Dna And The Human Insulin Gene - 843 Words

After preparing the target DNA, scientists then insert the insulin gene into the plasmid ring. Prior to insertion, the plasmid must be cut open. Special enzymes are required to cut DNA; these enzymes are generally referred to as restriction enzymes (Rediscovering Biology, 2013). After the plasmid is prepared, scientists insert the insulin gene into the ring. The ring is then closed. The human insulin gene is now recombined with the bacterial DNA plasmid. Now that the bacterial DNA contains the human insulin gene, it’s inserted into a certain variety of bacteria. It’s important for scientists to verify the success of their gene transfer to ensure that it’s capable of being reproduced. To make certain, scientists will insert the insulin gene along with a gene coding for antibiotic resistance onto a plasmid. The engineered bacteria will then be grown in a lab using a special gel that contains the antibiotic and other nutrients required for growth. Only bacterial cel ls containing the antibiotic resistance gene that survive are considered successful (Recombinant DNA, 2004). Multiple plasmids are inserted into each bacterial cell, improving the chances of success in terms of insulin production. As the bacteria cell thrives and begins to reproduce, its inner processes activate the gene for human insulin prompting insulin production (Kamionka, 2011). As the cells reproduce, so too does the human insulin gene. Finally, these bacteria-produced human insulin protein molecules areShow MoreRelatedEssay On Dna Methylation1075 Words   |  5 Pagesdescribe DNA methylation and gene expression of SLC22A1, SLC22A3, and SLC47A1, which respectively encode the three metformin transporters OCT1, OCT3, and MATE1, in the human liver. In agreement with a previous study where OCT1 was found to be the most expressed drug transporter in the liver [15], we found higher mRNA expression of SLC22A1 than SLC22A3 (Additional file 1: Figure S2A). SLC47A1 was also highly exp ressed in the liver, as previously reported [16]. Metformin transporter genes have beenRead MoreGenetically Modified Organisms ( Gmo )1271 Words   |  6 Pagesengineers don t make new genes, they rearrange existing ones† says George Mason University Professor of Environmental Sciences,Dr.Thomas Lovejoy(TodayInSci, 2014).Genetic Modifications (GM) have been a topical interest among the field of biotechnology, in which modern techniques directly manipulate genomes allowingthe transfer of specific trait genes from one organism to be inserted into another organism changing its genes. In doing so, an organism with the transferred gene may express the traits thatRead MoreWhat Is Genetic Engineering?954 Words   |  4 Pagesthe transferring a specific traits- genes from one organism to the other- this could be a plant or an animal. It is the deliberate modification of the characteristics of an organism by manipulating its genes- the genetic material. What is genetic engineering used for? It is used to change the genetic makeup of cells which spontaneously includes the transfer of genes within and across species. Genetic engineering is also used to mass produce insulin, human growth hormones, follistim (which isRead MoreUnit Title: Biochemistry Of Nucleic Acids.(A.C. 5.1 And1583 Words   |  7 PagesUnit Title: Biochemistry of Nucleic Acids (A.C. 5.1 and 5.2) The human body is made up of trillions of cells and each cell has a nucleus, filled inside with chromosomes made of a long string of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) wrapped around a special protein called histone (American cancer society 2014). According to Cancer Research UK (2014) DNA by itself is made up of thousands of genes, which are a coded message that tell the cell how to behave and divide. As such if the signals are missing, cellsRead MoreThe Human Of Recombinant Bacteria1649 Words   |  7 Pagesis a bacterium cell that has had its genome changed, by the alteration, or edition of a gene. Recombinant DNA is DNA that has been artificially prepared by cutting DNA into smaller fragments and joining fragments together, that would not normally be found together naturally- even fragments taken from different organisms.( Principles of Gene Manipulation sixth edition, S.B. Primrose, R.M. Twyman and R.W. Old ) DNA can be cut using the enzyme Restriction endonuclease, which recognises a specific sequenceRead MoreThe Use Of Recombinant Dna For Science And Medicine909 Words   |  4 Pagesrecombinant DNA technology has been a huge advancement to science. In the early 1970s the first recombinant DNA was produced (â€Å"1972 First†, 2013). Researchers Stanley Cohen and Hebert Boyer used restriction enzymes to cut DNA at specific sites, and then fused them back together to form their recombinant vector (â€Å"1972 First†, 2013; Cederbaum, S., et al., 1984). Through transformation the vector is then inserted into a host cell to amplify their hybrid DNA, also known as recombinant DNA (â€Å"1972 First†Read MoreEssay about The Use of Recombinant DNA Technology844 Words   |  4 PagesThe Use of Recombinant DNA Technology Recombinant DNA technology is the technology of preparing recombinant DNA in vitro by cutting up DNA molecules and splicing together fragments from more than one organism.(1) This is the process of using recombinant DNA technology to enable the rapid production of human protein from a single gene of insulin. Firstly the single gene required must be isolated. This can be done three ways: Either by working backwards from the protein-Read MoreThe Role Dna Serves For The Human Cell1267 Words   |  6 Pages The Role DNA Serves For The Human Cell Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) accommodates a variety of purposes, including data storage and replication, in the human cell and in the cells of many other organisms. DNA in a human cell is primarily responsible for storing genetic information that is utilized to control virtually every aspect of cellular expression. This genetic information is passed down from parents to progeny, resulting in progeny with some genetic traits of each parent. DNA is withal replicatedRead MoreEthical And Social Problems Of Genetic Engineering1478 Words   |  6 PagesEngineering is the process of manipulating the genome of an organism such as bacteria, insulin, brown rice and etc using biotechnology. Genetic Engineering is developed to make cell growth faster, increase production, and protect against diseases. An organism that is produced through Genetic Engineering is called Genetically Modified Organism or GMO. The first GMO was a bacterium produced in 1973 in a lab and in 1982 Insulin became the fi rst GMO commercialized product available to the public. In the 21stRead MoreThe Discovery, Process, And Applications Of Transgenic Bacteria1416 Words   |  6 PagesTransgenic bacteria, or genetically modified bacteria, is a type of recombinant DNA organism which uses bacteria as the host for inserting an exogenous gene. This biotechnology has been most widely utilized in medication with a great contribution to the progress of today’s medical science and pharmacy. This research paper introduces the discovery, process, and applications of transgenic bacteria. Furthermore, its advantages, disadvantages, and future directions will also be discussed. In 1953,

Kurtzs Last Words Essay - 641 Words

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad presents the character of Kurtz as a man who is seen differently by all who know him depending on their individual experiences with him. His cousin knew him as a man with great musical talent, others knew him as a great leader, and his â€Å"Intended† fiance knew him as an admirable humanitarian; but all of these knew him to be a remarkable genius. When the narrator, Marlow, first hears of him, he is told that Kurtz is known as a great leader destined to hold high positions and fame. However, as he travels the river, he also learns that Kurtz has become insane during his time in the African jungle. After Marlow finally comes into contact with him, he discovers that Kurtz has†¦show more content†¦Perhaps Kurtz is recognizing the results of the choices he made and the evil inside of himself that he unleashed upon other people through dreadful acts. When he came to Africa, he was an admired leader with a fiance and a promising future; but his own power led to his downfall. Despite his high intelligence, his ability to do literally whatever he wished without answering to any higher power aside from his own desires was too much for him to endure sanely. Through Kurtz’s demise, Conrad describes the ridiculousness of one person’s rule over others because all people have weaknesses and faults that they cannot overcome when tempted. The absolute power of one individual is too much responsibility and will ultimately corrupt any person, leading them to believe that he or she truly possesses divine power which is true madness. At that point, one is unable to freely make moral decisions because, as demonstrated by Kurtz’s own experience, selfishness has taken over. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Kurtz’s madness, although made clear early in the novel, is barely recognizable among the horrors of the men of the Company who completely dehumanize the Africans and treat them like animals or even worse in some cases. The difference is found in the fact that the Company tries to downplay their brutality while Kurtz is completely honest about his suppression of the natives, whom he refers to as â€Å"brutes,† and his desire to eradicate them. In his final days, he reveals to MarlowShow MoreRelated Heart of Darkness Essay941 Words   |  4 Pagespermeates every circumstance, scene, and character in Joseph Conrads novella, Heart of Darkness. Darkness symbolizes the moral confusion that Charlie Marlow encounters, as well as the moral reconciliation he has within himself while searching for Kurtz. Marlows morals are challenged numerous times throughout the book; on the Congo river and when he returns to Brussels. Charlie Marlow characterizes the behavior of the colonialists with, The flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapaciousRead MoreHeart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad1309 Words   |  6 Pagesto terms with his past acts of cowardice and eventually becomes the leader of a small South Seas country. (online-literature). Heart of Darkness is British man s journey deep into the Congo of Africa, where he encounters the cruel and mysterious Kurtz, a European trader who has established himself as a ruler of the native people there. Conrad continued as an author and published more books such as Nostromo and The Secret Agent. Many of his writings first appeared in magazines, followed by the publicationRead MoreThe Horror: The Transformation of Kurtz in Heart of Darkness517 Words   |  3 PagesKurtz and the Horror Throughout the first two parts of Joseph Conrads book, Heart of Darkness, the character Kurtz is built up to be this amazing and remarkable man. In the third book, however, we learn the truth about who Kurtz really is. Kurtz cries out in a whisper, The horror! The horror!(p. 86), and in only two words he manages to sum up the realization of all the horrors of his life during his time in the Congo. In the first parts of the book most of the characters Marlow meetsRead MoreEssay about Heart of Darkness - Summary1145 Words   |  5 Pagesmentions a man named Kurtz who is a remarkable agent that has sent more ivory from the jungle than the other agents combined. Marlows interest is perked in Kurtz and will eventually grow into an unhealthy obsession and become the focus of the story. After a difficult journey, Marlow arrives at the Companys Central Station where he learns that the steamer he was supposed to command has been destroyed in a wreck. He meets the local manager, who mentions Kurtz and says that Kurtz is assumed to be illRead MoreAnalysis Of Heart Of Darkness 1331 Words   |  6 Pagesimperialism in Africa; the Englishmen wish to colonize in Africa with the purpose of taking their ivory. Charlie Marlow, who works as a sailor in the company of ivory trading. Marlow meets a man named Kurtz, the best-selling agent, during his journey to the Congo. In Heart of Darkness, the characters Marlow, Kurtz helps portray the theme. Marlow’s actions during his journey to the Congo in Africa develops his personality by revealing his character. When Marlow arrives at the Costal Station, the first companyRead MoreHeart of Darkness Commentary893 Words   |  4 Pagesform. The book centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities, as if he was a deity. Ultimately Kurtz’s mental collapse and subsequent monstrosities culminate into a tragic anti-climatic death in which Kurtz utters the dying words â€Å"The horror! The horror!† His dying words seem to reflect Kurtz own feelings and realizations of his very being, his demise and his regret for the circumstances of his situationRead MoreHeart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad1534 Words   |  7 Pagesthings about a man named Kurtz, whom he eventually meets. He becomes fascinated by this Kurtz character and becomes obsessed with finding out as much as he can about him. A character in a story â€Å"sticks with us long after we have forgotten the details of what, where, and how† (Mays 123). In Heart of Darkness the reader has the rare opportunity to get to know a character who is only explored through the eyes of other characters in the story so that when we do finally meet Kurtz in the final pages ofRead More Realization of Inner Evil in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness1562 Words   |  7 Pagesthe characters Kurtz and Marlow and through the exploration of the dark continent of Africa. Throughout the novel the reader only comes into contact with Kurtz through Marlow and the comments of other minor characters. Kurtz is a first class agent employed at an ivory station in the center of Africa. Due to his great ability to steal and kill mercilessly he is considered to be the best at obtaining ivory. Upon meeting Kurtz, Marlow considers him to be a remarkable man because Kurtz is aware ofRead MoreSimilarly, Conrad’S Heart Of Darkness Explorers An Actual1172 Words   |  5 PagesCongo River in search of a highly reputable ivory trader named Kurtz. Prior to his spiral into insanity, Conrad describes Kurtz as a man of â€Å"promise†, â€Å"greatness†, a â€Å"generous mind†, and a â€Å"noble heart† (2008-9). Hearing of this reputable Victorian man, Marlow sets out to meet him, only to discover that these descriptors no longer fit the man he finds in the heart of the Congo, even if they ever truly fit him at all. As Marlow describes Kurt z at the start of the novel, he worships and reveres him as aRead MoreKurtzs Affect on Other Characters in Heart of Darkness Essay568 Words   |  3 Pagesamount of time but have a great affect on the story. Kurtz is one of these characters. Kurtz is introduced towards the end of the story but he has an affect on the action, the theme and the other characters development even when he isn’t present. Kurtz is a power hungry man who achieved his power by getting into the ivory business and using shady techniques. He also befriended the natives in the jungle who basically become his slaves. Kurtz is so well known and put on such a pedestal, that no

Hawk roosting free essay sample

This is a dramatic monologue in the character of a hawk. Hughes dramatizes the hawk’s thoughts and attitudes to the majesty of creation, creating a character of self-focussed, god-like arrogance, of brutality and beauty. STRUCTURE The structure of the poem is regular, with verses of four lines each and similar length lines, which create a feeling of tight control, that adds to the theme of power and perfect balance in the hawk. The punctuation is equally tight, with many sentences contained within the line, which gives an abrupt, sharp, controlled feel. However, there is some enjambment, which breaks free of the stanza to run across the line break, as if the hawk can disregard the rules, creating a flowing effect as he lists his powers. â€Å"I sit on the top of the wood, my eyes closed. † – this is the first line of the poem. The first word in the poem is a sign that Hughes is writing in first person, this is called a dramatic monologue. Next, we see the phrase â€Å"on top of the wood†. This means literally that the hawk is sat at the top of the tree. However, it also symbolizes that the hawk is at the top of the food chain and that it is in control. Also on the first line, we see the phrase â€Å"my eyes closed†. This also literally means that his eyes are closed, but it also means that he has self-confidence that no one will attack him and that he is secure. The second line of the first stanza says â€Å"inaction, no falsifying dream†. The phrase â€Å"no falsifying dream† means that the hawk doesn’t have any dreams or ambitions, it just wants to kill. This is not surprising because Hughes often wrote poems about animals and he was fascinated about animal instinct and this is a good example of animal instinct. â€Å"Between my hooked head and my hooked feet†. In this line we see Hughes use a well-known technique known as repetition on the word â€Å"hooked†. This is used in this example to show that it is a violent creature and that it is evolved to kill and to follow its animal instinct. The final line in the first stanza reads â€Å"or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat†. This line has many meanings, one of which symbolizes again the natural animal instinct of the hawk because it shows that even when the hawk appears to be resting it is concentrating on its future kills and its technique. Also, at  the very end of this stanza, we see the phrase â€Å" and eat. † The full stop at the end of this phrase is called a caesura. A caesura is a way of making the reader sense of a finished action, and in this example, is used to show that the eating of the animal is the end of what the hawk has to do. It can also be interpreted as that the hawk eats its prey quickly without it knowing anything about it. As we move on to the second stanza, we read â€Å"the convenience of high trees†. This can be read literally as the trees help him hunt because he can see his prey easier with its amazing eyesight. However, it could also be read as that he is happy to be at the top of the food chain. The second line in this stanza mentions the suns buoyancy and the suns rays. This is show that the hawk believes that everything in nature is there to support it and that it believes it is at the Centre of the universe. â€Å"And the earth’s face upward for my inspection. † This line shows that the hawk believes that the earth is looking up at the hawk; showing that the hawk is most superior in comparison to everything else; even the earth itself. Also on the final line of this stanza, we see the phrase â€Å"earth’s face†. This is an example of personification because the earth doesn’t actually have a face but Hughes describes the earth as having a face because it shows that it is looking up at the hawk. The first line in the third stanza reads, â€Å"My feet are locked upon the rough bark†. This means that he is stuck in the wood up in the tree. However, it can also mean that it is locked inside of his animal instinct and cannot escape his ambition to kill and eat. â€Å" it took the whole of creation†. This can be interpreted to represent that god created the hawk and that it took all of god’s power to create such a perfect and evolved creature. The following line reads â€Å"to produce my foot; my each feather†. This could mean that it took god time and delicacy to create such a precise animal. Finally, the stanza concludes with the line â€Å"now I hold creation in my foot†. This could have several intended meanings, one of which is that the hawk is now in control of everything in the world. Another interpretation is that Hughes mentions the word foot. The foot is the very bottom of the hawk and this could mean that all other creations are at the bottom and the hawk is at the top of the world. Stanza 4 begins with ‘or fly up and revolve it slowly†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This is an example of enjambment. Enjambment is where a sentence in one stanza carries on into the next stanza. Hughes uses this as a way of showing that the hawk could do whatever he wanted by offering an alternate solution holding creation in his foot. Hughes then carries on to say, â€Å"I kill where I please because it’s all mine†. This line shows how the hawk feels in power and again like it is the Centre of the universe. The first two lines of this stanza are of contrast to the last two of the previous stanza because the tempo of the previous stanza was building up tension, whereas in stanza 4, we see Hughes unravel the words in a smooth way by selecting words that ‘roll off of the tongue ‘. The third and fourth line of this stanza says, â€Å"there is no sophistry in my body, my manners are tearing off heads†. These two lines are another example of the hawk’s animal instinct. This is because it means that there is nothing clever or sly about the hawk itself, it just follows its natural instinct to just be direct, violent and brutal. In the penultimate stanza, we see Hughes explain to us about â€Å"the allotment of death†. The word allotment basically means giving out; therefore Hughes is trying to say that the hawk is giving out death to its prey; like it means nothing to the hawk because he is so powerful and kills on a daily basis. The second line in this stanza links back to the point about the hawk being under a spell of instinct with the words â€Å"direct† and â€Å"path†. However, it also has a deeper meaning. The phrase â€Å"my path is direct† could also mean that the aim of his life is to get to this final place and that place is evolution. The final line in this stanza is â€Å"No arguments asset my right† this could mean that the hawk doesn’t have to battle or argue with anyone to be at the top and a leader because he is the most powerful. In the final stanza we see the tempo of the poem slow down to a calm tempo and the first line starts with â€Å"the sun is behind me†. This is a simple sentence that has two interpretations. One of which is the denotation of that the sun is behind the hawk, creating a visual aid to the hawk. Another interpretation is that the hawk believes that the sun is helping the hawk  and only the hawk and it is acting as the hawk’s army. The second line says, â€Å" Nothing has changed since I began†. Hughes meant this to be as if the hawk is the pinnacle of evolution and that it cannot become any better than it already is. Finally, the last two lines of the stanza say, â€Å"my eye has permitted no change, I am going to keep it this way. † This could be interpreted as meaning that he hasn’t allowed anything to change or anything else to take control of his kingdom. The phrase â€Å"I am going to keep things like this† means that he likes the way that things are and he is going to keep them. The use of dramatic monologue is key in this sentence because it shows that it is his kingdom and is a final example of how the hawk is portrayed to believe that this is his world, his kingdom and that he is the Centre of the universe. BACKGROUND In the past, Ted Hughes wrote a lot of poems about animals because they follow their natural instinct unlike humans, who follow the media and what they have been taught to believe is right and wrong and that is why his poems has such a strong affect on an influenced audience. Hughes also admitted although he admired animal instinct, he was also scared by it.

The Chronicles of Narnia free essay sample

In this paper I will be comparing and contrasting Prince Caspian the movie and the book. First I will be comparing and contrasting the charters. Second I will be comparing and contrasting the settings. Third I will compare and contrast my favorite character. After this paper you will be able to understand the movie and the book with out seeing or reading them. Peter is a strong protective individual. Peter thinks fast than executes the plan. Susan is the high queen of Nanina and is the best Archer in the land. Lucy is eleven and braver than any one else. She is also a healer and a holder of the Fire Lilly Potion. Edmund is head strong but is still regretting not trusting Lucy. I will now compare and contrast peter. First in the book he did not get into a fight. In the movie he does. In the book Peter did not yell at Edmund when the magic happened. We will write a custom essay sample on The Chronicles of Narnia or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the movie however he did yell at him. When peter got to Cair Paravel he did not count the steps but in the book he did. Now I will compare and contrast Susan the oldest girl in the family. In the book Susan shot the helmet of a guard. In the movie she just killed one of the guards. In the book Susan noticed her horn was missing first. In the movie Peter noticed it first. I will now compare and contrast Edmund. In the movie Edmund went to Miraz to announce the proposal. In the book Susan went to Miraz to tell him of the proposal. Edmund did not follow throw with Lucy’s plan in the book. In the movie he did follow throw. Something that was the same about the movie and book was Edmund fought in both battles. Finally I will compare and contrast Lucy. Something that was the same was Lucy said it was magic. Also in the movie and the book Lucy went to aslant during the fight. Some thing that was different was in the movie Lucy had two conversations with Aslan. In the book she had one with Aslan. In both the movie and the book start in the train station they where about to go to school. In the movie Peter got into a fight at the train station over accidence bump. As in the book he did not. Then the children arrived in Cair Paravel, well what was left of it. There where three battles the first was at Mirazs castle that battle was more of a quick attack but they still lost half there army. Second and third at Aslans how at Aslans how the battle was very interesting. In both the movie and the book they had an underground trap that worked really good. Caspian started out not believing the Narien creatures were real. When Caspian started his journey he got captured by two dwarfs and a badger. Then he started rallying his troops. When he started happed Caspian was new and did not know what to do. The second battle was on his turf and he was a great leader and they had a special trap. Caspian was different in the book because in the book he did not want revenge but in the movie he really wants it. I compared and contrasted Prince Caspian the movie and the book. The main charters Peter, Lucy, Edmund and Susan. The Setting are the train station and Aslans how. My favorite charter is Prince Caspian. I hope you under stand the movie and the book now.

Glory and Sacrifice in the name of Greece essays

Glory and Sacrifice in the name of Greece essays Glory and Sacrifice in the name of Greece The Funeral Oration of Pericles is an excerpt from Thrcydides, The Peloponnesian War. Pericles was a great Greek speaker and renown leader of Athenian democracy during the middle part of the fifth century B.C.E. From this speech, we find out how much he believed in Athenian democracy because he makes no ill references to it. Instead he keeps stating that Athenian democracy is a model for others to follow and that the Peloponnesian War of 430 B.C.E. is a sacrifice in order to keep their way of life and Athenian democracy. As a central figure in Athenian democracy during the Peloponnesian War, it was part of Pericles ¡ job to keep moral high enough so that no one would question why the war was fought and what for. It was his job to tell them why this war was being fought and what for. This funeral oration was an attempt by Pericles to console the wives and parents who had lost loved ones in the Peloponnesian War and to justify their loss with feelings nationalism. Pericles delivered his speech by starting with an outline of what he was going to present, praising the Greek democratic system and then finish off with why it is worth all the lives that were lost. He keeps referring to how their way of life is affected and subsequently benefited by the way their political system is run. So in my opinion, he manipulated the people ¡s unstable condition to glorify Greece and its political system and also to gain support for the Peloponnesian War and the Greek political system of democracy. During a war, people will always question the government and their ways when lives are lost. People that question this loss the most are the ones who have lost loved ones in war. In order to keep moral high, Pericles used nationalism to sway doubters of the war towards being a supporter. He tells the people who have lost loved ones in war to see their death as being a noble ...

Reagent Definition and Examples

Reagent Definition and Examples A reagent is a compound or mixture added to a system to cause a chemical reaction or test if a reaction occurs. A reagent may be used to tell whether or not a specific chemical substance is present by causing a reaction to occur with it. Reagent Examples Reagents may be compounds or mixtures. In organic chemistry, most are small organic molecules or inorganic compounds. Examples of reagents include Grignard reagent, Tollens reagent, Fehlings reagent, Collins reagent, and Fentons reagent. However, a substance may be used as a reagent without having the word in its name. Reagent Versus Reactant The term reagent is often used in place of reactant, but a reagent may not necessarily be consumed in a reaction like a reactant. For example, a catalyst is a reagent  but is not consumed in the reaction. A solvent often is involved in a chemical reaction - it is considered a reagent, but not a reactant. What Reagent-Grade Means When purchasing chemicals, you may see them identified as reagent-grade. What this means is that the substance is sufficiently pure that it may be used for physical testing, chemical analysis, or for chemical reactions that require pure chemicals. The standards required for a chemical to meet reagent-grade quality are determined by the American Chemical Society (ACS) and ASTM International, among others.

Timberland and City Year Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Timberland and City Year - Case Study Example The Timberland brand had existed since 1973 and had shown steady growth since then. When Jeffery Swartz took over in 1991, he applied some basic business expertise to the organization, reducing overheads, cutting inventory, and improving customer service significantly. The result was an increase in revenues from $196 million in 1990 to $650 in 1994. Alongside, Swartz made considerable effort to associate the company and the brand with community service. Swartz developed a distinct relationship with City Year, a fledgling community service corps for young people in the Boston area. Between 1991 and 1994, this relationship strengthened from a supply of 70 boots to a level where Timberland stood committed to providing five million dollars to City Year over a five-year period and Swartz taking a position on its Board. City Year in the meantime increased its spread to six major cities across the US and gained recognition as a national community service receiving 50% of its funds through F ederal grants. Timberland's practice of modern day philanthropy, although good hearted, cannot go without both challenges and criticisms. In the subsequent analysis, we find that the partnership generated benefits and negatives for Timberland because of the inherent and sometimes acute difference in agendas of a for-profit company and a non-profit organization. However, the most drastic problems surfaced in late 1994, early 1995. The loss for Timberland was financial, leaving many employees worried about an uncertain future. Timberland was forced to scale back its operation, laying off a number of employees and outsourcing labor. City Year also faced funding problems, as Congress threatened to withdraw federal funding. Community service with City Year became a major source of tension within the company as employees found it difficult to accept diversion of major amounts to City Year while colleagues lost their jobs in the company. The problem now became whether and how to maintain commitment to co mmunity service in the face of financial difficulties. Literature Review Mason (1993), states that customers may not perceive companies as doing enough even when they are providing good quality at competitive prices. There is increasing emphasis on environment and social involvement among businesses as part of strategy (Fellman, 1999). This concern has been at the root of corporate responsibility discussions that took shape in the Sarbanes Oxley Act, requiring transparency in operations and for companies to demonstrate their commitment to the environment and society through positive action. Studies have shown that customers buy from their business not only based on criteria such as price, quality, and availability, but also other socially responsible acts. According to L&G Business Solutions, a 2001 Hill & Knowlton Harris Interactive poll showed that 79% of Americans consider corporate citizenship when deciding whether to buy a particular company's product; 36% of Americans consider corporate citizenship an important factor when making purchasing decision s. Cause related marketing (CRM) is an accepted and key strategy in

Feminist Concern over Military Sex Assault Essay

Feminist Concern over Military Sex Assault - Essay Example Among the reported crimes, major part involves crime forcefully perpetrated on unwilling and helpless victims. Military rape or other sorts of sexual assault challenge the dignity of the military profession as a whole as the issue has become increasingly common among sex crimes reported in the US. Traditionally, war victims are always prone to rape and sexual assault throughout the world. However, today female soldiers working in the US military are also extremely vulnerable to sexual molestations. Admittedly, the growing crime rate in this field has affected the flow of female candidates to the army. What causes the rise in the military sex crime is a topic for comprehensive research. In this context, it is important to discuss the intensity of military rape in the US giving specific focus to feminist theory. According to Pentagon reports, over 19,000 sexual assaults occur in the US military annually among which many of the cases remain unreported or unresolved, because sometimes th e offenders are the high ranked military officers. The most unfortunate factor is that female soldiers are generally assaulted by their own male counterparts or the individuals at the helm of affairs (Whitten). According to the estimates, â€Å"over 26,000 men and women in the military experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2012; and of those cases, only 3,374 were reported and only 302 of the incidents were prosecuted† (Feminist News Wire). Many of the female soldiers who took part in the Iraq war reported that they were raped by their male counterparts; and many researchers maintain that one out of every four women that serve the military are likely to face sexual assault at least one time during their career. Erin Solaro explores the intensity and the actual causes of the issue in detail. According to Solaro, there are over 165,000 American servicewomen who have participated in war as volunteer professionals. Another aspect of the active involvement of women in the field i s that women today constitute ‘15% of the military, 11% of the deployed troops and an unprecedented 2% of the casualties’. The author also points to the fact that no significant war failures, disasters, rapes, discipline breakdowns have been reported due the presence of women in the troops. Solaro argues that wherever bad things have been reported, the problem lies with the fundamental evils of leadership and discipline. Hence, it is in bad units women sufferer when in good units the ‘jerks’ do not dare to cross the line of discipline. The feminist author is sure that the solution to this problem is not to punish women by removing them from the posts but removing or punishing the real perpetrators. To define, the term military rape refers to rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment that occur during military service. The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) collectively terms them as Military Sexual Trauma (MST). At the same time, ‘wartime rapeâ₠¬â„¢ indicates mass wartime rape rather than isolated cases of individual rapes. As per available reports, increases in the frequency of wartime rape might range from an estimated 300% to 400% by the end of the World War II (Gottschall) although the reliability of the data is not beyond question. According to some estimates, more than half a million people have been raped while serving the US army; and nearly 100,000 cases of military rape have been occurred within the past seven years (Koss, 2004). Evidently, women constitute the major victim group in this regard whereas men are also prone to sexual harassment in the army. To illustrate, according to the Department of Defense survey

My impression of Commercial Radio in Asia Essay Example for Free

My impression of Commercial Radio in Asia Essay A very significant impression that commercial radio in Asia makes is the strength of commercial radio in the region through the years, especially in comparison with other multi-media platforms. Before the era of the internet, the tri-media through sociological aspects have directly or indirectly created a balance that made the relationship of the three media platforms evenhanded. There are advantages and disadvantages found in print, television as well as in radio, even when there are times that social factors alter the balance temporarily, like the television ad ban and newspaper ad limitations set in Indonesia before which favored commercial radio, income-wise (Anderson, 1984, p. 180). For radio, as well as for the rest of the other forms of media, they managed to thrive by making the most out of their advantage over the other forms. Radio’s advantage rests on the accessibility and mobility of information through use of radio as well as the presentation of more real-time information compared to television and print. This is one of the particular strengths commercial radios demonstrated in Asia, the reason why many of its patrons remained loyal to radio despite the improvement in television and print and the entry of the internet. Asia is one of the regions that serve as hotbeds of radio even when in many places radio patronage have dwindled because of the change in sociological factors affecting media use and impact. This can be attributed to the fact that most Asian countries are still comprised heavily by rural areas that have not fully embraced modern technology, relying on the more traditional means, particularly the cheap and accessible radio. In these rural areas, print media finds it difficult to thrive because of socio economic and political reasons, and television is mostly reserved in living rooms, for those who are fortunate to have one. Most people in the rural areas of third world or lower class countries in Asia can only manage a radio for their source of information and this advantage is being used to the hilt by commercial radio owners and operators. The demand created by social conditions are favoring commercial radio immensely even today, particularly in Asia, and for its part, commercial radio has not abandoned its responsibility to those who depend on it. Another significant impression made by commercial radio in Asia is the new role that it plays in modern day culture. While there are factors from the past that still affect or characterize commercial radio today like the traces of previous commercial radio cultures like dependency on commercial radio for new songs and top of the charts lists radio listeners from India and other Asian countries (Kasbekar, 2005, p. 134), radio and its role in modern day culture no doubt transformed and metamorphosed, proving that radio is indeed characterized by â€Å"timeliness (Applegate, 2004, p. 120)† as well as timelessness. Before, the design was one-way information channeling, radio anchors and disk jockeys provide information and entertainment which the listeners consume, and the focus, particularly of AM stations, are largely political. â€Å"A vital part of the cold war between Taiwan and China is radio broadcasting (Wood, 1999, p. 163). † Today’s radio (despite the handicap of absence of visuals) manages to incorporate interactivity in its scheme of things. DJs and anchors interact more with listeners and callers, making the relationship more personal. Because of the shift in age demographic, commercial radio is enjoyed by different age brackets and has involved itself more in lifestyle and culture. Besides news and music and radio programs, the content now include sports, gossip, entertainment, lifestyle, and a wide range of other interests, allowing radio to be appreciated in a new light. Commercial radio has also been an important proof of the change in lifestyle, both in rural and urban places in Asia. Political and social changes lead to change in culture and attitude, and how individuals continued supporting commercial radio is proof of this change. â€Å"The number of local youths listening (in Asia) listening to the radio primarily because it is a foreign-language station is testament to its attraction in this regard (Shoesmith, Rossiter, 2004, p. 57). † This shows that the strength of commercial radio and its success rests largely on its ability to adapt to new environment and culture. Bibliography Anderson, M. H. (1984) Madison Avenue in Asia: Politics and Transnational Advertising. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. Applegate, E. (2004) Strategic Copywriting: How to Create Effective Advertising. Rowman Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Kasbekar, A. (2005) Pop Culture India! : Media, Arts and Lifestyle. ABC-CLIO, Incorporated. Shoesmith, B. , Ned R. (2004) Refashioning Pop Music in Asia: Cosmopolitan Flows, Political Tempos, and Aesthetic Industries. Taylor Francis, Inc. Wood, J. (1999) History of International Broadcasting, Vol. 2. Institution of Engineering Technology.

A Tale Of Two Cities LA :: essays research papers fc

A Tale of Two Cities This paper is a literary analysis over the book A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens. It contains information about the author, plot, and characters in the story. Devices and styles used to complete the book are also in this paper. On February 7, 1812 in Portsea, Charles Dickens began his life. His father, John Dickens, spent little time with Charles. The family lived in poverty and John was in prison much of the time. When Charles was two, the family moved to London. At age twelve, Charles worked in a factory pasting labels on bottles of shoe polish. He only worked there for a few months, but it was a miserable experience that would remain with him his whole life. Dickens attended school until he was fifteen. He always enjoyed reading, and especially adventure stories, fairy tales, and novels. Authors like William Shakespeare, Tobias Smollet, and Henry Fielding greatly influenced his work. However, most of the knowledge he used as an author came from his environment around him. In the late 1820s, Dickens became a newspaper writer and reporter. Dickens= first book, Sketches by Boz, written in 1836, consisted of articles he wrote for the London Chronicles. After he married Catherine Hogarth in 1836, his first work printed in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. This was the beginning of his career.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Dickens was twenty-four, he became famous for the rest of his life. His first fame came with The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club with Dickens= adventure stories. Other works followed such as, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, and Our Mutual Friend. In 1837, Catherine=s sister Mary, died. Dickens suffered much grief. This led some scholars to believe that Dickens loved Mary more than Catherine. Dickens and Catherine had ten children in all. In 1958 the couple separated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Through his life, Dickens was an actor, a conjurer, a poet, a lecturer, and an editor. Dickens had a remarkable mental and physical energy. This led to involvement in many organizations until 1865 when Dickens health started to decline. In 1870 Dickens died of a stroke. The world remembers him as one of the best authors in history. In two basic locations the story takes place. The main action is in England and France during the French revolution. The action begins in 1775 at Tellson=s bank in England, then it moves to France in a wine shop where the rebels have headquarters.

Reaction Paper to Common Schools Essay

When I first started watching this video, I thought that it was just going to be another boring homework assignment like in all my other classes. To my surprise, the video actually wasn’t boring at all. I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it to anyone to watch. I enjoy informative videos and documentaries. What stands out in my mind about the video is how God was actually brought up and taught in the schools back then. The children were given the book The Primer and the hornbook which had a prayer in it. It’s crazy how much has changed since that time. Now in many schools when the Pledge of Allegiance is said, people will leave out â€Å"under God† because nobody wants to offend anybody who doesn’t believe in God. Even now when I look back at my elementary days, times have changed quite a bit. I remember when my teachers would have the class pray before we would go to eat lunch. As I child, I never thought that it was a bad thing to do. If anything, it would make children feel a little more appreciative of what they have instead of what they do not have. There was also times around Christmas and Easter when we would do projects that would involve God but nobody would ever make a big deal about it. Recently I have gone back and observed in a few classrooms in my hometown and it is totally different. Teachers don’t mention religion at all. Children don’t even say the Pledge of Allegiance and if children have a conversation about religion amongst themselves, the teacher has them stop talking about it. As a child that had religion in school, I feel grateful I was able to have that. Some children don’t have parents that take them to church or have anything to do with it and that little bit of prayer in school was the only thing they had. That gives children a sense of comfort that there is a higher power that is on their side. As a future educator, I feel like I know the boundaries as to where to draw the line with religion and school. I know not to be pushy or make any students feel uncomfortable about religion when they don’t believe the same way as someone else.

Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence Essay

The book ‘Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence’ that is written by Doris Pilkington is about three aboriginal half-cast girls that run away from The Moore River Native Settlement. At the settlement aboriginal half-cast children are kept and tried to be changed into white people so they can be respected in the community. The book is set in Western Australia in the early 1900’s. ‘This free-Spirited girl knew that she and her sisters must escape from this place,’ is true, she shows her persistence, determination and is toughness. A half-cast child was an aboriginal with an aboriginal mother but a white father. The persistence Molly shows during the book is incredible for a fourteen year old to have to acts as the mother to the other two girls Gracie and Daisy. The girls were taken from there family’s at a camp in Jigalong. They were then taken to Moore river were there was a camp for half-cast children like themselves to be trained into servants and to be turned white. Molly knowing what will happen to them if they stayed at the camp. â€Å"Pack up your things we’re leaving now â€Å"said Molly when she was trying to rush them out the door so they could leave in a hurry so they could get a big head start on the government officials. Molly shows lots of persistence during the book which could show why they were able to evade capture and return home to Jigalong. The determination of the young Molly was repeated as she did the same trip again but this time with her newborn baby. Molly was always trying to look for the bright side on the way home. ‘My legs hurt’ said Daisy when they were walking in the bush so Molly decided to carry her sister and Gracie at different times even though her legs were hurting to. The determination of Molly was evident in how she was able to get the girls on the move, as most of the time they were running away. The saying you’re as tough as nails could easily be describing Molly. The book shows that Molly has lots of characteristics but determination is one of the important ones. The toughness of a fourteen year old girl could be said to be non-existent as todays girls have a luxury life, where any toughness is not needed. Molly on the other hard is as tough as a rock and journey she accomplished with two smaller children who could be very hard to deal with, to make the story better she was sent back to the camp after she had an operation and escaped back to her family after using the same route she took nine years early. Molly shows her toughness though the book in helping these two girls get home with her but she had the strength to do it again with her very young newborn baby, but she had to make a tough sacrifice in her decision to come home as she had to leave her oldest daughter Doris there at the camp, this â€Å"was one of the hardest decision of my life† said Molly while being interviewed for the movie. The toughness of Molly is evident throughout the book showing one of the qualities that not everyone has. The book ‘Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence’ is written by Doris Pilkington is about three aboriginal half-cast girls running away from The Moore River Native Settlement where aboriginal half-caste children kept. The book highlights the journey the girls took back to their home in Jigalong in Western Australia. The main character was Molly who was the oldest out of all three girls. . ‘This free-Spirited girl knew that she and her sisters must escape from this place,’ is true, she shows her Persistence, determination and is toughness. This book shows a true and inspiring story of children that wanted to go home.

Business environment Essays

Business environment Essays Business environment Essay Business environment Essay Agility is the ability to thrive and prosper in an environment of constant and unpredictable change. The term agile manufacturing was coined by a US government sponsored research programme at Lehigh University and, Latterly, MIT. It is an enterprise-wide strategy in which the customer is the first priority, change is an opportunity to do things better, and delivering value is paramount. It seeks to cope with demand volatility by allowing changes to be made in an economically viable and timely manner. As the transition into the twenty-first century occurs there are radical changes taking place that are reshaping the industrial landscape of western economies. Customers want to be treated individually. The marketplace has become truly global and requires low volume, high quality, custom specific products. These products have both very short life cycles and development production lead times. Everything is changing very fast and unpredictably. The swift trend towards a multiplicity of finished products has lead many companies into problems with inventories, overheads, and efficiencies. Mass production does not apply to products where the customers require small quantities of highly customised, design-to-order products, and where additional services and value-added benefits like product upgrades and future reconfigurations are as important as the product itself. This leads to a people intensive, relationship driven operation. Perfect quality and very high levels of service are expected and required. Agility relates to the interface between the company and the market. Essentially it is a set of abilities for meeting widely varied customer requirements in terms of price, specification, quality, quantity and delivery. Agility has been expressed as having four underlying principles: delivering value to the customer; being ready for change; valuing human knowledge and skills; forming virtual partnerships. The company must remove the obstacles that prevent it from manufacturing with high velocity the set-ups, the excessive material handling, the poor physical flow, and all production interruptions. And the company must streamline the physical flow, integrate the processes and close the distances between supply, production, assembly, distribution, and the end customer. The emphasis must be on quickly satisfying the service chain of events from the time a customer delivers a request until he is satisfied. Although the word manufacturing is used with this concept, the principles of agility can equally apply to other functions of a business and to service industries. The agilitys success has attracted more than 150 Fortune-500 companies. Lean, flexible and agile in supply chain A supply chain is the process of moving goods from the customer order through the raw materials stage, supply, production, and distribution of products to the customer. Market demands, customer service, transport considerations, and pricing constraints all must be understood in order to structure the supply chain effectively Managing the supply chain for competitive advantage is not just to reduce costs. All physical and logical events within the supply chain must be enacted swiftly, accurately, and effectively. Leanness, flexibility and agility have to be utilised proactively at suppliers and their suppliers. These inter-company collaborations created can help to achieve desired economic outcomes that the individual firms can not achieve separately. Such networks allow firms to combine resources to gain economies of scale, acquire technologies and resources, gain knowledge, and enter markets beyond their individual capability. They also can help to achieve continuing gains in efficiency, labour productivity, and reduction of cycle time and inventory. Comparison of lean, flexible and agile Lean production allegedly combines the benefits of craft and mass production, without their disadvantages. It delivers quality and variety without the cost penalty of craft production and the large cost advantage of mass production. Flexibility is a feature of the companys production system. It is the inherent ability to adjust or modify its resource deployment according to new or changing demands in the market. Agility is the ability to thrive and prosper in an environment of constant and unpredictable change. Lean manufacturing is being very good at doing the things you can control. Agile manufacturing deals with the things we can NOT control. Agility is built upon the firm foundation of world class or lean manufacturing methods, coupled with an organisation that is physically, technologically, and managerial established for rapid and unpredictable change. Among the four underlying principles of agility: Delivering value to the customer, being ready for change, valuing human knowledge and skills, forming virtual partnerships, the first three can be found within the operating philosophies of companies generally thought to be lean as described in The Machine that Changed the World. To summarize this comparison, agility, flexibility and leanness are not alternatives, but are mutually supporting concepts. Together they improve competitiveness and the prospects of survival in an increasingly volatile and global business environment.

Treaty of Paris 1783 and the American Revolution

Treaty of Paris 1783 and the American Revolution Following the British defeat at the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781, leaders in Parliament decided that offensive campaigns in North America should cease in favor of a different, more limited approach. This was spurred by the widening of the war to include France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic. Through the fall and following winter, British colonies in the Caribbean fell to enemy forces as did Minorca. With anti-war forces growing in power, Lord Norths government fell in late March 1782 and was replaced by one led by Lord Rockingham. Learning that Norths government had fallen, Benjamin Franklin, the American ambassador in Paris, wrote to Rockingham expressing a desire to begin peace negotiations. Understanding that making peace was a necessity, Rockingham elected to embrace the opportunity. While this pleased Franklin, and his fellow negotiators John Adams, Henry Laurens, and John Jay, they made it clear that the terms of the United States alliance with France prevented them from making peace without French approval. In moving forward, the British decided that they would not accept American independence as a precondition for beginning talks. Political Intrigue This reluctance was due to their knowledge that France was experiencing financial difficulties and a hope that military fortunes could be reversed. To begin the process, Richard Oswald was sent to meet with the Americans while Thomas Grenville was dispatched to begin talks with the French. With negotiations proceeding slowly, Rockingham died in July 1782 and Lord Shelburne became the head of the British government. Though British military operations began to have success, the French stalled for time as they were working with Spain to capture Gibraltar. In addition, the French sent a secret envoy to London as there were several issues, including fishing rights on the Grand Banks, on which they disagreed with their American allies. The French and Spanish were also concerned about American insistence on the Mississippi River as a western border. In September, Jay learned of the secret French mission and wrote to Shelburne detailing why he should not be influenced by the French and Spanish. In this same period, Franco-Spanish operations against Gibraltar were failing to leave the French to begin debating ways for exiting the conflict. Advancing to Peace Leaving their allies to bicker amongst themselves, the Americans became aware of a letter sent during the summer to George Washington in which Shelburne conceded the point of independence. Armed with this knowledge, they re-entered talks with Oswald. With the issue of independence settled, they began hammering out the details which included border issues and discussion of reparations. On the former point, the Americans were able to get the British to agree to the borders established after the French Indian War rather than those set by the Quebec Act of 1774. By the end of November, the two sides produced a preliminary treaty based on the following points: Great Britain recognized the Thirteen Colonies to be free, sovereign and independent states.The borders of the United States would be those of 1763 extending west to the Mississippi.The United States would receive fishing rights on the Grand Banks and Gulf of St. Lawrence.All contracted debts were to be paid to creditors on each side.The Congress of the Confederation would recommend that each state legislature provide restitution for property taken from Loyalists.The United States would prevent property from being taken from Loyalists in the future.All prisoners of war were to be released.Both the United States and Great Britain were to have perpetual access to the Mississippi.Territory captured by the United States subsequent to the treaty was to be returned.Ratification of the treaty was to occur within six months of signing. With the British relief of Gibraltar in October, the French ceased to have any interest in aiding the Spanish. As a result, they were willing to accept a sepa rate Anglo-American peace. Reviewing the treaty, they grudgingly accepted it on November 30. Signing Ratification With the French approval, the Americans and Oswald signed a preliminary treaty on November 30. The terms of the treaty provoked a political firestorm in Britain where the concession of territory, abandonment of the Loyalists, and granting of fishing rights proved particularly unpopular. This backlash forced Shelburne to resign and a new government was formed under the Duke of Portland. Replacing Oswald with David Hartley, Portland hoped to modify the treaty. This was blocked by the Americans who insisted on no changes. As a result, Hartley and the American delegation signed the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. Brought before the Congress of the Confederation at Annapolis, MD, the treaty was ratified on January 14, 1784. Parliament ratified the treaty on April 9 and ratified copies of the document were exchanged the following month in Paris. Also on September 3, Britain signed separate treaties ending their conflicts with France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic. These largely saw the European nations exchange colonial possessions with Britain regaining the Bahamas, Grenada, and Montserrat while ceding the Floridas to Spain. Frances gains included Senegal as well as having fishing rights guaranteed on the Grand Banks. Selected Sources University of Oklahoma: Treaty of Paris (1783) TextUS State Department: Treaty of Paris (1783)Patriot Resource: Treaty of Paris (1783)

Sufism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Sufism - Essay Example Sufism shows the influence of other major religions such as Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism (Isfahan Web site). While the underlying precept of Sufism is renunciation of the worldly life and a repudiation of conflict and strife, history shows that Sufism often transcended its’ spiritual mandate to function as a political or even a military power. The emphasis of Sufism is on Unity with God: Tawhid, through an allegorical interpretation of the Qur’an. The orthodox conformity to the religious laws of the Shari’ah is but an external guide to repudiate the worldly life. The crucial step is the achievement of an inner, personal experience of the Divine, in which the self becomes one with God. This can be achieved by tariqa, or mediation, and dhikr, or remembrance of God. Sufism encourages self-denial and ascetism and centers round the love of God: mahabbah, through the subjugation of the ego, or nafs (Univ. of Calgary Web site). Sufism includes many orders or mystical brotherhoods: Tariqas, organized on a structure developed by Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), who is credited with bringing Sufism firmly within the ambit of orthodox Islam theology, making it a more popular, inclusive movement. Each order is headed by a spiritual leader, or Shaykh, and follows a distinctive path. The disciples, faqirs or mudirs, live communally. Their mystical practices include chanting of divine phrases, breath control, communal chanting and ecstatic dancing (the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey). The main Sufi brotherhoods are the Qadiriya, Chistiya, Shadhilya, Naqshbandiya, Ni’matallahiya and Meleviye, although many others, each with its’ own emphasis regarding practice and observances, are found in various parts of the world (Godlas, Sufism). In what may be viewed as a contradiction in terms, Sufism has been associated with movements of political and historical significance over the ages. The Safavid Empire in Persia, one

Crimes Against Humanity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Crimes Against Humanity - Essay Example at this term first appeared in the preamble of the 1907 Hague Convention, the meaning of this term have evolved to take on a much broader meaning to include â€Å"anything atrocious committed on a large scale.†(Cherif Bassiouni (1998). Killing is morally evil and wars bring so many deaths that even though â€Å"decisions relating to war are not made in a moral vacuum† (Coates 1997) one can never claim that the death of innocent people are but the collateral damages of war. The term â€Å"crimes against humanity† has become so broad that it encompasses just all other types of violence against certain groups of people, sector or race in the past years. To help us understand the term â€Å"crimes against humanity better† let us look into some specific events in the history of humankind where war has created such atrocities that dehumanize a person. It is interesting to note at this point that when we say crimes against humanities, we do not only mean deaths of thousands of people but also those events that reduce a person into a mean object of hate or experimentation. There have been many events in the past involving great loss of human lives, but throughout the recorded history of mankind nothing could ever surpass the holocaust when it comes to violations of the human dignity. In the generic sense of the word, a holocaust is any event where there is great loss of human life as is near total destruction by fire (American Heritage Encyclopedia 2005). However, the meaning of this word somewhat changed with the event that led to the death of some 11 million people. The holocaust is one of the best examples of â€Å"crimes against humanity†. Between 1933-1945, around 6 million Jews and 5 million non-Jewish people were systematically killed when the Nazi movement and its supporter ruled the most part of Europe1. Although most of Hitler’s target was the Jews, there are also other people who suffered and died on the process under the brutality of the military, the

Why Americans should vote Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why Americans should vote - Essay Example Almost all the Americans had reservations about how the war on terrorism, hurricane Katrina and a myriad of other issues were handled during the Bush administration. But not many bothered to make their voices heard. Although it is interesting that this was the highest turnout of public for elections in the last 4 elections (File & Crissey, 2010). Americans fought long and hard for the right to vote. Later on American women, African- Americans and other minorities also struggled to give a voice to their opinions. Now though many Americans do not use this voice to change America for the better and instead choose to complain how wrong everything is. It is important to vote because our ancestors believed that Americans are intelligent enough to choose their own leaders and because they wanted to make sure that their coming generations had all the liberties and opportunities that only a democracy could grant. It is important that this right is not taken for granted (Isler 2001). The biggest argument in favor of elections is that those who do not participate in elections have no right to complain about its outcome. A person may be passionate about the issue of abortion and teenage pregnancies; another may feel strongly about a teacher’s pay scale in America. These people have to find a candidate that is standing to uphold views that they feel strongly about and vote for them. Elected officials make important decisions about the American society. Therefore, it is essential that they have the support from a majority of that very authority in order to successfully implement these decisions (Frantzich n.d.) Americans should vote because their vote is an essential investment in the better future of the American society. It must be understood that the policy makers of America are selected through elections only. So in order to influence the American

Terminologies in the ICN architecture

Terminologies in the ICN architecture The research on the Information-centric Networking initiated with the need to replace the current inefficient architecture to a promising model that could satisfy future network necessities [1]. The several projects on this research are differentiated in the operations of the key building blocks common to most projects [4]. Named Data Objects (NDOs)   Ã‚   Every content on the internet ranging from a web page, documents to media files is referred to as objects (NDOs) which are independent of location, storing and retrieval methods [4]. NDO and its name is the identity of the information on the internet which can be copied, requested and supplied. NDOs can also hold representative data about the information held by the object [4]. Naming Every NDO in ICN is to be assigned a unique name, and should also associate an integrity check with the information it holds to ensure reliability [4]. They are always location-independent and range from structured to flat and may be human interpretable or not [1].There are two different naming schemes hierarchical and flat namespaces. The hierarchical scheme has a structure to the name rooting to publisher prefix which may also be human-readable in some cases, enabling aggregation and scalability in routing mechanisms [4]. The flat namespaces use the hash of the content with the objects name for direct binding and embed public key and hash of the content for indirect binding [4]. The publisher field in flat names facilitates some level of route aggregation even if it is a non-hierarchical scheme [4]. The difference in the design trade-off affects routing and security mechanism [4]. Security This feature is correlated to the naming scheme adopted by the approach. Human-readable names require external trust agent for verification, while flat names support self-certification and validation [1]. Hierarchical naming is considered disadvantageous as it relies on public key infrastructure (PKI) [4]. Application Programming Interface (API) The ICN API is related to the operation of asking and getting the NDOs. There are different terms denoted for the operation that varies which will be discussed during respective approach. The source provides NDOs by publishing it to the network. The user requests the network to get the NDOs by subscribing to it. As per approach, the publish/subscribe operation may be synchronous or asynchronous, while some support location preferences [4]. Name Resolution, Routing, and Forwarding of the Content The name of NDOs is resolved by matching the information name to the source provider [1]. Resolution may be direct or indirect routes to the source/s. The operation is carried out by Name Resolution Service (NRS) in the routing infrastructure which stores pointers to the storage locations containing the object names [4]. The routing and forwarding of the objects are carried out in multiple steps which involve routing the request to the direct source or to the responsible NRS, translation of object name to source/s addresses if indirect, forwarding the request to the source and fulfilling the requested data back to the client [4]. The content routing may be coupled or de-coupled to the name resolution process. Coupled routing backtraces the request message path from the client and follows the same for delivering content. De-coupled routing uses different routes which can be generated by an independent routing module that provides a deliverable route to the source [1]. Caching Caching is application-independent and may be done at every node in the ICN infrastructure [4]. ICN supports on-path caching and off-path caching. On-path caching is caching the information along the path of NDO request message while Off-path caching is exploiting the information cached outside that path [1]. Off-path caching can be supported in both coupled and de-coupled routing mechanisms by routing systems or NRS respectively [1]. Mobility ICN facilitates content request process from user end as the request can be re-initiated after the handoff while providing mobility to the source is difficult in both coupled and de-coupled approach as it burdens the system with additional updates [1]. By caching and replicating content at multiples nodes closer to the mobile subscriber, the ICN infrastructure saves costs and time by bypassing possible congestion [2].

Live or Die Essay -- essays research papers

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears very briefly. However, he provides the basis for the development and eventual downfall of Hamlet’s character. The play begins with a dismal Hamlet mourning his father’s death Recognizing this gloom, Queen Gertrude urges Hamlet to â€Å"cast thy nighted color off, and let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark† (I, ii, 68-69). Soon after, the ghost appears, insisting, â€Å"If thou didst ever thy father love, revenge his foul and most unnatural murder† (I, v, 24-25). As Hamlet decides to scourge the past and present evils in Denmark, the ghost unleashes death and malice onto the stage. The first and most obvious change which the ghost instills into Hamlet is a vengeful spirit. Not only must Hamlet destroy Claudius, but he must also stop Fortinbras from invading Denmark. Although less obvious, the second task can be inferred from the fact that the ghost appears wearing â€Å"the very armor he had on when he the ambitious Norway combated† (I, i, 60-61). Hamlet spends the entire play trying to carry out these orders, eventually causing the downfall of his spirit. Partly because he feels reserve and guilt for his task, Hamlet delays taking action throughout the play. However, this paradoxical delay only makes Hamlet feel more guilty. He questions his self-worth and even considers suicide, pondering, â€Å"To die -- to sleep -- no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is he...

British Airway’s Essay

A research report with a word limit of 1,500 on British Airway’s (BA) change program that resulted in long-running industrial disputes between its management and crew members in 2009-2011. The contextual information about the BA’s introduction of strategic changes – why BA produced this change, explain market (rising fuel costs etc.) British Airways is the UK’s largest airline. Since becoming privatized in 1987, BA has continued to grow despite increased competition (Connell & Williamson, 2011). The UK’s economic climate had a large influence to why the British Airways’ industrial occurred. In 2011, UK inflation was 4% on the previous year, compared to an average pay rise of 2.3% for the same period. This means that the cost of living was increasing at a much more rapid rate than people’s income. As a result, workers like BA’s cabin crew put pressure on employers to raise pay. Additionally, lower disposable income means fewer than usual are withdrawing money for one-off purchases such as foreign holidays – â€Å"A lot of people are not touching their savings because they do not know what is round the corner† (Giles, Groom & Bounds, 2011). Therefore demand for international flights is lower. Fuel accounts for 25% of British Airway’s total costs, therefore any fluctuations in the price of natural resources will have a huge impact on this industry. In 2011, after oil prices surged to $110 a barrel, BA informed passengers that they face rising fares (Groom, 2011). IAG’s (BA’s parent company) fuel costs were predicted to rise by â‚ ¬1.2bn to â‚ ¬5.1bn ( £4.36bn) in 2011 (Groom, 2011). However increasing fares would have reduce the airline’s competitiveness. Alternatively the company could remain profitable by reducing wage costs instead of passing the increases onto the customer. The airline industry has also been affected by social trends. Insurance costs have risen because of fear of terrorism and tighter security checks at airports (Barrows & Neely, 2011). Technological advances have reduced demand for business flights, with companies using alternative communication systems such as teleconferencing in order to cut costs (Shaw, 2011). As a result of these macroeconomic factors, BA felt that they needed to adopt an internal cost-cutting strategy to remain profitable. The dispute developed into a row over travel concessions removed from Unite members who went on strike, as well as suspensions and dismissals (Groom, 2011). The current environment of high unemployment increased BA’s bargaining power as an employer (Conrady & Buck, 2012, 11). The union was powerless to stop the original cause of the dispute as BA removed at least one crew member from most long-haul flights, saving  £63m a year (Groom, 2011). It has also hired 700 new crew members in its so called â€Å"mixed fleet† on certain routes, earning  £17,000 a year on average compared with  £29,000 for existing Heathrow cabin crew (Groom, 2011). This programme should yield  £160m annual savings within a decade. According to Deutsche Bank, following the cuts, BA has the lowest employee costs of the major European network airlines at 22.9 per cent of sales in 2010 compared with 26.8 per cent in 2006 (Groom, 2011). Evaluation on the nature of such changes – was it gradual, radical, top management, grass roots up scale, depth time scale. Apply the kaleidoscope model. On October 6, 2009 the airline announced plans to cut 1,700 cabin crew jobs and freeze pay. Union officials accused the company of †holding a gun† to the heads of staff and warned that they were prepared to fight the proposals. It wasn’t until May 1, 2011 that the dispute was on the verge of being resolved following a breakthrough in crucial talks aimed at ending the long-running row (Telegraph, 2011, May 12). The dispute lasted more than 18 months and led to 22 days of strikes costing BA  £150m. Therefore this proved to be a costly process, and had it been resolved sooner, BA would have saved a lot of money and the brand wouldn’t have received as much negative publicity. However, analysts said the airline’s savings on staff costs would far outweigh the losses from the strike and the outcome should reduce the likelihood of future stoppages (Groom, 2011). The ‘unfreezing’ phase (Lewin’s model) of this change was a gradual, drawn-out process. Time: As this was not a company in crisis there wasn’t a need to implement change reactively, British Airways had time to achieve their long-term strategy. Scope: British Airways did not require a transformation of the organisation as a whole. A realignment of the cabin crew’s operations and wage structure was the desired scope for this change. However, due to the industrial action taken by Unite the change had an impact organisation-wide. Preservation: It is important that BA preserves what makes British Airways, British Airways. This means they need to retain their brand identity, because this is one of their biggest selling points. It is also important to not destroy the business’ heritage and culture. Job security for the remaining cabin crew will be at an all-time low. Key members of staff need to be reassured of their position so that BA doesn’t lose these assets to competitors. Diversity: The change should not affect diversity between divisions. This means that the culture should remain consistent throughout BA, from pilots, to cabin crew, to administration staff. Capability: The individual within the cabin crew will need to be capable of adapting to the new operational requirements and be able to accept the change in pay structure. It is a managerial responsibility to help staff through this transition phase. The new BA chief executive, Keith Williams was praised for being â€Å"strong, brave and courageous† in reaching the agreement. These are the sort of capabilities required by the managerial team. Capacity: With the savings made in the long-term, BA will be able to invest in training for staff so quality of customer service will improve. The managers have shown devotion to this process by holding out for 18 months to ensure change was implemented. There must also be a number of people in the organisation with an adequate change capability. Readiness: The workforce was not aware of the need for change until it was announced that there would be 1,700 job cuts. As a result cabin crew members refused to commit to making the personal changes required of them. Power: The British Airway’s managerial team were the change agents containing the most power. As a trade union, Unite also contained considerable power, and this caused opposition for the implementation of change. The change management strategy, if any, as outlined by the BA management – have they addressed employee emotions or all focused on change process? The focus was placed mainly on the change process rather than employee emotions. The strategy appears to have been to implement the change at all costs. Throughout the 18 month negotiation process BA refused to give into the union demands. Despite 22 days of strikes BA continued to refuse the people what they wanted. They were accused of â€Å"management bullying, press slanders, and legal gerrymandering†. A big factor in the two parties coming to an agreement was BA agreeing to reinstate staff travel concessions, as stated by the Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey – â€Å"I am particularly pleased that travel concessions will be restored† (Scott, 2011, May 12). However, this was used as a bargaining tool rather than as an empathetic gesture. Having said this, there were a few minor interpersonal strategies. The personnel change of BA’s chief executive from â€Å"protagonist† Willie Walsh, to former finance director Keith Williams, contributed to the breakthrough. Union leaders described Keith Williams as a ‘genuine and honest man’, saying to cabin crew, ‘he values you’ (Smith, 2011, May 12). This is evidence of showing personal compassion in order to reduce resistance. However, many workers were unhappy with the praise he received. So if anything this strategy is likely to have hindered progressive rather than help it. BA also appointed an independent facilitator in the form of psychologist, Mark Hamlin to deal with the â€Å"fragility of trust† and act as a â€Å"long-term relationship builder† (Milmo, 2011, April 10). Long-term the ‘hard ball’ strategy employed by BA has left them with integrity and respect. This will help the company move forward and rebuild relationships. Good relations prevent industrial action and hence operational interruptions (British Airways, 2010). The challenges and difficulties in implementing such changes – as experienced by BA. Resistance/Acceptance. 93% of cabin crew voted for strike action originally. Through collective action and collective resistance they forced BA to change the terms. The resistance received enthusiastic support from wide sections of the working class in Britain in form of donations from union branches and solidarity on their picket lines (Counterfire, 2011, June 24).

Online Marketplace

WHAT IS ONLINE MARKETPLACE? The online payment marketplace is experiencing an explosion of innovative ideas, plans, and announcements, which one commentator has likened to a â€Å"goat rodeo†, a chaotic situation in which powerful players with different agendas compete with one another for public acceptance, and above all, huge potential revenues. Others liken the payment marketplace to a battle among the four platform titans Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon.Each of these titans have their own versions of a future payment system that challenges the other players. And let’s not forget PayPal, the reigning power in alternative online payment, or the credit card companies who process over 70% of online payments, or the telecommunication wireless carriers Verizon and AT&T who make it all happen. All of these players are also competing for a share of the online payment stream. They all want to help us spend money, for a fee.The continuing double-digit growth of e-commerce is certainly one factor driving market participants, but a more important factors is the emergence of the mobile platform of smartphone and tablets that opens the door for new firms to enter the online payment marketplace based on newer technologies and control of the mobile platform itself. WHAT IS PayPal ? PayPal is a global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders.PayPal is an acquirer, performing payment processing for online vendors, auction sites, and other commercial users, for which it charges a fee. It may also charge a fee for receiving money, proportional to the amount received. The fees depend on the currency used, the payment option used, the country of the sender, the country of the recipient, the amount sent and the recipient's account type. In addition, eBay purchases made by credit card t hrough PayPal may incur extra fees if the buyer and seller use different currencies HOW TO BUY The easiest way to remember your credit card number is not having to.Remembering 16 digits isn’t easy and typing them in to pay for something isn’t always secure. Now you don’t need to do either. 1 Sign up for free, and add a bank account or a debit/credit card. 2 Speed through checkout at millions of online stores. Just look for the PayPal button. 3 Stay protected from checkout to delivery with our Buyer Protection. Figure 1. 1 show Ebay the example of website use PayPal. Figure 1. 2 show Hop-shop-go example for PayPal. PAYMENT METHODS Choose how you want to pay. Set up your payment methods quickly and easily. 1 Confirm your email address.This helps protect you if someone tries to register a PayPal account using your email address 2 You can add multiple credit/debit cards and have the flexibility to set one as your default payment source 3 You have the option to withd raw any payments received to your bank account. Simply add a bank account to facilitate it. Add a card You can add a credit or debit card to your PayPal account to make payments instantly. To add a card, 1. Log in and click  Profile. 2. Select  Add or Edit Card for payments. 3. Click  Add card  or  Add another card  and follow the prompts.Top-up my PayPal account You can use PayPal to make payments online card-free. Simply top-up your PayPal balance from your bank account. * 1. Log in and click  Top-up. 2. Select Top-up via RHB bank* account. Withdraw funds to a bank account When you receive payments, you can keep the money in your PayPal account for future purchases or add a bank to withdraw it to your bank account. To withdraw your funds, 1. Log in and click  Withdraw. 2. Select  Withdraw funds to your bank. 3. Enter the amount and follow the prompts. TYPES ONLINE PAYMENT Google Checkout ) Wallet One wallet for online and in-store shopping * Buy online with your phone or computer Make purchases at thousands of online shops by signing in to your Google Account. * Buy in-store with the mobile app Tap your phone to pay and redeem offers, using NFC (near-field communication). NFC payments are currently only available in the United States. * Manage your account Sign in to manage your payment information and view your transaction history. 2) Checkout Increase online sales using Google Wallet New! Google Checkout is now Google Wallet for buyers.Google Wallet is a fast, secure checkout process that helps increase sales by bringing you more customers and allowing them to buy from you quickly and easily with a single account, online or in-store. Sell worldwide. Attract buyers in over 140 countries to purchase your goods and services online using their Google Wallet. Convert more sales. A fast, convenient checkout process helps Google users convert more than shoppers who have not used Google before. Protect yourself from fraud. The Payment Guarantee P olicy protects 98% of orders on average – when an order is guaranteed, you get paid even if it results in a chargebackAMAZON Figure 1. 3 show Amazon website Amazon Services works with businesses of all sizes to provide products and solutions backed by the power of Amazon. For example, your business can reach millions of Amazon shoppers by selling on the Amazon Marketplace and then leverage Amazon's fulfillment services to manage shipping and provide trusted customer service. Or, if your business already has a website, you can advertise your products to Amazon. com shoppers to drive qualified traffic to your website, and then improve conversion by making it easy for them to buy on your site with their Amazon account through Amazon Payments.If you need a website, or would like to upgrade your current website, Amazon Webstore makes it easy to build a branded eCommerce website. Whether you'd like to Sell on Amazon. com or make your own website more successful, Amazon Services has solutions to help you build your business successfully online. Increase your business capabilities. Get on board with Amazon. If taking your business to the next level includes selling online, or improving your internet-based business, getting to know Amazon Services could make all the difference in your success.Imagine having Amazon, with its world-class technologies, as an ally in meeting your business goals. Think how much simpler things could be if you could leverage the power of Amazon tools and services for your business. Reach Customers Amazon Services offers two solutions that give you access to tens of millions of Amazon customers. You can sell your products directly on Amazon, or reach Amazon customers through our site display advertisements. Sell on the Amazon Marketplace By joining  Amazon Marketplace, you give customers a familiar, trustworthy shopping experience even as you avoid the time and costs of developing a standalone website.Use the Amazon Marketplace soluti on to help make your business what you dream it could be. Advertise on Amazon Get your products in front of millions of Amazon customers with  Amazon Product Ads  or display ads fromAmazon Media Group. With Product Ads, you get placement in targeted locations across our detail pages, search and browse options, the buy box, and tower ads. With display ads, your marketing messages can reach just the right audience in the numbers and channels where you want to be seen. Build a website with Webstore Build your eCommerce site on Amazon Webstore and put the security and scalability of Amazon's cloud behind your site.Robust site design and inventory management tools, plus easy integration with the other Amazon Services products, make Amazon Webstore the right eCommerce platform for businesses of all sizes. List your products on the Amazon Marketplace When you list and sell your products on Amazon, you can quickly take advantage of the same robust and reliable Amazon site infrastructure , including the many seller features and functionality we have worked hard to build. No matter how many products you list, you're eligible to use Amazon's world-class seller technologies. CASE STUDY QUESTIONS ) What is the value proposition that PayPal offers consumers ? How about merchants ? Do any of the competing proposals match the benefits of PayPal ? ANSWER a. PayPal offers consumers How to buy The easiest way to remember your credit card number is not having to. Remembering 16 digits isn’t easy and typing them in to pay for something isn’t always secure. Now you don’t need to do either. * Sign up for free, and add a bank account or a debit/credit card. * Speed through checkout at millions of online stores. Just look for the PayPal button. * Stay protected from checkout to delivery with our Buyer Protection.Buying is free It's free to use PayPal for online purchases in Malaysia. It's the PayPal sellers who are charged a small fee for each transaction. Your eligible purchases are protected Your eligible purchases are protected wherever you shop and pay with PayPal – at no cost to you. Just in case your item didn't arrive or is significantly different from how it was described, we can help you get a full refund. More ways to pay online You can store your bank details and credit/debit cards more safely with PayPal and choose your preferred way to pay the next time you shop.And you can even do it on your mobile. Accepted Worldwide Shop anytime, anywhere from millions of online stores that accept PayPal. b. PayPal offers merchants Solutions for business We have a wide range of solutions for your business. Sell globally and get paid quickly. Looking to sell occasionally on eBay or through your blog? PayPal helps you get paid faster. Fees at 3. 4% + RM2. 00 MYR With our simple and transparent pricing, you'll never be surprised by hidden fees when you receive commercial domestic payments for goods and services at 3. 4% + RM2. 00 MYR. Keeping every seller saferOur industry-leading anti-fraud technology and a team of specialists help to keep you more secure. We provide all sellers with a convenient process for responding to buyer disputes. c. PayPal Competitor Google Checkout is quite similar to PayPal, but it has grown to only 7% of the alternative payment market. Google Checkout a) Wallet * One wallet for online and in-store shopping * Buy online with your phone or computer Make purchases at thousands of online shops by signing in to your Google Account. * Buy in-store with the mobile app Tap your phone to pay and redeem offers, using NFC (near-field communication).NFC payments are currently only available in the United States. * Manage your account Sign in to manage your payment information and view your transaction history. b) Checkout * Increase online sales using Google Wallet * New! Google Checkout is now Google Wallet for buyers. Google Wallet is a fast, secure checkout process that helps increase sales by bringing you more customers and allowing them to buy from you quickly and easily with a single account, online or in-store. * Sell worldwide. Attract buyers in over 140 countries to purchase your goods and services online using their Google Wallet. Convert more sales. A fast, convenient checkout process helps Google users convert more than shoppers who have not used Google before. * Protect yourself from fraud. The Payment Guarantee Policy protects 98% of orders on average – when an order is guaranteed, you get paid even if it results in a chargeback 2) Why would the telecommunications carriers like AT&T and Verizon want to move into the payment business? What chance do they have to compete against Google? What’s their advantage?. ANSWER i)Why would the telecommunications carriers like AT&T and Verizon want to move in to the payments business?The reason why the telecommunications carriers like AT&T and Verizon want to move into the payment business is because of the h uge potential of revenues and another factors is the emergence of the mobile platform of smartphones & tablets that opens the door for new firms to enter the online payments marketplace based on newer technologies and control of the mobile platform itself ii)What chance do they have to compete against Google? Their percentage of chance that they probably have to compete against Google is 30%-70%,from our opinion. Google system is much familiar to the user than AT&T and Verizon.Google also one of four platform titans and already get the public acceptance. Yet, they still have the chance to compete against Google because Google is much familiar with search engines system. iii) What’s their advantage? AT&T and Verizon advantage is that they are from mobile telecommunications (phone company) which is give them the advantage to get public acceptance that in many parts of the world, the phone company is widely used as a payment system, after they announced a mobile phone-based paym ent system called Isi. Unlike Google, AT&T and Verizon is more to payment that makes by smartphone.So, it is their advantage to make step in Electronic payment market. 3) The smartphone giants Apple and Google control the operating systems and technological features of the devices. Google exercises this control not by actually making the devices but licensing its Android system and demanding device makers include certain features. Which of these smartphones firms has the greatest chance of successfully developing a Web-wide wireless payment service? Why? ANSWER Apple advantages is, like Google has already developed an online payment system to support salles ath the iTunes Store.Unlike Google Checkout and PayPal, Apple has not to date developed an online merchant payment system that could be used across the Web. Some analysis believe Apple is considering the idea of extending its existing iTunes payment system to third-party vendors selling digital goods on the Internet. iPhone users can already use their iTunes account to buy some third-party virtual and subscription goods. Apple’s iTunes Store, which could serve as the mobile digital wallet used to store payment information on a consumer’s payment-enabled device,generated net sales of music, software (apps) and content of about $5 billion in 2010.There are approximately 225 milliom iTunes users worldwide with credit card accounts at iTunes. Apple disadvantages is, Apple does not have a presence in the online merchant payment process, a critical weakness. Four instance, you can use PayPal and Google Checkout at thousands of online retailers, but there is no similar Apple digital wallet that can be used across the Web. It only works at the iTunes Store. This may be a case where Apple’s penchants for building walled gardens of hardware and software like the iPhone and iTunes Store has limited its future growth.Google already made its first foray into the merchant payment market with Google C heckout in 2007. Google Checkout is quite similar to PayPal, but it has grown to only 7% of the alternative payment market. Google Checkout stores a user’s financial information, including credit card information, and then presents this information to merchants when the user checks out. Google advantages is, the customer does not have to fill out forms or reveal credit information to online merchants, but instead clicks on a Google Checkout icon on the merchant’s site, and payment is made through Google’s site.As with PayPal, the user stores value on the Google Checkout site in the form of a verified credit card, or a bank account, and the merchant does not have access to the customers credit card information. Google firms has the greatest chance of successfully developing a Web-wide wireless payment service because, the customer does not have to fill out forms or reveal credit information to online merchants, but instead clicks on a Google Checkout icon on the merchant’s site, and payment is made through Google’s site.As with PayPal, the user stores value on the Google Checkout site in the form of a verified credit card, or a bank account, and the merchant does not have access to the customers credit card information. QUESTION 4) What strategies would you recommend that PayPal pursue in order to maintain its dominant position over the next five years? . ANSWER Strategies to maintain PayPal dominant position over next 5 years Intro : Scott Thompson , president of PayPal outlined a strategy to expand PayPal globally, strengthening its dominant position over the next five years. Here the strategies. 1.Increase penetration on eBay – Projected growth on eBay is a function of seller coverage and consumer preference. A one-percent share increase within eBay results in $17 million in incremental revenue for PayPal. While market share in No America is 79%, it is only 41% Internationally so there is still plenty of room to grow on eBay. And new PayPal users on eBay (growing at a rate of 3 million new accounts per quarter) use PayPal across the Internet 2. Grow share in merchants services – PayPal helps merchants to sell more online – those that enable PayPal Express Checkout experience up to a 14% increase in sales.Today, eBay has approximately a 5% share of global merchant services, as much as 9% if you include eBay volume. PayPal has specific strategies for each segment of the market: sole proprietors, small/medium business, and large merchants. Consumers are increasingly global, and increasingly security conscious. They prefer to use PayPal when they shop online. Note the significant growth among SMEs and large businesses. Merchants have discovered the value of payment choice in encouraging incremental sales and higher transaction values, particularly via Bill Me Later.PayPal anticipates that it will achieve 14% merchant services market share in No America by 2011. International market sh are is estimated to be 5-6% by 2011, citing PayPal’s â€Å"unmatched facility for cross border transactions. † PayPal’s global e-commerce market share is projected to be 12-14% (on and off eBay) by 2011. 3. Adjacent payment markers The third element of PayPal’s growth strategy is expansion outside e-commerce. Thompson estimated the non-retail marketplace online as $1 Trillion. He specifically noted mobile, social networks, and non-profits (government opportunities were cited by Donahoe earlier).PayPal has demonstrated early leadership in mobile payments, experimenting with solutions in lots of mobile segments until there is industry consensus where consumers will go. Although non-profits were positioned as an adjacent opportunity, there are over 100,000 non-profits currently using PayPal. We’ve watched as PayPal has customized its services for non-profits with special on-boarding process, special features, and special pricing. Will this be the appr oach used for other verticals? Not unlike Amazon, PayPal fosters a close relationship with developers that are creating applications for use online and on the go via mobile devices.The PayPal global Internet payments network can be used to exchange value not just on eBay and within e-commerce but beyond. Thompson acknowledged that opening up the developer network while maintaining a secure environment is challenging and that’s why none of the other payment platforms out there has done it [While Amazon has done this, and done it for payments, PayPal does not consider Amazon to be a global payments platform]. PayPal’s global reach, closed loop network, and risk management/anti-fraud capabilities uniquely position it to â€Å"accelerate innovation on the web† with â€Å"PayPal as the engine in the middle. CONCLUSION The online payment marketplace is experiencing an explosion of innovative ideas, plans, and announcements, which one commentator has likened to a â₠¬Å"goat rodeo†, a chaotic situation in which powerful players with different agendas compete with one another for public acceptance, and above all, huge potential revenues. Others liken the payment marketplace to a battle among the four platform titans Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Each of these titans have their own versions of a future payment system that challenges the other players. And let’s not forget PayPal, the reigning power in alternative