Was Hamlet Insane Essays - Characters In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet

Was Hamlet Insane? Hamlet was a man hardy, courageous, and worthy of eternal commendation, who arming himself with a crafty, dissembling, and strange show of being distract out of his wits, under that pretense deceived the wise, politick, and crafty, thereby not only preserving his life from the treasons and wicked practices of the tyrant, but by and new and unexpected kind of punishment revenged his fathers death many years after the act committed: in such sort tat directing his courses with such prudence, and effecting his purposes with so great boldness and constancy, he left a judgment to be decided among men of wisdom, which was more commendable in him, his constancy or magnanimity, or his wisdom, in ordering his affairs according to the premeditated determination he had conceived. Bibliography understand Hamlet Shakespeare

Jahind Davis 7-4 Essays (1342 words) - Boxing, Sports, Free Essays

Jahind Davis 7-4 Essays (1342 words) - Boxing, Sports, Free Essays Jahind Davis 7-4 March 6th.2017 Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) [pic] Born to Cassius Clay Sr. and Odessa Grady Clay on January 17th , 1942, Louisville Kentucky Muhammad Ali became one of the most influential black sports figure in history. During his early childhood he endured one specific event in which, in 1953 the red & white Schwinn was stolen. He quoted that ,"I'm gonna whup whoever stole my bike. So naturally he went and reported it to fellow police officer,Joe martin. Luckily enough on it's own it had sparked an idea for Joe Martin to undergo teaching him how to box for a total of 6 years.After graduating Louisville Central High school in 1958, 376 out of 391 his compassion of boxing became even more noticeable. After that the sessions went on, and Joe had noticed his admiration for it so it had pulled more of his work ethic and determination along with his Amateur tittles. So he fought all the way to the 1960 Olympics. Where from there had shot him to the greatest match yet. His first professional match, so in October 29th,1960 he played his first match against Tunney Hunsaker So Ali's reaching of 178 cm a rather fierce intimidating figure had became a deterrent. After a egregious bloodied 6 round match Ali won in an unanimous decision. Outside the ring he was vocal about some of his views and opinions on some of the current problems facing the majority of blacks or African Americans at the time being. Albeit he didn't experience the same problems to a draconian degree that most Blacks suffered, but he found a way to do so through using his popularity. He stated that "I know i got it made while other black folks are out there catching hell, but as long as they ain't free, i ain't free." Also to embellish on this statement in 1964 he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, Muhammad meaning "The one worthy of praise." He further stated that he changed it because it was a slave name. Which of course at the time influence blacks to do things to lessen the oppression by whites at the time. Along with this he joined The NOI or Nation Of Islam, a religious following that fuses Black Nationalism and Sunni part of Islam. So on May 25,1965 Ali had won a bout to the beforehand unbeatable at the time to Sonny Liston(1930-1972), so during that match Ali had won dominantly towards the 6th round carrying on to the 7th round. So after that he had won the title of World Heavyweight Champion. Outside the ring he done something that had put everything including his career on the line. But before here is a time line of the military and him. In 1964 Ali had failed the USAF qualifying test because he wasn't versatile with reading and writing. So with the rising of the infamous Vietnam War(1959-1975),the government needed more soldiers to use for battle so test standards were lowered so more people who weren't educated which was 2.4 percent based on the NAAL (National Association of Adult Literacy) allowed for Ali to be qualified again. So in 1965 that caused for Ali to be reclassified as an 1-A in February of 1966. This casted a new status, eligiable to be drafted and an inducted into the United States Armed Forces. Of course his teachings at the NOI meetings had really taught him a lot about the world around him.. So when he was alerted by this he stood his ground and declared he wasn't going to serve in the army. He stated that he was taught by the honorable Elijah Muhammad(October 7th,1987-February 25th,1875) that,"War is against the teachings of the holy Qu'ran.I'm not trying to dodge the draft.We are not supposed to take part in no war execpt for when Allah or The messenger. We dont take part in Christian wars or any unbelievers." Also he stated in an interview that,"My concious wont let me go shoot my brother or some darker people or some poor hungry people who live in the mud for big powerful America and for what?!, They never called me a nigger or

Rise of the Church of England essays

Rise of the Church of England essays The Church of England was formed by King Henry III for political reasons and not religious. One of the reasons Henry VIII changed the religion in his country is because he wanted a son and since he believed his wife could no longer have children he wanted a divorce from her. Henry called Parliament into session and asked it to pass laws that would end the popes power in England and thus be able to divorce his wife. Parliament voted and approved The Act of Supremacy. All of this was brought about because of Henrys desire to have a son. Henry wanted to have a son even though he already had a daughter, Mary, from his wife Catherine. However, he wanted a son to inherit the throne because he knew that no woman had ever successfully claimed the English throne. He desperately wanted to divorce is 42 year old wife, Catherine, because he believed that she would no longer have children and be able to give him a son. He wanted to divorce her and marry someone younger who could produce a son. Henry asked the Pope to annul his marriage but the Pope refused because Church law forbade divorce. Henry then sought to take matters into his hands. Henry decided to solve the problem by himself. He called Parliament into session and asked it to pass laws that would end the Popes power in England. The Parliament session during this time (1529 to 1534) came to be known as the Reformation Parliament. In 1533, Henry secretly married Anne Boleyn, who was in her early twenties. Parliament legalized the divorce from Catherine. These events lead to the Act of Supremacy which made the King, not Pope, the official head of Englands Church. The Act of Supremacy made the King the head of Englands Church. This allowed King Henry the freedom to do basically what he wanted. Henrys marriage to Anne Boleyn did not produce the son he so much wanted but a daughter, Elizabeth. This caused Anne Boleyn to fall out of He...

How to Become a Health Information Technician

How to Become a Health Information Technician It used to be that when you’d walk into a doctor’s office, behind the desk there’d be shelves and shelves of bulky patient files, organized alphabetically with neat color-coded tabs. The busier the office, the bigger and more packed those rows of shelves would be. As we move toward a more digital life in general, medical records are following suit- healthcare providers and hospitals are moving patient data off the shelves and into secure databases. These changes call for health information technicians who manage the transition to electronic medical records and maintain the crucial information on a daily basis. Day-to-Day of the JobHealth information technicians organize, analyze, and maintain patient health information on an ongoing basis. This includes patient background information, information about in-office procedures and tests, and treatment plans. The health information technician is responsible for updating and coding this information in different systems , often using different medical vocabularies and classification systems to make sure that the information is everywhere it needs to be accessible to doctors, nurses, other medical professionals as appropriate, and billing systems. Above all, this info needs to be accurate and secure. (If your personal motto is, â€Å"close enough,† then this career path may not be for you.)This administrative position is typically a 9-to-5 kind of job, with potential overtime in some cases (especially in hospitals or urgent care centers). Health information technicians usually work in hospitals or medical practices, healthcare agencies, and a variety of medical office settings.Job RequirementsThis job typically requires a high school degree at minimum, with an associate’s degree preferred in many cases. Many health information professionals opt for certifications such as the Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) and Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA), which bo th require passing a national exam. Certification requirements can depend on location, so be sure to read up on your own state’s rules.Skills You’ll NeedBeing a health information technician pulls a number of different skills together, such as strong organizational skills, technical savvy, and the ability to handle confidential data. Attention to detail is essential, as incorrect information can have major consequences for patient healthcare. A background in information technology can be helpful, as is basic knowledge of finance or medical billing. Also, medical environments are often hectic and fast-paced, so candidates should be prepared to work in a variety of conditions.Pay to ExpectPer the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median salary of health information technicians is $35,900.The OutlookHealthcare careers are undoubtedly hot right now. The BLS expects that the demand for health information technicians will grow by 15% by 2022, which is much faster th an average. As more and more medical offices make the switch to digital records, this particular area will be one of the biggest growth areas in the medical administration world.

Data Analysis Methods and Tools Research Proposal

Data Analysis Methods and Tools - Research Proposal Example On the other hand, lower morals would lead to lower level of employee satisfaction from the job and thus negatively influence the performance of the organization as well. For this reason, the management of the businesses keeps a critical sight on the performance of each individual employee in order to identify the contribution that each employee is making towards achieving organizational goals and objectives. For this reason, the author of the proposed research work will try to identify and understand the effect of performance appraisal systems on motivating and retaining strategies of the organizations (Seldon, Ingraham, & Jacobson, 2001). In the literature reviewed for this research work, the researcher has identified the true meanings of job satisfaction. While elaborating on the concept of job satisfaction, a number of researchers has agreed that it is actually the addiction or fondness that employees inherit from the working environment within the organization, and those elements at work place which motivates employees to show commitment with the organization (Thompson & Phua, 2012; Maslow, 1943; Herzberg, 1966; Vroom, 1964; Adams & Freedman, 1976; Malik et al., 2010). For this purpose, businesses have identified appraising employees’ performance as an essential tool to provide them utter support and appraise their contribution in organizations’ progress and growth (Anthony et al., 1996; Schneier et al., 1991). While the employees are satisfied from their employer and working condition, their attitude towards job is positive and motivates them to put extra efforts in their work, so that they can rece ive greater benefits by the employer (Karimi, Malik, & Hussain, 2011). As for the proposed research work, these views and ideas of past researchers will be used by the author of this research proposal, to identify the relationship between performance appraisal system, motivation of employees

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 327

Assignment Example ers will have a problem if they knew that the state or local government collecting political action money for the union since they will not be able to identify any fund that belong to the state and used by the local government. There is no basis in which in which the taxpayers will use to reduce the challenge (Law and Ian, 241). The funds that the state uses to support the union will not be easily identified in regard to money that is collected from the union. Distinguishing between state employees and local government employees will also be a problem. Basis for Supreme Court ruling in favor of the state was due to argument of the state that a political subdivision is a subordinate unit of the government and this could allow the state to perform delegated functions of the government (Law and Ian, 67). The local government is seen to have no privilege under the federal constitution and the state thought it could not involve in collecting political money. It is also not clear whether the state allocates funding used in the local

Zara Clothing - Available Strategic Options and Methods of Essay

Zara Clothing - Available Strategic Options and Methods of Implementation - Essay Example The paper describes the key organizational strategy of the company which revolves around responding swiftly to customer demands. Zara identifies trends and delivers products to customers through its proficient value chain model as well as its autonomously planned structure. This model of business has been quite effortlessly maintained; causing the company’s executives to disregard any thoughts of change for the near future. Moreover, one of Zara’s biggest problems is in updating its approaches towards online sales. Upgrading the current system will contribute towards increasing the networking as well as functionality abilities of the fashion house. This will bring about additional improvements to Zara’s operational functions such as improved inventory replenishment and customer demand forecasting. Investing in new technology will provide Zara with the capacity to be a trend-setter in the fashion industry. A new and technologically improved system would permit rea l-time inventory management. This would contribute to the enhancement of the service level and increase the cross-selling functions between stores, thus giving better service to the targeted consumers. Zara’s other major challenge lies in containing its huge maintenance expenses. The main challenge that the firm may have to face in adapting to a technologically improved system would be in purchasing a readymade system or creating it. As the need for the new system is not immediate, creating an in-house system may be the financially responsible option. However, due to the lack of present workers who are skilled in this subject, purchasing the necessary software is the ideal

Business report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business report - Essay Example Suppose opportunities are available to the organization and within your control then they can be classified as strengths. If potential threats are identified as soon as possible then they can be proactively dealt with since being informed is a kin to being forearmed. The current Rocked product line evoked interest among potential buyers in our survey and in the focus group although the current price is rather exaggerated. The major disadvantage that comes with this is that it discourages customers from going for the rocked product. The focus group also gave us insight into changes that might make the product more attractive to potential buyers. The most prioritized concern that needs to be addressed is the high cost. For recommendation, the product should be completely redesigned and should focus on only selling bracelets until the company expands its product line. The redesign serves to resolve issues found in primary research, while still maintaining the titanium performance aspect that has defined the target from conception. The product is currently jewelry that falls into the high-end jewelry market though we believe after hearing from the focus group that if the product is supposed to have some connection to physical activity it should not have the appearance of a high-end product. The bracelet should simply be a band of .5 millimeter knitting cord with a stone pendent that is held by 2 titanium hands. This new product design would address many of the problems of the current product and most importantly, it should be much cheaper to produce hence less production costs. A single strand of nylon, a cheap colored stone, and the two titanium hands will have much lower material costs along with lower labor costs. Besides, it will also create a lighter product that can be worn at all times. Lighter weight eliminates a degree of worry for those clients who are looking for jewelry that can be

Letter to the Editor Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Letter to the Editor - Assignment Example ting from graffiti are that the value of the property declines and retail sales decreases as persistent cleanups and re-painting ruin the structure and erodes material from the walls, beside, graffiti triggers the impression of menace and reinforce the trepidation of gang ventures. Furthermore, this activity grant to lost earnings linked with minimized ridership. These obstacles were directly associated with graffiti, the indirect hurdles that arises as a result of this activity includes shoplifting for graffiti materials; here the acquisition of product is on the expense of the shop owner, secondly graffiti done by gangs are parallel to speaking volumes about their activities and intention and creates fear among the settlers in the vicinity, for usually texts such as ‘you’re next’ or ‘I am back’ convey threats. Likewise, terror is kindled in the people by painting pictures of destruction such as fire flames, broken house, dead bodies and destroyed cars or other vehicles. In order to maintain some peace and harmony in the society, solutions needed to be presented for such activity. As far as my opinion matters, I think that there are few solution that if applied can be productive. For a start, create awareness among the locales and students about the negative impacts of graffiti and how it is related to high cost through and educating them through a campaign. Furthermore, applying eradication where paintings or marks are removed quickly and efficiently so that the vandals does not repeat the act and get the message that the people care about their society and their irrational act will not be tolerated. Moreover, residents should keep record of occurrence of graffiti and should inform authorities about this activity so that the vandals are caught sooner. Similarly, make shop owners to not sell graffiti materials to students or doubtful people in order to restrain these marking and etching. Likewise, install bright light, especially in those areas wher e

Mercedes Benz of U.S.A “The Best or Nothing”- Mercedes Benz Essay Example for Free

Mercedes Benz of U.S.A â€Å"The Best or Nothing†- Mercedes Benz Essay Mercedes Benz is one of the most recognizable names in the world. If you mention car, luxury, dependable, performance and â€Å"The Best or Nothing†, the first name it comes on your mind is Mercedes Benz. History of Mercedes Benz is the greatest out there, but I am going to focus on the Mercedes Benz USA, also known as MBUSA. MBUSA is a division responsible for distribution and marketing of Mercedes Benz products in the U. S. The headquarters of MBUSA are in Montvale, New Jersey. There are two dealership locations of MBUSA in northeast Ohio, one in Willoughby and the other one in Bedford. Also included in their division are Maybach, Smart and Sprinter. Although founded in 1965, MBUSA started importing Mercedes Benz in 1952, and the iconic car that started it all was 300SL Gullwing. It was founded under Max Hoffman; the current CEO of MBUSA is Steve Cannon. Other key personnel at MBUSA are Harald Henn CFO and VP, Inigo Mazquiaran GM of Corporate Finance and Joachim Schmidt Executive Vice President of Sales Marketing for Mercedes-Benz. Over the following years, MBUSA grew into a nationwide organization, now employing over 1500 people. The company also has 356 associated dealerships that employ 21,500 people themselves. MBUSA operates in the Car Dealership industry, in the distribution and marketing division of car sales industry to be more specific. With 305,072 passenger vehicles sold in the U. S. in 2012. SWOT Analysis Strengths: 1. Mercedes Benz has a strong brand value and global leader in premium cars 2. Leader in innovation i. e. 1st to introduce diesel engines, fuel injection and anti-locking brakes Weaknesses: 1. High maintenance cost of Mercedes Benz car 2. High prices compared to competition Opportunities: 1. Developing hybrid cars and fuel efficient cars for the future 2. Fast growing luxury automobile market increased income Threats: 1. Ever increasing fuel prices 2. Intense competition from global automobile brands

Challenges to the LEGO Group

Challenges to the LEGO Group In the recent times worldwide economy has become highly volatile and was vulnerable to a multitude issues. One such example is the latest financial crisis. Such volatility creates a variety of challenges to small and large enterprises around the globe. One of the biggest challenges for manufacturing companies is to deal with rapidly increasing globalization and competition. The solutions require the development of agile and rapid supply networks in order to cut costs and meet demand. Producers are becoming more aware of supply chain management. This awareness shifts the focus from internal logistics efficiency to the external network of relationships between various parties in the supply chain. The well-known Danish toy manufacturer LEGO has not been insusceptible to these changes. LEGO has faced major challenges, which required drastic changes within the organization. This included a transformation of the companys supply chain management system. LEGO Group had to deal with probably the most significant financial crisis since the company was founded in 1932. LEGOs crisis was not clearly visible from the outside. In fact LEGO had maintained brand recognition. This earned them the title Toy of the Century from the British Association of Toy Retailers and Fortune magazine. LEGO was the fourth largest toy manufacturer in the word and had sold US$1.35 billion worth of toys in 2004. In spite of this success, the company was losing money since 1998. LEGO had various internal operational issues. This included a complex and ineffective supply chain, which at one stage consisted of 11,000 contractors. In an attempt to address this problem, in 2004 LEGO board of directors set a goal t o cut 20 percent of logistic costs. This resulted in the risky decision to outsource a major part of the production to Flextronics, a Singaporean electronics manufacturing services provider. LEGO also established a single distribution center in the Czech Republic operated by DHL. (M. M. Larsen, T. Pedersen, D. Slepniov 2010; K. Oliver, E. Samakh, P. Heckmann 2007; J. A. Cooke 2009) Such a risky decision involved a long-term relationship with Flextronics that was not without challenges. In this research paper an overview of challenges and solutions of the case company LEGO Group will be presented. The main focus will be on LEGOs supply chain management system transformation, which was a major step towards success. The following research questions will serve as guidelines for this paper: What challenges did LEGO Group face and what decisions were made to address those problems? How did Supply Chain Management transformation helped to deal with these issues? In this paper we will first explore the Supply Chain Management (SCM) concepts. Next the case company LEGO Group will be introduced. We will then present overview of the challenges that LEGO Group has faced. The focus of this paper will be the SCM decisions that were made to deal with these problems. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CONCEPT The globalization is increasing competition and forming new conditions for conducting business. This requires companies worldwide to rapidly respond to their customers demands and develop products. These companies must also apply information technologies in supply chain collaboration (J. S. Arlbjà ¸rn et al. 2006) Such conditions increased the importance of logistics and SCM role within organizations as it can become a major competitive advantage. Commonly, the major improvements in logistical functions may not be needed within the organization itself. It may be more beneficial to analyze the organizations supply chain. This involves various interdependent parties. SCM co-operation is gaining in major strategic importance and usually includes such characteristics: co-operating is based on end user requirements, long term co-operation and high trust between actors in the supply chains or networks, shared risks and benefits, cross coordination on various levels between companies, shared visions and similar company cultures. The advantage of such close co-operation is a more transparent supply chain. This can lead to reduced lead-time, lower uncertainty, optimization of stocks and higher capacity utilization. (T. Skjoett-Larsen 2000) The concept of SCM often represents the broader view of logistics as its main function is to ensure the smooth flow of materials from suppliers to organization and then out to customers through the operations within the organization (D. Waters 2003). The purpose of SCM can be described as to remove redundancies and communication barriers through coordination, monitoring and control functions (D. Power 2005). The supply chain usually consists of different organizations and processes, which are aimed to ensure the smooth flow of materials from the initial supplier to the end customer. In many cases, manufacturers get their materials from a large number of suppliers and sell to different customers, which is the case with LEGO Group. In figure 1, you can see an example of the supply chain around a manufacturer. Materials move from several tiers of suppliers though organization to several tiers of customers, such as wholesalers, retailers and end users. Figure 1: Supply chain of manufacturer (D. Waters 2003, 9) The toy industry is one of the oldest creative industries in the word. However, C. Y. Wong, J. S. Arlbjà ¸rnand J. Johansen in their study named Supply chain management practices in toy supply chains(2005) state that such creative business is very seasonal and volatile with strongly fluctuating demands, very short and specified selling windows as well as short product life cycles. Moreover, the toy industry can be described as intensely competitive on pricing and innovation, where retailers often start competing with their suppliers. The authors conclude that most retailers and manufacturers use a push business model. This model includes low utilization of technology and information sharing as well as slow implementation of supply chain initiatives. INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE COMPANY: LEGO GROUP LEGO can be certainly defined as one of the most famous brands in the toy industry. The Danish companys toys are enjoyed worldwide by children and adults alike, who use thousands of different pieces to construct buildings, robots and other toy. In 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish carpenter founded a company named LEGO (Danish words Leg and Godt, meaning play well). Originally a woodworking business for furniture, LEGO began producing childrens toys in 1934. The company presents itself by stating: It is LEGO philosophy that good play enriches a childs life and its subsequent adulthood. With this in mind, the LEGO Group has developed and marketed a wide range of products, all founded on the same basic philosophy of learning and developing through play. In figure 2 the core building blocks of LEGO Group are presented. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; LEGO Group, Corporate Communications 2009) Figure 2: The LEGO Company (LEGO Group 2010) Pursuing such a philosophy, LEGO has grown tremendously since its establishment. By 2009 the company was the worlds fifth largest toy manufacturer in terms of sale with 290 Million US Dollars in revenues and approximately 7000 employees around the globe. The LEGO brick which is possibly the best known toy was first introduced and patented in 1958. It has since then represented the core success and image of this company. With two just bricks there are 24 different combinations and with six there are 915 million possibilities. This enables limitless creativity. As previously stated, before LEGO brick was named as Toy of the century by Fortune magazine and later by British Association of Toy Retailers as well. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. Tidd, J. Bessant 2009) http://cache.lego.com/r/aboutus/-/media/About%20Us/Media%20Assets%20Library/Logos%20Bricks%20and%20Generic%20images/ts.20120125T101709.2x4brick_red.jpg Picture 1: Lego brick (source lego.com) Segmented product categories include: Pre-school products for the youngest children, who had not started the school yet, includes LEGO DUPLO products. Creative building sets or buckets of LEGO bricks without instructions. Play themes products the products with particular stories, such as airports, racing tracks and hospitals, including LEGO City line and BIONICLE. Licensed products related to movies and books, such Harry Potter, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. MINDSTORM NXT programmable robot kit. LEGO education products that are developed for educational purposes. LEGO Games new product line started in 2009 for board games. LEGO operates in over 130 countries worldwide. The companys largest market in the U.S., with together Australia, New Zealand and UK accounted for 30 percent of revenue in 2007. Despite constant challenges and growing popularity of consumer electronics, LEGO is continuing to expand. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) Crisis and solutions In the late 1990s, the company started to have difficulties. This resulted in a major crisis and almost ended in bankruptcy by 2004. LEGO was losing huge sums of money every day, estimated at economic losses of 375.4 thousand U.S. dollars per day since 1998. When sales dropped 40 percent in 2004, it was clear that radical changes had to take place. There are many speculations, why such a well-known and previously successful company started running on tremendous losses. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) One possible reason was increasing competition in their main product area. This was disruptive at its nature. One such example is the Canadian company Megabloks. This company offers a wide range of building toys at a highly competitive price. Also, the increasing popularity of computer games reduced the demand for traditional toys. Another possible factor was the over diversification of product line as LEGO moved into more areas like theme parks ,apparel, clothing, television and even computer games. Such diversification was a result of, as the company claims, a loss of confidence in their core product the Lego brick. The increased complexity of product portfolio confused not just the customers, but employees as well. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. Tidd, J. Bessant 2009; K. Oliver et al. 2007) It was mentioned before that LEGO GROUP had around 11,000 suppliers, which was twice the number that Boeing used to build its aircraft. Such inefficiency and inflexibility was soon recognized and attention was directed to the supply chain, which was 10 years out of date. Moreover, low quality customer service and product availability decreased the value of companys franchise. Jà ¸rgen Vig Knudstorp, newly appointed CEO, stated: From my perspective, the supply chain is a companys circulation system. You have to fix it to keep the blood flowing. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) It was acknowledged that solving problems related to global supply chain could build a strong base for major changes in the organization. This could also be the needed step forward towards cost-effectiveness and an improved business model. However, such big changes are not easy to implement and presented significant challenges for LEGO Group Transformation of supply chain management LEGO Group decided to optimize their supply chain in order to deal with the most significant crisis in the companys history. LEGO realized that it was dragging behind retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour. These companies had invested huge amounts of recourses into sophisticated and efficient supply chain management systems. LEGO Group started losing the competition to companies, which optimized their costs and provided just-in-time services to its customers (K. Oliver et al. 2007). Transforming such a gigantic and complex supply chain as well as removing the inefficiencies was a very challenging goal. Keep in mind that by 2004 company had around 7000 employees working mainly in two factories and three packaging centers, located in different countries. Further issues and changes within different areas of supply chain management will be discussed, including product development, distribution and manufacturing. Product development Product development and innovation was extremely important for LEGO as it presented the core of what this company was really about. Changes in this field were difficult to implement. This was in part because of its delicate nature and inside resistance from employees. LEGOs development lab called Kitchen was steadily producing new innovative products and ideas. However, management realized that new products were returning less profit and cost more to produce. Developers and designers did not account for production and supply chain issues, in their designs. Consequently, the variety of various components and features as well as product complexity became overwhelming and started to cause major problems in manufacturing and distribution. LEGO bricks and other elements came in more than 100 color tones. LEGO sets became increasingly elaborate with thousands of different figures. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) Such cost ineffective creativity caused problems like large stocks. This was because of seasonal demand fluctuations and short delivery times. Moreover, large amount of components and products required large investments in molds, while just 30 products generated 80 percent of companys sales. Therefore, LEGO decided to drastically cut down the number of components and features. This reduced costs in the supply chain and created a better opportunity for production outsourcing. Management revised a number of daily solutions in order to cut the costs, simplify production and eliminate inefficiencies. The palette was decreased to around 50 colors. A major reduction in variety of pirates, police officers and other figures was recommended as well. Moreover, resin-sourcing analyzes helped to cut its resin costs in half and reduce supplier number by 80 percent. Simultaneously, LEGO Groups operational team created cost matrixes and revised set of rules concerning creation of new colors, compon ents and ordering of new materials. Such step helped product developers to choose more cost-effective solutions and recognize the limitations. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) Distribution Another area of LEGOs supply chain that required major improvements and cost reductions was distribution. At that time LEGO served thousands of smaller stores with a great responsibility. This came at a very high price, although those shops accounted just for one third of its revenue. Company had increasing amount of inventory and lost sales, because of multiple-tier inventory system to serve smaller customers from different distribution centers. The redefined distribution policies had to be developed in order to avoid costly small deliveries and labor costs associated with pick-packing in the distribution centers. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) In order to serve customers in 130 countries around the world, LEGO had 11 warehouses and distribution centers in high-cost countries like Denmark, France, Germany and Switzerland. LEGO also employed 55 transportation providers for inbound and outbound shipments. In order to move its distributions closer to the customer and reduce exploding transportation costs, the company defined clear service policies. This helped to shift the focus to major retail chains. This also provided for more accurate demand forecasts, reduced complexity and certainly the costs of distribution. Furthermore, LEGO Group decided to centralize its distribution by closing five distribution centers in Europe, and creating a single distribution center near Prague in the Check Republic. The country was mainly chosen because of a high availability of skilled low cost labor. LEGO leased large buildings from the commercial realtor ProLogis. LEGO also decided to outsource operations to third-party logistics company D HL supply chain. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007; J. A. Cooke 2009) By 2007 a newly consolidated distribution center was serving all of LEGOs markets except the U.S., where Exel Inc. was responsible for distribution operations. Such changes reduced the complexity of supply chain, simplified the inventory optimization and reduced average distances to the market. This lead to increased customer satisfaction and significantly reduced overall logistics costs. Despite the outsourcing, LEGO maintained close collaboration with its carriers and still makes many decisions. The results of such collaboration are reduced negative effects of market seasonality. Moreover, by applying developed Web-based transportation management system LEGO was able to change the shipment scheduling and improve load consolidation. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. A. Cooke 2009) Manufacturing The improved production in the supply chain was probably the most important and complicated step. The challenges came from the way LEGO organized its production facilities and the complexity of manufacturing operations. In some way chaotic production operations resulted in low 70 percent of overall capacity utilization. There were hundreds of independent production units within the facilities that could place their orders in any manner. This was often without balancing supply capabilities, inventory levels and demand needs. Consequently, such fragmented system did not support long-term planning and resulted in high costs and low efficiency. Moreover, the production sites were located in high-cost countries as Denmark, United States and Switzerland, while just 10 percent of production was outsourced to China. Production sites mainly operated according the branding strategy, where, for example, Swiss factories only manufactured DUPLO and Technic products. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) One of the first steps was to set clear production cycles for machines instead of having them available to produce any element at any time. This approach helped to reduce constant and costly retooling as well as balance production operations. Furthermore, orders were set in the monthly meetings in that way eliminating the number of changeovers (K. Oliver et al. 2007). However, the major decision concerning production operations was to outsource large part of the production to external packaging and manufacturing service providers. One of the reasons was to cut the costs by moving the production from high-cost countries. Another reason was to reduce the number of subcontractors and utilize the economies of scale, having in mind that LEGO was producing about 24 billion bricks per year (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010). Consequently, the production capacity in Denmark was reduced and sites in Korea and Switzerland closed. LEGO Group engaged into cooperation with packaging service suppliers: Sonoco, Greiner, Weldenhammer and 2B Pack. The most risky and complex partnership was made in 2006 with Flextronics, a Singaporean based electronics manufacturer. Several product lines, like Bionicle and Technic was still mainly retained by LEGO, but the higher volume and more simple Duplo and System lines were handed to Flextronics production sites in Hungary, Czech Republic and Mexico. This helped to reduce the distance to customers. However, the relationship was not successful and contract with Flextronics was terminated from January 1, 2009, while LEGO continued with smaller outsourcing contracts. The main reasons for the failure are connected with delicate nature of toy industry and could be described in short (H. B. Dinitzen, D. Bohlbro 2010, 71-72; M. M. Larsen et al. 2010): 65% percent of production had to be done during the third quarter of the year main holiday season. Products have a lifetime of 16-18 month. Sales uncertainty is around 30%. In figure 3, the timeline of LEGO and Flextronics cooperation is presented, including goals and challenges. Despite the failure, LEGO Group has learned a lot from this outsourcing attempt, which had a positive impact in the end. Figure 3: The timeline of LEGO and Flextronics collaboration (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010, 16) In 2008 LEGO started the process of sourcing back the production, while the first factory in the Czech Republic was taken over, followed by Hungarian and Mexican facilities. In Mexico, LEGO Group eventually moved the production to a new plant, which started operating in first quarter of 2009. The final benefits of collaboration were connected mainly with gained experience in various operational fields. It helped to establish new facilities in Mexico and Hungary, while production units were no longer following branded approach, but instead serving its respective markets. Moreover, LEGO significantly improved documentation and standardization of business processes. Standardization resulted in almost halved size of components, from 12,000 in 2004 to 6000 in 2008. This enabled more flexible, efficient and smoothly running supply chain. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) CONCLUSIONS In the end it can be stated that by taking clearly defined and harsh restructuring strategy, LEGO Group was able to defeat the crisis and become one of the successful and largest toy producers again. This statement can be backed up by financial figures, which indicate that in 2008 and 2009 company reached profit of DKK 315.6 million and 375 million U.S. Dollars, respectively. This was the highest in LEGO Groups history. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) A significantly restructured supply chain helped to increase the efficiency of major business operations as well as increase the overall customer satisfaction. LEGO managed to reach and, in some levels, even pass its competitors, while still cooperating with biggest retailers in such fields as joint forecasting, inventory management and mass customization. However, such transformations required dealing with many challenges, including terminated cooperation with Flextronics. Nevertheless, it gave LEGO valuable knowledge about outsourcing operations and its inner characteristics. In the end, unsuccessful outsourcing practice resulted in factories in Denmark, Czech Republic, Mexico and Hungary, which gave the needed supply chain flexibility in order to meet the global demands. Improved parts of supply chain such as product development, sourcing, distribution and manufacturing creates a well developed business model that serves as a major competitive advantage. Finally, after successful supply chain transformation, LEGO Group can shift more attention to increasing the satisfaction of its customers by developing well-liked toys for children and adults.

Creatine in Athletes Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Creatine in Athletes As more and more people are playing professional, collegiate and high school sports each year (Debate), the competition for playing time has become more heated. Most male athletes in any sports these days are looking for any sort of edge that they can get over the people who are fighting for the same spot they are. These battles for playing time become so heated that these kids are willing to try just about anything to win. Most kids are not willing to try anything illegal like steroids, but something very similar to steroids is a supplement called creatine. Creatine is now the most widely used supplement in athletics today (Debate). The sport that creatine is most commonly used in at any level is football. The reason for this is because creatine is most effective when the muscles are used for a short 6 seconds, then a long 45 second rest. The time period of using muscles for 6 seconds and then resting for 45 seconds is closely related to a football game where the players run a play, then get to rest until the next play is called. At the professional level of football, most teams are allowed to take creatine, but some teams are have banned the use of it because no one know the long term effects yet (Actions and Effects). Creatine has become so widely used because of its endorsers. Shannon Sharpe, who played for the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens, is paid advertiser and endorser. Sharpe claims that creatine has played a big part in his success no matter what anyone else says. "I don't care if you get five PhD's, I don't care if you get seven strength and conditioning coaches to tell me otherwise," Sharpe told ESPN. "I believe it works for me." Shannon Sharpe is not the only football playe... ...re battling for playing time in sports, the more desperate the athletics will get to win that spot. When athletes get desperate, they are willing to try anything that might help their chances of playing (Debate). Works Cited â€Å"Actions and Effects of Creatine.† 2003. CourseworkBank.co.uk. 5 October 2004. <http://www.courseworkbank.co.uk/coursework/actions_effects_creatine_2931/>. â€Å"Creatine Supplements.† 2002. Your Orthopedic Connection. 6 October 2004. <http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=325&topcategory=Spor ts%20%2F%20Exercise>. â€Å"Debate Surrounds Use of Muscle Supplement Creatine.† 2004. Web MD Health. 4 October 2004. <http://my.webmd.com/content/article/17/1676_50201.htm>. Martinez, Mark. â€Å"Creatine a Bigger Body.† 2004. The College Student Site.Com. 5 October 2004. <http://articles.student.com/article/creatine>.

Human Gene Therapy Essay -- Genetics Science Biology Essays

Human Gene Therapy Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was discovered in 1944 by Avery and colleagues. Avery identified DNA as the primary genetic material. Watson and Crick later discovered the double helix structure of DNA. Leder and co-workers deciphered the triple nucleotide code that designated the amino acids from which proteins were built. The science of molecular biology was born (Sokol, Gewirtz, 1996). In 1990 a four year old girl who was suffering from severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) was the first to undergo gene therapy. White blood cells were removed from the girl and the cells were inserted with normal copies of the defective gene and returned into the girls circulation. Her condition improved with four treatments and follow-up treatments (Anderson, 1995). Cystic fibrosis (CF), the most common fatal genetic disease among Caucasians in the United States, afflicts about 30,000 people worldwide. The faulty gene, CFTR, transfers salts across cell membranes, which causes mucus buildup in many t issues, particularly in the lungs. Infections lead to early death, usually by age 30. Cystic fibrosis currently has no effective treatment. Since the cystic fibrosis gene was cloned in 1989 this has led researchers to look for treatments through gene therapy ( Stanford, 1996). CF appears to be suitable for treatment by gene therapy: It is a monogenic, recessive disorder; The function of the CFTR gene product is known, facilitating measurement of gene transfer; The principal target cells, the airway epithelia, are accessible by minimally invasive procedures; Several transgenic mouse models for developing and testing procedures prior to clinical evaluation are available; here is a relatively large cohort of patients wil... ...l. Nichols, E. K. Human Gene Therapy. 162-164. (Harvard University Press, 1988). Schmeck, H. 1991. The future of genetic research. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. http://www.mit.edu:8001/afs/athena/course/other/esgbio/www/mg/future.html. Sokol, D. L., A. M. Gewirtz. 1996. Gen therapy: basic concepts and recent advances. Critical Reviews in Eukaryotic Gene Expression, 6(1):29-57. Walters, L. 1996. The Ethics of Human Gene Therapy. Nature 225-227. Gene Therapy for Human patients Information for the General Public. 1990 Department of Health and Human Services. Public health Service National Institutes of Health. Genzyme, http://www.genzyme.com/company/lines/rdgt/welcome.htm. Spector, R.; M. A. Malone. 1996. Stanford University Medical Center Office of communications. http://www.med.stanford.edu/center/Communications/Pressrel/October96/cfgene.html.

Butler Lumber Essay

After thorough review and analysis of Butler Lumber’s financial reports, I believe that it is in the best interest of Northrup National Bank to not only approve the requested $465,000 loan, but look to increase the loan amount. A review of the 5 C’s will show in more detail the decision to approve this loan: 1. Capacity/Cash Flow: Butler runs a lean operation that has allowed them to have success due to competitive pricing. They have met their financing needs by increasing their debt (notes payable) in order to keep up with the demand. However, their borrowing had led conjunctly to an increase in sales. Net sales have increased 59% over the 1988-1990 timeline and have been projected to increase by another 34% in 1991. From 1988-1990, for every $1000 borrowed, net sales increased by $4,278.96. By utilizing leverage, they have been able maintain their free cash flow and maintain their current ratio over 1.0. Although Free Cash Flow and current ratio have dropped over the past year, Butler has made large investments which have proven able to give a higher return, which will have significant payoff in the long run. By doing this, they will continue to have the ability to pay interest to debtholders, repay debtholders, and buy short-term investments. As business continues to grow, debt obligations will decrease and their current ratio will be back on the rise. (See Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2). Based on this analysis, I believe the estimate for the loans requirements is light. I believe it would be in the best interest to pursue rolling the $247,000 owed to Suburban National Bank onto this line of credit. With the increased projection in sales, you are also seeing an increase in cost of goods sold. However, that number could be dramatically reduced if Butler had the appropriate capital or credit line to take advantage of the 2% discount for payments made within 10 days of the invoice date. If total cost of goods sold will be roughly $2 million in 1991, you could reduce that by over $40,000.00 simply by taking advantage of the 2% discount. Having quick access to capital will allow Butler to run their business more efficiently. 2. Capital: Butler has a good level of net worth compared to total assets. This has been continuously increasing from 1988-1990 and will be even higher in 1991. The reason for this is going back to their use of leverage. They increased notes payable from nothing to $247,000 in the three year span. By doing this they have been able to increase total assets at a much faster pace than their borrowing. Butler will be able to continue to increase its capital ratio with their new line of credit. Even with an increase in liabilities, Butler should have no problem repaying their debts, even if there were to be an economic downturn. They hold very little long term debt, so even with a decrease in sales they should be able to meet their financial obligations. They have equity in their plants and land and could utilize that if need be. Also, they have the ability to weather a crisis because of the amount of business that they have in home improvements. If there is a housing boom, people will lo ok to build new houses, where as if there is a backup in the housing market, people will stay in their house and do improvements. 3. Collateral: With rolling the almost $250,000.00 loan into this line of credit, and pursuing the increase in the total line of credit, I believe that this loans should be secured. I would keep the loans secured by the assets of the company and do not see the need to pursue personal collateral. We know that Mr. Butler currently has objections to using collateral, but if we can show him how having a large credit limit would be able to have a substantial positive impact to his bottom line, he should be comfortable with putting up company collateral and nothing personal. I would secure this using the company’s property as well as their inventory. At the end of the first quarter of 1991, Butler’s inventory was valued at $556,000 and its property at another $162,000. Because it would be such a large line that could help Butler Lumber, it needs to be understood that when working with that level of volume, some sort of collateral needs to be put up. We will be able to show how taking advantage of the 2 net 30 option, you can decrease cost of goods sold and increase net income with no strategic changes to business. Using this collateral would be a good way to recover some of the funds to reduce the loss if the company were to go bankrupt. However, when evaluating the performance of the company, it is believed that this company should be able to continue to produce strong results regardless of the economy and that the securitizing of the loan is an added safety precaution due to the increase size of this line of credit. 4. Conditions: The first thing that needs to be determined is the limit on the credit line. It was originally requested to obtain a limit of $465,000. However, it is recommended that we, as part of the approval process, refinance the current $247,000 loan to Suburban National Bank. If there were to be an issue, we do not want there to be a conflict on who needs to be paid first. Mr. Butler has had a working relationship with Suburban National Bank, but we do not see this to be an issue due to the fact they are capping him at $250,000. It is recommended that the limit exceed $750,000.00 but be no greater than $1,000,000.00. There needs to be enough capital infusion that they can meet all needs, take advantage of supplier discounts, and take advantage of short term opportunities. However, we do not want to exceed $1,000,000.00 because we do not want the company to become overly aggressive and invest more an inventory then can be sold, leaving them overleveraged and at bigger risk of de fault due to economic downturns. Next, we need to determine an appropriate interest rate for this line of credit. Based on economic outlook, it would be in the best interest of Northrup to make this a fixed loan based on the prime rate of interest. From February of 1989 to January of 1991, the prime rate of interest has dropped almost 2% and we believe it is going to be downward trending for the next three to four years before going back up (See Exhibit 3). Therefore, we believe we should do a prime plus 1% loan, giving an interest rate of 10%. As rates continue to drop, the value of this loan will continue to increase. If at any point we fear that this loan maybe paid off through an outside bank refinance, we can look to restructure this line of credit to a lower rate. Because this is a lower rate, we can pursue adding the balance of the loan to payoff the obligation of buying out Henry Stark. This is at roughly a $70,000 balance, which is secured by land and buildings with an 11% interest rate. This will lower Butler’s current debt obligations and will result in an increase in profit. Because this business appears to be in a growth phase, controls operations costs effectively, and has the ability to weather economic crisis better than others, this would be a good company to invest in. Next, we need to determine the duration of this line of credit. We need to clearly state that this will be reviewed every two to three years to revisit creditworthiness as well as ability to repay. If need be, the limit could be lowered. However, if the company continues to grow we can also evaluate the possibility of a credit limit increase. When determining fees, we need to realize that this is a competitive situation and they should be somewhat minimal. The commitment fee should be .50% per year. This falls right in line with the average. We will keep the closing fees at .25% in order to ensure they are on the low end and we can keep his business. We want to establish a working relationship with Mr. Butler so that we will be his only source of borrowing. We will not put a prepayment fee on this line of credit, but should continue to keep his business with reviews and potential changes and increases every two to three years. We also need to negotiate in appropriate covenants into this loan agreement. This will carry forward the reps and warrants that we have Mr. Butler sign. By adding the following covenants, we will be able mitigate risk for the bank and allow us to detect any signs for potential default early, allowing us time to evaluate our next steps before it is too late. The following covenants should be documented: * Notification of borrowing outside of our bank * Detailed description of usage of loan proceeds * Quarterly Financial Reporting sent to Northrup * Maintain ethical and legal responsibilities * Notification of any major business impacts such as mergers, acquisitions, and business model changes. By installing these conditions, it will allow us to properly forecast and negative business impacts and allow us to make appropriate modifications. We believe that because over 55% of Butler’s business is in home improvement, economic downturns should not impact them as much as other businesses. Also, by now being able to take advantage of the 2 net 30 discount, the company will be able to instantly lower expenses and increase net income. 5. Character: The character of Mark Butler is strong and it is believed that he would be a conscientious borrower. He is an extremely hard worker and takes a lot of pride in his business. He knows the business inside and out and possesses sound judgment. He is well respected by his peers. All of this things make him a strong candidate for lending, because it appears that he will do everything in his power in order to pay this loan back and on time. This includes tapping into personal equity form his home, his life insurance policy, or the interest that his wife has in a separate property.

Cal by bernard Maclaverty

Cal by Bernard MacLaverty tells us the tragic story about a young, unemployed Catholic named Cal Maclusky. He lives in Northern Ireland in an ulster where mostly Protestants live and is the son of a stubborn widowed abattoir man who refuses to leave his home even though their house had been firebomb threatened several times. Cal’s life is tough and trouble always seems to find him, his mother died when he was eight, Protestants give him a hard time and as if that wasn’t enough his friend from school a bully named Crilly has dragged Cal into an organization called the IRA where Cal are forced to take part in dangerous IRA activity.To make matters worse Cal finds himself falling in love with a widowed women named Marcella, whose husband was killed by the IRA, a dirty murder in which Cal had participated. All though it wasn’t him who had shot her husband he still felt guilty. The main characters are Cal, Marcella, Cal’s father and Crilly. Cal lacks confidence , is rather depressed, unhappy and has a lot of self-hatred. He has all the needed qualities of being the main character in a tragedy. Cal is the kind of character one would sympathize with and feel sorry for even though he has committed a few mistakes.Every tragedy must have a sad love story and that is why I believe MacLaverty created this character, a forgiving and loving widowed wife who has experienced adversity but hasn’t lost her hope in life. With her she has her young daughter Lucky who she is very protective of. Cal’s father is a stubborn but loving man. He refuses to leave his home even after being threatened. He loves his son but isn’t very keen on showing emotions. Every story must have a â€Å"bad guy† and in this novel Crilly is the one who creates some of the trouble for Cal.Crilly is a fearless and merciless bully who works for the IRA and who puts Cal I difficulties like making him his driver while he is on a mission to murder somebody. The story is very believable and without knowing much about the background one would reasonably assume that the novel is based on a true story. It mainly addresses the complexity of being caught in cultural hubris. It also has an underlying meaning which I believe is to show us how the life of a minority among hostile and aggressive people is.Cal’s life is a struggle and will be until he has taken his last breath. I truly would recommend this story even though it is very sad, but I would also recommend that you reference the IRA as part of ongoing Irish history, which will help your understanding of the novel and what Cal is really going through. Sure the story is rather predictable and we get answers to a lot of our immediate questions, but even when things are revealed there are still surprises and things withheld in meaningful ways. MacLaverty is indeed a great author, with a huge talent.

A Monologue for Love Essay

What becomes of the broken hearted? Nothing. You think you know love — then that love turns out to be an egotistical self-involved bastard who’s no braver than the house mouse living in your walls waiting ’til you least expect it. I’ve made mistakes before. But nothing compares to the ones made with him. The ones made in his arms, his unloving false arms’ embrace that somehow once made me feel warm and made heart be tender. And in that false embrace I made mistakes under false illusions. Illusions that this.. boy, this child, could love me and make me feel like a woman! A woman I am not, I am but a child, a girl who has been broken by the same boy too many times and more. I tried to end it once, twice, and ended it be on the fifth. But this was all too little too late, as he had touched me and I him. And is it so much to ask that I be loved again? It must have been for once another man loved me — A man this time. Not a child, a boy. A man. And this man I turned down. I gave him false reason. For the real reason was that I did wish to be with this man — but I was too afraid. The fear growing inside of me, a seed planted by a boy. And in the heat of the moment I fell for that man only to wake the morrow to tell him it cannot be. Months later now, I thought I had convinced myself of this false reason. But in a moment of peace, no distractions to cloud my judgment, my heart caught up to my head and told me of the real reason. And now I am dead. The seed has stopped growing. But its venomous flower has already bloomed and done its damage. I am but one of many broken hearted souls with many mistakes done and many more to proceed, to follow. And I ask of you now — What should a girl do? When she no longer welcomes love — But instead wishes it she had never kn own?

Free Essays on Wordsworth Vs. Coleridge

worth did this emphasizing the validity of his own personal experience,... Free Essays on Wordsworth Vs. Coleridge Free Essays on Wordsworth Vs. Coleridge The Para and the Normal Romanticism was characterized by reliance on the imagination and subjectivity of approach, freedom of thought and expression, and an idealization of nature: â€Å"an abundant imagery coinciding with an equally abundant quantity of natural objects, the theme of imagination linked closely to the theme of nature, such is the fundamental ambiguity that characterizes the poetics of romanticism† (de Man 66). Thus, as romantic literature everywhere developed, imagination was praised over reason, emotions over logic, and intuition over science- making way for a vast body of literature of great sensibility and passion. This literature emphasized a new flexibility of form adapted to varying content, encouraged the development of complex and fast-moving plots, and allowed mixed genres (tragicomedy and the mingling of the grotesque and the sublime) and freer style. The preface to Lyrical Ballads (1802), by English poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge was of prime impor tance as a manifesto of literary romanticism. In Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria he recalls conversations with Wordsworth regarding â€Å"the two cardinal points of poetry: the power of exciting the sympathy of the reader by a faithful adherence to the truth of nature, and the power of giving the interest of novelty by the modifying colours of imagination† (526). Both Coleridge’s and Wordsworth’s contributions to Lyrical Ballads affirm the importance of these cardinal points of poetry of nature and imagination to poetic creation; Coleridge does this using the supernatural, while Wordsworth uses subjects from ordinary life. In the preface to Lyrical Ballads Wordsworth explains that he proposes to â€Å"chose incidents and situations from common life† use â€Å"language really used by men† and to present ordinary things to the mind in an unusual way (357). Wordsworth did this emphasizing the validity of his own personal experience,...

Internet Censorship Essays (943 words) - Pornography Law

Internet Censorship Essays (943 words) - Pornography Law Internet Censorship Internet Censorship The Internet is a wonderful place of entertainment and education, but like all places used by millions of people, it has some murky corners people would prefer children not to explore. In the physical world, society as a whole wants to protect children, but there are no social or physical constraints to Internet surfing. The Internet Censorship Bill of 1995, also known as the Exon/Coats Communications Decency Act, has been introduced in the U.S. Congress. It would make it a criminal offense to make available to children anything that is indecent, or to send anything indecent with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass (Stop the Communications ... n.p.). The goal of this bill is to try to make all public discourse on the Internet suitable for young children. The issue of whether is it necessary to have censorship on the Internet is being argued all over the world. Censorship would damage the atmosphere of the freedom to express ideas on the Internet; therefore, government should not encourage censorship. The Internet was originally a place for people to freely express their ideas worldwide. It is also one of America's most valuable types of technology. Ordinary people use the Net for communication, expressing their opinions, or obtaining up-to-date information from the World Wide Web (WWW). The Internet can be compared to a church. In many ways the Internet is like a church: it has its council of elders, every member has an opinion about how things should work, and they can either take part or not. It's the choice of the user. The Internet has no president, chief operating officer, or Pope. The networks may have presidents and CEO's, but that's a different issue; there is no single authority figure for the Internet as a whole. As stated by Frances Hentoff, the staff writer for The Village Voice and the author of First Freedoms, on an info superhighway driven by individuals, there are no cops preventing users from downloading (Hentoff 1). Internet users can broadcast or express anything they want. The fact that the Net has no single authority figure sets forth a problem about what kind of materials could be available on the Net. The U.S. government is now trying to pass bills to prevent misuse of the Net. The Internet Censorship Bill of 1995 was introduced to the U.S. Congress. Under the Censorship Bill, a person breaks the law if he/she puts a purity test on a web page without making sure children cannot access the page. Also, if a person verbally assaults someone, he/she breaks the law. If a university, where some students may be under 18 years old, carries the alt.sex*. newsgroups, which contains adult material, it breaks the law. According to George Melloan from the Wall Street Journal, a censorship bill was passed by the Senate 84-16 in July, and an anticensorship bill was passed by the House 420-4 in August. There are now four different sets of censorship and anticensorship language in the House and Senate versions of the Telecom m reform bill, which contradict each other and will have to be reconciled (Melloan, n.p.). Another crucial Internet crime is the theft of credit card numbers. Companies do business on the Net, and credit card numbers are stored on their servers; everyone with the necessary computer knowledge could hack in and obtain such databases for illegal purposes. To cite an instance, the most infamous computer terrorist, Kevin Mitnick, waived extradition and is now in jail in California, charged with computer fraud and illegal use of a telephone access device. The list of allegations against him include theft of many files and documents, including twenty-thousand credit card numbers from Netcom On-Line Services, which provides thousands with access to the Internet (Warren 52). Many experts have pointed out that government censorship is not possible. Howard Rheingold, the editor of the Whole World Review, observes that, the 'censor the Net' approach is not just morally misguided. It's becoming technically and politically impossible (Rheingold n.p.). First, it is not fair to exclude the freedom and damage the atmosphere of freely expressing ideas just for the safety of children. Corn-Revere, an expert on Internet censorship at the Howgan & Harson

College Essay Tips

College Essay Tips Writing an essay is simple with these college essay tips. If you take your time and utilize the college essay tips, the possibilities are endless for creating that excellent essay that grabs everyone’s attention. College essay tip #1- Come up with a focal point or a thesis. If you don’t do this then you run the risk of having a paper that strays from idea to idea without any direction. If this happens you will lose readers. College Essay Tip #2 - Coming up with facts and examples to prove your thesis is another of those important college essay tips. Just like in writing a story, try to prove this thesis in form of a story. Don’t just state bold facts and examples; show the reader by telling a story that leads up to your focal point. College Essay Tip #3 – Making your introduction the most important part of your essay. If the beginning of your essay moves slowly and hesitantly the possibility of losing your reader is strong. You need to spend time on the beginning and use every college essay tips you can think of to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to keep reading. College Essay Tip #4 - Be as original as possible in your writing. The college professors have seen so many of the same topics over the years. You can make yours stand out simply by utilizing creative writing. Make it interesting so that the reader doesn’t want to put it down. College Essay Tip #5 – Create pictures in your reader’s minds through your words. Try to write by appealing to the reader’s senses. By using imagery in words, you can capture anyone’s attention because you’ll be creating a movie in their heads. Remember, college professors have dedicated their lives to their subjects, and they are tremendously exited when their students display interest. College Essay Tip #6 – Use concise words to prove your point as opposed to making huge long sentences with words that the readers have to look up for their meanings. Readers tend to remain with what they are reading all the way to the end when the words flow together easily. If they have to stop and re-read a sentence or try to figure out the meaning of a word too often, they’ll likely put your manuscript down at some point out of boredom. College Essay Tip #7 – Proofread your essay before submission. Do not rely on your computer to proof your document for you because if you’ve misspelled a word in such a way that it reads like another word, the computer will recognize it as a word and not correct it. One example of this would be form and from. Both are legitimate words in the English dictionary but they have entirely different uses. Read your manuscript out loud to yourself or preferably someone else. This way, if you feel yourself getting to an awkward spot where it doesn’t flow, you’ll know that a change is needed. By utilizing some of the basic college essay tips, you’ll be able to write a successful piece that will have readers reading for more. This is especially true when you can get a professor to read with interest considering they read essays all throughout their careers. College essay tips can be extremely useful knowledge that can carry a student through their college years and onto their business lives.

How to format a business document

How to format a business document Hook your reader: 5 killer formatting tips to get your document read Theres nothing like it, is there? That satisfying moment when you finally finish the document youve been working on for days. Youve done the research, youve marshalled your facts and youve made it through the hardest part: getting it down on paper. Job done. But hold on. Before you attach it to an email, send it and celebrate, ask yourself: how does it look? Your documents presentation may seem like a small point. Yet it could be the difference between your hard work being read and acted on or it being put aside for a later that never comes. You may well have been hunched over a hot keyboard slaving away on it all week. Its only natural that you should think its a must-read, which would capture the readers attention even if it were printed on the back of a till receipt from Lidl. But dont be fooled. Very few documents genuinely fall into that category – especially in a world where too much information is more of a problem than too little. The appearance of your document is the first impression your would-be reader gets. So it needs to hook them in and encourage them to read on. Theres nothing very enticing about a wall of text, tiny fonts or endless tables. We talk a lot on this blog about how to make your writing more readable. But no matter how compelling your words may be, theyll be wasted if they go unread. So here are five proven document-formatting techniques that will stop your work being thrown back into the sea of other discarded documents and make sure what youve written actually gets read. 1) White space is not wasted space White space is simply anywhere on the page where there is no text or images. Dont be fooled into thinking this space is wasted. Wider margins are your friend. They reduce the length of each individual line of text, making your writing easier for your readers eyes to scan. And they create mental breathing space* that makes the whole document more pleasant to read. *(We know thats not a thing, but you get the idea.) Newspapers have been using this trick for a very long time – its why they use narrow columns. Pick up a newspaper and youll probably find yourself tempted to read something on the page, and the easy-to-read appearance of the text in narrow columns is a big reason for this. Of course, most of us have been tempted at some point to make a documents margins narrower and lines of text longer, in order to reduce the overall length. So a document that was once three-and-a-half pages will instantly become a nice round three. (We even had one client proudly tell us how consultants had redesigned their templates to reduce margins down to a minimum, to save paper.) But this is a bad idea. Yes, youll hand over a document with fewer pages – but every one of those pages will look less professional and be more difficult to read. Better to use more paper than waste all of it. So avoid the temptation to squeeze as much text onto a page as possible – your reader will thank you for it. Were not suggesting that you use newspaper-like columns; just that you consider making the margins a bit wider and the body text a little narrower than you might otherwise do. 2) Use fonts well Our top tip on this topic is to avoid overthinking it. There are lots of business-appropriate fonts available. Youre faced with lots of good choices, so youre unlikely to go far wrong. Weve written about the best fonts for business documents in more detail before, but heres a quick summary: Both serif fonts (eg Garamond or Times New Roman) or sans-serif fonts (eg Helvetica or Arial) are fine for business documents. Try pairing fonts: use one kind of font for the headlines and subheads, and another for the body text. If youre using a serif font for the body text, try using a sans-serif font for the headlines, or vice versa. And resist the urge to use too many different fonts: no more than two on a page is a good rule of thumb. You can also try pairing two fonts from the same font family; for example, using Lucida Bright for the headings and Lucida Sans for the body text. 3) Use headlines and subheads as signposts Headlines and subheads are crucial signposts for the reader. Used effectively, they can summarise the entire story of a document by themselves and guide the reader through your most important points. They also break up large blocks of text, which can be hugely off-putting. Format headlines and subheads in bold (and in a larger font size if you like). In the documents we analyse for participants in our courses, we often see people using underline for subheads (or bold and underline). But this isnt necessary and can look cluttered or old-fashioned. Bold is enough by itself. We also frequently see people using subheads that are an equal distance from the paragraph that preceded them and the paragraph that comes after them. This gives the subheads the appearance of floating halfway between the two paragraphs.  So make sure there is more space before a subhead than there is below it. This will make clear that the subhead is for the paragraph below it. 4) Use lists and tables carefully Lists are an effective way to draw the eye, but thats probably why theyre frequently overused. Always bear in mind that each extra list that you add reduces the impact of every other list on the page. Some documents even consist mainly of lists – probably because theyre easy to write. But whats easier for the author is much harder for the reader. Such documents are disjointed and therefore usually difficult to follow. Tables are often a handy substitute for lists, as well as a neat way to format straightforward information. Theyre especially useful if you need to compare two or more things directly, against the same criteria. (For example, you might need to compare sales figures or possible outcomes of different courses of action.) When formatting tables, avoid using gridlines that run close to the text. Instead, insert space above and below it (using the paragraph formatting menu, if youre using Microsoft Word). And experiment with taking out vertical – or even all – internal gridlines. The extra space around the information should make it easier to read. You can differentiate long rows by shading every other one. In Word, you can do this by going to Table tools → Design. 5) Draw attention with boxes Boxes can form a vital entry-point into your document. Do you have a fact or piece of information that you know will interest your reader? A box will help you make the most of that. On the other hand, boxes are also a good place to put information that doesnt easily fit into the natural flow of your body text. Remember that a box needs to make sense on its own, as it will probably be read before the main text. You can make a box stand out by giving it a different font to the rest of the text (but remember to stick to a maximum of two fonts in your document), or by using background shading. And, as ever, remember to give the text plenty of space (white or otherwise) around it. Text crammed inside a small box will look very uninviting, defeating the point of separating it from the rest of the document. No design experience needed You might be surprised at the big impact small tweaks like these can have. So keep these simple rules in mind when you write your next document. When youve put them in place, youll have a much more readable document to hand over. And, when youre finished, you really will be able to say, job done. Image credit: Rapala fishing lures by Chau kar Man used under CC BY-NC-SA / cropped from original

The Global Pharmaceutical Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Global Pharmaceutical Industry - Essay Example Using PEST-L analysis to prepare for strategic plans in taking advantage of opportnities in the external environment and addressing eminent threats, one understands that the consumers of the pharmaceutical industry are patients who need the drugs and medications to address various health concerns. As the prices of medicines were highly dependent on the amount, level and extent of research and development, consumers have no control nor say on the strategies involving prices. As shown in the chart on one of the branded prescription drugs marketed in the U.S., when compared to other areas around the world, the chart would reveal that the price of Lipitor was highest in the U.S.. Buyer power, is therefore considered restricted and limited as it is highly dependent of the prices dictated by drug manufacturers. In addition, the demographic profile of consumers affect and influence strategies designed by drug manufacturers as these profiles affect the demand and purchase of the products. As disclosed from the case, ageing population significantly affect the stragies designed since consumers from this age range more frequently buy drugs than those from the younger age ranges. Therefore, aside from considering the prices of this drugs to ensure that they could be afforded by the older generation, strategies would also consider the media by which products are advertised and promoted; the availability of substitutes, as emphasized in Porter’s threat of substitutes; and the manner by which these products are distributed and made available to the consumers. Political factors could be closely evaluated using the PEST-L analysis where laws and regulations impact on the industry’s operations and performance; as well as in the development of strategies. As the industry was characterized to be â€Å"subjected to rigorous regulatory scrutiny† (Holland, 2010, p. 548), the length required for clinical trials to ensure safety and security of consumers are considerably long. Further, the patent protection of 20 years also influence strategies of manufacturers of pharmaceutical drugs since upon expiry, the threat of entry from generic drug manufacturers rise and significantly affect the level of sustained demand and consumer purchase. Legal factors encompass laws in terms of government controls on pricing and the extensive efforts taken into consideration from discovery and clinical trials to approval and final marketing. The imposition of parallel trade strategies in response to price control have influenced the global pharmaceutic al industry in terms of protecting not only drug manufacturers but moreso the consumers who get to evaluate significant price differentials as drugs could be sourced from other low priced markets. The implication for this is that international health organizations, like the World Health Organization, must monitor and address pricing strategies of global pharmaceutical companies to ensure uniform standards and benefits are accorded on a universal perspective. In an article written by Shah (2010), the author clearly cited Stiglitz work which

German Syntax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

German Syntax - Essay Example 2.0 Word Order2.0 Word Order German is considered an SVO language (Fagan 146), which means that the underlying word order is Subject-Verb-Object in a phrase. 1)    Seine       Mutter      trinkt Whisky.              Ã‚     [subj-his mother]       [verb-drink]   [obj-whisky]           His mother drinks whisky.    (Collins 175)Sentence 1 demonstrates the most common word order in German; it is a declarative sentence and has only one main clause (Weyerts et al. 216). So the verb is in second position in a sentence that is complete and can stand alone; in other words in an independent clause. Weyerts et al. claim that â€Å"it is always a finite verb or auxiliary that appears in second position, and it only appears there in main clauses† (216).Double clause sentences are constructed in a similar way. If two independent or main clauses are joined with a conjunction, the word order remains as SVO in both clauses. Sentence 2 is an example of two independent clauses joined with a conjunction.   2)    Wir                   wollten                     ins       Kino,                        aber          wir                hatten  [subj-we] [verb-wanted] [indir. obj- to cinema] [conj-but] [subj-we] [verb-had]  kein      Geld[direct obj-no money]

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 20

Research - Essay Example One of his discoveries, that high vacuums can be created by using cooled charcoal, was quite useful in the field of atomic physics. The purpose behind the creation of the Dewar flask was to serve as an aid while working with liquid gases. The Dewar flask is a container to stores substances like liquid air in the hot or cold form. There is vacuum in between the two flasks it contains, which serves to prevent a change in temperature by reducing the transfer of heat. The glass walls are not strong heat conductors and the transfer of heat by radiation is further reduced by lining the walls with a reflective metal like silver. The flask is seated on a spring with a container made of metal or plastic to absorb shock. The air between the container and the flask serves to insulate the setup. Sir James Dewar had not manufactured the vacuum flask for commercial use. Two German glass blowers in 1904 formed Thermos GmbH (Bellis 2015). The concept of vacuum flask has been used in the making of insulated bottles. The well-known name Thermos was not registered until 1906 when William B. Walker learned of the innovation of Paalen, Burger, and Aschenbrenner and gained the rights of exclusive manufacturing and marketing of thermoses in the US (Bryk 2015). The thermos insulated bottle became popular all across the US in no time. The picture of the glass-lined aluminum vacuum sealed bottle is shown as follows: The bottle shown in the picture was made in 1915 by the â€Å"American Thermos Bottle Co. of Norwich, Connecticut† (Bryk 2015). In 1959, the company was named King Seeley Thermos (KST). The bottles were particularly used by outdoor laborers like construction crews who needed to keep the drinks hot or cold for extended periods of time. The raw materials mainly used to make thermos include stainless steel or plastic and glass. Stainless steel or plastic is used to make the outer cup whereas glass is used to make the inner cup. Nowadays, thermoses

Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 11

Politics - Essay Example pecific segment of the poo in the society that need assistance, it is because these class of people never had a chance to do what others did to enrich themselves. William Summer tries to discredit the point that the poor class in the society is really struggling under the emblem of limited resources. According to summer such claims are exaggerated and lie on the precept of poor assumptions made by the humanitarians. He speaks out by stressing the point that hard work is the key to any success. William stresses on this point when he says â€Å"....men who have not done their duty in this world never can be equal to those who have done their duty more or less well. Classes will always exist; no other social distinctions can endure. The class distinctions simply result from the different degrees of success with which men have availed themselves of the chances which were presented to them† (Mayer, 17). William supports his claims logically by saying that in the society disparity in classes will always exists; the social class will always be in any given society. However, some people in this class just need a little assistance for them to get to a higher class. He supports his claims that â€Å"Instead of endeavoring to redistribute the acquisitions which have been made between the existing classes, our aim should be to increase, multiply, and extend the chances. The greater the chances, the more unequal will be the fortune of these two sets of men. So it ought to be, in all justice and right reason.† This essay is a true illustration of Darwinism that subjects a basis that all men have equal chances of being great, but the truth is that not all of them will attain the same level (Mayer, 45). Francis Fox Piven postulates that power in the society is construed to dominate above the less privileged. The rich oppress the poor either materially or physically depending on the dominance that is directed towards the less privileged. Piven uses the term disruption to connote