Influenced By Marxism And Imperialism - 915 Words

Influenced by Marxism and imperialism, Dependency writers sought to explain the high inequities in the world economic system in terms of its distribution of power and resources and places most nations in a dependent position in relation to the industrial powers. Dependency scholars basically believe that less-developed countries will be unable to develop because the rich world uses them as the equivalent of colonies. The major contention here is that the developing countries of the Global South are hindered in their developmental efforts by their association (economic) with the industrialized countries of the Global North. Prominent scholars here include: Paul Baran and Paul Sweezy (Monopoly Capitalism, 1957/1960; Fernando Henrique†¦show more content†¦Free trade with minimal state intervention is the key tenet of neoliberal ideas driving most international organizations. In the contemporary world characterized by open markets, US hegemony, international organizations, regional cooperations and large inflows of foreign aids and technologies in economically less developed states, national governments are increasingly constrained in formulating and implementing policies that are deemed appropriate for their citizens. I discuss below major developmental challenges in Africa (by extension other poor countries) which have roots in contemporary imperial relations with the West. These include: debt burdens, structural adjustment programmes, operations of multinational corporations and external aid. Debt Burden One of the greatest threats to development in most African countries is the huge debt stock and the cost of servicing it. Large-scale borrowing in the 60s and 70s (in a bid to ensure welfare of the citizens after colonialism) coupled with events in the world economy such as rising oil prices, rising interest rates, falling commodity prices and global recession led to the Debt crisis of the early 80s which left many poor countries with huge cost of servicing debts which still lingers today. Even with the debt relief initiative of the World Bank and IMF about two

The s Position On African American Family Life - 855 Words

The Herskovitsian Position on African American Family Life Melville Jean Herskovits was an American anthropologist who developed the African-American studies in academia. He was famous for his research on Africa and his studies on entomology. Herskovits was the first noticeable white man knowledgeable to express his black beliefs to which was not pathological however rather naturally African, and that it had to be observed within that perspective. He studied in areas like the traditions in art, music, dance, and other terms to determined cultural memory in modern-day black Americans many in which that are generations removed from Africa. In Herskovits book The Myth of the Negro Past, it holds generally a wide held assumptions about black people in America. The first interdisciplinary program at Northwestern University in African studies was founded in 1948 to which had sometime down the line formed the ASA (African Studies Association.) In chapter 3 in the Book The Myth of The Negro Past, he made very significant points that happens to be applicable to African American family life. Major points like â€Å"Even in the manual arts women are compelled to do all the drudgery of collecting raw material, etc. All these facts reveal how the great mass of male population escapes distasteful toil† (Page 58), this is an actual real life habit that men seem to have. Usually the women in mostly all African American house hold are the one cooking and cleaning, just basically takingShow MoreRelatedTo Kill a Mockingbird Analysis933 Words   |  4 PagesThe intriguing novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is written by the prestigio us author Harper Lee. Lee has utilised the lifestyle and attitudes towards ‘African-Americans in the 1930s to create a novel which presents the reader with Lees attitudes and values. The dominant reading of the novel is focused on the issues of racial prejudice, but there are also a number of other alternative and oppositional readings. Examples of this are the Marxist and feminist readings which can be applied to the textRead MoreConversy of Racism in Sports Essay examples815 Words   |  4 Pageshe clenched his fist and raised it high in the Air while wearing a black glove. A raised fist was the symbol of equality for the black Power movement of the 1960‘s. African Americans have made a huge impact on the civil Rights movement, especially in sports. The 1940’s and the 1950’s were a rough time in Sports because African Americans were just now being able to play in professional sports. They had to deal with racism, prejudice, and hate. People might have well ruined the Meaning of playing aRead MoreCultural Studies On Race And Social Classes1124 Words   |  5 PagesIn today s society, culture is impacting our everyday life, experience and social relations; we are all categorized by our cultural â€Å"groups†, but this has changed rapidly throughout the years from one generation to the next. Cultural studies were developed in the late 1950’s, through the 1970’s by the British academic scholars. The British scholars were able engaged cultural analysis and the developed then transformed of the different fields, for example, politically, theoretically and empiricallyRead MoreThe Great Migration: Research Paper1561 Words   |  7 Pagesof more than six million African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North and West from 1916 to 1970. This had a huge impact on urban life in the United States. African Americans were pushed out of the rural areas because of whites. Millions of African Americans went to cities like Chicago during the Great Migration like Bigger Thomas in Richard Wright s novel Native Son. African Americans often faced harsh living conditions and racism. African Americans such as Bigger Thomas hadRead MoreAfrican Americans : The American Dream Game Cartoon By David Horsey Essay1687 Words   |  7 PagesThe United States is famous for its American dream, which ensures equal opportunity for all, but African Americans experience a more diluted form of the dream due to their innate reductions in socioeconomic mobility.   African Americans differ from White Americans physiologically only in skin pigmentation;   however, as depicted in The American Dream Game cartoon by David Horsey, a political commentator and cartoonist with extensive experience in social and political issues, various race-induced obstaclesRead MorePersonal Statement : How I Got A Nice Car And A Good Family Essay1328 Words   |  6 Pages Introduction Growing up as a child you never really know what to expect of out of life. When I was little I thought like most boys I would grow and be a doctor, a police officer or a fireman. It was not until I reached high school I started working with a counselor and trying to determine would was really realistic as my career goal. I never really knew what I was good at, what type of profession would make me happy and what is really required in order to achieve my goals. I was always told toRead MoreAnalysis Of Billie Ragon s Story Of Her Life And How Her Color And Disability994 Words   |  4 Pagesher life and how her color and disability has affected how she has lived. Family values and the region, in which she lived, played a huge part in how she lived daily life. Different groups of people, whether it was family or just individuals from the community impacted her life greatly. Finally, Mrs. Ragon out of the kindness of her heart wanted to conduct this interview so maybe it could help oth ers that may be suffering or feeling any kind of pain. Family life Growing up during the 1960’s in theRead MoreRace And Gender Play : A Woman At The Top Of Her Career Essay1350 Words   |  6 Pagesfuture, due to the fact that she has attained such a prestigious position. She may be labeled as aggressive, callous and unhappy. While the man would be looked at as being in his prime of his career and a go getter. He would be looked upon as having a stay at home wife, children and the suburban dream. This paper will take a look into two different individual lives and how class, race and gender play a role in their position(s) in society. Interviewee (1) one is a man from Virginia, he hasRead MoreCommunication Between African American Mothers and Their Daughters1740 Words   |  7 PagesAfrican American Mothers and Their Daughters Introduction A girls communication and relationship with her mother are influential to her development and well-being. Communication between mother and daughter entails sending, receiving and comprehending each other intended message. According to Belgrave (2009), majority of girls report positive relationships with their mothers. Most girls learn from their mothers. This is because mothers teach and socialize with their daughters regarding any facetRead MoreThe Contrasting Views of Pro-Slavery vs. Abolitionist Essay1244 Words   |  5 PagesAmerica, a comparison of the individual positions must be made to further understand the goals of each party. A common theme of the pro-slavery advocates in the 1800’s was the continuation of slavery for the wellbeing of the enslaved and country. During this time in American history, it was believed African-Americans were inferior to whites and without bondage, they would reduce themselves to animalistic acts and barbarism. George Fitzhugh, an American social theorist who wrote â€Å"The Universal

Upgrading of Manufacturing Process †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Upgrading of Manufacturing Process. Answer: Introduction: When it comes to future of paper industry, there is a tight relationship among IT as well as process control technology. With implementation of high yield paper pulping technology, the paper energy is going to bring energy efficient into the manufacturing process of paper. The paper industry can reduce the consumption of energy by 25% as compared to todays technology into the paper industry (Khalil et al., 2014). By the year 2021, the final goal of paper industry is to manufacture of printing paper as well as paperboard with half of amount of energy used as compared to the manufacturing research in the year 2011. This new technology improves the sustainability of the paper (Kong, Hasanbeigi, Price, 2016). The energy efficient technology will save by increasing into percentage of the recycled fibers into the manufacturing process of paper that reduces requirement of preparation of raw materials. Throughout increase into the manufacturing process, there is a change as well as improve into the process. Into the existing manufacturing process into the paper mills, there are lot of wastages of the raw materials, usage of energy is high, increase into emissions of carbon oxide and climatic impacts. It solves the wastage problems as there should be reduction into trim waste by 0.5-4 percentages. It will reduce the 30% energy for the printing of paper along with 27% for the paperboard (Akhundzadeh Shirazi, 2017). It will also reduce the emissions of carbon oxide and reduce climatic impacts from the production of paper. By softening of wood throughout increase into temperature combined with smaller amounts of sulfite as well as increase into refining of wood. Compare old and new process using engineering Management tools and mechanics The old manufacturing process of paper is highly complex and it is integrated various process areas such as preparation of wood, pulping, recovery from the chemical as well as papermaking in order to convert wood to final products (Aydalot Keeble, 2018). The options for manufacturing process along with the type of wood processing are determined by final products. The paper industry is energy intensive with average cost of energy is around 16% of the cost of production, and in some of the cases it is 30 percentages. The amount of energy which is used by the paper machines are based on the quality of pulp as well as paper grade. As electricity is main energy used, then the technology has higher energy demand as well as emissions of carbon dioxide (Kong, Hasanbeigi, Price, 2016). Into the drying section, there is largest usage of the energy into the papermaking stage. The integrated paper mills achieve high energy efficiency by elimination of the pulp drying as well as better manufact uring processes. The manufacturing engineering is branch of the professional concerned with understanding as well as application of the engineering procedures into the manufacturing processes along with the production of paper. The new manufacturing process is related to improve the efficiency into the drying and recovers the wastage of heat. References Akhundzadeh, M., Shirazi, B. (2017). Technology selection and evaluation in Iran's pulp and paper industry using 2-filterd fuzzy decision making method.Journal of cleaner production,142, 3028-3043. Aydalot, P., Keeble, D. (Eds.). (2018).High technology industry and innovative environments: the European experience(Vol. 3). Routledge. Khalil, H. A., Davoudpour, Y., Islam, M. N., Mustapha, A., Sudesh, K., Dungani, R., Jawaid, M. (2014). Production and modification of nanofibrillated cellulose using various mechanical processes: a review.Carbohydrate polymers,99, 649-665. Kong, L., Hasanbeigi, A., Price, L. (2016). Assessment of emerging energy-efficiency technologies for the pulp and paper industry: a technical review.Journal of Cleaner Production,122, 5-28.

Marketing and Entrepreneurship for Billabong- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theMarketing and Entrepreneurship for Billabong. Answer: Any organization for the success has to focus not only the marketing development of the company but also on the development of the products of the company. Billabong website is having the general information regarding the products as the main focus of the company is on the market development. The industry related to the products of surfing is not meant as the matured industry and thus the focus on the market development is not required (Wang and Head, 2007). Through the information related to the different products the organization is also able to develop the relationships with the consumers and to attract the fresh consumers and would be the first step towards the consumer relationship marketing. Relationship marketing theory states that the relationship marketing is in a great way focused on the product description. In general, the association within the target market is affected by numerous factors such as the customer engagement and customer satisfaction (Wang and Head, 2007). Co nsequently, this is not the matter of concern if the company website is having limited information related to the Billabong. The organization still can have the good quality rapport and connection with consumers if it focuses additionally on certain significant factors such as consumer engagement and consumer loyalty. Nestle has launched the organic chocolate coffee in Australia. Nescafe Gold, natural aim to objective organic chocolate coffee lovers. Nestle has promised that this item for consumption will present a horizontal taste and rich fragrance. With this item for consumption, the clients can without problems drink the finest class of coffee at home. Nestle has also promised that the coffee beans taken into use to produce this chocolate coffee have been full-grown and harvest in a manner which is environmentally safe (Stojanovic and Barjolle, 2012). This item for consumption is beleaguered towards the town consumers that fit in to the finest segment of the marketplace this item for consumption will be triumphant because the first-class segment prefers chocolate coffee with greater taste. They are prepared to try natural products with well-off taste even if they are supposed to pay extra. Nestl uses the branding effectively for counteracting the negative publicity. The clear brand image of th e company allows being competitive in also the low involvement markets Like as the confectionary, coffee, cereals, and drinks markets. The strong branding strategy is key for entering the consumers of the evoked list. Nestle find avenues further than the branded packaged food products the segment of the consumers which is estimated in getting the new brand approximately every day (Rozhkov, 2012). A business can guess income allocation in New Zealands Northern Territory or North Island by analyzing the arithmetical information available on an annual or five-yearly base. Information from survey reports can be utilized for understanding the allocation of profits. Information collected by all the way through Survey of Family profits and service can be analyzed (Fields, 2007). Approximation of the household prosperity can be complete on the base of the report available by Reserve of New Zealand. Numerical reports assist to classify clients on the foundation of income sharing of the households. The corporation can also carry out an advertising study for a particular environmental region. These arithmetical reports will assist to categorize clients into low profits segment, center income section, and high profits segment. Income dissimilarity suggests that the expenditure power is not level (Fields, 2007). On the base of this categorization, the marketers can aim the accurate sectio n of clients for their foodstuffs. No matter the risk with this approach is the significance of data. This approach would go for a toss if the sample were not representative in nature. The success of this approach could depend on the sampling approach used by the organization (Rozhkov, 2012). At times the approach related to the mass marketing was used devoid of any segmentation variables. The mass marketing approach is being used by the huge organizations in FMCG sector. LOreal, Unilever, and PepsiCo are three prominent FMCG companies. The companies in the FMCG sector, with time have moved from the mass marketing approach towards the segmented approach. The fundamentals of precise targeting based on diverse segments that can be seen on the websites of the three companies (Merrilees and Fenech, 2007). Companies divided the customer market based on the segmentation variables such as the income. Companies are developing the products which are to focus the consumer needs in the different segments. The company LOreal applies the segmented approach and the target market includes the urban women of the middle and young age group. The target consumers of the brand are the group of the middle-income to the high income (Merrilees and Fenech, 2007). PepsiCo is food processing and Beverage Company. The company follows the multiple-segmentation approach. Market segmentation by the company is done on the lifestyle and demographic basis. Unilever is one of the primary manufacturers of consumer goods such as ice creams, personal care, food, beverages and products related to home care. Market segmentation is done on the basis of psychographic and demographic factors. LOreal segments the marketing the best way, on the other hand, PepsiCo is to be ranked second and Unilever ranked as the third in conditions of market segmentation. The Demographic factors consider the factors such as the age, gender, educational qualification, ethnicity, occupation and income level. The structure of age, income patterns and literacy level of the customers in the market in a great way affects the international marketing opportunities. Increase in the population of the middle-aged consumers resulted in the growth opportunities for the brands of the FMCG. The emergent countries are having the high percentage of the teenage and young population (Duffy, 2004). The brand which is youth oriented can target such developing countries as the ratio of the aged customers to the young customers is increasing in the urbanized countries. The dependence of aged populace on the middle aged populace is increasing speedily in the European countries. Marketers of the healthcare and the pharmaceutical companies can goal such countries. The increased level of the literacy resulted in the customers to be more informed. The level of awareness is also increasing and the consumers are becoming in the agreat way brand conscious ((Stojanovic and Barjolle, 2012). The consumers are attracted by the marketers with providing the relevant information related to the quality of the products, raw materials and the ingredients that are to be used in the product manufacturing. The company Nestle is considered as one of the global company of the FMCG Sector. The level of competition is very high in the sector. Conventionally, the company Nestle is considered as the big marketing player and in the Australia, the company is targeting the consumers with the middle income. The middle segment of the consumers is considered as the largest segment of the consumer in the country with huge population coming under the segment. The campaigns of the company Nestle related to the brand advertisement, media campaigns, and video campaigns mainly target the consumers of the middle class segment (Corniani, 2005). It is realized by the management of the Nestle that there is a great potential in the segment and results in providing the economic scale and revenues for the companies. The video campaigns on the social media, mainly target the population between the age group of 25-40 years of the urban segment (Rozhkov, 2012). The consumers of such age group use smart phones are considered as highly active on the social media channels such as the twitter, face Book and You Tube. Uncle Tobys which is the subsidiary of Nestle has also launch oats by means of no additional sugar. Nestle claims that Natures combine is a vigorous breakfast alternative as the sugariness is consequent from the nuts and dehydrated fruits. This item for consumption is beleaguered towards physical conscious clients and the diabetic patients. This item for consumption is also beleaguered towards the operational segment of clients as it gets prepared in just a mere tenure of 1.5 minutes (Corniani, 2005). This produce is paramount suited for all grow old groups as this creation offers complete grain oats. This foodstuff can turn out to be a huge achievement as consumers are more and more becoming health aware. Reports propose that Australians have a preference of low sugar foodstuffs and no added sugar variety of foodstuffs. These manufactured goods will assist clients in enjoying obviously sweet oats (Wilson and Daniel, 2007). It is predictable that the company Nestle would be successful in the objective for increasing the consumer penetration through the media campaigns. Marketing through the social media is considered as the fastest, powerful and the efficient way to reach the consumers. Through the promotional campaigns on the company websites, Nestle is to increase the reach of the new products. Such video campaigns are ought to be successful in the objectives (Stojanovic and Barjolle, 2012). The marketing section of Nestle is a well-built department. The company marketing managers are supposed to use the multichannel marketing for reaching to the customers. The blogs, video, and channels such as the YouTube channels considered as the excellent platform for the marketing managers of the company in increase the reach of the company products to its consumers (Rozhkov, 2012). In this comprehensive period of globalization, the social media advertising is the major and the key for each and every organization to develop and ultimately grow. This period is the market with super computers, Digital Marketing and Internet. It has long been noticed that the complete demographic distribution does not behave constantly plus the demographic distribution always does change (Mummert, 2017). With this kind of alteration in the overall worldwide demographic situations and trends, a completely straight forward and direct impact is noticed and observed on the worldwide and the worldwide and the international marketing strategy of the various organizations. In the present marketing condition, the organizations have perused to take into use the cultural and the social media marketing measures to reach out to the clients (Badkar, 2017). In fact, as the penetration of the technological factors and the Internet, the brand and current demographic variables have also speedily em erged dependening on the use of the technology sources such as the use of the smart mobile phones (Stojanovic and Barjolle, 2012). The marketers have to handle and cater to the enhanced % of the educated individuals and the professionals. The higher and the rich category/segment are with the passage of time becoming richer while, on the other hand, the lower segment of the people is becoming poorer and shrinking. (Badkar, 2017) So the marketers have now started to target their services and the products to the middle and the upper segment of the people. There is an important movement of the clients within various nations. A baby boomer is the marketplace segment comprise of customers that were born during 1946 to 1964. They comprise of the foremost portion of the entire US population. Such population is affluent and is not frightened of expenses related to their lifestyle. Pharmaceutical, Hospitality, and healthcare industry is being benefitted from the ageing baby boomers in a great way (Mummert, 2017). It appears that the industries, having the short lifecycle of the products, are set of profit from the ageing baby boomers. This includes the industries such as the FMCG industry and electronics industry. The companies in the electronic industry like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, etc. often have to find the new and innovative ways to reach out to the target market. With the change in the worldwide demographic trend, thee organizations in these two industry segments can better understand the needs of consumers in the global market (Mummert, 2017). It would, in turn, help the players in these two industries to have customized marketing and advertising strategies for the use of ad targeting on social media tools like Face book and Twitter. The change in the demographics would also help the players in these two industries to get the maximum from the loyal customer based on the segment of ageing baby boomers. The organizations in the industry would be able to succeed only when they can keep a watch on the changing demographic trends (Badkar, 2017). There benefit would be tangible in nature only when the organizations can develop the specific marketing strategies for ageing baby boomers. References Badkar, Corniani, M. (2005). Market, Segment and Demand Bubbles.Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management, (2). Duffy, D. (2004). Multi?channel marketing in the retail environment.Journal of Consumer Marketing, 21(5), pp.356-359. Fields, G. (2007). How much should we care about changing income inequality in the course of economic growth?.Journal of Policy Modeling, 29(4), pp.577-585. Merrilees, B. and Fenech, T. (2007). From catalog to Web: B2B multi-channel marketing strategy.Industrial Marketing Management, 36(1), pp.44-49. Mummert, H. (2017).Market Focus: Baby Boomers. [online] Target Marketing. Available at: https://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/market-focus-baby-boomers-36956/all/ [Accessed 22 Aug. 2017]. Rozhkov, K. (2012). Residential Satisfaction in Place Market Segments.SSRN Electronic Journal. Stojanovic, Z. and Barjolle, D. (2012). Socio-economic and demographic profile of traditional and functional food consumers in Serbia.Marketing, 43(1), pp.41-48. Wang, F. and Head, M. (2007). How can the Web help build customer relationships?.Information Management, 44(2), pp.115-129. Wilson, H. and Daniel, E. (2007). The multi-channel challenge: A dynamic capability approach.Industrial Marketing Management, 36(1), pp.10-20.

World Vision Festival an Example by

World Vision Festival Working for World Vision is a very challenging task because you realize that the work you do is helping children, and you want to make sure you do your job in the best possible way. World Vision is dealing with such programs as child rescue, getting donations for children, sponsoring children. Every employee of World Vision is working very hard in order make sure children get as much support as possible. There are many children in need in the world, and therefore joint efforts have to be taken in order to protect them and help them if they are in need. Need essay sample on "World Vision Festival" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed In order to finance various kinds of programs for children which are held by World Vision Australia its very important to organize different kinds of events to attract the attention of public. The problem of raising money to sponsor children is not an easy task. People would like to grant money to rescue a child but they need to be consulted by employees of World Vision in order to make sure they are really helping a child. One of the ways to stimulate people to donate money to children through World Vision is by making suggestions on the website. World Vision Australias website shows different kinds of programs for children in which people can invest money- for example, rescue a child, make a donation, sponsor a child, help fight HIV/AIDS and others. Those users of internet who are interested in charity can go to such a website and find all the necessary information about the kind of support they are able to provide to children. However, not everybody looks for this information on internet, therefore it was decided by the team of World Vision Australia that a festival had to be organized in support of the organization. The festivals slogan is going to be: World Vision- providing help for children worldwide. The festival is going to take place on November 5th, therefore it was very important for us to schedule all the events of the festival as fast as possible, advertise it through the use of mass media, and most importantly, find decent sponsors. According to the management suggestion, the best sponsors for this kind of festival were going to be Just Juice, Tip Top, and Frucore. Since I was the leader of the project, it was my task to negotiate with the representatives of the companies about their participation in the festival and their possible donations for the kids whom World Vision Australia supports. The amount of funds which had to be raised during the festival had to be not less than enough to sponsor 50 children per year. Therefore, it was very important to make sure sponsors agreed to take part in the festival. In order to persuade the sponsors in the necessity of their participation in the festival, I needed to present a detailed plan of the festival and its goals. All the information was printed out and presented to the sponsors. The plan of street festival included the following events: 10 a.m. -11 a.m. Faire of toys and other handicraft made things made by volunteers to raise funds for the World Vision organization; 11 a.m. 1 p.m. Concert of children (dancing, singing, performing different kinds of plays); 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. Concert of a popular rock group. 3 p.m.- 5 p.m. Sports competitions in different kinds of sports. The most important point in persuading the sponsors to participate in the festival was to make the sponsor realize what benefits he was doing to have from the participation. The benefits which were going to attract the sponsors included the reduction in taxes which they would get from the government by participating in the festival; developing the image of organizations due to their participation in philanthropic activities. It was also very important to make sure that the sponsors could advertise their companies during the festival. Therefore, it was agreed upon that during the festival, the people leading it would be mentioning the names of the sponsors very frequently, as well as put many slogans with their names in the area where the festival was going to take place. The sponsors also made sure that the even was covered in mass media (radio, newspapers, and most importantly television). In the result of negotiations, there were no objections of Just Juice, Tip Top and Frucore to their participation in the event. On the contrary, they wanted to make large donations to the children in need and especially those who were sick with AIDS. The sponsors also agreed to finance the invitation of a popular rock group to the festival which was one of the crucial questions in the festival. In order to attract the most public, it was necessary to invite a popular rock-group so that many people would come for the sake of the group but decide to donate money to children in need after participating in all the events at the festival. Therefore, the financial support of 3 major sponsors was very important for the festival. The money obtained from the sponsors enable World Vision to employ people who wanted to work during the festival in the promotion of its activities, and made sure all the preparations for the festival could be held at the highest level. Bibliography https://www.worldvision.com.au. High Cost of Helping Poor. http://www.pressherald.com/2014/05/13/children_hurt__horse_killed_when_car_strikes_buggy/.

FEDERAL JUDICIARY PROCESS essays

FEDERAL JUDICIARY PROCESS essays The federal Judiciary is made up of a three-tiered court system. At the bottom are the federal district courts, the middle is the appellate courts, and the top level is the Supreme Court. District courts are at the bottom of the three-tier federal court system. The district courts are the beginning for most federal cases. District courts are trial courts; the district courts hear the testimony about the facts of a case. On average district courts handle more than 250,000 thousand cases a year, with only a small percentage of the criminal and civil cases actually going to trial. The second tier consists of the appellate courts or the court of appeals. After a district court hears the facts of a case and issues a decision, the decision can be appealed. The appeals are then heard by the appellate court system. Appellate courts can only consider questions of law and legal interpretation; in most cases, the appellate court must accept the lower courts factual findings. Decisions made in the appellate courts are final, unless the Supreme Court agrees to hear a further appeal. The Supreme Court is at the top and its function is to hear appeals regarding decisions made at lower level federal courts and state supreme courts. The Supreme Court is also in place to resolve conflicts or issues of constitutional and federal law and interpret the constitution. The Supreme Court is the ultimate authority in constitutional interpretation and its decisions can only be changed by an amendment to the constitution. The most important responsibility that the Supreme Court has to deal with is the decisions regarding if a law or government action violates the constitution. Judicial review therefore puts the Supreme Court in a crucial role in the American political system, making it the referee in disputes among various branches of government, and as the ultimate authority for many of the most important is ...

Ratio Analysis of Macy's and Nordstroms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ratio Analysis of Macy's and Nordstroms - Essay Example The company has entered into credit card and debit card business as well which is operated by one of its subsidiaries. Nordstrom sells both branded and private labeled cloths which make it a favorite for not only elite class of the society but it is equally popular amongst middle class or aspiring middle class citizens. Nordstrom generates sales from following segments. Firstly, retail full line stores generate substantial earnings which are evident from its financial ratios. Secondly, a direct segment is another organ of Nordstrom Inc. This segment primarily focuses on internet based selling. Nordstrom’s website reports high traffic on it, which is a sign of high customer satisfaction. Company has always delivered its promise of quality, fashion and customer service. Thirdly, credit segment earns revenue through charges levied on their company’s own or co-branded credit cards. Macy’s Inc. is another giant of the retail industry. It is based in Cincinnati, Ohio s ince 1820 and has been crowned as one top retail stores in the United States. Company operates through its two organs namely retail stores and its website. Macy has a huge portfolio for its customers, ranging from apparels, shoes and other accessories for men, women and children. They have also entered into home furnishings and various other consumer goods. In short, Macy’s Inc. has everything which one could dream for his/her living. Macy has been focusing on forward integration lately so that it can offer premium service to its customers and consequently, increase its saving by inventory management and price optimization. Keeping a holistic view of the retail industry, it is evident by the reports published by National Retail Federation(NRF) that the retail industry will grow by 4% in the current year due to better-than expected holiday season. However, commodity prices will increase due to augmenting levels of inflation which can create setbacks for the retail industry. Re tail industry survives on volume of sales. Whoever, can provide high quality with low price wins the bid therefore, Nordstrom and Macy have been working to reduce cost through better inventory management controls and reduces their cost of goods sold to sales ratio. Nordstrom Inc. has performed well in the last couple of years. It has continued to grow and prosper which can be seen by its improving profitability ratios. The return on Equity has improved to 34.12% in 2010 as compared to 31% in 2009. Nordstrom has established a strong line up of globally recognized brands which have added substantially to its earnings. The company’s earning has made a heap of 39% in 2010 from $441M in 2009 to $613M in 2010. Analyzing its Gross profit margin notifies an increment of $587M which is about 19.9%. Gross profit margins have grown to 36.39% in 2010 from 34.1% in 2009 as the company has been able to reduce the percentage of sales devoted to cost of goods sold from 68.83% to 66.27%. whic h is a reason of reducing its cost of goods sold to sales ratio. Company has integrated better mechanisms of inventory management to increase their year-end earnings. Moreover, sales have climbed up by 16.68% from $4560M in 2009 to $5321M in 2010 which is a reason for higher profitability ratios. Subsequently, net profit margins have increased from 9.67% to 11.52% in 2010. Nordstrom has performed well in terms of liquidity. This is evident from its current ratio as it has increased to 2.56 in 2010 from 2 in 2009. Looking closely at it, these figures are better than the industry averages hence the company is in a relatively safe position to pay off its current obligations. Nordstrom has performed really well in terms of managing their assets. Inventory turnover period has

Thermodynamic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Thermodynamic - Essay Example Materials Approximately 40mL of ice water was measured and weighed, and the initial temperature was taken. On a separate graduated cylinder, 20mL of hot water was measured and weighed, and its initial temperature was also recorded. The ice water and hot water were mixed in a cup and the final temperature after the mixing was measured (Sabbagh, youtube.com). Results and Calculation Four trials were done during the experiment. Table 1 presents the data gathered (see table 1). The theoretical temperature was calculated using the following equations: Heat gained by ice H2O = Heat loss by hot H2O (Eqn 1) Heat loss = m x c x change in T = 4.186 J/g-?C x m (grams) x (initial T – final T) (Eqn 2) Heat gained = m x c x change in T = 4.186 J/g-?C x m (grams) x (final T – initial T) (Eqn 3) Table 1 Results Obtained Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Mass of ice H2O 39g 39g 39g 39g Mass of hot H2O 21g 19g 20g 19g Temp of ice H2O 12.2?C 16.9?C 16.3?C 16.9?C Final Temp after mixing 34.0 ?C 35.8?C 35.4?C 34.8?C Actual Temp of hot H2O 73.6?C 71.6?C 72.2?C 72.7?C Theoretical Temp of hot H2O 74.49?C 74.59?C 72.65?C 71.54?C % error 1.20% 4.18% 0.61% 1.59% Source: Sabbagh, A. â€Å"Physics Thermodynamics Lab.m4v†. You Tube. ... The percent error was used to compare the theoretical hot water temperature with the actual temperature that was measured in the experiment. So for trial 1, the percent error was calculated in this manner: % error = (actual – theoretical) / theoretical x 100 = |(73.6?C – 74.49?C)| / 74.49?C x 100 % error = 1.20% The experiment done by Sabbagh, et al (youtube.com) was able to prove the experimental applicability of the equation for specific heat using the ice water-hot water system, and they were able to get an average 1.20% error in the four trials that have been conducted. Thermodynamics Equilibrium The first law of thermodynamics deals with energy conservation of a system at equilibrium, most commonly, energy is expressed as heat. It states that the change in internal energy is the difference between the heat supplied to the system and the work that was done (â€Å"First Law of Thermodynamics†, gsu.edu). This law then governs the transfer of heat in a system at equilibrium, from a system with high temperature to the system with lower temperature (â€Å"Heat Transfer†, gsu.edu). In this experiment, a gaseous system in equilibrium was investigated, with changes dictated on the temperature and the number of particles present in the system. The changes that were done were observed and recorded. First Experiment. Write down the initial temperatures for each of the two chambers. The initial temperature of the left chamber was 150?C, while the right chamber had a temperature of 750?. What do you think the final equilibrium temperature will be? I expect the final equilibrium temperature to be approximate 450?. Why are there more particles in the cold side than the warm side when you first start

Problem-Solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Problem-Solution - Essay Example Many of them do carry excellent grades in their bachelors or at schools which are never a true reflection of their own selves. Partly the problem is because of the tight academic schedules the institutions are maintaining and partly because the faculty are unable to encourage and inspire their pupils to learn the concepts and understand their applicability too. Previously institutions or universities never used to maintain such demanding schedules, therefore the faculty used to have all the time in the world to prepare the students for the academic challenges. Presently Universities are more bent on sending number of batches out rather than worrying about the quality of the academics offered. For the academia this, indeed has become the greatest worry, especially in a developing country like India. The challenge is up the academia to offer a solution which can make the students saleable to the corporate. The fact that is quite disturbing is that the problem is not because of the grades the students were receiving but because of the poor quality of assessment that is taking place in offering the grades and parameters used to offer grades. The sublime truth is that presently in schools and colleges at bachelor's level we are teaching students' concepts without application (especially in India). All the time the teachers will be focusing on the teaching of concepts and the students will be focusing on learning the concepts. However the student is not aware of how to apply this particular concept in a real time situation. There by all the meaning of education is lost without a trace. The identified problem areas are: The grades are not reflecting the competency of wards in their subjects, This problem is because they are learning concepts all the time without knowledge of application of concepts in a real time situation, the examination system is designed to test their remembering skills rather than testing their conceptual skills, Poor selection of parameters such as written examination and in descriptive mode to analyze application of concepts. Study importance: The study is of prominence in colleges and schools because without learning the application of the concepts in real time situations if the student is exposed to the rigors the academics at higher levels then there is every possibility he/she can become a burnout very soon. Moreover because of the excellent grades they are receiving in colleges and schools because of an insufficient evaluation system, the student feels that he has acquired sufficient skills to enter into a university or take a job, in reality he is not. Challenge for the faculty: The big challenge for the faculty is the fact that they have to make the student understand the ground realities so that ice breaking can be done. Ice breaking is an exercise normally carried out in schools and colleges to make the students feel comfortable realize the persons they are will be easy in the later stages. Once the ice breaking is done then the faculty can turn his/her attention to the task at hand. That is to

Modernisation of the Royal Mail

Modernisation of the Royal Mail This report has been conducted to investigate and critically evaluate the modernisation of the Royal Mail. In doing so it will analyze the organisations activities and conduct using theory to discuss its impacts. 2.0 Objectives Investigate how modernisation was planned and implemented and evaluate its effectiveness Identify and deal with resistance factors to the change Clarify how to establish when the planned change has been completed and how its effectiveness should be measured 3.0 Introduction Organizational change Significant organizational change occurs, for example, when an organization changes its overall strategy for success, adds or removes a major section or practice, and/or wants to change the very nature by which it operates. It also occurs when an organization evolves through various life cycles, just like people must successfully evolve through life cycles. For organizations to develop, they often must undergo significant change at various points in their development. Thats why the topic of organizational change and development has become widespread in communications about business, organizations, leadership and management (McNamara, 2010). This is confirmed by Richard Whittington and Michael Mayer (2002) argument that adaptive reorganization, the ability to redesign structures frequently, is now critical to organizational performance. Organisational change has three models (Jawad, 2010): Incremental Change Model The Incremental change model states that individual parts of an organisation deal incrementally and separately with one problem and one goal at a time (Burnes 2009). (Jawad, 2010:19) Punctuated equilibrium Tushman and Romanelli (1985, cited in Passmore Woodman, 2005, p207) state this model assumes that fundamental organizational change occurs in short periods of discontinuous, revolutionary change , which punctuates long eras of relative stability typified by incremental, convergent changes (Tushman Romanelli, 1985) (Jawad, 2010:20) Continuous Transformation model of change Only by continuous change and adaption will organisations be able to be aligned with their environment and thus survive (Burnes, 2009:354) (Jawad, 2010:21) History of the Royal Mail The Royal Mail was reorganised in the 1930s and again in the 1960s. Eventually it became a public corporation in 1969. Restructuring continued in the 1980s and 1990s, with the separate telecommunications section being privatised in 1984. In 2001 the Post Office became a public limited company (PLC), named Consignia which was replaced by the Royal Mail brand in late 2002 (Royalmailgroup.com, 2010). The company primarily operates in the UK. It is headquartered in London, the UK and employs 193,000 people. The group recorded revenues of  £9,179 million during the fiscal year ended March 2007, an increase of 1.4% over 2006. The operating loss of the company was  £10 million during fiscal year 2007, as compared to the operating profit of  £145 million in 2006. The net profit was  £286 million in fiscal year 2007, a decrease of 27.6% as compared to 2006 (Datamonitor, 2008). 4.0 Reasons for change Transportation costs Paul Bateson, Royal Mails managing director, logistics, said: There is a marked difference between the price we believe we should be paying for rail services and that which was on the table. Quite simply, other forms of transport can give us the same benefits, in terms of flexibility and quality, but at a lower cost (Independent.co.uk, 2003). Inefficiency The Royal Mail is the third most inefficient postal service operating in the UK with an estimate of 40% less efficiency . The European couriers already have automatically sequencing machines which sort 90% of the letters they deliver at operates at a lower costs whilst the Royal mail operate a walk-sorting and walk-sequencing procedure which only sorts 70%. (Hopper et al 2008:47). Competition The Royal mail faces competition from the digital media. The royal mail reported losses of  £500 million in 2007-08 (Hooper et al 2008:48) Technology This has led to reduced volume of sales (Hooper et al 2008). The way in which customers communicate has altered to online, email, mobile telephony, text messaging and digital broadcasting as they have low marginal costs, flexible and faster. It is estimated that the substitution from postal to alternative digital media reduced its operating profits by  £500 million in 2007/8 (Hooper et al 2008:48) (Hooper et al, 2008:9) Pension Deficit Royal Mail  has a found a  £10bn black hole in its retirement postbag, the biggest pension deficit in UK corporate history (guardian.co.uk, 2009). (Hooper et al 2008:55) Universal service The universal service is important to the UKs economy as it enables trade (Hooper et al 2008:3) in 2008 Royal Mail reported that the universal service had made an operating loss of  £100 million. Strained relations In 2007 over 67,000 employee days were lost as a result of industrial action (Hooper et al 2008:56). The consequence of this was the loss of contracts including Amazon (Guardian.co.uk, 2009). Working practises The organizations working practises are outdated, as a result act as a barrier to their efficiency (Hooper et al 2008:51). The employees are able to finish their morning rounds up to three hours early (Hooper et al 2008:51) and continue to be paid until the end of their shift. 5.0 Lewins group dynamics Lewin research in this area has been cited as one of his best-known research topics.  In this study Lewin, along with Ronald Lippitt, looked at the effects of democratic, autocratic, and laissez-faire methods/styles of leadership on group structure and the behaviour of group members.  Results showed numerous insights into group structure.  Also groups with efficient change that occurred in democratic ways lead to superior group results.  Ã‚  Superior results were found with the basis that as all individuals can participate and become an identifiable part of the group, change is more easily accepted (Kariel, 1956). Groups that contained more authoritarian structures were found to be more rigid, hindered creativity and lead to dysfunctional decision making processes.  Groups that contained laissez-faire styles were found to be very inefficient and unproductive (Daniels, 2003). Overall results of these three leadership styles showed that democratic leadership styles lead friendliness, conscientiousness for group members, and more originality than the other leadership styles (Buchanan et al, 2004).  Ã‚  Autocratic and laissez-faire groups showed significantly greater amounts of discontent, hostility, scapegoating, and aggression than the democratic leadership style. Lewin concluded that changes resulted not from individual differences but from group dynamics.  Ã‚  He also emphasized need to facilitate and guide change, as autocracy is imposed on individuals, but democracy is learned (Smith 2001).   With the Royal Mail being under the control of the UK Government it can be argued that they are subjected to a more authoritarian leadership structure. Unlike a corporate business organization where decisions are made by senior management, in the Royal mail decisions must be made in consideration of the UK budget, strategies and actions are all subject to parliament, leaving management in the Royal Mail with lesser powers to do their job. 6.0 Planned Emergent change Lewins (1951) three-stage model of unfreezing, movement, and refreezing often underlies planned change. This planned approach to change is long established and held to be highly effective by many (Burns, 2004), but it has been criticized at least since the early 1980s (Kanter, Stein Jick, 1992). Firstly it tends to ignore that environmental factors in which an organization is situated may be inconsistent with planned change initiatives, apparently assuming that organizations can move in a pre-planned manner from one stable state to another (Bamford Forrester, 2003) in ways that are not strongly impacted by outside factors. Royal Mails initial efforts to implement change were of a planned nature, Weick (1999) suggests that organization change is a more open-ended and continuous process than a set of pre-identified self-contained events. Emergent change emphasizes that change should not be perceived as a series of planned linear events within a given period of time. Rather, it is best viewed as a continuous, open-ended process of adaption to change circumstances and conditions (Burns, 2004). 7.0 Resistance to change Where change is incremental and aims only at organisational realignment, it can be viewed as adaptive. Where such incremental change is more punctuated, but still aiming at organisational realignment, it is known as reconstruction. The process of reconstruction is more likely to result in employee resistance than adaptation because such significant changes in business processes could negatively impact upon the roles of some employees. However, unlike transformational change, whether this happens incrementally or in a punctuated fashion, adaptation and reconstruction are less likely to have either an organisation wide impact on employees or require a paradigm shift in thinking. Evolution and revolution, on the other hand, do require such a shift because they can involve significant shifts in organisational culture and may also have deep impact on job roles and even redundancies (Balogun and Hailey, 2004). The change plan suggested by the Independent Review of the Royal Mail involves the political separation of the Royal Mail to provide it will commercial confidence, the separation of the Royal Mail from the Post Office, the transfer of the Royal Mail Groups pension risk to the government, a strategic investment in modernisation, and the use of a strategic partnership between the Royal Mail and a private sector firm to help bring about the change process. This is clearly indicative of revolutionary change, such that it is no surprise that not only are the forces for and against very strong, but they are equally matched between those desiring changing (management) and those opposing it (employees and their representatives). To effectively manage employee resistance to change at the Royal Mail, a number of solutions can be suggested. In presenting these solutions, it should be emphasized that management at the Royal is required to manage through revolutionary change. Here, the speed of t he change process adds to the impact that the change initial will have on the firm, also creating greater levels of fear, suspicion, uncertainty, and ultimately, resistance. First, effective leadership is a critical component of effectively implementing change that the Royal Mail. According to Bennis and Nanus (2003): The new leader is one who commits people to action, who converts followers into leaders, and who may convert leaders into agents of change (p.3). In this respect, effective leaders are not only visionary in their motives and actions (Nanus, 1992; Collins, 2001), but also they are the ultimate agents of change. Here, emotions play a central role. As Boyatzis and McKee (2005) state: Even if they get everything else just right, if leaders fail in this primal task of driving emotions in the right direction, nothing they do will work as well as it could or should (p.3). This can be especially important during periods of transformational change, and especially the revolutionary change proposed at the Royal Mail. Here, leaders not only need to have personal competence in the form of emotional competences such as transparency, but also social compe tences such as empathy and organizational awareness (social awareness competences), but also conflict management and bond building (relationship management competences) (Goleman et al., 2002). As Boyatzis and McKee (2005) state: Great leaders face the uncertainty of todays world with hope: they inspire through clarity of vision, optimism, and a profound belief in their and their peoples ability to turn dreams into reality. Great leaders face sacrifice, difficulties, and challenges, as well as opportunities, with empathy and compassion for the people they lead and those they serve. Whilst the current predicament for employees is stark, a visionary, inspirational leader will be able to communicate the long-term, optimistic view of the Royal Mail; that is, an organisation where employee pensions will have been secured by the Government, a more efficient work environment and organizational structure that will enable employees to develop through greater investment and innovation by man agement, as well as greater job security for those that remain. Whilst this does nothing to quell the resistance amongst those that believe they will not be chosen to remain, the Independent Review clearly highlights that the change has to happen or the Royal Mail Group will not be able to continue in its current format. Leadership has to emphasize how it can help get the company and its employees through a bad situation in the best possible way. Second, change agents can be particularly effective in helping to overcome employee resistance. The change agent starts out where the strategist left off. They are charged with making change programmes a success at the implementation stage. With information scarcity and poor communication being a central factor causing employee resistance to change, the change agent is an important part of the communication process between management and employees. The use of change agents can have a particularly strong effect because of their impact on relationships. As Tierney (1999) states: Strong relationships between supervisors and employees, and among employees and their team members, is associated with employees perceiving that they work in a context characterised by risk-taking and departure from the status quo, open communication, trust, operational freedom, and employee development, five of the necessary conditions for the emergence of individual and organisational change (p.129). Change a gents therefore play an important role in building a psychological climate that is conductive to change (Schneider and Reichers, 1983; Porras and Hoffer, 1986; Tierney, 1999). As a general rule, internal change agents are no more successful in implementing change than their external counterparts. The appropriateness of choosing one over the other depends on the nature of the change, the change outcome, and specific organizational circumstances. An external change agent may benefit the firm by providing experience and advice based on knowledge developed during other change processes that the firm itself is not privy to. The external change agent is also an appropriate choice where employees do not trust management. Alternately, the internal agent may be more sensitive to and knowledge about local conditions within the firm, helping the agent to communicate in a more appropriate manner. This may help in convincing employees that would not be prepared to listen to external change agent s that have no vested interested in them as individuals (Balogun and Hailey, 2004). In the case of the Royal Mail, the problem is that management and employees have a very bad relationship, with employees having a stronger relationship with their unions. As such, unions may be one of the best potential agents for change, even though these have been one of the biggest problems impeding innovation and change in the past. Finally, it has often been suggested that change management is more successful when a pilot of the proposed change is carried out in order to assess the potential problems that could be faced, enabling the organization to re-engineer how the change process is rolled out (Balogun and Hailey, 2004). However, this would be difficult for the Royal Mail because the change it is facing is revolutionary. Such change provides little time to test out different change scenarios. 8.0 Force field analysis Figure 1 is a force field analysis to illustrate why Royal Mail employees may resist change. This highlights not only how difficult it will be to achieve change without significant employee resistance, but also the reasons why relative tensions exist. The rationale for employee resistance is based on the potential for significant job losses, the loss of union power following a restructuring, and the potential costs and disruption that this may cause to employees and customers. Significant job losses anticipated: The transformational changes made to date, which are slight in comparison to what is needed, have resulted in over 40,000 job losses. The proposed change in the Independent Review would mean a significant number of additional job losses, most of which would happen in the Royal Mail, not the Post Office. With the power of the major unions in the postal sector, such job losses will be met with fierce resistance and most likely some industrial action. As such, it has a 5 rating. Weaker union position because of restructuring: The relationship between the unions and the management at the Royal Mail Group is extremely poor, not only because of the power of the unions and their propensity for industrial action and heavily resisting almost any form of management change, but also because of the ability of unions to take their complaints straight to Minister, circumventing management at the Royal Mail Group. The transformation would break up this arrangement and provide the Royal Mail with the autonomy and commercial confidence it needs, but it would also significantly weaken the position of the unions. 5. Cost and disruption could reduce customer numbers: The Royal Mail is relied upon to process and deliver 99% of the UKs post. The level of transformation required, the loss of staff, the inevitable industrial action that will be taken, and so forth will not only be costly but will also damage the Royal Mails reputation and potentially reduce customer needs. 3. Plan: Strategic partnership  between Royal Mail  and private sector  companies to help  bring about change   Political separation of  Royal Mail Transfer pension risk  to government Separation of Royal  Mail and Post Office Strategic investment  in modernisation Massive pension  deficit needs to  be resolved Structural decline  in major product  markets Inefficient structure  and poor labour  relations Significant jobs  losses anticipated   Weaker union  position because  of restructuring Cost and disruption  could reduce  customers numbers Forces for Change Forces against Change Employee resistance is not only reflected in the forces against change, but also the overall pressure of the forces in each direction. In this case, the score for forces against change is 13 whilst the forces for change also scores 13. Out of a possible score of 15, therefore, not only are there considerable forces against change, but employees are also being heavily resisted by the firm, which is pushing equally strongly for change. This increases the overall levels of employee resistance. 9.0 Securing effective change A professor at Harvard Business School and world-renowned change expert, Kotter introduced his eight-step change process in his 1995 book, Leading Change  (Buchanan et al, 2004). Establish a sense of urgency Form a guiding coalition Create a vision Communicate the vision Empower people to act on the vision Create short term wins Consolidate improvements to produce further change Institutionalize new approaches Other models in management literature include Ulrich (1998) seven-steps, Eccles (1994) four step and Collins (1998) n-step guides, all of which echo the same principles as Kotter, vision, leadership, communication and involvement. (Buchanan et al, 2004) What is imperative to carry out the model effectively is a change leader. Change leaders can be thought of as persons who create enough disconfirmation in the organisation to arouse motivation to change (Bennis, Nanus, 1985). Change leaders should therefore have three characteristics if they are to arouse motivation to change and learn: Credibility whatever they say must be believed Clarity of vision Whatever they say must be clear and make sense Ability to articulate the vision They must be able to state verbally and in writing what it is they perceive and what the implications are for the future of the organization (Schein, 1999). In implementing Kotters (1995) 8 steps to change the Royal Mail can follow these actions. 1. Examine opportunities that should be, or could be, exploited. Identify potential threats, and develop scenarios showing what could happen in the future. Start honest discussions, and give dynamic and convincing reasons to get people talking and thinking. Request support from customers, outside stakeholders and industry people to strengthen the argument 2. Identify the true leaders in the organization.   Ask for an emotional commitment from these key people.   Work on team building within the change coalition.   Check the team for weak areas, and ensure that there is a good mix of people from different departments and different levels within the company. 3. Determine the values that are central to the change.   Develop a short summary that captures what is seen as the future of the organization.   Create a strategy to execute that vision.   Ensure that the change coalition can describe the vision. 4. Communicate the change vision. Openly and honestly address peoples concerns and anxieties. Apply the vision to all aspects of operations from training to performance reviews. Tie everything back to the vision.   Lead by example. 5. Identify, or hire, change leaders whose main roles are to deliver the change.   Look at the organizational structure, job descriptions, and performance and compensation systems to ensure theyre in line with the vision.   Recognize and reward people for making change happen.   Identify people who are resisting the change, and help them see whats needed.   Take action to quickly remove barriers. 6. Look for sure-fire projects that can be implemented without help from any strong critics of the change.  Ã‚   Thoroughly analyze the potential pros and cons of the targets.    Reward the people who help the organization meet the targets. 7. After every win, analyze what went right and what needs improving.   Set goals to continue building on the momentum achieved.   Learn about  kaizen, the idea of continuous improvement.   Keep ideas fresh by bringing in new change agents and leaders for the change coalition. 8. Communicate the progress at every opportunity. Tell success stories about the change process.   Include the change ideals and values when hiring and training new staff. Publicly recognize key members of the original change coalition, and make sure the rest of the staff new and old remembers their contributions.   Create plans to replace key leaders of change as they move on. This will help ensure that their legacy is not lost or forgotten. Conclusion The Royal Mail is in a position where change is a necessity to survive, and it must do so quickly. The organization requires better communication from its leaders to enable a joint commitment of its managers and workforce. To enable this it must separate from political leadership. It is essential that a new change strategy is formulated which fits the circumstances. Progress has been show through the Communication Unions (2010) agreement which will help defuse employee resistance. Basic pay will rise by a minimum of 6.9 per cent   Further payments will accompany the phased introduction of change in the workplace   The CWU will play a full part in the introduction, deployment and review of change   The working week will reduce by one hour with no loss of pay   Royal Mail will remain a 75 per cent full-time industry   Existing job security will be further enhanced   Further steps must now be taken to implement modernisation around the agreement, implementation of Kotters 8 steps of change can solidify plans which will help take Royal Mail into modernisation past the 3 year agreement.

Free Essay on Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia - To Live or not To Live :: Free Euthanasia Essay

To Live or not To Live: The Choice Is Yours "What do we mean when we say 'life'? Do we mean the continued functioning of the body? Of the brain? Or do we mean the continued experience of the human being?" (Pridonoff, pg. 73). Many doctors are now performing what is known as physician-assisted suicide, which is when a doctor sets up a machine, but the patient actually kills him or herself. Whereas, euthanasia is the act of the doctor killing the patient. There are two sides to this issue. One side is whether or not a person should be allowed to end his or her own life. The other side of the question is, "who's decision is it to end a life?" There is a difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia. The choice to have a doctor help end a terminally ill patient's life is the patients decision to make. Many people are opposed to physician-assisted suicide because of their religious beliefs. Traditional Christian beliefs are that assisted suicide violates one's natural desire to live, suicide harms other people, and life is a gift from God and God should be the only one able to take a life from a human being (Robinson, pg.2). However, there are also religious organizations that believe in physician assisted suicide. One of them is the Mainline and Liberal Christian denominations. They are pro- choice for this form of assisted suicide (Robinson, pg.7). Many of these beliefs urge followers to choose life over death, unless life is sustained by a machine (Edelheit, pg.45). Physician-assisted suicide for patients who are in a great amount of pain should not be illegal. The patients live everyday wishing they could die to end their pain. Sigmund Freud was in extraordinary pain from cancer. He whispered to his physician, "This makes no more sense." His doctor then injected him with a dose of morphine that killed him ("Assisted Suicide"). In this instance, it was best to end his life. He was in so much pain that he no longer saw any reason to live. One the other hand, the decision to end one's life should be a difficult decision and not easy to carry out ("Assisted Suicide"). Very few states have banned physician-assisted suicide. As a matter of fact, most states favor physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients who are expected to live less than six months (Cloud and Donnelly, pg.

Buisness and the Recession

How AIG was affected by U. S. recession: AIG is an insurance corporation that is multinational. They have headquarters in New York City, London, Paris, and Hong Kong. In the year 2000, the company held the title for the 29th largest company in the world. Things took a turn for the worse in this company when, in 2008, they suffered from a liquidity crisis and its credit ratings were downgraded below â€Å"AA† level. AIG had to take out a number of down loans and had to sell a number of its subsidiaries to pay them all off. Source: Johnson, Rodney. â€Å"Is AIG a Tipping Point in This Recession? Chief Marketer Home Page. 24 Mar. 2009. Web. 14 May 2012. . How Sallie Mae was affected by U. S. recession: This Company was one of the few companies in business at this time of recession that was affected in a positive way. With more and more companies failing and people losing their jobs, this gives all Americans many more reasons to want to have higher education and provide their chi ldren with higher education. With the need for more education, comes all the extra costs, and with more and more people without jobs, there is a great increase in needing loans.That is exactly what this company’s strategy was and they took full advantage of the opportunity to give student loans to students across the country hoping for a successful future. Source: â€Å"Sallie Mae. † Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2012. Web. 14 May 2012. . How Lehman brothers was affected by U. S. recession: the Lehman brothers crisis first began when Britain’s biggest mortgage lender crashed 34 percent in early trading. Next, billions of dollars were wiped out when the FTSE fell below 4000 and it seemed to be all downhill from there.Within the next month following the Lehman Brothers crash, Bank of America took over Merrill Lynch and Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac practically fell apart. Source: Gamm, Scott. â€Å"Three Years Ago: Lehman Brothers Collapse d. † How to Save Money, Reduce Debt and Manage Credit Cards. 15 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 May 2012. . Government action: In response to the economies recession the government took a number of actions. Programs were put in place called automatic stabilizers that would increase spending or cut taxes to whoever was impacted by the ecession, without new legislation. Actions were taken by the Federal Government in support of the housing and financial markets, increases in discretionary spending, and the passing of stimulus bills. Source: Romer, Christina D. â€Å"From Recession to Recovery: The Economic Crisis, the Policy Response, and the Challenges We Face Going Forward. † The White House. White House, 22 Oct. 2009. Web. 14 May 2012. . Do you feel any of the companies played a role in creating the current recession or their own financial hardships?Do you feel they should have been more prepared to overcome financial hardships? Why or why not? I think for the most part, companies did the best they could to avoid recession, but when it comes to creating their own financial hardships, taking out multiple loans did not help any of the companies at all. I do agree that yes, they should have been more prepared to overcome the financial hardships and have more options instead of putting themselves further into debt. Should the government get involved in â€Å"bailing out† major U.S. corporations? Why or why not? If the government can be of any help that doesn’t push themselves or the company into further damage then I don’t believe there is any reason not to. Should companies be required to pay the government back? Yes absolutely. The governments money comes from us, the citizens and it is not fair that we would have to be paying off someone’s financial burdens without the government being paid back, because then we would be having to give more money when we may have financial burdens of our own.

Free Essays on Cant Say

I can’t say when I look into your eyes. Maybe you’ll reject me and shatter all my pride. Each day my love grows stronger but I won’t let you know. There’s way to much behind my smile that I can never show. I’d hold you for a lifetime if you would just take my hand. I’d love you like no other but I don’t think you understand. Every time I see you you’re holding onto him. The pain cuts like a dagger making wounds that never heal. So I’ll dream of us together- of how it could be. And I will keep the secret love you could have with me.... Free Essays on Cant Say Free Essays on Cant Say There’s so many words I can’t say when I look into your eyes. Maybe you’ll reject me and shatter all my pride. Each day my love grows stronger but I won’t let you know. There’s way to much behind my smile that I can never show. I’d hold you for a lifetime if you would just take my hand. I’d love you like no other but I don’t think you understand. Every time I see you you’re holding onto him. The pain cuts like a dagger making wounds that never heal. So I’ll dream of us together- of how it could be. And I will keep the secret love you could have with me....

Voice in Writing 77 Questions to Find Yours

Voice in Writing 77 Questions to Find Yours Voice in Writing: 77 Questions to Find Yours Finding your unique voice in writing can be so tricky. Have you ever thought, Why do I seem to become more boring the longer I write?Or, maybe youre thinking, Why do I struggle to write when I can talk to people so easily about the same subject?Sometimes, there’s a disconnect between how we want to say something and how it actually sounds.Our voice as a writer can get lost, tainted, or may just be inconsistent.The way to combat this is found in a two-part solution:Create an avatar.Write to that avatar.What Is An Avatar?To a writer, an avatar is a composite of characteristics of people that you want as your ideal readers. This person should have a name, a picture, a specific demographic, and other detailed qualities. Once you can easily hold a picture of who this person is in your mind’s eye, you can develop your writer’s voice by writing to your avatar.When you hold your avatar in mind, you’re able to write as if youre having a conversation. This allows yo u to be more authentic, more helpful, and it enables you to connect with your reader which will in turn help you to sell more books.If your readers are the right readers (the people that your avatar represented), they will think as they read your book, Oh my goodness, this book was written exactly for me!How Do I Create An Avatar?A good first step is to think, Who is one person in my life that this book would help the most?If there is someone that you think fits the bill exactly, then voila! Write the book for that person.Chandler Bolt, founder of Self-Publishing School, even suggests starting each chapter off by addressing your avatar.For example, if your avatars name is Sharon, you could start each chapter by saying, Dear Sharon. Later, in your editing process, you can delete that initial greeting.Chandler says, What youll find is that when youre struggling with your voice and youre not sure what to say, youll just come back to, What would [name of avatar] want to hear right now? What story would most resonate with them? How could I write the next portion of my book in a language that would resonate the most to [name of avatar]?'You will write faster, you will write easier, and you will write books that your readers crave.Is an Avatar Necessary?Some people may opt for a slew of statistics that represent the general demographic of their reader instead of an avatar. But basing your writing voice off of a generic understanding of your ideal reader will result in a generic portrayal of your message.And, with a generic message, your audience will be too broad. As its been said, When your audience is everyone, your audience is no one.But I Dont Have An Avatar!If you dont know someone that perfectly embodies your avatar, don’t stress!Here are 77 questions that you can answer to flesh out your avatar, and in turn, solidify your voice as a writer.Determine Your Avatars DemographicsWhat is your avatars name?What is your avatars age?What is your avatars gender? What is the marital status of your avatar?How many children does your avatar have?What are the ages of your avatars children?What is your avatars occupation?What is their job title?How many years have they been in their current position?What is your avatars annual income?How many jobs have they held throughout their career?What is your avatars level of education?Where did they attend school?What type of experience did they have at school?Who were their friends at school?What are your avatars political views?What are your avatars religious views?It is even important that you define your avatars physical characteristics. This means that you should even have a picture of your avatar!You can easily find a picture on the internet to find an image that captures the look of your created avatar.What is your avatar’s hair color?What is your avatar’s eye color?What is your avatar’s weight?What is your avatar’s height?What does their facial expressions look like whe n theyre frustrated? Tired? Confused? Happy? Surprised? Taken off-guard?Determine Your Avatars PersonalityDescribe your avatars personality at home, at work, and in other social situations. (If youre stuck, consider the questions, What makes your avatar anxious? Does your avatar feel secure in social situations? Does your avatar crave attention or try to avoid it? Does your avatar feel accepted in their relationships?)If you could tell your avatar anything, and you knew that they would not only hear you, but apply what youve said, how would you instruct them?What are exact quotes that your avatar would say? (If you are unsure of this, simply watch people- whether personal friends or other online presences- and observe how they speak. What do their Facebook comments look like, their Amazon book reviews, etc.?)What thoughts keep your avatar awake at night?What does your avatar’s typical social environment look like?How does their culture influence their personality and decision s?What things does your avatar feel like they have control over?What things does your avatar feel like are out of their reach?What does your avatar worry about?Who does your avatar celebrate?Has your avatars life lived up to their expectations?Determine Your Avatars Hobbies and InterestsWhat type of music does your avatar listen to?How often does your avatar listen to music?Does he or she like sports? Do they enjoy watching? Playing?Is your avatar interested in art?Where does your avatar want to travel?Where has your avatar already traveled?What does your avatar stay up-to-date on?What are your avatars favorite clothing brands?Determine Your Avatars Goals and ValuesWhat does your avatar want to accomplish this week? This year? Before they die?What is your avatars process for working towards those goals?What is your avatar committed to (values)?In what ways does your avatar wish to improve their family situation?What would your avatar pay almost anything for?Determine Your Avatars Ch allenges and Pain PointsWhat challenges is your avatar currently facing?What causes your avatar pain?What is the worst thing that could happen to your avatar if their problem (that you are solving in your book) wasnt solved?How would this make them feel?What is your avatar afraid of?What does your avatar dislike about their current situation?Determine Where Your Avatar Spends TimeWhere does your avatar hang out (physical locations)?Where does your avatar spend time on the internet?What books does your avatar read? Digital Marketer, an online business that specializes in internet marketing, suggests that you answer the question, My ideal [reader] would read [book name], but no one else would. By determining a book that your avatar would read, but no one else would, you are able to understand the personality and buying traits of your avatar even more.What magazines does your avatar read?What blogs and websites does your avatar read and spend time on?Does your avatar use Twitter? Why?D oes your avatar use Facebook? Why?Does your avatar use LinkedIn? Why?What other social media platforms does your avatar use? Why?How much time does your avatar spend online?What conferences does your avatar attend?Who does your avatar consider gurus or experts?What types of technology does your avatar use (what type of phone, computer, television, etc.)?What does your avatar think of themselves?What does your avatars friends think about them?What does your avatars family think about them?Determine Objections Your Avatar Might Have To Your Book/MessageWhat possible objections might your avatar have to your book/message?Why would your avatar choose not to buy your book?What is your avatars ability to purchase products from you?How does your avatar perceive products similar to yours?Determine What Your Avatars Experience With Your Book Should BeWhat did your avatar do before reading your book?What will your avatar think while reading your book?What is your avatar trying to accomplish b y reading your book?What will your avatar do after reading your book?What will make your avatar come back to your book?Steps to Find Your Voice in WritingTo create your avatar, something that will greatly enhance your voice as a writer and your all-around ability to sell to and connect with your readers, do the following:Answer the questions above.Based on the information you gather, write a story about your avatar. Transform the facts into a short narrative about this persons life.Write your book to this person and watch your writing voice become more consistent and powerful.Knowing who you are writing for not only influences future blog posts, sales copy, email marketing, and paid traffic advertising, it also helps you write your book.

Political, Fiscal and Programmatic Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Political, Fiscal and Programmatic Power - Essay Example National Governments assumed more and more power and the original spirit of the federalism under which states had a role too diminished. Though the federalism emerged as a concept of sharing the powers of the states and the national government however, the power naturally shifted towards the national government. Though this may be considered as good however, states being the laboratories for democracy tend to have their own role too. The founding fathers of the country established this mechanism of governance in order to control the overlapping of powers between different organs of the State however, the power ultimately shifted. Over the period of time, powers such as fiscal, political as well as programmatic have been largely in the hands of national government. This paper will therefore discuss as to whether these powers should be shifted towards the states or not in order to streamline the powers between national governments and states. Federalism in US It is argued that the fede ralism emerged out of a political necessity and it was established in order to consolidate the different states under one national government. One of the plausible explanations of the federalism was actually to prevent the rise of the power holders and balance the powers between different power holders. ... (Gerston, 2007) Theoretically, a federal system is based upon a system in which the overall power and authority is shared between a central government at the national level and different sub-governments. This very characteristics of dividing the power between different players actually limits the authority and also preserve the representative democracy. As such , federalism blends both the centralized as well as de-centralized political systems thus creating a fusion of governance mechanism which can ensure transparency and balance. Historically, however, except the general assignments as outlined specifically within US constitution, there has been a critical struggle between the national governments and states to maintain the powers between themselves. The overlapping of powers, roles and responsibilities between states and national government therefore requires critical insight and exploration into the practical nature of the federalism and whether it has achieved its objectives or not. The era from great depression to at least 1980s, even the apex court of the country gave decisions based on entrusting greater powers to the national government under the impression that strong central government is necessary for ensuring fiscal stability within the country. States and National Government National Government, in US, evolved as a result of creating a policy making entity at the top. As such the laws passed by the Congress almost touched every aspect of human life. This approach towards law making and the historical tendency of the Congressmen to pass laws with uniform policy implications for the social sphere of life at least have been historically on rise. Right from

Strategic Analysis Report on a company Research Paper

Strategic Analysis Report on a company - Research Paper Example The criteria on which these initiatives are based can be differentiated under the influence of the internal and the external organizational environment. Current paper focuses on the strategic positioning and decisions of a specific company: Macquarie Group, a leading Australian bank. The firm has managed to keep its competitiveness despite the pressures of the global economic crisis. The examination of the firm’s environment but also of its strategies led to the conclusion that the company’s growth has been mainly based on the continuous update of its strategic decisions and the close monitoring of its strategies’ development. It is concluded that through the above strategies the firm has achieved the continuous increase of its competitiveness towards its rivals in the Australian and the international banking industry. 1. Introduction Banks have a key role in the development of Australian economy; in fact, in accordance with a report of the Australian Bankersâ₠¬â„¢ Association, in Australia banks are ‘the third largest contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product’ (Australian Bankers’ Association, 2011). It is for this reason, that in these institutions, ‘the staff enjoy excellent pay and flexible workplaces’ (Australian Bankers’ Association, 2011). ... has been kept high mostly because of the support offered by the country’s banking industry – the shares of which achieved a high increase (Banking Industry Today, 2011). In order to minimize the potential threats from the global crisis, the Australian government has announced in December its intentions to support the specific industry in case that such need emerges (Bloomberg, 2011). Moreover, in the report published in June 2010 by ‘Austrade’s Financial Services division’ (GovMonitor, 2010) it is noted that banking industry in Australia is facing a significant growth while ‘its collective financial wealth is predicted to surpass that of North America by 2013 and be worth US$13.5 trillion, accounting for 28 per cent of the world’s total’ (GovMonitor). 2. Macquarie Group - Overview Macquarie Group is one of the leading firms in the Australian banking industry; the firm was first established in 1970; currently, it operates in about 28 countries and the number of its employees has been estimated to ‘14,600 people’ (Careers, in the firm’s website, 2011). The alignment of the firm’s strategies with the business ethics and values is ensured and controlled through a detailed code of conduct; moreover, the monitoring of organization’s operations has been delegated to specific groups of persons, ensuring that all business practices follow the principles described in the firm’s corporate governance statement and its Goals and Values statement; the latter emphasizes on the promotion of six principles/ values through the organizational activities: ‘a) integrity, b) client commitment, c) strive for profitability, d) fulfillment for our people, e) teamwork and f) high standards’ (Goals and Values, in the firm’s website, 2011). The firm’s key

Satoro Tanaka and Mrs. Hitara Importance in David Masumoto's and Pico Essay

Satoro Tanaka and Mrs. Hitara Importance in David Masumoto's and Pico Iyer's and Texts - Essay Example In Harvest Son Masumoto mentions how his interaction with a buckwheat farmer Satoro Tanaka comes to affect him profoundly, and how he develops a fondness for the farmer. Pico Iyer is a British-born, American-raised eminent writer of Indian descent who decided to settle in Japan. His essay â€Å"Our Lady of Lawson† is about his experiences in Japan as a foreigner who refuses to succumb to the pressure to indulge in native Japanese food. He talks about a convenience store he frequently visited and the effect it had on him, especially the interaction between him and the convenience store manager, Mrs. Hirata. The two stories therefore share the common theme of two foreigners analyzing two different characters in Japan. Discussion In Harvest Son, Masumoto forms a close attachment to a local buckwheat farm and its farmer, Satoro Tanaka, while in Eat, Memory: Our Lady of Lawson, Pico Iyer experiences the same emotional attachment to a local convenience store, Lawson’s, and it s proprietor, Mrs. Hirata. Several similar themes run through both of these narratives, starting from the similarities between both authors. First and most important, both Masumoto and Iyer can be considered as â€Å"wild† children, belonging everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Masumoto is a Japanese-American while Iyer was born in England but has been raised in the United States of America. Masumoto has journeyed back to the land of his ancestors to reconnect with their native heritage while Iyer has chosen Japan as his country of settlement. They are considered, as Masumoto puts it, â€Å"strangers†. Iyer writes of the sense of alienation due to something as basic as his entrenched American eating habits and lack of love for Japanese food; â€Å"my housemates in Japan simply shrug and see this as ultimate confirmation -- me dragging at some lasagna in a plastic box while they gobble down dried fish -- that I belong to an alien species† (Iyer, pg.1). His l ove of the convenience store further serves to solidify his characterization as an outsider who refuses to fit in, even though he insists that his love for Japan is real and on a deeper level. Having lived in the country for 12 years, he should still not be typecast as an alien, yet somehow, he still is. This he attributes mostly to his refusal to conform to Japanese food and his standing firmly by convenience-store meals. It can therefore be said of both of them that they are attempting to fit into their homeland’s culture, and understand and identify with their people. Masumoto identifies with Satoro Tanaka’s buckwheat farming while Iyer points out the specific attributes and values he considers â€Å"Japanese†: It's no easier to understand Japan in Western terms than it is to eat noodles with a knife and fork. Yet it has been evident to me for some time that the crush of the anonymous world lies out in the temple-filled streets; the heart of the familiarity, the communal sense of neighborhood, the simple kindness that brought me to Japan, lies in the convenience store.(Iyer, pg.2). The convenience store, and specifically, Mrs. Hitara, or Hitara-San, as Iyer refers to her in formal Japanese, comes to embody these values: And yet, in the 12 years I've lived on and off in my mock-California suburb, the one person who has come to embody for me all

Three Signs of a Miserable Job Essay Example for Free

Three Signs of a Miserable Job Essay In his book entitled, â€Å"Three Signs of a Miserable Job,† Patrick Lencioni discusses job satisfaction by defining or rather, identifying the signs of a miserable job. According to the author there are stark differences between a job that is simply just â€Å"bad† from one that is â€Å"miserable.† The author uses many different examples throughout the book to stress his point and at the end is able to show that having a â€Å"miserable† job is not something that always has to be a problem. Patrick Lencioni addresses this issue by showing that there are many different methods of dealing with work related stress. In previous centuries the jobs available to a particular person were often predetermined by the occupation of that persons parent, in the recent years, however, more and more studies have come out showing the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. The reason behind this is that it has been shown in the Hawthorne Studies that individuals are willing to work for other benefits or factors besides pay or compensation. This led to more research as to what other factors may prompt an individual to perform work and thus led to the study of the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. This, according to the author, is the main source of job dissatisfaction. The relevance of this lies in the effect that a miserable job has upon a person. According to Lencioni, a miserable job can not only demoralize a person but it can also lead to frustrations that are brought in out of work forums. This leads to disastrous results not only in the industry but to society as well. The main cause of the problem lies with most of the members of management. As shown in a survey that the author cites, the main cause for job dissatisfaction that worker turnover is the boss. The key in dealing with the problem is in identifying what the signs of job misery are and if they are present. According to Lencioni, anonymity, irrelevance and immeasurement are the typical signs that a person is miserable with his job. The presence of these factors shows that the employee is not only miserable but they also signify that an employee is more likely to leave his current job or exhibit more work disruptive attitudes. The first sign, anonymity, is essential because it has to do with the value of the employee. Every employee, according to Lencioni, who does not feel like he or she is making a valuable contribution to work often, feels miserable. As previously mentioned, the rewards at work are not only financial but otherwise. Job satisfaction depends not only on the payment but also the intangible rewards such as being recognized. When the employee feels that the manages does not have any interest in them, their productivity decreases and they feel miserable in work. Another sign is irrelevance. This means that the employee acts as if anything that he or she contributes is useless. This feeling of futility greatly demoralizes the employee and also leads to dissatisfaction at work. The negative effect is that it can spill over to the rest of the group and negatively impact workplace productivity. The last sign is immeasurement which is the lack of ability of workers to gauge their success at work. Most employees have the need to assess just how much they have accomplished. Without this, the employee feels as if they are stuck in the â€Å"twilight zone† with no hope in sight. It is important therefore for the employee to see the progress that he or she has accomplished. The remedy, according to the author, lies in establishing good communication between the employee and the manager. Oftentimes, this problem is caused by lack of or total absence of communication. Therefore, in order to prevent this problem, the employee must strive to communicate to the manager his or her concerns before it becomes a huge problem that can no longer be remedied.