironical that both the Romans and the Protestants fought in the name of perfection but Romans followed the unethical way and massacred those who followed the right path as directed by divinity. Although they shared ballpark values, their motive was eclipsed by the vices like that of thirst for power and they adopted immoral ways to restore their supremacy. frankincense this book not only deals with the tyranny of the Romans but also it speaks about the bravery of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the sake of their God and his Gospels. This book appeals not only to the heart but also to the hea d or mind of both Englishmen. The work of Fox was so appealing and so realistic that it was ordered that his work be displayed along with the Bible in the churches and all public places where people could read the book. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the Englishmen accepted this book as an expression of national faith, second in place to the Bible. Whenever an Englishman entered any church, he discovered for himself about the ruthless behavior of Roman Catholics and about the valor of the Martyrs. The aim of this book was not merely to praise the Protestants and undermine the Romans, but also about the human values as a whole as suggested by the Almighty.In the first part of the book, in the early Christian days we come crossways the saints like St. Stephen, crowd The Great, St. Luke, St. Philip, St. Mathew, James The Less, St. Peter and St. Paul etc. St. Stephen was stoned to death by the murderers of Christ, adept because he tried to preach the Gospels of Christ to th em in a faithful manner. Immediately after the persecution of St. Stephen all those who professed their beliefs in Jesus Christ as their Lord, had to face martyrdom.After 10 years of the persecution of St. Stephen, James the Great was beheaded. He was the son of Zebede and relative of Christ. He was beheaded by Herod Agrippa, the Governor of Judea. Agrippa used the dodging of attacking the leaders of the

Management and globel economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management and globel economy - Essay Exampleive application of grade cultural teams can offer a source of experience and inventive thinking that enhances the competitive stance of the organization. Nonetheless, cultural disparities are can impede with the successful completion of projects in present multicultural, global worry society. To attain project objectives and avoid cultural misapprehensions, project managers should be culturally sensitive and support creativeness and motivation through flexible headship. They should also turn in the famous and accepted cross cultural instruction theories for the benefit of the company and society. Theories tackle connections between populace, motivational direction, orientation toward threat, definition of oneself and others, outlooks to time, and attitudes to the atmosphere. Motivation and training of multicultural projects groups and appropriate inferences for project oversight is an integral in business success. Cultural difference s in business management affect people as it affects the relationships between people. Two main, distinct cultural dissimilarities can be set concerned this relationship. It leads to egoism and collectivism approaches, which further develops universalism versus particularism as well as individualism and communitarians. Managers also apply motivational orientation whereby societys means to deal with intrinsic vagueness of living. In this aspect, masculinity and femininity, misgiving averting, and control distance are issues to consider. Another aspect to consider is outlooks toward time between long-term and short courses, which are either inner or outer time. For instance, Unilever applies cultural differences approaches at it operates in over carbon countries with different cultures. The case study of Unilever is an inspiration to corporations that fancy thriving in the fast-moving economy. Unilever has long considered adaptation a chief factor of success in the consumer goods sector globally, mostly in the

Marketing of Samsung Galaxy Gear (Smart Watch) Assignment

Marketing of Samsung Galaxy Gear (Smart Watch) - subsidisation ExampleThis research will begin with the statement that Samsung Galaxy Gear is one of the Android base sassy watches which are manufactured by the Samsung Electronics. It serves as the apt companion for about of the Samsung Galaxy tablets and smart phones that run on Android 4.3. The Galaxy Gear makes use of Android based operating organisation with a minimalistic interface as well as gesture based navigation. In order to dyad it with any tablet or smart phone, the NFC tag within the charging cradle of Gear is stimulated to blow up the installation of Gear Manager Application, which coordinates the pairing of devices with this Gear over the Bluetooth. Gear Manager is used principally for adjusting the device settings and installing various applications by means of Samsung Apps. Samsung Electronics, Australia announced that the Samsung Galaxy Gear would be obtainable in the country from 18th September 2013. It has been declared as the first wearable mobile engine room range which acts as the companion device for the most recent Galaxy Note 3. The product rear has been announced globally on 5th September 2013 in Berlin. The Samsung Galaxy Gear has combined features of the classy design, smart device connectivity and the latest mobile technology presented in the form of a wristwatch. It represents one of the most exciting moves of Samsung in terms of pioneering the innovation which provides the users with high meaningful experience and provides increased freedom bit using the mobile technology.

Discuss this question(showing in the Details set) more likely to Essay

Discuss this question(showing in the Details set) more likely to discuss philosophy knowledge and opinions no source are needed) - Essay ExampleIn this case, relativists are advocates of ethnical tolerance.By holding that everything in the world is contains some relative truth and that all positions are equal, it stinker be concluded that the ethnical aspect in the world is also among the equals. In this case, there is no culture that is superior or other that are inferior. By this, one can deduce that variant culture defines the diversity of people. Similarly, all people have equality in all aspect and hence, the emerge of cultural tolerance has its place in the relativist school of thought.Cultural tolerance refers to the situation where every person acknowledges and respects cultural diversity. As such, each cultural should be treated with dignity and equality. As per the definition, cultural diversity is all about equality of all people despite their cultural orientation. Al l this is hypothesized by relativists as they advocate for unconditional equality. In this case, we can conclude that the relativists universally are committed to cross-cultural

Is Lyon's portrait of Aristotle accurate Does it match what Classics Research Paper

Is Lyons portrait of Aristotle accurate Does it match what Classics scholars know about Aristotle - Research newspaper publisher ExampleLyons Aristotle and black lovage are highly credible portrayals of a great repressker limit by the exacting discipline learned under Plato, and of the strong-willed and heedless young son of Phillip of Macedon. Lyon writes a telling exchange amidst the two that encapsulates the complex energising at work in one and only(a) of historys most engrossing relationships. Lyon addresses the fundamental difference between them. You conflate pleasure and happiness, true enduring happiness, Aristotle remonstrates. A few thrills, a few sensations. Your startle woman, your first elephant, your first spicy meal, your first hangover, your first ascent of a mountain no mans ever climbed, and your first tantrum from the top to the other side. You want to string together a life of thrills. Name 2 With property self-assuredness, Alexander responds, Teach me better then. Come with my army. Come with me. Youve been a father to me. Dont divest me twice (Lyon, 278). Its an affecting scene one might expect to take place between an older, wiser father and an impetuous son. It is unlikely that the headstrong Alexander would have yielded to his tutor, despite the great scholars renown, anywhere but in the classroom. ... History affords few such comparative character studies, few that give away such a fascinating contrast of personalities involved both emotionally and in conflict. Here is a rare intellectual collision the wintry hearted philosopher and the future military commander, whose own incipient depression is ca apply non by a lack of passion, but a surfeit (MacDonald, 2009). Both men are dynamic in their own ways, but Alexander in conclusion outstrips his brilliant but repressed tutor. It is Alexander who ultimately wins the book-long joust with his tutor, since he is a man who not only feels but also acts (MacDonald, 2009). Aristo tle and Alexander be to have comprised something of an odd couple Alexander the A-type personality, non-reflective and dynamic while Aristotle, who had seen military service, by comparison a bookish, non-physical, even effeminate type, according to Name 3 ancient accounts. The biographer Diogenes Laertius, drawing on secondary and 3rd accounts, wrote that He had a lisping voice, as is asserted by Timotheus the AthenianHe had also very thin legs, they say, and small eyes but he used to indulge in very conspicuous dress, and rings, and used to dress his hair carefully (Shields, 419-20). Lyon tells us that Alexanders view of Aristotles golden blotto was, at best, derisive, telling Aristotle that his middle way philosophy prizes mediocrity (Lyon, 193). In spite of such criticism, Lyons treatment of the complex relationship between Aristotle and Alexander serves as a kind of cautionary tale. Alexander fails to learn important lessons that are really about character and

Color Matters Essay Example for Free

Color Matters EssayIn the marketing arena, twist plays a significant role in a accompanys advertisement and package. According to research, the right color is worth a molarity words as well as it can increase sales and a companys profit (Morton, 2010). Most importantly, a companys color is closely related to the type of feeling and decisions consumers make regarding a specific product. Research in any case reveals that color increases brand recognition, memory, engages and increases participation, and attracts consumers attention (Morton, 2010).Overall, color is knock-down(a) in marketing. Therefore, this paper will discuss the importance of color with Coca-Cola Companys advertising as it relates to the contrasting meanings, cultures, and segment markets. The Importance Of Color With Coca-Cola Companys Advertising Coca-Cola is one of the worlds most popular and recognized brand. Lets discuss the companys purpose for macrocosm in business. The mission of the Coca-Cola Co mpany is to refresh the world, inspire moments of optimism and happiness, create value, and make a difference (The Coca-Cola Company, 2013).With that be said, the colour in of the Coca-Cola Company in their advertising, which is rubicund and white, are extremely important for a number of reasons. First, the company wants to send the right message to consumers. Second, the alter help identify the different brands (Kolter Keller, 2012). Third, the different colors also help the company to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Most of all, Coca-Colas distinctive colors conveys information and/or provides consumers with slightly other operational benefits (Morton, 2012).Overall, the colors main goal is to get consumers attention while making an fix on their buying decision. The Different Meanings According to the color wheel of branding and packaging, the Coca-Cola Companys colors for their advertisement realises different meanings. As stated earlier, the colors of th e companys advertisement are red and white. These colors accommodate been used for more than a hundred years. Red promotes Coca-Cola friendly qualities such as energy, powerful, courage, excitement, and strength (Kolter Keller, 2012).Whereas white indicates that the company is all about creating products that are innovative and modern. As result, these colors find been a very successful color strategy and have helped the company become the worlds top companies in their industry (Pigford, 2013). In addition to, the great contrast of the colors also ensure readability, which is one of the important factors of product strategy in marketing (Pigford, 2013). The CultureThe Coca-Cola Company has a winsome culture, which defines the attitudes and behaviors of their employees (The Coca-Cola Company, 2013). In this case, the choices of the colors also inform consumers that the employees also have the same attributes regarding their work performance. Coca-Colas colors relates to their cul ture because the company and its employees demonstrates (1) collaboration (2) how they have courage to shape a better future (3) one (4) accountability (5) passion (6) diversity and (7) quality.The Market Segments A marketing segment is referred to as aggregating prospective buyers into groups that have common needs and their response to a marketing action will be similar. Market partitioning stresses two things (1) grouping individuals or organizations according to similarity of needs and the benefits desired and (2) needs and benefits must be associated to specific tangible marketing actions (Identifying Market Segments Target, 2011).Coca-Colas market segment consists of consumers who are seeking different and great products that are. The companys colors also target individuals who also want to make differences in the communities, which require them to demonstrate commitment, energy, strength, and excitement. In conclusion,it is imperative that companies consider their choice o f color when advertising or finish packaging. colourise and marketing are connected to one another in so many ways. Colors can influence an individuals thinking, actions, cause reactions (Morton, 2012).In fact, colors cannot be replaced because they are cognise as the most powerful forms of communication. More than so ever, colors are the visual component that consumers flirt with the most about a brand (Morton, 2012). Many companies who produce great brands rely on color as their key factor in immediate recognition. So, companies should utilize the color wheel of branding and packaging before launching their product.Reference Mortan, J. (2012). Color Matters. Retrieved fromhttp//www.colormatters.com/

Riordan Amended IT Budget Essay Example for Free

Riordan Amended IT Budget EssayAmended Riordan Manufacturing IT BudgetThe executive board for Riordan has tasked education Technology with reducing their overall draw out by two percent, while providing an increase of four percent to hardware descent distri providedor point, software course of instruction item, and outside IT support services. There are many roues at heart the figure that go off be cut immediately to provide the needed compute cuts, but it is great to make sure that none of the services being provided to lag will suffer with the adjustment to the cypher. This theme will discuss the current budget, the increased made to the quest line items and the overall budget decrease. The makeup will also justify the heightens made to the budget.CURRENT BUDGETRiordans current IT budget consists of $1,567,750 being spend on salaries, benefits and bonuses. Another $333,500 is being spent on Operating hails. The total IT budget is $1,901,300. In enact to incur the expected two percent decrease, IT will need to cut $38,026 from their budget. The hardware line item has a total budget of $8,500 and the four percent increase totals an additional $340. The software portion of the budget has a total of $45,000 when you include the line items for software licenses and maintenance. The four percent increase for this line item will cost Riordan an additional $1,800. The outside IT support services has a budget of $93,600 when you included the contracts and the hired lines line items. The increase for this portion of the budget totals $3,744. The total union needed to increase each of the put across line items by four percent is $5,884.WHERE TO CUT BUDGETAfter increase the specified line items as pass on by the executive board, the IT department is left with the need to cut nearly $39,000 to meet the two percent budget decrease. This would bring the total IT budget down from $1.91 million to 1.87 million. The first flummoxs to reckon for declines are any miscellaneous projects or non-essential spending within the budget. The first line item to visit would be the diversion portion. Currently, the IT department is spending $1,400 for entertainment.I would adjust the budget and allow $200 to be spent every four months, which will total up to $600 dollars a year. While I interpret the need to entertain or reward the IT department for a job well done, it is not necessary to entertain them nearly every month of the year. Quarterly job well done or entertainment is enough to keep team members motivated, but not enough to become an expectation. By reducing the amount of entertainment, the IT department will recognize a cost savings of $800. This leaves a balance of $38,200 in place to meet the reduction goal.The next place I would check for reduction is in the pilgrimage budget. in a flash I do understand that Riordan has three stances worldwide and sometimes it may be necessary to travel to a location, but ther e is no need to travel every month of the year. Travel could bechance twice a year, February and June. The rest of the months would be cut out.The IT department can set up Skype accounts, or WebEx accounts to allow the managers to communicate about projects and to take care of the issues that were normally handled with the travel budget. Skype allows users to communicate impertinence to face while the WebEx account allows the users to see each others screen and collaborate. The travel budget would go from $22,000 to $7,000. This is a cost savings of $15,000 and now only leaves a balance of $23,200 that must be shortend from the budget.The last place where I would adjust the budget would be the special projects line item. This line item has $150,000 allocated to it, but no specific projects laced to it. I would reduce the budget to $126,800 which would takecare of the remaining shortfall to reduce the overall budget by two percent. This final reduction will take the total IT budg et to $1,862,300.NEW BUDGETI was able to reduce the IT budget without losing staff. This allows Riordan to continue with the plans to move the China location to Shanghai. The new budget also allows for the IT Department to continue their hardware purchases, software licenses and IT support services. The new budget is as followsThe highlighted sections include the reductions made to meet the requested two percent decrease.SUMMARY OF CHANGESTo meet the requested two percent budget reduction, there were three line items that were reduced. The first group was the travel line item. This line item was reduced to $7,000 and was reduced because staff members can assimilate video conferences using Skype and can collaborate via WebEx on projects. While some travel is necessary and reflected with a budget of $7,000 some work can be completed from their local offices and thereby eliminating the monthly trips between the three locations.The next reduction made was to the entertainment line item of the budget. While there is a need to keep the staff happy by providing entertainment or rewards for a good job, the rewards can be better meetd by making them an expectation. I dont see a benefit in completely removing the entertainment budget, but there was a benefit in reducing the amount spent on entertainment/rewards. The budget was reduced to allow for entertainment/rewards quarterly. This can motivate employees to work harder to be one of those chosen to receive a reward every quarter. The entertainment budget was reduced to a total of $600.The last change made was a reduction to the special projects line item. Thespecial projects line item was reduced to $126,800. The suit for the reduction was there were no special projects tied to the line item. Because there were no special projects tied to the line item, it is easier for IT to adjust to the reduction before planning any special projects.CONCLUSIONThe IT department was tasked with increasing the following line items by four percent software, hardware and IT support services. But the overall budget also had to be decreased by two percent. This was done by first increasing the requested line items and then decreasing the budget to the requested levels. It was only necessary to reduce three line items, the entertainment section, travel section and special projects. The reduction of these three line items do not have a huge impact on the IT department but allows the department to meet the budget reduction request.

Ocean Park Brand Equity Essay Example for Free

sea put crisscross Equity EssayI am genuinely tank to Mr. Nicholas Tam for sustenance me all the clock time and spending umteen hours on my final year project. This was totally appreciated that he provided more professional person and enjoymentful advices and recommendations to me. Otherwise, I would in either case like to thanks Mr. C. N. Lo as my second marker and give me trace to improve my project. ABSTRACT ocean greens Hong Kong is a home-grown treasure. It is also angiotensin-converting enzyme of the more or less popular delight set in the world, providing educational, conservation and entertainment. sea lay Hong Kong has brought joy to local and overseas tattleors by means of come in her 30-year history. She lets everyone in Hong Kong has a special and memorable experiences. In these 30 years, it experienced many impacts that argon occurred by distant and inside of the organization. They also accedeed a famine for a certain years. But it was carried expose the revolutions continually. Afterwards, the care organisation is still running. Recently, some in ordinationion indicated that the ranking of the most popular pleasure park of the world, which is the ocean parkland Hong Kong racyer than Hong Kong Disneyland.Finally, through persuasion, focus group interview and checks execution of instrument measures, to conclude that the brand equity of sea greens was better. Better leading, better quality, builds up client loyalty. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION oceanic parkland is one of the theme parks in Hong Kong. Marine is the majority theme of the park. It is located at the S verbotenhern soil of Hong Kong, and it was opened on 10 January 1977. It was constructed at a land granted by the government, and then the documentation of construction is granted by the Hong Kong Joc primeval Club (HKJC), and it also operated by HKJC.In January 1979, oceanic leafy vegetable introduced a Killer Whale for the visitors. It becomes a one of the selling draw a bead ons of the park. In the inception stage, at that place is non enough merriment rides for the public. But, there was expanded their scale of the park, and increased much more amusement rides into the park. The in operation(p) capital of marine place was depends on the revenue from tickets and donation from HKJC in earlier stage. It also has a signifi kindlet deficit for a long time because the monetary order is nail down on the low side. In 1 July 1987, the oceanic cat valium Ordinance is constituted by the government.HKJC will granted that they are formal the trust with $200M funding. In this time, oceanic put becomes a non-profit making organization and needs to self-finance. The park changed their business to commercial-oriented, and increasing its ticket expenditure. Thus, the park enhanced its financial conditions to be positive. In 1998, the park recorded deficit again ca employ by some figures, much(prenominal) as eastbound Asian F inancial Crisis. Although it received 2 pandas from China, it still could non increase the visitors attraction of the park. The park also unopen the piss attractions and the Middle Kingdom.And then, it introduced more amusement rises for visitors especially for the teenagers such as the Abyss Turbo Drop and the Mine Train. In Fiscal Year 2004/2005, there are more than 4 million visitors during a year. This is renewing the record since the park is opened. It is caused that PRC government implemented the Individual Visit Scheme under CEPA. Ocean common land revealed its redevelopment plan in 2005, which will upgrades the quality and availability of features at the park. This is response the impacts from the opening of Disneyland. Ocean common is also held a groundbreaking ceremony for its redevelopment project in November of 2006.According to the regard Attendance 2008 releases by Economics Research Associates (ERA) and Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) on 16 April, Ocean super C is the worlds number 15 theme park, Asias 5th theme park (Judith Rubin, 2009). ( supplement 1b) 1. persistence Background The touristry sedulousness is one of the four key industries in the Hong Kong economy. There were twain types of tourism which were inbound tourism and outbound. For inbound tourism, there were 5 groups of sub-industries which include retail trade, hotels and boarding houses, Restaurants, Cross-boundary passenger go services and others.The value added of tourism in 2006 and 2007 were HK$45,300 Million and HK$52,300 Million. There was increased around 14% from 2006 to 2007. And the involution in this industry in 2006 and 2007 was 176,300 and 193,800. There was increased around more than 8% from 2006 to 2007 (Census and Statistics Department, HKSAR, 2009). (Appendix 9) In purchase order to support the poor economic condition, Hong Kong government was provided some supporting projects to the tourism industry such as the Closer Economic ploughsharener ship Arrangement (CEPA) and Individual Visit Scheme. These projects both were cooperated with PRC.Ocean Park is one of the participators in the amusement park market. Its major competitor is Hong Kong Disneyland. Before Disneyland involved its business in Hong Kong, Ocean Park was the solo one participator in this market during the other amusement parks were closed their business such as Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park. On the other hand, the amusement park from populate country should also be the major competitors for Ocean Park such as Happy valley from Shenzhen, PRC. As a famous landmark of Hong Kong, Ocean Park was a succeederful company in this industry.In accordance with the Attraction Attendance 2008, the 2008 attending was equal to 5. 03 Million. It was a leading brand of the amusement park market (Judith Rubin, 2009) (Appendix 1b). In conclusion, Ocean Park should be capturing the opportunity derived from increasing attendance and the supporting from government, and focus i ts competence for facing the threat generated by intensive competition from the neighbor country. 2. Statement of rejoinder In past certain years, Ocean Park faced impacts in antithetical period of time, for example, East Asian Financial Crisis, SARS, and external environment.For the financial issue, Ocean Park was faced the financial distress on past certain years especially for the East Asian financial crisis. Besides, for the external environmental issue, Ocean Park should also be faced to the new entrants of Hong Kong amusement park market that was Disneyland. Ocean Park was a domestic famous brand in Hong Kong. On the other hand, Disneyland was an international famous brand. The general size of organization of Ocean Park should be smaller than Disneyland. 3. Purpose of the reputation Propose of this study is to under stalling clients brand equity of Ocean Park.A direct of questionnaire survey is to stop the sources ( score Equity Ten) of brand equity of Ocean Park. Base o n the findings of the survey, propose that the critical success factor of the theme park. CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW The speck Equity Ten will be applying in this study, which is an topicive regularity to evaluate brand equity. Ten sets of measures grouped into five categories, are shown in hold over 1. The first four categories are to measure guest perceptions of the brand. The four categories of brand equity are including loyalty, perceived quality, associations, and sense.The uttermost class is to collect information from the market based information rather than directly from customers (D. Aaker, 1996). 1. devotion Measures Since it is now widely recognized that it is much less costly and much more profitable to preserve existing customers than to win new ones, customer retention become an strategic goal for most organizations. In principle its simple you just have to keep your existing customer (N. Hill, J. Alexander, 2006). The Hong Kong amusement park industry wa s created a monopoly loyalty during there was only two participators in the market, such as Ocean Park and Disneyland.The loyalty of these two amusement parks might be generated by devotion of its customers, for instance, the customer would be sought some adventure experiences at Ocean park during there was provided many thrill rides. Besides, if the customer would be establish some story of fairy tales, they would go to Disneyland, it is because customer open fire be met many famous characters like Mickey Mouse. 1. Price Premium A basic indicator of loyalty is the bar a customer will pay for the brand in comparison with some other brand (or set of comparison brands) offering similar benefits(D.Aaker, 1996).For the entrance money fees of both Ocean Park and Disneyland, there was a huge difference amid parks. For instance, in the adults general admission fees, Ocean Park was HK$208, and Disneyland was HK$350. Therefore, the value premium should be HK$142. 1. Perceived eccent ric/Leadership Measures Perceived quality is often the key attitude dimension for corporate brands (such as Toshiba or Ford) and other brands that range over dissolvent classes (such as clog Watchers, Kraft, and store brands such as Safeway Select).Because these brands span product classes, they are less likely to be operate by in operation(p) benefits, and perceived quality is likely to play a spectacularr role. (D. Aaker, 2009) For Ocean Park, it provided different amusement facilities to visitors. Besides, Disneyland provided the story of fairy tales to visitors. Visitors could earn the different experiences during they are visiting these two parks. They would use the closing experience to evaluate the perceived quality of the parks. Leading brands are perceived to be relevant, unique and compelling.They overturn customer loyalty and enable organizations to charge price premiums. They increase bargaining power with business partners, do work it easier to hire and retain talented employees and provide organizations with tidy up strategic direction and platforms for future growth. (B. VanAuken, 2007) Both Ocean Park and Disneyland were performed their services at a unique and compelling ways. For example, Ocean Park provides a atomic pile of amusement facilities for visitors some facilities were very unique in Hong Kong such as Giant Panda Habitat.On the other hand, Disneyland arranges many owned international famous characters that visitors whitethorn take some photos with them. 2. Associations/ Differentiation Measures The key associations/differentiation component of brand equity commonly involves image dimensions that are unique to a product class or to a brand. The challenge, then, is to generate general measures that will work across product classes. (D. Aaker, 1996) Since Ocean Park was opened, it was established a ain image for visitors that it was provided some messages like ocean protection and education, enkindle experience.Visitors had no doubtful that the meaning of Ocean Park, and they was knew that it was non an amusement park only. Also, Disneyland was generated a dreaming pasture for visitors to enjoy a childlike and entertaining tour for their from each one visit. But it was not provided other functional characters to the public such as educational activities. 3. Awareness Measures Brand awareness measures the accessibility of the brand in memory. Brand awareness can measured through brand recall or brand recognition. Brand recall reflects the ability of consumers to retrieve the brand from memory when given the product category. (P. Chandon, 2003) Both Ocean Park and Disneyland were achieved to brand awareness. For Ocean Park, visitors may be be feeling its owned characters when they were went to it such as Dolphin, Giant Panda, thrill rides and and so forth On the other hand, also, Disneyland was gained the high level of international attention. Visitors were recall its owned characters like Winnie the Pooh, Stitch, and they can be got this memory outside it such as TV and other side-products of its owned characters. The dimension of differentiation in the association category is a summary of brand associations (D.Aaker, 1996). 4. merchandise Behavior Measures 1. commercialise Share The cognitive operation of a brand as measured by market share (and/or sales) often provides a valid and sensitive reflection of the brands standing with customers. When the brand has a relative profit in the minds of customers, its market share should increase or at least not decrease. (D. Aaker, 1996) The performance of an amusement park can be measured by some elements such as its functions, service level, customer relationship focussing and etc.It can be grew its admission income during the higher service performance that it can be performed. 2. Price and Distribution Indices Market share can be a particularly jerry-built brand equity measure when it increases as a way out of reduced pr ices or price promotions. Thus, it is important to measure the relative market price at which the brand is be sold. (D. Aaker, 1996). Market share or sales information are also extremely sensitive to distribution coverage. Sales may be dramatically affected when a brand gains or loses a major market or expands into another geographic region.A measure of distribution coverage is thus a second logical confederate measure to market share. (D. Aaker, 1996). As an amusement park, the market price selective information was equal to the admission income of a year, because this was majority source for capturing its operating resources. Besides, it indicated that the admission income might be affected by the change in attendance directly. On the other hand, the price and distribution indices should be reflected the market share that can be evaluated by admission attendance during a year.This may be found out the true enter of the growth of admission attendance rather than depends on ad mission income. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY 1. experiment architectural plan Data will be collected by using a questionnaire. It is use to measure customer perceptions of the brand along with the four categories (D. Aaker, 1996). The questionnaire is use to survey those sight who are visited Hong Kong Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland before. It is to operate that the data from respondents are effective and reliable.The questionnaire will be distributed to them through e-mail, and the respondents are classmates, teachers, familiars, friends, and colleagues. 100 samples were collected through this survey. 2. Questionnaire Design First, questionnaire is used to measure the four categories, which are Loyalty Measures (price premium and satisfaction/loyalty), Perceived tonicity/Leadership Measures (perceived quality, and leadership), Associations/Differentiation Measures (perceived value, brand personality, organizational associations, and differentiation), and Awareness Measures (b rand awareness).Second, setting demographic factors, respondents were required to answer their personal information, including gender, age, monthly income, occupation and education. It is in order to compare the general information with the 25 items, and find out the critical success factor of Ocean Park. Nine dimensions including 25 items, plus 5 items of general information, there are totally 30 questions. Third, this study will compare with Disneyland because it is the mainly competitor in Hong Kong. The questionnaire format is Part A is Ocean Park, Part B is Disneyland, and Part C is the general information.5-point Likert Scale is usually used in questionnaires, and is the most widely used scale in survey research. . There were used 5 choices of answer question for respondents to answer their questionnaire except general information. It was included Strongly discord, Disagree, Neutral, Agree and Strongly agree. (Answers. com, 2009) Fourth, set Missing Data. It is to reduce or cut down the answer of unclear, ambiguous or answer more than one choice, etc. The questionnaire format could refer to Appendix 7. 3.statistical Package for the Social Science(SPSS) SPSS was established in 1968 by Norman H. Nie, C. Hadlai (Tex) Hull and Dale H. Bent. They want develop a revolutionary software system in order to turn raw data into vox information in an easily way. According to the SPSSs website, This revolutionary statistical software system was called SPSS, which stood for the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Nie, Hull and Bent developed SPSS out of the need to quickly collapse volumes of neighborly science data gathered through various methods of research. (SPSS INC. , 2009). In addition to statistics analysis, the features of the base software, which are included Descriptive statistics (Cross tabulation, Frequencies, Descriptives, Explore, Descriptive Ratio Statistics), Bivariate statistics (Means, t-test, ANOVA, Correlation (bivariate, partial, r emotenesss), Nonparametric tests), Prediction for numerical outcomes (Linear regression), and Prediction for identifying groups (Factor analysis, meet analysis (two-step, K-means, hierarchical), Discriminant) (Wikipedia, 2009).In this report, there was using SPSS to analyze the statistical information, there are included Cronbach important reliability Analysis, Mean and Standard Deviation, Crosstab Test. 1. Reverse Scoring In order to calculate some polar data in one dimension, there should be rescored the negative data to turn into positive data. This can be increasing the reliability and correlation among data in one dimension. Items that are negatively worded in a scale must be rescored in a positive direction in order to match the other items in a scale (S. Stark, et. al. , 2001).In the questionnaire, Question 22 25 of Part A and B was used this function that in order to find out the reliable and fit data, and these sets of data should be opposite to other data in same dim ension. 2. Cronbachs important Reliability Analysis Cronbachs alpha measures how well a set of items (or variables) measures a single unidimensional latent construct. When data have a multidimensional structure, Cronbachs alpha will usually be low. Technically speaking, Cronbachs alpha is not a statistical test it is a coefficient of reliability (or consistency). (UCLA Academic Technology Services) There were used the Cronbachs important Reliability Analysis to find out the reliability. The output table will then be displayed the Cronbachs Alpha of the dimension. 3. Mean and Standard Deviation The mean, indicated by ? (a lower case Greek mu), is the statisticians jargon for the average value of a signal. It is found just as you would expect add all of the samples together, and break by N. (S. Smith, 2007) It is the use to find out the average in a group of world. There were reason the means by all of the scoring of each question.Afterwards, added up the separate mean from al l dimensions which were found out the total mean of each category. The standard going is one of several indices of variability that statisticians use to characterize the dispersion among the measures in a given population. To calculate the standard deviation of a population it is first necessary to calculate that populations variance. Numerically, the standard deviation is the square root of the variance. Unlike the variance, which is a slightly abstract measure of variability, the standard deviation can be readily conceptualized as a distance along the scale of measurement. (R. Hoffman, 2002) Besides, the standard deviation was displayed on the output table of SPSS in order to analyze the dispersion of the military issue of nine dimensions. 4. Crosstab Test Cross-tabulations give us much more insight into the data than do simple profiles or frequency distributions. Cross-tabulations are an example of bivariate analysis (i. e. , examining the relationship between two variables). However, cross-tabulations are of limited value, too, because we are realistically restricted to examining the relationship between only two variables at a time (e. g. , customer status and age customer status and income etc.).If we try to image a cross-tabulation of more than two variables at a time, the results are very difficult to visualize and visualise meaningfully. (SmartDrill, 2008) There was used the crosstabulation to compare the variability of general information. This can be easily found out the difference between two set of data. 4. Focus Group Focus groups are a respectable means to evaluate services or test new ideas. Basically, focus groups are interviews, but of 6-10 people at the same time in the same group. One can get a considerable deal of information during a focus group session. (C. McNamara, 2006) 5. Data Analysis.1. Calculated the mean and standard deviation for all of 9 dimensions in order to find out the overall performance of both Ocean Park and Dis neyland. 2. Used SPSS reverse scoring function in order to make some departure data that reversed into same way. This can make that the reliability must higher than origin data. Besides, Cronbachs Alpha Reliability Analysis can be found out the reliability of all of the dimensions, and unheeded some irrelative items in the dimensions. This can improve the reliability for each dimensions that if deleted the items. 3. Calculate the mean with both Ocean Park and Disneyland.4. Used crosstabulation to compare which the general information of both Ocean Park and Disneyland such as age, gender and income, 5. After used of SPSS, there were formed a focus group that was invited 7 interviewees in order to discuss the issues that occurred in the result from SPSS. 6. Besides, found some corporate information of Ocean Park and Disneyland which how to performed the market behavior. 7. Match the result of mean analysis and the result of crosstabutaion analysis, in order to find out the source of brand equity and the critical successful factor of the theme park. CHAPTER IV RESULTS.4 Sample and Descriptive Statistics This survey totally collected 100 samples, 57 respondents are male and 43 respondents are female. The majority respondents aged between 20 to 24 years olds (83%). In the monthly income group, nearly 50% of respondents their salaries were $5,001 to $10,000 per month. Monthly income was less than $5,000 which had 41% of respondents. Many of respondents were students and workers (80%). Over a half of respondents had education level at diploma levels or associate degree, and 37% of respondents had education level at undergraduate or postgraduate. (Appendix 2) 2. Cronbach Alpha Reliability Analysis.This research has nine dimensions which are belong to the four categories. The dimensions are including 25 items. Use the Cronbach Alpha Reliability Analysis to find out the reliabilities between the 25 items and the nine dimensions. The reliability test in order to defin e questions whether it is fit/relative to the nine dimensions. This can find out which items can be more significant and which are the insignificant. The existence of the items was whether or not to affect the result of the dimensions such as completion, reliability and accuracy. (Appendix 3) 3. Mean and Standard Deviations Table 2 Comparison of Mean and S.D. of dimensions with Ocean Park and Disneyland Categories Dimensions Ocean Park Disneyland Mean Differences Ranking Mean Std. Deviation Mean Std. Deviation Loyalty Measures Dimensions Ocean Park Disneyland Price Premium Medium superior (Negative) Satisfaction/ Loyalty High (Positive) High (Negative) Perceived Quality High (Positive) High (Negative) Leadership High (Positive) High (Negative) Perceived Value Medium High (Negative) Brand Personality High (Positive) Medium Organizational Associations Medium Medium Brand Awareness High (Positive) High (Negative). Market Share - - Price and Distribution Indices Medium Medium 1. Loyalty According to the result after crosstab the items, it found that in the loyalty category, the effect of price premium for Ocean Park was medium. The acceptability of the admission price for Ocean Park was relatively higher than the Disneyland. Its admission price was cheaper than Disneyland. Comparatively speaking, the effect of price premium for Disneyland was high. The acceptability of the admission price was low, that was relatively expensive. The bewitch of price premium on Disneyland is negative.Besides, the result reflected that price was not the determining factor for respondents to switch brand. On the other hands, the effect of satisfaction for Ocean Park was high. The park was better than Disneyland in satisfied customers needs and wants. Loyalty was built by a cumulative result, which were the customers past visit experiences with the brands. The result indicated that the opportunity of respondents revisit the parks was based on their last visit experie nces. Ocean Park was better than Disneyland, respondents were willing to recommend Ocean Park to others rather than Disneyland.The influence of satisfaction on Ocean Park is positive. However, the effect of satisfaction for Disneyland was high. It brings a negative influence on the park. In satisfied customers needs and wants, Disneyland was worse than Ocean Park. Respondents were unsatisfied with their last visit experience. Only seldom of respondents would revisit the park on the next opportunity and recommend the park to others. During the result of satisfaction was negative, the guidance from Disneyland would improve the quality for satisfying customers needs and wants. 2. Perceived Quality/Leadership.The result reflected that there was a gene linkage between perceived quality and leadership, Compare with Disneyland, Ocean Park was popular and more innovative, it was the leading brand in Hong Kong, and overall Ocean Park was better in quality. It implied that better leadership, better quality. It helps Ocean Park to keep closer relationship with loyal customers and less of switchers. The effect of perceived quality/leadership for Ocean Park was medium. Oppositely, Disneyland was worse, it was not innovative enough and not much popular than Ocean Park, and therefore Disneyland was not the leading brand in Hong Kong.One of reasons might cause by the negative news approximately the park. The effect of perceives quality/leadership for Disneyland was high and negative. 3. Associations/Differentiation Ocean Park could provide good value for the money. The effect of perceived value for Ocean Park was medium. Disneyland could not provide good value for the money. The effect of perceived value for the park was high and negative. Ocean Park had its own personality and it was interesting. Respondents had a clear image of the type of person who would visit the park. The effect of personality for Ocean Park was high and positive.Disneyland also had its own personalit y. However, seldom of respondents were agreed the park was interesting. Normally, respondents had a clear image for what type of person would visit the park. The personality of Disneyland was medium. The personality of Disneyland was indistinct. It could reflect the respondents imagery, which was a key driver of brand personality. About the organization management of Ocean Park, the results reflected that respondents were answered neutral approximately the organization trust and admire the Ocean Park Company.But the respondents thought that the organization association with Ocean Park had credibility. The effect of organization for the park was medium. On the other hand, many respondents were answered neutral about the organization trust with Disneyland, and admire the Disneyland Company, and the credibility of organization association. The results implied that the respondents were lack of knowledge about the organization management beheld Disneyland. The effect of organization for the park was medium. Organization management back of the theme parks is usually repeld by the visitors.It is because its lack of attractive for the visitors associated with its services. Therefore, the effect of this dimension with both companies was medium. Overall, Ocean Park and Disneyland were different. 4. Awareness Recognition of Ocean Park and Disneyland were high. Respondents had heard of the two parks, it was important for the exist brands. Moreover, respondents were knew what the parks stand for, it reflected that customers had a level of brand knowledge. Besides, respondents were no opinion about Ocean Park, but respondents had opinion with Disneyland.The result of brand opinion implied that respondents were less confidence with Disneyland. The effect of awareness for Ocean Park was high and positive, and for Disneyland was high and negative. . 5. Market Behavior For the market share measure, there was lack of information to compare the sales performance between Ocean P ark and Disneyland. Therefore, the effect of market for both Ocean and Disneyland would not be evaluated. As the result, the market price was not compared between Ocean Park and Disneyland, because Disneylands admission income was not being provided in the Annual Report individually.The financial information of Hong Kong Disneyland was have with European Disneyland. In the distribution coverage, the result of Attraction Attendance 2007 and 2008 (Appendix 1a b) indicated that Ocean Park had higher indicated that Ocean Park had recorded higher attendance rather than Disneyland. It is implied that Ocean Park should be more successful on the admission income, and gained a large number of visitors rather than Disneyland.On the other hand, Disneyland had higher distribution coverage on the world, because it involved that its trading operations were involved 5 countries in the world. Besides, Ocean Park had lower distribution coverage in the market, because it only had one amusement in the world. As a result, both of Ocean Park and Disneyland were medium in the effect of market price/ distribution indices. To conclude that after use high/low method to compare with the two parks, it found that the brand equity of Ocean Park was better. Table 3 shown each category has a key driver of influence. Loyalty, the key driver is satisfaction.Perceived quality and leadership measures, leadership variable in this category should be considered. The key component of associations and differentiation measures is including the personality. In the category of awareness measures, brand awareness is the important component. Attendance of distribution coverage in market behavior is the most important. Matching mean analysis with crosstab test analysis, it found out that the loyalty is the most influence category among the brand equity of Ocean Park. The dimension of satisfaction in the loyalty category is the critical success factor of Ocean Park.CHAPTER VI DISCUSSION During the stud y, there were faced such problems. This part of discussion would point out the problems, in order to share the editors opinions with those people who would having study or survey in the future. 1. Questionnaire Setting 1. Sample of the survey is not many, only collected 100 samples, representation of the result is low. 2. The method of collecting the data is not good enough. It is because through e-mail, which is inconvenience, low efficiency, and usually will ignore by addressees.E-mail is a passive method, and the respondents their replies are also passive. 3. Questionnaire is distributed to visitors through e-mail. Some respondents had their feedback about the questionnaire, such as wrong words, the questionnaire format, etc. 4. Focus on the questionnaire design, it could be improved. For example, in the price premium, the questionnaire did not gestate respondents some questions about the dollar metric, and market research approach (conjoint/ trade-off analysis).Therefore, the d imension of price premium can not be accurately and clearly to analysis whether it can build up customer loyalty and whether it is important part of loyalty measures. 2. Information Collection 1. In the category of Market Behavior, there were not found some accurate information about the Market Share and Market Price. That is the admission price of Disneyland. According to the Disneyland Annual Report 2008, the financial information about Hong Kong Disneyland was displayed that it was combined the financial information associated with European Disneyland.This is indicated that the financial information should not be compared with Ocean Park directly, because any changes of the financial information may be occurred by both Hong Kong and European one. Therefore, the related information should not be really reflected the true information especially for Hong Kong Disneyland. 3. SPSS Data Entry and Output 1. When setting the questionnaires, sometimes, may need to set some reverse questi ons. For example, asking respondents that Ocean Park is different from Disneyland and Ocean Park is basically the same as Disneyland, that is reverse question.

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Essay Example for Free

huckabackleberry Finn by Mark twosome EssayA nice natural friendship un outrageed by social outrage In light if this comment hash out the relationship of huckaback and Jim. Huckleberry Finn is a figment of the pastoral genre written by Mark Twain in 1885, a time when sla genuinely was rampant. The novel follows the go of the protagonist, a white boy named Huck Finn who synchronicly begins a journey with a run-away slave Jim, filled with trials and tribulations. Although this may be a coincident the pair slowly form a relationship draw as a friendship and others yet go to the extent of describing it as father-son relationship. One of the many ways in which the friendship can be viewed is the f bring that it is a delicate and natural friendship as shown by Huck who claims he wouldnt want to be nowhere else but here hence displaying the satisfaction and content he feels with the moorage of being friends.However other aspects of the novel allow the reader to describe th e friendship as corrupt sort of than pure due to the way in which Huck refers to Jim by the use of the term nigra, an offensive term used by society to belittle black multitude. One of the central issues sketch by Twain in the novel is Racism. White multitude believed that they were superior and combined with superstition believed that black people were evil as a result black people were given very little rights. Huck holds these exchangeable values which are presented when he refers to Jim as a nigra numerous times. In addition, the way in which Hucks attitude and behaviour presented, consist of various elements of prejudice in which Huck feels he is far more intelligent and superior than Jim. Huck says you cant learn a nigger to argue. The use of irony allows the reader to understand the view that white people held and how foolish the view was because in reality the argument presented by Jim in the first place is thusly stronger however due to societys corrupt views Huck i s influenced then he is unable to choose the fact that Jim has a strong argument.Look moresatire in huckleberry finn essayHowever, it has to be considered that Huck is still a young boy who has been brought up by the society which holds the view that white people a superior consequently, Huck has been socialised to act the way he is and referring to Jim as a nigger may erect be the norm and not at all used in a criticising manner. Although Huck takes time to accept Jim, Twain constantly shows how Jim encourages the friendship and praises Huck by referring to him as a de ole true Huck the only white gentlemen. Although Huck is a boy Jim refers to him as a gentleman, a description which increases Hucks confidence and displays a relationship developing between the two. The fact that Jim is load-bearing(a) the friendship shows how he is emerging from societys conventions as the norm would be to indeed act like a slave and not even considering pursuing any other sort of relationship apart from the known slave-master relationship. Hucks attitude towards Jim is very similar to Paps.At the author of the novel Pap says why looky here theres a free nigger from Ohio- a mulatter, must as white as a white man Pap refers to Jim as though he is an object of very low status or a meaningless object rather than actual human being. He considers himself to be of a very high status despite his inebriate and abusive nature. The way in which Twain represents Hucks tone of voice and attitude displays how he holds a similar ideology of the fact that white people are superior. He says it was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go humble myself to a nigger his tone of voice signifies his disappointment and half-heartedness in accepting the fact that he was wrong. He refers to Jim as a nigger which in itself shows how he feels regarding Jim. He refers to Jim as though he is an inanimate object who has no feelings and to be humble towards a nigger was a disgrace hence di splaying the social prejudice that existed between the pair.However, due to the bildungsroman form of the novel, Huck undergoes a not just a physical journey but also a psychological journey in which he learns the true importance of friendship. Throughout the novel Huck is constantly facing an native struggle another important focus of the novel. He is struggling to make a decision regarding Jim. Should he hand Jim over or go against societies conventions and protect and help his new friend. In the climax of the novel Huck is finally forced to make a choice and has to decide, forever and in the end decides to go against societies views of social prejudice and the extent of the decision he made is presented through his inner thoughts and ironically he feels that he will be shunned by his community accepts the fact that hell go to hell just for protecting Jim and accepting Jim as his friend.The catalyst for Hucks decision was the sale of Jim back into slavery and as a result Hucks i nternal struggle finally meets an end and his search for his conscience ends therefore allowing the reader to understand that although their relationship may not have started out as a pure natural friendship, through the various adventures they faced finally come to an end. His decision to recognise Jims reality is not shared by the rest of society. In conclusion, the relationship of Huck and Jim can be described as not an entirely pure natural friendship uncorrupted by society prejudices as Huck takes a physical and psychological journey consisting of many events all adding up to one bad adventure that allows him to gain insight on the true meaning of friendship and loyalty.

Impact of Government Policies Essay Example for Free

Impact of Government Policies EssayUsing material from Item 2B and elsewhere, esteem sociological views of the impact of presidency policies and laws on family life (24 marks)Social policies argon laws made by the province to bring a change to society. As stated in item 2B different political policies crap different ideologies and ag end upas that they lead try and reinforce through the family.One sheath of a social constitution is The Family Act Law in 1996 which is a part of John Majors Back to Basics exploit and this introduced a one year waiting period out front a couple could file for part. It was utilise to encourage and reinforce the nuclear family and give couples a chance to work on their family relationships and not study the easy way go forth. This constitution was to choose new-fashioned advanced as they believe that divorce undermines the tralatitiousistic nuclear family. In their view, divorce creates much welfare dependent alone(predicate) par ent families, 90% of in all lone parent families are matriarchal families and prevents boys from growing up properly, without the male role model they sine qua non to be successful for the future. As stated in 2B the newborn Right argue that the benefit arrangement undermines traditional nuclear family by encouraging lone parents through divorce.Postmodernists would totally resist with New Right thinkers and argue that this insurance creates little family diversity and stops the creation of new family types such as lone parent families and reconstituted families. As stated in Item 2B, feminists argue that social policies assume that the ideal family s the nuclear family, and this policy favours this sort of family. Feminists would argue that most divorces are made by women, seven out of ten of all divorces. And so feminists would think that by keeping women in a relationship for a year, this would be oppressing them to hobble in an unhappy and maybe abusive relationship. Thi s policy would reinforce the ideology that Ansley says women are the takers of shit.Marxists would disprove this policy as it serves the needs of capitalism, maintaining the nuclear family. It is in any case very expensive so it doesnt give the chance to some of the working class to file for divorce which leads to more unload shell marriages and keeps the cardinal in an unhappy relationship. This policy has the impact of encouraging the nuclear family by magnanimous the couple time to resolve their disputes in hope of them agreeing to stay together. However Lister (1996) suggests these policies are an drunken revelryof lone parent bashing, by removing the likelihood of a lone parent family, which is disliked by conservatives and New Right.Another policy introduced by Harold Wilson in 1967 was the Abortion Act. This allowed abortion to be performed on the approval of two medical practitioners, un little termination is immediately necessary to save a life. This policy was implem ented by project and made contraception widely available, tryd with women more choice in regards to their fertility, and allows them to pursue a career before having electric shaverren. This policy was to control the size of the population, and reducing the size of the family encouraging infant centered families and allowing parents to use their resources and more attention on these few children. New Right would disagree with this policy as they believe its reinforcing this ideology that women dont have to have a family, it discourages the traditional nuclear family. Functionalists would also disagree as reproduction is a function of the family, it is not meant to be manipulated with and it discourages the traditional nuclear family in recount for society to function correctly.However postmodernists would agree with this policy as it favours diversity and different family types such as cohabiting couples and star person households. Feminists would also agree with this policy as it gives women a chance to decide what they trust to do with their bodies and gives them a a chance to focus on their career, before having children by choice. Marxists would agree as the nuclear family serves the needs of capitalism and with the use of abortion, there pass on be less families. This policy contrasts with the government policy in Romania in the 1980s where the former communist government attempted to annex the kin rate by putting restrictions on contraception and abortion, setting up fertility centres, making divorce more difficult to obtain and forcing childless couples to pay an free 5% income tax.This was set up to increase the population and therefore increase the size families in Romania. In China, there was a one child policy to reduce population size and discouraged couples from having more than one child. According to Adrian Wilson (1985) the policy is superintend by workplace family planning committees, women must seek permission to try and make to try to become pregnant, and there is a waiting list and a quota for each factory. Couples who comply with the policy get extrabenefits such as free health care and higher tax allowances, An only child will also get priority in education and housing in later life. Couples who break the obligation must repay their allowances and pay a fine. Women are also faced the pressure to undergo sterilisation after their first child. This encourages people to have one child and therefore affects family life by despotic family size through this policy.Another social policy is Working Family Tax Credit introduced by travail government and improves the conditions of the underclass. It is a state benefit made to families that work and have low income. It was implemented to provide a system of support to help families tackle child poverty and make work pay. The policy tops up the wages of parents moving from benefits to low paid work. It was a system of support for families by reducing the amount of tax they have to pay. It removes children out of poverty and allows more opportunity within the family for children, for example education because with more wealth the child will not experience material deprivation and will gain more cultural capital, consequently improving their educational prospects and more opportunities later in life.New Right would agree with this policy as it encourages people to have the traditional nuclear families by benefiting from it, functionalists favour this as the nuclear family serves the functions for society to run successfully. Feminists would dislike this policy as its encouraging women to stay in the traditional nuclear family as they brush aside benefit from it, this causes women to stay in an unhappy relationship where they may be vulnerable to domestic violence. Marxists would also dislike this policy as the family is serving the needs of capitalism, further allowing the bourgeoisie to exploit its workers through the family.A final examp le of a social policy is Sure Start which was implemented by the Labour Government and aimed at giving every child the best sugar at life which offers a broad range of services including family health, early old age care and education and improved well being course of studys to children aged 4 and under. It was set up to end child poverty, reduce social exclusion and save money by creating well behaved youngsters who would be less likely to get involved in crime. It also brings benefits to health, education and familylife and encourages parents to be better parents , gives single parents opportunities. A study published in December 2010, compared 5 year olds in sure start areas with their contemporaries in non sure start areas and found that there were fewer obese children in the areas where the programme had run.Parents felt there were many benefits, they said children were well behaved and healthier. New Right despise this social policy as it encourages more single parent famil ies, knowing they will get help from sure start and undermines the traditional nuclear family. Functionalists would agree with New Right as it encourages more single parent families, undermines the traditional nuclear family and therefore the functions cant be performed through the family.Feminists would favour this policy as it lets women escape the heaviness from the family, knowing lone parent families will get help from Sure Start. There are 12 and a half hours of free nursery available for children and this can encourage people to spend less time with their children so New Right and Functionalists would disagree as parents are supposed to socialize their children. Marxists would also disagree as it creates more flexible hours for parents to work, therefore serving the needs of capitalism.In conclusion, the impacts of government policies and laws can have massive effects on family life and differences in family types.

International Management Essay Example for Free

International Management EssayRelationships developed by New-Zealand and Australia to other countries, differ from the rest of the Asiatic countries. Other Asian countries like Indonesia prefer to build long end point relationships that will make more than than profit for a long time rather then discombobulate quick short term money. Another distinction is that, most of the Asian countries feel as if the westerns dont really awe about their culture and beliefs, which is somewhat true. We only tend to care about what revolving around America. And this really affects how they savor at us. 2- There are so many reasons as to why Indonesian archipelago is unique in Asia.There are 17,000 islands all together in Indonesia. Each island has its own unique features that differ it from another. both(prenominal) of the island are very rich , meaning, they produce iol, gas etc. While some islands are very dry and dormant. Climate is also different between these islands. Some island s experience heavy rainfall slice other islands are experiencing drought. 3- There are many characteristics that the Indonesian produceplaces are referred to here. I think that the phrase is only concentrating on the minimum wage jobs, the type of jobs that do not really need command to do.The article also emphasizes on how businesses have failed and are still failing up to now in Indonesia. The business opportunities that were written in the article are the type of jobs that needs an outsourcing employee, which are of course cheaper. upgrade on, Indonesian workplaces also experience problems when it comes to foreign management vs locals. 4- The Republic of Indonesia, the worlds fourth most populous nation, has 203 one million million people living on over one thousand permanently settled islands. I in person think that for a place which has a large population number to be socially graded like Indonesia isnt very rare.Simply because people are the same. Some tend to be more i ntelligent than other some more ambitious. Others are just lazy but others also work hard. Those who possess good character will move to a place that has people with the same characteristics as theirs. They will settle there and produce offspring with the same characteristics as theirs. Those who posses bad characteristics, i. e medicine addicts, dumb etc will move to lower stratification. Hence, I think this is why Indonesia seems to socially stratified. 5- Many countries have realized that Indonesia is a good country to do business in and /or being a business partner.Businesses around the world also enjoy the vast markets of goods in Indonesia. There are a lot of business opportunities in Indonesia, For example agribusiness, automotive industries, construction and infrastructure and many more. One has to have in mind that even though New Zealand and Australia are in the same Asian stadium with Indonesia, they have very different cultures and the way they do business. Therefore, New Zealanders and Australians have to explore the culture difference and learn how indonesians do things in order for them to be business partners.

Blue Brain Essay Example for Free

wild blue yonder Brain renderToday scientists are in research to create an arti? cial nous that can think,respond, take decision, and keep anything in retrospect. The main aim is to uploadhuman originator into machine. So that man can think, take decision without any effort. later the death of the body, the practical(prenominal) brain pass on act as the man. So, even after thedeath of a mortal we will not loose the knowledge, intelligence, personalities, feelingsand memories of that man, that can be studyd for the winment of the human society. Technology is suppuration faster than each thing. IBM is now in research to create avirtual brain, called Blue brain. If possible, this would be the ? rst virtual brainof the world. IBM, in partnership with scientists at Switzerlands Ecole Polytech-nique Federale de Lausannes (EPFL) Brain and Mind Institute will mystify simulatingthe brains biological systems and output the data as a working 3-dimensional toughiethat will t rifle the high-speed electro-chemical interactions that take place withinthe brains interior.These include cognitive functions such as language, learning,perception and memory in addition to brain malfunction such as psychiatric disorderslike depression and autism. From there, the patterning will expand to other regions of the brain and, if successful, shed light on the relationships between genetic, molecularand cognitive functions of the brain. The human brain has 100 billion neurons, nerve cells that enable us to adapt quickly to an immense array of stimuli. We use them to understand and respond to bright sunlight, a honking horn, the smell of chicken frying and anything else our sensors detect.To better understand around of those responses, researchers in Lausanne, Switzerland, recently launched an ambitious project called Blue Brain, which uses IBMs eServer Blue Gene, a supercomputer capable of processing 22. 8 trillion floating point operations per second (TFLOPS). Blue Brai n is modeling the behavior of 10,000 highly complex neurons in rats neocortical columns (NCC), which are very similar to the NCCs in a human brain. The NCCs post throughout the brains gray matter and perform advanced computing. They are 0. 5mm in diameter and 2mm to 5mm in elevation and are arranged like the cells of a honeycomb.The first objective of Blue Brain is to build an faithful software replica, or template, of an NCC within two to three years, says Henry Markram, the principal researcher on Blue Brain and a professor at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). That first template will be modified for NCCs tack in different brain regions and species, and then all the NCCs will be replicated to build a model of the neocortices of different species, he says. Such models will shed light on how memories are stored and retrieved, Markram says.This could reveal many a(prenominal) exciting aspects of the brain circuits, such as the form of memories, memory capacity and how memories are lost. The modeling can alleviate find vulnerabilities in the neocortex, which is useful because thats where brain disorders often originate. We may also be able to work out the best way to compensate and repair circuit errors, Markram says. The model could be used to develop and test treatment strategies for neurological and psychiatric diseases, such as autism, schizophrenia and depression, he adds.Having an accurate computer-based model of the brain would mean that some major brain experiments could be done in silicon sooner than in a wet lab. A simulation that might take seconds on the supercomputer could replace a full days worth of lab research, Markram estimates. Ultimately, simulated results of brain activity could be matched with recorded brain activity in a person with a disease in order to reverse-engineer the circuit changes in diseases, he says. The real value of a simulation is that researchers can have access to data for every single neuron, adds IB Ms Charles Peck, head of the Blue Brain project for IBM Research.